GOP candidate Matt Van Epps has defeated Democrat Aftin Behn in Tennessee’s special election to replace former GOP Representative Mark Green.

Students had protested ICE enforcement against Muslim terrorist supporters. The post Pakistani Muslim Terrorist Busted Planning to Shoot Up University of Delaware appeared first on Frontpage Mag.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Holiday gift giving can feel joyful… until you get to the part where you’re not entirely sure what’s customary. Teachers are almost always on the Nice List, but how much should you actually spend? And what if your budget feels tight this year? According to etiquette expert Myka Meier, founder of Beaumont Etiquette, there are simple, stress-free guidelines that can help. What to expect for class gift contributions Many schools gather gift funds through a class parent, and if you’ve ever received one of those emails, you know it can spark the big question: How much is normal? Meier shares that for a class of about 30 students, “a good general range is between ten and twenty-five dollars per family,” though this varies depending on the region and school culture. If the gift fund is supposed to cover more than one educator (like teaching assistants or special subject teachers) families may adjust their contribution slightly. But the general principle stays the same: give what feels comfortable. When contributing isn’t possible If your family can’t participate financially this year, Meier offers reassurance: “It’s absolutely okay not to contribute if you’re unable to.” Group gifts, she emphasizes, are meant to unify the class, not create pressure. Better yet, there’s no obligation to explain your situation to the coordinator. If someone follows up individually, Meier suggests a gentle response: “It is so lovely you’re doing this! We actually had already planned our own gift this year.” Whether that’s true or not, the beauty of an anonymous collection is that no one knows who gave what. Giving your own personal gift Whether or not you chip in for the class gift, an individual gesture is always welcome. Many families enjoy adding a personal touch. Think something thoughtful, heartfelt, and modest. Meier notes that gifts in the 10 to 20 dollar range, handwritten cards, or homemade treats are perfectly appropriate. There is, however, one category to avoid: cash. “It can be seen as bribery and is not allowed for most teachers,” Meier explains. The key is sincerity, not the price tag. A simple truth to gift by When the holiday season gets hectic, it helps to return to the heart of the gesture. Gift giving, especially for teachers, should feel meaningful, not stressful. A small, sincere expression of gratitude is always enough. As Meier puts it, “a simple, sincere gesture is always in perfect taste.”The post How much to gift teachers for the holidays: a stress-free guide first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The global push to safeguard oceans is gaining momentum. With the United Nations’ target of protecting thirty percent of the seas by 2030, marine protected areas (MPAs) are being established at a record pace. But a new study from the eastern tropical Pacific sends a cautionary message: without enforcement, protection is just a label. Surveying seven marine parks from Mexico to Ecuador, researchers found that shark populations are key indicators of healthy ecosystems, and they’re thriving in remote, strictly protected waters. In parks closer to shore, this is certainly not the case, even in areas labeled as protected. This makes it clear that designation alone doesn’t work. Enforcement does. Sharks as health checks for ocean ecosystems Often called “reef managers,” sharks serve as natural regulators by culling sick prey, keeping populations in balance, and maintaining the integrity of marine food webs. Their presence is a signal of ecosystem health, while their absence is a red flag. In the study, published in PLOS One and supported by National Geographic’s Pristine Seas, scientists used baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) to observe where sharks are still thriving. The devices were placed 65 to 80 feet deep, attracting predators with oily bait, and recorded over 100 minutes per deployment. What they saw tells a bigger story. When the label doesn’t match the reality Sharks showed up in droves at offshore sanctuaries like Darwin and Wolf Islands (Galápagos), Malpelo (Colombia), and Clipperton and Revillagigedo (Mexico). These parks are remote and tightly controlled, with no fishing allowed and patrols in place. But in Machalilla, Galera-San Francisco, and Caño Island, three coastal MPAs, the results were nearly empty. Across 30 separate deployments in these zones, only four sharks appeared. Even Caño Island, where fishing is banned, suffers from illegal activity that goes largely unpunished. “It’s easier and cheaper to fish close to shore,” noted Samantha Andrzejaczek, a marine