At the risk of scolding one's fellow citizens, some facts, too often overlooked, bear mentioning from time to time. For instance, no matter what you might tell yourself, a purely secular decision does not exist. You believe something, and what you prioritize reflects what you believe. That was the message...

There once was a Japanese imperial officer who continued to fight World War II for nearly three decades after Japan had already surrendered. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick hasn't quite reached that duration of futility, but it's clear he's planning to make a run for that record. Kaepernick's girlfriend, radio...

NPR on Monday claimed the White House began searching for a new defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth. The story quickly circulated on social media. BREAKING: NPR report claims The White House has begun process of looking for new secretary of defense — Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) April 21, 2025 BREAKING: The White House has begun the search for a new Secretary of Defense – NPR Looks like Hegseth will be kicked out pic.twitter.com/veOI9u0muN — Megatron (@Megatron_ron) April 21, 2025 NPR wrote: The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. This comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to find himself mired in controversy. NPR has also confirmed with the same official that Hegseth shared details ahead of last month’s Yemen strikes with his wife and brother in a Signal chat on his personal phone, minutes after being updated by a senior U.S. military official. The news of the second Signal group chat about the mission was first reported by The New York Times. In March, Hegseth shared details about action against Houthi targets in Yemen in a Signal chat with top White House officials that accidentally included a journalist. In the last few weeks, four senior advisers to Hegseth have left abruptly, some accused of leaking. They have all released public statements suggesting infighting within the department of defense. “This @NPR story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind @SecDef,” she added. This ⁦@NPR⁩ story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about. As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind ⁦@SecDef⁩. https://t.co/5Npig8968v — Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 21, 2025 “WRONG. Fake News!” the Rapid Response 47 X account stated. WRONG. Fake News! https://t.co/VEKtGdn9oK — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025 From The Hill: NPR, citing an anonymous U.S. official, reported that the White House had begun the process of looking for a replacement for Hegseth. The development came after The New York Times reported Sunday that Hegseth shared information about planned strikes in Yemen in a private chat on Signal with his wife, his brother and his personal lawyer. “What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth told reporters at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, knocking the Times reporting. “This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations,” Hegseth continued. President Trump on Monday also defended Hegseth, saying his Defense secretary is “doing a great job” and shrugging off the controversy as “fake news.”

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) flew to El Salvador, ‘demanding’ the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from custody. “I am in El Salvador because I will not stand by while our country is thrown into a constitutional crisis. This is a moment to act. I will not rest until due process is upheld for all,” Dexter wrote. “I flew here last night with three of my colleagues to demand that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be released,” Dexter said in a video posted to X. “He is being held in violation of a Supreme Court order expressly telling the Trump administration to effectuate and facilitate his coming home,” she continued. WATCH: I am in El Salvador because I will not stand by while our country is thrown into a constitutional crisis. This is a moment to act. I will not rest until due process is upheld for all. pic.twitter.com/q5b4cZg3iV — Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (@RepDexterOR) April 21, 2025 KATU reports: U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter from Oregon is currently in El Salvador, advocating for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was deported to a notorious gang prison last month. Dexter is joined by Representatives Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, and Yassamin Ansari in this effort. The Trump administration acknowledged that Garcia was mistakenly deported but maintained that he has ties to the MS-13 gang. NEW: Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (D-OR) announces she will travel to El Salvador to “demand the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia”, a deported Salvadoran illegal alien alleged to be a MS-13 gang member, accused by his own spouse of being a repeat wife beater, and previously… pic.twitter.com/VzEjJZPITn — Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 19, 2025 Four more congressional Democrats have landed in El Salvador to virtue signal about alleged wife-beater and human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia: Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida, and Robert Garcia of California pic.twitter.com/7YSaccXVDY — Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 21, 2025 Per KGW: Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter and three congressional colleagues arrived in El Salvador Monday to address the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who remains detained following his deportation from the United States. Dexter’s office confirmed to KGW that the congresswoman is financing her participation in the trip personally. The Oregon congresswoman, joined by representatives Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, and Yassamin Ansari, is traveling without taxpayer support after House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer rejected their request for an official congressional delegation, according to Dexter’s office. “What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family’s nightmare — it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” said Congresswoman Dexter. “We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored.”

