Category: blaze media

This week, the NFL Draft descends on Pittsburgh. For many fans, Draft Day is the most hopeful day of the year — a chance to believe one rookie or well-timed trade will finally deliver the championship that always seems just out of reach. It’s also a time for the age-old debate between building your offense or your defense.

Political parties face the same pressure. Hall of Fame coach Bear Bryant put it bluntly: “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” But Republican leaders have too often misinterpreted that maxim and taken it to its extreme, seeking to minimize risk at the expense of boldly pursuing wins.

If the GOP wants to be remembered for something more than last year’s highlight reel, the party should deliver more wins through budget reconciliation by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

For example, imagine your favorite team coming out after kickoff and immediately dropping into a prevent defense. You’d be furious. That scheme is for closing out a lead when time is on your side, not for playing an entire game. Deployed prematurely, it surrenders easy, incremental yards and hands the opponent the initiative.

This is why Republicans must get off their back foot and go on offense. In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, let’s call back to our founding fathers for a different strategy from our first president, George Washington: “Offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only … means of defense.” Or as the legendary boxer Jack Dempsey distilled this principle: “The best defense is a good offense.”

So how could the GOP go on offense and force Democrats to play defense for a change? House Republicans have a golden opportunity right in front of them right now.

RELATED: How Republicans have failed to defund sanctuary cities for a generation

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This week, the Senate took the first step to unlock the federal budget process called reconciliation, which allows for Congress to make changes to spending for that fiscal year without the threat of a Democrat filibuster. The Senate-passed budget resolution contains reconciliation instructions for only two committees to produce text for the final bill, focusing on funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol — a direct response to end the DHS shutdown caused by Democrats’ outrageous refusal to fund those parts of the Department of Homeland Security. While Republicans need to fund the DHS, reconciliation is a time-intensive and arduous process. Given the time crunch and the need to deliver more legislative wins, congressional Republicans can and should use the reconciliation process to do more and go on offense.

Specifically, House Republicans could go big by including policies that reform wasteful spending and eliminate fraud, delivering impressive wins for everyday Americans that reduce the cost of living.

The effort required to enact this plan might make some in D.C. bristle. It would take long nights and likely some weekends, but the American people would finally see and feel the tangible effects of federal policy on kitchen-table issues, just like how people filing their taxes this year got a boost from the Working Families Tax Cut signed into law last year, using the same reconciliation process.

Voters expect more than business as usual from their elected representatives. No one wants to see their team down the field just to kick a field goal without even attempting a touchdown. That approach denies the American people the opportunity to see the full potential of policies that could be enacted if the GOP went on offense.

Enough fans will suffer through another disappointing season, remaining loyal to their losing teams. Americans are hungry for a win. If the GOP wants to be remembered for something more than last year’s highlight reel, the party should deliver more wins through budget reconciliation by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

​Championship, Department of homeland security, Immigration and customs enforcement, Nfl draft, Political parties, Senate, Opinion & analysis 

The Israeli government announced on Monday that this June, “the Dead Sea becomes Pride Land, the biggest LGBTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East,” adding that “Pride rises at the lowest place on earth.”

This celebration of degeneracy and non-straight lifestyle choices — set to take place near what is believed to be the site of Sodom, the city razed by God because of its brazen sexual corruption — will run 24 hours a day from June 1 to June 4.

‘You won’t see this anywhere else in the region.’

According the Jerusalem Post, the non-straight festival will raise a city in the desert featuring parties, a central performance arena, art complexes, “relaxation” areas, and “family-friendly areas with children’s activities.”

“This is not just another festival; it’s the biggest thing we’ve done here,” Aaron Cohen, the main producer behind “Pride Land,” told the Post. “It’s an experience that lives 24/7, from quiet visits to nights of Pride, with a living envelope of music and people.”

The promotion of the event by the Israeli government — just one day after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that one of its soldiers smashed a statue of the crucified Christ outside a church with a sledgehammer — prompted significant backlash among some conservative Christians.

