Day: February 21, 2019

Rep. Green Asks Secretary of State to Designate Drug Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Reps. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) and Chip Roy (R-TX-21) announced they will lead a group of House Republicans on sending a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ask that drug cartels using terrorist tactics be labeled as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. A copy of the letter is available here. Green served on tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan during the War on Terror. Green and Roy said, in a press release, that their purposes for asking for a terrorist designation are: • To make it unlawful for any person who knowingly provides “material support or resources” to the cartel to enter the United States. • To prevent any member of a designated drug cartel from legally entering the United States. • To allow the Secretary of the Treasury to block all assets possessed or controlled by the drug cartels. • To further stigmatize these groups both at home and abroad. The U.N.’s Security Council has previously acknowledged the link between drug trafficking and terrorism, the congressmen said. Green said, “These cartels have utilized barbaric tactics including those adopted by ISIS and al Qaeda – murdering and torturing innocents, destabilizing countries and assassinating members of law enforcement. Moreover, they threaten our homeland…

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Commentary: Politicized Schools Are Radically Transforming Our Nation

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by Jay Schalin   If somebody wanted to fundamentally transform society to its roots, where would he or she start? The most logical starting point would be education. And if there were one part of the educational system that would produce this transformation most broadly, effectively, and efficiently, it would most likely be at our schools of education that train teachers for the K-12 classroom. That’s where ideas from the rest of academia are inserted into the curriculum for elementary and high school students, and where politically unsophisticated young people are turned into classroom teachers. Control the schools of education, and the education system will eventually be yours to forward your political agenda. Remarkably, that is just what has happened in this country. Over 100 years ago, when our education schools were just starting up or growing from two-year normal schools to university status, Progressive educators set out to transform the nation into one that was based on social science theories, collectivism, and central planning. How successful were they? Several years ago, I started an investigation into how politicized education schools have become. Today, the Martin Center is releasing the results of that investigation in a new report, titled “The…

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Controversial Pigeon Forge Principal Reportedly Steps Down

Chris Butler

A Pigeon Force principal who allowed a football coach to use a middle school teaching gig to put a former college teammate with a history of sexual misconduct on his high school coaching staff is stepping down, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel. But, according to the paper, he’ll still get a paycheck. “With parents and concerned citizens organizing a protest next week outside his school, Principal Scott Hensley announced he has decided to step down as principal of Pigeon Forge Middle School, via a statement released by Sevier County Schools,” the paper reported. “Despite what his own boss called a string of ‘mistakes’ by Hensley in the hiring of a teacher now accused of trying to lure a 13-year-old girl to his middle school office to show her naked photographs, the school system is allowing Hensley to fill an administrative job that wasn’t supposed to be filled and funded until next school year.” Hensley will serve as attendance coordinator for the remainder of the school year, Sevier County Schools’ attorney Chris McCarty told the paper. “The district had plans to add the position of attendance coordinator in next year’s budget, so Hensley’s placement (in that job) will simply provide an early…

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Elon Musk ‘Certain’ Tesla Will Be Producing Self-Driving Cars By Year’s End

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by Chris White   Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted Tuesday that the electric vehicle automaker will begin producing purely self-driving cars by the end of 2019. The mercurial tech guru has made similar predictions in the past. Musk argued in 2015 that his company would complete a self-driving feature within two years; it never happened. He’s now doubling down on that forecast. The Silicon Valley billionaire told Cathie Wood and Tasha Keeney of ARK Invest that he is certain of this prediction. “I think we will be ‘feature complete’ on full self-driving this year, meaning the car will be able to find you in a parking lot, pick you up, take you all the way to your destination without an intervention this year,” Musk said, referring to Tesla’s long-awaited self-driving feature. “I am certain of that. That is not a question mark.” Musk did add one important caveat. The speed at which customers adopt the technology depends on the rules regulators hammer out for such vehicles, he said. “My guess as to when we would think it is safe for somebody to essentially fall asleep and wake up at their destination? Probably towards the end of next year,” Musk added.…

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Bernie Sanders Emerges As Early Frontrunner As Democrats Line Up to Announce for 2020 Race

