Day: July 19, 2019

Blackburn Calls for Support of Bipartisan BROWSER Act to Protect Online Users’ Privacy and Cites Concerns Over FaceApp

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Thursday spoke on the Senate floor asking for support for the bipartisan BROWSER Act and discussed the dangers of FaceApp ahead of the first Senate Judiciary Tech Task Force meeting she led that afternoon. “A quick scroll through an average Instagram feed this morning revealed post after post of artificially-aged faces—all thanks to FaceApp, who now owns those images, and can do whatever they like with them,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Don’t mistake that recklessness for trust. Ask anyone who downloaded that app last night how they feel about it this afternoon.” Video of her speech is available here. Later in the day, Blackburn tweeted, “Thank you @LindseyGrahamSC for asking me to serve as Chair of the @senjudiciary Tech Task Force.” Thank you @LindseyGrahamSC for asking me to serve as Chair of the @senjudiciary Tech Task Force. pic.twitter.com/PxtvZyvMsk — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 18, 2019 The free FaceApp allows users to make themselves look older in photos. Business Insider reported on privacy concerns that have surfaced for the Russian-created app that has more than 12.7 million new users. The terms of service allow the company to license photos for commercial…

Read the full story

Commentary: President Trump’s Tweets Were in Response to U.S. Reps’ Past Racist and Anti-American Statements

Admin

by Robert Romano   “Go wherever they want them, or they can stay. But they should love our country. They shouldn’t hate our country. You look at what they’ve said. I have clips right here. The vilest, most horrible statements about our country, about Israel, about others. It’s up to them to do what they want. They can leave, they can stay. But they should love our country, and they should work for the good of our country.” That was President Donald Trump’s response on July 16 to the flap over his tweets blasting U.S. Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). Trump had tweeted on July 12, “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly… and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then…

Read the full story

Here’s Why Protesters Are Demanding Puerto Rico Gov. Rico Rosselló Resign

Admin

by Chris White   Thousands of protesters in Puerto Rico are demanding Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resign over corruption charges and what many believe are misogynistic private messages he shared with officials. Protesters hurled bricks, glass and fireworks, at police Wednesday evening in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Police fired tear gas in response as they attempt to clear the streets. Authorities also shot rubber bullets into the crowd, which included celebrities such as Ricky Martin and award-winning actor Benicio Del Toro. People have lit up the streets for five consecutive days, urging Rosselló to resign in the wake of corruption charges and the leaking of a private correspondence between him and close associates. The messages reportedly include misogynistic and homophobic comments, as well as cynical comments about deaths following Hurricane Maria. Martin and the other celebrities asked participants to protest peacefully. “Puerto Rico, say present without fear. Let’s march in peace and remain firm and assertive,” he told NBC reporters Wednesday. “When Puerto Rico unites, we accomplish wonderful things and we can change the course of history.” Del Toro made similar comments. “I’m here in support of the people of Puerto Rico,” he said during the rally. Others flocked to…

Read the full story

Audit Accuses Carter County Teacher of Stealing Thousands

Chris Butler

  Authorities have accused a Carter County teacher of taking nearly $2,000 of school money and spending it on himself. That teacher, John-Claude Hardin, allegedly misappropriated at least $1,865. Hardin taught at Unaka High School, part of the Carter County School System, the audit said. “The investigation was initiated after school officials identified and reported shortages in cash collections. The results of the investigation were communicated with the Office of the District Attorney General of the 1st Judicial District,” according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. “The school’s Career Technical Education (CTE) department operated a meat processing program where customers brought livestock to the school to be slaughtered by students. The customers paid a fee to the school for this service. The school also raised cattle on a farm the CTE department operated.” Comptrollers said that during the period November 13, 2017, through November 20, 2018, Hardin misappropriated CTE funds totaling at least $1,865 from the school using two schemes. Hardin allegedly withheld cash collections from meat processing fees totaling $1,229 and sold a steer from the school farm without authorization and retained the sale proceeds of $636. To conceal his misappropriations, Hardin allegedly altered receipts and created false…

