The H-1B controversy is unwanted and not worth the administration’s time right now. There are far more important issues, like the tens of millions of unvetted illegals Biden brought in. That is where the focus needs to be and why workers are losing jobs more than H-1B. Right now, there is no merit to this. […] The post Civil War or Important Debate to Have on H-1Bs appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

President Joe Biden took a shot at President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday night after delivering remarks following the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. “When I endorsed him for president, I told him why [I] was endorsing him and that it was not only his policies but his character, his decency, the honor he communicated to everyone,” Biden said at a press conference. When asked by a reporter what lesson Trump should take from Carter’s legacy, Biden responded: “Decency.” “Decency, decency, decency,” Biden said. “Can you imagine Jimmy Carter walking by someone who needed something and just keep walking? Can you imagine Jimmy Carter referring to someone by the way they look or the way they talk? I can’t. I can’t.” WATCH: The unmitigated gall of the corrupt Biden lecturing Americans on decency off of Carter’s death pic.twitter.com/B0kTiVfaFq — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 30, 2024 In a statement released by the White House, Biden called Carter “an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.” Calling Carter his “dear friend,” Biden said that he had “compassion and moral clarity.” “He was a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism,” Biden said. “We will always cherish seeing him and Rosalynn together. The love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism.” “And to all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden added. “He showed that we are great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.” Related: Biden, Obama, Clinton Release Statements On Jimmy Carter’s Passing

Five people have been charged in connection with the death of One Direction star Liam Payne, per local Argentinian outlets Infobae and Clarín. The singer was 31 years old when he died after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires in October. Payne’s self-described “very dear friend,” Argentinian businessman Rogelio “Roger” Nores, is among those charged, The Independent noted. Nores said he left the hotel 40 minutes before Payne’s death and denied any involvement in what happened. The hotel’s chief receptionist, Esteban Grassi, and head of security, Gilda Martin, are also charged with manslaughter, per the report from Infobae. Nores said in a statement last month, “I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened. There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could never have imagined something like this would happen.” Hotel waiter Braian Paiz previously admitted to using drugs with Payne, including cocaine. Paiz has been charged with supplying narcotics for payment. A second hotel employee named Ezequiel Pereyra was also charged with supplying drugs. The One Direction star died after sustaining a serious skull fracture. Payne’s autopsy later determined the singer had a toxic mixture of drugs in his system, including crack and so-called “pink cocaine” — a mix of ketamine and other drugs, per the New York Post. His funeral was held in November in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The singer’s ex, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, was in attendance. The former couple had a 7-year-old son, Bear Grey. Buenos Aires police found Payne’s hotel room “in total disorder” after the singer’s death, the NY Post noted. Hotel staff called emergency services minutes before Payne’s fatal fall to report that the celebrity was “trashing the room.” During the call, one hotel staffer said they worried Payne’s “life may be in danger” because he was “in a room with a balcony.”

Republicans will head into 2024 with the White House, control of both the U.S. House and Senate, and big expectations from voters to do something with it. Influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk says the party should make lawmakers that get in the way of the Trump agenda pay the price, but warned that the base will have to carefully pick its spots. Kirk, 31, sat down with The Daily Wire at Turning Point USA’s America Fest in Phoenix, Arizona where he candidly broke down which Republicans are on his primary list. The Turning Point USA founder is a staunch Trump supporter who often speaks with the president-elect, and he is one of the top high profile conservative voices arguing that Republicans owe it to the American people to fall in line with Trump’s agenda. “I find it very perplexing that Joe Biden gets all of his nominees and Republicans are happy to vote for many of them,” he told The Daily Wire. “Some Republicans give a harder time to Donald Trump’s nominees than Joe Biden’s nominees. There are Republicans that voted for Merrick Garland. There are Republicans that voted for [Alejandro] Mayorkas. There’s Republicans that voted for Lloyd Austin. No questions. And yet when it comes to Donald Trump’s nominees, it’s like the most challenging thing.” Kirk said he has an exact “criteria” for Republicans that should be challenged through a primary in a way that won’t be “reckless or irresponsible” for the party. “We’re gonna find Republican senators that have the following criteria. Number one, they’re in deep, deep, deep red states. So if we were to replace them, there will not be a general election issue, right? So we don’t want to try to go after someone like Thom Tillis, who I’m not a huge fan of, who might be in a razor thin race in North Carolina which would lose us a senate seat.” .