RELATED: ‘There is no mama’: How a viral video accidentally exposed the true cost of gay adoption

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American theologian and pastor Dale Partridge tweeted, “The devil couldn’t have written it better. ‘The lowest place on earth’ ‘The Dead Sea becomes pride land.'”

BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre raised the matter of whether his tax dollars might be subsidizing the event, then asked, “Can anyone very carefully explain to me why American Christians owe anything to this?”

Conservative commentator Michael Knowles insinuated that the Israeli government’s announcement answered the question recently posed by the New York Times about the cause of the recent increase in meteor sightings overhead.

Knowles’ colleague, Matt Walsh, called the planned festival “absolutely evil and disgusting.”

Tomasz Froelich, an Alternative for Germany politician who serves in the European Parliament, noted that “the Patriarch of Jerusalem was denied access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday for security reasons, but there is comfort: The Pride can take place without a care!”

The eponymous host of BlazeTV’s “The John Doyle Show” wrote, “God could do the funniest thing ever.”

On Friday, the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., plugged the event, stating, “You won’t see this anywhere else in the region.”

While the Israeli government appears keen to get the word out about the Sodom-adjacent LGBT festival, the U.S. State Department has recommended that Americans reconsider travel to the country due to terrorism and civil unrest and instructed travelers to avoid crowds.

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​Israel, Lgbt, Nonstraight, Degeneracy, Sodom, Gomorrah, Leftism, Sexuality, Deviancy, Middle east, Biblical, Christian, Religion, Morality, Christianity, Dead sea, Pride land, Politics 

Many years ago, a man approached me after church.

“I heard about you and your wife’s journey,” he said. “I know exactly what you’re going through. I know how you feel.”

What happened to the people in pain? Did their burdens lift? Did their circumstances change?

I remember being surprised. I didn’t know anyone in that city who walked a road like ours. By that point, both of my wife’s legs were gone, and we were somewhere around surgery number 75.

“Oh?” I said.

“Yeah,” he replied earnestly. “My wife broke her ankle last month.”

Of the many gifts our heavenly Father has bestowed, sarcasm didn’t make the cut, so I bit my tongue and learned to like the taste of blood. After a brief but violent collision between my brain and my mouth, I responded the way any good Southerner would.

“Bless your heart.”

Yet his words stayed with me. That word “exactly” was doing a lot of work. He didn’t ask to understand. He announced that he already did.

A broken ankle is certainly nothing to be minimized, but it is not the same as a life marked by decades of surgeries and a body that no longer has ankles. And treating those two things as the same doesn’t honor suffering. It distorts it.

RELATED: You don’t have to engage with crazy

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We do this more than we realize. Not just in church hallways, but on far larger stages.

One of the most famous moments was during the 1990s when Bill Clinton leaned in to a camera during a presidential town hall debate, softened his voice, and told a distressed audience member, “I feel your pain.”

Or, as he said it, “Ah feel your pain.”

It worked. He connected with enough people to win. But it raises questions.

What happened to the people in pain? Did their burdens lift? Did their circumstances change?

When suffering is approached with certainty rather than humility, it becomes toxic empathy. It sounds like compassion, but it satisfies the speaker and leaves the sufferer untouched. It doesn’t just fail to help; it often abandons people in the very moment they asked not to be.

Understanding is claimed. Burden is often avoided.

When someone shares their pain, he’s not asking you to take over. He’s inviting you in — but not to rearrange the furniture.

Too often, we grasp for words that sound right instead of doing what is right. Words are how we connect, but in moments like these, too many of them get in the way.

I never know exactly how someone else feels. But I can listen. I can pay attention. I can show up. And I can resist the urge to insert myself into something I haven’t carried. I learned that from my wife, Gracie.

A woman once started to share something painful with Gracie, then stopped and said, “My situation doesn’t compare to yours.”

Gracie didn’t let that stand.

“Don’t minimize your pain by comparing it to mine,” she said. “If you’re going to compare anything, compare this: If I’ve found God to be faithful in my journey, then hold on to that while you trust Him in yours.”

Somewhere along the way, that woman probably learned to measure her pain before she spoke of it. To decide whether it qualified. Gracie didn’t accept that. She let her know she deserved to be seen.

