Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday declared over 100 laws and policies with “DEI frameworks” unconstitutional, The Daily Wire can first report, stating that these laws were being used to illegally discriminate in both the public and private sectors. “This action to dismantle DEI in Texas helps fulfill the vision articulated by Martin Luther King, Jr. when he dreamed that his children would one day live in a nation where they were judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Paxton said in a statement. “It’s imperative that all private-sector employers, schools, and state and local government entities—based on this legal opinion—immediately abolish any DEI, affirmative action, or unconstitutional discrimination programs under their authority. We must return to the basic principles of equal opportunity for all,” Paxton continued. The opinion specifically notes potential issues in programs like the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) and the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) efforts. The HUB program was meant to help “small, minority- and women-owned businesses” in the process of obtaining state government contracts, according to the Texas Department of Transportation website. In October, acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced that new certifications for HUB would be stopped, posting to X that “Businesses deserve a level playing field where government contracts are earned by performance and best value — not race or sex quotas.” Paxton noted that the opinion would not impact veterans who utilize the program, but that the sex- and race-based elements of the program run contrary to the state’s Equal Rights Amendment and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Meanwhile, the opinion rails against DBE mandates for “consideration of race and sex for seats on state boards, commissions, and committees,” a press release stated. The attorney general also issued a warning to the private sector about potential “legal liability” if DEI practices are in place at Texas businesses, adding that “America is waking up to the egregious unfairness of DEI policies.” Paxton also points to the Supreme Court’s 2023 opinion that ended affirmative action in higher education. The attorney general’s opinion notes that the practice is unconstitutional in Texas far beyond education, and said that his office will take action against governmental entities, including schools, that use DEI or affirmative action as a means of “unlawful discrimination” and “the erosion of merit-based decision-making.” The Trump administration has made sweeping reversals to DEI-style policies at the federal level, ranging from the State Department to the Federal Aviation Administration. Many companies still have DEI practices in place, though others have begun rolling them back.

A professional protester known for harassing worshippers at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s church in Washington, D.C., has emerged as a key figure in the disruption of Sunday’s service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. William Kelly, a self-described combat veteran, was captured on video storming into the sanctuary with a mob of other activists associated with Black Lives Matter and the Racial Justice Network. The demonstrators chanted “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and screamed at congregants, labeling them “fake Christians” because one of the church’s pastors also serves as an ICE field director. Jonathan Parnell, lead pastor of the Southern Baptist church, called the protestors “shameful” and eventually chose to end the service after some of the children started crying.  Kevin Ezell, head of the Southern Baptists’ mission board, said on X that he had spoken to Cities Church staff members who reported that “the kids in the worship service were terrified.” In a later post he added, “These intimidating tactics are not only illegal but cowardly. No cause justifies traumatizing families as they worship and desecrate a sacred space.” Many on social media, including Deputy Undersecretary of War Justin Overbaugh, immediately identified Kelly as the same man regularly posted outside Hegseth’s church in Washington. Joe Rigney, a founding pastor of Cities Church in St. Paul who also helped plant Christ Church in D.C., said Kelly and his fellow protestors have regularly disrupted their D.C. worship services for the past six months. “They’ll play music or yell and scream and use bullhorns and loud sound amplification to try to prevent us from singing psalms and hearing the Word preached,” he told The Daily Wire. One member was transported to the hospital after a protester screaming into a bullhorn shattered his eardrum. Rigney said Kelly’s tactics have also included screaming obscenities at minors as families are entering the sanctuary, forcing a need for police escorts. “They’ve sought to disrupt Christian worship gatherings now in multiple places.”  Kelly and his fellow activists are allegedly protesting an ICE agent fatally shooting Renee Good during a raid in Minneapolis earlier this month. But Rigney, who pastored Cities Church and lived in Minneapolis for seven years before he joined Christ Church, notes that he has no connection to Kelly’s ostensible reasons for harassing his new congregation, which Kelly has targeted for being “Christian nationalist.” Rigney believes the cause isn’t important to Kelly or his compatriots, who he accuses of being part of a network of paid activists who wait for an opportune opening to wreak havoc. “I think Minneapolis, because of the George Floyd riots, the Black Lives Matter organizations were already sort of there but had just kind of been latent and inactive,” Rigney said. “And now there’s a new thing that has kind of triggered them … So I think that the same groups that were agitating about that then have found a kind of a new cause of the moment to allow them to protest.” Rigney says he hopes the Trump administration will prosecute everyone involved in disrupting these church services to “send a message that that’s unacceptable.” And the Department of Justice has already announced that it is investigating the protest for violations of federal civil rights laws and the FACE Act, which protects religious worshippers from intimidation or obstruction based on ideological differences. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon called the protest “UnAmerican and outrageous.” Local Minneapolis law enforcement does not look likely to act. The police department monitored the service but made no immediate arrests as demonstrators left the building after the service had been stopped. Police officials said they were working to balance respect for both free speech and the right of congregations to worship without disruption. Asked how he responds to charges from Kelly and the other protestors that it is not Christian to support ICE’s work, Rigney, who published a 2025 book on the misuse of empathy, said he doubts they have much understanding of Christianity. “I think that kind of rhetoric is an attempt to steer,” he said. “Particularly coming from people who likely aren’t Christians or at least aren’t Bible-believing Christians … It is an attempt to steer and sabotage Christians so that they won’t resist the lawlessness that the left is seeking to impose.” Rigney believes the Christian response to such attacks is greater boldness. “In the book of Acts, you saw precisely this kind of lawlessness,” he said. “You had mobs, you had shouting false accusations. You had government officials encouraging it in the way that the Democrats are doing right now. And in that day, Christians gathered together, and they prayed for boldness.” “That’s what Christians ought to meet this with.”

