Furious that Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were blocking a bill to help Americans through the COVID-19 crisis, President Trump stepped up and got the job done, all by himself.
Read the full storyMonth: August 2020
Soft-on-Crime Prosecutors Across America with Soros Ties Refuse to Charge and Try Criminal Behavior
Left-wing prosecutors have implemented soft-on-crime approaches to criminal justice across America, in some instances making it a matter of policy in major cities not to prosecute specific crimes, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.
A common, though not universal, feature of prominent left-wing district attorneys is the backing of political organizations funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros. The New York Times has credited Soros with pioneering the “push to overhaul prosecutors’ offices” across the country.
Read the full storyTennessee Ranks High in Economic Outlook Compared to Other States, New Report Says
Tennessee ranks eighth out of 50 states in economic outlook, according to the 2020 edition of Rich States, Poor States, released Wednesday.
The Virginia-based American Legislative Exchange Council published the book. Economists Jonathan Williams, Art Laffer, and Stephen Moore wrote it. The authors say they base a state’s economic outlook ranking on its current standing in 15 state policy variables.
Read the full storyA Major Pro-Trump Tech Investor Is Reportedly Working Behind the Scenes to Save TikTok’s US Operations
One of President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters inside Silicon Valley is acting behind the scenes to rescue TikTok’s U.S. operations while the president considers the app’s future, according to recently published media reports.
Doug Leone, a Sequoia Capital global managing partner, is pressing U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House adviser Jared Kushner to find a solution to keep TikTok in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing sources familiar with the discussion.
Read the full storyBig Ten, Pac-12 Pull Plug on Fall Football Amid Pandemic
The Big Ten and Pac-12 won’t play football this fall because of concerns about COVID-19, taking two of college football’s five power conferences out of a crumbling season amid the pandemic.
About an hour after the Big Ten’s announcement, the Pac-12 called a news conference to say its season would be postponed until the spring.
Read the full storyReport: Millions Lose Health Insurance Because of COVID-19 Shutdowns
More than 5 million people lost their health insurance coverage over the past several months because of COVID-19 restrictions as costs for lifesaving medications and treatments for cancer also skyrocketed.
A new study by Families USA found that more than 5.4 million people who lost their jobs are uninsured, compared to 3.9 million who were in a similar situation during the Great Recession.
Read the full storyCommentary: How Government ‘Cures’ Drive Out Real Cures
Scurvy, we all know, is a disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency. It took almost 200 years from the time a “lemon juice” cure for scurvy was discovered until it was promoted by the British government. Some think the mental biases that caused the needless deaths of millions have been eliminated in more “enlightened” modern times. They are wrong.
Read the full storyClint Brewer Weighs in on the Recent Republican and Democratic Tennessee U.S. Senate Primary Wins
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer to weigh in on the recent Republican and Democratic primary wins for the Tennessee U.S. Senate seat.
Read the full storyGov. Cuomo Calls Criticisms of NY’s Nursing Home Deaths ‘Political’ as Damaging Reports Stack Up
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo dismissed suggestions Monday that local officials are undercounting coronavirus deaths at nursing homes while a several reports indicate the state inaccurately measured how the virus affected long-term care facilities.
New York will not conduct an investigation into nursing home deaths during the pandemic, Cuomo said during a press conference Monday. His insistence that there is no controversy comes after media reports show the state only counts people who died on nursing home property and not those who died after being transferred to hospitals.
Read the full storySeattle Police Chief to Resign Following Department Cuts
Seattle’s police chief says she is stepping down, a move made public the same day the City Council approved reducing the department by as many as 100 officers through layoffs and attrition.
Carmen Best, the city’s first Black police chief, said in a letter to the department that her retirement will be effective Sept. 2 and the mayor has appointed Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz as the interim chief, KING-TV reported Monday. Councilmembers had approved the cuts Monday.
Read the full storyThe John Fredericks Show: Steve Bannon Discusses the Chinese Communist Party and the Origins of the Coronavirus
Host Fredericks welcomed War Room Pandemic host Steven K. Bannon to the show to discuss the bombshell information in the latest read by Professor Guiseppe Tritto of Italy regarding the origins of the coronavirus.
