TDEC Has a History of Mismanaging Taxpayer Money and Other Government Resources

  Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation made headlines this week for hosting a swanky event where they hobnobbed with the special interests they’re supposed to regulate. But this is not the first time TDEC officials’ have allegedly used poor judgment when it comes to how they manage government resources and taxpayer money. The Tennessean recently reported about an after-hours meet up between TDEC regulators and representatives from the state’s chemical waste, and construction industries. The annual event is known as the Environmental Show of the South. The event is three days and consists of workshops and networking events. Members of these private industries pay for the venue, the food and prizes for TDEC employees, according to The Tennessean. Tennessee legislators and Republican Gov. Bill Lee are reportedly unhappy about the arrangement. Organizers held this year’s Environmental Show of the South in Chattanooga last month. But this is not the first time TDEC has made headlines for alleged mismanagement or abuse of taxpayer-funded resources. As The Tennessee Star reported the past several months: • TDEC booted deputy Brock Hill from his job after he allegedly sent a female state employee a series of reportedly disgusting texts. TDEC…

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Commentary: Trump Shows Value of Tariffs as Foreign Policy Tool

by Christopher Roach   The great American foreign policy debate began with the two parties’ divide over Vietnam. Until the Vietnam War, Republicans and Democrats more or less held to a consensus on the value of containment. After the war, Republicans favored unilateralism, a strong military, and clear-sighted pursuit of national interests that included the use of force against foreign threats. George W. Bush exemplified this thinking, and his early, bold action in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001, found success in spite of knee-jerk criticism from the Left. On the other side, the Democrats favored multilateralism, negotiations and diplomacy, and a preference for domestic wealth redistribution over military investment. A persistent Democratic criticism of the Iraq campaign was not that it tried to introduce democracy into a broken part of the world, but rather that Bush failed to obtain the blessing of France. Democrats, particularly John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign and Barack Obama in 2008, treated diplomacy like magic, where consensus was an end in itself. Mere talking would align other nations more closely to our preferred path. The main foreign policy debate of the 2004 and 2008 elections was the Iraq war. In 2004, Bush remained firm…

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GOP Divided on Trump’s Mexico Tariff Threat

by Jason Hopkins   Republicans in the House and Senate appear divided in their reaction to President Donald Trump’s threats to slap Mexico with incremental tariffs. “There is not much support in my conference for tariffs, that’s for sure,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday after a closed-door lunch between administration staffers and GOP senators, where White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin and Assistant Attorney General Steve Engel took heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers. “We are hoping that doesn’t happen.” Other Republican senators publicly voiced their concerns about taxing Mexican imports — a move the president is threatening to execute unless their government does more to stem the illegal immigration crisis. “When it comes to applying a tariff to Mexico, I for one would not support that. I do not favor tariffs being applied to friends like Mexico,” GOP Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said, according to Politico. “If there’s a vote I think it’s a very difficult vote for those of us who oppose tariffs. I would not be inclined to vote [for] a tariff against a friend.” Discussing the closed-door talks in a harsher tone, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford reportedly said the White House “is trying to…

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Tennessee Comptroller Faults Seven Counties for Not Filing Emergency Operations Plan

  Seven out of eight counties tested did not submit a Basic Emergency Operations Plan to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for 2018, as state law requires, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers just released. County officials who don’t submit a BEOP endanger their own communities’ safety and well-being, auditors said. “Without the ability to obtain all counties’ BEOPs, TEMA management and staff cannot review and approve the plans to ensure the counties are prepared in the event of a disaster,” auditors wrote. “It is important for counties to revise and adapt their plan to address new hazards, and failure to update these plans and to coordinate with TEMA could affect the state’s ability to effectively respond to and recover from disasters.” The audit did not name the seven counties. According to the audit, officials in these seven counties did not even request an extension to submit their plans late. TEMA spokeswoman Maggie Hannan did not name the seven counties either in an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star. “All 95 counties in Tennessee have Basic Emergency Operations Plans,” Hannon wrote. “Over the last two years, our planning team has developed tools and practices to streamline and simplify the planning…

