Day: April 20, 2020

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in Tennessee Tops 7,000

Chris Butler

  Tennessee had 7,070 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sunday night, according to The COVID Tracking Project website. As of press time, the novel coronavirus pandemic took the lives of 148 Tennesseans. Meanwhile, hospital across the state have admitted 724 people who tested positive for the virus. Shelby County continued to tally the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tennessee, with a total of 1,778 people. Davidson County still ranked second, at 1,638 cases, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s website. TDH officials listed the updated numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases in other Tennessee counties as follows: • Sumner County: 509 • Williamson County: 348 • Rutherford County: 309 • Knox County: 194 • Wilson County: 181 • Montgomery County: 119 • Hamilton County: 116 • Robertson County: 113 • Putnam County: 95 • Madison County: 86 • Bedford County: 71 • Cumberland County: 57 • Tipton County: 56 • Blount County: 46 • Washington County: 46 • Dickson County: 45 • Fayette County: 45 • Sullivan County: 45 • Bradley County: 37 • Maury County: 34 • Macon County: 33 • Gibson County: 31 • Greene County: 30 • Dyer County: 28 • Marion County: 28 •…

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Commentary: The Tyranny of ‘Scientism’ and the Subversion of Science

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In an interview with Tucker Carlson, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy unintentionally defined this critical moment in America’s history. “We weren’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this,” he explained about his draconian decrees, including a ban on religious gatherings, to fight coronavirus. “First of all, we looked at the data and the science and it says people have to stay away from each other.”

Murphy’s comments undoubtedly buoyed the egos of academic “experts” across the country. A leading politician boasted, without the slightest sense of remorse, that his fidelity to the almighty deity of “science” prevailed over protecting the rights of his state’s citizens.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution? Meh. The six-foot distancing rule concocted by a handful of careerist bureaucrats in Washington? Bow and scrape.

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Commentary: Will the Republican Establishment Survive the Coronavirus?

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President Trump will run whatever campaign he likes, but the playbook has practically been written for him: double down on the pro-worker, anti-globalization politics that won him his first term. Joe Biden, a barely conscious, Wall Street plutocrat – and a stooge for China, no less – is an obvious and easy foil.

Whatever happens this November, it is questionable whether the establishment politics that came before Trump will survive an unprecedented pandemic that is already testing the GOP’s commitment to “limited government.” The coronavirus has unleashed an enormous bi-partisan appetite for spending that is not likely to subside when the immediate health threat goes away.

The meltdown is only just getting started, but the signs of devastation are sobering.

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Newspaper Giant McClatchy ‘Taking a Close Look’ at Its Cohen-Prague Reports in Wake of New Evidence

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McClatchy news service says it is reviewing two reports published in 2018 that claimed to validate a key part of the infamous Steele dossier after declassified information showed that Russian operatives may have fed disinformation to dossier author Christopher Steele.

“We are taking a close look at this new information and will update or correct our story based on its merits. Until then, we continue to stand by our reporting,” McClatchy said in a statement to The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple.

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U.S. State Department Resettles Over 1,000 Afghan Refugees During Coronavirus Pandemic: REPORT

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In the past month, the State Department resettled over a thousand refugees from Afghanistan, even though the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in refugee camps overseas, including in Greece, where a migrant camp had to be quarantined after 23 asylum seekers tested positive for the coronavirus.

The pause on refugee admissions was expected to last from March 19 through April 6, but according to Ann Corcoran of Refugee Resettlement Watch,  1,003 Afghan refugees were resettled during that approximate time period.

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New Jersey City Is Deploying a Chinese Firm’s Drones to Enforce Social Distancing

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by Chris White   Elizabeth, New Jersey, is using a Chinese company’s drones to police citizens who fail to employ social distancing guidelines. Past reports suggest the drones are feeding China data. Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage is deploying drones from Chinese-based company DJI to warn Elizabeth citizens who are walking outdoors not to get too close in physical proximity to other people. The drones blare sirens and issue this warning: “Stop gathering, disperse and go home.” Bollwage is dismissing critics of his approach. “If these drones save one life, it is clearly worth the activity and the information that the drones are sending,” the mayor said Friday in an MSNBC interview. New Jersey is considered a coronavirus hotspot — more than 3,000 in the state have died from the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, before skipping across the globe and landing in the United States, where it has killed more than 30,000 people. The drones might not be benign. Past reports suggest DJI poses a substantial security threat to U.S. infrastructure. A 2017 memo from the Los Angeles office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau said officials had “moderate confidence” that DJI’s commercial drones are giving critical U.S. “infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese…

