The attorney who represented an adult film actress who tried to take down President Donald Trump has been released from prison after serving time for defrauding his clients.

Michael Avenatti, nicknamed the “creepy porn lawyer” by Tucker Carlson, was convicted of trying to extort up to $25 million from the Nike shoe company and stealing from actress Stormy Daniels as well as others. In June, he was resentenced to serve 11 years and three months in prison in connection with some of the charges.

He reportedly cried in court before sentencing.

Avenatti once was considered one of Trump’s most potent foes and even said he was considering running for president but fell far short of taking down his opponent.

Daniels accused Trump of paying her hush money ahead of the 2016 election to keep her from speaking out about their alleged extramarital affair. Critics said the payment amounted to election interference.

Avenatti served about four years in prison and is ordered to report to a halfway house in Hollywood, where he will stay until Sept. 2028, according to TMZ. He is also ordered to stay away from unlawful controlled substances and has to participate in mental health treatment.

Fox News reported that he got early release after some of the sentences were allowed to run concurrently.

At the apex of the media circus propping up Avenatti’s celebrity, he was compared to one of the persons in the Holy Trinity by “The View” co-host Ana Navarro.

“Lately to me, you’re like the Holy Spirit,” she said in Aug. 2018. “You are all places at all times. Right? I mean, I see you all over cable news. … There’s a seat available if you want to be a co-host at ‘The View.’ There’s people here you can pitch!”

“He’s out here saving the country!” Joy Behar responded at the time.

Only a few months later, Daniels publicly accused Avenatti of ignoring her calls and starting a crowdfund campaign to raise money for her legal defense without permission. He was later convicted of stealing $300,000 from her and sentenced to four years in prison.

In 2021, he was sentenced to two and a half years for a conviction related to an extortion scheme he attempted against Nike. He reportedly cried in court before sentencing.

RELATED: MSNBC anchor makes stunning admissions about interview with Kavanaugh accuser

The next year, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for stealing from his clients and obstructing the IRS. He was resentenced last June.

Avenatti was ordered to pay nearly $6 million in restitution.

He was also accused of domestic abuse by a former girlfriend, but he vehemently denied those claims and was never criminally charged.

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​Michael avenatti prison release, Avenatti vs trump, Avenatti vs stormy daniels, Stormy daniels hush money, Politics 

A Federalist article published yesterday revealed that the government-funded Global Engagement Center assured the State Department its censorship “test bed” platform would not target U.S. audiences, yet it proceeded to fund a trial specifically aimed at Blaze Media.

“Let me break it down simply,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

“Back in 2011, Obama signed an executive order to establish the State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications … to support ‘agencies in government-wide public communications activities targeted against violent extremism and terrorist organizations,’” she recounts.

This was the “seed,” she explains, that would eventually sprout and bloom into a domestic censorship apparatus.

In 2016, Obama then signed an executive order, renaming the existing Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications the Global Engagement Center and tasking it with coordinating U.S. government-wide counterterrorism communications activities directed at foreign audiences abroad to counter terrorist messaging.

“Pay attention to these dates. 2016, [Obama] is out the door,” Sara says.

In the waning days of President Trump’s first term (December 14, 2020, to January 7, 2021), however, a GEC-funded test-bed trial diverted from its stated mission to target foreign disinformation when it set its sights on Blaze Media.

Its other target was Sputnik News, a Russian state-owned news agency and radio service.

“Why would we be as big of a target as a Russian state news agency?” Sara asks. “Is the deep state that threatened by what we talk about?”

“The answer is yes — the deep state actually is that threatened by what we talk about,” she answers definitively.

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio shut down the GEC and its successor office, the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, in 2025, the New York Times and other left-wing outlets lamented it.

Sara mocks the coverage the story received: “He closed down the State Department office on foreign disinformation. Why would we want to have disinformation? That’s bad!”

“No, it was just being used to suppress and censor actual American media,” she explains. “Sorry, I’m saying American media like it was plural — like it was like this big venture. … No, it was just us.”

