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The Democrat administration has canceled, at least for now, the sale of F-15s to Israel. Joe Biden and his aides were enraged after Netanyahu released a video calling out Biden for withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel. They canceled a meeting with Israel to discuss Iran, which was scheduled for Thursday. Some of the Israelis […] The post Democrat Administration Cancels Sale of F-15s to Israel appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

It’s hard to remember a time before high-profile trials were broadcast on live television, and while O.J.’s may be the most memorable, it was not the first. That honor belongs to Pamela Smart, a young professional at a New Hampshire high school who had an affair with a student who would go on to murder her husband. Pamela Wojas grew up in Miami, Florida, but her family moved to Derry, New Hampshire, while she was in the eighth grade. When it was time to go to college, Pamela moved back to Florida and attended Florida State University, where she graduated with a degree in communications. In 1986, Pamela met Greggory Smart during Christmas break while home in New Hampshire, and the two became inseparable. They officially began dating in February 1987, and Gregg eventually moved to Tallahassee to be with Pamela while she finished college. The two were married in 1989 – Pamela was 21 and Gregg was 23 – and moved back to New Hampshire after Pamela graduated. Gregg began selling insurance at his father’s company, and Pamela took a job as a media coordinator at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire. On May 1, 1990, a week before their one-year wedding anniversary, Pamela arrived home around 10:00 p.m. to find the porch light hadn’t been turned on – something Gregg always did so she wouldn’t have to walk to the condo in the dark. It was a Tuesday evening, and when Pamela opened the front door she saw Gregg laying face down on the floor leading into the dining area. She immediately ran from the home and began screaming and knocking on neighbors’ doors, saying her husband was hurt and lying on the floor. Neighbors called 911, and soon police were at the scene. They realized Gregg was dead and found the house had been ransacked, yet Gregg still had his wallet and wedding ring. Police also found the back door open and the bulkhead doors that led to the basement unlocked. There was no sign of forced entry, yet the crime scene had the appearance of a burglary gone wrong. Police also wondered why anyone would risk a burglary on a weeknight, when people would be home and awake. The case received local media attention, and Gregg’s funeral was televised, with Pamela appearing distraught and relying on her friends and family. Police looking into the murder initially believed Gregg may have been gambling and heavily in debt, which could have resulted in his murder. Pamela, however, called local reporter Bill Spencer to say Gregg didn’t have a gambling problem, and agreed to do an interview with him. During that interview, Spencer said in the documentary “Pamela Smart: An American Murder Mystery,” that while filming the segment, Pamela suggested showing the top of the couple’s wedding cake, which he thought odd. Pamela was dressed up with her makeup done perfectly, and making suggestions to the film crew about how to improve the segment. She didn’t cry, and Spencer found it strange that she didn’t ask for help solving the murder, as victims usually did. Tom Landers/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Police were stumped about who could have wanted Gregg dead, but on May 14, they received a call saying Pamela planned the murder. The caller worked with a teenager named Cecelia Pierce, who attended Winnacunnet High School and interned for Pamela. The caller said Cecelia, 15, had been talking about how Pamela planned the murder. Police questioned Cecelia, who claimed to know nothing about the murder. During that initial interview, Cecelia did say she had stayed at the Smart home one week before the murder. This detail interested police, since Pamela had provided a list of everyone who had stayed at the home for the month prior to the murder – and didn’t include Cecelia. Pamela did, however, make sure to emphasize that a water salesman had come to the house prior to Gregg’s murder. Police again were left with little to go on, until six weeks after the murder, when Vance Lattime walked into the police station and handed over a .38 caliber pistol he believed was the murder weapon. Vance told police that his son’s friend had suggested the gun was used in the murder. At first, Vance said he didn’t believe the teen, but he checked the gun in question and realized it had been cleaned – which isn’t how he had stored it previously. Worried, he turned the gun over to investigators. Ralph Welch, the friend of Vance’s son, was brought in for questioning and said his friend Billy Flynn had been bragging about the murder. Welch said that Flynn had pulled the trigger while his other friend, Patrick “Pete” Randall, held Gregg’s head. Welch also provided a connection to the boys and Pamela Smart – Flynn, Vance’s son J.R. Lattime Jr., and Cecelia were all part of the high school’s Project Self-Esteem, where Pamela was a mentor. When asked why Pamela would want her husband of less than a year dead, Welch said that she wanted the life insurance on him and that he loved the dog more than her. Flynn, Randall, and Lattime Jr. were all arrested, but because they are all juveniles, their names weren’t released