thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Joe Biden Tells Fox News That He Has Chosen a VP, Campaign Quickly Denies It and Says He Was Joking

Joe Biden Tells Fox News That He Has Chosen a VP, Campaign Quickly Denies It and Says He Was Joking Around

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told Fox News that he had chosen a vice presidential candidate ; however , Biden ’ s campaign denied he had selected a running mate .
While riding his bike Saturday morning , Fox News asked Biden if he decided on a vice presidential nominee .
The former vice president jokingly said he had chosen a person and told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy that it was “ you ” he had decided upon .
When the video of this exchange hit Twitter , the Biden campaign quickly denied he had picked a candidate .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ joke .
When Vice President Biden has made a decision on who his running mate will be , he will let the American people know , ” Biden Campaign National Press Secretary TJ Ducklo tweeted .
Despite the Biden campaign ’ s denial , speculation is growing that Biden is supposed to announce his vice presidential candidate any time soon .
The two favorites for Biden ’ s vice presidential choice are Sen. Kamala Harris and former National Security Advisor of the United States Susan Rice , according to Axios .
These two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but The Associated Press reported that Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer met with Biden last weekend in Deleware .
This meeting was the first in-person exchange Biden conducted with a potential VP candidate .
Whoever Biden does choose as his running mate , it is going to be a woman .
“ If I ’ m elected president , my Cabinet , my administration will look like the country , and I commit that I will , in fact , appoint a , pick a woman to be vice president , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CNN .
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to take place on August 17 .
Biden will not be traveling to Milwaukee to accept the party ’ s nomination due to the coronavirus .
“ From the very beginning of this pandemic , we put the health and safety of the American people first , ” said Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez .
“ We followed the science , listened to doctors and public health experts , and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsible leadership America deserves .
And that ’ s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.
” Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Star News Digital Media .
If you have any tips , email Zachery at [ email protected ] .
Follow Zachery on Twitter @ zacheryschmidt2 .
Photo “ Joe Biden ” by Johnny Verhovek .

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told Fox News that he had chosen a vice presidential candidate; however, Biden’s campaign denied he had selected a running mate.
While riding his bike Saturday morning, Fox News asked Biden if he decided on a vice presidential nominee. The former vice president jokingly said he had chosen a person and told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy that it was “you” he had decided upon.
When the video of this exchange hit Twitter, the Biden campaign quickly denied he had picked a candidate.
NEW: Joe Biden tells Fox’s Peter Doocy he’s picked a running mate while on a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Peter Doocy: “Have you picked a running mate yet?” Biden: “Yeah, I have.” Doocy: You have? Who is it? Biden: “You." https://t.co/gKmJCbcy2q — Allie Raffa (@AllieRaffa) August 8, 2020
“Folks, this is clearly a joke. When Vice President Biden has made a decision on who his running mate will be, he will let the American people know,” Biden Campaign National Press Secretary TJ Ducklo tweeted.
Folks, this is clearly a joke. When Vice President Biden has made a decision on who his running mate will be, he will let the American people know. And can confirm, it's not @pdoocy of @FoxNews. https://t.co/iMfqMGepTE — TJ Ducklo (@TDucklo) August 8, 2020
Despite the Biden campaign’s denial, speculation is growing that Biden is supposed to announce his vice presidential candidate any time soon.
The two favorites for Biden’s vice presidential choice are Sen. Kamala Harris and former National Security Advisor of the United States Susan Rice, according to Axios.
These two women have been talked about for weeks, but The Associated Press reported that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with Biden last weekend in Deleware. This meeting was the first in-person exchange Biden conducted with a potential VP candidate.
Whoever Biden does choose as his running mate, it is going to be a woman.
“If I’m elected president, my Cabinet, my administration will look like the country, and I commit that I will, in fact, appoint a, pick a woman to be vice president,” Biden said in March, according to CNN.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to take place on August 17. Biden will not be traveling to Milwaukee to accept the party’s nomination due to the coronavirus.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez. “We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.”
– – –
Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Star News Digital Media. If you have any tips, email Zachery at [email protected]. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
Photo “Joe Biden” by Johnny Verhovek.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Tennessee’s Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate’s Past Includes Social and Environmental Justice Causes

Tennessee U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Marquita Bradshaw is an environmental activist and former AFL-CIO organizer , according to information she posted on her campaign website .
Bradshaw got 35 percent of the vote against four lesser performing candidates in Thursday ’ s Democratic primary , according to the Tennessee Secretary of State ’ s website .
Bradshaw ’ s campaign website describes her as “ a lifelong environmentalist and activist for worker , social & economic justice who has proudly fought alongside the people of Tennessee.
” “ Marquita ’ s career and service have spanned labor , environment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy , and social justice work , ” according to Bradshaw ’ s website .
“ Her passion for a clean and safe environment drives her to raise awareness and fight for environmental justice which impacts the poor and most vulnerable in any society.
” The website also lists her as a community organizer who volunteers for , among other groups , the AFL-CIO , the left-leaning Sierra Club Executive Committee , and the Tennessee African American Environmental Justice Network .
Bradshaw , according to her LinkedIn page , has a journalism degree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April press release announced that Bradshaw would coordinate with The Sunrise Movement and speak at a Green New Deal Town Virtual Town Hall .
As The Tennessee Star reported in January , Sunrise Movement members have announced a three-part strategy to defeat U.S. President Donald Trump this election year .
They said this strategy will help them elect legislators who will pass the New Green Deal into law .
According to the Sunrise Movement of Nashville ’ s Facebook page , members want to “ end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make climate policy an urgent national priority.
” As The Star reported last year , New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-NY-14 ) released the Green New Deal resolution that ’ s become a central part of the Democratic agenda .
The “ Green New Deal ” resolution calls for “ 10-year national mobilizations ” towards a series of goals aimed at fighting global warming , according to a copy of the bill obtained by NPR .
A separate fact-sheet claims the plan would “ mobilize every aspect of American society on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2.
” That includes getting all our energy needs from “ clean , renewable , and zero-emission energy sources ” by “ dramatically expanding and upgrading existing renewable power sources.
” Ocasio-Cortez ’ s non-binding resolution calls for a variety of social justice and welfare state goals , including “ a family-sustaining wage , adequate family and medical leave , paid vacations and retirement security ” and “ high-quality health care ” benefits for Americans .
Bradshaw wants to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander ( R-TN ) .
Voters will choose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bill Hagerty on November 3 .
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star .
Follow Chris on Facebook .
Email tips to [ email protected ] Photo “ Marquita Bradshaw ” by Marquita Bradshaw .

Tennessee U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Marquita Bradshaw is an environmental activist and former AFL-CIO organizer, according to information she posted on her campaign website.
Bradshaw got 35 percent of the vote against four lesser performing candidates in Thursday’s Democratic primary, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website.
Bradshaw’s campaign website describes her as “a lifelong environmentalist and activist for worker, social & economic justice who has proudly fought alongside the people of Tennessee.”
“Marquita’s career and service have spanned labor, environment, education reform, tax reform, trade policy, and social justice work,” according to Bradshaw’s website.
“Her passion for a clean and safe environment drives her to raise awareness and fight for environmental justice which impacts the poor and most vulnerable in any society.”
The website also lists her as a community organizer who volunteers for, among other groups, the AFL-CIO, the left-leaning Sierra Club Executive Committee, and the Tennessee African American Environmental Justice Network.
Bradshaw, according to her LinkedIn page, has a journalism degree from the University of Memphis.
An April press release announced that Bradshaw would coordinate with The Sunrise Movement and speak at a Green New Deal Town Virtual Town Hall.
As The Tennessee Star reported in January, Sunrise Movement members have announced a three-part strategy to defeat U.S. President Donald Trump this election year. They said this strategy will help them elect legislators who will pass the New Green Deal into law.
According to the Sunrise Movement of Nashville’s Facebook page, members want to “end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel money on our political system” and “make climate policy an urgent national priority.”
As The Star reported last year, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) released the Green New Deal resolution that’s become a central part of the Democratic agenda.
The “Green New Deal” resolution calls for “10-year national mobilizations” towards a series of goals aimed at fighting global warming, according to a copy of the bill obtained by NPR.
A separate fact-sheet claims the plan would “mobilize every aspect of American society on a scale not seen since World War 2.”
That includes getting all our energy needs from “clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources” by “dramatically expanding and upgrading existing renewable power sources.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s non-binding resolution calls for a variety of social justice and welfare state goals, including “a family-sustaining wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations and retirement security” and “high-quality health care” benefits for Americans.
Bradshaw wants to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Voters will choose between her or Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty on November 3.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Marquita Bradshaw” by Marquita Bradshaw.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Commentary: Biden’s Pretend Campaign