Why Blaze Media specifically?

Sara believes it’s tied to Blaze Media’s COVID coverage.

“We were one of the only (actually the only) alternative media outlet that was telling the truth during COVID, myself included,” she says. “We were getting demonetized left and right because we were actually telling the truth.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Blazetv, Blaze media, The federalist, Gec, Obama, Covid censorship, The blaze, The blaze censored, Global engagement center, Counterterrorism 

The man on trial for allegedly stabbing to death a Ukrainian immigrant without provocation has been determined to be “incapable to proceed” by a state psychiatric facility.

Video from the light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, captured the moment that Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly brutally stabbed Iryna Zarutska in the neck, according to prosecutors.

Brown’s attorney argued that the capacity hearing cannot take place as long as the suspect is in federal custody.

Brown, who is 44 years old, had a long history of violence and mental illness before he allegedly attacked Zarutska, who was on her way home after working a shift at a pizza shop in Aug. 2025.

A public defender filed a court filing Tuesday citing the mental evaluation from the Central Regional Hospital, but the judge must determine whether he will accept the findings.

The case is expected to be delayed until Brown is given psychiatric treatment to restore his capacity to proceed.

Zarutska, who was 23 years old at the time of her death, had fled from Ukraine to escape the dangers of the Russian war. Her death has become a national crusade against lax criminal prosecution and was featured in President Donald Trump’s last State of the Union address to Congress.

Brown’s attorney argued that the capacity hearing cannot take place as long as the suspect is in federal custody.

WBTV-TV reported that the process of restoring competency in North Carolina can take a long time because of the lack of psychiatric resources.

The suspect’s mother has admitted that Brown suffered from mental illness and had been arrested more than a dozen times.

RELATED: Axios gets obliterated online for unbelievable framing of stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee

Tech billionaire Elon Musk donated $1 million to help fund murals across the country to honor the memory of Zarutska and bring more publicity to the cause.

Some of those efforts have been stymied by local activists and politicians who oppose the murals on the basis that they are “divisive” or do not align with their values.

“Evil doesn’t see policy. Evil doesn’t see left or right. Evil doesn’t see any of that. Evil is just evil,” said graffiti artist Gear Duran, who painted a mural in Las Vegas. “I’m here trying to combat that, to bring awareness with this mural, just to bring some positivity and light to what happened.”

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​Iryna zarutska murder, Decarlos brown jr mental illness, Decarlos brown incapable to proceed, Charlotte light rail murder, Politics 

On April 6, the WNBA’s Chicago Sky announced that it traded power forward Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for two first-round draft picks.

According to the team’s statement, the reason for the trade was “roster balance.”

But BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock isn’t buying it.

On this episode of “Fearless,” he unveils the real reason Reese was chopped after just two years with the Sky.

“I find it odd that the Chicago Sky would jettison her after just two years. I think that speaks to what a headache she was in Chicago,” Whitlock tells his panel — Jay Skapinac, Steve Kim, and Maurice from “Keep the Vision.”

“Teammates didn’t want to play with her; coaches couldn’t corral her. She was out there doing her double-double routine while the Chicago Sky were actually trying to win games or run an offense, and Angel Reese was just out there chasing stats,” he continues.

He asks the panel: “Do you think Angel Reese will adjust her approach, attitude, and style of play?”

“No, no, no, and no,” is Steve Kim’s honest response.

To Reese’s new Dream teammates, he warns, “Get ready to stick your hands out like this and never get the ball because she’s going to get the rebound, get another rebound, get another rebound, another rebound, and another rebound.”

Skapinac agrees: “She can barely — barely — make a layup, and in fact, she doesn’t make layups most of the time.”

“And Jason, I’m with you,” he continues. “She is going to be the locker-room team cancer.

“There’s never been a team — at Maryland, at LSU, and the Chicago Sky — where she didn’t have some sort of locker-room problem with her teammates. People don’t enjoy playing with her,” Whitlock says.

