This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A plan for states to secede from the union of United States because they disagree politically with the majority is something that's been tried before.
Unsuccessfully, as the horrendous death tolls of the Civil War and its after-war punishments, like "carpet-baggers," document.
But Democrats in New York apparently believe it would produce a better result this time.
That's because they are considering a plan to become, along with several nearby states, a province of Canada over President-elect Donald Trump's coming administration.
It is the Washington Examiner that has reported that the rage from leftists is over Trump's plans to address the catastrophic results of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris open borders agenda.
That has left millions of illegal aliens spread across the United States, taking jobs, taking government financial benefits, taking up housing and space in schools and more. Among them are criminals and terrorists.
The report said it is New York state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Democrat from New York City, who proposed withholding taxes from the federal government, or leaving entirely.
She is chairwoman of the state Senate Finance Committee and suggested the plans "as state Democrats only have weeks to counter President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office," the report said.
"It's not unreasonable to think outside of the box," she said in an interview with Politico.
Both proposals seem far-fetched. She hinted that if Trump chooses to send less federal funding to New York, a move already threatened against cities whose officials won't work with federal immigration authorities, the state should refuse to forward tax collections to the federal government.
The report noted former ICE chief Tom Homan, named as Trump's "border czar," already has committed to blocking federal funding to states that don't help with the national crisis.
"That's going to happen. I guarantee you," he has warned.
The Examiner noted, "A complete block of federal funding would leave New York $85 billion in the hole. As Krueger suggested, they could make up those funds by sending less in the hundreds of billions of tax dollars it receives."
Or, as Krueger proposed weeks ago, perhaps New York should join Canada.
She wanted to take Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont along.
"But that's why I thought, 'Oh, why do I have to leave this country? I love this country, and if Trump wins a second term, it's not actually my fault or people in New York.' So I thought I would suggest to Canada that instead of us all trying to illegally cross the border at night without them noticing … that they should instead agree to let us be the southeast province, a new province of Canada."
She said those states are filled with "progressive Democrats" who would fit well into Canadian ideals.
Actually, 43% of New Yorkers voted for Trump this year.
A video from 2019 gave details of soon-t0-be First Lady Melania Trump's diet, including her habit of eating seven pieces of fruit per day.
The video from Inside Edition said that Trump drinks a smoothie for breakfast as part of her "healthy and simple" diet.
The smoothie is a combination of spinach, carrots, blueberries, apple juice and fat-free yogurt.
Other than the smoothie, her favorite fruits are apples and peaches.
The video said she sometimes eats dark chocolate and ice cream, but pays attention to "portion sizes."
She also likes to eat at the Trump International Hotel when in New York, and her favorite meal was Chicken Parmesan, which is no longer on the current menu there.
When her husband was in office, she kept up the garden started by Michelle Obama and children often visited it.
She told them about healthy eating and encouraged them to eat their fruits and vegetables.
Trump is reportedly trying to get her husband to eat healthier and reform his bad eating habits that include McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
She and incoming Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have been telling him to eat more lean proteins, salads and veggies, some sources told Page Six.
They even say she has been cooking healthy meals for him and their son Barron at Trump Tower where Barron lives while attending New York University.
But others say that Trump still eats whatever he wants, including fancy favorites like steak, crab, shrimp, and cobb salad.
"Melania famously watches every bite she takes" and has "guided their son's eating habits since he was a toddler," the source said.
She also gets spa treatments and works out regularly, according to reports.
Renowned author Barbara Taylor Bradford celebrated for her impactful literary career, died on Sunday at her home in New York City at the age of 91, Variety reported.
Bradford's bestseller “A Woman of Substance” reached global acclaim and leaves a lasting legacy with 40 bestselling books.
Barbara Taylor Bradford was born on May 10, 1933, in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. She began her career in journalism, a foundation that honed her storytelling prowess, before delving into the world of novel writing in her 40s.
