by Chuck Ross A former Ohio State University wrestler is recanting his claims that Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan knew of sexual abuse allegations against a university physician when he coached wrestling at the school over 20 years ago. “At no time did I ever say or have any direct knowledge that Jim Jordan knew of Dr. Richard Strauss’s inappropriate behavior,” Mark Coleman, a former MMA fighter who wrestled at Ohio State when Jordan coached there, said in a statement. “I have nothing but respect for Jim Jordan as I have known him for more than 30 years and know him to be of impeccable character.” Coleman is the first former OSU wrestler to recant his claims that Jordan knew about sexual abuse at the hands of Dr. Richard Strauss, an OSU physician accused of molesting dozens of student-athletes. Jordan, who was an assistant coach at OSU from 1986 to 1994, was first linked to the allegations against Strauss in an NBC News article published July 3. A former wrestler named Mike DiSabato led the push to accuse Jordan of turning a blind eye to Strauss’s behavior. Jordan, who is mounting a bid for Speaker of the House, has vehemently denied…
Read the full storyMonth: August 2018
Grand Ole Opry and Luke Combs Make Songwriters’ Dreams Come True
Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Luke Combs teamed with the Grand Ole Opry to create a rare & matchless moment on the Opry stage last night. Combs, who debuted on the Opry stage in 2016, chose to honor the collaborating songwriters from his Platinum-selling debut album This One’s For You and deluxe album This One’s For You Too to step into the circle and perform with him – turning the legendary stage into an unrivaled songwriting round reminiscent of where it all began for these songwriting friends. Several of the writers — Wyatt B. Durrette, Rob Synder, and Channing Wilson—appeared on the Opry for the first time with Combs, while Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton, and Rob Williford were welcomed back to the stage to perform with Combs on hits they’d co-written. “We all grew up listening to and loving the Opry,” said Luke. “When I called each writer and told them what was going to happen, it was what the Opry was all about. We have always been the underdogs, and tonight the Opry fans, the diehard fans of country music, got to see a show that you couldn’t see anywhere else in the world. To see my buddies sing their songs has made tonight one of…
Read the full storyWilbur Ross Orders NOAA To Give Firefighters All The Water They Need To Fight WildFires
by Tim Pearce Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is using resources in his department to ensure that California firefighters are armed with enough water to fight wildfires scorching the state. Ross ordered the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies to prioritize water use for fighting fires over previously arranged agreements. Ross also ensured that, consistent with the Endangered Species Act (ESA), marine habitats housing vulnerable plants and animals would not be unduly drained. “The California wildfires are a direct threat to life and property and all measures available must be taken to protect both,” Ross said in a statement. “Public safety is the first priority. Consistent with the emergency consultation provisions under the ESA, Federal agencies may use any water as necessary to protect life and property in the affected areas.” The Mendocino Complex Fire burning in Northern California has devoured more than 300,000 acres and is significantly larger than any other fire ever recorded to burn in California, USA Today reported. President Donald Trump blamed bad environmental laws for diverting water from fighting fires to other, less pressing needs on Aug. 5. California disputed the claim, saying the state and its emergency personnel have “no shortage of water supplies” to fight fires without depleting…
Read the full storyDavid Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney Celebrate Hit Song, ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’
When CMT’s Katie Cook talked of friendship, dreams and hard work, the entire third floor of ACME Feed & Seed burst into cheers. As waiters passed trays of hot chicken’n’waffles and fried green tomatoes, David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney were being feted for the feel-good summer anthem “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” written by Murphy, Chris Stevens and Jimmy Yeary. “First, I wanna thank Chris and Jimmy. We knew the day we wrote it, this was a hit even if nobody played it,” said Murphy, the man known for “Party Crowd” and “Dust on the Bottle,” to several hundred in attendance. He continued, singling out Reviver Records’ tenacity. “They were tough as can be, and we had a long haul. They’ve worked really hard on this record. We knew it was going to be a fight, but every regional got in there and gave it their all. We said you can run, but you can’t outrun us.” Later Chesney beamed as he took the mic. “This all started three, four years ago, because David Lee would send me all these songs–demos that sounded like records–and he was singing so great. I remember thinking, ‘I’d love to hear that on the…
Read the full storyTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey Begins Media Tour to Explain Why He Didn’t Censor Alex Jones . . . Yet
by Kyle Perisic Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey began his tour with media networks to explain Twitter’s speech policies after the backlash he faced from not banning Alex Jones like other tech giants. Dorsey is planning on speaking with Lester Holt on NBC’s “Nightly News” later in August and Brian Stelter on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” Aug. 12. Stelter’s interview with Dorsey, the last CEO of a major platform not to ban Jones or InfoWars, has reportedly been in the works for several weeks, Axios reported Wednesday. Dorsey began his tour Wednesday with Fox News host Sean Hannity on his radio program, where he clarified the company’s decision not to ban Jones. “This is not easy,” Dorsey said, adding that Twitter hasn’t done a great job explaining the company’s use of the algorithms to enforce its policies. Dorsey also said Twitter hasn’t done a good job communicating what the company’s principles are or why certain accounts are banned to those users or to the media. “We have a lot more work to do there,” he said. Dorsey also insisted on Hannity’s radio show that Twitter does not shadowban users. Shadowbanning is using algorithms to make users or content harder to search for on social…
Read the full storyPhil Bredesen Goes All-In with Trump-Hating Bernie Sanders Socialists
Phil Bredesen made it clear that he is going all-in with the President Trump-hating far left socialist wing of the Democrat Party when his campaign announced Thursday that two prominent entertainers who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign will be hosting a fundraiser for Bredesen in Nashville later this month. “Singer-songwriters Jason Isbell and Ben Folds are set to headline a special event in support of former Gov. Phil Bredesen’s bid for the U.S. Senate. The event, scheduled for Aug. 20, will take place at Marathon Music Works in Nashville,” The Tennessean reported. “It’s a bold strategy for someone masquerading as a moderate. Case in point: Folds is a strong supporter of socialist Bernie Sanders. And Isbell has said that President Trump is “not a good guy” whose supporters are racist,” the Senate Leadership Fund said in a statement released on Thursday. You can watch Folds’ endorsement of Sanders for President here: “The Alabama native, who now calls Nashville home, has also spoken out against President Donald Trump on more than one occasion,” the Huffington Post reported about Isbel last year: “The president is ruled by fear of alienating his base. He’s ‘sticking to the music’ to try and keep racists on his side. It’s horrifying,” he…
Read the full storyVietnam Veteran: ‘Marsha’ Has Always Fought For Our Veterans
A Chattanooga veteran of the Vietnam War said, “No one has fought harder for our active duty military and our veterans than Marsha Blackburn. We need to elect her to the Senate because the issues with the VA are far from solved.” Terry Thomas wrote a column for the Times Free Press supporting Republican Marsha Blackburn in her U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat Phil Bredesen. “I served in combat on the rivers in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy, and now I serve my fellow veterans as the quartermaster of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1289 here in Chattanooga. We have about 400 members, all of whom have served our country faithfully over the past several decades. “Too often, our members find themselves unable to receive the care they need — the same care they have earned and were promised. Your heart will break hearing about what our veterans have to go through to get care from a dysfunctional Veterans Administration. President Trump is working to make the necessary changes that the Obama administration put off for too long, but he cannot do it alone. He needs senators and congressmen who are willing to work with him to get the job…
Read the full storyJC Bowman Commentary: Unions Are in Politics for Power, Money, and Influence
For groups like Professional Educators of Tennessee, it is simple. We must advance public education without the divisive tribalism of partisan politics, and we will only get involved in education related issues. The union never stops in its quest for power and control over public education.
