Matt Lohmeier served as the Commander of the Space Force. The administration fired him for criticizing DEi training. Donald Trump promised to rehire him, and he did better than that. First, how it all came about. Matt Lohmeier questioned President Trump at a Town Hall: “My name is Matt Lohmeier. I was an Air Force […] The post Donald Trump Kept This Amazing Promise to a Loyal Serviceman appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case involving parents’ right to opt their children out of LGBT content pertaining to sexuality and gender. Parents in Maryland from differing faith backgrounds, including Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, filed a lawsuit in 2023 after they were denied the right to opt their children out of lessons concerning 20 books on so-called “inclusivity” picked by the Montgomery County Board of Education. After the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the parents, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm representing the parents, appealed to the Supreme Court. On Friday, the high court agreed to hear the case. “Cramming down controversial gender ideology on three-year-olds without their parents’ permission is an affront to our nation’s traditions, parental rights, and basic human decency,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. “The Court must make clear: parents, not the state, should be the ones deciding how and when to introduce their children to sensitive issues about gender and sexuality.” CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT Becket’s website says the Montgomery County Board of Education announced over 20 new “inclusivity” books for its pre-K through eighth grade classrooms in the fall of 2022. Initially, parents were assured that they would be notified when the books were read and could opt their children out. However, the school board in March 2023 said their policy changed; parents were no longer going to be notified about the LGBT content nor would they be permitted to opt out their children. One board member even claimed that a parent opting their child out of the content because it “offends your religious rights or your family values or your core beliefs is just telling [your] kid, ‘Here’s another reason to hate another person.'” The books in question discuss pride parades, gender transitions, and pronoun preferences for children, according to Becket. One book for three- and four-year-olds asks kids to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “[drag] queen,” “underwear,” “leather,” and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in the spring.

Anna Corbett continues to fight for the release of her husband, an American businessman who has been held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for three-and-a-half years. Corbett talked to Morning Wire for an interview that aired on Saturday, opening up about her confusion and frustration over the Biden administration’s failure to secure the release of her husband, Ryan. In the final days of Biden’s time in office, the administration has been attempting to negotiate a deal to exchange a terrorist held in Guantanamo Bay for Ryan, along with two other hostages held by the Taliban. Anna told Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley that she recently spoke with President Joe Biden over the phone, but the conversation led her to believe that Biden would not “be bringing Ryan home.” “It was a difficult call. I had just received a call from Biden in the morning. I was traveling. There was a lot in my head and a lot of hope going into that call,” Anna said. “And although he was kind and sympathetic to our family and obviously tracking the situation … he did not seem to be bringing Ryan home, and taking a deal on the table was devastating and obviously very disappointing.” Anna also said it was “disappointing just to have a phone call” with Biden after requesting to meet with him for months. Asked what’s stopping Biden from striking a deal, Anna replied, “I don’t know. I am honestly very confused because I have raised a lot of attention and advocated very hard for Ryan, taken 16 trips to D. C., worked in a very bipartisan way, helped pass a House and a Senate resolution, and I’m surprised that more progress wasn’t made during this administration.” Anna and the couple’s three children are now hoping that a new administration led by President Donald Trump, who takes over on Monday, will be able to secure the release of Ryan. In a statement to The Daily Wire last June, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that only Trump “can negotiate the safe return of hostages like Ryan Corbett back to his family.” “President Trump brought more Americans back home and reunited them with their families because other countries knew not to test him,” said Cheung. “With Biden in office, America is no longer respected on the world stage and has made Americans across the world more vulnerable.” Anna told Morning Wire that she has already requested to meet with Trump. CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT “This past weekend, I flew down to Florida with my oldest daughter, Ketsia, and put in requests to meet with President Trump – unsure of what the outcome of the trip would be, but wanting to do my part in raising awareness for Ryan,” she said. Anna added that Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz met with her for “over an hour,” a sharp contrast to her experience with Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. “I had to beg and work so hard to have a meeting with the current National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and it took 16 months to meet with him,” Anna added. Corbett and his family first moved to Afghanistan in 2010 and started Bloom Afghanistan, an enterprise focused on improving the war-torn country’s private sector. The Corbett family safely evacuated from Afghanistan when the United States withdrew under Biden’s orders in August 2021, creating a vacuum that the Taliban quickly seized to take power. About five months after U.S. forces left Afghanistan, Corbett returned to the country by himself to renew his visa and train more staff for his enterprise. He was initially welcomed back to Afghanistan and remained there until August 10, 2022, when he, along with two Afghans and a German colleague, were detained by Taliban forces. While the Afghans were released a month later and Corbett’s German colleague was let go in December 2022, Corbett is still being held hostage, likely for political leverage. Anna urged people to continue to pray for Ryan’s health and safety, and ultimately his release. “Until Ryan’s home, we cannot rest and even enjoy the opportunities we have in our freedom here in the States because Ryan’s still being held and has only access to sunlight a couple times a day and has no choices and is missing so much in his family’s life.”

