More than 120 retired U.S. generals and admirals signed onto a letter released on Monday expressing their “strong support” for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, U.S. Army veteran Pete Hegseth. The letter comes after Hegseth endured several intense weeks of media coverage of allegations primarily made by anonymous sources. They wrote: He understands combat from the grass roots level and will take that much needed perspective with him as the next SECDEF. He has studied and experienced the disastrous effects Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has on our military and he is committed to expunging it from our armed forces. His focus is solely on warfighting readiness so that our military is prepared to fulfill its mission—to fight and win our Nation’s wars. The retired generals and admirals said that Hegseth’s passion for the military was obvious, and his record in Iraq and Afghanistan showed that he was the “warrior” the U.S. needed to lead its military. They noted that Trump selected Hegseth from a list of other talented and qualified individuals and believed Hegseth was the best qualified to turn the Pentagon around. They continued: President Trump has the right and responsibility to select key people who are capable of fulfilling his promises to the American people. Prominent in that mandate was making our military strong and lethal, to include removing what is called “wokeness” in the form of (DEI) from our armed forces. Over the last week and a half, more Republican senators have indicated they are comfortable with Hegseth leading the Department of Defense after meeting with the 44-year-old. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Trump discussed Hegseth’s confirmation process during remarks with reporters on Monday, saying that he has been “making tremendous strides over the last week.” “He’s going to be great,” Trump said. “Look, he went to Princeton. He went to Harvard. He was a great student there. But he really was, from the first day I met him, all he wanted to talk about was military. He’s just a military guy. I think it’s a natural.” ?TRUMP: “Pete Hegseth is making tremendous strides. He went to Princeton, Harvard, and from the first day I met him all he wanted to talk about is military. He was my idea. He gave up a lot. He was going big places at FOX. Lots of money. When I asked him if he wanted to do this,… pic.twitter.com/pUk90i64Nh — Autism Capital ? (@AutismCapital) December 17, 2024

Federal authorities and the U.S. military released a detailed statement on Monday night saying that after an extensive investigation, the mysterious drone sightings that people have seen on the East Coast do not amount to anything nefarious, nor is there any threat to the public. The statement comes from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA, and Department of Defense. It follows weeks of speculation and widespread news coverage of the sightings, many of which have occurred in New Jersey. “Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the statement said. “We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.” The U.S. government entities said that there are currently more than a million registered drones in the U.S. and that thousands are flown daily, which they expect to increase in the years to come. CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE They said that the FBI alone has received more than 5,000 tips over the last few weeks, which has generated approximately 100 leads that authorities have investigated. “We continue to support state and local authorities with advanced detection technology and support of law enforcement,” the statement said. “We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.” They added that drone sightings near U.S. military facilities, while concerning, are not a new phenomenon and that the Department of Defense “takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate.” “Local commanders are actively engaged to ensure there are appropriate detection and mitigation measures in place,” the statement added.

Whether celebrating maternal love, poking at society’s norms, or weaving tongue-in-cheek narratives, the word “Mother” has been used to explore emotions ranging from warmth to wild energy. Across decades and genres, iconic musicians have taken this universal word and given it a kaleidoscope of meanings, proving that “mother” is far more versatile than it might seem at first glance. Sugarland delivers an emotional tribute to unconditional love with “Mother”, while Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show tugs at heartstrings with the bittersweet storytelling of “Sylvia’s Mother”. Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” adds a soulful, reggae-infused layer to this list, The post 10 Best Songs With The Word ‘Mother’ In The Title appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

You wouldn’t know it from this photo, but this Doberman was nicknamed the “saddest dog in Warwickshire” after spending a heartwrenching 850 days in a shelter. This included the past two Christmases, and despite the shelter’s best efforts, no one seemed interested in adopting him. According to local outlet Coventry Live, Jake the Doberman was […] The post Saddest Dog in Town Spent Over 2 Years at Shelter But Finally Gets a Home for Christmas appeared first on Good News Network.

