Tennessee Office of Reentry Touts Study About Rehabilitating LGBT Offenders

A department of the Tennessee state government dedicated to helping those who have been released from prison is touting a Vanderbilt University study aimed at understanding reentering LGBT people into society. 

“Thank you to Ms. Danait Issac out of or including us in the first part of her study on reentry efforts for the justice-involved LGBTQ+ population. These are important conversations and we look forward to your work in the future! #PrideMonth,” said the Tennessee Department of Reentry on Twitter, attaching the study. 

Read the full story

Commentary: Recession Predictor 10-Year, 2-Year Treasuries Spread Inverts Once Again Amid Crushing Inflation

The spread between 10-year and 2-year treasuries, a reliable indicator of incoming recessions that has predicted almost every recession in modern economic history, inverted once again overnight Monday amid financial markets turmoil with interest rates rising rapidly, the dollar strengthening and equities markets crashing.

That is almost certainly terrible news for President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats ahead of the 2022 Congressional midterms. The White House has attempted to highlight relatively low unemployment numbers as signs of a healthy economy, with President Biden on June 3 declaring the latest jobs numbers as “good news.”

Read the full story

Attorney General Alliance Annual Meetings Taking Place in Idaho

The Attorney General Alliance annual meetings are taking place in Sun Valley, Idaho, starting Monday and ending Thursday.

According to its website, “The Attorney General Alliance (AGA) began as the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), a 501c3 nonprofit organization and bipartisan group of 15 western states and three territories. Built on a foundation of fostering collaboration between western AG offices, CWAG has long maintained a focus on issues in the fields of Native American, natural resources, public lands, minerals, and energy law.”

Read the full story

Youngkin, Kaine, Warner, and Beyer Celebrate Boeing’s Relocating Global Headquarters to Virginia, Partnership with Virginia Tech

Governor Glenn Youngkin, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA), and Representative Don Beyer (D-VA-08) spoke at a Monday ceremony celebrating Boeing’s relocating its headquarters to Arlington and its partnership with Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus in Arlington.

Youngkin said that when Boeing announced its move to Virginia in May, “I was particularly proud because when we went to work on January 15, we talked about Virginia being open for business. We talked about Virginia raising standards and expectations and education. We talked about Virginia being the best place for our veterans to live and work and raise a family.”

Read the full story

Court Rules Georgia Sheriff Department Discriminated Against Deputy for Denial of Insurance Coverage for Sex Change

United States District Court Chief Judge Marc T. Treadwell has ruled a Houston County Police Department’s exclusion of a worker’s insurance coverage request for gender reassignment surgery to be “facially discriminatory,” and that her equal protection claim “will proceed to trial.”

“I have devoted more than a decade of my life to a job that I love with the backing of supervisors and colleagues who truly respect my work,” said Houston County Sheriff Deputy, Sergeant Anna Lange. “Despite my dedicated years of service, the County has singled out and excluded the medically-necessary care that I need simply because I’m transgender. I just want to be treated fairly and earn the same benefits as my co-workers who serve on the force.”

Read the full story

School Districts Cut Ties with Left-Wing Nonprofit ‘Equity Alliance Minnesota’

Five east metro school districts voted to stop paying a leftist nonprofit that charges massive sums for “equity audits.” This likely spells the end of the group, called “Equity Alliance Minnesota.”

Equity Alliance Minnesota charges member school districts $5 per student per year, plus other program fees, to take stock of how equitable they are and provide suggestions to improve. In Centennial Schools, for example, the Alliance would have made $125,000 during the first year of working together if outraged parents hadn’t intervened. This would have included a $50,700 equity audit and a $28,000 equity action plan

Read the full story

Beth Harwell Celebrates Flag Day, Announces Support for Constitutional Ban on Burning American Flag

In a statement first obtained by The Tennessee Star, former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives and a Republican candidate in the August 4 primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Beth Harwell celebrated Flag Day and announced her support for a Constitutional amendment that would make burning the American flag illegal. 

