Category: blaze media

The race for the California governor’s office has been reset after Eric Swalwell, the disgraced former congressman, made his embarrassing exit.

Republicans have kept the top spot and tied for second in the newest Emerson poll, while a billionaire has seized the top spot among Democrats.

‘Our lead is growing, momentum is building…time for Republicans to UNITE.’

Republican Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host, has the support of 17% of respondents, while Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco garnered 14% in the poll.

Tom Steyer also received support from 14% of respondents, shooting him up to the top spot among Democrats.

Tied for fourth place with 10% each are former Rep. Katie Porter and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, both Democrats.

Becerra appeared to gain the most from Swalwell’s exit. He increased in support by 7%, while others gained 4% or less.

However, 23% of respondents continue to be undecided. If a sizeable portion of the undecideds choose one candidate, it could drastically change the race since the top two vote-getters in the June 2 primary, regardless of party, will advance to the general election.

Hilton called on Republicans in California to coalesce behind his campaign.

“Our lead is growing, momentum is building…time for Republicans to UNITE so we stop the calamity of Steyer v Porter in the general,” he posted on social media.

Swalwell had been the front-runner among Democrats but was besieged by numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault by multiple women. He has denied the allegations but nevertheless dropped out of the gubernatorial campaign and resigned from his seat in the U.S. Congress.

RELATED: USC makes drastic decision after being accused of racism in planned gubernatorial debate

Also in the Emerson poll, Californians cited the economy as their top concern at 40%, with housing affordability their second-most important issue at 20%. Immigration tied for fourth place, with only 6% saying it’s a top concern.

Steyer has been battered by the revelation that a hedge fund he founded invested in several immigration detention centers before he made abolishing ICE one of his campaign pledges. He called the episode a “mistake.”

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American teachers’ unions are notorious for political meddling, holding schools hostage, and transforming children into leftist foot soldiers.

Idaho decided that not one more dollar of taxpayer funds should go toward supporting such radical organizations — then on April 10, it made that prohibition law.

‘That’s just restoring neutrality.’

House Bill 516a, which was introduced in January, prohibits school districts — including specially chartered districts — or their agents or representatives from using or authorizing the use of taxpayer funds to support teachers’ unions.

They may not, for instance,

deduct dues, fees, fines, or contributions from the pay of a professional employee on behalf of a union; increase a teacher’s compensation in order that the difference or some part of it could be used to pay toward teachers’ union or affiliate dues;provide more personal or contact information of a teacher to a teachers’ union than permitted under state law;require an employee to meet, communicate, or listen to a teachers’ union or its affiliate;distribute union communications or membership solicitations; contribute funds or blow money on behalf of a union or its affiliate; andprovide, except in certain cases, any form of compensation or paid leave to a public employee so they can partake in union activities.

RELATED: Radicals train for massive May Day protests at public schools, thanks to America’s largest teachers’ union

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

Individuals who knowingly violate this law can be fined up to $1,500, unless he or she is a re-offender, in which case the fine is increased to $2,500.

The bill was passed in a 59-10 vote in the state House, passed by the state Senate on April 1 in a 20-14 vote, and ratified by Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) on April 10. The law takes effect on July 1.

Little noted, “While local and state teachers’ associations do important work, they remain private organizations that currently receive taxpayer-funded support not extended to other private entities. House Bill 516a addresses that imbalance.”

The governor did, however, express some concern that the new law contains language that may “lead to increased scrutiny of a teacher’s actions purely based on their affiliation with their local association” and have a “chilling effect on school districts’ ability to collaborate with their local association on professional development and charitable work in the community.”

Layne McInelly, president of the Idaho Education Association, which endorsed Little ahead of the 2018 election, is less than thrilled about the new law.

McInelly claimed that the governor “ignored his better angels, signed this terrible bill into law,” and somehow left students and teachers “worse off.”

Maxford Nelsen, director of research at the Freedom Foundation, told Center Square, “By getting school districts out of this business of using taxpayer funds, collect union dues and prop up teachers’ union activity — that’s just restoring neutrality.”

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​Brad little, Idaho, School districts, Taxpayer funds, Fees, Teachers, Teachers unions, Unions, Education, Schooling, Union, Teacher association, Republican, Politics 

President Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire agreement between two Middle East countries that have been at odds for decades.

Israel launched renewed attacks targeting the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon in March. The strikes were a sticking point in the president’s attempts to resolve the conflict in Iran.

The president added that the peace deal between Israel and Lebanon would be the 10th solution to wars across the world that he has brokered.

Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had reached a 10-day ceasefire deal.

“I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel,” said Trump on Truth Social.

“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” he added. “On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.”

In a second post, he said he would be inviting Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for the first “meaningful” talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1983.

Also on Thursday, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations said he was optimistic about Iran reaching a peace deal with the U.S.

RELATED: Israel ramps up attacks on Middle East target despite US-Iran ceasefire

“Despite our deep mistrust of the United States,” said Amir Saeid Iravani, “stemming from its repeated betrayal of diplomacy, we nevertheless entered the negotiations in good faith and remain cautiously optimistic.”

The president added that the peace deal between Israel and Lebanon would be the 10th solution to wars across the world that he has brokered.

“So let’s, GET IT DONE!” Trump wrote.

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​Trump announces ceasefire, Israel war with lebanon, Us-israel strikes on iran, Strait of hormuz shut down, Politics 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents on Monday revealing that hearsay and erroneous claims from bad actors served as the basis for President Donald Trump’s impeachment over a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy in July 2019, months before the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign began in earnest.

At least two of those bad actors now face the possibility of criminal prosecution.

‘Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people.’

An Obama holdover and CIA analyst credibly identified as Eric Ciaramella filed a complaint in August 2019 alleging Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. elections. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country — Ukraine — to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals, former Vice President Biden.”

Then-Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson ultimately spun the complaint as credible and rushed it to the congressional intelligence committees despite:

Conducting only four interviews — one with the so-called whistleblower’s Russia-hoaxer friend and two character references; Never once accessing the transcript of the call;Knowing that Ciaramella — whose political bias Atkinson testified to never considering — was a registered Democrat who worked closely with Vice President Biden, traveled with Biden to Ukraine, and complained about right-wing bloggers; and Knowing that Ciaramella had no firsthand evidence of what was being alleged.

The complaint, likely from Ciaramella and afforded a veneer of legitimacy by Atkinson, led to the House of Representatives passing articles of impeachment against the president in December 2019.

RELATED: Trump 2019 impeachment exposed: Gabbard provides damning insights into deep-state stitch-up

Win McNamee/Getty Images (L); Brendan SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images (R)

Gabbard stated, “Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people and impeach the duly-elected President of the United States.”

Gabbard went beyond just exposing this frame-up this week, asking the Justice Department to investigate two former government officials.

A spokeswoman for the director confirmed to CBS News that Gabbard had drafted criminal referrals for the so-called whistleblower and a “former intelligence community watchdog” but did not specify what crimes are alleged.

