The Williamson County-based Tennessee Stands this week published its top four priorities for the 2022 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Tennessee Stands, according to its website, calls on state and local officials “to restore our constitutional republic.”
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Only a few years after “woke capitalism” was touted as the wave of the future, its supporters are getting a wakeup call of their own.
Just ask BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. The tone of his 2022 letter to CEOs is very different from his previous two, both of which pushed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment criteria and “stakeholder capitalism” relentlessly. As far as Fink was concerned, ESG, “sustainability,” and the agenda for what we have termed “woke capital” would dominate the markets for years, while he and his $10 trillion asset management behemoth would, in turn, dominate them. Fink was to be king of the stakeholder world.
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The former chief of staff to President Donald Trump blasted former Vice President Mike Pence, who said earlier this week that he “had no right to overturn the election” that Trump says was fraudulent.
Steve Bannon explained that though Pence himself did not have the right to overturn the election – and that Trump never said he had that right – Pence had the ability to let the states decide for themselves.
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Gov. Ned Lamont said he is proposing a package of legislative proposals that would provide for $336 million in tax relief for state residents.
The governor announced the first package of tax aid comes as the state has a projected $1.48 billion surplus in its operating budget. The surplus, Lamont said, enables the tax cuts to be built into the budget and will ensure the state’s Rainy Day Fund remains strong.
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) officially voted Friday to censure Republican Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for their continued criticism of former President Donald Trump and their participation in the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the Capitol riot.
The resolution passed during the RNC’s winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, and it passed unanimously.
The resolution alleged that the roles of Cheney and Kinzinger on the committee amounted to “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” It also said that as a result, the RNC would “immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party,” calling their actions “destructive” to the House of Representatives and the country.
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A new report from Victims of Communism gives several American tech companies a failing grade for their “complicity” with China and its human rights violations, an ongoing controversy for tech companies which often rely on the nation’s cheaper labor and large market to pad their profits.
The report examines Amazon, Apple, Dell, Facebook, GE, Google, Intel, and Microsoft on a range of issues, including to what degree they partner with China’s surveillance state and human rights violations.
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Activists linked to a left-wing disinformation network are pressuring advertisers to cut ties with conservative news sites.
Check My Ads, a group started by Sleeping Giants co-founder and activist Nandini Jammi and advertising consultant Claire Atkin, bills itself as “Adtech’s first watchdog” and claims to “cut disinformation off at the source.” The organization attempts to curb the spread of what it deems misleading or hateful content by pressuring advertisers and ad exchanges to sever business relationships with certain news and commentary sites.
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Did Hillary Clinton or the Democratic National Committee ever pay Michael Avenatti?
The question isn’t exactly new. It was at least hinted at as early as May 10, 2018. That day, Mark Penn, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, published an op-ed in The Hill newspaper. At the time, the news was filled with the rantings of Avenatti, who gained his fame and notoriety representing former porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels was claiming she was paid to cover up an affair with Donald Trump before he was elected president.
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The Biden administration was still unsure on basic parts of evacuation from Afghanistan hours before the Taliban seized control of Kabul, according to a leaked memo obtained by Axios.
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Industry groups and others are pushing back after a study found gas stoves contribute more to global warming than previously thought at a time when some elected officials are considering policies to limit natural gas connections.
The study, published in Environmental Science & Technology, found methane that leaks from natural gas stoves in U.S. homes has a climate impact equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions from about 500,000 gas-powered cars.
The study also tested emissions from stoves in homes. A Stanford news release that accompanied the study raised concerns about indoor air quality because of the levels of nitrogen oxides.
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Sixteen states again are challenging a federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers who work at facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Friday’s filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana comes after the issuance of final guidance on the mandate from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), arguing the guidance is an action that is reviewable.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled by 5-4 vote Jan. 13 against the original Louisiana challenge to the mandate and a similar Missouri filing.
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Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, is donating over $130 million to an organization that advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles to be taught in schools, Communities In Schools announced Thursday.
Communities In Schools, a national organization working to support student access to education and resources, announced the $133.5 million donation from Scott on Thursday. The investment is reportedly intended to broaden the efforts of the organization and expand its mission in schools across the country.
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In the intensifying great power contest between the United States and genocidal Communist China, it is imperative to devise a strategy for victory, not one for subservience and appeasement.
