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US News:

Video shows woman push 3-year-old girl off platform and onto train tracks

PORTLAND, Ore. – A woman accused of shoving a 3-year-old girl off a Portland light rail platform and onto the train tracks will be held without bail.

Brianna Workman, 32, was arraigned Thursday on charges of assault, attempted assault, interfering with public transportation, disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office said.

Court records show Workman has been living without shelter in Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

On Wednesday, Dec. 28, the woman and her child were waiting for a train at the Gateway Transit Center MAX platform in Northeast Portland when Workman allegedly shoved the child off the platform and onto the tracks without provocation, the district attorney’s office said.

Top tech ‘deaths’ of 2022: 5 to remember

***(Binnur Ege Gurun Kocak / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)***

While 2022 saw the introduction of the iPhone 14, the rise of Artificial Intelligence for social media and much more, the year also said farewell to some classics – and not-so-classics.

While some of these platforms and tech gadgets were relatively short-lived, others were around for decades.

But, as in the fashion industry, one minute you’re wired and the next you’re tired.

In memoriam, here are five tech “deaths” to take note of:

2. Internet Explorer

Following more than 25 years on the web, Internet Explorer was officially retired on June 15.

Microsoft wrote in an update that users are encouraged to move over to Microsoft Edge, with Internet Explorer progressively redirecting to the new browser, providing support for legacy and modern websites and apps.

Internet Explorer mode in Microsoft Edge will be supported through at least 2029.

While the Long-Term Servicing Channel of Windows 10 will still include Internet Explorer next year, all consumer versions will end support of the browser, according to The Verge.

Foiled: Five times armed citizens fought back against attackers in 2022

***Cole Joseph Danisment (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)***

Americans have frequently used legal guns to thwart crimes, defend themselves or their homes and even stop mass shootings. Some estimates suggest instances of firearms being used in self-defense stretch into the millions yearly.

“Having a gun is by far the safest course of action when people are facing a criminal by themselves,” Dr. John Lott, an economist and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, told Fox News Digital earlier this year.

Lott believes that the media has dramatically undercounted the amount of times Americans use guns in self-defense, saying in a typical year there are only about 2,000 news stories about defensive use of guns.

That number is more likely to stretch into the millions, Lott said, pointing to an average of 18 national surveys that estimated guns are used in self-defense about 2 million times per year.

Armed Florida man uses gun to stop vicious attack on pregnant woman

An armed Florida man stepped up to defend a pregnant woman who was being assaulted by the father of her unborn child in a Publix parking lot.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, 27-year-old Cole Joseph Danisment began brutally assaulting the mother of his unborn child, who was 14 weeks pregnant at the time, after an argument in the pharmacy parking lot in December.

Danishment began punching her in the face several times and continued the attack by stomping on her head after she had fallen to the ground.

That’s when a nearby witness who believed the attack was “so brutal in nature” that he feared for the woman’s life, stepped in, pulling out his gun on Danisment and ending the attack.

Top 5 ways speech, religious freedom and life were all under attack in 2022

Year’s end is often the time to take stock of what’s been accomplished and what’s left to do. Most of us engage in this exercise personally and vocationally.

For me and my colleagues at Alliance Defending Freedom, that means we’re assessing what’s ahead in terms of protecting life and First Amendment rights.

These foundational freedoms saw some setbacks in 2022 but also generation-shaping victories. Here are five areas we’re watching as we head into 2023.

2. Freedom to believe men and women are different:

Colorado is not the only government mandating orthodoxy. Across America, citizens are being punished for holding the common-sense view that men and women are different.

The Biden administration, for example, has tried to redefine sex in Title IX and in the Affordable Care Act to mean gender identity.

This forces female athletes to compete against men, medical professionals to perform dangerous procedures on minors, colleges to include men in women’s dorm rooms, and teachers and students to use pronouns inconsistent with a person’s sex.

The goal is to punish dissent. When the law fails to recognize legitimate biological distinctions, that extreme agenda harms women, children, families and professionals.

