This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Actor Robert Redford, who was made famous by his work in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and earned accolades for "The Way We Were," "Barefoot in the Park" and "Ordinary People," has died at the age of 89.
Reports said the Hollywood star, born Charles Robert Redford Jr. on August 18, 1936, passed away Tuesday at his home in Utah.
He once described the attraction of his career: "The idea of being an actor was to have a sense of freedom. You were free to be, to act as someone else, if you were paying attention to the people around you. … You had a chance to be an artist, because acting is an art form. You had a chance to say, 'I know this person, I've seen this person before and I want to bring that forward.'"
He won two Oscars, five Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential Medal of Freedom over his six decades in front of the camera.
He also was integral in "The Sting," "All the President's Men" and "Out of Africa."
His father was an oil company accountant and his mother held a passion for literature and the arts, and while enjoying football, tennis and track and field as a youth, he struggled to find his own career, the New York Post reported.
He described being fired as a box boy and from an oil company job.
When his mother died when he was 18, he traveled to Europe to study art, later returning to take up acting.
"I suffered for four or five years not being sure I wanted to be in that business because I so wanted to be an artist. I just wanted to paint and sketch and tell stories by drawing," he once explained in an interview.
He later played the role of a villain, in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."
In 2018 he said, after finishing a project, "I thought, 'That's enough. Why don't you quit while you're a little bit ahead? Don't wait for the bell to toll. Just get out.' So I felt my time had come and I couldn't think of a better project to go out on than this film."
He also started the Sundance Institute and he often preached messages about the green ideology.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Prosecutors in Utah working now on the case against Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk last week, have released copies of social media chat between Robinson and his transgender roommate.
The conversation released by Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray was between Robinson and his "transgender (male) lover, Lance Twiggs."
Robinson: Drop what you're doing. Look under my keyboard.
Note under keyboard: 'I have the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it.'
Twiggs: What? You're joking, right?
Robinson: 'I am still okay, my love, but am still stuck in Oren for a little while longer yet. Shouldn't be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest, I had hoped to keep this secret until I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.
Twiggs: You weren't the one who did it, right?
Robinson: I am. I'm sorry.
Twiggs: I thought they caught the person.
Robinson: No, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. It's quiet, almost enough to get out, but there is one vehicle lingering.
There's more:
Twiggs: Why?
Robinson: Why did I do it?'
Twiggs: Yeah.
Robinson: I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again. Hopefully they have moved on. I haven't seen anything about them finding it.
Twiggs: How long have you been planning this?
Robinson: A little over a week, I believe. I can get close to [the rifle] but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don't want to chance it.
Robinson: I wish I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle. I'm worried what my old man would do if I didn't bring back grandpa's rifle. IDEK if it has a serial number, but it wouldn't trace to me. I worry about prints. I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. I didn't have the ability or time to bring it with. I might have to abandon it and hope that they don't find prints. How the F will I explain losing it to my old man? Only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel."
Then Robinson delivers some specific instructions:
Robinson: Delete this exchange.
And he warned Twiggs not to talk to anyone or answer any questions.
Robinson, 22, now has been charged with capital murder and other counts that could result, if he is convicted, in the death penalty.
According to the Daily Caller News Foundation the suspect's mother told authorities that her son "had become more political and had started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump, in recent months, has won massive legal victories over ABC and CBS.
To resolve a defamation lawsuit from Trump, ABC agreed to pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a future presidential museum or foundation. It settled a case brought on by anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly saying on air Trump was held liable for rape, when he wasn't.
And Trump's "election interference" lawsuit against CBS over its "60 Minutes" interview of Kamala Harris was settled for a sum that could reach $30 million.
Now he's taking aim at the New York Times and its long-standing and well-earned reputation of opposing and criticizing him, while praising other political candidates.
A report by Fox explains Trump is bringing a $15 billion action, for both defamation and libel, against the Times, whose officials claimed they would not be intimidated.
Trump's case describes the Times as a "mouthpiece" for the Democrat Party and thus, its advocacy for leftists in campaigns and elections amounted to an illegal "campaign contribution" to the left's failed 2024 presidential candidate, Kamala Harris.
"Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual 'mouthpiece' for the Radical Left Democrat Party. I view it as the single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER," Trump explained.
"Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF!"
His claims include that the publication lied about him, his businesses, family, and MAGA.
He added, "I am PROUD to hold this once respected 'rag' responsible, as we are doing with the Fake News Networks such as our successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount, who knew that they were falsely 'smearing' me through a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration, which was, in effect, a malicious form of defamation, and thus, settled for record amounts. They practiced this longterm INTENT and pattern of abuse, which is both unacceptable and illegal. The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW! The suit is being brought in the Great State of Florida. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
The Times alleged that the case lacks merit.
But Trump's case charges, "All across our country, Americans from a wide array of backgrounds saw the truth about him and voted accordingly—the same truth that the New York Times refused to recognize as it continued spreading false and defamatory content about President Trump."
It was filed in U.S. District Court for Florida's Middle District. The named defendants are the New York Times Company, reporters Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt, and Penguin Random House, which published "Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success," which was authored by Craig and Buettner.
The Times leans precariously to the left and endorsed Harris in 2024, surprising no one.
But its editorial board went even further at the time, attacking Trump.
"It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest," the board politically claimed.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Fani Willis, the Fulton County, Georgia, prosecutor who created an organized crime case against President Donald Trump and a long list of other defendants as part of the Democrats' lawfare against him, has suffered the ultimate in rejection.
After a lower court threw her off the case because of conflicts – for one thing she hired her paramour with tax money to assemble her allegations against Trump – the state Supreme Court now has refused to reconsider, making her ejection of the now likely-dead case against Trump permanent.
For the case to continue, another prosecutor would have to be assigned the case, and begin assembling claims about evidence from the start.
According to Law & Crime, it was a "supreme loss" for Willis, a Democrat who played a large part in her party's lawfare against Trump.
It was the Georgia Court of Appeals that ruled earlier, 2-1, that Judge Scott McAfee was mistaken when he allowed Willis and her handpicked special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she had a romantic relationship, an ultimatum that one or the other had to go due to a "significant appearance of impropriety," the report said.
McAfee erred by failing to disqualify Willis and her office, that ruling said.
That was because of her "significant appearance of impropriety."
The high court said, "In the Court of Appeals, the defendants here appealed the trial court's disqualification order, which (1) found that the conduct of the district attorney and special prosecutor created a 'significant appearance of impropriety,' and (2) as a remedy, determined that one of those two prosecutors would have to withdraw from the case. In doing so, the defendants did not contest the appearance-of-impropriety finding, but they contended that the trial court's 'one of you has to go' version of disqualification was error, and that it should have instead simply disqualified the district attorney. And critically, the State did not cross-appeal the trial court's ruling."
The court said that ultimately may have to be reviewed in another case, as right now, "the legal basis for a rule that prosecutors may be subject to disqualification based only on conduct that creates the appearance of impropriety is not clear."
The ruling ends Willis' scheme to remain on the high-profile RICO case and transfers prosecutorial responsibility to a new attorney.
Trump's lawyer, Steve Sadow said, "The Georgia Supreme Court has correctly denied review of the Georgia Court of Appeals decision disqualifying DA Fani Willis and her office as prosecutors in the Fulton County RICO case. Willis's misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification. This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political, lawfare persecutions of the President."
Even now, investigations continue into whether, and how much, Willis schemed with special counsel Jack Smith, who was handling other Democrat lawfare cases against Trump, and ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's partisan January 6 commission, which actually assembled select pieces of evidence to claim Trump was responsible for those events.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
At least dozens of people across America, probably hundreds by now, have been fired by their employers for advocating violence against conservatives and Christians in the aftermath of the assassination last week of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Employers have been advised not to keep workers who push well beyond free speech and into incitement.
Now Texas officials say they are investigating almost 200 teachers who have been reported for such offenses.
Gov. Greg Abbott said the Texas Education Agency is working to review those statements of violence, including those teachers who "cheered" the murder.
Abbott said those found to have gone into the speech that promotes hate and violence will have their teaching certificates suspended and will be barred from working in Texas schools.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath noted the behavior may be in violation of the Educators' Code of Ethics, explaining that while all educators are held to a high standard of professionalism, there is a difference between comments made in poor taste and those that call for and incite further violence.
