This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Biden administration's sudden lame-duck approval of Ukraine using U.S. longer-range missiles to attack deep inside Russia leaves many scratching their heads in disbelief, some even speculating that the outgoing president seems intent on starting World War III – all to disrupt the coming administration of Donald Trump.
With only two months remaining in office, Biden has authorized Ukraine to use Lockheed Martin's Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles and are designed to strike deep into enemy territory.
And indeed, for the first time in the 33-months-long war, Ukraine is firing the U.S.-supplied missiles deep into Russia.
In response, Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has signed a new nuclear doctrine stipulating that any attack on Russia, if that attack is supported by a nation with nuclear weapons, could serve as grounds for a nuclear response from Russia.
In other words, the use of nuclear weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war has suddenly become potentially much more imminent.
Putin's new nuclear policy came one day after Biden authorized Ukraine to attack Russia with American-made longer-range missiles.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argues that Ukraine's use of the American missiles will "continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict." And, concedes the Associated Press, "Biden's shift in policy adds an uncertain new factor to the conflict on the eve of the 1,000-day milestone since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022."
What is really going on? Some U.S. military members are outspoken regarding what they see as the real reasons for Biden's sudden escalation. One of them, Army Lt. Col. Darin Gaub, a former UH-60 Blackhawk pilot and co-founder of Restore Liberty, told WorldNetDaily: "This entirely has to do with trying to tie Trump's hands to a war, dampening his ability to achieve the agenda that the American people want him to achieve." According to Gaub, "This has been in the [Left's] plan for quite a while, in anticipation of the landslide victory that occurred earlier this month."
A "world on fire" for the Trump presidency is something Gaub predicted in an Oct. 6 Substack article. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is only one of the contributors to the chaos that lies ahead.
Gaub told WND it's not about Biden attempting to extend his stay in the White House as some have suggested, because "he would have to declare an emergency that precluded the country's ability to hold an election or hold a change of leadership." He also pointed out that "we've successfully changed out leadership in much bigger wars," including World War II.
For Gaub, "The idea is really just to disrupt the future of Trump's presidency." Rather than trying to stop the transition of power on Jan. 20, he said, "The powers-that-be are attempting to put Trump in a position where he has to deal with a mega conflict which could derail some of what he wants to accomplish at the start of his second term and beyond."
To that end, Gaub added, "The American people must remember that we're dealing with people [on the Left] for whom the rules are sometimes a mild inconvenience."
Interestingly, in July Trump said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day. While Russia's United Nations ambassador is skeptical, Gaub suggests that, "based on his previous record, we should give him the chance even if it seems unrealistic for some."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A lawsuit has been filed against the University of Maine for a plan that ultimately granted a Christian church the right to negotiate for the purchase of an unused school building before officials reneged on their deal.
The state officials broke their agreement because "local curmudgeons" including a state senator who was on the board of one of the losing bidders coordinated to create a campaign of "religious animosity and religious hostility" against the Christian faith and demand the agreement be voided.
"These purportedly 'inclusive' and 'tolerant' community members, along with the two disappointed bidders, unlawfully conspired together to pressure UMS's officials to rescind the church's award because of the church's Christian beliefs," the filing in federal court in Maine by Liberty Counsel on behalf of Calvary Chapel Belfast, charges.
Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver said, "The University of Maine System violated the First Amendment by discrimination against a church because of its Christian beliefs. Such discrimination is unlawful. Calvary Chapel Belfast participated in the bidding processes in good faith, but the university unlawfully discriminated against the church's religious beliefs. It is a sad day when government officials violate the constitutional rights of its citizens. This is a costly mistake for the University of Maine System."
Named as defendants are the university system and a list of its officials, including Ryan Low, Rachel Piper, Robin Cyr, and Derek Houtman.