Read the full story

Commentary: Stiffening the Backbone of the Right

Admin

by Matthew J. Peterson   Many people seem surprised that CNN gave a platform to white-supremacist Richard Spencer this week. They angrily decry the outrageous hypocrisy of the Left putting Spencer on the national airwave when it routinely de-platforms those on the Right for far less than giving voice to self-avowed neo-Nazis. But why? Don’t you know the rules? You know—the rules the Left is used to making, and the rules the “kept Right” is used to keeping. Did you actually think any of what is going on in Big Tech is really about stopping radical hate and violence? If that were true, all the folks from Antifa praising their terrorist lunatic who tried to shoot up a government facility this week would be de-platformed. Don’t hold your breath. The Left demands that every elected Republican official publicly apologize for a some nutjob murderer in New Zealand, but do you think that means Leftists have to apologize for Antifa’s “principled” domestic terrorism against journalists and government buildings here at home? Pfft. What are you, a racist? Spencer was deemed useful to pronounce Trump’s tweets racist. He quickly went on to complain that Trump has done nothing for white nationalists, contradicting…

Read the full story

US House Passes $15 an Hour Minimum Wage

Admin

  House lawmakers voted Wednesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. In a vote that mostly followed party lines, House members passed the Raise The Wage Act, the first minimum wage increase since 2009. The measure has not yet come up in the Senate. The bill would more than double the national minimum wage over the next 6 years, a marked increase from the current $7.25 federal minimum wage. The bill would also raise the minimum wage for tipped employees to the same level from the current $2.13 an hour. In the 231-to-199 vote, three Republican representatives joined the majority and voted for the bill, while six Democrats voted against it. “This is about workers, it’s about their economic and financial security and today is a bright day because it affects so many people in our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters at a news conference. Skepticism While the vote was nearly unanimous by Democrats, some members were skeptical. Democrats Tom O’Halleran of Arizona and Stephanie Murphy of Florida introduced an amendment that would mandate the Government Accountability Office to track the bill’s effects and report to the House before the entire wage increase is…

Read the full story

Maury County Officials Say Rising Population Won’t Pay for New Growth

Chris Butler

  Maury County officials say their population boom can’t pay for all the new growth, at least not at first, and now they must decide if a sales tax or a property tax is the best way to get more money. As The Tennessee Star reported, County Mayor Andy Ogles said he’d veto any property tax increase to pay for new growth. Ogles says Maury is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, if not the nation. He instead suggested a sales tax referendum next year. County Commissioner Don Morrow told The Star this week that it’s rare to see people vote themselves a tax increase. “However, I feel that the sales tax is fair because it spreads that tax out over everyone that spends money in the county, and it even helps our county with people who are spending money in our county from other counties,” Morrow said. “Currently we have a lot of people coming in to Columbia to shop and spend money on our square in various places.” But Morrow also said the growth cannot pay for itself. “If I can use the analogy of opening a business then you rent your building. You have to…

Read the full story

Financier Jeffrey Epstein to Remain Jailed until Sex Trafficking Trial

Admin

by Reuters   NEW YORK – American financier Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars while he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking dozens of underage girls, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman announced his decision at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, rejecting Epstein’s request to stay under house arrest in his New York mansion valued at $77 million. Epstein has pleaded not guilty. The money manager’s social circle over the years has included Donald Trump before he became U.S. president, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew. Epstein is accused of arranging for girls under the age of 18 to perform nude “massages” and other sex acts, and of paying some girls to recruit others, from at least 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors have said that a search of Epstein’s Upper East Side home, which has been valued at about $77 million, turned up hundreds or thousands of pictures of nude women, some of them minors, along with cash, diamonds and valuable art. Epstein is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a fortress-like jail that has been criticized by inmates and lawyers for harsh conditions. Prosecutors had urged Berman to keep…

