TV News LIES

A district judge ruled Wednesday that Texas can’t require posters of the Ten Commandments to go up in certain school districts where parents have challenged the move.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sided with a group of families fighting against a new law set to take effect Sept. 1 that would have put posters of the Ten Commandments in easily readable letters in every public school classroom in Texas.

“They just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government run schools,” the judge wrote in his decision.  

While this lawsuit only affects 11 districts, another legal challenge to the law is working its way through the courts.

More...

President Donald Trump has bought more than $100 million in company, state and municipal bonds since taking office in January, according to government disclosures about the billionaire's holdings.

The forms were filed Aug. 12 with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and posted online Aug. 19. The documents show 600 purchases the Republican real estate mogul made since Jan. 21, the day after he was inaugurated for his second term in the White House.

The holdings span industries that could benefit from changes in administration policy, such as financial services or technology.

The corporate bonds included financial companies such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. Others included tech companies such as Meta, Qualcomm and T-Mobile USA, along with The Home Depot and UnitedHealth Group.

The forms detail what types of bonds Trump bought, most of which paid 4% to 5% interest. But the value of each investment was listed only in broad ranges, such as $100,000 to $250,000.

More...

President Trump expanded his criticism of the Smithsonian Institution to include other museums in a long social media post on Tuesday.

"The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of "WOKE," he wrote.

The post emphasized his ongoing displeasure with the Smithsonian, describing it as "OUT OF CONTROL" and suggesting that museums around the country may face similar scrutiny.

"President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable," the White House said in a statement to NPR. "He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there."

In an Aug. 12 letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, White House representatives said they plan to conduct an audit of eight Smithsonian museums "to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions."

More...

Australia lashes Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu after he said the country’s prime minister was weak, with a top minister saying strength is more than “how many people you can blow up.”

For decades Australia has considered itself a close friend of Israel, but the relationship has swiftly unravelled since Canberra announced last week it would recognize a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu drastically escalated a war of words on Tuesday night, calling his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese a “weak politician who betrayed Israel.

More...

Boston’s mayor Michelle Wu has hit back sharply at the Trump administration’s legal threats over sanctuary city immigration policies, declaring that “Boston will not back down”.

Wu told a news conference outside Boston’s city hall on Tuesday: “The US attorney general asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures. Unlike the Trump administration, Boston fhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/19/boston-sanctuary-cities-michelle-wu-trump-administrationollows the law. And Boston will not back down from who we are and what we stand for.”

Last week, the US Department of Justice sent letters to 13 states, from California to Rhode Island, and 22 local governments, from Boston to Seattle, that it has deemed “sanctuary jurisdictions”, threatening their leaders with prosecution for allegedly “undermining” and “obstructing” federal immigration enforcement.

The letters warned that they could lose federal funds or face legal action if they do not assist with Donald Trump’s sweeping, aggressive and highly controversial immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts.

Attorney general Pam Bondi has warned that she intends to prosecute political leaders who are not – in her view - sufficiently supportive of immigration enforcement.

More...

As many as 35,000 Ukrainian children are still missing and thought to be held in Russia or Russian-occupied territories, according to an American team of experts, with families saying they are being forced to take desperate and risky measures to try to rescue them.

As Russian forces began their invasion in February 2022, children were abducted from care homes, from the battlefield after the death of their parents, or under coercion directly from their families.

Russia has rejected demands for the children to be returned, with an official accusing Ukraine of “staging a show on the topic of lost children” during ceasefire talks in Turkey this month.

Speaking to the Guardian, one mother has described her own dramatic rescue of her two teenage sons who were held in a camp in Russia for almost six months.

More...

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials, sharing the list in a move that prompted swift criticism that the Trump administration was politicizing clearances.

Among those on the list are several Biden administration officials, including Maher Bitar, who joined the National Security Council (NSC) after previously working for then-House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) amid the first Trump impeachment. Bitar has since returned to Schiff’s office, but he has captured the attention of right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who has complained on the social platform X about his retention of a clearance.

Emily Horne, an NSC spokesperson under Biden, also had her clearance revoked, as did Brett Holmgren, who most recently served as assistant secretary of State for intelligence and research and is married to former Biden White House counsel Dana Remus.

Gabbard, without evidence, accused those listed of politicizing or leaking intelligence or “committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards.”

She said the move came at the direction of President Trump.

More...

A panel of federal appellate judges ruled Tuesday that New Mexico’s seven-day waiting period on gun purchases likely infringes on citizens’ Second Amendment rights, putting the law on hold pending a legal challenge.

The ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sends the case back to a lower court. New Mexico’s waiting period went into effect in May 2024, and does hold an exception for concealed permit holders.

“Cooling-off periods do not fit into any historically grounded exceptions to the right to keep and bear arms, and burden conduct within the Second Amendment’s scope,” wrote Judge Timothy Tymkovich in the split 2-1 ruling. ”We conclude that New Mexico’s Waiting Period Act is likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.

More...