Conclusion

Those who support free speech, religious freedom, and life experienced significant victories and challenges in 2022. These challenges will surely continue. The charge for all of us in 2023 will be to continue to remain vigilant about protecting freedom, both for ourselves and those who disagree with us. Now more than ever, our country needs citizens courageous enough to do both. It is our republic — if we can keep it.

Gaslighting! The Word Of The Year!

Buffalo man ‘Merry Christmas Jay’ praised after saving 24 people from lethal winter storm

A Buffalo man is being praised by his community after he saved at least 24 people during last week’s lethal snowstorm.

Jay Withey was forced to sleep inside his truck Saturday after the vehicle became stuck as western New York was pummeled by 50.3 inches of snow, according to a report.

“It’s the only time in my life I actually thought I was going to die.”

Withey was in the car with two other people when it ran out of gas around 6:00 a.m., the report noted.

“Off to the left, I could see there was a school about 600, 700 feet away from us. I knew the power would be on, there would be heat in there, and I was guaranteeing there would be food in there,” Withey said.

Recognizing he was not alone in his situation, Withey gathered other stranded people and made a plan to get into the school, the report noted.

“Do you recognize ‘Merry Christmas Jay’? He pulled people from cars & sheltered them in a nearby school,” the Cheektowaga Police Department tweeted. “He left a note apologizing for the damage & use of the snow blower he used to make a path to the school. We want to thank ‘Jay’ for his heroic actions that saved people’s lives.”

Idaho murders: Suspect Bryan Christopher Kohberger arrested in killings of 4 university students

This photo provided by Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility shows Bryan Kohberger. Arrest paperwork filed by Pennsylvania State Police in Monroe County Court, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, said Kohberger, 28, was being held for extradition in a criminal homicide investigation in the killings of four University of Idaho students, based on an active arrest warrant for first degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and Latah County Prosecutor’s Office. (Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility via AP)

Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody by local police and the FBI at 3 a.m. in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the law enforcement source said Friday.

Kohberger was being held for extradition in Monroe County Court for first-degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office in connection to the slayings of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21.

The suspect is a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, according to the college’s website.

Pullman is a 15-minute drive from the rental home where the four students were stabbed to death..

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 208-883-7180 or tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.

Idaho murders: Police serve search warrant at Bryan Christopher Kohberger’s home in Pullman, WA

***Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested Friday in connection to the murders of four University of Idaho students, a source told Fox News Digital. (Washington State University/ Instagram)***

PULLMAN, Wash. – EXCLUSIVE: Police are serving a search warrant Friday morning at the Washington apartment of Bryan Christopher Kohberger, the man taken into custody earlier in Pennsylvania in connection with the stabbing deaths of four students at the University of Idaho.

Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody by local police and the FBI at 3 a.m. near Scranton, Pennsylvania, a law enforcement source told Fox News Digital.

On the other side of the country, police were searching his apartment hours later.

California deputy shot, killed by man with ‘extensive criminal history’ during traffic stop: sheriff

Riverside County Sheriff's deputy Isaiah Cordero was identified by the police union as the deputy shot and killed Thursday. (Riverside County Sheriff's Department) — ***Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy Isaiah Cordero was identified by the police union as the deputy shot and killed Thursday. (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)***

A California sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Thursday afternoon during a traffic stop, which led to a massive manhunt for the suspect and resulted in him being fatally shot by authorities.

The deputy was approaching the vehicle when the driver, later identified as 54-year-old William Shae McKay, pulled a gun out and shot him.

Bianco said a community member witnessed the shooting, called 911, and stayed with Cordero until paramedics arrived at the scene.

Prior to shooting Cordero, McKay was most recently pursued by California authorities in March 2021 in connection with a felony kidnapping warrant.

McKay was arrested after stabbing California Highway Patrol K-9 Sam, who took him down after his car was disabled by a spike strip, and he tried to flee on foot. The K-9 survived the attack.

Bianco said McKay was convicted of his third strike in November 2021 in connection with the above incident and should have been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Before sentencing, the judge lowered McKay’s bail, which resulted in him being released.

He was then arrested for failure to appear at sentencing, where the same judge allowed for him to be released again, according to Bianco.

“We would not be here today if the judge had done her job,” Bianco said.

