This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Americans' options for digital money, cryptocurrencies, abound these days. But there's not one that has been set up and mandated by the government for them to use yet.
But a key legal organization that has fought for the civil and religious rights of Americans over and over now is warning that could happen.
Even before Joe Biden leaves office in January.
It is Liberty Counsel, which has won multiple fights at the U.S. Supreme Court, that is warning Americans about the possibility their paychecks could be controlled by Washington bureaucrats.
The organization notes that while the Constitution allows Congress to "coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin…," the Federal Reserve has created a "Doomsday Book" for extreme circumstances that claims anything "offered" by the Federal Reserve is legal tender.
"Theoretically, the Federal Reserve could use that reasoning to issue a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) without congressional approval," the report warned, citing agreement from Financial Times analyst Izabella Kaminsky, who said, "[N]ew monetary systems risk being swept in without any democratic oversight at all."
Liberty Counsel explained, "The Federal Reserve believes it has 'discretionary powers' to enact policies that neither Congress nor the White House have approved. And that belief could allow Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to force their Marxist Money Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on Americans before Biden is out of office."
Emre Kuyyet, Nova Southeastern University finance professor, said, "Instead of adhering strictly to clear legislative boundaries to justify its actions during financial crises, the central bank appears to ground many of its decisions in the New York Fed's belief in the Fed's discretionary authority,"
Kuyyet said the Doomsday Book "outlines the powers the America's central bank believes it has."
He said the Federal Reserve's contingency plans include taking steps for which Congress has provided no authority.
"Based on Mr. Kuvvet's findings, Congress shouldn't wait to establish clear and enforceable boundaries," says Nicholas Anthony, a financial policy analyst at the Cato Institute, said in the Liberty Counsel report.
Biden's executive orders so far only have called for the Fed to "investigate" the industry.
But bureaucrats there, "went right ahead and created their own CBDC, testing the new, programmable, digital funny money's power in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology" the report said.
The change in Americans' lives could be massive.
"CBDCs have the power to radically change our entire economy, giving broad powers to unelected Federal Reserve central bankers. Whether by design or default, those broad powers are designed to control your money, and therefore your freedom," the report said.
"CBDC smart wallets could be used to promote national policies that help meet sustainability objectives, e.g., by issuing a 'green' wallet. This would act as an incentive for consumers to buy environmentally friendly products and services," charged Raoul Herborg, of G+D, a company that creates electronic currencies.
"Central banks would be able to define policy rules that apply to all wallets — and cannot be changed … including the fact that the central banks can limit the amount that can be held in any single wallet."
Further, companies could program what of their employees' pay must be used "for the purchase of healthy foods."
"In other words, CBDCs could be programmed to force you to only buy Bill Gates' cricket meal protein while preventing you from buying beef, chicken, and eggs," Liberty Counsel warned.
Biden, in ordering the review of options, confirmed he wants to use the currency to campaign for him regarding "human rights; financial inclusion and equity; and climate change and pollution."
The report warned that Congress needs to act now to stop that agenda from advancing further.
President Trump is giving his youngest son Barron credit for connecting him with major podcasters, as Trump steps up his outreach to young male voters.
The Republican presidential nominee has been sitting down for long-form, casual chats with top influencers like Logan Paul, Theo Von, and Adin Ross.
The interviews have afforded Trump the opportunity to show off his common touch and reach out to young men who have nothing to identify with in the extremely "woke" Democratic party of Kamala Harris, who has based her campaign almost entirely on abortion.
In a recent livestream at Mar-A-Lago with the popular Gen Z personality Adin Ross, Trump made casual conversation about the issues facing the country and its youth.
Ross gave Trump the gift of a Tesla Cybertruck, and they played some of Trump's favorite music in the car.
"He knows so much about it," Trump said of his son Barron's interest in livestreaming. "Adin Ross, you know, I mean, I do some people that I wasn't so familiar with, different generation. He knows every one of them. And we've had tremendous success."
Trump is leading with men in all age groups, particularly among Generation Z men. A fresh poll from New York Times/Siena College found Trump leading with men by 53-40%, and Harris leading with women by a similar margin, 50-37%
Trump confessed to the Daily Mail that the streaming format is something new to him, and he credited his son Barron with introducing him to it.
"We did three unusual .. I don't know what you'd call them, but it's a platform with three people that I don't know, but three people that Barron knows very well," he said.
"He actually calls all of them like friends of his, because it's a different generation. They don't grow up watching television the same way as we did. They grow up looking at the Internet or watching a computer, right?"