scientist at Stanford who was not involved in the study. Offshore protections are harder to reach, but harder to exploit, too. According to study co-author Enric Sala, only three percent of the ocean is currently protected from fishing. “Marine protected areas that allow fishing do not work,” said Sala, who also leads the Pristine Seas initiative. Protecting biodiversity and coastal economies The problem extends far beyond sharks. One third of fish species are now overfished, unable to replenish their populations fast enough to recover. “It’s like having a checking account where everybody withdraws and nobody makes a deposit,” said Sala. Strictly protected MPAs act like investment accounts: they compound benefits over time. Those benefits can spill over. When marine reserves are well-managed, fish populations expand beyond their boundaries, supporting nearby fisheries. “Fishers can actually catch more by fishing just outside these zones,” said Andrzejaczek. And the payoffs aren’t just theoretical. Countries like Palau, Gabon, Seychelles, Niue, Colombia, and Chile have already protected at least 30 percent of their waters, and are already starting to see both ecological and economic returns. “These leaders understood that they need highly protected areas if they want their fishing and coastal economies to have a future,” Sala said. Building real protection, not paper parks The study’s clearest message is that marine parks work but only when they are enforced. Remote locations have natural advantages, but it’s not distance alone that determines success. It’s the rules, and whether they’re followed. MPAs closer to people are not doomed to fail, but they do require more investment in surveillance, governance, and community engagement. “It needs to be properly enforced,” said Andrzejaczek. “Otherwise, it’s not doing its job.” As more nations race to meet global conservation targets, this research provides a critical reality check: more protected areas won’t matter if they’re just lines on a map. To truly protect sharks, and by extension the oceans they help balance, we need to move from declarations to implementation. It’s not just about reaching 30 percent. It’s about making that 30 percent count.The post Not all marine parks protect sharks. Here’s what works (and what doesn’t) first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Republican Matt Van Epps triumphed in Tuesday’s House special election in Tennessee, stifling talk of a possible Democrat upset in a reliably red district. As of Tuesday evening, the Associated Press projexted Van Epps as the winner, defeating his Democrat opponent, Tennessee state Rep. Aftyn Behn. Epps will fill the seat of former Rep. Mark Green, a Republican who resigned from Congress in July to work in the private sector. With 95% of the vote counted, Van Epps was beating Behn by about 9 percentage points, 53.9% to 45%. In 2024, President Donald Trump won the district by 22 percentage points. Going into the election, there were signs that the race in a solidly red district could produce an uncomfortably close outcome for Republicans with an election year right around the corner. A recent survey from Emerson College Polling and The Hill showed the race could be close, with Van Epps leading at 48% support against Behn’s 46%. The GOP Push for Van Epps Van Epps got a boost from Trump, who stepped in to encourage Republican turnout. “To the Great People of Tennessee’s 7th District, who gave me Record Setting Wins in each of three Elections, I am asking you to get out and VOTE FOR MATT VAN EPPS,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday. Trump also heaped scorn on Behn, the Democrat Tennessee state representative seeking an upset in a district where Republicans have won comfortably in the past. NEW: President Trump talks to voters through the phone after calling Speaker Johnson during a rally for Republican Matt Van Epps in the special election race in Tennessee against Aftyn Behn:"She said two things above all else that bothered me.Number 1: She hates Christianity.… pic.twitter.com/Wh9mhaRVvo— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 1, 2025 “Matt is fighting against a woman who hates Christianity, will take away your guns, wants Open Borders, Transgender for everybody, men in women’s sports, and openly disdains Country music,” Trump wrote. House leadership and prominent Tennessee Republicans also stepped in to rally Republicans behind Van Epps. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., joined Van Epps at rallies in the leadup to the election, at one of which he had Trump via a speaker phone call say, “Matt Van Epps is a winner and will be great…The Democrats are spending a fortune, and we don’t want people that want to raise your taxes. [Behn] wants to raise your taxes on top of everything else.” Tennessee Republican Reps. Tim Burchett and Andy Ogles, as well as Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, rallied for Van Epps as well. Behn Attacked for Previous Comments About Nashville In the run up to the election, Republicans highlighted Behn’s online footprint, including a podcast appearance in which she said of Nashville, “I hate this city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music.” “I hate all of the things that make Nashville, apparently, an ‘it’ city to the rest of the country, but I hate it,” Behn said. “Number one, she hates Christianity. Number two, she hates country music. How the hell can you elect a person like that?” Trump said, calling into a Van Epps rally that featured the speaker. Nashville is the largest city in the district Behn hoped to represent. In response to the resurfaced audio, Behn said on CNN, that she “was a private citizen.” “Nashville’s my home,” Behn added. “Do I roll my eyes at the bachelorette parties and the pedal taverns that are blocking my access to my house? Yeah. Every Nashvillian does, but this race has always been about something bigger.” In 2020, Behn expressed support on social media for calls to defund the police, in addition to writing, “Good morning, especially to the 54% of Americans that believe burning down a police station is justified.” Pressed for clarification on those remarks, Behn said on MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, “I don’t remember these tweets” and “I’m here to talk about my race, which is in literally nine days. WATCH: The Democratic nominee for the special election in Tennessee’s conservative Seventh Congressional District, Aftyn Behn, called to defund the police and praised rioters for burning down police stations. Asked whether she stands by those positions, Behn told MS NOW, “Um,… pic.twitter.com/oZv9L4dfXR— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 25, 2025 On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., presented the surprisingly positive polls for Democrats in Tennessee as a bad sign for Republicans nationwide. “Republicans have already lost,” Jeffries said. “The fact that they are spending millions of dollars to hold a seat that Donald Trump just won by 22 points is extraordinary.” The post Republican Triumphs in Tennessee Special House Election appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Tuesday’s Final Word

NewsNation host Leland Vittert took Democrats and the liberal media to town Monday night over their newfound obsession with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s alleged “war crime” committed in early September. The On Balance host cut through the noise by arguing the reasonable and obvious: the strikes in the Caribbean were warranted and not unprecedented, and that Democrats have always lost when going after President Trump on common sense issues. After reporting the facts of the case, Vittert played a short compilation of clips from CNN’s The Situation Room, Chuck Todd on his podcast with Chris Cillizza, and Joe Scarborough on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, all of which were critical of the Trump administration’s actions: The Washington establishment is simply horrified that the Trump administration is killing drug runners, and they want you to be horrified as well. And they're happy. You can see that in their pensive smiles. Because to them this will be the issue that finally ends the Trump Presidency, or at least defangs Trump. Trump is doing what he does in every one of these situations: he stays defiant. Vittert then provided a brief history lesson to prove that the administration’s recent campaign against drug traffickers in fact had precedent, citing similar actions taken by former Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama in Colombia and Peru: “I don't remember anybody being charged with war crimes. […] Yet when Trump does it, we are to believe that it is completely unacceptable.” Other networks haven't wanted to acknowledge there were similar actions by other presidents.      The other major point of Vittert’s argument: “When Democrats attempt to bring down Trump and Hegseth on the process, on the rules, it's a losing argument.” Vittert didn’t even need to pull out a textbook to recall Democrat-darling Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador: … minor problem for Democrats, he had ties to MS-13, strong ties. Democrats back then were arguing the process, the rules, the due process of how exactly he was extradited and why this was terrible, and then Kristi Noem was gonna get fired, and it was gonna bring down the Trump administration. It didn't work for Democrats then, it's not going to work for them now. Not to mention the “Russia, Russia, Russia” hoax, his two impeachments, and various lawsuits filed against him in-between his two terms. It’s been a futile witch hunt. In conclusion, based on Presidential precedent and the left’s TDS addiction, the inevitable endgame of the last few days’ controversy was clear: Arguing over the ins and outs of international law and whether or