This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Brit Hume, a longtime and well-respected news commentator and analyst, suggested that now even American voters are seeing Joe Biden's level of senility.

Biden has a long record of mental and verbal stumbles and bumbles and mistakes. He's called on dead people at news conferences, he's related train stories that simply couldn't have happened, he's recalled conversations with foreign leaders after they were dead, and he's mixed up names of his family members.

At least once he casually wandered off across the White House lawn, triggering the Secret Service to jump into action to respond to his unknown and unplanned path, instead of walking directly to the structure. Repeatedly he's simply frozen into immobility during a public appearance.

A recent government report, from a special counsel looking at what federal laws Biden broke by keeping classified government documents from when he was a senator and vice president, recently concluded the evidence was there, but recommended against charging the 81-year-old.

Hume was commenting during Tuesday's Super Tuesday primaries, in which Biden lost one of the Democrat races to an unknown outsider.

A report at Breitbart noted Anchor Bret Baier said, "Last thing just going back to tonight if you thought back a year ago, even six months ago that we would be here looking at the poll numbers we are looking at Independents trending toward President Trump on several issues. Would you have believed that?"

Hume said, "I have always thought the age and acuity issue was a ticking time bomb. I was saying when it was not at all fashionable to say it that he was senile.

"Now I think he is palpably senile and the country sees it. And one of his challenges on Thursday night, Bret, would be whether he can assuage the concerns of those even within his party, who think and say that he is too old for the job"

Vast numbers of voters in polls, sometimes as high as 80%, say Biden is too old for the office he holds.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Dengue fever, carried by mosquitoes, is swamping the populations of Brazil Peru, Argentina, and Laos and causing major concerns in other parts of the world.

It has spiked fourfold in Brazil just this year following the release of millions of gene-edited mosquitos by the World Mosquito Program run by the United Nations.

Vaccines are being produced and distributed on a timetable pushed by the urgency of the events, and multiple deaths already are being reported.

The Guardian reported there have been nearly a million cases in Brazil, and almost the same number in Peru.

Government officials say there already have been dozens of deaths.

"Brazil has bought 5.2m doses of the dengue vaccine Qdenga, developed by Japanese drugmaker Takeda, with another 1.32m doses provided at no cost to the government," the report said, explaining three Brazilian states are in a state of emergency.

The ailment is spread by mosquitoes, which were described in an International Business Times report as the "most dangerous animal in the world."

It was the United Nations that previously cited a World Health Organization warning that more than half of the world was at risk from mosquito-transmitted dengue fever.

The U.N.'s response was to work with technology to create millions of "sterilized pests" and then release them, a campaign which reached Brazil only months ago.

"Countries have already started like Italy, Greece, and Mauritius, and others are on the point of doing it, for example, the United States, France, and Brazil," said Jeremy Bouyer, medical entomologist at the Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, a joint International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) / Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) initiative.

"We already have evidence that SIT can reduce the density of mosquitoes very significantly and now we must prove that it will also impact the transmission of the disease."

The WHO effort was intended to reduce the mosquito population globally, and thus cut back on the number of cases of malaria, Zika, Chikungunya, and yellow fever, too.

Brazilian military members have in recent days been hunting through junkyards and home roofs to find stagnant water puddles, in which mosquitoes breed.

Officials were blaming "global warming" as well as El Nino rain patterns that have brought extra moisture to Brazil this year.

"Dengue fever symptoms include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and an itchy skin rash. In some cases, the disease can cause a more severe hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding that can lead to death," the Guardian reported.

Jamie White reported on Infowars that the U.N.'s mosquito program was funded partially by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

That report pointed out that dengue fever reports are up by four times this year "following the release of millions of gene-edited mosquitoes by the United Nations' World Mosquito Program," which got $50 million in funding from the foundation.

Harvard Public Health reported late last year, "Brazilian health officials in five cities have been releasing clouds of lab-grown Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, which prevents dengue virus transmission to humans."

"The country will be the first to launch a nationwide program to release Wolbachia-modified mosquitoes, which are expected to protect up to 70 million people from dengue fever over the next 10 years. And it’s building a factory to scale up mosquito production: Beginning 2024, the factory will mass-produce five billion mosquitoes a year," the report said.

At AgenciaBrasil, a report said the current dengue incidence rate was 453 per 100,000 residents.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

There have been several divisions in the Catholic Church since its stated foundation during the time of Jesus' apostles.

One of the big events was the East-West schism in which the Roman Catholics separated from Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054 A.D. and each group went its own way.

There are others in the history books, and today, individual Catholic groups are deeply embroiled in disagreement over issues including the LGBT lifestyle choice, clerical sexual abuse, celebrating the liturgy, and much more.

