Month: January 2024

Commentary: Tips for Practicing Everyday Hospitality

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Waitress Customer

It’s not hard to imagine grandiose examples of hospitality. The older woman who hosts a crop of teenagers in her home every Thursday night. The man who frequently invites church visitors to his family’s Sunday dinner. The neighbor who throws quarterly block parties and welcomes the whole town.

In these situations, hospitality is obvious (and, let’s admit, impressive). But for those of us who don’t have the financial means or living space to host large dinners or parties, offering hospitality can seem elusive. For me, without a house of my own, hospitality can even feel impossible.

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Former Trump Campaign Spokesman Steve Cortes: Chattanooga is Trying to Implement Policy ‘Straight from the World Economic Forum’

Kaitlin Housler

Steve Cortes, former Senior Spokesman and Strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and National Spokesman of the Ron DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC, joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed the city of Chattanooga’s embracement of the 15-Minute City concept.

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SCOTUS Sides with Open Borders Biden Admin, Clears the Way for Feds to Remove Razor Wire Barrier in Eagle Pass, Texas

The Center Square

A divided U.S. Supreme Court sided with President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday, clearing the way for federal authorities to remove razor wire installed in Eagle Pass along the U.S.-Mexico border by Texas law enforcement. 

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to vacate an appeals court ruling that allowed the wire to stay in place as the case played out. Chief Justice John Roberts led the majority with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

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Republicans Recover Over 100 Files Deleted by January 6 Committee Days Before GOP Took Majority: Report

Just the News

Forensic investigators hired by a Republican-led committee recovered more than 100 encrypted files that the Democratic-led House Jan. 6 Select Committee deleted days before the GOP took over the House majority, according to a new report released Monday.

House Administration Oversight Subcommittee Chair Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., sent a letter to former Select Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., demanding he provide answers and passwords for the data, which was deleted against House rules, according to Fox News Digital. 

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New York, California, Other Blue States Succeed in Altering 2020 Census Numbers: Report

Just the News
Times Square, New York City

The Democrat-run states such as New York and Illinois are increasing 2020 census numbers after successfully asking for a review of the once-a-decade population survey that helps determine federal funding distribution as the states struggle with population losses.  

The distribution of the population of California is also being changed following a review, the Associated Press reported Thursday. That report says that “the once-a-decade census produces population figures that help determine political power and the annual distribution of $2.8 trillion in federal funding. The Census Bureau has two programs giving governments opportunities to have their population totals reviewed and adjusted if need be. Nearly 200 requests for reviews were filed by tribal, local and state governments for the 2020 census.”

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Virginia U.S. Rep. Bob Good Formally Endorses Donald Trump for President

Tom Pappert

Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) formally endorsed former President Donald Trump in his third bid for the White House in his Monday appearance on The John Fredericks Show after previously endorsing Governor Ron DeSantis last May.

Good told host John Fredericks, the publisher of The Virginia Star, that “it’s time for the entire Republican party to unite” behind former President Donald Trump, who he added is “obviously our imminent nominee.”

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Analysis: Trump Widens Lead in New Hampshire Primary Polls After DeSantis Withdraws from GOP Presidential Race

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Trump AF1

As Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew from the presidential race on Jan. 21, leaving a two-way race between former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination, new polling out shows a significant jump in favor of Trump in the New Hampshire primary scheduled for Jan. 23.

In the latest Boston Globe-Suffolk poll taken Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, Trump’s support in New Hampshire rose to 57 percent and Haley at 38 percent. And an Insider Advantage poll taken Jan. 21 showed Trump up to 62 percent to Haley’s 35 percent.

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Man Who Allegedly Defrauded Elderly American Out of Thousands of Dollars Was in the U.S. Illegally

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Abdul Waheed Mohammed

An Indian man who allegedly defrauded an elderly American out of $100,000 was in the United States illegally, the Daily Caller News Foundation has exclusively learned.

Abdul Waheed Mohammed, 31, entered the country on Dec. 12, 2019 in Chicago, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released him into the U.S. on parole in Feb. 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the DCNF. The accused faces charges of grand theft, conspiracy to commit a felony, and aiding, abetting, or advising grand theft, according to a local outlet.

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Tennessee Judge to Consider Releasing List of Seized Items from Covenant School Shooter, May Set Court Date for Manifesto Release Hearing

Tom Pappert

Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles set a court date last Friday for this week, during which she will hear motions regarding the possible release of a list of documents written by Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale and to determine a future hearing to decide whether she will release Hale’s manifesto to the public.

