Day: December 31, 2018

OFF THE RECORD: Has Governor-Elect Bill Lee Already Breached His ‘Contract with Tennessee’?

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During his campaign for governor, candidate Bill Lee released his “Ten for Tenn” plan that he called his “contract with Tennesseans.” He was very specific about his view that this somewhat detailed plan of action was a “contract.” “As a CEO, it is important to set the vision for my company, and I believe it is just as important to set the vision for the state as governor,” Lee said in a statement announcing his agenda, sent out as a press release by his campaign on July 3, 2018. “‘Ten for Tenn’ is my contract with Tennesseans, and I look forward to working to enact my conservative vision for Tennessee.” Lee tweeted about his “Ten for Tenn” contract with Tennesseans two days after he announced it, July 5, 2018, just one month before the Republican gubernatorial primary.   Read more about Ten for Tenn – my 10 top conservative priorities for Tennesseans https://t.co/Krq8kcBi1i pic.twitter.com/Qg9ao5uYQl — Bill Lee (@BillLeeTN) July 5, 2018   The Lee plan listed ten general agenda items that ranged from rethinking public education and “getting tough” on the state budget, to pursuing term limits and creating a new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The link on…

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Florida Sentinel Publishes Exhaustive Parkland Report: Sheriffs ‘Cost Children Their Lives’

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by Neetu Chandak   A report released Friday showed authorities and school officials either failed to act or were unclear about procedures when confronting the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter on Feb. 14. The South Florida Sun Sentinel released a minute-by-minute rundown of the Parkland shooting in, “Unprepared and Overwhelmed.” The Sentinel acknowledged many teachers and police officers were “heroic,” but Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) were unprepared. The shooting left 17 people dead. “A gunman with an AR-15 fired the bullets, but a series of blunder, bad policies, sketchy training and poor leadership helped him succeed,” the Sentinel wrote. There were three separate instances of school monitors failing to lockdown the school and calling for a “Code Red,” an indicator for people to hide in classrooms. Suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz was spotted on campus at 2:19 p.m., but a Code Red was not called until 2:24 p.m. Andrew Medina first saw Cruz walk through unguarded gates. Medina had previously predicted Cruz would shoot up the school, the Sentinel reported. David Taylor was another school monitor who followed Cruz on the first floor before turning around at 2:21 p.m. Taylor told investigators he wanted to confront…

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Bill Gates Reminds People Solar And Wind Alone Won’t Solve Climate Change

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Bill Gates

by Jason Hopkins   Bill Gates, writing in a year-end blog post, shot down the idea that renewable energy alone can sufficiently reduce carbon emissions and address the world’s fight against climate change. “Some people think we have all the tools we need, and that driving down the cost of renewables like solar and wind solves the problem,” the business magnate wrote Saturday in Gates Notes, his personal blog site. “But solar and wind are intermittent sources of energy, and we are unlikely to have super-cheap batteries anytime soon that would allow us to store sufficient energy for when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.” Instead, the founder of Microsoft touted the potential of nuclear technology. “Next year I will speak out more about how the U.S. needs to regain its leading role in nuclear power research,” he wrote. “Nuclear is ideal for dealing with climate change, because it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that’s available 24 hours a day.” The famous business magnate recognized the promise of nuclear energy for a long time. Gates is the founder of TerraPower, a nuclear reactor design company. TerraPower is working on an advanced nuclear reactor that would help innovate industry.…

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Elizabeth Warren Ignites More 2020 Speculation With Twitter Name Change

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by Molly Prince   The name of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign’s Twitter account changed Saturday night, reigniting speculation she has plans to launch a bid for the presidency in 2020. Renamed: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) campaign account"elizabethforma"=>"ewarren" — Elon Musk is dumb (@CongressChanges) December 30, 2018 @CongressChanges, a Twitter bot that monitors changes to lawmakers’ Twitter accounts, tweeted Warren re-named her account @ewarren. Prior to the change, the account was @elizabethforma, a nod to her home state of Massachusetts. Warren, who said in June she would not be running for president, seemingly flipped on her word and announced less than three months later she would take a “hard look” at launching a presidential campaign following the midterms. During an interview leading up to her November election, Warren refused to commit to serving her full term in the Senate if re-elected. The Massachusetts senator has also been quietly shopping for office space in the Boston area to headquarter her possible presidential campaign, according to a report earlier in December. The list of Democratic senators who are mulling over their own challenge to Trump in 2020 is continuing to grow. Following midterm elections, Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota announced they are considering a presidential…

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The Human History of Counting and Numbers