@charliekirk11 says he has a criteria for which Republicans should face a serious primary challenge. 1) They represent a “deep, deep red state” 2) A pattern of not listening to voters on core issues 3) They don’t support Trump’s cabinet nominees pic.twitter.com/IRXDBua9bM — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 30, 2024 “Number two, we’re gonna find people that have a repeated pattern of not listening to the will of their voters on very core issues that matter to them, border, immigration, foreign aid, size and scope of government, and then of course, whether or not they voted for Trump’s impeachment and also Trump’s cabinet,” Kirk continued. “And the final thing is this: we want to try to create, not a lesson, but I guess that’s one way to say it, where senators get out of line, they will be removed.”  One senator on his list is Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was first elected in 2014. “He voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump,” said Kirk. “People don’t remember that. Bill Cassidy voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump. He’s trying to play like he’s some sort of, you know, friend of Donald Trump now. He’s got to go. He has routinely been the biggest supporter of sending money to Ukraine despite our border being wide open, which is not popular with the voters of Louisiana. So he’s on the top of the list.”  Cassidy, who has met with a number of Trump nominees in recent weeks, including Pete Hegseth and Kash Patel, met with Trump in June 2024 and issued a statement at the time promising to work with Trump if he became the next president. In a a Saturday statement to The Daily Wire, a spokesman for the senator said, “Senator Cassidy continues to work for the state of Louisiana and for the United States. He looks forward to working with President Trump so that our country does great again over the next four years. This is what Louisiana voters care about.” But not all the senators that have found themselves on the other side of the conservative base meet Krik’s criteria. Kirk and others are unhappy with Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa for her recent behavior towards Trump nominee Pete Hegseth, but she doesn’t fully meet their criteria for the primary list, particularly since she’s going to be in a competitive race. “And here’s how it would work,” he noted, “if we were to remove Joni Ernst, the National Republican Senate groups would be like, ‘Oh, your fault.’ They would rather make an example out of us try to make an example out of Joni Ernst. So we’re trying to be wiser than that.”  PHOENIX, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 22: Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk is silhouetted against a large video of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.  (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images) The Turning Point founder also mentioned Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, James Risch in Idaho, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who is part of leadership. “There needs to be consequences when you don’t listen to the will of the voters,” Kirk said. “So we’ll see how they vote for the cabinet. That will definitely play into this.” “Bill Cassidy, there’s nothing he can do at this point,” he added. “He voted to impeach Donald Trump, of which we believe you need to be retired.”  Rounds and Capito did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesman for Risch told The Daily Wire: “Senator Risch will vote to confirm President Trump’s nominees, just as he did during President Trump’s previous term.” Questioned on what role he believes Trump will play on all of this, Kirk said he doesn’t think Trump would actively campaign against incumbents, but that his silence could be just as impactful. “I think his silence will be the most powerful thing,” he said. “Not endorsing a candidate will end up being an endorsement if that were to happen, because look, he has to still work with the US Senate. He’s got to get ambassadors through, he’s got to do stuff. I don’t imagine him endorsing challengers. Bill Cassidy, he might, I don’t want to speak for him or for his team, but someone who actually voted to impeach him, I think that would probably reach to a level where he might do something, but probably not.”  “It’s gonna be primary season sometime soon,” he added with a grin.  As for what role Turning Point would play in primary season, Kirk appeared energized and ready to go. He says his organization will play a “heavy role,” including drafting the candidates, invigorating the grassroots, raising money for independent expenditures, and ballot chasing.  “Republican primaries are different than general elections,” he explained,  “Our ask is not something extreme, the Washington insiders are trying to say Turning Point is just trying to cause problems. Well, not really, they’re the ones that cause the problems for not listening to their voters. If you vote like Ted Cruz or vote like Mike Lee, we think you’re a hero. You decided to vote a certain way that is against what your voters want.” “We just want a Republican Party that is as conservative as its voters,” he argued. “Some people would say, and it sounds good, ‘Oh well, Charlie, we just won a huge election. Why are you picking these fights?’ That’s exactly actually why — because the people gave us a mandate and the senators aren’t listening to that mandate.” “So it’s time for some sorting out,” he concluded. 

