ORLANDO, Florida—The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association are supporting the “No Kings” protests this weekend, and teachers union critics explained why at the Moms for Liberty National Summit Friday. “To be clear about what the teachers unions do, you guys see the ‘No Kings’ protests going on—did you know that the NEA and the AFT are funding those?” Ryan Walters, former Oklahoma State superintendent and CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, said on stage at the Moms for Liberty summit. “They are funding to fight President [Donald] Trump.” Meanwhile, he said, “I can’t applaud Trump enough” for aiming to get rid of the federal Department of Education. Walters and his fellow panelists explained that the teachers unions have used their position of influence to push radical leftist ideologies such as critical race theory—which teaches that America is institutionally racist—and transgender ideology, and they oppose efforts to reform education that would return it to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The teachers unions defend critical race theory and transgender ideology as efforts that promote diversity and inclusion. The American Federation of Teachers appears as a partner of the “No Kings” protests Saturday. Organizers claim to have 2,400 protests scheduled across the country. The National Education Association’s advocacy website encourages people to participate in “No Kings Day” protests, to “join communities across the nation to make clear to President Trump that America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to deploy the National Guard in response to what he called a “planned Antifa demonstration.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that agitators with Antifa may be embedding themselves in the protests. Neither the American Federation of Teachers nor the National Education Association immediately responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about funding the protests. Aaron White, CEO of the Freedom Foundation, explained at the Moms for Liberty National Summit that both unions spend large amounts of money on political activism, despite that their ostensible purpose is to represent teachers. “That money is far less significant in representing teachers than it is in their political agenda,” he said. White argued that much of the money goes “to radical liberal Democrats who will go in and raise taxes,” while “the rest of it they spend on lavish salaries and benefits packages.” According to federal records, between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, the American Federation of Teachers spent only 27.4% of its funds on “representational activities” such as negotiating for better salaries and benefits for member teachers. It spent 13.8% of its funds—$46.9 million—on political activities and another 2.1% on “contributions, gifts, and grants,” much of which went to left-leaning activist groups. Another 19.7% went to overhead, administration, and employee benefits. During the same period, the National Education Association spent only 19% of its members’ dues on “representational activities” while it spent 4.6%—$2.9 million—on political activities and another 2.8% on political contributions. Much of the union’s money went to overhead, union administration, and benefits (34%). These unions form part of the apparatus supporting left-leaning activist groups that influenced policy in the Biden administration. Corey DeAngelis, a school choice advocate and senior fellow at the American Culture Project, noted that the National Education Association’s “Teacher of the Year” said in July that “I realized how deeply political our profession had always been.” “She said that her job as a teacher, of all things, is deeply political and always has been,” DeAngelis noted. “If that’s not free advertising for homeschooling, I don’t know what is.” “There’s no bigger enemy to parents, there’s no bigger enemy to good teachers, and there’s no bigger enemies to this country than the teachers union,” Walters, head of the Teachers Freedom Alliance, said. “The teachers union has weaponized its money and its power to try to turn our schools into Marxist indoctrination centers.” “The Teachers Freedom Alliance says to teachers, ‘We not only want you to leave [the union], we’ve got your back. Go make the classrooms great again,'” he added. The post Why Are America’s Teachers Unions Backing the ‘No Kings’ Protests? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

How Did the Swastika Flag Wind Up in Rep. Taylor's Office?

The impending election of Marxist Democrat Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City is part of a dangerous trend in the U.S., House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) warned Thursday. “It’s easy to run as a Communist and a Socialist,” Speaker Johnson told Host Laura Ingraham in a Fox News Channel interview, explaining that all you have to do is promise to give voters everything they want. “What they never stop to explain is that you have to surrender your freedom in exchange for the government taking control of your life,” Johnson cautioned: “The Founders knew that a government that can give you everything can take it all away. “And that’s what’s going to happen. They’re going to ruin the largest city in America (New York) in a very short period of time.” “Every time socialism has been tried on the world stage, throughout history, it has fallen into abject failure,” Johnson said, noting that Marxist ideology led to the murder of tens of millions of innocent people during the 20th Century. Democrats who support Marxism in the U.S. are ignorant of how destructive it is, Johnson said: “They do not study history and they don’t know the dangers of what it is they’re trying to espouse. But, we do. “And, this is going to happen. Mamdani, it appears by the polls, is going win the mayor of New York City.” “People are in panic mode, people who understand how politics and reality work. And it’s a dangerous trend,” Johnson said, noting that a mass exodus from the city has already begun, in anticipation of Mamdani’s election. “It’s a terrible, dangerous development – and there’s more that’s coming. And, we’ve got to oppose it at every turn,” Speaker Johnson said. “The new leaders of the Democrat Party “are full Marxists,” Johnson said. “You hear how vapid their ideology is, what empty suits they are - but, they are the leaders of the party. They are dragging the rest of the Old Guard, the old party leaders, around by the nose and, they are subservient to their wishes.” “And that’s why everybody around the country is feeling such pain right now: because of this nonsense,” Johnson said, referencing the ongoing government shutdown being perpetrated by Senate Democrats who are afraid to buck their Marxist leaders.