Myles will hear two motions this Friday, reported WSMV on Saturday, including a motion regarding the release of “a list detailing the documents” written by Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender male before she fatally shot three six-year-olds and three staff members at the Covenant School in March 2023, which were “turned over to the judge for her private viewing” last year.

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Federal Secrets Spill on COVID Origins amid Rodent Research on Risks of Lab Mods, Vax in Pregnancy

Just the News

The National Institutes of Health appears to be struggling to hide its dirty laundry on COVID-19 origins against a rash of leaks, congressional probes, and Freedom of Information Act requests, even when officials are determined to thwart sunlight.

The ongoing exposure of their communications and actions isn’t the only thing likely worrying federal scientists. 

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There is One Administrator for Every Three Undergrads at University of Virginia, Analysis Finds

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The University of Virginia employs one full-time administrator for every three undergraduates at the school, according to an analysis conducted by The College Fix.

This is roughly a 9.3 percent increase from the 2013-14 school year, according to the analysis, which used data provided by UVA to the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

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Arizona Supreme Court Intervenes in Recorder’s Defamation Case Against Kari Lake; Puts Proceedings on Hold to Consider Early Appeal

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Supreme Court has placed a defamation lawsuit that Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed against Kari Lake on hold. The court said no more proceedings in the lawsuit can take place in the trial court until Richer responds to Lake’s Petition for Review she filed with the higher court. While higher courts don’t usually intervene until a case has made its way through trial court proceedings, Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law  First Amendment Clinic joined Lake in her defense requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed, a sign the clinic may believe Richer’s lawsuit is without merit. 

Lake told The Arizona Sun Times, “This is a censorship case — pure and simple. The government official suing me is being represented by Obama- and Soros-linked attorneys. Stephen Richer ran banana-Republic style elections in Maricopa County and he doesn’t want to be held accountable. His use of tyrannical lawfare is an assault on our freedom of speech and is election interference designed to distract me from the very important United States Senate race where I am the leading candidate. He is OK with the First Amendment being trampled so he can save face.”

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Roberts and Milei Put the Globalists in Davos on Notice

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While globalists, heads of large corporations, and officials in international organizations may consider democracy more of a spectator sport than a representative political system embraced by countries around the world, at least they were willing to allow some competition into the ring this year. In addition to its usual list of drastically tired global elites such as John Kerry, Bill Gates, and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, The World Economic Forum decided to invite a handful of conservative leaders to its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland this past week. The opposition offered a reality check to those in desperate need of one, even if it wasn’t welcome. A couple of unabashed speakers even drew a little blood. 

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Georgia Elections Chief Wants Money for Audit Technology, Cost Unclear

The Center Square

Georgia’s top election official wants more tax dollars to fund technology that could “audit the ballot text of every race” without using QR codes.

“Voters deserve comprehensive audits of all races and the reassurance that the ballots are being counted correctly,” Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement after he presented his proposed budget to the joint Appropriations Committee.

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell Signs Executive Order for ‘Car-Free Streets,’ Expanding Initiative Started by Disgraced Mayor Megan Barry

Tom Pappert
Nashville Mayor

Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell signed 44 executive orders on Friday, including Executive Order 45, which expands Metro’s Green and Complete Streets policy with calls for the city to close some streets to vehicles and “serve the most vulnerable users of the transportation network.” The policy was originally introduced by disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry in 2016.

The text of O’Connell’s order acknowledges inspiration from Barry’s Executive Order 31, signed in 2016, which aimed to “[a]pproach every transportation improvement project phase with the purpose to create greener, safer, and more accessible streets for all users” to “enhance environmental quality” of Metro Nashville.

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YoungkinWatch: Virginia Democrat Files Bill Supporting Governor’s Plans for Washington Capitals, Wizards Sports Complex in Alexandria

Tom Pappert

Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Richmond) filed SB 718 on Friday to form the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority and Financing Fund to oversee the funding and eventual construction of the new sports complex to house the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards proposed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in December.

The Authority that would be created by Surovell’s bill would consist of nine members, including six appointed by Virginia’s governor and three appointed by elected leaders in Alexandria, Virginia, where the new complex is being contemplated.

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Health Insurance Premiums Cutting into Employees’ Wages

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Doctor and Patient

A new study reveals that rising health insurance premiums have been dramatically cutting into the pay that employees should be earning.

As Axios reports, the findings by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open determined that families with workplace health insurance may have lost as much as $125,000 in earnings over the last 30 years. This trend is especially impacting low-income employees.

