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Officials at a North Carolina high school are being accused of violating a student’s constitutional rights over a tribute to Charlie Kirk that was called vandalism.

Gabby Stout told Fox News Digital that she called the school in September and asked if she could paint the patriotic tribute on the school’s “spirit rock.” The junior said officials at Ardrey Kell High School had authorized the tribute as long as it didn’t include political speech or vulgarity.

‘I was very intimidated and scared, as I had no idea what I did wrong or that I could be getting in trouble.’

Stout said she and two friends painted a heart on the large stone and added the messages, “Freedom 1776,” as well as, “Live Like Kirk — John 11:25.”

The school responded by painting over the rock and accusing Stout of vandalizing the rock. School officials also said they contacted law enforcement and an investigation was under way.

“If students were responsible for the vandalism, they may be disciplined,” reads a statement from the principal.

Stout said she was shocked by the school’s actions.

“I was completely shocked,” Stout said to Fox News Digital. “I was very intimidated and scared, as I had no idea what I did wrong or that I could be getting in trouble for simply sharing and expressing my views and beliefs.”

The school later announced that it was not an act of vandalism, Stout would face no disciplinary action, and there had not been a law enforcement investigation.

Stout said that she has faced health issues from the ostracization, alienation, and stress over the accusations. She claims to have received hateful messages that included, “Die like Kirk.”

The lawsuit was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Stout’s parents and accuses the school of violating her constitutional rights. They point out that the school had allowed other political statements before the Kirk tribute, including one for the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

“So they’ll facilitate that kind of left-wing student expression and not just facilitate it, but praise the students who participated,” ADF senior counsel Travis Barham said. “But let Gabby express a conservative or Christian view on the spirit rock, and criminal charges fly.”

RELATED: Liberals spew hatred against moment of silence for Charlie Kirk on Thursday Night Football

The lawsuit says she was targeted because of her beliefs.

“I don’t think it was fair what happened to me because of my beliefs or my views, which are religious and conservative,” she said. “This has never happened to another group that the school district or school has agreed with. I thought that I was going to get in trouble for sharing my views and my beliefs.”

The board declined to comment to Fox News Digital on the lawsuit.

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​Rock tribute, Ardrey kell high school, Gabby stout lawsuit, Charlie kirk tribute, Politics 

A 42-year-old male violently attacked an elderly woman in downtown Seattle last week, Seattle Police said.

Just before noon Friday, a number of citizens reported witnessing a male swinging a wooden stick with a metal screw at the end of it along 3rd Avenue and James Street, officials said.

‘He’ll be out in no time to strike again thanks to the Lunatic Leftists running Seattle and Washington State.’

Moments later, the male approached a woman waiting at the crosswalk at 3rd and James and swung the stick like a baseball bat, intentionally striking the woman in the face from behind, officials said.

With that, the victim fell backward to the ground with “a laceration that was bleeding heavily,” officials said, citing the police report.

Numerous bystanders came to the victim’s aid and called 911, officials said.

The Seattle Fire Department treated the 75-year-old woman for serious facial injuries, and paramedics transported her to Harborview Medical Center, where she underwent emergency surgery, officials said.

Even though the suspect walked away from the scene, an analyst with the Real Time Crime Center located the suspect and told officers where he was, officials said.

RELATED: 13-year-old punk accused of stealing woman’s purse, punching her, throwing her to ground; but he’s soon kissing concrete, too

Within five minutes of the assault, nearby deputies with the King County Sheriff’s Office found the suspect and detained him without incident, officials said.

Deputies transferred the suspect to Seattle police custody, officials said, adding that the suspect was arrested after Real Time Crime Center video of the attack was reviewed.

Officers booked him into the King County Jail for assault in the first degree, officials said, adding that police recovered the weapon as evidence.

Officials added that the suspect had been given a “Violent Person” caution and is a felon previously convicted for assault.

Commenters under KIRO-TV’s video report about the incident don’t appear to be holding out much hope that justice will prevail:

“He’ll be out in no time to strike again thanks to the Lunatic Leftists running Seattle and Washington State,” one commenter wrote.”What’s new,” another commenter wondered, adding that “it’s a third-world sewage dump.””Shocking,” another commenter added, with tongue firmly in cheek. “Failed policies don’t work no matter how you feel about them.”

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After sitting back as billions of taxpayer dollars from his state went to Somalia, President Trump called Minnesota Democrat Governor Tim Walz the forbidden R-word — and Walz is now fuming. But Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is looking at the cold hard facts regarding Trump’s brutal statement.

“I also have a problem with a guy who, you know, surrounds himself with people who call the president a Nazi. I don’t know which one’s worse — Nazi or retarded,” Glenn says on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“Yeah, Nazis were really bad. That’s actually a pretty serious accusation. Fascist is another one, pretty serious accusation. … That is exactly the reason he was on the ticket, is because he was name-calling other people and calling them weird,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere agrees.

“It’s his only qualification, outside of he’s, you know, massively inept and corrupt and all the other things that would, of course, qualify him to be on a Democratic ticket. But outside of that, the only reason he stood out from all the other loser Democrats was that he said the word ‘weird’ on TV once,” he continues.

But perhaps Walz’s most egregious political fault is his inability to look at the Somalian population in Minnesota with a discerning eye — especially after the mass fraud that went on directly under his nose.

And instead of taking on the fraud that he let happen, he’s focusing on the “danger” of President Trump’s name-calling.

“This creates danger. And I’ll tell you what, in my time on this, I’d never seen this before. People driving by my house and using the R-word in front of people. This is shameful. And I have yet to see an elected official, a Republican elected official, say, ‘You’re right, that’s shameful. He should not say it,’” Walz said.

“So, look, I’m worried. We know how these things go. They start with taunts. They turn to violence. So, deeply concerned,” he added.

“Founder of the taunt of ‘weird’ thinks that that taunt could lead to violence. That’s so strange,” Stu comments, laughing.

Meanwhile, the “Nazi” and “fascist” name-calling directed at President Trump and Charlie Kirk has resulted in very real violence — which unfortunately ended in the passing of Kirk this September.

“But it’s the R-word being yelled at Tim Walz when … he waddles out to get his mail — that’s the thing we’re supposed to be concerned about,” Stu says.