"The conspirators and disappointed bidders did not hide their animus towards the Christian church receiving the bid award, going so far as to say that the church must not receive the property because its 'very design' as a Christian church with biblical views was discriminatory and had no place in the community. Some disappointed bidders went so far as to assert that a church cannot even operate in 'good faith' concerning alleged nondiscrimination because the church's website espoused biblical teachings and quoted Scripture. And, to make matters worse, the disappointed bidders and their co-conspirators were joined in their religious animosity and hostility towards the church and its efforts to purchase the Hutchinson Center by elected officials in Maine. Specifically, Senator Chip Curry—the elected state senator in Belfast where the Hutchinson Center is located—said it was completely inappropriate to have a religious organization own the Hutchinson Center," the filing charges.
Liberty Counsel said its legal action charges religious discrimination.
It is seeking a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo until the lawsuit can be resolved.
The background is that Calvary Chapel Belfast outscored two other competitors and "rightfully earned" the winning bid to solely negotiate the purchase of UMS's Hutchinson Center, a building no longer in use by the university.
However, the legal team charged, "UMS officials conspired with one of the competing, secular bidders, Waldo Community Action Partners (WCAP), to rescind the award over the church's scriptural beliefs on marriage and sexuality, and subsequently rigged a second bidding process awarding WCAP with the winning bid."
The filing points out, "The Supreme Court has declared that excluding a religious organization 'from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution.'"
That, the filing contends, prevents state officials from acting "in hostile ways" to churches.
"This action therefore seeks to vindicate the church's constitutional rights and restore the church's rightfully earned opportunity to negotiate the purchase of the Hutchinson Center," the filing states.
Last August, "Calvary Chapel Belfast submitted its bid to UMS for the Hutchinson Center, a building where it had previously rented space, to expand its congregation and community outreach. In addition to WCAP, the other competing bidder was Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee and Waterfall Arts (FHC-WA). Once UMS announced the church as the winning bidder, both competing bidders sent a series of protest letters to the university attacking the church's religious beliefs," the federal court was told.
It was Low, being paid to be the school's executive for finance and administration, who "summarily" canceled the church's opportunity.
The report said the pretext used was that the university had an internet hub in the building, an issue the church already had addressed with the university. The church had offered the university free space for the machinery.
This time, however, the school accepted a bid from WCAP, which nearly tripled its financial offer.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Leftists across the Washington, D.C., landscape are erupting in outrage, including at least one death threat on video, by a plan from a female lawmaker that would have men in Congress use restrooms and locker rooms designated for men.
And not the facilities provided for women.
The war has been sparked by the pending arrival of U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat, who was born Tim McBride but now styles himself as a woman.
"Sarah McBride doesn't get a say in this," Mace said. "This is a biological man trying to force himself into women's spaces, and I'm not going to tolerate."
Her plan would adjust House rules to prohibit men who say they are women from using women's bathrooms and other facilities on Capitol Hill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson admitted it's a brand new problem for Congress and then said it would be addressed "in deliberate fashion with member consensus on it, and we will accommodate the needs of every single person."
One transgender activist responded by threatening to brutally murder Mace in a online video.
"Congresswoman Nancy Mace, I hope that one day I do find you in that women's bathroom and I grab your ratty looking f***ing hair and drag your face down to the floor while I repeatedly bash and until the blood's everywhere and you're dead," the trans person said.
"Thank you. I hope that Nancy Mace received this message well. Kisses."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said, "There's a man pretending to be a woman coming to Congress in January who expects to use the same restrooms as little girls visiting the Capitol. I consider it assault for a man to charge into places that are designated specifically for women. Restrooms are a place where women are vulnerable. It's mentally ill for a man to think he should be allowed there."
Mace has proposed a two-page resolution to limit House members, officers and employees to using single-sex facilities that correspond with their biological sex.
She suggested a House rules change could be possible, but without that she'll bring it up on the House floor.
She explains letting men into women's restrooms and more "jeopardizes the safety and dignity" of females in the Capitol complex.
Mace explained, "This is just the start. I want to make sure that no men are in women's private spaces. And it's not going to end here. This shouldn't be going on any federal property. If you're a school or an institution that gets government funding, this kind of thing should be banned."
CBS reported McBride responded by attacking "far right-wing extremists."
He said they were raising the issue because "they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars."
