During a tense meeting on Tuesday, conservatives pleaded with the Frisco City Council to halt the construction of a two-story, 43,575 square-foot mosque and torpedo plans to build Hindu and Jain temples in the area.

Texas native Larry Brock, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and pardoned J6er, noted that he is well acquainted with the Islamist worldview, in part because he lived under Sharia law for seven years while working for Saudi Arabia. He, like other opponents who raised concerns with the city council, emphasized that such a worldview is at odds with the one that still predominates in the United States.

‘I don’t want to bring any mosque to Texas ever.’

Brock went farther in his criticism, suggesting that by approving the relevant projects recommended by the city’s planning and zoning commission, city councilors would be putting themselves and the city at risk of unlawfully “aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and providing them material support.”

Edward Jacob Lang, a pardoned J6er from Florida wearing a tactical vest, similarly sounded off against Islam and accused the Frisco City Council of “selling out this country” and “inviting the enemy to eat at the table with you.”

After Lang railed against the perceived ascendancy of alien cultures in Texas and was escorted out while screaming that he would burn down a mosque if he lived in Texas, Joel Tenney — an Iowa evangelist in a 10-gallon hat — asked what it meant to be Texan and suggested that mosques are representative of a worldview incompatible with America.

RELATED: Musk seeks justice for British teen who died in police custody after being accused of racism by Sikh suspected murderer

Muslims engaged in prayer at a Mosque in Plano, Texas. RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

Tenney, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, claimed at the outset that he came from “Texas royalty” — that he apparently not only descended from Sam Houston, the first and third president of the Texas Republic, but from frontiersman Davy Crockett.

The evangelical preacher claimed further that he was “kidnapped and held hostage in 2021 by Islamists in the Middle East while on a missions trip to take care of the Coptic widows and fatherless,” apparently referring to the families of the Coptic martyrs beheaded by ISIS in Libya.

After signaling that he had deep roots in the state and good cause to resent Islam, Tenney stated, “I don’t want to bring any mosque to Texas ever. We shouldn’t have one here. It’s incompatible with what it means to be an American.”

Tenney, convinced that the construction of mosques and pagan temples would change the “structure and the fabric” of the state, insinuated that the ideal way forward for Muslims in America is conversion and assimilation, citing his Indian sister-in-law’s transformation from a Muslim migrant into a Christian, English-speaking, naturalized patriot.

Brandon Burden, the “lead prophet” at Kingdom Life, echoed this sentiment, stressing that Muslims “need to assimilate into the culture and not take it over.”

Some speakers pushed back against such criticism during the meeting.

Muslim Frisco resident Yameen Ahmed, for instance, condemned “anti-Muslim rhetoric” and said, “I hear lies that we are terrorists, rapists, and fraudsters. I reject every one of these lies.”

Yoga Gudivada, formerly of India, attempted to reassure Frisco residents that the planned Hindu temple would be mutually beneficial, stating that “it will serve the broader Frisco community.”

The city councilors chose ultimately not to challenge the zoning commission’s recommendations, thereby enabling the mosque and temple projects to advance on sites zoned decades ago for future places of worship.

Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said that there was no legal basis to appeal the planning decisions.

“Planning and zoning’s role is to execute on the ordinances and policies that the governing body of the city council has put in place. They have done their job here,” said Cheney. “The case has met all of the requirements that city council, and city councils before, have put in place and they approved it under an administrative act.”

Richard Abernathy, an attorney for the city, said that if the council instead overturned previously decided zoning decisions, it would expose itself to lawsuits, reported the Dallas Morning News.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Islam, Muslims, Frisco, Texas, Mosque, Protest, Conservatives, Religion, Freedom, Immigrants, Politics 

For years, Americans have been told self-driving cars are still somewhere off in the future.

An intriguing idea that is simply not fully ready for the real world.

Tesla now has millions of vehicles gathering real-world driving information every day. No competitor comes close to that level of data collection.