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Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota boldly argues that the real reason his political opponents focus so much on him is not because of bad policy, but because of his overwhelming masculinity.

The failed vice presidential candidate joined fellow Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California to discuss the “toxicity” in masculinity. In a clip of a March episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom” that circulated on social media this week, the California Democrat argued that this “toxicity” needs to be disentangled from masculinity, while Walz proudly exclaimed that his masculinity was simply too much for his political rivals to handle.

‘I’m serious!’

“This notion of toxicity in masculinity needs to be separated,” Newsom said. “And I think it’s been conflated. And I think we’re going to have to work on that a little bit.”

Newsom began to describe the Democratic Party’s regression among demographics like young men. But before Newsom could prescribe an antidote to the Democrats’ loss with male voters, Walz chimed in to suggest that those who criticize him and some of his fellow male Democrats feel threatened by their masculinity.

RELATED: ‘Very low-IQ person’: Jasmine Crockett launches Senate campaign with funny video that may give the GOP the last laugh

Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

“I think some of us scare them,” Walz replied. “I think I scare them a little bit. That’s why they spend so much time on me.”

Newsom erupted in laughter at the notion that Walz’s masculinity was alienating young men from the Democratic Party.

“No, I’m serious!” Walz said. “Because I can fix a truck, they know I’m not bulls**tting on this.”

RELATED: Tim Walz tries gaslighting Americans again — this time about Trump’s ‘garbage’ remark

Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

“I’m not putting this in people’s grill,” Walz said. “My identity is not hunting. My identity is not football coaching. My identity is not, you know, a beard and a truck.”

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​Gavin newsom, Democrat party, Tim walz, Minnesota, California, Young men, Masculinity, Politics 

Netflix has announced a new spin on an old fairy tale, but many on social media find the idea cliche at best — and nefarious at worst.

“Steps” will portray the evil stepsisters from the Cinderella tale as the good guys, turning the story on its head. Comedienne Ali Wong and actress Stephanie Hsu will voice the stepsisters.

‘The persistent theme in animation today is that villains are just misunderstood.’

“I wanted to create a film for everyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong — and show how a single act of kindness can change everything,” co-director Alyce Tzue said about the film.

While some are looking forward to the movie release, others suggested there was a sinister motive at work in movies portraying misunderstood villains.

“The persistent theme in animation today is that villains are just misunderstood and sometimes demons are the good guys. Consider whom this narrative benefits and why,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey responded.

Others agreed that the theme seems to downplay the presence of evil in the world.

“It’s also terrible writing and lazy storytelling. Are they no longer capable of writing new stories? Why is everything lately a remake or recycled material? It’s so boring and unoriginal,” author Jennifer Greenberg responded.

“Subversion is supposed to be a seasoning, not a food group,” another user joked.

“Cinderella’s stepsisters as ‘misunderstood angels’? Netflix’s woke rewrite turns villains into victims. Ali Wong’s snark can’t save this fairy-tale felony. 2026 trash fire,” another detractor said.

“Lol, sounds terrible. But I’d totally love my granddaughters thinking evil villains are just misunderstood. Netflix should do a show making Adolph [sic] Hitler sympathetic too,” another response reads.

RELATED: Netflix CEO defends Dave Chappelle against left-wing outrage: ‘Used to be a very liberal issue’

“Cant [sic] villains just be villains anymore? What next? Satan was sweet and actually misunderstood?” another user joked.

“Steps” is produced by actress Amy Poehler and is slated for a 2026 release.

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​Netflix movie, Misunderstood villain, Allie beth stuckey show, Online backlash, Politics 

A Democratic Georgia state politician was indicted by a grand jury for alleged fraud related to pandemic unemployment she received.

State Representative Sharon Henderson is accused of fraudulently receiving nearly $18K after claiming to have worked as a substitute teacher in 2020. Prosecutors said she had not worked the job since 2018.

‘Politicians who violate the public trust and steal from the needy to enrich themselves will be held accountable.’

She allegedly claimed to have lost wages as a substitute at Henry County Schools because of the pandemic closures and submitted eight weekly certifications that were false.

The Democrat was arrested Monday.

Henderson is charged with two counts of theft of government funds and 10 counts of making false statements.

“It is shocking that a public official would allegedly lie to profit from an emergency program designed to help suffering community members,” reads a statement from U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Politicians who violate the public trust and steal from the needy to enrich themselves will be held accountable.”

She is expected to plead not guilty.

Henderson’s profile at the Georgia legislature website said she previously served as a pastor of the New Bethel Love Center in Summerville, South Carolina. She is married to a pastor, and they have four children.

RELATED: NC Dem used pandemic loan to throw herself lavish 50th birthday party, prosecutors say

“Sharon Henderson allegedly chose greed over compassion by fraudulently obtaining funds meant to help those in need, some in her own Georgia House district,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown.

Henderson was first elected to the legislature in 2020 and was re-elected twice since then.

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​Georgia state legislator, Sharon henderson indicted, Criminal democrats, Pandemic unemployment fraud, Politics 

President Donald Trump has angered the left yet again, this time by calling Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and her Somalian friends “garbage.”

“Ilhan Omar is garbage — her friends are garbage,” he said.

“When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” he said during his ninth cabinet meeting of 2025.

And Somalian immigrants are not happy.

“The Somali are so pissed off about President Trump calling Somalian criminals garbage that they’re, you know, respectfully pushing back and taking the high road, I guess,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“And well, no, actually, they’re not, because they’re literally peeing on President Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which, as it turns out, is just proving his point,” she says, showing a video on social media of an immigrant proudly doing just that.

“Do you know who would do that? A garbage individual,” she adds.

But Somalians aren’t just peeing on Trump’s star to prove their non-garbage state.

They’re also explicitly laying out their plans to take over the United States because, as Gonzales points out, “they never intended to come here to assimilate and become American.”

“My biggest fear in life is that this man may never witness our full takeover,” a man said in a video posted to TikTok under the account name @boqol562. “Yes, he may never witness that. He already witnessed our partial takeover, our little success in America. He’s old and sick, I know. He may not witness our full takeover, but I promise you that his sons will witness, just like him.”

