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The same rules apply to pairing chocolate with tea as chocolate with wine, a tea enthusiast told Fox News Digital. Here's why tea may be a better choice for you.......                    ...                        ...Both You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login have a rich, unique history spanning thousands of years. Tea made its debut in 2737 B.C., when legend has it that Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sipping boiled water beneath a tree when some leaves accidentally blew into it, according to multiple sources.......Tea sommelier Piotr Miga, based in greater Boston, explained to Fox News Digital how recent evidence suggests that the people of Ecuador were using cocoa 5,300 years ago – but noted that it did not reach Europe until the early 16th century, when Spanish explorers brought it over. ......Soon, word spread about the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login of these two delicacies. "By the 17th century, both tea and chocolate were considered high-scale, fashionable and medicinal in nature," Miga stated.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Tea and chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, he explained, are high in antioxidant polyphenols, which target free radicals and can reduce the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and have other health benefits. ......Healthline reports that the antioxidants and flavanols in cocoa and dark chocolate can reduce inflammation and help keep the endothelial cells that line your arteries healthy. The medical journal also details how popular teas like green tea, ginger and rosehip can also fight inflammation and prevent oxidative damage.......Tea and chocolate are customarily served at the end of a meal You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login especially on special occasions like Valentine's Day. Miga explained that tea is more appreciated in British and Eastern nations, whereas in France and Italy, people are more inclined to drink wine. ......Miga believes that dark chocolate complements black, pu'er or herbal teas with flavors of berries, rose or citrus. He described how milk chocolate or a chocolate dessert would "pair nicely with black tea picked in the early spring, what we call first flush tea or oolong tea."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Amy Sherman, San Francisco-based tea enthusiast and editor-in-chief of The Chocolate Professor, told Fox News Digital that the same rules apply to pairing chocolate with tea as chocolate You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login ......"You can either contrast or you can complement," she said. "There are a lot of different styles of chocolate and tea, so it lends itself to a lot of experimentation."......Sherman concurred with Miga's suggestion of pairing dark chocolate with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login She also mentioned that she loves Earl Grey tea, a black tea with a citrusy bergamot flavor, paired with chocolate – because "citrus and chocolate [are] a beautiful combination."......When it comes to choosing the right tea to sip with a chocolate mint, Sherman commented, "It depends." ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"If you're trying to enhance the mint flavor, then I would have a mint tea," she said. "If you want something to cut the mint flavor, then I would go with a black tea (like) English Breakfast or Orange pekoe."......Since chocolate caramel is extremely sweet, Sherman thought it would be paired best with "something that has a stronger character to it," like Lapsang Souchong, a smoky black tea.......To cut the strong sweetness of milk chocolate, Sherman suggested pairing it with green tea, which has an earthy, milder taste.......She surmised that red tea (rooibos), which has a honey flavor to it, would go well with bittersweet chocolate, chocolate covered nuts or toffee, or even strawberries or cherries that have been dipped in chocolate. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"With some of the fruity chocolates, I would go with either a rooibos or hibiscus that has its own flavor that's really strong, or I would go with a black tea, which would be a contrast," Sherman said.......Chocolate with sea salt or chocolate covered popcorn would go best with matcha tea, which is made from green tea leaves and has a frothy bitterness, she explained.......Sherman described how the sweetness of white chocolate confections, like bonbons or truffles, complements the delicate floral essence of herbal tea, or the mild flavor of chamomile. Since white chocolate is made from cocoa butter, rather than cocoa solids, it also has a milder flavor.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Another popular trend, she said, is tea-flavored chocolate bars.......William Mullan, brand director of Raaka Chocolate in Brooklyn, New York, told Fox News Digital that his company has been manufacturing chocolate tea bars in-house since 2014, with the debut of their Earl Grey unroasted dark chocolate bar. ......Just like some teas can bring out the sweetness of darker chocolate bars, the health properties of each can also work together as mood enhancers, Mullen said......."Theobromine and caffeine are both stimulants, and they can help with focus and mood," he said. "If you want to get something done and be peppy and focused, a little chocolate and a little tea, chemically, can be a very advantageous thing in the right dose."...

Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee tells Fox News Digital why she supports the Make America Healthy Again movement and shares healthy cooking tips and a favorite recipe.......                    ...                        ...As the Make America Healthy Again movement gains new supporters every day, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said she's always been on board to make Americans healthier.......Sen. Blackburn told Fox News Digital in an interview, "I have long said you are what you eat," she told Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of this article.)......"That is something I've done with my children and grandchildren — making certain that they're not eating processed or ultraprocessed foods, that You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, that we're eating fruits and vegetables," said Sen. Blackburn. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Blackburn said she hopes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., newly confirmed as President Donald Trump's secretary of Health and Human Services, will first look at the FDA and the approval You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login — and then look at how benefits are used......."We want to make certain that everyone has You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login," said Blackburn......."The other thing is, when you have pharmaceuticals, you want to make certain that they have gone through the proper testing. And this is something that people paid a lot of attention to following the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and the issues that arose there." ......Blackburn said she appreciates RFK Jr.'s focus on preventative care to help keep Americans healthy. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"I very much appreciate that he is looking at wellness You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and looking at health care as opposed to only focusing on sick care," said the senator. ......"There is so much that we can do on the preventive side. I would hope that we will explore more of those options for the American people."......A passionate cook and baker, Blackburn said that making food at home yields healthier results. ......"I believe that by You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and making certain that you have healthy ingredients, you're going to have that better outcome."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......She is a big supporter of buying produce from farmers' markets and grows a herb garden with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login she said.  ......"I like to get fresh produce during the summer and then put it in the freezer so that I'm able to use it in cooking all year long," she said.......She also tries to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login healthier, and one of her husband's favorite dishes is apple pie. ......"By getting in the kitchen and experimenting a little bit, looking at the ingredients, it's like doing a science project, and it helps you to make certain that while you've got that piece of pie, it's not going to be a high-calorie piece of pie."......Blackburn shared her sugar-free apple pie recipe with Fox News Digital.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"It is going to be something that is lower in calories and more nutritional because you're using fresh apples, and you're cooking them, and you're not using a refined sugar product in that pie and in that recipe," she said.......She also shared that although cooking You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login may take a bit more time, the more a person practices the better he or she can get — and preparation is key......."One of the things that I did early on was learn how to make mixes so that I would take some of that time. You get in a rush, you're trying to get out the door in the morning, or you're coming in the afternoon, and you're trying to get dinner on the table."......"When you make your own mixes, you don't have You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login that are in those mixes. If you were to buy a mix on the shelf so you know that you're getting a product that is going to be better for you, you don't have sugar in it because you don't have those preservatives that are in it," she said.......Blackburn makes mixes for muffins and corn bread and stores them in a big gallon glass jug — preserving them for a longer time. ......"My little granddaughter loves You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. We do a good bit of making blueberry muffins," she said. ......"And when it's You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, we make those cakes — and we get in the kitchen and we spend time together making the cake and decorating it."......Pie crust......9 green apples......1 can frozen apple juice concentrate......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Cinnamon......2 tsp vanilla extract......¼ cup cornstarch......1 cup cold water......butter......1. Grease a pie pan and insert the bottom half of the pie pastry. Press it down to ensure there is no air underneath.......2. Chop 9 green apples into large chunks and put into a pan on the stove over medium heat.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......3. Add 1 can of frozen apple juice concentrate ("make sure it's 100% juice," she says). Mix ¼ cup of cornstarch and 1 cup of cold water and slowly add it to the apples. Add 2 tabs of butter, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste. Stir and combine. Cover and bring to a boil.......4. Pour the apple mixture into the pie crust and cover with top of pie pastry, making sure to seal and pinch the edge of the pie.......5. Put pie in 400°F oven until golden brown.......Serve hot with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login or whipped cream.......This recipe by Sen. Marsha Blackburn was shared with Fox News Digital. ...

