Day: February 16, 2021

Nashville Announces Closures for Tuesday as Major Winter Storm Hits Middle Tennessee

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville Schools and many other facilities within the city will remain closed Tuesday due to inclement weather. This, as a major winter storm impacts the Tennessee Valley. This storm system was expected to bring freezing rain, sleet, and snow throughout the state, with the greatest impacts in West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee. These weather conditions caused significant impacts to roadways, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

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The Confederate Monument in Centennial Park Isn’t Sam Davis, Historians Say and Primary Sources Concur

Corinne Murdock
Duty Done Honor Won

Contrary to certain government historical records, the Confederate Private Monument doesn’t depict Boy Hero of the Confederacy Sam Davis. In a previous report, The Tennessee Star relayed information provided by the archives of the Nashville Public Library and the Smithsonian Institution. Both resources concurred that the seated statue atop the monument was a likeness of Sam Davis sculpted by famed artist George Julian Zolnay.

However, several historians contended that this information was inaccurate – that Davis wasn’t the statue subject. The Star confirmed those assessments through the original news publication documenting the monument’s dedication, as well as a contemporaneous history book written on the subject of Confederate monuments.

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Rep. Swalwell Pushes for a ‘White Nationalism Task Force’

Admin

Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell on Monday called for “a white nationalism task force” at the Department of Justice.

“They’re going to need, I believe, at the Department of Justice, a white nationalism task force to make sure that they’re understanding at the earliest of ages how people are being radicalized, if there are in fact training camps,” Swalwell said on “MSNBC Live With Katy Tur.”

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Texas Minor League Baseball Announcer Tim Hagerty Receives Hateful Tweets Aimed at U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee

Jason M. Reynolds

In an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, a Minor League Baseball radio announcer in Texas named Tim Hagerty is receiving hateful social media comments intended for a U.S. Senator of a similar name from Tennessee over the acquittal of President Donald Trump.

Tim Hagerty recently tweeted, “I continue getting tweets intended for US Senator Bill Hagerty.

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Tennessee Signed Contract With Consulting Firm While Also Investigating it for Role in Opioid Epidemic

The Center Square

Tennessee entered into a consulting contract with Washington-based McKinsey & Company consulting firm while the state attorney general was investigating the firm for its role in the opioid epidemic, state records show.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery recently announced the state would receive more than $15 million from a multistate lawsuit settlement with McKinsey over the firm’s role in consulting opioid manufacturers on how to best market and profit from opioid drug sales.

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Biden Upset Trade Unions by Scrapping the Keystone Pipeline, but Sided with Teachers Unions Against the Reopening of Schools

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President Joe Biden campaigned on his strong union ties, but some of the policies his administration has adopted — ones he promised he’d adopt during the election — have outraged those that supported him.

Biden pledged throughout his campaign that he would scrap the Keystone XL pipeline if elected, and his doing so angered trade, labor and pipefitter unions, some of whom have already lost jobs as a result. But while Biden has called for nearly all schools to reopen within the first 100 days of his presidency, his administration has sided with teachers unions across the country, some of which have refused to revert to in-person learning despite recent studies that show it is safe if proper precautions are followed.

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Lindsey Graham Says VP Harris Could be Impeached if GOP Takes Back House

Admin

Lawyers for Donald Trump said it over and over: Impeaching and convicting the former president would set a terrible new precedent ripe for abuse.

Before the trial began, Trump lawyer Bruce Castor laid out his team’s arguments.

“We will argue that the entire proceeding is unconstitutional, bad public policy, and is setting a bad precedent for the nation,” Castor said. “We will argue that every person in the United States is entitled to due process of law, even if it is the president of the United States. And the president of the United States during the House impeachment was afforded no due process of law.”

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Support Grows for 9/11-Style Commission into Capitol Riot Following Trump Acquittal

Admin

More lawmakers are backing an independent 9/11-style commission into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 following the Senate’s acquittal of former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting the deadly insurrection that took place.

Congressional investigations were already scheduled after this week’s recess, but lawmakers from both parties have called for a holistic investigation following Trump’s acquittal on Saturday afternoon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also asked retired Army Gen. Russel Honoré in January to lead oversee a thorough review of the Capitol’s security in order to prevent something similar from occurring in the future.

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Gender and Sexuality Studies Professor Applies Critical Race Theory to the Lives of Shelter Dogs

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A professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of California Riverside claims in a recent book that dogs end up being killed in shelters due to “capitalism, anthroparchy, white supremacy and patriarchy.”

Katja Guenther’s “The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals” also says that allowing your dog(s) to sleep inside your house is actually a manifestation of white privilege, reports Areo Magazine.