We tend to mishandle each other’s and our own pain. Sometimes we insert ourselves into someone else’s pain. Sometimes we talk ourselves out of our own. And in both cases, something essential gets lost.

Suffering doesn’t need a spokesperson. It needs someone willing to see and stay.

Years ago, Gracie and I waited in line to meet President George W. Bush. When our turn came, he reached out to greet me, then turned to her. He noticed her uncovered prosthetic legs below her skirt. This was long before people displayed them the way they do now, especially women.

He didn’t say anything. He met her eyes, took her hand, and held it in both of his. I watched his expression change. His eyes softened. There was a hint of moisture there. And he just stayed with her for a moment that seemed to stretch.

The most powerful man on the planet at the time didn’t insert himself into her story. He didn’t try to prove he understood it. He simply met her in it.

We see the opposite often enough. Public figures stand under bright lights and assure people that they understand. They speak quickly, confidently, sometimes even spiritually, about pain they have never carried. It sounds compassionate. It polls well and is usually offered in exchange for votes or money.

But it leaves people alone. Because the moment someone claims to fully understand another person’s pain, he has stopped listening. And when suffering becomes a platform, the work of carrying it gets left to someone else.

Respecting someone’s pain doesn’t involve saying, “I know exactly how you feel.” It starts with admitting you don’t and staying anyway.

​Opinion & analysis 

Today, Trey Tucker is a therapist and an author, but he used to go on undercover human trafficking raids — rescuing young girls out of the dark clutches of sex slavery.

In total, Trey helped rescue 20 underage girls and women out of trafficking rings. The memories he carries still haunt him.

But they also give him insight. On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie Beth Stuckey asked Trey to weigh in on Jeffery Epstein’s sinister sex trafficking operations and his ability to wield enormous influence over so many people. His perspective gave her chills.

“How is it possible that some of the most powerful people in the United States, some people that we’ve looked to as moral exemplars, some of the most powerful people in the world, are apparently part of a pedophile trafficking ring?” she asks.

“The stuff that I was hearing long ago that … most people dismissed as conspiracy theories, I said, ‘No, that’s probably real,’” Trey says. “I didn’t have firsthand access to whatever was going on on that island, but I’ve seen the depravity enough to know, yeah, that can happen to any of us if you really let that go that far.”

He describes the elite world as a “power club” that can only be accessed by doing something that gives the group “blackmail” against you.

“It’s hard for me to understand the hold that [Jeffery Epstein] had on so many people,” Allie says.

She asks, “From your therapist perspective, when you’re looking at those power dynamics and just his personality, like, what do you see?”

Trey says he sees the primordial human struggle to attain “satisfaction” — not just in Epstein himself but in all the people who occupied his power circle.

“Epstein himself, he was just the puppet or the pawn. Like, he just had that magnetic charisma about him, and he was the guy at the door, like the bouncer that could let you into this world that you thought was going to satisfy,” he explains.

Allie wants to know more about the “psychology” behind a charisma like Epstein’s. “What makes someone publicly appealing even if we know that they’re not good people?” she asks.

“It comes down to really two major categories: identity and psychological safety,” Trey says.

Someone’s identity, he explains, can essentially be hijacked and manipulated by a powerful public figure.

It is entirely possible, Trey tells Allie, to “take someone’s beliefs, political or otherwise” and “transform them” so that they become the core of that person’s identity. Anyone who then opposes those beliefs isn’t just disagreeing with that person; they are “attacking” their very identity.

What is happening at the neurobiological level, Trey says, is “you’re moving beyond somebody’s logical brain and … into their subconscious, and when the subconscious takes over, it shuts down the prefrontal cortex — the logic brain.”

This produces fear, causing the individual to “fight and argue no matter what the actual facts are.”

“And so these politicians know how to take what should be just a nuanced issue where the front of your brain is just thinking evaluatively, and they know how to go right to that subconscious and put you into fight or flight mode instead,” Trey explains.

The second component, psychological safety, exploits someone’s inherent need to feel safe. This need is so strong that people will often override their sense of logic just to get it.

