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President Donald Trump has granted pardons to former NFL players whose crimes will certainly raise some eyebrows.

The announcement was made by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, who was pardoned herself by Trump in 2020 after serving 22 years in prison.

‘Mercy changes lives.’

“Today, the President granted pardons to five former NFL players. … As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote on X.

The five ex-NFL players are Billy Cannon, Travis Henry, Joe Klecko, Jamal Lewis, and Nate Newton. Cannon is the only deceased member of the group.

Henry, a former Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans running back, made it to the Pro Bowl in 2002. However, in 2008 as a member of the Denver Broncos, Henry was arrested after authorities in Montana caught him with 6 pounds of marijuana and more than 6 pounds of cocaine. He trafficked cocaine between Colorado and Montana, the DOJ claimed. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison but was released after two.

Lewis, a former Baltimore Raven, won a Super Bowl with the team in 2001, along with a bevy of awards throughout his career. He also has the second-most rushing yards in a single game in NFL history.

In 2004, Lewis reached a plea agreement with prosecutors after being charged with conspiring to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute and using a cell phone in the commission of the first count. He served four months in prison and went on to play in the NFL until 2009.

RELATED: EXPOSED: Did the NFL have a secret plot to SABOTAGE the TPUSA halftime show?

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

A federal grand jury indicted 67 people in 1992, including former New York Jets defensive tackle Klecko. Klecko was allegedly connected to an insurance fraud scheme; UPI reported that an insurance company in New Jersey conspired with body shops and claimants to submit phony claims for paint damage caused by emissions from an oil refinery.

Klecko pleaded guilty to perjury in 1993 and served three months in prison.

Newton, a former Dallas Cowboys player between 1986 and 1998, is a three-time Super Bowl champion and six-time Pro Bowl player. The offensive guard was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2002 after police found 175 pounds of marijuana in his car. He admitted he planned to drive the load to Houston, Texas, from a nearby county.

RELATED: It’s all ‘globalism’: Jack Posobiec tells Glenn Beck the NFL was furious over TPUSA’s Super Bowl halftime show

Bettman/Getty Images

Cannon played for the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders in the 1960s, was a Heisman Trophy winner, and was a three-time AFL champion. He pleaded guilty to counterfeiting money in the 1980s, according to the New York Post. He spent more than two years in prison. He died in 2018 at the age of 80.

Johnson called it a “blessed day” when the pardons were granted, adding that she was grateful to the president for his “continued commitment to second chances.”

“Mercy changes lives,” she added.

In November, Trump pardoned former MLB player Darryl Strawberry for 30-year-old tax fraud charges. In 1995, Strawberry pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion over a failure to report nearly $500,000 in income he made off of baseball cards and autograph signings between 1986 and 1990.

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​Sports, Nfl, Trump, Pardon, Clemency, Drug crimes, Drug trafficking, Politics 

The Olympic skier at the center of a “misgendering” scandal has not publicly claimed to be offended. But one media outlet is apologizing profusely anyway.

‘We apologize to Elis and our viewers.’

Swedish skier Elis Lundholm competed in freestyle skiing women’s moguls on Wednesday but believes she is a man.

According to the Associated Press, Lundholm was “assigned female at birth and identifies as a man.”

However, the Swedish ski team also told the outlet the athlete does not take any hormonal treatments and has not had any surgeries.

While Lundholm finished 25th in the competition, NBC accidentally ensured her broader coverage by allegedly misgendering her. Website Outsports covered the apparent outrage, relaying the remarks from the NBC/Peacock color commentator during the event.

“Getting off course here though. … Oh, she just skids out of that gate. She’s going to hop up and go around to make sure she does not DNF as she continues down the line here,” the commentator reportedly stated.

RELATED: ‘Queer’ US figure skater trashes Trump admin before taking social media break over ‘hate’ and ‘threats’

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

NBC sent out an apology this week to multiple outlets, including OutKick, explaining that “NBC Sports takes this matter seriously.”

The network then went out of its way to remove any further replays that would have included announcers referring to Lundholm as a female.

“We streamed an international feed with non-NBCUniversal commentators who misgendered Olympian Elis Lundholm,” the spokesman confessed. “We apologize to Elis and our viewers, and we have removed the replay of that feed.”

Although the extent of the 23-year-old’s gender transition appears to amount to spoken words, she has received significant coverage for helping make the 2026 Winter Olympics “extremely gay.”

RELATED: ‘I’m really proud’: American snowboarder refuses to take the bait on question about representing USA

Photo by IOC via Getty Images

Gay-focused outlet Them chronicled different athletes before the games, describing Lundholm as the “first openly trans athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics event.”

The outlet also cited that “he is good to compete per the trans athlete rules in any sport.”

Lundholm was asked by Swedish outlet Sportbladet in January about the idea of facing criticism during the Olympics. She said, according to a translation, “Of course it’s something I thought about. You can hear the voices that are out there. But then, I do my thing.”

Lundholm will compete in the next round of women’s dual moguls on February 14 at 4:30 a.m. ET.

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​Olympics, Sports, Skiing, Transgenderism, Lgbt, Transgender, Women’s sports, Italy, 2026 olympics, Politics 

President Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill are pushing a crucial election integrity bill that continues to be championed by the MAGA base. Although most Republicans have touted the legislation, the usual suspects in the Senate have been stubborn.

The SAVE America Act passed the House with unanimous Republican support on Wednesday, with even one Democrat voting in favor of the bill. The legislation would put in place the bare minimum requirements to safeguard federal elections by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote as well as photo ID to cast a ballot.

‘Federal overreach is not how we achieve this.’

Despite the overwhelming support from Republican constituents, several lawmakers in the Senate have refrained from backing the key legislation.

As of this writing, 49 of the 53 Senate Republicans have co-sponsored the SAVE America Act, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.), according to Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. Senate Republicans who have withheld their support so far include Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, all of whom have a history of bucking Trump.

RELATED: Lone Democrat joins all Republicans to pass landmark election integrity bill barring noncitizens from voting

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Republican holdouts have argued the legislation is another case of government overreach that would federalize elections, while others have simply maintained a vague position on the bill.

“When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed,” Murkowski said in a post on X. “Now, I’m seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that.”

Notably, Murkowski was the sole Republican who voted to advance the same 2021 voter reforms she referenced.

RELATED: Lone Republican defies Trump, votes to tank the SAVE Act

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“Once again, I do not support these efforts. Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska.”

“Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources,” Murkowski said in a post on X. “Ensuring public trust in our elections is at the core of our democracy, but federal overreach is not how we achieve this.”

“I am looking at it,” Collins said Thursday. “The House made significant changes to it. … This is a work in progress.”

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​Donald trump, Save act, Save america act, Voter id, Proof of citizenship, Noncitizens voting, Election integrity, Voter fraud, Make elections great again, Lisa murkowski, Thom tillis, Mitch mcconnell, Susan collins, John thune, Senate republicans, House republicans, Politics 

Bright headlights have become a genuine safety issue for American drivers. Complaints about being blinded by oncoming vehicles are now commonplace, cutting across age groups, vehicle types, and driving environments.