“We came to exist in this country. See? The land of free men, the land of opportunities. And we’re here. Yes. And we’re not leaving, actually. We’re not going back,” he added while holding a picture of Donald Trump.

“The arrogance and the entitlement,” Gonzales comments, disturbed. “‘We’re here. We’re not going back.’ I mean, you are if we say you are. Denaturalization is a thing if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain, which it doesn’t sound like any of you guys are.”

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement is locking up more pedophiles and violent criminals as the Department of Homeland Security launches a new “worst of the worst” searchable website.

A press release obtained exclusively by Blaze News highlighted the Monday arrests of five criminal illegal aliens.

‘This is all about transparency and showing results.’

“Americans may be busy with Christmas parties and shopping, but the mission to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens never stops — and neither does ICE law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

“Every day, our law enforcement are removing the worst of the worst from across our nation,” McLaughlin continued. “Just yesterday, ICE arrested pedophiles, armed robbers, and drug traffickers. Thanks to our new website, Americans can see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting and removing from their communities.”

ICE nabbed Juan Aucenjio-Natalio, a Mexican national who was previously convicted in Fort Bend County, Texas, for indecency with a child by exposure.

RELATED: Illinois, Gov. Pritzker have released almost 1,800 violent illegal aliens back onto the streets in defiance of ICE, DHS says

Juan Aucenjio-Natalio. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents captured Phathana Phouthavong, an illegal alien from Laos who was convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Phathana Phouthavong. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Immigration officials also arrested Ernesto Leonardo Mercado-Mejia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. He was previously found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon in Santa Maria, California.

Ernesto Leonardo Mercado-Mejia. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Salvador Flores-Castellenos, a Mexican national, was convicted of robbery and assault with a firearm in Fresno, California.

Salvador Flores-Castellenos. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE agents also captured Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Ramos, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was convicted of selling cocaine in Randolph County, North Carolina.

RELATED: Exclusive: ICE arrests criminal illegal alien who allegedly operated shady unlicensed dental clinic

Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Ramos. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

The agency’s recent arrests coincide with the launch of wow.dhs.gov, a webpage that highlights the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens nabbed by federal immigration officials since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. The website provides their names as well as their country of origin, arrest location, and prior arrests and convictions. Users can search for arrests by both country of origin and state.

The DHS announced the new searchable website on Monday.

“This new worst of the worst webpage allows every American to see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting, what crimes they committed, and what communities we removed them from. This is all about transparency and showing results,” McLaughlin said.

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The creator of ICEBlock, an iPhone app that allows users to report sightings of federal immigration agents, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday over alleged violations of free speech.

The app’s website describes ICEBlock as “an innovative, completely anonymous, crowdsourced platform that allows users to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity with just two taps on their phone.”

‘ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs, and violent criminal rings.’

In the lawsuit, the app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, admitted that he created the program in response to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown. Aaron claimed that he feared President Donald Trump’s “incendiary rhetoric about immigration would lead to aggressive, indiscriminate enforcement of immigration laws, exposing immigrants and citizens alike to violence and rampant violations of their civil liberties.”

“Aaron was right,” the lawsuit contended.

Aaron’s complaint accused the Trump administration of retaliation, threats, and false claims, citing comments from several federal officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the app “looks like obstruction of justice,” and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said it was “not protected speech.”

RELATED: House Democrats’ ICE ‘tracker’ will ‘put our lives in danger’: DHS agent

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

“[Aaron] believes that speech about publicly observed law and immigration enforcement activity — the expression enabled by ICEBlock — lies at the heart of the interests the First Amendment was intended to protect,” the complaint read. “The Bill of Rights — including the First Amendment — was crafted precisely to safeguard the People’s ability to question authority, expose governmental abuse, and hold public officials accountable: a reflection of the founders’ belief that an informed and vocal citizenry is the ultimate guardian of liberty.”

The suit alleged that the app was ultimately removed from Apple’s App Store because of pressure from the Trump administration.

RELATED: ICE locks up pedophiles, other violent illegal aliens as DHS launches ‘worst of the worst’ searchable site

Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs, and violent criminal rings. Our law officers are facing more than a 1,150% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Blaze News.

“But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed,” McLaughlin added.

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​News, Immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Apple, Iceblock, Ice tracker, Ice tracking, Free speech, Joshua aaron, Trump administration, Trump admin, Tricia mclaughlin, Kristi noem, Pam bondi, Politics 

Opponents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations are thrilled over a viral video showing a priest publicly condemning ICE agents from his church.

The priest stands defiantly outside of a church bellowing against ICE and mocking President Donald Trump before his supporters applaud and clap at his speech.

‘I don’t know what god you worship, maybe an orange one, but my God is love! Now go and don’t come back!’

And it’s completely fake.

“You’re not welcome here, not today, and not on this church! I don’t know what god you worship, maybe an orange one, but my God is love!” the priest yells. “Now go, and don’t come back!”

The post was published Dec. 1 and has garnered tens of thousands of views, but it depicts events that never happened and are generated by artificial intelligence, according to PolitiFact.

The user who posted the video apparently sells courses on how to make money with AI content on social media. That user has also posted numerous videos with a similar script on several platforms, including Facebook and TikTok.

PolitiFact said AI-detecting software indicated the video was “99.9% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.”

One version of the priest AI video was published on PolitiFact’s YouTube channel. A separate version with the same script was posted to the X platform as well.

RELATED: Los Angeles Democrats vote to ban ICE from using masks — DOJ issues defiant response

While that video is fake, there are some liberal church leaders who have used their religious platforms to protest against immigration. The Lake Street Church of Evanston in Illinois created a Nativity scene in which the baby Jesus was put in zip ties to depict him as being hunted by ICE.

In another protest from Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, the Nativity scene is empty, and a sign reads, “ICE was here,” implying that they dragged away the holy family. The Boston archdiocese has called for its removal, but the church is resisting.

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A Catholic church’s Nativity display criticizing the administration’s immigration policies was ordered to be removed by the Boston Archdiocese, but church leaders are trying to stall the decision.

The Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, has displayed an empty Nativity scene with a sign reading, “ICE was here,” implying that the biblical figures were dragged away for detention. There’s also a sign with a phone number people can call if they spot an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

‘Any divisiveness is a reflection of our polarized society, much of which originates with the changing, unjust policies and laws of the current United States administration.’