Netflix confirmed that an adaption of "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is in the works. Rebecca Sonnenshine of "The Vampire Diaries" will be the executive producer.......                    ...                        ...Alison Arngrim knows you can't recreate the original when it comes to "Little House on the Prairie."......The actress, who famously starred as mean girl Nellie Oleson, told Fox News Digital that fans shouldn't be worried about Netflix rebooting the classic series, which concluded after nine seasons in 1983.......Arngrim has been keeping busy attending events and reconnecting with viewers globally to celebrate "Little House" and its legacy.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"Yes, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login the star shared. "Even the people making it have said, 'Oh God, don't call it a reboot.' They're not trying to remake the '70s show. Everyone has said, 'Obviously, we can't recreate that. We don't want to recreate that. That's been done. Michael Landon did it, he achieved it and, boom, it's good. We're leaving that alone."......In January, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login that it had given a reboot of the series the green light. The original show was based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder about growing up in the American West during the late 1800s. They were written during the Great Depression and published in the 1930s.......Netflix has called the reboot "a transformed adaptation" that will feature Rebecca Sonnenshine of "The Boys" and "The Vampire Diaries" as showrunner and executive producer.......Arngrim stressed that it will be different from the original......."They're going back to the books – they're going back to the beginning," said the 63-year-old. "They're still hiring directors and everything. It's still very, very early, but they're looking into the first books when Laura is a very tiny girl. They're going back to their roots."......"And here's the thing, how many times have we made Dracula?" she chuckled. "How many times have we done Frankenstein? Or 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens? These are fantastic literary properties that were remade many times, and everyone had a different take on them. Some were brilliant. Some were terrible. And yet, we still watch them."......WATCH: LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE CHILD STAR SAYS SET WAS LIKE 'MAD MEN'......"So, what will this be like? We don't know yet," said Arngrim. "But they're not trying to steal or recreate the thing. There are some characters in our show that were made up, a Michael Landon invention. Like Albert Ingalls. There was no Albert Ingalls in the books. . . . I know Nellie is based on three different girls. Timelines were changed."......"The books were novels," Arngrim continued. "And then Michael Landon said it would be a good idea if he added stuff and changed things for the show. But this time, they're going back to the books. So, it will be extraordinarily different from our show."......Before news of the reboot went public, Arngrim said the original cast members were given a call. None of the cast are expected to make a cameo appearance as of now.......Arngrim admitted it won't be easy for the new show to live up to its predecessor. "Little House on the Prairie" You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"Everyone involved agrees there was a certain lightning in a bottle that happened with Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, me, Katherine MacGregor and everyone else. It was its own thing. Michael Landon's vision was magic. But again, how many 'Star Treks' are there now? I've watched all of them, and I lost count. Just because we don't have Captain Kirk doesn't mean we can't enjoy them."......"I do know that the folks involved are absolute sticklers for protecting the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder," Arngrim added.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"They are the guardians of the gates... They're not going to do anything bad or something that is insulting to Laura Ingalls Wilder. But it will be really interesting to see what kind of mood it's going to be. Is it going to be fast-paced, like a TV show? Is it going to be slower like a feature film? Or is it going You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login That I don't know."......Arngrim does have some advice for whoever will take on the role of Oleson, one she's still recognized for today......."If they don't like you, you're doing your job," she said. "Do not be liked. Don't hold back on playing a villain or worry about people liking you. Your job is not to be liked. Did Anthony Hopkins pull back You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Did you ever see a moment in 'Silence of the Lambs' where he said, 'That's a little much'? No – and that's it."......"If you think, 'Wow, that's pretty terrible,' – go there," she shared. "You need to have a strong sense of who you are and understand this is the character. Because if you do it right, somebody will hate you, preferably everybody."......"Yes, I did get hit in the face with an orange soda during a Christmas parade," Arngrim continued. "So, for God's sake, if you do it right, there will be people who will get emotionally involved, freak out and say they hate you. But you have to remember, they're talking about the character, not you. You need to know who you are first and have a sense of self."......The surviving cast has maintained a close bond over the years. During the coronavirus pandemic, Arngrim also hosted live readings of "Little House" books for fans.  ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login came at the height of the Great Depression, and the series premiered when we were having a terrible recession, and people couldn't afford things," Arngrim previously told Fox News Digital. "And when times got hard in 2020, people turned to 'Little House' for comfort. People started making their own bread, and all of a sudden, everyone was an Ingalls."......"There's a deep connection people have to the show, and it's truly amazing," she noted. "It really has stood the test of time, just as Michael Landon predicted. When times get hard, there's always 'Little House on the Prairie.'"...

