This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump says he'll make his decision on whether the U.S. will join Israel in the destruction of Tehran's nuclear plants soon.
"Within two weeks."
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement just a short time ago:
"Regarding the ongoing situation in Iran," she said. "I know there has been a lot of speculation amongst all of you in the media regarding the president's decision-making and whether or not the United States will be directly involved. In light of that news, I have a message directly from the president. And I quote. 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.'"
The president has met with his advisers in the Situation Room at least twice already this week.
This developed as Israel was launching repeated waves of attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and military leadership, leaving one in shambles and the other dead. Iran has been responding by bombing Israel's population and hospitals.
There are reports he has approved attack plans, but held off on implementing them to see if Iran will be willing to negotiate.
He's repeated his commitment to his agenda that Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons multiple times.
There are members of his party, including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has said the U.S. needs to "finish the job" with Iran.
Others are adhering to the "America First" agenda adopted by Trump, calling for restraint.
"A poll out on Wednesday from Fox News found voters split on the issues Trump is facing. A majority of registered voters surveyed believe Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear program would result in more danger. But a majority also believes Iran poses a national security threat to the U.S.," Fox reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, "We're not just fighting our enemy. We're fighting your enemy. For God's sake, they chant, 'death to Israel, death to America.' We're simply on their way. And this could reach America soon."
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened, "The Americans should know, the Iranian nation will not surrender, and any intervention by the U.S. will be met with a forceful response and irreparable damage. War will be met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike. Iran will not submit to any demands or dictates."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States knows where Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding, calling him an "easy target," but adds he's not looking to kill him for the time being.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding," Trump said on Truth Social.
"He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.
"But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
"Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
"UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" the president added.
Trump also Tuesday expressed confidence in American-made weaponry being used in the Israel-Iran war, saying "Nobody does it better than the good ol' USA."
"We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran," Trump said.
"Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn't compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured 'stuff.'
"Nobody does it better than the good ol' USA."
In an another post early Tuesday, Trump stated: "I have not reached out to Iran for 'Peace Talks' in any way, shape, or form. This is just more HIGHLY FABRICATED, FAKE NEWS! If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. They should have taken the deal that was on the table – Would have saved a lot of lives!!!"
Trump is getting mixed reaction online, including:
"FAFO. It's the American way. We don't play games with terrorists. We blow them up before they blow us up."
"Control of the skies reflects technological superiority, but true success lies in its ability to promote peace."
"If Iran fires rockets at Israel from now on, America will be disgraced in front of the world."
"WE? What's with this WE sh**? Not our war!"
"You said no new wars and now you're getting us into a endless ones. American lives are now going to be on the line and you are going to have blood on their hands. You said America first not Israel first. This is going to end terribly. Stop now and focus on AMERICA."
"Well technically, according to Israel, this war has been going on for 30 years. So technically it isn't a new war. But I agree. I did not vote for this."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Supreme Court has ruled several times in recent years that state governments cannot impose their religious ideology on business operators and require them to abide by, and promote, those beliefs.
Those decisions came from the insistence of Colorado officials that business owners there promote the LGBT lifestyle choices or not do business in the state.
Both times, Colorado lost at the high court, including once when the state's officials were criticized for their open "hostility" to Christianity.
But the message is getting through, as a judge hearing a case involving a New York photographer ordered to violate her Christian faith in order to do business there has issued an injunction stopping the state's attack in its tracks.
A report at Townhall explains the development:
"U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. of the District Court for the Western District of New York granted Emilee Carpenter, the photographer, a preliminary injunction shielding her from being compelled to violate her religious beliefs."
She runs a wedding photography business and New York. Attorney General Letitia James, who recently was accused of mortgage fraud, insisted that the state could force Carpenter to violate her faith.
The federal court confirmed that Carpenter "believes that opposite-sex marriage is a gift from God" and that she uses her company to " to celebrate such marriages."
Promoting the LGBT ideology, including same-sex duos, would violate her faith.
The district court said, "The Supreme Court held that a state public accommodation law may violate a business owner's free-speech rights under the First Amendment to the extent it 'compel[s] an individual to create speech she does not believe.'"
The judge found that her work product is an expressive product, and she creates works of art that are protected by the Constitution.
Geraci rejected state claims that the work did not include a specific message.
The injunction will be in place, protecting Carpenter from fines and other punishment, while the case moves through the courts.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals means that a prosecutor in Wayne County now must face a court case that charges him with retaliation against a resident for challenging the county's money-making car forfeiture scheme.
It is the Institute for Justice that explained Robert Reeves sued the county and prosecutor Dennis Doherty.
The decision clears the way for Reeves's First Amendment and malicious prosecution claims to proceed through the court system.
