Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn addressed the CEOs of five social media companies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis” on Wednesday.
Read the full story
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Congress on Wednesday said the tech firm has “no plans” to make a kids version of its Instagram platform.
He acknowledge “discussions internally” on the idea but also said Meta has not “actually moved forward with that, and we currently have no plans to do so.”
Read the full story
A judge on Wednesday dismissed a Disney lawsuit against Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis claiming he used his authority to punish the firm over its exercise of free speech.
Read the full story
The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it would not change its benchmark federal funds rate, but does project rate cuts later this year.
The Fed’s decision not to raise rates keeps the target range between 5.25% and 5.50%, the highest level since 2001, marking the fourth meeting in a row where the Fed chose to not adjust the rate, according to an announcement from the Federal Reserve following a meeting by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Investor projections for upcoming FOMC meetings are increasingly predicting a rate cut, with the market calculating around 58% odds that the rate will be reduced in March as of Jan. 31, according to CME Group.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in filing an antitrust lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Wednesday.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a coalition of 26 other attorneys general in sending a letter to the Biden administration proclaiming support for the steps Texas has taken at its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrant crossings.
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration to allow Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal entries into the U.S.
Read the full story
After fifteen hours of debating two articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Mark Green (R-TN-07) led his Republican colleagues in voting to advance the articles out of committee.
Read the full story
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) recently released a report highlighting the amount of new investment in the healthcare industry which was denied due to the state’s Certificate of Needs (CON) law.
Read the full story
Catholic University confirmed to The Daily Signal that it has terminated the contract of the professor who invited a self-declared “abortion doula” to speak to students about coaching women through abortions and “pregnant men” through a “seahorse birth.”
Catholic University President Peter Kilpatrick announced to students on Jan. 30 that the university “terminated our contract with the professor who invited the speaker” after obtaining “clear evidence that the content of the class did not align with our mission and identity.”
Read the full story
TikTok continues to distribute data to its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance despite its purported efforts to protect American data, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
TikTok attempted to address concerns from lawmakers and public officials over its handling of Americans’ data by spending $1.5 billion on establishing an isolated unit to safeguard American data called Project Texas. However, managers within TikTok are telling employees to share data to ByteDance, bypassing authorized channels, according to current and previous employees as well as company records the WSJ saw.
Read the full story
Six pro-life activists were found guilty of blocking access to an abortion clinic on Tuesday and could face a sentence of up to 11 years in prison, according to a press release from the Thomas More Society.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged 11 pro-life activists in October 2022 with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which “prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services,” for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in March 2021. A jury ruled that the six defendants were guilty after a six-day trial at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the press release.
Read the full story
General Motors reported a $1.7 billion loss on Tuesday in its fourth quarter earnings call in the production and sale of its electric vehicle line, despite having positive net income growth in the quarter.
The automaker’s net income for the fourth quarter rose 5.2% year-over-year to $2.1 billion despite a reduction in revenue over that time frame of 0.3%, according to GM’s fourth quarter earnings report. The losses on EVs accompany a $1.1 billion total loss from a six-week-long strike by the United Auto Workers that partially halted operations, with the union gaining a new work contract that could raise labor costs in the coming year, according to the company’s investor earnings call.
Read the full story
East Tennessee State University (ETSU)’s Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) demanded the university strengthen its “hate speech policy” in response to an upcoming visit from conservative speaker Kyle Rittenhouse for the school’s chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA).
However, an ETSU spokesperson said no such policy exists.
Read the full story
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reportedly plans to bring a slew of new Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) complaints against the University of Tennessee (UT), prompting a fiery response from Chancellor Donde Plowman in a Tuesday letter to the NCAA. Plowman received the support of Tennessee State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville), who argued the NCAA failed to create “clear guidance and rules” for institutions to follow.
Zachary wrote in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the Tennessee General Assembly “worked with institutions across our state to craft strong NIL institution that established the framework” in the state, but the NCAA’s “moving target” made work “very challenging” for lawmakers.
Read the full story
Harvard University’s chief diversity and inclusion officer allegedly plagiarized some of her academic works, according to a complaint filed Monday with the university.
