Day: September 16, 2018

Franklin Workshop Offers to Teach People of All Ages How to Talk Politics Without Losing Friends

Jason M. Reynolds

An Oct. 6 workshop in Franklin is offering to help high school students – or people of all ages – learn how to have political conversations without losing friends – and there is a taco feast too. The event is titled the Communications Workshop – Getting Your Friends to Understand Why. The Leadership Institute is holding the training from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Marriott Cool Springs, 700 Cool Springs Blvd. in Franklin. State Senator Dr. Mark Green (R-TN) is the guest speaker. High school economics students may remember the adage, “There is no such thing as a free lunch” (TINSTAAFL), referring to the cost of decision-making and consumption. So what’s the cost of this training workshop and lunch? Only $5. The event page for more information and registration is available here. But the organizers say the worskhop is not only for high school students, but also for any professional who needs advice on crafting his or her communications abilities. According to the Leadership Institute, “The Communications Workshop is designed to help you better connect with your friends. The workshop provides an in-depth look at how you can design and improve your political communications in person and online. You…

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Is a Sewage Disaster Looming in Thompson’s Station and Williamson County?

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Thompsons Station sewer

Over a decade ago the regional sewer system for Thompson’s Station began leaking, indicating major problems with the system that had shifted most of the community from septic tanks and which helped fuel the residential and commercial development that has produced dramatic growth in the past decade. Despite dire warnings regarding a potential disaster if the two cells that compose the Town’s Regional Wastewater Facility failed, including huge costs, devastating impact on property values, and the likelihood that millions of gallons of untreated sewer water could pour into the groundwater and into the water supply of the community and surrounding areas, the Town has not been successful in resolving the issue. Limitations on the current wastewater system, and approvals for development in Thompson’s Station, have already produced at least one lawsuit. If a moratorium on development becomes necessary because sewer system fails, then residential developments already authorized for sewer taps may also initiate litigation. The Thompson’s Station regional wastewater system uses a drip irrigation for sewage treatment, in which the waste is filtered, cleaned and dripped into the soil. This process requires a much larger area than traditional wastewater treatment plants. Each of the two Thompson’s Station cells hold large…

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FLASHBACK: Keith Ellison Once Proposed Making a Separate Country for Blacks

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Keith Ellison

by Justin Caruso   Some newly discovered columns shed light on the shocking views expressed by one of the Democrat’s favorite politicians. According to columns written several years ago in the Minnesota Daily, obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller News Foundation, Ellison was once a proponent of a blacks-only nation carved out of America and cash reparations paid from whites to blacks. Ellison also called the U.S. Constitution the “best evidence of a white racist conspiracy to subjugate other peoples.” Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, now in the running to be DNC Chair, has attracted the support of Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Harry Reid. Many think that Ellison, an African-American Muslim, would make a powerful statement leading the DNC. Ellison’s past has gained attention from the media, with Ellison being accused of anti-Semitism and ties to the Nation of Islam. Back in 2006, when Ellison was first entering national politics, Scott W. Johnson wrote in the Weekly Standard: “Ellison was born Catholic in Detroit. He states that he converted to Islam as an undergraduate at Wayne State University. As a third-year student at the University of Minnesota Law School in 1989-90, he wrote two columns for the Minnesota Daily under the name “Keith Hakim.” In the first, Ellison refers to ‘Minister…

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President Trump’s New Executive Order Is a Positive Step for Securing Elections

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by David Inserra and Klon Kitchen   President Donald Trump’s new executive order allowing the sanctioning of foreign individuals attempting to influence American elections is a necessary step in the right direction, but more can be done. The Heritage Foundation consistently recommends pushing back against nation-state actors who use cyber and other means to attack American interests. This new executive order is a welcome response to these recommendations. The executive order—which establishes an interagency process for determining if foreign influence has occurred and for sanctioning those responsible—is inherently reactionary. But it does attempt to change the calculus of hostile foreign heads of state, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, by incrementally constraining those “foreign persons” that other governments and entities use to conduct these cyber-attacks and illicit influence operations. Those who dismiss this executive order because it is not a “silver bullet” risk misunderstanding the challenge and the nation’s needs, as well as the diffuse nature of our country’s unique, decentralized election administration system. There is no single action the president can take to remove the threat of foreign influence. Instead, what is needed is a coherent suite of policies that proactively deters these attacks and punishes those responsible when they occur. Such a policy cocktail will…