Scientist, inventor, and pioneer, Alexander Graham Bell is best known for inventing and patenting the first working telephone and establishing the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. With his father and grandfather both working as elocutionists and his mother and wife being deaf, Bell dedicated his life to the study of speech and hearing, as well as working with the deaf. Yet... Source

The 1990s Western Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, brought viewers back to the old west of Colorado Springs. But there are many aspects of the series that even the biggest fans of the show might not be privy to. From the last-minute casting of the title role to the low expectations of the show's success, here are behind-the-scenes facts about the Western drama. While Jane Seymour was offered the role of... Source

THE CENTER SQUARE—A new report highlights a disparity in the Department of Education toward both Christian and career colleges through its Office of Enforcement, an “obscure agency” created during the Obama administration and revived under President Joe Biden. The American Principles Project’s report reveals that “nearly 70% of penalties imposed by the Office of Enforcement have been against Christian institutions and career colleges, even though these schools represent less than 10% of college students.” When reached for comment, the Department of Education didn’t respond. The American Principles Project is a pro-family group that fights to defend families politically in campaigns and elections, according to its website. Its report was authored by the organization’s policy director, Jon Schweppe. The report states that the Office of Enforcement is the Education Department’s “vehicle to target and penalize proprietary schools.” According to the report, the Office of Enforcement’s three main tactics for “dismantling its targets” are to impose penalties, “scrutinize and fine” investigations, and cut off Title IV funding. APP’s Schweppe told The Center Square that to stop this weaponization against Christian and career schools, Trump’s Education Department “can deprioritize the Office of Enforcement and temporarily halt existing enforcement proceedings while it investigates the depth of the Biden [Education Department’s] unlawful discrimination.” “We need to learn exactly what led to these disparities in enforcement—and who was responsible,” Schweppe said. “The long-term goal should be to put rules in place to prevent this type of discrimination against Christian schools from ever happening again,” he said. When asked what the Education Department’s purpose should be, Schweppe said that “most conservatives will tell you that the Department of Education shouldn’t exist.” “While we support any effort in Congress to shutter the department, we believe Trump’s [Education Department] in the meantime should properly enforce federal civil rights law, undo the Obama/Biden eras’ bureaucratic overreaches, and ultimately return as much power as possible to states and local school districts,” he said. Schweppe said that Trump’s nominee to head the Education Department, former Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon, is “exactly the type of change agent we need to make American education great again.” As examples of the disparity shown toward Christian schools via penalties and fines, the American Principles Project’s report says that “within the last year the Biden-Harris Department of Education imposed record fines against two of the nation’s most prominent Christian universities—Grand Canyon University ($37.7 million) and Liberty University ($14 million).” “These fines total more than all other penalties assessed by the Department of Education over the past seven years,” the report says, and the reasoning behind them was not substantial. Grand Canyon University’s public relations executive director, Bob Romantic, told The Center Square that the school “look[s] forward to an administration that, rather than using federal agencies to harass universities to which they are ideologically opposed, will reduce bureaucracy while applying regulations fairly and equitably.” When reached for comment, Liberty University didn’t respond. The Education Department’s attacks on career schools are nothing new. In 2015 and 2016, respectively, both Corinthian Colleges, “once the largest career-education institution in the country,” and the ITT Technical Institute were forced to close after being “fined and prevented from receiving financial aid,” according to the report. More recently, the Education Department “has cut off Title IV funding to 35 post-secondary schools” over the past three years, 23 of them career colleges. The report also cites examples of Title IV funding being withheld from Christian colleges and universities. “Using its scrutinize-and-sue tactics, the Department of Education can penalize and withhold federal aid to non-traditional schools,” the report states. “When they go under, the [Biden] administration can cancel students’ loan debt, making good on its campaign promise. And, of course, students then have fewer higher education options, cornering the market for conventional universities.” The Education Department’s Office of Enforcement was “deprioritized” under Trump until being “restored” under Biden in 2021, the APP report says. In 2023, Biden “increased the Office of Enforcement’s budget by nearly 600%,” it says. Originally published by The Center Square The post Report: Education Department Targets Christian Schools, Career Colleges appeared first on The Daily Signal.