A man living in Oklahoma was convicted for charges related to the attempted sexual trafficking of a minor after getting caught in an undercover sting operation.

Braulio Luna, 59, arranged to purchase an 11-year-old girl for sexual activity, but unbeknownst to him, he was speaking to police officers pretending to be human traffickers.

‘There is actually … code words that people use to advertise these. And once you are in the trade, you understand what these code words are.’

The operation involved officers posting ads as a mother who was trying to sell her 11-year-old daughter.

“Mr. Luna responded to that ad and started making preparations to actually purchase an 11-year-old for a sexual encounter,” said Maj. Adam Flowers of the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office to KFOR-TV.

Investigators noted that Luna brought a McDonald’s Happy Meal with him to purchase the fictitious girl, which they said demonstrated his intent to exploit a minor.

Rather than finding his intended victim, Luna found deputies waiting in a hotel room and was arrested on August 29, 2024.

Luna confessed to investigators that he had harmed a child in the past, and police are working to identify that victim.

“But unfortunately, it’s kind of like a cold case. We know they’re out there. We just don’t know who they are. He wasn’t forthcoming with that,” Flowers added.

Luna pleaded guilty to felony child exploitation and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He must serve at least 18 years before being released.

Court documents indicated that Luna would also be deported to his country of origin after serving his time in prison. He was a legal U.S. resident but not a citizen.

RELATED: Oklahoma attorney allegedly took Viagra and bought condoms before meeting to sexually assault 5-year-old, but it was a police sting

Flowers said that traffickers use everyday apps such as Snapchat, Tinder, and Facebook to seek their victims.

“There are numerous websites out there that cater to this type of black market, illicit activity where people are selling themselves for sex,” Flowers said.

“Family members, foster families, even kids that are being trafficked by pimps,” he explained, “they all have people that use these apps for illicit purposes. There is actually … code words that people use to advertise these. And once you are in the trade, you understand what these code words are.”

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For the first time in years, the world once again views the United States as a force for strength, order, and peace. Clear, consistent American leadership backed by resolve is restoring the U.S. role as the world’s stabilizing power. That clarity is already reshaping some of the most entrenched conflicts, from the Middle East to Eastern Europe.

The breakthrough in Gaza illustrates the shift. What looked like a permanent cycle of bloodshed has given way to a ceasefire, the safe return of hostages, and the growing global isolation of Hamas — a terrorist group that has long thrived on regional instability. The success rests on American influence, quiet coordination with regional partners, and the renewed credibility that comes from a White House that means what it says.

After years of drift and decline, the world once again knows where America stands.

The same seriousness is now visible in Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent visit to Washington may lead to a negotiated end to a devastating conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and destabilized global energy and food markets. Zelenskyy described his meetings as a “big chance” to finish the war.

President Trump’s peace plan to end the Russia-NATO war in Ukraine will stop the bleeding, enable reconstruction, and reduce the strain on U.S. ammunition stocks at a moment when the Pentagon must prepare for a potential conflict with China.

US diplomacy regains stature

Strength backed by diplomacy — not drift or apology — is what puts the United States in high esteem with much of the world again. Nations respect a country willing to confront aggression and equally willing to help broker reconciliation.

That same clarity guides the administration’s approach to economics and trade. When America projects strength abroad, it must also defend economic interests at home.

Rebuilding America’s economic strength

After years of watching U.S. innovation shipped overseas, the administration has signaled that America will build, produce, and lead from within. That principle drove President Trump’s deal with Australia to break China’s grip on rare earth minerals — metals essential to everything from fighter jets and missiles to smartphones and electric vehicles.

For years, Beijing used its near-monopoly on mining and refining these materials as leverage, threatening to cut off supplies whenever the U.S. challenged its aggression. The deal with Australia strengthens both nations’ capacity to mine and process these strategic resources, allowing the U.S. to build advanced technology and military systems without bowing to Chinese pressure. It’s another example of President Trump converting economic strength into national security strength.

America’s return to Central Asia

Last week, President Trump hosted a meeting of the C5+1 — the United States and the five Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Founded in 2015, the group has rarely received presidential-level attention. That changed with Trump’s direct engagement.

Trump emphasized access to Central Asia’s vast reserves of rare and strategic minerals. Turkmenistan emerged as a potential transit hub for processing and exporting these resources to America. Airlines from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed agreements to purchase 37 Boeing aircraft. The president also announced the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a new trade corridor designed to boost connectivity and economic integration across the region.

Leaders reaffirmed commitments to counterterrorism cooperation, energy security, and balancing regional influence from Russia and China.

RELATED: America’s addiction to Chinese money runs deeper than we care to admit

Photo Illustration by Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Strength in technology policy

The administration’s posture on technology sends a message as unmistakable as a carrier group in the Pacific: America will defend its industries from predatory foreign dominance.

The recent approval of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger reflects that stance. The decision, made in consultation with national security officials, counters the global reach of China’s state-controlled telecom giant Huawei and strengthens U.S. data networks in an era defined by artificial intelligence and 5G. The move also signals that America will no longer sabotage its own companies to satisfy globalists or Beltway bureaucrats.

Predictably, Democratic attorneys general led by Colorado’s Phil Weiser — joined by congressional voices such as Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — denounced the decision. But their reflexive criticism doesn’t alter the administration’s commitment to peace-through-strength policies that protect American interests.

A world steadied by American resolve

When the U.S. leads with confidence, the world responds with respect. Whether confronting turmoil in the Middle East, pressing for stability in Europe, or rebuilding supply chains and industries essential to national security, American strength has produced a safer, more stable international environment.

After years of drift and decline, the world once again knows where America stands.

Peace through strength brought the world back to the table. Strength through accountability will keep it there. That is the kind of respect no adversary can test — and no ally will forget.

​Trump, America, Middle east, Military, Nato, Diplomacy, Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Maga, America first, China, Russia, Peace deal 

After years of gaslighting by the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration is finally coming clean to the American people and admitting that “at least 10 children died after and because of receiving the COVID vaccine.”

A memo written by Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, concluded that “no fewer than 10” of 96 child deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System between 2021 and 2024 were related to COVID vaccination.