“Any politician that really is charismatic, they know that people are anxious, they’re uncertain, and if they can bring a level of strength and certainty, then people will look past their record,” Trey says.

He warns that this isn’t a partisan issue. “It really doesn’t matter the party. Like, all these politicians, I believe they’re just actors within the same play.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the full interview above.

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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It’s been roughly five decades since the term “post-traumatic stress disorder” emerged and gained traction, driven largely by the experiences of Vietnam War veterans. Forty-six years have passed since it became an official psychiatric diagnosis.

In that span of time, PTSD research has substantially advanced our understanding of its underlying neurobiology, led to the development of a wide range of evidence-based treatments, and significantly improved access to specialized care for traumatized individuals.

‘I want to show the VA that spends $571 million a year on suicide prevention that what we’re doing here at Camp Hope actually works.’

In other words, American vets today have access to more knowledge and resources than ever before.

And yet, some would argue that mainstream PTSD care is not treating the full person.

Chris Knight is the president of the PTSD Foundation of America — a nonprofit that takes a Christ-centered approach to helping veterans heal from combat-related trauma.

Rather than relying solely on mainstream treatments, the organization integrates professional counseling and therapy with intensive peer mentorship and a Christ-centered approach that places Jesus at the heart of the healing journey.

In a conversation that was as enlightening as it was encouraging, Chris gave me the ins and outs of the organization and shared testimonies of veterans who entered the program broken, addicted, and haunted by the horrors of their past and emerged healed, confident, and rooted in God’s grace.

A different path to healing

While the foundation provides a broad range of services — including outreach, peer support groups, advocacy, a 24/7 combat trauma helpline, and resources for veterans and families nationwide — its flagship program, Camp Hope, is where the deep transformation happens.

Camp Hope is a six-to-nine-month interim transitional housing and intensive peer-mentoring program located on a 5-acre campus in Houston, Texas. Its mission is simple but profound: Save lives by saving souls.

The program includes four progressive phases: The black phase (the first 30 days, more or less) is a strict “blackout” period with no electronics, outside distractions, or family visits, allowing veterans to focus on stabilization and daily routines. The red phase (minimum three months) emphasizes breaking old habits, emotional regulation, and trauma work. The yellow phase focuses on practical reintegration skills — vocational training, job readiness, financial literacy, and family relationships — while the optional green phase offers a supported transition back into civilian life.

The deepest reality

In these six to nine months, veterans receive the kind of comprehensive care for body, mind, and spirit that typical VA and secular PTSD programs simply can’t offer, according to Chris, because they miss the deepest reality: Only an identity rooted in Christ can truly sustain a person.

As a combat veteran with over 20 years of service, Chris intimately understands the painful challenge of shifting an identity once defined by the military to one centered on Jesus.

“The military is our life. It’s our culture. It’s ultimately our identity, and when we get out, we don’t know how to function. That’s why our identity must be placed in Christ,” he said.

This reorientation of selfhood is crucial in the healing process. While Camp Hope includes on-site psychotherapy provided by licensed mental health clinicians who specialize in trauma and addiction, these traditional counseling tools play a supporting role to the program’s core: intensive peer-to-peer mentoring.

It’s in these intimate relationships that veterans are able to fully overcome something Chris calls “moral injury” — the layered trauma that results from actions (or inaction) that violate one’s own deeply held moral beliefs and values.

He gave the following heartbreaking example:

During the Iraq War, insurgents employed a tactic where they would push women and children in front of American convoys to stop or slow the advancement, allowing for an ambush. Many American troops died because of this, so eventually a gut-wrenching decision was made: Keep driving no matter what. This put the soldiers in the driver’s seat in a moral dilemma where all paths led to violating their deepest held beliefs.

Chris explained that professional therapy and counseling are effective at addressing the psychological aspect of a moral injury, such as the one mentioned above, but to overcome the spiritual wounds, it takes the power of Christ and a healed brother who can both empathize with the pain and attest to the healing available.