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Biden’s Green Energy Push Collides with Key Democrat Constituency: Native American Tribes

Just the News
Native Americans

While President Joe Biden has made respect for tribal sovereignty a pillar of his administration, some Native Americans are saying that respect ends where Biden’s energy policy begins. The dynamic has created some tension between a Democrat president and one of his party’s key constituencies.

“It seems like they elevate the voices and are willing to consult with indigenous groups when the voice is supportive of their policy,” Nagruk Harcharek, president of the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, told Just The News.

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Massachusetts Court Released Illegal Migrant Accused of Raping Disabled Person

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A Massachusetts court released an illegal migrant from Haiti after he was accused of raping and assaulting a disabled person, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Wednesday.

The Dorchester District Court released the Haitian national on Nov. 8 with an electronic monitor after ICE asked to take him into custody, according to ICE. The accused entered the U.S. at a port of entry in December 2022 in Brownsville, Texas, “where he was deemed inadmissible and issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in Boston.”

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Commentary: The ‘Republicans’ Supporting the ‘Prove It Act’ Lay the Groundwork for Crushing Carbon Tax on Americans

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by Michael McKenna   Last Thursday, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works reported legislation (the Prove It Act) that sets the stage and lays the foundation to impose a carbon dioxide tax on American families, workers, and consumers. This new energy tax was voted out of committee 14-5, with four Republicans — Senator Kevin Cramer (from North Dakota, an energy producing state), Senator John Boozman (Arkansas), Senator Graham (South Carolina), and, most inexplicably, Senator Cynthia Lummis (from Wyoming, another state that produces energy) — joining ten Democrats to create this new tax. Five Republicans, led by Senator Capito from West Virginia, voted against the new energy tax. Like all energy taxes, this one will fall hardest on the poor, the elderly, those on fixed incomes, and local institutions that have limited budgets, like schools and hospitals. The legislation sponsors, which include Senator Cramer, have tried to disguise the actual intention of the legislation — which is to increase the price of energy and everything grown, made, or transported with energy in an attempt to address global warming — with propaganda about being tough on our trade competitors, including China. That charade is so embarrassingly thin that even Politico ignored it and declared in…

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Nikki Haley Scolds Crowd for Booing Climate Protesters Disrupting Campaign Event

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A group of climate protesters interrupted a Nikki Haley campaign event in New Hampshire on Saturday night, prompting the former South Carolina governor to scold attendees for booing the activists, Politico reported.

Multiple young protesters disrupted a Haley campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire, holding up signs that read “Haley: Climate Criminal” and chanting “climate criminal,” according to a video of the incident. Haley told her supporters not to boo the protesters, who were escorted out, Politico reported.

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Commentary: The Reason Some Diamond Brands So Expensive

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Diamond Ring

One of my first full-time jobs outside of college was working in the jewelry industry at Harry Winston in Manhattan. The experience I gained as a sales assistant, working at the historical house of Winston, expanded my understanding of the power of a brand.

The amount of money customers would spend on a Harry Winston diamond, while scoffing at what was down the street at Tiffany’s, seemed absurd. I was on a yearly salary of $35k, and people were dropping more than that amount on a tennis bracelet with less than 30 minutes of deliberation.

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Thousands Converge for Snowy 2024 March for Life, Take on Reforging New Identity Post-Roe

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by Isaac Willour   The 2024 March for Life brought thousands into the streets of Washington D.C. on Friday amid driving wind and snow to show support for the unborn and address a pivotal question: After the overturn of Roe, where is the movement going? Attendees gathered on the National Mall for the 51st annual rally, then marched to the Supreme Court, which in 2022 decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, overturning Roe v. Wade and giving the decision on abortion laws up to individual states. Tens of thousands took part in Friday’s march—far fewer than many marches in the pre-Dobbs era. Yet, the smaller turnout didn’t dampen the spirit of the event’s organizers. “There’s a lot of you,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told attendees. Among the signs peppering the crowd on Friday: “Abortion is murder,” “Gay rights starts at conception,” “Life is our revolution,” “Forceps off their bodies,” “Make more babies,” and “Let their hearts beat.” The marchers included high school and college students, families, retirees, priests, pastors and lawmakers. The rally, preceded by a concert courtesy of American Idol finalist Danny Gokey, featured speakers ranging from legislators to cultural icons. “This is what the heart of the pro-life movement is about: helping women…

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Home Sales in 2023 Were the Lowest in 28 Years as Affordability Crisis Plagued Americans

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Home Owners

Sales for existing homes, which make up a majority of the housing market, slumped to the lowest level since 1995 as rising prices and sky-rocketing mortgage rates increased unaffordability, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Existing home sales sank 1.0% in December compared to the previous month, falling 6.2% annually, with 4.09 million homes being sold for the year, according to a report from the NAR. The slump in sales follows a year of rising prices due to inflation, constrained supply and sky-high mortgage rates, which at one point neared 8%, suppressing demand and Americans’ ability to buy in the housing market.

