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The Besties Demo Grok 3 on X
Democrats are jockeying to be ‘the loudest hooligan’: Watters
Officials announce Gene Hackman, wife’s causes of death
New Mexico officials have announced the cause of death for actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, a week after they were found dead at their home in Santa Fe. Hackman died of heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor, and Arakawa died several days before him of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell said Friday.
Investigators had been trying to determine a cause of death for the couple since they died in their home last month.
How did Gene Hackman die?
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found dead in their home in a gated community in Santa Fe on Feb. 26, but appear to have died earlier in the month.
Disney returns to thematic element it hasn’t used in 30 years
Disney is reaching into its archives to pull out and reuse a thematic element in a children’s production that it hasn’t used in nearly 30 years, since “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
And a report at The Blaze warns that “it will delight Christian parents and drive liberals crazy.”
The element is prayer, and it appears in Pixar’s animated series called “Win or Lose.”
The report explains that’s the stories of “eight different characters as they each prepare for their big championship softball game — the insecure kids, their helicopter parents, even a lovesick umpire.”
In the premiere episode one character, Laurie, is battling self-doubt and “bows her head and folds her hands in prayer to ask God for strength.”
“Dear heavenly Father, please give me strength. … I just want to catch a ball or get a hit. I promise I’ll be good, and I, uh, won’t do that thing again,” she promises God.
The Christian Post documented, “The scene marks the first time a Disney character is portrayed offering an explicitly Christian prayer since 1996’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and its song ‘God Help the Outcasts,’ which includes the lyrics, ‘God help the outcasts / Hungry from birth / Show them the mercy / They don’t find on earth / God help my people / We look to You still / God help the outcasts / Or nobody will.’”
Another report explained Disney’s 2007 “Bridge to Terabithia” featured characters who are Christian, attending church and discussing faith.
The report said LGBT ideologues at PinkNews complained, “The introduction of an explicitly Christian character is fairly innocuous on its own standing, but the context surrounding the show — and Disney at large — has left some LGBTQ+ TV lovers a little uneasy.”
The report noted Laurie doesn’t appear to be “anti-trans,” but it does indicate Disney moving “toward a more traditional, conservative worldview.”
Disney, of course, has been the target of much criticism in recent years for having gone wildly “woke” and pro-LGBT in its productions, especially for children, productions that largely have failed to be significant successes.
The report said LGBTQ Nation “ranted,” “Her introduction comes as Donald Trump and the Republican party continue to terrorize the trans community and use Christianity as justification, all the while claiming that Christians are being persecuted by diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.”
The Blaze noted it had reported weeks ago that Disney had embedded a transgender character in a children’s production, but then eliminated “a few lines of dialogue that referenced gender identity.”
Dems trumpet value of Education Dept. – without any evidence
Multiple Democrats are pledging allegiance to the U.S. Department of Education after President Donald Trump, as part of his agenda to eliminate waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government, has called for it to be shut down.
In fact, public schools in American are run mostly by local boards following state regulations, but a commentary at Twitchy explained the huge significance of a federal bureaucracy to dictate to schools.
“Local school districts receive only a small fraction of their funding from the federal government—an amount so negligible it would barely be missed if it disappeared. Instead, this money could be redistributed to the states, allowing them to allocate it to schools based on specific needs, such as areas with extreme poverty or a high percentage of students with learning differences. The real reason Democrats champion the Department of Education, however, is that it serves as a tool to promote their Leftist ‘woke’ agenda,” it said.
Donald Trump and Linda McMahon want to shut down the Department of Education.
This will hurt our kids.
Almost 90% of students in the U.S. attend public school. And every single district will suffer.
Senate Democrats will fight this awful decision every step of the way. pic.twitter.com/fBjWGDXfbB
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 7, 2025
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to social media to insist that Democrats would “fight” Trump’s plans, because, “Almost 90% of students in the U.S. attend public school. And every single district will suffer.”
But social media suggested that Schumer was far wrong.
Author Michael Shellenberger said, “Closing the Department of Education will hurt kids, say Democrats. The evidence suggests the opposite. The Dept. of Ed. promoted pseudoscientific alternatives to the science of reading & direct instruction of math. The result? A catastrophic decline in student performance.”
