Metro Nashville Public Schools Board Chair Joins Campaign to Stop Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education Chair Christiane Buggs announced her alliance with Save Nashville Now, a grassroots campaign to defeat the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act. It is unclear whether this alliance poses a breach of MNPS ethics policy. According to the Metro Nashville Board of Education’s Boardmanship Code of Ethics, board members shouldn’t represent special interests or partisan politics.

“[Board members] will represent at all times the entire school community and refuse to represent special interests or partisan politics,” states the policy.

Read the full story

Commentary: Let’s Talk About the Children

Border Surge

According to U.S. government data, 717 “unaccompanied children” had been resettled in 2021 in Tennessee by the end of March. At the rate they are arriving, that number today is well over 1,000. Among states, Tennessee is the 8th most popular destination for placement of the minors.

Ask anyone what they hated most about Trump’s 4 years and it will most likely be something about “children in cages” or Trump’s “family separation policy.” Never mind that those families were offered the chance to return home and instead voluntarily accepted separation from their children who then – for those who claim to be under 18 – would fall into the official category of “unaccompanied children” (UC’s) and get the chance to stay. Never mind that many of the photos of “children in cages” were taken during the Obama administration or that Congress waited for 7 weeks to consider a request from the Trump White House to fund expanded space for the expanding waves of families and teen-aged border crossers caused by congressional policies. Yep, those pictures of children behind chain linked fences really did the trick. “Propaganda is disguised as news” as Stalin’s PR flack Willi Munzenberg liked to say.

Read the full story

Commentary: Why Does the Left Hate Israel?

Free Palestine

As over 3,000 rockets are fired into Israel by Hamas, the establishment of the Democratic Party seems paralyzed over how to respond to the latest Middle East war. 

It is not just that they fear that the squad, Black Lives Matter, the shock troops of Antifa, and the woke institutions such as professional sports, academia, and the media are now unapologetically anti-Israel. 

Read the full story

J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel Invest in Rumble, the Conservative-Friendly Alternative to YouTube

J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel

J.D. Vance, author of the best-seller Hillbilly Elegy and a potential GOP Senate candidate, along with Peter Thiel, the billionaire who supported Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency in 2016, both invested in Rumble — an alternative video platform conservatives are flocking to on the heels of ongoing allegations of censorship by YouTube.

The major investment will allow Rumble to expand its services and add more viewers, the company’s CEO Chris Pavlovski said in an interview with Fox Business.

Read the full story

House Passes Bill Creating Capitol Riot Commission with Support from Dozens of Republicans, Rebuking GOP Leadership

The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would create a bipartisan, 9/11-style commission into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, with dozens of Republicans joining Democrats in a rebuke of GOP leadership.

The bill passed 252 to 175 with support of 35 Republicans, even though top GOP leaders opposed it and launched a last-ditch effort to convince its members to vote against it. It was authored by Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and New York Republican Rep. John Katko, the top lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee, and focuses solely on the Capitol riot instead of adopting a wider scope as some Republicans previously insisted.

Read the full story

Parliamentary Rules Keep Tennessee Government Operations Committee from Discussing Diversity and Equity as Well as Vaccination Controversies

Tennessee Department of Human Resources (DOHR) Commissioner Juan Williams has not appeared before the Tennessee General Assembly’s Government Operations Committee to testify about the diversity and equity council program he wants state agencies to enforce. Tennessee State Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge), who chairs that committee, told The Tennessee Star Thursday that he cannot say for certain whether Williams will ever come to testify on the topic.

Read the full story

Jobless Claims Hit Fresh Pandemic Low as Americans Return to Work

Photo “Unemployment Insurance Claims Office” by Bytemarks. CC BY 2.0.

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 444,000 last week as the economy continues to slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending May 8, when 478,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 473,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

Read the full story

Blackburn Demands Answers on Federal Employees Covering Up Border Crisis

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called on the Biden administration for answers on why they used untrained federal government bureaucrats to care for the surge in unaccompanied alien children.

The letter questions the decision by the Biden administration to send staff from agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission, to the border facilities.

Read the full story

Police Recruiting Plummets While Crime Surges in Major U.S. Cities

Some police departments are having a hard time recruiting potential officers as others gear up for what could be another summer of civil unrest.

Demonstrations criticizing officer’s use of force and demanding general police reform last year hurt departments’ recruitment efforts leading to widespread strain, Axios reported Wednesday. Other departments in urban areas are preparing for what could be a summer of violent crime as COVID-19 restrictions ease, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read the full story

Commentary: Fentanyl Is Spreading Like Wildfire

Fentanyl

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 6,494 pounds of fentanyl in the first four months of 2021. This is much higher than the 4,776 pounds seized in all of 2020. While it is impressive that CBP has removed this much of the deadly drug from the market, the majority of the fentanyl brought into the U.S. is not seized, and increasing amounts of fentanyl are reaching Americans. The drug, a synthetic opioid, was invented in 1960 for medical applications and is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. In recent years, Mexico-based criminal organizations have been manufacturing the highly addictive drug, often mixed with other substances, and distributing it throughout the United States.