Cereal lovers, rejoice. A classic crunchy flavor is getting the creamy Hershey’s Kisses treatment and fans cannot wait to get their hands on them. If you love cinnamon and chocolate, this one is for you. Instagrammer @snackbetch broke the news on January 17 about Hershey’s collaboration with General Mills to create a delectable Cinnamon Toast Crunch Kisses treat. A sneak peek of the packaging shows the familiar-looking white Kiss with a light brown cinnamon swirl. We’re not exactly sure when the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Kisses will be here, but hopefully in time for Valentine’s Day. If cinnamon isn’t your thing, no worries. Hershey’s also plans to debut Peanut Butter Pie Miniature Cups. Both selections have fans clamoring to get their hands on the sweet and tasty treats. According to Snack Betch, “New Cinnamon Toast Crunch Hershey’s Kisses: Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavored Crème with graham-flavored bits.” The cups are, “New Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie Miniature Cups: Peanut Butter Pie flavored milk chocolate and peanut butter with crunchy graham-flavored cookie pieces.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Snack Betch (@snackbetch) Instagrammers Can’t Wait For The New Hershey’s Collaboration This person already has a few ideas about what they can create with the new Cinnamon Toast Crunch Kisses. This recipe sounds pretty darn delicious, “I think I’ll be making some snickerdoodles and putting the CTC kisses in the middle.” This person demands to know how they can get their hands on these candies, “WHERE ARE THESE!” It’s a dream come true for this fan, “This is what dreams are made of!! … or at least my dreams.” And this one. “OMG!! My family want that Kisses with CTC flavor!!” This person doesnt’ care about the Hershey’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch collaboration, they just want the peanut butter. “i…am intrigued. i dearly miss the reese’s pie from burger king years ago, so i think i’ll like these just the same,” a fan shared. This story’s featured image is by Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images. The post Hershey’s Announces The Most Mouth-Watering Collaboration appeared first on InspireMore.

An enormous mess to clean up

Recent studies reveal that galaxies are moving apart more quickly than expected, casting doubt on the standard model of cosmology. Edwin Hubble discovered the Universe’s expansion in 1929. Since then, researchers have measured the Hubble constant—the rate at which galaxies recede from one another. However, data from nearby galaxies and distant ones don’t match, creating a conflict called the “Hubble tension.” Dan Scolnic, a physicist at Duke University, and his team recently calculated a highly precise Hubble constant using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and light patterns from Type Ia supernovae in the Coma Cluster. Their result, 76.5 kilometers per second per megaparsec, confirms faster local expansion than the standard model predicts. “The tension now turns into a crisis,” said Scolnic, who led the research team. He describes it as building a growth chart: there’s a baby picture from the Big Bang and a current picture of our galactic surroundings, yet the curve connecting these two images doesn’t match predictions. “This is saying, to some respect, that our model of cosmology might be broken,” said Scolnic. This mismatch suggests that our understanding of the Universe may be incomplete. Scientists are now debating whether errors in measurements or flaws in the current theory are to blame. In recent work, a project called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) provided an extensive set of distances to galaxies, adding more precision to the process. “The DESI collaboration did the really hard part, their ladder was missing the first rung,” said Scolnic. “I knew how to get it, and I knew that that would give us one of the most precise measurements of the Hubble constant we could get, so when their paper came out, I dropped absolutely everything and worked on this non-stop.” Some believe we may need new physics to explain the discrepancy, while others focus on refining data collection. As more powerful telescopes and advanced tools become available, researchers hope to uncover the truth behind the Universe’s accelerating expansion. The post The Universe is Expanding Too Fast For Current Models appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Fresno, California, has become a hotspot for UFO activity, with multiple sightings reported over the past week. One incident even involved two pilots contacting air traffic control about an unusual object in the sky. The first sighting occurred last Friday morning when a traffic camera from FOX 26 captured a glowing circular object hovering over the city. The object remained stationary before suddenly moving at incredible speed. Earl Grey Anderson from the Mutual UFO Network reviewed the footage, calling it “an interesting capture” with no clear celestial or aerospace explanation. A few days later, a pilot near Fresno contacted air traffic control, inquiring about possible drone activity. Shortly after, another pilot reported being followed by an unknown object. Oddly, the first pilot called back to report seeing a white anomaly over downtown Fresno. The mystery deepened on Thursday when a FOX 26 photojournalist filmed a similar spherical object floating in the sky. The nature of these objects remains unexplained. The post Mysterious UFO Sightings Reported Over Fresno, California appeared first on Anomalien.com.

