BILL FEDERER — The Pilgrims fled England because of religious persecution and lived in Leiden, Holland from 1609 to 1620. Each October, Leiden, Holland, celebrated an annual day of thanksgiving for the end of the bloody pillaging, called "Spanish Furies" committed by Spain's "Iron Duke" from 1572 to 1589.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — President Lincoln issued his famous "Proclamation of Thanksgiving," on Oct. 3, 1863, with the Civil War still raging. As is our annual tradition, we reproduce the text below in commemoration of Thanksgiving Day, as penned by Lincoln and his secretary of state, William Seward.... (more)

MONICA CROWLEY — "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." --Cicero Today is a day of thanksgiving, and a day of reflection. There are two particularly quintessentially American holidays: Independence Day, when we celebrate our declaration of independence from the British, which began the most successful experiment in human liberty ever conducted.... (more)

NEWSMAX — American troops deployed abroad and away from their loved ones this Thanksgiving will be receiving 12 times as many pies as they did last year, NBC News reported on Wednesday. Although the number of soldiers stationed in hazardous areas abroad has remained about the same as it was in 2017, the Defense Logistics Agency, which handles food supplies for the military, is sending a total of 81,360 pies this year as opposed to 6,288 in 2017.... (more)

THE HILL — A new Trump administration policy would force migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico as their requests are processed, breaking sharply with current policy, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos obtained by the Post, asylum seekers would have to establish a "reasonable fear" of persecution in Mexico to be allowed to come to the U.S. while authorities review their asylum requests under the new policy, dubbed "Remain in... (more)

NEWSMAX — President Donald Trump on Wednesday rebutted the pointed -- and rare -- criticism of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts that judges don't carry water for the president who appoints them. In a tweet that escalated the president's feud with judges on the liberal-leaning 9th Circuit, Trump said jurists named by President Barack Obama "have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country."... (more)

NEWSMAX — Some conservatives are coming to the defense of President Donald Trump after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts scolded him, with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, even bringing former President Barack Obama into the discussion.... (more)

NEWSMAX — The wave of new immigrants arriving at the U.S. border poses a national security problem, and President Donald Trump has the right to fight it, just as he fought and won his battle for a travel ban, Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to the president, said Wednesday.... (more)

NEWSMAX — Abortion rates among U.S. women in all age groups plunged to a decade low, with teens experiencing a greater decrease than older women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.... (more)

WASHINGTON FREE BEACON — A new bombshell report based on a secret trove of seized Iranian nuclear documents shows the Islamic Republic had concrete plans to manufacture and build at least five nuclear weapons and that it was much further along in this scheme than previously known by the international community.... (more)

BYRON YORK — The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly in Cable News Network v. Donald J. Trump ordering the White House to restore the press pass of reporter Jim Acosta has been hailed as a victory not only for CNN but for the entire press and the cause of journalism. But the end result of Kelly's ruling, and of the CNN lawsuit, might not be happy for reporters and the news organizations that employ them.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — A federal judge blocked President Trump's new asylum crackdown policy early Tuesday, ruling that federal law allows anyone -- including illegal immigrants who jumped the border -- to demand protections once they reach U.S. soil. The decision is a major dent to the administration's efforts to derail the migrant caravan camped out on the U.S.-Mexico border, undercutting Homeland Security's efforts to funnel those people to the legal border crossings.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — President Trump lost two big immigration court rulings Tuesday, after a federal judge in California shot down his attempt to limit asylum claims and another judge in Michigan ordered the administration to release nearly 100 Iraqi immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who had been detained as part of a travel ban-related deal.... (more)

DAILY MAIL — These sweeping photos certainly command attention. The stunning shots have been revealed as the winners of an international panoramic photography contest. Both professional and amateur photographers were invited to enter their best landscape shots for the Epson International Pano Awards 2018 in a bid to win more than $50,000 (£38,000) in cash.... (more)

ALAN KEYES — Jim Acosta's suit against President Trump alleges that Trump's decision to bar the reporter from White House press conferences violates the First Amendment's provision that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." Mr. Acosta may or may not know how to report the news. But apparently, he and his lawyers don't know how to read.... (more)

SUN SENTINEL — Just hours after finishing a tumultuous election recount, Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes submitted her resignation, ending a 15-year tenure full of botched elections, legal disputes and blistering criticism.... (more)

NBC NEWS — Jessica Furst Johnson was supposed to fly from Washington to Orlando this week for a post-election Walt Disney World vacation with her husband and their two small children. Instead, Johnson, the 37-year-old general counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, found herself in Tallahassee, quarterbacking the GOP's legal response to the two-recount Senate contest between the Democratic incumbent, Bill Nelson, and Gov. Rick Scott, his Republican challenger.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Sen. Bill Nelson and a team of lawyers scoured Florida looking for uncounted votes over the last two weeks. On Sunday it became clear there just weren't enough of them for the three-term Democratic senator to prevail. Mr. Nelson conceded Sunday evening after two separate recounts, with the state likely to certify the results Tuesday, officially delivering victory to Gov. Rick Scott, and marking another GOP Senate pickup.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — A Virginia Republican seeking a state House seat is asking for a recount after he lost a GOP primary by one vote. News outlets report that Jimmy Ayers is calling for a recount after initial results show him losing to rival Ronnie Campbell by one vote. Republicans in the 24th state House district voted Saturday to pick a nominee for a seat currently held by GOP Del. Ben Cline, who won a seat in Congress earlier this month. The district stretches from the West Virginia border to the Lynchburg area.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Despite non-stop challenges from political rivals and a hostile news media, President Trump can consider some promising poll numbers of particular interest to conservatives, Republicans and faithful Trump fans. The numbers, though not necessarily bell-ringers, suggest the public is warming to the Trump way of doing things.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — California Gov. Jerry Brown said Sunday that President Trump has assured him he will provide continued federal aid for the disastrous California wildfires, adding that the president has "got our back." "That's a big, big win," Mr. Brown told CBS's "Face the Nation." "The president has not only signed a presidential declaration giving California substantial funding, but he said and pledged very specifically to continue to help us. That he's got our back. And I thought that was a very positive thing."... (more)

NEWSMAX — Forty years ago Sunday, 909 people committed suicide deep in the Guyanese jungle. The Jonestown carnage included only the second member of the House of Representatives assassinated, the greatest number of civilian deaths for any event in U.S. history until 9/11, and more African Americans murdered than at any dozen Ku Klux Klan terror acts combined.... (more)

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER — In 1990, California voters approved Proposition 140 -- which imposed term limits on members of the California assembly and senate. It was ostensibly to return to a citizen legislature closer the people, but in reality, voters outside his San Francisco district wanted Assembly Speaker Willie Brown out, and this was the only way to do it.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — President Trump's frustration last week over special counsel Robert Mueller not investigating the Democrats' links to Russia election meddling is aimed at Christopher Steele, the British ex-spy who compiled and imported the unverified dossier.... (more)

ROBERT KNIGHT — A common refrain when people lament violence, sex and f-bombs in movies, goes: "How did we get from the golden days of Hollywood to this?" Actually, Hollywood, with many notable exceptions, has been at war with decency and American values since its inception. It just wasn't as starkly apparent.... (more)