Prasad even claimed the numbers could be higher.

“Now, this is something that I’ve been trying to sound the alarm on for a very, very long time. And it is very refreshing to hear this coming to light,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says, though she notes that the entire vaccine schedule needs to be scrutinized further.

“Wait till you hear about the CDC schedule,” she adds.

As for the COVID vaccine, Gonzales points out the heavily ignored but well-reported uptick of myocarditis following inoculation in children.

“You had these young boys who were developing it — not normal, despite what the Biden administration tried to tell you. And then Johnson & Johnson, that clot shot was quietly taken away when it killed people,” she says.

“Despite the fact that all of these drug makers try to hide the negative effects, despite all of that, despite what you see in front of your very eyes, you still have doctors trying to peddle total f**king lies,” she continues, before playing a clip from an MS NOW segment where a doctor belittles the FDA’s findings.

“Here we just have the FDA saying, ‘Trust us, we know this to be true,’ without giving us any clear evidence,” Dr. Paul Offit tells Ana Cabrera on “Ana Cabrera Reports.”

“In fact, NBC reports that the memo did not include the children’s ages or medical histories, timelines, or documentation for the deaths he references, does not identify the manufacturer of the vaccine. The FDA’s findings haven’t even been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Doctor, what do you make of that? And do we have any details about these deaths?” Cabrera asks.

“No, it’s an unprofessional and irresponsible thing to do,” Offit replies.

“That’s Dr. Paul Offit — he has gotten totally rich. Totally rich. He is one of the benefactors of the fact that you go and inject your child with poison because you think that they need it to go to school. He is one of the largest benefactors of that,” Gonzales comments.

“So, please, who are you going to believe? Who are you going to believe? The man who stands to financially benefit from the vaccine program? That guy? By the way, total retard. Or the FDA, who is looking at this objectively?” she continues.

“The COVID shot is just the tip of the iceberg,” she adds.

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The Republican candidate has prevailed in the special election for the 7th congressional district of Tennessee.

With 81% of the vote in, Matt Van Epps, a Trump-endorsed Republican, holds a lead of more than 11,000 votes over radical Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn. CNN and NBC News among other outlets have called the race for Van Epps.

‘I hate all of the things that make Nashville.’

Though as of this writing he hasn’t yet claimed victory on social media, Van Epps did tweet, “THANK YOU, TENNESSEE,” shortly after media began calling the race.

Behn has not commented on social media.

However, she has lately had to answer for some previous comments and behaviors that indicate an erratic temperament and a deep-seated animus for Nashville, the city she was running to represent in Congress.

“I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville, apparently, an ‘it’ city to the rest of the country,” she said.

In 2019, Behn also stormed into the office of Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, and security had to come in and forcibly remove her, video revealed. She then began kicking, screaming, and sobbing on the floor.

By contrast, President Trump described Van Epps as a “phenomenal Candidate” and a “MAGA Warrior” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday morning.

RELATED: Trump torches Nashville-hating Democrat for string of scandals: ‘How the hell can you elect a person like that?’

Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images

The special election was held on Tuesday to replace former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who abruptly retired in June after helping pass Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Green said he planned to pursue a private sector opportunity that was “too exciting to pass up.”

By holding the seat, Republicans will keep a 220-213 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, though Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has already announced she plans to resign in January. Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill also stepped down from her seat after winning the New Jersey gubernatorial election last month.

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A federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration cutting federal funds to Planned Parenthood in 22 states on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston sided with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who had filed a lawsuit against the provision in the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in July.

‘We won a court order stopping the federal government from playing politics with our health care system.’

Talwani said that the lawsuit would likely prevail when considered fully, but she paused the injunction to allow the administration seven days to appeal.

The same judge also blocked the cutting of abortion funds in July, but an appeals court later allowed the cuts to continue while the lawsuit progressed. The former order was criticized as “unjust judicial activism” by Lila Rose of the Live Action pro-life group.

Planned Parenthood said that at least 20 clinics had shut down since the order to cut funding was renewed during appeal. It argued that as many as 200 centers would shut down if the order was allowed to stand.

Alexis McGill Johnson, the CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, argued that the order would reduce availability of other health care provided to women.

“This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance to get birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center, and we will make that clear in court,” Johnson said in July.

Among those celebrating the order was New York Attorney General Letitia James, an avowed opponent of the president.

“We won a court order stopping the federal government from playing politics with our health care system and defunding Planned Parenthood,” James wrote. “We’ll continue our lawsuit to defend New Yorkers’ health care and reproductive freedom from unconstitutional attacks.”

RELATED: Former Planned Parenthood director committed suicide after apartment raided by police in child pornography investigation

Talwani was appointed to the court in 2013 by former President Barack Obama.

She is also responsible for blocking Trump’s cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the government shutdown in October. The president responded by blaming Democrats for refusing to vote to end the shutdown.

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BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo broke a massive story surrounding the Somalian community in Minnesota last week. Members of the community “allegedly participated in complex schemes related to autism services, food programs, and housing.”

Prosecutors estimate billions of taxpayer dollars have been stolen and some of it has ended up in the hands of a terrorist organization in Somalia.

“For example, the Housing Stabilization Services Program — meant to cost $2.6 million per year — exploded to $104 million annually by 2024 and $61 million in just the first half of 2025 before being shut down because the vast majority of it was fraudulent,” explains BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”

Somali-owned nonprofits like Feeding Our Future were also claiming to feed thousands of children daily “with fake rosters and invoices,” before using the money to fund luxury vehicle purchases and “overseas real estate,” she continues.

“Say you were a Republican who had been running in Minnesota and you had run on, ‘Hey, we got to cut spending, and we have to cut the taxpayer dollars that we are giving to Feeding Our Future.’ What would the liberal media have said? ‘Oh, you’re evil. How dare you DOGE this. You don’t want to feed innocent children. You want these innocent children to starve,’” she says.

Separately, a $14 million autism services fraud ring allegedly paid Somali parents cash kickbacks to enroll kids, despite the children not having autism diagnoses.