History has an interesting way of softening the hard edges of a past president’s term of office. Time, combined with more information coming to light as well as a more complete verdict re: the long-term impacts, good and bad, of policies will do that. As such, the placement along the scale of best to worst of those who sat in the Oval Office is always shifting. But 39th President James Earl Carter, Jr., who passed away at age 100, is a presidency difficult to encapsulate. Peruse the media obituaries and a common theme will no doubt emerge. That he was a man of personal character and decency, the “real deal.” Indeed, his will be hailed as “the ideal former-presidency” given his image of skating above politics and keeping his focus on initiatives more beneficial to mankind, whether it be building a house for the poor or monitoring elections abroad. It will be said of him that he lived out his Christian virtues staying faithful to the same woman for 77 years. But this does not alter the fact that his term in office from 1977 to 1981 was, to put it bluntly, a failure. From a foreign policy standpoint, Carter attempted to affect statecraft grounded in the promotion of “human rights”. But what many in this country at the time may have seen as noble ambitions, especially coming in the aftermath of Vietnam, was read by enemies abroad as weakness arising from an almost quaint naiveté. This perceived weakness gained validation when in November 1979 anti-American Islamists overthrew the Shah of Iran and stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran — sovereign U.S. territory as per international law. 52 embassy staff were taken hostage and subsequently held in very public and humiliating captivity for 444 days. MPI/Getty Images This affront to our national honor was made ever more acute when six months into the crisis, after fruitless diplomatic overtures, a mission to rescue the captive U.S. citizens resulted in a humiliating failure in the Iranian desert. The mission was scrubbed due to equipment breakdowns and eight servicemen were killed when a helicopter collided with a transport plane during the evacuation. Images of the charred bodies of our dead troops were splashed across headlines around the world, and a somber Carter took to the airwaves to accept responsibility. The botched raid was not just a shameful blow to our national pride, it underscored a deeper sense that U.S. power was eroding, and that our best days were behind us. The military that once defeated the war machines of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan couldn’t even get out of its own way in the desert? Maybe we really were in decline? The hostages would languish for all the world to see — and the anti-U.S. forces from Moscow to Beijing to Tehran to gloat over — for another 270 hapless days. When in 1980 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Carter’s boycotting the Olympic games in Moscow seemed a tepid, and largely symbolic response that only served to punish our own athletes while not changing Russian actions one iota. Whether or not there was more the Carter administration could have done given the Soviets’ nuclear arsenal is a matter for round tables to discuss. At the time, however, this was viewed as yet another anemic response to flagrant enemy aggression; Americans came to believe we had a lamb in the White House when a lion was needed. And as not-so-clandestine support for the Mujahadeen throughout the Reagan era demonstrated, the U.S. did have more capacity to put the thumb on the scales in the region than Carter seemed willing to do. The thing about Carter, however, is that not only was he unable, or unwilling to recognize certain bad actors on the world stage, he failed to understand who were the true friends to the U.S. as well. One must consider his double-standard leveled against Israel vis-à-vis the Palestinians. In particular the PLO, which by any impartial definition was a terror organization. And its leader, the vile, murderous kleptocrat Yasser Arafat, a bona fide terrorist. It was the Israelis, however, whom Carter targeted for restrictions and even grotesquely drew an analogy between their efforts to combat terrorism and the growling hounds of Bull Connor. Certainly if the recollections of respected columnist William Safire and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance are to be believed, Carter was rabidly anti-Israel. For the Israelis, it was very fortunate Carter did not win a second term. But what about the Camp David Accords? Certainly they were a worthy effort and seem to be among the only such accords between ancient enemies that have survived more or less intact. But, as Jay Nordlinger writes in National Review, Sadat and Begin had already hammered them out prior to inviting Carter in to provide the carapace of legitimacy — and financial support — only the U.S. could offer. It is not a stretch to say that no matter who was president, Camp David would have still occurred. David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images At least the Carter presidency promoted the legitimate democratic process, right? Well, it did in that he even went so far as to praise Yasser Arafat’s election. Indeed, Carter was perhaps the PLO chairman’s biggest fan in the halls of the U.S. government. Although as CIA director Jim Woolsey once joked, “Arafat was essentially ’elected’ the same way Stalin was, but not nearly as democratically as Hitler, who at least had actual opponents.” And, of course, given Carter’s wish to be remembered as the champion of the downtrodden and oppressed (although it depends on who is wearing the jackboots, as Carter seemed to have a look-the-other-way affinity for Marxist