This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A first-grader in Wyoming is being credited with saving his diabetic grandmother's life after he got up in the morning and she was unresponsive, so he got himself dressed, went to school, and reported to teachers what had happened at home.
Medical personnel responded to the home and the grandmother reportedly was fine after treatment.
It is the Cowboy State Daily that documented the heroics of Mason Rasmussen, for whom Kimberly Gibson has guardianship.
Earlier this month, he woke to his grandmother's alarm but found Gibson on the floor of her room.
She hadn't died, but was unconscious from low blood sugar, the report explained of the Rock Springs, Wyoming, woman.
When a second alarm, indicating it was time to catch the school bus, sounded, Mason dressed and went to school.
The report noted that "it showed" that he dressed himself, as he wore cargo shorts, a t-shirt and cowboy boots with no socks.
At Stagecoach Elementary, teacher Caroline Pierpoint saw something was wrong, as wintry temperatures were sub-freezing.
"The school noticed rather quickly he's not dressed like he should be," Sweetwater County Sheriff's Detective Stephanie Cassidy told Cowboy State Daily. "They were like, normally he's a very well-taken-care-of kid. Well-dressed and well-mannered."
When Mason told his teacher, "My grandma's home alone, and she died this morning," the school called county dispatch, and also Gibson's husband, Cory Gibson, working at a power plant an hour from home.
With personnel en route to help the grandmother, Cassidy decided to visit with Mason.
It was while the two visited that Deputy Ana Lindig called Cassidy to say Mason's grandmother would be all right.
Later, she told the publication, she suggested putting together a bravery award and goodie package for the boy.
"Just to say, 'You did the right thing, and you were so brave, ultimately saving grandma's life,'" she explained.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In what officials have described as a "major incident," Congress has been warned that Chinese hackers infiltrated work stations at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
A report from Just the News said the situation developed on Dec. 8 when a Chinese-backed agent used a stolen key to remotely access work stations and unclassified documents.
"Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a Chinese state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor," explained Aditi Hardikar, assistant secretary for management at the federal agency.
Officials confirmed the affected stations were taken offline and a law enforcement investigation was launched.
Fox Business said it had gotten a copy of the letter to Congress and that officials called it a "major incident."
"Once Treasury was alerted by the service provider, we immediately contacted Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and have worked with law enforcement partners across the government to ascertain the impact of this incident," a Treasury official told the publication.
"The compromised BeyondTrust service has been taken offline and there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information."
Fox Business said word of the infiltration came as state-affiliated Chinese hackers continue to pursue a campaign of espionage against the U.S., pursuing phone accounts through telecoms.
"Last week, the White House said that Chinese officials accessed Americans' private texts and phone conversations through the targeting of a U.S. telecommunications company – the ninth telecom company to be affected by Chinese hacking," the report said.
Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser, explained, "We believe it was the goal of identifying who those phones belong to and if they were government targets of interest for follow-on espionage and intelligence collection of communications, of texts and phone calls on those particular phones."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Who knew, but Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, is racist. And a parking lot in Lake Merritt, California. And the University of Michigan.
And "guru," milk, "Nikki Haley," math, immunology, marriage or being married, not pronouncing Kamala Harris name the way she wants, colorblindness, and Christianity.
That's all according to a report from College Fix, which researched comments and statements from America's higher education industry.
The organization said, "Racism is the intentional mistreatment of someone on the basis of their race – at least in the normal world. But in academia, racism is anything producing disparities, according to Professor Ibram Kendi."
Then it delivered a list of "people, places, actions, and other things declared racist this year by higher ed, though a few came from K-12."
It explains, "If something needs 'anti-racist' action or 'diversity, equity, and inclusion,' it follows it must be racist, or else it would not need correction."
The list includes academic disciplines: "Chemistry, Classics, Evolutionary biology, Engineering, Immunology, Math and more.