He does believe, however, that Reese may genuinely improve her game with the Atlanta Dream because she finally has the chance to potentially dunk on Caitlin Clark.

“She’s being offered a chance to play on a team that’s a championship-caliber team, and if she can get a WNBA championship before Caitlin Clark, that’s really going to enhance her brand, give her some standing around the league,” he says, “and I think that opportunity may for a short-term bring out the best in Angel Reese.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Fearless, Fearless with jason whitlock, Jason whitlock, Chicago sky, Wnba, Angel reese, Caitlin clark, Atlanta dream, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Actress Kate Beckinsale wants to know why she was fired but a man was not.

The 52-year-old’s gripe dates back to 2023, when she was allegedly fired by talent agency UTA, which also represents actor Mark Ruffalo.

‘The price you pay for having a vagina while even remotely liking a post that was as un political as it could possibly be.’

‘Vagina’ monologue

Beckinsale took aim at Ruffalo by leaving a lengthy and inflammatory comment on his Instagram page last week. Ruffalo’s post was promoting a movie about Palestine, which prompted Beckinsale to leave scathing remarks claiming that UTA had fired her for liking a social media post about Palestine.

“Gosh, it must be so nice not to be fired by your Agent for liking a post about a ceasefire and not supporting the murdering of children,” Beckinsale reportedly wrote in response; her comments have since been deleted, Entertainment Weekly noted.

It only took two sentences for the “Underworld” actress to label her apparent firing as a case of sexism.

“I guess having a penis in Hollywood really counts for a lot because you’ve not been fired by the same Agent that I had and … I liked a post about a ceasefire and I’ve got fired on the same day as Susan Sarandon was fired,” she continued.

Saran-done

Unlike Beckinsale’s alleged firing, Sarandon’s was public and confirmed by UTA for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks at a pro-Palestine rally in 2023. According to Deadline, her comments included, “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.”

UTA’s CEO at the time of Sarandon’s firing was Jeremy Zimmer, who is Jewish.

RELATED: Celebrities demand ICE send illegal immigrants back … to your neighborhood

Alex Kent/Getty Images

Social justice worrier

Beckinsale went on in her reported comments to describe the tough spot she was in when she was allegedly fired, having to take care of two sick parents. She also applauded Ruffalo for his “voice” and “activism,” before blaming sexism once more as the reason she was dropped by her agency.

“… the price you pay for having a vagina while even remotely liking a post that was as un political as it could possibly be, just asking for mercy for children and babies by UNICEF, in fact doing 1 millionth of what you have laudably done, caused me to be fired and you not, and that is, to say the least interesting.”

The actress said that other actresses and “women’s advocate groups” also found the situation interesting, before claiming that she had sent Ruffalo a private message about the issue months ago but he “ignored” her.

EW also reported that Beckinsale replied to one user’s comments by saying there exists “male privilege even in the good guys.”

RELATED: Gene Simmons’ advice for celeb activists Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo: ‘Shut the f**k up’

JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

Hulk smashed

The agent in question was not named, and neither Ruffalo nor UTA have offered comment when approached by different outlets.

Beckinsale was correct to characterize Ruffalo as very politically active, though. He has put out a constant stream of commentary during the Donald Trump administration, including accidentally sharing AI images of Trump that he thought were real.

“Sorry Folks. Apparently these images are AI fakes. The fact Trump was on Epstein’s plane and what Epstein was up to is not. Be careful. Elon’s X and his allowing so much disinformation here is driving the value of his app down by 55%,” Ruffalo wrote at the time.

Ruffalo has shown his support for Palestine in many ways, including supporting the shutdown of the Oscars ceremony he was attending and calls for his union to protect pro-Palestine activists from being blacklisted.

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​Align, Hollywood, Palestine, Israel, Actors, Sexism, Woke, Liberal, Sexist, Ruffalo, Entertainment 

CBS will waste no time looking for laughs after “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” ends its near-11-year run.