Religion News Service reported not long ago that Pope Francis' Synod on Synodality recently found, "Participants felt this division as a profound sense of pain and anxiety."

The report noted, "A controversy about whether Catholic pro-choice politicians, including President Joe Biden, should be allowed to receive Communion at Mass has fractured Catholic communities in recent years and led U.S. Bishops to launch a $28 million three-year process to 'restore' and 'revive' the Eucharist."

Such division of opinion already has been described in published reports as scandalous.

And now it's worse.

A report at Just the News explains that "For the first time in recent memory, the 's-word' is being dusted off and bandied in some circles."

That word is schism.

The report said, "Just after the one-time Catholic Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis in 2013, he made an infamous lament over dinner with the cardinals who had just voted for him. 'May God forgive you for what you’ve done,' he said.

"Now, more than a decade later, an increasing number of church leaders openly agree with that sentiment, loudly bemoaning the direction taken by the first pontiff to be born in the Americas."

In fact, "schism" is "being dusted off and bandied in same circles," the report said.

Those talks mostly are being pushed by "progressive" changes that are being made by Francis, the pope, including how the church views homosexuals, transgenders, women, divorcees, and more.

The pope also has been busy demoting multiple conservatives in the church hierarchy.

The report said the disagreements have gotten so serious that "some 90 leading church thinkers – more than a dozen of them from the U.S. or with strong ties to the U.S. church – signed an open letter last week to 'all cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church.'"

They are calling for Francis to withdraw a declaration from late last year that authorized Catholic priests to "bless" homosexual duos. even though the Bible condemns homosexual behavior.

The report explained it's just the latest extremist move by Francis, who earlier had been blasted for his criticisms of nationalism and capitalism.

The report noted, "Francis is now 87 and in poor health, which means his critics will probably have to wait out his papacy while launching barbs from the sidelines. But the war over the future of the church is far from over The next battle will be over Francis’s successor."

Just the News noted of the 130 or so "cardinal electors" for the church, Francis has appointed 95, all expected to be of his liberal ideology.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

SACRAMENTO – When California Gov. Gavin Newsom released his preliminary 2024-25 state budget a month ago, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated spending would exceed revenue by a staggering $58 billion. Now, the Analyst’s office has just updated the deficit to $73 billion.

Newsom’s state budget in January called for $291.5 billion in spending, $208.7 billion of that in the general fund and the balance in special funds and bond obligations.

For historical reference, Gov. Pat Brown submitted a record budget in 1962-63 that proposed spending $2.9 billion. That was the entire general fund. Brown was engaged in the creation of the state’s interstate freeway system and the construction of the State Water Project, the last two substantial public works projects undertaken in the Golden State.

Today, however, the $73 billion deficit represents what the current governor would spend if he could print money. But of course, Newsom will not be able to engage in deficit spending – unless he runs for, and is elected to, the presidency of the United States.

So, what are California’s financial options? The obvious one is to raise taxes, though this week the legislative analysis left that topic alone. Instead, they suggested remedies involving accounting maneuvers such as taking money allocated for a specific purpose but not yet spent, and placing it in this fiscal 2024-25 budget to reduce the deficit. The second option suggested is to stop or reduce temporary spending. (Spending is spending and temporary spending is not explained.)

Other suggestions from the legislative office include using emergency reserves or cost cuts in ongoing state operations. The list of possibilities for reduced funding includes Medi-Cal and the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program. Some activities, notably climate control and energy, are projected to receive substantial additional tax funding next year, reflecting the priorities of both the state and federal Democrat Party leadership.

There is a pattern to this annual budget dance. The 2021-22 California state budget revenue was $221.7 billion. Its “rainy day” reserve was $81.3 billion. The next year, state revenue dropped to $206.3 billion and the reserve was reduced to $54 billion and change. The current state general fund budget has revenue pegged at $202.4 billion with a $37.8 billion reserve.

The Legislative Analyst’s report said the California economic contraction this year has produced $24 billion less revenue than expected. That reduction in tax payments is ongoing today, so the current 2023-24 budget may face its problems.

California issues what is called the “May revise,” an update on the state’s financial condition in preparation for budget adoption by the legislature in July.

The great unknown will come in late April and May when personal and corporate income taxes are paid. California predicted these taxes would total $51 billion.

The California economy is in serious decline. And Gavin Newsom, who wants to be president of the United States, owns that phenomenon.

State spending, while increasing, is dependent more and more upon huge federal government allocations for costly problems such as COVID-19, housing, homelessness, and border incursions by millions of people. Texas remains the favorite border state of illegals, but California is number two, and much of the California border, particularly in Imperial County, is open space.