“What are we doing?” Stuckey asks. “I mean, if this is happening in Minnesota, and this is actually being uncovered in Minnesota, which is pretty incredible, like, what’s happening in California? What’s happening in Illinois? What’s happening in New York? What is happening in Houston, these Democrat-run places where there are these large Somalian Islamic groups?”

“I mean, you’ve got to give them credit. They look out for themselves. They’re going to put themselves first. They’re looking out for Somalia. They’re looking out for Afghanistan. They’re looking out for Islam. They’re looking out for their people,” she continues, pointing out that these scandals have “erupted” since Governor Tim Walz (D) took office in 2019.

“If he ran right now, every Democrat in the state of Minnesota would vote for him. I mean, we already had someone in the state of Virginia win after texts were leaked that said that he wanted to kill his opponent’s children,” Stuckey says.

“So I don’t think that fraud is, like, the moral limit that the current Democrat Party has,” she adds.

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The White House fired back at singer Sabrina Carpenter after she strongly objected to the use of one of her songs in a social media post from the Trump administration.

The video shows people getting arrested by law enforcement officials while Carpenter’s popular song “Juno” plays in the background. Carpenter responded from her own social media account.

‘We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country.’

“Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye,” reads the White House post from Monday.

She replied, “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded on Tuesday with a statement again referencing Carpenter’s music.

“Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country,” she wrote. “Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”

Carpenter’s objection might have backfired on her, since it brought more attention to the White House video. It has garnered more than 3.3 million views.

RELATED: Rapper Eminem slammed after demanding Ramaswamy stop using his songs on campaign

Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Other musicians have decried the use of their songs by the Trump administration, including Beyoncé, Abba, the Foo Fighters, and Kenny Loggins.

Carpenter made headlines in 2023 when she filmed a music video at the the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic church in Brooklyn, New York, which included “profane decorations” on the altar.

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The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation is taking significant steps to address issues within America’s trucking industry to improve road safety and national security.

On Monday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the department has revoked nearly 3,000 of the estimated 16,000 commercial driver’s license training providers listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry. The TPR lists all training providers authorized to offer entry-level driver training for CDL students.

‘Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.’

The impacted training providers were accused of “failing to equip trainees with the Trump administration’s standards of readiness,” a press release from the DOT revealed.

Reasons for removal included “falsifying or manipulating training data”; “neglecting to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications”; and “failing to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refusing to provide records during federal audits or investigations.”

The department issued warnings to another 4,500 training providers for potential non-compliance. Those entities have 30 days to respond and deliver evidence of compliance to avoid removal.

The DOT noted that this action aims to crack down on unqualified truck drivers and “corrupt operators.”

RELATED: Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to ‘suspected terrorist’ illegal alien trucker

Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images

“If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence,” said FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs.

“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy stated. “Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways. Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today.”

“Under President Trump, we are reigning [sic] in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses,” Duffy added.

Also on Monday, the DOT revealed that it found one-third of Minnesota’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally.

The department is giving the state 30 days to come into compliance and revoke illegally issued licenses. The DOT is prepared to withhold up to $30.4 million in federal highway funding if Minnesota fails to comply.

RELATED: Exclusive: DOT withholds $40M from blue state for flouting English requirements for truckers

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Barrs accused Minnesota of “openly and blatantly defying our rules.”

“Under the Trump administration, states have two choices: Meet our standards or face the consequences. Following the law is not optional,” he declared.

“Our audit exposes yet another example of foreigners taking advantage of Minnesota services under Governor Walz’s watch,” Duffy said. “Minnesota failed to follow the law and illegally doled out trucking licenses to unsafe, unqualified noncitizens — endangering American families on the road.”

This latest warning follows similar action the DOT has previously taken against Pennsylvania. The department has already vowed to withhold federal funds from California after the state failed to comply with its regulations concerning CDL issuance.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

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​News, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, Department of transportation, Dot, Sean duffy, Minnesota, Commercial driver’s licenses, Commercial driver’s license, Cdls, Cdl, Federal motor carrier safety administration, Fmcsa, California, Pennsylvania, Non-domiciled cdl, Non-domiciled cdls, Non-domiciled, Politics 

A rhetorical battle has broken out between the Republican speaker of the House and a Republican congresswoman who is running in the gubernatorial election in New York.

Rep. Elise Stefanik accused Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana of lying about the process to include a provision in this year’s defense policy bill.

‘This is an easy one. This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee.’

Stefanik’s proposal would require the Federal Bureau of Investigation to notify Congress when it opens an investigation into a candidate for federal office. She threatened to kill the National Defense Authorization Act if her demands aren’t met.

“My provision will strengthen this accountability and transparency to deter this illegal weaponization and it passed out of the House Intelligence Committee in this Congress and previous ones,” she wrote on social media Monday. “If Republicans can’t deliver accountability and legislative fixes to arguably the biggest illegal corruption and government weaponization issue of all time, then what are we even doing.”

She went on to accuse Republicans of siding with Democrats on the issue.

“It is a scandalous disgrace that Republicans are allowing themselves to be rolled by the Dems and deep state on this,” she added.

On Tuesday, she said she walked out on a briefing about the issue and again lambasted Johnson.

“This is an easy one. This bill is DOA unless this provision gets added in as it was passed out of committee,” she added.

Johnson reacted to Stefanik’s accusations during a briefing with reporters Tuesday.

“All of that is false. I don’t exactly know why Elise won’t just call me. I texted her yesterday,” he said.

“She’s upset one of her provisions is not being made, I think, in the NDAA,” Johnson added. “I explained to her on text message — as soon as I head this yesterday, I was campaigning in Tennessee — and I wrote her. I said, ‘What are you talking about? This hasn’t even made it to my level.'”

He went on to explain that the provision had to be agreed upon by other committees before it could be included in the bill, and it was not approved.

“I don’t know why she’s frustrated with me. I literally had nothing to do with it. But I’m happy to roll up my sleeves and help her,” he added.

RELATED: Trump responds to failed bid to oust speaker Mike Johnson

Stefanik fired back on social media and accused Johnson of siding with Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

“Just more lies from the Speaker,” she wrote.

“It wasn’t on your radar? This is the ONLY provision in the bill to root out the deep state rot,” she continued in part. “You torpedoed this siding with Jamie Raskin. You said you would fix it, so fix it.”

