June 2019 - Page 7 of 9 - Tennessee Star

US Treasury Chief: Trump ‘Perfectly Happy’ to Tax More Chinese Imports

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin said Sunday that President Donald Trump would be “perfectly happy” to tax more imports from China if the U.S. leader cannot reach a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet later this month. “We made enormous progress, I think we had a deal that was almost 90% done,” Mnuchin told CNBC. “China wanted to go backwards on certain things,” which Beijing has denied. “We’ve stopped negotiating,” Mnuchin said, with the next steps depending on Trump’s meeting with Xi in Osaka, Japan at the G-20 meeting of world leaders at the end of June. “The president will make a decision [on tariffs] after the meeting,” Mnuchin said. “I believe if China is willing to move forward on the terms that we were discussing, we’ll have an agreement. If they’re not, we will proceed with tariffs.” Trump has already imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, but now is weighing whether to tax an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese products, a move that would encompass virtually all Chinese goods exported to the U.S. The world’s two biggest economies have sparred for months over a trade deal, but not been able to…

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Bernie Sanders Stands by ‘Fake Border Crisis’ Comments, Criticizes Trump’s Deal with Mexico

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

by Jason Hopkins Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders dodged questions Sunday when explicitly asked if he would call the situation at the U.S.-Mexico a “crisis.” CNN host Dana Bash asked Sanders on CNN’s “State of the Union” about a tweet he sent Wednesday in which he called the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border a “fake border ‘crisis.’” Bash, however, noted that U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered over 144,000 illegal migrants in May, the highest number in 13 years. “Border facilities are dangerously overcrowded. Migrants are actually standing on toilets to get space to breathe. How is that not a crisis?” Bash asked the Vermont senator. In response, Sanders accused President Donald Trump of wielding a political strategy that involves demonizing illegal immigrants and Muslims in order to divide the country. He then called for changes to asylum laws that bring in “a whole lot more legal staff and judges.” Bash interjected, asking again if he would call the situation a crisis. “It is a serious problem, but it is not the kind of crisis that requires demonization of desperate people who in some cases have walked a thousand miles with chair children,” Sanders said. “It is an issue we have to deal with.…

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Trump Says Twitter Should Reinstate All of the Conservatives it Banned

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

by Chris White President Donald Trump wants Twitter to grant amnesty to the handful of conservative pundits who have been banned from the platform in recent months. “Twitter should let the banned Conservative Voices back onto their platform, without restriction. It’s called Freedom of Speech, remember. You are making a Giant Mistake!” Trump wrote in a tweet Sunday. His post comes amid speculation that his reelection campaign is considering opening an account on a conservative version of Twitter. Twitter should let the banned Conservative Voices back onto their platform, without restriction. It’s called Freedom of Speech, remember. You are making a Giant Mistake! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2019 A senior member of Trump’s campaign told reporters in May that the president was looking into joining Parler, a fledgling social media network created in 2018 that caters to conservatives. The structure of the Parler app is similar to that of Twitter. User posts are limited to 1,000 characters, which other users can then support by “voting” and “echoing,” as opposed to “liking” and “retweeting.” The company is still small. The site has roughly 100,000 users in total. Twitter, by comparison, claims 326 million. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, is syncing itself deeper into social media platforms like…

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Commentary: The Right Needs to Take Language Seriously

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

by Deion A. Kathawa The Left’s ideas receive a major boost in ubiquity and apparent credibility because progressives control nearly all of the America’s major taste-making institutions: Hollywood, the universities, K-12 education, and the media. Such control allows progressives to set the terms of national debates, demarcating the range of acceptable opinions on any given subject. It gives rise to another ability: the power to (re)define terms by fiat. After all, when the vast majority of the most credentialed people in virtually all of the most influential organs of civil society are saying X, the average person is hard pressed to meaningfully push back and say Y. The sheer saturation of the information space is a formidable hurdle for even the most savvy to overcome. Take immigration, for example. The Left insists, night and day, that true Americans should be perfectly happy to accept virtually unlimited migrant flows through our southern border. Not only that, but compassion demands we accept virtually all comers. Only bigots could want controlled immigration. As for the national interest, surely it’s in our interest to open our country to strivers and Dreamers. See what just happened? Our historical practice of accepting large numbers of immigrants, contingent on the need to build up a young America, has…

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Trump Confident New Migrant Pact with Mexico Will Succeed

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

President Donald Trump claimed Sunday that Mexico “for many years” has not been cooperative to curb the surge of migrants traveling through it to reach the United States, but believes a new agreement will alleviate the problem. The president warned, however, that “if for some unknown reason” Mexico does not stanch the flow of Central American migrants heading north to the U.S., “we can always go back to our previous, very profitable” imposition of tariffs on Mexican exports sent to the United States. “But I don’t believe that will be necessary,” he added. A deal announced Friday calls for Mexico to dispatch 6,000 troops to its border with Guatemala to halt the flow of migrants, while the U.S. gained new authority to force asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their legal cases in the U.S. are pending. Trump said there is one particular provision of the pact that has yet to be disclosed but will be announced “at the appropriate time.” “There is now going to be great cooperation between Mexico & the USA, something that didn’t exist for decades,” he said on Twitter. “Now I have full confidence, especially after speaking to their President (Andrés Manuel López…

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Law Enforcement Announces More TennCare Arrests in Knox, Williamson, and Blount Counties

