Former NBA player Jalen Rose has made some bold claims — that salary caps in professional sports and restrictions preventing athletes from entering leagues straight out of high school are a “residue of slavery.”

“The only sports that have salary caps are black led, first off. So that’s basketball and football. Those [are] the only sports with salary caps. Baseball, golf, NASCAR, tennis, you can keep naming. … That’s the first thing,” Rose explained on “Joe and Jada Unfiltered.”

“The second thing is they have no after-high-school restriction. And so that’s a residue of slavery, is because we’re going to get money off of you for multiple years for free,” he adds.

“A residue of slavery is probably Jalen Rose’s IQ at this point. That’s probably the residue of slavery that he’s referring to here,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock tells Steve Kim and Jay Skapinac on “Fearless.”

“It just drives me crazy that sports conversation is this stupid, this racialized. The National Hockey League has the harshest salary cap in all of sports. The top players probably making $7, $8, $9 million dollars. NFL players making $40, $50, $60 million dollars,” he adds.

“So here’s the other thing. When he brings up tennis and golf, guys, if I’m not mistaken, aren’t those guys’ winnings really their salary cap? Like if you win 10 tournaments, you’re probably going to get more than a guy that finishes in 18th place. That’s just the last time I checked,” Kim chimes in.

“It’s probably my whiteness, guys, coming through here, but I just really resent the implications that slavery is somehow tied into guys making multimillion-dollar generational wealth to play a game for a couple months a year for like 10 years of their life,” Skapinac adds.

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The president has announced a massive deal to open the first oil refinery in the U.S. in 50 years in order to seek energy “dominance.”

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday that the refinery would be built in Brownsville, Texas, and bring thousands of jobs to the region.

‘This is what AMERICAN ENERGY DOMINANCE looks like. AMERICA FIRST, ALWAYS!’

“THIS IS A HISTORIC $300 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL — THE BIGGEST IN U.S. HISTORY, A MASSIVE WIN for American Workers, Energy, and the GREAT People of South Texas!” he wrote. “Thank you to our partners in India, and their largest privately held Energy Company, Reliance, for this tremendous Investment.”

He credited the streamlining of permits and lowering taxes under his “America First” agenda for attracting investments to the U.S.

“A new Refinery at the Port of Brownsville, will fuel U.S. Markets, strengthen our National Security, boost American Energy production, deliver Billions of Dollars in Economic impact, and will be THE CLEANEST REFINERY IN THE WORLD,” he added.

The refinery is being developed by America First Refining and will be designed to process shale oil.

“The United States has a surplus of light shale oil but a shortage of refining capacity designed to process it,” said America First Refining president Trey Griggs.

RELATED: ‘BEWARE!’ Trump threatens Iran with violence ‘never seen before’ over reported mines in Strait of Hormuz

“This is what AMERICAN ENERGY DOMINANCE looks like. AMERICA FIRST, ALWAYS!” Trump concluded.

The announcement came after oil prices spiked folllowing the military strikes on Iran by the U.S. and Israel. Crude oil jumped to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday but has dropped to $84 since then.

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Stabbing suspects are seen laughing and smiling on surveillance video apparently after they ganged up on a lone victim in a Maryland mall restroom.

Montgomery County Police in a Monday news release said a male victim around noon Feb. 4 entered the Wheaton Mall in the 11100 block of Veirs Mill Road and went to a restroom.

‘And you wonder why I need a 30-round magazine?’

While inside the restroom, police said seven suspects armed with knives approached him, assaulted him, and stabbed him in the arm before leaving the scene.

The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and received medical treatment at an area hospital, police said.

Police said they are looking for five unknown Hispanic juvenile males and two unknown black juvenile males; authorities are calling the incident a first-degree assault.

Police released video below showing surveillance clips of the suspects in the mall. One clip shows the suspects entering a restroom and then running out of the restroom and down a hallway. A subsequent clip shows some of the suspects smiling and laughing as they walk down what appears to be the same hallway.

RELATED: Blaze News original: 19 nauseating times cowardly thugs ganged up on — and savagely beat up — lone victims

Police said those with information regarding the suspects or this crime are asked to visit the Crime Solvers of Montgomery County website at www.crimesolversmcmd.org and click on the “www.p3tips.com” link at the top of the page or call 1-866-411-8477.

Police added that a reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information that leads to the suspects’ arrest, and tips may remain anonymous.

A number of commenters under WJLA-TV’s Facebook post about the incident posted rather pointed reactions:

“They won’t be smiling for long,” one user declared.”This is why I go NOWHERE without my legal semi-automatic hole puncher,” another commenter said. “This story would have read very different[ly] with a few obituaries and some shiny personalized bracelets for the rest. Sharing is caring.””And this is why I stay strapped,” another user noted.”And you wonder why I need a 30-round magazine?” another commenter offered.”That’s why we carry our guns and MUST use them at times like this … stopping threats, teaching lessons to filthy criminals, [deterring] crime, and protecting ourselves,” another user said. “It’s time We The People make it like the good [old] days.””That’s when you draw your pistol and tell them about the lack of wisdom in bringing a knife to a gunfight,” another commenter stated.