to the media. Pamela desperately tried to learn the names of the teens arrested for her husband’s murder, and learned the truth when she called Flynn’s house and spoke to his mother. Spencer, the local reporter, went to Pamela’s house after the arrests to get her response, but she barely opened the door and said she was “devastated” about the arrests. Spencer also found this odd, wondering why she would be “devastated” when the people who had murdered her husband had just been caught. Following the arrests, police again questioned Cecelia, Pamela’s intern, about what she knew regarding the alleged murder plot. Cecelia, whose mother was present during the questioning, continued to say she didn’t know anything, but after leaving the police station, she learned on the news that the police were considering arresting another student. Believing she would be arrested, Cecelia returned to the police station the next day to say that Pamela told her that she loved Flynn and that Cecelia had walked in on the two having sex. Cecelia also said Pamela was “front and center” in the plot to kill Greg, according to recordings of her police interviews. Cecelia agreed to wear a wire and talk to Pamela, since Pamela wouldn’t speak over the phone because she believed it was being tapped. Cecelia went to Pamela’s office and the two spoke about the crime, with Pamela suggesting Cecelia lie to police so that the boys and Pamela wouldn’t spend the rest of their lives in prison. She also suggested Cecelia would go to prison as well. Pamela, in the “American Murder Mystery” documentary series, said that she kept hearing about developments in the case from Cecelia, and she was lying about knowing more about the murders and trying to get information from Cecelia during the recorded conversation. After the conversation with Cecelia, police arrested Pamela at the high school and charged her for her role in the murder of her husband. Meanwhile, the teens charged with the actual killing refused to speak to police – until the court agreed to try them as adults. No longer facing a few years in juvenile detention, but life in prison or even the death penalty, the boys started talking. Tom Landers/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Flynn said Pamela planned the murder, and the other boys back up his story. The teens were all given plea deals in exchange for testifying against Pamela, in a trial that would become America’s first nationally broadcast trial. Pamela’s defense attorney tried to get the trial moved from Derry, New Hampshire, arguing that the jury pool was tainted by local media coverage of the crime. The judge denied the attempt. The prosecution argued that Pamela didn’t just want to divorce Gregg because her affair with a 15-year-old would be exposed, damaging her reputation. She also collected on three life insurance policies for Gregg, totaling about $140,000. On the stand, J.R., one of the teens involved in Gregg’s killing, said Pamela had told them not to use a knife because it would result in too much blood, which could get on her white furniture. He also said he believed Flynn would pay him $500 for helping with the murder – and that the money was supposed to come from Gregg’s life insurance payout. The defense noted that J.R. and Flynn’s cells were right next to each other, suggesting they could have corroborated their stories prior to testifying. Flynn teared up as he was on the stand, saying that the day after he and Pamela first had sex, she mentioned murdering her husband. He testified that Pamela said she couldn’t divorce Gregg because she would get nothing. He said that he believed Pamela would stop having sex with him if he didn’t murder Gregg, and that he was a virgin before her. He also said that Pamela told him she would leave the bulkhead open and asked Flynn to put her dog in the basement during the murder so it wouldn’t be traumatized. He said that on the night of the murder, the boys entered the home through the unlocked door, ransacked the house to make it look like a burglary, and then waited until Gregg came home to kill him. MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images Pamela took the stand in her own defense, denying the boys’ allegations and saying she was susceptible to the affair with the teenage boy because Gregg had recently confessed he had cheated on her. She said she broke off the affair with Flynn because she loved Gregg and wanted to make the marriage work, and suggested Flynn and his friends killed Gregg out of jealousy and revenge. She never cried on the stand. The jury was not sequestered during the trial, and Pamela’s defense said that newspapers were found in the jury room, suggesting their conviction could have been tainted. The jury found Pamela Smart guilty on all counts, and she was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The judge denied the defense’s request for a new trial based on jury bias, and Pamela exhausted all of her legal appeals. While Flynn and the other boys who committed the actual murder have all been released from prison, Pamela remains behind bars. She’s also requested that her sentence be reduced, but New Hampshire’s Executive Council denied her request and the state Supreme Court dismissed her petition. More than 34 years after the murder of her husband, Pamela acknowledged her own responsibility in Gregg’s murder, but didn’t admit to plotting his death and never mentioned his name. As recently as 2018, in the “American Murder Mystery” documentary, Smart denied any involvement in her husband’s death. AP photo/Oxygen True Crime.