Ex-con, 56, responsible for NY police officers’ stabbing identified

Police on Long Island, New York, have identified a man who stabbed two officers before being killed by police as a 56-year ex-con who once served two years in prison for assaulting another law enforcement officer.

Suffolk County police on Thursday night said the man who attacked the officers in Medford on Wednesday was Enrique Lopez.

The officers responded to a 911 call about a man threatening residents at a condominium complex with a fire extinguisher, police said. When they approached Lopez, he pulled out a large knife, Harrison said.

The officers ordered Lopez to drop the knife, but he lunged at them and stabbed them, Harrison said.

One officer was stabbed in his clavicle, neck and groin area, and the other was stabbed in his chest through his bulletproof vest, the commissioner said. A third officer was treated at a hospital for tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, and discharged, officials said.

Concha rips mainstream media: ‘Silence’ on the biggest story of the year

Fox News contributor Joe Concha discusses mainstream media’s biggest missteps of 2022.

The Twitter Files Raised A Lot Of Questions About Twitter And The FBI. The Bureau Hasn’t Answered Any Of Them

The FBI had a major influence on Twitter’s decision to censor the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop and made numerous censorship requests to Twitter in the lead-up to the 2020 election, as documented in the “Twitter Files” reporting by independent journalists Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi.

Twitter employees “took extraordinary steps” to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story for allegedly violating the company’s “hacked materials” policy, Taibbi reported.

The FBI paid Twitter over $3 million from 2019 through 2020 to reimburse Twitter’s staff for processing requests from the FBI, Shellenberger revealed.

Inside Twitter, the company’s former FBI employees had their own internal slack channel and a chart to assist FBI alumni in transitioning to Twitter, Shellenberger reported.

Multiple FBI alums made political donations to Democrats when they joined Twitter, according to the Post. The company’s employees gave 99% of their campaign donations to Democrats in the 2022 election cycle, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

Exclusive – Derrick Van Orden: Pentagon Prioritizes ‘White Rage,’ ‘Pronouns,’ Coronavirus Data over Military Suicides

Van Orden remarked, “The secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff are worried about white rage, and they’re trying to figure out the pronouns that servicemen and women should be using.”

He said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley are not prioritizing veteran suicides as a crisis to be addressed. He stated, “The pronouns the Department of Defense [and] General Milley [and] General Austin needs to start thinking about — the pronouns should be ‘dead’ and ‘widow’ and ‘fatherless child.’ Those are the pronouns they need to be focusing on.”

“Nobody … that I’m aware of at the Department of Defense has ever been held accountable for their troops committing suicide,” he added. “They’re listing how many of [our] troops were affected with COVID on these people’s reports, but [they’re] not listing the amount of troops that committed suicide on their watch. It doesn’t make any sense.”

The member-elect from Wisconsin said he would prioritize policies seeking to collect and organize key data and statistics regarding suicides among active-duty and retired military servicepersons upon his assumption of office.

Van Orden implored veterans in need of help to contact the Veterans Crisis Line, which can be contacted via phone call, text, and online chat.

Arlington National Cemetery Mulls Whether to Preserve or Dismantle Confederate Monument After Removal

***The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, pictured in 2017, has stood for more than a century. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post)***

The Department of the Army, which manages Arlington cemetery, has been tasked to find the “most cost-effective method” for removing the monument and what to do with it once it is removed.

The cemetery has since formed an advisory committee on the question.

Per the National Historic Preservation Act, the committee is required to seek the public’s input and has already received over 300 written suggestions, including at least a dozen people requesting to address the committee in person.

However, committee members have yet to reach a consensus as they continue to weigh contrasting suggestions, according to the Washington Post.

A vote on the issue of how to remove the monument has yet to be scheduled.

As Arlington cemetery weights its decision, the military has already begun scrubbing away monuments linked to the Confederacy.

Chicago to San Jose for $800? $999 from Phoenix to Vegas! Airfare chaos reigns this week no matter where you are going

***AP Photo_Yuki Iwamura, Susan Walsh/AP***

A last-minute traveler can usually book a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco for under $100, and Southwest was one of the main carriers along that route. But as of Wednesday afternoon, if you needed to fly to the Bay Area from the L.A. area before Jan. 1, one-way tickets would cost anywhere between $350 and $700 for the cheapest options.