The referrals reviewed by Fox News noted, however, that “the possible criminal activity concerns the circumstances described in the following congressional briefings: Discussion with Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019); Briefing by the Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019).”

Blaze News has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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​Tulsi gabbard, Odni, Dni, Eric ciaramella, Atkinson, Impeachment, Donald trump, Trump impeachment, Accountability, Justice department, Doj, Politics 

Colorado’s ban of so-called “conversion therapy” has finally been exposed for what it really is: an attack on free speech.

In the recent decision Chiles v. Salazar, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that Colorado had violated the First Amendment by censoring the free speech of psychological professionals in the name of banning “conversion therapy.”

Constitutional rebukes by courts are routinely treated like speed bumps by social engineers.

That’s a grab-bag term invented by activists to demonize traditional counseling aimed at helping patients pursue happiness as they see fit.

Cruel denial

In fact, Colorado’s “Must Stay Gay” law didn’t restrict — as its advocates claimed — cruel or coercive treatments. Instead the law prohibited therapists from serving clients who sought help in diminishing unwanted sexual compulsions.

For instance, imagine a married dad struggling with temptations to commit adultery with young, even underage, males. Or consider a sexual abuse victim suffering from gender dysphoria who wishes to accept her physical sex instead of submitting to disfiguring, sterilizing surgery and a lifetime of dangerous hormones.

The LGBTQ lobby pushed hard for this law, akin to an equally draconian ban in California, falsely claiming that any therapy aimed at altering sexual feelings was “unscientific” and “harmful.”

‘Changed’ for the better

My own organization, the Ruth Institute, filed a detailed amicus curiae debunking such claims, citing published studies by eminent professionals showing that talk therapy with willing clients is often beneficial and virtually never harmful. People do successfully change their patterns of sexual attraction and behavior, with or without therapy.

The Changed Movement collects their stories. We at the Ruth Institute have interviewed many such people. In fact, objective studies show that there are more “ex-gays” than “gays.” “Must Stay Gay” laws like Colorado’s depend on legislators’ ignorance of such facts.

‘Egregious assault’

But the court didn’t rule on the psychological merits, instead pointing to the more fundamental question of free speech in America. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority:

The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech,” and any viewpoint-suppression law “represents an ‘egregious’ assault” on the “inalienable right to think and speak freely” and the “free marketplace of ideas.”

Such a robust attachment to free speech and thought is increasingly rare in America and other Western countries. A pastor in Finland just faced trial for an alleged hate crime for writing a pamphlet summarizing historic Christian teaching on sexual morality. A law soon to pass in Canada would punish “offensive” religious speech, even citations of the Bible. We’ve heard prominent figures such as Hillary Clinton call for civil or even criminal cases aimed at citizens who share “misinformation.”

In Britain, dozens of citizens face arrest every day for posting their opinions about immigration and crime. The European Union has fined the platform X (formerly Twitter) $140 million for refusing to suppress political speech that Eurocrats deem unacceptable.

RELATED: How we help ‘gay’ men and women ‘Leave Pride Behind’

ruthinstitute.org

Politically enforced orthodoxy

Why have so many, especially among our elites, endorsed censorship and even government-enforced speech? Because so many of their preferred policy positions cannot prevail on the merits in the “free marketplace of ideas,” which Justice Gorsuch rightly defended. These fashionable stances rely on media myths, pseudo-science, and politically enforced orthodoxies.

As I show in my book “The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and How the Church Was Right All Along,” the only way for an untenable worldview to prevail is by massive amounts of force and propaganda. The campaign against change-allowing therapy meets both objectives. It discredits the very idea of therapy to help reduce unwanted same-sex attraction. And it shuts the door to anyone in the helping professions who doesn’t accept every jot and tittle of the sexual revolution’s shifting party line.

Those who hold traditional Christian ethical values must be driven out of the therapy business. There must be nowhere for sexually confused or traumatized people to go, except to those convinced that there are 47 human genders, that gay people are “born that way,” that sexual orientation is fixed and immutable while gender is a shifting social construct.

None of that is supported by the evidence, but it’s sold to the public and low-information legislators as the “verdict of science.”

A brick in the wall

The victory for therapeutic freedom and the First Amendment in Colorado is welcome pushback against the rule of groupthink. It should invalidate laws in other states that constitute “viewpoint discrimination.” One brick has been pulled from the sexual revolutionary Berlin Wall.

But the revolutionaries are already at work looking for workarounds. Constitutional rebukes by courts are routinely treated like speed bumps by social engineers. (Despite SCOTUS’ defense of the Second Amendment, blue-state gun grabbers keep scheming up new ways to undermine this fundamental right.) The very day of the SCOTUS decision, Colorado and California introduced bills to incentivize lawsuits against therapists for alleged “harm” inflicted by “conversion therapy.”

The freedom of your neighbors to the therapy of their choice is still not safe. Despite this important victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, the battle isn’t over.

​Lifestyle, Culture, Conversion therapy, First amendment, Free speech, Scotus, Supreme court, Lgbtq, Ruth institute, Countering ‘pride’ 

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has apologized to one of her colleagues on the court after she bizarrely tried to frame him as being out of touch.

Sotomayor, who is considered a liberal justice, indicated that Justice Brett Kavanaugh could not relate to normal people because he was raised in a family of professionals.

‘This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.’

She made the comments during an event at the University of Kansas School of Law on April 7. Although she did not mention Kavanaugh by name, she referenced a justice who had sided with the Trump administration on an immigration case.

“I had a colleague in that case who wrote, you know, ‘these are only temporary stops,'” she said about the federal immigration stops in Los Angeles.

“This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour,” she added.

Kavanaugh had written that the stops were “relatively brief” in his concurrence on the case, which Sotomayor said failed to grasp the major “financial consequences” for workers with hourly jobs.

“Those hours that they took you away, nobody’s paying that person,” she added. “And that makes a difference between a meal for him and his kids that night and maybe just cold supper.”

Later in the event, she also criticized the majority’s use of the so-called “shadow docket” in favor of the policies of the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, after facing criticism, she released an apology that called the comments “inappropriate.”

“I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”

RELATED: Even Sotomayor bewildered by Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissenting opinion

In 2023, Sotomayor was accused of having her staff strong-arm public schools and libraries into buying copies of her books in order to secure her speaking engagements. She earned $3.1 million for an advance of her memoirs and more than $400,000 from a children’s book she wrote.

She was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama in 2009. Kavanaugh was nominated by Trump to the court in 2018.

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A Florida teacher is accused of having an illicit relationship with an underage student after the boy’s parents tracked him down by utilizing an app, police said.

Kirsten Rose, 37, was arrested on Friday and charged with five counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of lewd and indecent exposure offenses against a student by an authority figure, police said.

‘We are deeply troubled by these allegations.’

Rose is a math teacher at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School, according to WFTV-TV.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that an investigation was launched in March when the parents of a male student became worried when he was late coming home from work one evening.