A Catholic charity group in New Jersey sponsored a reading of a book for young children teaching kids to move “beyond the gender binary.” The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton sponsored a reading on Monday at the Hamilton Township Public Library in Hamilton, New Jersey, of a book used to promote gender ideology. The book, “My Shadow is Purple,” follows the story of a young child who identifies as neither male nor female. The reading prompted concerns from locals, who wondered how a Catholic charity could be promoting a book encouraging gender confusion. The book’s Amazon page says that it is an “inspiring book about being true to yourself and moving beyond the gender binary.” “My dad has a shadow that’s blue as a berry and my mom’s is as pink as a blossoming cherry. There’s only those choices, a two or a one. But mine is quite different. It’s both and it’s none. If theirs are straight then mine is a circle,” the child says in the book. The picture book features photos of the child wearing both masculine and feminine clothing, including a skirt/suit hybrid made for the school dance. Screen shot of book from Reading Rocket YouTube reading. At the dance, one student says, “There’s more than two colors our shadows can be,” after the child does not want to go to the male or female part of the dance floor. Tom, a local parent and Catholic, said that he was shocked by the sponsorship of the reading. “As devout Catholics and parents to children 4 and 1 1/2, this book event really hit home for my wife and me,” he told The Daily Wire. “We are in a state of complete disbelief that our Diocese would align itself with something so clearly in opposition to the teachings of our faith.” “We seriously question how this sponsorship is anything other than a sad example of secularized virtue signaling,” he added. “I would also like the Diocese of Trenton to explain how moving children ‘beyond the gender binary’ will move them closer to God?” In a statement to The Daily Wire, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Trenton said that the reading was part of the charity’s educational mission and indicated it was done as part of its contract with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families under the NJ Statewide Student Support Services Network (NJ4S). “To that end, our NJ4S Mercer Hub team offers a wide variety of educational and prevention programs for students, families and educators to ensure the children in the county have access to behavioral health care as well as information about numerous issues that can impact a student’s mental health,” Hollis Painting, head of communications for the charity, told The Daily Wire. Painting added that the reading was one of the free events put on by the team. “The event you reference included a reading of Scott Stuart’s ‘My Shadow is Purple’ and a discussion and activity about ways children can express their individuality,” Painting told The Daily Wire. “Through this variety of programs, it is our aim to address the diverse scope of issues facing students in Mercer County.” Hamilton Township Public Library Director Scott Chianese told The Daily Wire that the charity reached out to the library to host the event and that it was the first event the charity had done at the library. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Bishop of Trenton David O’Connell, who is the president of the charity board, did not respond to request for comment on whether the book was in line with Catholic beliefs. The charity says that it “offers mental health, poverty-reduction, and social and crisis services to individuals and families, particularly those impacted by trauma and adversity.” The charity also offers immigration-related services and advises them to “not open the door to U.S. immigration agents or police unless they have a legal document with your name on it.”