As Ronald Reagan proclaimed as he ended the myth of détente and commenced the drive for an irenic victory over the USSR’s evil empire: “We win, they lose.” Ultimately, through our nation and our allies’ perspicacious strategic and morally courageous policies, we won and the Soviets lost. (And all of this without so much as a “snowflake” of the “nuclear winter” the accommodating, appeasing domestic Left had virtually guaranteed would occur under the leadership of the “amiable dunce” and “nuclear cowboy,” “Ronald Ray-Gun.”)
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A handful of Democrats in the Arizona legislature are supporting a bill that would require employers to give workers up to 26 weeks of paid leave per year.
Fifteen Democrats in the Arizona legislature co-sponsored SB 1644 on Tuesday, February 1. The bill, introduced by Raquel Terán. D-Phoenix, would enact paid family and medical leave in Arizona.
If passed, the bill would allow for up to 26 weeks of paid leave in cases of childbirth, caring for a relative, caring for a military family member, and for victims of domestic violence, among other reasons.
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Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday signed a new law into action that aims to help solve missing persons cases.
Specifically, House Bill 930 will mandate various law enforcement agencies to submit the DNA of a missing person, child, or unknown deceased person to the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) for submission to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS).
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A Detroit lawmaker is pitching up to a 20-year, additional 0.4 mill tax hike to Wayne and Oakland County residents to fund museums – similar to the Detroit Institute of Art tax.
Sen. Marshall Bullock, D-Detroit, sponsored Senate Bill 653 that would apply only to counties with a population over one million – narrowing to the above two counties to fund the Detroit Historical Society and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
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After oral arguments on Wednesday, Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Louise DiMatteo granted a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s school mask mandate opt-out Executive Order Two. In the opinion issued Friday, DiMatteo declined to decide on the validity of Youngkin’s mask policy, but found that the lawsuit is likely to succeed on the merits, thanks to state law.
“The efficacy of the Governor’s school mask policy contained in EO2 does not bear upon whether he has the authority to issue it,” DiMatteo said in the opinion.
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Gov. Tom Wolf gathered with state and local officials Friday to announce $265 million in funding for the Port of Philadelphia to “continue modernization efforts and improve regional stability.”
“The port is an economic driver, not only in Philadelphia, but across the commonwealth,” Wolf said. “The port supports jobs, encourages trade, and builds connections that help businesses and communities across Pennsylvania thrive. This new $246 million investment will help the port build on its success over the past few years and will help Pennsylvania build on our commonwealth’s economic success and job growth, too.”
The money will fund the next phase of the Port Development Plan after a $300 million investment in 2016 that expanded the facility’s infrastructure and warehousing space and added three new super post-Panamax cranes at the Packer Avenue Marine terminal. The improvements, along with a new Southport Auto Terminal, ramped up cargo volumes, resulting in a 60% increase in containers arriving in the city.
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Farmers, agribusinesses, and agricultural leaders can learn about the significance of international trade on local agriculture production, markets, and economies at the 2022 Mid-South Agricultural Trade Conference on March 3, 2022, according to a press release by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
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The deceased victim of two teenage students who are now charged with murder stemming from a shooting at a Richfield high school is the son of a high-profile Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist who himself has trouble with the law.
“Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, 18, and Alfredo R. Solis, 19, were charged in Hennepin County District Court Friday with one count each of second-degree murder and two counts each of attempted second-degree murder,” according to reports.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced 39 indictments were made in an ongoing drug investigation. The statement said undercover officers had followed a violent drug trafficking organization with ties to at least three states.
“This operation is a perfect example of what can be accomplished when agencies work together,” said TBI Director David Rausch. “These dangerous drugs and the violence fueled by those dealing them is having a devastating impact on Knoxville and other areas in East Tennessee. That’s why we have a lot more work to do and will continue to target drug traffickers in our state.”
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Of the nearly 6 million votes cast in Ohio during the November 2020 general election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says 27 potentially were illegal and have been referred to local prosecutors.
LaRose sent 62 referrals of potential election fraud to either Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost or other prosecutors. Of those, 31 were noncitizens who registered to vote but did not cast a ballot. The others may have cast a ballot in the 2020 general election or illegally in an earlier election.
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Amid a debate over parental rights in education legislation (HB 1557/SB 1834), a review of policies across several Florida school boards indicates there is inconsistent guidance related to parental rights and student confidentiality.
