Pro-life advocates slammed a decision on Friday from pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS to begin selling abortion pills.  Both retailers announced that they would start selling mifepristone‚ the pill that is used in over half of all abortions‚ at certain locations. The announcement‚ which was applauded by the Biden administration‚ comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on whether the FDA improperly approved mifepristone and other restrictions on the pill.  “As two of the world’s largest‚ most trusted ‘health’ brands‚ the decision by CVS and Walgreens to sell dangerous abortion drugs is shameful‚ and the harm to unborn babies and their mothers incalculable‚” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s State Policy Director Katie Daniel said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire. “This reckless policy was made possible by the Biden administration‚ which is pushing to turn every pharmacy and post office in America into an abortion center for the sake of abortion industry greed.” Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman told The New York Times that it would begin dispensing pills in New York‚ Pennsylvania‚ Massachusetts‚ California and Illinois to women with prescriptions. CVS is starting in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  Ingrid Skop‚ a board certified OB-GYN and vice president of the pro-life research group Charlotte Lozier Institute‚ said that pharmacists “should not be distributing these dangerous drugs.” “By pushing these medically unsupervised abortions‚ the FDA and abortion advocates continue down the slippery slope of chipping away at medical standards for women seeking abortion‚” she said. “This is not health care. This is an ideology that prioritizes destruction of unborn human life and does not care that the women injured by these abortions‚ whom I see in the ER on a regular basis‚ are collateral damage.” The decision from Walgreens and CVS comes just weeks after several major scientific studies on the potential harm of abortion pills were retracted by their publisher. The studies’ authors‚ including Skop‚ said that the retractions were politically motivated attempts to discredit their research as the Supreme Court hears the mifepristone case.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP President Joe Biden called the decision a “major milestone” in a statement praising the move.  “With major retail pharmacy chains newly certified to dispense medication abortion‚ many women will soon have the option to pick up their prescription at a local‚ certified pharmacy — just as they would for any other medication. I encourage all pharmacies that want to pursue this option to seek certification‚” he said.  Medication abortion has increasingly become a more common form of abortion‚ especially in states that have sought to ban abortion. Activist networks have been shipping foreign-made abortion drugs in red states to bypass state laws protecting the unborn. 

A popular sports commentator revealed that an experience he had late this week with his electric car is making him reconsider driving the vehicle in the future. PFT Commenter of the popular “Pardon My Take” podcast said on Friday that the nightmare story happened while he was driving to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine. “I tried to save the environment and I ended up f***ing myself‚” he said. “I have an electric car‚ very lib of me … I took it for the first road trip this week‚ I drove to Indy‚ and upon leaving it gives you like a calculation of how far you have left in your battery life to get to Indianapolis. So I charged it overnight‚ got it up to 100%. I left in the morning‚ it told me I would have about 15% battery left when I arrived in Indianapolis. And then there’s a charging station right here at Lucas Oil. So I was just going to hit that up and then drive back.” “So as I start my drive‚ I’d say about 30 minutes into my drive‚ I looked down at the estimated battery remaining calculator that we have and it says now 12%‚” he continued. “And then slowly but surely‚ every single mile that I drive‚ that percentage starts to dip‚ dip‚ dip‚ until now I’m down at like 5%‚ 4%‚ 3%‚ 2%. So I text the group I’m like‚ ‘Hey‚ developing situation here. My car might not make it to Indianapolis and I might need to get a ride from somebody else to take me the last leg.’ So I go on my way and it gets down now to zero so I’m like okay‚ I’m screwed. I gotta find a charging station.” He said that once the battery dipped down to 15% that he turned the volume on the radio down because he was concerned that it was draining the battery. “So I had to find a charging station on the way which added about — I thought it was going to take about 15 — it added about 30 minutes to my trip‚” he continued‚ adding that he was late getting to the event. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “I tried to save the environment‚ now I’m going full Taylor Swift mode‚ use as much energy as possible‚” he added. “I’m going to fly places‚ I will fly a private jet from Chicago to Indianapolis instead of driving my earth saving electric cars. So that’s what I get for trying to save the environment for our children and our children’s children. F*** those kids‚ yeah because I’m going to be driving diesel now.” WATCH: WATCH: @PFTCommenter’s Fyre Fest Of The Week was an electric vehicle roadtrip nightmare: “I tried to save the environment and I ended up f*cking myself.” pic.twitter.com/osxwnGPKbR — Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) March 1‚ 2024