Actions finding themselves targeted for condemnation include: Accusing a black student of plagiarism, Banning DEI, Being Asian but romantically interested in white people, Course evaluations, Criticizing a black female reporter, Criticizing plagiarism, Marriage/being married, Mentioning a black female congresswoman has fake eyelashes, Murder, Not pronouncing Kamala Harris' name right and pages more on the list.
Condemned beliefs include: Being pro-life/pointing out high abortion rates for black women, Christianity, Colorblindness and Nostalgia.
Among others were Counseling, Dentistry, Geology, Medicine, Ocean sciences, Dolly Parton's free book program, Dressing as a Native American at a Kansas City Chiefs game, Paintings of British countryside, Porcelain, Fried chicken, Conservatives, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and …
Greenhouses!
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – The IDF revealed the extensive spoils of its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon as it unveiled a massive display of the materiel it seized from the Iranian-backed proxy.
At an army base in Israel's north, the military laid out a large selection (but not all) of the 85,100 individual items captured from Hezbollah operatives, weapons caches, and tunnels. The haul included some 6,840 RPG rockets and anti-tank missiles, including 340 Russian-made Kornets, along with their launchers; 9,000 explosive devices and grenades; 2,250 unguided rockets and mortars; 2,700 assault rifles; 2,860 other guns including sniper rifles; and 60 anti-aircraft missiles.
The display also includes 20 Hezbollah vehicles captured by the IDF; 60,800 pieces of electronic equipment, communication devices, computers, and documents; and 300 pieces of surveillance equipment. The totality of this military gear is materiel, which the IDF captured during operations in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon since the expansion of the Swords of Iron war to include action across Israel's northern border in late September. Military representatives estimated the IDF had succeeded in destroying approximately 80% of Hezbollah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's weaponry is mainly sourced from Russia and Iran, with a smaller proportion also locally produced. China and even North Korea also supply one of the forwardmost militias attached to the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Israeli military officials said some of the weapons – particularly mortars – were up to the IDF's standards and would be used by the army.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel with the launching of thousands of anti-tank missiles in the north at people's homes in the now mostly-deserted border towns, as well as longer-range projectiles on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of the Hamas-led so-called "Al-Aqsa Flood" of the day before.
There was a certain acceptance of the status quo for nearly a year, until a Hezbollah missile killed 12 Druze children playing soccer in the northern Israeli town of Majdal Shams at the end of July. Within only a few days, one of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's right hand men – Fuad Shukr – was killed in an airstrike on the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by what was thought to be an Israeli bomb in an IRGC apartment complex in Tehran.
By the end of September, Nasrallah and almost the entire top echelon of the Iranian proxy was dead, and Israeli boots on the ground were attempting to dismantle Hezbollah's war machine. While Israel's political and military leadership is not so naive to think Hezbollah has been entirely defeated, displaying the weapons haul does send a strong message about the successes, which can be enjoyed if these Islamists are stood up to.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
What could go wrong with a public vote to change a state law, and ban slavery within its borders?
Colorado could explain. Officials now are in a legal fight over their practices that force prison inmates to work, because of the law change.
A report from Westword explains two Colorado inmates brought the case in 2022 after voters approved Amendment A, a 2018 ballot measure that eliminated a provision in the state constitution allowing "slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime … in all circumstances."
They argued that prevents the state from forcing prisoners to work under threat of losing privileges, being placed in isolation or adding time to their sentence, and now those allegations are part of a class action case against the state.
That ruling was from Denver District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace, who said the case launched by Richard Lilgerose and Harold Mortis will continue.
Wallce approved class-action status for the case, which means that any number of additional plaintiff-class individuals could benefit. That class includes "all people incarcerated by the State of Colorado who are now, or will in the future be subjected to mandatory work policies and practices of the Colorado Department of Corrections."
Valerie Collins, a lawyer working on the case, said, "It's huge. The lawsuit itself is the first in this kind of procedural case where a state has gotten rid of the exemption clause."