For most of automotive history, safety innovations followed a clear principle: improve visibility without creating new risks. Today’s headlight crisis shows how far that balance has drifted. What began as a push for better nighttime illumination has turned into a widespread hazard — one driven not by reckless drivers or faulty equipment, but by outdated regulations and incentives that reward brightness without restraint.

A headlight that improves visibility for one vehicle can simultaneously degrade safety for everyone else.

Modern LED headlights are far brighter than anything federal regulators envisioned when lighting standards were written decades ago. As frustration grows, an uncomfortable truth is becoming clear: This problem is not a technological failure. It is the predictable result of rules that no longer reflect how vehicles are designed, tested, or driven.

Glaring data

Data backs up what drivers have experienced firsthand. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that average headlight brightness has roughly doubled over the past decade. Complaints submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration increasingly describe glare so intense that it causes eye strain, headaches, and momentary loss of visual clarity. These reports come from drivers of all ages, in both older vehicles and brand-new ones, on city streets and rural highways alike.

The increase is not subtle. Traditional halogen headlights typically produced around 1,000 lumens. Many factory-installed LED systems now produce 3,000 to 4,000 lumens, while some aftermarket lights exceed 10,000 lumens — levels that would have been unthinkable when federal headlamp standards were last meaningfully updated.

At the center of the issue is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, which governs automotive lighting. Much of this regulation dates to the 1980s, when lighting technology was limited by the physical constraints of halogen bulbs. Brightness was naturally capped, so strict numerical limits were unnecessary. That assumption no longer holds.

Outdated standards

LED technology fundamentally changed how light is generated and controlled. LEDs can produce intense illumination using little power, and their output can be shaped and focused with remarkable precision. Yet instead of setting modern limits on overall brightness, federal standards still rely on beam-pattern measurements designed for older technology. As long as light output stays below certain thresholds in specific test zones, overall brightness can rise dramatically elsewhere.

Automakers have learned to design within these boundaries. By carefully shaping beams and managing shaded areas during compliance testing, manufacturers can produce headlights that are technically legal while delivering far more light on the road. This is not a violation of the law — it is the predictable exploitation of a regulatory framework that no longer matches reality.

Safety worst

Safety ratings have unintentionally made the problem worse. Headlight performance plays a significant role in evaluations by organizations such as the IIHS. Brighter headlights often score higher in controlled tests that measure forward visibility distance, giving automakers strong incentives to push brightness ever higher for better ratings and stronger marketing claims.

What these tests often fail to capture is glare’s impact on other drivers. A headlight that improves visibility for one vehicle can simultaneously degrade safety for everyone else. Current regulations and rating systems rarely account for this trade-off, allowing brightness gains to be celebrated without serious scrutiny of their broader consequences.

Vehicle design trends amplify the issue further. Modern trucks and SUVs sit higher than previous generations, placing headlights closer to eye level for drivers in sedans and smaller cars. Even properly aimed headlights can become overwhelming when mounted higher off the ground, particularly on uneven pavement or during braking and acceleration. Federal standards offer limited guidance on how brightness and mounting height interact in real-world conditions.

RELATED: Quick Fix: What’s the safest used car for my teenager?

CBS/Getty Images

Spotlight on adaptive tech

Adaptive driving beam technology is often cited as the solution — and it does hold promise. These systems can dynamically adjust light patterns to reduce glare for oncoming traffic while preserving illumination elsewhere. But adaptive headlights were only approved in the United States in 2022, long after they became common in Europe and Asia. Adoption remains limited, mostly confined to higher-end vehicles, and performance varies widely depending on sensors, software, and calibration.

Even with adaptive systems, the absence of a clear federal cap on brightness remains a fundamental flaw. Technology can mitigate glare, but it cannot replace modern standards that reflect real-world driving conditions.

The safety implications are serious. Night driving already carries higher risk due to reduced visibility and fatigue. Excessive glare increases reaction times, reduces contrast sensitivity, and impairs depth perception. For older drivers and those with vision conditions such as astigmatism, the effects are magnified. These are not minor inconveniences — they are factors that directly influence crash risk.

Minimal response

Despite growing evidence and public concern, regulatory response has been minimal. The last major federal investigation into headlamp glare occurred in 2003, before LEDs became dominant. Since then, vehicle lighting has changed dramatically, but the rules governing it have not.

This is not an argument against innovation. LEDs offer real benefits, including efficiency, durability, and the potential for smarter lighting systems. The problem is not brightness itself, but the lack of modern oversight to ensure that brightness improves safety without creating new hazards.

Updating standards would not require rolling back technology or limiting consumer choice. It would mean establishing meaningful brightness limits, accounting for vehicle height and beam placement, and ensuring that adaptive systems meet consistent performance benchmarks. Most importantly, it would recognize that safety on public roads is shared — not something that can be optimized for one driver at the expense of others.

Until that happens, drivers will keep adapting on their own. Some will avoid driving at night. Others will install even brighter aftermarket lights, escalating a cycle that benefits no one. Many will simply accept discomfort as the cost of modern driving, unaware that it is neither inevitable nor necessary.

The technology to fix this problem already exists. What’s missing is regulatory urgency. As headlights continue to grow brighter, the gap between legal compliance and real-world safety widens. Closing that gap is essential if we want innovation to serve safety — rather than undermine it.

​Headlights, Road safety, Lifestyle, Bright headlights, Halogen vs. led, Auto industry, Align cars 

Anyone can search the currently available Epstein files and see what turns up. As a professor at Arizona State University, I searched for my own school. I did not expect to find so much ASU-related material.

One reason: ASU employed Lawrence Krauss, paying him a substantial salary to write books arguing that the universe created itself from nothing.

Epstein’s philosophy collapses under its own weight because it begins with a lie about God.

That claim is its own story. You will object, rightly: “But we can’t get something from nothing.” Krauss replies, “By ‘nothing’ I mean quantum foam.” And you respond, “Then the title misleads. You don’t mean nothing. You mean quantum foam.”

Krauss also became close with Jeffrey Epstein. In one exchange, Krauss wrote: “I really do love you deeply as a friend Jeffrey. I don’t think I know anyone else who so honestly cares about me, and I don’t think I can ever truly express how wonderful that feels. Thank you. The cruise was a great reset.” In other messages, they discuss science and religion.

That is what caught my attention. As I read Epstein’s comments about religion — and listened to his interview with Steve Bannon on similar themes — a picture began to form of how Epstein made sense of the world and, more chillingly, of himself.

How a monster sleeps

A question hangs over every moral horror: How does a moral monster live with himself? Even if we limit ourselves to the explicit immorality in the files — without speculating about coded language or hidden networks — how did he sleep at night? What silenced his conscience?

Several pieces fit together.

In the ASU-related material and in interviews, Epstein does what I have often seen among intellectuals: He retreats into abstraction. He speaks about the history of ideas, mathematics, and cutting-edge research in a way that floats above concrete people and particular moral obligations.

That retreat protects a self-image. He can pose as the enlightened patron of science, funding humanity’s progress. That image sits in grotesque contrast with the cruelty he inflicted on actual human beings.

Abstraction as a moral anesthetic

This pattern tracks with Paul Johnson’s thesis in “Intellectuals”: Intellectuals who talk about serving “humanity” often treat individuals in their orbit badly. Grand claims become a shield. The rhetoric of progress becomes moral insulation.

