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Following the striking total lunar eclipse — commonly called a blood moon — that turned the moon a vivid copper red in the early hours of March 3, and amid the escalating U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran, discussions of biblical end times prophecies are surging once again.

Given that blood moons occur roughly every 2-2.5 years, conflict involving Israel in the Middle East has persisted for decades, and the fact that Scripture clearly states that no one except God knows when Jesus will return, this kind of hysteria frustrates Jase Robertson.

“I believe the Bible — that only the Lord knows,” he says, reminding us that even Jesus himself doesn’t know the exact date of his return (Matthew 24:36).

But despite Scripture’s clarity that nobody knows when Christ will return, many professing Christians are nonetheless tempted to make grand predictions about the end of the world — sometimes down to exact day and hour.

Jase says these people are asking the wrong kinds of questions. On this episode of “Unashamed,” dives into the two wrong questions Christians should never ask about the end times — and the two right ones they should focus on instead.

The first “wrong question,” he says, is “when is it going to happen?”

“Wrong question,” he repeats, citing 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, which reads, “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

The second “wrong question” is “where are we going?”

“Wrong question,” Jase says again, reading from 1 Thessalonians 4, which shifts the focus away from location and gives Christians the only assurance they need: They will be “with the Lord.”

There are only two questions Christ-followers should be asking about the end times, says Jase.

The first is: If you do live to see the return of Christ, “who are you with?”

“This is one that’s answered. … [You’re] with Him!” he exclaims.

The second good question is: “For how long?”

“Forever,” says Jase, citing 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which promises that “we will be with the Lord forever.”

“The Bible is about who you’re with — not where you’re going and not when it’s going to happen.”

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​Unashamed, Phil robertson, Jase robertsons, Robertson family, Robertsons, Blazetv, Blaze media, End times, Blood moon, Middle east conflict 

President Donald Trump on Saturday morning announced that Iran has stopped its attacks on neighboring countries, but he cautioned that Iran will continue to be “hit very hard” by the U.S. and Israel.

‘It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries.’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also released a statement Saturday declaring that Iran no longer will attack neighboring countries unless it is attacked first.

“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” Pezeshkian said. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”

Pezeshkian dismissed Trump’s calls for Tehran, Iran’s capital, to surrender unconditionally.

“That’s a dream that they should take to their grave,” he stated.

Pezeshkian’s latest comments came after Iran reportedly launched multiple attacks on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman.

RELATED: Dozens of Democrats side with Iran over Trump

Masoud Pezeshkian. Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

Trump responded to Pezeshkian’s announcement in a post on social media, suggesting that the Iranian president’s apology was a direct result of the “relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.”

“Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack,” Trump wrote. “They were looking to take over and rule the Middle East.”

Trump also wrote that “it is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries. Iran is no longer the ‘Bully of the Middle East,’ they are, instead, ‘THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!”

The president warned that Iran would “be hit very hard” on Saturday.

In addition, Trump said: “Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.”

RELATED: State Department launches urgent push to evacuate Americans from Middle East

Donald Trump. Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images

The president made remarks about the Iran conflict while attending the Shield of the Americas Summit in Doral, Florida, on Saturday.

Trump stated that the U.S. is “doing very well in Iran,” noting that 42 of Iran’s navy ships had been eliminated in three days. He also said Iran’s air force and telecommunications had been destroyed.

“They’re bad people,” Trump said. “When you look at October 7th, and beyond October 7th, look at all the killing that they’ve done over the years — for 47 years.”

Trump concluded that the strikes against Iran “had to be done.”

The Associated Press reported that “pillars of flame” were seen late Saturday above an oil storage facility in Tehran, and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises.” The AP added that Iranian state media confirmed the strike and blamed “an attack from the U.S. and the Zionist regime.”

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​News, Trump, Donald trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Iran, Israel, Masoud pezeshkian, Iran strikes, Politics 

Police said a 47-year-old male — who was on parole and had 131 prior arrests on his record — was charged for setting a homeless man on fire while the victim was sleeping in New York City’s Penn Station, the New York Daily News reported.

Officers with the Amtrak Police Department arrested Damon Johnson on Tuesday and charged him with attempted murder and assault for the previous day’s attack, which left a 37-year-old man with second-degree burns on his arm and back, police told the Daily News.

‘Begins wailing and convulsing and scrambled to his feet with his jacket on fire.’

Johnson pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday in Manhattan Criminal Court where he was ordered held without bail, the paper said.

Amtrak police also arrested a 33-year-old female Wednesday and charged her with assault in connection with the attack, police told the Daily News.

However, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the female, the paper said, adding that police sources indicated that while she was with Johnson at the time the fire was started, it’s unclear if she committed a crime at the scene.

RELATED: Horror in Ohio home: Male accused of raping, beating pregnant woman over course of 2 days. But that isn’t the half of it.

The Daily News, citing police, said the victim was sleeping near a West 33rd Street entrance to Penn Station’s Amtrak rotunda near Eighth Avenue when three people approached him — and one of them set fire to the man’s clothes around 8:30 p.m.

During Johnson’s arraignment, Callum Mullan — a prosecutor with the DA’s office — described video of the attack, which he said shows Johnson leaning over the victim, who moments later “begins wailing and convulsing and scrambled to his feet with his jacket on fire,” the paper said.

After the attack, the three men fled into the station, the Daily News said.

First responders extinguished the flames and rushed the victim to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell’s burn unit, the paper said.

Mullan added that Johnson at the time of the attack was on parole for a 2018 robbery, in which he slashed a student’s face before taking cash from his pockets, the Daily News reported. Mullan said the victim needed more than 100 stitches, according to the paper.

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​Homeless man, Homeless victim, Set on fire, Attempted murder, Repeat offender, Penn station, New york city, New york city police department, Nypd, Parolee, Train station, Sleeping victim, Crime 

Where would Hollywood be without “creative differences”? It’s like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card with no feelings hurt. At least none that we can see.

Director Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) just left the “Ocean’s 11” prequel over that oh-so-Tinsel Town excuse. But why? No, really, why?

‘Is California overregulated?’ Kimmel asked, presumably a setup for the Democrat to counter his critics.

The film is set to star Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper, and it’s got money-making IP written all over it. What’s not to love, at least from a director’s point of view?

We may never know. But nothing will stop Hollywood when it’s time to prequel-ize a hit franchise. And we can always drown our sorrows in “Ocean’s 14,” starring most of the saga’s original cast. Phew …

Hassle’s back?

“The View” hosts ganged up on right-leaning Meghan McCain until she couldn’t take it any longer. That was all the way back in 2021, and the show has been conservative-free ever since. Sorry, anti-Trumper Alyssa Farah Griffin doesn’t remotely count.

This week, the show’s previous token conservative made a rousing comeback. Elisabeth Hasselbeck rejoined the show briefly while Griffin is out on maternity leave. But the show she left in 2013 doesn’t resemble the current version.