Commentary: Biden’s Pretend Campaign

The Democrats became so addicted to their need for President Trump to be permanently under a cloud of criminal suspicion for their media lackeys to endlessly celebrate , that their present discomfort is considerable as the weight of prosecutorial scrutiny shifts to another—that is , to their—foot .
Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates ’ performance at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday was the most dignified and plausible attempt yet by any serious Obama Administration official to try to maintain the fiction that its justice department and intelligence agencies didn ’ t go rogue and assault the Constitution .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , almost twee , Democratic preoccupation with Russia—an affected paranoia that nostalgically recalls the piping days of the Cold War when the Kremlin and American leaders routinely intimated an ability to obliterate the other .
Yates warbled on in the customary manner of Democrats about the already active and implicitly extremely dangerous effort of the Russians to subvert the current election , replete with Democratic senators ’ questions asserting that the president was perfectly equable about soliciting foreign interference .
Does anyone , except the Stelter-Tapper-Blitzer-Scarborough nether region of liberal cable-loopies , still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia is a shriveled , hobbled , and pale likeness of the Soviet Union , beset by problems , run by gangsters and with a GDP smaller than Canada ’ s .
It is true the Russians have a good defense production industry , but they have no ability to disturb the United States unless belligerent Democratic nincompoops regained the presidency and drove the Kremlin into the arms of the Chinese—just as the question of dealing with the much more serious challenge of China is finally and determinedly becoming the focus of America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Japan and India .
Yates , peppy and rather elegant—a welcome change from the insolence of Obama FBI chiefs James Comey , Andrew McCabe , and Peter Strzok , and the belligerent Obama intelligence palookas , John Brennan and James Clapper—was yet unable to clear President Trump of the charges of collusion with Russia , though she acquiesced in Robert Mueller ’ s opinion that there was an absence of sufficient evidence to charge .
She clung , with the usual desperate tenacity of fanatical Democrats in ostensibly nonpolitical positions , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have obstructed justice , and attempted to legitimize the Democratic fallback position that Attorney General William Barr is running interference for the president .
This , too , is an ironic reflection from a veteran of the Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch era of endless egregious Justice Department overreach from the persecution of conservative tea party groups to the tête-à-tête about grandchildren with Bill Clinton on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport in the midst of the soft-pointed investigation of Hillary ’ s destruction of subpoenaed evidence .
Sally Yates is the pleasing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she still struts her status as a martyr for refusing to enforce the president ’ s “ illegal ” restriction of immigration from terrorism-plagued countries , for which he fired her , despite the Supreme Court ’ s decision upholding the president , after the preposterous Washington governor Jay Inslee shopped a Republican-appointed judge to rubber-stamp against the administration at first instance .
This was the event that caused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to manufacture tears as he claimed that the Statue of Liberty itself was weeping .
Yates still clings to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ traduced General Michael Flynn , and knew nothing of the association of her immediate Justice Department colleague Bruce Orr ’ s and his wife ’ s role in the smear-job on Trump .
She came through the hearing well enough but shed no light on how it came to be that the two junior officials who advised that the Steele dossier was false were not heeded .
Rather , that dossier was used as the basis for the warrant applications for authorized surveillance of junior Trump aide , Carter Page .
( And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transition team , in fact . )
A perfect cone of silence still encloses the mystery of how this utterly scurrilous farrago of salacious nonsense was taken seriously and made the basis for legalized espionage on the incoming administration under the pretense that there was reason to believe that the Russians were manipulating the election .
We will have to await the findings of Special Counsel John Durham .
Yates was satisfied just to have her own protestations of innocence believed ; but her inability to hazard a guess about who really was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She and her successor as deputy attorney general , Rod Rosenstein , just accepted the Steele dossier that was known in nearby offices to be a fraud , without inquiring further .
They may have been so negligent and naïve as to have done that , but it is inconceivable that Comey and his deputy director , McCabe , were .
Junior officials did not unleash and sustain this immense conspiracy and everyone with an IQ in at least double figures knows that .
All of these Democratic myths are fraying at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down statues—even of Abraham Lincoln , Frederick Douglass , and Ulysses S. Grant , irreproachable champions of racial justice—has abruptly stopped , as we wish the viral pandemic would .
Trump threatened 10 years ’ imprisonment for violators and the whole movement that was festering and agitating in every main public square in the country collapsed like an overcooked souffle .
When the Democratic inner-circle that conveys Joe Biden around as if on Pius XII ’ s sedan chair figured out that solidarity with the Portland rioters trying to burn down the federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreed with the administration to have the state police stop the aspirant-arsonists , while the federal officials remained inside the building and in the blocks nearby .
The mob receded and de-escalated to the burning of Bibles ( unlikely to be a huge popularity booster , either ) .
The Democratic Party ’ s story that the violence was caused by the government ’ s presence and that the protesters were “ peaceful ” is still maintained , po-faced , by the Democratic-supporting but Orwellian Newspeakers at CNN and MSNBC .
They are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been going on for six weeks before there were any federal marshals ( the “ storm troopers ” of Nancy Pelosi ’ s febrile imagination ) in Portland , and by the fact that the federal agents sustained 277 injuries while they were present and essential to prevent the torching of the federal courthouse in one of the country ’ s great cities .
They are all still singing from the same song sheet .
But they are not going to be able to wing it to election day with a campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , claims that Trump has turned the country into Hooverville even as the economy rebounds , the supreme unction of innocence as the former administration is indicted , and as the true racist and terroristic character of their friends in peaceful protest emerges .
All the while , the Democrats have a candidate who is seriously challenged to utter two consecutive coherent sentences , even in answer to a monosyllabic softball question from a tame questioner like Joy Behar .
This is all a pretend campaign , a costume party , and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is going to become clear that the former administration was rotten , the current administration handled the economy and immigration well , has managed terribly difficult crises fairly competently , and the Biden campaign is a papier-mâché fraud being moved around by superannuated stage-hands .
That is not how great nations choose their leaders .
Conrad Black has been one of Canada ’ s most prominent financiers for 40 years , and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world as owner of the British telegraph newspapers , the Fairfax newspapers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chicago Sun-Times and scores of smaller newspapers in the U.S. , and most of the daily newspapers in Canada .
He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon , one-volume histories of the United States and Canada , and most recently of Donald J. Trump : A President Like No Other .
He is a member of the British House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour .
Photo “ Joe Biden ” by Joe Biden .

