Day: February 14, 2024

Judge Overseeing Case to Release Covenant Killer Manifesto Warns of Contempt If Parties ‘Usurp’ Sealed Materials

Tom Pappert

Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles on Tuesday filed an order in the ongoing case seeking to compel the release of the manifesto written by the Covenant School killer that warns all involved in the multi-plaintiff lawsuit that they could be sanctioned or held in contempt if they “usurp” materials submitted to her for review.

Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit seeking to compel law enforcement to release the manifesto written by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who reportedly identified as a transgender man before she was fatally shot by police.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Announces Retirement from Congress

Kaitlin Housler
Mark Green Retiring

U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) announced his retirement from Congress on Wednesday, just one day after leading the House in a historic vote to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Green, who served as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he is “ready to return home” after delivering on his promise to “pass legislation to secure our borders and to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable” by leading the passage of H.R. 2 and two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas.

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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green Calls on the Senate to Hold a Trial and Convict DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Kaitlin Housler

In one of his last actions before announcing his retirement from Congress, Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) urged lawmakers in the U.S. Senate to hold a trial and convict Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

“Last night, the House of Representatives voted to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors, specifically for his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and his breach of public trust. This action—the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of investigations and hearings—was necessary to deal with a rogue DHS secretary whose lawless actions have caused and perpetuated the worst border crisis in American history,” Green said during a press conference with House Republican leadership.

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One Dead, Nine Wounded in Shooting After Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Victory Parade

Just the News
KC Chiefs Super Bowl parade

A shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade on Wednesday resulting in one dead and nine wounded, with authorities stating that two armed individuals are in custody.

The episode occurred at a garage near Union Station as attendees of the parade were leaving, ABC News reported, citing the Kansas City Fire Department. Of the nine wounded, three are in critical condition, five more sustained serious injuries, and one sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

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Co-Founder of AbleChild Sheila Matthews Details Work on Tennessee Bill to Help Determine Link Between Psychotropic Drugs and Mass Shooters

Kaitlin Housler
Sheila Matthews

Sheila Matthews, co-founder of the national non-profit parent organization AbleChild, detailed her work on crafting an “outstanding” bill recently filed in the Tennessee General Assembly that is focused on reforming the process medical examiner’s offices must follow in terms of testing for psychotropic drugs when performing autopsies on the bodies of mass shooters.

HB 2933, if enacted, would require a medical examiner’s office or regional forensic center to determine and document current both psychotropic and prescription drug use from the past 10 years by a deceased individual who died under “suspicious, unusual, or unnatural circumstances.”

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Flags at Half Staff for Fallen Blount County Deputy, Suspect Taken into Custody After Manhunt

Peter D'Abrosca
Greg McCowan

Gov. Bill Lee (R) Wednesday announced that the flag at the State Capitol will fly at half staff in honor of a fallen Blount County Sheriff’s Deputy who was killed in the line of duty. 

“Today, flags over the State Capitol will be lowered in remembrance of Deputy Greg McGowan, who laid down his life to protect & serve Tennesseans. Maria & I continue to lift his family & loved ones up in prayer,” Lee said on X, formerly Twitter. 

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Family-Owned Business Owner Reveals How Lobbyists Derailed Passage of Bill That Would Prohibit Online Payment Systems from Freezing Users’ Funds

Kaitlin Housler
Your American Flag Store

James Staake, founder and CEO of Your American Flag Store, recently testified in front of the Tennessee House Commerce Committee in support of HB 0846, a bill that would prohibit online payment systems from freezing a user’s funds without prior warning.

The bill, according to its text, would “prohibit an online payment system from freezing the funds of a user without first providing the user with a 90-day written notice of the online payment system’s intent to freeze the user’s funds,” designating a violation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice pursuant to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977.

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Founder of ‘Your American Flag Store’ Details Censorship Battle with Big Tech

Kaitlin Housler
Your American Flag Store

Founder and CEO of Your American Flag Store James Staake recounted his censorship battle with Facebook, Shopify, and PayPal, revealing how the tech giants targeted his patriotic business the day after January 6, 2021.

Staake’s business, which started as a side job involving him building wooden American flag pieces featuring patriotic artwork created by his wife, grew from a small local operation in 2018 to a full-time gig once the products were available to purchase online.

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Aaron Gulbransen Analyzes the Tennessee General Assembly’s Current Session

Kaitlin Housler
Aaron Gulbransen

Aaron Gulbransen, executive director of the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, said the current session of the Tennessee General Assembly is “pretty normal” despite state lawmakers still reeling from last year’s events by the “Tennessee Three” Democrats and the special session.