In another podcast appearance with Barron's favorite podcaster, Trump had a wide-ranging discussion with comedian Theo Von that touched on alcohol and drugs. Trump showed his personal side as he mentioned his late brother Fred's drinking problem.
"I tell people, no drugs, no drinking, no cigarettes," Trump said. "I tell that to my kids all the time, I say 'no drugs, no drinking, no smoking.'"
After months out of the public eye, Melania Trump is becoming more vocal in support of her husband's presidential campaign.
In her most forceful show of support yet, Melania condemned attempts to "silence" her husband, who has faced multiple politically motivated criminal prosecutions.
In a promotional video for her upcoming memoir, Melania lamented the impact of the Biden presidency on the economy, foreign policy, and the First Amendment.
"The 2020 election results changed our lives forever. It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety, and even the geopolitical landscape," Melania said.
"America is more divided today than ever before. It has become increasingly apparent that there are significant challenges to free speech. I was demonstrated by the efforts to silence my husband," she added.
The statement comes after Melania took a swipe at lies about her in the media in an initial teaser for her first-ever memoir, Melania.
The unfairly maligned former First Lady blasted "misrepresentations" about her that have long circulated in the Trump-bashing press.
"Writing this memoir has been a deeply personal and reflective journey for me," she said in a short black-and-white video.
The former first lady added, "As a private person who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts. I believe it is important to share my perspective: the truth."
Melania showed solidarity with her husband after he survived an assassination attempt in July. She condemned the shooter as a "monster" in a poignant letter and appeared at the Republican National Convention, although she did not give a speech at the event.
The former First Lady is known to value privacy and isn't one for the political circus. She did not appear at her husband's bogus "hush money" trial in the spring, which ended with Trump's conviction for "falsifying business records" under a novel prosecution theory.
The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, has refused to lift a gag order despite the trial being over. Trump's electoral opponent, Kamala Harris, has repeatedly used the conviction to attack Trump on the campaign trail.
Trump's sentencing has been delayed until after the presidential election, and his remaining criminal case have been stalled or dropped.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Greenpeace is one of most visible environmental groups in the world.
It was launched more than 50 years ago in Canada and has been active in its chosen wars against global warming, deforestation, fishing, whaling and more.
But its American division now it is facing an existential threat in the form of a lawsuit over its work with others, including Indian tribes, to attack the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,200-mile pipeline project to move crude oil from the Bakken Shale field to Illinois.
The Wall Street Journal, in fact, said it appears fossil-fuel billionaire Kelcy Warren is about to land "a knockout punch" on the organization.
His company, Energy Transfer, was behind the pipeline, and his lawsuit is over the Greenpeace group's obstruction.
He's seeking $300 million in damages over the project that eventually was completed.
The confrontations developed starting in 2016 when Greenpeace, Indian tribes and others literally camped out in North Dakota to impede the work on the project.
"Warren sees green activists, who he once said should be 'removed from the gene pool,' as a serious threat to the industry. Starting with protests of Keystone XL, which successfully derailed that project, activists have targeted pipelines across the country," the report explained.
He said, in a previous interview, "Everybody is afraid of these environmental groups and the fear that it may look wrong if you fight back with these people. But what they did to us is wrong, and they're gonna pay for it."
He's worth an estimated $7 billion, and his lawsuit charges that Greenpeace groups incited the Dakota Access protests, "funded attacks to damage the pipeline, and spread misinformation about the company and its project," the report said.
It is going to trial in February in the fossil fuel-friendly North Dakota.
Greenpeace has claimed it played a limited role in the protests, but leaders acknowledge that the threat of massive damages makes the case an existential threat.
"Greenpeace says losing its affiliate—and influence—in the U.S. would have a profound impact on the group's ability to address climate change," the report said.
Indian tribes claimed the pipeline threatened sacred sites and drinking water.
The report noted, "In Warren's view, Greenpeace was largely to blame for a construction delay he said cost the company millions of dollars, and Energy Transfer sued the group for $300 million under a law created to prosecute the mafia that could allow the company to claim triple that amount. When a federal judge dismissed the suit, the company filed a new one in a North Dakota state court."
A Greenpeace official said a negative outcome for the environmental group would set a "really dangerous precedent."
Greenpeace, which has admitted it could lose the case, has prepared contingencies, including bankruptcy.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Overnight Sunday Israel Air Force jets conducted a series of airstrikes in northwestern Syria, targeting sites assessed to be used by Iranian or Iranian-backed forces, which were thought to produce chemical weapons.
