Do you think it's OK for Trump to let polluters get a free ride while we have our local economy ruined and our children get sick?

The Trump administration’s top environmental official for the Southeast was arrested Thursday on criminal ethics charges in Alabama reported to be related to a scheme to help a coal company avoid paying for a costly toxic waste cleanup...

“Trey Glenn should have never made it through any serious vetting process,” said Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “Scott Pruitt may be gone, but it’s clear the culture of corruption remains.”

So corruption stares us in the face and what does the GOP want to investigate? Hillary's emails! Idiots!

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“My kids lost everything. I voted for him – and now? He can kiss my red ass,” Ellsworth said. “What he said was ridiculous. It hurts my heart. A lot of us voted for him and he [talks] down to us?”

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This is all the more interesting since we are in just reelected Chuck Flieschmann's Congressional District.

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I guess the right wing opinionist for the Roane County News has her marching orders to tell us how wonderful Nationalists are. Let's just note the real definition of Nationalism as it has morphed over the years until the present day in which it is used by the American Nazi Party to describe themselves as patriots to downplay the inherent bigotry and racism.

The Nazi Party emerged from the German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post-World War I Germany.[6] The party was created as a means to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism.[7] Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti-big business, anti-bourgeois and anti-capitalist rhetoric, although such aspects were later downplayed in order to gain the support of industrial entities and in the 1930s the party's focus shifted to anti-Semitic and anti-Marxist themes.[8]

Pseudo-scientific racism theories were central to Nazism.

"Bredesen carried 10 biggest counties by cumulative 10 points. It didn’t matter."

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Jury: Jacobs Engineering endangered Kingston disaster clean-up workers

The verdict means the workers now will get a chance to seek damages, including money to cover medical testing for all laborers who worked at the site and medical treatment for themselves and their families. Many of the workers’ family members also are believed to have been sickened by exposure to the coal ash the laborers brought home each night on their skin and clothing.

The workers were represented by a small group of attorneys - Jim Scott, Keith Stewart, John Dupree, J. Tyler Roper, Gary Davis and Jeff Friedman – and investigator Stephanie Johnson, all of whom are donating much of their time in the case so far.

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Dems won MORE VOTES and MORE SEATS tonight, in both the House and the Senate. The Senate represents states not people. It was formed as a platitude to the racist South and less populous states. Voters cast ten million more votes for Democrats in the Senate than Republicans. Minority government continues for now.

HOUSE:
Dems ~48 million votes, 230 seats
Rs ~45M votes, 205 seats

SENATE:
Dems ~42M votes, 22 seats
Rs ~32M votes, 13 seats

There were 35 Senate seats up for grabs. Dems won approx 22 of them, Rs won approx 13. Some of those 13 were previously held by Dems, so Rs had a net gain, but the fact is Dems actually had more victories.

Vote! Because it does!

When NASA finally retired the Kepler Space Telescope this week after it ran out of fuel, the mission had helped discover more than 2,600 exoplanets. Kepler even likely discovered a moon outside our solar system. Thanks to Kepler, we now know there are more planets than stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

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‘Let’s rock’: The last words of a double-murderer who chose the electric chair over lethal injection

He spent 34 years on death row, becoming a “model inmate,” according to his attorney, Kelley Henry, a federal public defender. She said he had once saved the life of a guard. The last time he was on death watch, other inmates pooled their resources for a pizza dinner in his honor, according to the Tennessean.

“Capital prisoners are not entitled to pleasant deaths under the Eighth Amendment, but they are entitled to humane deaths. The longer we stand silent amid growing evidence of inhumanity in execution methods like Tennessee’s, the longer we extend our own complicity in state-sponsored brutality.” Justice Sotamayor

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There is a growing list of long time Republicans who are now telling Americans to save their country and vote Democratic. "Captain Sully" is just one of many but he may be the most eloquent. "Cowardly" is the word he uses to describe Republicans in this crucial election.