During the Biden era’s final installment of Brooks and Capehart on Friday’s PBS News Hour, Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart sought to rebut New York Times columnist David Brooks’s assertion that Donald Trump’s election shows Joe Biden failed to protect democracy. Instead, Capehart argued it was the voters who “gave up on democracy” and wanted to “try this authoritarianism.” Brooks had been making a decent point on how Biden had omitted that most billionaires support Democrats during his speech about how Trump has formed an "oligarchy." However, he then moved onto what he considered Biden’s legacy, “The thing about Biden is, we go around the country, we have followed him for decades now. He's done a wonderful job over the course of his career, just a wonderful job. And I go around the country in New York State or Ohio, and there are manufacturing jobs coming back.”     Whatever success Biden supposedly had on the economy pales in comparison, Brooks argued, to his failure to prevent Trumps’s return to presidency, “But as Frank Foer wrote in The Atlantic today, his job was to end — to fight authoritarianism. The whole thing was to preserve democracy. And the election of Donald Trump suggested to some large degree he failed at that large mission. And so, at some sense, a wonderful guy, he's been a great public service, but there's a sadness and a tragedy at the end of it.” Capehart did not want to blame Biden; instead, he attacked the voters for not listening: I don't know if it's so much that he failed, because he did try. And lots of people criticized him for talking about it, including those of — some of us in the media. But I go back to a question that I asked, I believe around the table when we were here for the marathon election night coverage, that I just wonder if, with these results, the American people just sort of gave up on democracy, or wanting to, hey, let's try this authoritarianism, this guy who has told us what he wants to do. Let's give that a shot. That's the thing that concerns me the most. Or, perhaps, the voters did not feel whatever success Brooks was talking about and voted accordingly while viewing Capehart-like warnings about authoritarianism as typical political mudslinging. There will be another presidential election in 2028, but don’t expect Capehart to admit he was wrong when it rolls around. Here is a transcript for the January 17 show: PBS News Hour 1/17/2025 7:44 PM ET DAVID BROOKS: The thing about Biden is, we go around the country, we have followed him for decades now. He's done a wonderful job over the course of his career, just a wonderful job. And I go around the country in New York State or Ohio, and there are manufacturing jobs coming back. But as Frank Foer wrote in The Atlantic today, his job was to end — to fight authoritarianism. The whole thing was to preserve democracy. And the election of Donald Trump suggested to some large degree he failed at that large mission. And so, at some sense, a wonderful guy, he's been a great public service, but there's a sadness and a tragedy at the end of it. JONATHAN CAPEHART: I don't know if it's so much that he failed, because he did try. And lots of people criticized him for talking about it, including those of — some of us in the media. But I go back to a question that I asked, I believe around the table when we were here for the marathon election night coverage, that I just wonder if, with these results, the American people just sort of gave up on democracy, or wanting to, hey, let's try this authoritarianism, this guy who has told us what he wants to do. Let's give that a shot. That's the thing that concerns me the most.