The walls are closing in!Celebrities are turning up the rhetorical heat on President Donald Trump, proving once more that they didn’t learn their lesson from the last election.Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s film oozes Oscar-season buzz. It’s a celebration of political violence and a mash note to anti-ICE attacks.“Hacks” star Jean Smart just gave a shout-out to the latest No Kings rally, suggesting that President Trump is a dictator in waiting, or Hitler or, well, fill in the blank.The current resident of the White House thinks that he has everybody fooled, but he has made it abundantly clear that he admires dictators and wishes to be one. And ironically this country was founded on a rebellion against having a king. So it’s ironic. The most patriotic thing that you can do is say, "No Kings." A king does not belong in the United States of America. So please, find a peaceful No Kings protest near you.Peaceful? Now, that’s funnier than any “Hacks” subplot.Not to be outdone, former D-list doyenne Kathy Griffin joined the conspiracy mob in alleging that Donald Trump didn’t win the 2024 election fair and square. Her proof? Hey, who needs proof?Griffin used Trump’s former bestie, Elon Musk, to explain the theft.Anyway, he's a, but he's a professional Nazi in my humble opinion, and he's good friends with Trump, and at one point, I don't know if you remember, but he was giving out million-dollar checks to people if they would vote for Trump. That's illegal. It's unconstitutional and illegal, so that was happening, and the fact that Trump won all seven swing states, which has never happened in the history of the U.S., makes it all very suspicious to me.It's Fake News with a heaping helping of hysteria. At least no heads were severed along the way.And then there’s singer/actress Renee Rapp. The “Mean Girls 2.0” star shouted “F**k ICE” and “F**k Trump” at a recent concert.Gosh, Trump better resign before it's too late …Squander lustA million dollars here, a million dollars there, and all of a sudden, you’re talking about real money.That’s Hollywood accounting, and it explains why Warner Bros. won’t sweat losing a cool $100 million on “One Battle After Another.” That’s despite endless fawning media coverage and a star-studded cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s film oozes Oscar-season buzz. It’s a celebration of political violence and a mash note to anti-ICE attacks.Liberal film critics love it, of course, but the inconvenient truth is that the movie will lose a fortune at the box office. The budget is just too big, and normie moviegoers would rather watch “Black Phone 2.” At least that film understands that the franchise’s child-killer, played by Ethan Hawke once more, is the bad guy and we’re meant to root against him.For most companies, a loss like that would be catastrophic, but movie studios are perfectly fine with that kind of a fiscal gut punch. Why? The film is going to earn endless Oscar nominations and countless awards-season hosannas, and it’s the perfect Resistance storytelling.Remember, it’s show "business," with an asterisk …RELATED: Hollywood goes full antifa with 'One Battle After Another' Warner Bros. PicturesHamas helpersWho knew there were adults in the room within the Hollywood community? Paramount recently punched back against nearly 4,000 stars blacklisting Israel-linked projects. Now, it’s Warner Bros.’ turn:Our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, or ancestry. We believe a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates our policies. While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views and advocate for causes, we will continue to align our business practices with the requirements of our policies and the law.It's no accident that the announcement came after the Trump administration’s historic peace agreement in the Middle East. Still, we’ll applaud any baby steps toward a steel spine in La-La Land …West wingnutBradley Whitford isn’t a big name like Griffin or Rob Reiner, but his TDS can stand toe to toe with the best of the worst. The "West Wing” alum raged against ICE and the GOP in toto this week, out-hyperbolizing even “The View” crew.“I am living in a world where we have internment camps. … And the thing that's very upsetting to me right now, and we're giving these internment camps funny names. Like, they're some fun to be had in the inhumanity of it all. It's a very strange time for me.”Maybe he’s mad because he thought of "Alligator Alcatraz" first but didn’t copyright it?