Vladimir Putin has weaponized nuns to infiltrate churches across Europe, turning religious sanctuaries into operational fronts for military fundraising and intelligence gathering while exploiting the West’s most sacred institutions. Religious Institutions Turned Into War Funding Operations The Church of Sweden discovered that nuns from the St. Elisabeth Convent in Minsk, Belarus had systematically infiltrated over 20 parishes across the country. These women, dubbed “Z-Nuns” for their open display of Russia’s military invasion symbol, sold small religious items while generating funds directly supporting Putin’s war against Ukraine. The operation represents a brazen exploitation of European religious hospitality for military purposes. The monastery’s leader, Andrey Lemeshonok, received the prestigious Pushkin Medal directly from Putin’s hands during a Kremlin ceremony on October 15, 2025. Putin personally honored him for his “significant contribution to the preservation and development of Russian language and culture abroad.” This wasn’t cultural exchange—it was recognition for operational success in penetrating European civil society. (1/8) In Sweden, nuns from the St. Elisabeth Convent, originally based in Belarus, embedded in 20 churches, worked for Russian intelligence and raised funds for the Russian army while posing as a charity. pic.twitter.com/PR2hB99GBy — Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) January 18, 2026 Former KGB Officer Coordinates European Operations The nuns didn’t operate alone. Dmitry Ivanovich Korbalovich, a former Belarusian KGB officer, served as their designated driver across Western Europe. His involvement transforms what might appear as innocent religious outreach into a sophisticated intelligence operation with direct ties to Eastern European security services. The combination of religious cover and professional intelligence operatives demonstrates the operation’s strategic importance. Sweden’s intelligence service Säpo formally assessed that the Russian Orthodox Church functions “as a platform for gathering intelligence and other security-threatening activities.” The nuns’ activities align perfectly with this assessment, using religious legitimacy to access locations and communities that would otherwise remain closed to foreign operatives. Their success in Sweden proves the effectiveness of this hybrid warfare approach. Christmas Markets Become Propaganda Battlegrounds The infiltration extended beyond Sweden into Norway and Poland through Christmas market operations. Norwegian administrators in Bergen halted the monastery’s participation after identifying its Russian military ties in December 2025. Polish protests in 2024 led to contract termination and stall dismantling. Each incident reveals the coordinated nature of this multi-country campaign targeting Europe’s most vulnerable seasonal gatherings. Nun Nymphodora openly admitted during a monastery meeting that they actively promote Russian narratives during European trips and cultivate relationships with Putin supporters. This confession, published on the convent’s own YouTube channel, eliminates any pretense about their true mission. They weren’t spreading Christianity—they were spreading Putin’s war propaganda while collecting intelligence on European communities. Russian nuns who aided Russia’s army have been banned from the Schengen Area Russian nuns who worked in the Narva Diocese of the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church under sham contractshave been banned from entering the Schengen Area. Their Estonian residence permits were revoked… pic.twitter.com/GqAw7jVobY — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 10, 2026 Sweden’s Rude Awakening to Modern Espionage Michael Öjermo, rector of Täby parish, reflected on historical precedent: “I’m old enough to remember when ministers came from East Germany—if three came, two would be for real, and one would be a spy for the Stasi.” His comparison highlights how Cold War infiltration tactics have evolved to exploit modern Europe’s openness and religious tolerance through seemingly innocent religious exchange. Kristina Smith, head of the Church of Sweden’s crisis planning unit, acknowledged that “It’s a new thing for Sweden as a society, the full-scale invasion of 2022 was a rude awakening for a lot of Swedes.” The incident shattered Sweden’s assumption that two centuries without conflict provided immunity from foreign intelligence operations. European churches must now balance traditional hospitality with security protocols designed to detect state-sponsored infiltration. Sources: Vladimir Putin’s mob of war-thirsty nuns are infiltrating churches across Europe Vladimir Putin spy nuns church Europe – GB News Pro-Putin nuns sell war at Christmas markets – United24 Media

'Not in Floridians’ best interest for the ABA to be the sole gatekeeper'

You won’t find a more literate bunch of 4th graders anywhere in the nation than if you go and stand in a Mississippi elementary school. Over the last few years, the Magnolia state has risen from 49th in the country for 4th grade reading level to number 1 in both reading and math at the […] The post How Mississippi Moved from the Bottom to the Top in Student Reading Achievement Scores appeared first on Good News Network.