Fr. Stephen Josoma said the scene is supposed to protest the poor treatment of immigrants in his community.

“That some do not agree with our message does not render our display sacrilegious, or as the cause of any scandal to the faithful,” the church pastor claimed. “Any divisiveness is a reflection of our polarized society, much of which originates with the changing, unjust policies and laws of the current United States administration.”

However, the Archdiocese of Boston has ordered it to be shut down over rules against politicizing sacred objects.

“The people of God have the right to expect that when they come to church they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship, not divisive political messaging,” read a statement from the archdiocese.

“The church’s norms prohibit the use of sacred objects for any purpose other than the devotion of God’s people,” the archdiocese added. “Regarding the recent incident, St. Susanna Parish neither requested nor received permission from the Archdiocese to depart from this canonical norm or to place a politically divisive display outside the church. The display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.”

Josoma said he wants to meet with Archbishop Richard Henning before deciding whether to follow the order.

Church parishioner Jeannie Connerney told WHDH-TV that she believed the order was not in line with statements from higher Catholic leaders criticizing the president’s immigration policies.

“The pope has condemned ICE. The American bishops have condemned ICE. I don’t know why the Archdiocese is against them,” she said.

This is not the first time the church has politicized its Nativity scene to oppose immigration policies.

RELATED: City officials back down after rejecting Nativity display at Christmas farmers’ market

In 2018, members put the baby Jesus in a cage and closed off the wise men behind a wall. Josoma said at the time it wasn’t necessarily against the Trump administration and instead referred to it as “gospel activism.”

A similar Nativity scene has been set up outside of an Illinois church, where the baby Jesus had zip ties on his hands and centurions were depicted as ICE agents, even though the gospels make no mention of Roman centurions at the manger in Bethlehem.

“It’s really important how we treat our neighbors because we find out if you read the Gospels, how we treat our neighbors is how we are treating Jesus,” said Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf of Lake Street Church of Evanston.

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​Saint susanna parish of dedham, Anti-ice nativity scene, Politicized nativity scene, Rev. steve josoma, Politics 

Before the Magna Carta, the King of England was the law. After, he was under the law. It created the principle of due process, habeas corpus protection from arbitrary arrest, and limited taxation without consent.

“Rule of law, jury trials, rights of the accused, limits on government, protection of property, accountability of leaders — all of that comes from the Magna Carta,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck explains on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“That gave birth, 500 years later, to us and our ideas,” he says.

However, now all of that is changing.

“The birthplace of the Magna Carta is now thinking about getting rid of jury trials and arresting more than 12,000 people every year for what they call speech crimes — 12,000,” Glenn says.

“In 2023, Russia arrested 4,000 people for speech crimes against the Russian military for Ukraine — 4,000 in Russia, 12,000 in England. The number I saw, and we don’t have all the numbers, but the number I saw that were arrested for speech crimes in China was 120,” he continues.

“Not for violence, not for theft, not for treason — 12,000 in England for words,” he adds.

But it gets worse, as the prime minister is “floating the idea of eliminating” most jury trials.

“It’ll only be for murder, manslaughter, oh, and something else like that,” Glenn says.

“This goes against the Magna Carta, the lawful judgment of your peers. OK? That is the safeguard that stands between you and an out-of-control state. This is the first and ancient firewall against tyranny. It is what makes England, England,” he continues.

“And if England, of all places, tosses that aside, what does the word ‘free’ mean anymore? OK? What does it mean? You can’t speak, and you have no jury trial of your peers. Wait, what?” he says.

“First of all, understand this: A nation that polices speech is not free. A nation that dissolves juries is not just unfree; it’s prepping for something worse, because the entire architecture of the Western world, the liberty that we have, rests on a single radical belief,” he says, adding, “The truth does not need a king.”

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While Republicans may have suffered some defeats in the elections last month, one Republican with a proven track record is tossing his hat into the ring in New York.

On Tuesday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced that he will be running for New York governor in 2026, challenging Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul.

‘I am ready to take on Kathy Hochul and fight for our families.’

“It is official. I am running for Governor of New York. Our state is struggling with high taxes, rising utility bills, and rising crime. New Yorkers deserve a proven leader who will Put New York First,” Blakeman announced in a Tuesday morning post.

“New York needs leadership that works. I am ready to take on Kathy Hochul and fight for our families,” Blakeman added.

RELATED: Trump slams Hochul’s endorsement of ‘communist’ Mamdani: ‘No reason to be sending good money’

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Blakeman’s announcement video touted his ties to President Trump as well as his successful track record as Nassau County executive. Blakeman’s wins include Nassau County being named the safest county in America and the successful ban of males in girls’ sports.

Kathy Hochul and her team offered a variety of responses to Blakeman’s announcement.

“Bruce Blakeman is another MAGA cheerleader running to do Donald Trump’s bidding in New York — and raise your costs. Not on my watch,” Hochul said on her personal X account.

“Meet Bootlicker Blakeman, #1 fan of Trump’s expensive tariffs. 100% MAGA, 0% committed to fighting for New York,” Hochul’s team said above an attack video on X.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) previously announced her candidacy as well.

According to Fox News, Stefanik’s campaign said of Blakeman’s announcement: “Public polling has repeatedly shown Elise Stefanik leads Blakeman by 70% in a primary, including beating him soundly on Long Island. Elise is the strongest candidate against Kathy Hochul by a long shot.”

Trump has previously praised both Stefanik and Blakeman for their work in New York, so it is unclear who will ultimately gain his endorsement.

“I don’t think the president has to make a decision now. Let’s see how it plays out,” Blakeman said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”

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​Politics, Bruce blakeman, Nassau county executive, Long island, Maga, Trump, President trump, New york, New york governor, Republicans, Elise stefanik, Kathy hochul 

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) ratified legislation in January 2023 prohibiting health care providers from providing sex-altering surgeries or drugs to minors.

The law, which enraged gender ideologues and other non-straight activists, also required the Utah Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a “systematic review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal transgender treatments and provide recommendations to the Legislature.”

The HHS’ statutorily mandated review, which was completed last year then submitted in May 2025 to the legislature, painted the ruinous trans-drugs — which are also used to sterilize sex offenders — in a positive light, characterizing them as “effective.”