by Conrad Black
The Democrats became so addicted to their need for President Trump to be permanently under a cloud of criminal suspicion for their media lackeys to endlessly celebrate, that their present discomfort is considerable as the weight of prosecutorial scrutiny shifts to another—that is, to their—foot.
Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates’ performance at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday was the most dignified and plausible attempt yet by any serious Obama Administration official to try to maintain the fiction that its justice department and intelligence agencies didn’t go rogue and assault the Constitution.
She maintained what has become the quaint, almost twee, Democratic preoccupation with Russia—an affected paranoia that nostalgically recalls the piping days of the Cold War when the Kremlin and American leaders routinely intimated an ability to obliterate the other.
Yates warbled on in the customary manner of Democrats about the already active and implicitly extremely dangerous effort of the Russians to subvert the current election, replete with Democratic senators’ questions asserting that the president was perfectly equable about soliciting foreign interference.
Does anyone, except the Stelter-Tapper-Blitzer-Scarborough nether region of liberal cable-loopies, still pay any attention to this bunk?
Russia is a shriveled, hobbled, and pale likeness of the Soviet Union, beset by problems, run by gangsters and with a GDP smaller than Canada’s. It is true the Russians have a good defense production industry, but they have no ability to disturb the United States unless belligerent Democratic nincompoops regained the presidency and drove the Kremlin into the arms of the Chinese—just as the question of dealing with the much more serious challenge of China is finally and determinedly becoming the focus of America and its principal regional allies, led by Japan and India.
Yates, peppy and rather elegant—a welcome change from the insolence of Obama FBI chiefs James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strzok, and the belligerent Obama intelligence palookas, John Brennan and James Clapper—was yet unable to clear President Trump of the charges of collusion with Russia, though she acquiesced in Robert Mueller’s opinion that there was an absence of sufficient evidence to charge. She clung, with the usual desperate tenacity of fanatical Democrats in ostensibly nonpolitical positions, to the possibility that the president may well have obstructed justice, and attempted to legitimize the Democratic fallback position that Attorney General William Barr is running interference for the president.
This, too, is an ironic reflection from a veteran of the Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch era of endless egregious Justice Department overreach from the persecution of conservative tea party groups to the tête-à-tête about grandchildren with Bill Clinton on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport in the midst of the soft-pointed investigation of Hillary’s destruction of subpoenaed evidence.
Sally Yates is the pleasing human face of Democratic authoritarian skullduggery: she still struts her status as a martyr for refusing to enforce the president’s “illegal” restriction of immigration from terrorism-plagued countries, for which he fired her, despite the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the president, after the preposterous Washington governor Jay Inslee shopped a Republican-appointed judge to rubber-stamp against the administration at first instance. This was the event that caused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to manufacture tears as he claimed that the Statue of Liberty itself was weeping. Yates still clings to the villainization of the shamefully tricked and traduced General Michael Flynn, and knew nothing of the association of her immediate Justice Department colleague Bruce Orr’s and his wife’s role in the smear-job on Trump.
She came through the hearing well enough but shed no light on how it came to be that the two junior officials who advised that the Steele dossier was false were not heeded. Rather, that dossier was used as the basis for the warrant applications for authorized surveillance of junior Trump aide, Carter Page. (And not just Page—the whole Trump campaign and transition team, in fact.) A perfect cone of silence still encloses the mystery of how this utterly scurrilous farrago of salacious nonsense was taken seriously and made the basis for legalized espionage on the incoming administration under the pretense that there was reason to believe that the Russians were manipulating the election.
We will have to await the findings of Special Counsel John Durham. Yates was satisfied just to have her own protestations of innocence believed; but her inability to hazard a guess about who really was behind the attempted putsch was desperately lame. She and her successor as deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, just accepted the Steele dossier that was known in nearby offices to be a fraud, without inquiring further. They may have been so negligent and naïve as to have done that, but it is inconceivable that Comey and his deputy director, McCabe, were. Junior officials did not unleash and sustain this immense conspiracy and everyone with an IQ in at least double figures knows that.
All of these Democratic myths are fraying at the edges.
The pandemic of tearing down statues—even of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Ulysses S. Grant, irreproachable champions of racial justice—has abruptly stopped, as we wish the viral pandemic would. Trump threatened 10 years’ imprisonment for violators and the whole movement that was festering and agitating in every main public square in the country collapsed like an overcooked souffle.
When the Democratic inner-circle that conveys Joe Biden around as if on Pius XII’s sedan chair figured out that solidarity with the Portland rioters trying to burn down the federal courthouse was not a vote-winner, they agreed with the administration to have the state police stop the aspirant-arsonists, while the federal officials remained inside the building and in the blocks nearby. The mob receded and de-escalated to the burning of Bibles (unlikely to be a huge popularity booster, either).
The Democratic Party’s story that the violence was caused by the government’s presence and that the protesters were “peaceful” is still maintained, po-faced, by the Democratic-supporting but Orwellian Newspeakers at CNN and MSNBC. They are unruffled by the fact that the riots had been going on for six weeks before there were any federal marshals (the “storm troopers” of Nancy Pelosi’s febrile imagination) in Portland, and by the fact that the federal agents sustained 277 injuries while they were present and essential to prevent the torching of the federal courthouse in one of the country’s great cities.
They are all still singing from the same song sheet. But they are not going to be able to wing it to election day with a campaign of COVID terror as the fatalities decline, claims that Trump has turned the country into Hooverville even as the economy rebounds, the supreme unction of innocence as the former administration is indicted, and as the true racist and terroristic character of their friends in peaceful protest emerges.
All the while, the Democrats have a candidate who is seriously challenged to utter two consecutive coherent sentences, even in answer to a monosyllabic softball question from a tame questioner like Joy Behar.
This is all a pretend campaign, a costume party, and a phony war. But sometime soon it is going to become clear that the former administration was rotten, the current administration handled the economy and immigration well, has managed terribly difficult crises fairly competently, and the Biden campaign is a papier-mâché fraud being moved around by superannuated stage-hands. That is not how great nations choose their leaders.
– – –
Conrad Black has been one of Canada’s most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world as owner of the British telegraph newspapers, the Fairfax newspapers in Australia, the Jerusalem Post, Chicago Sun-Times and scores of smaller newspapers in the U.S., and most of the daily newspapers in Canada. He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, one-volume histories of the United States and Canada, and most recently of Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other. He is a member of the British House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour.
Photo “Joe Biden” by Joe Biden.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Cuomo Clears New York Schools Statewide to Open, Carefully

ALBANY , New York ( AP ) — New York schools can bring children back to classrooms for the start of the school year , Gov .
Andrew Cuomo announced Friday , citing success in battling the coronavirus in the state that once was the U.S. heart of the pandemic .
The Democratic governor ’ s decision clears the way for schools to offer at least some days of in-person classes , alongside remote learning .
Students will be required to wear masks throughout school day .
“ Everywhere in the state , every region is below the threshold that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He said New York can “ revisit ” if the infection rate spikes .
Many New York school districts have planned to start the year with students in school buildings only a few days a week , while learning at home the rest of the time .
The state has left tough decisions — on how to handle sick students , how much time children will spend in class , whether to delay in-person instruction — up to individual districts .
“ If any state can do this , we can do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 1 million public school students in New York City — the largest district in the U.S. — had their last day of in-class instruction March 13 , just as waves of sick people were beginning to hit city hospitals .
All schools statewide were closed by March 18 .
The city ’ s mayor , Bill de Blasio , has been saying since the spring that his goal was to bring students back in September , with as much classroom time as possible while still allowing for social distancing .
That plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school systems back away from in-person instruction .
Chicago , Los Angeles , Miami and Houston , among other places , all announced they would start the school year with students learning remotely .
“ We will reopen safely , ” de Blasio tweeted Friday .
“ If COVID-19 positivity rate goes above 3 % , we will not open.
” He said a return to classroom instruction is vital to jump-starting the city ’ s economy , now hobbled by parents being forced to stay home with their children .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most parents feel strongly that even some time in school is a lot better for their kids than none , “ de Blasio said earlier Friday , at a separate briefing .
Cuomo warned New York ’ s roughly 700 districts still need to address the safety fears of parents and teachers .
He said districts must post remote learning plans online and hold public discussion sessions .
The outbreak , while reduced , is not over in New York .
Around 10,000 New York City residents tested positive for the virus in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health protocols and a rule that schools should shut down immediately for two weeks if any student or staff member contracts the virus .
“ As Gov .
Cuomo noted , parents and teachers must be confident that schools are safe before they can reopen , ” United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said Friday .
“ In New York City that is still an open question.
” Teachers are prohibited from striking in New York state , but large numbers could still opt out of classroom instruction for medical reasons or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he doesn ’ t want New York to get into a legal battle with teachers , adding : “ You can ’ t order a teacher into a classroom.
” Parents , too , have struggled to decide whether to send their children to school or opt solely for online instruction .
Schools have spent the summer coming up with safety plans , securing protective gear and figuring out how to fit fewer students into classrooms and buses .
Cuomo required all school systems to submit reopening plans , saying New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unsafe plan to bring students back to classrooms .
The governor said the Department of Health will continue to go through plans over the weekend .
About 50 plans are still incomplete or deficient , he said .
Earlier this summer , Cuomo set a general metric to help measure when it was safe to bring students back , saying the state would allow a return in regions where fewer than 5 % of people tested for COVID-19 came back positive .
The entire state has been well under that threshold all summer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Associated Press .
About the Headline Photo : In this March 13 , 2020 , file photo , students at Stuyvesant High School leave after classes in New York .
New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo said Friday , Aug. 7 , 2020 that he would allow children statewide to return to classrooms for the start of the new school year , citing the state ’ s success in battling the coronavirus pandemic .
( AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews , File )