Transgenderism repeatedly has taken the headlines since the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration made it one of the top priorities for American government, which now has imposed even on the world stage its ideological campaign.
Mace then noted that the "radical left" is "trying to erase women."
The Washington Examiner reported at least one Democrat lawmaker turned vulgar over the problem.
"I just don't understand why bathrooms are top of mind for [Mace]," Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said. "But she wants to think about where a future member is gonna p— and s—* like I don't — I don't understand."
The social behavior campaign by the Democrats was front and center during the 2024 election, a landslide won by President-elect Donald Trump and Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House.
The report noted Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris in ads leading up to the election while multiple GOP lawmakers attacked their Democratic counterparts for supporting transgender athletes' participation in female sports.
There was no limit to the hate that was unleashed against Mace because of her plan, with the New Republican using words like "vile," a specialty magazine accusing her of "harassing" McBride, and another accusing her of picking "a fight."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Over the last few days or so, those wondering whether the Biden administration would take out some of its frustration at Donald J. Trump's blow-out election victory, as well as a lingering dislike of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whom they tried so desperately to remove from office – on the state he leads, received their answer.
On Monday, Biden and his team imposed a new round of sanctions against three Israeli individuals and three organizations, including the Amana development group, which it accuses of undermining "peace, security and stability" in Judea and Samaria.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the sanctions were in response to the six targets for "violence against civilians and destruction and dispossession of property in the West Bank [sic]."
He further called on Jerusalem to "take action and hold accountable those responsible for or complicit in violence, forced displacement, and the dispossession of private land."
This is a particularly sticky issue upon which to focus; as was pointed out in WND's article "Can a clash between competing claims be prevented in Judea and Samaria?" https://www.wnd.com/2024/11/can-a-clash-between-competing-claims-be-prevented-in-judea-and-samaria/
It argued there are significant parts of Judea and Samaria, which are not part of Palestinian Authority-administered land according to current international agreements, and upon which there are illegal Arab structures.
One of the main targets of the sanctions is the construction company Amana, whose founder is Ze'ev Hever.
"The sanctions we were informed of today are a result of baseless slanders hurled at Amana by hostile and extreme elements. Had the American administration bothered to examine them, rather than rely on such malicious publications, it would have discovered that they indeed lack factual basis and would have refrained from acting against us," Hever said, according to Israeli news site Arutz 7.
He added that despite the challenges the settlement movement has faced over the last few years including building freezes under pressure from the Biden administration, he fully expected the sanctions to be reversed shortly after Trump assumes office.
Canada, which seems to have entirely become captured by a pro-Palestinian tilt that has infected the entire country very much including the educational system, imposed sanctions on Amana in June. In addition to Amana, the Biden administration announced it had imposed sanctions on Amana's subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amana and on the Judean Mountains Company, which are involved in construction throughout Judea and Samaria.
Additionally, sanctions were imposed on three Israelis. Shabtai Kushlevski was sanctioned for his activities in the organization Hashomer Yosh, which itself has been sanctioned in the past. This organization views its role – like its more illustrious forebear did in the Yishuv pre-state period – to protect farmers and farmland from attacks from Arabs. Meanwhile, the organization's opponents claim it is a violent driver of settler land theft in Judea and Samaria (except they would use the term West Bank).
Itamar Yehuda Levi was sanctioned for his activities in the construction company Eyal Judean Mountains Company, as well as Zohar Sabah from the town of Mevo'ot Yericho, who was also implicated in the attack on the Al-Ka'abneh elementary school near Jericho in September 2024 which injured several Palestinians at the school, Arutz 7 reported.
Samaria Regional Council governor Yossi Dagan said he wanted to work with the incoming Trump administration to remove the sanctions, and he also had words of criticism for Netanyahu, whom he accused of not pushing back hard enough against the move.
"The decision to impose sanctions on the Amana company – this is the swan song of the Biden administration," Dagan stated. "It is an act hostile and cynical toward the only democracy in the Middle East, a government that dares to extort its strategic partner, the state of Israel, which is fighting for its survival, through denial of armaments, now dares to attack the bodies and organizations of the State of Israel."