Read the full story

President Trump Is Deploying an Additional 2,100 Troops to the Border

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The Trump administration is beefing up its resources at the U.S.-Mexico border as it continues to deal with a massive influx of illegal immigrants. Acting Defense Secretary Richard Spencer approved Tuesday night the deployment of 1,200 active-duty troops and another 1,000 Texas National Guard personnel to the U.S. southern border, Department of Defense spokesperson Maj. Chris Mitchell said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Texas National Guard troops will be split up in their duties, with 750 personnel to “provide supplemental holding support to [Customs and Border Protection] at CBP’s temporary adult migrant holding facilities in Donna, Texas, and Tornillo, Texas,” and the other 250 will provide “port of entry (POE) enforcement support at CBP-designated POEs and airports in Texas to enhance border security and improve the flow of commercial traffic,” Mitchell said. “Decisions regarding arming military personnel and related rules for the use of force will be informed by the circumstances of their mission and be made by the Governor of Texas, in consultation with CBP,” Mitchell continued in his statement. The announcement comes after the Department of Defense earlier in July requested the Pentagon to authorized an additional 1,000 Texas…

Read the full story

Planned Parenthood Has a History of Removing Health Care-Focused Presidents

Admin

 by Mary Margaret Olohan   Planned Parenthood has a history of removing its presidents over ideological differences surrounding the political role of the organization. Former Presidents Leana Wen and Pamela J. Maraldo were both removed from their positions for promoting healthcare over politics. The Planned Parenthood board fired Wen Tuesday after she had served less than a year as president. The organization temporarily replaced Wen, an acclaimed MD, with the co-founder of the progressive Perception Institute, Alexis McGill Johnson. Planned Parenthood removed Wen largely because of her issues managing Planned Parenthood, six sources told BuzzFeed. Requests for anonymity were granted so sources could speak openly, the publication noted. A source also revealed Wen’s removal was likely accelerated by the intense political climate surrounding abortion. Sources claim Wen did not care about “the long-term future of abortion access work that had already been going on, saying there was no budget for it,” shied away from “trans-inclusive” language and told staff transgender issues might deter Planned Parenthood supporters in the Midwest. But Wen is not the first Planned Parenthood president to be removed for prioritizing healthcare over politics. Maraldo became Planned Parenthood’s president in 1993, shortly after former President Bill Clinton took…

Read the full story

‘Six Million Meals’: DHS Chief Breaks Down How Much Care Illegal Migrants Receive

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Acting Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan revealed exactly how much care illegal migrants receive upon arriving at the border, abolishing narratives set by Democratic critics of the department. “Despite the scale of the challenge we face, and the failure to enact legislation that would have prevented — and could still end this crisis, DHS has made significant strides in its effort to secure the border, and to better protect the health and safety of migrants in our custody,” McALeenan said Thursday during a House Oversight Committee hearing. Since January 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has delivered more than 6,000,000 meals, performed around 400,000 medical health interviews, and conducted over 80,000 medical assessments for migrants in Customs and Border Protection custody, McALeenan said. Furthermore, agents have delivered more than 21,000 sick or injured migrants to hospitals this year, and have “conducted medical transportation or stood hospital watch for over a quarter million hours.” There are now more than 200 medical professionals working at various border facilities who screen migrants upon their detention. “I am confident that no law enforcement agency in the world is providing more critical lifesaving care or medical support than U.S. Customs and…

Read the full story

Ted Cruz Presses Executive on Why Google Disbanded Panel Rather Than Include Conservative Leader

Admin

by Rachel del Guidice   Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called out a Google vice president Tuesday afternoon for the tech giant’s decision to dissolve an advisory council on artificial intelligence after inviting Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James to join the panel. Cruz asked Karan Bhatia, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, about the worldwide internet company’s disbanding of the advisory council after Google employees objected to including the head of the leading conservative think tank. “You worked at The Heritage Foundation, I believe you said,” Cruz told Bhatia during a hearing held by the Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution. “Do you consider The Heritage Foundation to be some fringe organization?” Bhatia replied that he considered Heritage to be a conservative organization. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called out a Google vice president Tuesday afternoon for the tech giant’s decision to dissolve an advisory council on artificial intelligence after inviting Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James to join the panel. Cruz asked Karan Bhatia, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, about the worldwide internet company’s disbanding of the advisory council after Google employees objected to including the head of the leading conservative think tank. “You…