“The American Flag is the greatest pillar of freedom across the globe. It is a guiding light to our troops and a symbol of hope to men, women, and children around the world who suffer under authoritarian regimes. Desecration of our flag is the greatest disrespect for the ideals our Founding Fathers sought to establish and to all who have given their lives to defend it. We must protect our flag and our freedom by passing a Constitutional amendment that outlaws the burning of our nation’s flag,” said Harwell.

Read the full story

Scottsdale USD Club’s Worksheet Encourages Students to Question Their Heterosexuality

An Arizona school district is under fire after a worksheet exercise asking students to reconsider their heterosexuality went viral online. 

“[Scottsdale Unified School District] reportedly hosted a student club to “promote leadership and diversity” which was actually a cover for teaching gender identity and sexuality,” popular Twitter account Libs of TikTok said, adding a photo of the worksheet. 

Read the full story

Connecticut School Districts Weigh Armed Security Guards in Schools

Parents and school district officials in Connecticut are considering hiring armed security guards in schools in the wake of the recent shooting massacre of 21 children and staff in Uvalde, Texas.

“We are proposing, due to our concerns over police response time, and I don’t say that as a fault to the police, that’s simply just a matter of reality that the police can’t get to a school immediately,” said Ian Neviaser, superintendent of Regional School District 18, Lyme-Old Lyme.

Read the full story

State Representatives Seek to Impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Krasner

Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Monday circulated a memorandum seeking cosponsors for articles of impeachment for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D).

Reps. Josh Kail (R-Monaca), Torren Ecker (R-Abbottstown) and Tim O’Neal (R-Washington) wrote in their message to House colleagues that impeachment is a severe option that they would only initiate in the face of a prosecutor’s clear “dereliction of duty.” They charged Krasner with a “willful refusal to enforce Pennsylvania’s criminal laws” in Philadelphia.

Read the full story

DeSantis: ‘Blockade’ of Supreme Court by Pro-Choice Protesters Is an ‘Insurrection’

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared on Fox & Friends Monday morning and labeled the potential  “blockade” of the Supreme Court by pro-choice groups as an “insurrection.”

DeSantis was referring to the publicized plans of  ShutDownDC,  a left-wing group which announced it was hosting a “shut down SCOTUS” protest on June 13, with plans to “blockade” the streets surrounding the Supreme Court in light of a potential decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade.

The group announced the protest plans on their website. “On June 13, one of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision days, we plan to blockade the streets around the Supreme Court to rise up for the transformative change that our communities need,” the website states. “Right now our political system is in crisis. Times of crisis can either be opportunities to break through the inertia and win transformational change or they can be opportunities for the establishment to further entrench the status quo.”

DeSantis said on Fox & Friends that group is “trying to change the outcome of decisions that they are concerned that they don’t like and that is totally antithetical to the rule of law…That would be considered an insurrection: to stop a court from functioning, and yet they seem to be able to get away with a lot more than if the shoe were on the other foot.”

“I think that we have a rule of law in this country and you don’t just get to have a mob descend on a Supreme Court Justice’s house or try to impede the operations of government because there may be a decision you don’t like,” DeSantis added.

Read the full story

Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan: January 6 Committee ‘Lied to the American People’

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said members of the House Democrats’ select committee who claim to be investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol “altered evidence” of a text exchange between him and former White House Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows.

On Sunday Jordan referred to the primetime presentation hearing focused on the riot, for which Democrats hired former president of ABC News James Goldston to produce, as nothing but a partisan effort that has already been shown to include doctored “evidence.”

Read the full story

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs and Other Reps Blast the January 6 Committee, Calling It a ‘Show Trial’

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), among other Arizona Reps., recently slammed the January 6 committee, calling it a show trial and distraction.

“The January 6 committee is nothing more than a partisan sham the Democrats are using to distract Americans from the massive failures of the Biden administration that has created unprecedented price hikes and inflation at a 40 year high,” Biggs tweeted.

Read the full story

Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee Member Calls on Chair and Treasurer to Resign over Party Finances

An Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Central Committeeman sent an email to party associates on Monday calling on ORP Chairman Bob Paduchik and Treasurer David Johnson to resign.