Earlier this week, a federal grand jury convened to consider charges against Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton. Following his Thursday indictment, Bolton surrendered to authorities and entered his plea at the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Associated Press reported that Bolton, 76, pleaded not guilty in his initial court appearance following his Friday-morning surrender to authorities.'Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.'Bolton is charged with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of NDI, per a DOJ press release. RELATED: Former national security adviser John Bolton indicted by federal grand jury U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan, chief of the National Security and Cybercrime Section at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesEach count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Bolton, who was Trump's national security adviser between April 2018 and September 2019, was allegedly in unauthorized possession of intelligence concerning "future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign policy relations," according to the press release. The indictment alleges that sometime in the period between September 2019 and July 2021, "a cyber actor believed to be associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran hacked Bolton's personal email account and gained unauthorized access" to classified information. The indictment also claims Bolton sent classified information in "diary-like entries" to two unnamed individuals, described as Bolton's relatives, during his tenure as national security adviser in Trump's first term. Among the lurid details of Bolton's exchanges with his relatives, the indictment gives the following account: On or about July 23, 2018, Bolton sent Individuals 1 and 2 a message that stated, "More stuff coming!!!" A few minutes later, Bolton sent Individuals 1 and 2 a 24-page document which described information that Bolton learned while National Security Advisor. Less than three hours later, Bolton sent Individuals 1 and 2 a follow-up messaged that stated, "None of which we talk about!!!" In response, Individual 1 sent a message that stated, "Shhhhh." Individual 2 then sent a message that stated, "The only interesting thing is what [senior U.S. Government official] might have said from [foreign language] interpreter, which you didn't tell us..." Approximately two minutes later, Individual 1 sent a message in response that stated, "More to come with cloak and dagger...or something. So he says..."The descriptions in the indictment list each document as "secret" or "top secret," among other intelligence classifications. The section that discusses Bolton's exchanges with these two individuals ends by saying: "Bolton left the messaging chat group with Individuals 1 and 2 that he had used to send them more than a thousand pages of notes memorializing his time as National Security Advisor." In the press release, FBI Director Kash Patel stated, “The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.”ABC News reported that Judge Thomas Sullivan set a November 14 deadline for pretrial motions to be filed in the case and set a scheduling conference for November 21.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Fresh off being schooled by Chicago residents on how illegal border crossings are indeed criminal, ex-CNN talking head Don Lemon suggested that non-whites in America should take up arms against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.At the outset of his recent appearance on Wajahat Ali's podcast "The Left Hook," Lemon noted, "I'm tired of like all the niceties because that doesn't work in this administration. That doesn't work in this era. You got to dispense with the niceties and ... 'let's just be civil.'"After expressing the extremist sentiment a recent poll indicated is common to a plurality of liberals, Lemon told Ali, "I think that these are the times that the Second Amendment was written for."'Words have consequences, and this type of rhetoric is going to get one of our officers killed.'Ensuring that there could be no confusion as to his meaning, Lemon characterized the Trump administration as "tyrannical," then noted that the Second Amendment's raison d'être is to ensure Americans can fight a tyrannical government.Blaze News has reached out to Lemon for clarification on whether he meant to incite rebellion against the U.S. government.Lemon, who previously criticized Republicans for defending the Second Amendment, further suggested that those individuals who are being targeted by ICE "need to really figure out what the Second Amendment is really about and go out, and do it legally, and purchase some things because you never know when someone's going to come to your house and knock on the door and try to take you away."RELATED: ‘No Kings’ is the clown show covering for a coup Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael KorsLater in the podcast, Lemon once again suggested that individuals should be armed and ready in case federal immigration officials come to their residences."If you believe in the Second Amendment, if you believe in the Constitution — black people, brown people of all stripes, whether you're an Indian-American or a Mexican-American or whoever you are — go out in your place where you live and get a gun legally," said Lemon. "Get a license to carry legally, because when you have people knocking on your door and taking you away without due process as a citizen, isn't that what the Second Amendment was written for?"When asked about the apparently inciting nature of Lemon's remarks, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Blaze News, "Don Lemon's comments calling for people to 'arm up' with guns to use against ICE law enforcement officers are unhinged.""Calling for violence against law enforcement is un-American — officers are already facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them including terrorist attacks, cars being used as weapons, rocks thrown at them, and shot at," continued McLaughlin. "Words have consequences, and this type of rhetoric is going to get one of our officers killed."Lemon made his recommendation just weeks after a leftist sniper opened fire on the ICE field office in Dallas. While the shooter, Joshua Jahn, had been targeting law enforcement officers, he ultimately hit three detainees — two of whom ultimately perished — then killed himself. The words "ANTI-ICE" were reportedly found engraved on ammunition recovered at the scene of the shooting.Ali defended Lemon's remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital."I only speak for myself, but Don Lemon has a right to express his views in the United States of America thanks to the First Amendment, which is allegedly championed by the Trump administration," said Ali. "I'd assume Republicans would agree with him that Americans have the right to legally bear arms thanks to the Second Amendment. Unless, of course, they only believe that right exists for white Trump supporters? If so, they should admit that publicly."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Gene Simmons wrote, "No one can touch his legacy." Peter Criss added, "Ace influenced and touched the hearts of millions [in] the Kiss Army." The post Rockers Offer Tributes to Ace Frehley, Guitarist Who Co-Founded Kiss, Dead at 74 appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

A newly available book makes the case that scientific advances have undermined the basis for denying the existence of God.

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