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Tennessee to Beef Up TV Production Incentives

Chris Butler
tv production crew

Despite past problems and controversies, Tennessee officials are piling on more incentive money for TV production crews to film within the state. That’s because they want another show just like “Nashville,” which aired for several years on ABC and then on CMT. State officials are now offering incentives for more non-resident labor — but only to a point, according to a Tennessee Entertainment Commission Press Release. “Our primary goal is to help cement a permanent and thriving motion picture industry in Tennessee; one that provides extremely well-paying jobs for Tennesseans and also embodies Tennessee’s creative spirit,” said TEC Director Bob Raines, in a press release. With the new conditions, in place this month, qualified scripted television series that spend more than $500,000 per episode in Tennessee and include a “Filmed in Tennessee” logo are eligible to receive up to 30 percent in grant support for their spending on Tennessee labor. “TEC will also incentivize up to 25 percent of non-resident labor for qualified scripted television series,” Raines said. “This non-resident compensation will be capped at $2 million. We consider this critical for television shows that are casting the top acting talent in the business.” The “Nashville” TV series reportedly employed…

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State Medical Board Has A Simple Solution To Help Amid Physician Mental Health Crisis

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by Evie Fordham   The Washington State Medical Commission (WMC) is taking a step to combat the high suicide rate among physicians by making physician licensing questions more friendly to doctors who have sought psychiatric help. Updates to Washington state’s licensure questions will focus on an individual’s current impairment rather than if a doctor has had mental health problems at any point in the past. Many doctors fear their reputations and even licensure are at risk if they seek help from a psychiatrist for feelings of burnout or even suicidal thoughts. Currently, many doctors are “having to sneak out of town, pay cash and use a fake name” when seeking help from a mental health professional, family physician Pamela Wible told Kaiser Health News. She is a self-proclaimed “voice for ideal medical care” and has gathered more than 1,000 stories of doctor suicides for her website to help people better understand the issue. The WMC expects to update the questions in December after the changes were voted on in June, WMC Executive Director Micah Matthews told The Daily Caller News Foundation via email. “Historically, medical license applications asked if the applicant has ever had any medical conditions or substance abuse that may impair their practice,” Matthews…

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One Dirty Secret Behind Green Energy – African Cobalt Mining

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mining

by Tim Pearce   Cobalt mined under harsh conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a key component in items such as electric vehicles and iPhones sold around the world. Congolese freelance workers venture into dangerous mines to collect the valuable mineral with nothing more than shovels and picks. Many use their bare hands, and miners regularly suffer crippling injuries or death, The Wall Street Journal reported. The cobalt mined in Congo ends up all over the world in the form of lithium batteries and electronics. Pressure has mounted on the world’s largest companies to purge hand-mined cobalt from their supply chains since Amnesty International detailed working conditions in Congo in 2016. Many companies have pledged to cut support for such mines, but cleaning up a supply chain is often difficult and seldom foolproof because of the number of parties involved and the stranglehold Congo has on the market. Darton Commodities Ltd., a U.K.-based cobalt-trading firm, found that Congo is the source for roughly two-thirds of the world’s supply of cobalt, WSJ reported. “When we speak to companies along the battery value chain, this is one of the biggest issues they have,” Wood Mackenzie analyst Milan Thakore told WSJ. “How do we…

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Venezuela’s New Currency Does Little So Far To Stabilize Economy