But federal programs deliberately fuel state spending. The federal government imposes state participation to receive federal cash, so participation discourages and prevents budget constraints.

If the California economy does not recover and grow, obviously state spending must be curtailed. The alternative, a substantial tax increase, would further suppress the state’s once-robust economy.

All of California’s state constitutional officers are Democrats. The State Senate is controlled by a 32 to 8 margin by Democrats and the Assembly has a Democrat majority of 62 to 18. So the political responsibility for successes and failures is owned entirely by Democrats.

A Legislative Analyst’s Office chart, using 2023-24 budgets projected through 2025-26, shows increases in climate change programs, and a doubling of health, human resources, and public transportation with massive cuts in criminal justice, business, and labor spending.

California voters have tied the hands of the legislature and governor when it comes to education so that funding will be relatively stable.

Bottom line: This week’s analysis of California state government finance has national implications for a governor who is most often touted as a replacement for the ailing president, Joe Biden. How exactly does Gavin Newsom sell a floundering economy and a bankrupt state government as a model for America?

The timing is particularly difficult for Newsom, as his budgetary problems will be making big headlines as California struggles to develop its fiscal plan in July – less than 30 days from the Democratic National Convention being held Aug. 13-16 in Chicago.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Tucker Carlson: We're in Moscow tonight. We're here to interview the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. We'll be doing that soon.

There are risks to interviewing this. So we've thought about it carefully over many months. Here's why we're doing it.

First, because it's our job. We're in journalism. We have to inform people. Two years into a war that's reshaping the entire world, most Americans are not informed. They have no real idea what's happening in this region, here in Russia or 600 miles away in Ukraine. But they should know, they're paying for much of it in ways they might not fully yet perceive. The war in Ukraine is a human disaster. It's left hundreds of thousands of people dead. An entire generation of young Ukrainians. And has depopulated the largest country in Europe. But the long-term effects are even more profound. This war has utterly reshaped the global military and trade alliances, and the sanctions that followed have as well. And in total, they have upended the world economy. The post-World War 2 economic order, the system that guaranteed prosperity in the West for more than 80 years, is coming apart very fast, and along with it, the dominance of the U.S. dollar.

These are not small changes. They are history-altering developments. They will define the lives of our grandchildren. Most of the world understands this perfectly well. They can see it. Ask anyone in Asia or the Middle East what the future looks like. And yet the populations of the English-speaking countries seem mostly unaware. They think that nothing has changed. And they think that because no one has told them the truth. Their media outlets are corrupt. They lie to their readers and viewers, and they do that mostly by omission. For example, since the day the war in Ukraine began, American media outlets have spoken to scores of people from Ukraine, and they've done scores of interviews with Ukrainian President Zelensky. We have put in a request for an interview with Zelensky. We hope he accepts. But the interviews he's already done in the United States are not traditional interviews. They are fawning pep sessions, specifically designed to amplify Zelensky's demand that the U.S. enter more deeply into a war in Eastern Europe and pay for it. That is not journalism. It is government propaganda, propaganda of the ugliest kind, the kind that kills people.

At the same time, our politicians and media outlets have been doing this, promoting a foreign leader like he's a new consumer brand, not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview the president of the other country involved in this conflict, Vladimir Putin. Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine, or what his goals are now. They've never heard his voice. That's wrong. Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they're implicated in, and we have the right to tell them about it because we are Americans, too. Freedom of speech is our birthright.

We were born with the right to say what we believe. That right cannot be taken away no matter who is in the White House. But they're trying anyway. Almost three years ago, the Biden administration illegally spied on our text messages and then leaked the contents to their servants in the news media. They did this to stop a Putin interview that we were planning. Last month, we're pretty certain they did the same thing once again, but this time we came to Moscow anyway.

We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States. And we want it to remain prosperous and free.

We paid for this trip ourselves. We took no money from any government or group, nor are we charging people to see the interview. It is not behind a paywall. Anyone can watch the entire thing shot live to tape and unedited on our website, TuckerCarlson.com. Elon Musk, to his great credit, has promised not to suppress or block this interview once we post it on his platform X, and we're grateful for that. Western governments, by contrast, will certainly do their best to censor this video on other, less-principled platforms, because that's what they do. They are afraid of information they can't control. But you have no reason to be afraid of it.

We are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview, but we are urging you to watch it. You should know as much as you can. And then, like a free citizen and not a slave, you can decide for yourself.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Huge numbers of Americans are demanding they want a border wall to protect the United States from the flood of illegal aliens that have come about because of Joe Biden's open border demands.