According to Syrian state media, at least 14 people were killed in the strikes – thought to be some of the heaviest and widest-scale in years – with dozens more wounded. Reports suggest at least 10 sites were hit in Masyaf, in the Hama region. There were additional claims that there were attacks in Hama, Homs, Tartus, and Damascus, although later transpired impacts in the latter three locations were caused by falling Syrian interceptor missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor aligned with the Syrian opposition, said there were four attacks in less than three hours, targeting military sites west of Hama where "where Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria," and a floating object off the coast of Baniyas, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Among the sites hit was the so-called Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as CERS or SSRC, a major military research laboratory for chemical weapons. The center is thought to house a team of Iranian military experts – in other words members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – who according to Israel are involved in the production of precision surface-to-surface missiles.
Even before the Swords of Iron war, which Hamas started with Iranian backing on Oct. 7, Israel has consistently targeted weapons shipments from Iran, as well as men and materiel in situ in Syria. The Islamic Republic has used its leverage over President Bashar al-Assad's government, which it helped remain in power during the bitter fighting of the Syrian Civil War, to help create its land bridge to move weapons and men closer to Israel.
Jerusalem has neither officially confirmed nor denied reports about IAF planes striking targets in Syria, although it rarely broadcasts when it has done so. However, in February Jerusalem revealed it had attacked more than 50 targets belonging to Hezbollah and other Iran-backed terrorist groups in Syria since Oct. 7.
Almost 17 years to the day, on Sept. 6, 2007, Israel conducted "Operation Orchard," which destroyed Syria's heretofore secret nuclear program in the Deir ez-Zor (or Dair Alzour according to the International Atomic Energy Agency) region of Syria. That attack followed the even more daring "Operation Opera," the 1981 attack on Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor in Osirak, Iraq.
What it does show is a clear pattern of Israel following the so-called "Begin Doctrine," which stipulates that Israel would not tolerate the attainment of nuclear weapons by their implacable enemies and would do whatever possible to prevent this eventuality.
Shifting focus to the north?
These strikes come amid increasing calls – including from former IDF Chief of Staff and former Prime Minister Benny Gantz no less – for Israel to turn its attention with both urgency and seriousness to the northern arena. In particular the ongoing simmering war with Hezbollah shows no sign of abating, if anything it seems to be ratcheting up on a daily basis.
Israel's preemptive strike against hundreds of Hezbollah missile launchers in the early hours of Aug. 25 may have offset what was assumed to be a massive retaliatory attack for the killing of the Iranian proxy's CEO, Fuad Shukr, the threat still remains. And on the sidelines, Iran is still suggesting it is winning the psychological battle, boasting its response to the elimination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in an IRGC compound has yet to be avenged.
Throughout the entirety of the multiple prosecutors going after former President Donald Trump, many, including the former president, were sure that the justice system was being abused to target him because of his politics.
While that's routinely written off as conspiracy theory, according to Breitbart, a top Justice Department spokesperson was reportedly caught on camera admitting as such.
The DOJ spokesperson, on hidden video, slammed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for carrying out a "perversion of justice" against Trump in the lead-up to the November election.
The bombshell admission was caught by "an unidentified operative with podcaster Steven Crowder’s 'Mug Club' on multiple occasions."
Nicholas Biase, the public affairs director for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) was caught on camera admitting what many already knew.
One particular clip was especially damning. Biase said "To be honest with you, I think the case is nonsense," in the wake of Trump being convicted by DA Bragg in the New York "hush money" case.
Breitbart noted:
Telling the undercover woman he had known Bragg for 15 years as they used to work together in the SDNY office, Biase accused the DA of “stacking charges [against Trump] and, like, rearranging things just to make it fit a case.”
Biase seemed to confirm that Bragg's motivation for going after Trump was purely for career-building efforts, suggesting that he might be seeking a mayoral position down the road.
Your colleague of 10+ years said your case against @realDonaldTrump is "nonsense" and a "perversion of justice."
He claims you "stacked" charges to fit a case because of your future political aspirations.
What do you have to say? Don't be quiet now. @ManhattanDA https://t.co/gTTc38dOgQ pic.twitter.com/kIssUAYmJZ
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) September 5, 2024
"He wants to be something … a mayor? I’m not sure what he wants to be, but I know he’s not happy just being the DA of New York County. Before he decided to prosecute Trump, did you know who he was? You do now," Biase reportedly told the undercover journalist.
Users across social media were quick to offer their opinions on the matter.
"The Marxist trash like @ManhattanDA doesn't care about honesty, integrity or the rule of law. All he cares about is rigging the system to persecute political opponents. The Stasi would be so proud of the Democrat party," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Democrats are dirty and will do anything they can to smear trump and try to sway public opinion."