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A movement in Washington state to pass a new tax on millionaires may have persuaded billionaire Howard Schultz to abandon his decades-long residence in Seattle.

Schultz has lived in Seattle for four decades and headed the Starbucks corporation as it grew into a global brand.

‘We will be forever grateful for the memories made in Seattle and the relationships built along the way.’

On Tuesday Schultz posted an announcement on LinkedIn that he was leaving rainy Seattle for sunnier climes in Florida.

“We have moved to Miami for our next adventure together. We are enjoying the sunshine of South Florida and its allure to our kids on the East Coast as they raise families of their own,” he wrote in the post.

“We will be forever grateful for the memories made in Seattle and the relationships built along the way,” he added.

Schultz did not cite the new tax proposal, but it was aimed straight at wealthy individuals like him. The millionaire tax would strip another 10% of personal earnings over a million dollars on top of the state’s already heavy tax burden.

The state House already passed the tax proposal, and it is likely to pass the Senate as well.

Schultz paid $44 million for a five-bedroom penthouse with an ocean view and 5,500 square feet that includes a rooftop terrace.

He wrote that he had hopes Washington state would “remain a place for business and entrepreneurship to thrive, creating essential opportunity for those in Seattle and the surrounding areas.”

Had he stayed, his resulting tax bill under the new proposal could have cost him tens of millions of dollars.

RELATED: Director Steven Spielberg abandons California as debate over billionaire tax heats up

Democrats in California have been pushing a similar tax proposal, and the wealthy have been abandoning the state in anticipation that the proposal will pass soon.

Among those who have already left the state is legendary director Steven Spielberg, who did not mention the proposal but skedaddled from the state just ahead of the deadline set in the motion.

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What was supposed to be a solemn farewell quickly turned political.

Despite a direct request from Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. asking mourners to leave politics out of the funeral service for his father, several high-profile Democrats used the occasion to deliver pointed political remarks.

“Over the weekend, they decided to hijack the funeral service for Reverend Jesse Jackson to push their radical ideologies. Now you’re probably thinking, well, Jesse Jackson was very, very political. Jesse Jackson was very radical,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments.

“According to his son, that was the last thing that he wanted. So let’s back up a bit. Several weeks ago, after Jesse Jackson had passed, his son Jesse Jackson Jr. warned people not to bring politics to his funeral service,” she says.

“Do not bring your politics out of respect to Reverend Jesse Jackson and the life that he lived to these homegoing services. Come respectful, and come to say thank you. But these homegoing services are welcome to all: Democrat, Republican, liberal, and conservative, right-wing, left-wing,” his son announced.

“Because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American. We only ask people to come and be respectful in the context of the extraordinary life that he lived,” he added.

“Seems very clear, a very clear and polite warning from Jesse Jackson Jr. But you guys are going to be shocked to hear, Democrats didn’t care,” Gonzales comments, before playing a clip of former President Barack Obama from the funeral.

“Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions. Another setback to the idea of the rule of law. Each day we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other and that some Americans count more than others,” Obama said.

“And that some don’t even count at all. Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength. We see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards every single day,” he continued.

But Obama wasn’t the only one.

Kamala Harris also took the stage at Jackson’s funeral to ignore his son’s pleas.

“So let me just say, I predicted a lot about what’s happening right now,” Harris said, laughing.

Former President Joe Biden also joined in — though his contribution was mostly unintelligible.

“I’ve forgotten how much I enjoyed watching these clips, and honestly, I enjoy them much more that he’s not president because it was terrifying when he was president,” Gonzales comments.

However, Jesse Jackson’s son did not enjoy their speeches as much as Gonzales did.

“I listened for several hours of three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson. He maintained a tense relationship with the political order. Not because the presidents were white or black, but the demands of our message,” Jackson said in response.

“The demands of speaking for the least of these, those who were disinherited, the damned, the dispossessed, the disrespected. Demanded not Democratic or Republican solutions, but demanded a consistent prophetic voice,” he added.

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​Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Jesse jackson, Reverend jesse jackson jr, Kamala harris, Barack obama, Al sharpton, Joe biden, President trump, The trump administration, Orange man bad, Jesse jackson funeral 

President Donald Trump, committed to toppling Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R), is traveling on Wednesday to the congressman’s district to support his Republican challenger Ed Gallrein at Hebron’s Verst Logistics packaging facility.

Bad blood

Massie first drew the president’s ire in a big way in 2020 when he delayed Trump’s $2 trillion COVID relief package.