Think of the professor who preaches liberation while using DEI programs to impose racial essentialism and ideological coercion. He can tell himself he is helping “the marginalized” even as he harms colleagues and students in the real world.

Or consider the pop star who repeats slogans like “no one is illegal on stolen land.” The moral performance happens at the level of abstraction. The carelessness happens at the level of reality.

RELATED: Why Christians should care about politics

Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Epstein’s ‘unknowable’ God

Epstein goes further by trying to dissolve moral accountability at the metaphysical level.

He argues that physicists once believed reality could be fully captured by mathematics. Now, he claims, we understand reality is irrational. Mathematics can only approximate what he calls “the limit,” but the limit itself remains unknowable. Some call that limit “God.”

But if God is unknowable, then God becomes irrelevant to our calculations about life and moral choice.

At one point, Epstein frames this as a male-female divide. The male mind, he says, runs on logic and mathematics. Reality, however, does not fit that paradigm. Reality is fundamentally irrational and accessed through feminine intuition. Ultimate reality, in his telling, is best understood as the divine female.

Humans, in Epstein’s view, are beasts with frontal lobes sophisticated enough to rationalize their impulses.

He may have believed he was elevating the feminine. The framework reads more like a metaphysical excuse: reason fails, therefore the standard fails.

The tension between reason and intuition is ancient. Epstein narrows “reason” to a single project: reducing the world to material causes through mathematics. When that project does not deliver what he wants, he does not abandon reductionism. He abandons reason.

Francis Schaeffer described this move in godless intellectual life: When autonomous reason cannot sustain itself, the thinker does not repent. He escapes into irrationality. Intuition becomes the alibi. Mystery becomes permission.

Religion as therapy, not truth

In conversation with Krauss, Epstein defends a kind of religion, but not biblical religion.

Krauss, echoing the New Atheists, treats religion as an evolutionary leftover — maybe useful in an earlier age, unnecessary for modern man. After all, modern man allegedly knows universes can create themselves out of nonexistence.

Epstein pushes back, but only to reduce religion to psychological management. Religion concerns the “inner world,” he suggests, while science and mathematics concern the outer world. We cannot ignore the inner world. Its purpose is peace. Anxiety and depression signal inner disorder; religion restores equilibrium. That, for Epstein, becomes religion’s function.

Not worship. Not truth. Not repentance. Peace.

That is New Age self-help with a faux religious vocabulary.

A Nietzschean pattern

Put the pieces together and a Nietzschean outline emerges.

Nietzsche described the dialectic between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The Apollonian seeks order, reason, structure. Yet it can become sterile and suffocating. The Dionysian seeks raw experience — ecstasy, pleasure, intoxication, release. Dionysian revelry becomes not only indulgence but purgation: a controlled environment where darker impulses can be acted out so a man can return to ordinary life and call himself functional again.

God’s moral law is written on the heart. We are not left with “unknowable limits” as our excuse. We are without excuse.

Humans, on this view, are beasts with frontal lobes sophisticated enough to rationalize their impulses.

That is the worldview of the modern pagan: order and chaos, calculation and intoxication, “science” by day and ritualized transgression by night. Add Epstein’s skepticism about knowable truth and his reduction of religion to inner peace, and the method of self-justification comes into focus.

His reported fascination with longevity technologies and strange diets fits too. Death becomes the great enemy. It must be cheated — through science, mythic elixirs, or Silicon Valley innovation.

RELATED: America’s old cultic trick: Sex, salvation, and the return of polygamy

cglade via iStock/Getty Images

Temptation is not his alone

The unsettling part: These temptations are not unique to Epstein.

Many people oscillate between cold rationalism and irrational indulgence. Many treat morality as a social construct and religion as therapy. Many use abstractions to excuse what they would never defend in plain language.

That should drive self-examination, not mere disgust. Are we living inside the Apollonian-Dionysian loop, shifting between self-justifying “reason” and self-excusing “release”?

The lie at the center

Epstein’s philosophy collapses under its own weight because it begins with a lie about God.

God has not hidden Himself. Scripture teaches that His eternal power and divine nature are clearly revealed through creation. His moral law is written on the heart. We are not left with “unknowable limits” as our excuse. We are without excuse.

The claim that reality is fundamentally irrational is not a profound insight. It is an evasion. It is a way to suppress what is plain.

That is why Lawrence Krauss’ self-creating universe and Epstein’s divine female belong in the same category: idols. They exchange the truth for something else — something that grants permission.

Romans 1 describes the pattern of Epstein’s life: the darkened mind, the suppression of truth, the exchange of glory for self-justification, and the descent into sexual corruption. The cure is not oscillation between sterile rationalism and ecstatic purgation. The cure is redemption. The cure is communion with God restored.

We need Christ, who alone frees us from the pagan dialectic — ancient and modern — and grants eternal life, “that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

​Opinion & analysis, Jeffrey epstein, Lawrence krauss, Arizona state university, Epstein files, Department of justice, Philosophy, Nietzsche, Science, Colleges and universities, Quantum foam, Religion, Faith, Nihilism, Humanity, Coercion, Intellectual, God, Atheism, New atheists, Apollonian, Dionysian, Good, Evil, Paganism, Technology, Lies, Redemption 

The sheriff’s office in Bay County, Florida, said officers responded Tuesday to a reported home invasion robbery at a residence in the 8200 block of Random Road. The area is about 10 minutes north of Panama City Beach.

Patrol deputies made contact with the victim, who reported that two masked suspects entered his home while he was sleeping and stole a large amount of cash, officials said.

He said Swartz earlier in the evening contacted him by phone requesting to visit his home and stating that she got his number through a mutual acquaintance, officials said.

The victim stated he confronted the suspects inside the residence and chased them out, officials said, adding that the suspects then fled in their SUV.

The victim then entered his own vehicle and pursued the SUV off Random Road and eastbound on Highway 388, officials said.

During the chase, the victim reported striking the suspect vehicle multiple times in an attempt to stop it, officials said, adding that after the final impact, the suspect vehicle swerved and crashed into a ditch.

When deputies arrived, they learned that the occupants of the crashed vehicle fled on foot into a nearby wooded area, officials said.

Investigators soon learned that the crashed vehicle was registered to 22-year-old Sarra Swartz, officials said.

While processing the scene, investigators found a large amount of cash in the vehicle and on the ground near the driver’s door, officials said, adding that the cash appeared consistent with the victim’s report of money taken during the home invasion.

The victim amid the investigation also provided additional information about events preceding the robbery, officials said.

RELATED: Florida home invader threatens homeowner with weapon, advances toward him, refuses to leave. But crook picks wrong victim.

Image source: Bay County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office

He said Swartz earlier in the evening contacted him by phone requesting to visit his home and stating that she got his number through a mutual acquaintance, officials said.

The victim agreed, and Swartz arrived soon after and remained at the residence for about 15 to 30 minutes before leaving, officials said.

The victim added that he displayed a large amount of cash while giving money to his girlfriend — and while Swartz was present — which may have been observed, officials said.