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by Molly Prince   Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is kicking off his campaign for the presidency as the leading candidate for the Democratic ticket in 2020. Sanders announced on Tuesday that he will be officially launching a bid for the presidency to continue the “political revolution” that he began in 2016. He has been consistently polling as the top contender behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to reveal his presidential aspirations. Of the candidates who have officially entered the race, Sanders has been leading the pack for months. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist is significantly ahead in the polls compared to his fellow presidential hopefuls, according to Real Clear Politics’ average of polls. Sanders is nearly seven points ahead of Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris on average and nine points ahead of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Sanders unsuccessfully ran a 2016 presidential campaign as a Democrat. Although his run was initially considered a long-shot bid, Sanders won 23 primaries and caucuses. He also won more than 45 percent of pledged delegates, compared to challenger Hillary Clinton’s 54 percent. Sanders is no longer an unknown candidate; he has a ready-made network of staff and volunteers and maintains…

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The Tennessee Star Report: Congressman John Rose Talks Washington Work Relations and Urban vs. Rural Expectations

Julie Carr

In a specific discussion on Wednesday morning’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – host Steve Gill talked in depth with in-studio guest Congressman John Rose about his impression of how Washington works as a new freshman member of Congress. The men went on to further discuss the implications of rural versus urban needs and expectations and how that creates an involuntary divide of interests. Gill: As a new Congressman, what’s been your biggest impression of what you thought it would be like versus what it’s actually like? Rose: Well it’s a good question and it’s one I get often. There is a dysfunction in Washington. There’s no doubt about it. And I think the degree to which that’s true is a little bit eye opening for me. So that’s probably been the biggest impression that I’ve seen. Its just the dysfunctionality of the way Congress operates. Gill: Well as a business guy it’s clearly not run like a business. You have to constantly be scratching your head going, “And we’re doing this, why?” Rose agreed with Gill’s statement…

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Closed Tennessee Primaries Possibly On the Way

Chris Butler

A bill in this year’s Tennessee General Assembly would, if enacted into law, require people register with a political party before they vote in any Tennessee primaries. State Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, sponsors the bill. According to TNJ: On the Hill, Holt’s bill advanced on a voice vote in the Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee Wednesday. Not all Republicans, however, are reportedly keen on the idea. “Former Republican Gov. Bill Haslam called closing primaries ‘a silly proposal,’ arguing that if the change had been made earlier, it would have been much harder for Republicans to get to the position of power they’re in today,” TNJ: On the Hill reported. “Gov. Bill Lee, who won the Republican nomination amid record turnout in last year’s gubernatorial primary, was similarly dubious about the proposal, telling reporters that ‘the current system we have is working.’” According to the website, anyone in Tennessee can vote in a party primary if they are affiliated with it. In other cases, the voter must declare allegiance to that political party in a primary in which they intend to vote. “The law has been interpreted to mean that seeking a party ballot is a declaration of allegiance. In practice, many Tennesseans…

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Bill Lee Won’t Say if Lee Company Might Benefit from Amazon Deal with Tennessee

Chris Butler

The administration of Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee won’t say whether the Lee Company will receive a cent for any services it may offer Amazon before or after the latter sets up shop in Nashville. No one at the Lee Company will say anything either. Nor will anyone at Amazon. No one at either of the two companies or inside Lee’s staff would return The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment on the matter Wednesday. As The Star reported, city and state officials have offered $105 million in incentives to Amazon, something certain people have called corporate welfare. In exchange, Amazon is to offer 5,000 jobs for a $230 million operations center. This all happened before Lee took office in January. Specifically, The Star wanted to know whether Amazon might offer the Lee Company even a single penny for facility management or other services for any Amazon activities in Nashville. As The Tennessean reported, Lee stepped down as chairman of the Lee Company last month, before taking the oath as governor. Lee placed his company’s holdings into a blind trust. As the Nashville-based WKRN reported this month, Lee told a Sumner County audience he met with Amazon officials about its plans…

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How Many Times Trump’s Predecessors Declared a National Emergency