On Feb. 1, U.S. President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14115, sanctioning "persons undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank [sic]." The order cited "high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages and property destruction." In addition, it blocks property and interests held in America which belong to any designated individual and prohibits U.S. citizens from contributing or providing funds, goods and services to or to benefit those designated.
Shortly following its implementation, the U.S. embassy in Israel would neither confirm the source nor the methodology used to determine who falls under the executive order. Israeli investigative journalist Elchanan Groner of the Hakol HaYehudi news site – who has found himself blocked on the X platform – told Israel's Channel 14 news that the sanctions are, in fact, based on statistics compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is known to gather a significant amount of data on so-called "settler-related violence," according to journalist Josh Hasten.
OCHA, in whose interests it is to inflate the statistics regarding "settler violence," admitted the category labeled "Incidents involving Israeli settlers" included "Palestinians killed or injured during attacks or alleged attacks they perpetrated against Israeli settlers."
The announcement of sanctions follows reporting from Thursday in which 15 U.S. senators and 68 members of the House of Representatives – all from the Democratic Party – sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to impose sanctions on Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Finance and National Security ministers, respectively. In addition, they called for the imposition of sanctions on the Regavim Movement, on the ground that Regavim's "incitement" has resulted in violence, and its activities seek to "prevent Palestinian construction in the West Bank" – actions that resulted in the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes."
A Regavim press release muscularly countered these claims. "The sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on civil society organizations, based solely on their political orientation, is tantamount to the banning of free speech. This is the definition of dictatorship. The outgoing administration has imposed sanctions on a host of Israeli individuals and organizations at the forefront of the settlement enterprise, as well as grassroots protest movements whose only "sin" is their opposition to current U.S. policy."
The movement also pointed out the use of sanctions is ordinarily reserved for "last-ditch action against drug lords, internationally sanctioned criminals, terrorists and dictators." They argued its use against ordinary civilians of an allied dictatorship was unprecedented, labeling it a "disgrace to the Biden administration."
"The lame ducks in Congress are using their final moments of power to amplify and expand the most anti-democratic maneuver of the Biden Administration. As a result of the sanctions imposed under Executive Order 14115, President Biden will be judged by history for the bald-faced attempt to prevent public debate, to silence political opponents, to deny freedom of speech and to make reasoned debate impossible."
It is probable the incoming Trump administration – especially if the pick of Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel is a barometer of the direction of travel – will quickly dismantle the sanctions against these individuals and groups. And whether there is a ceasefire in Gaza and/ or Lebanon, the issue of Jewish sovereignty over Judea and Samaria will almost certainly become an increasingly contested issue over the length of the Trump presidency.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Associated Press had boasted, for years, of being the world's largest news organization.
No longer.
And on Monday it announced it is cutting a further 8% of its staff, through buyouts and layoffs.
Its own announcement confirmed, "The move is part of what is expected to be a dispiriting end-of-year period in the news industry, which is beset by business woes that go back years."
Daisy Veerasingham, the conglomerate's chief, told staff members, "Our customers — both who they are and what they need from us — are changing rapidly. This is why we've focused on delivering a digital-first news report. We now need to accelerate on this path."
In fact, Gannett and McClatchy chains both told the organization this year they are halting their purchase of the news from the wire service, which first came into being in the 1800s when news was transmitted from one city to another via telegraph.
The web has made such a service virtually useless.
As part of diversifying its revenue, the wire service has begun taking "philanthropic funding," in which various entities contribute funding for various reporting topics, such as climate or science, raising the prospect of outside influence.
The News Media Guild, representing writers and photographers, said 121 of its members would be offered buyouts. The AP said there would be fewer, but didn't provide a number.
A commentary at Twitchy said the announcement was part of "a precipitous drop in trust for the 'news' industry."
"It's also in the wake of 'news' outlets being handily defeated by President-Elect Donald Trump in this year's presidential election, despite their best dishonest efforts. This is only the beginning of post-Election Day layoffs and changes for the dying legacy media."
That commentary also noted," Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter and its transformation into X cannot be underestimated. It's become the place 'journalism's' lies come to die, vanquished in real time by average Americans."