Ahead of RFK Jr.'s confirmation as head of the HHS, Dr. Dino Prato spoke about what is putting people's health at risk — and why he supports MAHA's initiative to improve the wellness of all Americans.......                    ...                        ...The American healthcare system is "broken," says an Arizona oncologist — and he's sharing what he thinks needs to change.......Ahead of RFK Jr.'s confirmation as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Dino Prato spoke on camera with Fox News Digital about what is putting You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login at risk — and why he supports the new administration's efforts to Make America Healthy Again......."MAHA is really a nationwide movement, where people are fed up with big pharma and big food," he said.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......As CEO of Envita Medical Centers in Scottsdale, Prato's focus is delivering "personalized, integrated medicine" to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, as well as taking steps to prevent the widespread disease......."Our focus is getting rid of chemicals, toxins and all the things that are carcinogenic that have been ignored in the United States," he said.......Prato shared what he sees as the top three hazards to Americans' health......."I think the No. 1 problem in America is the chronic disease You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login," Prato said, largely due to "insulin receptor sensitivity issues," which is when the body's cells become less responsive to insulin......."I would call it metabolic disease — and that can be simple and sometimes complicated, because everybody reacts to food differently," he said. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"And we know that people's risk for cancer increases if they have bad metabolic disease, because insulin and glucose feed tumors."......Eliminating processed foods is "critical" to ending the obesity epidemic, according to Prato, along with exercising regularly and eating more You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, including "good quality fruits and vegetables, and grass-fed meats." ......In terms of preventing cancer, heart disease and diabetes, Prato said that You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login is a "very huge" risk factor that is often overlooked......."A lot of people will falsely present with an autoimmune disease, like fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis, when the underlying cause is an infection that goes undiagnosed and untreated," he noted.......In these cases, the patients may be prescribed expensive autoimmune disease drugs that just manage the symptoms but don't actually treat the cause, according to the doctor.......Some viruses can actually trigger autoimmune diseases, Prato cautoned, and many cancers are caused by infections......."The answer to that is building You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login in the body and having good response so that our bodies can fight these subacute infections," he said.......The third major health hazard, according to Prato, are the chemical toxins and heavy metals that are found in the food and water Americans consume, as well as the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login....... "Our bodies are just not designed to detoxify or eliminate these problems," he said. "We also know that chemical toxins are carcinogenic."......Americans' food supply is a "very important part" of eliminating toxicity, Prato added. "A lot of these foods we eat are laced with carcinogens." ......The biggest obstacle that is keeping Americans from living You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, Prato said, is lack of motivation to make changes.......In many cases, he said, patients think they're healthy but just don't have the right information......."If we do deeper dives and we run deeper data, all of a sudden the patients are motivated," the doctor noted......."We need to have better data analytics for our patients, which already exists, and when doctors act as coaches to the patient, the motivation changes."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Americans as a whole are also overly reliant on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login as a way to manage chronic illnesses, according to Prato......."We put people on long-term management and we keep adding pills, but we're not getting to the core of what's causing the disease," he said.......Ultimately, Prato said, no pharmaceutical drug is going to solve the chronic disease epidemic.......Instead, the key to breaking the cycle is educating patients, identifying their needs and then "working as hard as you can to radically improve outcomes."  ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or LoginYou are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"I think that's why this MAHA movement is such a big deal and there's so much excitement behind it for moms and families, because people see that what's what's going on right now isn't working."...

A federal judge rejected a Georgia death row inmate's request to be executed by firing squad because he claims that lethal injection could cause him severe pain.......                    ...                        ...A federal judge rejected a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login request to be executed by firing squad because he claims that lethal injection could cause him excruciating pain.......Michael Wade Nance, 63, argued that an injection of the sedative pentobarbital, the only execution method authorized in the state, could cause him severe pain because of his medical issues, in violation of his constitutional rights.......U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled Thursday that Nance had failed to prove that the injection would result in excruciating pain due to his medical history. Because of this, Boulee did not weigh in on whether a firing squad is a possible alternative.......Nance's lawyer, Anna Arceneaux, said they plan to appeal the decision. The case was originally filed in January 2020 and has already moved to the U.S. Supreme Court once.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......He was sentenced for his You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login in the 1993 death of Gabor Balogh. Nance had just robbed a bank in Gwinnett County and abandoned his own car after dye packs hidden in the stolen money exploded. Balogh was backing out of a parking space at a liquor store across the street when Nance pulled open the car door and fatally shot him.......Nance's lawyers argued that his veins are tough to locate by sight and that the ones that can be seen are compromised. They said there is a substantial risk that his veins could "blow" during an execution, causing the drug to leak into surrounding tissue and cause intense pain.......His lawyers also argued that his longtime use of a medication to treat back pain could result in the pentobarbital used in lethal injections being ineffective or less effective.......The judge said that a doctor who testified for the state during a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login in May suggested that Nance had undergone three separate medical procedures since the lawsuit was filed that required an IV and that there had been no issues.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Addressing whether Nance's longtime use of a pain medication could interfere with the lethal injection drug, Boulee pointed to the testimony of a doctor called by Nance's lawyers who said "no one actually knows" what the impact would be.......The U.S. Supreme Court has said that for an inmate to challenge an execution method under the Eighth Amendment, they must prove that it creates "a substantial risk of serious harm" and that there are "known and available alternatives" that are "feasible, readily implemented" and that will significantly reduce the risk of severe pain, which is why Nance's lawyers suggested the firing squad.......Boulee ruled in March 2020 that Nance's arguments were procedurally barred because he had waited too long to bring them and that he had failed to prove how his constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment would be violated.......Nance appealed and a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that since lethal injection is the only method of execution authorized by Georgia law, he was effectively challenging the validity of his death sentence, which the panel said he was procedurally barred from doing.......He appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the 11th Circuit ruling. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion that he was "not confined to proposing a method authorized by the executing State's law" when he challenged Georgia's execution method. She said there is no reason to believe that changing state law to allow executions by firing squad would be a "substantial impediment" to carrying out the execution.......The case then headed back before Boulee, who held a bench trial in May. During that trial, testimony was given arguing that execution by firing squad would result in a quick death. But since Nance failed to prove that his medical problems would cause him to suffer severe pain during a lethal injection, the judge said he had "no need to address" the proposed firing squad alternative.......The Associated Press contributed to this report....