Her literary debut, “A Woman of Substance,” published in 1979, became a monumental success. The novel, charting the trials and triumphs of protagonist Emma Harte, struck a chord with readers worldwide, selling over 30 million copies.
Its overwhelming success spurred the creation of a three-part miniseries, aired in 1984, adapting Bradford’s narrative for the screen—a project that captivated millions and set records for Channel 4.
The miniseries featured an ensemble cast including Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson, with Deborah Kerr and Barry Bostwick leading. Its final episode attracted 13.8 million viewers, marking it as Channel 4’s most-watched program to that date.
In the United States, the series received further acclaim, earning Emmy nominations in 1985, a testament to its broad appeal and the strength of Bradford's storytelling.
Following her initial success, Bradford wrote a total of 40 books, each achieving bestseller status. Her works include the Emma Harte saga, the Ravenscar Trilogy, the Cavendon Chronicles, and the House of Falconer series.
She also ventured into non-fiction, writing about etiquette, homemaking, and Christian values, showcasing her versatility and reach as a writer.
In 1963, Bradford married film producer Robert E. Bradford, who later produced the screen adaptations of her novels. This partnership extended beyond their personal life, deeply entwining their professional endeavors.
They moved to the United States, where Bradford embraced her new home, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1992.
Her contributions to literature were recognized in 2007 when she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Her husband’s death in 2019 marked the end of a storied partnership, but Bradford’s legacy endures through her expansive body of work and the countless readers touched by her stories.
No cause of death was provided for the author, but she passed peacefully at home, leaving behind a world enriched by her novels and the powerful women who inhabited them.
In a setback for Joe Biden's racist and hateful agenda, the University of Georgia is rolling back "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" and restoring policies based on merit and equal treatment under the law.
The Board of Regents said it will no longer impose arbitrary ideological requirements, such as pledges to back "diversity - and will instead prioritize an applicant's qualifications for admission.
DEI policies gained traction nationwide after the death of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked a violent "racial reckoning" that saw riots in many cities as corporations and institutions of higher education scrambled to be more "inclusive."
But a backlash against "woke" ideology and ideas like DEI culminated in this month's election, which saw Democrats get shut out of power in D.C. as Donald Trump won a historic second term.
On the state level, Republican-controlled governments have already taken steps to rolling back DEI policy. Georgia is the latest, with new changes set to apply to 26 public colleges and universities and the Georgia Public Library Service.
"All admissions processes and decisions shall be free of ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements," the Board of Regents said in a November 12 memo.
"No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission."
The university system is also making a commitment to "remain neutral on social and political issues unless such an issue is directly related to the institution’s core mission.”
Meanwhile, the University of Georgia will require students to learn about founding documents like the U.S. Constitution, which has come under increasing attack from the left as an obstacle to so-called progress.
Other historic documents, such as the Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous letter from Birmingham Jail, are also included in the new curriculum.
“The proposed revisions among other things would make clear that student admissions and employee hiring should be based on a person’s qualifications, not his or her beliefs," the Board said in a statement.
During his presidency, Biden championed DEI and related "equity" policies that gave preferential treatment to certain racial groups.
With Trump returning to the White House, a shift towards equal treatment in federal policy is coming next - and it's long overdue.
The Philippines is on edge after the vice president threatened to have the head of state and First Lady both assassinated in a shocking power struggle.
Vice president Sara Duterte could face criminal charges for the brazen, public threat - which she said was not a joke - and which led to a surge in protection around President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos.
“That criminal plot should not be allowed to pass,” President Marcos said in a televised statement. “I’ll fight it.”
"As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law,” Marcos said.
The Philippines votes separately for the president and vice president, but Marcos Jr. and Duterte ran together on the same ticket in 2022. However, they have since spiraled into a feud that escalated sharply over the weekend, as Duterte openly called for her rival's assassination.
During an online press conference, Duterte intimated that there is a plot against her life after Marcos and his allies detained her chief of staff over an inquiry into the vice president's alleged misuse of funds.