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Chris Butler

Tennessee officials have arrested more people on charges of TennCare fraud. According to a press release, authorities with the Office of Inspector General and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office charged a Loudon County woman in Knox County with doctor shopping for prescription drugs and using TennCare as payment for the pills. Authorities arrested April L. Finger, 45, of Loudon (pictured, right). “An investigation led to the identification of five different instances in which Ms. Finger failed to disclose to her medical providers that she had been receiving prescriptions for the painkillers hydrocodone and Tramadol from other providers, using TennCare as payment,” according to a press release. “A review by the Knox County District Attorney’s Office led to criminal charges for three counts of TennCare fraud.” District Attorney General Charme P. Allen is prosecuting, according to the press release. OIG officials along with members of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office this week announced the arrest of Jamie M. Frisell, 51, of Greenback (not pictured). Authorities charged the Blount County woman with TennCare fraud and theft of services more than $60,000. “Authorities say she falsely reported her income and marital status for the purpose of enrolling in the taxpayer-funded insurance program,” according to…

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Legal Expert Says Oberlin College’s Response to Verdict Could Hurt Them in Punitive Damages Hearing

June 10, 2019June 18, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

Oberlin College was ordered by a jury last week to pay $11 million in damages to a family bakery on campus that was falsely accused of racial profiling, but the monetary reward could triple during a punitive damages hearing scheduled for Tuesday. As The Ohio Star reported Sunday: The bakery, called Gibson’s Bakery, has operated on campus since 1885 and had a business relationship with the school until November 2017, when the bakery sued the school for numerous offenses, including libel, slander, and interference with business relationships. The conflict started in November 2016, the day after President Donald Trump’s election, after a black male student was stopped for shoplifting. He and two of his female peers eventually pleaded guilty to shoplifting and aggravated trespassing, but the damage to Gibson’s Bakery was already done. Students accused the business of racial profiling, organized protests outside of its storefront, and distributed flyers on campus that accused the bakery of having “a long account of racial profiling and discrimination.” On Friday, an Ohio jury ordered the college to pay $11 million in damages to the bakery for siding with the student protesters. In response to verdict, Oberlin College Vice President and General Counsel…

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Michigan State Rep Larry Inman Charged with Bribery Is Seeking Treatment for Opioid Use

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

by Tyler Arnold Michigan state Rep. Larry Inman, R-Traverse City, is seeking treatment for opioid use after being indicted on bribery charges. His attorney, Christopher Cooke, said that Inman sought treatment last week and had been using the drugs for several years after he was prescribed the medicine following major surgeries, the Associated Press reported. Cooke said that Inman and his physicians “will continue to evaluate his ability to effectively serve his constituency as his treatment progresses,” according to the report. Inman has faced calls for resignation from both sides of the aisle after he was charged with bribery, extortion and lying to a federal officer. The charges allege that Inman requested money from a labor union in exchange for a vote against repealing the state’s prevailing wage law. The union said it did not provide Inman the money and Inman voted in favor of repealing the law. In the text messages Inman sent to the union’s representatives, he referenced 11 other representatives who were allegedly seeking money. Some of the representatives were named in the text, but those names were redacted from the court documents. Inman was quickly removed from the House Republican Caucus after the indictment and House Speaker…

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Ohio River Commission Opts to Introduce New Standards, Drawing Ire of National Wildlife Federation

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

by Steve Bittenbender A multistate organization in charge of improving the quality of one of the country’s most important rivers voted on Thursday to adopt a new plan on how to ensure states meet water pollution standards. By a 19-2 vote, with one abstention, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) passed a measure at its meeting in Covington, Ky., that now gives states more flexibility in regulating water standards. It capped a more than more than four-year review process for the panel on how those standards are established. The states represented on the commission are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Richard Harrison, ORSANCO’s executive director and chief engineer, told The Center Square the review came about as the commission looked at the best way to utilize its resources. While the commission, which was established in 1948, had established mandatory requirements for the states, commissioners began to wonder if those regulations were duplicative of federal standards established in the Clean Water Act. Last October, the commission proposed a measure that would have essentially done away with the standards. However, after significant pushback from the public, the commissioners tabled that “and went back to…

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Official Tells Florida Democrats to Expect Recount in 2020

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Admin

The new voter protection director for Florida Democrats told party activists on Saturday that they should assume there will be a recount during next year’s presidential election. “We are going to be prepared,” Brandon Peters (pictured, foreground) told a packed room of Democratic activists at the state party’s Leadership Blue 2019 meeting at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Peters, who was hired by the state party last month, said there will be teams of volunteers trained in how to monitor county canvassing boards for recount problems around the state, should one take place in the 2020 presidential election. Florida became famous for recounts after the 2000 presidential election, and last year there were recounts in three statewide races. The Florida Democratic Party is the second state Democratic party in the nation to hire a voter protection director, behind the Georgia Democratic Party. Peters said by July 2020 he hopes to have 15,000 lawyers and volunteers in place around the state to address any voter problems. Those problems include making it difficult for ex-convicts to register after Florida voters last year passed a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to as many as 1.4 million felons and creating earlier deadlines for…

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Sen. Blackburn Calls for More Boots of the Southern Border, Closer Look at Big Tech Business Practices

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is gaining attention for her strong stands on border security and “big tech.” On Saturday, she joined Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on “Cavuto Live” to discuss her trip to the border in El Paso, Texas, Friday to meet with Customs and Border Patrol officials. Blackburn also discussed how Congress should assess the size of big tech companies. ‘Big tech’ Cavuto called it “an odd confluence of events” to have many Republicans and Democrats agreeing on a subject — the need to watch “big tech.” Regarding “big tech,” Blackburn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said “They are big ad companies. They have pretty much built monopolies in their space and it is time to review their practices and see how much we know about what they are doing with, as I call it, your Virtual You – you and your presence online.” Congress needs to “do a deep dive” and examine the companies’ business practices before making any sort of recommendations to the Department of Justice, Blackburn said. In April, Blackburn said tech companies should embrace “the spirit of the First Amendment,” The Tennessee Star reported. She called out media giants to…

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Pilots Honor Military and First Responders at Great Tennessee Air Show