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by Peter Schumer   The history of math is murky, predating any written records. When did humans first grasp the basic concept of a number? What about size and magnitude, or form and shape? In my math history courses and my research travels in Guatemala, Egypt and Japan, I’ve been especially interested in the commonality and differences of mathematics from various cultures. Although no one knows math’s exact origins, modern mathematicians like myself know that spoken language precedes written language by scores of millennia. Linguistic clues show how people around the world must have first developed mathematical thought. Early clues Differences are easier to comprehend than similarities. The ability to distinguish more versus less, male versus female or short versus tall must be very ancient concepts. But the concept of different objects sharing a common attribute – such as being green or round or the idea that a single rabbit, a solitary bird and one moon all share the attribute of uniqueness – is far subtler. In English, there are many different words for two, like “duo,” “pair” and “couple,” as well as very particular phrases such as “team of horses” or “brace of partridge.” This suggests that the mathematical concept…

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Cyberattack Deals a Crippling Blow to Legacy News Giant Tribune Publishing Company

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Reuters   A cyberattack caused major printing and delivery disruptions Saturday at the Los Angeles Times and other major U.S. newspapers, including those owned by Tribune Publishing Co., such as the Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun. The cyberattack appeared to originate outside the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a source with knowledge of the situation. The attack led to distribution delays in the Saturday edition of The Times, Tribune, Sun and other newspapers that share a production platform in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported. Tribune Publishing, whose newspapers also include the New York Daily News and Orlando Sentinel, said it first detected the malware Friday. Malware The West Coast editions of the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times were affected as well because they are also printed on the shared production platform, the Los Angeles Times said. Tribune Publishing spokeswoman Marisa Kollias said the virus hurt back-office systems used to publish and produce “newspapers across our properties.” “There is no evidence that customer credit card information or personally identifiable information has been compromised,” Kollias said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Most San Diego Union-Tribune subscribers were without a newspaper Saturday as the virus infected the company’s business systems and hobbled its ability to publish,…

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Commentary: The Not-So-Fabulous ‘Fabulists’

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by J. D. Hayworth   A familiar cacophony arises again from the city John F. Kennedy once described by as a place of “Southern Efficiency and Northern Charm.” Washington, D.C. reprises its role as the epicenter of leftist “wailing and gnashing of teeth” over another “government shutdown” that really isn’t. A Northerner seldom described as charming – Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) – offered a predictable assessment on the Senate floor. “President Trump is plunging the country into chaos,” said the Senate minority leader. Really? From within the bowels of the bureaucracy comes this dispatch from a candid worker, who, for his own personal and professional security, shall remain nameless: Here is the truth: 75 percent [of government] is funded. Any actual “shutdown” will not start until Wednesday. The overwhelming majority of my staff . . . was planning to take next week and Monday [December 31] off. In addition, every one of those “furloughed” federal employees will get full pay. Furthermore, because they have played this game for a long time, many of them did not put in for leave until they knew. Since there is a shutdown, they will effectively get a paid vacation and keep the leave they would…

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New Census Data Show Migration to Low-Tax States

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by Chris Edwards   The Census Bureau has released new data on state population growth between July 2017 and July 2018. Domestic migration between the states is one portion of annual population change. The Census data show that Americans are continuing to move from high-tax to low-tax states. This Cato study examined interstate migration using IRS data for 2016. The new Census data confirms that people are moving from tax-punishing places such as California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey to tax-friendly places such as Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Tennessee, and South Carolina. In the chart, each blue dot is a state. The vertical axis shows the one-year Census net interstate migration figure as a percentage of 2017 state population. The horizontal axis shows state and local household taxes as a percentage of personal income in 2015. Household taxes include individual income, sales, and property taxes. On the right, most of the high-tax states have net out-migration. The blue dot on the far right is New York with a tax burden of 13 percent and a net migration loss of nearly 1 percent (0.92) over the past year. On the left, nearly all the net in-migration states have tax loads…

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Outgoing Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly Echos Defeated Missouri Sen McCaskill’s Warning: Dems Need To Lay Off Left Wing Politics

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by Chris White   Democratic Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly said Saturday morning that Democrats need to avoid lurching to the left or risk alienating middle America. He’s the second outgoing Democratic lawmaker to issue such warning. Medicare-for-all and other traditionally left-wing ideas are too politically poisonous to sell in red states, the Indiana senator told CNN in a sit-down interview. Democrats need to do a better job of connecting with voters in middle America, Donnelly added. “We have not made enough of a connection … that the people of my state understand culturally, we (Democrats) want to make sure you succeed,” he said. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has pushed hard to make climate change and Medicare-for-all a high dollar issue for Democrats. But Donnelly is warning Democrats to tread lightly. “[W]hen you talk ‘Medicare-for-all’ … you start losing the people in my state,” he noted. “When we start talking about, ‘Hey, we’re going to work together with the insurance companies to lower premiums,’ that’s what connects.” The ideal candidate to oppose President Donald Trump in 2020 is someone who can focus on issues like manufacturing and health care, said Donnelly, who lost his re-election bid in November to Republican Mike…