by Marina Villeneuve
ALBANY, New York (AP) — New York schools can bring children back to classrooms for the start of the school year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday, citing success in battling the coronavirus in the state that once was the U.S. heart of the pandemic.
The Democratic governor’s decision clears the way for schools to offer at least some days of in-person classes, alongside remote learning. Students will be required to wear masks throughout school day.
“Everywhere in the state, every region is below the threshold that we established,” Cuomo told reporters. He said New York can “revisit” if the infection rate spikes.
Many New York school districts have planned to start the year with students in school buildings only a few days a week, while learning at home the rest of the time. The state has left tough decisions — on how to handle sick students, how much time children will spend in class, whether to delay in-person instruction — up to individual districts.
“If any state can do this, we can do this,” Cuomo said.
More than 1 million public school students in New York City — the largest district in the U.S. — had their last day of in-class instruction March 13, just as waves of sick people were beginning to hit city hospitals. All schools statewide were closed by March 18.
The city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, has been saying since the spring that his goal was to bring students back in September, with as much classroom time as possible while still allowing for social distancing.
That plan has looked exceedingly ambitious as other large school systems back away from in-person instruction.
Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Houston, among other places, all announced they would start the school year with students learning remotely.
“We will reopen safely,” de Blasio tweeted Friday. “If COVID-19 positivity rate goes above 3%, we will not open.”
He said a return to classroom instruction is vital to jump-starting the city’s economy, now hobbled by parents being forced to stay home with their children.
“It will not be easy but I think most parents feel strongly that even some time in school is a lot better for their kids than none,“ de Blasio said earlier Friday, at a separate briefing.
School districts, though, face enormous hurdles.
Cuomo warned New York’s roughly 700 districts still need to address the safety fears of parents and teachers. He said districts must post remote learning plans online and hold public discussion sessions.
The outbreak, while reduced, is not over in New York. Around 10,000 New York City residents tested positive for the virus in July.
Teachers unions have demanded clearer health protocols and a rule that schools should shut down immediately for two weeks if any student or staff member contracts the virus.
“As Gov. Cuomo noted, parents and teachers must be confident that schools are safe before they can reopen,” United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said Friday. “In New York City that is still an open question.”
Teachers are prohibited from striking in New York state, but large numbers could still opt out of classroom instruction for medical reasons or simply refuse to work.
The governor said he doesn’t want New York to get into a legal battle with teachers, adding: “You can’t order a teacher into a classroom.”
Parents, too, have struggled to decide whether to send their children to school or opt solely for online instruction.
Schools have spent the summer coming up with safety plans, securing protective gear and figuring out how to fit fewer students into classrooms and buses. Cuomo required all school systems to submit reopening plans, saying New York would not allow any district with an unsafe plan to bring students back to classrooms.
The governor said the Department of Health will continue to go through plans over the weekend. About 50 plans are still incomplete or deficient, he said.
Earlier this summer, Cuomo set a general metric to help measure when it was safe to bring students back, saying the state would allow a return in regions where fewer than 5% of people tested for COVID-19 came back positive.
The entire state has been well under that threshold all summer.
– – –
Marina Villeneuve is a reporter for The Associated Press.
About the Headline Photo: In this March 13, 2020, file photo, students at Stuyvesant High School leave after classes in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday, Aug. 7, 2020 that he would allow children statewide to return to classrooms for the start of the new school year, citing the state’s success in battling the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Crom Carmichael Says, Joe Biden and the Democrats Continue to Prove to be the Party of the KKK and J

Crom Carmichael Says, Joe Biden and the Democrats Continue to Prove to be the Party of the KKK and Jim Crow

Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville ’ s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio .
Near the end of the second hour , Carmichael discussed Joe Biden ’ s recent racist comments stating that Black people think alike and Hispanics have a thought process that “ varies.
” He added that this and the recent support of White Democratic candidates in three state Senate races where White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states where the Democrats do think they have a chance to win a Senate seat were heavily funded .
Leahy : ( Laughs ) We are going to have 90 days of Donald Trump just going after Joe Biden for being a guy in a basement who ’ s not doing anything .
Carmichael : You now that campaign lasts up to a point .
And then if it turns out that it ’ s not working after that point it ’ s very difficult to change that strategy .
I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing that Biden said .
It was on the news last night where he actually claimed that Black people all think the same but Hispanics have a variety of points of view .
Carmichael : Can you think of anything more racist ?
Just truly just straight-up racists then saying that all Black people , because he ’ s talking about ethnicity here .
He said with few exceptions or with notable exceptions Black people have one point of view .
But Hispanics on the other hand they have a variety of views @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racist to me .
Carmichael : It is clearly racist .
It turned out that I was wrong when I said that Biden was explicitly saying he was going to discriminate against 85 percent of the population in selecting his VP .
My friend pointed out after doing the math that its really 82.5 percent .
Carmichael : I ’ m corrected by modest overstatement .
But Biden is .
So once again he ’ s proving that he sees people as identity .
Then he identifies them for what he thinks they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think alike .
( Chuckles ) By the way , he actually does .
That wasn ’ t a misstatement .
He believes that .
Carmichael : ( Leahy laughs ) He did what he did to Clarence Thomas because Clarence Thomas didn ’ t think the way that Biden believed Black people should think .
So not only did he think Black people all think alike , Joe Biden thinks that he entitled to determine how all Black people should think .
Carmichael : Well he said that to Charlemagne the God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know who he ’ s going to vote for , he ain ’ t Black .
It ’ s further evidence .
So for my Democrat friends out there why on earth are you supporting this person ?
And then the statement that he made a few years ago about 711 stores .
That if you go into a 711 store you have to speak with a little bit of an Indian accent .
I mean it , don ’ t you know ?
That ’ s what he said !
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Leahy : He ’ s kind of a bully too .
He ’ ll go with this c ’ mon man !
’ Carmichael : You saw what he did to the Black CBS reporter .
Leahy : The Black reporter asked him now , are you going to take a cognitive test .
Carmichael : No no .
He didn ’ t say that .
He said that he ’ d taken one .
Because Biden said he ’ d taken a lot of them .
So he was actually asking a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Vice President have you taken a cognitive test ?
Leahy : To which Biden responds , c ’ mon man !
Have you taken a drug test ?
Are you a druggie ?
Carmichael : No and I ’ m not going to .
Then his c ’ mon man stuff .
Then accused him of being a druggie .
Leahy : You can ’ t make this stuff up .
Leahy : You can ’ t make this stuff up .
By the way , before we get onto your next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out this .
An ally of Alexander Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic Senate primary .
Her name is Markita Bradshaw .
And she describes herself as an environmental activist and a single mom .
Leahy : I can ’ t find what her job is .
But let me describe from The Hill .
Activist Markita Bradshaw scored a surprise victory in the Democratic Senate primary in Tennessee on Thursday .
Dispensing with Senate Democrat leaders preferred candidate James Mackler .
He ’ s an attorney and an army veteran from Nashville .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what appeared to be insurmountable odds .
Mackle , an Army veteran , and an attorney had the endorsement of the Democratic Senate campaign committee and a massive cash advantage over his opponents .
Bradshaw by comparison raised only $ 8,420 in the first quarter .
Doesn ’ t appear to have even filed a second-quarter FEC report .
But Bradshaw who is Black dominated in Western Tennessee including in Shelby County where Memphis is located .
Carmichael : Here is what is interesting .
The Democrat Party doesn ’ t really care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tennessee because the Democrat Party has determined that they are not going to win the Democratic Senate seat in Tennessee .
OK ?
But there were three other races where there were White people running against Black people in states where the Democrats do think they have a chance to win a Senate seat .
And those states are North Carolina , Kentucky , and Texas .
The Democrat Party spent tens of millions of dollars .
This article says $ 50 million helping the White Democrat candidate defeat the Black Democrat candidate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So the Democrat Party clearly by their own actions , they prefer White candidates over Black candidates where they think they can win .
This shows once again that Biden ’ s racism has infected the party .
Or confirmed that the party of the KKK and Jim Crow… Carmichael : That party is still there .
Is still throwing tens of millions of dollars at White candidates .
These three Black candidates are all very reasonable candidates .
But the Democrat party said , no-no-no .
We ’ re going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White candidates .
So there you have it .
Listen to the full second hour here : Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510 .
Listen online at iHeart Radio .
Photo “ Joe Biden ” by Gage Skidmore .
CC BY-SA 2.0 .
Background Photo “ Joe Biden Interview ” by Yahoo News .

Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio.
Near the end of the second hour, Carmichael discussed Joe Biden’s recent racist comments stating that Black people think alike and Hispanics have a thought process that “varies.” He added that this and the recent support of White Democratic candidates in three state Senate races where White people were running against Black people in states where the Democrats do think they have a chance to win a Senate seat were heavily funded.
(Trump clip plays)
Leahy: (Laughs) We are going to have 90 days of Donald Trump just going after Joe Biden for being a guy in a basement who’s not doing anything.
Carmichael: You now that campaign lasts up to a point. And then if it turns out that it’s not working after that point it’s very difficult to change that strategy. I don’t know if you saw the latest thing that Biden said. It was on the news last night where he actually claimed that Black people all think the same but Hispanics have a variety of points of view.
Leahy: I saw that.
Carmichael: Can you think of anything more racist? Just truly just straight-up racists then saying that all Black people, because he’s talking about ethnicity here. He said with few exceptions or with notable exceptions Black people have one point of view. But Hispanics on the other hand they have a variety of views.
Leahy: That sounds like its racist to me.
Carmichael: It is clearly racist. It turned out that I was wrong when I said that Biden was explicitly saying he was going to discriminate against 85 percent of the population in selecting his VP. My friend pointed out after doing the math that its really 82.5 percent.
Leahy: Ah. Well.
Carmichael: I’m corrected by modest overstatement. But Biden is. So once again he’s proving that he sees people as identity. Then he identifies them for what he thinks they are. He says Black people all think alike. (Chuckles) By the way, he actually does. That wasn’t a misstatement. He believes that.
Leahy: He must.
Carmichael: (Leahy laughs) He did what he did to Clarence Thomas because Clarence Thomas didn’t think the way that Biden believed Black people should think. So not only did he think Black people all think alike, Joe Biden thinks that he entitled to determine how all Black people should think.
Leahy: I think that’s true.
Carmichael: Well he said that to Charlemagne the God. If a black person doesn’t know who he’s going to vote for, he ain’t Black. It’s further evidence. So for my Democrat friends out there why on earth are you supporting this person? And then the statement that he made a few years ago about 711 stores. That if you go into a 711 store you have to speak with a little bit of an Indian accent. I mean it, don’t you know? That’s what he said! He just is a really nasty guy.
Leahy: He’s kind of a bully too. He’ll go with this c’mon man!’
Carmichael: You saw what he did to the Black CBS reporter.
Leahy: The Black reporter asked him now, are you going to take a cognitive test.
Carmichael: No no. He didn’t say that. He said that he’d taken one. Because Biden said he’d taken a lot of them. So he was actually asking a softball question. He was saying, Mr. Vice President have you taken a cognitive test?
Leahy: To which Biden responds, c’mon man! Have you taken a drug test? Are you a druggie?
Carmichael: No and I’m not going to. Then his c’mon man stuff. Then accused him of being a druggie.
Leahy: You can’t make this stuff up.
Carmichael: No.
Leahy: You can’t make this stuff up. By the way, before we get onto your next topic, I just want to point out this. An ally of Alexander Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic Senate primary. Her name is Markita Bradshaw. And she describes herself as an environmental activist and a single mom.
Carmichael: OK.
Leahy: I can’t find what her job is. But let me describe from The Hill. Activist Markita Bradshaw scored a surprise victory in the Democratic Senate primary in Tennessee on Thursday. Dispensing with Senate Democrat leaders preferred candidate James Mackler. He’s an attorney and an army veteran from Nashville. In a five-way nominating contest. Bradshaw faced what appeared to be insurmountable odds.
Mackle, an Army veteran, and an attorney had the endorsement of the Democratic Senate campaign committee and a massive cash advantage over his opponents. Bradshaw by comparison raised only $8,420 in the first quarter. Doesn’t appear to have even filed a second-quarter FEC report. But Bradshaw who is Black dominated in Western Tennessee including in Shelby County where Memphis is located.
Carmichael: Here is what is interesting. The Democrat Party doesn’t really care who the Democratic Senate candidate is in Tennessee because the Democrat Party has determined that they are not going to win the Democratic Senate seat in Tennessee. OK? But there were three other races where there were White people running against Black people in states where the Democrats do think they have a chance to win a Senate seat.
And those states are North Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas. The Democrat Party spent tens of millions of dollars. This article says $50 million helping the White Democrat candidate defeat the Black Democrat candidate in the primary in those three states.
So the Democrat Party clearly by their own actions, they prefer White candidates over Black candidates where they think they can win. This shows once again that Biden’s racism has infected the party. Or confirmed that the party of the KKK and Jim Crow…
Leahy: And lynchings.
Carmichael: And lynchings.
Leahy: That party.
Carmichael: That party is still there. Is still throwing tens of millions of dollars at White candidates. These three Black candidates are all very reasonable candidates. But the Democrat party said, no-no-no. We’re going to tip the scales in favor of the White candidates. So there you have it.
Listen to the full second hour here:

– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Joe Biden” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Joe Biden Interview” by Yahoo News.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--July Jobs Report: 1.8 Million Jobs Added, Unemployment at 10.2 Percent

The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July , while unemployment fell to 10.2 % , according to Department @ @ @ @ @ .
Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 1.8 million in July , according to the @ @ @ @ @ , and the number of unemployed persons fell by 1.4 million to 16.3 million .
@ @ @ @ @ added 4.8 million jobs , while the unemployment declined to 11.1 % .
The June @ @ @ @ @ of both increasing jobs and dropping unemployment since the country lost a record 20.5 million @ @ @ @ @ pandemic closures .
Economists predicted that the economy would add only 1.6 million jobs in @ @ @ @ @ , dragging the monthly unemployment rate down to 10.5 % in July .
“ July @ @ @ @ @ areas , some sectors continued to reopen in the early part of the month , @ @ @ @ @ change , ” Robertson Stephens Wealth Management chief economist Jeanette Garretty told CNN .
Mary @ @ @ @ @ for the Daily Caller News Foundation .

by Mary Margaret Olohan
The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July, while unemployment fell to 10.2%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.
Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 1.8 million in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 1.4 million to 16.3 million.
“In July, notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, government, retail trade, professional and business services, other services, and health care,” the report adds.
In June, the U.S. added 4.8 million jobs, while the unemployment declined to 11.1%. The June numbers marked the second month of both increasing jobs and dropping unemployment since the country lost a record 20.5 million jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic closures.
Economists predicted that the economy would add only 1.6 million jobs in July, according to CNN, dragging the monthly unemployment rate down to 10.5% in July.
“July is so uncertain because some areas, some sectors continued to reopen in the early part of the month, and then things started to change,” Robertson Stephens Wealth Management chief economist Jeanette Garretty told CNN.
– – –
Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Music Spotlight: We the Kingdom