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Zachery Schmidt

Tennesseans showed up in large numbers at the “Great Tennessee Air Show” at the Smyrna Airway to see the Blue Angels take the sky this weekend. People’s anticipation for the flying halted momentarily as it started to rain right before the airshow festivities. However, the weather cleared up to allow for flying to commence. Blue Angels were not the only aerial displays people got to see. In total, 12 different types of flight teams and skydivers performed at the airshow this weekend. The crowd gave a roaring shout when the Blue Angels started their boisterous engines up and took off. Once the Angels were in the air people were amazed at the deafening aerial displays being put on by these pilots. A common theme of all the pilots this year was honoring military men and women. Before almost every routine, pilots did a gesture to pay tribute to the people who protect our country. Honoring the military was a common theme throughout the airshow. Mission BBQ, one of the vendors at the airshow, has a noon tradition of stopping everything while its workers say the national anthem every single day. “Our two founders wanted to come up with an…

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Commentary: The Astonishing Mess of Academic Publishing

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Admin

by Phillip W. Magness Scholarly publishing is a world of maddening inefficiencies. It’s also an unavoidable part of scientific discussion, and it remains one of the only features of academic life that offers some semblance of a meritocratic measure of a scholar’s contributions to the field. “Publish or perish,” as the adage goes, and publishing means dealing with publishers. Yet every step of the typical academic publication process is fraught with practices that would quickly drive away the customer base of almost any other industry. For the uninitiated, the step toward publication usually begins by selecting a prospective venue. For scholarly articles, this means one of the thousands of academic journals that curate research on highly specialized subject areas. For books, it usually means a university press or one of the major commercial presses that specializes in scholarly works. Once you select a suitable option and send out your paper (for journals) or proposal (for books) for review by the venue of choice, you then wait. And wait. And wait some more. In fact, waiting is by far the most common feature of publishing, and it can take months or even years to hear back from anyone. There are a…

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House Intelligence Committee to Hold Hearing on Mueller Probe

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Admin

by Chuck Ross The House Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing next Wednesday about the “counterintelligence implications” of the special counsel’s investigation. Two former FBI national security officials, Stephanie Douglas and Robert Anderson, will testify at the hearing, which is entitled “Lessons from the Mueller Report: Counterintelligence Implications of Volume 1.” Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, who chairs the committee, will focus on dozens of contacts between Russian government officials and operatives discussed in the special counsel’s report. Republicans could use the hearing to raise questions of their own about the partially-discredited Steele dossier, as well as about the role played by Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor who had contact with Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. Schiff, who was a leading proponent of the collusion conspiracy theory, has had to refocus his line of attack on Trump in the wake of the special counsel’s report. The report said that prosecutors were unable to establish that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election. It also said that investigators did not establish that Trump associates acted as agents of the Russian government. Schiff has said that the report does not shed light on what information the FBI…

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Six Things to Know About the Hyde Amendment

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Admin

by Rachel del Guidice Former Vice President Joe Biden came out Thursday against the Hyde Amendment, after previously supporting it. “If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s ZIP code,” Biden said at a gala hosted by the Democratic National Committee in Atlanta. For decades, Congress has kept taxpayer funds from paying for abortions due to the leadership of an Illinois congressman. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., was behind the amendment, first passed in 1976, that prohibits use of federal funds for most elective abortions. Melanie Israel, a research associate in the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in an email that the Hyde Amendment is one of the most significant legacies of the pro-life movement. “One of the pro-life movement’s first victories following the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions in 1973, which effectively legalized abortion-on-demand across the country, came about thanks to Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois in 1976,” Israel said. “He championed an amendment to the annual [Health and Human Services] appropriations bill which prohibited the department from expending…

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With Mexico Deal Done, US Urges China to Resume Trade Talks

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Admin

One down, still others to go. President Donald Trump claimed a victory after Washington and Mexico agreed on measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States. Trump called off plans to impose a 5% tax on Mexican exports, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking to reporters Saturday in Fukuoka on the sidelines of a meeting of financial leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, urged China to follow suit and return to stalled negotiations. Mnuchin said he planned to have a private conversation with the head of China’s central bank, Yi Gang. In a G-20 group meeting later in the day, the two were seen exchanging friendly remarks, but there were no fresh signs Beijing is ready to compromise in the dispute over trade and technology. “From our perspective of where we are now, it is a result of them backtracking on significant commitments,” Mnuchin said. “I don’t think it’s a breakdown in trust or good or bad faith. … If they want to come back and complete the deal on the terms we were negotiating, that would be great.” Mnuchin said he had no direct message to give to Yi, who has…

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Pete Buttigieg Says ‘the Black Church’ Is ‘Still Coming to Terms with LGBTQ Inclusion’

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Admin

by Evie Fordham Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said the black church is “still coming to terms with LGBTQ inclusion” during an interview with BET published Friday. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet with black queer faith leaders and found there is a much more rich and diverse dialogue going on in activist communities of faith. Especially when you think about how the black church has been an original template for what I would call the religious left on civil rights but still coming to terms with LGBTQ inclusion,” Buttigieg told BET. Buttigieg, who is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has attracted media attention in the 2020 presidential race for his thoughtful approach to issues but seems to be just as far-left as many other candidates. His interview with BET focused on issues of race and equity, and he discussed the importance of civil rights training and implicit bias training “in any workforce but certainly in a police department” in the BET interview. Buttigieg was forced in April to walk back comments he made in 2015 when he said “all lives matter.” “So at that time, I was talking about a lot of issues around racial reconciliation and…

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Commentary: How the Left Embraced Globalization