After Swartz left, the victim fell asleep, officials said, after which he said his girlfriend woke him up screaming that individuals were taking his money.

The victim saw two masked males inside the residence, officials said, and described one as a tall, larger white male and the other as a shorter black male armed with a baseball bat.

The victim’s girlfriend also reported seeing what appeared to be a handgun in the possession of one of the suspects, officials said.

Deputies detained one suspect in the woods, later identified as 37-year-old James Crowe, officials said, adding that Crowe provided information identifying two additional suspects and detailed events leading up to and following the robbery.

As the search continued, investigators found Swartz walking along a road west of the crash site, officials said.

A short time later, investigators saw the third suspect, Devarius Stewart, seated in the passenger seat of a vehicle stopped in the area, officials said.

Stewart initially refused commands to exit the vehicle, officials said. However, with the arrival of additional units, Stewart and Swartz were detained and transported to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for interviews, officials said.

RELATED: Armed Florida homeowner fights back against 4 thugs who reportedly try to force their way into his residence

(L to R) James Crowe, Sarra Swartz, Devarius Stewart. Image source: Bay County (Fla.) Jail, composite

Crowe, Swartz, and Stewart were arrested and charged with home invasion robbery with a deadly weapon, officials said.

Bay County Jail records indicate that all three remained behind bars Friday morning; Swartz’s bond is $75,000, Stewart’s bond is $100,000, and Crowe is being held without bond. Records also indicate that Crowe faces an additional charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon; his bond is $20,000 for that charge.

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​Crime thwarted, Arrests, Florida, Florida crime, Bay county sheriff’s office, Vehicle chase, Woods, Fighting back, Ome invasion robbery with a deadly weapon, Crime 

A Massachusetts city in the Greater Boston area has made abundantly clear that it will not be dominated by the sensitivities of activists — those whose apparent discomfort with America’s Christian inheritance has them fighting to hide civic symbols of courage, honor, and bravery.

Dealt a legal setback in October, the city of Quincy is now asking the state’s top court to weigh in on the matter of an angel and a saintly firefighter.

Saints and iconoclasts

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch commissioned renowned sculptor Sergey Eylanbekov to design two 10-foot-tall bronze statues heavy with cultural and historical significance to honor police and firefighters outside their new public safety headquarters.

While the city had erected other statues by Eylanbekov without issue, this time was different as the new statues also carried religious significance — one depicting Florian, a 3rd-century firefighting Roman Christian, and the other depicting the winged archangel Michael stepping on the head of a demon.

The statues have many fans in the community, including Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy, who indicated he feels “honored” by the Michael statue, and Quincy Firefighters Local 792 president Tom Bowes, who said, “Florian embodies the values that are most important to our work as firefighters: honor, courage, and bravery.”

Not all were, however, pleased.

‘If beautiful art has religious meaning to anyone, it must be hidden away from everyone.’

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State joined a handful of locals in suing last May to block the installation.

Among the plaintiffs are:

a Unitarian social justice warrior; a self-identified Catholic who finds the “violent imagery” of good triumphing over evil to be “offensive”; a local synagogue member who suggested the images “may exacerbate the current rise in anti-Semitism”; an Episcopalian who believes that walking past such statues would amount to “submission to religious symbols”; and a lapsed Catholic who suggested the image of Michael stepping on the head of a demon was “reminiscent of how George Floyd was killed.”

Their lawsuit claimed that “affixing religious icons of one particular faith to a government facility — the city’s public safety building, no less — sends an alarming message that those who do not subscribe to the city’s preferred religious beliefs are second-class residents who should not feel safe, welcomed, or equally respected by their government.”

The complaint strategically neglected to mention the significance of Michael in other religions, in the Western literary canon, and pop culture. Similarly, it largely glossed over Florian’s potential secular appeal, emphasizing his recognition by Catholics as a saint.

RELATED: ‘Scandal’: Abortion radical’s appointment at University of Notre Dame has local Catholic bishop outraged

Detail from 17th century painting of Michael vanquishing Satan. Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images

Mayor Koch emphasized in an affidavit that “the selection had nothing to do with Catholic sainthood, but rather was an effort to boost morale and to symbolize the values of truth, justice, and the prevalence of good over evil.”

The plaintiffs evidently saw things differently as their complaint suggested the statues’ installation “will not serve a predominantly secular purpose,” but rather to “promote, promulgate, and advance one faith, subordinating other faiths as well as nonreligious traditions.”

Setback

Norfolk Superior Court obliged the iconoclasts in October, blocking the planned installation of the already purchased and completed statues while the case proceeds.

Judge William Sullivan, a Democratic appointee, said in his ruling that “the Complaint raises colorable concerns that members of the community not adherent to Catholicism or Christian teaching who pass beneath the two statues to report a crime may reasonably question whether they will be treated equally.”

The judge suggested further that the statues “serve no discernable secular purpose.”

“Although defendants argue that the public has an interest in inspiring the city’s first responders in carrying out their work to maximum effectiveness, the court does not conceive the ability, commitment, and enthusiasm of members of the Quincy Police and Fire Departments to serve the communities will be appreciably undermined if the two statues are absent for the duration of this litigation,” added Sullivan.

The ACLU — which has alternatively defended the erection of satanic displays on public grounds — celebrated the ruling with Massachusetts chapter staff attorney Rachel Davidson thanking Sullivan for “acknowledging the immediate harm that the installation of these statues would cause.”

Onwards and upwards

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed last month to hear an appeal of the lesser court’s ruling — an opportunity welcomed both by the ACLU of Massachusetts and the city of Quincy.

“We look forward to defending Quincy’s plan to honor our brave first responders at the Massachusetts high court,” Mayor Koch said at the time.

The city — represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Quincy solicitor James Timmins — filed a brief with the SJC on Wednesday, making mince meat of the activists’ arguments and underscoring the statues’ permissibility under the law.

The brief reiterated that the statues have a secular purpose; their primary effect will not be to advance religion; and their prohibition based on religious hostility would violate the U.S. Constitution.

The brief noted further that the plaintiffs lack standing “since merely observing public symbols one finds disagreeable is not a cognizable injury” and that “the placement of inanimate statues as public art on a public building does not implicate direct support of religion in any manner, let alone the subordination by law of some faiths to others.”

To prohibit the statues would also be “at odds with the robust history of public display of other symbols with religious significance” in the state, said the brief.

There are, for instance, statues of Moses and “Religion” in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Courthouse; a statue of Pope John Paul II — a Catholic saint — in the Boston Common; and a statue of Quaker martyr Mary Dyer outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

“The ACLU’s theory in this case is tragically simple: If beautiful art has religious meaning to anyone, it must be hidden away from everyone,” Joseph Davis, senior counsel at Becket and an attorney for the city of Quincy, said in a statement.

“The ACLU’s radical rule flouts our nation’s civic heritage and decades of court decisions,” continued Davis. “The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court should reject the ACLU’s Puritanical demands and make clear that artworks don’t have to be purged from the public square just because they might make someone think of religion.”

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​Massachusetts, Religion, Faith, Catholic, Statue, Quincy, Aclu, Iconoclasm, Iconoclast, Art, Artwork, Symbol, Christian, Angel, Saint, Saint michael, Florian, Politics 

The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the most powerful cultural platforms in the world, and Turning Point USA’s Jack Posobiec was well aware that challenging would not be easy — but the organization took it on anyway.