The AP doesn't release actual numbers for its staffing levels.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Israel/Middle East Morning Brief
Senate majority leader-elect warns ICC to drop Israel arrest warrants or face sanctions
U.S. Senate Majority Leader-elect Senator John Thune, R-S.D., on Sunday threatened the International Criminal Court, or ICC, with sanctions unless it reverses its pursuit of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis."
Report: Hamas leaders leave NATO-allied Qatar, find safe haven in NATO member Turkey
Hamas' senior leadership has relocated from Qatar's capital Doha, to Turkey, Israel's Kan News public broadcaster reported Sunday evening. The report cited unnamed Israeli sources as confirming the move, which was said to have taken place in "recent days." Turkey has nixed the rumors suggesting the story is not true… which almost certainly means it is.
Despite ongoing war, Israel's economy grew nearly 4% in Q3 2024
Israel's economy unexpectedly received a boost in the July-September period as the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized 3.8 percent over the third quarter. Consumer spending, one of the main drivers of economic activity, increased 8.6% in the third quarter, and investment in fixed assets soared 21.8%, while exports of goods and services rose 5.2%. Meanwhile, government spending dropped 10.8%.
In historic first, IDF female combat soldiers operate against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon
For the first time in Israel's military history, female combat soldiers entered Lebanon as part of an operational mission. Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin approved the deployment of a team from the combat intelligence battalion into southern Lebanon several weeks ago.
Families of American victims to sue Iran over Oct. 7 attack
Families of American victims of the Oct. 7 massacre and those killed in the Israel-Hamas War are suing Iran for its part in supporting the deadly attack.
The lawsuit has been brought on behalf of 256 US families and dozens of individuals against not only the Islamic Republic of Iran but also against Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Report: Iran encourages Hezbollah to accept ceasefire deal
Hezbollah submitted its response to the cease-fire proposal presented by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein Lebanon's LBCI channel reported late on Sunday. Hochstein is due to arrive in Beirut as early as Tuesday and receive the official Lebanese position.
Amsterdam mayor denies coordinated violence against Jews, Israelis was a 'pogrom'
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said she regretted describing the violent attacks against Israeli soccer fans in her city as a pogrom, adding the term was used as a way to discriminate against the local Moroccan-Muslim community. She was not asked how else she would describe Telegram messages and recorded footage exclaiming "Hunt the Jews."
Amid regional tensions, Greece seeks $2 billion Iron Dome defense system from Israel
Greece is negotiating with Israel to develop a 2 billion euro ($2.11 billion) anti-aircraft and missile defense system similar to Israel's highly successful Iron Dome, according to Israeli and Greek officials.
Canada thwarts Iranian plot to assassinate former Jewish Canadian attorney general
According to reporting by the Globe and Mail, Canadian law-enforcement authorities recently foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a prominent human-rights advocate and outspoken critic of Tehran's leadership. His daughter, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, is a former member of Israel's Knesset.
Netanyahu aide jailed over security leaks put on suicide watch after noose found in cell
Eli Feldstein, a former spokesman and aide to Prime Minister Netanyahu and a central suspect in the Prime Minister's Office leaks affair, has been put under suicide prevention watch in prison, the Prison Service and Hebrew media report. The identity of the inmate was not released, although Israeli media has surmised it is Feldstein.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A priority for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is to tackle the Deep State, the bureaucracy in Washington that is a self-perpetuating industry, to find what American taxpayers don't need or want.
And get rid of it.
One of the targets he's already identified is the Department of Education, which for the last 50 years or so has been expanding until it's now spending some $240 billion a year of taxpayer money.
And Trump's plan is getting a thumbs-up from an influential conservative leader, Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse.
"President-elect Donald J. Trump has said the Department of Education should be shut down – and I agree," Graham posted on social media. "Even President Ronald Reagan championed abolishing it and leaving decisions at the state and local level.