Stefanik is running to replace incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, but recent polling shows she has an uphill battle in the Empire State. While one poll from the Manhattan Institute shows Stefanik just slightly above the Democrat, other polls show Hochul with a double-digit lead.

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President Donald Trump has stood firm about his opposition to third-world immigration, especially from Somalia.

Somalians have flooded Minnesota under the leadership of Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz, whom Trump described as “seriously retarded” in a Truth Social post over Thanksgiving. In the same post, Trump announced he would be indefinitely pausing migration from third-world countries like Somalia and reiterated his position during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

‘I don’t want them in our country.’

Trump takes issue with the cultural and economic burden of importing tens of thousands of Somalians into a state like Minnesota, as well as the ungrateful attitude of migrants like Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar.

“Somalia, which is barely a country, you know, they have no anything. They just run around killing each other. There’s no structure,” Trump said. “And when I see somebody like Ilhan Omar, who I don’t know at all, but I always watched her for years. I’ve watched her complain about our Constitution, how she’s being treated badly. … ‘The United States of America is a bad place.’ Hates everybody.”

“I think she’s an incompetent person. She’s a real terrible person.”

RELATED: Trump sounds off again on Ilhan Omar — says why she should be thrown ‘THE HELL OUT of our country’

“Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars,” Trump added. “Billions every year. Billions of dollars, and they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88%. They contribute nothing.”

Trump went on to say that America cannot afford to “keep taking in garbage into our country,” referring to third-world migrants who “do nothing but complain.”

“I don’t want them in our country; I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said. “Some might say, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country. I can say that about other countries too.”

“We have to rebuild our country,” Trump said. “… We’re at a tipping point. I don’t know if people mind me saying that, but I’m saying it. We could go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.”

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

Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

Trump urged migrants like Omar, who have developed a disdain for America’s culture and founding, to go back to their own countries and fix them instead of siphoning public resources and ceaselessly complaining.

“Ilhan Omar is garbage; she’s garbage,” Trump said. “Her friends are garbage. These aren’t people that work. These aren’t people that say, ‘Let’s go, come on, let’s make this place great.’ These are people that do nothing but complain. They complain. And from where they came from, they got nothing.”

“When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b***h, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”

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Two National Guard members were shot in what is believed to be a targeted attack near the White House — and the left is already blaming the president for the devastating holiday shooting.

One left-wing X account titled “Call to Activism” wrote, “BREAKING: Both National Guard members who were shot in Washington, DC, just one block from the White House, have died from their injuries. God bless them and their families.”

“History will wonder what we’re all thinking: why did Trump have to put them in harm’s way for a STUNT?” the user added.

“Of course, that’s not true,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere says on “Stu Does America.” “But again, when is that ever the consideration when posting something?”

When West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey wrote a heartfelt response to the shooting on X, one X user responded, “They should not have been there. You sent them to die for a stunt.”

Keith Olbermann also took the time to respond, writing, “Trump put them in harm’s way, fash.”

“Now, fash in this particular sense is short for fascist, which he’s said about every Republican he’s ever come across for as long as anyone’s known him,” Burguiere comments, pointing out that some are even blaming the shooting on guns.

“If you want to go and kill one person with a gun, it’s relatively easy to do anywhere in the world. So it’s just insane to blame this on guns,” he says.

However, the suspect has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old man who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021.

“This is something the Biden administration wanted and executed in the worst possible fashion,” Burguiere says.

“You can’t control whether one person does something terrible. We have people, we have our own citizens, who do plenty of terrible things. This is why you don’t import more of it, right? We have enough crap going on here already without bringing in people who will kill us from foreign conflicts with nations we were at war with very recently. It doesn’t make any sense to import more of that,” he continues.

“If you import somebody like that, you better freaking be sure things go well,” he adds.

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A 54-year-old man was arrested for allegedly tossing Molotov cocktail-style explosives at officers standing guard outside of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Monday morning.

Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that Jose Jovel is expected to be charged with arson and explosive-related offenses by the U.S. attorney’s office.

‘[He] stated that he wanted to blow up the building and “spray down” all the officers while making more derogatory comments.’

Jovel was arrested at about 8 a.m. after the attack at the federal building at 300 N. Los Angeles St.

“The suspect was taken into custody and stated that he wanted to blow up the building and ‘spray down’ all the officers while making more derogatory comments about ICE officers,” read a U.S. Department of Homeland Security statement.

The alleged firebombs were not lit before the suspect threw them.

A hazmat team evaluated a liquid at the site and determined it to be safe. Los Angeles firefighters also responded to the scene.

The man is under investigation for an arson at about 4 a.m. at his residence on North Westmoreland Avenue.

Jovel is a U.S. citizen. DHS said that investigators found four knives and a Leatherman tool in Jovel’s possession.

No one was injured in the incident, according to Laura Eimiller, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is also investigating.

RELATED: Portland man threatened to kill ICE officers, sexually assault their wives, harm their children: FBI

In June, the same federal building was the site of a large protest by hundreds of people who opposed mass deportation operations of the Trump administration.

The building was vandalized with spray paint at the time, and police reported that some of the protesters had turned violent and tossed large pieces of concrete.

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​Molotov cocktail attack, Anti-ice attack, Downtown los angeles federal building, Jose f jovel, Politics 

Beloved former child star Macaulay Culkin revealed he has an “elevator pitch” idea about another possible “Home Alone” movie.

Culkin is currently making the rounds on his “A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin” tour and revealed during a recent stop that — unlike “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus — he is not opposed to doing a sequel to the Christmas movie.

‘I’m not completely allergic to it, the right thing.’

Culkin admitted he “wouldn’t be completely allergic” to reprising his role as Kevin McCallister, Variety reported, but said any form of a sequel would “have to be just right.”

At that point, the 45-year-old divulged he “kind of had this idea” on how a new movie could play out.

Like father, like son?

“I’m either a widower or a divorcee. I’m raising a kid and all that stuff. I’m working really hard, and I’m not really paying enough attention, and the kid is kind of getting miffed at me, and then I get locked out. [Kevin’s son] won’t let me in … and he’s the one setting traps for me,” the actor explained.