The complaint alleged that Sherri Charleston plagiarized 40 passages throughout her works, including in her 2009 dissertation and her single peer-reviewed paper, The Washington Free Beacon first reported. Charleston allegedly did not properly cite almost a dozen scholars when quoting or paraphrasing in her dissertation, and she is accused of re-using a portion of a 2012 study published by her husband, LaVar Charleston, in the peer-reviewed article, which was coauthored by LaVar, according to the complaint.
Read the full story
A new bill introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly would increase the penalty for trafficking illegal aliens in the Volunteer State.
HB 2078 “prohibits any person from transporting an illegal alien into this state [and] increases from $1,000 to $5,000 the fine for transporting illegal aliens.”
Read the full story
Robert Malley, a Biden administration official who was embroiled in controversy while working as Special Envoy to Iran, is set to teach a course on the Middle East at Yale University.
The syllabus for the class, which is titled “Contending with Israel-Palestine,” says the course will take “an in-depth look at important questions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” according to Yale Daily News.
Read the full story
First Lady of Virginia Suzanne Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares on Tuesday held an event for their new fentanyl awareness initiative, called It Only Takes One. They were joined by Roanoke City Mayor Sherman Lea and the parents of a child who died after overdosing on fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is killing our young people and hurting families across the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said during her speech at the event. She added, “By bringing attention to the dangers of this illicit drug, while giving a voice to victims, we aspire to save lives. Ultimately, caring for one another is our higher calling.”
Read the full story
In the wake of Alabama carrying out a death sentence with the use of nitrogen gas, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and some lawmakers want to kick start the state’s death penalty that has been stalled since 2019.
At a news conference Tuesday, Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said nitrogen has been made available following the Alabama execution and plans to introduce legislation to make it available in Ohio.
Read the full story
Even though he is still recovering from a near-fatal stabbing, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is seeking legal help while confined to solitary medical confinement in a federal prison facility.
“There was no question he was trying to kill him. It was more serious than anyone knew,” Carolyn Pawlenty said of the violent attack on her son in the prison law library at the facility in Tucson, Ariz., on Nov. 24, 2023.
Read the full story
A bill was filed last week that could see “deepfake” audio and images, including those created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, made a felony in Georgia if they are used in the context of an election.
Georgia State Senator John Albers (R-Alpharetta) filed SB 392, which, according to its summary, would make it a criminal offense to use deepfake technology to interfere with an election.
Read the full story
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that he is calling for constitutional reforms to hold leadership in Washington D.C. accountable for the crisis Americans face due to weak border policies and unchecked spending.
The second-term GOP governor and former presidential candidate is calling for a balanced federal budget, congressional term limits, laws being made equally applicable for citizens and members of Congress and line-item veto authority for the president.
Read the full story
A letter urges an investigation into suppliers of a Ford electric vehicle plant in Marshall, Michigan.
Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, signed the letter.
Read the full story
Act 10, the law that fundamentally weakened Wisconsin’s public school teachers’ unions, is headed back to court. And again there is an effort to save it.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Monday filed a motion to join the new case that seeks to end Act 10. That case claims there was “no conceivable rational basis” for Act 10 to begin with.
Read the full story
A recent state Supreme Court ruling side-stepped the question of constitutional abortion access in Pennsylvania, reviving discussion over a would-be ballot referendum mired in legislative gridlock.
Five justices said Monday the Commonwealth Court erred when it dismissed a 2019 case brought by seven abortion providers challenging Medicaid coverage restrictions first established in 1982 and upheld in 1985.
Read the full story
Every January, law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups mark National Human Trafficking Prevention Month to focus public attention on this horrific crime and its devastating impact on the victims involved. Once again, the Biden Administration is calling attention to the Department of Homeland Security’s broader “Blue Campaign” to combat human trafficking.
Read the full story
Democratic State Representative Stahl Hamilton introduced SB 2336 last week, which would allow mail-in ballots to be handled and delivered by individuals who are not related to the voter who cast the ballot.
Hamilton’s bill specifically strikes language that mandates, “A person may only handle or return their own ballot or the ballot of family members, household members or persons for whom they are a caregiver” and declares it “unlawful” to “handle or return the ballot of any other person.”
Read the full story
Calling her state and America behind “the entire industrialized world,” a Virginia senator is one of two lawmakers pushing legislation to implement an employer-provided benefit to workers.