Read the full storyFeds Give Memphis Airport $43 Million, Despite Traffic Decrease
Federal taxpayers will shell out $43.3 million to improve the Memphis International Airport, despite reports traffic has fallen dramatically in recent years. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, announced the funding, which came from the Federal Aviation Administration. Exactly $28.5 million of that will reimburse airport officials for reconstructing two taxiways. The remaining $14.7 million, meanwhile, goes to what Cohen called “the rehabilitation of the Memphis International Airport’s Concourse B.” Northwest Airlines was once the airport’s most dominant carrier. Then Delta gobbled it up. Delta decided it only needed one hub in the South, in Atlanta. That decision cost Memphis almost two-thirds of its passengers, according to a recent New York Times story. The result — three concourses are left and most of its gates are unused. Airports officials will spend $219 million to close and renovate Concourse B and mothball concourses A & C. No one at Cohen’s office returned requests for comment Wednesday. Memphis International Airport spokesman Glen Thomas, in an emailed statement, said the airport qualified for the federal funding, even though it might seem like a ghost town. These funds, Thomas said, involved federal Airport Improvement Program money. Under federal law the aviation system generates that money.…
Read the full storyProsecutors: Son Of Prominent Brooklyn-based Imam Was Training Children To Commit School Shootings
by Chuck Ross The son of a prominent Brooklyn-based imam was training children at a New Mexico compound to commit schools shootings, prosecutors said in court documents released Wednesday. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 39, was training 11 children at a compound north of Taos, New Mexico, according to The Associated Press. Authorities raided the compound Friday and arrested Wahhaj, two of his siblings and two other men during a search for Wahhaj’s son, who had been abducted from Georgia late in 2017. A 3-year-old boy was found buried near the compound, but has not been identified. Wahhaj’s son was not among the children rescued. Residents in Amalia, New Mexico, near the Colorado border, had complained for months about the squalid conditions of the makeshift compound before Friday’s raid, according to news reports. Authorities recovered multiple firearms as well as an AR-15. Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said Tuesday that authorities initially did not have enough evidence to search the compound. Wahhaj and his son were not spotted on the property. A breakthrough came last week when authorities received a tip that a starving child might be living at the compound. Wahhaj’s father, also named Siraj, is a controversial cleric with close…
Read the full storyCourt Spikes Environmental Lawsuit Over Trump’s National Monument Cutbacks
by Tim Pearce A district court spiked an environmental lawsuit Monday seeking to force the Trump administration to turn over documents related to cutting back national monuments. U.S. District Judge David Nye told the environmental group Advocates for the West (AW) that a dozen documents the organization argued should be made public are protected as presidential communications, The Associated Press reported. The documents “contain legal advice to the president and his advisers and should remain protected,” Bye wrote, according to the AP. “While public disclosure is an important and necessary part of any free society, so too is candor and privacy when those at the highest levels of government strive to determine the best course of action.” The documents reveal past administrations’ reasons for establishing and expanding national monuments under the Antiquities Act between 2006 and 2016, according to AW. “This decision shows how difficult it is to force sunlight on a government that flourishes in secrecy,” AW attorney Todd Tucci told the AP. “President [Donald] Trump’s abrupt change in interpretation of the Antiquities Act should be subject to the light of day.” Trump signed executive orders on Dec. 4 rolling back the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in…
Read the full storySouthwest Airlines Begins Nonstop Flights Between Nashville, Atlanta
Southwest Airlines has begun nonstop flights from Atlanta to Nashville. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the airline launched the flights from Atlanta to Nashville, The Associated Press reported. Nashville International Airport celebrated the inaugural flight from BNA to Atlanta Tuesday. The airline will operate five flights a day Monday through Friday between Hartsfield-Jacskon Atlanta International Airport and BNA, as well as three flights a day on Saturdays and Sundays. Southwest Airlines Co. vice president of technical operations Trevor Stedke said in a statement when the airline announced the route in February that it answers business community requests in both cities. Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority CEO Doug Kruelen says business people have long sought more service between Nashville and Atlanta. Kruelen says the route brings more competition and options. Delta Air Lines already flies the route. Nashville International Airport served more than 14.9 million passengers in the fiscal year that ended in June, making it one of the nation’s fastest growing airports, The Tennessee Star previously reported. The record makes Nashville International, or BNA, the fourth fastest growing airport among the top 50 airports in North America, the airport’s website said. BNA serves 450 daily flights to more than 65 nonstop markets.…
Read the full storySCIENCE: Religious People Live Longer
by Joshua Gill Religious affiliation actually prolong one’s life through positive social effects according to a recent study of obituaries in Iowa and across the nation. Laura E. Wallace of Ohio State University, one of the study’s authors, found that among the social factors that affect one’s physical health and longevity, religion plays a large and observably positive role. Her findings showed that people who had active religious affiliations in life lived an average of 10 years longer than their non-religious counterparts in Des Moines, and an average of five years longer nationally. “Being healthy doesn’t just mean going to the gym and eating well. Our social worlds have such a large influence on our health as well. Religion is clearly one of these factors that makes a big difference,” Wallace said, according to PsyPost. “Religion has a strong relationship with longevity. Our research suggests that, in part, this is due to the opportunities that religion provides to make social connections and give back to the community,” she added. Researchers for the study, which was initially published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, analyzed 505 obituaries from the Des Moines Register and a further 1,096 obituaries from across the country. The parameters of…
Read the full storyTaxpayer-Funded Program Didn’t End Homelessness in Tennessee
Five years ago, Nashville officials launched an initiative to end homelessness as we know it. The program, part of the “How’s Nashville” campaign, promised homelessness would end before 2017. Seeing as how we’re more than halfway done with 2018 it’s time to assess — did the program do what Nashville officials said it would do? After all, they promised. Unfortunately, city officials did not return requests for comment Wednesday. Back in 2013, the city’s Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency paired up with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission and announced 200 housing opportunities for the chronically homeless. They offered an unspecified amount of federal taxpayer money, via Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant money. Apparently, though, city officials didn’t get enough cash the first go-round. Last month, according to Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV, city officials announced yet another initiative to end homelessness, this time among young people, using $3.54 million of federal taxpayer money, again from HUD. “HUD is awarding $43 million to 11 local communities across the country,” the station reported. “The money will fund rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and other programs.” There were other times officials in Tennessee used taxpayer money to end homelessness as…