I just saw “Dune: Part Two.” I have many thoughts. Let’s begin with the fact that “Dune: Part One” and “Dune: Part Two” — which encompass the whole of Frank Herbert’s original “Dune” — these two movies constitute the single greatest science fiction epic movie achievement of all time. It looks absolutely phenomenal. The acting is top notch‚ the score is great‚ and it has probably the best visual effects I’ve ever seen on film because you don’t sense the CGI. Normally when you have this much CGI‚ you can really sense it. In this film‚ however‚ you really do not sense it. Throughout “Dune: Part Two‚” they’re on multiple planets and they all have different color schemes‚ different color palettes and different looks. It’s really pretty phenomenal. Dune: Part Two. Courtesy of Warner Media – copyright Warner Media. 2024. So let’s start from the beginning. Spoiler alert — there will be lots of spoilers. “Dune: Part One” ended with Paul Atreides heading off into the desert. The Harkonnen have killed his father. He and his mom‚ who is a member of the Bene Gesserit‚ end up going off into the desert to accompany the Fremen. And this is all the predicate to Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides becoming the prophet foretold by both Bene Gesserit lore and‚ as it turns out‚ the lore created for the Fremen by the Bene Gesserit.  So in the Fremen lore‚ there’s supposed to be this figure called the Lisan al Gaib. The Lisan al Gaib is supposed to be a figure who is going to make the planet bloom again. Apparently‚ sometime in the distant past it actually was a blooming paradise but now it’s all just a desert planet. Photo courtesy of Warner Media – copyright Warner Media. 2024. In the Bene Gesserit lore‚ there’s something called the Kwisatz Haderach‚ who is a foretold prophet who’s going to come and rule over all the known universe in the ways that the Bene Gesserit would like. That’s the basic religious plotline. So when we start “Dune: Part Two‚” Paul Atreides is with the Fremen. It’s unclear whether he and his mom are going to be accepted by the Fremen‚ but the movie actually opens in a different place‚ which is really smart. You see the same sort of thing in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. In “The Return of the King” the movie opens with a back story about Smeagol and the idea is to set you in the universe again. Well‚ the same thing happens here. Here you have Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan reading from her diary‚ explaining what just happened in the last movie for those who missed it. So the idea was that the Emperor was afraid of the Atreides family‚ so he gave the Harkonnen family the ability to kill off all of the Atreides. But they missed Lady Jessica and they missed Paul Atreides‚ and now Paul is running around making trouble for the Harkonnen family and by proxy for the Emperor. The first third of the movie is dedicated to Paul becoming Fremen‚ being accepted and learning the ways of the Fremen. It’s “Dances with Wolves” — he’s becoming fully engaged in the Fremen culture‚ everything from how to properly sand walk to how to ride a Sandworm. He’s not a Mary Sue. He’s been trained in actual combat by the top commanders in his civilization and he goes and learns combat from the Fremen as well. Courtesy of Warner Media – copyright Warner Media. 2024. He also makes not-stupid decisions. By the end of the film he’s in love with Chani‚ but he doesn’t stay with Chani. He understands that his only shot at becoming Kwisatz Haderach is to marry the daughter of the Emperor. Paul actually understands the strategy‚ and he understands that his political ambitions are going to have to come before Chani. So they get taken in and the Fremen decide that Lady Jessica is going to become the Reverend Mother of their tribe‚ which really helps a lot since it allows her to spread the propaganda that her son is in fact the long awaited one. Meanwhile‚ Paul Atreides is really split internally as to whether he should take up the mantle of Kwisatz Haderach or whether he should basically just fight alongside the Fremen. The reason for this is he’s been having all these visions and he sees that if he becomes the leader‚ if he becomes Kwisatz Haderach‚ or if he becomes Lisan al Gaib‚ that he is going to cause untold suffering. There’s one performance in the movie that the movie really relies on in a heavy way‚ and that is Feyd-Rautha. Feyd-Rautha is the Harkonnen nephew who is supposed to be the “big baddie” in this movie. So the second part of the film is the introduction of the big baddie. And then the third part of the film is the culmination of the battle.   