"Today's decision sends a powerful message: When government officials abuse their authority to silence critics, they don't get a free pass," explained Kirby Thomas West, a lawyer with IJ. "Robert stood up to Wayne County's unconstitutional forfeiture program, and today the court has confirmed that he has a right to hold the prosecutor accountable for retaliating against him for taking that stand."
Reeves charged that Doherty twice dragged him into baseless criminal proceedings "to punish him for challenging the county's civil forfeiture machine," the IJ explained.
And the court rejected the prosecutor's claim of absolute immunity, concluding "the assistant prosecutor can be sued for using the criminal process as a tool of retaliation."
The appeals court explained what had happened.
"After Robert Reeves challenged Wayne County's controversial civil forfeiture program in federal court, he says the County retaliated—reviving a dormant criminal case and selectively prosecuting him for bringing that suit. The charges against Reeves were ultimately dismissed (twice) for lack of evidence. This appeal asks whether Reeves's claims of retaliatory prosecution can survive governmental immunity and pleading challenges."
It said, "Doherty's immunity turns on the legal character of the conduct alleged—an issue that can be resolved on the face of the original pleadings. Plaintiff alleged that Doherty contacted the new officer in charge of the task force to seek clarification, recommended submission of the warrant request, and directed the officer in charge to file that request. Those allegations suggest that Doherty's conduct was aimed at reviving a dormant prosecution and falls within the category of investigative or administrative acts, not quasi-judicial ones. Because the alleged conduct is not protected by absolute immunity, the trial court erred in dismissing the claims against Doherty on that basis."
The fight developed when Javone Williams—an associate with whom plaintiff had previously worked—asked him to meet at a job site, where plaintiff demonstrated that he knew how to operate a skid-steer loader.
"Plaintiff then drove to a nearby gas station, where he was stopped by officers assigned to a Michigan State Police task force investigating thefts of rental equipment from Home Depot. Officers questioned plaintiff about the skid-steer loader, detained him briefly in a local jail, and then released him without filing charges."
They also grabbed his 1991 Chevrolet Camaro and $2,280 in cash, which were retained as part of "omnibus forfeiture proceedings" submitted to the Wayne County Prosecutor.
Later in 2019 police sought arrest warrants for several individuals, including plaintiff and Williams, but did not follow through with them.
The next year, plaintiff helped lead a federal class action challenging the constitutionality of Wayne County's forfeiture program, the ruling said.
The day after the case was filed, the county directed state police to release the assets seized from him.
And that same day, Doherty "instigated" a filing for which Doherty again was arrested, leading to a district court to dismiss the charges for lack of evidence.
A second filing also was dismissed sometime later.
The IJ explained the forfeiture scheme was a "controversial legal tool called civil forfeiture" because it let the county confiscate private property without charging any crime.
The IJ said, "While today's ruling does not end the litigation, it breathes new life into Reeves's quest to expose the county's vendetta and to secure damages for the years-long cloud that wrongful felony charges cast over his life and his landmark effort to reform forfeiture in Detroit."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has offered some stunning advice to residents of his state, should California's pro-illegal alien riots encompass the streets there.
'You don't have to sit there and be a sitting duck."
His comments came in an interview on the Rubin Report.
"And we also have a policy that if you're driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle, and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety.
"And so if you drive off and hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you. You don't have to sit there and be a sitting duck, and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets. You have a right to defend yourself in Florida."
Multiple nights have been violated by mobs in California who have been protesting federal enforcement of immigration laws. They actually erupted last weekend when federal agents were delivering warrants and making arrests in a cartel crime investigation that involved money laundering.
Since then, officers have been hurt, vehicles torched and buildings vandalized by the pro-illegal alien radicals.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Brian Wilson, the co-founder of the Beach Boys who once, by fan Tom Petty, was compared to Beethoven, has died at the age of 82.
It was Petty who credited Wilson for creating "some of history's most intricately woven pop songs."
A report at CNN said his death was confirmed in an announcement by his family.
"We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away," his family said on social media. "We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world."
His remarkable career included not just the highs, awards, honors and popularity, but also the lows, struggles with substance abuse and mental illness.
"His story, by all accounts, is one of resilience. Despite a childhood scarred by his father's abuse, becoming partially deaf, and the years of haunting voices in his head from schizoaffective disorder, the two-time Grammy Award winner went on to become the 'reigning king of pop melody,' as the Denver Post once put it, often bringing to life songs that told a much different tale than his own reality," the report explained.
Wilson once told the New York Times he wrote those happy songs, "to get as close to paradise as I can."
The report noted: "The oldest of three brothers, Wilson was born on June 20, 1942, in Inglewood, California. His love for music began early, but so did the abuse from his father, who, during bouts of rage and depression, would beat Wilson with a belt or take out his artificial eyeball (he'd lost an eye in an industrial accident) and make Wilson look at the empty space."
