Day: January 28, 2019

New Bypass Helps People Avoid High Crime Memphis

Chris Butler

If you’re a Tennessee resident driving to Mississippi or Arkansas on Interstate 40 and you desperately want to avoid Memphis and its high crime and sanctuary policies then you have an option to do just that. If you’re heading westbound on I-40 toward Memphis you can connect with the new Interstate 269 at Arlington and head south to connect to Hernando, Miss. From there you can continue west toward Arkansas or go further south into Mississippi. I-269 only goes for about three miles in Tennessee before it crosses the state line into Mississippi, said Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman B.J. Doughty, in an email. Doughty told The Tennessee Star that the route opened in the fall of 2015. But The Star noticed GPS systems such as Waze and the iPhone Maps app only recently began suggesting the route as a way around Memphis. “The cost of the 2.9 mile section from Mississippi to SR 385 cost $42,654,646.01,” Doughty said. “This project cost was split – 20% state and 80% federal.” According to the Hernando, Miss.-based DeSoto Times-Tribune this month, construction crews completed the portion of the I-269 project, apparently in Mississippi, last fall. “The new interstate connects Tennessee’s State Route…

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Commentary: The Census Fight Is About Dollars and Votes

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by Rachael Bovard   While the national debate continues over how secure our border will be, another aspect of illegal immigration continues to snake its way through the courts. In 2017, the Trump Administration added a question about citizenship to the upcoming 2020 census; simply, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” Predictably, the administration was besieged by lawsuits from the Left, calling such a question unconstitutional, illegal, “a direct attack on our constitutional democracy,” and predicting it would “inject fear and distrust into vulnerable communities.” Never mind that questions about citizenship appeared on every long form census from 1820 to 1950. On the short form census, questions about citizenship were asked through 2000, and continue to be asked on the American Community Survey, which goes out to one in 38 households annually (go figure, the Left has not raised ire about the citizenship question on the ACS). Moreover, countries around the world, including Australia, Germany, and Canada, ask about citizenship—maybe because the United Nations recommends it. Also glossed over in the foamy outrage on the Left is the rank and hypocritical irony that census documents ask about race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, homeownership status, electricity bills, job status, age, and even the number of toilets in each house—but…

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Leaders Skip Davos Amid Domestic Troubles, Anti-Globalist Backlash

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The World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, that wrapped up Friday, had some notable absentees, including President Donald Trump. With a backlash against a perceived ruling elite gaining ground in many countries, analysts say some leaderssteeredclear of a gathering often seen as an inaccessible club for the world’s super-rich. Others argue it is vital they get together to discuss urgent issues like climate change and world trade. On the surface, though, it was business as usual: On a sealed off, snowbound mountaintop, world leaders rubbed shoulders with global executives, lobbyists and pressure groups. It remains a vital gathering of global decision-makers, said Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the U.S. and the Americas Program at policy group Chatham House. “They’re there to do business, they’re there to engage in an exchange of ideas. And so I think it’s still tremendously important.” President Trump stayed away because of the partial U.S. government shutdown, which ended Friday. China’s President Xi Jinping wasn’t there, neither was Britain’s Theresa May, nor France’s President Emmanuel Macron. “They’re tremendously preoccupied with the troubles they face at home, which isn’t a good sign for globalism. The criticism and the critique that surrounds Davos is extraordinary. People say, ‘You…

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Trump Donated $100,000 of His Salary to Help Fund Alcoholism Research

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by Jason Hopkins   President Donald Trump has donated $100,000 of his salary to the federal agency that manages research on alcohol and alcohol related issues. The sizable donation — which was the president’s third quarter salary of 2018 — was given to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the White House revealed. The NIAA “conducts research on the impact of alcohol use on human health and well-being” and serves as “the largest funder of alcohol research in the world,” according to the organization’s website. The research agency was just the latest recipient of Trump’s presidential salary. As a 2016 candidate, the billionaire real estate mogul pledged not to accept a salary if elected president. Trump, who by law must be compensated, has followed through on this promise by giving away his $400,000 annual government income to various federal departments every quarter. Since occupying the White House, Trump has donated to the National Park Service, Department of Transportation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration and other agencies. Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy are the only other U.S. presidents to refuse a salary while in office. The most recent donation is a personal issue for the president. Trump’s brother, Fred Trump Jr.,…