And that’s even with some airlines, such as United and American, announcing price caps to help stranded Southwest customers on many of the most-impacted routes.

Prices should start to drop over the weekend and come way down next week if Southwest’s operations get back to normal, experts say.

In the meantime, the cheapest flight Thursday from Phoenix to Las Vegas is going for … this is not a typo … $999 on United. On most days in January, discount airlines Spirit and Frontier are offering a bare-bones version of that trip for less than $20.

If you are trying to get back to the Bay Area from the major East Coast metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., and New York, tickets this weekend are ranging from $359 to over $600 for a one-way fare, and well over $900 if you need to fly before Saturday.

Moore: new study proves welfare pays more than work in many states

Economist Stephen Moore tells One America News that a new study he co-authored proves that welfare may pay more than work in many states. One America’s John Hines has more from Washington.

Woman Accused of Attacking Pro-Life Advocate Outside Illinois Abortion Clinic

***Facebook/Rockford Family Initiative***

Nataly Rivera, 26, allegedly threw a cup of coffee at a man outside RFD Family Planning and attempted to knock the phone out of his hand, WTVO reported.

Officers said they responded to the clinic around 10:10 a.m., where they learned that a car pulled up near the pro-life advocates and Rivera allegedly got out of the passenger side and confronted the man about why he was protesting.

The Rockford Family Initiative alleged on its Facebook page that when the man told Rivera he was protesting abortion, she screamed,”There are too many children!” as she threw her coffee at him.

Police later arrested Rivera at her home, and she is facing a battery charge, according to the report.

Huge Crowd Attends Reading of Faith-Based Children’s Book Despite Library’s Attempt to Stop Event

The library organization initially denied Cameron the opportunity to read the book for its story hour but later caved and allowed the event to happen.

“This was the largest event held at the library in its 137 years of existence,” Zac Bell with BRAVE Books, who is with the book’s publisher, commented. “The turnout was phenomenal! We were blown away.”

Cameron’s book centers around a tree’s growth and teaches children about family, faith, and biblical wisdom.

At the recent book reading in Indianapolis, Bell said they were frustrated the library put the group on the sixth floor in a small room when the building has an auditorium.

“When we asked why they didn’t put us in the auditorium, they responded, ‘You never asked.’ But the parents and families that came out were so supportive,” he noted.

REAL AMERICA – Dan Ball W/ Dr. Robert Malone, CDC Appears To Remove VAERS Vax Data, 12/29/22

Farewell Fauci: Retiring doc slammed for record of ‘total failure’

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marty Makary on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ biggest mistakes in COVID response as Dr. Anthony Fauci prepares for retirement.

Data: Sanctuary States Highly Successful in Shielding Criminal Illegal Aliens from Deportation

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington are among the nation’s largest sanctuary jurisdictions as they impose statewide policies that prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE.

Colorado Department of Corrections data published by KRDO 13 in an exclusive report reveals the extent to which the state’s sanctuary policy has ensured that ICE agents do not bother with issuing detainers for illegal alien inmates as officials are not allowed to honor such detainers.

The data comes as KRDO 13 revealed that three illegal aliens accused of murdering a 30-year-old man in El Paso County, Colorado had previously been arrested, some convicted, in the state but were released from custody rather than being turned over to ICE agents.

China’s Migrants Join Global Rush to Biden’s Open Borders

**A group of migrants, mostly Venezuelans, walk across the Darien Gap from Colombia into Panama hoping to reach the U.S. on Saturday, October 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)**

The route for China’s migrants goes through Ecuador in South America. Then the migrants take buses, taxis, and boats to reach the deadly Darien Gap jungle trail in Panama, where the United Nations helps them travel further north towards Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, according to a December 26 article by Radio Free Asia.

The arrival of more Chinese reflects the growing global awareness that Biden is dangling the hope of U.S. jobs, homes, and lives to ambitious young people everywhere — whatever the huge economic and civic damage to ordinary Americans.

Overall, Biden accepted almost as many illegal, legal, and temporary migrants as there were U.S. births in 2022 — and he has deported fewer than 100,000 migrants.