For the first time in North Carolina’s history, registered Republicans now outnumber registered Democrats. It’s a milestone that should feel like a turning point—a validation of conservative momentum in a battleground state. But let’s be honest: this shift is less about rising support for the GOP and more about voter disillusionment with the Democratic Party. In our latest League of American Workers statewide poll, the Democratic Party’s approval rating sits at just 30%, with 54% disapproving—a staggering 24-point gap. That kind of brand damage doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of years of policy overreach, cultural disconnect, and failure to address working people’s core concerns. But here’s the uncomfortable part for Republicans: the voter frustration that’s driving Democrats down isn’t automatically lifting us up. Trump’s Approval Numbers President Donald Trump remains personally underwater in North Carolina. His job approval is 39% approve with 53% disapproving—including weak numbers among women, independents, Gen Z, and Hispanic voters. Even among many who supported him in 2024, there’s growing concern about how the administration is handling the economy. And make no mistake: the economy is the No. 1 issue in North Carolina—and right now, it’s the GOP’s biggest vulnerability.    Just 30% of voters approve of Trump’s handling of inflation    Only 35% approve of his handling of the overall economy    A full 76% of voters cite grocery prices as a top inflation concern—far surpassing rent, gas, or insurance    34% of voters give the economy an F grade These are not numbers to ignore. Voters are telling us—loudly—that they’re feeling the squeeze, and they don’t yet believe we have the answers. There is a bright spot: immigration and border policy. The poll shows that Trump’s highest approval ratings are on border control (50%) and immigration enforcement (44%)—suggesting that strong messaging and action on these issues continues to resonate across party lines. But one or two issues aren’t enough to hold a coalition together, especially when kitchen-table economics are driving discontent. Time to Deliver So yes, we should acknowledge the historic significance of taking a registration lead in North Carolina. It’s a signal that the ground is shifting. But we can’t mistake a registration edge for a governing mandate—especially when the president and our party are still struggling to win trust on the issues that matter most. If the Republican Party wants to hold that lead—and grow it—we need to deliver results, not just rhetoric. That starts with the economy. Voters want to see action on inflation, cost of living, and long-term financial stability. They want leadership that’s practical, disciplined, and grounded in their daily reality. Republicans have the opportunity. Now we have to prove we deserve it. The post The GOP Just Took the Lead in North Carolina, but Don’t Celebrate Yet appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Josh Shapiro: Team Kamala Asked If I Was an Israeli Double Agent; UPDATE: Biden Advisor Erupts

A Modest Proposal From Tom Homan

This Tuesday marks one full year since Donald Trump has been back in office, and the elitist media have spent the last 12 months screaming at their audiences that the “authoritarian” and “racist” President is a “fascist” dictator who is using his power to trample rights and cancel the next election.  There were a ton of crazy quotes to sort through over the last year, but the following are 20 quotes that are representative of all the rage and insanity spewed against Trump and his supporters over the past year:   The Germans Voted for Hitler Too     Co-host Joy Behar: “This is not a normal inauguration. This is not a normal person. He’s a convicted felon. Why do they go as if this is a normal inauguration? And it’s not.”...Co-host Sara Haines: “The normalizing of President Trump happened when the American public went out and voted.”Behar: “The Germans voted also. Just saying.”— ABC’s The View, January 17, 2025.   MSNBC’s Measuring Scale for Trump      “On a fascism scale of one to ten with ten being peak fascism, how would you rate Trump’s first week?” — Substitute host Katie Phang to Democratic strategist James Carville on MSNBC’s The Beat, January 24, 2025.   Donald Trump Should’ve Been Impeached “One Minute” Into His Presidency       “Donald Trump was eligible for impeachment one minute into his inaugural address for violating the emoluments clause….I think Democrats should start having a different guy come out every week and introduce new articles of impeachment, just to inspire people and show them that we’re doing something and let the record show for history we are fighting against this.”— SiriusXM host John Fugelsang on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, January 31, 2025.   