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Huawei Employee Allegedly Wrote MIT Professor’s Pro-China Editorial

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A Huawei employee allegedly ghostwrote an op-ed on behalf of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, who defended Huawei’s ties with American universities, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon. 

In 2019, Nicholas Negroponte — the co-founder of the MIT Media Lab — wrote a defense of the Chinese company’s partnership with MIT and other post-secondary institutions. He argued that the United States “should collaborate with leading technology companies and their research labs, rather than banning them.”

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Commentary: Koch Proxies Threaten to Destroy Conservative Populism

Admin

A recent guest column in the Dallas Morning News offers new evidence that Conservatism, Inc. is bent on destroying conservative populism. The piece also underscores the primary streams of money in American politics: Trillions of dollars flow to progressives, billions flow to libertarians, and millions—on a good day—flow into the conservative populist movement.

The column is headlined “By supporting Trumpism, the GOP is in danger of losing libertarian support,” with the subtitle adding that “Many libertarians split from the party to vote for Biden.” The authors are Daniel Smith, an associate professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University and director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and Alexander Salter, an associate professor of economics at Texas Tech University and a research fellow at Texas Tech’s Free Market Institute. But these two professors are not some random intellectuals. They are part of a billion-dollar machine, built to produce paid-for ideas.

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Ohio Lawmakers Want School Assessment Testing Waived this Spring

The Center Square

Two Ohio lawmakers want students to concentrate on learning and not testing as they continue to return to the classroom.

State Reps. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, and Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, have introduced a bill that removes the requirement for schools to administer state mandated tests this year. It follows similar bills that were passed last year that addressed the same issues during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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Whitmer Proposes Firearms Ban at State Capitol in Michigan Budget Bill

Peter D'Abrosca

ust a month after a group of unelected officials in Michigan banned the open carrying of firearms from the state Capitol, Michigan’s Democrat governor is attempting to codify that policy into law via the state’s budget bill.

The measure, which faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled state legislature, also includes five million taxpayer dollars to fund extra security at the Capitol, according to Associated Press.

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General Assembly Votes to Give Virginia Teachers a Raise, Senate Passes In-Person Learning Bills

Eric Burk

The House of Delegates and the Senate both voted to give Virginia teachers’ a pay raise in the budget bills passed with bipartisan support Friday. HB 1800, passed 68 to 30, features a five percent teachers’ raise for Fiscal Year 2022, while its counterpart SB 1100, which features a three percent teachers’ raise, passed 31 to eight. The Senate also passed an amendment to the budget that requires schools to provide in-person learning options in 2021-2022; however, the House defeated a similar floor amendment on Friday.

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State Senators Dunnavant, Petersen Call for Education Reserve Corps to Address Looming School Staffing Shortage in Virginia

Eric Burk

Citing school staffing shortages, Senators Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) and Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico) are proposing the creation of an Education Reserve Corps in Virginia.

“As we’ve known, other than getting people vaccinated and keeping them alive, the most important issue, and we’ve been consistent about this, is reopening schools,” Petersen said on the Senate floor on Monday. He pointed to staffing parallels in the medical field.

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Bill to Ban Guns at Polling Places Passes Virginia Senate Committee

Peter D'Abrosca

A bill that would ban guns within 40 feet of any polling place in Virginia passed the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday. 

“My Safe Elections Bill (HB2081), banning guns at polling places and vote counting centers, just passed the Senate Judiciary Committee! This bill protects both voters and election workers from intimidation. Those with guns don’t make the rules. Voters do,” Delegate Mark Levine (D-VA-45) said on Twitter.

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Georgia State Senators Push for Council to ‘Reform’ the Way State Collects Taxes

Chris Butler

Nearly 40 Georgia state senators from both political parties might change certain aspects of the state’s tax system, and whatever they agree to may force you to pay higher taxes on certain commodities. Those state senators filed a bill late last week to create a Special Council on Tax Reform and to also create a Special Joint Committee on Georgia Revenue Structure.

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State Senator Pody Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Limit Government Overreach During Emergencies

Corinne Murdock

State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) proposed a constitutional amendment to limit governmental power during emergencies. Tennessee Stands, a nonprofit social advocacy organization, instigated the proposal of this amendment. 

“No declaration of emergency by the federal government, the governor of this state, or any agent or political subdivision of this state shall be construed to lessen or abridge the rights and privileges of the citizens of this state guaranteed by this Constitution or lessen or diminish the controlling authority of this Constitution,” read the amendment. “In all circumstances, the departments of the government shall be bound to and shall not exceed or delegate, their respective duties and powers as defined in this Constitution.” 

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