“It’s kind of normal, to be honest with you. Now, I will say, I think everybody has a little bit of PTSD after last year with all the shenanigans that Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson pulled and then the contentiousness of the special session and the lead up to that and right after that. But it’s relatively normal,” Gulbransen explained on Tuesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.

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Decline in White Recruits Fueling the Military’s Worst-Ever Recruiting Crisis, Data Shows

Admin
Military Recruits

Each U.S. military service saw a notable decline in white recruits over the past five years, according to data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, likely factoring into the military’s crippling recruiting crisis.

The Army, Navy and Air Force missed their recruiting objectives by historically large margins in fiscal year 2023, which ended on Sept. 30, as the broader American public has grown wary of military service, according to Department of Defense (DOD) statistics, officials and experts who spoke to the DCNF. Since 2018, however, the number of recruits from minority groups has remained steady — or, in some cases, increased — while the number of white recruits has declined, according to data on the demographics of new recruits obtained by the DCNF.

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Analysis: ‘Next George Soros’ Recruits GOP Lobbyists for Influence

Admin
GOP Lobbyists

A company run by a liberal billionaire dubbed by some as the “next George Soros” employs former senior Republican staffers on Capitol Hill in what a watchdog group warns is an effort to sway GOP lawmakers to move to the left. 

Arnold Ventures LLC is a private company founded by left-leaning philanthropists John Arnold and his wife Laura, who have a net worth of $3.3 billion, according to Forbes. 

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Commentary: The Establishment Still Doesn’t Get Trump

RealClearWire
Trump Speaking

A few weeks ago, a “Morning Joe” panel concluded that if Donald Trump were to become the Republican nominee (spoiler alert: he will), Republicans will lose in the fall. This is by no means a unique sentiment – former House Speaker Paul Ryan expressing this idea here, journalist Bernard Goldberg wondering if Trump is trying to lose here, and so forth.

As I read these analyses, I wonder if I’ve somehow been transported back to 2016, when such takes were de rigueur. Here in 2024, we know that Donald Trump won in 2016 and came close to winning in 2020. He carried Republican senators across the finish line in both years, and the GOP gained House seats in 2020, much to the surprise of most election analysts. And, at a comparable time in the campaign cycle when he trailed Hillary Clinton by 4.5 points in the RCP Average and Joe Biden by 5.6 points, Trump actually leads Biden by 1.9 points in national polling.

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Virginia Democrat Who Killed Arena Project Also Refused Bill to Stop Campaign Contributions from Dominion Energy

Tom Pappert
Senator L. Louise Lucas

Virginia State Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) used her position as Senate Finance Committee chair to block a Democrat effort to prevent public utility companies from donating to political campaigns in the commonwealth.

State Senator Danica Roem (D-Manassas) introduced SB 326, which aimed to ban candidates “from soliciting or accepting contributions from any public utility” and prohibit such companies from making political contributions.

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Judge Blocks Ohio’s Social Media Parental Notification Act from Being Enforced

Kaitlin Housler
Kids on Phone

Chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Algenon L. Marbley granted NetChoice’s request for a preliminary injunction that stops the state’s Social Media Parental Notification Act from being enforced on Monday.

Last month, NetChoice sued Ohio to block the Social Media Parental Notification Act from taking effect.

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Connecticut Delegation Blasts Army over Helicopter Contract

The Center Square
Blackhawk Helicopter

Connecticut’s congressional delegation is calling on the Army to provide more details about its decision to reject a local company’s bid for a multimillion-dollar defense contract to build long-range helicopters.

Sikorsky Aircraft, maker of the iconic Blackhawk helicopters, submitted a proposal to the Army in 2018 to develop a new armed scout helicopter. But last week, the Army announced that it was scrapping its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program, delivering a major blow to the company.

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Florida House Reworks Bill That Would’ve Restricted State Guard Deployments

The Center Square
Florida National Guard

A bill that would have possibly prevented Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from sending the Florida State Guard to the nation’s southern border has been rewritten to remove that provision.

Instead, House Bill 1551, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Giallombardo, R- Cape Coral, was replaced by a committee substitute authored by the Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee.

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Gina Godbehere Jumps into Maricopa County Attorney Primary Race Against Incumbent Rachel Mitchell

Rachel Alexander
Gina Godbehere

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell will face the same challenger in the Republican primary this year as she did in the 2022 special election Gina Godbehere.