It'll be interesting to see what happens as a result of the admission.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The fight is in court now, over whether a Virginia county will be allowed to charge a Christian ministry property taxes on its building while exempting other organizations that own buildings, and represent other religious, from those costs.
It is the chief of the Rutherford Institute, John W. Whitehead, who explained, "The First Amendment not only affirms the right to religious freedom for people of all faiths, but it also requires that the government treat all faiths equally and not favor or disfavor one over the other."
He continued, "This is the slippery slope that affects us all, whether you're talking about religious freedom, free speech, or privacy: if the government is allowed to deny freedom to one segment of the citizenry, it will eventually extend that tyranny to all citizens."
The fight is over a decision in Blacksburg, Virginia, where officials decided to refuse the Bradley Study Center, a nonprofit Christian Scholars Network site that ministers to Virginia Tech community members with worship services, prayer meetings and Bible Studies, a tax exempt status.
The Rutherford Institute said it has "challenged a local government's refusal to recognize CSN as a religious association that uses its property exclusively for charitable, religious, or educational purposes, which would thereby qualify CSN for a property tax exemption under the Virginia Constitution and state laws."
The lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court is against the county and the town of Blacksburg after the board and the commissioner of the revenue refused the allow an exemption, "even though the county provides a property tax exemption to a similar organization for college students of another religion."
The legal team reported, "At trial, Institute attorneys argued that the government is failing to comply with the will of the people as set forth in the Virginia Constitution and laws, and that the government's narrow interpretation of certain statutory terms violates church autonomy and favors more formal religious practices and hierarchical denominations in violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause."
The report said CSN is a "nonprofit ministry which has been exempt from federal income tax by the IRS under section 501(c)(3). In 2019, CSN purchased real estate near the Virginia Tech campus and opened the Bradley Study Center to cultivate a thoughtful exploration of the Christian faith and how one's faith connects to their studies, work, and life."
Contrary to the judgment of local officials, witnesses at a trial described the benefits the center profits to the community.
A court ruling on the dispute is expected in months.
While former President Donald Trump doesn't have much to worry about as far as his base of support wavering, there is a sector of that base that seems to be quite concerned after recent comments.
According to Politico, white Evangelicals are overwhelmingly concerned about Trump's recent remarks on the white-hot topic of abortion.
The issue of "reproductive rights" will undoubtedly play a profound role in the upcoming election.
And for a former president who installed the Supreme Court justices who ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade, some of Trump's recent remarks on the subject have given them pause.
Evangelical leaders, including Albert Mohler, a prominent evangelical and head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, have voiced new concerns regarding Trump's rhetoric on the topic in recent weeks.
"It’s disastrous that he’s attempted to run against his own track record," Mohler said.
He added, "There is a real danger to the Trump campaign that pro-life voters just don’t turn out for him with the intensity that he needs."
Politico noted:
Trump’s announcement last week that he planned to vote “no” on a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution represented a quick course correction after he sent evangelicals and anti-abortion groups into a panic by implying he might vote to undo the state’s current six-week abortion ban.
It added:
And that wasn’t his only affront to anti-abortion advocates. In recent days, he has pledged to make health insurance companies or the government cover in vitro fertilization, which many anti-abortion advocates object to as currently practiced in the U.S., free of charge.
Another one of Trump's recent remarks on the subject that stirred controversy was when he proclaimed his presidency will be "great for women and their reproductive rights."
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said that Trump needs to be careful trying to be moderate on the issue and, instead, give those voters a reason to vote for what he'll do rather than just vote against Vice President Harris.
"You’ve got to be more than voting against someone. You’ve got to be voting for what someone else has to offer. It’s just on the margins, but it’s the difference in many elections," Perkins said.
He added, "Not just voting against a set of ideas and policies and the personality to actually be for a set of policies and principles that you are enthusiastic about, that makes the difference in elections, and that’s where we’re not at yet."
Only time will tell where Trump's ultimate stance on the subject lands. He'd better get it straightened out before November, that's for certain.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump has moderated his pro-life position since eight years ago, when he was described as strongly pro-life. Of late, he's admitted the possibility for early abortions, within limits.
But he's been under criticism for changing his policy at all.
And that's not entirely fair, according one of the more prominent pro-life organizations in the country, Operation Rescue, run by chief Troy Newman, who long has been integral in America's fight against abortion.
It's because society has seen a drastic shift in recent years, largely prompted by the nonstop campaign from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on behalf of the members of the lucrative abortion industry.