“We walk them through where God was when their trauma occurred, why God allows horrible things to happen, and then through forgiveness, grace, and mercy,” Chris said. “In order for them to forgive themselves, we have to point them back to the highest power that died for us and forgives us of our darkest sins.”

Medication, counseling, and therapy only go so far, he told me, because “they don’t address the heart, which is why PTSD Foundation of America and Camp Hope are Christ-based.”

The results speak for themselves. Hundreds of combat veterans have completed the program, many of whom return to be staff members.

Here are some of their stories.

Alex Yutzey

Immediately following high school graduation, Alex joined the military, where for the next six years he served as an airborne infantryman. In that span of time, he would deploy to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In these combat zones, Alex watched many of his brothers die. But to fulfill his sworn duties, he did what all military personnel are forced to do amid tragedy: Shove the pain down and keep moving forward.

While repression kept him alive in war, the same tactic deeply failed him in the real world. When Alex returned home, death came with him. In the years following his homecoming, he watched many more brothers die from suicide.

Emotional suppression continued to be Alex’s sole coping mechanism until one final death broke him: his grandmother’s.

Finally, the pain Alex had bottled up for years demanded to be felt, but he didn’t know how to confront such overwhelming heartache. PTSD and drug addiction defined the next several years of his life.

But Alex’s story was far from over. His wife found out about Camp Hope and relocated their family to Houston to create space for Alex to enroll in the program.

The treatment, mentorship, and hope he found completely transformed his entire life. His marriage, his future, and ultimately his life were saved.

After graduating the program, Alex stayed on at Camp Hope to be a driver. Over the next several years, he worked his way up and today serves as the director of the program, where he continues to live out his life’s mission to end veteran suicide, confront suffering in the veteran community, and guide his brothers and sisters toward healing, recovery, and a better way of life.

Nicholas Eckley

Nicholas entered the military already carrying emotional baggage from his difficult home life. For years, he walked a wayward path fueled by anger. After several bad decisions, he decided to make a drastic change and enroll himself in the United States Marine Corps.

The structure, identity, and brotherhood proved immediately beneficial. Nicholas grew from a broken young man into a courageous leader who eventually became a platoon sergeant. He led a team of men who would do anything for each other, and these bonds were life-giving.

But his deployment to Afghanistan changed things. Combat was brutal and tragic, but the worst part was that Nicholas couldn’t escape it when he came home. The memories permeated every area of his life — from his thoughts and reactions to his quality of sleep and relationships with others.

But these invisible wounds were only half of Nicholas’ suffering. He also returned from war with a physical injury from an IED blast. Like many wounded veterans, he was prescribed opioids, which led to a crippling addiction. It wasn’t long before the discipline and strength he had developed in the military gave way to isolation, frustration, and hopelessness.

His wife and children were the people who suffered the most from this change. Nicholas, unable to cope with the fact that he was hurting the people he loved most, attempted to take his own life.

This dark night of the soul, however, ultimately became the catalyst for change. He found his way to Camp Hope, bonded with other veterans who had walked similar paths, and reconnected with his faith in God.

In his testimony, Nicholas wrote, “Rebuilding my relationship with God wasn’t a single moment, it was a process. A daily decision. A willingness to surrender control and trust in something greater than myself. Through that process, I began to find peace where there had once been chaos, pain, and anger.”

Over time, Nicholas rebuilt his relationships with his wife and kids. Today, he is a proud husband, father, teacher, and coach who works with troubled students who need support, guidance, and someone who believes in them.

His testimony culminates in this powerful declaration: “I didn’t just survive what I went through. I was rebuilt because of it.”

Sam Kauahquo

Sam was 18 years old when he became a United States Marine. His two deployments to Iraq were a testament to his skill and courage. In just three years, he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, a Purple Heart, and received a combat meritorious mast.

He returned home proud of his accomplishments but deeply traumatized by the combat he’d experienced. His PTSD was so severe, it wrecked his life and his will to live.

He wrote, “I lost nearly everything and found myself battling suicidal thoughts that led to three attempts on my life, each one resulting in hospitalization. My darkest moment came during my final attempt, when I tried to end my life through self-asphyxiation.”