But on a recent episode of “The Drive,” my co-host Karl Brauer and I sat down with automotive journalist Roman Mica — and the story he told us had us thinking the future is closer than we realize.

Not everybody is going to be happy about it either.

Hands off

After spending roughly 2,000 miles using Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving system across highways, city traffic, parking lots, and construction zones, Mica said the technology behaved very differently from earlier versions.

The old “until moment” — where the system suddenly did something unpredictable or dangerous — barely appeared.

This makes one thing undeniable: The gap between the current self-driving capability of this technology and the way the government talks about it is only getting wider.

Washington is still treating self-driving technology as if it’s experimental, while the companies building it are already deploying it in the real world.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues escalating investigations into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, focusing on crashes involving fog, glare, dust, and other low-visibility conditions. Regulators warn drivers not to put too much trust in the technology, constantly reminding consumers that these systems still require active supervision.

At the same time, policymakers continue promoting autonomous vehicles as the future of transportation.

Safer roads. Fewer accidents. Smarter mobility.

Both messages can technically be true. But the gap between them is becoming harder to ignore as the technology improves faster than the public conversation around it.

Racing ahead

Tesla isn’t alone either.

Nissan recently demonstrated autonomous driving technology navigating dense urban traffic in Tokyo. Waymo continues expanding robotaxi operations in multiple U.S. cities. Mercedes-Benz and BMW are investing heavily in increasingly advanced assisted-driving systems.

The race is already underway.

But Tesla remains the company pushing the technology most aggressively into everyday consumer vehicles, and that’s part of what makes regulators uneasy.

Traditional automakers typically introduce new driver-assistance systems cautiously and in tightly controlled stages. Tesla operates more like a software company, constantly refining the system through over-the-air updates while collecting enormous amounts of real-world driving data from millions of vehicles already on the road.

That approach has created a major advantage.

It has also created tension with regulators who are accustomed to slower, more predictable development cycles.

RELATED: Big Brother on the road: Backlash grows against license plate surveillance

SOPA Images/Getty Images

Cause for concern?

To be fair, some concerns are legitimate.

No self-driving system is perfect. Construction zones, poor weather, glare, faded lane markings, road debris, and unpredictable human behavior remain difficult problems for every autonomous platform currently being developed.

Tesla’s system still legally requires a driver ready to intervene at any moment.

But critics often avoid another uncomfortable reality: Human drivers fail constantly too.

People drive distracted. They text. They fall asleep. They panic. They drive impaired. Human error causes the overwhelming majority of crashes on American roads.

Computers don’t get tired or distracted.

That doesn’t automatically make autonomous systems safer in every situation. But it does explain why so many companies — and governments — continue betting heavily on the technology despite the public skepticism.

Head start

The bigger issue is scale.

Tesla now has millions of vehicles gathering real-world driving information every day. No competitor comes close to that level of data collection. Every mile driven feeds additional information back into the system.

That lead may prove difficult to overcome.

And that’s where this stops being just a technology story and starts becoming a political one.

Autonomous driving isn’t simply about convenience. It’s about infrastructure, liability, regulation, data collection, and ultimately control over how transportation functions in the future.

Washington wants the economic and technological advantages that come with leading autonomous vehicle development. But it also wants tight oversight over how that future arrives.

Those goals don’t always align neatly.

What Mica describes in our conversation would have sounded impossible only a few years ago. A vehicle handling thousands of miles across varied driving conditions with minimal intervention once felt like science fiction.

Now it’s happening on public roads.

That doesn’t mean fully autonomous driving has arrived. We are still a long way from removing drivers entirely from the equation in every environment and condition.

But the line between driver assistance and true autonomy is getting thinner much faster than most Americans realize.

And Washington still seems unsure whether it wants to accelerate that future — or slow it down.

​Tesla, Self-driving, Government regulation, Waymo, Robotaxi, Align cars 

President Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton has shaken up the Texas Senate race, and establishment Republicans like John Thune are not happy.