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Admin

by Edward Ring On November 30, 1999, the largely theoretical question of globalism exploded into reality with the spectacle of 50,000 demonstrators shutting down a major meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. News coverage of this unexpected sensation, with expertly rendered video montages of police phalanxes, black-clad anarchists, smashed glass, snarled traffic, accompanied by animated commentary, provided American television media with a daily potboiler for a few days. Then globalism was again forgotten. In 1999, America’s progressive Left viewed globalism as the root cause of poverty, environmental destruction, and the disintegration of ancient cultures. They perceived globalism as the movement by multinational corporations, and their client organizations, the supranational World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to control the development and growth of supposedly sovereign nations. Instead of allowing developing countries the opportunity to grow diverse, self-sufficient economies, in the hallowed name of “free trade,” they were force-fed loans that required them to spend on mega-projects, cash crops, mines, dams, low-wage manufacturing plants—all built by multinationals that destroy the economic independence of the countries they enter. In 1999, Americans who bought running shoes produced by slave labor overseas, ate hamburgers made from cattle…

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Oberlin College Ordered to Pay $11 Million to Bakery it Wrongly Accused of Racism

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

A jury has ordered Oberlin College to pay $11 million in damages to a family bakery on its campus that was falsely accused of racial profiling and faced months of student protests. The bakery, called Gibson’s Bakery, has operated on campus since 1885 and had a business relationship with the school until November 2017, when the bakery sued the school for numerous offenses, including libel, slander, and interference with business relationships. The conflict started in November 2016, the day after President Donald Trump’s election, after a black male student was stopped for shoplifting. He and two of his female peers eventually pleaded guilty to shoplifting and aggravated trespassing, but the damage to Gibson’s Bakery was already done. Students accused the business of racial profiling, organized protests outside of its storefront, and distributed flyers on campus that accused the bakery of having “a long account of racial profiling and discrimination.” On Friday, an Ohio jury ordered the college to pay $11 million in damages to the bakery for siding with the student protesters. “The verdict sends a strong message that colleges and universities cannot simply wind up and let loose student social justice warriors and then wash their hands of…

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Businessman Who Owns Private Border Wall Property Disputes ACLU Claim That Wall Blocks Access to Historic Border Monument

June 9, 2019June 18, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico is trying to claim that the construction of the private border wall blocks access to a “historical monument.” The ACLU of New Mexico says the Sunland Park, New Mexico private wall blocks access to Monument One, a border monument dating to 1855 that’s on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a story by KOAT. The ACLU is calling on the International Boundary and Water Commission, who manages the monument’s land, to intervene. The border wall is on private land, but it was built across from Monument One, which is on federal land but accessed from a road and a gate. The commission told KOAT that it has not given We Build the Wall a permit but their application is being reviewed. However, Brian Kolfage, founder of We Build the Wall, says the ACLU is lying and that it is trying to help the drug cartels that are being blocked by the new wall. Kolfage tweeted, “The ACLU is acting like this alleged monument is Yellowstone Natl. Park. The only people coming here are drug smugglers, it’s a dangerous area. Stop LYING TO Americans @ACLU it’s on private property too! Here’s…

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Nashville Mayoral Candidate Swain Points Out Contradictions in Briley’s Proposed Budget

June 9, 2019June 8, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

Metro Nashville Mayoral candidate Dr. Carol Swain is calling for answers following Mayor David Briley’s contradictory statements and budgetary moves on his controversial parking meter plan. “How can Mayor Briley promise voters he’ll hold off on his widely opposed parking meter plan, at the same time his administration is quietly planning to spend the up-front $30 million it would bring in if passed? Which one is it—the bill is on hold so the public can weigh in, or the mayor will ram it down our throats as soon as he no longer needs our votes? The public deserves honest answers,” Swain said in a press release. Just two weeks ago, Briley said he was “hitting the pause button” on his plan to privatize parking meters, The Tennessee Star reported. “It is clear to me that residents still have questions about the merits of this proposal. Residents need more time – and it is unfair to the public and to Council to rush this process,” Briley wrote. Worse yet, others are using misinformation to further confuse and scare people. It’s politics at its worst. For these reasons, I am hitting the pause button on this proposal.” However, Swain said that last Tuesday,…

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US, Mexico Reach Deal on Migration, Averting Tariffs

June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 Tennessee Star Staff

The United States and Mexico have reached a deal on migration to avert tariffs, but U.S. officials say President Trump retains the authority to impose tariffs if Mexico fails to live up to it. “I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico. The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended,” President Donald Trump said Friday on Twitter. “Mexico, in turn, has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border. This is being done to greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States,” Trump said. Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers meeting in Japan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Reuters news agency Saturday the U.S.-Mexico immigration deal met President Donald Trump’s objectives of fixing immigration problems on the southern U.S. border, but that tariffs could be imposed if Mexico does not meet U.S. expectations. “Our expectation is that Mexico will do what they’ve committed to do and our expectation is that we won’t need to put tariffs in place,…

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Rutherford County GOP Target of Apparent Bomb Scare

June 8, 2019June 9, 2019 Chris Butler

The Rutherford County Republican Party headquarters received a package Friday morning that party officials said was apparently a bomb, according to a Tennessee Republican Party press release. Officials contacted authorities and then evacuated the building on East Main Street in Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro Police Spokesman Larry Flowers said in a statement that authorities evacuated several other downtown businesses while they investigated the suspicious package. Later in the day, Flowers said authorities had rendered the package as safe. “Police K9 was brought in. Everything is safe, the scene is clear and employees have returned to work,” Flowers said. Flowers said someone found the package outside the building that housed the party headquarters. An employee took the box inside, opened it and saw what was a possible explosive device, Flowers said. “An all-clear was given and the evacuation was lifted after the device was rendered safe and the area cleared with the assistance of a Police K-9,” Flowers said in a statement. Murfreesboro Police and agents with the ATF U.S. Bomb Data Center are investigating, Flowers said. Flowers told The Tennessee Star Friday he had no other information to provide. The Nashville-based WKRN reported the package contained a note saying the following:…

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Commentary: A Sovereign People Need Data Sovereignty – Now