Read the full storyCommentary: How One Deleted Scene Turns Star Wars into a Struggle Against Socialism
by Grayson Quay In the era of Disney, many long-time Star Wars fans have bemoaned the supposed infiltration of their favorite franchise by leftist ideology. At first, I rolled my eyes at these objections, many of which remain patently absurd. But after Solo: A Star Wars Story gave us a shrill SJW droid hooking up with a pansexual Lando Calrissian, I had to admit that some critics might have a point. This wasn’t always the case, though. In fact, one of the deleted scenes included in the 2011 Star Wars Blu-Ray collection explicitly connects the evil Galactic Empire with the socialist economic policies of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In Episode IV: A New Hope, George Lucas originally wrote and shot several scenes that would introduce the viewer to Luke Skywalker long before R2-D2 and C-3PO arrived at his family’s moisture farm. The first features Luke using a pair of macrobinoculars to watch Leia’s ship, the Tantive IV, exchange fire with Darth Vader’s Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Excited by the prospect of adventure, Luke rushes to tell his friends at the Tosche Station, where he finds that his friend Biggs Darklighter has returned to Tatooine after graduating from the Imperial Academy. Luke’s friends quickly lose interest in his wild tales of space combat, and he and Biggs head off to grab a few malt brews and catch up. After a bit of…
Read the full storyDept. of Homeland Security Agents Conduct Massive Worksite Raid In Two States, Arrest Business Owners For Employing Illegal Aliens
by Will Racke Federal agents conducted a multi-state worksite raid at several Midwestern agricultural businesses on Wednesday, arresting more than 100 people including owners and supervisors who allegedly conspired to employ illegal aliens at the expense of American workers. Homeland Security Investigations — the investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — led the operation against at least 11 companies in Nebraska and Minnesota, the Grand Island Independent reported. Along with more than 130 suspected illegal workers, agents arrested 14 business owners and managers for allegedly using bogus social security numbers to build a workforce of underpaid, exploitable illegal immigrants. Three other people involved in the scheme were also indicted but not taken into custody during the operation. The operation was one of the largest worksite raids in HSI’s 15-year history, according to Tracy Cormier, the special agent-in-charge of the agency’s St. Paul field office, which covers Minnesota and Nebraska. “I would say the amount of criminal warrants that are being executed will be one of the largest for HSI,” Cormier said, according to the Associated Press. “I’m not aware of a bigger one.” Wednesday’s operation is notable because is targeted business ownership and management, not just illegal workers. Two of HSI’s…
Read the full storyBill Lee Embraces Gov. Haslam’s Legacy
On Tuesday’s Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, conservative pundit and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill contemplated the contradiction of Bill Haslam’s endorsement of Bill Lee – whose base was turned off by Randy Boyd’s campaign because of his ties to Haslam. “As the campaign in the Tennessee Governor’s race turns from the primary to the general election. You’re starting to see the endorsements flow in,” Gill began. He added, “President Trump has endorsed Bill Lee for governor. He’s also endorsed Marsha Blackburn as we’ve pointed out in the last segment. Also, Bill Haslam the current Republican Governor is endorsing Bill Lee as well, putting his support in an ad that’s been produced by the Republican Governor’s Association chaired by Governor Bill Haslam behind Bill Lee.” Gill played the audio of the 30-second spot featuring Governor Haslam: (Audio plays) BILL HASLAM: For eight years I’ve had the privilege of being your Governor. Together, we’ve made a lot of progress. More people have jobs than ever before. Our taxes are lower, our students are improving faster than anywhere in the country, Tennessee is stronger than ever, Bill Lee is the right choice to take Tennessee to…
Read the full storyMetro Council Member: Nashville Taxes Go Up if Unions Get Their Way
A Nashville Metro Council member says if members of various labor unions get their way on the proposed Major League Soccer stadium then Davidson County residents could see a tax increase. Metro Council member Steve Glover said that’s why it’s past time for city officials to tighten their finances and focus only on the essentials. Glover made his remarks to The Tennessee Star one day after several of his colleagues held a press conference with members of the group Stand Up Nashville to demand certain benefits. That happens through what is called a Community Benefits Agreement. A similar agreement in Cincinnati appeared to require only MLS resources. Whether the proposed Nashville agreement involves the taxpayers stepping in or whether it’s all on MLS officials to accommodate their demands with their own resources is unclear. But if taxpayers get involved then the ramifications of that, according to Glover, are a no-brainer. “There is no other way to do it, other than to raise taxes,” Glover said. According to their website, Stand Up Nashville is a coalition of community organizations and labor unions. This groups wants Metro officials to build the proposed new Major League Soccer stadium in the city — but they…
Read the full storyAs Mayor of Nashville, Karl Dean Made LGBT a Specially Protected Class Under Metro Law
In 2009, when Karl Dean was Nashville’s mayor he signed into law an ordinance making “sexual orientations” and “gender identity” protected classes in Nashville’s non-discrimination employment policy. Two years later, Dean tried to require vendors wanting to do business with the Metro government to include the same LBGT protections in their employment policies. Megan Barry was the Metro Council member that sponsored the 2009 ordinance which did not define the terms “sexual orientations” or “gender identity” which are generally understood to refer to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. The ordinance passed by the Metro Council and signed into law by Dean continues to apply to all Metro employees including public school teachers. Two years later, the Metro Council passed and Karl Dean signed the Contract Accountability Non-Discrimination Ordinance (CANDO) requiring any vendor seeking to do business with the Nashville government to also include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their employment non-discrimination policies. The Tennessee General Assembly responded by passing the Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act which stopped Dean’s CANDO law. The legislature’s action stopped the over-regulating of businesses resulting from Dean’s CANDO law, but it has not slowed the LGBT agenda from advancing in Tennessee. For example, despite efforts in…
Read the full storyNew Blackburn Ad Touts President Trump’s Support