Colbert has faced consistent scrutiny since reports surfaced of his show’s alleged $40 million annual losses against a $100 million budget. Now, the finish line is fast approaching as his show nears its May 21 finale.

‘The world can never have enough laughter.’

CBS will reportedly waste no time replacing Colbert and is moving right along with a new lineup for the 11:35 p.m. time slot on May 22.

Giggle gang

According to The Hill, Colbert’s late-night talk show is set to be replaced by a pair of half-hour programs featuring actual comedians.

First, back-to-back episodes of “Comics Unleashed” will air in Colbert’s soon-to-be former slot, moving up an hour from where it sits currently. The show features panels of bantering stand-up comics that have ranged from newbies to legends like Dennis Miller, Bert Kreischer, John Lovitz, and more.

Moving into the 12:35 a.m. slot is “Funny You Should Ask,” a reboot of the 1968 classic of the same name. The format has celebrities and comedians answer trivia questions, while contestants have to determine if they are giving the right answer.

RELATED: ‘LATE’ HATE: Even Hollywood is sick of Colbert’s endless pity party

Nothing personal

CBS said in 2025 that its cancellation of Colbert’s show was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

They added, “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”

This came around the same time that CBS News’ parent company, Paramount, paid a $16 million settlement to President Trump. The lawsuit claimed the network deceptively edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential election campaign, the Guardian reported.

Colbert called the settlement “a big fat bribe.”

RELATED: From Prada to politics: Meryl Streep tacks on SAVE America Act scare tactics to end of Colbert interview

Happy meal

Both shows replacing Colbert are produced by comedian Byron Allen, who has pushed out a steady stream of TV shows and movies over the past two decades.

Allen told The Hill that “Comics Unleashed” is a platform for comedians to simply “make people laugh,” adding that he truly appreciates CBS for “picking up our two-hour comedy block.”

“The world can never have enough laughter,” Allen added.

The 64-year-old is on the board of governors of the Motion Picture & Television Fund, along with other Hollywood staples like director J.J. Abrams, actor Colin Farrell, and rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The fund describes itself as supporting “working and retired members of the entertainment community with a safety net of health and social services.

In 2025, Variety reported that Allen reached a settlement with McDonald’s after filing a $10 billion lawsuit against the food chain. The lawsuit alleged that McDonald’s discriminated against black-owned media companies in its TV advertising expenditures.

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​Comedy, Align, Stand-up comedy, Late night, Talk show, Anti-trump, Colbert, Jon stewart, Entertainment 

The socialist dreams of the mayor of New York City have hit another stumbling block after fewer than 100 days in office.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration says the promise of “free and fast” public buses for all New Yorkers will not happen this year.

‘The fact that he can’t fulfill any of his silly promises is entirely unsurprising.’

Mamdani promised before the election that he would eliminate bus fares and said that doing so would cut down on violence on public transit.

“The act of fare collection on the bus happens on the bus. So when you eliminate the fare box, you make for a safer experience for the bus driver, for everyone on the bus,” Mamdani said in an interview with Trevor Noah in December.

“The safety of that bus, the efficacy of how is it moving, the question of the doors, all of this is tied to the elimination of fare at once,” he added.

In an interview released by Politico on Wednesday, Mamdani tried to deflect when asked if he was giving up on the free bus pledge after the New York legislature did not include funding for the program in budget proposals for this year.

“Both legislative houses included language within their one-house budget proposals in support of bringing back a free-bus pilot program,” he said. “That is something that we are encouraged by, and it continues to be part of budget negotiations. I’m absolutely committed to making buses fast and free, and we’re encouraged by the conversations we’re having with the governor and legislative leaders to take action on that in 2026 as a first step.”

Economic expert and Blaze News contributor Carol Roth responded to the mayor’s sinking socialist dreams in an email to Blaze News.

“Mamdani’s campaign always was akin to the class president promising free pizza and a hot tub in the lunchroom. The fact that he can’t fulfill any of his silly promises is entirely unsurprising,” Roth said.