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by Fred Lucas   The push for a border barrier marks President Donald Trump’s fourth declaration of a national emergency—about a third as many as his three immediate predecessors in their two terms. The number of declared emergencies puts Trump on a par with Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. President Gerald Ford, who signed the 1976 National Emergencies Act, did not declare an emergency under it. His successor, Jimmy Carter, made two such declarations during his single term—one of which is still in effect. In all, 32 presidential declarations of a national emergency remain in effect, counting Trump’s action Friday, while 21 expired or were canceled. The overwhelming majority of national emergencies involved either blocking access to U.S.-held assets for bad actors on the world stage or preventing financial transactions with those countries or with international entities and individuals. Trump’s three immediate predecessors—Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton—each served two four-year terms. Obama declared a national emergency 13 times and nine of those emergencies are still in effect, according to the Congressional Research Service. The younger Bush declared a national emergency 14 times, and 10 are still in effect. Clinton made 14 declarations, six of which…

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Al Gore Says Ralph Northam Can Atone for Blackface Scandal By Opposing Gas Pipeline

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by Michael Bastasch   Former Vice President Al Gore said Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam can fulfill his “racial reconciliation” pledge by opposing the Atlantic Coast pipeline, which he called a “racist rip-off.” “This is an ideal opportunity for him to say, ‘I’ve seen the light,’” Gore said at an anti-pipeline town hall in a historically black part of Buckingham County, Virginia, as part of an “Environmental Justice Tour,” the AP reported. Gore appeared on stage with his daughter Karenna Gore, Rev. Dr. William Barber II, environmental activists and residents of Union Hill, a historically black neighborhood, who oppose the Atlantic Coast pipeline. Gore and climate activists see Northam’s recent blackface controversy as a way to turn him against the Atlantic Coast pipeline. Northam’s political future was thrown into doubt early in 2019 after his medical school yearbook photos surfaced, showing a picture of an individual in blackface and another in a KKK hood. Northam apologized for being in the photo, but, one day later, claimed he wasn’t in the photo amid calls for his resignation. He did, however, admit to wearing shoe polish for a dance contest in 1984. The embattled Democratic governor refused to resign, and wanted to…

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Gorka Commentary: How President Trump Broke the Left

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by Sebastian Gorka   Whatever happens in the years to come, American politics can never return to what they were before Nov. 8, 2016. Why, you ask? Because a brash TV celebrity businessman from Queens broke the media, broke Washington D.C., and broke the self-appointed “elite” on both coasts. The stake he drove through their hearts will endure no matter who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. First, they laughed at Donald Trump the candidate. At his appearance, at his demeanor, at his outré stump speeches. Then, when he wiped the floor with the 16 establishment Republican candidates they panicked. The criminal cartel that is the Clinton machine hired a former British intelligence officer—who hated Donald Trump the man—to generate a “dossier” of outlandish and false opposition research that was used by Barack Obama’s thoroughly corrupt Justice Department and FBI to gain under bogus pretenses a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance warrant to spy on her opponent’s campaign. But they failed. That is when the coup plot was hatched. I do not use that word lightly. However given that both the liberal judicial authority Alan Dershowitz, and the most preeminent conservative historian and strategist, Victor Davis Hanson, have recently used the word “coup”…

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The Number of Illegals Caught at the Southwest Border Nearly Doubles, DHS Reports

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by Jason Hopkins   Apprehensions of illegal migrants at the southwest border in January increased dramatically from the same time last year, and experts predict 2019 will experience increases in illegal migrant arrests overall. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — a subset agency of the Department of Homeland Security — reported a total of 47,893 apprehensions of illegal migrants in January at the southwest border, a region of the U.S.-Mexico border that is the most active. The number marked an increase of nearly 22,000 arrests, or 84 percent, from January 2018. The huge uptick could suggest more illegal immigrants will try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 than originally anticipated. Princeton Policy Advisors, a group that analyzes immigration trends, is currently forecasting 606,000 apprehensions for the entire year, but left the door open to increase this projection. “The January numbers don’t yet warrant an upward revision in our forecast of 606,000 apprehensions in 2019. But we are on notice,” Steven Kopits, president of Princeton Policy Advisors, stated to the Washington Examiner. “Buckle your seat belts: 2019 could be a wild ride at the southwest border.” The January numbers reflect a growing trend at the U.S.-Mexico border. Nearly…