Mark Bainbridge, an accountant who represents ORP’s State Central Committee District 16 and who has led the committee’s reform caucus, wrote that the state party has suffered a decline in net worth that is “shrouded in secrecy.” Specifically, he stated, ORP reported a net gain of $147,259 through 2021 when it allegedly should have reported a loss of $162,088. He concluded that $309,347 in net expenses are absent from the organization’s profit and loss statement and that ORP had equity totaling $2,568,530 at the end of 2021 compared with $2,730,618 at the end of 2020.

Read the full story

Florida Chamber of Commerce Releases Legislative Report Card

The Florida Chamber of Commerce, one of Florida’s largest trade associations, released their annual Legislative Report Card and also announced their Distinguished Advocates for the 2022 Legislative Session. The chamber describes itself as an organization that supports free enterprise policies and has historically backed Republicans over Democrats.

The chamber said that their calculated average grade for all of Florida’s lawmakers was a 68 percent, equating to a “D.”

Read the full story

Minnesota Department of Health Takes Control of Nursing Home with ‘Growing List’ of Unpaid Bills

The Minnesota Department of Health announced Monday that it took control of a nursing home center on Saturday because staff reported the facility has a growing list of unpaid bills that threaten critical services for residents.

The Ramsey County court granted a temporary order June 10 to allow regulators to ensure residents’ safety and continued care while operations and management issues are handled at the facility, Pine Haven Care Center in Pine Island, a news release said.

Read the full story

Vega Launches New VA-07 Ad Focused on Rising Crime

GOP candidate for VA-07 Prince William Supervisor Yesli Vega launched her first ad in several months on Monday, with the primary just over a week away on June 21.

“I was leaving church with my family when I received the worst phone call of my life, that my brother had been gunned down and nearly killed by MS-13 gang members. I knew than that I would join law enforcement to protect others in need and defend our community,” Vega says in the ad.

Read the full story

Commentary: The Recall of San Francisco D.A. Boudin Reveals Democrats’ Rift with Minority Voters

As the dust has settled in the days since a political earthquake hit California with the landslide recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a distinct voting pattern has emerged.

Precinct-by-precinct voting maps show minority voters backing the recall in much higher numbers than college-educated, affluent white progressives, with very few exceptions. It’s not difficult to understand why, California political analysts across the spectrum tell RealClearPolitics. Minority communities suffer more when crimes rates are soaring than insulated wealthier neighborhoods with more protections and money for security.

Read the full story

Brnovich Argues: Arizona Needs a Lawful Elections Procedures Manual

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) argued in Yavapai Superior Court last week to ensure Arizona has a lawful elections procedures manual (EPM) for the upcoming 2022 elections.

“Regardless of individual politics or party, everyone should understand the importance of maintaining public confidence in our elections,” Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) said in a press release. “I brought suit to support confidence in the integrity of our elections and accuracy of the results.”

Read the full story

Commentary: That Star-Spangled Banner Yet Waves

Tennessee Star

by Ashley Hamilton   To fly the flag is to honor the mystic chords of memory. It is to hear not a harmonious hymn of battle but the disharmony of peaceful dissent. It is to record the jangling discords of the march of freedom, not a symphony of complacency nor an orchestration of complicity in the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. To fly the flag—to raise it on this day, Flag Day—is to celebrate the greatness of America. We are a great nation, not because we have always been good, but because we have never failed to try to do good; to right the wrongs of America as God gives us the firmness to see the right; to see to it that we are true to what we said on paper, so every American will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood; to see a sea of flags—from sea to shining sea—where liberty is our birthright and life itself is an unalienable right. To see our flag is to feel what no other flag…

Read the full story

IRS Destroyed 30 Million Tax Filing Documents, Lawmakers Demand Answers

Outside of IRS building

The Internal Revenue Service has been under fire for delays and millions of backlogged returns, but now lawmakers are raising the alarm after the federal agency “destroyed” millions of Americans’ tax documents.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig this week asking for answers about why these records were destroyed.

