- Friday July 4th, 2025
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
My son has narrated the last book I wrote.Please consider listening to it and encouraging others to do so too.(Click HERE)
World & Nation
Trump Hails One, Big, Beautiful Birthday Present for US

President
Donald Trump said Thursday night that Congress could not have delivered
a better birthday gift to America by passing the One Big Beautiful Bill
Act and sending it to him to sign into law Friday, the 249th
anniversary of the nation's founding.
"There could be
no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we
achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the one, big, beautiful
bill to make America Great again," Trump said at the Iowa State
Fairgrounds in Des Moines in a speech that aired live on Newsmax and
the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.
Trump was in Iowa to kick off the one-year countdown to the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding.
"In the last
election, the people gave us a historic mandate to cut taxes, raise
take-home pay, bring back jobs, stop the invasion … deport the illegals
and slash hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and fraud," Trump
said. "And that's what we're doing with this bill.
Game on: Republicans, Democrats trade fire over Big Beautiful Bill in 2026 battle for Congress
Democrats, Republicans, take aim at each other as Midterm Election battle over the Big Beautiful Bill heats up

President Donald Trump quickly took aim at Democrats for opposing his sweeping domestic policy bill.
"Not one Democrat voted for us, and I think we use it in the campaign
that's coming up the midterms, because we've got to beat them,"
The president spoke as he headlined a July 4th-eve event at the Iowa
State Fairgrounds to kickoff celebrations of next year's 250th
anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Hours earlier, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, in a
218-214 vote on Thursday nearly entirely along party lines, lifted the
so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" to final congressional passage.
Earlier in the week, Vice President JD Vance broke a tie in the Senate
to advance the measure 51-50.
The Left is celebrating July 4 with protests while the Right sees a patriotic revival
New poll reveals stark patriotism gap

As President Donald Trump is preparing for Independence Day
celebrations, some Democrats will be taking to the streets to protest
on America’s birthday as polls indicate a decreased sense of patriotism
from those on the Left.
Democrats across the country are organizing protests and boycotts on
the 4th of July to make their voices heard that they do not agree with
the direction the country is heading. A new Fox News poll showed that
only 36% of Democrats say they are proud of the United States today,
compared to 85% of Republicans expressing pride in their country. Now,
in what some are calling the "No Kings 2.0" protests, Democrats are
banding together in several states to lay out their grievances.
The Women’s March, whose mission is to "transform everyday women into
feminists," is calling on protesters to join their "Free America
Weekend."
Zelenskyy Prods Trump to 'Strengthen Protection' Amid Russian Escalations

U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy
on Friday that he wants to help with air defense after escalating
attacks from Russia, Axios reported, citing an unidentified Ukrainian
official and a source with knowledge of the call.
The call lasted about 40 minutes, the sources said. Trump told
Zelenskyy he would check what U.S. weapons due to be sent to Ukraine,
if any, had been put on hold, one source said, according to Axios.
The call cane a day after Trump said he had a disappointing conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Dutch Defense Minister: Russia Using Chemical Weapons Against Ukraine

Dutch intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread
Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a
choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can
be shot, the defense minister and chief of military intelligence in the
Netherlands told Reuters.
Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
"The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons," he said in an interview.
"This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we
have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of
chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized,
and widespread."
Iran regime escalates repression toward 'North Korea-style model of isolation and control'
'The regime has always been
totalitarian, but the level of suppression now is unprecedented. It’s
unlike anything we’ve seen before,' expert warns

In the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the regime
appears to be turning inward — escalating repression with chilling
speed.
According to Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC research at United Against
Nuclear Iran, the Islamic Republic is accelerating toward what he said
is a "North Korea-style model of isolation and control."
"We’re witnessing a kind of domestic isolation that will have major
consequences for the Iranian people," Aarabi told Fox News Digital.
"The regime has always been totalitarian, but the level of suppression
now is unprecedented. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before."
A source inside Iran confirmed to Fox News Digital that "the repression has become terrifying."
Biden’s reelection bid fell apart after he admitted ‘only thing’ he cared about was Hunter avoiding jail

During a crucial month in former President Joe Biden’s reelection bid,
he allegedly said the “only thing” he cared about was that his son
Hunter Biden avoided jail, the authors of a new book claim.
According to an excerpt of 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and
the Democrats Lost America, published in the Wall Street Journal, Biden
was “distracted” by his son’s legal battles, which coincided with a key
moment in his doomed campaign.
The former president was said to be “devastated” by Hunter’s legal
troubles and months later, as one of his last acts in office, made the
stunning move to pardon his son after his conviction on federal gun
charges.
Mamdani Checked Asian, Black Boxes on College Form

New York City Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani claimed he was
Asian and Black when applying to Columbia University as a high school
senior, The New York Times reported.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, was born in Uganda and
identifies as a Muslim immigrant of South Asian descent. His parents
are Indian Ugandan and Indian American.
However, Columbia data showed Mamdani checked boxes for "Asian" and
"Black or African American" on a 2009 application, the Times reported
Thursday.
Mamdani's application came at a time when Columbia used a race-conscious affirmative action admissions program.
Trump’s remarkable win streak marks a big, beautiful beginning for a historic second term
As you may be able to tell from the Democrats’ caterwauling, Thursday’s
House passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill culminates an epic run of wins
for President Donald Trump.
First, he took the bold, historic step of ordering a massive bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities.
The Obama-Biden crowd long insisted that the only way to address the
mad mullahs’ drive to get The Bomb was appeasement — including sending
them pallets of currency in convenient denominations.
Trump flipped off that idiocy (which only promoted Tehran’s power) and
stared down the kooky right-wing quarters that insisted that
confronting Iran would mean the certain death of thousands of American
troops and another decades-long “forever war.”
New Cold War?: US faces long-term battle to contain Iran after Trump's strike on their nuclear facilities
The CIA is now acknowledging severe, long-term damage to Tehran's nuclear ambitions
After Trump's strategic strike on Iran's nuclear facilities,
Twelve days of air raids, missile exchanges, and brinksmanship between
Israel and Iran have ended in a precarious ceasefire. Brokered by the
United States, the truce has temporarily halted a conflict that
threatened to spiral into a regional war involving U.S. forces, energy
markets, and global nonproliferation norms.
Now that the dust has settled, the critical question emerges: What was
the true purpose of America’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear
infrastructure? And what should our strategic posture be moving forward?