Duterte warned that she has given orders to seek revenge if she is killed against Marcos - known by the initials BBM - and his family, including his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
"Don’t worry about my security because I’ve talked with somebody. I said ‘if I’m killed, you’ll kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke,’” the vice president said.
"I’ve given my order, ‘If I die, don’t stop until you’ve killed them.’ And he said, ’yes,’” the vice president said.
Duterte had served in Marcos Jr.'s Cabinet but resigned from her position in June as tensions escalated.
The nation's justice department has opened a probe, labeling Duterte the "self-confessed mastermind" of a "premeditated plot to assassinate the president."
“We have to maintain order in a civilized society by adherence to the rule of law and we will apply the full strength and force of the law on this,” Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said.
Sara Duterte is the daughter of Marcos' predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was known for his tough image and support of extra-judicial killings of criminals. President Marcos is the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines for two decades.
Duterte's father is under investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for extra-judicial killings that occurred under his rule from 2016 to 2022.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don't know whether or not there'd be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law, but he will lose'
The mayor of Denver, given the Republican sweep of the House, the Senate, and the White House, almost certainly will be losing the federal support he's enjoyed for his pro-illegal alien agenda.
And if he continues, under a White House run by pro-border security President Donald Trump, he "will lose," according to a member of the U.S. Senate.
"What he is offering is a form of insurrection," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., explained during a television interview.
Paul said, "The mayor of Denver if he's going to resist federal law, which is a long-standing history of the supremacy of federal law, if he's going to resist that, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court.
"I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don't know whether or not there'd be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law, but he will lose. People need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government."
Paul continued, "Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago. So (I) think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history, and, I think, will face legal ramifications if he doesn't obey the federal law."
WND previously reported when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was asked about helping enforce federal immigration law.
"Not. We won't do it," Johnston said. And he elaborated, that he doubted federal forces would raid Colorado seeking illegal aliens.
"I do not believe that our governor is going to let them use our [Colorado] National Guard at the state level. Unless they were planning on bringing national guards mobilized from Texas or Alabama to come invade Colorado, I don't know where they would find the forces to begin to do that."
Johnston continued, "And that seems to me like a very, very bad idea from start to finish that no reasonable American would support."
He said not only would his administration, but the people of Denver, would resist deportation procedures by federal forces.
"More than us having (Denver police) stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there. It's like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You'd have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them," he said.
The Gateway Pundit wrote about Paul's comments on Face the Nation, calling it a "stern warning" to Johnston.
The senator said, "You know, I'm 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists—let's send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison."
He did say that the better way to handle the problem created by the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris agenda of open borders is to use judges, warrants, and such.
"So, I'm for removing these people, but through the normal process of domestic policing."
The publication earlier had described how Johnston wanted Denver to be a "fortress of resistance," with moves such as running Denver as a "sanctuary" city. He even suggested civil disobedience to block border security plans and deportation efforts.
Johnston later claimed his choice of words was poor.
Asked about civil disobedience, he said, "If I believe that our residents are having their rights violated, if I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un-American in our city, I would certainly protest it, and I would expect other residents would do the same."
Denver Channel 9's Marc Sallinger asked, "Trump's new border czar, Tom Homan, has said that he is willing to arrest leaders like yourself for standing in the way of these policies they want to enact. Would you be willing to go to jail for these things?"
Johnston said, "Yeah, I'm not afraid of that. I'm also not seeking that. I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people on how to solve hard problems."
Earlier, it was lawyer Mike Davis, who formerly worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who pointed out Johnston's plans could make him liable for allegations of conspiracy, obstruction, and even assault on federal officers.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey says a court ruling that leaves in place a state law banning child mutilation is a "resounding victory" for children.
"We are the first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level. I'm extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures. We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children," he explained.