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Al Gore, UN Officials Team Up To Push A ‘New Deal For Nature’

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Tennessee Star

by Michael Bastach   United Nations has joined forces with former Vice President Al Gore to promote a sweeping environmental agenda that seems all to familiar: a “New Deal For Nature.” The U.N. is calling for a “New Deal For Nature” ahead of a biodiversity summit next year where some sort of global compact is expected to be agreed to, that is, if environmentalists get their wish. This newest New Deal got a boost at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland at a dinner co-hosted with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The dinner featured a rousing speech by Gore as guests ate their meals. “I refuse to believe that we are the generation who willingly and passively allowed the destruction of the world on our watch! Who is with me?” Gore said at the Thursday evening dinner. Environmentalists with Conservation International say such a New Deal is “essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement” to fight global warming. At its heart, however, this New Deal is a call back to warnings that underpinned “population bomb” fears, that humanity was sucking up Earth’s natural resources faster than they could be replenished. Those warnings fell flat as global population, food production and…

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A Possible Independent Presidential Run by Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Is Leaving Democrats on Edge

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Howard Schultz

by Jason Hopkins   Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s open consideration of an independent, third-party bid for the White House has numerous Democratic political operatives and candidates sounding the alarm. “I have a concern that if he did run, that essentially, it would provide [President] Donald Trump with his best hope of getting re-elected,” Julian Castro — a former Housing and Urban Development secretary under the Obama administration and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate himself — said Sunday when asked by CNN about Schultz’s possible run. “I would suggest to Mr. Schultz to truly think about the negative impact that that might make.” The Texas Democrat is far from the only one to allege that a third-party bid from Schultz would ultimately split progressive and moderate voters, paving the way for Trump to secure a second term. “.@HowardSchultz running for POTUS as an independent would put the froth on @realDonaldTrump’s Cinnamon Dolce Latte, splitting the opposition and making Trump’s low ceiling potentially high enough,” David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager, tweeted on Jan. 21. .@HowardSchultz running for POTUS as an independent would put the froth on @realDonaldTrump ‘s Cinnamon Dolce Latte, splitting the opposition and making Trump’s low ceiling potentially high enough.https://t.co/O6HsJAL8sP — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod)…

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Commentary: Who Owns America?

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by Pedro Gonzales   Anywhere from 11 million to 22 million illegal aliens reside in the United States today. The most recent research suggests that the higher number is closest to the correct figure. In and of itself, that is a crisis. New arrivals – legal and illegal – come to America all the time. Two-thirds of these, Steven W. Mosher writes, use food stamps and other forms of state-administered assistance, such as public housing, not long after they arrive in the country, leaving Americans with a $116 billion annual tab. Moreover, much of the savings these new arrivals manage to accumulate are sent out of the country as remittances, about $25 billion of which ends up in Mexico. More people today speak a single non-English language – Spanish – than ever before in American history. For the first time, too, the middle class has registered as a minority in our country – an issue no doubt exacerbated by the importation of droves impoverished foreigners. Media Fallacies That word, “crisis,” however, has become such an overused bit of sophistry among the mindless chattering classes, that it is hard to take it either literally or seriously. When I say mindless, I mean that the chatterers are incapable of seeing the word in…

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White House Chief of Staff Mulvaney Assures Trump Will Build Wall ‘With or Without Congress’

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The White House challenged opposition Democrats on Sunday to prove they want tough security on the southern border with Mexico now that the longest-ever partial government shutdown has ended and the clock is ticking on a three-week window for negotiations. Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s acting White House chief of staff, told Fox News Sunday, “This is a chance for Democrats to see if they believe in border security” to thwart illegal immigration and stop the flow of illicit drugs. But Mulvaney said the U.S. leader would secure the border “with or without Congress,” including by declaring a national emergency, if he has to. https://youtu.be/ZbnTJNe35bw?t=119 Mulvaney said the White House is “seeing Democrats starting to agree with the president” on the need for a wall along nearly 400 kilometers of the 3,200-kilometer U.S.-Mexico border, a stretch where Trump has demanded $5.7 billion in taxpayer funding for some type of barrier. The dispute shuttered about a quarter of U.S. government operations for 35 days, before Trump on Friday agreed with a Democratic demand to reopen the government until Feb. 15, without any wall funding, while the two sides negotiate over border security funding. Trump’s chief congressional antagonists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,…