Read the full storyScientists Uneasy as Russia Approves First Coronavirus Vaccine
Russia on Tuesday became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, a move that was met with international skepticism and unease because the shots have only been studied in dozens of people.
President Vladimir Putin announced the Health Ministry’s approval and said one of his two adult daughters already was inoculated. He said the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and was shown to provide lasting immunity to the coronavirus, although Russian authorities have offered no proof to back up claims of safety or effectiveness.
Read the full storyGOP Senators Press FBI Director Christopher Wray to Produce Trump-Russia Documents
Republican Senators are pressing FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide documents related to the Trump-Russia probe.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham on Monday sent a request to Wray for documents related to a briefing that the FBI provided to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) in February 2018 regarding the primary source for former British spy Christopher Steele.
Read the full storyPastor Raleigh Washington Discusses His Past and Present Life in the Military and Ministry
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Pastor Raleigh Washington to discuss his military and ministry experience.
Read the full storyVirginia Football Season Still up in the Air with No Decision from ACC Yet
Uncertainty still looms over the Virginia football program with no official decision from the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) about the fastly-approaching 2020 fall season.
Just like many other Division 1 football teams, Virginia is waiting for a decision on whether a modified season will be played as athletic directors, school presidents and chancellors and the league continue discussions.
Read the full storyAttorney Defending Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Called to Testify in Epstein Accuser Case
John Zeiger is a partner at Zeiger, Tigges & Little LLP, the law firm the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office hired to defend the State of Ohio in litigation popping up around the state as a consequence of Ohio’s COVID orders, mandates and policies – lawsuits naming as defendants Governor Michael DeWine, Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes, former Director of Health Amy Acton, and certain health districts.
John Zeiger is also Leslie Wexner’s family lawyer. Leslie Wexner is a billionaire business titan, founder and chairman emeritus of L Brands, the parent company of, among other notable brands, Victoria’s Secret.
Read the full storyWhitmer Vetoes Bill Seeking to Give Health Care Workers Immunity During COVID-19 Pandemic
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed Senate Bill 899, a bill intended to shield health care workers from liability during a state of emergency.
The immunity granted to health care workers and facilities would have stretched from March 10, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2021, as the state battles COVID-19.
Read the full storyMinnesota Department of Health to Allow Visitors into Nursing Homes at the End of August
People wanting to visit their loved ones residing in nursing homes and assisted living facilities will be able to starting August 29, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced Monday.
This will be the first time visitors have been allowed into long-term care facilities since March 31.
Read the full storyProtesters Gathered Outside Richmond Councilwoman Kim Gray’s Home
A large group of protestors amassed outside the home of Richmond councilwoman and mayoral candidate Kim Gray in the Jackson Ward neighborhood during a mid-July protest, Gray said during an interview with The Virginia Star.
Gray was first alerted to a possible threat via phone call from a someone at a protest in another part of Richmond who was told that Gray’s house had burnt down. The councilwoman, who was in her home when she answered the call, immediately notified Richmond police, she said.
Read the full storyVirginia Lawmakers Consider Removing Qualified Immunity for Law Enforcement Officers
The Virginia legislature is considering laws that would remove qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.
The proposed legislation would remove protection for police officers that prevents individuals from suing an officer in civil court under certain circumstances.
Read the full storySteve Cohen Wants the Feds to Send More Benefits to Memphis
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) wants federal officials to continue sending $600 a week to unemployed people.
Cohen also wants more people in Memphis to fill out their 2020 Census forms — so that city residents can continue to qualify for the same amount of government benefits they’re already getting.
Read the full storyJoe Biden Taps Senator Kamala Harris as Running Mate
Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.
“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden tweeted. In a text message to supporters, Biden said, “Together, with you, we’re going to beat Trump”
Read the full storyThe First Day of Special Session Reveals Legislation That Will be Considered Regarding COVID-19 Liability, Telemedicine and Protesting
The first day of the Tennessee General Assembly’s special session Monday called by Governor Bill Lee, revealed the legislation related to COVID-19 liability, telemedicine expansion and protesting that will be considered.
Only legislation related to the topics specifically contained in the governor’s proclamation can be considered during the special session, which began at 4 p.m. on Monday with both the House and Senate going into a floor session.