dictators whether in Beijing, Havana, or Managua) then it is natural that he would side with the weaker, if morally depraved, Hamas and Hezbollah. As his Bull Connor comparison shows, he would be quite at home today among the throngs of Intifada wannabes on the college campus who view the Arab-Israeli conflict not through the lens of morality but power. In 2014, Carter wrote of Hamas: “Only by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor—one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people—can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons.” Seems a bit optimistic since October 7. Even though the body may change, the intransigent mind of the true believer may remain fixed in place,but this is the disastrous Carter naiveté in the main. And then there was the economy. Since the mid-1980s, even with the occasional recession (often of our own making) the U.S. has experienced a sustained economic boom that makes it hard to remember the years leading up to this age of prosperity. But when Carter was in office things were quite different. The middle class especially was hammered with inflation that surged from 6.3% in November 1976 when Carter was elected to a peak of 13.6% in June 1980. Rising interest rates saw 30-year mortgages balloon from 8.8% in November 1976 to briefly touch 18.44% in October 1981, only months into Reagan’s first term. Although there is a lingering misconception that unemployment also soared during the Carter years the data shows this is not the case. In fact, unemployment would not peak until 1983, well into Reagan’s first term. But this could be attributed to Fed policies to crush inflation with exorbitantly high rates leading to a deep recession that had a delayed effect. I admit that such wonkish analysis gets into the weeds of economics and as the expression goes, “if you lay every economist foot-to-head around the world they couldn’t reach a consensus.” But what is certainly true is that during the Carter years, the “misery index”, economist Arthur Okun’s formula he created in the 1970s to quantify the true impacts of the economy’s performance on the lives of the average American, reached an all-time high of 21.3% in May 1980. (By contrast it currently runs at 7.2%). As such, the most powerful argument his GOP opponent Ronald Reagan would make during the 1980 presidential campaign was simply to look into the camera and ask the American people: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” The voters answered and Carter was defeated. Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter attend Democratic National Convention on August 14, 1980 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images) The common narrative of Carter’s post-presidential years is that of the farmer who returned to his humble roots in Plains, Georgia, and lived a modest life that all ex-presidents should emulate. Well, yes and no. Carter’s work in founding the Carter Center, a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of human rights, as well as his hands-on (literally) involvement building homes for the poor with the Habitat For Humanity project has earned him justified accolades from across the political spectrum. But at the same time he did his share of meddling in U.S. affairs, and sometimes questionably so. While in 1990 George W. Bush was cobbling together his Gulf War coalition, Carter was writing letters to the UN trying to thwart his efforts. Given that his friend Arafat sided with Saddam, one is not surprised. But considering the media’s pouncing on Trump for just weighing in (while a candidate for president no less) on the Democrats’ sham border bill, one can only see a double-standard here. There are other examples but this is the most egregious. One thing is for sure, had Trump engaged in such behavior the word “treason” would be tossed around like a football on Sunday. And so Jimmy Carter’s story is really one compiled of two narratives. Unfortunately, being a supposedly good man (I never met him ) does not always lead to being a successful president. No man is a saint to his valet, and Carter is no exception. I have no doubt many reading this can offer up less favorable language for him. Who am I to judge? But Carter’s legacy after some five decades in politics from Georgia governor to one-term president, is starting to reveal itself, warts and all. In the end, Jimmy Carter should be remembered for leading a successful life, but a failed presidency. * * * Brad Schaeffer is a fund manager and author of three books. His articles have appeared on the pages of Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, The Blaze, Breitbart, Zerohedge and other outlets. You can follow him on X and Substack. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Biden administration’s Department of Education has faced growing criticism for the enormous amount spent on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in schools across the country. A new report from Parents Defending Education reveals that more than $1 billion in DEI grants have been distributed nationwide since 2021. Included in the report are grants that affect schools in 25 states that voted for Donald Trump in 2024. It turns out that radical woke ideology is not just a problem in blue states. This federal spending spree has caught the attention of state government leaders in red states, specifically Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who denounced the Biden administration for using taxpayer money to “shove DEI down the throats of Oklahomans.” DEI has been shoved down the throats in many conservative red states through these Department of Education grants. Consider three prominent examples from PDE’s “GrantED” report, which shows federally funded DEI initiatives in Iowa, Missouri, and South Carolina, all of which have received $89,440,558 total in grants aimed at embedding far-Left ideologies into K-12 classrooms. First, the University of Iowa, situated in a state that voted decisively Republican in the last presidential election, received a grant award of $1,261,718. The funding is designed to train 40 elementary teachers to “enact equity-centered education” in K-12 partner districts. What has “equity-centered education” looked like in recent years? A lower threshold for academic excellence and overall lower test scores for all students, more lenient discipline policies that have resulted in increasingly disruptive learning environments, and the implementation of race-based groups in schools that include or exclude students and teachers based on the color of their skin. Missouri offers another telling example. The University of Missouri–St. Louis was awarded a $306,209 grant to train school counselors in Trauma-Informed, Antiracist Social-Emotional Learning. Antiracism sounds well-intentioned, but the author of the literal book on Antiracism, Ibram X. Kendi, describes antiracism saying, “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.” As for Social Emotional Learning (SEL), another well-meaning term, in 2020, SEL was rebranded to “Transformative SEL,” embedding race and gender ideology into what had previously been neutral student competencies. Perhaps the most striking instance comes from Laurens County School District 55 in South Carolina, which received a staggering $13.6 million over three years. The grant’s stated goal is “to create schools where equity, diversity, and inclusion are embedded in the school culture.” Equity was mentioned earlier, but “inclusion” can include far-Left views of gender which manifests itself in schools in ways such as punishing students who “misgender” other students or allowing students to use the restroom that matches their “gender identity.” Reminder: Laurens County, SC voted almost 70% for Donald Trump in 2024. At Parents Defending Education, we often read comments on social media like, “Thank goodness I live in Florida!” or “Move out of California!” However, DEI funding receipts from the last 4 years of the Biden administration show that geographical location does not shield children from exposure to far-Left ideologies in their schools. Ideological activists are determined to push their propaganda beyond blue-state lines. Parents must remain vigilant in examining their child’s coursework, attending school board meetings, and maintaining regular communication with their child’s teacher — not only to identify potential bias in education but also to prevent it. DEI has been exposed as a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not help students, but hurts them. Families should not hesitate to speak up and work to stop this dangerous programming in their children’s schools, even if they live in a red state. * * * Paul Runko is a Digital Communications Specialist for Parents Defending Education. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, he is also a proud father of two. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Australia is known for its wide variety of creatures, many of which are a bit spooky, if we’re being honest. But the land Down Under is also home to plenty of adorable animals, too, like a number of birds. One of these birds is called the kookaburra. One way to recognize them is by their unique call — they sound like they’re laughing! They can also be identified by their white or grey feathers… well, that’s usually the case, anyway. But there are rare exceptions. And as luck would have it, one Australian woman discovered one of these exceptions in her very own backyard. This unusual bird had all the characteristics of a kookabura, with one exception: They had black feathers! Below is an example of what these birds typically look like. Plus, you can hear their incredible “laughter” as well! @sandiegozoo Kookaburra go brrrrrrrr #SanDiegoZoo #Animals #naturedocumentary ♬ original sound – San Diego Zoo One famous Australian veterinarian, Dr. Chris Brown, once said this phenomenon is “one in a billion,” adding that “only a handful of black kookaburras have been reported in the world.” So, what is it that causes this rare phenomenon? In short, Chris calls it a “random genetic fluke.” But the official name for it is melanism. This simply means that an animal has an excess of pigment. Check out this rare bird for yourself in the video below. Have You Ever Seen a Black Kookaburra in Person Before? The Odds Are Surprisingly Slim! @yahooaustralia Rare ‘one in a billion’ sight in #Aussie backyard stuns #kookaburra #yahooaustralia ♬ original sound – Yahoo Australia “The disruption of normal placement of the pigment melanin can make a melanistic animal, partially or entirely black, black and white, reddish, or oddly patterned,” Britt, an Australian bird expert, explains. While this may make you think of albinism, it’s actually very different — and more rare. In fact, according to Chris, “black mutations are 20 times rarer than even albinos.” Spotting a black kookaburra in and of itself is rather rare. But there’s another reason why this woman’s sighting was particularly awesome. When these sightings do happen, usually, they happen in New South Wales or Queensland. On the contrary, this one was located in Western Australia. In other words, it truly is incredible this moment happened and that she caught it on camera! You can find the source of this story’s featured image here! The post Australian Woman Spots “One In A Billion” Creature In Her Backyard appeared first on InspireMore.