She noted other states have adopted language similar to Colorado's: Alabama, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Tennessee and Vermont.
Democrat Gov. Jared Polis has shown no inclination to back down.
"The state and the Polis administration have continued to fight against this case for years," explained David Seligman, a spokesman for Towards Justice. "That's why the court certifying the class action represents a really important step for the litigation."
The change had been pushed by a group called Abolish Slavery Colorado, and organizer Jumoke Emery said, "However we feel about the criminal justice system, whether we feel like it's doing a great job or a bad job, we don't want our criminal justice system to be slavery."
The amendment itself said it was not intended to "withdraw legitimate opportunities to work for individuals who have been convicted," but that it was instead to "prohibit compulsory labor from such individuals."
The report explains Mortis, recovering from COVID-19, was ordered to start working eight-hour shifts in a prison kitchen, and was told he could be removed from the "incentive-living program" if he didn't comply. Eventually he did.
Lilgerose, also still was recovering from COVID when he was ordered into a food-services job. He lost earned time when he stopped working.
Wallace pointed out that inmates were "being held in their cells more than twenty hours a day for failing to work" and noted state rules that confirm inmates can be "moved to a higher security prison or higher security area within their current facility because he or she refuses to work."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Pope Francis and Israel's Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli entered into a war of words over the weekend as the lawmaker bristled publicly at certain insinuations emanating from the pontiff.
For the second time in as many days, the pope condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza as "cruelty," while Israel accused him of "double standards."
"And with pain, I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty," the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer.
It was unclear if the pope was responding to a specific incident, but the IDF has long-claimed it targets terrorists, who do not wear identifying uniforms hiding among the civilian population. It also belies Hamas' own stated aim of engendering as much misery as possible among the populace it governs, precisely to garner support of the West and global figures, such as the pope.
The pope's stances proved too much for Chikli, who was particularly irked by the picture of Francis in a wheelchair seated next to a Nativity scene, where the baby Jesus is swaddled in a keffiyeh – a clear reference to the modern ahistorical nonsense of his being a "Palestinian." Chikli posted an open letter to the pope, in which he outlined some historical truths.
"Shalom, It is a well-known fact that Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, as described in Chapter 2 of the Gospel according to Matthew: "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king … "
Bethlehem is the same city where Rachel, our matriarch, died giving birth to Benjamin," Chikli wrote.
"It is also the same city in the northern part of the territory of the Tribe of Judah, where David, son of Jesse from Bethlehem, was born.
"David became the King of Israel, making Jerusalem its capital and building the altar on Mount Moriah, upon which Solomon, his son, later built the Temple," he added.
Chikli mentioned more history, such as the Bar Kochba Revolt between A.D. 132-135, which the Romans brutally put down. He said, "Hadrian was not satisfied with the physical destruction of the Jewish settlement; he anticipated the future, to the day when the Jews would seek to return to Judea. Therefore, he renamed the province of Judea to "Syria Palaestina," after the Philistines, the arch-enemy of Israel. The name of Jerusalem was also changed to "Aelia Capitolina," removing the ancient, historical name of the Jewish people. And, Jews were prohibited from visiting or settling in their holiest city."
The Israeli lawmaker had another zinger in store when he reminded the pontiff that on the Arch of Titus, but a few minutes walk from St. Peter's, there is a famous engraving of Roman soldiers carrying the spoils of war – including the menorah which stood in the Temple – back to Rome after the sack of Jerusalem.
Despite his criticism of the pope, Chikli ended his missive with an acknowledgement of how far inter Catholic-Jewish relations had come since the Second Vatican Council, and the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate.
"We know you are a close friend of the Jewish people; Just this past year, you met with families of hostages, injured soldiers, rabbis, and Jewish leaders from around the world. We appreciate these efforts and seek to deepen the relationship between the Vatican and the State of Israel as well as between the Christian and Jewish People. Your guidance, actions, and leadership have tremendous influence across the world. This is why I kindly ask you to clarify your stand regarding the genocide blood libel against the Jewish state."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took aim at Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Sunday, saying he wishes there were "a speaker with a spine" on federal budget issues.