Police said the parents utilized a location-tracking app to trace the boy’s phone to a residence they didn’t recognize.

“The parents checked their son’s location and noticed he was at a residence that was unknown to them and when questioned regarding his whereabouts, he stated he was at his girlfriend’s house, but refused to say who she was,” police stated.

But investigators said the teen later revealed he was in a relationship with a teacher.

Tod Goodyear, a media relations spokesperson for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, told WKMG-TV that the student “didn’t come forth with much information” at first.

However, Goodyear said the alleged victim later admitted to the relationship with the teacher in a subsequent interview with detectives.

RELATED: Florida teacher arrested, hit with charges of indecent liberties with a minor from another state

Police said the investigation by the special victims unit revealed that the teacher and the underage student began communicating outside of school via Instagram in November 2025.

Investigators said the inappropriate relationship turned sexual “on multiple occasions during the months of February and March” of 2026.

Rose was arrested on April 10 and booked into the Brevard County Jail.

Rose’s bond was set at $300,000, and she was released on April 11, according to jail records.

Rose is scheduled for a May 5 arraignment before Judge Katie Jacobus at the Brevard County Courthouse, jail records state.

School district officials said Rose was placed on administrative leave.

Janet Murnaghan, chief strategic communications officer for Brevard Public Schools, told Florida Today, “We are deeply troubled by these allegations.”

“The district remains committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students,” Murnaghan added.

During a Brevard school board meeting Tuesday, there was no mention of the teacher’s arrest, according to Florida Today.

The policy guidelines for teachers set by the School Board of Brevard County state:

An instructional staff member shall not inappropriately associate with students at any time in a manner which may give the appearance of impropriety, including, but not limited to, the creation or participation in any situation or activity which could be considered abusive or sexually suggestive or involve illegal substances such as drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. Any sexual or other inappropriate conduct with a student by any staff member will subject the offender to potential criminal liability and discipline up to and including termination of employment.

When asked how “concerning a case like this is,” Goodyear replied, “When you’re an authority figure, particularly a teacher in a relationship like that, to go out of the boundaries and have this type of relationship is not something we want, not something we like to see.”

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office is urging anyone with information about this case or additional victims to contact Kimone Edwards of the Special Victims Unit of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office at 321-633-8419.

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​Kirsten rose, Teacher arrested, Bad teacher, Teacher sex scandal, Teachers, Florida, Florida woman, Crime 

The question as to whether or not children like to use artificial intelligence chatbots has been answered, and now it’s a question of what they are using it for.

According to recent polling, the majority of teens are using it for homework or as a search engine.

‘People’s children are being discipled by AI.’

Generating summaries, creating images, or just generic “fun” are listed in 2025 polling as the next most frequent uses. Another 10% of children ages 13 to 17 say AI does most or all of their school work.

At the same time, nearly 75% of U.S. teens said in a survey last year that they have tried out AI companions. It is that large number of American youth that Pastor Erik Reed was concerned about when he created Dominion, a theological chatbot.

“People’s children are being discipled by AI,” Reed told Baptist News. “Many young people seek out companionship or counseling from bots, and some models have been built to offer constant feedback loops of affirmation and love, giving users an addictive dopamine hit. They’re going to flatter you at every turn.”

The solution, the Southern Baptist leader said, is a competitor at the same level, in terms of functionality, that has “Christian guardrails to safeguard what it’s feeding back to people.”

The head of the Journey Church in Lebanon, Tennessee, said that AI should be brought under “the Lordship of Christ,” and thus he built the chatbot to exist only within “the authority and sovereignty of God.”

RELATED: ‘I wanted to thank God in public’: Fighting tears, Victor Glover gives legendary speech on return to Earth

Jon Cherry/Getty Images

The chatbot was trained on selected theological texts, verses, catechisms, and traditional logic, Reed stated. It is protected by internal checks and balances that the user cannot influence, which is easier said than done.

The chatbot reportedly prioritizes “first-tier issues,” defined as things that all Christians find to be true, over second-tier issues that may differ per denomination. Third-tier issues were listed as almost all politics.

A demo of the product says that everything discussed with the chatbot “happens inside an environment that filters out unbiblical counsel and keeps the focus on wisdom, holiness, and discipleship.”

RELATED: These Apple privacy perks won’t hide you from the Feds

JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images

However, the demo did showcase that Dominion is capable of summarizing simple news aggregation from a 24-hour period, for example, but also that it is capable of giving advice on personal matters, which the AI presented from a religious point of view.

Co-founder Brandon Maddick describes his work as a “Christian responsibility” to shape minds in truth to counteract them being shaped by AI.

“We believe faithfulness for the Christian is to redeem AI for the glory of God,” he said.

Notably, Maddick calls his congregation “the least SBC-looking church you’ll find,” with female deacons and “Reformed-ish theology.”

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​Ai, Align, Artificial intelligence chatbots, Christianity, Discipleship, Religion, Search engine, Southern baptist, Tech, Chatbot, Large language model, Faith 

On April 12, Riley Gaines responded to President Trump’s controversial AI-generated meme depicting him as Jesus with the following X post:

After deleting his post, President Trump was asked by reporters if he removed the image because of the criticism from Gaines and other conservatives. He responded, “I didn’t listen to Riley Gaines. I’m not a big fan of Riley, actually.”

Gaines posted a video response on April 14, in which she stood by her original comments on Trump’s post but also expressed continued support for the president and his America First agenda.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray admired Gaines’ response and thought she handled the tough situation with tact. On a recent episode of “Pat Gray Unleashed,” he and the panel played Gaines’ video response and reacted to it.

“I love the president. I support the president. I’m always in his corner. I think he’s like a master troll, if you will. But for the life of me, I just can’t understand why he would post something like this,” said Gaines.

She then addressed her original April 12 post. “I said, two things are true. Number one, a little humility would serve President Trump well. And second, God shall not be mocked. … The comments were filled with people calling me a RINO and a grifter and a closeted liberal who’s trying to destroy President Trump.”

But Gaines doubled down on her support for the president despite the offensive image and his personal jab at her.

“Following his comments, I have had a plethora of reporters from left-wing media reach out to me for comment, trying to bait me into saying something bad about President Trump because he doesn’t like me,” said Gaines.

“News flash: I don’t do what I do or say what I say to be liked. If that were the case, I would stick behind the slogan of ‘trans women are women.’ I do what I do and say what I say because I have moral conviction.”

She then delivered her official response to Trump’s dig:

“To the reporters from CNN, ABC, CBS. I love the president, and I am so grateful and glad that he is in the Oval Office. I will continue to support him and the America First agenda. At the end of the day, I do nothing for the approval of man, no matter who that man is, including the president. Our main purpose on this earth is to glorify the Lord, our Creator, our Savior, in everything that we do.”

Gaines concluded her video response by expressing desire for President Trump and others to know Jesus.

