Day: July 9, 2019

Ross Perot Has Died

Admin

by Evie Fordham   Texas billionaire and two-time independent presidential candidate Ross Perot died Tuesday at 89 after a five-month battle with leukemia. Perot is probably best known for his presidential runs in 1992 and 1996, reported the Dallas Morning News. Perot garnered 19% of the popular vote but no electoral college votes in 1992 and was viewed as a spoiler who helped then-candidate Bill Clinton defeat President George H.W. Bush. Perot nearly died from an infection in March following his leukemia diagnosis, his family said. But he recovered and continued going into the office almost daily. He celebrated his 89th birthday in June with family, according to the Dallas Morning News. Perot campaigned as a populist who stood against government waste. He turned his eye toward politics after becoming a self-made billionaire ranked as the 478th-richest person in the world by Forbes. His estimated net worth was $4.1 billion. Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas, in 1930 and went from paper boy to entrepreneur by age 32. He founded two pioneering computer services companies, Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Perot Systems Corp., according to the Dallas Morning News. Perot will also be remembered for being endlessly quotable, both on politics and general success…

Read the full story

Taxpayer-Funded Oak Ridge National Laboratory Reportedly Seeks Access to Parallel Universe

Chris Butler

  Scientists at the taxpayer-funded Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee are reportedly using public resources to open a portal to a parallel universe. This, according to this week’s New York Post which said scientists in Oak Ridge hope to find a world identical to ours. “Leah Broussard, the physicist leading the experiment, told NBC the plan is ‘pretty wacky’ but will ‘totally change the game,’ ahead of a series of experiments she plans to run this summer.” “Broussard’s experiment will fire a beam of subatomic particles down a 50-foot tunnel. The beam will pass a powerful magnet and hit an impenetrable wall, with a neutron detector behind it. If the experiment is successful, particles will transform into mirror images of themselves, allowing them to burrow right through the impenetrable wall,” according to The New York Post. “This would prove that the visible universe is only half of what is out there, Broussard said, but she also admitted that she expects the test to ‘measure zero.’” As The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported last year, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee’s Third Congressional District reportedly said last year the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and nearby federal facilities would receive the highest…

Read the full story

Commentary: Clouded by a Progressive Fog and Funded by the Establishment, College Republicans Buckle to their Liberal ‘Betters’

Admin

by Eric Lendrum   One would think that in the age of a massively successful Republican president like Donald Trump, most conservative college organizations would be rushing to hitch their wagons to his rising star. But as it turns out, the ignorance and naivety of the Republican elite is not limited to members of Congress. For the upcoming annual gathering of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC), national chairman Chandler Thornton (pictured above) has laid out his vision for the organization’s upcoming conference in his debut op-ed at Fox News. What exactly is Thornton’s big plan for College Republicans as the 2020 election rapidly approaches? Working to curb mass immigration? Speaking out against blatant Big Tech censorship of the Right? Opposing the Left’s ongoing push for the legalization of infanticide? Condemning the domestic terrorism of Antifa? No. At this year’s CRNC conference – happening July 11-14 – delegates will be voting on a symbolic resolution to condemn white nationalism, which Thornton claims is contributing to a “toxic problem” within the GOP. It’s a viewpoint that could have just as easily appeared in the pages of the Huffington Post or Vox. Thornton claims – with scant evidence – that “white supremacists have attempted to infiltrate student-led Republican groups at…