Pat Sajak’s final appearance on “Wheel of Fortune” scored a massive ratings boost as viewers turned in to see the longtime host say goodbye to the game show he made popular. Sajak’s last episode — after hosting for more than forty years — aired on June 7 and drew an audience of more than 11 million viewers, the Hollywood Reporter reported. It was the largest audience the syndicated game show has seen in more than four years, since April 2020 when the world was at the start of the pandemic. Excluding sports, the final episode for the long-time game show host was the most-watched program on cable TV or broadcast, at any time of day, for the week of June 3-9, the outlet noted. During Sajak’s entire last week of hosting, the game show experienced larger than usual viewership, with an average of 8.5 million viewers for the week, hitting an 18-week high in household rating (5.0), the outlet noted. Pat Sajak’s ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Goodbye Hits Four-Year Ratings High https://t.co/D9RZ1acyik — The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 18, 2024 Sajak’s final message was simple: he told viewers, “Well, the time has come to say goodbye. I have a few thanks and acknowledgments before I go, and I want to start with all watching out there. It’s been an incredible privilege to be invited into millions of homes night after night, year after year, decade after decade.” “I always felt that the privilege came with the responsibility to keep this daily half-hour a safe place for family fun,” he added.“No social issues. No politics. Nothing embarrassing, I hope. Just a game. But gradually it became more than that.” “A place where kids learned their letters, where people from other countries honed their English skills, where families came together along with friends and neighbors, and entire generations. “What an honor to play even a small part in all of that,” Sajak continued. “Thank you for allowing me into your lives.” Last year, Sajak announced he was leaving the show, with cohost Vanna White — who first appeared alongside the host in 1982 — remaining on board. “Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last,” Sajak wrote on June 12, 2023. “It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months,” he added. “Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)” Shortly after the retirement announcement, his replacement was announced with media personality Ryan Seacrest confirming he’d been picked to succeed him, posting on X that he’s “truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak.”

The fight to keep sexually explicit books away from children is not just being fought in big liberal cities. Even in deep red Alabama, there is resistance to removing books such as the sexually explicit LGBT-themed book “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” in which there are graphic descriptions of anal rape and incest. It’s the book that Louisiana Senator John Kennedy read aloud during a Senate committee hearing last year, shocking all in attendance.  The book graphically describe sexual activities and includes lines like, “He didn’t know I was a virgin, and I did my best to act dominant like my favorite porn star,” and, “He reached his hand down and pulled out my d**k. He quickly went to giving me head.” But just last month, an effort from concerned residents in one small Alabama community asking for the book to be moved to the adult section of their local library was denied. Under current guidelines, parents can complain about a book, but a committee appointed by the library director decides the fate of the book. The committee in charge of reviewing “All Boys Aren’t Blue” in Huntsville-Madison County unanimously ruled that it should stay in the library’s young adult section.  Cindy Hewitt, the executive director of the Huntsville-Madison library, told one concerned resident on May 28 that the committee found that though the content in the book is “frank and open” it is “relevant to the author’s history,” according to a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. According to Hewitt, the committee found that it would be a “disservice to remove it from the collection as it would neglect to consider the real-world issues of sex and sexual abuse that some teenagers may already be experiencing.”  A new policy set to go into effect next month, however, could create a new calculus for local libraries. After July 15, funding for state libraries will be tied to removing sexually explicit and graphic books from the children’s sections of public libraries. Under the new rules, libraries will be required to come up with a “selection criteria for minors and how they are safeguarded from sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.” The policies also stipulate that libraries will need to have provisions in place to move books that have been deemed sexually explicit or inappropriate for children. The amended rules say that libraries shall “approve written guidelines that ensure library sections designated for minors under the age of 18 remain free of material containing obscenity, sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.” Another rule would create guidelines for library cards handed out to minors, including that parents need to give approval and that the cards can’t be used to check out books from the adult section of the library. This would give parents, like the ones attempting to have “All Boys Aren’t Blue” moved from the young adult shelves of the Huntsville-Madison County Library, a new avenue to have their complaints addressed. John Wahl, the chair of the Alabama Republican Party and a member of the Alabama Public Library System, told The Daily Wire that he fully expects the policies to go into place. ”Once these go into effect on July 15,  Alabama will have some of the strongest regulations in the country to make sure children are protected,” Wahl told The Daily Wire. “It is time that we protect children from social engineering and from materials that really are not appropriate for them.”  