According to a damning new report from the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, however, the Utah review — which was conducted on behalf of the HHS by the University of Utah College of Pharmacy’s Drug Regimen Review Center — “is filled with falsehoods and serves as an aid to push harmful medical interventions as the answer to minors’ confusion, all while blatantly ignoring the associated risks.”

‘Utah legislators must not rely on a report that clearly undermines the safety and well-being of minors.’

While the executive summary for the review states that the HHS “does not take a position on whether to lift the moratorium” and the authors were not contracted to include a synthesis of the evidence they came across, the over-1,000-page review nevertheless delivers what is effectively an endorsement of sex-altering drugs for minors:

After having spent many months searching for, reading, and evaluating the available literature, it was impossible for us to avoid drawing some high-level conclusions. Namely, the consensus of the evidence supports that the treatments are effective in terms of mental health, psychosocial outcomes, and the induction of the body changes consistent with the affirmed gender in pediatric GD patients. The evidence also supports that the treatments are safe in terms of changes to bone density, cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic changes, and cancer.

Do No Harm indicated that the Utah review “deviates from established standards for systematic reviews, emphasizes the volume of evidence over its quality, relies uncritically on guidelines from self-proclaimed experts, neglects significant life-altering adverse effects, and includes input from advisers, some of whom demonstrate bias in favor of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors.”

RELATED: ‘Not medicine — it’s malpractice’: Trump HHS buries child sex-change regime with damning report

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Do No Harm noted, for instance, that the review glossed over some of the worst, most life-changing effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, known as “puberty blockers,” and cross-sex hormones — namely infertility, sterility, and sexual dysfunction. While admitting that “infertility is a known risk,” the authors of the review didn’t bother including it as an outcome of focus in their report. The risk of sexual dysfunction, meanwhile, was apparently not mentioned once.

Extra to leaning heavily on low-quality scientific literature, much of which was observational and not trial-based, the review may have also been ideologically contaminated. After all, among the advisers who consulted on the project were Nikki Mihalopoulos, chief of the division of adolescent medicine for the department of pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and Brooks Keeshin, a professor of pediatrics at the university. Both have written positively about “gender-affirming care” for minors in recent years.

Mihalopoulos co-authored a 2021 paper that stated, “Pediatric health care providers can play a critical role in building solutions in policy and advocacy … to improve the health of transgender/gender diverse youth. Many government entities, especially at the state and local level, actively resist efforts promoting equal rights.”

Keeshin wrote in an article published last year that “as states pass adolescent bans on gender-affirming care across the country, Utah offers a potential pathway forward in restrictive states to help maintain or open access to care.” Keeshin also suggested that some adolescents could benefit from radical sex-rejecting medical interventions.

Do No Harm concluded on the basis of these and other issues with the review that Utah lawmakers are better off turning to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ thorough and peer-reviewed report, which was released last month.

The federal HHS’ report underscored that “the harms from sex-rejecting procedures — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations — are significant, long-term, and too often ignored or inadequately tracked.”

Michelle Havrilla, Do No Harm’s director of programs, said in a statement, “This Utah Report is unreliable, unscientific, and fails to meet the standards of a systematic review.”

“The Report’s inaccuracies and bias diminish its credibility and allow left-wing activists to weaponize it for their political machinations. Utah legislators must not rely on a report that clearly undermines the safety and well-being of minors,” added Havrilla.

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​Transgender, Trans, Sex change, Gender ideology, Lgbt, Leftism, Sex change regime, Agonists, Puberty blockers, Hormone, Kids, Stop the harm, Medical, Health, Science, Politics 

Several of Apple’s top executives have left the company, and another is signaling he may jump ship.

It took just four days for four of Apple’s C-suite executives to file their resignations from the company, with three of them announcing their retirements.

‘Our approach is to help advocates leading the charge for change in Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous communities.’

John Giannandrea, Apple’s head of machine learning and AI strategy, announced his retirement last week, with 9to5 Mac relaying that he will serve as an adviser before his full retirement in spring of 2026.

Jumping silicon ships

Giannandrea’s departure from the company’s AI department may be the canary in the coal mine and certainly points to a strategy shift moving forward. For example, several outlets, including Fortune, have repeatedly noted that Apple is fumbling and stumbling in terms of AI integration, causing employees to leave for more generous packages from competitors.

This includes design executive Alan Dye — who helped create Apple’s Vision Pro headset, iPhone X, and Apple Watch — leaving the company to join Meta.

At the same time, Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies, also allegedly told CEO Tim Cook he is considering leaving Apple. Srouji allegedly said that if he does leave, it will likely be to go work for another company.

RELATED: Here’s how to get the most annoying new update off of your iPhone

Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Retirement party

In addition to Giannandrea’s retirement, Kate Adams, Apple’s general counsel, and Lisa Jackson, vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives, are also both retiring.

As reported by NBC News, Adams has been in charge of the Apple’s legal team as it has faced increased litigation, particularly around the iPhone App Store.

Jackson is known for her social justice approach, advancing the company’s “equity” efforts across the world — a word that was mentioned 77 times in a 2023 Racial Equity and Justice Initiative report. “Justice” appeared 107 times in the Apple document.

“Across the board, our approach is to help advocates leading the charge for change in Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous communities. Our goal is to amplify their voices, never to substitute our own,” Jackson wrote in the report’s foreword.

NBC News claimed Jackson’s job had lost relevance under Trump’s second administration, due to the lack of focus on race politics.

RELATED: India surpasses China in Apple exports to US, up 240% from last year

Photo by Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto via Getty Images

AI initiative

The Guardian, among others, reported that Apple has been lagging behind others in terms of rolling out its generative AI features, predominantly those intertwined with Siri.

Apple has been promising an AI-focused upgrade to Siri for more than a year but has postponed the release due to not reaching its “high-quality bar,” according to Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of software engineering.

Cook also said in an earnings call that the company was “making good progress on a more personalized Siri” and hopes to release it in 2026.

Amar Subramanya, Giannandrea’s replacement, is expected to fill the gaps needed around AI advancement, having previously served as the corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft. He also worked at Google as the head of engineering for Google Gemini.