Today, tragically, too many people in power are projecting the worst. Many are cowardly, complicit enablers, acting against the interests of the United States, our allies and democracy; encouraging extremists at home and emboldening our adversaries abroad; and threatening the livability of our planet....

For the first 85 percent of my adult life, I was a registered Republican. But I have always voted as an American. And this critical Election Day, I will do so by voting for leaders committed to rebuilding our common values and not pandering to our basest impulses.

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“I would vote early if it was me,” Roane County Administrator of Elections Charles Holiway said.

Mon-Thur 9AM-5PM

Kingston Community Center: 201 Patton Ferry Rd., Kingston

Harriman Community Center: 631 Clinch St., Harriman

Rockwood Community Center: 710 N. Chamberlain Ave., Rockwood

First Christian Church: 100 Gum Hollow Rd., Oak Ridge

Early Voting Ends this Thursday, November 1, 2018

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation recently gave out a list of issues it had with a proposed Department of Energy landfill in Oak Ridge, including groundwater, rain and mercury and its effects on fishing.

“Until the state’s concerns have been resolved, the State cannot approve the landfill as currently proposed,” a document from TDEC stated. TDEC gave out these documents summarizing its position at an open house meeting at its office in Oak Ridge.

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This is blowing me away.

“Spray down those monitors, that they were getting high readings and they wanted the monitors washed, and you sprayed just like that, like if it was raining down on them. You just shoot it directly at them. You would spray up in the air and let it arch over onto them.”

Jacobs Engineering ignored EPA worker safety directives, including providing showers and changing rooms for the laborers — without any backlash from the nation’s top environmental protection agency — and did nothing to investigate worker complaints that they were threatened with their jobs if they asked for respiratory protection.

Worker Michael McCarthy captured one of those threats on a secret video, testimony has shown.

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This is amazing stuff. Clovis points were "invented" in North America around 13,000 years ago. This pushes human occupancy back at least 2,500 years. I should say "Hunter" occupancy, because stone tools and implements have been found that are even older. Some sites are dating to 25,000 years ago.

The team found the numerous weapons – about 3-4 inches long – while digging at what has been termed the Debra L. Friedkin site, named for the family who owns the land about 40 miles northwest of Austin in Central Texas. The site has undergone extensive archaeological work for the past 12 years.

Spear points made of chert and other tools were discovered under several feet of sediment that dating revealed to be 15,500 years old, and pre-date Clovis, who for decades were believed to be the first people to enter the Americas.

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Here are some tidbits from a study by (link...)

34% of businesses in Tennessee cite broadband as a main driver in their decisions to locate to the state. They also attribute 43% of new jobs and 66% of revenues to broadband availability.(xv)

Between 2011 and 2015, the fiber infrastructure in Hamilton County generated significant economic and social benefits, accounting for $1.3 billion and 5,200 jobs.(xvi)
Among the 14.1% of Tennesseans who run businesses exclusively from their home, 66.8% would not be in business without the internet and 92.8% say broadband specifically is essential for their business.(xvii)

Large and Small Business Growth:

Broadband internet boosts local economic development through business attraction and job growth,and it helps families gain wealth and economic mobility by facilitating access to employment.
For every 1,000 new broadband users, 80 new jobs are created.(xviii)
In comparison to offline job searches, online searches decrease the time of unemployment by 25%.(xix)
Job Search and Employment:
Gaining 4 Mbps can increase household income by $2,100 per year on average.(xx)
20% of households in Tennessee report $5,000 in additional income per year from using the internet.(xxi)

The full study should be read by every elected official in Roane County!

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Via KnoxViews: Russians have hacked Tennessee Elections!

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Drivers can expect to see more officers and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers on Highway 70 this week.

Beginning Tuesday, law enforcement will target the more than 500-mile stretch of Highway 70.

Troopers said they will look for distracted or aggressive drivers, focusing on high-crash periods on the road – those tend to be Tuesdays and Fridays between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Officers will also look for people speeding or putting other drivers at risk.