Rep. Marlin Stutzman spoke with Fox News Digital about returning to Congress after an eight-year hiatus.......                    ...                        ...Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., has spent the better part of the last decade in Indiana, running various businesses and coaching his sons' baseball team. ......Before that, he had a front-row seat for most of the Obama administration, followed by the meteoric and unprecedented rise of now-President You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Stutzman was a part of political history himself, having been one of the original members of the House Freedom Caucus — a group that has grown to be known as a bastion of ideological conservatism and, at times, a thorn in the side of House GOP leaders.......Now he's back as one of several first-term House Republicans, succeeding Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., as a member of a perilously thin House GOP majority.......But according to Stutzman, who previously served in Congress from 2010 to 2017, he sees Republicans as more aligned with each other than before.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"I feel like it's different. I don't think the GOP conference is as far apart — you know, moderates to conservatives — as it was back in 2010," he told Fox News Digital in an interview......."I was looking at the membership in 2010, and there were true moderates. I think we're actually much closer together now than what we were back then. And, of course, we had large majorities. So that creates other challenges. So having a tight majority is not a bad thing at all. It actually makes you unify."......He credited that re-alignment in large part to Trump, pointing out that he and other Republicans were first elected in 2010 as a backlash against former President You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login rather than in support of the leading party's agenda......."We won the 2010 election because it was a reaction to Obama. And in 2020 — I mean, you could say every election is a reaction to the incumbent party, but I think in this case, after the Biden years, the American people elected Trump because they believed he could move the country forward," Stutzman said......."And so we have a leader that is casting a vision and is clear in his messaging, and it gives us the chance to, you know, coalesce behind his leadership. So that's a huge help, compared to 2010."......He also disputed the notion that the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login was founded to be "obstructionist" to House GOP leaders, despite members of the group leading well-known coups against senior Republicans in the past......."There's a lot of smart people that wanted to just be part of a group that looked at things from every angle and was really being productive. And so that's why I wanted to join it, because I wanted to be at a place that I could learn, I could really dive deep and learn from other people and staff that were part of the caucus to really understand the policy, but also talk through the strategy," he said......."It was never designed to be an obstructionist caucus. There have been times that it's definitely been labeled that and accused of that . . . any obstruction was to stop bad things from happening. Not to obstruct the good things from moving forward."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Stutzman said that being a private citizen running businesses for eight years gave him perspective on the value of consensus-building, allowing him to return to Congress with an emphasis on the "big picture."......"You're never going to get everything you want. You know, find a way to support the team and find a way to support us to a yes," Stutzman reflected. ......"Now, look, there's going to be times when you just say no, And that's just part of negotiating. But I think the main thing is just fight hard, offer everything you have. But then at the end of the day, let's take a win and then move on to the next fight."...