RELATED: ‘Parasitic Socialist’: Elizabeth Warren is getting crushed online over her tax hike proposal

Very soon after his inauguration, some New Yorkers and bus drivers mocked and ridiculed the possibility of his promise coming true.

Even Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in November that she could not support the bus fare promise because of the prohibitive cost.

“I cannot set forth a plan right now that takes money out of a system that relies on the fares of the buses and the subways,” she said.

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​Mamdani socialist dreams end, Mamdani free bus fares, Socialism fails, Kathy hochul vs zohran mamdani, Politics 

The male accused of killing a woman in a Florida hammer attack last week is a Haitian illegal alien who was protected from deportation under former President Joe Biden’s administration, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

As Blaze News previously reported, a 40-year-old male is accused of hitting a woman in the head with a hammer and killing her in a horrific attack recorded on surveillance video outside a Fort Myers gas station convenience store.

‘Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him Temporary Protected Status.’

DHS said the suspect in the attack “first entered the United States in August 2022 and was released into the country under the Biden administration. A federal judge issued a final order of removal against him in 2022, but the Biden administration granted him Temporary Protected Status, which expired in 2024.”

“This illegal alien barbarically hit this woman in the head multiple times with a hammer. This heinous murderer was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him Temporary Protected Status,” said Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary at the DHS Office of Public Affairs. “Their reckless immigration policies cost this woman her life.”

RELATED: Florida thug accused of bashing woman’s head with hammer, killing her, in horrific attack outside convenience store

Image source: Department of Homeland Security

DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against the suspect, and he will be deported regardless of the outcome of his case.

Notably, both Fort Myers Police as well as the Lee County Sheriff’s Office spell the suspect’s name Rolbert Joachin, while DHS originally spelled it Rolbert Joachim. The reason for the spelling discrepancy is unclear, but Fort Myers Police on Wednesday confirmed to Blaze News that “the correct spelling is Joachin.” DHS on Wednesday later updated its website to the spelling Joachin.

Joachin on Wednesday remained behind bars at the Lee County Jail on charges of homicide (murder dangerous depraved without premeditation) and criminal mischief. There is no bond listed for him in jail records.

Gulf Coast News on Wednesday reported that Joachin gave a detailed confession to detectives following his arrest and indicated that he went to the gas station last week specifically to kill the victim — a gas station clerk identified as Nilufa Easmin, also known as Yasmin. The outlet added in a video report that Easmin was the mother of two daughters.

More from Gulf Coast News:

Joachin told detectives he wore the same clothes that Yasmin had seen him in two days earlier so that she would recognize him, court notes said. He then said he intentionally smashed her car with a hammer so that she would come outside.

Surveillance video from the store captured the attack. In the video, Joachin reportedly smashed her car’s windshield. The surveillance video then shows the clerk coming outside. Joachin then approaches the victim and is accused of hitting her in the head with the hammer, killing her.

The following video report about the killing aired prior to the news about the suspect’s immigration status.

RELATED: Concealed-carrying motorcyclist fatally shoots alleged road-rage driver who charged at him with hammer, police say

What’s more, detectives said Joachin is a suspect in another case they have been working on for months, Gulf Coast News reported, adding that specifics about the case were not revealed.

The outlet added in a Wednesday video report concerning the suspect’s pretrial detention motion hearing that the judge ruled Joachin will remain in jail with no bond until trial because he’s too dangerous to be released to the public; his next court appearance — his arraignment — is scheduled for May 4.

The Miami Herald reported that the Trump administration has been “fiercely litigating in the courts to end [Temporary Protected Status] for Haiti and several other countries.” The paper added that an appeals court in March upheld TPS for Haitians, which upheld a ruling from Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, “but the administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the case days later.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, referring to the killing of the Fort Myers gas station clerk, wrote on X that “this horrific murder was preventable. Even as Florida arrests hundreds of criminal aliens every day, four years of the Biden admin’s open-border policies continue to wreak havoc on our communities. Members of Congress pushing for amnesty should be ashamed. There is no dignity in allowing more American victims at the hands of those who have no right to be in our country.”