“Subramanya brings a wealth of experience to Apple,” the company wrote in a press release. “His deep expertise in both AI and ML research and in integrating that research into products and features will be important to Apple’s ongoing innovation and future Apple Intelligence features.”

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​Return, Apple, Ai, Tim cook, India, Artificial intelligence, Social justice, Tech 

Don’t dismiss Milo Yiannopoulos.

He may be provocative, but he’s right. In his recent two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Tucker Carlson, Yiannopoulos dares to speak the truth about homosexuality.

Instead of a mechanical ’cause’ such as genetics, it is more accurate to think of a set of factors that contribute to the development of persistent same-sex attraction.

It is a truth many are afraid to acknowledge, despite its firm grounding in scientific research. In fact, I found myself wondering, “Have they been eavesdropping at the Ruth Institute?”

‘Born’ fallacy

At the top of the list: Yiannopoulos explains that the “born gay” idea was invented as a marketing strategy. He accurately summarizes the strategy laid out in “After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear & Hatred of Gays in the 90’s.” Treat “sexual orientation” as if it were genetic, comparable to race.

Yiannopoulos rejects the “sexual orientation paradigm” or “essentialist paradigm.” He does not believe “sexual orientation” is an inborn trait that is an “essential” feature of a person’s personality.

And he is right.

Gay is not the “new black.” There is no gay gene. The twin studies are inconsistent with the idea of a genetic “cause” of “gay.” I outlined the evidence against the “born gay” idea in my report Refuting the Top 5 Gay Myths.

A trauma response

Although “gay” is a complex of thoughts, feelings, political commitments, and much more, when people say “gay,” they most likely mean “sexual arousal template.” We have been sold the idea that a “gay” man or a “lesbian” woman has an arousal template “oriented” exclusively toward people of the same sex.

The gay activists are really saying two things combined. First, people are born with a sexual arousal template preloaded into their brains. Second, this template cannot be changed.

Yiannopoulos takes direct aim at this package deal, when he says “[homosexuality] is a trauma response.” Trauma can shape the development of a person’s arousal pathways. He cited his own case. He had a mobster father, whom he did not want to emulate. As a teenager, he was sexually abused by a priest who was kind to him.

People are born with the potential to develop a sexual arousal template that is oriented toward the opposite sex. But sometimes, something happens to derail that normal developmental process.

People who self-describe as gay, lesbian, or bisexual typically have more difficult childhoods than others. They report more adverse childhood events, including a higher likelihood of childhood sexual abuse. Many in the psychology profession deny that there is a causal connection. But people who have lived the experience will tell you otherwise.

Including Yiannopoulos.

Must stay gay?

Instead of a mechanical “cause” such as genetics, it is more accurate to think of a set of factors that contribute to the development of persistent same-sex attraction.

Yiannopoulos listed some of those contributing causes: an absent or unattractive father figure, an overbearing mother, sexual abuse. No one factor always “causes” same-sex attraction in every person. At the Ruth Institute, we have interviewed numerous people who have Left Pride Behind who report some version of this story.

Yiannopoulos and Carlson talked about the bans on so-called “conversion therapy.” They were shocked that anyone would try to regulate conversations between a client and a therapist. “Why are you keeping people gay against their will?”

You can complain all day long about Yiannopoulos. But he is right. That is exactly what these laws are doing. We at the Ruth Institute ran a campaign in June called “Must Stay Gay Is NOT Okay!” Believe me: We did not run out of things to talk about!

They discussed the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case that will decide whether these bans violated the U.S. Constitution. The Ruth Institute submitted an amicus brief to the court in this case, called Chiles v. Salazar.

RELATED: A Christian looks back on Pride: ‘I was in hell’

Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Finding real hope

Most importantly, Yiannopoulos gives hope to people who want more for themselves than a life shaped by an LGBT identity. Therapy can help, especially if you focus on healing the part of you that was wounded. The sexual feelings change in the process.

Finally, Yiannopoulos made no secret of his personal religious conversion. He has been touched by love, the ultimate love of Jesus Christ. Interviewees have told me some version of this story again and again. In fact, I experienced it myself. Same-sex attraction wasn’t my particular problem. But participation in the hookup culture, abortion, and contraception certainly were my problems. I needed the grace of the confessional, the Eucharist, and, no doubt, the prayers of many people who loved me more than I knew.

Come to think of it, maybe Yiannopoulos and Carlson weren’t really listening in on our conversations at the Ruth Institute after all. Maybe it’s just that when people go searching for the truth, they end up in roughly the same place.

No one is born gay. No one has to stay gay. No matter what you have been through, gay is not the final word about your identity. Jesus has healed many people. He can heal you.

Milo Yiannopoulos is right.

​Lgbtq, Lifestyle, Culture, Tucker carslon, Milo yiannopoulos, Gay, Conversion therapy, The ruth institute, Countering pride 

Minnesota is not the only state facing large-scale fraud allegations involving the Somali community. A multimillion-dollar health care scandal has been uncovered in another state after a whistleblower came forward to expose the alleged corruption.

Christopher Bernardini, a whistleblower who worked at a health services contractor called Gateway Community Services from May 2018 to April 2025, told NewsNation about the alleged fraudulent billing practices he discovered during his time at the organization.

‘When I was in the US, I contributed to the financial support for the Jubaland-Somali army. To help the troops buy weapons, bullets, and food.’

“I just couldn’t fathom it — I thought we were helping people; I thought this was all on the up-and-up,” Bernardini told NewsNation in an interview. “I have a passion for helping people, and I thought that we were doing the right thing this whole time.”

Bernardini said he became disillusioned “when I saw how they were swindling people. When I had clients calling me to tell me their staff hadn’t shown up and I was told to bill those hours anyway. It just got worse and worse until I started really putting up a stink.”

RELATED: ‘Send them back’: Somalia First pitted against America First in Minnesota as Ilhan Omar attacks Trump over special status

Staff photo by Derek Davis/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

The contractor worked through MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program.

Bernardini claimed that documents were falsified and an electronic monitoring system was manipulated to make it appear as though staff provided services to clients when in fact the clients were never visited. Another source familiar with the company told NewsNation that times and timecards were “being manipulated to show services being provided [when] they were not.”