When asked how “disappointed or frustrated” he was with the president’s decision to endorse Paxton, Thune responded, “Well, I think you all know my position on this issue. I’ve made it very clear for months now.”

“Senator Cornyn is a principled conservative, he is a very effective senator for the state of Texas, but … none of us control what the president does. He made his decision about that. That doesn’t change the way I feel,” he continued.

Thune went on to say that he “will continue to be supportive of Senator Cornyn and his re-election.”

BlazeTV host Pat Gray believes it’s “the last nail in Cornyn’s political coffin.”

“There’s no way he wins now, right?” Gray asks. “Paxton was already ahead. This is just going to cement that deal, I would think.”

“And John Thune, is he going to be public enemy number one now? There’s a guy who deserves it,” he says, pointing out that Thune “wouldn’t do what was necessary to get the SAVE America Act passed.”

“He didn’t want to take the necessary steps in order to make it happen to where they could get to a majority vote after the filibuster,” he says. “Wouldn’t have been that tough.”

​Pat gray, Donald trump, Ken paxton, John thune, John cornyn, Senator, Texas, Pat gray unleashed 

A Michigan sheriff is demanding answers after a suspect on probation for a violent felony shot and nearly killed a woman during a horrific carjacking earlier this week.

On Tuesday, a woman in her 40s and her young son were at a Panera Bread restaurant in Orion Township, Michigan, about 45 minutes northwest of Detroit. As they were walking to their vehicle, a man suddenly ran toward them, shot the woman in the hip, grabbed her car keys, and sped off in her vehicle.

‘We’re lucky she’s alive.’

A license plate reader got a hit on the stolen vehicle shortly thereafter, claimed Sheriff Mike Bouchard of Oakland County. The suspect soon crashed, attempted to escape on foot, but was ultimately apprehended.

The suspect has been identified as 25-year-old Mauriel Hearn of Ann Arbor, the seat of Washtenaw County. Hearn has been charged with carjacking, assault with intent to murder, fleeing a police officer, resisting a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon, and three counts of felony firearm.

Bouchard claimed that the Hearn is a felon who was convicted of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm in late 2024. Bouchard summarized the brutal assault incident: “The victim was a young woman, and she was duct-taped and hog-tied to a bed by this person and briefly suffocated and threatened with sexual assault.”

Bouchard later added that the assailant put a “plastic bag” over the victim’s head.

RELATED: Soft-on-crime DEI judge faces heat after releasing violent suspect — who then allegedly lit innocent woman on fire

Sheriff Mike Bouchard. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

Despite the viciousness of the previous attack, the perpetrator was given no prison time, Bouchard said — just two years of probation. Bouchard expressed frustration that the suspect was “on the street” at all.

The sheriff said that police pushed to charge Hearn with assault with intent to commit murder and unlawful imprisonment, but he was instead convicted of assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

“Some of these prosecutors just have to do their damn job,” Bouchard railed.

The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, which handled the 2024 assault case, told Blaze News in a statement that it did not give or even offer the offender a reduction of charges and suggested there was little prosecutors could do about the light sentence.

“His sentence of probation was consistent with Michigan’s sentencing guidelines — which serve as a guide for courts to determine [what] an appropriate sentence would be in a felony case. In other words, his sentence was likely what he would have received even had he never entered a plea and been found guilty at trial,” the office said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with the victim of the horrific crime in Orion Township. We are grateful to law enforcement for their quick response and expect that the suspect will be held fully accountable.”

The carjacking victim is expected to recover, though she “lost a lot of blood,” Bouchard said, citing a nurse.

“We’re lucky she’s alive.”

Bouchard noted that law enforcement is looking into working with federal as well as local prosecutors in the carjacking. “Whatever we think we can get the most on this guy, we’re going to do. He needs to be behind bars,” Bouchard said.