After this final suicide attempt, a fellow marine he had served with reached out and told him about Camp Hope.

Out of options, Sam enrolled in the program. Over the next several months, he found healing, purpose, and a renewed sense of direction.

By graduation, he was so radically changed that he decided to work for the PTSD Foundation of America for the next four years, helping fellow wounded veterans find the path to recovery.

Today, Sam is a husband, a father, and a college graduate who is currently building a nonprofit that integrates the game of golf with life lessons, faith, and structure to help people struggling with mental health issues.

“Camp Hope didn’t just save my life; it gave me a future. And today, I live that future with purpose, gratitude, and a commitment to helping others find their way out of the darkness with life lessons, God, and purpose,” he wrote.

A vision for the future

In our conversation, Chris painted a vivid picture of his dreams for Camp Hope. As successful as the program is, it has several limitations that he is eager to resolve.

“Camp Hope has been so successful that we’ve had to be very careful about spreading too much awareness because we only have so many spots. Our most immediate need is funding for expansion. When we have to turn a vet away, it’s just heartbreaking,” he told me.

His other vision for the future involves building transitional housing that would serve as an in-between place for veterans who have graduated the program but still need more time to transition back into everyday life.

Lastly, Chris dreams of opening Camp Hope to women. Currently, the program only serves men, but Chris is keenly aware of female combat veterans’ need for support and care.

Opening the program to women is a challenge, he admitted, because women have unique physical and psychological needs.

“Women come with children,” he said, “and because it’s difficult to find a place that accommodates children, female combat veterans will often neglect to get the care they need. Our goal is to build a facility that meets the needs of these women and their children.”

This project, he explained, will involve tailoring counseling and therapies specifically to women and their children, implementing an education system, providing child care, and building living facilities.

But Chris’ boldest vision expands far beyond the 5-acre boundaries of Camp Hope.

“Ultimately, I want to change how the nation treats trauma,” he said, “and that begins with something we call a COIN operation in the military. It means winning the hearts and minds of those we serve. I want to show the VA that spends $571 million a year on suicide prevention that what we’re doing here at Camp Hope actually works.”

In a system that continues to lose veterans every day despite allocating hundreds of millions each year, Camp Hope stands as living proof that real, lasting healing is possible when the heart is addressed along with the mind through the transforming power of Christ.

​Ptsd, Veterans, Camp hope, Ptsd foundation of america, Culture, Lifestyle, Depression, Suicide, Military, Christianity, Faith 

President Donald Trump briefed the press Saturday night following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, prompting Secret Service to evacuate the president and other dignitaries from the area.

Trump said a sole gunman rushed Secret Service agents in the lobby of the Washington Hilton, where he shot an agent before being detained. The agent was rushed to the hospital and was wearing a bulletproof vest, according to the president.

Several outlets have reported the shooting suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California.

‘I want to live because I want to make this country great.’

“This is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill,” Trump told reporters.

Trump also released a photo of the suspected gunman being detained in the lobby as well as footage of the assailant rushing past security.

RELATED: Trump evacuated from White House Correspondents’ Dinner following possible gunfire

Law enforcement confirmed that the assailant is in custody, with Trump saying he had “multiple weapons.” Trump also said the suspected gunman’s apartment in California is being searched.

Officials believe the gunman was acting alone. The motivation has not yet been determined or disclosed.

Trump, who has already survived two assassination attempts, reflected on the political violence waged against him and other politicians, saying, “I want to live because I want to make this country great.”

Trump was flanked by various members of his inner circle, including first lady Melania Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens,” Trump said. Trump also confirmed that the dinner will be rescheduled to a later date.

“We’re not going to let anybody take over our society.”

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​Donald trump, Trump assassination attempt, Assassination attempt, Fbi, Doj, Todd blanche, Kash patel, Jd vance, Melania trump, White house correspondents association, White house correspondents dinner, Markwayne mullin, Secret service, Dhs, Cole tomas allen, Politics 

Chaos erupted at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after President Donald Trump was rushed offstage by the Secret Service Saturday following possible gunfire.