The Gateway Pundit reported Morath currently is referring all reports of such comments to the state agency's investigations division.
"According to Texan News, the TEA has reportedly received roughly 180 complaints in response to the letter it circulated last week requesting reports of 'reprehensible' content or social media posts shared by educators following the assassination of Charlie Kirk," the report said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, in India worshippers are flocking to the Chilkur Balaji Temple, better known as the "Visa Temple," to seek divine help in securing a U.S. work visa.
Priests bless passports, applicants walk 108 circles around an altar – and thousands believe the ritual offers a holy shortcut to Silicon Valley.
It would all sound like a satire piece, except it isn't. What's unfolding is a ritual economy wherein visas have become a kind of currency of faith.
As the Journal article puts it, "Indian place of worship touts its power to summon divine assistance for people who want to study or work abroad," quoting one participant as saying, "If we come here and pray, we get a visa."
As bizarre as it might seem to picture a deity distributing H-1B approvals, it's no more bizarre than the ways many American companies treat U.S. workers. The H-1B is a temporary work visa intended for highly skilled roles where no qualified U.S. worker is available. Employers must attest that hiring the foreign worker will not harm American wages nor working conditions, applications go through a lottery system and are capped by law. In theory, these safeguards are meant to prevent abuse. In practice, however, the system is routinely gamed, with companies using it as a massive pipeline for cheaper, visa-dependent labor.
So while families in Hyderabad burn incense to improve their immigration odds, Fortune 500 firms in the U.S. are constructing shrines of their own – shrines to outsourcing, offshoring and resumes stamped "foreign worker."
The Visa Temple's premise could just as easily serve as corporate America's HR policy: "If we pray hard enough, maybe we won't have to hire an American."
So laugh, if you like, at the marble floors of India's Visa God. But the real spectacle is how easily U.S. companies avoid hiring Americans and, unlike the temple worshippers, they don't need to walk 108 circles.
They just need to file another visa petition.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Only a day after WorldNetDaily reported more than one perpetrator may have been involved in the assassination scheme that killed Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk while he was speaking at a free speech event at a Utah school, there's confirmation now that other individuals now are the targets of FBI agents.
The civil rights leader and outspoken Christian leader was gunned down at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, and a suspect, Tyler Robinson, described as a being far left on the political spectrum and a supporter of the LGBT ideology, in fact sharing an apartment with a man transitioning to be a "woman," had been arrested.
But FBI chief Kash Patel explained during an interview Monday that the suspect allegedly was involved in social media chat groups in which the plan to murder Kirk apparently was a topic of discussion.
There are other members of Discord chat rooms, and "scores are going to be spoken to," Patel said.
He said the FBI already had obtained message exchanges between the suspect and his live-in partner, and data from cell phone use and more was being used to identified where the suspect had various conversations, and with whom he was speaking.
He said the FBI is moving carefully through the process so what is found can be used as evidence in court.
Text messages, in fact, talked about the "opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do it."
The public, Patel said, has a right to know who knew of the assassin's plans, and what they did with that knowledge:
Assistant FBI chief Dan Bongino, also during an interview, said a focal point is what happened when an "individual expresses in advance his desire or her desire to do these specific things … The target was announced in advance. … Did they say and hear it and think it was some kind of joke? There's a larger network here."
In fact, a report at the Free Beacon indicated the FBI is investigating social media posts "by at least seven different accounts that appeared to indicate foreknowledge of the assassination of Charlie Kirk."
That's according to those familiar with the investigation and screenshots the publication obtained.
"The posts—one of which referenced the date of Kirk's assassination, September 10, more than a month before it took place—were all deleted in the days following the killing. Several of the accounts appear to belong to transgender individuals, and at least one of them followed suspect Tyler Robinson's roommate, with whom Robinson was allegedly in a relationship, on TikTok," the Free Beacon explained.
"The FBI has received archived copies of the posts, according to a person who flagged them for the agency. Screenshots of the posts have been circulating online but had not been previously authenticated. While the posts do not establish that any of the individuals knew or conspired with Robinson, the 22-year-old gunman who allegedly shot Kirk, several of them mention the conservative activist by name and fantasize about his death."