Hearn is expected to be arraigned on Friday in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Ann arbor, Michigan, Probation, Soft on crime, Washtenaw county, Politics, Crime 

There is an old admonition, courtesy of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, that no one has the right to falsely shout “fire” in a crowded theater and cause a panic. The abused part of that line is obvious. The neglected part is just as important: When the danger is real, responsible people do not stay silent. They sound the alarm before the smoke fills the room and the flames become impossible to ignore.

That is where the United States is today.

The fire may not yet be visible to everyone, but it is already burning. Recognizing it is the first step. Acting on it is the next.

Our nation’s fiscal condition poses a real and growing threat, and pretending otherwise will only make the consequences more severe.

And I am shouting fire.

Washington’s overspending has produced a federal debt that is plainly unsustainable. Interest-bearing debt alone now exceeds $39 trillion and climbs higher each year by trillions of dollars. Add unfunded commitments for Social Security and Medicare, and the total burden rises to more than $136 trillion, a number so large that it barely registers. Spread across the population, the liability amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars for every American.

According to projections from the Congressional Budget Office, the debt will exceed $63 trillion within 10 years. In less than a decade, the trust funds supporting major entitlement programs are expected to be depleted, requiring by law major cuts in benefits. The federal government can continue on this path only by borrowing more, which compounds the problem, or by printing money, which courts hyperinflation. That cycle cannot continue indefinitely.

The government itself acknowledges this reality in plain language. Its own financial reports describe the current fiscal path as “unsustainable.” That word means the system, as currently constructed, will not endure. At some point, the burden becomes too great and the consequences grow severe. It will make the Great Depression seem mild. That is the future awaiting a nation that continues to spend far beyond its means.

This situation did not arise overnight, nor can it be blamed on one party or one generation. It is the product of years of decisions in which immediate political gain took precedence over long-term stability.

Voters were promised benefits, often framed as cost-free, while the real price was pushed into the future. Little by little, we have been mortgaging tomorrow until soon there may be nothing left to mortgage.

The good news is that the method of putting out this fire is no mystery. The principles required to restore stability are well understood and have repeatedly proven themselves in practice. Limited government, restrained spending, and less federal intrusion into our lives remain the foundation of long-term prosperity.

RELATED: Jerome Powell is out — for good reason. Here are 4 of his top blunders.

Samuel Corum/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Reform must begin with the biggest drivers of future debt. Entitlement programs must be strengthened for the long term, not ignored for short-term political convenience. That does not require cutting benefits for current recipients, but it does require thoughtful reforms to keep those programs viable for future generations.

At the same time, the scope of the federal government should be reconsidered with renewed respect for constitutional limits.

America’s founders envisioned a system of limited federal powers and reinforced that design in the 10th Amendment, which reserves powers not specifically granted to the national government to the states or the people. A more disciplined understanding of federal responsibility would not only reduce costs, but also strengthen accountability and preserve liberty.

Examples around the world show that nations can confront fiscal crisis and begin to recover through disciplined economic policy. Each country’s circumstances differ, but the lesson is consistent: When governments commit to sound principles and follow through, better outcomes follow.

The United States still possesses enormous strengths, including a dynamic economy, innovative capacity, and a resilient people. Those advantages give us a window to address this problem before it reaches the breaking point. But that window will not remain open forever.

Ultimately, the responsibility does not rest only with elected officials. It rests with the public that sends them to Washington. An informed electorate that understands the stakes and demands accountability can still change the country’s course. The challenge is serious, but it is not beyond our ability to meet.

The fire may not yet be visible to everyone, but it is already burning. Recognizing it is the first step. Acting on it is the next. The future will be shaped by whether we confront this danger now or keep looking away until the consequences can no longer be avoided.

​Medicare, National debt, Opinion & analysis, Social security, Congressional budget office, Economy, American founders, 10th amendment, Taxes, Spending, Congress, Elections 

A male reportedly broke into his neighbor’s home in Midwest City, Oklahoma, early Thursday morning and began assaulting the break-in victim — but the homeowner also had a gun on hand.

