Mexico’s leftist president is trying to take away any chance President-elect Trump could order the use of military force against the infamous Mexican drug cartels that control much of Mexico and traffic lethal drugs across the American border. Trump said last weekend, “All foreign gang members will be expelled and I will immediately designate the [drug] cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. I will do so immediately.” Trump’s choice for national security advisor, hard-core conservative Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) co-introduced legislation in January 2023 calling for an “Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Mexican cartels for trafficking lethal fentanyl and other related activities that have caused destabilization in the Western Hemisphere.” Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice for Defense Secretary, said the cartels are “terrorist-like organizations poisoning our population. … If it takes military action, that’s what it may take, eventually. Obviously, you’re gonna have to be smart about it. Obviously, the precision strikes. But if you put the fear in the minds of the drug lords, at least as a start, [and] they can’t operate in the open with impunity, [it] changes the way they operate.” Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, stated Trump “will use [the] full might of the United States Special Operations to take ‘em out”. 50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME! “There won’t be an invasion,” Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum told a news conference. “It’s not going to happen.” “Unlike the sitting president, Joe Biden, President-elect Trump believes his utmost priority is the safety and security of American citizens, and he will, in fact, take the necessary actions to uphold this responsibility,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated. Waltz said on Fox News in October, “Green Berets helped, with just a few dozen soldiers, the Colombian government take down the Medellin cartel, take down the FARC. Remember, they were bombing airliners, they were threatening to overthrow the entire government. We have to take the same approach with the cartels in Mexico, Sinaloa, and Jalisco, that control nearly a third of the country fighting the Mexican Army, not the police, to a standstill, control our border, and are making billions of dollars per month trafficking humans, fentanyl, and weapons into our country. … Not only do they dominate our border now, they are setting up outposts and gangs in our inner cities. We have got to get this situation under control. Green Berets have a unique mindset by, with, and through locals, law enforcement, and others to do that.” “These cartels are now connecting with our foreign adversaries and acting as proxies. The Iranians are working with them for assassination attempts and infiltrating Hezbollah. ISIS is infiltrating, we arrested eight in three different cities plotting to attack us again, and I think most significantly, [cartels] are working with the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.

A man in China has been sentenced to death after driving into a crowd last month and killing 35 people in what is being called a “revenge on society” attack. Fan Weiqiu drove into the crowd because he was upset about his divorce settlement, the Associated Press reported. A court in Zhuhai sentenced him to death on Friday after Fan pleaded guilty to endangering public safety by dangerous means. Fan’s “criminal motive was extremely despicable, the nature of the crime was extremely vile, the means of the crime were particularly cruel, and the consequences of the crime were particularly severe, resulting in great social harm,” the court said, according to the AP. 50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME! Fan’s crime is one of many recent attacks in China being referred to as “revenge on society crimes,” the AP reported. In November, three such attacks took place, including Fan’s. Another incident involved a man who rammed his car into a crowd outside of an elementary school in Changde City because he was angry after losing his investments, the BBC reported. The attack wounded 30 people, including 18 children. The man received a suspended death sentence for the crime. The third incident involved a 21-year-old student who failed his tests and stabbed 17 people, killing eight, at a vocational school in Yixing, the AP reported. Wu Qiang, a former political science professor who was fired after researching the 2014 Occupy protests in Hong Kong, told the AP that pressure from society seems to be behind the attacks. “On the surface, it seems like there are individual factors, but we see there’s a common link,” Wu said. “This link is, in my personal opinion, every person has a feeling of injustice. They feel deeply that this society is very unfair and they can’t bear it anymore.” China President Xi Jinping has demanded local governments prevent future “revenge” attacks, with local officials immediately vowing to look into personal disputes that could trigger them. This, however, would compound China’s increasing involvement in the personal lives of its citizens, including mass censorship. Part of this censorship extends to the attacks themselves, the AP reported, with Chinese authorities censoring videos and eyewitness accounts on social media while releasing the most basic information hours after the attack. For example, the death toll in Fan’s attack wasn’t announced for a full day, and only then was it learned that 35 died and another 43 were injured. It was also reported at that time that Fan was found in the vehicle trying to stab himself with a knife.