Republican Senatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn’s campaign launched an ad featuring President Donald Trump supporting her at a May rally. The digital and statewide TV ad that launched Tuesday shows footage from a Nashville rally in May when Trump boosted Blackburn, WREG reports. The ad touts Trump’s endorsement and Blackburn’s commitment to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, repeal the Affordable Care Act and keep tax cuts permanent. Rep. Blackburn is in a tight race against Democratic ex-Gov. Phil Bredesen. In the ad, the president says, “We need Marsha Blackburn. We need Marsha in the Senate to continue the progress and work that we’ve done over the last year and a half.” Blackburn says in the video, “Tennessee needs a senator who is going to support President Donald Trump. I am going to be there to stand with President Donald Trump and take your Tennessee values to Washington, D.C. to fight with him to get the job done. I am Marsha Blackburn, and I approve this message.” Speaking about the ad, Blackburn campaign manager Kevin Golden said, “Tennesseans from all walks of life support the president’s work to cut taxes, rebuild the military, care for our veterans, and nominate constitutionalist justices and…
Read the full storyGovernor Bill Haslam Wades Into Governor’s Race with Endorsement for Republican Bill Lee
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, current Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA), is working to ensure that while he works to keep or expand the number of Republican Governors across the country he doesn’t drop the ball in his home state. He’s endorsed Republican nominee Bill Lee in a new television ad purchased by the RGA. In the ad, Haslam touts the progress that Tennessee has made during his tenure as Governor and says Bill Lee is the “right choice” to take the state to the next level. The RGA has put $500,000 behind the ad buy. RGA ad “Right Choice” transcript: Bill Haslam: “For eight years I’ve had the privilege of being your Governor. Together, we’ve made a lot of progress. More people have jobs than ever before. Our taxes are lower, our students are improving faster than anywhere in the country. Tennessee is stronger than ever. Bill Lee is the right choice to take Tennessee to the next level. We can trust him to make the right decisions, not the political ones. He’s been doing that his whole life. I’m asking you to join me in supporting Bill Lee for Governor.” Ironically, much of the criticism directed at…
Read the full storyThree Budget ‘Reforms’ That Would Make Matters Worse, Not Better
by Dody Eid and Romina Boccia A congressional select committee on reforming the budget process recently held another public hearing, supposedly with the ultimate aim of designing a more transparent, accountable, and responsible budgetary process. Any such changes should also re-establish and enhance Congress’ power of the purse. But if those are the goals of the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform, it is badly missing the mark by repeatedly discussing only three proposals. They are unlikely to be much of an improvement—and could make matters even worse, if that’s possible: biennial budgeting, earmarks, and moving from a fiscal year to a calendar year. Biennial budgeting: Among the proposals considered by the committee, one that is gaining traction is biennial budgeting. That would relieve Congress of the obligation to submit a budget resolution each year. Instead, it would only prepare a budget every two years. Proponents contend that such a change gives the legislative branch more time to dive deeper on the issues presented by the growing budgeting challenge, to provide more oversight of the executive, and to reduce budget dysfunction as fiscal year deadlines approach. At the July 12 hearing, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who served early in…
Read the full storyConfederate ‘Cleansing:’ Louisiana’s East Feliciana Parish Could Be the Next Place to Remove Its Civil War Monuments
The statue of the unnamed Confederate soldier has stood since 1909 in front of the courthouse in Louisiana’s East Feliciana Parish, hands resting on his rifle looking down on the flow of lawyers, jurors and defendants going into the white columned building. Ronnie Anderson, an African-American man charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, and speeding, was one such defendant and the statue gave him cause for concern. “It’s just intimidating to walk into a courthouse that’s supposed to be a place of equality, fair justice and to see this monument that made me feel like … I don’t stand a chance,” Anderson said. Anderson wants his case to be moved to another parish without such a memorial; his motion to change venue argues he can’t get a fair trial in the same place where a “symbol of oppression and racial intolerance” stands. Confederate flags and monuments – long a part of the Southern landscape – have come under renewed scrutiny following the 2015 shooting by Dylann Roof of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina and the 2017 deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Supporters say the statues are a…
Read the full storyPresident Trump Set to Tighten Controls in Foreign Access to Tech Investment
Already threatened by escalating U.S. taxes on its goods, China is about to find it much harder to invest in U.S. companies or to buy American technology in such cutting-edge areas as robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. President Donald Trump is expected as early as this week to sign legislation to tighten the U.S. government’s scrutiny of foreign investments and exports of sensitive technology. The law, which Congress passed in a rare show of unity among Republicans and Democrats, doesn’t single out China. But there’s no doubt the intended target is Beijing. The Trump administration has accused China of using predatory tactics to steal American technology. “As a policy signal, it speaks with a very loud voice,” said Harry Clark, head of the international trade practice at the law firm Orrick. “Leading decision makers and Congress are very concerned about technology transfer to China.” The Trump administration has already imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese exports, is preparing taxes on a further $16 billion and has threatened to target an additional $200 billion of Beijing’s exports and maybe still more. As part of the same punitive campaign, Trump had initially ordered the Treasury Department to draft investment restrictions…
Read the full storyNashville Taxpayers Funded Expensive Abstract Art Under Karl Dean
Tennessee Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean has no comment about what some people call a taxpayer-funded boondoggle erected in downtown Nashville during his tenure as mayor. At least no one from Dean’s campaign returned a request for comment Tuesday regarding the public art project known as Stix. That project cost the city $750,000. Some people refer to it as art. Other people call it a waste of taxpayer money. Either way, it’s nothing more than a bunch of sticks. Oh, and the sticks have bright, shiny colors. The Tennessee Star wanted to know if a possible Dean administration would force taxpayers at the state level to pay for public art projects such as this — or any public art period. As for Stix itself, the artist, Christian Moeller, called it an homage to the Native Americans who first lived in Middle Tennessee. Nashvillelifestyles.com says it’s “the most expensive public art piece ever in Nashville.” Dean and other city officials could have sent that $750,000 check to a local artist — where the money could have gone right back into Tennessee’s economy. Instead, they sent that money out to California, where Moeller resides. Moeller, at the time he got that six-figure…
Read the full storySoftware Glitch Disrupts Lawrence County Election