Music Spotlight: We the Kingdom

NASHVILLE , Tennessee – We The Kingdom is a multigenerational family of musicians , including esteemed producers and songwriters Ed Cash ( Chris Tomlin , NeedToBreathe , Bethel Music , Crowder ) , and Scott Cash , who are brothers .
Ed ’ s daughter Franni , his son Martin and close friend Andrew Bergthold are also part of the group .
Ed and Scott ’ s dad played guitar while their mom played piano resulting in a home filled with music .
Despite there being an eleven year age gap between them , as both Ed and Scott entered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embarked on similar individual journeys as touring artists .
“ Scott and I grew up in a musical family and we have been playing music together for decades , ” Ed said .
“ Franni and Martin grew up around a lot of music and as soon as they were of age and were able , I would have them sing on records.
” Naturally , there was a breeding ground for music to happen.
” Franni described how the group , We the Kingdom , came to be .
“ As a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Life Camps for many years.
” Three years ago , Scott asked the family to come and play at Young Life Camp in Georgia .
Once they got there they ended up writing a song at the camp that felt so ‘ electric ’ .
“ The chemistry between the five us writing is something we had never experienced before.
, ” she said .
“ We had written individually , but never together.
” They played the song that they had written for the kids ( Dancing on the Waves ) the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
A few weeks later they were sitting around a campfire and casually mentioned that maybe they should start a band even though they were each pursuing music careers individually .
“ It is really kind of funny how it happened so randomly , ” Frannie said .
“ I think it was a dream that was deep in all of our hearts , but it was almost too raw to actually bring it up because it was so , so precious and so dear to us , ” added Andrew , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hometown of Kansas City before joining We The Kingdom .
“ I think it ’ s really beautiful how God weaves stories together , and not only that but gives dreams and desires for the appropriate season.
” Ed agreed , “ It just rose up in all our hearts.
” Because the family was so musical and can play almost every instrument , it was easy and organic to form a band .
Andrew alleged , “ It ’ s fun on our records , if you go listen , there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ playing something different .
It ’ s crazy and super fun.
” The title track , “ Holy Water , ” off their newly released album by the same name is one of the most meaningful worship anthems I have heard in a long time .
With lyrics like God , I ’ m on my knees again/God , I ’ m begging please again/I need You/Oh , I need You there is an honesty to the lyrics that makes them believable .
And because the singers are also the songwriters , Ed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an air of authenticity to the timely message of the song .
As far as the album , Holy Water goes , Scott said , “ They say you spend your whole life making your first record .
[ This album ] is the culmination of all of our stories where there were multiple rivers that fed into one river that is now our collective story .
We had different life events that led us all together .
As we created this album , we pulled from different compartments of hearts and put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show who we are what we have been through.
” Because the members of the group are all from different decades , the music is a hodge-podge of music from the 50s to 2020 .
Because of that Scott says that “ it is a gift to do music together and it has been a blast to make a record together.
” Last June We the Kingdom recently signed with Capitol Christian Label Group , a label that Ed had produced with for years .
The head of that label is a dear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knew he would shoot straight with him .
“ I didn ’ t want to like , hey check out my new band with my kids .
It ’ s an odd thing to present to someone on a professional level , ” he said .
Ed just wanted an honest opinion so they performed for 11 or 12 executives from the label .
“ It was a beautiful thing , so organic .
It did not feel like this real corporate meeting of the suits , ” Ed said .
“ From @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Releasing a new album during the Coronavirus is tough for any artist .
With so much time and effort being put into writing and creating the record , not being able to support it via live performances can be a challenge .
“ It ’ s hard , ” said Andrew .
“ But Capitol is an amazing team .
And I feel like since we didn ’ t start this , the Lord has a plan for it and COVID can ’ t get in the way of that.
” They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other artists and reach out via Facebook and social media .
Franni said that as the virus continues , people are streaming and listening to music more and watching TV less .
If you want your soul to be stirred and your heart to be healed , stream or download We the Kingdom ’ s album , Holy Water .
You will have no regrets whatsoever .
You can keep up with We The Kingdom on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter , and their official website .
Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bethany Writes , Instagram , and Twitter .

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – We The Kingdom is a multigenerational family of musicians, including esteemed producers and songwriters Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, NeedToBreathe, Bethel Music, Crowder), and Scott Cash, who are brothers. Ed’s daughter Franni, his son Martin and close friend Andrew Bergthold are also part of the group. Ed and Scott’s dad played guitar while their mom played piano resulting in a home filled with music. Despite there being an eleven year age gap between them, as both Ed and Scott entered their teens and early 20s, they embarked on similar individual journeys as touring artists.
“Scott and I grew up in a musical family and we have been playing music together for decades,” Ed said. “Franni and Martin grew up around a lot of music and as soon as they were of age and were able, I would have them sing on records.” Naturally, there was a breeding ground for music to happen.”
Franni described how the group, We the Kingdom, came to be.
“As a family, we led worship for Young Life Camps for many years.” Three years ago, Scott asked the family to come and play at Young Life Camp in Georgia. Once they got there they ended up writing a song at the camp that felt so ‘electric’. “The chemistry between the five us writing is something we had never experienced before.,” she said. “We had written individually, but never together.”
They played the song that they had written for the kids (Dancing on the Waves) the next day and they really connected to it.
A few weeks later they were sitting around a campfire and casually mentioned that maybe they should start a band even though they were each pursuing music careers individually.
“It is really kind of funny how it happened so randomly,” Frannie said.
“I think it was a dream that was deep in all of our hearts, but it was almost too raw to actually bring it up because it was so, so precious and so dear to us,” added Andrew, who pursued his own artistry in his hometown of Kansas City before joining We The Kingdom. “I think it’s really beautiful how God weaves stories together, and not only that but gives dreams and desires for the appropriate season.”
Ed agreed, “It just rose up in all our hearts.”
Because the family was so musical and can play almost every instrument, it was easy and organic to form a band.
Andrew alleged, “It’s fun on our records, if you go listen, there are spots on our records where everyone is playing something different. It’s crazy and super fun.”
The title track, “Holy Water,” off their newly released album by the same name is one of the most meaningful worship anthems I have heard in a long time.
With lyrics like God, I’m on my knees again/God, I’m begging please again/I need You/Oh, I need You there is an honesty to the lyrics that makes them believable. And because the singers are also the songwriters, Ed and Frannie’s gritty vocals add an air of authenticity to the timely message of the song.
As far as the album, Holy Water goes, Scott said, “They say you spend your whole life making your first record. [This album] is the culmination of all of our stories where there were multiple rivers that fed into one river that is now our collective story. We had different life events that led us all together. As we created this album, we pulled from different compartments of hearts and put them together to write the songs that show who we are what we have been through.”
Because the members of the group are all from different decades, the music is a hodge-podge of music from the 50s to 2020. Because of that Scott says that “it is a gift to do music together and it has been a blast to make a record together.”
Last June We the Kingdom recently signed with Capitol Christian Label Group, a label that Ed had produced with for years. The head of that label is a dear friend of Ed’s and he knew he would shoot straight with him.
“I didn’t want to like, hey check out my new band with my kids. It’s an odd thing to present to someone on a professional level,” he said.
Ed just wanted an honest opinion so they performed for 11 or 12 executives from the label.
“It was a beautiful thing, so organic. It did not feel like this real corporate meeting of the suits,” Ed said. “From the get-go, they were all in.”
Releasing a new album during the Coronavirus is tough for any artist. With so much time and effort being put into writing and creating the record, not being able to support it via live performances can be a challenge.
“It’s hard,” said Andrew. “But Capitol is an amazing team. And I feel like since we didn’t start this, the Lord has a plan for it and COVID can’t get in the way of that.”
They are doing live streaming performances like many other artists and reach out via Facebook and social media. Franni said that as the virus continues, people are streaming and listening to music more and watching TV less.
If you want your soul to be stirred and your heart to be healed, stream or download We the Kingdom’s album, Holy Water. You will have no regrets whatsoever.
You can keep up with We The Kingdom on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and their official website.
– – –
Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Bethany Writes, Instagram, and Twitter.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Rashida Tlaib Violated Campaign Finance Law, House Ethics Committee Unanimously Rules

Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by paying herself a salary from her campaign after securing victory in the 2018 general election , the House Ethics Committee unanimously ruled on Friday .
The Ethics committee found that Tlaib violated FECA ’ s personal use restrictions by paying herself $ 10,800 from her campaign when she was no longer a congressional candidate in late 2018 and ordered her to repay that amount back to her campaign within one year , the committee said in a report .
The committee “ determined that the evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a portion of the salary payments that Representative Tlaib received after the 2018 general election was inconsistent with the requirements outlined by [ FECA ] and its implementing regulations , ” the report read .
“ The Committee also recognizes , however , that Representative Tlaib ’ s violation of the applicable restrictions was one of bad timing and not ill intent , ” the committee added .
“ Representative Tlaib engaged in good faith efforts to comply with the relevant FECA requirements.
” The Ethics committee noted that it did not find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unjustly enrich herself by receiving the campaign funds at issue.
” The ruling was issued three days after Tlaib secured victory over her Democratic challenger in Michigan ’ s primary on Tuesday .
Candidates for federal office like Tlaib are allowed to pull a salary from their campaign as long as it is no more than the amount they made the prior year , according to the Federal Election Commission .
Candidate campaign salaries may also continue until the date of the candidate ’ s general election , the FEC adds .
Tlaib @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign during the 2018 primary after she realized she would have trouble paying her bills because her time on the campaign trail meant she was making less money at work , according to the Ethics committee .
Tlaib ’ s campaign had determined that she could pull a salary from her campaign up to $ 7,900 per month based on her income in 2017 .
However , Tlaib ultimately chose to receive $ 4,000 because she “ was trying to be as conservative as possible , ” according to the Ethics committee report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regular $ 2,000 payments every two weeks to the then-candidate beginning in early May through her general election victory in November , according to the report .
But weeks after election victory , on Dec. 1 , 2018 , Tlaib received a $ 15,500 payment from her campaign , FEC records show .
An unidentified Tlaib campaign staffer told the Ethics committee that the payment represented the inclusion of various “ salary deferred ” payments that Tlaib “ was supposed to get that she didn ’ t get paid , ” during her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ethics committee that she had concerns about her campaign ’ s ability to pay her a salary after her primary victory and had entered an informal agreement with her campaign to receive “ back pay ” from her campaign .
The committee noted that it “ credits ” Tlaib ’ s explanation , but concluded that “ she is not entitled to retain the full $ 15,500 payment.
” Tlaib ’ s office did not return a request for comment .
Andrew Kerr is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .

by Andrew Kerr
Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by paying herself a salary from her campaign after securing victory in the 2018 general election, the House Ethics Committee unanimously ruled on Friday.
The Ethics committee found that Tlaib violated FECA’s personal use restrictions by paying herself $10,800 from her campaign when she was no longer a congressional candidate in late 2018 and ordered her to repay that amount back to her campaign within one year, the committee said in a report.
The committee “determined that the evidence is sufficient to support a determination that a portion of the salary payments that Representative Tlaib received after the 2018 general election was inconsistent with the requirements outlined by [FECA] and its implementing regulations,” the report read.
“The Committee also recognizes, however, that Representative Tlaib’s violation of the applicable restrictions was one of bad timing and not ill intent,” the committee added. “Representative Tlaib engaged in good faith efforts to comply with the relevant FECA requirements.”
The Ethics committee noted that it did not find any evidence that Tlaib sought to “unjustly enrich herself by receiving the campaign funds at issue.”
The ruling was issued three days after Tlaib secured victory over her Democratic challenger in Michigan’s primary on Tuesday.
Candidates for federal office like Tlaib are allowed to pull a salary from their campaign as long as it is no more than the amount they made the prior year, according to the Federal Election Commission. Candidate campaign salaries may also continue until the date of the candidate’s general election, the FEC adds.
Tlaib had requested to receive funds from her campaign during the 2018 primary after she realized she would have trouble paying her bills because her time on the campaign trail meant she was making less money at work, according to the Ethics committee.
Tlaib’s campaign had determined that she could pull a salary from her campaign up to $7,900 per month based on her income in 2017. However, Tlaib ultimately chose to receive $4,000 because she “was trying to be as conservative as possible,” according to the Ethics committee report.
Tlaib’s campaign began disbursing regular $2,000 payments every two weeks to the then-candidate beginning in early May through her general election victory in November, according to the report.
But weeks after election victory, on Dec. 1, 2018, Tlaib received a $15,500 payment from her campaign, FEC records show. An unidentified Tlaib campaign staffer told the Ethics committee that the payment represented the inclusion of various “salary deferred” payments that Tlaib “was supposed to get that she didn’t get paid,” during her 2018 campaign.
Tlaib testified to the Ethics committee that she had concerns about her campaign’s ability to pay her a salary after her primary victory and had entered an informal agreement with her campaign to receive “back pay” from her campaign. The committee noted that it “credits” Tlaib’s explanation, but concluded that “she is not entitled to retain the full $15,500 payment.”
Tlaib’s office did not return a request for comment.
– – –
Andrew Kerr is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Ibrahm Bouaichi, Virginia Inmate Released Due to Coronavirus Pandemic, Arrested for Murdering Accuse

Ibrahm Bouaichi, Virginia Inmate Released Due to Coronavirus Pandemic, Arrested for Murdering Accuser

A Virginia inmate who was released from jail because of the Coronavirus pandemic is back in police custody for allegedly murdering his accuser .
Ibrahm Elkahlil Bouaichi , a 33-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly raping his ex-girlfriend Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez in October 2019 and held without bond , was arrested Wednesday morning for shooting and killing Gonzalez on July 29 .
When Bouaichi was first arrested on October 21 , 2019 , he was charged with six felonies : abduction , burglary , malicious wounding , rape , strangulation , and sodomy .
Per Virginia law involving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bail .
Bouaichi was indicted by a grand jury on all charges except malicious wounding on January 13 .
His court date was set to March 30 .
However , due to the Coronavirus pandemic , his court case was pushed back to May 4 .
Bouaichi ’ s lawyers , Manuel Leiva and Frank Salvato , argued that because of the health risks COVID-19 presented to inmates and counselors , their client should be released on bond .
They claimed that the detention center “ imposed severe restrictions on visitation ” because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their client to 30-minute video conferences , according to the bond hearing .
The Washington Post reports that jail officials “ do allow contact visits for attorneys upon request ” and that they “ do not have any record of Mr. Leiva or his co-counsel requesting a face-to-face visit with Ibrahim Bouaichi after the protocols went into effect in late March.
” Alexandria Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins , who retired in June , agreed and released Bouaichi on a $ 25,000 bond .
Per the conditions of his bond , Bouaichi then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ await his trial , which was rescheduled again to August 17 , according to court records .
On July 29 at roughly 6:20 a.m. , Karla Dominguez was found dead outside of her apartment on S. Greenmount Drive with “ multiple gunshot wounds on her upper body.
” Ibrahm Bouaichi was named as the primary suspect in her homicide two days later on July 31 .
Bouaichi disappeared , leading police to ask Alexandrians for help in locating him on August 4 .
Alexandria police found Bouaichi in Maryland the next day at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and police pursued .
Bouaichi ’ s car crashed soon after the chase began .
Officers found Bouaichi in his vehicle alive but with “ a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
” Police transported Bouaichi to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition as of Thursday .
Sam Medley is a journalist at the Tennessee Star and Star News Network .
You can follow Sam on Twitter .
Email tips to [ email protected ]

A Virginia inmate who was released from jail because of the Coronavirus pandemic is back in police custody for allegedly murdering his accuser.
Ibrahm Elkahlil Bouaichi, a 33-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly raping his ex-girlfriend Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez in October 2019 and held without bond, was arrested Wednesday morning for shooting and killing Gonzalez on July 29.
When Bouaichi was first arrested on October 21, 2019, he was charged with six felonies: abduction, burglary, malicious wounding, rape, strangulation, and sodomy.
Per Virginia law involving violent crimes, he was held without bail.
Bouaichi was indicted by a grand jury on all charges except malicious wounding on January 13. His court date was set to March 30.
However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, his court case was pushed back to May 4.
Bouaichi’s lawyers, Manuel Leiva and Frank Salvato, argued that because of the health risks COVID-19 presented to inmates and counselors, their client should be released on bond.
They claimed that the detention center “imposed severe restrictions on visitation” because of the outbreak, restricting meetings with their client to 30-minute video conferences, according to the bond hearing.
The Washington Post reports that jail officials “do allow contact visits for attorneys upon request” and that they “do not have any record of Mr. Leiva or his co-counsel requesting a face-to-face visit with Ibrahim Bouaichi after the protocols went into effect in late March.”
Alexandria Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins, who retired in June, agreed and released Bouaichi on a $25,000 bond.
Per the conditions of his bond, Bouaichi then returned to his home in Maryland to await his trial, which was rescheduled again to August 17, according to court records.
On July 29 at roughly 6:20 a.m., Karla Dominguez was found dead outside of her apartment on S. Greenmount Drive with “multiple gunshot wounds on her upper body.”
Ibrahm Bouaichi was named as the primary suspect in her homicide two days later on July 31.
Bouaichi disappeared, leading police to ask Alexandrians for help in locating him on August 4.
Alexandria police found Bouaichi in Maryland the next day at 11 a.m. Bouaichi fled in his vehicle, and police pursued.
Bouaichi’s car crashed soon after the chase began. Officers found Bouaichi in his vehicle alive but with “a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Police transported Bouaichi to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition as of Thursday.
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Sam Medley is a journalist at the Tennessee Star and Star News Network. You can follow Sam on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Twitter Suspends DNC’s Account for Retweeting Trump Clip Suggesting Kids Are ‘Almost Immune’ to COVI