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Ned Ryu It’s time the American people woke up and understood what the big tech companies, many of which are now publishers and telecommunications companies masquerading as neutral platforms, are doing with their personal data. Respecting individual privacy is the most common concern you find in the media and elsewhere. But privacy is only part of the challenge before us—and a relatively small part at that. By feeding companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook untold amounts of personally identifiable data, Americans—specifically American workers—are helping sow the seeds of their own demise. Many people don’t take the time to consider what happens to their data when they give it away. Where does it go? With whom is it being shared? How is it being used to accelerate the growth of new technologies, including artificial intelligence and automation? The data being given freely to these tech companies and the amount of personally identifiable data being collected put the National Security Agency’s efforts to shame. Like it or not, all of this data isn’t being used simply to inform algorithms that help you make better movie selections or put funny cat videos into your Facebook feed or remind you that you’re…

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NASA Will Allow Private Citizens at the International Space Station

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Shelby Talcott NASA announced its plan to open the International Space Station (ISS) as early as 2020 to private astronauts who want to see life on the other side of Earth’s atmosphere. Parts of the ISS will be opened for space tourism and commercial filming, according to The Washington Post. Private astronauts can use the ISS for “missions of up to 30 days,” NASA said in its announcement in New York on Friday. .@Space_Station is open for commercial business! Watch @Astro_Christina talk about the steps we're taking to make our orbiting laboratory accessible to all Americans. pic.twitter.com/xLp2CpMC2x — NASA (@NASA) June 7, 2019 “Commercial companies will play an important role both here … and around the moon, working with NASA to test technologies, train astronauts and develop a sustainable human presence,” said Christina Hoch, a resident of the ISS, in a video on Twitter. Russia has already let private citizens onto the station, so it won’t be the very first time a non-professional astronaut heads to space, WaPo reported. Companies have already reserved spots, including and Axiom Space of Houston and Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas, The New York Times reported. Bigelow Aerospace plans to use SpaceX,…

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Analysis: Bernie Sanders’ Education Plan Is Rife with Deceit

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by James D. Agresti Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has unveiled a plan that he says will create “an education system that works for all people, not just the wealthy and powerful.” In it, he portrays the U.S. education system as grossly underfunded and racially biased, but the statements he makes to support these notions are misleading or explicitly false. Racial Segregation Sanders repeatedly blames the “re-segregation of our K–12 schools” for the poor academic performance of black and Latino students. He bases this claim on an article in the New York Times, which declares that “nonwhite and low-income students who attend integrated schools perform better academically,” but there is a “long history of white resistance to desegregation efforts,” and “school secession movements—in which parents seek to form their own, majority-white districts—are accelerating.” The Times article is primarily based on a report from the UCLA Civil Rights Project. Buried 21 pages deep in that report is the fact that “the share of intensely segregated white schools, that is, schools that enroll 90–100% white students, has declined from 38.9% in 1988 to 16% in 2016.” In plain language, “white” schools have become more integrated, which deflates the storylines…

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May Jobs Report: 75,000 Jobs Added, Unemployment Remains at 3.6 Percent

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Mary Margaret Olohan The U.S. economy added 75,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent, according to Department of Labor data released Friday. Economists predicted 180,000 jobs would be added and that wage growth would rise to about 3.2%, according to The Wall Street Journal. Jobs numbers for April were 263,000 jobs added, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report. After a decline in April, the number of persons unemployed for less than five weeks increased by 243,000 up to 2.1 million. The May jobs report comes on the heels of April’s job report that showed the lowest unemployment numbers in 50 years. The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent. Economists had predicted only 190,000 jobs added and a continued unemployment rate of 3.8 percent. Jobs growth has come back strong after February when just 33,000 jobs were added. The unemployment rate has held steady between 4 percent and 3.7 percent for more than a year before the April jobs report showed it drop to 3.6 percent. Prior to April’s report, the consistent unemployment rate suggested that workers are jumping back into the workforce…

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US Opens Mass Shelter in Texas for Migrant Children

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

The federal government is opening a new mass facility to hold migrant children in Texas and considering detaining hundreds of more youths on three military bases around the country, adding a total of 3,000 new beds to the overtaxed system. The new emergency facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, will hold up to 1,600 teens in a complex that once housed oil field workers on government-leased land near the border, said Mark Weber, a spokesman for Office of Refugee Resettlement. The agency is also weighing using Army and Air Force bases in Georgia, Montana and Oklahoma to house an additional 1,400 kids in the coming weeks, amid the influx of children traveling to the U.S. alone. Most of the children have arrived in the U.S. without their families and are held in government custody while authorities determine if they can be released to relatives or family friends. Shelters not subject to child welfare rules All the new facilities will be considered temporary emergency shelters and thus not be subject to state child welfare licensing requirements, Weber said. In January, the government shut down a large detention camp in the Texas desert that was unlicensed and another unlicensed facility remains in…

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National Park Quietly Removed Warning That Glaciers ‘Will All Be Gone’ by 2020 After Years of Heavy Snowfall

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Michael Bastasch The National Park Service (NPS) quietly removed a visitor center sign saying the glaciers at Glacier National Park would disappear by 2020 due to climate change. As it turns out, higher-than-average snowfall in recent years upended computer model projections from the early 2000s that NPS based its claim glaciers “will all be gone by the year 2020,” federal officials said. “Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park speeds up and slows down with fluctuations in the local climate,” the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors Glacier National Park, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Those signs were based on the observation prior to 2010 that glaciers were shrinking more quickly than a computer model predicted they would,” USGS said. “Subsequently, larger than average snowfall over several winters slowed down that retreat rate and the 2020 date used in the NPS display does not apply anymore.” NPS updated signs at the St. Mary Visitor Center glacier exhibit over the winter. Sign changes meant the display warning glaciers would all disappear by 2020 now says: “When they completely disappear, however, will depend on how and when we act.” The total area of Glacier National Park covered in its iconic…

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Commentary: Ralph Abernathy and His Stand to Put Americans First – in 1969