The growing U.S. populations of legal migrants and of temporary visa workers — such as Indian H-1B visa workers — are also pulling in more illegal migrants for lower-skill jobs in ethnic districts.

The Chinese migrants are guided along their routes, and around legal obstacles, by maps posted online by prior migrants and American pro-migration groups.

Biden Admin Erects More Tents for Migrant Processing near Border in El Paso

El Paso Sector officials report the agency is building a soft-sided facility on land acquired by the Department of Homeland Security on Highway 54 in El Paso.

The facility is expected to increase the sector’s migrant processing capabilities and will be able to hold an additional 1,000 migrants while they are being processed for release or return under immigration laws.

The current centralized processing center in El Paso is meant to hold about 3,000 migrants, Breitbart Texas reported on December 12. At that time, the processing center was well above capacity as it held more than 5,000 migrants.

Border Patrol officials released increasing numbers of migrants to NGOs and onto the streets of El Paso.

The action overwhelmed local shelters and city officials as the number of weekly releases of migrants into El Paso exceeded 10,000 during the week before Christmas, according to the Migrant Crisis Dashboard published by the City of El Paso. The release of these migrants forced El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser to declare a state of disaster on December 18.

Three Illegal Aliens, Freed by Sanctuary State Colorado, Accused of Murdering 30-Year-Old Man

Last month, illegal aliens Ector Sarabia-Cabrera, Isidrio Sarabia-Gonzalez, and Braulio Barron-Rubio — along with a fourth suspect, Yessica Cortes-Barcenas — were arrested and charged with murdering 30-year-old Manuel Hernandez-Uribe, a fugitive wanted for kidnapping, second-degree strangulation, nonconsensual sexual contact, child abuse, third-degree assault, and harassment.

Police allege that Sarabia-Cabrera, Sarabia-Gonzalez, and Barron-Rubio kidnapped Hernandez-Uribe before taking him to Cheyenne Mountain and shooting him. The three illegal aliens are accused of then dumping his body along the side of a road.

KRDO 13 Investigates reveals in an exclusive report that the illegal aliens each had their own criminal histories in the sanctuary state of Colorado before allegedly murdering Hernandez-Uribe.

“Despite having prior criminal charges and convictions in Colorado, none have been deported,” KRDO 13 Investigates reports, suggesting that Colorado officials adhered to the state’s sanctuary policy and did not cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to have the three illegal aliens detained, arrested, and deported.

World News:

Russia uses Iranian-made drones in fresh attacks against Kyiv

Russia has attacked Ukraine with 16 Iranian-made drones one day after a massive airstrike triggered power outages for millions of people around the country.

The drone attack targeted the capital of Kyiv, prompting sirens to sound across the city.

Iran holds top military drills in major oil waterway in ‘war before the war’

Iranian soldiers take part in an annual military drill in the coast of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, in Jask, Iran on Dec. 30, 2022. (Iranian Army / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The drills, held in the Strait of Hormuz which sees roughly 25% of the world’s oil transported through it, were dubbed “Zolfaghar-1401” and involved commandos, airborne infantry, drones, various aircraft and submarines, according to local reports.

The drills were held to “improve readiness in confronting foreign threats and any possible invasion,” reported the Middle Eastern Eye.

However, while Iran frequently holds military drills, the exercise came amid heightened tension with the West, particularly the U.S. and its ally Israel.

Iran’s Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid said the drills were held because Tehran “want[s] our enemies to know that we are ready.”

Rashid warned the U.S. and any other nation against supporting Israel and deemed Jerusalem its number one threat.

China pledges to crack down on ‘rumors’ used to ‘start trouble’ as COVID surges

China works to keep dissidents quiet as COVID cases continue to climb.

China on Friday pledged to crack down on dissidents spreading “rumors” to “start trouble” as COVID continues to plague the nation following its mandate reversals.

“[We] must safeguard national security and social stability, and resolutely deal according to the law with behaviors that use the pandemic to infiltrate, sabotage, make rumors to start troubles and disrupt social order,” security officials said in a meeting held by Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, reported the South China Morning Post.