One social media statement, on Sept. 3, said, "itd be funny if someone like charlie kirk got shot on september 10th LMAO."
And one from Aug. 6 said, "september 10th will be a very interesting day." After Kirk's assassination, that same speaker said, "I plead the fifth."
One person "who appears to follow Robinson's roommate, Lance Twiggs, on TikTok, … posted as soon as Kirk was killed, "WE F—— DID IT."
The report said, "Several of the accounts under investigation appear to be associated with LGBT subcultures. One individual, 'Osamu bin Tezuka,' used the X handle '@fujoshincel,' a reference to a genre of anime that depicts romantic relationships between men. Another user, '@NajraGalvz,' who had wished death to Kirk and predicted that 'something big will happen' when he set foot on campus, had identified as nonbinary on X."
The LGBT factor should provide alarms for Americans, as multiple recent mass shootings, before the Kirk assassination, involved those caught in the transgender culture.
The Free Beacon noted, "a video posted on TikTok the night before the shooting, an individual who appears to be transgender wrote that 'charles james kirk…does not know what's coming tomorrow.'"
The Free Beacon pointed out, "the posts do not establish that any of the individuals knew or conspired with Robinson, the 22-year-old gunman who allegedly shot Kirk, several of them mention the conservative activist by name and fantasize about his death."
Alarmingly, one mentions "Donald Trump. December 14th," in the same discussion.
WND's earlier report noted that journalist Benny Johnson posted on X: "Just spoke with top FBI official who made it very clear that they have NOT ruled out co-conspirators in Charlie Kirk's assassination: 'That assumption is premature. This investigation is just beginning. An enormous amount of evidence has been seized both digital and physical.'"
"FBI sources assure me the public will 'know everything' about the dark internet history, chats and affiliations of Kirk's left-wing political assassin," Johnson continued. "The source then alluded to some online groups attempting to delete or destroy evidence."
"We have everything. We are focused on the radicalization element. The truth will not be hidden, or buried or classified. The public will know," according to the source.
Journalist Nick Sortor confirmed the bureau is actively digging through chat logs, dark web history, and affiliations of Tyler Robinson, the suspect in custody, noting: "Another FBI source independently verified to me Benny's reporting here is accurate."
"NO STONE should be left unturned. We must know exactly WHO radicalized this degenerate, and lock their asses up."
Elon Musk earlier had blasted left-wing violence and the assassination of Kirk, saying "The left is the party of murder and celebrating murder."
"See how much violence there is on the left, with our friend Charlie Kirk getting murdered in cold blood this week and people on the left celebrating it openly. The left is the party of murder and celebrating murder. Let that sink in for a minute. That's who we're dealing with here."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Letitia James, the far-left attorney general in New York who campaigned for office on a promise to "get" President Donald Trump when there were no allegations available, now is in legal jeopardy again.
It's because of the height of a fence at a five-unit apartment structure she owns in Brooklyn.
It's the same address that triggered a federal mortgage fraud investigation into her, as she obtained an interest rate on a mortgage for the property that was based on it having four units, when it actually has five, according to building records.
The Washington Examiner said James could face $500 in fines because the fence at the brownstone is five feet, five inches tall, beyond the 48-inch limit.
The New York Department of Buildings served James with a violation notice recently that deemed her front fence exceeded height limitations.
It was James who, after campaigning to "get" Trump, came up with a claim that his business operations committed fraud. She worked with a judge, Arthur Engoron, on the case, which alleged that there was fraud even though the business entities that supposedly were victimized said their loans were repaid on time and in full, and they would like to do more business with Trump.
Despite the lack of evidence, the judge created a penalty for Trump and his businesses of almost half a billion dollars, a decision that subsequently was tossed by an appeals court ruling that said it violated the U.S. Constitution.
In James' latest legal woes, she'll face a hearing in October, and if found guilty could be ordered to pay $500 in fines. Alternatively, the problem could be "cured" by the time the hearing is held, when the case could be then dropped.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred James to the DOJ for alleged mortgage fraud over her Brooklyn and Norfolk properties in April, alleging that James consistently listed her Brooklyn residence as a four-bedroom home instead of a five-bedroom home.