A glitch with the electronic voting machines in Lawrence County delayed the results of last Thursday’s election by almost a day, said county Election Administrator Tanya White. Instead of using a computer, county officials had to tally votes by hand, she said. “Do you know how long it takes to count votes manually?” White asked. “A really long time.” White told the Tennessee Star that MicroVote, a company out of Indiana, manufactured the software that suddenly went erratic. Election officials in 46 of the state’s 95 counties use the same software, said Madison Tracy, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office, in an emailed statement. MicroVote has yet to explain what happened, White said. “We had our results off the machines, but we could not print off summary pages that showed all the totals for everyone,” White said. “That caused us not to be able to release anything. What was released was manually counted off what we had here. That is why all the confusion happened. That is the reason for the delay. That is the reason why what was released at first was incorrect.” No one at MicroVote returned repeated requests for comment Tuesday. County officials immediately notified…
Read the full storyAll Signs Suggest Russell Lowe Is Feinstein’s Former Staffer Who’s Accused Of Being A Chinese Spy
by Peter Hasson – It was reported that Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein employed a Chinese spy. – Her longtime staffer, Russell Lowe, fits the description of the reported spy. – Feinstein’s office refused to comment on whether Lowe was the spy. All the details of a former, longtime Sen. Dianne Feinstein staffer who’s accused of relaying information to Chinese intelligence services while working for the California Democrat point to Russell Lowe, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has determined. Lowe worked for 20 years in Feinstein’s San Francisco office, where he was a staff liaison to the Asian-American community before leaving approximately five years ago. All those details match up with the descriptions of the Chinese spy Feinstein reportedly employed. “Chinese intelligence once recruited a staff member at a California office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the source reported back to China about local politics,” Politico Magazine reported on July 27, describing the staffer as “a liaison to the local Chinese community” who was secretly “reporting back” to Chinese intelligence services. Since then, more details have emerged about the alleged spy, including that he worked for Feinstein for 20 years, “attended Chinese consulate functions for the senator” and was fired five years…
Read the full storyCommentary: It’s Time For President Trump To Go Full Andrew Jackson On Overreaching Judges
by CHQ Staff The news that a Bush-appointed federal district judge, John D. Bates (pictured), has ruled that Obama’s executive amnesty, not actual immigration law, is the law and that Trump must fully restore and renew the program is such a radical exhibition of judicial overreach that it should have been a banner headline or lead segment in every major media outlet. Instead it generated hardly a mention, let alone any outrage, from the establishment media who long ago fell into the trap of accepting the anti-constitutional concept of judicial supremacy over the Executive and Legislative branches of government. For a complete rundown on this outrageous usurpation of the powers of the legislative and executive branches of government see Daniel Horowitz “Bush judge demands that Trump rule as king. Really!” “The tyranny of the legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be so for many years to come,” Jefferson wrote Madison six weeks before Washington’s first inauguration. “The tyranny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.” Jefferson, Adams, Madison and other members of the founding generation of the American republic rightly feared the tyranny of the…
Read the full storyMaverick Musk Eyes $72 Billion Buyout to Take Tesla ‘Private’
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering leading a buyout of the electric car maker in a stunning move that would end the maverick company’s eight-year history trading on the stock market. In his typically unorthodox fashion, the eccentric Musk dropped his bombshell on his Twitter account, which he has used as a platform for pranks, vitriol and now for a proposal to pull off one of the biggest buyouts in U.S. history. Musk got the ball rolling Tuesday after the stock market had already been open more than three hours with a tweet announcing he might buy all of Tesla’s stock at $420 per share with no further details. At that price, the buyout would cost nearly $72 billion, based on Tesla’s outstanding stock as of July 27, but it’s unlikely the deal would cost that much because Musk owns a roughly 20 percent stake in the Palo Alto, California, company. He also said he intends to give Tesla’s existing shareholders the option of retaining a stake in the company through a special fund, if they want. “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” Musk wrote in his first tweet, following up with “good morning” and a smiley…
Read the full storyHow Medicare’s Private Plans Surpass the Traditional Program
by Dr. Kevin Pham and Robert E. Moffit Medicare Advantage, a system of competing private health plans, is surpassing the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program in delivering high quality, cost-effective medical care for senior and disabled citizens. The prominent research firm Avalere recently published a major study showing that Medicare Advantage generally outperformed traditional Medicare. This was especially so in caring for the most challenging patients who suffer from chronic conditions and complicated medical problems. Major structural differences between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage largely account for the differences in performance. Traditional Medicare, enacted in 1965, pays doctors and other medical professionals on a fee-for-service basis, meaning that the government reimburses medical professionals a specific fee for every one of thousands of services provided to Medicare patients. After almost two futile decades of trying to control costs, in the 1980s Congress overhauled hospital and physician payment. In 1989, Congress created a new physician payment system in which the government would reimburse Medicare doctors based on a calculation of the putative value of individual medical services—including the resources and time required to provide them—and capping the payment. This bizarre reimbursement formula, plus subsequent payment updates, proved faulty. Medical stakeholders compromise the entire process because they also are involved in setting the prices of Medicare’s services and continuously fight to evaluate their own services higher, leading to questionable fee schedules, confusion, and inefficiency. For years, traditional Medicare’s payment system generated perverse incentives, allowing hospitals, for example, to overtreat their patients, delivering more care and more services, more reimbursements, and higher revenues. Congress created Medicare Advantage in 2003 as…
Read the full storyPhil Bredesen Claims Fellow Democrats ‘Too Elitist,’ While Owning 5 Homes, Private Jet
Phil Bredesen wants the voters to know he’s one of them, a working-class guy just working to earn a living — but that’s far from the truth. The former governor who hopes to flip Bob Corker’s seat from Republican to Democrat shares one thing besides friendship with the former Chattanooga mayor: they’re both extremely rich. Bredesen has reported assets between $88.9 million and $358 million, The Washington Free Beacon said. CBS News reported that Corker is one of the wealthiest senators, with an average net worth of $50.7 million. In replacing Corker, Bredesen would also become one of the richest members of Congress. Public records show he is the owner of five homes—two homes in Nashville, two lakefront properties in upstate New York, and a five-bedroom home in Jackson, Wyoming. Like finding a place to hang his hat at night, traveling is no issue for Bredesen: He is one of the registered owners of an Embraer Phenom 300 private jet, according to Federal Aviation Association records. The Embraer Phenom 300 sells for $10 million, according to CNBC. And yet Bredesen says the Democratic Party is “too elitist and too distant from the concerns of the very down to Earth people that…