Jeremy Redfern, deputy chief of staff for Uthmeier, added on X that “U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said that ending TPS for Haitians was racist, and she blocked the attempt. Oral arguments over whether SCOTUS should stay Judge Reyes’ order happening on April 29th. So, here we are.”

Editor’s note: This article has been edited after publication to note that DHS now spells the name Joachin.

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​Department of homeland security, Immigration and customs enforcement, Arrest, Biden administration, Crime, Dhs, Florida, Fort myers, Haiti, Hammer attack, Homicide, Ice, Illegal immigration, Joe biden, Killing, Temporary protected status, Politics 

My childhood had a simple structure: Leave the house, come back when hungry.

Nobody tracked my location. Nobody scheduled my fun. I roamed a small Irish village with a rotating gang of kids, knocking on doors to collect whoever was free, wandering fields we didn’t own, climbing trees we absolutely shouldn’t have.

Our treehouse was born from boredom. Three of us, on a long summer afternoon, with nothing to do.

Our treehouse — built from stolen timber, held together, technically, by two bent nails — would have given a structural engineer a full breakdown. We were enormously proud of it.

Bumps and bruises

There were scuffles. Real ones, occasionally bloody, always brief. Someone would throw a punch over some perceived injustice. A disputed goal, a broken rule, an insult that landed a little too cleanly. Five minutes later, we’d be back at it, whatever it was that day.

No adults mediated. No one processed feelings. The fight resolved itself because the game needed bodies, and everyone knew it. You learned, quickly, that holding a grudge cost you far more than swallowing it.

The point isn’t that we were tougher or that children today are soft, although I would argue that both are true. The point I’m trying to make is that we were unsupervised, and supervision, it turns out, changes everything.

I say this not from a rocking chair but as someone who, at age 8 or 9, split his time between farm chores and disappearing into the village like a feral little fugitive. Less than 25 years ago. A blink of the eye, really, except apparently long enough to completely reinvent childhood.

Rationing daylight

Now, one in 10 parents say their young children play outside once a week or less. One week. Seven days. Imagine rationing daylight like that. Childhood has migrated indoors, onto screens, into carefully arranged playdates where two children sit in a living room while two adults hover nearby, making sure nobody says anything upsetting. The kids sense the performance. They behave accordingly.

Researchers from Denmark recently did something beautifully simple: They asked children what good play actually feels like.

Not what it teaches. Not what skills it builds. What it feels like from inside.

The answers were slightly embarrassing for every adult who has ever built a color-coded activity schedule. Children cared about the feeling of play. That loose, almost electric sense that something is genuinely alive. They cared about belonging — not polite, managed inclusion, but being genuinely wanted by the group. They cared about imagination running slightly off the rails. They even valued a certain productive chaos, the kind that adults instinctively shut down.

Adults, predictably, care about outcomes — cognitive development, motor skills, social learning they can point to and measure. Children care about none of this while they’re playing. What they actually care about is whether it’s fun, whether they’re wanted, and whether there’s the slightest chance that it might go delightfully wrong.

Screen police

Our games always went somewhere unexpected. A football match would mutate, mid-afternoon, into something involving a rope, an old mattress someone had dumped in a field, and rules nobody could fully explain afterward. The logic was impeccable at the time. The mattress did not survive.

Modern play environments iron out exactly these qualities. Soft surfaces, approved equipment, and an adult nearby to ensure fairness and prevent anything resembling genuine consequence. The result looks like play. Children sense that it isn’t, the way you sense when a photograph has been retouched slightly too much. Something essential has been removed.