“I’ve heard the NFL tried to get you guys not to do it,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck says to Posobiec.

“So here’s what I can say. … Kid Rock himself came up — Bob came out and said, ‘It’s David and Goliath,’” Posobiec explains.

“This is what he was referring to because I knew that by picking a fight with the biggest cabal in America … we’re talking Hollywood, we’re talking corporate America, the biggest sports event in the country — the most money that goes into this thing because it has the most cultural power — that we were going up against Goliath,” he says.

“I don’t think we realized the ways that they can get you — the ways that they can gatekeep you and block you. Now, look, I’m not going to sit here and say that I, you know, I have an email from Roger Goodell that says, ‘You shall not do this,’ right?” he continues.

“This is the way that these elite events work is that it’s a trickle-down system, but they’re all connected through the sponsorships, the advertisers, the venues, the musicians, the music rights, the labels,” he adds.

Posobiec points out that there were times where artists would say, “Love to do it; can’t wait.”

“But then something would always happen, Glenn, somewhere along the line in that conversation, with — I want to say at a very large percentage of people we talked to, suddenly it was, ‘Oh, you know, something came up and we just can’t do it,’” he tells Glenn.

“And then they play games with the rights to the songs as well … because the publishers and the licensers have the song,” he explains, noting that the organization would have been sued to the tune of “tens of millions in liabilities” because “somewhere back in the office someone says ‘No Turning Point USA.’”

“This happens all the time in our world,” Glenn responds, “but it only happens, Jack, when you’re making a difference.”

“That shows how terrified they were of this,” he adds.

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Those with the means are fleeing America’s public schools. A recent article in The 74 reports that enrollment has dropped more in affluent Massachusetts districts than in all of the state’s low- and middle-income communities combined. That “rich flight” shows up even in a state whose schools routinely rank near the top nationally.

The 74 points to a July 2025 study by Joshua Goodman and Abigail Francis, published in Education Next, that compares actual Massachusetts enrollment to what pre-COVID trends predicted. The authors found a clear shift away from public schools and toward nonpublic options. Public-school enrollment came in 1.9% below the projected level. Private-school enrollment ran 15.6% above projections. Homeschooling rose 50% above projections.

Parents want options. If conservatives are serious, they will treat the school-choice win included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as a starting point, not a finish line.

Charter enrollment moved the other way: 18.9% below pre-trend predictions, though nearly flat compared with 2019. The study notes that Massachusetts law caps the number of charter schools statewide and limits how much district funding can flow to them, which likely constrains charter growth even when demand rises.

The income story is the most revealing. Enrollment losses proved “substantially larger” in high-income districts. Top-income districts lost nearly 50% more students than the lower-income four-fifths combined.

The authors also compared Massachusetts to national 2023 data and found similar patterns, suggesting that this is not a Bay State anomaly. It is a national trend with a clear lesson: Families with options are using them.

That matters for at least three reasons.

First, affluent families are choosing private schools even though they already pay for public schools through taxes. That means they are paying twice — once to support a system they are leaving and again in tuition to exit it.

If families with the greatest ability to navigate public-school choice still choose to walk away, that should raise a blunt question: How many more middle- and working-class families would leave if they could afford to?

It also raises another: How much bigger would charter schools be if Massachusetts did not restrict their growth by law?

Second, Massachusetts is not a cautionary tale of failing schools. It is widely viewed as a high-performing state. Yet the families most able to choose still choose private education. If families are leaving in a state with strong academic reputations, how much faster would the flight be in states with mediocre outcomes and chronic disorder?

Third, Massachusetts offers choice largely within the public system, not through broad state-supported private-school options. Even charter expansion is restricted. Families who can afford to buy their way out are doing it anyway. Families who can’t are stuck.

The conclusion follows: Private education is winning the revealed-preference test. Parents with money choose it — even when it costs them twice.

RELATED: Teaching kids to hate America will have real-world consequences

Getty Images

Now imagine what happens when parents don’t have to pay twice. How popular would private-school options be if families could use a tax credit or scholarship to offset what they already pay into the system?

That question should terrify teachers’ unions. It should energize lawmakers.

School choice has already become a major political force, and it will only grow as parents lose confidence in public schools. That may help explain why Americans keep moving south. The biggest population gainers from 2014 through 2024 included states like Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida — states with low taxes and high growth, yes, but also states that have embraced school choice more aggressively than Massachusetts has.

Meanwhile, the broader K-12 picture remains grim. Public dissatisfaction has risen sharply in recent years, and the academic and behavioral fallout from COVID-era closures has not fully receded.

Chronic absenteeism remains high. Math scores remain depressed. School leaders report more disruption, more fighting, more bullying, more classroom chaos, and more fear among parents. Seventy-five percent of college faculty “say current students are less prepared in critical thinking, reading, and analysis compared to pre-COVID students.”

At some point, blaming the pandemic becomes a dodge. The system’s decline began before COVID, and it has not reversed since.

If conservatives are serious, they will treat the school-choice win included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as a starting point, not a finish line. Parents want options. The country needs academic recovery. Competition would do more to improve outcomes — and to break the political stranglehold of teachers’ unions — than another decade of excuses.

​Public schools, Charter schools, Covid, Massachusetts, Public education, Homeschooling, Private schools, American education, School choice, Opinion & analysis 

Police said in a press release that they arrested a middle school vice principal in a child sex sting operation in San Jose, California.

The San Jose Police Department said officers were conducting the sting operation ahead of the Super Bowl game when they got 31-year-old Ruben Guzman to respond to their decoy.

Police asked for help from the public to identify other possible victims, given the suspect’s access to children at his job.

The suspect believed he was communicating with a 13-year-old boy when he allegedly offered to exchange money for sexual acts, according to police.

“Guzman arranged to pick up the child in the city of San Jose,” Police Sgt. Jorge Garibay said in the release. “But when he arrived, he was apprehended by officers with the SJPD Covert Response Unit who immediately took him into custody.”

Police said that when they searched him as well as his vehicle, they found “items consistent with the planned encounter” but did not elaborate on what those items were.

They then discovered that Guzman was working as an assistant principal at Sunrise Middle School located in San Jose.

Guzman was arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on a charge of communicating with a minor for sex.

Police asked for help from the public to identify other possible victims, given the suspect’s access to children at his job.

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

A KRON-TV report noted that his bio on the school’s website read, “My job as a teacher is to make students believe in themselves and take an active role in their community.”

Sunrise Middle School administrators said in a statement to KRON that Guzman was removed from the campus immediately and would not be allowed to have contact with students.

“Last Wednesday, we were informed by law enforcement that our assistant principal had been arrested in connection with allegations involving a minor that did not involve our school. Our immediate priority was student safety,” administrators said in part. “We have spoken with students in age-appropriate ways, communicated directly with families, and made counseling support available on campus. At this time, there is no information indicating that any Sunrise students were involved. While this is deeply upsetting, it does not reflect who we are as a school.”

Another 10 men were nabbed in the sting operation.