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2018 Marks the Fall of Social Media

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by Michelle Quinn   Silicon Valley has enjoyed years of popularity and growing markets. But 2018 has been rocky for the industry. Data breaches, controversies over offensive speech and misinformation — as well as reports of foreign operatives’ use of their services — have left many people skeptical about the benefits of social media, experts say. Worries about social media in Congress meant tech executives had to testify before committees several times this year. “2018 has been a challenging year for tech companies and consumers alike,” said Pantas Sutardja, chief executive of LatticeWork Inc., a data storage firm. “Company CEOs being called to Congress for hearings and promising profusely to fix the problems of data breach but still cannot do it.” An apology tour Facebook drew the most scrutiny. The social networking giant endured criticism after revelations that its lax oversight allowed a political consulting firm to exploit millions of its users’ data. In the spring, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, went on what was dubbed “an apology tour” to tell users that the company would do a better job of protecting their data. The California firm faced other problems when data breaches at the site compromised user information. Other…

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Ohio Legislation Sets Age Requirement for Marriage

Andrew Shirley

On Thursday, the Ohio Senate unanimously passed a bill that would effectively end child marriage in the state of Ohio. House Bill 511 (HB 511), introduced on February 14th, 2018, would establish eighteen as the minimum age to get married, regardless of gender, with few exceptions. As the law currently stand, under Ohio Revised Code 3101.01, the minimum age of marriage is eighteen for men and sixteen for women. However, if certain conditions are met, marriage can be legal at almost any age, should the parent and judge consent. In addition, Ohio is one of only seven states that permits the minimum age to be lowered when a woman is pregnant. The other six are Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. In early September 2017, the Dayton Daily News published their findings of an investigation into the practice of child marriage in the state of Ohio. The report revealed a shocking litany of statistics, most notably that: 4,443 girls age 17 or younger were married in Ohio between 2000 and 2015, including 59 who were 15 or younger. Ohio saw statewide, bipartisan, outrage over the practice and two bills were introduced addressing the issue, one in the Senate and…

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Departing Minnesota AG Lori Swanson Thanks Disgraced Sen. Al Franken on Her Way Out

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General Lori Swanson (D-MN), who will leave office in January after 12 years in the position, published one last op-ed in The Star Tribune recently to thank her colleagues for helping her along the way. Among those she thanked are Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN), former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), and disgraced former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), who resigned from his seat in early January after facing multiple sexual harassment allegations. “Against this backdrop, I’d like to relate some of what I learned over the last 12 years,” Swanson writes, taking a subtle jab at “political correctness.” “I learned from Sen. Al Franken. In 2012, I was being attacked by several former White House chiefs of staff for my lawsuit against the politically connected Accretive Health. Yet, Al Franken held a U.S. Senate hearing so that patients could testify about the atrocities committed by the company, which had embedded bill collectors in the emergency rooms of Minnesota hospitals,” Swanson recalls. The hearing “blunted the political mischief,” Swanson continues, thanking Franken “for showing others that you can succeed when standing up to powerful special interests.” In November, Swanson convened a task force to discuss potential changes to Minnesota law surrounding alcohol…

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Rep. Steve Cohen: Republicans in Congress ‘Complicit with Trump and Everything He’s Done to Violate the Constitution’

Chris Butler

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, went on CNN this week and attacked President Donald Trump as “out of control,” without providing evidence to support this assertion. As reported, Cohen is about to assume a senior position on the House Judiciary Committee once Democrats officially retake that branch of Congress. Cohen’s statements were so transparently anti-Trump that even CNN host Dana Bash had to ask if he was concerned — as a Democrat in a red state — about overreach. “I don’t think there will be overreach because I think this man has done more things that need oversight that have been neglected for the last two years,” Cohen said. Cohen went on to say Trump is “out of control” and there “are numerous areas” where Trump needs oversight. Cohen, however, failed to offer any specifics to back up what he said. Bash then asked Cohen how he plans to proceed once Robert Mueller releases his report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cohen immediately drew a comparison between the Mueller investigation and Watergate, which brought down President Richard Nixon. “Like in Watergate it will be a roadmap in areas where we need to proceed,” Cohen said,…

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