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Minnesota State Rep Introduces Bill to Increase Criminal Penalties for Hate Crime Hoaxes

Anthony Gockowski

A Republican lawmaker plans to introduce legislation in the Minnesota House to increase the criminal penalties for hate-crime hoaxes in response to the ongoing controversy surrounding “Empire” star Jussie Smollett. Rep. Nick Zerwas’ (R-Elk River) proposed bill would elevate the false reporting of a hate crime to a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail or a fine of up to $3,000, or both. Current Minnesota law categorizes providing false information to law enforcement officers as a misdemeanor. “Hate crimes are among society’s most heinous and despicable acts. Those that commit bias-motivated crimes deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Zerwas said Wednesday. “Unfortunately, false claims of victimization distract from genuine episodes of violent bigotry and discrimination. My bill is a reasonable step to help deter individuals from filing false police reports and to make sure that we devote law enforcement’s limited resources to investigating and prosecuting legitimate bias-motivated crimes.” In a Wednesday press release, Zerwas said he was motivated to introduce his legislation after reports indicated that the highly-publicized hate crime against Smollett was likely a hoax. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Chicago police suspect that Smollett paid the two perpetrators to…

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Michigan Governor Costs Town 250 Jobs After Blocking Immigrant Detention Center

Anthony Gockowski
Whitmer MI Capitol overcast

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) recently blocked the sale of a former state prison set to be used as an immigrant detention center. According to The Associated Press, Whitmer prevented the sale from moving forward after Immigration Centers of America, the sole bidder for the property that has been closed since 2009, couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t house adults separated from their children. “The governor believes that building more detention facilities won’t solve our immigration crisis, and she also believes that separating families doesn’t reflect our Michigan values,” a Whitmer spokesperson explained. The sale of the Deerfield Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan was allowed to move forward under Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration. Rep. Thomas Albert (R-86), whose district includes the correctional facility, has repeatedly criticized Whitmer’s decision to block the sale. “I would really like to know what the governor’s plan is to bring 250 well-paying jobs to Ionia and how she plans to clean up the long-vacant former prison property. The sale of this blighted property has been in the works for well over a year and the governor’s heavy-handed rejection came days before the sale was to be finalized,” Albert said in a statement on Facebook. “It’s obvious…

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Ohio Governor DeWine to Announce Gas Tax Hike

Andrew Shirley

At an annual forum sponsored by the Associated Press, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday he intends to formally recommend raising the current gas tax. The recommendation will come as he introduces his first two-year transportation budget Friday. Despite appointing an Advisory Committee on Transportation Infrastructure Issues specifically to explore alternative solutions to simply raising the gas tax, the governor made it clear he felt there was no real alternative. He did make a point to say the hike is “just to keep us where we are today and with the ability to do some safety projects that absolutely need to be done.” It can be inferred from this statement that his intention is to raise the gas tax enough to not let the state’s road and bridge repair funding deficit get worse than it currently is. This suggests that the tax hike would be more modest relative to addressing the full scope of road and bridge repair needed in Ohio. Currently, there is a $1 billion gap in funding. The current state tax on gas in Ohio is 28 cents per gallon. However, when combined with federal and local taxes, the total amount climbs to just about 46.5 cents per gallon.…

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Comptroller Pulls Back Curtain Behind UT Knoxville’s Sex Week Programs

Jason M. Reynolds

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville is facing the music over the controversial event known as Sex Week, with the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office sending a report to legislators pointing out that very few students attend the university-supported program. A copy of the report by the Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability is available here. The report was given to the Senate Education Committee Wednesday. Legislative leadership requested a review of the week-long event which has been held at UTK each spring since 2013. The event is organized by Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee (SEAT), a registered student organization (RSO). A 2017 story by The Tennessee Star revealed the titles of some of the Sex Week classes, such as “Having an Affair With Yourself.” The names go downhill from there. According to the Comptroller, SEAT’s membership is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of UTK’s enrollment, and has refused administrators’ requests to “tone it down.” The Comptroller’s Office says: • SEAT is one of about 600 RSOs at UTK, all of which are eligible to request student activity fee funding. In four of the past five years, SEAT received the highest allocation of student activity fee funds, including about…

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