not Hegseth violated it is a pointless exercise […] To most reasonable Americans, blowing up boats bringing drugs into America makes sense. Call it common sense. When Democrats tried to defeat Trump on process issues, on common sense issues, they lose every time. They get excited, it's like Lucy and the football. They think this is going to be the time. Every time this happens, it actually makes Trump stronger. Only time would tell whether the latest attacks against Hegseth, Admiral Bradley, Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Caine or whoever else will actually stick. Needless to say, Trump will most likely come out unscathed and quite possibly, for the umpteenth time, vindicate The transcript is below. Click "expand" read: NewsNation’s On Balance with Leland Vittert December 1, 2025 9:01:33 p.m. EST LELAND VITTERT: If you watch TV this morning, much of the media and Democrats could not contain their glee, that a “double tap” strike on a boat that was running drugs might be the end of Pete Hegseth’s time as Secretary of War. The Washington Post reports Hegseth ordered the Navy to, quote, “Kill them all,” speaking of the alleged drug smugglers aboard a boat leaving Venezuela. The Navy admiral in charge of the strike then allegedly ordered a second missile strike on survivors of the first strike. [Cuts to clip] FMR. DEFENSE SEC. LEON PANETTA [on The Situation Room, 12/01/25]: I don't think there's any question that that's a war crime. ELIE HONIG [on The Situation Room, 12/01/25]: Well, Wolf, they were, in a word, illegal. CHUCK TODD [on Chris and Chuck Chat!, 12/01/25]: It's the kiss of death. It is — look, we know who the fall guy is going to be. JOE SCARBOROUGH [on Morning Joe, 12/01/25]: It’s a dangerous time legally for Pete Hegseth. It gets more dangerous if he is spending this time furiously going around trying to cover it up. [Cuts back to live] VITTERT: The Washington establishment is simply horrified that the Trump administration is killing drug runners, and they want you to be horrified as well. And they're happy. You can see that in their pensive smiles. Because to them this will be the issue that finally ends the Trump Presidency, or at least defangs Trump. Trump is doing what he does in every one of these situations: he stays defiant. [Cuts to clip] PRES. DONALD TRUMP [on 11/30/25]: And Pete said he said he did not want them — he didn't even know what people were talking about. So, we’ll look at — we’ll look into it. But no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not the second strike. [Cuts back to live] VITTERT: Okay, so Hegseth is distancing himself a little bit after a meeting in the Oval Office. He wrote on X, “Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, [a] true professional, [and] has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.” So, no matter what really happened there and both in the Pentagon and then what happened actually to the smugglers and the boat, these actions are nothing new. The Clinton administration shot down more than a dozen drug trafficking planes near Colombia and Peru from 1995 to 2001. I don't remember anybody being charged with war crimes. Bush's CIA started and Obama's continued a covert action in Colombia that killed dozens of revolutionaries from 2007 through 2013. Yet when Trump does it, we are to believe that it is completely unacceptable. You are all of a sudden hearing all of these words: the rules of war, the rules of engagement, laws of armed conflict, international law, the Geneva Convention. This would just be a political observation, but it’s also a human observation. Nobody liked the hall monitor in high school, or the RA, the person in college who told you couldn't drink after 10 p.m. in the dorms. Nobody likes those people. When Democrats attempt to bring down Trump and Hegseth on the process, on the rules, it's a losing argument. Remember just a couple of months ago, Democrats were losing their minds over the Maryland man deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego Garcia turned into a household name and a household hero. And yes, minor problem for Democrats, he had ties to MS-13, strong ties. But Democrats back then were arguing the process, the rules, the due process of how exactly he was extradited and why this was terrible, and then Kristi Noem was gonna get fired, and it was gonna bring down the Trump administration. It didn't work for Democrats then, it's not going to work for them now. Arguing over the ins and outs of international law and whether or not Hegseth violated it is a pointless exercise, and here's why. To most reasonable Americans, blowing up boats bringing drugs into America makes sense. Call it common sense. When Democrats tried to defeat Trump on process issues, on common sense issues, they lose every time. They get excited, it's like Lucy and the football. They think this is going to be the time. Every time this happens, it actually makes Trump stronger.