Read the full story

Virginia Finance Secretary Expects $500 Million Revenue Surplus, But Is Cautious About Future Effects of Inflation

Virginia is on track for a revenue surplus of $500 million, according to presentations Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne gave to legislators in the General Assembly this week. Layne was cautiously optimistic when describing Virginia’s financial situation, saying that many jobs have come back, and the housing market is booming.

“This all adds up to a very good performance for the first ten months of the year,” he said in a Tuesday presentation to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. “We’re going to have a surplus that’s at least half a billion dollars and I think there’s an upward bias.”

Read the full story

Conservative Commentator to Run Against Michigan Gov. Whitmer in 2022

Tudor Dixon

Amid speculation that several power brokers could enter Michigan’s 2022 gubernatorial race, a conservative commentator declared her candidacy Thursday.

“I am excited to announce that I am running for Governor to get Michigan back on track,” Tudor Dixon said on Twitter. “We will restore our state and help Michiganders build their American Dream once again! Let’s do this Michigan!”

Read the full story

Florida Legislature Accepts $800 Million in Rental Assistance from Federal Government

Florida’s Historic Capitol and Florida State Capitol

More than $800 million in federal funds have been accepted by the Florida Legislature to provide Floridians rental assistance through the website, OURFlorida.com. The site began accepting applications last week.

The ‘OUR,’ standing for Opportunities for Utilities and Rental Assistance, is available to all Floridians. Both tenants and landlords may apply for the federal assistance to cover losses taken in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With federal funding available statewide, Floridians in counties with populations under 200,000 people, who were unable to receive previous rental assistance provided by the federal government, will now be eligible to apply for and receive assistance.

Read the full story

St. Paul School Requires Masks During Outdoor Recess, Despite Updated Guidance and Zero Cases

A St. Paul elementary school announced to parents that students will be expected to continue wearing their masks while outside at recess, despite seeing zero COVID-19 cases in the school and receiving new guidance from the district.

St. Anthony Park Elementary School notified families of this rule in a letter from the principal, saying it “may seem overly cautious,” but several reasons contributed to the decision, including concern from parents and staff.

Read the full story

Virginia Congressman Bob Good Fined $500 for Not Wearing a Mask in the House of Representatives

Congressman Bob Good (R-Virginia-05) is one of several Republican representatives who refused to wear a mask in the House this week, leading to warnings and fines.

“I’ve received a warning and a $500 fine for my effort to stand up against Speaker Pelosi’s anti-science rule, which is clearly just for political theater. Speaker Pelosi’s mask mandate on the House floor is not about science, it’s about control and virtue signaling for the TV cameras. This week, I stood my ground, and refused to dignify this ridiculous rule by continuing to comply,” Good said in a statement Thursday.

Read the full story

Nikki Fried Has Financial Interest in Company Acquired by Trulieve

Commissioner Nikki Fried

Financial disclosure forms indicate that Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has a financial in Harvest Health & Recreation Inc., a company acquired by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. for $2.1 billion last week. Trulieve is one of the most notable cannabis companies in the United States and is the largest licensed cannabis company in Florida.

According to 2019 documents, Fried’s assets in Harvest Health totaled over $190,000, and her personal overall net worth increased by 416% during the time frame of June 2018 to June 2019. During that period, she was also gifted a $700,000 home with her fiancé Jake Bergmann, who has financial stake in another marijuana company, Surterra Wellness.

Fried has repeatedly promoted the cannabis industry as the Agriculture Commissioner while she and her family maintained financial interests in cannabis companies.

Read the full story

Florida House Democrats Elect New Leaders

Florida’s House Democrats have elected new leaders, each to serve a two year term beginning after the 2022 and 2024 elections. 

“Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, and Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, will be the next two leaders of Florida House Democrats. The House Democratic caucus on Wednesday elected Alexander to serve as its leader for a two-year period starting after the 2022 elections,” according to The Tallahassee Democrat. “The caucus chose Driskell to serve as leader for the two-year period starting after the 2024 elections.”

Read the full story

Tennessee Legislators Urge Biden Administration to Cease Importing Migrants into the State

Since reports of migrant children landing in Chattanooga emerged over the week, Tennessee’s legislators are urging the Biden Administration to cease importing migrants. In a press release, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) joined her in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary (USDHS) Alejandro Mayorkas.

It is apparent from the letter that Tennessee’s leaders at both the federal and state levels have been left in the dark on the Biden Administration’s orders concerning migrants. The legislators asked Becerra and Mayorkas to answer whether the federal government is using Tennessee as a central location for resettling unaccompanied alien children.

Read the full story