Police said the incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. near NE 10th and Post Road, KOKH-TV reported.

‘Thank God for the 2nd Amendment.’

When officers arrived at the scene, police told KOKH they learned Ronnie Goodson had broken into his neighbor’s residence.

According to KWTV-DT, authorities said the intruder began assaulting the homeowner.

However, the neighbor also was armed with a gun — and shot Goodson, KOKH reported.

Goodson was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, KOKH added.

The following video report about the break-in and shooting aired prior to the death announcement:

RELATED: Intruder breaks glass front door of Texas home, reaches inside. Perhaps he forgot how Texans typically handle such scenarios.

KOKH said officers were speaking with witnesses and those associated with the case.

Once the investigation is completed, the case will be referred to the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office for review, KOKH reported.

Midwest City investigators added to KOKH that there is no threat to the public.

A number of individuals left comments under the police department’s Facebook page about the break-in and shooting:

“Prayers for the person involved,” one commenter wrote.”Sending my prayers for all involved,” another user said. “Sounds like a very sad situation.””Thank God for the 2nd Amendment,” another commenter stated.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Self-defense, Break-in, Fatal shooting, Gun rights, Guns, Home invasion, Oklahoma, Crime, Second amendment 

On May 7, Jaime Pressly, the 48-year-old Emmy-winning actress from “My Name Is Earl,” launched an account on OnlyFans — a subscription-based website where creators post exclusive photos, videos, and other content, the majority of which is sexual in nature.

In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Pressly said the move stemmed from a desire to “create what I want, how I want, and share it directly with the people who’ve supported me for years.”

While it’s not uncommon for celebrities to have OnlyFans accounts, Stu Burguiere and Dave Landau, BlazeTV hosts of “Stu and Dave Do America,” were a bit surprised by the news.

The duo acknowledge that while Pressly is “still beautiful,” her time as a Hollywood sex symbol ended 20-25 years ago.

“I don’t know how many Jaime Pressly long-term supporters there are,” Stu says.

“I feel like the phone’s not ringing,” Dave quips.

Even though OnlyFans does feature some non-sexual content, Pressly teased in the interview that the content she intends to create will be “more personal, playful, and completely unfiltered” and include photos, videos, and “late-night thoughts,” among other things.

“If you’ve ever wondered what I’m really like when the script ends, … come closer,” she teased.

“Look, this is a terrible thing for you to do,” Stu says.

But Pressly isn’t the only older Hollywood star joining the OnlyFans community.

Among those who have announced OF ventures include “American Pie” star Shannon Elizabeth and early 2000s pop sensation Lily Allen (whose account was dedicated almost entirely to creating foot fetish content).

Dave is so repulsed by the sexual appetites of consumers and the creators who will stoop to any level to accommodate them, he asks, “How overcrowded is hell? It’s got to be nuts.”

Stu is confused about why Hollywood stars are being drawn to a platform like OnlyFans.

“OnlyFans just to me has this at least reputation of somebody who was down on their luck, decided to do something that maybe they’d be later ashamed of in therapy. … But, like, now people in Hollywood have to do this? I feel like the whole thing is very twisted,” he says.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Stu and Dave?

To enjoy more of Stu and Dave’s lethal blend of wit, humor, and insightful commentary subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Stu and dave do america, Stu burguiere, Dave landau, Onlyfans, Hollywood, Jaime pressly 

It’s hard to decide which fawning legacy media tribute to Stephen Colbert was worse this week. The L.A. Times played up his “Catholic” bona fides with a headline saluting his “ministry.” A strange way to describe a failing celebrity interview show — but we suppose there is a certain evangelical fervor to the host’s obsessive Trump hatred and constant pro-abortion preaching.

Then there’s the Associated Press, which said Colbert’s cancellation leaves a “void,” ignoring the fact that at least six other late-night shows currently provide the same stale “orange man bad” jokes.