Crazy is now the order of the day, the week, and the month. So when Hasselbeck shared a few obvious observations, it didn’t go over well. She noted that Sunny Hostin cheered on President Barack Obama’s Libya bombing but blasted President Donald Trump for the current Iran campaign.

The back-and-forth proved so heated that the far-Left Variety suggested that Hasselbeck come back to the show full-time. It came with a catch, natch. The scribe wants her pro-Trump views to be rebuffed by her fellow “View” hosts.

If leftists need Whoopi and Co. to have their ideological backs, the Democrats are in worse shape than we feared …

RELATED: DB Sweeney: ‘Protector’ star finds Hollywood longevity without selling his soul

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images | Magenta Light Studios

Keister-kissing Kimmel

No one throws softballs quite like Jimmy Kimmel. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is the safest of spaces for the AOCs of the world to push their talking points without a hint of, well, journalism.

Yet Gavin Newsom just flunked that test.

The California governor joined Kimmel to promote his new book, “Sure, I Grew Up Rich, but … Squirrel!” when he admitted an inconvenient truth: The Golden State is drowning in regulations.

“Is California overregulated?” Kimmel asked, presumably a setup for the Democrat to counter his critics.

Except Newsom said “yes” in so many words.

He described those “well-meaning laws” that have handcuffed Californians and sent residents fleeing the state. Except Newsom has a plan, one that apparently hasn’t been introduced to the state he governs yet. Any day now, Captain Vocal Fry. It’s called the “Abundance Agenda,” and it’s exactly the word salad we expected from Newsom.

Maybe the next time he visits Kimmel, he’ll stumble upon a better answer. Or Kimmel will realize Newsom is the 2028 version of Kamala Harris. Keep him in bubble wrap until Election Day …

Catfight

This might be the dumbest reason ever not to vote for an actor. Jessie Buckley’s heart-wrenching turn in “Hamnet” earned her raves and, more recently, a Best Actress nomination.

And she stands a solid chance of winning, or at least she did until she lost the all-important “cat” vote.

The Irish Times published a Pulitzer-level think piece suggesting the actress’ anti-cat comments could hurt her Oscar chances.

Laugh all you want, but is that argument any worse than others we’re hearing this Oscar season? Take Timothee Chalamet, the uber-talented star of “Marty Supreme.” He too is Oscar-nominated, but the word around Hollywood is that the actor is too “arrogant.” His celebrity “swagger” is a problem that could cost him votes.

Maybe the bigger problem is easier to spot. He’s a straight white male actor, and that doesn’t check off a single diversity box.

Better luck next year, kid …

Crack record

Billy Idol could be the worst drug counselor ever. The 1980s rocker, the star of the new documentary “Billy Idol Should Be Dead,” confessed that he kicked his heroin habit with a peculiar medication.

Crack.

He told Bill Maher on the comic’s “Club Random” podcast about his unique path toward sobriety. Sort of.

“Once you’re trying to get off heroin, what do you go to? You go to something else. I started smoking crack to get off heroin. … It worked. It worked.”

Maybe Keith Richards should have tried that long ago.

​Entertainment, Culture, The view, Sunny hostin, Joy behar, Ocean’s 11, Movies, Timothee chalamet, Lee isaac chung, Toto recall 

More and more car dealers are breaking what was once an industry taboo: selling salvage-title vehicles — cars insurance companies have already written off as total losses.

That change, which Karl Brauer and I discuss on the latest episode of “The Drive with Lauren and Karl,” reflects a simple reality: Affordable used cars are getting harder to find.

Alan compares flood damage to a long-term electrical disease inside a vehicle.

Used-car prices remain elevated, and inventory is still tight. Dealers looking for lower-cost vehicles to put on their lots are exploring options they once avoided — including vehicles that insurers have already declared totaled.

Lower prices may sound appealing to buyers struggling with high car costs. But the real question is whether those savings are worth the risk.

To unpack that risk, we brought in our friend automotive broadcaster Alan Taylor, who hosted “The Drive” for years before handing the microphone to Karl and me. Alan used to own a salvage yard before his broadcasting career, giving him firsthand experience buying, repairing, and reselling damaged vehicles.

During the episode, we were ribbing Alan about his new Liquid Carbon Series Mustang GTD, but the conversation quickly turned serious when the topic shifted to salvage vehicles — a business he knows firsthand from years running a wrecking yard.

Why salvage cars are entering the retail market

The driving force is affordability.

When used vehicles become expensive, buyers start searching for cheaper alternatives. Salvage-title vehicles often sell for significantly less than comparable clean-title cars.

For dealers, that means inventory that can be priced lower. For buyers, it can look like an opportunity.

But the lower price exists for a reason.

A salvage title means the vehicle was declared a total loss by an insurance company. That can happen after a crash, flood damage, theft recovery, or another major incident. Once a title is branded salvage, that designation stays with the vehicle permanently.

The problem for buyers is simple: The title tells you something serious happened — but it does not always explain how serious the damage actually was.

RELATED: Affordable cars still exist — but Americans can’t buy them

Bloomberg/Getty Images

The biggest danger: Flood cars

During the conversation, Karl and Alan both warned that some salvage vehicles carry risks that never truly go away.

Flood-damaged cars are the most notorious example.

Water can infiltrate wiring harnesses, electronic modules, sensors, and interior components. A vehicle might appear normal after repairs, but corrosion inside the electrical system can trigger problems months or years later.

Alan compares flood damage to a long-term electrical disease inside a vehicle — something that may not show up immediately but can slowly spread through the car’s electronics over time.

Those failures can be expensive. Replacing electronic modules, wiring harnesses, or sensor systems in modern vehicles can easily cost thousands of dollars, quickly erasing whatever savings a buyer thought they gained by choosing a salvage car.

A vehicle may pass a test drive today but develop costly electrical problems months later.

Modern cars make salvage repairs riskier

Those risks are greater today than they were decades ago.

Modern vehicles rely on dozens of electronic control units, sensors, and processors to operate everything from safety systems to driver-assistance technology. When those systems are damaged, repairs become far more complicated.

According to Alan, “Anything after 2019 has got so many processors, sensors, and wires” he can sum up the repair process in one word: “Nightmare.”

Older vehicles were largely mechanical. Modern vehicles are heavily electronic, and electrical damage can affect systems throughout the car.

That complexity makes hidden problems far more likely.

Not every salvage car is a disaster

At the same time, not every salvage vehicle should be automatically dismissed.

Sometimes a car receives a salvage title for reasons that do not involve catastrophic damage. Theft-recovery vehicles are one example. If an insurer pays the owner after a stolen vehicle disappears, the title can still be branded salvage even if the car is later recovered with relatively minor damage.

Alan saw this firsthand at his salvage yard.

“I used to sell 100 cars a month,” he says. “But I would sell them damaged to people, and then I had a body shop, and we’d fix it at the building next door.”

Those buyers understood exactly what they were purchasing and often ended up with affordable transportation after repairs.

Alan notes that the key difference between a good salvage purchase and a bad one is simple: knowing exactly what damage occurred and how the repairs were done.

Most retail buyers, however, do not have that level of visibility.