Trump Said “Some of the Most Racist Things I Have Ever Heard” Out of the White House  “He [Donald Trump] does a moment of silence, and then spends the next 25 minutes saying some of the most racist things I have ever heard come out of the White House, come out of the White House Press Briefing Room, come out of the mouth of the President of the United States, scapegoating anyone who isn’t white, Christian, male, straight….All we can do is sit back and pray that the wrecking ball doesn’t destroy us.”— Washington Post associate editor/MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart discussing Trump’s press conference on the Potomac River plane/helicopter crash as aired on PBS News Hour, January 31, 2025.   Sunny Hostin: Democrats Must Fight Trump Or “People Will Die!”  “Representative [Al] Green [yelling at Trump during his address to Congress] gave them the example. The Democrats are not meeting the moment. It is very clear that Medicaid is on the table. It is very clear that Social Security is on the table. It is very clear that people will die! The baby boomers, the civil rights generation, they knew what they had to do! They were willing to fight and die for their rights! This generation of Congress, they are not meeting the moment! This is an existential crisis!”— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, March 7, 2025.   Kristen Welker to Trump: Are You Taking the Country Down an “Authoritarian Path?”     “People who have lived in countries like the Philippines, Hungary, Russia, they look at some of your actions, going after civil service, going after universities, law firms, the media, they say it’s out of an authoritarian playbook. What do you say to those who believe you are taking the country down an authoritarian path?”— Moderator Kristen Welker to Donald Trump as aired on NBC’s Meet the Press, May 4, 2025.   “The Blood” of Terror Attack Is “On the Hands of Donald Trump”      “You just round up all the people who you think look like threats. That is remigration. That is ethnic cleansing. That is Donald Trump’s presidency. And that, because you no longer bother to look for people who are guilty or who might be planning heinous acts, you just look for their skin tone and their names, that is why the blood of Boulder, Colorado, is on the hands of Donald Trump.”— Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on his Countdown podcast, June 3, 2025.   U.S. Isn’t “Fit to Host” World Cup Because Trump is “Trampling Human Rights”      “I, for one, don’t think that this country, under this administration, is really fit to host the World Cup or fit to host the Olympics coming up….FIFA has an entire section about human rights, and yet Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, had the nerve to embrace President Trump the other day at the championship game of the Club World Cup, someone who does not stand for human rights but instead is trampling human rights.”— Washington Post columnist, ESPN commentator Kevin Blackistone on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, July 14, 2025.   Chuck Todd: Trump Administration Has Turned CBS Into “State TV”      “So, when you—this Brendan Carr at the FCC, who has now decided to just blow up the First Amendment, and has made CBS state TV. The restrictions that have been put on CBS now make it state television.…But he wants a bias monitor. Well, biased through whose prism? Is CBS, is he gonna look out to make sure CBS does a percentage of programming that's communist, a percentage of programming that's fascist, a percentage of programming that’s MAGA, a percentage of programming that's progressive, a percentage of programming that is quote ‘centrist,’ that is not, who’s, what are his qualifications?  — Former anchor of NBC’s Meet the Press, Chuck Todd on his podcast, July 28, 2025.   Trump Is “Consolidating Dictatorship In Our Country”     “Life in the United States is profoundly changing. It’s profoundly different than it was even six months ago, because we do now live in a country that has an authoritarian leader in charge. We have a consolidating dictatorship in our country.”— Host Rachel Maddow on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, August 4, 2025.   Joy Reid Rants: “Trump Is the Physical Embodiment of All of America’s Sins”   “People try to say God put him [Donald Trump] in the White House. I don’t believe God is that cruel. But in a way, I’m thinking the way you could justify saying that: Donald Trump is the physical embodiment of all of America’s sins….He’s a terrible businessman and a failure who gets to fake success because he’s white, so banks keep lending him money even when he’s failing….Everything about him is a lie. He’s not a Christian, but Christians love him. But he embodies the greed, the shamelessness, the lasciviousness of capitalism.”— Former MSNBC host Joy Reid on The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali podcast, August 15, 2025.   Trump “Does Not Have the Intellect” to Match Up with World Leaders  “Donald Trump cannot perform on the world stage because he simply does not have the intellect to match up with these world leaders. He’s not Barack Obama, he’s not Hillary Clinton. He’s not even George Bush when it comes to being able to maneuver in these environments. And so what you saw was Vladimir Putin come and get what he wanted. I mean, the winner of this is Vladimir Putin. I don’t know why we’re trying to hide the ball.”— CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers on CNN’s State of the Union, August 17, 2025.   Joy Reid Speculates About Trump’s “Magical Doctors” and His “Alleged Assassination”      “He’s showing clear signs that he isn’t well. His face looks like it’s coming apart. He’s got all these bruises all over his hands, which we don’t know what that’s from. They won’t explain it. He’s got these magical doctors who claimed that he was shot in the ear, but his ear, I guess, grew back. He had a Dukal bandage on one minute, no bandage the next. We can’t get a medical record from this alleged assassination. He was supposedly shot. We have nothing!” — Former MSNBC host Joy Reid on MeidasTouch’s Katie Phang News, September 2, 2025.   “Snowflake Fascism” of Trump and MAGA Got Get Kimmel Removed     “It’s another day that ends in Y and Donald Trump’s assault on American democracy. We have entered a new era of snowflake fascism, ladies and gentlemen, in the U.S., where the snowflakes on the far-right whine and complain every time somebody hurts their feelings. The weak-kneed corporate executives who only know how to smooch Trump’s butt simply go along with the dear leader’s demands. The latest example, the canceling of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV show. All Kimmel did was call out MAGA for attempting to capitalize on the death of Charlie Kirk – which, of course, they did.”— Former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on The Jim Acosta Show podcast, September 18, 2025.   George Stephanopoulos: “Trump’s Retribution Campaign” Reached A “New and Ominous Level”     “President Trump’s retribution campaign reached a new and ominous level late yesterday. The first criminal indictment of a man Trump considers a political enemy. Since the Watergate scandal, more than 50 years ago, presidents have refrained from interfering directly in criminal prosecutions by the Justice Department. The facts surrounding the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey showed that those norms have been shattered.”— Co-host George Stephanopoulos opening ABC’s Good Morning America, September 26, 2025.   Joy Behar: I’m “Skeptical” That America Will “Survive” Trump  “If you guys think that we can survive another three-and-a-half years of this, I think you’re delusional….Every day, this guy is undoing something in this country that we value. Every day! It’s every day is a shock and awe here. And I, for one, am skeptical that we will survive this.”— Co-host Joy Behar on ABC’s The View, September 30, 2025.   Trump’s Deployment of National Guard is “Pretext” to Stop the Next Election “This [Trump sending in National Guard to protect ICE in cities] is a pretext to stop the next election! That’s what I think it is.”— Co-host Joy Behar on ABC’s The View, October 7, 2025.   Sunny Hostin: Donald Trump Is Never Going to Leave the White House     “I actually have come to the conclusion that he [Donald Trump] is most definitely going to try to remain in power, because remember, that East Wing – it’s going to take a long time to build that. He is hooking up the White House because he doesn’t plan on leaving it. I don’t think he plans on leaving.”— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, October 27, 2025.   Democrats “Caved” to Trump’s “Cruelty”  “This was a choice by Republicans to cut SNAP benefits! This was a choice Republicans to cut ACA subsidies! This was a choice by the Republicans to gut the federal government and federal employment! Democrats had nothing to do with it. I want an opposition party! I think the Democrats caved! I think the Democrats let down the American people!...We’re not gonna get better, because with Donald Trump the cruelty is the point! He does not care! It’s a Republican choice!”— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, November 10, 2025.   Trump’s “Gestapo” Committed Terrorist Act to “Feed” His “Sadistic, Blood-Lusting, Psychotic” Base      “This is Trump’s terrorism. This is the Kent State of our time. The peaceful, unarmed protestor murdered by Trump’s ICE. While Trump’s lie-factory and Trump personally smeared her, blamed her. Made up a story or a threat where there was no threat. Altered images, lied about her, lied about what the Gestapo did. The Gestapo they sent to kill Americans in American cities, in order to make videos to feed the sadistic, blood-lusting psychotics who support Trump. And if you support this, if you support Trump, if you countenance this on our streets against citizens or non-citizens or police or anybody, you are a sadistic blood-lusting psychotic! That is Donald Trump’s base!”— Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on his Countdown podcast, January 8, 2026. 

"She was absolutely breathtaking, hypnotic, compelling and soul-shaking, doing something that no one else was doing."—Clive Davis The post Janis Joplin Remembered by Her Friends and Peers appeared first on Best Classic Bands.