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Divide Among Elites and Rest of Country Widening Ahead of 2024 Election: Rasmussen

Just the News

The divide between the country’s “elite” and the rest of America is growing and it will have a substantial impact on the 2024 elections, according to a survey conducted by Scott Rasmussen and RMG Research, Inc. 

The survey also found the most highly educated voters with advanced degrees are liberal-leaning and their policy positions are at odds with the rest of the electorate, which Rasmussen and conservative economist Steve Moore said during a briefing about the results on Friday.

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Cloud Hangs over Commercial Real Estate as Trillions in Debt Set to Come Due

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Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate is facing a mountain of debt that many borrowers could have trouble refinancing due to a rapid hike in interest rates and record vacancies, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Around $2.81 trillion in commercial real estate loans are set to expire through 2028, meaning borrowers would either have to pay the amount outright or refinance the debt with higher interest rates, according to data from market research group Trepp. Payments on commercial mortgages are typically only for interest while the loan is active, and when the loan reaches its expiration date, borrowers often refinance at current rates, but doing so would increase payments drastically in a time when commercial developers and property owners are strapped for cash, according to the WSJ.

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Harvard Details Handling of Claudine Gay Plagiarism Controversy in New Congressional Report

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Claudine Gay

Harvard University detailed its handling of the controversy surrounding former President Claudine Gay’s alleged plagiarism in a new report submitted to Congress on Friday.

Harvard’s report, which was submitted to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, details how a university subcommittee appointed an independent panel of “three of the country’s most prominent political scientists” that found “virtually no evidence of intentional claiming of findings that are not President Gay’s.” The independent panel did not review all accusations of plagiarism against Gay, only the 25 allegations flagged by the New York Post, 16 of which the panel said were “trivial,” used “commonly used language” or regarded a previous publication that “they devoted ‘less attention.’”

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Death Count from Extreme Winter Weather in Tennessee Rises to 19, Department of Health Confirms

Kaitlin Housler
Snow Nashville

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) confirmed 19 Tennesseans died as of Friday evening due to the winter weather and extreme cold in the state.

“The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed 19 weather-related fatalities. Seven in Shelby County, one in Hickman County, one in Madison County, two in Washington County, one in Carroll County, one in Knox County, one in Van Buren County, one in Lauderdale County, one in Henry County, two in Marshall County, and one in Roane County,” the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) wrote in its  Flash Report.

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Commentary: The Loss of the Sacred in American Culture

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Catholic Church

There’s a grim scene near the end of The Iliad in which the Greek hero Achilles, because of his rage and grief over the death of his comrade Patroclus at the hands of the Trojan prince Hector, slays Hector in battle and drags his corpse behind his chariot, day after day, desecrating the body in a manner unthinkable to the ancient Greeks. In fact, the affront to the dignity of this hero and prince, as well as the violation of the sacred customs of Greek society, eventually compels the gods to intervene. They tell Priam, the elderly king of Troy, to go to Achilles and plead for the body of Hector so that it may be properly honored and buried. The gods will not allow such a desecration to continue.

In these final lines of this epic poem—which, along with The Odyssey forms the bedrock of Western literature and arguably Western Civilization as a whole—Homer reaffirms a notion that all Greeks would have agreed with: There are certain lines that must not be crossed, certain sacred realities that cannot be defied, even by the semidivine hero Achilles.

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Fani Willis Pledged Not ‘To Date People That Work’ Under Her in Resurfaced 2020 Campaign Interview

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

A video resurfaced on Friday showing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pledging she will not “date people that work” under her if elected to her current position.

The clip of Willis was filmed during her April 6, 2020, appearance on the Atlanta-area public access program “People TV” as she campaigned to become Fulton County’s top prosecutor.

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Commentary: Inflated Grades, Increasing Graduation Rates, and Deflated Test Scores

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Students Learning

Grade inflation is rampant and has been so for many years. Back in 2011, an in-depth study by three Ivy League economists looked at how the quality of individual teachers affects their students over the long term. The paper, by Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia, tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years and, using a value-added approach, found that teachers who help students raise their standardized test scores have a lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage pregnancy rates, greater college matriculation, and higher adult earnings. The authors of the study define “value added” as the average test-score gain for a teacher’s students “…adjusted for differences across classrooms in student characteristics such as prior scores.”