Knowing the damage matters

Karl offers a good example from his own garage.

One of his cars carries a salvage title, but he knows exactly how the damage occurred:

“I got T-boned in a parking lot.”

Because he witnessed the accident and understands the repair history, evaluating the risk is far easier.

Most used-car buyers do not have that advantage.

That uncertainty is what makes salvage vehicles risky purchases.

How buyers can protect themselves

For consumers considering a salvage-title vehicle, research is essential.

Before buying, experts recommend:

Running a vehicle history reportSearching the VIN online for accident photosHaving the car inspected by a trusted mechanicConfirming what repairs were performed and by whom

Without that information, the buyer is relying largely on trust.

And with modern vehicles packed with electronics, hidden damage can quickly turn a cheap purchase into an expensive repair bill.

The bottom line for drivers

Salvage-title vehicles exist in a gray area.

Some are repaired correctly and provide affordable transportation. Others hide structural or electrical damage that will lead to long-term reliability problems.

The lower price reflects that uncertainty.

For buyers who understand the risks and investigate the vehicle’s history carefully, a salvage car can occasionally make sense. But for most consumers shopping for dependable daily transportation, a clean-title vehicle with a documented history remains the safer choice.

To sum it up, the rule is simple: If you don’t know exactly why a car has a salvage title, you probably shouldn’t buy it.

Listen to the full episode of “The Drive with Lauren and Karl” (featuring Alan Taylor) below:

​Drive with lauren fix and karl brauer, Lifestyle, Auto industry, Align cars, Alan taylor, Salvage title, Mustang gtd 

Every year, Congress flirts with a government shutdown, driven by partisan squabbling and political showmanship. It’s an avoidable cycle that harms taxpayers, disrupts businesses, and creates uncertainty for the public — without producing meaningful policy outcomes. Shutdowns have become a costly ritual Washington should abandon.

Last year’s record 43-day shutdown brought large parts of government to a standstill. Flights were canceled. Permits stalled. Military personnel and civilian federal workers went without paychecks. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the lapse caused as much as $14 billion in permanent GDP loss — about the size of Kosovo’s entire economy.

Supporters of shutdown brinkmanship claim deadlines create leverage to force policy changes. In practice, shutdowns harden positions instead of producing compromise.

Now Democrats are holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has been closed for over a month. This partial shutdown is hitting TSA workers and other essential homeland security personnel.

Nobody wins in a shutdown.

The good news: Congress has tools to stop this nonsense for good. Last year, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) reintroduced the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act. The bill would keep the government operating temporarily at current funding levels while negotiations continue on longer-term deals. It would also bar members of Congress from spending taxpayer dollars on travel, taking recess, or considering most non-spending legislation until they finish the budget.

Shutdowns don’t save money. Agencies burn time and resources preparing contingency plans, restarting operations, and cleaning up the mess. Workers ultimately receive back pay after funding is restored. Taxpayers foot the bill for Washington’s dysfunction.

Financial markets and businesses also pay a price. Companies that depend on permits, contracts, or federal data releases face delays that disrupt investment decisions. Entrepreneurs seeking approvals may postpone hiring or expansion. Credit rating agencies have warned repeatedly that shutdown brinkmanship undermines confidence in America’s governance — an unnecessary risk for the world’s largest economy.

The politics make reform urgent. Nearly all government funding is set to expire just weeks before Election Day, a pressure point at the height of campaign season. Recent history shows how easily the minority party can see strategic advantage in prolonging a lapse to reinforce a narrative of chaos and dysfunction heading into the midterms.

RELATED: Bidenflation? Trumpflation? Try unipartyflation

RonBailey via iStock/Getty Images

Americans expect disagreement in a democracy. They also expect basic governance to continue. Shutdowns signal that politicians will use essential functions as bargaining chips. That deepens cynicism about institutions and reinforces the belief that Washington prizes partisan victories over practical solutions.

Supporters of shutdown brinkmanship claim deadlines create leverage to force policy changes. Last year, Democrats tried to use a shutdown threat to extend temporary, expensive tax credits to subsidize Obamacare. In other cases, Republicans tried to use shutdowns to force a repeal of Obamacare. Neither strategy worked. In practice, shutdowns harden positions instead of producing compromise.

Ideally, Congress would pass the 12 regular appropriations bills before the fiscal year begins on October 1. It hasn’t done that in nearly 30 years, largely because the process has become a political weapon.

Avoiding shutdowns doesn’t mean abandoning fiscal discipline. It means recognizing that responsible governing requires stability alongside vigorous debate. Congress can fight over spending levels, taxes, and policy priorities without threatening the continuity of government operations.

Washington should end the brinkmanship, reopen the government, and adopt reforms that keep shutdown threats from holding the country hostage again.

​Opinion & analysis, Government shutdown, Brinkmanship, Republicans, Democrats, Economy, Fiscal discipline, Obamacare, Subsidies, Appropriations, Compromise, Paychecks, Tsa, Immigration and customs enforcement, Department of homeland security, Prevent government shutdowns act, Jodey arrington, James lankford 

Farming with lasers will make you healthier — here’s how.

An attachment, powered by artificial intelligence, could save farmers from a seemingly ever-present headache, while producing a higher yield than ever before.

‘[This] is now the cheapest way to control weeds in the vegetable fields.’

This laser farming technique uses powerful 240-watt lasers, high-resolution cameras, Nvidia processors, and nearly two dozen simple LED lights.

The operation is called “laser weeding,” and it comes from company Carbon Robotics, which has developed technology to destroy weeds with lasers while keeping crops intact, seemingly eliminating the need for pesticides that contain harmful chemicals.

“Optimal thermal energy destroys the meristem, stopping regrowth and returning weeds to organic biomass,” the company says on its website.

The machine looks almost like a UFO when in action, with lights flashing and little puffs of smoke coming off the ground. The “LaserWeeder” is slowly pulled over the crops and targets weeds — using AI programming to identify them — and takes them out with a laser.

RELATED: Ultra-processed food manufacturers ran the Big Tobacco playbook to addict consumers: Study

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently promoted the technique on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” telling the host that one farmer he interviewed in Texas had dropped her costs from $1,500 per acre (to pay for pesticides and labor) to $300 per acre.

“It’s a million-dollar machine, which sounds like a lot, but you got 8,000 acres and you’re paying $1,500 an acre per growing season,” Kennedy explained.

“[This] is now the cheapest way to control weeds in the vegetable fields. … It kills the weeds at every stage of their life,” he continued. “It identifies their species and kills them instantly, all the way down through their root system by exploding them with this laser.”

Kennedy went further and said for farmers who are using the machine, they’ve seen a “30% increase in productivity” on the farm.

“It’s a million-dollar machine, but it pays back,” he reiterated.

RELATED: The media’s ‘confusion’ over RFK Jr.’s diet guidelines is either fake — or just stupid

Rogan asked a few simple questions about the machinery, including whether it would impact food and if it could be used for bugs.

The answers to those questions were “no” and “yes,” respectively.