Read the full story

Border Authorities Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill Millions

Border authorities in Texas seized 22 pounds of fentanyl worth $339,300 that a smuggler was attempting to drive into the U.S. on Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says that 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be enough to kill a person, 22 pounds is 9,979,032 milligrams. Applying the DEA’s own metrics, this means the latest seizure is enough to kill 4,989,516 people.

Read the full story

Biden Reboots Obama-Era Green Energy Loan Program That Funded Solyndra and Cost Taxpayers Billions

The Biden administration has rebooted the Energy Department’s green loan program that lent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the Obama-era to the now-defunct green energy company, Solyndra, according to an announcement.

The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Utah will receive the loan, leaving $2.5 billion for other clean energy projects, the Department of Energy (DOE) stated Wednesday.

Read the full story

Biden Climate Czar Urges Big Tech to Censor Energy Debate

President Joe Biden’s top adviser on environmental issues called on technology companies to censor debates on environmental issues and energy policy during a Thursday event.

“The tech companies have to stop allowing specific individuals over and over again to spread disinformation,” White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, a former EPA Administrator, said during a virtual event, according to Axios. “We need the tech companies to really jump in.”

Read the full story

Satanic Temple Pulls Out of ‘Kid Friendly’ LGBQT Pride Event in Idaho After Backlash

The Satanic Temple was included on a list of participants of a “kid friendly” LGBTQ+ “Pride in the Park” event in Idaho—which includes a “drag dance party”—until Libs of Tik Tok publicized their involvement on Twitter.

A member of the Satanic group claimed to have pulled out of the Saturday event after several sponsors apparently dropped out due to their participation.

Read the full story

Commentary: No, They’re Not Sending Their Best

America is one of the most welcoming nations on the planet, but you would never know it listening to our mass media. An unceasing avalanche of contempt for Americans and their “racist” and “backward” ways flows from the mouths of liberal talking heads on cable news. It is particularly maddening to listen to this talk from recently arrived immigrants in positions of power and influence. The likes of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ana Navarro on “The View,” and MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan have done very well for themselves in the United States, but they don’t do a very good job of showing their gratitude. 

Read the full story

Supreme Court Delivers Major Immigration Ruling

United States Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that illegal aliens detained for six months don’t have the right to a bond hearing for release in a decision released.

The decision addressed two separate cases involving three illegal aliens, two of which were Mexican nationals that entered the U.S. illegally after being previously deported. After they were detained, they filed a putative class action for a bond hearing after six months of detention.

Read the full story

Commentary: Cost of Forced Unionism Soars by over 50 Percent

For decades, states like New York, California and Illinois have evidently been paying a high price for allowing dues-hungry labor union bosses to continue getting workers fired for refusal to bankroll their organizations.  Year after year, far more taxpayers have been leaving forced-unionism states than have been moving into them.  The cumulative loss of taxpayers has been cutting into their revenue bases.

Recently released data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) indicate the cost of forced unionism soared by more than 50% in the Tax Filing Year 2019, compared to the year before.

Read the full story

Royalty Payments to Government Scientists Facing Scrutiny

A government watchdog has discovered that over 1,800 government scientists received 27,244 royalty payments from 2009 to 2016, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in a seven-year time span.

Fox News reports that the findings were the result of a lawsuit filed against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by OpenTheBooks.com. The watchdog had sued the NIH after the agency allegedly stonewalled their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. As a result, the NIH agreed to share their bookkeeping on royalties, although they redacted the total amount of individual payments, as well as the inventions, and the third parties who actually paid the royalties.

Read the full story

Exclusive: Andy Ogles Calls for 90-Day Moratorium on Federal Gas Tax Collection

In an exclusive press statement obtained by The Tennessee Star, TN-5 Republican primary candidate Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles called for the Democrat-controlled U.S. House and U.S. Senate to immediately pass a 90-day moratorium on federal gasoline and diesel taxes. 

“The absurd and destructive energy policies of the Biden Administration and the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, are producing the highest gas and diesel prices in history!” Ogles said. “As Democrats refuse to consider returning to the pre-Biden energy policies that had gas prices in the $2.20 range, the least they can do is give families a break this summer as we struggle with the Biden-flation caused by his inept and misguided energy and economic policies.”

Read the full story