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Nicolas Maduro

by Hanna Bogorowski   Venezuela introduced a new currency on Aug. 20 as a hopeful solution to the country’s rapidly devaluing currency and skyrocketing inflation rates, but after just a few weeks, Venezuela is already seeing 100 percent inflation. The Venezuelan government issued the new currency, called the “sovereign” bolivar, to replace the “strong” bolivar, NPR reported on the day of the rollout. The new bolivar is worth about 100,000 of the old bolivars, and is pegged to the government’s cryptocurrency, the petro. The Bloomberg Cafe Con Leche Index revealed Thursday that the price of a cup of coffee has risen to 50 bolivars. For comparison, 50 of the new bolivars is 5 million of the old ones, after President Nicolas Maduro removed five zeros on July 25 in an effort to stabilize the economy and simplify transactions. The annual inflation rate is now hitting over 100,000 percent. Venezuela is currently suffering through a five-year crisis that is leaving it with a collapsed economy, hyperinflation and a complete breakdown of public goods and services, including deteriorating roads, food shortages, disturbing water cleanliness, failed electricity, high crime and a lack of adequate medicine for the sick. The conditions in Venezuela are causing mass migration flows out of the…

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Rally in Washington Will Urge Disillusioned Democrats, Leftists to ‘#WalkAway’

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by Rachel del Guidice   The founder of the movement that showcases stories of why people are walking away from leftist ideology and the Democratic Party is bringing a march and rally to Washington next month to send a message he hopes the mainstream media won’t be able to ignore. It’s a milestone for what he calls the #WalkAway Campaign. “We are only just over 3 months old, and at this point on all social media platforms, we have over 370,000 people who are members of the #WalkAway Campaign who have created testimonials that are a part of it,” Brandon Straka, founder of the campaign, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “No one from the left-wing media has ever even reached out to me for a comment, let alone an interview or to have me on to talk about it,” Straka said, adding: What they have done instead is put out stories saying it is a fake campaign, that it’s Russian bots, that it’s Russian propaganda, that it’s paid actors, that the testimonials are fake, that they’re stolen images from Shutterstock with fake testimonials attached, just anything you can imagine. The march and rally will be held Saturday, Oct. 27. The event…

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Commentary: Whatever Happened to Normalcy?

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by Jeffery Rendall   Under the “it was bound to happen” category comes news of an imprisoned English transgender man being accused of sexually assaulting his/her fellow female inmates. Not surprisingly the U.K. media was thoroughly confused by the case and didn’t quite know how to treat it. John Ellis of PJ Media reported, “A man who believes he is a woman was charged with raping a woman (guess ‘she’s’ a lesbian) and was housed in a female prison. In a case of ‘well, duh,’ this rapist did what rapists do – he sexually assaulted four female inmates… “[In its report] The Telegraph use[d] the deluded man’s preferred pronoun, adding to the environment that fosters the idea that it’s okay to house male rapists in a female prison. They refuse to see through the stupidity and stake out a position of sanity… “After the female inmates reported the man, he was transferred to an all-male prison, where he should’ve been in the first place. The four assaults on female inmates did not have to happen. If society hadn’t lost its mind pretending that men can be women and women can be men, these four assaults wouldn’t have happened. On at least some level, transgender…

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‘Nasty Woman’ Ashley Judd Endorses Karl ‘Marx’ Dean for Governor

Jason M. Reynolds
Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd has tweeted her endorsement of Karl Dean for Tennessee governor. The Tennessean reported the story Friday. Did you know that 54% of voters are women? We absolutely have the power to influence an election! I am so proud to endorse my friend, former Nashville Mayor @KarlFDean, in race for governor of the great state of #Tennessee. — ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) September 14, 2018 Her Tweet read, “Did you know that 54% of voters are women? We absolutely have the power to influence an election! I am so proud to endorse my friend, former Nashville Mayor @KarlFDean, in race for governor of the great state of #Tennessee.” The activist and actress is a Franklin resident and sister to country singer Wynona Judd. Judd is backing Dean because of her support for abortion and other reproductive rights, The Tennessean said. Dean said in July he was committed to maintaining access to healthcare for women when asked if he would support a bill making it harder to have abortions. This is far from Judd’s first bizarre entry into politics. In 2017 Judd slammed Donald Trump during a Women’s March on Washington, where she read a Franklin teen’s poem against the president.…

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