“They can do it for bugs too. … They identify them and zap them,” Kennedy claimed, while adding there is no “impact” on the food.

According to Carbon Robotics, the machinery lowers weed control costs by 80% per year and kills 99% of weeds that grow around carrots, herbs, onions, and leafy greens.

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​Return, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Farming, Farmers, Farmers of america, Vegetables, Hhs, Tech 

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey won’t say the name of the alleged transgender Canadian shooter who last month took the lives of his mother, his stepbrother, five young children, and a teacher — but she does want to focus on his father.

“The biological father of this Canadian shooter, his name is Justin Van Rootselaar. He publicly released a statement to express his deep sorrow and to clarify his complete estrangement from the child,” Stuckey explains.

In a statement from the father, he claimed that he distanced himself from his son, telling CBC that he was “estranged” and “not a part of his life.”

“In the statement, he emphasized that he had no involvement in his kid’s life or the upbringing. Apparently, he says the mother had refused his participation from the start. We don’t know, you know, we don’t know if that’s true, if it was really the mother’s fault or not. Unfortunately, the mother is now dead,” Stuckey comments.

The father also did not call his son by his preferred female pronouns.

“What he’s trying to say is, ‘This is not my fault. I was not involved in this at all.’ And I understand his desire to do that, but actually it was his absence, I believe, that contributed to this. It was his absence that created probably this kind of instability,” Stuckey says.

“Like, kids need more involvement from both parents, not less. He clearly didn’t have this strong male role model that he needed in his life. And I’m not saying that is always the antidote. That’s not always the thing that is going to prevent a guy, a young man, from going down this path, but it certainly doesn’t help,” she continues. “It certainly doesn’t help when you don’t have a father in the home.”

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.

​Video phone, Camera phone, Sharing, Upload, Video, Free, Youtube.com, Relatable, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Trans mass shooter, Transgender mass shooter, Allie beth stuckey 

This time one year ago, David Hogg served as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and he was openly touting Jasmine Crockett as the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nominee.

For real.

The other side is energized — and it is learning how to package its agenda in forms that look familiar enough to pass at a glance.

What a difference a year makes! Hogg was ousted from the DNC in June, and this week, Crockett’s U.S. Senate hopes sank like an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean.

Crockett built a national brand on performance: the nails, the lashes, the dialect, the whole routine. Private-school résumé, public “hood rat” persona. The problem wasn’t that Democrats objected to the routine. The problem was that it didn’t translate statewide.

Even though one in four Democratic primary voters are black, Crockett’s two-term House persona couldn’t carry her in a Senate primary among white voters living paycheck to paycheck. The scam had run its course.

Of course, modern Democratic politics rarely punishes grifters or scammers. It simply swaps in a new scam with better packaging.

Enter James Talarico, a name most Americans didn’t know a few weeks ago. He went on Stephen Colbert last month and played martyr about the Trump administration supposedly trying to censor an interview. Then — boom! — more than two million Democratic primary voters showed up and handed Texas’ Democratic U.S. Senate nomination to a straight white male.

That result doesn’t happen unless Talarico brings dark magic to the table.

He runs as part of “Team Jesus” — while speaking with forked tongue, of course.

That label provides a “permission structure” (read: scam) for Democratic primary voters who want a candidate who looks less like a cultural provocation and more like a “values” figure without changing the party’s underlying agenda. Democrats used a similar move nationally: Wrap the ticket in “normal” imagery — the old ball coach who wears flannel — and dare critics to object.

In Talarico’s case, the permission structure goes deeper because it touches theology. He offers a version of Christianity tailored for the normie voter — Christian language used to sell progressive policy as moral inevitability.

That’s why the stakes aren’t limited to one Senate race. If the left can redefine Christianity in public, it can neutralize one of the last institutions that resists its broader project. Talarico’s pitch attempts to do exactly that by presenting positions on abortion and gender ideology as not merely acceptable to Christians but practically demanded by God — who, in case you haven’t heard, is nonbinary.

RELATED: ‘Wake the hell up’: Glenn Beck warns Texans after primary election results

Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Talarico may still lose in November. But remember: Beto O’Rourke lost to Ted Cruz by less than three points in 2018. National Democrats will treat this race as winnable and amplify it accordingly. The messaging will be exported far beyond Texas.

So here’s the question for the American church: Are you prepared to confront this?

A statewide campaign can become a delivery system for doctrinal confusion. Many churches, even in red states, insist they don’t want to “get political.” That instinct can become an excuse for silence when clarity is required.

More than 1.2 million Texans voted for a candidate whose brand centers on a theological message that would have sounded unthinkable less than a generation ago. So maybe the more urgent question isn’t whether the church is prepared. It’s whether the church even cares.

One more question, because the turnout itself should concern conservatives.

In a red state, with a major GOP Senate primary featuring an entrenched incumbent, a well-known attorney general, and a sitting congressman, how did that race draw fewer voters than the Democrats’ contest between the phony preacher and the fake hood rat?

Yes, that happened.

If nothing else, it should serve as a warning: The other side is energized — and it is learning how to package its agenda in forms that look familiar enough to pass at a glance.

​James talarico, Ken paxton, John cornyn, Democrats, Texas, Texas primary, Senate race, Gop, Opinion & analysis, 2026 midterms 

Rick Burgess, BlazeTV host of the spiritual warfare podcast “Strange Encounters,” often encourages his audience to engage in what he calls “spiritual housecleaning” — that is, ridding your life of both objects and activities that would give demons a foothold to torment you. Whether it’s watching horror movies, participating in Halloween festivities, or adorning your home with items associated with occult practices, Rick pulls no punches about the importance of “cleaning out” your life so that it not only glorifies God but also doesn’t give Satan’s forces a reason to linger.

But what happens when the darkness you’re trying to rid yourself of doesn’t look like a book of crystal magic, a subscription to a pornography site, or a gruesome Halloween display? What happens when that evil exists inside another person?

On this episode of “Strange Encounters,” Rick addresses a question many people are asking right now: Is narcissism a personality disorder or a symptom of a demon stronghold?

Rick first acknowledges that in our current day, people are far too quick to label someone a narcissist out of dislike.

“I think that’s reckless,” he says, “but [narcissism] does exist, and these people are real.”

But are demons really the reason these people are so difficult to deal with? Or are they just suffering from extreme psychological challenges?

Rick’s answer is layered.

“I don’t think everybody who is a narcissist is truly under demonic possession or oppression,” he says, acknowledging that some really “do need psychological help.”

That said, he does believe that genuine narcissists are “opening themselves up to demonic oppression or possession.”

A true narcissist, he explains, “does not have the ability to be part of a really close relationship with anyone,” because they are only seeking relationships “that fit their own interest.” They are people who “cannot handle criticism” and are “arrogant” and full of “pride,” he says.

All of these traits stand in stark contrast to how Scripture calls believers to be — lowly in spirit and humble, walking in honesty and righteousness toward others.

“This is where we’re starting to get into the spiritual,” says Rick.