“I just know that I want to spend eternity in a very real place called heaven, and I would love for the president to be there as well. … I am going to keep doing my part by speaking the truth and doing my best to lead people to Christ and supporting the America First agenda.”

Pat calls Gaines’ video “fantastic.”

“Wow, what a great response,” he says, praising her for refusing to “ratchet up vitriol.”

He and co-host Jeffy agree with Gaines that Trump should have shown more humility over his post.

“Why not just come out and say, ‘Hey, you know, I posted it and then I thought, what am I doing? And I took it down.’ The end,” says Jeffy.

Pat concurs, “Yeah, then you don’t have this week-long situation going on.”

To see Gaines’ video and hear more of the “Unleashed” panel’s commentary, watch the video above.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Aigenerated meme, America first agenda, Humility, Master troll, Moral conviction, Oval office, Pat gray, Pat gray unleashed, President trump, Riley gaines, Tough situation, Video response 

Streaming may be a gut punch to the theatrical model, but it lets us catch films we missed the first time around.

The following thrillers made little noise at the U.S. box office. You likely haven’t heard of them, even if you once saw their movie posters fly by while scrolling on Netflix or Tubi. All three are well worth a look. In fact, these indie gems offer thrills that their big-budgeted peers can’t always match.

Cat-and-mouse games never go out of style. Nor do films where a put-upon heroine must do all she can to survive a deranged stalker.

Big-time studios could learn a lesson or two from these indie thrillers.

‘Backcountry’ (2014)

A couple head into the woods for a romantic camping trip. The problem? The besotted Alex (Jeff Roop) wants to impress Jenn (Missy Peregrym), but his survival skills aren’t up to par. Map? I don’t need a map.

Spoiler alert: He needed a map (and a few cans of bear spray).

The mood sours when the pair stumble upon an Irish hiker (Eric Balfour) who flirts with Jenn and undercuts Alex’s romantic plans. That’s just the appetizer to the main disaster course. The lovers aren’t alone in the woods, and a surly black bear is ready for his close-up.

Small cast. Tiny budget. Big, bold thrills. “Backcountry” takes its time introducing the couple in question, so when the bear makes his first, shocking appearance, the stakes are real. This isn’t a horror film in a traditional sense, but the shocks are expertly framed. And the feature’s makeup team has its work cut out for it.

The running time is a taut 92 minutes, perfect for this kind of no-nonsense thriller. Even better? Roop and Peregrym make a believable couple, credibly tender yet resourceful under duress. And said duress is extreme.

“Backcountry” isn’t for the faint of heart, and it will make audiences think twice before their next outdoor adventure. If you only see one “bear in the woods” movie (after “The Revenant”), this is it.

(Available free, with ads, on the Roku Channel.)

‘Beast’ (2018)

We all know how talented Jessie Buckley is after her Oscar-winning turn in “Hamnet.” This British sleeper gave the theatrically trained actress her big-screen debut. She plays Moll, a flighty woman at odds with her loving but cold family. Enter Pascal (Johnny Flynn, Lucius Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” reboot), a troubled type who rescues her when a bar hookup takes a dangerous turn.

Romantic sparks fly. So do accusations that Pascal is responsible for the death of a local woman. He’s nothing but doting to Moll, and she falls for his soulful blend of danger and sincerity despite his Samsonite-level baggage.

Is he as guilty as local law enforcement suggests? Can Moll’s family protect her from him? Or is Pascal the man who can save her from herself? She’s no saint, as a critical part of her backstory reminds us.

RELATED: King of comedy: 1988 ‘Naked Gun’ tops list of 100 funniest flicks

Paul Kaye/Bonnie Schiffman/Getty Images

We know what Buckley can do on screen, but Flynn is note-for-note her equal in this smart, patient thriller. This isn’t a bare-knuckled story with car chases and other B-movie tics. It’s a character study that throbs with tension just below the surface. And while many modern films don’t stick the landing, the final moments of “Beast” are smart, stark, and satisfying. Buckle in.

(Available free, with ads, on the Roku Channel.)

‘Alone’ (2020)

Cat-and-mouse games never go out of style. Nor do films where a put-upon heroine must do all she can to survive a deranged stalker.

Jules Willcox stars as Jessica, a woman mourning the death of her husband. She gets into a road-rage altercation with another vehicle. The car’s driver (Marc Menchaca) later tries to apologize for the incident, hoping they can put it behind them. The two part amicably.

He seems friendly enough, but tell that to Jessica’s Spidey-sense, which spikes during the apology chat.

When they meet again, Menchaca’s character reveals his true, cruel intentions. Once again, a tiny cast and modest budget can’t restrain a story that’s all meat and zero filler. There are no girl-power flourishes or eye-rolling escapes here, just blood-and-guts storytelling with actors who prove equal to the material.

Slick. Taut. Smart. Engrossing. And, sadly, overlooked by media outlets during its COVID-19-era release date. Streaming can right that wrong.

(Available via VOD platforms like Prime Video and iTunes.)

​Movies, Culture, Beast, Backcountry, Alone, Entertainment, Streaming, Recommendation 

Darrell Norman Williams told KTRK-TV he was riding his bike on Easter Sunday night in Wharton, Texas, when a group of boys approached him and began throwing objects at him.

“The dudes were just chucking bottles at me and rocks and stuff,” Williams, who is mentally disabled, told the station.

‘They treated him like a piece of trash.’

Williams told the station the group of boys soon knocked him to the ground.

KTRK added that one of his attackers recorded video of the brutal assault, and it shows them kicking and punching Williams as he tries unsuccessfully to block the blows.

RELATED: Gang of teens caught on video beating up, robbing victim in shopping mall; similar attack happened at same mall last month

“They kicked him all in his head and all in his gut, all of that,” Diondre Brown, who’s cared for Williams for nearly 15 years, told the station. “They literally took the bottom half of his pants down and ripped them apart.”

Brown added to KTRK that “they took his bike, they took his shoes.”

Police told the station the video of the attack was sent to them four days later, and on Tuesday, police announced they had identified all six of Williams’ attackers — and they’re all 12 to 14 years old.

“They treated him like a piece of trash,” Brown added to KTRK

Williams noted to the station that “I do nothing to them. I said nothing to them.”

Police told KTRK that four of the suspects are being held in juvenile detention while the other two were released to their parents.

They’re being charged with aggravated robbery and engaging in organized criminal activity, the station said, adding that their names aren’t being released because of their ages.

“I feel so, so sorry,” Brown told KTRK, adding that “I was sorry with myself as well because I wasn’t there to protect him when he needed me most.”

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​Texas, Wharton, Physical attack, Boys attack man on bike, Theft, Mentally disabled man, Robbery, Arrests, Aggravated robbery, Engaging in organized criminal activity, Crime 

Conservative legal scholar John Eastman, founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, was among the lawyers whose lives and livelihoods were targeted for ruination after they provided President Donald Trump with counsel on cases dealing with election illegalities and fraud following the 2020 election.