The comment followed a decision by the Cole County Circuit Court in Noe v. Parson, a dispute over transgenderism, that affirmed a state law protecting children from "harmful, unnecessary, and high-risk transition drugs and surgeries."
The ADF worked along with AG's office to defend the law, and ADF lawyer Hal Frampton said, "Missouri rightly enacted a law that protects the health and welfare of all children—supporting their natural biological development and ensuring that children experiencing gender dysphoria have support and medical care rooted in biology and science."
He pointed out, "Driven by ideological agendas, activists and the Biden-Harris administration have pushed these dangerous procedures across the country and are attempting to prevent states from exercising their rightful role to regulate the medical profession and protect kids."
He pointed out that around the world, nations that used to promote the ideology, now are backing away.
A report from a broadcaster, KCUR, explained the ruling was from Craig Carter, a Wright County judge serving in Cole County.
A ruling, 74 pages, agreed with the state arguments against what LGBT promoters called "gender-affirming care."
The report said the state's lawmakers in 2023 agreed to limit the use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers and undergo gender transition surgeries, which end up mutilating juvenile bodies and often leaving them sterile for life.
The law also blocks the state from paying for such radical actions for adults through the state Medicaid program.
The report said the ruling noted the U.S. Supreme Court allows lawmakers broad discretion in areas "fraught with medical and scientific uncertainty."
And the judge pointed out there is "an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment."
The judge said the medical profession "stands in the middle of an ethical minefield, with scant evidence to lead it out."
The judge also confirmed there are "concerns with deferring to the organizations relied on by plaintiffs, such as WPATH, which self-describes itself as an organization 'committed to advocacy.'"
That is the World Professional Association for Transgender Health which promotes LGBT ideologies worldwide.
The report noted the judge said, "If we don't let a 16-year-old buy a six pack of beer and a pack of smokes, or let an adult buy those items for them, should we allow the same kid/parent team to decide to change a teenager's sex forever?"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In France, part of the so-called civilized West, human rights and freedom have been protected for generations, but that nation has exited that group.
Because it now has censored speech to the point it is illegal to say that abortion, which causes the death of the unborn every single time the process fulfills its goal, is a "cause of death."
The analysis comes from free speech expert Jonathan Turley, who is a constitutional expert who has testified before Congress and represented members, on related issues.
He's also released a new book, "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage."
He points out that for generations, France's call to patriotism has been "liberté, égalité, fraternité," or Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
"However, in today's France, 'liberté' is no longer valued. Individual rights of religion and speech are routinely sacrificed in the name of 'equity' and 'fraternity," he warned.
"We have long discussed the collapse of free speech values in France as the left criminalizes an ever-widening scope of opposing viewpoints," he explained. "Conservative groups are denouncing a new such case targeting conservative media. CNEWS was fined and forced to apologize on air after a journalist referred to abortion as the world's leading cause of death."
He explained a presenter on CNEWS., which is owned by Catholic businessman Vincent Bolloré, recently broadcast a graphic on the causes of death that put abortion on top, with 73 million deaths worldwide each year.
Cancer was ranked second at 10 million and smoking followed at 6.2 million.
Turley pointed out that Arcom, the French media regulators, immediately "imposed a fine of 100,000 euros and compelled CNEWS to apologize on the air. It was the full monty of censorship, combining a penalty with compelled speech. Arcom found that the network had failed its 'obligation of honesty and rigor in the presentation and processing of information.' It declared that 'Abortion cannot be presented as a cause of death.'"
That, Turley noted, is despite the obvious, that "many people around the world view abortion as the death of a human being."
But leftists "went ballistic," and now in France "It is now a violation of law to call abortion a cause of death."
Turley said the attitude of banning the truth wasn't surprising.
"France has been a leader in the rollback on free speech in the West with ever-widening laws curtailing free speech. These laws criminalize speech under vague standards referring to 'inciting' or 'intimidating' others based on race or religion," he said.