Read the full story

Citizenship Question Has Been Included on Canada’s Census Since 1901

Anthony Gockowski

  The debate over whether or not to include a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. census has become the latest division in American politics, but a similar question has been included on Canada’s census for more than a century. On Saturday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that America’s neighbor to the north has included a citizenship question on its census since 1901. CBC notes that Canada’s long-form census asks: “Of what country is this person a citizen?” Respondents can select three possible answers, including: “Canada, by birth,” “Canada, by naturalization,” or “Other country – specify.” “The citizenship question has a long history on the Canadian census, being introduced for the first time on the 1901 census,” Emily Theelen, a spokeswoman for Statistics Canada, told CBC. “This information is used to estimate the number of potential voters and to plan citizenship classes and programs,” Theelen added. “It also provides information about the population with multiple citizenships and the number of immigrants in Canada who hold Canadian citizenship.” Canada conducts its census every five years, while the U.S. census occurs every 10 years. Immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman said there’s no evidence that census information has been abused for immigration-enforcement purposes…

Read the full story

Tom Steyer May Not Pass Up Presidential Run After All: Report

Admin

by Evie Fordham   Billionaire Tom Steyer may not pass up a Democratic presidential run after all, according to a Politico report Monday. Steyer, who is behind the anti-Trump “Need to Impeach” campaign, appeared poised for a 2020 run in January but backed off. Now the 62-year-old may have changed his mind as the Democratic field seems to be in want of a clear frontrunner. Politico cited three people familiar with Steyer’s plans in its report. Steyer said he planned to run during a private conference call earlier in July with people working for Need to Impeach, his environmental nonprofit NextGen America and his Sacramento office, one of the people on the call told Politico. “He’s definitely focused on the [fact that the] economy is not as good as people are making it out to be,” the person said. If he does make the jump, Steyer will need to carve out his own space in the 2020 field. But one of his key issues, climate change, is already the focus of another candidate, Jay Inslee. Inslee’s campaign also hired people who have worked for NextGen America ⁠— Alex Fujinaka will serve as Inslee’s deputy political director and Maggie Thomas as deputy policy director.…

Read the full story

Kamala Harris Admits Her ‘School Busing’ Zinger Was All Show

Admin

by Dave Huber   As many (most?) could predict with a high degree of accuracy, California Senator Kamala Harris backed off her well-highlighted Democratic debate attack on former veep Joe Biden regarding the subject of school busing. On June 27, Harris scored immediate “zinger” points by inferring Biden was a racist for opposing (forced) busing, just like segregationist lawmakers of the era. And she continued with that premise a few days after the debate, too. The problem is, virtually no one was (and is) a fan of mandated busing, whites and blacks alike. As one black Wilmington, Delaware resident said of the most “draconian” busing plan in the nation, “It was the biggest sham. It destroyed our community.” WATCH: Harris says she doesn't think Biden is a racist, but she talks directly to Biden about his having worked with segregationists on the issue of school busing. #DemDebate2 pic.twitter.com/Ytb2xvOhux — NBC News (@NBCNews) June 28, 2019 On Wednesday, Harris “clarified:” She said busing is “a choice local school districts have” and is “not the responsibility of the federal government.” When pressed on whether busing should be mandated, Harris added “I think of busing as being in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating…

Read the full story

Republican Kris Kobach Expected to Announce Senate Run

Admin

by Evie Fordham   Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is expected to announce a run for Senate on Monday after sending out a call to his supporters to gather in Leavenworth for an afternoon speech. He filed to run Monday morning, although his Federal Election Commission filing initially misspelled his first name as “Chris.” Kobach would seek to replace Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, who announced his retirement in January. Another Republican, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, is believed to be mulling a Senate run as well. It’s unclear how much support Kobach’s candidacy would receive from the GOP establishment. He lost a 2018 bid for governor to Democrat Laura Kelly even though Republicans outnumber Democrats in the state 2 to 1, reported the Kansas City Star. “Kansas Republicans deserve a nominee who can win. Given the result in last year’s gubernatorial race, we’re watching this race closely and will make a decision on our potential involvement when the time comes,” Jack Pandol, spokesman for the Senate Leadership Fund, said, according to the Kansas City Star. The Senate Leadership Fund is linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Kobach has focused on immigration issues and was reportedly considered for an immigration policy position in the…