"The Department of Education has only existed since 1979, and we were better off without it. We have been spending billions of dollars for what? To dumb our children down? To teach them to disrespect the flag and our nation? To introduce them to sexual content at earlier ages including gay and transgender agendas? For them to be taught the lies of Critical Race Theory and DEI? To accomplish the woke agendas of teachers' unions? To have reading scores at near historic lows? To have students score lower in math than they did 20 years ago? To have 1/3 of U.S. school children score below their actual grade level? For the U.S. to rank a low 28th out of 37 countries of the world in math?
"I think we can do better. Put the parents back in the driver's seat and let schools come under state and local leadership," he explained.
The BBC noted that ridding the nation of the agency is one of the promises Trump has made.
The federal bureaucrats run student loan programs and those to help low-income students. They run the Pell grant program, support students with disabilities and enforce civil rights law.
But Republicans, for decades already, at least as far back as Ronald Reagan's campaign, have suggested getting rid of it, ending its campaign to impose "woke" politics on children such as gender ideology and Critical Race Theory.
They suggest the authority be returned to states, which run schools and other education industry components.
The report said, "Conservatives also argue that other education department functions, such as administering loans, should be handled instead by the U.S. Department of Treasury, and that civil rights infractions are the Department of Justice's domain."
The report noted Trump cannot shut down the agency by himself, and he would need congressional help.
"While Republicans have a majority in the Senate, they do not have 60 members in the upper chamber, so they would need to convince a few Democrats to vote to abolish the agency. There's zero chance of that," the report speculated.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Social media companies have become a "cartel" for suppressing information with which they disagree, and that agenda now is going to be getting the attention of Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
It was social media companies who played a role in promoting the wild and now-debunked claims of "Russia collusion" created by Democrats during Trump's first campaign. They also were part of the suppression campaign that left Americans in the dark during the 2020 race about Biden family scandals documented in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop.
During the 2024 race they amplified false claims by Democrats like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton that Trump was a "Hitler" and democracy would die on the day he was elected.
Now there may come a reckoning.
The New York Post reports that Carr has labeled Big Tech corporations a "censorship cartel" to eliminate speech of which they do not approve.
Trump has described Carr as a "warrior for free speech" and announced him as his pick to lead the agency.
Carr, only days before the decision announcement, had sent letters to Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Tim Cook of Apple, demanding information about how the firms have dealt with NewsGuard, a for-profit "fact-checking" scheme that routinely claims that conservative outlets are more "risky" than those outlets that promote a leftist agenda.
Carr explained, "Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel. The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with 'fact checking' groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives."
The tech chieftains were told to respond to the FCC by Dec. 10 on which of their products or services "partner with NewsGuard and whether they require online customers to rely on NewsGuard while using their services," the report explained.
At issue could be Section 230 of federal law, which right now protects those corporations from liability over statements their users post on the tech sites.
Carr specifically points out that those protections apply only if companies are operating in "good faith."
Further, he referenced an ongoing review of those tech site ideologies and agendas by the House Oversight Committee.
At least one member of NewsGuard's "advisory committee" was among those who signed the "infamous October 2020 letter" from former intelligence community officials that falsely claimed details in Hunter Biden's laptop were Russian disinformation.
NewsGuard has claimed it has nothing to do with blocking of speech.
But Zuckerberg already has admitted to Congress his company was pressured by the Biden administration into censoring content.
He told the House Judiciary Committee that Biden administration officials, including the White House, repeatedly "pressured" Meta to suppress information it disliked.
"This censorship cartel is an affront to Americans' constitutional freedoms and must be completely dismantled," Carr's letter charged. "Americans must be able to reclaim their right to free speech."
A report from Just the News noted that Carr also promised to work to end the agency's advocacy for the "diversity, equity, and inclusion" agenda.
He explained, "The FCC's most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency's second-highest strategic goal. Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
During President-elect Donald Trump's first term in the White house, Iran was reduced to a shell of its old terror power because his sanctions decimated the cash available for those agendas, and more.
During Joe Biden's four years in office, the rogue terror regime regained access to billions in cash and the result was events like the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocity on Israel by terrorists in Hamas, who killed some 1,200 civilians and kidnapped hundreds more.