Twitter Suspends DNC’s Account for Retweeting Trump Clip Suggesting Kids Are ‘Almost Immune’ to COVID

Twitter partially suspended the Democratic National Committee ’ s account Thursday for sharing a tweet from President Donald Trump that contains a video of the president suggesting children are “ almost immune ” to coronavirus .
The company made the move after the DNC tweeted a clip of Trump ’ s Wednesday appearance on Fox News in which the president made the claim relating to children and the pandemic , CNN reported .
The account intended to retweet the post with the intention of criticizing the president for spreading misinformation , but Twitter ’ s moderators flagged the post instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s tweet contained a caption that read : “ WATCH : Trump says schools should full reopen , even though he doesn ’ t have a plan to ensure it is done safely , because the coronavirus ‘ will go away like thing go away ’ and children are ‘ almost immune.
’ ” “ If you look at children , children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease , ” Trump said during the Fox interview .
Twitter partially suspended Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tweet as well .
Facebook removed a post Wednesday that contained the video , too , marking the first time the social media platform has nixed a Trump post over coronavirus misinformation , The Washington Post reported .
“ Accounts that shared the identical video may also be required to delete their Tweets as it ’ s the video itself that violates our COVID misinformation policy , ” a Twitter representative said in a statement to CNN Thursday .
Twitter should focus on Trump ’ s penchant for spreading misinformation , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ room director .
“ While Donald Trump continues to spread misinformation through his social media channels , the DNC War Room and others were suspended on Twitter for holding him accountable for his dangerous lies , ” Wessel told CNN .
“ If Twitter is serious about addressing the problem of misinformation on their platform , then they should focus on the source of that problem.
” The DNC had to remove the tweet before being allowed to post again , CNN reported .
Medical experts have determined children are still capable of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicate they exhibit milder symptoms and are less likely to contract the virus , the Daily Caller reported in July .
Researchers at the New South Wales ’ National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in Australia published a study of staff and students at five primary schools and 10 high schools in April showing only two people of 863 people contracted COVID-19 .
Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield pushed for children to go back to school in July , telling the Hill in an interview that COVID-19 has a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .

by Chris White
Twitter partially suspended the Democratic National Committee’s account Thursday for sharing a tweet from President Donald Trump that contains a video of the president suggesting children are “almost immune” to coronavirus.
The company made the move after the DNC tweeted a clip of Trump’s Wednesday appearance on Fox News in which the president made the claim relating to children and the pandemic, CNN reported. The account intended to retweet the post with the intention of criticizing the president for spreading misinformation, but Twitter’s moderators flagged the post instead.
According to CNN, the DNC’s tweet contained a caption that read: “WATCH: Trump says schools should full reopen, even though he doesn’t have a plan to ensure it is done safely, because the coronavirus ‘will go away like thing go away’ and children are ‘almost immune.’”
“If you look at children, children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease,” Trump said during the Fox interview.
Twitter partially suspended Trump’s campaign Twitter account Wednesday for sharing the tweet as well. Facebook removed a post Wednesday that contained the video, too, marking the first time the social media platform has nixed a Trump post over coronavirus misinformation, The Washington Post reported.
“Accounts that shared the identical video may also be required to delete their Tweets as it’s the video itself that violates our COVID misinformation policy,” a Twitter representative said in a statement to CNN Thursday.
Twitter should focus on Trump’s penchant for spreading misinformation, according to Daniel Wessel, DNC deputy war room director.
“While Donald Trump continues to spread misinformation through his social media channels, the DNC War Room and others were suspended on Twitter for holding him accountable for his dangerous lies,” Wessel told CNN. “If Twitter is serious about addressing the problem of misinformation on their platform, then they should focus on the source of that problem.”
The DNC had to remove the tweet before being allowed to post again, CNN reported.
Medical experts have determined children are still capable of spreading the virus, though some studies indicate they exhibit milder symptoms and are less likely to contract the virus, the Daily Caller reported in July.
Researchers at the New South Wales’ National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in Australia published a study of staff and students at five primary schools and 10 high schools in April showing only two people of 863 people contracted COVID-19.
Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield pushed for children to go back to school in July, telling the Hill in an interview that COVID-19 has a “very limited effect on kids.”
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Chris White is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.


thetennesseestar--2020-08-08--Republican Gov. Mike DeWine Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Initially Testing Positive

Ohio Republican Gov .
Mike DeWine tested negative for the coronavirus Thursday after testing positive earlier that day , according to The Wall Street Journal .
DeWine first tested positive for the virus Thursday before his scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump in Cleveland , the WSJ reported .
DeWine ’ s office said the 73-year-old governor doesn ’ t have any symptoms , according to the WSJ .
The second test DeWine and his staff took is known as a PCR test that screens for the “ genetic material specific for the virus that causes COVID-19 , ” the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation .
“ This test is known to be extremely sensitive , as well as specific , for the virus .
The PCR tests for the Governor , First Lady , and staff were run two times .
They came back negative the first time and came back negative when they were run on a second diagnostic platform , ” the statement said .
“ We feel confident in the results from Wexner Medical Center .
This is the same PCR test that has been used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitals and labs all over the state , ” the governor ’ s office statement said .
The first test DeWine took Thursday was an antigen test , the governor ’ s office said , which detects viral proteins in saliva .
The tests “ are quite new , and we do not have much experience with them here in Ohio , ” the statement said , adding that the state will work with the test ’ s manufacturer to understand why the discrepancy occurred .
DeWine and his wife will be tested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an abundance of caution , ” the statement said .
Republican Gov .
Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma was the first governor to test positive for the coronavirus in July , according to NBC News .
Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas also tested positive ahead of a scheduled visit with the president .
Republican Sen. Rand Paul also tested positive for the virus , according to his office .
Mary Rose Corkery is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .

by Mary Rose Corkery
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine tested negative for the coronavirus Thursday after testing positive earlier that day, according to The Wall Street Journal.
DeWine first tested positive for the virus Thursday before his scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump in Cleveland, the WSJ reported. DeWine’s office said the 73-year-old governor doesn’t have any symptoms, according to the WSJ.
The second test DeWine and his staff took is known as a PCR test that screens for the “genetic material specific for the virus that causes COVID-19,” the governor’s office said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“This test is known to be extremely sensitive, as well as specific, for the virus. The PCR tests for the Governor, First Lady, and staff were run two times. They came back negative the first time and came back negative when they were run on a second diagnostic platform,” the statement said.
UPDATE: In a second COVID-19 test administered today in Columbus, Governor Mike DeWine has tested negative for COVID-19. First Lady Fran DeWine and staff members have also all tested negative. pic.twitter.com/0Ixap90mJg — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) August 7, 2020
“We feel confident in the results from Wexner Medical Center. This is the same PCR test that has been used over 1.6 million times in Ohio by hospitals and labs all over the state,” the governor’s office statement said.
The first test DeWine took Thursday was an antigen test, the governor’s office said, which detects viral proteins in saliva. The tests “are quite new, and we do not have much experience with them here in Ohio,” the statement said, adding that the state will work with the test’s manufacturer to understand why the discrepancy occurred.
DeWine and his wife will be tested again on Saturday “(out) of an abundance of caution,” the statement said.
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma was the first governor to test positive for the coronavirus in July, according to NBC News. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas also tested positive ahead of a scheduled visit with the president. Republican Sen. Rand Paul also tested positive for the virus, according to his office.
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Mary Rose Corkery is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.