The effort is happening across the state, spanning from west to East Tennessee.

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A former field safety coordinator at the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant Fly Ash Superfund site testified that managers intentionally botched air monitor readings. These readings were supposed to be part of safety protocol for cleaning up more than 5 million tons of coal ash spilled in Roane County in 2008.

I personally had first hand knowledge of the water quality fabrications and most of us suspected the air quality measurements were horridly bad. Know we have testimony from the people who were actually performing the testing.

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Bredesen and Haslam are on different takes of getting something done. Marsha repeats tired old "government takeover" of internet line. Folks, this problem has been solved over and over in the past...by government! Rural Electric co-ops, Rural phone service, the United States Postal Service, and so on. We form governments to get the things done that private corporations won't do well or safely. Blackburn says we need to give corporations more of our tax money. Bredesen says keep the tax money where it is and let's do it ourselves.

Fun fact: The Trump tax cut for corporations that Marsha voted for gave the telecommunications industry 5 times more money in profits than it would take to give every home in America 50 megabyte internet service. What a stupid deal that was.

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I thought better of Anda than this.

A former TVA spokeswoman who assured a national television audience in the wake of the nation’s largest environmental disaster that coal ash was safe – even as the EPA was warning Roane County residents it was toxic – is refusing to testify on behalf of workers who are now sick, dying or dead after cleaning it up without protection.

Anda Ray says she will not voluntarily testify on behalf of the hundreds of blue collar laborers who worked – unprotected – to clean up the massive coal ash spill at the TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Power Plant.

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Anybody who pays into Social Security or Medicare and still votes for a Republican needs their head examined!

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called on Congress to rein in major government programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in order to slow America’s spiraling national debt on Tuesday, ignoring the fact the tax plan he recently passed has further grown that number.

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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that the GOP tax cuts would add $1.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The loss of government revenue from the cuts has been a larger proportional loss than what was caused by the Great Recession, according to the New York Times.

Please Join Us!

More info at RoaneSong.org

In an honorable world that patrolman would be dismissed from the Tennessee Highway Patrol. But since he was violating the law for the Republican candidate's campaign, I guess it's OK. The patrolman claimed Dean was at a Muslim religious event, and, while I have myself had a religious experience eating wonderful food, a falafel restaurant is hardly a mosque. How low will Bill Lee's campaign stoop?

Yassin's Falafel House in Knoxville was named the nicest place in America on Good Morning America on Thursday as a part of a contest sponsored by the show and Reader's Digest.

Yassin was live on the show to accept the title with Robin Roberts, who had made a visit to Knoxville earlier this year and spoke with Mayor Madeline Rogero for the show.

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I would think the Trooper should be fired. Will Bill Lee's campaign portray Karl Dean eating a falafel as Muslim? Probably. Idiots!

After learning about a Dean stop the Lee campaign understood to be part of a “Muslim event,” according to Tennessee Highway Patrol memos obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee, the Lee campaign reportedly asked another trooper whether his staff could obtain a photo of Dean in a mosque.

The Sept. 7 event in question was a meet and greet at a falafel restaurant in Knoxville, and not a religious gathering.

"Thanks to Yassin's Falafel House and our supporters in Knoxville for a great meet and greet last night!"...Karl Dean

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Do it! You can also check to be sure you are still registered properly at the same site.

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Trump administration lawyers are demanding private FaceBook account information of citizens who have "liked" certain FB pages.

"The warrants specifically target the accounts of three Facebook users who are described by their attorneys as "anti-administration activists who have spoken out at organized events, and who are generally very critical of this administration's policies.""

Emmelia Talarico, operated the disruptj20 page where Inauguration Day protests were organized and discussed; the page was visited by an estimated 6,000 users whose identities the government would have access to if Facebook hands over the information sought in the search warrants. In court filings, Talarico says if her account information was given to the government, officials would have access to her "personal passwords, security questions and answers, and credit card information," plus "the private lists of invitees and attendees to multiple political events sponsored by the page."

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