Read the full story

Commentary: Once a Proud Tradition, College ‘Common Reading Programs’ Have Been Reduced to Political Fluff for Freshmen

Admin

by Chris West   Many colleges assign “common readings” to incoming students as an intellectual experience outside the classroom to set the bar for the academic rigor that professors expect of students. This tradition is most students’ first taste of the university. This well-meaning tradition, however, has become highly politicized and the quality of reading has significantly decreased over the years. Works like The Iliad and Catcher in the Rye have disappeared, replaced by books written by comedians from The New York Times best seller list. The classics have been traded out for the ephemeral. This change is emblematic of the university. Incoming students are no longer prepared for rigorous, intellectually challenging material. Instead, they read “timely” political books that are only relevant during the current news cycle. North Carolina colleges, public and private, have followed national trends. Eight of the 16 University of North Carolina schools have a common reading program, and seven of the 29 private schools. No North Carolina school, public or private, chose a book published before 2010. Within the UNC system, six of the eight assigned readings have been published since 2012. That recency bias matters because the books are often left-leaning and these programs signal what political ideas campus administrators…

Read the full story

Lee Beaman Commentary: Green Space Is Vital to a City’s Success

Admin

by Lee Beaman   We hear often the laments of the challenges that urban growth brings. From challenges with school systems to rising prices and reduced availability of homes, Nashvillians’ concerns over our growth are valid.  But one of the aspects of urban growth is the appreciation of our green space. As our city transforms and expands its urban core, our parks, hiking trails and bike paths become an even more valuable asset. Nashville is one of the best cities for its green space in the country, according to the Trust for Public Land, a research organization that measures the accessibility and quality of public parks and green spaces across the country.  We rank in the top 100 cities for our green spaces.  Over ten percent of our entire county area is dedicated to public parks and green space.  Metro Parks and Recreation manages 184 parks and over 85 miles of greenways.  That is an impressive offering for Nashvillians.  Begun in 1901 with the creation of our first city parks department, today’s Metro Parks and Recreation department offer a wide variety of programs and activities for residents of all ages and walks of life. Over 20 years ago, my family…

Read the full story

Watchdog Groups Question Ohio Company’s Donation to Trump’s Fireworks Display

Anthony Gockowski

  Phantom Fireworks, an Ohio-based company, is facing scrutiny from so-called “non-partisan watchdog” groups after the company donated $750,000 worth of fireworks to President Donald Trump’s “Salute to America.” The company’s CEO, Bruce Zoldan, was invited to an Oval Office meeting in May to discuss the impact of tariffs with fellow business leaders. Zoldan and his colleagues have been clear that a 25 percent import tax on Chinese goods would be “devastating” for the fireworks industry. “It would be pretty devastating,” Phantom Fireworks Vice President Bill Weimer recently told ABC News. “The problem is there’s no alternative source for us to get the fireworks. We have to stay with China.” So some were turning their heads when Trump announced on July 2 that Phantom Fireworks and Fireworks by Grucci were donating supplies for the Independence Day celebration. “Thanks to Phantom Fireworks and Fireworks by Grucci for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks show Washington D.C. has ever seen. CEOs Bruce Zoldan and Phil Grucci are helping to make this the greatest 4th of July celebration in our nation’s history,” Trump wrote on Twitter. Thanks to “Phantom Fireworks” and “Fireworks by Grucci" for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks…

Read the full story

UCLA Professor Found Guilty of Conspiring to Steal US Missile Guidance Technology for China