Nonetheless, Gateway Community Services is accused of billing for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of taxpayer dollars.

Maine Wire investigative journalist Steve Robinson appears to have uncovered where this money could have gone.

Gateway Community Services’ founder and CEO, Abdullahi Ali, is a Somalian who moved to Lewiston, Maine, as a refugee in 2009.

According to the Maine Wire, Ali started several businesses including Gateway Community Services, which, in turn, apparently helped to raise money for his political aspirations in Somalia.

In an interview he gave to Kenyan media, Ali bragged that he managed to raise money to fund a paramilitary force he hoped to lead as president in Jubaland, Somalia.

“When I was in the U.S., I contributed to the financial support for the Jubaland-Somali army. To help the troops buy weapons, bullets, and food,” said Ali, according to the Maine Wire.

“I helped pay my share of the fund.”

Ali’s 2024 presidential campaign in Somalia was unsuccessful.

In a since-deleted response to news outlets covering this story last week, Ali reportedly wrote: “I make no apologies for building a successful business in Maine, working hard to earn a living, earning my PhD, giving back to my Maine community, and running for office in Jubaland. I am proud to contribute my hard-earned $ to support my people back home. America is a nation of laws — you cannot change facts by fabricating false stories. I am proud Somali-American.”

Maine Republicans have called for a thorough investigation.

“I demanded a full investigation when I heard initial reporting about this welfare fraud scandal last May,” state Senator Matt Harrington (R) told NewsNation.

He criticized Democrat Governor Janet Mills’ administration over the issue.

“The Mills administration has neglected obvious and credible reports of Somali-linked systemic fraud in the MaineCare system,” Harrington said. “This is an outrageous betrayal of Maine taxpayers.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles called the state, with its current Democrat leadership, a “bastion of public corruption.”

Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman released a statement, which in part reads: “Bobby Charles’ talk about burning down communities is unhinged. … I’m confident Maine people do not share Bobby Charles’s interest in demeaning or scapegoating our hardworking neighbors.”

While there does not seem to be any evidence of Charles calling for “burning down communities,” he did call on President Trump to “TORCH the CORRUPT, RADICAL, FRAUD-SOAKED, CARTEL-STYLE, TAXPAYER-MILKING Somalia-First Democrat Machine in Maine” shortly after the story first broke on December 5.

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​Politics, Somalia, Somali-american, Jubaland, Gateway community services, Abullahi ali, Mainecare, Maine, Lewiston maine, Bobby charles, Charlie dingman, Democrats, Janet mills, Matt harrington, Somalia first, Newsnation, Maine wire 

An entrepreneur says she sold 1,000 updated versions of landline phones in 72 hours.

Cat Goetze, the creator behind Physical Phones, says most people hate that technology has taken over their attention span, and has sold $120,000 worth of product through her idea to bring back landline phones.

‘People don’t memorize people’s phone numbers anymore.’

“I started Physical Phones because I realized most people don’t actually hate technology,” Goetze said on “Fox & Friends First.”

Goetze is selling physical phones that mimic rotary phones, the handheld phones of the 1990s, and the phones that hung from the wall in most homes in the 1970s and 1980s. However, they don’t work by plugging into a phone jack; rather, they are powered by a rechargeable battery/USB, and connect to modern smartphones via Bluetooth.

“People don’t memorize people’s phone numbers anymore, so we built this really awesome feature in where I’m connected via Bluetooth right now,” she told the Fox hosts. “If I pick up my physical phone and I press star, it activates Siri, so I can just say, ‘Call Mama’ … and it’ll go ahead and call her.”

RELATED: Uber launches autonomous rides in Dallas, Texas, with partner Avride

Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Goetze says that in 2023, she “hacked a Bluetooth antenna into a pink landline phone simply because taking calls while twirling my finger [in] a curly cord made me smile.”

In her recent appearance, as well as on the company’s website, Goetze stated that young people “shouldn’t be forced to choose between tossing your iPhone in the ocean and spending eight hours a day doomscrolling.”

The idea is that any video or audio call that comes through the connected cell phone — including from WhatsApp, FaceTime, or Snapchat — goes to the landline-esque phone to help users resist the allure and temptations of their smartphone.

“It’s actually the young people who have never actually had a landline phone that are the most excited,” Goetze remarked. “They’re the ones who have this nostalgia and this craving for a simpler time because they grew up with smartphones.”

RELATED: Trading cubicles for crops: One couple’s ‘Exit’ from the corporate grind

Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images

Readers may remember the NoPhone, the original answer for those who are against using a smartphone entirely or wanted to rid themselves of being attached to a device. The item looks like a smartphone but has zero functionality whatsoever.

Launched in 2014, the original NoPhone sells from $15 to $21. A newer version, called the “NoPhone Selfie Update,” is listed for $23. The updated version says customers are “able to make real-time selfies,” as it comes with a mirror stuck to it.

AT&T currently offers landline connections ranging from $59 to $72. Verizon offers its own set of landline options as well.

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​Return, Phone, Cell phones, Rotary phones, Landline, Iphone, Tech 

It was once fashionable to speak of Ethereum as a “world computer,” a phrase that suggested a certain noisy, industrial utilitarianism. The idea was that every instruction, every transfer of value, every digital breath would be executed publicly and redundantly by a global network of nodes, a process that was transparent, unstoppable, and, as it turned out, prohibitively slow.

Although Ethereum in 2015 aimed at radical transparency, it is now engaged in a great transformation, an architectural renovation carried out while the building is still occupied. Ethereum is remaking itself not with more computing power, but with the mathematics of shadows: zero-knowledge proofs.

Ethereum replaces personal trust with mathematical guarantees, accountability without surveillance.

The central tension of the digital age has always been this trilemma: how to remain secure and decentralized while scaling to meet a global demand. Ethereum’s answer is to turn to an innovation in cryptography: the zero-knowledge proof, a protocol that allows one party to prove a statement is true without revealing why it is true, or indeed revealing any other information at all. It is a way to convince a stranger that you know a secret without ever telling him the secret itself. This property, which borders on the magical, is being woven into the very foundations of the network.