Read the full storyCommentary: Biden Is Speaking Out of Both Sides of His Mouth
Former Vice President Joe Biden seems to think he can coast to victory by posing as a moderate while adopting the most extreme policy platform of any major-party candidate in American history. The thing is, the American people just aren’t that stupid — we know a huckster when we see one.
Anxious to boost the dismally-low enthusiasm for his candidacy among his party’s base — one member of which recently compared voting for Biden to eating “half a bowl of s—” — Biden has taken the unprecedented step of shifting his agenda significantly to the left since locking up the nomination, rather than moving toward the political center. After appointing far-left firebrands such as Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke and radical Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to spearhead his policy agenda, Biden unveiled a so-called “unity platform” that directly copied numerous proposals championed by democratic-socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.
Read the full storyTrump: Convention Speech Locale is White House or Gettysburg
President Donald Trump said Monday that his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination will be held at either the White House or the Gettysburg battlefield.
The president’s initial hopes for the event to be a four-day promotion for his reelection bid have been steadily constrained by the coronavirus pandemic, culminating in his decision last month to cancel nearly all of the in-person proceedings. In recent weeks, President Trump and his aides have looked for alternatives that would allow him to recreate at least some of the pomp of the event.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Age of COVID-19 May Be the Perfect Time to Re-Think the Legal Monopoly Known as the Bar
COVID-19 has delivered an occasional silver lining in the economic clouds troubling America. The most obvious is to highlight stupid regulations imposed to benefit special interests and their political enablers. Including members of the legal monopoly.
Professional regulation is supposed to protect the public. However, even doctors and lawyers, among many others, have used controls to limit competition for their services. They are even more insistent that other experienced and well-trained professionals — such as nurses and paralegals — be prevented from competing than that the occasional genuine incompetent be ferreted out.
Read the full storyMemphis Barber Wins Lawsuit Against Tennessee Officials who Kept Him from Working
A Memphis man has won a lawsuit against the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners for denying him the right to work.
As The Tennessee Star reported in 2018, state officials denied that man, Elias Zarate, a barber’s license because he did not have a high school diploma.
A press release that the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee emailed Monday updated Zarate’s case. Beacon, a right-of-center think tank, represented him.
Read the full storyPolice Arrest 4, Cite 42 in Nashville Over Weekend for Violating Mask Mandates
Nashville Metro police arrested 4 people and cited 42 others for violating mask mandates over the weekend on Broadway.
The police wrote 20 citations on Friday, 18 on Saturday, and four on Sunday. One arrest was made Friday, and three were made Saturday.
Read the full storySen. Ron Johnson Subpoenas FBI Director Christopher Wray for All Crossfire Hurricane Documents
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray last week for all documents related to Crossfire Hurricane, the investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia.
The subpoena, issued on Aug. 6, calls for Wray to produce all of the documents related to the probe by Aug. 20.
Johnson is also demanding that Wray hand over all records that the FBI provided the Justice Department’s office of the inspector general for its scathing report on Crossfire Hurricane.
Read the full storyThis Week’s Special Legislative Session Could Cost Tennessee Taxpayers More Than $100,000
The special session of Tennessee lawmakers scheduled for the week of August 10 will likely cost Tennessee taxpayers more than $100,000.
Legislators were called to the special session by Governor Bill Lee through an August 3 proclamation to address three issues, the first two which could have been addressed during the previous legislative session.
Read the full storyWith Less Than a Week to Go, Biden and the Democrats Are Still Juggling Virtual Convention Details
Joe Biden’s presidential nominating convention will highlight the U.S. political spectrum from the left flank of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the Republican old guard of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
But that doesn’t mean there’s room for every prominent Democrat who would get a share of the spotlight at what would have been a traditional convention in Milwaukee before the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible. Instead, Biden’s campaign and other convention planners are continuing negotiations with various power players over how to produce a truncated virtual convention with just eight hours of programming over four nights from Aug. 17-20.
Read the full storyPuerto Ricans Demand Answers Over Primary Ballot Shortage and Election Delay
The future of Puerto Rico’s botched primaries rested in the hands of the island’s Supreme Court as answers trickled out Monday on why voting centers lacked ballots and forced officials to reschedule part of the primaries in a blow to the U.S. territory’s democracy.