Years later, Eastman is still fighting off attacks by liberals apparently keen to ensure that Trump’s constitutionally guaranteed right to legal representation doesn’t go unpunished.

‘This lawfare/barfare is metastasizing before our very eyes.’

The California Supreme Court upheld a decision by a lower court’s judges on Wednesday to permanently disbar Eastman in the Golden State.

The state bar accused Eastman in 2023 of violating his obligations as an attorney in two ways when working “with Trump and others to promote the idea that the outcome of the election was in question and had been stolen from Trump as the result of fraud, disregard of state election law, and misconduct by election officials.”

“First, he provided legal advice, formulated legal strategies, and engaged in litigation based on, and made public statements propounding, allegations of election fraud he knew, or was grossly negligent in not knowing, were false,” alleged the bar.

RELATED: The left’s absurd attack on Brooke Rollins

Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Eastman’s second alleged violation, according to the bar, was:

He provided, and proposed actions based on, legal advice regarding the unilateral authority of the Vice President to disregard or delay the counting of electoral votes that he knew, or was grossly negligent in not knowing, was contrary to and unsupported by the historical record and established legal authority and precedent, including the Electoral Count Act and the Twelfth Amendment, such that no reasonable attorney with expertise in constitutional or election law would have concluded that the Vice President was legally authorized to take the actions respondent proposed.

Altogether, the bar alleged 11 counts of misconduct.

Eastman, who initially began working with an election integrity effort requested by Trump in early September 2020, denied many of the bar’s allegations including several of those above and the claim that there was no evidence of election fraud or illegality that could have affected the outcome.

Judge Yvette Roland — appointed to the State Bar Court by former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2018 — recommended in March 2024 that Eastman be disbarred for his alleged election subversion efforts, resulting in the revocation of his license.

“Eastman failed to uphold his primary duty of honesty and breached his ethical obligations by presenting falsehoods to bolster his legal arguments,” wrote Roland.

While waiting for the California Supreme Court to weigh in on her ruling, Eastman, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, asked Roland to reactivate his law license during the appeal process, noting that he needed to be able to represent clients and pay his own legal bills.

The Democrat appointee denied his request, claiming that he had “failed to show that he poses no significant threat to the public.”

The California Supreme Court ultimately denied Eastman’s petition for review on Wednesday, ordering his disbarment from the practice of law in California and his name stricken from the roll of attorneys. Adding insult to injury, the court ordered Eastman to pay $5,000 in sanctions to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund.

Randall Miller, Eastman’s attorney during his disciplinary proceedings, said the outcome “raises pivotal constitutional concerns regarding the limits of state regulation of attorney speech.”

Miller added that Eastman will ask the U.S. Supreme Court “to repudiate this threat to the rule of law and our nation’s adversarial system of justice.”

Eastman confirmed to Blaze News that he will be filing a petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court and underscored that the significance of a possible win “goes well beyond my particular case.”

“As we have recently seen, leftist/activist bars are targeting current attorneys at the Department of Justice for simply doing their jobs in defending President Trump’s executive orders,” said Eastman. “This lawfare/barfare is metastasizing before our very eyes and will only get worse if the Supreme Court does not take decisive action to put a stop to it.”

Jeff Clark, vice president of litigation at the Oversight Project, said that the California Supreme Court’s decision “is a travesty.”

“John represented the President in litigation challenging an election. That’s all. He lied about nothing. Reasonable minds can disagree about the 2020 election,” wrote Clark. “He did what lawyers are supposed to do — represent disfavored individuals. And make no mistake, the elites, especially in bar apparatuses, disfavor and hate President Trump and anyone associated with him with a burning passion.”

“No one representing Vice President Gore was disbarred for losing Bush v. Gore where the whole partial county-specific recount strategy Democrat lawyers devised there was ruled an unconstitutional violation of equal protection,” continued Clark. “Two-tiered system of justice and of bar discipline.”

This is hardly the only front in Eastman’s battle with Democrat-aligned lawfare. In addition to having his law license suspended in the District of Columbia, he was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, over the legal counsel he rendered to Trump following the 2020 election. The Georgia case was dropped in 2025.

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​California supreme court, Disbarment, Election fraud, Election integrity, First amendment rights, John eastman, Misconduct allegations, President donald trump, Supreme court justice, Us supreme court, District of columbia, Lawfare, Eastman, Trump, 2020, Politics 

Illinois’ New Lenox Police Department announced late on Wednesday that officers had responded to a reported bomb threat at a private residence on Sojourn Road. WMAQ-TV reported that the home belongs to retired educator John Prevost, one of Pope Leo XIV’s older brothers.

According to police, officers arrived on the scene around 6:30 p.m., established a secure perimeter, and ordered the evacuation of surrounding homes.

‘I no longer answer the phone.’

Specialized units, including the Will County Sheriff’s Office explosive detection K-9, aided in an examination of the property that turned up no signs of explosive devices or hazardous materials.

“Making false reports of this nature is a serious offense and may result in criminal charges,” said the NLPD.

Authorities are investigating the bomb threat.

John Prevost revealed to WMAQ in August that many had begun treating him as a proxy for his brother in Rome, noting that he was, for instance, receiving letters daily containing prayer requests.

RELATED: Pope responds after repeated attacks by Trump over war criticism: ‘I have no fear’

L-R: Nathan Howard/Getty Images; Yara Nardi/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

“I no longer answer the phone unless I know who it is,” he added.

The fake bomb threat comes just days after President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo over his criticism of the U.S.-Israeli military actions in and around Iran, writing on Truth Social, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”

In the post, Trump also mentioned the pope’s other brother.

“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” said Trump. “He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Criticism of the pope, especially by certain elements on the right, spiked in the wake of Trump’s message and Leo’s response. “I do not think the message of the gospel should be abused as some are doing. I continue to speak strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, dialogue, and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.”

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​Bomb threat, Criminal charges, Donald trump, Illinois, John prevost, Leo xiv, New lenox, Nuclear weapon, Pope leo, Prevost, Politics 

Local police are investigating a murder-suicide involving a Democrat who was once second in command in Virginia.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, Fairfax County police responded to a 911 call at a home in Annandale, Virginia, finding an adult male and female deceased. The victims were later identified by police as Democrat former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, 47, and his wife, Cerina, 49, who were reportedly going through a divorce.

His campaign was heavily eclipsed by sexual assault allegations.

The couple’s son and daughter were at home at the time of the murder-suicide but were unharmed.

“Shortly after midnight, officers responded to the 8100 block of Guinevere drive in Annandale, where they located an adult male and an adult female deceased inside of a residence,” Captain Chris Cosgriff said in a video statement on the scene.

“Preliminarily, it appears that the adult male shot the adult female before shooting himself in a domestic-related incident.”

