Monday, March 17, 2025

March 17, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

More than 250 gang members deported to El Salvador from U.S. . . . Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Sunday that 23 illegal immigrants with gang ties were sent to El Salvador from the U.S. "We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador. Also, as promised by @POTUS, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars," Rubio wrote on X. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele wrote "oopsie" and "too late" on X alongside a news article about a federal judge ruling on Saturday to block President Trump from deporting 5 Venezuelans linked to the Tren de Aragua gang. Just the News

The judge had ordered that the planes turn around, but the White House argues that they had already left the US, and that this part of the order was verbal, not written.

Politics

Trump ties for highest approval he's ever had in NBC News poll . . . Three months into his second term, President Trump hit the highest approval rating he's ever had as commander-in-chief — while more Americans say the country is on the right track than at any point since 2004, a new poll found. Some 47% of voters in the survey approve of Trump — compared to 51% who disapprove, marking an all-time high in the poll. He previously hit 47% in early 2020. New York Post

Democratic Party's favorability hits record low

Trump declares all pardons by Biden 'void' and 'vacant' . . . "The 'Pardons' that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen," Trump said on Truth Social. "In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!" Washington Examiner

Culture

'A Is for Abortion': Public High School Teaches ABCs for Women's History Month . . . In Fairfax County, Virginia's West Springfield High School, school administrators and teachers have decorated the history hallway this month with a special, leftist rendition of the alphabet. The display is titled "The ABCs to ME. Featured in the display is a sign that reads, "A is for Abortion" with an image of a coat hanger with a positive pregnancy test. H is for Hope" and, somehow, Kamala Harris is the image representing "hope" on the sign. "M is for Mansplain," "Q is for Queer." The "Queer," and so on. Daily Signal

Member of Top DOE Physics Panel Said 'White Empiricism' Undermines Theory of Relativity . . . A professor of physics and gender studies who has argued that "white empiricism" undermines Einstein's theory of general relativity now sits on a top physics advisory panel within the Department of Energy. She also accused Israel of genocide and argued, "String theory has failed to succeed in expected ways," she said, "because the community—which is almost entirely male and disproportionately white relative to other areas of physics—is too homogeneous." Washington Free Beacon

Is YouTube Discriminating Against Christians? . . . Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is raising the alarm about evidence suggesting the tech giant—which has a long history of censorship—has unfairly treated a Christian family TV station. "In the case of YouTube TV, concerns have been raised alleging that your company has a policy (secret or otherwise) that discriminates against faith-based programming,"?Carr wrote March 7 to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, and Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube. Alphabet owns Google, which owns YouTube. Daily Signal

Illinois Restricts Government Contracts to supporters of DEI . . . A little-known law in Illinois requires private companies to finance the DEI industry if they wish to do business with the state—giving a lifeline to an unpopular industry that currently finds itself on the ropes as major companies across the country ditch their DEI programs and President Donald Trump works to eradicate its influence across the federal government. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D.) signed a bill into law in 2021 that essentially requires businesses that seek to do business with the state of Illinois to bankroll the DEI industry. Washington Free Beacon

National Security

Houthi rebels vow 'escalation' after U.S. airstrikes in Yemen . . . The Trump administration on Sunday traded threats of escalation with Yemen's Houthi rebels and their patron state, Iran, on the heels of massive U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis that signaled a hardball approach from President Trump and a willingness to deepen America's military engagement in the Middle East. The Houthi rebels vowed to "meet escalation with escalation," and Iranian Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, promised a "devastating" response to any military actions against Iran. Washington Times

Hegseth Warns Iran: Halt Pursuit Of Nuclear Weapons Or Face Consequences . . . Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Iran over the weekend that it must enter a deal that brings its nuclear program to an end or else it will face the U.S. military. Hegseth made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News while discussing how Iran has been severely weakened despite efforts from the previous Biden administration to go soft on them. Daily Wire

International

European leaders urge switch to war footing as US support for Ukraine wanes . . . French President Emmanuel Macron gave a major televised address on Wednesday, saying the era of peace Europe had enjoyed since World War II appeared to be over. "Our generation will no longer reap the dividends of peace. It is up to us to ensure that our children reap the dividends of our commitments tomorrow," Macron said. Macron said France would "open the strategic debate" on extending its nuclear umbrella to some of its allies in Europe. The French president didn't specify what allies this included or whether it would include Ukraine. Washington Examiner

So they're going to get themselves into a war with Russia over Ukraine, which is not a NATO ally, and then drag us in to bail them out.

WATCH: Putin is not going to accept Ukraine ceasefire deal, Rebekah Koffler tells Fox News

Trump Set to Talk With Putin Tuesday on Ending Ukraine War

French politician demands that US return the Statue of Liberty . . . A Member of the European Parliament thinks the U.S. should return the Statue of Liberty to France. Raphael Glucksmann, a socialist and member of France's left-wing Place Publique party, made the demand while delivering a speech during his party's convention, according to reports. He accused the U.S. of siding with tyrants, claiming that doing so goes against the spirit of the Statue of Liberty. As such, he believes the country has changed its values and is no longer worthy of the monument. Washington Examiner

Money

Job Seekers Hit Wall of Salary Deflation . . . The salary difference between those who stay in their roles and those who change jobs has collapsed to its lowest level in 10 years, according to the latest federal data. Job stayers increased their wages by about 4.6% in January and February. Meanwhile, those who switched jobs received only slightly more at 4.8%. That gap has narrowed considerably since the start of 2023, when job switchers could fetch an average salary bump of 7.7%, compared with job stayers' 5.5%. Wall Street Journal

Stocks Haven't Traded at These Levels Since September . . . The prospect of a second term for President Trump boosted stock prices well before he was elected. Two months into his presidency, that "Trump bump" has all but disappeared. The stock sectors that began to rally six months ago—fueled by the hope that a second Trump term could spur growth for the U.S. economy—have come falling back to earth as trade-policy whiplash and recession fears rattle markets. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Karoline Leavitt Declines to Attend White House Correspondents' Association Dinner . . . White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that she will skip the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, saying the organization has long been an exclusive club that has kept out new and independent media. Leavitt said she will skip the dinner, which is slated for April 26, during an appearance on Sean Spicer's podcast. Spicer served as President Donald Trump's press secretary during the Trump's first six months in office in 2017. Breitbart

Guilty Pleasures

Texas Bill Would Ban 'Furry Culture' in Public Schools . . . State Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, introduced the FURRIES Act, known as the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education, on Thursday to prohibit Texas public schools from allowing furry subculture behavior in classrooms and on campuses. The furry subculture involves individuals adopting anthropomorphic animal identities who often dress in costumes and attempt to mimic animal behavior. "I can't believe we have to do this, but we cannot allow these types of role-playing distractions to affect our students," Gerdes said in a statement. Daily Signal

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