The heavy lifting of transaction execution is leaving the main stage. The Ethereum roadmap, in a phase titled the “Surge,” dictates that most activity will now occur off-chain, on Layer-2 networks known as rollups. These rollups bundle thousands of transactions, execute them in the dark, and generate a succinct validity proof, which is then posted back to Ethereum’s main layer. The main chain, once the sweating engine of the network, is now a high-security court, a judge that need not hear the testimony, only see the irrefutable mathematical certificate of the verdict.

Instead of a world computer, Ethereum is becoming a “world settlement layer,” an anchor for off-chain environments. To facilitate this, the network has introduced “blobs,” an inelegantly named but vital innovation of the Dencun upgrade. Blobs are temporary data, a cheap lane on the highway for rollup trucks, allowing vast amounts of information to be posted without clogging the passing lane. The new Fusaka upgrade promises to expand this capacity further, raising the gas limit and introducing PeerDAS, a system where nodes sample data rather than storing it. It is a move toward a system where the network holds everything, but no single participant must hold more than a fraction.

RELATED: Bitcoin billionaire will serve time after British police broke down her door and arrested her in bed

Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images

But the most radical application of this new approach lies in the “Verge,” a suite of upgrades intended to make the network “stateless.” The ambition is to allow a user with a basic laptop, or even a phone, to verify the chain. Through the use of Verkle trees — cryptographic accumulators that replace more cumbersome data structures — proofs of state become tiny, manageable things. Verification is broadened, flattening the hierarchy of nodes. In this future, we need not trust institutions or even the “full nodes” of the blockchain priesthood, but rather trust the math and verify the proof.

There is a detachment to this logic that appeals to the cypherpunk instinct. The implications are deeply social. In the classical world, trust was intimate; it required knowing a reputation, a face, a history. Ethereum replaces this personal trust with mathematical guarantees. It is a vision of accountability without surveillance. This affordance is particularly relevant in the realm of privacy, an area where the unblinking transparency of the blockchain has long been a liability.

The Privacy Stewards of Ethereum, a group operating within the Ethereum Foundation, have outlined a roadmap that seeks to make privacy a “first-class feature.” They speak of “private writes” and “private reads,” of enabling users to interact with the ledger without leaking their identity or intent. They reject the idea that scaling requires the sacrifice of privacy and posit that one might gain a degree of invisibility while the system enforces the rules so strictly that cheating becomes computationally impossible.

One could prove one is a unique human without revealing one’s name, or prove a vote was counted without revealing the ballot. It is a shift from universal transparency to a society of secret handshakes, where transparency is selective and discretionary.

Of course, the Ethereum roadmap has risks. There is the question of “gas limit politics,” the danger that the specialized hardware required to generate zero-knowledge proofs will reintroduce centralization by another name. There is the fragility of the new cryptography itself, the fear that a breakthrough in quantum computing could render these mathematical castles defenseless. There is the ever-present tension between the ideal of a decentralized network and the reality of complex governance.

Yet, the momentum is undeniable. The integration of a zkEVM at Layer 1, an implementation of the Ethereum Virtual Machine that generates proofs of the blocks themselves, represents the capstone of this overhaul. It is an attempt to scale to the level of global finance, to process hundreds of thousands of transactions per second, without utilizing trusted servers.

Ethereum aims to renovate digital society in real time, to reconcile the conflicting desires for scale, security, and privacy through a reliance on “moon math” that has suddenly, quietly become infrastructure. Ethereum is betting that cryptographic truth can substitute for consensus. It is moving toward a global notary that sees everything and nothing, verifying the unseen with absolute precision in a ballet of proofs, harmonizing to a music we are only just beginning to hear.

​Tech, Ethereum 

The city of Seattle’s progressive ideology is set to clash with Islam during the FIFA World Cup next June.

Lumen Field in Seattle is scheduled to host six World Cup games in 2026, and the city’s organizing committee is planning a special gay-pride game for June 26.

‘The match-up of two countries where it is illegal to be gay is actually a “good thing” for the Pride Match.’

Announced in October, the committee is dubbing the game the “Seattle Pride Match” and has even procured gay art from fans through a contest meant to be used in Seattle’s “citywide celebration.”

However, after the World Cup draw finally happened on Friday to determine the tournament groups, the gay game is likely to run into ethical problems after it was decided who the two combatants will be.

The June 26 game will showcase a Group G matchup between two Muslim nations where homosexuality is prosecuted: The Islamic Republic of Iran and Egypt.

RELATED: ‘Equality’ in pay and ‘everything’ bar for women’s sports opens in Seattle

Photograph by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In Iran, same-sex relations are criminalized, with punishments ranging from flogging to the death penalty, according to Amnesty International.

Egypt is known to use its “debauchery” laws to prosecute gay acts, and while homosexuality is not explicitly illegal, the country used anti-prostitution laws to convict a man for sending nude photos to another man on the gay-dating app Grindr in 2017, according to the Guardian.

The Seattle organizers, who are not affiliated with FIFA, said they are already preparing the area’s gay businesses to prepare for the influx of fans.

“We’re working with small businesses so the region’s LGBTQ+-owned enterprises are ready to benefit from the tournament’s unprecedented visitor surge,” said Hedda McLendon, the committee’s senior vice president of legacy, according to Newsweek.

Seattle also organized a committee specifically for the Pride match, calling it the Seattle Pride Match Advisory Committee. A member of that of that group, Eric Wahl, reportedly stated on social media that “the match-up of two countries where it is illegal to be gay is actually a ‘good thing’ for the Pride Match.”

RELATED: Major League Soccer lifts ban, allows fans to display Antifa-adopted ‘Iron Front’ flag during games

Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty images

The activism does not stop at gay pride for the Seattle group. It will also celebrate Juneteenth for one of the games. Juneteenth was first recognized by President Biden to celebrate the end of slavery annually on June 19.

A Group D match between the United States and Australia will take place in Seattle that day.

“Having the U.S. Team playing in Seattle on Juneteenth creates a high-visibility, high-responsibility moment to introduce hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide to Juneteenth and to create benefit for local Black-owned businesses and arts and cultural organizations,” the organizers said on their website.

For that match, the group created another committee called the Juneteenth Advisory Committee.

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​Fearless, Soccer, World cup, Gay pride, Woke, Seattle, Lgbt, Pride night, Islam, Muslim, Iran, Egypt, Sports