RELATED: Speculation mounts over mysterious deaths and disappearances tied to US space and nuclear program

Fairfax served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 under then-Gov. Ralph Northam (D). Fairfax launched his own bid for governor in 2021, but his campaign was heavily eclipsed by sexual assault allegations from two women.

Fairfax vehemently denied the allegations and maintained that their relations were consensual. Despite his denials, Fairfax finished in fourth place in the Democratic primary.

This is a developing story.

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​Divorce, Domestic incident, Fairfax county, Justin fairfax, Lt gov, Sexual assault allegations, Virginia, Blaze news, Virginia democrat, Chris cosgriff, Politics 

Rail transportation is the backbone of the American economy, and a proposed $85 billion merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern threatens to overconcentrate market power in an already highly consolidated industry.

The consequences will ripple across the economy, raising transportation costs, weakening service, and squeezing industries that depend on rail, from agriculture to energy.

At a moment like this, regulators shouldn’t take merger parties at their word. They should demand evidence. That’s exactly what we have called for when it comes to evaluating this mega-merger, and we are pleased that the Department of Justice and the Surface Transportation Board have agreed.

This merger could further entrench consolidation in freight rail, reducing competitive options for shippers and ultimately increasing costs for businesses and consumers.

The Justice Department — in a notable recommendation consistent with its review of mergers outside the rail industry — urged the STB to require that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern produce certain executive-level information regarding their internal assessments of the merger.

The STB took an important step in that direction on March 18, requiring Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to turn over internal documents assessing how the deal would affect competition, pricing, and market dynamics.

These are the kinds of materials the Justice Department has long relied on to evaluate mergers because they reveal how companies themselves expect a transaction to play out.

Attorneys general across the country have warned that this merger could further entrench consolidation in freight rail, reducing competitive options for shippers and ultimately increasing costs for businesses and consumers.

The merging companies point to a limited “open gateway” commitment as proof that competition will be preserved. But Union Pacific itself dismissed similar promises in the recent Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern rail merger in 2023. Now it asks regulators to accept vague assurances that it will maintain open gateways at “commercially reasonable” terms without enforceable guarantees.

Union Pacific argues that the merger will drive growth, including taking 2 million trucks off the road by shifting their freight to rail. But this is an optimistic forecast that UP would face no repercussions for missing. Indeed, the recent CPKC rail merger has fallen well short of a much more modest target of 65,000 truck-to-railway conversions.

The companies also promise efficiencies and new investments but offer little detail about their pre-merger plans or whether similar gains could be achieved through other means, such as partnerships or joint ventures — much less how any such efficiencies will benefit shippers, rather than shareholders and executives.

RELATED: Digital trade corridors can fix our outdated supply chain

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

In other words, regulators are being asked to accept sweeping claims with limited substantiation.

The STB is right to push back on the “just trust us” approach. Internal company analyses can reveal whether executives expect service disruptions, pricing power, or integration challenges that could undermine supply chains.

They can also test whether the merger’s benefits are actually realistic. This level of scrutiny is basic due diligence, particularly in an industry where reduced competition can have economy-wide consequences, and especially when the merging railroads claim that this transaction will change American railroading for the next hundred years.

At a time when businesses and consumers are still grappling with inflation and the cost of goods, it is hard to overstate the risks of this mega-merger.

As this review proceeds, the STB should ensure that all stakeholders have the information needed to assess the merger’s true impact and the time to be heard, resisting pressure to rubber-stamp a deal this consequential for the rail industry and American consumers. Anything less risks locking in higher costs and fewer choices for years to come.

The American economy runs on rail. The STB should make sure it stays on track.

​Department of justice, Economy, Merger, Supply chain, Union pacific, Norfolk southern, Rail industry, Railroads, Railroad merger, Opinion & analysis 

Coders using Claude, AI giant Anthropic’s leading large language model, discovered a shortcut that saves them money and simplifies the entire engagement with the LLM down to mere syllables.

The protocol, since made into an app, is called Caveman.

Caveman makes it possible to save money without sacrificing output by reducing the linguistic sophistication of the LLM. The logic is simple: The less the AI has to talk to you in fully conversant language, the less compute it demands. And the less compute it demands, the fewer “tokens” it costs. Like all LLMs, Claude works on tokens, which users buy with dollars to pay the chatbot’s company.

As the world of the printing press is forgotten, communication transforms.

It’s a crazy workaround, but it pays whopping dividends. If you can tolerate talking to a digital Neanderthal, you can save up to 75% on operating costs.

Devolution?

With that, we’re face to face with the raw evidence that tech doesn’t transcend our culture’s many cautionary refrains. Garbage in, garbage out. Easy come, easy go. Live by the gun, die by the gun. In other words, “It’s about the financial system and the soul,” to quote Ardian Tola, founder of the Bitcoin-powered platforms Canonic and Ark.

To give a few examples of what’s going on here, consider the coder sitting at his or her desk prompting Claude to, say, reconfigure some corporate software to the new spec. The coder used to do this work, going into the alien lines of “code language” and — using his experience, knowledge, creative problem-solving, and time — the coder could effect these alterations in various ways and to various levels of elegance. The coder for the past several decades commanded and deserved a substantial salary: It really took some substantial skill and know-how to move with speed and efficiency.

That kind of coder and tech worker is being closed out now. The 80,000 layoffs and counting in the industry this year send a pretty clear message about where this is headed. Corporate reliance (and crucially, dependence) on AI is just about baked in. Companies like Oracle and Stripe are letting go of workers right after they complete their final task — of training their LLMs to do their job.

RELATED: Trump administration has a job opportunity for adult video gamers

Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images

Today the coder clinging to his mid-tier salary prompts an LLM to alter the code, and he is “spending” tokens with each word and symbol required to perform these prompts. So if a prompt drags on — like “Claude, move the header up and replace it with the PayPal button, and let me see what they look like if everything is balanced in mobile view” — it is going to cost the corporation or the contract coder more than if the prompt were something closer to “Switch header w/ pay button.”

In terms of efficiency, for a while anyway, this probably adds a layer of challenge for the coder, works the old brain plasticity, and all important, looks good to accounting.

Our souls at stake

One interpretation of everything now concerning “the financial system and the soul” is that if we, as a species, determine that cost efficiency and capital concentration are the most important values, which all others will be tested against and subsumed into, we would be wise to be very honest about our view of the human soul.

That’s because we’d be saying, again as a species, that the soul is secondary to money at best and probably doesn’t matter or even exist. While individuals, you and I, may disagree immediately (and others may weigh in with seemingly very judicious but ultimately jejune statements with regards to complexity, progress, and sacrifice), the order or the value system is still cold simple: money over soul in the end. There’s no workaround.

It might come fast or it might take some years.

Marshall McLuhan and intellectual heirs like Walter Ong theorized decades ago that tech would impose a “new orality” as literacy fades. After all, humanity existed prior to the printing press too. Print literacy greased the wheels of our communication with respect not just to facts but to each other and our own inner reality — our soul.