Closing the Department of Education will hurt kids, say Democrats. The evidence suggests the opposite. The Dept. of Ed. promoted pseudoscientific alternatives to the science of reading & direct instruction of math. The result? A catastrophic decline in student performance. https://t.co/3OmEycjuTV pic.twitter.com/5uTjDfVJRS
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 7, 2025
And at RedState was a response to Schumer: “Total nonsense backed by zero empirical evidence. The Department of Education has produced ‘worse’ outcomes for students over the years. It’s pushed nonsense alternative learning methods that have led to falling test scores and higher rates of illiteracy.”
Total nonsense backed by zero empirical evidence.
The Department of Education has produced *worse* outcomes for students over the years. It’s pushed nonsense alternative learning methods that have led to falling test scores and higher rates of illiteracy. https://t.co/tg8SSqdauh
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 7, 2025
Another pointed out how scores have declined while funding has skyrocketed:
It’s been a failure since day one and needs to go, just like you. https://t.co/OCQolMKxSH pic.twitter.com/yo9JkWnoi0
— futwick (@harshyourmellow) March 7, 2025
Were there no public schools prior to 1980 when DoE went live?
From a measurable metric standpoint, can you point us to the overwhelming success of that department and the taxes used to fund it the last 45 years?
— Silence (@Fuzz2149) March 7, 2025
I disagree with your stance, Senator Schumer, on Trump and Linda McMahon’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education. I think returning control to the states could eliminate wasteful federal bureaucracy and let local communities better address their own education needs. The…
— Skid Willie (@SkidWillie) March 7, 2025
Please elaborate.
The Dept. of Education educates ZERO children.
Test scores have declined every year since the dept. was created.
The dept. has only been around for 45 years. The states managed to educate children for 200 years before the dept. was established.
Education is a…— Santiago (@fezzaririder) March 7, 2025
Others openly disputed Schumer’s claims, including one who pointed out that the states and local boards “managed to educate children for 200 years before the dept. was established.”
Chuck: I support the shutdown of the Department of Education. If it was working, why then are test scores so low? Kids today can’t read or write unless they attend private or charter schools. We spend more money per student than any other country in the world, and what do we get… https://t.co/C5hlfPQoy1
— Bill Lawrence (@BillLaw46283285) March 7, 2025
Poor Hunter can’t find work without his corrupt father working for him
March 7, 2025: 6:40 p.m.:
Poor Hunter can’t find work without his corrupt father working for him
Poor Hunter.
Just months ago he was de facto White House Chief of Staff, a successful artist and filmmaker, a wildly successful international businessman.. and it all just went away.
We can’t figure out why.
Fun to discuss with @mercedesschlapp on @ChrisPlanteShow / @NEWSMAX pic.twitter.com/WjiFzwPuev
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 7, 2025
Democrats signal willingness to give up on ‘sacred’ trans issue
Democrats, under the regime of Joe Biden and Kamala Biden, plunged head-first into an unlimited, unrestricted, uncontained agenda for transgenderism.
Males in girls’ showers in schools? No problem. Men in rooms for females on overnight school trips? Sure. Males disrobing and being nude with women in locker rooms? Just fine. In fact, FORCING young girls to share their intimate and private areas with males who claim to be women was standard platform plank material.
But now that might be changing, as the agenda has earned a huge thumbs-down from the American public lately.
In fact, there’s been significant backlash after every Democrat who voted recently on a Senate plan to protect females from men who call themselves women in those areas refused to support it.
A report in Axios said one Democrat, Sen. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, recently pointed out, “There are really important issues that we should be discussing on the local level, within sports leagues and within conferences.”
The report said it is ardent leftist Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who is spearheading an effort to consider leaving “the issue of trans athletes playing in women’s sports to state and local governments.”
The report explained the significance of the apparent change in ideology for Democrats; “Democrats privately admit they need a sharper response to counter Republican attacks on their support for transgender rights, especially when it involves sports.”
The “leave-it-to-states” plan is emerging in the Senate, said the report, which described how Baldwin, “feared Republicans were flooding the zone with their attacks without Democrats having a clear and consistent rebuttal.”
Her comments have included, “Republicans in Washington are saying they know better than parents and local school districts. They are wrong. I trust parents, schools and local sports leagues to make these decisions for their children.”