Wilson escaped into his music, and influenced by the Four Freshmen, Phil Spector, George Gershwin and the Beatles, wrote his first, "Surfer Girl," in 1961.
Then came "Surfin" and not much later, the "Beach Boys."
He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1964 and turned to working as a studio artist.
But his work continued. In 1966 came "Pet Sounds," A 13-track album now in the No. 2 spot on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."
The report explained he was troubled by hearing voices because of what he called a schizoaffective disorder, saying, "Every few minutes the voices say something derogatory to me" and his antidote was to be singing and writing songs.
He married Marilyn Rovell, and they divorced in 1979. He met his second wife, Melinda Ledbetter, in 1986.
He staged another resurrection in 2004, with "SMiLE."
"In Wilson's mind, The Beach Boys – as the world knew them – broke up in 1998, after Carl Wilson died of lung cancer. Dennis Wilson died in 1983 in a swimming accident," the report said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Scientists working with the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded only three months after the COVID-19 pandemic began that it likely was genetically manufactured and escaped a Chinese lab, according to a report from Just the News.
That's in direct conflict with the often-repeated claims from Anthony Fauci, then a public health official and presidential adviser on COVID, that it had evolved in nature.
The report explained the bombshell revelation now is at the heart of investigations into a possible U.S. intelligence cover-up.
A slide from the DIA National Center for Medical Intelligence presentation on June 25, 2020, charges, "SARS-CoV-2 Spike Appears to be a Chimera."
"Chimera" is considered a "genetically engineered pathogen, the report said.
The study traces the process used for creating the new virus to an earlier manuscript that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, considered by most in the medical and science communities now to have been the source of the China virus that circled the globe killing millions, and triggering the sudden development of mRNA shots that now have been confirmed to have triggered side effects, some fatal, in millions.
The special presentation, according to the report, said, "Break points align with those identified by WIV Scientists in 2008."
Further, the study found, "The molecular biology capabilities of WIV and the genome assessment are consistent with the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 was a lab-engineered virus that was part of a bank of chimeric viruses … at WIV that escaped from containment."
The stunning revelation that destroys the long-claimed story line that COVID developed in nature and jumped to humans, was uncovered recently under the Freedom of Information Act from U.S. intelligence agencies, the report said.
"At least four whistleblowers have been interviewed in recent months by the Intelligence Community Inspector General's office, the DIA's internal watchdog and the FBI about the early findings from DIA's National Center for Medical Intelligence and whether there was an effort to keep those genetic sleuths from communicating their evidence to other intelligence agencies, government officials told Just the News," the report said.
"One area of focus is whether intelligence agencies sought to suppress the DIA research from a highly public release by President Joe Biden's Director of National Intelligence Office in 2021 that assessed that COVID was 'equally likely' to have come from nature or a lab accident, the officials said."
The report said Sen. Roger "Doc" Marshall, R-Kan., earlier warned that information about COVID had been censored and that was "an alarming breach of integrity in the investigative process."
Multiple whistleblowers also have offered similar claims about COVID, its source and investigations into its origins.
The report said the FBI has begun a "sprawling criminal investigation" into COVID cover-ups. Just recently, FBI chief Kash Patel revealed his agents obtained the long-sought cellphones belonging to Fauci during the pandemic.
Members of Congress long have sought details about COVID, its origins and its path that left the world economy shaken.
For example, the report noted, already revealed was that intelligence reports showed a "biological hazard cleanup" at Wuihan in 2019, weeks after the first death was reported, a type of cleanup consistent with a lab leak.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Contradicts claims that puberty blockers, surgeries needed for mental health
For years already, promoters of the transgender ideology, those pushing chemicals for kids to delay puberty and even body disfiguring surgeries, have claimed that those "treatments" are necessary for the mental health of the child.
Rather than counsel children for a period of time while they sort through their dysphoria, which mostly they do, that segment of the medical industry pushes hard for extreme actions.
Many parents even have been threatened that their confused son or daughter probably will attempt suicide if they don't agree to pursue that agenda.
A National Institutes of Health study essentially debunked that completely, but was suppressed. Until now.
A report from the Washington Examiner reveals that the NIH study "was unceremoniously posted online last month."
The author, Johanna Olson-Kennedy and others, posted online the document that confirmed "depression symptoms in adolescents diagnosed with gender dysphoria 'did not change significantly over 24 months' of being on puberty blockers."
Congress has begun investigating the circumstances of the suppression of the study's tax-funded results.
Olson-Kennedy had explained to the New York Times last year she and others deliberately withheld publication of the federally funded research, claiming they did "not want our work to be weaponized."