Appearing on "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo on the Fox News Channel, Paul was discussing America's debt ceiling, and explained: "I'm one of the conservatives that has never voted to raise debt ceiling, but there are circumstances in which I would, and I've put those forward before."
"I have a plan to balance the budget in five years. If we had a speaker with a spine who put forward a budget and a plan to cut spending over a five-year period to balance the budget, I'll vote to raise the debt ceiling 'cause you still have to add debt during that five years.
"What happens typically, and this is where President Trump is right, since conservatives don't vote for it, the liberals rule the day and they say we'll vote for the debt ceiling but only if you spend more and create more debt. So it backfires.
"But there's another alternative. Rather than getting rid of the debt ceiling, you get a speaker with a spine who puts forward a spending plan that actually encourages conservatives like myself and some members of the Freedom Caucus to join on, and and we will support raising the debt ceiling, but only if you reform government.
"You have to reform government. This is probably the number one problem affecting the future of our country, is this $36 trillion debt, and we have to do something about it. So for me, let's put forward something that cuts spending and then see if we can get all the conservatives on board where you don't need Democrat votes at all.
But later in the same broadcast, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., came to Johnson's defense, saying he was doing "an amazing job."
"The fact is Mike Johnson's doing an amazing job with no margin for error," Gingrich said. "I ran the House pretty well for four years. I've over in known every speaker since then including Pelosi. What Johnson did this week is exactly the constitutional system.
"I think the bill we saw initially, the 1,500-page bill, was the last stand of the Biden old order establishment. Because Trump and Musk intervened, that was killed, and it then took Johnson a couple of votes working his way around to pass a bill which is like 136 pages. How can you blame a guy if he takes 1,500 pages, shrinks it to 136, works very closely with President Trump? What's the beef?
"Every Republican in the House has to grow up and recognize that when you have a one-vote margin or a two-vote margin, you had better all be on the same team, and that includes the 30 guys in the Freedom Caucus who wake up every morning saying, 'My vote's no. What's the topic?' I mean, they've got to grow up here and understand every time they do that, they empower Democrats.
"And if the Republicans are going to really govern," Gingrich continued, "then they've all got to become a team, they've all got to agree that after they're done fighting in the conference, they're all going to vote yes. And If they do that, Johnson and President Trump will be very successful.
"But I think what Johnson went through was exactly the constitutional process.
"The old order gave us the last stand, the new order broke it down. This is an example of Trump really being the de facto president. Biden was totally missing in action. So I think this was real progress."
On another topic, Bartiromo asked Sen. Paul, the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, if he would be supporting all of President-elect Trump's nominees during conformation hearings for the Cabinet.
"I couldn't be happier with his nominees. I couldn't have picked better. I mean some of 'em are people exactly I would have picked," Paul said. "The vast majority I will support on Day One."
"I think in the if first week you'll have half a dozen of 'em approved in the first week. I will control one committee, and that committee I pledge to get 'em through as quickly as possible."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
It is the Gateway Pundit that has assembled a list of what innocuously is called "a handful of Joe Biden's accomplishments."
Those include:
And for those accomplishments, Biden says, he has no regrets.
He's asked by an interviewer: "Any other regrets or anything you wished you would have done differently?"
"Well, I guess if I thought a lot about it there'd be something specifically, not generically," Biden said.
Social media commenters weren't at a loss for words:
"I can think of some!" said one.
And, "It is only a disaster from our point of view. From his point of view it was perfect."
And another offered Biden an excuse: "He doesn't remember any of it. Poor guy."
The report explained Biden was being interviewed by Ben Meiselas, whose visit was posted on YouTube:
This story was originally published by the WND News Center
A California man has been arrested in connection with this week's school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, in which a faculty member and a student were killed, in addition to the shooter who apparently killed herself.