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by John M. Howting The summer of 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of man walking on the moon. Before Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” however, another significant event occurred: Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s protest outside of the Saturn V rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida. On the afternoon of July 15, 1969, the day prior to the Apollo 11 launch, Abernathy rode up to the launch site in a mule-drawn carriage (to symbolize rural poverty) with 500 activists to protest. Abernathy delivered a speech. According to NASA’s archives: He deplored the condition of the nation’s poor, declaring that one-fifth of the nation lacked adequate food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. In the face of such suffering, he asserted that space flight represented an inhuman priority. During this stunt, Abernathy never once mentioned race. His message concerned misplaced priorities: putting space exploration ahead of domestic problems. Ralph Abernathy is an understated figure in the civil rights movement. A longtime friend and confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he succeeded King as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But Abernathy was nothing like the radicals we see today who fashion themselves as “civil rights leaders.” Jesse Jackson…

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Ilhan Omar to Join Black-Jewish Caucus Despite Repeated Allegations of Anti-Semitism

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Molly Prince The office of Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar revealed Thursday she will be joining the House’s newly formed Black-Jewish Caucus. A spokesman for Omar confirmed to Jewish Insider that Omar intends to join the bipartisan committee a day after the Minnesota congresswoman expressed her support for it on Twitter. “Last month, [Democratic Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky] and I joined together to talk about the common threat of white nationalism faced by Muslim, black and Jewish-Americans,” Omar said. “Glad to see colleagues follow through in working on the things that unite us and not divide us.” Omar, and fellow Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan became America’s first Muslim congresswomen and their time in office has been embroiled in allegations of anti-Semitism and anti-American sentiments. She appeared to side with the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas after the Palestinian terror organization launched nearly 600 rockets into Israel from across the Gaza border in a 24-hour period earlier in May. Hamas claimed responsibility for multiple Israeli deaths. Omar has defended her own anti-Israeli statements, such as ones invoking Allah to expose Israel’s “evil doings” as well as promoting age-old anti-Semitic canards such as that Jews’ support of Israel is…

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Commentary: Why We Should Resist the Urge to Label Others

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Mitchell Nemeth Labels allow us to paint others into a box where we can then apply our preconceived notions to them. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson famously said: The moment when someone attaches you to a philosophy or a movement, then they assign all the baggage and all the rest of the philosophy that goes with it to you. And when you want to have a conversation, they will assert that they already know everything important there is to know about you because of that association. And that’s not the way to have a conversation. Labels are easy to use, and they allow us to skim past the complexity of an individual’s ideas and thoughts. Weaponizing Labels In political discourse, labeling is a simple way of describing complexity. Few persons are ideologically pure, and, by nature, we are complex beings. American political parties are generally representative of this phenomenon. While the modern Republican Party is broadly conservative, there are numerous libertarians, Christian conservatives, nationalists, and right-wing populists. On the whole, the Republican Party is conservative, but the label is a simple means of describing a much more complex truth. Republican Congressman Justin Amash and Republican Senator Rand Paul have…

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In Reversal, Biden Opposes Ban on Federal Money for Abortion

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

After two days of intense criticism, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reversed course Thursday and declared that he no longer supports a long-standing congressional ban on using federal health care money to pay for abortions. “If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment” that makes it harder for some women to access care, Biden said at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Atlanta. The former vice president’s reversal on the Hyde Amendment came after rivals and women’s rights groups blasted him for affirming through campaign aides that he still supported the decades-old budget provision. The dynamics had been certain to flare again at Democrats’ first primary debate in three weeks. Centrist risks Biden didn’t mention this week’s attacks, saying his decision was about health care, not politics. Yet the circumstances highlight the risks for a 76-year-old former vice president who’s running as more of a centrist in a party where some skeptical activists openly question whether he can be the party standard-bearer in 2020. And Biden’s explanation tacitly repeated his critics’ arguments that the Hyde Amendment is another abortion barrier that disproportionately affects poor women and women of color. “I’ve…

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Constituents Plan ‘Squash Amash’ Rally, Call for Congressman’s Resignation

June 8, 2019June 7, 2019 Anthony Gockowski

Pro-Trump Michiganders are a planning a “Squash Amash” rally for Flag Day outside of Rep. Justin Amash’s (R-MI-03) Grand Rapids office in response to his comments in support of impeaching the president. “Join us on Flag Day and President Trump’s birthday outside the Amash office in Grand Rapids and tell the conservative world we demand he step down from his elected position,” states an event description for the rally, which will be hosted by several pro-Trump groups in Michigan’s Third Congressional District. Protesters have also started an online petition demanding Amash’s resignation, which claims that Amash “has lost all credibility” and “no longer has the right to speak on our behalf.” “The actions and statements by Representative Amash have the effect of negating the will of the people of the 3rd District of Michigan in violation of his oath of office to represent the views and best interests of the people,” the petition continues. Diane Schindlbeck, an organizer of the rally, told MLive that she wants to “make sure he knows here in Michigan we support our president.” “Justin Amash, as one of the elected officials here in West Michigan, is not listening to his own voter base, and…

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Planned Parenthood Attacks Longtime Memphis Democratic Rep. DeBerry for Voting for Fetal Heartbeat Bill

June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

Planned Parenthood doesn’t like that longtime State Rep. John DeBerry (D-TN-90) voted to support the heartbeat bill in the recent legislative session. Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood took advertising out for three billboards in Memphis to attack DeBerry on his vote, WBBJ said. The Memphis Democrat ran unopposed in 2018. His seat is up for reelection in 2020. According to WMC, Francie Hunt, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood executive director, said, “Today, we are kicking off a billboard campaign to help inform more people about his stance.” Norma Lester, Democratic Women of Shelby County president, told WMC, “There should never be a situation where Representative DeBerry has been allowed to be comfortable with what he has done.” DeBerry, the Democratic Leader Pro-Tempore, served as the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators Chaplain in the 111th General Assembly, according to his legislative biography. He has served in the Legislature from the 99th through the 111th General Assemblies. Although the heartbeat bill passed in the House, it stalled in the Senate and was sent to summer study. The Senate version of the Heartbeat Bill, SB1236 sponsored by Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) was sent to “summer study” by the Judiciary Committee on…