It got its start in 2015 with a $5.7 million NIH grant, which eventually totaled nearly $10 million.
The results were that there were essentially no changes in depression symptoms after children were on the so-called transgender drugs.
A Dutch study, from several years earlier, did claim that those drugs helped.
"Olson-Kennedy and her co-authors argue in the paper that, although the patients' mental health remained stable during the study period, 'it is likely that puberty blockers prevent the deterioration of mental health,'" the Examiner reported.
But that agenda-driven conclusion immediately was blasted for being more of a hypothesis than a study finding.
"A clear acknowledgment of their data would reveal that puberty blockers offer no mental health benefit. Despite this, the release of these results had been delayed for years," said Dr. Kurt Miceli. "The full study once again demonstrates a lack of high-quality evidence supporting the so-called 'affirming' model."
Because of Olson-Kennedy's political decision to withhold the tax-paid study, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and others launched an investigation.
Olson-Kennedy, the report revealed, "runs the Center for Transyouth Health and Development through Children's Hospital Los Angeles and is one of the most prominent youth gender physicians in the United States."
The operation has given dozens of children chemicals and even "cross-sex" surgical procedures, and one, Clementine Breen, weeks ago filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Olson-Kennedy.
The Department of Health and Human Services has cited the political influences involved in the issue.
It was reported earlier that then Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., now secretary of state, openly wondered if the NIH was "hiding" the dangers of sex-change treatments.
Rubio at the time accused the activists from "masquerad[ing] political ideology under a veil of scientific legitimacy."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Elon Musk, President Trump's former chief of DOGE, held nothing back over his opposition to the Republicans' "Big Beautiful Bill" Tuesday, posting on his platform X that is outrageous and "a disgusting abomination."
Wrote Musk: "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
Besides increasing spending, the bill raises the federal debt ceiling by $5 trillion. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., one of two GOP votes against the bill in the House had a two-word reply to Musk's post: "He's right."
In recent days, Musk has distanced himself from the administration, both officially and in his comments about the massive spending bill.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Musk's post during Tuesday's press briefing, dismissing the complaint and emphasizing that President Trump is "sticking to" his promotion of the bill, which the House passed and is pending in the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, Trump is slamming Republican senators who have vowed not to support the bill, Tuesday targeting Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
"Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas," Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social. "His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can't stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!"
Paul posted earlier, "I want to see the tax cuts made permanent, but I also want to see the $5 trillion in new debt removed from the bill. At least 4 of us in the Senate feel this way."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
An agenda to deprive after-school Bible clubs of the same access to schools that other clubs were granted routinely now is costing the taxpayers in the state of Hawaii.
A report from Liberty Counsel, which fought the state on behalf of Child Evangelism Fellowship and its Good News Clubs, revealed that the state appropriations bill, just signed by Gov. Josh Green, provides $100,000 to CEF following a court ruling.
It was last December that a federal judge granted Liberty Counsel a permanent injunction on behalf of CEF against the state that provided equal access to school facilities.
That access had been "unlawfully denied" by the state Department of Education and six different elementary schools, the report said.
The injunction granted CEF Hawaii "prevailing party" status in the dispute, a move that now protects the Good News Clubs from the previous viewpoint discrimination, but also calls for the state to cover litigation costs.
The result now is that the state will give CEF's clubs access to schools equal to other similarly situated organizations across the state.
Liberty Counsel reported, "During the lawsuit, Hawaii's Department of Education conceded that one school denied CEF Hawaii use of its facilities based on religion, while another school's denial was due to a 'misapplication' of school policies. CEF Hawaii contended that after it appealed the 'blatant religious discrimination' of these denials to the Hawaii State Department of Education, it never received any response, nor did school officials take any corrective actions."
Other organizations that had been granted access included the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girls on the Run, A+ After School Programs, and YMCA.
The state had allowed CEF's Good News Clubs in more than a dozen schools on Oahu and other islands before COVID-19.
"Then, after restricting after-school programs due to COVID-19, schools fully restored after-school programs in 2022. However, the Hawaii State Department of Education, through four of its superintendents and other officials, had denied every request submitted by CEF to restart its programs and either expressly or effectively denied every appeal, while allowing access for other similar groups to meet after school on campus," Liberty Counsel explained.
There are more than 3,000 Good News Clubs in elementary schools across the nation.
"This is a reasonable judgment and a great victory for Child Evangelism Fellowship, parents, and the students in Hawaii public schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities. Child Evangelism Fellowship gives children a safe space that offers moral and character development from a Christian viewpoint. Good News Clubs should be in every public elementary school," said Liberty Counsel chief Mat Staver.
His organization has represented Good News Clubs in multiple similar fights nationally over the years, and never has lost a case.