Read the full storyBredesen Makes His Case for Republican Votes in New Ad Featuring Favorable Republican Comments
A new sixty second digital ad from the Phil Bredesen campaign is targeting Republican votes by promoting carefully selective clips of Republicans saying good things about his time as Governor. The ad features comments from former Trump surrogate and conservative commentator Scottie Hughes, Tennessee Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), frequent Trump critic Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), lobbyist and former Hendersonville State Representative Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville), and lobbyist Bill Phillips (who served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor under Democrat Mayor of Nashville, Bill Purcell). Phil Bredesen ad “Republicans” transcript: Scottie Hughes: “Folks do not realize this, a lot of Trump supporters are also Phil Bredesen supporters. And we have two Republican Governors who fought for an income tax and fought for a gas tax but you never saw a tax being fought for by Phil Bredesen.” Bob Corker: “Phil Bredesen is a friend of mine. I mean, OK. I have worked with him for 23 years. We worked together to bring the Titans to our state. When I became a Senator and he was Governor we worked to bring Volkswagen to our state. He was a very good Mayor; very good Governor; very good business person.” Chuck Fleischmann: “He had…
Read the full storyDaily Caller News Foundation Sues To Obtain Information On Comey’s Leaker
by Richard Pollock The Daily Caller News Foundation is suing the Department of Justice for failing to produce records regarding the Columbia University professor who received four memos from former FBI Director James Comey, one of which was leaked to The New York Times. Cause of Action Institute, a conservative nonprofit watchdog, filed the lawsuit on behalf of TheDCNF Monday after the Justice Department and the FBI failed to produce any records related to Daniel Richman in response to the news organization’s April 25 Freedom of Information Act request. Richman is a long-time friend and confidante of Comey and obtained at least four of the former FBI director’s memos about his conversations with President Donald Trump, two of which contained classified information, according to news reports. He leaked at least one Comey memo to The New York Times. Meanwhile, Comey, in a July 5, 2016 press conference, absolved then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of any criminal activity in using her private server for government business while she served as secretary of state, saying that she was “extremely careless,” but not grossly negligent in using a private server for official government business. Gross negligence would constitute a federal offense tied to the mishandling of classified government secrets. Comey hired Richman as a…
Read the full storyFeud Escalates Between NRA, New York Governor
A feud between New York’s governor and the National Rifle Association is escalating, with Governor Andrew Cuomo saying it’s “too bad” the NRA could be in financial trouble because his state pressured financial institutions to cut ties with the gun group. “Too bad. You violated the law,” Cuomo told CNN, while also adding that “it’s not a defense to say, ‘Well, I was committing illegal activity, but I was making money from it, and now I’m upset that I lost the revenue.’” In an amended version of a federal lawsuit filed in May, the NRA claims it lost insurance coverage after the state’s enforcement actions against companies underwriting an NRA-branded insurance program called “Carry Guard,” which provides liability insurance for policyholders involved in shooting incidents. The lawsuit said the Cuomo administration was persuading other insurers to avoid doing business with the NRA. But Cuomo countered that Carry Guard is “designed for people who carry weapons, and the insurance policy essentially insured them for intentional bad acts, intentional wrongdoing.” Cuomo said he sent a letter to other governors Monday, urging them to end the sale and marketing of the Carry Guard program in their states. “And if they think New York…
Read the full storySessions Stands Strong In Defense Of Terminating DACA
by Molly Prince Attorney General Jeff Sessions slammed a ruling Monday handed down from a U.S. district court, fully reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Sessions blasted the decision in a statement, saying that the Obama administration “violated its duty to enforce our immigration laws by directing and implementing a categorical, multipronged non-enforcement immigration policy for a massive group of illegal aliens.” He further stated that the executive branch is well within its right to rescind a policy that was established by an Obama-era executive order, and that it has a commitment to do so. “We have recently witnessed a number of decisions in which courts have improperly used judicial power to steer, enjoin, modify, and direct executive policy,” Sessions wrote. “This ignores the wisdom of our Founders and transfers policy making questions from the constitutionally empowered and politically accountable branches to the judicial branch. It also improperly undermines this Administration’s ability to protect our nation, its borders, and its citizens.” Sessions asserted that the White House will “aggressively defend” its judgment to dissolve the DACA program, which prevented enrolled illegal aliens from deportation if they were brought to the United States as minors. – – –…
Read the full storyStudy: Minnesota’s Minimum Wage Hike Cost Teenagers Thousands Of Jobs
by Tim Pearce Minnesota’s minimum wage has cost young and low-skilled workers thousands of jobs in the fast-food restaurant sector since 2013, according to University of Wisconsin economics professor Noah Williams. Williams tracked and compared employment data in Minnesota and Wisconsin from 2014 to 2018, over which Minnesota’s minimum wage increased incrementally from $6 an hour to $9.65 in January 2018. Wisconsin’s minimum wage remained at the federal level of $7.25 an hour, the Minnesota Watchdog reported. Generally, as the minimum wage increases “businesses will demand less labor, which could mean fewer workers and/or shorter hours per worker,” Williams said, according to Minnesota Watchdog. “There were workers willing to work for wages that were less than the new, higher minimum wage and businesses that were willing to hire them for that … The distortion is that the minimum wage rules out mutually beneficial agreements between workers and firms.” The fast-food industries in both states were growing at similar paces in 2014 when the minimum wage of each rested on the federal level. As the Minnesota’s minimum continued to rise, a disparity between employment growth in each state’s fast-food industry developed and widened. “In total, from July 2014 to May 2018, employment…
Read the full storyCommentary: President Trump Gets The Message – Conservative Grassroots Demand Speaker Jordan