A plan to hold another primary on Aug. 16 for centers that could not open on Sunday could change depending on the ruling of a lawsuit filed by Pedro Pierluisi, who is running against Gov. Wanda Vázquez to become the potential nominee of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. Joining the lawsuit was Puerto Rico Sen. Eduardo Bhatia, of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party.
Read the full storyREVIEW: ‘Apocalypse Never’ Takes Direct Aim at ‘Consensus’ of Climate Alarmism
An important new book by Michael Shellenberger, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, attempts to counter the common belief that climate change poses an imminent and existential threat to humanity and the planet. At 285 pages, this is a relatively short and very readable book, but it covers a lot of ground. And with an additional 125 pages containing over 1,000 footnotes, Shellenberger’s arguments are well documented.
Read the full storyPlayers Unite in Push to Save College Season, Create Union
Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds saw the tweets from Trevor Lawrence and other college football players pushing for the opportunity to play this season despite the pandemic.
Reynolds, one of the organizers behind a players’ rights movement in the Big Ten, didn’t like the way some on social media seemed to be pitting Lawrence’s message against the efforts of #BigTenUnited and #WeAreUnited.
“There was a lot of division,” Reynolds told AP early Monday morning.
Read the full storyPentagon Offers Military Airwaves for 5G Wireless Networks
The Pentagon plans to free up a big chunk of its military airwaves in the U.S. for high-speed internet service, part of a broader push to get ahead of China in the deployment of 5G wireless technology.
The Trump administration announced Monday that it has identified radio spectrum used for radar defense systems that can be shared with commercial telecommunications providers without compromising national security.
Read the full storyCrom Carmichael Explains the Media’s Exaggeration of Coronavirus Deaths and it’s Relation to Mail-Out Voting
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss the media’s exaggeration of the coronavirus death toll in relation to mail-out voting.
Read the full storyCrom Carmichael Discusses Logic, Common Sense, and Why Mail-Out Voting is Susceptible to Fraud
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to distinguish the difference between define ‘mail-out’ and absentee voting.
Read the full storyMinnesota Nonprofit Used Donations Intended for Jailed Protesters to Bail Violent Offenders
The Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), a bail-issuing nonprofit trending since George Floyd’s death, recently used donations intended for protestors to bail violent offenders.
Donors intended for their MFF contributions to bail out jailed Black Lives Matter protestors. Instead, Fox News shared that MFF recently paid near half a million in cash to bail out two individuals whose charges are entirely unrelated to Floyd protests.
Commentary: As a Singularity Draws Near, Can We Step Back from the Brink?
It’s obvious to all, at this point, that factional division is reaching a breaking point in America. Like a pair of locked-together tectonic plates pulling slowly in opposite directions, the strain has been increasing for a long time now – and when seismic ruptures finally occur, they happen suddenly, and release enormously destructive energies.
Some years back, John Derbyshire referred to this pent-up tension as a “cold civil war,” and here in 2020 more and more of us are getting the feeling that the term is apt. Is it? (The question has also been the subject of an ongoing weekly discussion between the radio host John Batchelor and historian Michael Vlahos.)
Read the full storyWhitmer Lashes Out at President Trump for ‘Cutting’ Unemployment Benefits
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lashed out at President Trump in a statement on Sunday after the president cut the enhanced federal unemployment benefit from $600 a week to $400 a week after Democrats in the House failed to make a deal with the Republican-controlled Senate on the matter.
Trump signed four executive orders on Saturday, one of which lowers the enhanced unemployment benefit by a third through the end of the year, with states being required to contribute $100, according to MLive. Unemployed Americans originally received $600 per week through the CARES Act, which expired July 31.
Read the full storyOhio Accepts Plan for $300 in Federal Unemployment Aid
Ohio unemployment claimants would receive $300 in federal weekly unemployment assistance under an option provided by the White House that doesn’t require extra state spending, the administration of Gov. Mike DeWine said.
The plan agreed to late Sunday by DeWine means less money for the unemployed under another option, that would provide $400 a week, with $100 coming from the state.