RELATED: ‘Wet Bandit’ Marv Records Plea for Help to Old Partner Harry After Seeing Kevin McCallister Video

(Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The star said that the iconic “Home Alone” house would be “some sort of metaphor for” the relationship between him and his son, with his character trying to “get let back into son’s heart.”

He added, “That’s the closest elevator pitch that I have. I’m not completely allergic to it, the right thing.”

Keep the change

The comments are the latest sign that the once publicity-shy Culkin has embraced his child-star past.

In 2018, Culkin became Kevin for a Google Assistant ad, using the app to make purchases and manage the thermostat in his house.

Culkin also appeared in a series of videos for YouTube channel Cinemassacre around that same time, playing and reviewing the video games that featured his on-screen characters.

RELATED: Male, 58, points gun at 12-year-old girls singing Christmas carols door-to-door, police say

‘That thing I did’

In 2025, Culkin said that he has been showing his own children his old movies recently and that he was no longer bothered by the idea that his films are still popular.

“I think for a while, you know, when you’re a teenager and [in] your 20s and stuff like that, it’s like, ‘Ah, just they keep on talking about that thing I did.’ Now, it’s like, ‘Oh! They’re still talking about that thing I did.’ … I enjoy my legacy,” he told Yahoo Entertainment.

For Christmas season 2025, Culkin also paid homage to his “Home Alone” role in a commercial for an in-home care service.

1990’s “Home Alone” and 1992’s “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” have grossed more than $450 million over their lifespan.

“Home Alone 3,” which did not feature Culkin, grossed just $30 million.

​Home alone, Align, Movies, Film, Christmas, Holiday season, Child actor, Hollywood, Macaulay culkin, Entertainment 

Three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro had strong words about using humans in the production of his latest film.

Del Toro, a writer and director behind films like “Pacific Rim,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and “The Hobbit” movies, was honored with a tribute award recently at the 2025 Gotham Film Awards.

‘Every single frame of this film that was willfully made by humans for humans.’

Del Toro accepted the award alongside actors Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi for their work on the 2025 film “Frankenstein.”

Del Toro made several emotional comments dating back to when he first read the book that inspired his movie at age 11, before Isaac attempted to turn the acceptance speech into one about diversity and immigration.

“I am proud to be standing here tonight. … Immigrants, baby. We get the job done,” Isaac exclaimed. He is Guatemalan, Elordi is Australian, and del Toro is Mexican.

Elordi then spoke, but neither he nor del Toro added to Isaac’s remarks. Soon, music started to play, and the production looked to the next award. That was until del Toro interrupted, deciding that he wanted to add opinionated remarks of his own.

“No, no, no, wait!” del Toro interrupted. “I would like to tell to the rest of our extraordinary cast and our crew that the artistry of all of them shines on every single frame of this film that was willfully made by humans for humans.”

“The designers, builders, makeup, wardrobe team, cinematographers, composers, editors,” he continued. “This tribute belongs to all of them. And I would like to extend our gratitude and say —” del Toro then paused, seemingly wondering if he should continue.

“F**k AI,” he added with a smile.

RELATED: Almost half of Gen Z wants AI to run the government. You should be terrified.

During his acceptance speech, del Toro spoke on the inspiration he drew from Mary Shelley, the original author of “Frankenstein.”

“Mary Shelley, who made the book her biography, she was 18 years old when she wrote the book and posed the urgent questions: Who am I? What am I? Where did I come from? And where am I going?” del Toro explained. “She presented them with such urgency that they are alive 200 years later through this incredible parable that shaped my life since I first read it in childhood at age 11.”

Much of del Toro’s appeal comes from his ability to explore complex emotional topics from a unique viewpoints, and those unique thoughts typically come across whenever he is given the chance to speak. Del Toro told the award-show audience that even at a young age, he knew he “did not belong in the world the way my parents, the way the world expected me to fit.”

“My place was in a faraway land inhabited only by monsters and misfits.”

RELATED: Trump admin leaves Elon Musk’s Grok, xAI off massive list of AI tech partners

This outlook definitely falls in line with his recent work, including when he appeared in the recent video game series Death Stranding.

Working alongside iconic game developer Hideo Kojima, del Toro delivered storylines about life, death, and emotional connection, but this time as an actor.

Speaking on the games, del Toro said he believes in the importance of “paradoxical creation” and said it is “essential to art.”

The beauty of the game, he added, was that Kojima had both “the weirdest mind and the most wholesome mind,” which shaped his storytelling.

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​Return, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Movie, Film, Gaming, Video games, Frankenstein, Tech 

Today is Giving Tuesday — a day to think of those less fortunate, but also a reminder that charities want your money just as much as any for-profit brand, and many use the same polished tactics to get it.

The day itself is a sales pitch: created in 2012 as a feel-good counterweight to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but quickly dominated by big nonprofits with big marketing budgets. As philanthropy-sector insider Dave Moss writes, it was launched not by beneficiaries but by “representatives of corporate America, the public relations sphere, and/or enormous, already well-funded nonprofits.”

Just a reminder that sometimes it’s the scrappiest, more ‘unfashionable’ charities where your money will go the farthest.

The Wounded Warrior Project has mastered the Giving Tuesday playbook with emotional storytelling. But a 2016 CBS News investigation revealed millions spent on lavish staff conferences and travel, with a Senate review later finding that the charity had inflated its program-spending numbers by counting fundraising and PR as “veteran programs.”

The ASPCA is another case where glossy branding masks inefficiency. Despite its huge Giving Tuesday paw print, watchdogs say only a small share of its massive fundraising reaches animals in need, despite what its infamously maudlin ads suggest. Very little is granted to local SPCAs — which many donors assume they’re supporting — while the national group spends tens of millions on advertising and pays its CEO close to a million dollars a year.

RELATED: ‘Gimme’ shelter: ASPCA, Humane Society live large on your donations, warns watchdog

Michael Stewart/WireImage/Getty Images

Which is not to say you shouldn’t participate in Giving Tuesday. Just a reminder that sometimes it’s the scrappiest, more “unfashionable” charities where your money will go the farthest.