He cited the case of the father of French conservative presidential candidate Marine Le Pen who was fined because he had called people from the Roma minority "smelly" and the charge against a teenager who said Islam was a "religion of hate."
Turley said free speech is in a free fall across Europe.
"The desire to silence others has now become an insatiable appetite," he said.
According to a new Fox Digital report, 1.4 million illegal immigrants with deportation orders are still in the U.S. under the immigration policies of President Joe Biden, even as recent reports of migrants murdering Americans have many communities on edge.
The number of deportees is less than half of the total number of estimated illegal immigrants in the country, which is 11.7 million.
"It took decades of neglect and bad public policy, coupled with four years of unprecedented illegal immigration, to get here," director of research for the Center of Immigration Studies Steven Camarota told Fox News Digital. "You can't reverse it in four years."
Former Border Patrol Council head Brandon Judd said the number doesn't come as a surprise.
"We've known this forever," he said. "I've been on record many times saying that once somebody gets here, they're never going to leave this country. And the reason is, is because the vast majority of them won't show up [for their court date]."
Judd said that most migrants who aren't in detention get notified of their deportation via letter and are not arrested.
"We have addresses, we have places of work – we have information about them," he said.
"How do you have the immigration system that has judges go through this whole procedure and then most of the people they say ‘No’ to are not made to go home?" Camarota continued.
The Biden administration isn't working too hard to pursue them when they don't show up to court either, he said.
The incoming Donald Trump administration has said mass deportations are coming, but has given few details about how they will be accomplished other than sending many more Border Patrol agents into the field from their current desk duty.
Last week, the border state of Texas offered to give 1,400 acres of land to the Trump administration to stage its efforts to deport many of the illegal immigrants who have flooded the border under Biden.
The land is in Starr County, in the Rio Grande sector near the border, making it suitable for detaining migrants before they are sent back to where they came from.
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered the land in a letter to the Trump administration, saying the state was "fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history."
The land was purchased to continue a border wall, but that effort was stopped by the Biden administration when he took office in 2021.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) took a major hit from the Department of Justice (DOJ) last week after it ordered the agency to stop conducting certain kinds of searches.
According to Breitbart, the Justice Department ordered the DEA to "suspend searches of passengers at airports and other places" in the wake of a bombshell report from a watchdog group that uncovered "concerns" regarding how the DEA agents were going about the searches.
The report, published by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, found that the agency wasn't in compliance with its own policies regarding the searches.
The Justice Department issued a press release detailing why it took the action against the federal law enforcement agency.
The OIG's office found that the agency being out of compliance with its own policies regarding those passenger searches "resulted in DEA and DEA Task Force Group personnel creating potentially significant operational and legal risks."
DOJ suspends DEA searches at airports over civil rights concerns https://t.co/3GFxKhVkrm pic.twitter.com/Gt2OlnjBF3
— New York Post (@nypost) November 23, 2024
Breitbart noted:
Examples of how the DEA was “creating potentially significant operational and legal risks,” were the DEA not documenting “each consensual encounter,” and required training for DEA and DEA Task Force Group personnel being suspended since 2023.
A press release issued by the DOJ detailed what happened in the lead-up to the decision to suspend the searches.
"In 2023, the DEA suspended the transportation interdiction training required by DEA policy and has not restarted it,” the press release said.
"As a result, the DEA was not ensuring that all DEA Task Force Group personnel conducting transportation interdiction activities completed that required training, despite the DEA’s prior representations to the OIG, in connection with resolution of a recommendation in a 2015 OIG report, that the DEA would do so, creating significant risk that DEA Task Force Group personnel will conduct transportation interdiction activities improperly."
Users across social media shared their opinions on whether or not the searches should continue, with some saying that DEA agents should continue to be allowed such searches to prevent incidents on flights.
Others applauded the Justice Department's decision.
"The DOJ halts DEA airport searches amid worries about civil rights violations. A significant step toward ensuring accountability in law enforcement practices," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Yeah why not, what could possibly go wrong."