Admin

by Ethan Cai   A jury found an electrical engineer and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor guilty of exporting stolen U.S. military technology to China. UCLA adjunct professor Yi-Chi Shih was convicted June 26 on 18 federal charges, Newsweek reported, and could now lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, while also facing up to 219 years behind bars for numerous violations of the law. These include conspiracy to break  the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), committing mail and wire fraud, lying to a government agency, subscribing to a false tax return, and conspiring to gain unauthorized access to information on a protected computer, according to a Department of Justice news release. Shih and co-defendant Kiet Ahn Mai tried to access illegally a protected computer owned by a U.S. company that manufactured semiconductor chips called monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). MMICs are used by the Air Force and Navy in fighter jets, missiles and missile guidance technology, and electronic military defense systems. The chips were exported to Chengdu GaStone Technology Company (CGTC), a Chinese company, without a required Department of Commerce license. Shih previously served as the president of CGTC, which made the Commerce Department’s Entity List in 2014 “due to its involvement…

Read the full story

Starbucks Apologizes After Police Were Kicked Out of Store Because Their Presence Made Customer Uncomfortable

Admin

by Audrey Conklin   Starbucks apologized Sunday after six police were kicked out of a Tempe, Arizona, franchise because their presence made a customer “uncomfortable.” “On behalf of Starbucks, I want to sincerely apologize to you all for the experience that six of your officers had in our store on July 4,” Starbucks Executive Vice President Rossann Williams wrote in an official statement Sunday. “When those officers entered the store and a customer raised a concern over their presence, they should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect by our partners (employees),” the statement continues. “Instead, they were made to feel unwelcome and disrespected, which is completely unacceptable.” The company’s apology comes after the customer in question — a white man — became “anxious, nervous or uncomfortable” upon seeing the officers and asked a barista several times what they were doing in the cafe, The New York Times reported. “The barista said, ‘These guys come here all the time,’” Starbucks spokesman Reggie Borges told The NYT Sunday. “The barista repeatedly said, ‘They come here all the time. There is nothing wrong.’” But the barista eventually asked the officers to “move out of the customer’s line of sight or to…

Read the full story

Tennesseans Have Online Resource to Prep for Catastrophic Earthquake

Chris Butler

  The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s website has tips for what Tennesseans can do before, during, and after any major earthquake that hits the state. That website, www.TN.gov/tema, offers in-detail instructions on earthquakes and other threats to Tennessee residents. “We would encourage people to get educated about the threat (of an earthquake) and what they need to do,” said TEMA spokesman Dean Flener. The website, for instance, publicizes what is known as the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills, scheduled for Oct 17. The people responsible for the event say it will help people prepare to stay safe during any big earthquake and also help them review and update any emergency preparedness plans, according to TEMA’s website. “We have been engaged in earthquake awareness since the mid 1980s,” Flener told The Tennessee Star Monday. “The Tennessee Catastrophic Plan includes a special section just for catastrophic earthquakes. Every year we do the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut where we tell people this is what you can do to protect yourself in an earthquake. So, it’s been many many years that we have been promoting earthquake preparedness and what people should do in terms of strapping your bookcases to your wall, securing your water heater…

Read the full story

ICE ‘Ready’ to Apprehend and Deport One Million Illegal Immigrants

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the government is “ready” to identify, detain, and deport the illegal immigrants who have ignored court orders to leave the country. “They’re ready to just perform their mission, which is to go and find and detain and then deport the approximately one million people who have final removal orders,” Ken Cuccinelli said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Cuccinelli was referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency with the Department of Homeland Security that’s tasked with locating and deporting aliens living in the U.S. illegally. “Who among those will be targeted for this particular effort, or not,  is really just information kept within ICE at this point,” the acting USCIS director explained. Cuccinelli’s comments come after President Donald Trump announced — and then later scrapped — plans in June to conduct sweeping ICE raids across the country. The raids would’ve targeted major U.S. cities and roughly 2,000 undocumented immigrants who are disobeying deportation orders.  Trump, at the time, said the raids were postponed in order to work with Democrats on a solution to the immigration crisis, but other accusations make it unclear why exactly the raids were…

Read the full story

Snapchat Serves as a ‘Child Predator’s Dream,’ Sen. Blackburn Tells Snap CEO While Demanding Answers on How it Protects Minors