Although the antagonism between the two men apparently subsided — Trump endorsed Massie in 2022 and characterized him as a “first-rate Defender of the Constitution” — their detente proved short-lived.

It certainly did not help that Massie backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary; voted against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act; criticized the president over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files; and publicly opposed the current and previous U.S. military actions against Iran; or that the president, in turn, branded Massie’s Trump-voting wife a “Radical Left ‘flamethrower'” and repeatedly called for the congressman’s removal both from office and the GOP.

Trump allies are also behind the political action committee that has spent over $1 million on anti-Massie ads in Massie’s 4th congressional district.

Trump’s champion

On Tuesday, Trump once again identified his champion in the campaign to unseat Massie: Ed Gallrein, a farmer and Navy SEAL combat veteran whose website notes that he’s “fighting for President Trump’s and the Republican Party’s America First Agenda.”

‘Trump fans in KY-4 and across the entire Commonwealth also support my work.’

While Trump originally endorsed Gallrein in October, the candidate officially filed to run on Tuesday.

After saying that Massie — a lawmaker with a 86.53% lifetime Turning Point Action score and a 90.74% score this Congress — is the “Worst ‘Republican’ Congressman we have had in many years,” Trump stated that “the person that will help us do the job, and do it right, is Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, Fifth Generation Kentucky Farmer, and American Hero, Captain Ed Gallrein, a true Patriot.”

RELATED: Trump holds off on Texas Senate endorsement to pressure GOP to deliver on ‘No. 1 priority’ legislation: Report

Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

Trump urged individuals thinking about running against Massie to “rally behind Captain Ed Gallrein, the Candidate who is, far and away, best positioned to DEFEAT Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie.”

The president noted in a separate post hours before making the trip to Kentucky, “Massie, who is running against a great American Patriot in the Kentucky Primary, will hopefully lose BIG.”

Blaze News reached out to Massie’s office for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.

Massie claimed in an X post ahead of Trump’s visit that interlopers may discover “Trump fans in KY-4 and across the entire Commonwealth [who] also support my work in the Epstein files, reigning in spending, ending forever wars, draining the swamp, and food freedom!”

The congressman also released an attack ad this week, amplified by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), that portrays Gallrein as a fair-weather friend who abandoned Trump and left the GOP just after the president secured the Republican nomination in 2016.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the voter registration cards referenced by Massie indicate that Gallrein changed his voter registration from Republican to independent on May 18, 2016 — around the same time Trump won the GOP nomination.

Gallrein reportedly registered as a Republican again in June 2021, when he decided to launch his unsuccessful campaign for the Kentucky Senate.

Gallrein’s spokeswoman Alexandra Wilkes told the Enquirer that Massie, not Trump, prompted his flight from the Republican Party.

“Ed briefly changed registration out of frustration with the broken system Congressman Massie created in his district, which hurt the Republican Party, and he is proud to stand with President Trump and true conservative Republicans,” said Wilkes.

As of midday Wednesday, the prediction market Kalshi put Massie’s chance of securing the Republican nomination at 58% and Gallrein’s chance at 43%.

Massie faced two challengers in the 2024 GOP primary for Kentucky’s 4th congressional district and secured 75.9% of the vote. He went on to net 99.6% of the vote in the general election.

The primary election takes place on May 19.

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​Kentucky, Thomas massie, Massie, Maga, Republican, Gop, Primary, Election, Ky, Donald trump, Trump, Gallrein, Ed gallrein, Politics 

The FBI Field Office in New York produced myriad documents pertaining to its criminal probe into child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested in a Feb. 17, 2025, letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that “thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein” were stored on site there.

Some of these documents were allegedly compromised in a hack years before the Department of Justice began publishing the heavily redacted Epstein files.

Reuters’ source suggested that the hack appears to have been executed by a ‘cybercriminal’ rather than a foreign government.

The bureau revealed in 2023 that it was investigating a hack of its computer network, which it characterized as an “isolated incident that has been contained.”

Multiple sources briefed on the matter told CNN at the time that FBI officials suspected the incident involved a bureau computer system used in the investigations of images of child sexual exploitation.

Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter and recently published DOJ documents, reported on Wednesday that the hack entailed a foreign actor’s targeting of files related to the FBI’s investigation of Epstein.

The hack reportedly took place after a server at the New York FBI office’s Child Exploitation Forensic Lab was allegedly left exposed by Special Agent Aaron Spivack, who did not return Reuters’ numerous requests for comment but has previously issued a voluminous statement on the matter.

RELATED: ‘The mistake I made’: Bill Gates reportedly admits to affairs with Russians, apologizes for Epstein fallout

Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Among the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in recent months is a 2024 statement from Spivack in which he addresses the allegations that he “improperly stored digital evidence at his residence”; “improperly handled, documented, and stored digital evidence and failed to secure [child sexual abuse material] within policy, resulting in a cyber intrusion”; and “exceeded the limits of his authority by contracting an outside company to develop computer software on behalf of the FBI.”

