Wonder how much Trump gets paid to screw around with the stock market? He's not stupid enough to think his tariff vacillations won't have any effect. Somebody if whispering in his ear. Check this:

But these wins were peanuts compared to the money made by a trader, or group of traders, who bought 420,000 September e-minis in the last 30 minutes of trading on June 28. That was some 40% of the day’s trading volume in September e-minis—making it a trade that could not easily be ignored. By then, President Trump was already in Osaka, Japan—14 hours ahead of Chicago—and on his way to a roughly hour-long meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping as part of the G20 summit. On Saturday in Osaka, after the market had closed in Chicago, Trump emerged from his meeting with Xi and announced that the intermittent trade talks were “back on track.” The following week was a good one in the stock market, thanks to the Trump announcement. On Thursday, June 27, the S&P 500 index stood at about 2915; a week or so later, it was just below 3000, a gain of 84 points, or $4,200 per e-mini contract. Whoever bought the 420,000 e-minis on June 28 had made a handsome profit of nearly $1.8 billion.

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The House just passed a resolution condemning Trump's withdrawal from Syria. The vote was 354 to 60. Rep. Burchett voted against it. So did DesJarlais and Rose. 129 other Republicans voted for it.

Via KnowViews.com

...researchers found that a diet comprising of plenty of fruits and vegetables and fresh products as opposed to processed foods could help people with depression. Following a Mediterranean style diet for just three weeks was associated with a decline in the depression score in a group of young adults. These participants with moderate depression came down to normal range with no depression and lower levels of stress and anxiety.

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McGhee Tyson Airport named third most expensive airport in the country

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It appears that Trump sold out our Kurd allies to enhance his own personal holdings in Turkey. That seems to have gotten a rise from his sycophants as opposed to his outright high crimes such as this one:

The indictment of two Soviet-born clients of Rudy Giuliani’s reveals intriguing ties between the campaign finance scheme that the duo was allegedly running and President Trump’s scheme to pressure the Ukrainian government into becoming a factory for political dirt.

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Statewide, there is one primary care doctor per 1,390 people, according to 2019 County Health Rankings. In Morgan County in East Tennessee, the lowest ranked county in the state, there is one primary care physician for every 21,550 citizens

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This is an outrage!

“The proposal exempts most projects involving the placement of toxic coal ash on any land from any regulation whatsoever,” says Senior Attorney Frank Holleman. In most cases, regardless of how much ash is dumped, there are no requirements to provide notice to communities, to test the ash for heavy metals, to determine radioactivity or leaching potential, to control hazardous fugitive dust, or to prevent toxins from leaking into groundwater.

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(WREG) — Tennessee residents may now be able to get away with smoking marijuana thanks to a new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation policy.

A memo sent to police departments last month said the TBI will no longer test amounts of marijuana less than half an ounce, or about 14 grams.

“I think it’s going to help a lot of people out for those simple possession cases, for sure,” criminal defense attorney Brandon Hall said.

Hall said the new policy would make it virtually impossible for prosecutors to build a strong enough case against people caught possessing small amounts of marijuana.

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People do need to know whether their president is a crook. Fortunately for us today, we already know the answer. President Donald Trump is a crook, and obviously so.

We have known this for a long time. We know, for instance, that his Trump University was a scam. We know that he is notorious for ripping off the sort of working-class Americans he claims to champion. Thanks to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting from The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, we know that his frequent talk of big charitable donations was rarely matched by actual charitable donations, and that he misused his own charity's money to make legal fights go away. This crooked behavior has not abated since Trump became president. Since his inauguration, he has spent taxpayer money to make 362 visits to his own Trump-branded properties. In a development that was loudly predicted by many before his election, Trump hotels and other properties have become go-to destinations for foreign officials looking to put money in Trump's pocket in the hopes of some positive attention from the Dear Leader.

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This is fascinating: “I’m the real whistleblower,” declared Giuliani, who claimed to possess more damaging information and insisted that he, too, should be entitled to whistleblower protections. “If I get killed now,” he warned, “You won’t get the rest of the story.”

We know that Giuliani has secreted what he calls "texts" of State Department conversations in order to "protect himself". Oh please, tell us more!

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More Toons

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State officials are telling Tennessee residents that all open-air outdoor fires will require a burn permit starting Monday (TODAY).

Burn permits are usually required statewide from Oct. 15 through May 15. Tennessee's Division of Forestry said Friday that burn permit requirements are being put in place early as a precaution against hot and dry weather leading into the fall fire season.

Burning without a permit can lead to up to 30 days in jail. Wildfires caused by arson are punishable by 3 to 15 years in prison. Both violations can carry fines.

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If true, Trump should immediately be removed from the Presidency!

By Greg Miller ,
Ellen Nakashima and
Shane HarrisSeptember 18 at 8:56 PM

The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump’s communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

It was not immediately clear which foreign leader Trump was speaking with or what he pledged to deliver, but his direct involvement in the matter has not been previously disclosed. It raises new questions about the president’s handling of sensitive information and may further strain his relationship with U.S. spy agencies. One former official said the communication was a phone call.

[Gap continues to widen between Trump and intelligence community on key issues]

The White House declined to comment late Wednesday night. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and a lawyer representing the whistleblower declined to comment.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the complaint was credible and troubling enough to be considered a matter of “urgent concern,” a legal threshold that requires notification of congressional oversight committees.

But acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to share details about Trump’s alleged transgression with lawmakers, touching off a legal and political dispute that has spilled into public view and prompted speculation that the spy chief is improperly protecting the president.

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This bothers me. I don;t care if the defendants in this case are bad guys. This affects all of us in one form or another. We need to be able to trust prosecutors to pursue justice according to the law. It seems that My Overby wants to be able to withhold evidence detrimental to his case and favorable to defendants. This can result in innocent people languishing in jail:

The American Bar Association in 2009 said that prosecutors should be ethically bound to turn over evidence favorable to a defendant — either to exonerate the accused or mitigate punishment — as soon as possible. The ABA cited studies showing Brady violations are the leading cause of wrongful convictions across the nation.

"The standard at issue impacts when prosecutors — both state and federal — should turn over evidence that could help the accused. The Board of Professional Responsibility, which polices all attorneys, said prosecutors are ethically bound to turn over any information that might help the accused as soon as they get it.

The state Supreme Court disagreed. The court said prosecutors must only adhere to an appellate standard known as a Brady violation. Under that standard, prosecutors get to choose what to turn over and when, depending on whether the prosecution believes the evidence is legally significant enough that a jury might exonerate a defendant because of it."

KNS (paywall) Jamie Satterfield story

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October 11, 2019 - 07:00 PM

Live theatre! AND THE MOON STAYED by Jennifer L. Wallace, a reworking of Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale.” It is set in the Great Smoky Mountains and tells the bittersweet tale of jealousy, love and redemption.

Come see local Corey Jones at "Brother Leon"!

More details at PRINCESS BLOG.

“At least 40 percent of students in higher education suffer from some form of food insecurity,” Roane State President Chris Whaley said during the grand opening at the main campus in Harriman. “That’s appalling.”

The launch of the Raider Pantry in a small space just inside the Roane State gymnasium on the Roane County campus continues the college’s efforts to address food insecurity. Snacks are offered at campus locations, and three campuses (Roane, Oak Ridge, and Cumberland) offer dedicated rooms for food pantries.

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Uncommon, unreal, and (soon-to-be) unfrozen.
A new online era of The Far Side is coming!

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Enjoy!

This concerns me. Bill Lee campaigned as a moderate. KnoxViews.com has a comment...

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More in depth from Tennessee Citizen Action

While the Democratic Presidential Debate was going on, Trump was speaking to the House GOP retreat Yesterday. We learned a number of things about Trump including why he hates energy efficient lighting:

Trump blames new energy efficient light bulbs for making him "look orange."

[OK, he's got me there]

Speaking to the House GOP retreat, Trump brags that "earlier today, my administration formally repealed the horrible, dangerous, anti-everything waters of the United States rule."

[So in Trump's world it's horribly dangerous to stop polluters from dumping poisons into our ground water, where most of us get our drinking water.]

Trump on wind energy: "If you happen to be watching the Democrat debate and the wind isn't blowing, you're not going to see the debate ... 'the goddamn windmill stopped!'"

[Trump seems to not know about BATTERIES]

"We're now working on a tax cut for middle-income people that is going to be very, very inspirational. It's going to be something that I think it's what everybody is looking for, & we'll be announcing it sometime in the next year."

[Republicans seem to forget that Trump's last tax cut raised taxes on the middle class by $90 billion a year. Be very afraid of his promises!]

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No wonder TVA sees solar power as a threat to its existence:

MLGW must give TVA five years notice to split with the federal wholesale power utility and it would need to find a way to replace about $1 billion worth of electricity, or 11% of TVA's total load, from other sources. The Brattle Group study says MLGW could turn to the sun or wind to get its power for $240 million to $333 million less than what it pays TVA, especially if Memphis uses its tax-exempt borrowing authority. The study suggests that batteries and the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) could supplement that power to replace TVA.

With access to transmission lines, low cost solar and wind power across the Mississippi River could be procured at a fraction of the price of TVA power, the new report concludes.

Study says solar cheaper than TVA

The most expensive meals included $1,157 spent at a steakhouse in New York City, a figure that included $145 bottles of wine and resulted from TVA splitting the bill with a vendor. TVA also spent $1,157 at a steakhouse in Washington, D.C., and $911 to cover dinner for three employees at a French restaurant in New York City.

...The audit found executives repeatedly violated both federal travel regulations and TVA's own policies.

KNS (paywall?)

It’s the latest development in an off-the-rails scandal roiling the state legislature involving intra-party feuds, racist texts, and a lawmaker’s office chair getting peed on.

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Yeah, your football team is worse than anyone could possibly imagine (unless you've been paying attention to the athletic department's stunning incompetence at everything except raising money and paying it to coaches who don't work there any more), but here is something really cool that UT did!

Tallahassee Elementary School teacher Laura Snyder says it was college colors week and the student wanted to represent his favorite team – Tennessee – but he didn’t have a Vols shirt, so he made one.

Snyder said the child was bullied for his homemade shirt so she posted the photo on social media in the hopes of getting him an official Vols shirt.

Not only did UT fans send him a bunch of official gear, the University itself made his design an official shirt with a portion of theproceeds going to an anti bullying campaign.

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