Godbehere announced her campaign last week. The Maricopa County Supervisors chose Mitchell in early 2022 to replace the previous county attorney, Alistar Adel, who resigned from office due to health issues. Adel passed away in 2022. Mitchell has accumulated considerable criticism from Republicans for actions such as representing the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS) twice, asking for sanctions against Kari Lake’s election attorneys.

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Gov. Brian Kemp Pledges Additional Georgia National Guard to Texas After State Senate Condemns Biden Border Failures

Tom Pappert
Gov. Brian Kemp

Governor Brian Kem said up to 20 additional Georgia National Guard members will support Texas Governor Gregg Abbott in his efforts to secure the state’s southern border in his standoff with the Biden administration.

In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Kemp pledged 15 to 20 additional Georgia National Guard troops to assist with constructing a command post at the border.

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Minnesota Republicans Run into DFL Roadblock in Attempt to Fast-Track Passage of School Resource Officers Fix

Admin
SRO Class

Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives wasted no time in the opening moments of the 2024 legislative session in attempting to fast-track passage of a seemingly bipartisan proposal to fix a new law enacted last year that has hampered the work of school resource officers in several public schools across the state.

But the author of that bill ended up being the GOP’s biggest stumbling block in attempting to pass it on the House floor Monday.

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South Carolina House Passes Clean Constitutional Carry Bill

The Center Square
South Carolina Gun Bill

The South Carolina House advanced a clean Constitutional Carry bill, returning the measure to the state Senate and potentially setting up another showdown.

The state House rejected a Senate-amended version of H.3594, the South Carolina Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2023. In a letter, the head of a pro-gun rights group said Senate-introduced amendments violate the Second Amendment.

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Yet Another Harvard University Official Accused of Plagiarism

Admin
Shirley Greene

An administrator of the Harvard Extension School (HES) was accused of plagiarism in an anonymous complaint sent to the school Friday, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Shirley Greene, an HES administrator who handles Title IX compliance, was accused of 42 instances of plagiarism in her 2008 dissertation, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by the Crimson. The allegations mark the latest plagiarism scandal to hit the university after a string of allegations against high-ranking university faculty members, including former Harvard President Claudine Gay.

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Corporate America is Starting to Shy Away from Woke Business as Backlash Mounts

Admin
Office Meeting

American companies are reversing the multiyear trend of hiring more employees in roles related to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues in an effort to increase profitability and address investor pushback, according to The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. companies shed 3,071 employees with positions related to ESG in December while only adding 2,897, continuing the trend that has been seen in half of the months in the last year of a net loss of ESG positions, according to the WSJ. The shift is in response to investors pulling their funds from companies heavily involved in ESG practices and placing their money in firms where they can get higher returns.

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Commentary: Medicine Now Diagnoses the Non-White ‘Oppressed’ with an Oppressive Case of ‘Weathering’

RealClearWire
Doctor Patient

In 1986, an upstart public health researcher named Arline Geronimus challenged the conventional wisdom that condemned the alarming rise of inner-city teen pregnancies. While activist minister Jesse Jackson and health care leaders were decrying the crisis of “babies having babies” as a ghetto pathology, Geronimus contended that teenage pregnancy was a rational response to urban poverty where low-income black people have fewer healthy years before the onset of heart problems, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.

Although Geronimus’ claims gained little traction at the time, the concept she pioneered – “weathering” – eventually became a foundation for the social justice ideology that is now upending medicine and social policy. She has stated in interviews and in her writings that the term “weathering” was intended to evoke the idea of erosion and resilience.

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Commentary: The Meaning of Ash Wednesday

Admin
Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is—oddly perhaps—a day I have long associated with bushfires, better known in the American hemisphere as wildfires.

I come from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, where on Ash Wednesday in 1983, catastrophic bushfires, driven by 70-mph winds and fueled by years of drought-ravaged eucalyptus forest, tragically claimed 28 lives. In the neighboring state of Victoria, even more lives were lost under similar conditions. In total, 75 Australians perished and 3,000 homes were destroyed in what were the nation’s deadliest bushfires up to that point.

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Tony Bobulinski’s Closed-Door Interview May Answer Key Questions Central to Impeachment Inquiry

Just the News

A former Hunter Biden business partner involved in early contacts with a Chinese energy conglomerate that paid the first son millions is set to appear in a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.

Tony Bobulinski, who worked with the younger Biden to form an investment company with CEFC China Energy, is a key witness in the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry because he had a front row seat to the Biden family’s plans for its partnership with the Chinese company.

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