Police arrested the grandson of a Texas county commissioner for a brutal knife attack that left the suspect’s grandfather deceased. “Upon arrival, officers located two adult victims—a male and a female—both suffering from apparent stab wounds. The suspect, a family member of the victims, was still on scene and was immediately taken into custody without incident. Lewisville Fire Department personnel rendered aid and transported both victims to area hospitals,” the Lewisville Police Department stated in a press release. “The female victim has been identified as Bobbie J. Mitchell, Denton County Commissioner for Precinct 3. Commissioner Mitchell currently serves the Lewisville area and is a prominent public servant. She is a former Lewisville City Council member and was the city’s first Black mayor, elected in 1993. She held the office until her resignation in January 2000 to run for her current county position,” it continued. “Commissioner Mitchell is listed in stable condition and is being treated for stab wounds. Commissioner Mitchell’s husband, Fred Mitchell, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased shortly after 5:00 a.m. The suspect, Michell Blake Reinacher, the grandson of the victims, has been booked into the Lewisville jail and is presently charged with Murder and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The crime scene remains active as LPD crime scene investigators and detectives continue processing evidence and working to determine the circumstances that led to the attack,” it added. Texas politician Bobbie Mitchell stabbed, husband killed after allegedly being attacked by their grandson at home https://t.co/luNFoaU3qC pic.twitter.com/AtNMquZe1X — New York Post (@nypost) April 21, 2025 Per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth: Lewisville Chief of Police Brook Rollins said Monday afternoon that investigators have not yet determined a motive and weren’t able to confirm what occurred in the moments leading up to the stabbing. Rollins said the call to 911 came from inside the family’s home and that investigators believed they recovered the murder weapon. The chief said the investigation into the attack is ongoing. “The crime scene remains active as LPD crime scene investigators and detectives continue processing evidence and working to determine the circumstances that led to the attack,” police said in the news release. Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore said Monday afternoon that Bobbie Mitchell is expected to make a full recovery but that recovery will take some time. “There is a long road of recovery. We are getting news that Commissioner Mitchell is recovering and we’re pleased on that, but we are saddened, deeply saddened at the loss of her husband, Fred Mitchell,” Gilmore said. “If anybody has ever been at a public event where Bobbie Mitchell has prayed over you, you know that she does an amazing job. Well, now it’s time for the community to give back. So any time that you have over the next couple of days or weeks to uplift Bobbie and the family, please do so.” The Denton County website shows Commissioner Mitchell and her husband have two children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Michell Reinacher is Bobbie’s daughter’s son. Online searches show Reinacher attended Flower Mound High School and played football as a freshman for McMurry University in Abilene in 2019. Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell is recovering after a stabbing that killed her husband; their grandson has been arrested and charged.https://t.co/R9dFx8XWnu — The Cross Timbers Gazette (@ctgdentoncounty) April 21, 2025 The Lewisville Police Department is investigating a double stabbing that injured Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell and killed her husband, Fred, early Monday morning. https://t.co/60JfCJCsyF pic.twitter.com/rZbjM7EkLh — FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) April 21, 2025 From the New York Post: The Republican politician, 76, was rushed to the hospital in stable condition while her husband, 75, was pronounced dead about an hour after the attack, police said. Their 23-year-old grandson, Mitchell Blake Reinacher, was found at the scene and has been charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Reinacher — one of the Mitchells’ nine grandchildren, according to her government website — is being held at the Lewisville jail. Deputies were still on the scene processing evidence later Monday morning as they continued to probe the circumstances that led to the attack, the sheriff’s office said. Bobbie J. Mitchell previously served on the Lewisville City Council before becoming the city’s first black mayor in 1993.

The Vatican said Pope Francis suffered a stroke and irreversible heart failure Monday morning. The stroke reportedly occurred about an hour after he got out of bed. Pope Francis’s official cause of death was a stroke early Monday, followed by a coma and a fatal heart attack. Despite doctors urging him to rest, he spent his final day riding through St. Peter’s Square and offering the Urbi et Orbi blessing—his last gesture of love and… pic.twitter.com/3P8j8HkNDR — AF Post (@AFpost) April 21, 2025 “The Pope had a stroke early this morning, went into a coma, had a heart attack, and later passed away,” journalist Nick Sortor wrote. WATCH: #BREAKING: Pope Francis's official cause of death has been released, per Fox News The Pope had a stroke early this morning, went into a coma, had a heart attack, and later passed away. Trump will be traveling to the Vatican later this week to attend his funeral. pic.twitter.com/F5pQoOmPl6 — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 21, 2025 From the New York Post: The pontiff had been ailing for several months, battling serious respiratory infections that left him with “a swollen face, almost deformed,’’ according to the Argentinian outlet La Nacion. But he insisted on soldiering on, including when he visited inmates at a prison in Rome on Holy Thursday, sources told the outlet’s Italian-born Vatican correspondent, Elisabetta Pique. After the jail visit, Francis was asked by a reporter, “How are you living this Easter?’’ the outlet said. The frail pope replied, “I live this Easter as I can’’ — speaking “with great effort and difficulty.’’ He did not partake in the papal tradition of humility: washing the feet of 12 people, a re-enactment of what the Bible says Jesus did on Holy Thursday. The Vatican announces the cause of death of Pope Francis, stating that the Pope woke up at 6am and suffered a stroke, he was no longer able to talk and died some 90 minutes later. pic.twitter.com/QSBwPXqV9p — Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) April 21, 2025 BREAKING: The Vatican reveals Pope Francis' cause of death was a stroke. pic.twitter.com/ele9bNPun7 — CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) April 21, 2025 Per USA TODAY: Francis died of a stroke and irreversible heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said in a death certificate released Monday. The certificate, which was published by the Vatican, said the pope had fallen into a coma before his death early that day. The Vatican also said Francis had relayed in a final statement his wishes to be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Farrell said in a statement on Vatican News. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.” The pope’s death comes one day after a frail but determined Francis greeted thousands in St. Peter’s Square after Easter Mass in his open-air popemobile − and just weeks after an extended hospital stay during which he battled bilateral pneumonia and other health issues. The pope, who shunned pomp and privilege and loved to be among the public, sat in a raised chair in the vehicle as people cheered “viva il papa.” He stopped at several places along the square, much to the delight of the crowd. “His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church,” Farrell said. “He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.” President Trump is expected to attend the funeral of Pope Francis later this week. President Trump Responds To Death Of Pope Francis, Reportedly To Attend Funeral