“Virginia and our entire nation are woefully behind the entire industrialized world when it comes to helping workers when their families need them,” Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, said Monday explaining a paid famil and medical leave program.
Read the full story
The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) is bringing awareness to a new study showing health insurance premiums and deductible costs among Virginians are rising despite the state’s overall healthcare spending remaining below national levels.
“When it comes to health care spending, Virginia is in the enviable position of having expenditure rates that remain well below national levels. The same cannot be said for health insurance costs, unfortunately,” the VHHA said in a press release. “On the contrary, the amount that individuals and families across the Commonwealth spend on annual health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket deductibles continues to rise sharply year-over-year.”
Read the full story
Former Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich again on Tuesday argued the constitutional authority given to states for self-defense.
Brnovich testified at a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing addressing the issue after being the first and only state attorney general to issue a formal legal opinion that defines an invasion and lays out the constitutional authority of states’ self-defense.
Read the full story
Washington glitterati assembled at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in October to celebrate federal employees making a difference in government. Hosted by CNN anchor Kate Bolduan, the black-tie affair featured in-person appearances by top Biden White House officials including Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack.
Midway through the evening’s festivities, Max Stier, president of the group sponsoring the event – the Partnership for Public Service, a $24 million nonprofit based in Washington that recruits individuals to work in the civil service – took the stage to thank his high-profile guests. “Great leaders are the heart and soul of effective organizations,” Stier said, “which is why I am so thankful to see so many of our government’s amazing leaders here tonight.”
Read the full story
President Donald Trump heads into February’s South Carolina primary in a formidable position—the strongest ever in his political career. Following Iowa’s near-clean sweep, in which the 45th President picked up 98 of 99 counties in the Hawkeye State (and the one county he lost by just a single vote), he routed the New Hampshire primary with a double-digit victory, once again winning all but a single county in the Granite State.
The momentum he carried into New Hampshire was so resounding that it forced Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once hyped as President Trump’s successor not so long ago, to drop out of the race days before the first official vote was even tallied. The New Hampshire result, which saw Trump thrash Haley with a 54% to 43% margin, would have been wider, but for all the former-Democrats-turned-undecideds in the state, who teamed up with left-leaning independents to artificially tilt the scales towards Haley.
Read the full story
The far-left billionaire George Soros has donated millions of dollars to various campaigns and political organizations in an effort to flip the second-most populous state in the United States to Democratic control.
According to Fox News, Soros has already given more than $3 million to five left-wing groups in the state of Texas in the last year alone, in an effort to increase ground game for Democratic candidates in the traditionally Republican state.
Read the full story
Ranger Buddy, Wing Man, Swim Partner.
The Armed Services drills individuals from day one that you are part of a team. The military member is not alone. The chain of command has your back. But this doctrine, while well-known to those who have served in the military, may soon change depending on the outcome of an ongoing legislative debate in Richmond.
Read the full story
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday called for the House to expel Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar over a footage of her speaking in Somali in which she allegedly promised to prioritize the interests of Mogadishu and backed the territorial aspirations of the Somali government.
“Expel from Congress, denaturalize and deport!” DeSantis posted on X, resharing the video footage. The original video was posted by the account of the Ambassador at Large of the Republic of Somaliland and included a translation of Omar’s remarks, the interpretation of which Omar has disputed.
Read the full story
A duo that kept showing up in my Instagram feed was a couple of kids, known as Jake & Shelby. Jake Lawson and Shelby Haim are teenagers from Hendersonville, Tennessee. Known for their smooth vocals and intricate guitar arrangements, their magical mix of melody and lyrics is enticing. The pop duo has nearly 900,000 followers on Instagram. Their TikTok videos have had over 70 mllion views.
At just 18 and 19 years of age, I knew if I had any chance of featuring them, I had better contact them as soon as possible.
Read the full story
Rhode Island convinced parents last month to drop their 2021 lawsuit against its gone-but-not-forgotten COVID-19 mask mandates in schools by pledging to hold public hearings should it seek to reimpose them.
Now the Ocean State is proposing a health regulation under which it could force kids to mask up again without justifying it through scientific evidence, allegedly violating the dismissal stipulation that ended the case Dec. 13.