Here are six organizations doing the slow, unglamorous work of helping real American families, veterans, and workers.

1. The Ruth Institute

Mission: Promote and defend the traditional family; educate the public on marriage, sexual integrity, and the fallout of the sexual revolution.

The Ruth Institute isn’t shy about its worldview — or its conviction that a healthy society starts at home. If you want your donation to go toward shaping the cultural weather upstream of politics, this is the place.

Donate: https://ruthinstitute.org/donate/

2. Gary Sinise Foundation

Mission: Support America’s wounded veterans, Gold Star families, and first responders.

More than 30 years after playing wounded Vietnam vet Lieutenant Dan in “Forrest Gump,” Gary Sinise has quietly built one of the most trusted veterans’ charities in the country. Its work is extremely practical: specially adapted smart homes for wounded vets, emergency financial assistance, mental health support, community-building, and mobility programs. Few organizations deliver more hands-on, life-changing help.

Donate: https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/donate/

3. Farmer Veteran Coalition

Mission: Help veterans transition into careers in agriculture.

A perfect marriage of two underserved groups: rural America and former service members. FVC provides grants, training, equipment, and mentorship to vets who want to build careers in farming. It strengthens both individual livelihoods and America’s food supply.

Donate: https://farmvetco.org/donate/

4. Foundation for Rural Service

Mission: Strengthen the economic and social fabric of rural communities.

Millions of rural Americans get left out of every national conversation — and often out of basic services. FRS funds scholarships, rural broadband expansion, small-town revitalization, and educational programs.

Donate: https://www.frs.org/donate

5. Volunteers of America

Mission: Provide housing, addiction recovery, senior care, job training, and emergency services to vulnerable Americans.

One of the oldest faith-driven aid groups in America, VOA does the thankless work: shelters, recovery programs, support for disabled vets, senior care, and services for people re-entering society after incarceration. If you want your donation to translate quickly into beds, meals, care, and services, VOA is reliable.

Donate: https://www.voa.org/donate

6. mikeroweWORKS Foundation

Mission: Close the skills gap by supporting vocational training and America’s trades.

Mike Rowe has spent years reminding America that welders, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and carpenters don’t just keep civilization running — they are civilization. His foundation’s Work Ethic Scholarship Program helps people pay for trade school, buy tools, and get certified. A great way to invest directly in rebuilding the country’s working-class backbone.

Donate: https://mikeroweworks.org/donate/

​Lifestyle, Charities, Gary sinise, Non-profits, Wounded warrior project, Giving tuesday 

Earlier this year, 34-year-old Victoria Cox — a mother of three — pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping after admitting to helping a friend abduct two children.

The friend in question is 38-year-old Daniel Callihan, a resident of Amite, Louisiana.

‘These acts you committed, do you understand how awful these acts were? You understand how innocent these two little girls were?’

On June 12, 2024, Callihan fatally stabbed a mother of two — Callie Brunett — more than 50 times in her home in Loranger, Louisiana, and then kidnapped Brunett’s two daughters, ages 4 and 6, according to court documents.

Indeed, Callihan stole the stabbing victim’s 2012 Chrysler vehicle, placed Brunett’s two daughters inside it, and eventually drove to Amite, court documents show. That’s where he picked up Cox.

Law enforcement tracked down the missing girls to a property in Jackson, Mississippi, where they made a ghastly discovery. Authorities on June 13, 2024, found the body of the 4-year-old girl in a “pit,” according to a statement last month from the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana.

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade described the crime scene as “sickening” and revealed that he “observed small cages” and “small wired enclosures,” which “led us to believe that it was a location where human trafficking probably could have happened,” People magazine reported.

The 6-year-old sister was found alive and immediately transported to a hospital; she has since been reunited with relatives.

After Callihan was arrested, he admitted to investigators that he stabbed to death the mother of the two girls and kidnapped them, the U.S. Attorney’s office stated. Callihan also confessed that he “smothered” the 4-year-old girl to death “by holding [her] closely against his chest,” according to People magazine.

‘At any point in your mind were you thinking about your children when you did this? And that didn’t cause you to stop?’

United States District Judge Lance M. Africk handed Callihan consecutive life sentences for kidnapping resulting in death and transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities also determined that Cox was Callihan’s co-conspirator in the disturbing crimes.

While Callihan and Cox engaged in sexual battery against the 6-year-old girl, court docs said, the sexual battery charge was dropped.

Cox has three children of her own — ages 6, 8, and 9 — and during her sentencing hearing, a stunned Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd asked her how she, as a mother, could participate in such a vile act against young children, according to WLBT-TV.

RELATED: Half-naked woman ‘missing flesh’ and handcuffed in backyard was tortured for weeks, beaten with bat, shot with BB gun: Cops

“At any point in your mind were you thinking about your children when you did this? And that didn’t cause you to stop?” Kidd asked Cox.

Cox replied, “I tried, but I couldn’t.”

Cox added to the judge that Callihan had forced her to get high on drugs on the day of the kidnapping, according to WLBT, and that she had been out of rehab for just two days before the kidnapping.

Cox also claimed she “didn’t know” Callihan didn’t have “permission” to have the children, WLBT reported.

Cox told the courtroom, “If I could change it all, I would, but I can’t.”

The station added that Cox released a handwritten note in court requesting to plead guilty as quickly as possible.

Cox wrote, “I’ve been trying to get my attorney to come go over my plea deal with me, but he has failed to do so. I would like to accept it. Can you put me on the court docket?”

According to Court TV, Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens II noted that his office had never witnessed that happen before — and said of Cox, “She realized, I believe, that this crime was so horrific that the atonement level has to start today.”

Indeed, Kidd told Cox, “These acts you committed, do you understand how awful these acts were? You understand how innocent these two little girls were? This is something you’re going to have a lot of time to think about.”

Kidd last week sentenced Cox to a pair of concurrent sentences: 40 years in prison on the murder charge and 25 years on the kidnapping charge, according to WWL-TV.

Cox had faced the possibility of a death sentence.