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Democrats Targeting a Very Specific Demographic for 2020

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by Grace Carr   Newly-announced presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris will visit South Carolina Friday in an attempt to appeal to black women voters, who have historically been a solid voter base for Democrats. The California Democrat will visit with her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters during the trip to the early-primary voting state, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Ninety-two percent of black women voted Democrat in the state’s 2018 midterms, according to an Associated Press VoteCast poll. Black women made up 37 percent of the electorate in the state’s 2016 Democratic primary — the largest voting block when broken down by race and gender, according to a CNN exit poll. “Black women have enormous power. We vote overwhelmingly for Democrats no matter what,” said Our Revolution President Nina Turner. The group is an American progressive political action organization. Nearly 30 percent of South Carolina’s population is black, according to Census data. Black women were “critical” to Democrat Doug Jones’ victory over Roy Moore for the the Alabama Senate seat, according to Harris. Harris announced Monday that she is officially running to be the next president of the United States. Harris raised roughly $1.5 million Tuesday after her announcement. I'm running for president. Let's do this together. Join us: https://t.co/9KwgFlgZHA pic.twitter.com/otf2ez7t1p — Kamala Harris…

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Gregory Watson Commentary: Woodrow Wilson Began the Modern Tradition of Personally Delivering the SOTU Address to Congress in Order to Sell His Progressive Agenda to the Country

Gregory Watson

Among the many duties of the President of the United States is one that is found in Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: “He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient….” The Constitution does not specify in what manner the President is expected to furnish such “information” nor does it even suggest any certain season of the year — or any particular interval of time — that such “information” be provided. And, if conveyed verbally, the Constitution is silent as to from what physical location the President should perform this function. Commonly referred to as the “State-of-the-Union” address, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dubbed it in 1934, President George Washington, the first man to occupy the high office of President of the United States, delivered the initial such regular, annual message before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1790. President Thomas Jefferson, our country’s third President, decided it better instead to send his remarks in written form to then be read to the membership by high-ranking Congressional employees. Jefferson’s idea held for more…

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FAKE NEWS: Fact-Checker ‘Snopes’ Botches Nathan Phillips Fact-Check

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by Peter Hasson   Snopes, a left-leaning fact-checking website given preferential treatment by both Facebook and Google, flubbed its fact-check of American Indian activist Nathan Phillips’ false claim of being a Vietnam veteran. Phillips shot to national attention after a viral confrontation between him and a group of high school boys from Covington Catholic high school. Phillips, with the help of credulous national media outlets, said the boys mobbed and racially harassed him as he tried to leave the Indigenous People’s March. Video evidence debunked Phillips’s account. In addition to botching the details of the confrontation, media outlets also inaccurately reported that Phillips is a Vietnam veteran. Phillips described himself in interviews as a “Vietnam-times veteran” and groups affiliated with him told The New York Times that he fought in Vietnam. Phillips explicitly claimed in a 2018 Facebook video that he was a Vietnam veteran who served “in theater.” Military records show that Phillips never deployed to Vietnam, though his military service did include a long stint as a refrigerator technician. Snopes’s fact-check incorrectly labeled it “unproven” that Phillips had falsely claimed to be a Vietnam veteran. Snopes declined to change its misleading ruling despite definitive video evidence of Phillips doing exactly that. Both Facebook and Google give Snopes preferential treatment on their platforms, though…

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Durham City Council’s Proposed ‘Workers’ Rights Commission’ Backed by Statue-Toppling Communist

A.P. Dillon

A proposal being entertained for a “workers’ rights commission” by the Durham City Council has a vocal communist supporting the measure. The News and Observer reported that “activist Takiyah Thompson” stood in support of the measure: Activist Takiyah Thompson told the council it is no mistake that union membership in North Carolina and South Carolina is so low, given the states’ history of slavery. “Durham is a chocolate city,” Thompson said, meaning it has a large African-American population. “In the absence of strong unions, workers must have access to a body who will defend them to the constant attacks leveled to them from their bosses, and in a city with such a large black population.” The News and Observer did not mention that Thompson is more than just an activist, but in fact is a communist and a member of the communist labor organization, the Workers World Party. In 2017, Thompson gained national attention for her prominent role and subsequent arrest for the toppling of a Confederate statue in Durham. Thompson scaled a ladder, fastened a noose around the statue’s neck and then protesters pulled until the monument came crashing down. Durham law enforcement later arrested Thompson and charged her with…