And they fault Biden for the problem, pointing out that they think he's pushing for a "civil war" with his open border demands.

The Washington Examiner has reported on a new poll.

The survey, from I&I/TIPP, revealed almost 60% of respondents want to finish the border wall President Trump launched.  The poll found that nearly 6 in 10 want the border wall completed.

According to the Examiner, "The score wasn’t close: Among all respondents, 59% supported constructing a wall along our southern border, either ‘strongly’ (41%) or ‘somewhat’ (18%). Just 32% oppose the idea, either ‘strongly’ (17%) or ‘somewhat’ (15%).”

GOP support, at 85%, is a huge majority, while even 43% of Joe Biden's Democrats support the plan he has fought for ever since he took office and canceled President Trump's security measures.

Biden abandoned hundreds of millions of dollars in supplies that already had been positioned to be used on a security barrier, letting long stacks of steel beams and barricades rust in the weather after taxpayers purchased the supplies.

The reasoning for the support isn't complicated. The poll showed that voters "fear that the crisis started by President Joe Biden could turn into a civil war."

"War between the states? It’s not at all far-fetched. Many Americans see illegal immigration as a make-or-break issue," the survey said.

By a margin of 49%-38%, voters said that they are concerned about open conflict over illegal immigration.

It turns out that those Democrats in Biden's party are just as concerned about that issue as members of the Republican Party.

Further, a report at The Center Square said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been joined by 13 other Republican governors in insisting they have the right to secure borders – and the right to self-defense.

"Half of the governors of the United States have joined with Texas in our cause to make sure states should do everything possible to secure our border," Abbott said. "We are here to send a loud and clear message that we are banding together to fight to ensure that we will be able to maintain our constitutional guarantee that states will be able to defend against any type of imminent danger or an invasion that has been threatened by Joe Biden and his abject refusal to enforce the immigration laws of the United States of America."

He cited the self-defense clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3.

Joining Abbott were the governors of Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Utah.

Texas is in a pitched court battle with Biden over his demands that the state allow an open border for illegals coming from around the world through Mexico into the United States.

Some governors even have pledged to send their National Guard troops to help Texas secure its border.

The report explained, "Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, 'Obviously by the strong showing and the sheer number of governors that are stepping up across the country, it's very clear that this is not just a fight that Texas is having. This is a fight that all of us have to engage in.'"

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

As a mass exodus continues from California, an editor at the Los Angeles Times is begging those departing not to criticize the Golden State as they leave.

"To the people leaving California: May the road rise to meet you as you seek better lives in new places. Now, can you please extend some goodwill to those of us who remain?" wrote letters editor Paul Thornton in a commentary titled: "If you want to leave, fine. But don't insult California on the way out."

"Several friends and members of my extended family have moved out of this state, so I can understand the factors that drive such decisions. But reasons to leave don't explain the impulse to insult California on the way out."

Thornton admitted the numbers of folks exiting the region are simply staggering.

"More than 800,000 Californians moved away in 2022, and many thousands more left last year," he explained. "Often, the departees, cash in hand from the sale of their $1-million bungalows, feel the need to express disdain for their home state, and even some anger too."

"The urge to rationalize a difficult decision can be powerful, and trading an overpriced 900-square-foot home in L.A. for a mansion in Texas often comes with a big catch: You need to stay indoors half the year and make good use of all that extra, climate-controlled space.

"As we watch you – our aging parents, our friends, our neighbors with kids the same age – eye Idaho and Nevada for home listings, we hear the digs against California. Some are subtle, and some less so."

Thornton recalled a personal relative last year who, "regaling me with tales of the charming small town he found several states away, said that his neighbors admonished him to not 'bring those weird California ways' to his new home."

And which ways would those be? I have a hunch it isn't California's low property tax rate and zoning rules that conspire to push up home values so homeowners can sell their houses for a huge profit.

Perhaps it's our embrace of LGBTQ+ Californians. Or it's our liberal politics, with the state Republican Party shrunk to irrelevance after its vicious attempt in 1994 to marginalize immigrants with Proposition 187.

Perhaps I'm sensitive because California – and especially Los Angeles – used to be the place people would come to. And plenty still moves here, especially immigrants. I come from an immigrant family blessed by the working-class riches our state once offered.

But it doesn't work out for everyone, and I've seen people decide to leave without verbally trashing the place. ...

California is big, powerful, and therefore tempting to disparage. We have 39 million people, Hollywood and Shohei Ohtani. This state is a haven for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, but income disparity and the housing crunch are critical problems we have to fix for progressive ideals to match the reality on the ground.