For example, recent reports about elementary school officials in Clay County engaging in the counseling of a student without notifying parents revealed competing views about parental rights within the school district.
Clay county school officials allegedly defended their actions by invoking “confidentiality rules” to justify not including the parents in the counseling sessions.
However, a lawsuit filed notes that the Clay County Public Schools written guidance expressly contradicts the use of “confidentiality rules.” An exhibit attached to the lawsuit notes that children do not have a confidentiality right and that school officials must obtain parental consent before guaranteeing confidentiality to a child.
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The U.S. economy recorded an increase of 467,000 jobs in January while unemployment increased to 4.0%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Friday.
Total non-farm payroll employment increased to 467,00 in January, according to the BLS, and the number of unemployed Americans increased to 6.5 million. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projected the economy to have added 150,000 jobs in January and unemployment to have fallen to 3.9%.
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Union membership in Wisconsin is about half of what it was a little over a decade ago.
The latest numbers from the Department of Labor show a steep drop in union membership in Wisconsin since 2009.
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State Rep. John Fillmore (R-Apache Junction) introduced one of the most sweeping election integrity bills this session, but it appears all but doomed due to a rare procedural maneuver deliberately made to stop it by House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa). Bowers scheduled all 12 House committees to hear HB 2596, basically guaranteeing it will never reach the floor since some of the committees won’t bother to hear it.
“Canvass Queen” Liz Harris, so named after conducting an 11-month long independent grassroots audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, told The Arizona Sun Times she was extremely disappointed Bowers did this considering she is certain there was massive fraud. “From the canvassing I’ve done, this is what I realized needs to happen,” she said. She explained that other election integrity legislation is composed of single-issue bills which will only fix one area in the elections process, allowing fraud to move to other areas.
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Derrick Van Orden, a Republican businessman and congressional candidate in Wisconsin, hauled in more than $800,000 in the previous fundraising quarter.
According to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Van Orden is dominating his competition in fundraising efforts.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants to hear from Ohioans impacted by GoFundMe’s initial decision to refund or redirect donations given to demonstrators protesting COVID-19 restrictions in Canada, according to a press release by Yosts’s office.
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Federal officials in Atlanta have charged 22 people nationwide, including Georgia, with wire fraud conspiracy and other charges in an alleged scheme to obtain nearly $4 million in COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. This, according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia published this week.
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A resident of Nogales, Arizona pleaded guilty for his role in a human smuggling operation that has helped dozens of individuals cross the border illegally.
The individual, Benjamin Gallegos, admitted to charges of conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens for profit and could face up to ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
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A new candidate has entered the race for U.S. Representative from Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
Businessman Baxter Lee, issued a statement announcing his candidacy.
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The legal team for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon leveled explosive charges Friday night, accusing federal prosecutors of snooping on one of his defense lawyers and the FBI of misleading the grand jury through omissions.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court where Bannon is charged with contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena for the Jan. committee, lawyers disclosed evidence the Justice Department and phone carriers turned over to them show prosecutors obtained phone and email records for defense lawyer Robert J. Costello.
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East Tennessee State University (ETSU) officials are scheduled to present a play later this month that explores what they call the problem of white privilege. That play, Straight White Males, recently appeared on Broadway, according to an emailed ETSU press release.
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The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) is providing another resource to help communities with the launch of this year’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), according to a press release by the department.
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The investigative journalist and author of Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win told The Star News Network the titans of capitalism on Wall Street are now the partners of the Chinese Communist Party.
“What China wants from Wall Street is access to Western capital with no questions asked, and unfortunately the biggest fans on Wall Street are prepared to give it to them,” said Peter Schweizer, who is the president and founder of the Government Accountability Institute and the host of The Drill Down podcast.
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Perhaps predictably, many public schools kicked off 2022 by switching back to remote learning — or canceling classes altogether — leaving frustrated parents across the country frantically searching for more consistent schooling options.
These past two school years of remote and hybrid learning, forced masking, and an intensified culture of unpredictability has pushed teachers, administrators, students, and parents to very edge. What began as a temporary interruption to student learning has become a vicious cycle of confusion, inconsistency and lost educational time.
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On Wednesday, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the department is investing $1.4 billion to help a diverse rural America keep resources and wealth right at home through job training, business expansion, and technical assistance.