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Florida Commissioner Who Criticized Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib Reprimanded by Colleagues

Anthony Gockowski

A Florida commissioner who suggested that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) might “blow up Capitol hill” was publicly reprimanded by her colleagues during a Wednesday night meeting. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub’s recent comments were the subject of a Wednesday night meeting, where her colleagues voted to issue a public reprimand. They accused Lima-Taub of promoting bigotry, fueling hatred and creating a hostile environment for Muslims, the Sun Sentinel reports. Lima-Taub, however, argued that she never once “mentioned Muslim or Islam,” and suggested that media in attendance were contributing to her “demise.” “I never ever mentioned Muslim or Islam. I repeat, I never ever mentioned Muslim or Islam. I do not hate or discriminate against any group, including Islam,” she said Wednesday, and revealed that she was receiving numerous death threats over her comments. Protesters on both sides of the debate showed up to Wednesday night’s meeting, causing multiple recesses throughout the meeting. The Sun Sentinel reports that more than 200 people gathered outside the meeting space in support of Lima-Taub. “She’s a patriot,” one protester said. “We live in a democracy and what’s happening today with her own peers is not a democracy.”…

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Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown: I Can Beat Trump in Ohio and New York

Andrew Shirley

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown may not be officially running, but that’s not stopping him from making some bold predictions. In a surprisingly aggressive statement, the third term senator declared: I would say that I will beat Trump in Ohio, where they know me best. I’ll beat him in my home state and I’ll beat him in his home state of New York, where they know him best. Brown made the statement during a wide-ranging interview on CNN’s “The Van Jones Show.” The senator has not officially declared that he is entering the race. He is presently in the middle of a listening tour that he has dubbed the “Dignity of Work” Tour. He will be visiting Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. While declaring that he is capable of winning both his home state as well as one of the most progressive states in the country would leave him two-hundred and twenty-three electoral votes short of winning the presidency, the statement suggests something broader than just those two states. It can be inferred by his approach that Brown is attempting to execute on a rather unique campaign strategy. Brown believes that he is capable of harmonizing a Democratic-Socialist platform with a moderate, populist…

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Ilhan Omar Lands $250K Book Deal Amid Outcry Over Past Comments

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has landed her first major book deal with Dey Street Books and will receive an initial commission of up to $250,000. The deal was announced on Publishers Marketplace and is said to chronicle Omar’s “journey fleeing war in Somalia as a little girl, becoming a refugee in her early teens, and making her way against unspeakable odds to become the congresswoman-elect from Minnesota as a collection of remarkable firsts.” The book will be titled This Is What America Looks Like, and Omar will work with a collaborator on its production, according to Forbes. Day Street Books Executive Editor Alessandra Bastagli told Forbes that Omar submitted a book proposal last year. “I’ve been following Rep. Omar’s career since 2016 and was thrilled to receive her excellent book proposal on submission last year,” Bastagli said. “Her voice on the page is very much as it is in real life—fresh and positive even when she is tackling serious issues, with real empathy and deep knowledge.” Both Bastagli and Omar’s literary agent Steve Ross hinted that her memoir will touch on the Trump administration and its policies. “Her story counters everything we keep hearing from the current administration and the…

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Lamar Alexander Says Nancy Pelosi Ought to Let Congress Settle Border Wall Debate

Chris Butler

Control over the border wall debate in Washington, D.C. needs to shift to Congress and out of Nancy Pelosi’s hands, said U.S. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, in a FOX News appearance this past weekend. Alexander said this as Congress has three weeks to negotiate over border security funding before the federal government possibly shuts down again. For 20 years, members of Congress have known that a comprehensive border security plan requires more personnel, more technology, more customs agents, more border agents, and, yes, a wall, Alexander told FOX News host Maria Bartiromo. Alexander sits on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. “President (Donald) Trump is asking for about 234 more miles of physical barrier as part of a comprehensive plan that would not build a wall from shining sea to shining sea, as he said,” Alexander said. “It would simply do what we’ve been doing for 20 years. I am optimistic that the committee, which, just last summer, in the Senate, approved another $1.6 billion for 65 miles of physical barrier, will be able to come up with a compromise.” Even if Trump gets his way, about 1,000 miles of the U.S./Mexican border would still go without a wall,…

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