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Key Figure Trying to Get UAW to Come to Volkswagen Chattanooga Reportedly Had to Settle Slander Suit

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Chris Butler

One of the primary people fighting for the United Auto Workers to set up shop at Volkswagen Chattanooga reportedly had to settle a slander suit for his part in a nasty mudslinging campaign in Michigan. This, according to this week’s Washington Free Beacon. Joe DiSano, a Michigan political consultant, heads up the Center for VW Facts. DiSano reportedly accused VW of waging a “deceptive campaign to discourage employees” from becoming the first UAW plant in the right-to-work state. “DiSano would know a thing or two about ‘deceptive’ campaigns. During a 2012 Democratic primary for a Michigan statehouse seat, he circulated a robocall accusing one of the candidates of ‘using the internet to lure young girls into nude modeling sessions at his home,’ where he took “dirty pictures in his basement,’” The Washington Free Beacon reported. “The target of those robocalls lost the race and later filed a defamation suit seeking to clear his name. A judge dismissed DiSano’s First Amendment defense and the two parties settled. As part of the settlement agreement DiSano agreed to circulate a new robocall correcting the previous mudslinging and issue public apologies in two newspapers.” Southern Momentum, a grassroots group of Volkswagen Chattanooga workers who oppose the…

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Tennessee Court of Appeals Says Sons of Confederate Veterans Do Not Have Standing to Stop Removal of Statues at Memphis Parks

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) do not have standing to stop the removal of Confederate statutes at parks the City of Memphis had sold to Memphis Greenspace. Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ordered Memphis Greenspace Inc. to maintain and preserve the statues of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, President Jefferson Davis, and Captain J. Harvey Mathes until a contested case hearing is held with the Tennessee Historical Commission, The Tennessee Star reported in January 2018. Memphis Greenspace is the nonprofit owned by Shelby County Commissioner Val Turner who ‘bought‘ and removed the statues in a questionable transaction with the City of Memphis in December 2017, The Star said. The city sold the parks for only $1,000 each. The Sons of Confederate Veterans had filed for injunctive relief, according to the appeals court ruling. Prior to filing its complaint, the society filed a petition for declaratory relief with the Tennessee Historical Commission that sought a declaration on the applicability of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016 (“THPA”) to two parks and related monuments In the present action, the historical-preservation society requested a temporary injunction under the THPA to preserve the parks and monuments…

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Commentary: Death and the Democrats

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Sebastian Gorka Our nation is unique. Most every other nation was established in a capricious fashion. Whether defined by an ethnicity, a linguistic community, or the happenstance of being ruled by a royal dynastic elite, other countries were not the result of their people appealing to first principles, of building a political structure from scratch based upon the lessons of prior centuries. Ours is different. Yes, our Republic was born out of war, as has been the case with so many others over the centuries. But our Revolutionary War wasn’t simply waged over a brute demand for self-determination. The catalyst for the fight that would result in our being an independent nation-state was the grievous transgressions of a monarch who our Founding Fathers saw as acting in direct contravention to objective and universal truths. After our unlikely victory against what was then the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, our forefathers enshrined those truths into our founding documents. And the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution have served not only to codify those principles as the foundation of our political system for at least 11 generations, they have become a beacon for hundreds of millions of…

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Southern Border Arrests Soar, Officials Declare a ‘Full-Blown Emergency’

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 Admin

by Fred Lucas The surge of illegal immigrants coming across the southern border in May increased by about one-third from a month before. The Central American migration boom that has been overwhelming Border Patrol agents for almost a year, but they took 144,278 illegal border crossers were apprehended according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “This latest number demonstrates that we are in an absolute crisis when it comes to the security of our border; we are being overwhelmed by a flood of illegal aliens and it really is a national emergency as the president has said,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “It is imperative that Congress act to give the president the resources he needs to regain control of our border and to close the loopholes in federal immigration law that are helping spur this problem,” von Spakovsky added. CBP continues to face a worsening crisis at the Southwest border. In May, CBP apprehended or deemed inadmissible 144,278 individuals along the SWB—a 32% increase over the previous month. Details here: https://t.co/ru9AsalgPb pic.twitter.com/p8kcr5lZ7Y — CBP (@CBP) June 5, 2019 May’s number is a 32 percent increase from April, the…

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Live from Normandy, Mark Green Joins the Tennessee Star Report in Remembrance of D-Day

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 Julie Carr

During a specific interview discussion Thursday morning on The 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 – Gill and Leahy spoke to Congressman Mark Green live from Normandy to discuss the tone in France and how it was important to remember what price is paid for our freedom in America. Gill: One of our good friends Congressman Mark Green is in Normandy. Actually commanded troupes at Sainte Mere Eglise where the 82nd Airborne parachuted in to start fighting the Germans. And he’s at Normandy right now giving us an on the spot report right now. Mark good to have you with us. Green: Thanks Steve how are you? Thanks for having me on the show. Gill: As we’re watching some of these images this morning on Fox the potency of this day comes through the TV screen. It must be even more intense to be there. Green: Yeah I really hope that the case for the folks back home because I couldn’t help cry a little bit. You know when you think of the incredible bravery and the sacrifice and…

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Music Spotlight: Jessie Ritter

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 Bethany Bowman

After winning the NASH Next competition at the end of 2018, the former Belmont University graduate, Jessie Ritter signs a contract with Big Machine Label Group and releases first hit under their label, ‘Nothing But you’.