The BF7 omicron variant causing havoc in China has not only overwhelmed hospitals, crematoriums and funeral homes, but some nations like the U.S., Italy, Japan and India have also instated COVID testing requirements for arrivals from China.

Some reports have suggested the spike in COVID cases in China could be down to low immunity following years of enduring some of the world’s strictest coronavirus policies, which included mass quarantining, community lock-downs and travel bans.

China, tens of millions infected

China enters second wave

Poor data, cases, infections, hospitalisations, deaths, genomes
https://covid19.who.int/region/wpro/country/cn

Population 1,412,600,000

Will be infected in next 6 weeks

Daily new infection rate over an 8 week period

Per week = 176,575,000

Per day = 25,225,011

In east Ukraine, farmers won’t leave their animals

In a frontline village in eastern Ukraine, from which remaining residents have been urged to leave, two farmers say they won’t abandon their animals. Ed Baran reports.

Cost of Living Crisis: Swedish Supermarkets Report Surge of Food Thefts

Several spokesmen at food retailers have warned over the growing food theft trend, such as Andreas Selsborg, store manager at the grocer Willys in the city of Uppsala who said, “The thefts have really escalated in the last year. We have petty thefts almost on a daily basis. And the bigger thefts are sometimes monthly.”

“Absolutely, one thing we have noticed in late autumn is that there has been a shift. People don’t steal goods such as shavers anymore, but they steal meat,” Gustav Johansson, a trader with the grocer ICA told broadcaster SVT and added, “And it’s not just expensive meat, it’s all meat. These are also other goods. We stopped a thief a week ago who had taken three boxes of plain butter, which is over a hundred packets of butter. After all, it has also become expensive.”

According to Johansson, it is not just families and individuals stealing food. “We see ordinary families stealing to increase their household coffers, but also more organized crime,” he said.

China media angry as more countries impose entry rules

Chinese state media have slammed entry restrictions targeting travellers from China as “discriminatory”, with Malaysia and South Korea on Friday joining the growing list of countries to impose border control measures to tackle China’s surge of COVID-19 infections. Diane To reports.

Putin expects China’s Xi to make state visit in spring

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday (December 30) he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in spring 2023, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia’s flailing military campaign in Ukraine.

The World’s Freedom Convoys: How Truckers Changed the Course of History in 2022

***M. Bernetti, W. Meier, R. van Flymen, M. Batiche, S. Cho, D. Chan/Getty Images***

Truckers were the protagonists of arguably the most successful anti-lockdown protests in the world in January, leading the “Freedom Convoy” movement to demand an end to vaccine mandates, business lockdowns, school closures, and other civil liberties violations.

The “Freedom Convoy” movement inspired similar uprising in Europe, Asia, and Latin America that expanded beyond the anti-lockdown goals into varied demands such as better salaries, cleaner elections, and even the toppling of longstanding authoritarian regimes.

The initial convoys, organized in January, attracted so many supporters that the movement became inclusive of all anti-coronavirus restriction viewpoints, opposing vaccine mandates at work or school, business shutdowns, school shutdowns, and mask restrictions.

The Freedom Convoy ultimately parked itself in the nation’s capital, Ottawa, where they largely paralyzed the capital with an encampment featuring free food, dancing, and other peaceful forms of protest.

2022 in pictures: Striking photos from around the world

CARLOS OSORIO / REUTERS
Image caption,
People take part in protests against coronavirus vaccine mandates near Canada's parliament in Ottawa. Ontario declared a state of emergency in response to two weeks of the trucker-led protests. — CARLOS OSORIO / REUTERS
Image caption,People take part in protests against coronavirus vaccine mandates near Canada’s parliament in Ottawa. Ontario declared a state of emergency in response to two weeks of the trucker-led protests.

JOSEPH RIMKUS / REUTERS
Image caption,
The US space agency, Nasa, launched the most powerful rocket ever built - Artemis 1 - in November. The 100m vehicle blasted off on its debut flight from Florida's Cape Canaveral - the start of a mission to send an unmanned capsule around the Moon. — JOSEPH RIMKUS / REUTERS
Image caption,The US space agency, Nasa, launched the most powerful rocket ever built – Artemis 1 – in November. The 100m vehicle blasted off on its debut flight from Florida’s Cape Canaveral – the start of a mission to send an unmanned capsule around the Moon.