He added that parents had come before the APLS board to tell them about sexually explicit books their kids had found at local libraries. He said that the people of Alabama “want the libraries to be cleaned up” and that taxpayer dollars should not go to purchase explicit books aimed at children.  Credit: H. Rick Bamman/Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images. Media and leftist activists have attempted to portray the pending rule as a “book ban,” but backers say its a misrepresentation. “No one is about banning books. We’re not trying to ban anything. We are trying to definitely protect children though,” APLS board member Amy Minton told The Daily Wire. “Why do we have these books in our public libraries that encourage the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity when it’s against the current law of Alabama?” She added that the vast majority of public comments sent in related to the policies were in support.  According to Elizabeth Stewart, an organizer with conservative group Moms for Liberty and resident of Athens, Alabama, a large part of the push for children’s books with graphic material is coming from the American Library Association, which wants to expose children to “various forms of sexual activity.” The American Library Association is run by a self-described “lesbian Marxist” and has vigorously protested any effort to shield children from graphic materials while pushing leftist ideology.  ”Everytime we make a choice to put something in, we are simultaneously making a choice to not put something in,” Stewart said. “And so it does make a difference — there’s not an endless space in each library to put everything which is why age appropriate curriculum material selection policy has to be written well.”  Credit: Photo by David McNew/Getty Images. Library boards will play an important part in developing policies that will be in accordance with the new APLS guidelines. Stewart told The Daily Wire that it is important for local citizens to take responsibility for their own communities. That’s why she’s been pushing for clarity on the makeup of her own Athens-Limestone County Public Library board, which has been embroiled in controversy the last several months over its policies on sexually-themed books and board appointments.  The controversy began when longtime librarian and mother Carissa Callan was alarmed by a posted policy that said the library was supposed to supply books on sex “that reflect changing attitudes and departures from traditional mores.” As a resident of Limestone County, Callan applied for a spot on the board, as the library’s publicly posted policies said three board appointments were given to the city and two to the county. After being denied an application on the board, Callan and Stewart discovered that the library board was completely controlled by the city, contradicting posted policy. They launched an effort to hire outside legal counsel to get county residents a guaranteed spot on the board.  “County citizens have continued paying as if it’s a joint board since 2009 but without representation,” a GiveSendGo organized by “Limestone County Citizens” to raise funds for a constitutional lawyer says. “County residents are seeking legal answers to public policy being incorrect for 15 years.” The city makes up just about 26% of Limestone’s population of around 110,000. The library’s total expected revenue for fiscal year 2024 came to around $628,600. This funding came from multiple sources, including the county and the state, totaling around $224,244, according to records viewed by The Daily Wire.  Stewart said that county citizens were effectively getting taxed twice for something they did not have a voice on.  “The county citizens are getting hit twice. They’re paying their local county commission for no representations,” Stewart told The Daily Wire. “The state of Alabama has been funding this library for 15 years under documentation and legal bylaws stating that it has remained a joint library effort and a joint board.”  The city of Athens told The Daily Wire that the incorrect information about the board appointment on the website appeared to be the result of “human error,” and that it had been removed from the website “weeks ago.”  The library’s current page on policies says it is “under construction,” and current policies on board membership cannot be found online. However, the library’s updated policy from this May are available upon request from the library, and were obtained by The Daily Wire.  That policy no longer contains the requirement for books “that reflect changing attitudes and departures from traditional mores,” but now stipulates that the library board is all appointed by the city. Limestone residents still have questions about why the county provides funding without getting to make any board appointments.  The Limestone County Commission voted last week to approve a resolution that expresses a goal of forming a joint-library board again with at least two county representatives. The resolution would require an agreement to be reached by October 1. The exact details appear to still be up in the air and county residents remain unconvinced that the board will be changed.  A spokeswoman for Athens said that the “city and the county are exploring modifications so that the board contains appointments from both the city and county,” adding that “when/if those changes are made, the library policy will also be changed.” None of the members of the Limestone County Commission responded to Daily Wire requests for comment.  Limestone residents also believe that there should be an independent review of the board regardless of whether the county is given any seats on the board or not. Wahl agrees, saying that there should be an independent review from outside to ensure that a fair resolution is found.  Stewart said that there needs to be a legitimate board in place in Athens before they can develop a policy on sexually explicit books in accordance with the APLS. Regardless, the Athens-Limestone library will need to submit its policy by October if the new guidelines take effect in July.

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