The Jackson Police Department did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

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​True crime, Victoria cox, Daniel callihan, Victoria cox arrest, True crime news, Daniel callihan case, Crime, Louisiana, Mississippi, Murder, Kidnapping 

The Trump administration is investigating allegations of massive fraud by members of the Somalian community, and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz (Minn.) is being accused of obstruction.

Small Business Administration Sec. Kelly Loeffler announced the investigation Tuesday after several indictments involving alleged fraud in relation to coronavirus pandemic relief funding.

‘Despite Governor Walz’s best efforts to obstruct, SBA continues to work to expose abuse and hold perpetrators accountable, full stop.’

“Numerous individuals and nonprofits indicted in the $1 billion Minnesota COVID fraud scandal, including Feeding Our Future, received SBA PPP loans in addition to other state and federal funding,” Loeffler said in the post on social media.

In November, federal prosecutors announced a 78th indictment in the scam. In that latest case, a man named Abdirashid Bixi Dool is accused of falsifying records for fake food sites in order to steal more than $1 million in pandemic relief funds.

Dozens have already been convicted in connection with the Feeding Our Future scam alone.

Loeffler went on to accuse the former Democratic vice presidential candidate of obstructing efforts to investigate the scams.

“Today, I have ordered an investigation into the network of Somali organizations and executives implicated in these schemes,” she added. “Despite Governor Walz’s best efforts to obstruct, SBA continues to work to expose abuse and hold perpetrators accountable, full stop.”

Loeffler cited a report from a group of Minnesota state workers at the Dept. of Human Services accusing the governor of being complicit in the theft of government funds.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response,” reads a statement from the group’s social media account.

RELATED: The US is now ‘one of the worst countries’ because of Trump’s actions, says Ilhan Omar

“Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports,” the group added. “Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz, certain DFL members and an indifferent mainstream media. It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.”

In September, Walz was subpoenaed by the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee for not being responsive enough to a request for documents related to the fraud scheme.

“This was an appalling abuse of a federal COVID-era program,” reads a statement from a Walz spokesperson at the time.

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​Somalian covid fraud, Tim walz obstruction, Covid fraud scam, Minnesota somalis, Politics 

A national spotlight remains on America’s trucking industry after yet another illegal alien trucker is accused of causing a fatal crash.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against Rajinder Kumar, a 32-year-old Indian national, after he apparently jackknifed his semi-truck and trailer while driving along U.S. Highway 20 in Bend, Oregon, on November 24.

‘How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?’

Kumar’s truck collided with a Subaru Outback, resulting in the deaths of both the driver, William Micah Carter, and passenger, Jennifer Lynn Lower, a newlywed couple.

As a result of the deadly crash, Kumar is being held at the Deschutes County jail and facing charges of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

The Department of Homeland Security reported that Kumar illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona, in November 2022. He was released by the Biden administration and granted work authorization in 2023. The department reported that California issued Kumar’s commercial driver’s license.

The DHS noted that Oregon, where Kumar is currently being detained, is a sanctuary state, adding that “ICE will make all necessary efforts to bring Kumar into custody should he be released from custody.”

RELATED: Texas and Trump team take down over 30 illegal alien truck drivers in 1 day — California licenses BUSTED

Photo by: Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

“Rajinder Kumar, a criminal illegal alien from India, was released into our country under the Biden administration and issued a commercial driver’s license by Gavin Newsom’s Department of Motor Vehicles. How many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

“Our prayers are with William and Jennifer’s families. Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, ICE will continue its efforts to get illegal alien truck drivers off America’s highways,” McLaughlin added.

Kumar is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

RELATED: Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to ‘suspected terrorist’ illegal alien trucker

Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images

This latest arrest follows several similar fatal crashes involving illegal alien truckers.

Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national in the U.S. illegally, was accused of causing a collision in California in October that resulted in three deaths and several hospitalizations.

Borko Stankovic, 41, an illegal alien from Serbia and Montenegro, was accused of causing a crash in Indiana in October that killed one individual.

Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old Indian national also in the U.S. illegally, was arrested after jackknifing his truck while making an apparently illegal U-turn in Florida in August, resulting in three deaths.

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​News, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Commercial driver’s licenses, Cdls, Cdl, Commercial driver’s license, Non-domiciled cdl, Non-domiciled cdls, Non-domiciled, California, Oregon, Politics 

CBS recently reported that U.S. Border Patrol is now quietly “monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide.” A network of cameras does the work of scanning license plates and grabbing facial ID information. The data is analyzed by an unnamed “predictive intelligence” algorithm.

Whatever happened to the land of the free?

The striking thing is, ever since 9/11, we all felt something like this was either happening or about to happen. Everybody knows, as the great bard Leonard Cohen sang. But what everyone doesn’t know yet is whether that sinking feeling can help us shape limits on the tech we want to deploy against others but not against ourselves.

The use of Palantir or something like it seems to be necessary to undo what the Obama-Biden revolution did.

Technologies of surveillance, identification, categorization, recordkeeping are all at their peak, and climbing. If it hasn’t happened already, we will very soon live in conditions where comprehensive, up-to-the-instant dossiers will be available on all human beings. These will later be integrated into psych profiles based on deep, personal internet histories.

True, the accuracy of these profiles will only be high if we presume a fixed human nature, devoid of spontaneity and repentance. The utility of these vast profiles will be high only insofar as our end goals are tied to a value system where material comfort and ever-increasing union between human souls and machines are prioritized. Prioritized above family, above the divine.

But more and more of us, willingly or otherwise, are signing up for that materialist, Borg-like existence.

Since 9/11, both the left and right have sounded the alarm on the “surveillance state.” Along the way, however, our demographics have undergone radical, unprecedented (some might even say suicidal) levels of alteration. We’ve imported competing tribes, ethnicities, and clans in numbers more than sufficient for those groups to wage their own little internecine wars on our streets — streets we Americans pay to upkeep in a thousand costly ways.

Why would we do this?

The answer is generally given that we Americans are no longer a people but a collection of increasingly isolated and belligerent peoples. And while some degree of regionalism has always marked the country, not until very recently did we think of ourselves this way. We can occupy ourselves with innumerable possible explanations for our increasing division, and many kill time or get paid spooling out financial, religious, historical, cyclical, and economic theories. All of these have some merit.