RELATED: Note saying ‘Call the police’ leads to arrest of elderly man’s live-in caretaker, police say

Image Source: San Jose Police Department press release composite

The suspects were named Cesar Rodriguez-Vela, Jose Garcia-Hernandez, Nelson Mejia-Rivas, Dexter Goody, Luis Medina De Leon, Gonzalo Yesca, Michael Valdeolivar, Harjeet Singh, Joey Minh Truc Nguyen, and Frank Huang, according to a separate press release.

They were also booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on charges that included attempted lewd acts with a minor, arranging meetings with a minor for sexual purposes, and child exploitation crimes.

The suspects ranged in age from 25 to 72 years old.

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​Middle school principal, Child sex sting operation, Ruben guzman arrested, Super bowl child sex sting, Crime 

America is edging toward a major economic crisis. Not a routine downturn or a mild recession, but something far worse. The Big One. We haven’t hit it yet, and we still have time to change course. But if Washington stays on its current track, trouble is coming.

You don’t need insider access to see it. It isn’t hidden. You only need to look at the numbers.

If Americans insist on responsible budgeting and smaller government, elected leaders will follow. That is how representative government works.

Federal budget documents describe an unsustainable path. Economists across the spectrum say the same. Credit rating agencies have issued warnings. The basic point is simple: We spend far more than we take in, year after year, and the bill keeps compounding.

What makes this moment dangerous is that we have little room left to respond when the next shock hits. We have nearly exhausted our fiscal space, which limits how much more we can borrow without triggering serious consequences. When the next crisis arrives, Washington won’t have the flexibility it relied on in the past. That’s when a bad situation turns into a true break.

Markets are already sounding alarms. Gold and silver prices have climbed. The dollar has weakened. Long-term rates have risen even as short-term rates fall. Foreign governments and major funds have reduced their appetite for U.S. debt. Investors don’t do that out of ideology. They do it when they see risk.

The hard part is not explaining the fix. The hard part is getting the country to accept it.

Too many Americans assume we are immune to the limits that bind every other nation. We are the biggest economy, the world’s reserve currency issuer, the greatest military power. So the thinking goes: Nothing can really happen to us.

That belief is the trap.

If we wait until the crisis becomes obvious to everyone, we will pay a much higher price. The damage will land on ordinary households first, and it will not be easily reversed. It is also immoral to hand our children and grandchildren a country buried under obligations it cannot meet.

RELATED: Washington printed promises. Gold called the bluff.

Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The remedy starts with first principles.

America’s founders did not build a system designed for permanent deficits and permanent expansion. They assumed limited government, manageable levels of debt, fiscal balance over time, and rules that protect the public without choking growth.

The economy has two broad parts: the public sector and the private sector. The public sector enforces law, protects the country, and provides basic administration. The private sector produces the goods and services that create real prosperity. When government grows beyond what taxpayers can support, it crowds out growth, drives up costs, and invites the temptation to paper over deficits with money creation.

Fiscal balance means spending and revenue align over time. When spending consistently exceeds revenue, debt rises. When debt becomes too large, governments lean on the central bank, and inflation follows. Inflation pushes interest rates higher and erodes purchasing power.

A growing government paired with chronic deficits becomes a slow-motion squeeze on the middle class through higher prices, higher borrowing costs, and higher taxes.

Regulation has a legitimate role. But today’s regulatory state has expanded into a sprawling, unelected bureaucracy that writes rules with little accountability. Burdensome regulation raises costs, slows productivity, and makes the economy less resilient.

RELATED: Congress needs to go big or go home

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

We need to bring the size of the federal government back in line with what the tax base can support. That means controlling spending, reforming programs that drive long-term obligations, and reining in regulation that serves bureaucracy more than citizens.

None of this is easy politically. Elected officials won’t act if voters demand ever more benefits and services without acknowledging the costs. That’s why public understanding matters.

Reform will require hard choices. It will require changes to benefits. But we can protect those who truly need help while restoring sanity to federal finances. The alternative is allowing events to impose those choices on us in the worst possible way — through crisis.

If Americans insist on responsible budgeting and smaller government, elected leaders will follow. That is how representative government works. The window for orderly reform is still open. It won’t stay open forever.

​Gold, Silver, Markets, National debt, Long term bonds, Short term bonds, Economy, Government spending, Fiscal responsibility, Federal government, Opinion & analysis, Debt bomb 

Turning Point USA’s All-American Halftime Show ignited controversy after Kid Rock took the stage — a choice BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey admits initially left her stunned.

“You’ve got Turning Point saying that they’ve got this family-friendly show, but then they have Kid Rock, who is not really a family-friendly guy, singing,” Stuckey explains, pointing out that this has become an “intra-Christian battle.”

When Stuckey initially heard that Kid Rock was playing at the Turning Point halftime show, she admittedly was skeptical.

“I don’t think of him as kid-friendly. … I know that he has a history of being very raunchy. He’s definitely about the, like, sex, drugs, and rock and roll; drinking; and things like that. So, I was very surprised,” she explains.

At one point in the show, Kid Rock began sharing the gospel.

“There’s a book that’s sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dusting off. There’s a man who died for all our sins hanging from the cross,” he said, singing, “You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance, till you can’t.”

“OK, I love that. I loved that message. I love the theme of this song. It’s called ‘’Til You Can’t.’ And that line is so true, that Jesus will give you a second chance. He’s got all of this grace to give, until you can’t, and until you take your last breath,” Stuckey comments.

However, Kid Rock also sang songs that celebrated degeneracy.

“So, very confusing, and a lot of people rightly pointed out this seems a little bit hypocritical,” Stuckey says, but one post on X helped her make sense of it.

“There seems to be a lot of confusion & backlash, especially from the Christian community, about Kid Rock’s performance during TPUSA’s All-American Halftime Show. I believe I can clear things up …,” Jon Root began in a post on X.

“Kid Rock started his set by performing ‘Bawitdaba’, which came out in 1999. It is a vulgar song, referencing topless dancers, drinking, crooked cops, bastards, etc. Hearing that was a shock to a lot of us. Rightfully so. It felt worldly, which I believe was the point …,” he continued.

“Next, there was an acoustic set with two people playing a Christian hymn. It was meant to be an emotional bridge to what came next. … Finally, it transitioned to Kid Rock, his stage name, being introduced back to the stage as Robert Ritchie, his birth name. He then played a revised version of ‘Til You Can’t,’ which included lyrics about Jesus Christ,” he explained.

“He also spoke about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, encouraged people to follow Christ, and to read their Bibles. This was supposed to be an artistic way of portraying a redemption story. I don’t know Kid Rock’s walk with Christ, but he used this moment to point people to Christ, and I rejoice in that (Philippians 1:15-18),” he concluded.

“We should always praise God when the gospel is preached,” Stuckey comments. “That is my take on that.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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A federal judge temporarily blocked the punishment against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over a video directing U.S. military members to refuse unlawful orders from the administration.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that Kelly’s First Amendment free speech rights were violated by Pentagon officials. He went on to say the punishment had “threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.”

‘This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, “Captain.”‘

Kelly and five other Democratic members of Congress published a video in Nov. 2025 addressed to members of the military to remind them that they were not bound to obey orders that were unlawful.