Read the full story
Have you left the grocery store lately, appalled at the price you paid for food?
If so, you are hardly alone.
Read the full story
Founder and president of Professional Educators of Tennessee JC Bowman joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss funding issues surrounding Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice plan, known as the Education Freedom Scholarship Act.
Read the full story
The National Desk Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte told The National Desk (TND) Monday state officials acted within their legal limitations by removing a child from parents who objected to their transitioning gender identity. Montana Child and Family Services (CFS) officials took custody of the 14-year-old from parents Krista and Todd Kolstad this month, according to Reduxx. The teenager is reportedly a biological female and recently began to express suicidal thoughts. While being treated at a hospital in August, doctors began using the child’s preferred name and pronouns, which do not correspond with the child’s biological sex, according to Reduxx. The parents reportedly opposed and noted allowing their child to undergo any form of gender transition, socially or medically, was a violation of their “values, morals, and … religious beliefs.” READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
The New York Post Shocking video captured the moment a migrant mob pounded a pair of cops near Times Square over the weekend — but the busted cowardly suspects were still released back on the street without bail, sources say. The footage shows an NYPD officer and lieutenant initially telling the migrants to move along around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on West 42nd Street in Manhattan — before things quickly get rowdy as a scuffle breaks out between the cops and a suspect who is wrestled to the ground. That’s when the rest of the punks converge on the officers, raining kicks to the head and body of the pair of New York’s Finest as the cops rumble with their pal, whose yellow sweatshirt is completely torn off in the melee. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor in former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election case, settled his divorce ahead of scheduled testimony in which he was expected to address his finances and travel with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Read the full story
The Daily Wire An accomplished Republican professional who served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Donald Trump administration was among those shot in a vicious carjacking spree in Washington, D.C., on Monday night, one that ended in police killing the perpetrator in Maryland early Tuesday morning. Mike Gill is in a hospital in critical condition after being shot while picking up his wife, an education lawyer, blocks from the White House on K Street in downtown D.C. at 5:45pm. “We can confirm that Mike Gill was the victim of the shooting at the 900 block of K Street Northwest on Monday evening and is in critical condition. Out of respect for the family, we have nothing additional to add at this time,” Erica Richardson, a spokesperson for the Gill family, said in a statement to The Daily Wire. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
Tom Pappert, lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his recent article on the Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner’s omission on a letter concerning Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies being pushed on American farmers.
On Tuesday, Pappert reported that Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Charlie Hatcher did not sign a letter sent by 12 states to the heads of six elite banks warning that their “Net-Zero Banking Alliance” (NZBA) will force ESG policies that would have a “catastrophic impact” on farmers.
Read the full story
Founder and president of Professional Educators of Tennessee JC Bowman joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the leaked draft of Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act.
Read the full story
Farmers in Belgium plan to block road access to the second-largest port in the country in protest of the European Union’s environmental regulations and cheap food imports, Reuters reported.
Farmers are planning to block access to Belgium’s North Sea port for at least 36 hours beginning on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The General Farmers Syndicate, the union representing the farmers, says they are targeting the port because they believe it is receiving financial support at the expense of domestic farmers.
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump will remain on the Illinois Republican primary ballot, per a state election board decision Tuesday, although the matter is likely to be appealed.
In a unanimous bipartisan vote, the Illinois State Board of Elections dismissed the challenge to Trump’s eligibility. The state panel determined that it did not have the jurisdiction to make a decision on the 14th Amendment argument invoked against Trump’s candidacy.
Read the full story
House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN-07) delivered opening remarks on Tuesday during a full committee markup for articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner, Dr. Charlie Hatcher, was not among the top agriculture officials from 12 different states who signed a letter on Monday that warned the heads of six elite banks that their “Net-Zero Banking Alliance” (NZBA) will force economically destructive Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) policies on American farmers.
The Tennessee Star contacted Hatcher’s office by phone and email to ask why he was not among the agriculture officials behind the letter, and to ascertain whether he is concerned by the claim that banks are foisting ESG policies on farmers, but did not receive an immediate response.
Read the full story
A U.S. Congressman from Tennessee was the victim of a “swatting” over the weekend, a tactic that is more frequently being used to attack political foes in the United States.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) was the victim of the nefarious incident.
Read the full story