The GOP's recent and longest-serving Senate party leader has stood in opposition to his conference multiple times, demonstrating the party's significant transformation in the age of Trump.......                    ...                        ...President You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login derided former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as "not equipped mentally" after he went from being the face of the GOP in the upper chamber to opposing his entire conference and voting with the Democrats on Trump's key Cabinet nominations in just a matter of months. ......"He wasn't equipped ten years ago, mentally, in my opinion," Trump told reporters at the White House after McConnell refused to vote in favor of confirming his controversial Health and Human Services (HHS) pick, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login ......"He's a, you know, very bitter guy," You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, with whom he has had a strained relationship with over the years, including during his previous presidency. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......While such a shift from GOP leader to defiant Republican might be optically jarring, the move was unsurprising to Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesman for former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus. ......"He was living on borrowed time the last couple of years," he told Fox News Digital of McConnell. Manley speculated that if he hadn't decided to step down from leadership voluntarily before the 119th Congress, he would have had significant trouble being re-elected. "[I]t's evident just how exactly out of step he is with the caucus," he said, noting that it has become "much more conservative."......In three pivotal Senate votes on Trump's most vulnerable Cabinet nominees in the last few weeks, McConnell bucked his party. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's nomination was confirmed by a razor-thin margin, 51-50, after Vice President JD Vance was called in to break the tie. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Moderate GOP Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined him in voting against the controversial defense pick.......However, McConnell was the only Republican to vote against the similarly controversial Director of National Intelligence (DNI) nominee Tulsi Gabbard and HHS pick Kennedy. Even Collins, Murkowski, and several other senators with reputations for being somewhat hesitant got behind them......."If Senator McConnell was looking to accelerate the deterioration of his legacy as the former Republican Senate leader, he's succeeded," a Senate GOP source remarked. They described the Kentucky Republican's actions as "an attempt to embarrass the president and the Republican Party" and evidence "of why he was no longer fit to lead our conference." ......McConnell released lengthy statements following each vote, explaining his reasoning. He also wished each of them well and committed to working with them.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......A defense hawk and chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, McConnell was unconvinced that Hegseth or Gabbard were the best national security selections. ......As for Kennedy, McConnell recalled his childhood experience with polio and touted the effectiveness of vaccines, of which the now-HHS secretary has been consistently critical. ......McConnell did vote in favor of Trump's other, less-controversial and lesser-known Cabinet nominees. ......Republican strategist Matt Dole called the former leader "an enigma." ......"[H]e sought to rule the Republican Caucus with an iron fist when he was leader," he pointed out. ......"That makes his own, lonely, votes stand out as all the more egregious."......McConnell's successor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., reacted to the "no" votes in an interview with Fox News Digital. "I think he knows better than anybody how hard it is to lead a place like the United States Senate, where it takes 60 votes to get most things done, and that you got to have everybody, sort of functioning as a team," he said. ......According to Thune, McConnell "is still active up here and still a strong voice on issues he's passionate about, including national security, and so when it comes to those issues, he has outsized influence and a voice that we all pay attention to."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......He explained that while the conference doesn't necessarily agree with him, "we respect his positions on these, some of these [nominations], and I know that a lot of big stuff ahead of us, he's going to be with us. He's a team player."......One former top Senate Republican strategist explained the former leader has "nothing to lose" at this point. In fact, they said, the feelings he is expressing about Trump's most controversial selections actually reflects those of a number of other senators. But they can't oppose the picks themselves "for fear of retribution by Trump or primary voters that will make a difference on whether or not they remain in power."......"Not being in leadership can be quite liberating," GOP strategist John Feehery added. ......According to Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University, "I think he wants to make a symbolic statement in favor of an older Reagan-era type of conservatism and a more traditional Republican Party—this is the way he wants to be remembered."......McConnell's office declined to comment to Fox News Digital....

The New Orleans woman accused of stealing a Super Bowl reporter's credit card after he was found dead in his Kenner, Louisiana, hotel room may be tied to another death.......                    ...                        ...The "career criminal" accused of stealing a Super Bowl reporter's credit cards after he was found dead in his Kenner, Louisiana, hotel room earlier this month may be tied to a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login in the Big Easy, according to Kenner Police.......Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old Telemundo reporter based in Kansas City, Missouri, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to cover the Super Bowl last week and was found dead in his room at the Comfort Suites hotel in Kenner Feb. 5.......Danette Colbert, 45, nicknamed the "Bourbon Street Hustler," is facing multiple fugitive and fraud charges, as well as a robbery charge, in connection with Manzano's death......."We suspect that the investigation will lead to her being involved in another death case in the city of New Orleans back in December," Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley told Fox News Digital. "We are working with [the New Orleans Police Department]. We're working with state police and the attorney general's office to get as much information as we can before we come to any conclusions because, in cases like this, you have to investigate, you can't just speculate."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login may have drugged Manzano and then stole his credit cards before authorities found him dead......."They met in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login probably in the wee hours of the morning. They came back to the hotel that was in the city of Kenner about 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 5, at which time we do have surveillance video from the lobby of the hotel showing them going into [Manzano's] room around that time," Conley said. ......"Then [Colbert] came out, ran to the store, came back about 30 minutes later, and within 10 or 15 minutes, she left the room. And he was never seen again on any video other than when he went into the room. So, she was the last one to be with him."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......On Feb. 8, Conley told reporters during a press conference that detectives found one of Manzano's credit cards was missing while processing his hotel room. ......Detectives reportedly obtained a search warrant allowing them to track the locations where the credit card was used after Manzano was found, and that led them to Colbert.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Conley said Colbert is also tied to several cases involving male victims being drugged and robbed in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and Las Vegas.......GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"She has a long history of ... bringing men into her confidence. The men become incapacitated by some manner, at which time they lose all their money, their property. By the time they wake up or come to regain consciousness, they are out of a lot of money. Their credit cards have been used at various places, and they find themselves in an awful fix," Conley explained.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......The police chief added that police had received between 12 and 13 tips related to the Colbert case as of Wednesday, but some victims do not want to come forward publicly due to the sensitive nature of the suspect's alleged crimes.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Authorities executed a search warrant at Colbert's address after identifying her as a potential suspect in connection with Manzano's death and located a stolen gun that did not appear to be related to Manzano's death and narcotics.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Colbert may face additional charges as the investigation into Manzano's death develops. It was not clear if she had retained an attorney.......Telemundo 39 remembered Manzano as "a true professional and a rising star who exemplified excellence in his work" in a statement. ......"We will deeply miss Adan and his passion for sports and the contributions he made to the local community," the statement says.......Manzano's wife, Ashleigh Boyd, died in a car crash last year You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login.  ...