“Deadpool” director Tim Miller said his salary for the 2016 smash hit comedy superhero film “Deadpool” was only $225,000, leaving him wishing he had negotiated for a cut of merchandising too. The Ryan Reynolds-led film, which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was a massive success, pulling in $782 million at the worldwide box office, Variety reported.  “You guys might not know, but it’s not really a profitable thing to be a first-time director in Hollywood, and I’ll tell you exactly,” Miller said during a panel at CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil, per Collider. “I got $225,000 to direct ‘Deadpool.’ I know it sounds like a lot of money, but for two years of work, that’s not a ton of money.” 50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME! The director went on, “Not that I’m not grateful. I’m f***ing grateful, that’s the way it is because you’re supposed to when you’re a first-time director. My agent said: ‘Dude, you make more on an episode of “The Walking Dead!'” The fan hype led to the release of “Deadpool 2” (2018) and a third installment, “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024). Miller did not return for either of the follow-up films. “John Wick” filmmaker David Leitch was the director for “Deadpool 2” while director Shawn Levy took over for this year’s installment, which was even more successful than the first two. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” starring Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the other lead, earned $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office. It was the highest-grossing R-rated release in history, Variety noted.  Since getting his big break with “Deadpool,” Miller continued working in Hollywood and directed “Terminator: Dark Fate” (2019) and was named executive producer for Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise. He is also the creator of the animated anthology series “Love, Death & Robots” (2019–present). Miller won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program for the series.

A massive fire broke out at a classic Christmas village in Manhattan on Friday, leaving firefighters scrambling to put out the blaze just days after Christmas. Bryant Park’s annual Christmas market near 42nd Street and 6th Avenue could be seen engulfed in flames Friday morning, videos taken by bystanders show. Bryant Park Christmas Village is on fire ? #whatisnewyork pic.twitter.com/031iZ2D6He — WhatIsNewYork (@whatisny) December 27, 2024 Bryant Park Christmas Village, right now ? New York City pic.twitter.com/teiFCgdetC — NewYorkCityKopp (@newyorkcitykopp) December 27, 2024 "At about 9:23 this morning, we received a report of a fire in Bryant Park. Units arrived shortly thereafter and found a fire in the kiosk, approximately six feet by 40 feet long. We had a couple of separate occupancies inside that area. There was fire in there and throughout.… pic.twitter.com/Jfhcq0PrLT — FDNY (@FDNY) December 27, 2024 Huge plumes of smoke billowed into the air as a group of firefighters approached the fire, one video shows. “Get out! Get out! Let’s go!” a man yells in one video. The FDNY said they received a call about the fire shortly before 9:30 a.m. and responded to a fire that was 40 feet long and had damaged a long kiosk with four businesses inside and the roof of the ice skating rink. 50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME! Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire in “a short amount of time,” and it was under control by 10 a.m., Battalion Chief Joseph Castellano said. “There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation by FDNY Fire Marshals,” the fire chief said. The fire reportedly may have started as a trash fire and then spread to the kiosks, although it is not clear how the trash caught fire. “We are grateful for the FDNY’s quick response to the incident that occurred earlier today,” a Bryant Park spokesperson said in a statement. “The Rink and The Lodge are currently open. Most of The Holiday Shops have reopened, and we expect all the Holiday Shops that were not affected by the fire to reopen later today.” Most of the Christmas village’s shops and the ice rink had reopened by 12 p.m., according to a spokeswoman. The park’s Christmas village is a popular destination for New Yorkers and tourists alike with around four million visitors each year. The holiday market has dozens of small kiosks selling Christmas trinkets and handmade items as well as food vendors offering holiday drinks and all kinds of cuisine. The village also boasts free events like live music and a Christmas tree lighting ceremony as well as ice skating, curling, and children’s activities like puppet shows and crafts. The holiday market will close for the season on January 5, but the ice skating rink and winter wonderland will remain open through March. The fire came less than two weeks after another fire at Herald Square’s holiday shopping area near Broadway and West 35th Street. “I don’t think they were a concern at all,” the fire chief said. “I just think we had two fires.”

Twice-failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris reportedly has a big book deal coming down the pike. But the vice president shouldn’t kid herself: no one cares about her, they’re only tuning in to see the dirt she has to dish on others. The book is doomed to fail unless she delivers. If she does, she stands […]

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