Screens fill the gap with surgical efficiency. Nearly a third of young children now engage regularly in what researchers call “media play” — a phrase that earns its quotation marks. Tapping a screen is not the same as negotiating who gets to be the villain or managing the social fallout when the smallest kid turns out to be the best climber and everyone has to begrudgingly update their hierarchy. Digital games have fixed rules, predictable rewards, and zero social friction. That’s precisely their appeal. It’s also precisely their poverty.

The consequences don’t arrive with bruises or a note from school. They arrive later, wearing other disguises. Low frustration tolerance. Social anxiety with no obvious origin. A deep unfamiliarity with boredom, which is actually the raw material of invention.

RELATED: The day my father handed me the gun

NurPhoto/Getty Images

Free range

Our treehouse was born from boredom. Three of us, on a long summer afternoon, with nothing to do. Within an hour, we had made a plan. Within a week, we had made something structurally catastrophic and deeply satisfying. Nobody told us to build it. Nobody approved the design. Nobody stood beneath it checking for hazards, which was probably wise given what happened to the second shelf.

Children need exactly that kind of space. Not the park for 15 minutes before the grocery run, but long, unscheduled stretches where the only available resource is other children and whatever the back yard contains. Boredom long enough to become uncomfortable. Discomfort long enough to force creativity.

They need, occasionally, for nobody to be watching.

We turned out fine, most of us. There were scraped knees. One incident involved a gate left wide open, a bull wandering into the street, and a level of collective amnesia that has never fully lifted. The treehouse was, after much deliberation, abandoned to the weather. The nails, I’m told, are still there.

​Childhood, Ireland, Culture, Play, Helicopter parents, Lifestyle 

A Democrat mayor joined a mob of activists to shut down the painting of a mural in honor of Iryna Zarutska in Providence, Rhode Island, but the muralist is getting the last laugh.

Mayor Brett Smiley said the mural was against the values of the city after the owners of a prominent gay bar previously said they would allow it to be painted on one of their walls.

‘She worked to build a life for herself and lost it along the way. This mural is our way of honoring her on a building owned by an immigrant family who understands that journey.’

Halfway through the commission of the mural, the owners of the Dark Lady changed their minds and said on social media that the outrage from the LGBTQIA+ community forced them to stop the painting.

Now the mural has found a new home at a Lebanese restaurant instead of the gay bar.

The owner of Opa the Phoenician on Atwells Avenue is donating space for the mural on Federal Hill.

“She was once an immigrant chasing the American dream,” said Francois Karam about Zarutska. “She worked to build a life for herself and lost it along the way. This mural is our way of honoring her on a building owned by an immigrant family who understands that journey.”

He went on to say that the decision wasn’t made out of political motivation.

A Change.org petition garnered more than 13,600 signatures from those who demanded that the mural be returned to the Dark Lady’s wall. In an email statement to Blaze News, the petition creator lamented that the voices against the mural had won.

“While I appreciate that a version of Iryna Zarutska’s mural has been allowed to go up at Opa Restaurant on Atwells Avenue, this is no real victory. It’s a quiet concession to political pressure,” said Anthony D’Ellena, a local Republican committee chairman.

“Mayor Smiley called the original prominent mural ‘divisive’ and used his influence to bully the first business into removing it,” he added. “Now Iryna gets a diminished, tucked-away tribute on a side wall instead of the bold, visible memorial she deserved in downtown Providence.”

A separate petition on Change.org opposing the mural garnered 15 signatures.

RELATED: New butterfly species named in honor of Ukrainian woman brutally murdered on NC light rail

D’Ellena said in an update to the petition that he would continue to fight for the return of the mural.

The brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, an immigrant who survived the war in Ukraine, was captured on security video from the Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail system. A suspect with a history of mental illness and violent crime was arrested and sparked a campaign against lax law enforcement policies.

Mayor Smiley is running for re-election in 2026 against another Democrat on the ballot as well as a third Democrat candidate who is a convicted child molester.

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​Mayor brett smiley vs zarutska mural, Iryna zarutska mural, Activist shuts down iryna mural, Muralist defeats activists, Politics