I only have a couple of problems with the film. Christopher Walken as the Emperor is weird. His appearance takes you out of it — like‚ Oh‚ hey‚ what are you doing here? You couldn’t find anyone else old in Hollywood? No one? Aside from that‚ the only other problem with the film is that when we finally get to the final battle‚ it’s so unbelievably easy for Paul Atreides and his forces to just wipe out the Emperor and all of the Harkonnen forces. You wonder why they didn’t do it earlier. And this is actually projected earlier on in the film. You see Paul‚ who’s spending an awful lot of time with the Fremen‚ attacking various spice machines. And I just kept thinking to myself‚ the attacking weaponry is so much better than the defending weaponry‚ I don’t even understand why this war is a competition. So the ease with which the last battle is fought makes it somewhat anticlimactic and so you’re wondering‚ how did the Harkonnens take over this entire planet? Aside from that‚ the movie looks spectacular. Now‚ because they’re trying to play up the conflict within Paul Atreides about whether to become this prophetic figure or not‚ that gets turned into a broader conversation about whether religion is itself a myth or whether religion is a manipulative tool or whether religion is a reality. Another political thing they don’t even know they’re doing — which happens a lot with Denis Villeneuve — his movies turn out to be shockingly Pro-Life. In this movie‚ Lady Jessica is pregnant and she is talking to the fetus during the entire movie. They show the baby in utero‚ like it’s not a cluster of cells but an actual character in the film. In any case‚ everything is being set up for Part Three. Apparently‚ there is still going to be a two-to-three year delay between this movie and the next movie. So in that way it’s very much like “The Lord of the Rings.” They’re going to wait to see how this one does. It’s going to make all the money. The best thing about Denis Villeneuve or Christopher Nolan — the best working directors today — is that they put all the money on the screen. This film cost about $190 million to make‚ and every dollar of it is on the screen. This movie demands to be seen in IMAX. You need the rumbling of the ships; you need the big sound; you need the deafening sound of this opera. You need all of the elements of the film. As a piece of world-building — it’s the best world-building I’ve seen since “The Lord of the Rings.” The acting is universally good. I had a lot of critiques of Timothee Chalamet in “Dune: Part One.” Here they are somewhat alleviated. Again‚ I think that the biggest problem with Timothee Chalamet is that he’s just very skinny. It’s weird to say that‚ but if he’s supposed to be this prophetic‚ fiery figure‚ then him being this incredible fighter and weighing maybe 92 lbs soaking wet is sort of a strange thing. But does he play it well? Yes. I think he upped his game for “Dune: Part Two.” Overall‚ I give it five out of five stars. This is a really good movie‚ very interesting. And even if they don’t end up making “Dune: Part Three‚” it will live on its own as a fulsome film experience.

A businessman and alleged associate of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) pled guilty on Friday to seven corruption charges and agreed to testify against Menendez‚ the former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee‚ who is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.  Jose Uribe‚ 56‚ pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery‚ honest services wire fraud‚ obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Uribe admitted to giving Menendez’s wife‚ Nadine‚ a Mercedes-Benz with the expectation the Democrat senator would use “his power and influence as a United States senator to get a favorable outcome and to stop all investigations related to one of my associates.” Uribe said that the car was given so that a “possible investigation into another person who I considered to be a member of my family‚” would not be initiated.  The businessman said that he paid for the car “in a manner to conceal my involvement because I knew it was wrong. I knew that giving a car in return for influencing a United States senator to stop a criminal investigation was wrong‚ and I deeply regret my actions.” Uribe could be sentenced to 95 years in prison and has to forfeit $246‚000. He will also now testify against Menendez‚ who faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery‚ conspiracy to commit honest services fraud‚ and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. Prosecutors allege that Menendez and his wife had a corrupt relationship with businessmen Wael Hana‚ Uribe‚ and Fred Daibes‚ who allegedly gave the senator bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the DOJ‚ the bribes were intended to protect the businessmen and to benefit Egypt.  “Those bribes included cash‚ gold‚ payments toward a home mortgage‚ compensation for a low-or-no-show job‚ a luxury vehicle‚ and other things of value‚” the indictment said. Federal authorities reportedly found gold bars and cash stuffed throughout the senator’s home that they traced back to the businessmen Menendez allegedly worked with.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP Menendez is also accused of ghostwriting a letter to other senators to urge them to support to end a hold on $300 million in military aid to Egypt‚ a letter that was reportedly written in coordination with his wife and the businessmen in question.  The trial for Menendez and his co-defendants is scheduled to begin on May 5.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said this week that the criminal trials against former President Donald Trump should happen before the upcoming elections. Haley‚ who has lost to the former president in every primary and caucus event thus far‚ made the remarks during a CNN interview with Dana Bash on Friday when asked about U.S. Supreme Court saying this week that they will hear Trump’s appeal in the federal election case that he faces in Washington‚ D.C.‚ where he claims he should immune from prosecution because of actions taken when he was president. “This means that there’s a very good chance that the trial‚ if it does go forward‚ won’t happen until either right before or even during and maybe even after the election‚” Bash said. “Should the Supreme Court expedite this?” Bash asked. “Well‚ I think the Supreme Court should hear it because we do want to look at immunity. No president should ever be above the law. And‚ you know‚ we’ve never really had to clarify this before‚ and I think it’s important for the Supreme Court to clarify‚” Haley responded. “Would we like to see things go faster? Of course‚ we would. But do you think the judges and the lawyers are going to have that happen? I don’t know‚ I mean‚ it could be that it takes a while‚ but I’m just glad that they’re hearing it. I think that’s important.” Bash followed up by asking Haley if it was important for voters to know “how this trial and others wrap up before they go to the polls.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “Of course‚ of course‚” Haley responded. “I mean they’re- you know‚ you want people to have as much information about the people they’re deciding will be president before they go to the polls. You know‚ that’s the part that‚ you know‚ we all should hope to have. I don’t know that we’ll have that clarity‚ but I think that that’s something that voters would want.” WATCH:

A sneak peek from the March 3rd installment of American Idol shows a new Season 22 contender named Aniston Pate whose voice and style bear a strong resemblance to Dolly Parton.  Aniston wowed Katy Perry‚ Luke Bryan‚ and Lionel Richie during her audition so much this fall that she earned a highlight on the show. We don’t know exactly where she stands with the competition‚ but ET released a promising clip of what’s to come.  In the video‚ the West Texas native walks in as Katy Perry and Luke Bryan are up to shenanigans as usual. Katy forces Luke to take vitamins intravenously because he refuses to swallow pills.  When Aniston takes the stage just after the needle prick makes him scream. She smiles at Luke‚ who explains he’s taking his “first-ever IV”. Completely unphased‚ Aniston introduces herself as “a tractor driver here to play country music.” The video cuts to the middle of her singing a song she co-penned for her mom called Hummingbird.  YouTube As she performed‚ the judges looked shocked by her vocals‚ and when she wrapped up‚ Luke said he had some tips for her.  “That’s a great one‚ really good. I got like four things I want to tell you to do to it‚” he shared. Aniston eagerly shouted‚ “Come on! Give it to me!” Luke gave her some advice on her lyrics. Then he sang a snippet of Hummingbird that showed off his edit. Katy Perry also tried Luke’s version. And she thought his suggestion was on point.  YouTube “Luke Bryan just sang a song that I wrote‚” Aniston said gleefully. “Katy Perry sang a song I wrote too!” Lionel Richie jumped in to tell Aniston Pate that her American Idol audition reminded him of the country music legend Dolly Parton. Judging by her face‚ he paid her the highest compliment possible.  “About halfway through the first verse‚ I had to open my eyes and go‚ ‘Is that you‚ Dolly?'”  “Oh my gosh‚” she replied bashfully. “What?!” The sneak peek didn’t reveal if Aniston Pate got a ticket to Americal Idol’s Hollywood Week‚ but we have high hopes for the young singer after the judges’ warm reaction. We’ll learn her fate when the episode airs on Sunday‚ March 2‚ on ABC at 8 PM ET.  You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post “Is That You Dolly?” American Idol Contestant Is Giving Serious Dolly Parton Vibes appeared first on InspireMore.

'It's been 4 and 1/2 years since I was wrongly accused'

The derailment involved three rail cars that spilled some diesel fuel and plastic pellets