There’s a new ‘Godfather’ novel. … This one, dubbed ‘Connie,’ is told from the female perspective — specifically that of Don Vito Corleone’s only daughter.

What void?

But the winner has to be the USA Today scribe — who uses his own mother to highlight what we’re losing with Colbert’s exit, stage far left. Apparently for dear old mum, Colbert is akin to Captain America: “Each ‘Late Show’ viewing was tinged with the devastation that her gallant late-night host and comedy avenger is hanging up the shield, with the final show on CBS.”

While that description is more laugh-worthy than most of the host’s monologues, “gallant” might be the very last adjective to describe Colbert in recent years. Well, that and “funny” …

An offer he can refuse

Another pop culture bullet was dodged.

There’s a new “Godfather” novel heading our way. This one, dubbed “Connie,” is told from the female perspective — specifically that of Don Vito Corleone’s only daughter. Talia Shire played that role in three feature films. And naturally, someone decided to check in on Francis Ford Coppola to see if he might be interested in directing the film version.

After all, his three “Godfather” films (well, two of the three) are considered Hollywood classics. The 87-year-old auteur’s team replied, “Unlikely.” That’s the best news this week, on paper, but it won’t stop another director from tackling the project …

RELATED: JEDI NUT: Mark Hamill posts sick ‘if only’ pic of dead Trump

Jerod Harris/Getty Images | Unsavoryagents.com

Director’s digital probe

AI girlfriends are all the rage, but even they might dump you.

So says filmmaker Paul Schrader (“First Reformed,” “Taxi Driver”), who shared his foray into artificial love with a healthy dollop of regret.

Schrader says he wanted to investigate what an AI relationship might resemble. So he started a connection with a bot only to find it wasn’t reciprocal. Turns out he was asking too many hard questions. “It’s not me, it’s you” also applies to the digital age:

I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth. She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation.

Tip to the gentlemen: Never tell your date you’d like to “probe her programming.”

Lloyd Dobler famously said, “I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen,” in “Say Anything.” Here’s guessing Schrader’s failed love story won’t get a cinematic close-up of that kind …

Comedy Karen

Chelsea Handler has a new gig: She’ll be offended for people who weren’t offended in the first place. The far-left comic appeared at Netflix’s “The Roast of Kevin Hart” earlier this month, slinging some off-color jokes and hearing plenty of others.

And since it was a roast, there were zero rules in place. The most ghoulish gags got tossed around, and everybody laughed along. Even jokes about George Floyd and Charlie Kirk made the cut.

Except Handler, now a professional offendee, says the gags directed at black people, like honoree Kevin Hart, crossed a line (even though Hart signed up for the assignment and has yet to say he felt offended by the gags).

She called fellow comics Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe racists, bigots, and sexists, pointing to outrageous jokes they shared at the roast.

Remember, her former profession was “comedian.”

One example? Gillis used Hart’s diminutive stature for a joke about getting lynched from a bonsai tree, and that enraged Handler.

“Lynching black people is not a joke. … It’s worse than rape.”

Yes, it is. Then again, if anyone knows what a joke isn’t, it’s Handler …

Hollywood ending

The moment we heard about the remarkable rescue of two U.S. pilots from Iran earlier this year, one thought jumped to mind.

Wow, that would make an amazing movie, closely followed by a second thought. Nah … Hollywood wouldn’t tell a heroic story tied to President Donald Trump in any way.

Yet, nature may be healing.

Director Michael Bay of “13 Hours” fame will tackle this amazing rescue for Universal Pictures, working with his collaborator on that Benghazi thriller. Bay proved with “13 Hours” that he could dial down the Hollywood razzle-dazzle and tell an impressive story without political lectures.

Here’s hoping he’ll do just that again. The heroes in question deserve nothing less.

​Stephen colbert, Entertainment, Chelsea handler, Kevin hart, Shane gillis, Roasts, The godfather, Michael bay, Iran rescue mission, Toto recall, Tony hinchcliffe