OR,

Continue down left for more US. News.

Politics:

Rep. Gonzales: There is nothing normal about this situation

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, on House Republicans’ plans to address border security in the new Congress

2022’s top 5 biggest political losers include senators, a congresswoman and even a world leader

In the full-contact sport of politics, there are always winners and losers and 2022 was no exception.

Among the winners this year are House Republicans, who won back the majority in the U.S. House and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who was re-elected with a stunning 59% of the vote in Florida.

And then there are the unlucky ones on the other side of the ledger who drew the short straw this year. And to that end, here are the biggest political losers of 2022.

2. Dr. Anthony Fauci:

As time marched on and the fog of COVID-19 began to clear in 2022, loser No. 2 came into focus with the words and deeds of mainstream media darling and Chief Medical Advisor to the President Dr. Anthony Fauci. Unfortunately for Fauci, the scrutiny will now only intensify — because the American people are still hungry for answers — as House Republicans move forward with their oversight responsibilities in the next Congress.

5. Representative Liz Cheney:

And perhaps the biggest loser of 2022 is outgoing Republican Representative Liz Cheney. Cheney went from being one of the leading conservative voices in the U.S. House to a footnote in former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s biography in the course of 24 short months.

Republicans betray voters on omnibus spending bill

No wonder they waited until after the election to pass what Heritage rightly calls “a betrayal of America’s voters’ wishes” as expressed at the ballot box. Can anyone who voted for this embarrassment explain why any of it is the responsibility of the federal government?

An additional question: with the debt at $32 trillion and rising, is there a red line that members would not cross? In other words, is there any limit to their spending? How much more debt would they accept?

As noted in previous columns, no nation has ever been able to survive this level of national debt. Taxpayer money is being wasted as is the money we are borrowing from other nations (and printing).

It is the major cause of inflation that is harming the buying power of most Americans. We are ignoring the powerful proverb “waste not, want not” that was followed by Americans of the World War II generation. They were called “great” for this and other reasons we are also ignoring.

The 18 Republican senators caved, as they always do, because they fear a government shutdown.

It is a perennial threat by Democrats who, with the help of the media, present the choice of keeping government open, or denying seniors their Social Security checks. That has always been a false choice, but few point it out.

Kevin McCarthy floats concession on allowing conservatives to remove House speaker

The embattled California Republican is offering a congressional rule change that would make it easier to remove a House speaker in exchange for his ascension to the post.

McCarthy’s offer would lower the threshold required for a motion to vacate the chair — a parliamentary gambit that forces a vote on retaining the speaker.

Currently, because of a rules change pushed through by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, only a member of the House leadership can offer a motion to vacate.

Conservative House Republicans are pushing for that standard to be repealed, allowing any one member to force a vote on the speaker at any time.

“Every member of Congress was elected to legislate on behalf of their constituents,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican who is running against McCarthy for speaker. “To do that, members must be able to hold their own leadership accountable.”

Democrats release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns

***(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)***

The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released a partially redacted version of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, completing a longtime objective of Democrats to make Trump’s finances public after the former president unsuccessfully tried to stop them in court.

The financial documents cover six years of Trump’s individual returns filed jointly with his wife, Melania, including his time in the White House.

The document dump also includes tax forms for several of Trump’s business entities that were investigated by Ways and Means Democrats, a report from the Democratic majority, and a response by Republicans on the committee.

There are nearly 6,000 pages of material, including 2,700 pages of individual returns and more than 3,000 pages from Trump’s businesses.

The tax forms provide insights into the state of Trump’s finances from 2015 to 2020 as he mounts a third bid for president in 2024. The redactions hide personal sensitive information such as Social Security and bank account numbers.

Huckabee blasts Biden as omnibus bill forced to be flown to him in Virgin Islands

Former Arkansas governor joins ‘Hannity’ to sound off after feds forced to fly omnibus bill to St. Croix.