James is accused of fraud for misrepresenting her residences in order to obtain preferential mortgage loan treatments, including once when she allegedly characterized her father as a "spouse" and represented a five-apartment building she owns as having four apartments because that would give her a better interest rate.
In a column at the Gateway Pundit, author Joel Gilbert explained that James needs to be held accountable, "for the integrity of public office, for victims of any wrongdoing, and for public trust."
He noted James herself "agrees."
"After Donald Trump's fraud conviction, on February 16, 2024, James released a statement: 'When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of honest and hardworking people.'"
The column explained that in 2011 James "obtained a US government HAMP loan by falsely claiming her apartment building had just 4 units. The HAMP loan was eligible only to owners with four or less apartment units. Letitia James likely also falsely claimed a financial hardship to qualify for the loan, as she was earning around $14,000 per month. With the HAMP loan, James was able to replace her 10% adjustable bank mortgage with a 2.7% government loan on the backs of American taxpayers.:"
He noted, "More recently, in 2021, James secured a $200,000 'Credit Line Mortgage' with Citizens Bank by describing the same five-family commercial building as a 'single-family dwelling.' The result: she paid just $4,070 in closing costs instead of $20,000-$30,000 that a commercial borrower would have faced, and got lower interest rates."
James' case against Trump was one of a multitude of lawfare cases assembled by Democrats that apparently were intended to demolish him financially and destroy his chances to run for president again in 2024, which he ultimately did.
Most of the cases now have evaporated.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump's Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is urging major U.S. commercial airlines to fire pilots and other employees who openly celebrated last week's assassination of civil-rights leader Charlie Kirk.
In a series of posts over the weekend, Duffy thanked American Airlines, United, Delta and SkyWest for suspending the viciously vocal pilots, but also pushed for their termination.
"Thank you @united for doing what's right by placing pilots celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk out of service," Duffy wrote. "They must be fired. There's no room for political violence in America and anyone applauding it will face the consequences. ESPECIALLY those we count on to ensure the safety of the flying public."
"Anyone entrusted with the safety of American souls on a plane must have good judgment and compassion," Duffy indicated.
"As our world heals from the devastating loss of Charlie Kirk, we must continue condemning political violence for the greater good of our country."
"This behavior is disgusting and they should be fired," Duffy also stated. "Any company responsible for the safety of the traveling public cannot tolerate that behavior.
"We heal as a country when we send the message that glorifying political violence is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!"
Duffy was responding to messages by Milo Yiannopoulos, a self proclaimed civil-rights icon, who noted:
"Steve Holmes, a pilot for @AmericanAir, says he is sorry Charlie Kirk got shot 'in your fat f***ing face,' mocking his death as 'the cost of our liberty.' Is this normal, American? Passengers will be concerned that yet another pilot of yours is so shameless, hateful and reckless."
Milo also noted: "Andrew Schweizer, a pilot for @united and @SkyWestAirlines, says he is glad Charlie Kirk is dead, because he was a 'f***ing Nazi,' stressing that he 'chose those words deliberately.' Would you put your life in Andrew's hands?"
American Airlines released a statement about behavior by employees, explaining: "American Airlines condemns violence of any kind. Furthermore, hate-related or hostile behavior runs contrary to our purpose, which is to care for people on life's journey. Any such behavior is unacceptable, and we have already initiated action to address this with our team."
A leaked internal memo from Delta was published by AviationA2Z, detailing the airline's recent actions. The memo stated:
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump on Monday announced a second military strike on a Venezuelan boat loaded with drugs headed for the United States.
"This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," Trump said on Truth Social.
"The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.
"These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike.
"BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!
"The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!"
The mission was similar to one conducted Sept. 2, when Trump posted a video showing U.S. military forces destroying a small ship in the Caribbean carrying drugs and piloted by designated "narcoterrorists" from Venezuela.
Said Trump of the first strike: "Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere.
"The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!"
And as WorldNetDaily reported last Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security released a video on X showing the U.S. Coast Guard capturing a drug boat before burning and sinking it as part of Operation Pacific Viper.