Spivack — who apparently participated in the Epstein investigation — stated that the cyber “intrusion” happened on Feb. 12, 2023.

After logging into his computer to find a .txt file indicating that his network had been compromised, Spivack claimed that he ran an anti-virus sweep, which identified a potential threat. He said that he was unable, however, to remove the threat, as his “administrative privileges had been removed.”

Spivack notified some of his colleagues, attempting to rectify the issue, then noticed that the main server was down, that other servers were malfunctioning, and that “the folders that contain our data was missing.”

According to Spivack’s timeline, he and others later noticed “strange IP activity that took place [on Feb. 12] from two IP addresses.”

“The activity included combing through certain files pertaining to the Epstein investigation,” stated Spivack.

It’s unclear what particular files were accessed and whether they were downloaded, reported Reuters.

By 5 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2023, Spivack said, “we realized we were hacked.”

The FBI reiterated that the “cyber incident” was an “isolated one” and said in a statement obtained by Reuters that “the FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time.”

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Reuters’ source suggested:

that the hack appears to have been executed by a “cybercriminal” rather than a foreign government; that the hacker did not appear to realize he or she had hacked a law enforcement server; and that the hacker expressed revulsion at the presence of child sexual abuse images on the device and threatened to turn its owner over to the FBI.

The hacker — whom the FBI allegedly spoke to on video chat but was unable to identify or locate — may have acted alone, but Jon Lindsay, an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, suggested that the hack demonstrates the files’ potential intelligence value.

“Who wouldn’t be going after the Epstein files if you’re the Russians or somebody interested in kompromat?” Lindsay told Reuters. “If foreign intelligence agencies are not thinking seriously about the Epstein files as a target, then I would be shocked.”

Reuters indicated it was unable to “establish the result of the bureau’s internal investigation” regarding Spivack or connect with FBI agents identified in the documents as being involved in the investigation.

Spivack stressed in his 2024 statement, “I have rescued more exploited children than anyone in the NYFO and in most of the Bureau. All I wanted to do was to better the Bureau. I did not know how to do everything right, but I always did the right thing and everything I did was with good intentions. I love this job. I was not reckless.”

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As more people begin to investigate potential fraud in the legal immigration system in the United States, many major cases of alleged fraud are finally getting the attention they deserve.

The Dallas Express reported Tuesday on an ongoing case started in May 2025 involving “two Texas residents … originally from Pakistan, a law firm, and a business entity” who are “charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) conspiracy.”

‘These advertisements were placed in order to satisfy a Department of Labor requirement to offer the position to United States citizens before hiring foreign nationals.’

According to a Department of Justice press release, Abdul Hadi Murshid, Muhammad Salman Nasir, the Law Offices of D. Robert Jones PLLC, and Reliable Ventures Inc. “engaged in a scheme to commit visa fraud to enrich themselves and others, and to cause individuals to fraudulently obtain entry into and immigration status in the United States.”

RELATED: ‘Prioritize Americans’: SBA shuts door on foreign national borrowers

Photographer: Desiree Rios/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Murshid and Nasir are also charged with unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain United States citizenship, according to the DOJ.

The scheme allegedly involved exploiting the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programs, including placing advertisements in a daily periodical for nonexistent jobs. The DOJ explains, “These advertisements were placed in order to satisfy a Department of Labor requirement to offer the position to United States citizens before hiring foreign nationals.”

“These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain,” Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham said. “Pursuing criminal charges to deter and punish this type of flagrant disregard for the lawful immigration process is a top priority of this Office.”///

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quoted the Dallas Express’ report, saying, “Finally, the feds are cracking down on their H-1B visa fraud in Dallas. H-1B visas are issued only by the federal government. That said, I was the first Governor to halt any state entity from applying for H-1B visa workers. More to come on this.”

However, many comments pointed out the governor’s past openness to legal immigration as his state continues to fill with H-1B and other visa holders.

“You haven’t done this so you’re still contributing to the displacement of highly skilled Texas workers,” Virgil Bierschwale, a candidate for the Senate Texas seat, wrote, including a graphic that encourages prioritizing hiring Texans in state contracts.

“Texas leads the nation with H-1B visas thanks to you,” former congressional candidate Valentina Gomez snapped at Abbott.

Texas has closely followed California in the number of approved H-1B visas in recent years. In 2025 alone, Texas brought in over 83,200 H-1B visas, while California crossed the 100,000 threshold, according to an analysis of Department of Labor data performed by Blaze News.

The Dallas Express reported that while it is unclear when the case will head to trial, the final pretrial conference is set for September 4, 2026.

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