Just days ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a staunch Democrat who may be looking for higher office, “broke with progressives by saying transgender participation in sports was an ‘issue of fairness,’” the report explained.
Booker, in fact, told the publication, “When it comes to sports leagues, they have to find a way to create fairness.”
It was Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who said, “Every state and every community is going to come to their own decision on it.”
Daily Caller News Foundation Reporter @MegEBrock on Democrats Continuing to Protect Trans Athletes
“You gotta wonder if the Democrats just like losing…. America has rejected transgender ideology–we understand that women are women and men are men….” pic.twitter.com/VYBLJgMldb
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 26, 2025
A report at the Daily Caller News Foundation noted, “Democrats’ deference to subnational governments on the issue of transgender athletes is a notable departure from their positions on a host of issues — ranging from COVID-19 vaccine mandates to abortion access — where the party advocates for the federal government to determine and impose policies on all 50 states.”
But Americans have spoken: A February poll from Gallup found 66% of American adults say transgender athletes should “compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth.” Nearly that many would ban so-called “gender-affirming care,” which includes giving chemicals and sometimes disfiguring surgeries to children.
It would be just one agenda point on which Democrats are trying to make their own views align with America’s, after a 2024 election in which they delivered landslide-proportion failures in the White House, the Senate, the House and many, many down-ballot races.
Elon Musk warns inefficiency helps hide corruption
Feb. 27, 2025: 9:08 a.m.:
Elon Musk warns inefficiency helps hide corruption
It is much easier to hide corruption when the system is extremely inefficient.
However, corruption sticks out like a sore thumb in an efficient system. https://t.co/Y9HKdOL46o
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2025
White House hails positive jobs report
The Trump administration celebrated its first monthly jobs report Friday, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics announcing the addition of more than 151,000 new jobs in February.
“In one month under President Trump, the American economy is soaring back to greatness after the economic calamity left by Joe Biden,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.
“The manufacturing industry is already rebounding, as there were 9,000 new auto jobs created—the most auto jobs added in 15 months! Under President Trump, the private sector is leading the way—93% of the job gains in February were in the private sector. This is great news for American workers and families.”
The jobs report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows that “[t]otal nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in February.”
“Nonfarm payroll employment” refers to all jobs, except for those in agriculture, self-employed workers, those in the nonprofit sector, and members of the military.
The jobs report is mostly positive, as it indicates “employment trended up in health care, financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance.”
However, the total number of unemployed Americans remained mostly unchanged.
“Both the unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in February,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024.”
Trump celebrated the report in the Oval Office, especially the fact that Americans’ job gains were higher than those of foreign workers.
“For the first time in [15] months, the job gains native-born Americans, for American people, people born in America exceeded job gains for migrant and foreign-born workers. Employment for native-born workers went up by [284,000], while foreign-born workers went down by [87,000].”
Notably, the report indicates that “federal government employment declined by 10,000 in February.”
That comes after a month of aggressive cuts by the Trump administration to federal agencies, such as at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as amid anti-bureaucray rhetoric from the administration.
The president cheered on this shift of employment gains to the private sector.
“Under the final two years of [President Joe] Biden, one in every four jobs created in America was a government job. That’s a tremendous percentage. But under the first full month of President Trump—which we haven’t even gotten started yet—an incredible 93% of all job gains were in the private sector.”
The president’s remarks echo those of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who spoke at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday of a shift from a public sector economy to a private sector one.
“When you think about 25% of [gross domestic product flowing through [Washington, D.C.,] area code 202, everybody’s trying to skim a portion of it, trying to reallocate it,” he said.
“This has been a government-driven economy. You want to make this a private sector-driven economy. We want to, as I understand it, disempower the public federal bureaucracy and re-empower the kind of risk-taking and investment that goes along with private sector advances.”
In its statement to the press, the Trump administration also touted an increase in automobile industry jobs in February. Trump was reelected on a promise of bringing auto manufacturing back to the United States.
“The rebound in manufacturing jobs was led by the automobile sector, which gained 8,900 new jobs in February—after losing 27,300 auto jobs in Biden’s final year—showing that firms are reshoring production and positively responding to President Trump’s trade policies,” the White House’s statement said.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]