RELATED: Can Palantir defeat the Antifa networks behind trans terror?

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

But what about the technologies themselves? They seem to advance along a one-way ratchet no types of ups and downs can reverse, or even arrest. But it’s difficult to see how the tech is somehow “inevitable,” independent of human agency. Online occultists are ascribing responsibility to future entities reaching back into their past, our present day, roughly like the “temporal pincer movement” from Christopher Nolan’s time-turnstile sci-fi epic “Tenet.” Easier perhaps to cobble up an explanation from human nature, economic choices, and corruption.

Regardless, we’re going to have to deal with a very real pincer situation: predictive super-tech on one side and an invidious, noncompliant, indeed hyper-fragmented population on the other.

OK. Then what should we do with the surveillance panopticon we’re building in the meanwhile? Polls vary, but even Gallup shows that in 1995, immigration was very unpopular. It made no difference. The citizenry has been remade. Acceleration of the remaking may have peaked under the Biden presidency, but even now, with leaders like Stephen Miller mincing no words about the necessity to remigrate millions, we aren’t getting very far. The use of Palantir or something like it seems to be necessary to undo what the Obama-Biden revolution did.

Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the American dream was long ago “downsized,” all but dead at present. It’s not hard to envision the panopticon moving on from unwanted and unlawful “newcomers” to the underclass of heritage American men and women bitterly struggling to survive under impossible economic conditions. They see no path because there is none. Are the men of this class, say those under age 40, going to accept such egregious limitations on their capacity to secure a living wage to offer a potential mate?

This distortion of first-world expectations is so transparent that even the U.S. Department of Labor is posting images of Rockwellian-ideal domestic existence with the accompanying text: “The American Dream has been stolen from the American People. Decades of failed policies prioritized foreign labor, offshored our jobs, and sold the American Worker out.”

Do the math: Tons of foreigners and their interest organization, plus millions of young, able-bodied heritage American males unable to form families on promised terms, plus a surveillance apparatus that has no true ideological master … equals?

On the upside, AI-panopticon tech forged by the likes of Palantir would (you’d presume) make extremely short work of the right-coded goal to super-remigrate the 30-odd-million foreign noncitizens on U.S. soil. But wait! Regimes are changing. Palantir’s panopticon contract is sure to outlast the Trump administration. Even if we accept the ostensible inevitability of “total recall” and predictive algorithms shaping society, we don’t have much in place to backstop future abuses, even as we rush into unprecedented social, technological, and perhaps even biological change.

​Tech, Palantir, Surveillance state, Panopticon 

On November 19, investigative journalist and BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo, alongside reporter Ryan Thorpe, broke a story that went instantly viral, rapidly spreading across conservative media, social platforms, and mainstream outlets.

Titled “The Largest Funder of Al-Shabaab Is the Minnesota Taxpayer,” the article peels back the layers and connects the dots of yearslong federal investigations into large-scale fraud involving members of Minnesota’s Somali-American community.

“The basic story is this: Over the last 10 years, Minnesota’s Somali community — it’s about 100,000 people, mostly in Minneapolis, a neighborhood called Little Mogadishu for obvious reasons — has been, you know, conducting fraud at an eye-popping scale,” Rufo explained on a recent episode of “Rufo & Lomez.”

“We’re talking about billions of dollars … that are getting sucked out of taxpayer programs, routed through various fake NGOs into the pockets of Somalis in Minnesota,” he added.

According to Rufo’s reporting, a web of interconnected schemes, enabled by lax oversight under Gov. Tim Walz’s administration and Minnesota’s generous welfare system, allows these Somali immigrants to exploit various government programs, especially those intended to serve low-income and immigrant families, like Medicaid, child food programs, and food stamps/SNAP.

While the feds have long known about these fraud schemes and have even been able to recover some of the funds and secure convictions, their investigations have been focused strictly on the theft and laundering.

Rufo, however, was the first to ask the question: But where is the money going? His bombshell piece revealed the answer: Much of it is allegedly going back to Somalia, specifically into the hands of Al-Shabaab — a designated terrorist group.

“The other kind of dirty secret of this story is that the Minnesota state government, the Democrats who are in charge, Tim Walz and others, have effectively turned a blind eye to this because they don’t want to offend the Somalis. They don’t want to earn the accusation of racism with the Somali activists who’re very, very ready and very eager to deploy, and they feel that they need the Somali vote in Minneapolis to win statewide,” Rufo told co-host Jonathan Keeperman.

“So you have this cycle of corruption, payoffs, kickbacks, and political influence, and I hope that the story, which blows open this whole scheme, will have some impact.”

Rufo’s wish is already coming true. Just two days after its publication, President Trump announced the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota on Truth Social.

Rufo also hopes, however, that his reporting will spark dialogue about immigration, American identity, and how the convergence of the two should determine who we allow into our country and how we expect them to live among us.

He argues that the reigning progressive dogma when it comes to immigration — diversity is strength, all immigrants are the same, and assimilation is a byproduct of white supremacy — has opened the door for Somali clan corruption to colonize Minneapolis and build a billion-dollar fraud pipeline to fund Al-Shabaab.

“When [immigrants] go through the Visa process, it doesn’t magically evaporate their former culture,” says Rufo.

“Look at dysfunction in Somalia. Look at corruption in Somalia. Look at how in Somalia money moves. Look at norms regarding theft. … Now compare it to what’s happening here [in Minnesota].”

Today “the primary source of income for Somali-Americans in Minnesota and also the primary source of income for the Al-Shabaab terrorist organization in Somalia appears to be fraudulently obtained United States taxpayer money,” he adds.

Keeperman praises Rufo’s reporting as “super important.”

He urges that “we need to be able to point to specific things to demonstrate the larger point about what Americanism is versus what it isn’t and why it’s important if we want to preserve America as it is — that we are bringing in people who will make America more like America and less like these other dysfunctional places they’re coming from.”

To learn more, check out Rufo’s original reporting here or watch the video above.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Rufo & lomez, Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Blazetv, Blaze media, Somalia, Somali fraud, Minnesota, Tim walz, Rufo, Lomez, Tps, Somalis, Minnesota somalis