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Seventy-Five Years Later: D-Day Remembered by Those Who Were There

D day

  Seventy-five years ago today, the United States joined with Great Britain, the free French forces, and Canada to mount a bold invasion of the beachhead in Normandy, France as a last-ditch effort to gain a foothold in Europe against the conquering forces of Hitler’s Germany. To commemorate this significant event, President Donald Trump read the prayer President Franklin Delano Roosevelt read over the radio while the troops stormed the Normandy beaches during his Great Britain visit Wednesday. Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. They will need Thy blessings, for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. But we shall return again and again. And we know that by thy grace and the righteous of our cause our sons will triumph. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Thy will be done Almighty God Amen The…

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Report: Economic Output in U.S. States Dwarfs Most Countries

by Bethany Blankley   The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is more than $21 trillion, dwarfing the economies of most other countries in the world. China’s GDP hovers over $14 trillion; Japan’s over $5 trillion. The U.S. is neither the largest country by land mass nor population (4.4 percent of the world’s population) yet its GDP represents 24.2 percent of the global GDP. Most Americans can’t appreciate or comprehend how large these GDPs are, explains Mark J. Perry, professor of finance and business economics at the University of Michigan-Flint and scholar at The American Enterprise Institute. That’s why he creates a map every year comparing economies of states to countries to “help people understand how enormously large the U.S. economy is,” he told The Center Square. Four states, California, Texas, New York and Florida, produced more than $1 trillion in output. If they were each countries, they would have ranked in the world’s 16 largest economies in 2018. California’s GDP was greater than the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (U.K.); Texas’ was larger than Canada’s; New York’s was larger than Russia’s, and Florida’s is comparable to Indonesia’s. Combined, they produced nearly $7.5 trillion in economic output…

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Survey: Americans Think Fake News Is Big Problem, Blame Politicians

  Half of U.S. adults consider fake news a major problem, and they mostly blame politicians and activists for it, according to a new survey. A majority also believe journalists have the responsibility for fixing it. Differences in political affiliation are a major factor in how people think about fake news, as Republicans are more likely than Democrats to also blame journalists for the problem. The question of how to deal with made-up or misleading stories has embroiled politicians, civil-rights organizations and tech companies in the aftermath of misinformation campaigns by Russians and others aimed at undermining democratic institutions in the U.S. and Europe. A survey from the Pew Research Center, released Wednesday, finds that 68% of U.S. adults believe fake news affects confidence in government institutions. Misinformation was cited more often as a major problem than sexism, racism, illegal immigration or terrorism. Pew typically left the definition of “made-up news and information” open-ended, though some questions specified that it was information “intended to mislead the public.” As for who’s to blame for false information, 57% pointed the finger at political leaders and their staffs, while 53% said activist groups bore responsibility. Journalists and foreign actors such as Russia each…

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Commentary: Why I’m Never Going Back to California

by George Rasley   Recently, Dr. Drew Pinsky spoke with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade about the horrific conditions on the streets of Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city, before making the frightening prediction, “There will be a major infectious disease epidemic this summer in Los Angeles.” Pinsky described to Kilmeade what he believes to be the almost medieval conditions in the City of Angels and compared local politicians to Nero, the infamous Roman Emperor who allegedly fiddled while his nation burned. “We have tens and tens of thousands of people living in tents. Horrible conditions. Sanitation. Rats have taken over the city. We’re the only city in the country, Los Angeles, without a rodent control program. We have multiple rodent-borne, flea-borne illnesses, plague, typhus. We’re gonna have a louse-borne illness. If measles breaks into that population, we have tuberculosis exploding. Literally, our politicians are like Nero. It’s worse than Nero,” Pinsky said. Homelessness and trash are a growing problem for residents in Los Angeles and as the garbage piles up, so do the rats, fueling concerns about flea-borne typhus, according to a report this week. Pinsky said the city’s homeless situation and sanitation crisis are out of hand and politicians…