“[Narcissists] love manipulation. They love deception. That’s demonic. They have a carefully crafted smoke screen to keep you confused, and their main goal in all of this is control,” he explains.

They also “love a world of conflict and chaos” and “feed on conflict.”

Scripture, Rick says, tells us very clearly that Satan and his demonic legions operate in similar ways — deceiving and manipulating us, sowing chaos in our lives, and destroying our relationships.

What is the believer to do, then, when faced with a narcissist? Should he uproot the person from his life, like one would trash an ouija board, for example?

With human beings, it’s not so simple, says Rick.

For the Christian in this situation, he says it’s important to “pray for discernment,” “pray for protection against [the narcissist],” “pray that God would break that spiritual stronghold,” and “use the authority that you’ve been given.”

To hear Rick’s full biblical breakdown, watch the episode above.

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To enjoy more bold talk and big laughs, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Strange encounters, Strange encounters with rick burgess, Rick burgess, Spiritual warfare, Narcissism, Demon possessed, Blazetv, Blaze media 

The Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endeavored to radically improve American nutrition and address those elements of the food system that are contributing to the chronic disease epidemic.

The department has, for instance, flipped the “corrupt food pyramid,” worked to remove petroleum-based synthetic dyes from America’s food supply, raised awareness about the health risks of eating ultra-processed foods, and expanded research into nutrition and metabolic health.

On Wednesday, Kennedy announced a new Make America Healthy Again initiative aimed at curbing chronic disease and improving nutrition: teaching Americans to cook.

‘Eating together as a family is a sacred ritual.’

Kennedy joined Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and USDA national nutrition adviser Dr. Ben Carson in announcing the commencement of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Strategic Partnerships, which the USDA characterized as an effort to encourage “the private sector to participate in educating the American people about the importance of the Guidelines and how they serve as the foundation to better eating.”

During the press conference Wednesday, Kennedy noted, “Every American can feed themselves cheaper than fast food.”

A YouGov survey taken last month found that 36% of Americans said they cook food daily; 40% said they cook a few times a week; 10% said they cook once a week; and 2% said they never cook.

A study published last year in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition noted:

Poor dietary quality, including high intakes of ultraprocessed food and food-away-from-home, is associated with an array of adverse health outcomes, including increased BMI, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Home food preparation, “cooking,” offers an affordable strategy for reducing ultraprocessed food intake and away-from-home intake.

The same study said that “the percentage of United States adults cooking has increased since 2003; however, the overall mean time spent cooking among cookers has remained relatively stable.”

RELATED: Cooking is easy; it’s our modern anxiety that makes it hard

Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Image

“One of the challenges that we’re facing and that we’re working on all kinds of innovative devices to solve is that Americans have forgotten how to cook,” said Kennedy. “The convenience of fast food is one of the things that attracts them, and many of them don’t have the cutlery, they don’t have the pots and pans, they don’t have the cutting boards, and they don’t know how to shop.”

The health secretary said that he and his team have been discussing possibly deploying the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and/or other organizations within HHS “to go out and actually teach people to cook.”

Kennedy underscored that making and eating meals together is about far more than just bodily health.

“President Trump has talked about the spiritual malaise in our country. That spiritual malaise comes from the breakdown of families; it comes from the fragmentation, the atomization, the isolation — particularly in our children. They don’t feel connections any more,” said Kennedy.

“Cooking … and eating together as a family is a sacred ritual,” continued Kennedy, “and it’s something that brings families together for an hour or two hours a day, where they talk, where they interact, where they work together on an act of creation, and they eat together in this wonderful ritual that brings families together.

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Kentucky is on track to become the first state where the legislature overrides a governor’s opposition and opts into President Trump’s new school-choice program, part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The federal initiative lets states opt in to tax-credit scholarships that expand options for families without tapping public school budgets.

The Kentucky Senate just passed House Bill 1 by a 33-5 vote. All Republicans backed it, joined by one Democrat. The House had already approved the bill 79-17, with two Democrats voting yes. Now it heads to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, a reliable opponent of school choice.

Governors don’t get a permanent veto over school choice when legislatures have the votes — and families are demanding options.

Kentucky’s override rules make this fight different. Lawmakers need only a simple majority in each chamber to overturn a veto — and the vote totals suggest they have it.

Beshear’s own education choices underscore the disconnect. He attended Capital Day School, a private school, for part of his education. He also enrolled his children in private schools for portions of their schooling. He wants those options for his family, but he resists expanding similar opportunities statewide.

North Carolina provides the contrast. Republicans there advanced an opt-in bill to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, but the state requires a 60% vote in each chamber to override a veto. The GOP lacks that margin, making success unlikely.

In Kentucky’s Senate debate, Majority Floor Leader Max Wise (R) singled out Democratic Rep. Tina Bojanowski for her yes vote. Another senator pointed to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis — the first Democratic governor to opt his state into Trump’s program. Polis called participation a “no-brainer” and said he “would be crazy not to” do it.

Here’s the key design feature: Any U.S. taxpayer can contribute to these scholarships and claim a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit. Families can access scholarships only if their state opts in. That means residents of opt-out states can fund scholarships in opt-in states — a built-in incentive for governors and lawmakers to join rather than watch their taxpayers’ dollars flow elsewhere.

The program relies on private contributions. It does not divert funds from public schools. That approach likely explains the bill’s wide support — more than 80% of members present and voting in each chamber backed it. Kentucky’s 2024 school choice constitutional amendment never came close to that kind of consensus.

For Kentucky families, the opt-in may be the only viable path right now. The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously struck down the state’s tax-credit scholarship program in 2022. It also blocked charter schools last month. Unless and until the court’s composition changes, the Trump program offers a practical workaround.

RELATED: When parents pay twice to escape public schools, the verdict is in

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That matters because the 2024 ballot measure tried to amend the state constitution to sidestep the court. Teachers’ unions spent millions opposing it. The language confused voters, and constitutional amendments don’t deliver immediate, tangible benefits like scholarships. When ballot measures confuse people, they default to the status quo.

So far, 27 governors have opted their states into Trump’s school-choice program. That group includes 26 Republicans — all except Vermont Gov. Phil Scott — and one Democrat, Polis. Republican-led legislatures in other states are exploring opt-ins and, in some cases, overrides against Democratic governors.

In Arizona, the state senate passed an opt-in bill, but Republicans likely lack the votes to override a veto from Gov. Katie Hobbs. Kansas and Wisconsin are also in play. Wisconsin Republicans don’t have the votes for an override. In Kansas, it remains unclear whether Republicans will unify the way Kentucky’s did.

Kentucky’s move shows why this program has momentum. It expands options without reopening state-funding fights or running into the same court barriers. The tax-credit mechanism encourages private giving while keeping scholarship access tied to states that opt in.

If Kentucky lawmakers follow through, they won’t just deliver scholarships. They’ll set a precedent: Governors don’t get a permanent veto over school choice when legislatures have the votes — and families are demanding options.