But to those who believe in equity über alles, quality is an afterthought, and many states are ditching any objective criteria for entry into the teaching field. In California, teachers traditionally have had to pass the ridiculously easy California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) to gain entry into the profession, but the test is now under fire.

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Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Abortion Bill as 2024 Election Draws Near

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Robin Vos

Wisconsin Republicans introduced a bill Friday that would ban abortion at 14 weeks, just months ahead of the 2024 presidential primary.

The bill would limit abortions in the state by an additional six weeks since Wisconsin already has a 20-week ban on the books, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In addition to passing the legislature and getting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ signature, the bill would also have to appear on the ballot for voters during the state’s primary election in April, which is just months before the presidential election in November.

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Religious Freedom Advocates Demand Answers on State Department’s Exclusion of Nigeria, India from Persecution List

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African Christians

A group of international religious freedom experts are calling for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to testify before a congressional hearing about the State Department’s decision to exclude Nigeria and India from a list of nations with severe violations of religious freedom.

In a letter sent Wednesday, first obtained by The Daily Signal, more than 40 religious freedom experts and organizations pointed out that since 2009, more than 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria, and 18,000 churches and 2,500 Christian schools attacked. They also cited India, where they say that between 200 and 400 churches and 3,500 Christian homes have been attacked just since last May.

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Commentary: Seven Ridiculous Examples of Government Waste in 2023

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Congress Spending

Almost nobody doubts that the federal government wastes a lot of money. Every day we hear stories of fraud, mismanagement, and misplaced priorities that cost taxpayers millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars.

But just how much money is wasted? In his annual Festivus report—named after the fictional Seinfeld holiday—Senator Rand Paul tallies up some of the most egregious examples of government waste from the year. The report for 2023 came out on December 22, and as usual, the stories spanned the range from hilarious to deeply disconcerting. In all, Paul identified $900 billion in government waste from 2023.

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Poll Finds Americans Worried About National Debt

The Center Square
Congress Spending

Americans are worried about the national debt, according to the results of a new poll.

Americans have the national debt crisis as one of their top concerns along with war, inflation and crime. Those polled think the overspending has a direct impact on their personal security and also has an impact on the security of the United States, according to a recent study commissioned by Main Street Economics, a nonprofit group designed to educate Americans on the nation’s debt crisis.

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Commentary: No, Ladies, We Cannot Have It All

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Woman Stressed out at work

The phrase “having it all” came from the title of a 1982 book written by Helen Gurley Brown, then editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. As Antoinette Lattouf, writing in The Guardian in early 2023, put it, this self-help book for women focused on “money, sex, diet, exercise, and appearance.” Notably, it made no mention of children or family.

Since then, of course, the phrase has come to take on an even broader meaning. Today, “having it all” is touted as a woman’s reaching her full potential by having an education, lucrative formal career, rewarding marriage, happy children, and an active social life. Of course, this ideal is vague at best and destructive at worst.

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Almost 40 Percent of New Hampshire Voters are Unaffiliated, Can Vote in GOP Primary and Possibly Skew Results

Rachel Alexander

With efforts to close New Hampshire’s presidential primary likely failing, the state’s primary could be determined by the state’s independent voters, who make up nearly 40 percent of the state’s electorate.

Republicans make up significantly fewer voters, 29.82 percent, and Democrats slightly more, at 30.28 percent. Since President Joe Biden has no significant challengers in the state’s Democratic primary, many Democrats were expected to register as independents — known as undeclared voters in the state — to sway the Republican primary.

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Roger Simon Calls Speaker Mike Johnson a ‘Face Man,’ ‘Coward’ After Continuing Resolution Deal

Kaitlin Housler
Mike Johnson

Roger Simon, co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, joined the newsmaker line on Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his coverage of former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s performance in Iowa, Argentine President Javier Milei’s speech at the World Economic Forum, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent vote to pass a continuing resolution.

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Former Tennessee Judge Accused of Being ‘Drug Kingpin’ Faces 10 Years in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Money Laundering, Marijuana Charges

Tom Pappert
Perry Stout

Former Johnson County General Session Court Judge Perry Stout pleaded guilty to charges related to money laundering and distributing marijuana on Friday in a plea agreement with prosecutors that saw charges dropped related to the weapon he allegedly possessed at the time he committed the crimes, a conspiracy to sell the drugs, and maintaining a home to sell or use drugs.

Stout was reportedly “visibly broken in appearance,” in court on Friday, reported The Tomahawk, which added that he “seemed almost disconnected” from the events unfolding in the court room, “but was very keen to ensure that his family was considered in connection to his plea deal.”

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