Read the full storyMadison County Judge Sets Back Efforts to Recall School Board Members in Tennessee
One group’s mission to give all Tennessee voters the power to recall school board members has withered away because of a chancery court judge in Madison County.
As The Tennessee Star reported last month, members of the Tennessee General Assembly proposed a law that would have given voters statewide the power to recall school board members. But legislators later watered down the bill so that it would apply only to Madison County, and they later passed it into law.
Read the full storyState Department of Education Will Provide $15 Million in Grants for Student Internet Access
Tennessee’s Department of Education has announced $15 million in matching grants to help school districts provide MiFi devices and data coverage for 100,000 student households without internet access. MiFi devices access the internet over the cellular network using a procedure commonly referred to as “tethering.”
Funds will go to school districts as a matching grant to provide an estimated 100,000 households with internet access for distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Priority will be given to households most in need.
Read the full storyCommentary: Adam Laxalt on Nevada Democrats’ Election Theft Scheme
Our friend Morning in Nevada PAC President Adam Laxalt has alerted us to the details of the “election reform” measure Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and the Democrat-controlled legislature rushed through in an emergency special session — on a party-line vote, in just a 48-hour period over the weekend, with no members of the public present, and under the cover of night.
And it’s even worse than we thought.
Read the full storyMetro Nashville Councilwoman Sharon Hurt in Her Own Words on Stronger Penalties for Violators of Mask Mandate
Metro Councilwoman Sharon Hurt attended a special joint meeting of the Public Safety and Health committee recently where she seemed to make to case that a violation of the city’s mask mandate should carry with a heavy penalty up to and including murder or attempted murder.
Here is the transcript of her remarks…
Read the full storySome Parents Turn to Micro-Schooling as Back-to-School Debate Rages
As states and school districts continue to change their back-to-school policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national debate rages over in-person or virtual learning for instruction, some parents have taken their children’s education into their own hands.
A new form of quasi-homeschooling, called micro-schooling, is emerging. In this not-so-new format, neighboring families have decided to educate their children in a modern version of the 19th century era one-room schoolhouse.
Read the full storyLindsey Graham: Memo Shows FBI Lied to Senate About Dossier Source
Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday released an FBI memo from 2018 that he says shows investigators lied to the Senate about statements that the primary source for the Steele dossier told the FBI regarding the salacious document.
“This document clearly shows that the FBI was continuing to mislead regarding the reliability of the Steele dossier,” Graham said in a statement announcing the release of an eight-page briefing document that the FBI provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee in February 2018.
Read the full storyCommentary: Joe Biden Is the Man Who Wasn’t There
Those things with which we are most familiar are often hardest to see. This is perhaps particularly true of such fraught subjects as politics. There we are every day staring at the same people, reading news stories that are virtually indistinguishable from one another, and what do we know?
Our situation is similar to Alice’s in Through the Looking Glass when she finds herself in a shop that seemed full of curious things. “[T]he oddest part of it all was, that whenever she looked hard at any shelf, to make out exactly what it had on it, that particular shelf was always quite empty: though the others round it were crowded as full as they could hold.”
Read the full storyArizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin Brace for Record 2020 Turnout, Won’t Say When Election Results Will Be Available
Election officials in three battleground states wouldn’t say when the U.S. can expect the results from November’s presidential race, and an official in a fourth state said the timing is uncertain.
Numerous news reports have indicated that election results could take a week to return due to the coronavirus pandemic and an increased reliance on mail-in ballots. Accuracy and timing will be especially crucial in the battleground states that will likely determine whether President Donald Trump will serve another term or be ousted by former Vice President Joe Biden.
Read the full storyThree Hundred Female Athletes Support Idaho’s Barring of Biological Males from Women’s Sports
More than 300 female athletes are speaking out in support of Idaho’s decision to protect women’s sports from biological men.
Female professional, Olympic, and National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes on July 29 sent a letter to the NCAA board of governors asking it to reject calls from LGBT activists to boycott Idaho over its new law protecting women’s athletics from participation by transgender biological males.
“We do not want to watch our athletic achievements be erased from the history books by individuals with all the inherent athletic advantages that come from a male body,” Save Women’s Sports wrote in its letter.
Read the full story