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Border Patrol Reports a Surge of Africans Trying to Illegally Cross the Border

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Admin

by Jason Hopkins Border Patrol is reporting “a dramatic rise” in the number of African migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent days. Border Patrol agents have apprehended over 500 individuals from the continent of Africa in the Del Rio Sector since May 30, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The migrants — most of them family units from Congo, Angola and Cameroon — are increasingly found trying to cross the Rio Grande River, exacerbating an immigration crisis primarily driven by Central Americans. “The introduction of this new population places additional burdens on processing stations, to include language and cultural differences,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a CBP press statement Wednesday. “Our agents continue to meet each new challenge as the ongoing humanitarian crisis evolves.” Agents at the Del Rio Sector, a stretch of border between Texas and Mexico, apprehended their first large group of African migrants on May 30, nabbing 116 Africans crossing the Rio Grande together. A group of migrants is considered “large” if it’s made up of 100 or more persons. U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector apprehended a large group of 116 individuals—from…

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Steve Gill Chats with Living Legend Larry Gatlin

June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 Julie Carr

In an interview on The Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast Wednesday on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Steve Gill spoke to Larry Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers about his show this week at City Winery during the CMA Fest. Towards the end of the segment, the men discussed how the music business has changed and that you can’t just have a few good songs on an album due to music downloading. They agreed that there was more pressure on artists today that every song becomes a single. Gill: Larry is up and Adam and with us. Larry good to have you with us on the Tennessee Star Report. Gatlin: Well I’m doing this in my sleep so I’m still sleeping in too. Hi guys. Gill: Good, good to have you with us. Man big week the CMA Fest underway you guys are going to be performing at the City Winery tomorrow night. And then doing the Opry this weekend. Its one of those times when you guys are always on the road, everybody else is always on the road. These are the times…

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Booker Says The Hyde Amendment Is ‘an Assault on African-American Women’

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Admin

by Mary Margaret Olohan Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Thursday that the Hyde Amendment is an “assault on African American women.” The Democratic 2020 presidential hopeful spoke at the Democratic National Committee African-American Leadership Summit in Atlanta, Georgia against the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger. Left-wing activists claim the amendment disproportionately affects low-income women and women of color. “This assault on women’s reproductive rights is an assault on women, but it’s particularly an assault on African-American women,” Booker said, according to a tweet from CNN’s DJ Judd. “And the Hyde Amendment, to deny people through Medicaid and Medicare abortion rights, that is an assault on African American women too.” Speaking at the DNC African American Leadership Summit in Atlanta, Senator Cory Booker calls the Hyde Amendment “an assault on African American women.” Booker goes on to pledge to “create in the White House an office of reproductive rights.” pic.twitter.com/PtXy0sr0fX — DJ Judd (@DJJudd) June 6, 2019 Booker also tweeted his support of the amendment on Wednesday. “The Hyde Amendment is a threat to reproductive rights that punishes…

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US Productivity Grew at Solid 3.4% Rate in First Quarter

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Admin

U.S. productivity grew at a strong 3.4% rate in the January-March quarter, the best showing in more than four years, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was an encouraging sign that productivity may finally be improving after a long stretch of weakness. The first quarter gain was more than double the 1.3% increase in the fourth quarter, although it was slightly lower than an initial estimate of 3.6% made a month ago. Labor costs fell during the first quarter, declining by 1.6% following a 0.4% drop in the fourth quarter. Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, is a key factor determining an economy’s growth potential. If the current rebound continues, it would provide support for President Donald Trump’s efforts to achieve sustained 3% growth rates. The slight downward revision in productivity reflected the fact that overall output, as measured by gross domestic product, was revised down from an initial estimate of 3.2% growth to 3.1% growth in the first quarter. The 3.4% advance in productivity was the strongest increase since a 3.7% rise in the third quarter of 2014. Productivity has risen 2.4% over the past four quarters, the best performance since a 2.7% four-quarter gain…

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Trump Administration Ends Contract Supplying Fetal Tissue for Research

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Admin

by Rachel del Guidice The Trump administration has ended the government’s contract with a bioscience company that provided human fetal tissue from elective abortions for testing purposes. The Food and Drug Administration no longer will obtain the fetal tissue from California-based Advanced Bioscience Resources Inc., the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. The statement announcing the change said HHS was not satisfied with the results of a review it conducted to make sure that the procurements were in keeping with government regulations and with ethical and moral concerns. “The Trump administration has rightfully taken action to separate federal research funding from the abortion industry,” Melanie Israel, a research associate at the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation, said in a written statement. At the time the review began, HHS had a contract with the University of California, San Francisco to conduct fetal tissue research and had been reauthorizing the contract with 90-day extensions. “The audit and review helped inform the policy process that led to the administration’s decision to let the contract with UCSF expire and to discontinue intramural research– research conducted within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)–involving the use of…

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Commentary: Is the Federal Reserve Trying to Cause a Recession before 2020?

June 7, 2019June 6, 2019 Admin

by Robert Romano Did anyone notice the Fed inverted the yield curve? On May 23, the 10-year Treasury dipped below the federal funds rate, the benchmark interest rate set by the Federal Reserve that it currently has set for a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent, and has stayed there since. As of June 4, the effective federal funds rate was 2.38 percent, while the 10-year is at 2.13 percent. There were also brief inversions on March 28 and May 15, but they immediately came back into positive territory. Unlike other inverted interest rates, which often foretell a recession in not so distant future, this is one the central bank actually has control over since it sets its own rate. But, there’s no need to panic. The last time those two rates briefly inverted and then stayed inverted, beginning in late March 2006, a recession did not follow until December 2007. It took 21 months. Sometimes it takes even longer than that. The time before that, the two rates briefly inverted in Sept. 1995, but the next recession did not begin until March 2001, almost six years. Another brief inversion occurred in Dec. 1985, but the next recession…

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