A childcare worker from the U.K. who is only 21 has already been to 30 countries as a result of her resourceful use of the "micro-retirement" travel trend.......                    ...                        ...A young woman who has taken 30 "micro-retirements" to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login said these experiences have transformed her from a shy, retiring teenager into a confident, self-assured woman.......Lauren Kirby, 21, a childcare worker, said she's saved over $12,500 to travel to 30 countries since she started working at age 18, news agency SNWS reported.......So far, she's visited Portugal, Mexico, Estonia and the U.S., among other countries, and she even lived for six months in Australia, she said.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......These "micro-retirements" have made her better at her job, the British woman said, because she's been able to pick up childcare techniques from different cultures, such as taking children out for walks during all seasons throughout the year. ......Micro-retirements have become a trend on TikTok, SWNS noted, with Gen Z workers taking periodic breaks from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to pursue other interests.......Kirby, who is from Maidstone, Kent, told SWNS, "Once you go on a micro-retirement for the first time, it literally changes your life."......"It's all well and good for [people of] You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to travel once they hit retirement age. But, even though it sounds very morbid, you never know if you're going to get there."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......When she took her first micro-retirement from work at age 18, she returned a totally different person, she said......."Now, I've hit 30 countries, and I'm working my way through the rest."......She said that, at age 18, after she saw an advertisement on TikTok for a childcare rep, she decided to go for it and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, for three months.......A travel company paid for her accommodations, flights, food and bills, she said. It also paid her minimum wage, or $988 a month.......It meant she was able to save $3,130. ......She used that money to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to Portugal, Finland and Mexico. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login ......In 2023, she took a part-time job in a nursery closer to her home.......She then saved up her long weekends and annual leave to travel to 26 additional countries. She said she even flew out to the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login in March 2024 and stayed until September — for which she saved $5,000......."I went out there, worked the first five months at a resort, then spent a month traveling," she said. "With the money I'd earned, I could just quit — and saw all the highlights of the East Coast, like Sydney and Byron Bay."......Kirby said it was You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login that inspired her to take regular "micro-retirements."......She said she saw how quickly everything closed down. ......She feared she might never be able to go abroad again when the borders closed, she told SWNS — and said that even now she thinks about how "things can change in the blink of an eye."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......She said that among today's younger generations, "there's a lot more knowledge now of moving abroad, temporarily, to work — and [we're] taking advantage of this."......She said that being well-traveled has benefited her in her work.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......She's been able to bring back different cultural childcare techniques to work in the U.K., she said.......For example, in Australia, she saw the benefits of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login outside for 30-minute walks in all sorts of weather — and now she encourages her U.K. class of kids to do this, too. ...