Now that Trump is returning to office, even though his campaign has made no point of calling for a regime change there, that move soon may become evident.
That's according to Con Coughlin, the Telegraph's defense and foreign affairs editor, who also is a distinguished fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
"Trump may not be thinking about regime change in Iran as he prepares to take office, but it may become an option he simply cannot ignore if the dramatic collapse in the Islamic Republic's fortunes means that its survival can no longer be guaranteed," he explained.
"Trump may come to see as well that, unfortunately, due to the deep-seated commitment of Iran's regime in exporting its brand of Islam, as enshrined in its constitution, there can be no real long-term peace in the Middle East without regime change, especially if Iran has nuclear weapons – not to mention the global arms race that would follow such an event."
Coughlin explained that it was Trump's "no-nonsense approach to confronting the ayatollahs' malign influence in the region" that was "one of the defining characteristics during his first term in the White House."
Citing its major defects, Trump said at that time, too, he was applying "maximum pressure" on Tehran.
"Trump also demonstrated during his first term that he was not afraid of a direct confrontation with Tehran. His decision to authorize the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the master terrorist who headed the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a drone strike in January 2020 dealt a devastating blow to Tehran's terrorist infrastructure," he explained.
It was, he reported, because of Trump that Iran had to scale down its terrorism.
"It was only after Joe Biden replaced Trump in the White House in 2021 that Tehran revived its terrorist network, a development that was greatly facilitated by Biden's policy of appeasement towards Tehran, which saw the ayatollahs gifted billions of dollars in a misguided attempt by the Biden administration to revive Obama's nuclear deal," he explained.
That also prompted Iran to respond with renewed attempts to gain nuclear weaponry.
But now, as Israel's military is on the offense against two of Iran's proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran is facing a point of collapse.
Iran's inability to protect its terror allies "reflects Tehran's own fundamental weakness, which was graphically laid bare when Israeli warplanes launched their massive air assault against the Islamic Republic last month, which succeeded in destroying a number of key Iranian military installations," Coughlin reported.
And, just now, there are reports of a deep split in Tehran between Islamist factions.
He added that such a change would relieve Iran's neighbors and free "captive citizens," but also renew interest in Trump's Abraham Accords, negotiated agreements between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the most-talked-about plans in the coming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is the idea of "government efficiency."
In fact, he's picked billionaire business founder and leader Elon Musk to work on government waste, and now a report from the Washington Examiner lists the Internal Revenue Service as a possible target.
It's because hundreds of IRS workers still owe millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, and only a handful have been punished.
The report explained the IRS has confirmed in a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, in an update of its report that 2,044 IRS workers had past-due balances of more than $12 million, and the problem remains.
Now, the IRS told Ernst, 860 workers still have not paid their overdue taxes, and only 20 of the 70 who "willfully evaded" paying taxes were removed.
The Washington Examiner said it obtained access to the letter from the IRS letter to Ernst, who said, "We haven't seen a tax revolt like this since the Boston Tea Party. If hardworking Americans dodge taxes, they are faced with steep fines and imprisonment, but it appears that tax collectors in Washington believe those rules are for thee but not for me."
It was a report back in July, requested by the senator, that found some 5,800 IRS and contractor workers owed about $50 million.
The Examiner said, "The July report prompted Ernst to introduce the Audit the IRS Act, which would require regular tax audits of agency employees and prohibit the IRS from hiring or continuing to employ tax evaders."
The controversy already has attracted Musk's attention, the report said, with his social media statement, "Looks like a lot of opportunity for @DOGE!" That refers to the Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump has picked Musk, along with onetime presidential candidate entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to head the "efficiency" campaign to slash Washington's bureaucracy, excess rules and spending.
"While Elon Musk and the Trump administration are looking to eliminate waste, I can think of no better place to start than by firing every single IRS agent refusing to pay taxes," Ernst insisted in the Examiner report, while suggesting those scofflaws be referred to the Department of Justice.
"Our Criminal Investigation division has a well-established process for referring cases to DOJ, which includes, but is not limited to, cases involving current or former employees and contractors," IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told Ernst.