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A petition asking President Joe Biden to appoint Dr. Carol Swain, an accomplished professor of law and Yale University graduate, to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court has reached over 1,000 signatures in just one week.
“We, the undersigned, respectfully suggest – and fully support – Carol M. Swain, PhD as your nominee to serve as the next Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court,” the petition says.
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The House passed a China competition bill on Friday intended to improve the country’s ability to produce semiconductors and make the nation less reliant on China.
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The national debt hit another milestone this week, and experts are warning that continuing to increase federal spending will have dangerous consequences.
The federal national debt has now topped $30 trillion, marking a sharp rise since 2001, when it was about $5 trillion. The federal government surpassed $20 trillion in debt less than five years ago.
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It’s no secret that local newspapers have been dying. Since 2004, the United States has lost a quarter of its newspapers — 70 dailies and over 2,000 weeklies. This has been devastating for communities across the country who depend on these newspapers to stay informed and engaged. There are many factors causing this decline, but one of the main culprits, especially as of late, has been Big Tech.
There’s a term to describe the actions of massive corporations manipulating the levers of state power to dominate their markets and pad their bottom lines at the expense of others. It’s crony capitalism. Under this system, crony capitalists flood Washington, DC with campaign contributions, pay-to-play experts, and legions of lobbyists to shape the laws and regulations that govern their industries.
Sound familiar? If you have observed Big Tech’s movements within the halls of power in our nation’s capital over the past decade, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s said that if you whisper “Section 230” to yourself three times while walking through the Capitol, a Big Tech-funded lobbyist will suddenly appear to explain why changing even one word in the arcane law might trigger the apocalypse.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Hillsdale College’s Assistant Vice Provost, Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, to the newsmaker line to explain the implementation of Barney Charter Schools making their way to three Tennessee counties.
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From Paul Manafort to the Jan. 6 defendants, federal prosecutors and courts routinely seize passports and impose travel restrictions on those charged with or convicted of crimes to eliminate any flight risk.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed regular listener and caller Carl to the newsmakers line to weigh in on the fate of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, her Olympic statements, and the NFL racial discrimination lawsuit.
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For the first time since then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lowered the threshold to confirm a Supreme Court nominee from 60 votes to a simple majority, Democrats have a Senate majority.
Despite Democrats’ advantage being as slim as it can be in the 50-50 split chamber, their majority means that there is little Republicans can do to block anybody whom President Joe Biden nominates, assuming his party votes unanimously to confirm. Biden has also vowed to nominate a black woman, meaning his pick will likely be the first to ever serve on the Supreme Court.
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The Biden Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted in a recent letter that it has not been keeping track of the number of illegal aliens who have been deported after initially being released into the country.
As reported by Breitbart, the DHS on Biden’s watch has reinstated the controversial open-borders policy of “Catch and Release,” where illegals who are apprehended at the border are promptly released into the nation’s interior. Over the last year, this practice has seen at least one million illegals released into the country after initially being detained.
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Sixteen women on the University of Pennsylvania swim team said their transgender teammate, Lia Thomas, should not be allowed to compete in the women’s category, The Washington Post reported.
The teammates sent a letter to the university and to Ivy League officials asking that they not take legal action against new NCAA rules which would block Thomas from competing in the 2022 championships, according to the Post. The women said they supported Thomas’s decision to live as a transgender woman, but they say “the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity.”
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary, where he lays out examples of the continuous grift of the federal government.
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After GoFundMe banned Canada’s Freedom Convoy of truckers from using its service, CloutHub has stepped in to fill the void.
“There is no more important movement for freedom across the American continent right now than the Freedom Convoy 2022,” CloutHub founder Jeff Brain said in a press release. “We are proud to support the Canadian Truckers and will help support the other Trucker movements popping up around the world to fight against unlawful mandates. CloutHub is where the world connects and organizes to take on the issues they care about, including defending liberty and freedom.”
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The Richmond City Democratic Committee voted Thursday to censure Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) over threats Morrissey made to Petersburg NAACP President Lafayette Jefferson.
RCDC member Jimmie Lee Jarvis made the motion to censure the senator. “I was very upset to read, and then hear, Sen. Morrissey’s appalling and repeated threats of violence against a constituent, Mr. Jefferson,” Jarvis said according to The Virginia Scope.
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