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Top US, Mexican Officials Meet on Tariffs, Migrant Surge

  Top U.S. and Mexican officials are meeting Wednesday in Washington about President Donald Trump’s threatened 5% tariff on imported products from Mexico if it does not curb the surge of Central American migrants heading north toward the United States. With Trump in Europe for 75th-anniversary commemorations of D-Day, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are meeting at the White House with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and other officials. In Ireland, Trump said, “I think Mexico has to step up and if they don’t, tariffs will go on and if they go high, companies are going to move back into the United States.” Trump said Mexico “wants to make a deal,” but that if it cannot stop the migration, “we just won’t be able to do business. It’s a very simple thing. And I think they will stop it… They’ve sent their top people to try and do it. We’ll see what happens today. We should know something.” National security concerns In advance of the talks, a White House official said on condition of anonymity, “Trade and all other aspects of our relationship are critically important, but national security comes first and the White House…

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About 1,000 Migrants Cross Into Mexico, Start Walking to US

  Hundreds more Central American migrants have crossed into Mexico from Guatemala, and a group of about 1,000 has started walking en mass to the north. State and local police accompanied the migrants Wednesday as they walked along a highway leading from the border to the first major city in Mexico, Tapachula. In recent months Mexico has used raids and roadside checkpoints to discourage highway marches such as the massive migrant caravans that occurred in 2018 and early 2019. But no such dissuasive force was seen Wednesday. The migrants say they aim to reach the U.S. border, where many plan to request asylum. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on Mexican imports unless Mexico does more to stop the passage of migrants through its territory.             VOA News

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Alabama Might Castrate Sex Offenders If This Bill Becomes Law

by Mary Margaret Olohan   Certain convicted sex offenders in Alabama might be chemically castrated if Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs legislation on her desk. Republican Alabama state Rep. Steve Hurst introduced H.B. 379 to target sex offenders and protect children. If someone is convicted of a sex offense against a child younger than 13 and is eligible for parole, that person would be chemically castrated by the Department of Public Health, according to WSFA News. The chemical castration would reduce testosterone or other hormone production. “This bill would provide that a person convicted of a sex offense involving a person under the age of 13 years who is eligible for parole, as a condition of parole, shall be required to undergo chemical castration treatment in addition to any other penalty or condition prescribed by law,” according to the bill. Hurst said he wishes physical castrations were possible. “I’d prefer it be surgical, because the way I look at it, if they’re going to mark these children for life, they need to be marked for life. My preference would be, if someone does a small infant child like that, they need to die. God’s going to deal with them…

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US House Votes to Protect ‘Dreamer’ Immigrants

  The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation to end the threat of deportation that has long hung over undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” who entered the United States when they were children. By a vote of 237-187, the Democratic-controlled House approved the legislation despite opposition from the White House, which said the move would “reward illegal immigration.” Only seven Republicans voted for the bill. There have been no signs that the Republican-controlled Senate would consider the House bill, likely leaving this Democratic initiative to be fought over during the 2020 presidential and congressional election campaigns. Earlier in his administration, Republican President Donald Trump said he wanted to help Dreamers, many of whom were very young when they arrived in the United States with their parents. But following a series of failed negotiations, Trump mainly has focused on clamping down on immigration and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out undocumented immigrants from Central America and other countries. The Democratic bill would shield an estimated 2 million Dreamers from deportation if they meet certain criteria, and put them on a path to U.S. citizenship. Some of these immigrants have had temporary protections under a program…

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Tim Ryan Releases Statement in Support of Impeachment Proceedings

  Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said the House “must begin impeachment proceedings” in a statement released Tuesday morning. Republicans criticized Ryan, a 2020 hopeful, for using the impeachment issue to “breakthrough in a crowded primary field” and “satiate his radical base.” But Ryan claims he came to the decision “after much thought and consideration and after both reading the Mueller report and hearing directly from the Special Counsel.” “In America, no one is above the law. In America, we have an elected president, not a king. In America, the people govern,” Ryan began his statement. “We must fully expose the lawlessness which has already occurred and prevent additional lawlessness from occurring. While it is unlikely that we will see a conviction in the Senate with its present Republican leadership more concerned with power and party than their constitutional duties and the rule of law, we can no longer sit by while a lawless president remains unchecked,” he continued. Statement on Impeachment pic.twitter.com/8pzx1zQnhC — Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) June 4, 2019 Ryan went on to suggest that avoiding impeachment would enable “this kind of lawless behavior to continue and to metastasize.” “Our republic cannot survive if we acquiesce to the view held…

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Minneapolis Official Calls for End to Car Ownership

  Sam Rockwell, president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, suggested in a recent op-ed for The Star Tribune that in order “to save the planet, we have to get over cars.” “The way we live our lives is how we got into this climate catastrophe in the first place. Of course we have to change. And that means driving less, not just switching which model sedan we buy. It means transforming how our personal needs relate to stewardship of our Earth and our communities,” Rockwell said in the article. He was responding to a May 20 article published in The Star Tribune that “paints a picture of an electric-vehicle-filled world,” which he doesn’t think would be enough. Rockwell pointed to Minneapolis’ “2040 Plan,” which explains that “even with the adoption of electric cars, a 38% reduction in passenger miles traveled by automobile is needed.” “If we are obliged to reduce car travel—and perhaps even ownership—does that mean we’re stuck with Jordan’s ‘dreary post-apocalyptic future’? Only if you believe Paris, Vancouver, and New York fit that description. These communities and many others are built around comprehensive transit systems,” Rockwell continued. “Success of these systems, and the dense land uses that support…

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Ohio Doctor Charged With 25 Counts of Murder for Ordering ‘Potentially Fatal Doses’ of Fentanyl

  William Husel, a former Ohio doctor who was fired and placed under investigation for ordering “excessive and potentially fatal doses” of fentanyl, was charged Wednesday with 25 counts of murder. According to WCMH, it’s one of the biggest murder cases ever brought against a medical provider in America. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien announced the indictment, which was filed by the Franklin County Grand Jury in connection with treatment administered by Husel at Mount Carmel and St. Ann’s Hospitals in Columbus. O’Brien said in a statement that each count in the indictment alleges that Husel “purposely caused the death” of all 25 patients. The indictment accuses Husel of ordering fentanyl doses ranging from 500 to 2000 micrograms and administering them to patients, which “shortened their life and hastened or caused their death.” As The Ohio Star previously reported, Husel was in some cases prescribing 50 times the recommended dose. According to a timeline of the investigation provided by the Mount Carmel Health System, the hospital began its investigation in October 2018 after receiving a report related to Husel’s care and terminated his employment by December 2018 after discovering that he ordered “excessive and potentially fatal doses for at least…

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Sen. Blackburn Introduces Resolution to Protect Freedom of Speech at Universities

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday about her newly introduced resolution to encourage free speech and inclusive debate on college campuses. Video of her remarks on the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019 is available here. College campus protests in the 1960s framed Americans’ ideas for what modern protests look like, Blackburn told the Senate. “Once-sleepy college campuses became the scenes of widespread unrest,” she said. Blackburn referenced the Supreme Court ruling in Healy v. James that found that Central Connecticut State University had deprived students of their First Amendment rights when the university prevented the formation of a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. Free speech of conservative views is being stifled at universities today, she said. Blackburn, in a press release, said, “On the eve of National Higher Education day, I am introducing the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019. It’s a first step in restoring sanity to free speech for American college students. It recognizes that universities should protect the free and open exchange of ideas and that freedom of speech is worth protecting in a world increasingly hostile to democracy.” The Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019 is…

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