The victims have been identified as student Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, and teacher Erin M. West. Six others were injured, including two hospitalized in critical condition.
A report in the Daily Mail said Alexander Paffendorf, 20, of Carlsbad, California, was arrested for allegedly plotting a coordinated attack with the Wisconsin shooter, Natalie "Samantha" Rupnow, 15, who died of a self-inflicted wound.
The report said Paffendorf was detained by the FBI on suspicion of "plotting" to coordinate a mass shooting at a government building in conjunction with Rupnow's shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School.
The report said an emergency gun violence restraining order was reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
"During an FBI interview, Paffendorf admitted to the FBI agents that he told Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun that he would target a government building," the order charges.
Agents also reviewed multiple messages between Paffendorf and Rupnow.
"A San Diego judge approved the order on Tuesday, and required Paffendorf to surrender any firearms and ammunition, and prohibited him from acquiring any more," the report confirmed. Neighbors told reporters they saw more than a dozen police cars arrive at the apartment complex where Paffendorf lives. He's now scheduled for a court date on January 3.
Authorities continue to try to find a motive for the shooting, suggesting a "combination" of factors, according to Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes.
Rupnow carried two handguns with her for the shooting, using only one, and police are trying to determine how she obtained them.
The Daily Mail said Vergara was a freshman at the school and she loved reading, art, singing, and playing keyboard.
A funeral is scheduled for Sunday.
West had worked at the school as the substitute coordinator before she was gunned down.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Amid the somewhat uneasy truce between Israel and Hezbollah – and putting to one side the unfolding mayhem in Syria – the IDF is still active in southern Lebanon in its attempts to further degrade the fighting strength and spirit of the Iranian proxy.
To that end, Israeli combat engineers from the elite Yahalom, or "Diamond," unit, who performed a sweep of the area, located an underground Hezbollah command center, as well as an access tunnel, and confiscated a significant weapons cache.
The IDF said engineering forces from the 188th Brigade discovered and destroyed an elaborate underground Hezbollah command facility in southern Lebanon, which had been used to direct attacks against Israeli communities in the Galilee region since the terrorist group started firing projectiles on Oct. 8, 2023.
In addition to the command center, the Israeli military revealed it had located several weapons depots near the tunnel entrance, including one inside a mosque, where hundreds of explosive devices, guns, grenades, and other equipment were stored. The facility itself contained surveillance equipment, weapons systems, and military hardware used by Hezbollah to coordinate terrorist operations.
Meanwhile in Israel's south, the war of annihilation that Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023, looks as though it might be winding down, amid a flurry of events, which have left Gaza's Islamist rulers increasingly isolated.
Reports emerged Wednesday of Hamas being at least more receptive to the idea of their most celebrated terrorists being sent into exile, rather than being released back to Gaza, and in exchange for some of Israel's hostages. There are still many details to iron out, but the significant uptick in negotiations has been catalysed by a renewed push by the United States, which includes CIA Director William Burns flying to Qatar, to attempt to finalize a deal.
The most likely destinations for those exiled are thought to be Turkey, to which it has been floated that Marwan Barghouti will be sent, and also Iran. Qatar, which is also taking part in the ceasefire/hostage release negotiations, despite being a financial backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot, might once have been a possible destination for exiled Hamas convicted murderers. However, shortly after the election of President-elect Donald Trump, Doha removed the offer of hospitality it had formerly granted to Hamas leaders, effectively expelling them from the country.
The news of a possible partial deal has not been received with universal support in Israel. The Tikva Forum, a hostage families group – distinct from the much larger main organization – said it was against a partial release.
Its main contention is that giving in to terrorists' demands only makes Israel's long-term security more precarious and will likely encourage further hostage-taking in the future. Many in the group are deeply concerned about their loved ones never being released if they acquiesce to a partial hostage release.