Read the full story

Top Ten Most Popular Governors Are All Republican, Survey Shows

Admin

by Mary Margaret Olohan   The top ten most popular governors in the United States are all Republicans, a Morning Consult survey shows. Second-quarter survey results from a Morning Consult survey reveal that the top ten most popular governors are all republicans. The survey also shows that all but three of the ten most unpopular governors are Democrats. The results, which are “respectively determined by total approval and total disapproval, with net approval (approval minus disapproval) serving as the tiebreaker,” reveal that on average, Republican governors are more popular than Democratic governors. While Democratic governors have an average net approval of +5%, Republican governors have an average net approval of +19%. 🚨The top 10 most popular governors are ALL Republicans🚨: Charlie Baker (MA)Larry Hogan (MD)Chris Sununu (NH)Phil Scott (VT)Mark Gordon (WY)Doug Burgum (ND)Asa Hutchinson (AR)Gregg Abbott (TX)Bill Lee (TN)Ron DeSantis (FL) https://t.co/xsHuzY765y pic.twitter.com/6TrL9VtO5r — Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 18, 2019 Several characteristics from the survey reveal surprising data. Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is not only the most popular governor in the United States, he also is more popular with Democrats than Republicans. Meanwhile, Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin comes in as the most unpopular governor with 56 percent of…

Read the full story

Omar Silent on New Claims That She Has a Different Real Name and Entered Country Fraudulently

Anthony Gockowski

  A bombshell report released Thursday claims that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) entered the country fraudulently in 1995 as a member of the “Omar” family, which allegedly isn’t her real family. The article was published Thursday at Powerline by David Steinberg, formerly an editor of PJ Media who has written extensively on Omar over the past three years. In his article, Steinberg claims: “In 1995, Ilhan entered the United States as a fraudulent member of the ‘Omar’ family. That is not her family. The Omar family is a second, unrelated family which was being granted asylum by the United States. The Omars allowed Ilhan, her genetic sister Sahra, and her genetic father Nur Said to use false names to apply for asylum as members of the Omar family.” He goes on to claim that Omar’s real name, before applying for asylum, was Ilhan Nur Said Elmi. The family split up in 1995 when three of her siblings were granted asylum by the United Kingdom, including Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom Omar allegedly married in 2009 and divorced in 2017. As The Minnesota Sun has previously reported, this alleged marriage to her brother occurred at a time of massive immigration fraud. Steinberg cites…

Read the full story

Pete Buttigieg Casts Himself as Moral Christian Alternative to Donald Trump in Fluffy Tennessean Interview at Exclusive Nashville Fundraiser

Jason M. Reynolds

  If you were able to catch a glimpse of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in Nashville on Wednesday, you were part of a select few. The progressive mayor of South Bend, Indiana stumped in Music City Wednesday — but only far-left progressives with cash to spend were there, as the event was pay-to-attend as The Tennessee Star reported in a “softball” preview story Monday that basically provided the candidate’s policy positions. The far-left Tennessean ran a glowing story Thursday. The story is here, in which the homosexual mayor who has said America was founded on white supremacy cast himself as a moral Christian alternative to President Donald Trump: “Voters who are guided by religious principles need to know they have a choice,” he said. People of faith “don’t have to stand with a president whose personal life flies in the face of what faith teaches us about how to conduct ourselves,” Buttigieg said. The venue also was announced at the last minute, The Star said. The Tennessean revealed that location was the Cannery Ballroom. Buttigieg did not exactly get grilled by any other media either. NewsChannel 5 had a six-paragraph story here. The only quote from Buttigieg was: “It’s important to speak to…

Read the full story