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Idaho Governor Signs ‘Fairness for Women in Sports Act’ Barring Biological Men from Competing in Women’s Sports

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by Mickey Mertz   Idaho Governor Brad Little signed into law the Fairness for Women in Sports Act, which bars biological men from competing in women’s athletics. “The legislature finds that there are ‘inherent differences between men and women,’ and that these differences ‘remain cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the 19 members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual’s opportunity,’” the legislation, signed into law in late March, states, citing the Supreme Court case United States v. Virginia. “Courts have recognized that the inherent, physiological differences between males and females result in different athletic capabilities,” it adds. The Idaho law also states, in part: Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex. If disputed, a student may establish sex by presenting a signed physician’s statement that shall indicate the student’s sex-based solely on: (a) The student’s internal and external reproductive anatomy; (b) The student’s normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone; and (c) An analysis of the student’s genetic makeup. Idaho collegiate track and field athlete, Madi K. told Campus Reform she believes that  “this is the right move for Idaho.” “I think more states should…

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Minnesota Gov. Time Walz Reopens the Outdoors: Golfing, Boating, and Other Activities Allowed with Precautions

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Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Friday, which will expand permissible outdoor activities under his stay-at-home order.

The original order is set to expire on May 3. It allowed outdoor exercise such as walking, running and fishing.

Beginning Saturday, April 18, Minnesotans will be able to golf, boat and hike, provided they follow social distancing guidelines and stay close to home.

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House Democrat Criticizes Ohio Economic Recovery Task Force for Focusing Solely on Reopening

Anthony Gockowski

A top Democrat on the Ohio House’s coronavirus economic recovery task force criticized its Republican chair for gathering “one-sided testimony that only supported the idea of opening Ohio as soon as possible.”

In a statement released last week, Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland), vice chair of the Ohio 2020 Economic Recovery Task Force, voiced frustration with the fact that the committee hasn’t heard from “minorities or women.”

“We were under the impression by the majority that this task-force would be a bipartisan, collaborative effort to map out next steps for the General Assembly’s response to the COVID-19 crisis in Ohio,” he said. “However, it became almost immediately apparent from the agenda and the chosen speakers that this task force was actually designed to gather one-sided testimony that only supported the idea of opening Ohio as soon as possible. This was never a democratic process.”

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Spike in Background Checks Suggest Increase in Michigan Gun Sales, Following National Trends

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As consumers rushed to buy toilet paper in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, data suggests Michiganders also rushed to buy guns.

That’s according to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported the number of firearm background checks completed this year in Michigan more than doubled from February to March from 47,557 to 107,492.

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Ohio’s Warren Police Department Asks for Informants to Identify Mourners in Vigil for Murder Victim So They May Be Punished

Jason M. Reynolds

The mayor and police of Warren, Ohio, have decided it is illegal to hold vigils to mourn for murder victims, and they have been encouraging citizens to become informants to help them punish the participants.

Last week, the Warren Police Department posted pictures of mourners on its Facebook page and asking people to identify them.

We are asking for your assistance in identifying the following individuals that were involved in a gathering in the 1000 block of Kenmore SE on Saturday-April 11th, 2020. If anyone has any additional information and/or video that may be of assistance, please forward it to the Warren Police Department

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Senate Candidate Jason Lewis Launches ‘Reopen Minnesota for Business’ RV Tour

Anthony Gockowski

U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis announced last week that he will be embarking on a “Reopen Minnesota for Business” RV tour in protest of the economic shutdown imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lewis’ campaign said the tour began Friday with select stops in the Metro area. The former congressman said he plans to meet with small business owners impacted by the coronavirus shutdown throughout the course of the tour.

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#FreeTN Event Draws Hundreds to State Capitol in Nashville Over Stay-At-Home Order Extension

Laura Baigert

An estimated 750 people participated in the #FreeTN event held at the State Capitol in Nashville Sunday in response to the extension of the statewide stay-at-home order.

While #FreeTN organizer Kim Edwards of Nashville and others were not happy with the governor’s initial stay-at-home order, the extension from April 14 to April 30 moved them to action.

A Nashville mom of three, who with her husband open their home for Airbnb rentals, Edwards told The Tennessee Star that the message of the stay-at-home order is that their entire future is no longer essential, while the truth is “Everyone is essential.”

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