Most of that theoretical work boils down to the notion that our technologically enhanced means and methods of communicating will slip away from literacy into something more offhand, flexible, vibey. The rise of “vibe coding” provides strong confirmation: As the world of the printing press is forgotten, communication transforms.

The issues here are manifold and of grave concern. You cannot vibe Mass or liturgy, though you can feel it. In this oncoming diminution of the human, where trade-offs are determined by that same money-over-soul diktat, every individual may to have fight, day in and day out, merely to preserve his value system.

Whether that system is inherited and carried over ages of ages, or is just something as temporal as a preference for ’80s comedy films, the choices made at the ultra-ubiquitous-tech layer are not going to “align.”

Care must be taken when wandering into the future, wielding, as we do, these handheld high-caliber military industrial complex-made weapons. And just wait until the AI innovators deliver handsfree products intended to replace the smartphone. By itself, coders and prompters regressing to oral communication is fine, passable for certain applications, but the slackening and homogenization of human communication into sheer memery, coupled with the time pressure we all feel daily now, is powered by a force that wants to invade all human territories, including true creativity, religion, and the family. In short, it wants to invade the soul. If we let that happen, what will become of our already beleaguered society and country?

​Ai, Llm, Chatbot, Claude, Anthropic, Tech 

Georgia police tased and pepper-sprayed a nude man near an elementary school before shooting him and then tasing him again, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call of a man exposing himself near Peeks Chapel Elementary School in Conyers and found the nearly nude man on Benji Boulevard, a GBI press release reads.

‘He did everything possible not to use his firearm,’ said a witness who did not wish to be publicly identified.

The GBI says the man advanced on one of the officers, who responded by pepper-spraying him and employing a taser as well.

When those methods proved ineffective and the man continued to disobey orders, the officer shot him.

A second deputy arrived and used his taser on the man, who continued to refuse to comply with their demands.

He was eventually taken into custody and transported to a hospital for treatment. He remains in stable condition.

The man was later identified as 19-year-old Jason Marshall-Haynes.

WAGA-TV obtained cellphone video of the man walking before the shooting incident as well as afterward.

“He did everything possible not to use his firearm,” said a witness who did not wish to be publicly identified.

RELATED: Home intruders use Taser on dog and threaten teenager with gun — so homeowner shoots one dead and injures the other

The witness said the officer fired two shots, but the man continued to advance on the officer. He added that he believed his neighbor was having a mental illness episode.

No deputies were injured in the incident. The officer who shot the man was placed on administrative leave, but Sheriff Eric J. Levett said it was a routine step to maintain investigative integrity.

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​Nude man near elementary school, Gbi police shooting, Indecent exposure shooting, Crime, Georgia man shot tased 

As the list of dead and missing individuals with ties to American space and nuclear programs grows, so too does the speculation about them.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said when asked about a possible trend on Wednesday, “If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into.”

Missing

Steven Garcia, a 48-year-old Albuquerque resident, went missing on Aug. 28, 2025, according to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

The Daily Mail, citing an anonymous source, reported that Garcia — who was last seen leaving his home on foot, carrying only a handgun — was a government contractor working for the Kansas City National Security Campus.

The KCNSC manufactures 80% of non-nuclear components that go into the nuclear stockpile.

Blaze News reached out to KCNSC for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.

RELATED: Burchett claims alien ‘machinery’ could destroy us in ‘a blink of an eye’

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the Mail, “I think we’ve even seen instances where nuclear scientists have been taken out. They’ve been assassinated.”

On Feb. 27, retired U.S. Air Force Major General William McCasland, 68, similarly left his Albuquerque home never to return.

In their search, authorities found his shirt and hiking boots at his second home in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, but said that his wallet, revolver, holster, and red backpack remain unaccounted for, reported CNN.

“There’s no indication, and we are not putting forward that Mr. McCasland was disoriented or confused,” said Lt. Kyle Woods of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. “Arguably, he would still be the most intelligent person in the room that any of us would be in. Highly intelligent, highly capable.”

‘There’s just too many of ’em disappearing.’

Some have suggested that McCasland’s disappearance might have something to do with his time commanding the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where the Pentagon conducted advanced aerospace research.

“If there was ever a center of gravity for research and development and for all the spooky things that the U.S. government works on, Wright-Patterson’s right there at the top of the list,” former Pentagon intelligence officer Luis Elizondo told CNN.

The general’s wife cast doubt on “some of the misinformation” circulating about McCasland’s disappearance.

“It is true that when Neil was in the Air Force, he had access to some highly classified programs and information. He retired from the AF almost 13 years ago and has had only very commonly held clearances since. It seems quite unlikely that he was taken to extract very dated secrets from him,” Susan McCasland Wilkerson wrote in a March 6 post on Facebook.

Wilkerson noted further that her husband had a “brief association with the UFO community” but that “this connection is not a reason for someone to abduct Neil.”

“Neil does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt,” she wrote. “Though at this point with absolutely no sign of him, maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department asked the public for help in finding 60-year-old rocket scientist Monica Jacinto Reza, noting that she was last seen hiking on June 22, 2025, on Angeles Crest Highway.

Reza worked at Aerojet Rocketdyne where she moved the ball forward on a family of superalloys for use in rockets across multiple NASA and Air Force contracts.

She said in a 2017 interview with SpaceNews.com, “I worked with the Air Force to scale up production, look at different processing methods and get the material ready for insertion into a rocket engine. All of that positioned us very nicely to have the alloy [Mondaloy] at a maturity level that it could be used for the AR1 and the Hydrocarbon Boost and a few other programs.”

The Air Force noted in a 2016 release that an objective of the Hydrocarbon Boost program was to “help eliminate the United States’ reliance on foreign rocket propulsion technology,” adding that “this is key to ensuring our national security.”

McCasland reportedly oversaw funding for Reza’s project.

A staffer linked to the Los Alamos National Laboratory — a nuclear design and physics facility in New Mexico that is the lead agency for the B61, W76, and W88 warheads, helped develop the first atomic bomb, and produces plutonium pits — also recently went missing that month.

On June 26, 2025, Melissa Casias, 54, dropped her husband off at the Los Alamos lab where they both worked. Casias, an active administrative assistant at the lab, told her husband that she was headed to a second location within LANL to complete a work-related task, reported Dateline. She returned, however, to their home in Ranchos de Taos.

Around 12:30 p.m. that day, Casias grabbed lunch for her daughter and dropped it off at the cafe where she works. After a brief and normal encounter with her child, the mother departed.

New Mexico State Police PIO Sergeant Ricardo Breceda said that a family acquaintance “observed Melissa walking eastbound on NM518 from the Talpa, New Mexico, area towards Pot Creek.” This was her last known sighting.

Breceda noted further that “all belongings, including Melissa’s purse and factory reset phones, were found inside Melissa’s home.”

Dead

Deaths of individuals connected to American nuclear and space programs have also fueled speculation.