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday wrote a letter urging the CEO of Snap, Evan Spiegel, to take action to protect children from sexual predators and being exposed to explicit adult content while using Snapchat. “In 2019, our children are living an unprecedented amount of their young lives online,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Snap must be transparent with users about the steps they take to ensure their application is used responsibly and not taken advantage of by those who wish to do innocent children harm.” Blackburn gave Spiegel a deadline of July 29 to respond to a list of questions. A Snapchat spokesperson told Roll Call that it has a zero tolerance policy to these concerns. “We’ve designed Snapchat with no browsable public profiles, and by default you can’t receive a message or share location with someone you haven’t added as a friend on the app. We work hard to detect, prevent and stop any abuse on our platform, and continue to work proactively with governments, law enforcement and best in class safety organizations to ensure that Snapchat continues to be a positive and safe environment,” said the spokesperson on Monday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)…

Read the full story

Fate of Struggling Michigan School District Unclear after State Solvency Plan Rejected

Admin

by Scott McClallen   The fate of Benton Harbor High School remains unclear after school district officials last week rejected a state plan to improve poor academic performance and pay down the district’s high debt. The state initially said it had agreed with the school district on a plan to improve the academic performance and reduce its $18 million debt. But school board members, at a meeting last week, said no agreement had ever been reached and voted unanimously to reject it. At the meeting, residents said they were upset by the state’s proposal because it included the possibility of shutting down the high school. “This community will not and does not support any tentative plan with a shutdown on the table,” Mayor Marcus Muhammad said during the meeting, according to the Detroit News. The state’s proposal included: Reducing “non-instructional expenditures.” Increasing the number of certified teachers and reducing the number of long-term substitute teachers. Increasing student growth and proficiency on state and national standardized tests. Decreasing the number of “chronically absent” students. Requiring school board members to participate in leadership training. Raising teacher pay. Hiring a qualified superintendent and chief financial officer. Benton Harbor Area Schools educate about 3,000 students from…

Read the full story

Commentary: Government Run Schools Are Bad for Children, So Opt Out

Admin

by Lawrence Reed   The evolution of the control of educational institutions from entirely private sources to local government schools and then to control by state departments has culminated with the creation of our federal Department of Education. At all levels, government has increasingly exercised bureaucratic power over education in America, from kindergarten through college, and without genuine accountability for results. The consequence has been the growth of an immense educational establishment with an insatiable appetite for political power, for tax dollars, and for control over the shaping of American institutions and the minds and character of its citizens. – Gerrit H. Wormhoudt in Opting Out: It All Begins and Ends with Education, pp. 27-28. Personal Responsibility and American Principles Are you one of those many Americans who wonder why individual liberty and personal character have declined in recent decades? Well, you’ve just read as good an answer as there is. What was once widely regarded as the responsibility of parents is now generally seen as the duty of government, and government is one of the last entities we should ever expect to be good at teaching us either liberty or character. If America ever ends up in the same historical…

Read the full story

Rep. Carter Promises House Chairs to Retain Them and Not Retaliate if Elected Speaker

Jason M. Reynolds

  State Rep. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) of Ooltewah reportedly wrote to all House chairmen and vice chairmen in his bid to become the next Speaker, multiple media outlets report. Carter promises fair treatment to all members without retribution, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. A meeting of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, to select a Republican nominee for Speaker of the House to replace Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63) of Franklin in the position, The Tennessee Star reported. The next day, Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session of the Legislature to be held on Friday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. to vote for the replacement. In his letter, Carter told the chairmen and vice chairs they would keep their positions, the Times Free Press said. Carter did not return a phone call from The Star regarding the letter. According to a story by the Tennessee Journal: On the Hill, Carter told the chairmen: My request to serve you as Speaker is not about me, it’ s about you. I promise to use the Speaker’s office to promote each of you as the “Elected Official” in your district. This will begin with…

Read the full story