by CHQ Staff When President Trump brought Rep. Jim Jordan on stage at his rally in Ohio on Saturday night, the crowd chanted “Speaker of the House” as Jordan stood on stage. To many observers it appeared that Trump was giving the conservative rock star a public boost for his run for Speaker. “Jim Jordan, how great is he?” Trump said, before bringing the lawmaker on stage. “What a great defender he’s been, what courage,” Trump said after Jordan left the stage. “He’s a brave, tough cookie along with some of his friends.” “I didn’t know he was going to be here,” the president continued. “I looked over and said, ‘I don’t want to wrestle him, he’s tough.’ ” According to The Hill’s Jacqueline Thomsen, coverage of the rally also showed Jordan posing for photos with members of the crowd before Trump went on stage. There was a brief “Jordan” chant from the crowd. As most conservatives are aware, Jordan has launched a bid to succeed retiring Speaker Paul Ryan. To the establishment Jordan is seen as a long shot for the post, but has the support from the House Freedom Caucus, which could be the kingmaker in the post-election…
Read the full storyUS Navy’s Top Admiral Cites Increased Threat in Ocean Nearest Washington
by Carla Babb Chinese military vessels are now operating in the Northern Atlantic, and Russian submarines are prowling those same waters at a pace not seen since the end of the Cold War, the Navy’s top admiral told VOA in an exclusive interview. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said China’s military movements from the North Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea is a “new dynamic.” “Even five years ago, we wouldn’t have seen anything like this,” Richardson said. According to Richardson, the Chinese navy is a global one that is both “ready and capable” of operating wherever Beijing wants. “They’re certainly a pacing competition for us in terms of the naval threat,” he told VOA. However, Chinese operations near the United States’ eastern shore are not as threatening as Russian vessels lurking below the ocean’s surface. NATO allies from North America to Europe are increasingly concerned about the uptick of Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic. “We’re talking about more (activity) than we’ve seen in 25 years,” Richardson said. U.S. officials worry that Moscow may try to use its submarines to cut or tap into undersea cables that connect the two continents. 2nd Fleet Due to these…
Read the full storyNashville Symphony Welcomes Seven Local Students to Accelerando Music Education Initiative
Seven local students have been selected for the third class of Accelerando, the Nashville Symphony’s groundbreaking music education initiative designed to facilitate the studies of gifted young musicians from diverse backgrounds and to prepare them for careers in music. The seven students were introduced during an event at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Thursday, August 2, that was attended by current Accelerando students and their families, as well as Nashville Symphony staff members, including President and CEO Alan D. Valentine and Director of Education and Community Engagement Walter Bitner. The addition of the seven students brings the total number of participants in the program to 16. All from Middle Tennessee, the third class of Accelerando students are: Icsis Church, clarinet: Grade 8, Bellevue Middle School, MNPS Treasure Eckles, viola: Grade 10, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School, MNPS Angel Elbano, flute: Grade 4, Una Elementary School, MNPS Rose Majett, cello: Grade 8, home-schooled student Xavion Patterson, bassoon: Grade 10, Stewarts Creek High School, Rutherford County Schools Mario Shaw, percussion: Grade 11, Stewarts Creek High School, Rutherford County Schools Alexander Vinson, cornet: Grade 7, MLK Jr. Magnet Middle, MNPS Aalia Hanif, a member of Accelerando’s inaugural class, offered remarks during the event. “As…
Read the full storyPepsi CEO Indra Nooyi to Step Down
PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi, one of the most prominent female CEOs in the world, announced Monday she will step down after leading the giant soft drink company for 12 years. Nooyi, 62, has worked at PepsiCo for 24 years. In a tweet, she expressed “mixed emotions” about leaving her position and said she “never imaged” she’d have the opportunity to lead “such an extraordinary company.” PepsiCo’s current president, Ramon Laguarta, will take over as CEO in October. Nooyi will remain as chairman of the board until early next year. Nooyi, who was born in India, is a rarity on Wall Street — a woman and a minority leading a Fortune 500 company. Among the 500 companies in the S&P 500, only 25 — 5 percent — are led by women. Nooyi’s departure leaves only one woman of color among the Fortune 500 CEOs. Nooyi told Bloomberg News on Monday that she planned to advocate for more women to serve at the highest levels of corporations. “My job is, in fact, just beginning once I leave PepsiCo because I can do things now that I was constrained to do when I was CEO of the company,” she said. While at…
Read the full storyMike Lee Commentary: Why I Objected to a Bill That Would Ban 3D Gun Designs
by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) Last Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted, “I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!” The White House has not offered any clarification on what exactly Trump’s tweet meant, but if he is worried about plastic guns being sold to the public, he shouldn’t be. The Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 already makes the sale, and even the mere possession, of plastic guns illegal. Following Trump’s tweet, however, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., went to the Senate floor and tried to pass a bill by unanimous consent (meaning there would be no roll call vote, the bill would just pass the Senate immediately without any debate) that would have banned the mere publication of any designs for a plastic gun that could be produced by a 3D printer. I objected. Anytime legislation begins with words “It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally publish … ” I will force the Senate to take a long look at that legislation. The federal government already believes it has the power to ban the publication of 3D plastic gun designs under the Arms Export…
Read the full storyAnti-ICE Protest Strains Nashville Police, While Bredesen Stays Quiet on Threat To City Where He Was Once Mayor
The Metro Nashville Police Department reported it arrested 20 anti-ICE protesters Monday, pulling officers away from their regular duties. Meanwhile, Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen has been silent about the public safety issue. Dozens of protesters descended on the Green Hills headquarters of private prison company CoreCivic and blocked the entrance, the department said in a press release. Ten of those arrested had chained themselves together. Five of those arrested were from Nashville. Those charged are named in the press release. CoreCivic has contracts with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Nashville Scene said. Jeannie Alexander of the No Exceptions Prison Collective, told the Scene that the group is protesting in solidarity with others occupying ICE offices across the country. “But what’s unique about Nashville is that we’re the only city in the United States that has the headquarters of CoreCivic,” Alexander told the Scene. “ICE is their biggest customer. And the way the prison industrial complex continues to grow and [what makes] targeting immigrant families so much easier is that corporations like CoreCivic are building internment camps and they’re profiting off of it.” While Alexander’s group spent its time protesting, Nashville’s police force spent its resources protecting the…
Read the full storyYes, Negative Ads Worked in Tennesee GOP Gubernatorial Primary!
In the wake of the Tennessee Republican primary for Governor, won by Bill Lee in a late surge where he garnered 37 percent of the vote versus 24 percent for Randy Boyd, 23 percent for Diane Black and 15 percent for Beth Harwell, some analysts have claimed the results show that negative ads do not work. Actually, the final margins seem to prove that negative ads work quite well.