Frank Maiwald died on July 4, 2024, at the age of 61. The German-born scientist worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and, according to his obituary, contributed “to various significant projects such as AMR/SWOT, COWVR, AMR/Jason 3, and HIFI.” No cause of death was publicized.

Michael David Hicks, another Jet Propulsion Laboratory alum, died the previous July at the age of 59. He worked on the science teams of the DART Project, the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking Project, the Dawn Mission, and the NASA Deep Space 1 Mission. Hicks specialized in the physical properties of comets and asteroids.

While no cause of death for the divorcé was given publicly, his obituary noted that donations could be made to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Carl Grillmair, a highly esteemed California Institute of Technology astrophysicist who spent over four decades researching galactic astronomy and distant planets, was gunned down on the front porch of his home in Antelope Valley, California, on Feb. 16.

Grillmair — who the Los Angeles Times reported had worked at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, which partners with NASA — previously had issues with his alleged killer, Freddy Snyder. On Dec. 20, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reportedly responded to a trespassing complaint from Grillmair and allegedly found Snyder carrying a loaded rifle not registered in his name.

Nuno Loureiro, the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, was assassinated at his Brookline, Massachusetts, home on Dec. 15, 2025, while enjoying a quiet evening with his wife and kids. The gunman believed to have shot him — Claudio Manuel Neves Valente — is the same dead gunman alleged to have carried out the Brown University mass shooting two days later.

Investigators said that Loureiro and Valente attended the same university program in Portugal between 1995 and 2000, reported CBS News.

Among those who’ve expressed concerns about the deaths and disappearances is Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett (R), who said in a recent interview, “There’s just too many of ’em disappearing.”

“Nothing happens by coincidence in this town,” he added.

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​Aerospace research, Carl grillmair, Claudio manuel neves, Dead and missing, Frank maiwald, General william mccasland, Jet propulsion laboratory, Melissa casias, Michael david hicks, Missing individuals, Monica jacinto reza, Mysterious deaths, Nuclear programs, Steven garcia, Politics 

The Trump administration has reworked the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program with an eye toward greater efficiency and less top-down regulation. As a result, states are projected to come in roughly $21 billion under budget on broadband deployment. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is actively soliciting ideas for how those funds should be used.

If the administration wants an easy political win and a solution to a real problem, the funds should be used to radically modernize our air traffic control systems.

Roughly 80% of FAA infrastructure is considered obsolete or unsustainable.

Policymakers should seize the moment and invest in something the country desperately needs — something that would deliver real, tangible benefits to the flying public and the broader economy.

The FAA’s own administrator, Bryan Bedford, has been blunt: Roughly 80% of FAA infrastructure is considered obsolete or unsustainable. Controllers are still using paper flight strips and radar systems that date to the Vietnam War era.

The $5 billion Congress appropriates annually for ATC operations sounds substantial until you learn that 85% to 90% of it goes to sustaining legacy systems — patching roofs, repairing elevators, and keeping aging equipment limping along.

Congress did take a meaningful step last year, allocating $12.5 billion in the reconciliation bill toward ATC modernization. Fiber optics are beginning to replace copper wire. Radar upgrades are being compressed from a 20-year timeline into a few years.

The early results are encouraging. But by official FAA estimates, an additional $19 billion is needed to fully complete the job — to build a genuinely modern, integrated national airspace system rather than an expensive patch on a broken one.

This is where BEAD’s leftover $21 billion could make a real impact.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and has long championed both infrastructure investment and Texas’ status as one of the nation’s busiest aviation hubs, is well positioned to recognize the strategic alignment here.

Texas is home to two of the nation’s largest airports — Dallas Fort Worth and Houston Bush Intercontinental — and its economy runs on the efficient movement of people and commerce. ATC modernization would be a huge benefit for Texans.

The legal question of whether this use fits within the BEAD statute’s framework is one that the NTIA will need to address carefully. The statute is written broadly enough to accommodate creative interpretation, and the administration has already demonstrated it is willing to read BEAD’s parameters with fresh eyes.

A next-generation ATC system — replacing copper with fiber, analog with digital, fragmented local computers with integrated national architecture — looks a great deal like the kind of advanced communications infrastructure BEAD was designed to fund.

RELATED: Trump is keeping his word on health care costs

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Ironically, it’s easier to make the case that the federal government should be ensuring airline safety than subsidizing broadband deployment.

The BEAD funding was part of the massive infrastructure legislation, and our airline infrastructure is in dire need of investment. And unlike many government spending programs, ATC modernization has a defined scope and measurable milestones. This is not a slush fund — it’s a known project with a known price tag.

The alternative uses being floated for BEAD’s unused funds range from the reasonable to the fanciful: broadband adoption programs, rural mobile coverage, returning funds to the Treasury, and various state-level wish lists.

Some of those ideas have merit. But none of them represent the kind of once-in-a-generation infrastructure opportunity that a modern ATC system would deliver — one that improves safety for millions of air travelers daily, reduces delays that cost the economy billions annually, and positions the United States to lead in the airspace of the future.

The Trump administration’s 2027 budget request is going to include millions of dollars in additional ATC funding, but the BEAD funds are already there, waiting to be invested. That’s the beauty of budget reform — eliminating waste and finding savings can free up funds for other critical public needs.

​Air traffic control, Air travel, Bead funding, Broadband equity, Government spending, Ntia, Senator ted cruz, Trump administration, Opinion & analysis 

An investigative report found that California taxpayers are footing the bill for transition services to be provided for homeless transgender-identifying illegal aliens.

The report from Christopher Rufo at the City Journal included firsthand accounts from Honduran immigrants at St. Vincent De Paul’s MSC-South facility in San Francisco and Mexican immigrants at the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center.

‘You have to have a process, the hormones … go through therapy. Es un proceso.’

Rufo said the City Journal was tipped off by a whistleblower in March.

A transgender-identifying person called Jacqueline from Mexico claimed to be a lawful U.S. resident but added that illegal aliens were being given the procedures.

“Even though you’re undocumented, you can get them,” Jacqueline said.

Rufo reported that the man received breast implants from the state Medi-Cal program as well as transgender hormone treatments.

“You have to have a process, the hormones … go through therapy. Es un proceso,” Jacqueline added.

He added that he’s waiting for “bottom surgery.”

At a third homeless government-funded shelter called the Taimon Booton Navigation Center, a group of transgender-identifying illegal aliens told Rufo that they were seeking transgender medical treatment.

An employee at the MSC-South facility told the City Journal that there were transgender-identifying people from Honduras at the center. Rufo spoke to two of them who confirmed they received shelter and food from the government.

Officials at the centers did not comment on the report.

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“Apparently, word has traveled down the continent to the transgender communities in Mexico, Honduras, and elsewhere: If you make it all the way to California, the government will pay for your shelter, hormones, and surgeries — no questions asked,” Rufo wrote.

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​Transgender illegal aliens, California pays for transitions, Govt funded transition, Illegals on social services, Politics