The administration accused them of suggesting that the military should disobey any order from the administration, which would be treasonous. Hegseth said in a statement that the “reckless and seditious video” was “clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.”

“The traitors that told the military to disobey my orders should be in jail right now, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain what they said was OK,” President Donald Trump responded at the time. “It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!”

Kelly posted about Thursday’s ruling from his social media account.

“Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said,” he wrote.

“This is a critical moment to show this administration they can’t keep undermining Americans’ rights,” he added. “I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump and Hegseth can’t admit when they are wrong.”

Hegseth responded to the ruling on social media.

“This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, ‘Captain,'” he wrote.

RELATED: Nancy Pelosi outraged after Defense Sec. Hegseth orders removal of gay icon’s name from naval ship

Kelly responded by citing the conclusion from the judge’s ruling.

“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired servicemembers have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years,” the passage reads.

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An online feud broke out between Cardi B and the Department of Homeland Security after she jokingly threatened federal officers during her concert in California.

The rapper had her Mexican fans cheer at the concert in Palm Desert before promising to “jump” Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they tried to detain her fans at the show.

‘I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, b***h!’

“Bitch, if ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they asses!” she said to the crowd, who responded with loud cheers.

“I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, bitch!” she added.

Video of her comments was posted by TMZ before the official account for DHS fired back at the rapper.

“As long as she doesn’t drug and rob our agents, we’ll consider that an improvement over her past behavior,” the agency wrote.

The rapper previously divulged that she drugged men in order to rob them when she previously worked as a stripper.

Cardi B then responded right back at DHS and the Trump administration over the release of the Epstein files.

“If we talking about drugs let’s talk about Epstein and friends drugging underage girls to rape them. Why yall don’t wanna talk about the Epstein files?” she posted.

RELATED: Cardi B calls America ‘ghetto’ and complains about JD Vance in rant praising Saudi Arabia

The Department of Justice released millions of pages from the Epstein files, but Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has claimed that names of co-conspirators were improperly redacted. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) also claimed that the redacted files contain a million mentions of President Donald Trump.

Cardi B was previously praised by those on the right for demanding to know what the U.S. government does with the 40% in taxes that she pays.

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A majority of Americans say that the Democratic Party has become too left-leaning, and it’s been getting worse for at least three decades, according to a new CNN analysis.

While many in the media have been accusing the Republican Party of being too far right, polling indicates that more Americans say Democrats have been turning too far to the left.

‘The Democrats are moving to the left, the far left is gaining power, and there could be some electoral repercussions.’

CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, demonstrated how polling showed that more Democrats identify as liberal.

“The far left is significantly more powerful than they once were. This sort of gives the game away here. Democrats who identify as very liberal or conservative — you know there used to be a lot of conservative Democrats, right?” Enten said during the CNN segment.

“Back in 1999, 26% of Democrats self-identified as conservative. Just 5% said that they were very liberal,” he explained. “It was a smidgen, a smidgen, a smidgen. Now that far left has gained considerably in power.”

He showed that recent polling had 21% of Democrats identifying as very liberal and only 8% identifying as conservative.

Enten went on to reveal polling for the last three decades that indicated more and more Americans see the Democratic Party as too liberal.

“Look at this percentage. It’s 42% in ’96, 48% in 2013, now 58% in 2025 of all voters say that the Democratic Party is too liberal. The Democrats are moving to the left, the far left is gaining power, and there could be some electoral repercussions,” he added.

The CNN analyst posted the video of his segment to his social media account.

RELATED: ‘We have a glaring disadvantage’: Democrats panic as GOP dominates in fundraising: NYT

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Enten also pointed out that among Democrats, about a third considered themselves democratic socialists in recent polling. And that is low compared to Democrats under the age of 35. 42% of that cohort reported identifying as democratic socialists.

“What happened in New York City is not some aberration,” Enten continued, referring to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election. “It is not something that just happened in New York City. It is something that we’re seeing grow within the Democratic Party at this particular point.”

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​Harry enten analysis, Have democrats become more left, Socialist democrats, Dems become liberal, Politics 

Perhaps Snow White should have kept her seven dwarfs, after all.

The 2025 live-action remake of “Snow White” dropped its use of dwarf actors and ended up being a progressive disaster as star Rachel Zegler mocked the traditional story in media interviews.

‘We didn’t do that this time.’

“Snow White” dragged its way to an $87 million domestic weekend when it opened, and while that seems like a massive sum for anyone, filings reported by Forbes showed the movie had nearly double that in losses.

Poisoned production

“Snow White” ended up going over budget, ultimately costing $336.5 million. Its domestic opening was a reported 13% less than forecast, and its eventual worldwide intake of $205.7 million hurt Disney massively, and ended up being the fifth-lowest gross for a live-action adaptation for the studio.

Many memes and unsold tickets later, the 2025 “Snow White” reportedly lost $170 million; here’s how the math works.

The U.K. government gave “Snow White” a reimbursement for filming in its region, equating to $64.9 million (per Forbes). So, while that brings their net expenses down, the box office money is split between the studio and the theaters, leaving Disney with a $271.6 million bill and around $103 million brought in.

That left the Mouse House at a $168.7 million loss.

RELATED: Dwarf actors fire back after Peter Dinklage gets dwarves canceled in new ‘Snow White’ movie: ‘Disney — call me’

Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Snow blow

Zegler diminished her movie so much before its release that YouTube accounts had no problem making compilations of her bizarre critiques. This included clips of Zegler saying the older cartoon movie scared her the first time she watched it and confirmations that the new movie would stray away from a story about a prince rescuing Snow White.

“We didn’t do that this time,” she boasted.

The film also featured no dwarfs at all, in terms of real actors.

After “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage criticized the production for doing a “backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together” in 2022, Disney dropped its dwarf actors and replaced them with computer-generated ones.

This confused audiences, many of whom agreed with actor Dylan Postl, who remarked that the apparent progressive move actually resulted in dwarfs not getting any roles in perhaps the biggest movie there has ever been with specific characters for dwarfs.

“Peter Dinklage spoke up about this, and that was my issue,” Postl said at the time. “He had in the past no issue cashing checks that were made for dwarf roles like ‘Elf’ and all of that. Yes, he blew away the barriers when he did his roles that weren’t necessarily made for a dwarf, but the ‘Elf’ role was made for a dwarf, that check cleared just fine.”

RELATED: ‘It’s hard being women under the spotlight’: Disney’s woke princesses praise each other for their diversity

Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Woke crusade

In the months that followed, Zegler continued her woke crusade in different media appearances. At one point in December 2023, she teamed up with fellow Disney princess Halle Bailey to preach more about the religion of diversity while simultaneously declaring their victimhood.

As for “Snow White,” it ranks only above some rather infamous live-action Disney flops. It tops only “Mulan” (2020), “102 Dalmatians” (2000), “Christopher Robin” (2018), and “The Jungle Book” (1994).

According to WDW News Today, when adjusting the domestic performance of “102 Dalmatians” and “Christopher Robin” for inflation, they actually beat out “Snow White,” dropping the film down to third-worst in the studio’s history.