​Kentucky, School choice, One big beautiful bill, Public schools, Kentucky schools, School tax credits, Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Andy beshear, Veto override, Supreme court, Charter schools, Taxpayers, Opt in, North carolina, Josh stein, Arizona, Katie hobbs 

Ryan Reynolds has made an almost 50X return on a tiny Welsh soccer team.

When Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney, best known for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” bought Wrexham AFC in 2021 for about $2.6 million, it played in England’s fifth-tier soccer league and placed eighth. Now, it is knocking on the door of the country’s top league and is worth around $130 million.

‘Home! Chelsea! Yes!’

It did not take long for the Hollywood owners to bring the team out of obscurity, even though Wrexham is known as being the third-oldest existing professional soccer team in the world. Wrexham was founded over 161 years ago, in October 1864.

Five years of success after success has brought the stars’ team to the fifth round of the FA Cup, the final 16 teams of England’s biggest tournament and the oldest national soccer competition in the world.

Wrexham plays Chelsea FC, a team from England’s top-flight English Premier League, on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET. Chelsea is one of the wealthiest teams in the world and would typically crush lower-tiered teams. However, Wrexham has had magic surrounding it lately.

RELATED: Chicago Bears GM calls NFL’s race-based hiring ‘strange’ as league struggles with DEI incentive

Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images

It already defeated Premier League team Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup (3-3, won on penalties) and Ipswich Town, a team ahead of Wrexham in its own division, in the fourth round (1-0).

“Home! Chelsea! Yes!” Reynolds said in an X video after learning about his team’s opponent.

While Wrexham has played both Chelsea and world-famous Manchester United in exhibition games, this is by far the biggest team it has played in real competition since Reynolds took the helm. His time as owner has been nothing short of a fairy tale for supporters over the last five years.

In 2022-2023, Wrexham won the National League, gaining promotion to the fourth tier, English League Two. Finishing in second place in consecutive years has garnered Wrexham a promotion to the EFL Championship, England’s second-highest league, where the team currently sits.

RELATED: Michael Jordan shocks NASCAR by doing something no one has done in 77 years

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After Saturday’s match, Wrexham will continue its push to make the Premier League. As it stands, the team is in sixth place with 11 games remaining. The top two teams in the league will gain automatic promotion to the Premier League, while third through sixth will play in a four-team, single-elimination tournament with the winner getting promoted.

Wrexham would likely have to beat other giant clubs after Chelsea to win the FA Cup, though, which seems an unlikely outcome.

However, a win against the Blues would still be the biggest in its history in a year in which bigger upsets have happened. In January, Macclesfield FC shocked Crystal Palace 2-1. Macclesfield is a sixth-tier team with part-time players, while Crystal Palace was the defending champion and is in the Premier League.

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Back in 2011, Glenn Beck started getting “very, very sick.” His symptoms were strange and severe — loss of feeling in his hands, tremors, macular degeneration in one eye and macular dystrophy in the other, chronic pain, brain fog, and a psychological phenomenon researchers called “time collapse,” where the distinction between past, present, and future blurs.

For two entire years, he sought help from multiple doctors and specialists, all of whom concluded that he was “being poisoned.”

Except all his tests kept coming back clean.

“I wasn’t ingesting chemicals,” he says, noting that “no foreign agents” were ever found in any of his medical tests.

More time passed and Glenn continued getting sicker until one day, the root of his problem suddenly stared back at him: He was poisoning himself.

“I was being poisoned, but I was poisoning myself … I was consuming poison with the relentless diet of ‘the republic is dying,’ the news, the history, the media, everything that was going on for nearly a decade, ” he says.

“From 2001 to 2010, I barely slept. … I worked from 5:00 a.m. until well past midnight every day. Each day I was on stage, off stage, back on stage multiple times. By 2009, I wasn’t just battling what I believed were forces trying to reverse American freedom and evil; I was fighting for my life — in business, in media, in smears; physically, I was under threat all the time,” he recounts.

Eventually, Glenn got a proper diagnosis: “Adrenal fatigue.”

“I had been in fight or flight mode for over a decade — all day, every day — and your body is not built to live under constant siege like that. Mine broke, and I still pay the price for it,” he recounts.

Glenn shares this story today because he’s concerned that people are making the same mistake he made with the media content they constantly consume.

“We are poisoning ourselves,” he warns, “and I’m not speaking theoretically; I’m speaking from experience.”

“When you constantly call on your body to produce more cortisol, you’re not just stressed, you’re rewiring the brain; you’re reshaping your body; you’re altering the outlook on life.”

While cortisol is the body’s life-saving “alarm system,” it was “designed for dinosaurs and lions, not headlines and social media,” he says.

Sadly, because of the digital age’s insatiable appetite for virtual content, most of us are hooked up to a feeding tube that pumps us full of “outrage, catastrophe framing, existential politics … Nazis, pedophiles,” and every other form of soul-sucking content out there, Glenn warns.

When this happens, “cortisol stops being a tool and starts to become a poison” that throws our nervous system into a state of chaos, makes our bodies susceptible to chronic diseases, and causes emotional dysregulation, memory loss, decreased impulse control, and overactive fear triggers in the brain.

What can we do to avoid this pitfall?

To hear Glenn’s answer, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Stress levels, Adrenal fatigue, Media consumption 

Utah police were quickly able to identify and arrest a 22-year-old Iowa man who allegedly confessed to the random murder of three women after he hit an elk with his car.

The beginning of the alleged murder spree was first reported on Wednesday when the bodies of two women were found on a hiking trail, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.

‘Miller confessed that it “had to be done” but he did not like to do it.’

DPS said the two women’s husbands found their bodies and reported it to police.

As they were investigating that crime scene, another dead woman was reportedly found in the nearby town of Torrey.

Investigators then asked help from the public to find a 2022 white Subaru Outback, which belonged to the hikers. Police warned residents in the area to be vigilant and cautious.

The vehicle was tracked through the use of license plate readers as it was driven into southern Utah, to Northern Arizona, and then into Colorado.

Colorado law enforcement officers were able to find the vehicle after it was abandoned and were able to locate a suspect nearby. He was taken into custody without incident.

He was identified as Ivan Miller and allegedly admitted to shooting the three women and stabbing one of them. He said he did so after hitting an elk with his truck on Feb. 28, which made him unable to return home. He sold the truck to the towing company and hid out in a shed.

Police said they believe he killed the first woman at her home and used her vehicle to get to the hiking trail.

He said he stabbed one of the women hikers multiple times in her heart after shooting them both and finding she was still alive. He called the women “lesbians” because one of them had blue or purple hair.

“Miller confessed that it ‘had to be done’ but he did not like to do it,” the complaint claimed.

Police said they found credit and debit cards belonging to the victims in his possession. Investigators also said that when they asked Miller about the knife he used, he produced it during their interview.

The man was charged with three counts of aggravated murder. Arrest records indicate he was also booked on carrying a concealed weapon and motor vehicle theft.

RELATED: California couple sentenced for ‘monstrous’ abuse of sons after decapitating other two children

On Thursday, the DPS reported that the victims were identified as 65-year-old Linda Dewey, her 34-year-old niece Natalie Graves, and 86-year-old Margaret Oldroyd. There is no evidence that Dewey and Graves had any connection to Oldroyd.