Private eye Tom Brennan slams Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and calls on DOJ to probe Philadelphia's handling of Ellen Greenberg's stabbing death, once ruled suicide.......                    ...                        ...The former Pennsylvania state trooper and private investigator who spent more than a decade digging into the suspicious death of Philadelphia teacher You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login wants President Donald Trump's Justice Department to launch a corruption probe into Philadelphia as he slammed Gov. Josh Shapiro over his involvement in the controversial case.......The remarks come shortly after the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy finally abandoned his highly disputed finding that her death from 20 stab wounds was a suicide.......Half of them came from behind, including one that experts say was likely inflicted after she was already dead. Dr. Marlon Osbourne, a former member of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office who has since moved You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, initially ruled her death a homicide but changed his finding to suicide days later, after a closed-door meeting with police, according to court records. Details about that meeting have never been made public, and the lawyer for Greenberg's parents said no record of who took part from the police department or what was discussed inside exists.......That meeting alone is enough for a federal corruption probe, according to Tom Brennan, the family's private investigator for nearly a decade and a former Pennsylvania state trooper.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Greenberg's parents have demanded a new investigation for years. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, citing a conflict of interest due to a past attorney-client relationship with the family, kicked the case up to the state attorney general's office headed by Shapiro at the time.......Nothing happened for years under Shapiro's office, according to Brennan......."I can't stand a lying politician," he told Fox News Digital.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Brennan spent 25 years with the state police, including eight as an undercover detective investigating white-collar crime You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......."Don't tell me about corruption in Philadelphia," he said. "These people are foul. They are really foul."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......As recently as last week, Shapiro said his office's investigation "pointed toward a suicide" in an interview with WHTM-TV.......In July 2022, an independent journalist named Gavin Fish posted a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login alleging that AG Shapiro had "a clear conflict of interest" in the case and that Greenberg's fiancé's family was among his campaign donors. The AG's recusal from the case was announced three days later. He denied having "an actual conflict" but acknowledging the "appearance" of one.......On top of that, he had hired a former Philadelphia prosecutor who had overseen Greenberg's case in the city and assumed leadership of it in his office, Brennan said, another conflict when she was tasked with reviewing her own work.......But the alleged motivation to do nothing with the case may have been as simple as winning votes, Brennan said......."Who needed the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and the Philadelphia vote in order to get into the governor's office? Attorney General Shapiro," Brennan said. "This guy puts politics above everything."......Despite offering public sympathy to Greenberg's parents, Brennan said Shapiro has never had a conversation with them or their investigative team about the case.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......The case ultimately went to investigators from the Chester County District Attorney's Office, who spent two years reexamining it under Democratic DA Deb Ryan. They ultimately said they did not have enough evidence to bring criminal charges against anyone. ......Much of the physical evidence was destroyed by a crime scene cleanup crew before police arrived at the apartment with a search warrant. Digital evidence may have been tainted after it was removed from the crime scene by prominent Pennsylvania Judge You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login the uncle of Greenberg's fiancé......."This guy's a judge and an attorney. He disciplines attorneys for doing things wrong," Brennan said. "What the hell was he thinking of?"......Neither Goldberg nor Schwartzman have been accused of any wrongdoing, but multiple judges have slammed the handling of the crime scene and the forensic investigation as part of the parents' two lawsuits.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Greenberg died Jan. 26, 2011, after Goldberg called 911 and said he found her dead in the kitchen of their Philadelphia apartment during a snowstorm. There was a half-prepared fruit salad on the countertop above her, she had just sent out save-the-date notices for their expected wedding and friends and family said she had not seemed suicidal.......Goldberg said he found her after returning from the gym in their building. However, according to Brennan, the first responders who arrived found him wearing different clothes than the athletic wear he had on in surveillance video downstairs.......WATCH: Sam Goldberg, fiancé of Ellen Greenberg at the time, seen in 2011 surveillance footage......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......The 27-year-old teacher was covered in bruises at various stages of healing, and half of her 20 stab wounds had been inflicted from behind. There was evidence that at least one wound was inflicted after her death, the scene had been staged and that her body had been moved, according to Brennan. He said dried blood would not have dripped sideways across her face if she'd died in the position she was found. And an outside autopsy found signs of manual strangulation on top of the other injuries......."Reviewing the file and the crime scene photographs and the medical examiner's photographs, I don't know how you come to that conclusion [of suicide]," Guy D'Andrea, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, told Fox News Digital previously.......SIGN UP TO GET You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Police have been heavily criticized for their handling of the crime scene, which was left unsecured and cleaned up by a crew called in by building management before they returned with a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. ......After more than a decade of trauma for the parents and a pair of lawsuits, Dr. Osbourne finally walked back the controversial suicide finding in a letter to a Pennsylvania court last month......."It is my professional opinion Ellen's manner of death should be designated as something other than suicide," he wrote. "Since issuing the amended death certificate, I have become aware of additional information I did not have at the time of issuing the amended death certificate which may have impacted my opinion." ......GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Days later, the City of Philadelphia settled a lawsuit with Greenberg's parents, Dr. Josh and Sandee Greenberg, that accused local officials and the medical examiner's office, including Osbourne, of participating in a "concealed conspiracy for the purpose of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login as a suicide," according to legal documents. ......Brennan is calling for a federal probe into the investigation and city officials by President Donald Trump's new Justice Department......."You have people who are actually trying to hide a homicide," he told Fox News Digital. "Don't you think the federal government would be interested in the corruption?......"I hope, and I pray that Trump appoints a Republican U.S. attorney in Philadelphia."......Shapiro's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.......Fox News' Mollie Markowitz contributed to this report....