The Jan. 6 committee knew they were wrong: Harmeet Dhillon

Attorney Harmeet Dhillon discusses how her lawsuit against the January 6 committee led them to withdraw the Trump subpoena on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.

REAL AMERICA — Dan Ball W/ Roger Stone, J6 Sham Committee Drop Trump Subpoena, 12/29/22

The green movement is hostile to every form of energy: Energy expert

Energy expert Alex Epstein weighs in on Democrats’ push for a green energy agenda and war on fossil fuels on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’

This Airline DISASTER Is What Happens When Wokeness Rules – Listen.

Democrats Sour on Pete Buttigieg over Airlines Fiasco

In a tweet on Thursday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), one of the few Democrats who criticized Twitter’s decision to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, publicly scolded Buttigieg for not sticking to his pledge to hold airlines accountable.

“Nearly six months ago ⁦@BernieSanders⁩ & I called for Buttigieg to implement fines & penalties on airlines for cancelling flights. Why were these recommendations not followed?” the congressman tweeted. “This mess with Southwest could have been avoided. We need bold action.”

“This is incompetence,” Turner wrote in a tweet that linked to Sirota’s reporting. “This is what placing unqualified people in positions of power to do the bidding of corporations will get you. There is a direct line from Secretary Buttigeig to the Southwest Airlines debacle and we shouldn’t pretend there isn’t.”

As the report from The Lever noted, few to none of Buttigieg’s promises materialized by the Christmas travel season, with Southwest Airlines being the biggest culprit, stranding thousands of Americans. In September, for instance, the anti-monopoly think tank American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) noted that the department had yet to issue a single fine against the more politically powerful airlines.

Rep. Buddy Carter Plans to Investigate AT&T and Verizon’s Censorship of OAN

With Republicans in control of the lower chamber and its committees, they will have new powers to launch investigations and call witnesses.

In an interview with OAN, Rep. Carter said he would investigate efforts by Democrat members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, namely Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA), to pressure AT&T and Verizon to blacklist the conservative channel.

“The federal government should not be getting involved in private companies like that,” said Rep. Carter. “And that’s why it’s so concerning, and that’s why we have set as one of our main priorities in the 118th Congress is… that we’re gonna have oversight over this, and we’re gonna look into this.”

Rep. Carter said that the actions of Rep. Eshoo and Rep. McNerney in sending letters to cable companies urging them to deplatform conservative channels was “nothing short of interference.”

“We all believe in free speech… Of course we do, but we can’t have members of Congress, and we can’t have the federal government interfering in that.”

Joe Biden’s 25 Worst Moments of 2022

***J. Watson, S. Reynolds, S. Loeb/ Getty; E. Vucci/AP***

Biden also continued his record of awkward and embarrassing moments as well as alarming incidents demonstrating his cognitive decline as he turned 80 toward the end of the year, the oldest United States president ever to hold office.

Here are the top 25 worst Biden moments of 2022:

25. Joe Biden Struggles with Sport Coat, Drops Aviators During Kentucky Trip

In August, Biden publicly struggled to put on his sport coat after exiting Marine One at an airport during a visit to Kentucky.

21. Joe Biden Repeats False War Story at Town Hall with Veterans

In December, Biden repeated a false story about a soldier who did not want to receive a medal for his actions of bravery but got nearly every detail of the story wrong.

WHAT SHOULD BE BIDEN’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS?

Joe Biden Reopens Welfare-Dependent Legal Immigration to the United States

In early 2020, the Trump administration finalized a federal regulation known as the “public charge” rule that made it less likely for foreign nationals to secure green cards to permanently reside in the United States if they had previously used welfare programs like food stamps, Medicaid, or taxpayer-funded housing programs.

Almost immediately after taking office, Biden threw out the finalized public charge rule imposed by the Trump administration, blowing open the door for welfare-dependent legal immigration to the United States, for which American taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill.

Late last week, USCIS started imposing Biden’s public charge rule which specifies that foreign nationals with a history of welfare dependency will not be excluded from seeking green cards to permanently resettle in the United States.

Every year the federal government rewards about 1.2 million foreign nationals with green cards to permanently resettle in the United States, while another 1.4 million foreign nationals secure various temporary work visas to take American jobs.