In a statement, Newman said, "As the saying goes, 'politics is downstream from culture.' Unfortunately, 'woke' pro-abortion influencers have been dumping anti-life sewage into our society's 'river' for years. This has polluted our culture worse than Lake Erie in the 1960s and shifted politics away from the ideals championed by the first Trump administration that boldly promoted the sanctity of human life."
He pointed out that just before the 2016 vote, Gallup showed 46% of Americans identified as pro-life.
"That year pro-life Americans placed a high importance on ending abortion and were more likely to cast their votes only for candidates that shared their pro-life views. I believe this was due, at least in part, to the gruesome videos Operation Rescue released one year previous as part of my leadership in the Center for Medical Progress (for which I was convicted of RICO and now owe $18M to Planned Parenthood). In any case, President Trump rode that pro-life enthusiasm into the White House in 2016. By nearly all media reports, it was the support of pro-life Americans and their grave concerns over the pro-abortion majority in the Supreme Court that earned him the surprise victory," Newman wrote.
Then Trump kept his campaign promises, appointing Supreme Court justices who eventually overturned the faulty Roe v. Wade and also denied Title X tax money to abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood.
The 2020 election, long past, now gives way to 2024, when society is in a "completely different position" than 2016.
"Gallup Polls taken this year show that the pro-life position now sits at a historical low," he said, with only 12% of respondents wanting to end it.
"Since the demise of Roe, we have lost eight statewide referendums on abortion. Bolstered by these victories, pro-abortion forces have placed abortion expansion initiatives on the 2024 general election ballots in ten more states," Newman said. "The tide has turned, and the pro-life message is now considered a political liability that could prevent President Trump's victorious return to the White House."
He continued, "The radical extremist team of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz threatens to demolish the America we love by dramatically expanding abortion, increasing persecution of pro-life activists, and amping up censorship along with other oppressive measures such as open borders, higher taxes, and continuing involvement in forever wars. An America under a Harris/Walz administration would be a bloody, morally debased Communist dystopia with increased abortions, a wrecked economy, non-existent border security, possible nuclear war with Russia and fewer freedoms."
That's why a Trump victory is essential, he said, and while "still pro-life, Trump's current position on abortion, which is more moderate than many pro-life supporters would like, is simply a reflection of the will of the people."
He explained, "As a staunch supporter of President Trump and the right to life, it pains me to point this out. So, whose fault is it that we find ourselves in a climate where the pro-life position is no longer a winner at the ballot box, as it was for so many years?"
He said since Roe was created, five decades have passed and still the culture's love affair with abortion exists.
"Although the pro-life movement has been responsible for closing 70% of the abortion clinics, saving millions of children, and electing scores of pro-life politicians, the disappointing result is that the American population is more pro-abortion than ever," he said.
"We also must stop pointing fingers at politicians like President Trump, expecting them to meet ideals that are unreasonable in the current hostile political and social climate – a climate that our own ministries have failed to mitigate," he said.
He said seminaries and churches today, while describing themselves as Christian, advocate for the wanton destruction of the unborn.
"If we are to ever create a government that values and protects innocent life, we must start in our own homes, churches and communities. The purified water of our own lives and movement would then flow downward into proper public governance. For streams do not run backwards."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden has been taking criticism over the last few weeks for taking one vacation after another. In fact, after the Democrat National Convention he left for one vacation. Then went from that vacation immediately to another.
Some of that likely is because he's on his way out of the administration, having been pushed out of the 2024 campaign by elites in the Democrat party who picked Kamala Harris as his replacement.
But the recent lengthy string of holidays for Biden isn't even the worst of the problem, according to Washington Examiner columnist Paul Bedard.
He reveals that Biden, in fact, has taken "48 years worth of vacation in three years."
That's the opposite direction from what most Americans go in their vacations.
"Americans continue to deprive themselves of vacations, taking an average of 11 days a year, even fewer than the famous workaholics in Japan," he said. "Expedia's Annual Vacation Deprivation Report showed that Americans, on average, get 12 paid days off a year but don't even take all that. In Japan, workers take 12 days off annually. The travel firm said that many Americans claim that they are too busy for a break."
The report said Americans are nearly twice as likely to go a year or more between vacations, 32% compared to 18% globally.
Not so with Joe.
"Biden has spent 532 days on vacation in less than four years, according to RNC Research," the report said. "Using Expedia's average of time off Americans take, Biden's tally is the equivalent of over 48 years of vacations — 48.3 years, to be exact."
The column explained, "As in past administrations, the president's aides said he remains on call when on break, and he is sometimes shown on his cellphone when not napping in a chaise lounge at Rehoboth Beach."