Read the full storyCommentary: If Talk Is Cheap President Trump Can Afford A Heap of Chatter with Foreign Leaders
To meet or not to meet, that is the question. Or at least it’s a query on the minds of a lot of people these days as President Donald Trump appears to be making his internal White House “open door” policy extend to the rest of the world. Trump famously met with Trump peace through strengthNORK dictator Kim Jong-un in June, Russian leader Vladimir Putin last month and has now offered to meet up with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani anywhere, anytime (or something like that).
Read the full storyK-12 Schools Bringing in Drag Queens to Teach Gender Ideology
by Rob Shimshock K-12 schools are bringing drag queens into the classroom to teach gender ideology, a Thursday video revealed. Teachers are praising “Drag Queen Story Hour,” according to a clip released by videographer Sean Fitzgerald and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The program “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.” Maurice Sendak Community School, a public school located in Brooklyn, New York, hosted a drag queen and first grade teacher Alexis Hernandez marveled at the event in a testimonial published on Drag Queen Story Hour’s website. “Drag Queen Story Hour gave my first graders a fun and interactive platform to talk and think about social and emotional issues like acceptance, being yourself, and loving who you are,” Hernandez said. “During our debrief … [students] were preaching the incredible lessons they had learned, like ‘it’s OK to be different,’ and ‘there’s no such thing as “boy” and “girl” things.’” The first grade teacher said she would be hosting the event again the following year. Katrina Green, a teacher from Chickpeas Preschool in Brooklyn, also lauded the program. The event “allows preschool children to deepen and complicate their ideas…
Read the full storyIndicted Lawrence County Sheriff Jimmy Brown Loses Election
Lawrence County Sheriff Jimmy Brown, who is under indictment for alleged abuse of power, lost his re-election bid last Thursday. And, a race with statewide interest is drawing questions over irregularities. Military and law enforcement veteran John Myers, a Republican, beat the Democratic sheriff by 53 percent to 31 percent, The (Columbia) Daily-Herald reported Saturday. Independent Rick Osborne took approximately 16 percent of the vote. ‘Boss Doss’ loss raises questions The Lawrence County election process was called into question, especially over the narrow defeat of State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma) lost to newcomer Clay Doggett, The Tennessee Star reported. A 16 hour delay occurred in the reporting of the results in the Republican primary. “The fact that several different and inconsistent vote numbers have been reported from Lawrence County over the past 24 hours raises serious questions about whether the disparities are due to incompetence or actual technical issues or something more sinister. The fact that the Secretary of State’s office seemed to have no idea that there were problems indicates that an investigation or a full audit is in order,” Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill said. Late Friday, the Election Administrator’s office confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Lawrence…
Read the full storyChicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Facing Backlash for Prioritizing Illegal Immigrants over Citizens
by Nick Givas Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel received backlash, on “Fox & Friends” Friday, for favoring illegal immigrants over American citizens. Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell attended a Thursday protest in Chicago, where citizens marched against gun violence and demanded Emanuel’s resignation. “Honestly, the residents of Chicago are fed up with Rahm Emanuel’s inaction,” Caldwell said. “In addition they are fed up with the violence. They don’t see any change.” Caldwell interviewed protesters in the crowd and one of them called Emanuel a “con man” who wants to “keep black folks divided.” Another protester said the city is headed for financial ruin, while another took issue with Emanuel giving preferential treatment to illegal immigrants. Caldwell said he found it surprising so many Illinois Democrats were willing to work with President Donald Trump to help the city of Chicago, given the current atmosphere of political division. “I found it to be particularly interesting that there are leaders within the Democratic Party in Illinois who are seeking the help of outside resources such as President Trump,” Caldwell concluded. Fox News reached out to Emanuel for a statement, but he did not respond to their request for comment. – – – Nick Givas is…
Read the full storyEPA Releases Long-Delayed Report Showing Ethanol Hurts the Environment
by Jason Hopkins An extensive report from the Environmental Protection Agency found that including ethanol into the U.S. gas supply is wreaking havoc on the atmosphere and soil. In a study titled “Biofuels and the Environment: The Second Triennial Report to Congress,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that ethanol derived from corn and soybeans is causing serious harm to the environment. Water, soil and air quality were all found to be adversely affected by biofuel mandates. “Evidence since enactment of [the Energy Independence and Security Act] suggests an increase in acreage planted with soybeans and corn, with strong indications from observed changes in land use that some of this increase is a consequence of increased biofuel production,” read a portion of the 159-page report. The ethanol mandate has negatively effected water quality, with greater biofuel production resulting in more harmful algae blooms and hypoxia. While most algae is harmless to water, some forms — such as the kind produced in Lake Eerie from biofuel feedstock — has emitted toxic chemicals into the water. This harmful algae can consume the oxygen in the water, a process known as hypoxia, killing other wildlife. Increased irrigation — fueled by growing demand for ethanol — has…
Read the full storyMetro Nashville Schools Director Ducks Questions on Sexual Harassment And His Handling of Complaints
Metro Nashville Schools’ director is ducking questions on alleged widespread sexual harassment — and coverups — in his district, news outlets are reporting. NewsChannel 5 reported last week that school director Dr. Shawn Joseph tried to run from their reporter who wanted an interview on the topic and his role in the investigations. The TV station has tried to interview him since June 5. He tried to dodge the station’s reporter at a news conference to ask about Dr. Sam Braden, the executive principal of John F. Kennedy Middle School in Antioch. Among other things, Braden allegedly hired a school employee from an adult bookstore he allegedly frequented, NewsChannel 5 said. He was placed on administrative leave two days after the station aired its story on him. Spinning the damage Joseph sent a memo to school board members, saying he was “concerned that the reporter … will report on information that was ‘alleged’” and he wanted to lobby the Tennessee General Assembly to keep human resources files secret, the station said. NewsChannel 5 also reported the school board met in closed executive session to discuss Braden. Braden’s lawyer, Michie Gibson, released a statement saying, “Dr. Braden denies all allegations made…
Read the full storyPresident Trump: Fake News Media Is at It Again with Reports About Trump Jr. Meetings
by Chris White President Donald Trump dinged “Fake News” Sunday morning for pushing what he called fabricated reports that he is concerned about his son’s decision to meet in 2016 with a Russian lawyer. “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower,” Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to reports Saturday suggestinghe is concerned Donald Trump Jr. is in legal trouble with respect to Special Council Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling. Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018 “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” Trump said, noting the details about a meeting his son had during the presidential campaign with Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who promised to provide “dirt” on former Secretary of State…
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