If you must leave California for Texas, Arizona, New England, or anywhere else, don't be a person who trash-talks the home of 39 million people. You don't hear many new Californians (they exist!) bash Nebraska or Minnesota.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Open Doors US, working under its worldwide name, Open Doors International, to provide food, medicine, trauma care, legal help, safe housing, and spiritual support for Christians, has released its newest World Watch List of persecution of Christians.

It stunningly reveals that some five million Christians were added to the list of those facing "high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith" in just the last year.

A year ago that total was 360 million; now it's 365 million.

"This means that 1 in 7 Christians experience pressure or violence because of their faith in Jesus," the report said.

At No. 1 among the worst offenders is North Korea, where the Kim dynasty "continues to crush any perceived threat to its authority, including religious belief. If they aren’t executed outright, Christians discovered in North Korea risk imprisonment in North Korea’s infamous network of labor camps," the report said.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most violent place in the world for Christians.

"Faith-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa far outstripped those of any other region in the annual report. This has been a trend for several years. More than 82% of Christians killed because of their faith were in Nigeria (ranked No. 6 on the 2024 World Watch List), according to Open Doors’ World Watch List research," the report said.

Ryan Brown, CEO, said, "It's heartbreaking to hear about what our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing in Nigeria and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of us can't imagine what it's like to live in fear for our very lives because of our faith in Christ, but what a testimony these faithful believers are to the rest of us. We must continue to remember them in prayer as well as emulate their faithfulness in our contexts."

He continued, "As Christian persecution rises to the most significant levels in history, there's an opportunity for us as believers to come alongside and support our brothers and sisters in Christ as they are enduring persecution for the sake of the Gospel. There is no better reminder than the annual release of the World Watch List that we need to stay informed about and in prayer for our persecuted family members throughout the world."

Another region most active in the war against Christians is India.

"Ethnoreligious violence in Manipur States left hundreds of Christians dead and thousands displaced, and hundreds of other Christians in Chhattisgarh State were told to either renounce their faith or leave their homes."

China doesn't escape criticism, either.

There, an "alarming spike in the number of churches and Christian properties that were attacked or closed down" was documented.

The report documented:

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Don Lemon, the fired CNN anchor who once probed the possibility that a missing airline jet was sucked into a black hole, has found a new place for a brand-new show, and X marks the spot.

Both Lemon and X, formerly Twitter, made the announcement Tuesday.

"I've heard you," tweeted Lemon, an outspoken homosexual, "and today I am back bigger, bolder, freer!"

"My new media company's first project is The Don Lemon Show. It will be available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening. And you'll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world.

"I know now more than ever we need a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors. This is just the beginning so stay tuned."

Or its part, X noted: "We're delighted to announce a new content partnership with @DonLemon for his new project, The Don Lemon Show. The award-winning TV journalist will share his unique and honest voice in 30-minute episodes, three times a week, covering politics, culture, sports, and entertainment. The show will run exclusively first on X. Welcome Don!"

One commenter reacted to Lemon's announcement, saying: "All the liberals suddenly love Twitter and 'free speech' after their mainstream job gets canceled. LOL."

Ironically the same day Lemon got the boot from CNN, Fox News pulled its popular prime-time anchor Tucker Carlson off the air, and Carlson has since been broadcasting his new show on X.

"Congratulations," Carlson wrote Lemon regarding Don's new program. "It's a new world."

And billionaire Elon Musk who purchased Twitter simply told Lemon, "Welcome to X."

In Lemon's final days at CNN last year, the anchor sparked controversy by focusing on Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's age, as well as butting heads with his on-air colleagues on the network's morning show.

In a post-CNN exit interview with local news affiliate ABC24, Lemon discussed his removal from the network.

"I don't believe in platforming liars and bigots and insurrectionists and election deniers and putting them on the same footing as people who are telling the truth, people who are fighting for what's right, people who are abiding by the constitution," he said. "That would be a dereliction of journalistic duty."

Also on Tuesday, X announced a new partnership with former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An ancient gold coin, estimated to be some 1,000 years old, has been found in Norway, and carries an image on one side of the figure of a man holding a Bible, with the slogan "Jesus Christ, King of Those Who Reign."

It is CBN that documented the discovery by an individual using a metal detector, according to a report by Innlandet County Municipality.

The Norwegian report said the gold piece was found in the central Norwegian mountains.

The CBN report explained, "The coin was first introduced in Byzantium around 960 A.D. It was minted in what was then called the Eastern Roman Empire, probably in the empire's capital of Constantinople, now known as Istanbul," according to government officials.

The one side portrays Christ holding a Bible and the other is thought to be the depictions of Basil II and Constantine VIII, two brothers who ruled together as emperors.

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