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​Align, Disney, Woke, Remake, Snow white, Diversity, Entertainment 

The NFL may be touting Super Bowl LX as another ratings success, but BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes the fine print tells a very different story.

“The ratings dropped for the Super Bowl and for Bad Bunny, and they got to spin it in some sort of way,” he says, though he notes there is “no positive spin on what just happened.”

“The viewership’s down 2% to 124 million,” Whitlock points out.

“If you read the fine print of the stories that are coming out and trying to spin these Super Bowl ratings, it actually tells the real story,” he explains, before reading an excerpt from a Front Office Sports report.

“Notably, this was also the first Super Bowl with Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement process. The methodology, first introduced last September, brings in millions of additional data points from set-top boxes and smart TVs. That expanded view of the market has helped produce viewership gains across much of live sports, and particularly pro and college football — but not with the Super Bowl,” the article reads.

“What that means is since September, when we rigged up this new accounting system at Nielsen that counts all of these extra people, we’ve boosted up the TV ratings for football. And since September, everybody in live sports has been benefiting from this new calculation and new system that keeps producing these record ratings,” Whitlock explains.

“They had a system in place designed to boost the ratings of the Super Bowl and didn’t boost the ratings of the Super Bowl. That’s an indicator. That’s an indicator that the NFL and the Super Bowl are losing their grip. They’ve become too arrogant,” he continues.

Whitlock believes that the drop in ratings means that “people are finally starting to wake up to the diminished content.”

“They’re producing more content, and they’re giving us more content, but the content is no good,” he adds.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging Georgia law enforcement officials not to release an illegal alien charged with sexual crimes against a child, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

Juan Carlos Salvador Diaz, 29, was accused of sexual battery against a 10-year-old girl on August 1, 2025, and on December 1, 2023. Salvador Diaz allegedly committed these crimes at a Marietta apartment complex.

‘We need cooperation from state and local authorities to return these types of sickos over to us, so we can get them OUT of our country before they victimize more Americans.’

Local authorities arrested him on January 30, and he is facing two counts of aggravated sexual battery.

Salvador Diaz is currently being held without bond.

The DHS reported that the Honduran national illegally entered the U.S. in 2019.

The day after his arrest, ICE lodged an arrest detainer with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.

RELATED: ‘Not true’: Chicago Mayor Johnson’s ICE order has his own prosecutors up in arms

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

ICE is urging the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office not to release Salvador Diaz from its jail without first notifying the federal immigration agency.

“This monster sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl. We are now asking Georgia authorities to commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainer to ensure this pedophile is not released and able to prey on more innocent children,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Blaze News. “We need cooperation from state and local authorities to return these types of sickos over to us, so we can get them OUT of our country before they victimize more Americans.”

RELATED: Sanctuary city official cries ‘abduction’ when ICE arrests alleged drug trafficker — DHS fires back

Photo by Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office’s website acknowledges that the DHS has a detainer against Salvador Diaz.

In January 2021, then-newly elected Sheriff Craig Owens terminated the sheriff’s office’s participation in ICE’s 287(g) Program, which allowed local law enforcement to identify and process immigration violators in its correctional facilities.

However, in 2024, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed HB 1105 into law, which requires “any custodial authority” to “comply with, honor, and fulfill any request made in the immigration detainer notice.”

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

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Liberal activists in Los Angeles are organizing a new way to warn illegal aliens about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Amanda Alcalde founded the Highland Park Community Support Group for ICE operations and began posting flyers about their new plan: Install sirens.

‘It feels dystopian in a way.’

“We’d like to ultimately have this along all the different streets so they can take shelter,” Alcalde said to KTLA-TV.

The effort is not sanctioned by the city, so the group will have to find private property supporters and businesses where it can install the sirens.

She added that she was “really taking a lot of that influence from Minneapolis and trying to turn it into our own here.”

Activists already use whistles to alert each other about ICE agents.

“We don’t directly get ourselves involved with ICE, but we will get involved protecting the community to stay in their office or home,” activist David Trujillo said to KTLA.

Alcalde claimed that the ICE operations have led to a reduced presence of ethnic minorities in Los Angeles.

“I’ve seen a lot of fear in people’s eyes. I don’t see a lot of our ethnic minorities out in the day-to-day. It’s big change. It feels dystopian in a way,” she said.

Blaze News reached out to DHS for comment but did not receive a response by time of publishing.

RELATED: ICE accuses LA of giving ‘a middle finger to the law’ after county paves way for illegal aliens to receive funding

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, has openly opposed the Trump administration’s order to surge ICE operations in the city.

“There is no plan other than fear, chaos, and politics,” Bass said in July. “Home Depot one day, a car wash the next, armed vehicles and what looked like mounted military units in a park the next day.”

The KTLA report promoted the group’s efforts to raise donations from people who oppose ICE.

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A white-majority Chicago suburb is preparing to distribute hefty cash payments to dozens of black residents as part of the city’s $10 million reparations pledge.

Black residents and descendants of black residents who lived in Evanston, Illinois, between 1919 and 1969 are eligible to receive the payments. Evanston plans to pay $25,000 to 44 qualifying black residents.

‘They are just entirely giving money, usually to black residents solely on the basis of race.’

The City’s Reparations Committee previously pledged $10 million over a decade as part of its Reparations Program, which was established in 2019 and approved by the city council in 2021. The government-funded program is the first of its kind in the U.S.

Cynthia Vargas, Evanston’s communications and community engagement manager, told the Chicago Tribune that payments to the 44 individuals are intended to cover housing expenses.

The city has allocated over $270,000 to its Reparations Program, funds that it collected from the real estate transfer tax. The program also receives funding from the city’s 3% Cannabis Retailers Occupation Tax, though it is unclear how much.

The Reparations Committee has proposed providing additional funding to the program through a potential tax on Delta-8 THC products, a psychoactive substance found in cannabis that is sold in vapes and gummies.

RELATED: Chicago suburb starts disbursing $10 million reparations package to black residents

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“Delta-8 products tend to be rather inexpensive, so the tax on them, it likely won’t be a huge revenue stream, but it is revenue,” Alexandra Ruggie, the city’s corporation counsel, stated. “The other thing that we will have to work out with our finance team is how to go about collecting those taxes, whether we tax it when there’s a point of sale at an Evanston business, or whether or not we tax it when those businesses buy it from the supplier.”

RELATED: Trump pulls US out of ‘racist’ UN forum pushing ‘global reparations agendas’

Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog, filed a lawsuit against Evanston last year, arguing that the Reparations Program used race as an eligibility requirement and therefore violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause.

“There’s a right way and a wrong way to do them,” Michael Bekesha, a senior attorney at Judicial Watch, told Fox News Digital. “So reparations are to repair. And so we have provided in this country reparations in the past when somebody has been wronged by the government, and we try to make that person whole.”

“The reparations programs that you’re seeing around the country that are being talked about aren’t that. They are just entirely giving money, usually to black residents solely on the basis of race. And I mean, that’s just problematic,” Bekesha added.

A spokesperson for the city told Fox News Digital that it cannot respond to ongoing litigation.

According to 2020 census data, more than 46,000 of Evanston’s 78,000 residents identify as “white alone.” Just 12,500 identify as “black or African-American alone.”

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