Miller had a previous criminal record that included burglary, theft, possession of marijuana, and a weapons charge.

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​Ivan miller triple murder, Three women murdered utah, Utah crime, Murder after hitting elk, Crime 

Britain once had more pubs than anywhere else in the world. Today, thousands have vanished — closed, converted into flats, or replaced by chain bars selling cocktails in jam jars.

Yet in a quiet residential corner of Norwich, one pub has stubbornly refused to change. Many beer lovers believe it may be the best pub in England.

Hand pumps line the wooden bar, serving real ale directly from the cask — traditional British beer poured without modern carbonation.

Drinking has long been woven into the fabric of British culture. Whether bonding with strangers or catching up with old friends, few leisure pursuits rival the pleasure of enjoying an ice-cold pint by the river on a summer evening. Alcohol is deeply ingrained in our traditions — an essential pastime as iconic as queuing, complaining, or swapping increasingly outrageous stories with friends. It has long served as the social lubricant for first dates and awkward encounters alike.

A pub for every day

Nowhere is this drinking tradition more evident than in a city with a well-known — if possibly apocryphal — saying that it once had a pub for every day of the year and a church for every week. Despite the steady pressures that have forced thousands of British pubs to close in recent years, Norwich still offers plenty of choice.

Yet the modern pub landscape is increasingly dominated by chains and themed bars backed by large capital. They offer cheap drinks but little else — you couldn’t buy a conversation for all the bottomless shots served by young, telegenic, and relentlessly enthusiastic bar staff.

For tourists — or anyone over 25 — finding a proper pint can sometimes feel daunting. But fear not: Nil desperandum. Beyond the blinding neon signs, loud music, and rowdy hen parties, traditional pubs still exist.

In the world of British pubs, “legendary” is a term thrown around with reckless abandon. Yet in a quiet residential corner of Norwich, there is a backstreet boozer that has truly earned the title.

RELATED: God save the English pub

Joseph McKeown/Getty Images

Holy grail of beer

The Fat Cat on West End Street is more than just a great pub. Many real ale enthusiasts consider it the holy grail of beer in England.

In 1991, Colin and Marjie Keatley took charge of a dilapidated, bomb-damaged Victorian pub called the New Inn, marking the beginning of the Fat Cat legend. Deceptively spacious, this pub sits just a mile from the city center in a quiet Norwich neighborhood. With its traditional street-corner exterior, this little slice of British pub life has lasted more than 30 years. In an age of enthusiastic “heritage inflation,” one could easily imagine it claiming three centuries.

With its traditional decor, the Fat Cat feels more like a 19th-century ale house than a modern business. There are no fruit machines, jukeboxes, or pool tables in any of its series of small, winding rooms, each offering a quiet, intimate seating area.

Stained-glass windows celebrating local brewing history add to its Victorian charm. At the heart of the pub, a real fireplace is flanked by church pews, creating a space that feels almost sacred — a warm communal refuge where simple wooden tables and benches invite conversation rather than distraction. The only soundtrack is the low hum of voices and the clinking of glasses.

A simpler tradition

Don’t expect to find a menu on your table. The Fat Cat proudly rejects the modern gastropub craze. There are no elaborate tasting menus or trendy dishes served in theatrical ways. In fact, the pub barely has a kitchen.

Instead, they champion a simpler tradition: Enjoy one of their excellent pork pies or bring your own takeaway — provided you buy a drink.

Alongside antique beer signs, the walls are covered with awards. The Fat Cat is one of the most decorated pubs in Britain, having won National Pub of the Year twice and the “Good Pub Guide” Beer Pub of the Year a record 11 times. In 2025, Lonely Planet even named it the best pub in England.

Stepping inside can feel like entering a miniature beer festival. A long chalkboard lists an impressive rotating selection of British ales, inviting visitors to try something new. Hand pumps line the wooden bar, serving real ale directly from the cask — traditional British beer poured without modern carbonation.

Whether it’s one of the pub’s award-winning house favourites — such as Tom Cat or Marmalade Cat — or a rare Belgian import, the knowledgeable staff treat every pint with care. Here, beer is valued not as a commodity but as an old friend.

Ask for a lager and lime, however, and the barman is likely to tell you that they don’t do cocktails.

Rule, Britannia!

In an era when thousands of pubs are closing or being converted into generic chains, the Fat Cat stands as a reminder of what makes the British pub special. Serve excellent beer in a beautiful, no-nonsense setting, and people will travel from across the country to experience it.

Indeed, the Fat Cat has become something of a pilgrimage site for beer lovers.

Yet despite its international reputation, the pub remains quintessentially local. Its relaxed atmosphere draws people from every walk of life. Truck drivers and retired professors sit side by side. Strangers strike up conversations with ease.

It’s usually best to avoid politics — Norwich, after all, leans rather left-wing — but that hardly matters once the conversation turns to beer, football, or the weather.

Whether you are a dedicated ale enthusiast or simply someone looking for a warm fireplace and a friendly face, the Fat Cat represents the gold standard.

It is not merely one of the best pubs in Norwich.

It may well be the best pub in England.

​Lifestyle, Drinking, Culture, England, The fat cat, Pubs, Beer, Letter from the uk 

A 55-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to a charge related to her slapping the mask off a federal officer during a protest in San Diego, California, has been sentenced.

Jeane “Bleu” Wong was facing a year in prison for the misdemeanor charge of assault on a federal officer over an incident that unfolded on July 2, 2025, in Linda Vista.

‘Today, not only did I get justice, but all the puppies of the world also got justice.’

Wong was among the protesters who showed up to oppose a targeted enforcement operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the Mesa Vista Apartments.

The woman was grabbed by the forearms by an agent after she refused to step out of a police perimeter, and she responded by slapping the agent on the left side of his face. The officer’s mask slipped down his face as a result.

Wong pleaded guilty to the charge in February.

“I chose to plead guilty because I did unmask an agent, no matter what the circumstances before that,” she admitted. “But I will never normalize giving unchecked power over myself, over my family, over you, my neighbors, my kids, to any agency that does not follow basic standards.”

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Allison H. Goddard sentenced Wong to 45 days of house arrest, allowing her to avoid any time in prison.

The preschool owner said she would continue her advocacy and even fired off a jab at Kristi Noem after she was removed as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Today, not only did I get justice, but all the puppies of the world also got justice,” she said, referencing Noem’s puppy-killing controversy.

However, Wong faces another charge from Jan. 2026 related to her allegedly joining an anti-ICE protest to barricade the San Diego mayor’s office. That charge violated her bail conditions, which led to her being ordered to wear an ankle monitor.

RELATED: Video shows brawl after high school walkout protester allegedly hit pro-ICE man — and the man is charged with child abuse

Wong was held for 31 hours after her assault arrest, and she claims that her detention conditions were inhumane because they included solitary confinement and lack of bathroom access. Those allegations have not been confirmed.

Her wife said she was relieved over the relatively lenient sentence.

“I’m always by her side and very proud of her, but it’s always scary to know that you can be criminalized for something that is good,” Tin-Lok Wong said.

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​55-year-old anti-ice protester arrested, Jeane bleu wong sentence, Woman slaps ice officer, Assault on a federal officer, Politics 

Once again, the popular “ding-dong ditch” prank — in which young people bang on front doors of homes, typically late at night, and run away — has ended with a teenager getting shot.

Sheriff Mike McCormick of Garland County, Arkansas, said a 16-year-old male suffered a gunshot wound during a reported “ding-dong ditch” prank in the area of Marion Anderson Road on Feb. 27.

‘Trespassing, terrorizing, and damaging property.’

The sheriff said the 911 Communications Center late in the evening received multiple complaints of vehicles in the area with subjects wearing hoods and masks who were kicking and hitting residential doors.

While patrol deputies were performing an initial investigation, officials said they received another report about a subject who suffered a gunshot wound and was at a local hospital.

Sheriff’s office investigators responded in order to collect surveillance, witness statements, and related evidence, officials said, and they determined that reports of subjects kicking and hitting residential doors and the shooting were related incidents.

Officials indeed said the subjects were engaging in the “ding-dong ditch” prank.

RELATED: ‘Ding-dong ditch’ prank ends with homeowner firing multiple rounds at car — and juvenile passenger getting shot, cops say

The sheriff’s office said the identities of those involved “will not be released at this time. This is an active investigation.”

A KATV-TV video report shared security camera clips from several homes in the neighborhood stemming from the incident; the station said the prank was under way around 11 p.m.

The station said “in camera footage from one residence in that area, you can see a hooded and masked individual getting out of a black pickup truck, running through the front yard of the residence and up the walkway, slamming his fist on the door, and then running off.”

More from KATV:

The video then shows the individual getting back into the truck and accelerating quickly, with another black truck and a white car following behind him.

Those same vehicles are shown in this camera footage from another residence in the area.

The same masked individual — who is running in flip-flops — launches his body into the home’s garage door, setting off what sounds like an alarm before running back into the truck and speeding off.

The station reported that one of the homeowners said the incident didn’t resemble similar pranks she knew of growing up. In fact, KATV said she characterized the behavior as “trespassing, terrorizing, and damaging property.”

In January, North Carolina officials said a “ding-dong ditch” prank ended with a homeowner firing multiple rounds at a car — and a juvenile passenger was shot.

Blaze News has reported on a number of additional related incidents — and some have been deadly:

In 2025, a Texas homeowner fatally shot an 11-year-old playing “ding-dong ditch.”Earlier in 2025, a Virginia homeowner was charged with murder after a high school senior was fatally shot amid what surviving teens say was a “ding-dong ditch” prank.Also in 2025, four juveniles most definitely choose the wrong house to prank with the “ding-dong ditch” game — given the homeowner reportedly ended up getting charged with six felonies, including first-degree robbery, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm.In 2024, a 30-year-old male used a handgun to shoot 14 rounds at teenagers playing a “ding-dong-ditch” prank — and he wounded one of them, police in Maine said.Also in 2024, police said an 85-year-old rammed a car into two teens who played a version of the “ding-dong ditch” prank on him in Canada.In 2023, a teen was hospitalized after a Delaware state trooper allegedly “beat the living hell” out of the boy over a “ding-dong-ditch” prank.Also in 2023, a California man was convicted of murdering three teenagers after a “ding-dong ditch” prank that included “mooning.”And in 2021, a retired cop faced kidnapping charges over what he allegedly did to an 11-year-old who pulled a “ding-dong ditch” prank on him.

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In the wake of the United States and Israel’s joint military operation against Iran, some people — even “some of the president’s former supporters in right-wing media,” says Glenn Beck — are spreading the narrative that Trump has been “duped by Israel” into starting a war with Iran.

Is the man globally known for being impervious to pressure really acting under Israel’s influence?

To get the truth about the president’s motivation, Glenn speaks with Lara Trump, President Trump’s daughter-in-law.

Lara’s immediate response to the suggestion that “Israel has dragged Donald Trump into this war” is laughter.

“The only person who makes decisions for Donald Trump is Donald Trump,” she says.

“He takes account of what people around him have to say. He likes to get a lot of opinions, a lot of thoughts, which any smart person and any good leader would actually do. But then he’s the person who makes that decision,” the former RNC chair adds.

To those who are accusing the president of abandoning the “America First” agenda, she argues that crippling the Iranian regime is in America’s — and the world’s — best interest.

“Let’s be really clear when it comes to Iran. This is a regime that has been for nearly 50 years chanting ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel.’ … They were on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. That would have been detrimental not only to the United States, but to the entire world,” Lara tells Glenn.

“This president has always said he wants to put America first. You don’t have an America if Iran has a nuclear weapon because we know they would have deployed it on us. They want to wipe us off the map,” she continues.

She says that “no one has made any decision [about Iran] other than this president” and that his decisive action was solely “based on the intelligence … his assessment of things … [and] on the fact that he wants to put America first and protect American citizens above all else.”

“I have personally been told over and over again for 25 years … [Iran] could be weeks away [from developing a nuclear weapon],” says Glenn. “What was it this time that made him go, ‘We have to take care of it right now’?”

Lara’s answer is profound: “I obviously don’t get the detailed intelligence briefings like he does, but I’ll just say this … I think he definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, believes that his life was spared in Butler, Pennsylvania, so that he could go on to lead this country, and he was made for such a time as this.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

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Media reports that the U.S. Attorney’s office had ended the investigation into alleged misuse of the autopen by the former Biden administration are contradicted by a Fox News report.

Critics of the Biden administration have suggested that former President Joe Biden’s mental acuity deteriorated to the point that he would have no longer been able to properly authorize the use of the autopen at the end of his term.

‘These types of cases are tough. Executive privilege issues come into play.’

While the alleged misuse of the autopen has been investigated since June 2025, the New York Times reported Thursday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had ended the effort. A CBS News report said two sources confirmed the decision to drop the criminal probe.

However, a senior Justice Dept. source familiar with the matter told Fox News that the investigation is ongoing, despite admitting that Biden is unlikely to be indicted on any charges.

“These types of cases are tough. Executive privilege issues come into play,” the official said.

“It’s hard to imagine how [Biden] could be criminally liable for pardon power,” the official added.

On Thursday, Pirro offered a brief statement on the report, saying, “We cannot comment on ongoing investigations.”

The former president has vehemently denied the allegations and defended the use of the autopen under his administration.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” Biden said in comments from June. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

RELATED: Ted Cruz says Biden accidentally undermined his own defense of autopen scandal

A White House memorandum at the time called the “conspiracy” of the autopen “one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”

In February, Pirro also reportedly dropped the effort to indict six Democrats who appeared in a video calling on military members to deny following “unlawful orders” from the administration. The president excoriated the Democrats over the video he called “seditious” and even warned that the punishment for treason is execution.

“It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!” he said at the time.

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