Live footage showed Secret Service swiftly evacuating Trump, the first lady, and Vice President JD Vance after a loud noise rang out during the dinner. According to multiple reports, Secret Service spotted a suspected gunman attempting to get through security who has since been taken offsite.

As of this writing, Trump is set to return to the dinner, and the program is expected to continue.

Moments after the president and other dignitaries were ushered out of the venue, armed Secret Service members stormed the stage and appeared to rush through the crowd. Live feeds showed attendees quickly looking around the venue, with many taking cover under the dinner tables.

Editor’s note: This story is developing and will be updated. A previous version relied on a CNN tweet, since deleted, to incorrectly say that the suspect had been shot and killed.

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A convicted killer was caught on video smiling and giggling in a Florida courtroom earlier this week as the judge described the murder. The judge soon asked why he was laughing — and most definitely wasn’t amused by his answer.

Marcus Terry, 43, was found guilty last December of second-degree murder for killing his cellmate in the Dade Correctional Institute in Homestead in 2021, WTVJ-TV reported.

‘I’m not sure why you’re laughing.’

Terry was back in court Tuesday, and his attorney Steven Yermish requested that Judge Ellen Sue Venzer grant his client a new trial, claiming that inadmissible evidence made it into the December trial, the station said.

Venzer denied the motion for the new trial and continued with Terry’s sentencing, WTVJ reported.

The judge described the murder — during which the victim was stabbed in the brain with a pen — and said “he shoved a pillowcase into his mouth. When the guards came in to find out what was going on, he was standing on top of this man, and his hand was bloodied,” the station said.

During the murder description, however, Terry started to smile and giggle, according to WTVJ.

“I’m not sure why you’re laughing,” Venzer told Terry, the station said.

And how did the convicted killer respond?

RELATED: Thug who grinned in arrest photo after boy was murdered just got his sentence — and it should wipe smile right off his face

“You are amusing,” he told the judge, according to WTVJ.

As you might imagine, the judge didn’t take kindly to Terry’s response.

“I found nothing amusing about your behavior or the death of this gentleman,” Venzer said, according to the station.

“God have mercy on your soul,” the judge added while issuing a life sentence without the possibility of parole, WTVJ reported.

Terry can appeal his sentence, the station added.

Terry already was serving a life sentence for armed burglary and armed robbery when he killed fellow inmate Ray Matos, WTVJ said, citing court records.

The two had been cellmates for less than a week, the station said, citing a warrant.

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Filmmaker R.J. Moeller has a keen sense about people and pairings.

He recalls helping to connect Dennis Prager and comic Adam Carolla, two media personalities with wildly different skill sets and backgrounds. Yet Prager and Carolla clicked, and they toured the country as a very odd but endearing couple. They later co-starred in the 2019 documentary “No Safe Spaces,” which Moeller produced.

Most documentaries don’t move the cultural needle, but ‘Call Sign Courage’ gave its star a real-life happy ending.

Moeller also sensed something special about Lt. Col. Matt Lohmeier, a former Air Force pilot fired by the Biden administration in 2021 for slamming the military’s DEI culture on “The Steve Gruber Show.”

Lohmeier decried the military’s diversity initiatives, citing their ties to critical race theory.

That led Moeller to produce “Call Sign Courage: The Matt Lohmeier Story.” The documentary, recently promoted by X’s own Elon Musk on the social media platform, recalls Lohmeier’s battle against a formidable system.

He lost his job at Space Force and his pension, but the military veteran wouldn’t give up. His battle is the heart of “Call Sign Courage.” That story felt like a natural for the right documentary filmmaker, Moeller recalls, including Lohmeier’s faith and family connections.

‘Jon Hamm meets John Wayne’

“I thought, ‘This dude is special.’ The character, the depth, what he did when no one else wasn’t looking,” Moeller says. It didn’t hurt that his subject “looked like Jon Hamm meets John Wayne.”

Except Lohmeier wasn’t eager for his close-up.

“These news cycles move fast. He was happy to be forgotten about … he was exploring taking a high school teaching position,” Moeller says.

A mutual friend connected them all the same, and the filmmaker convinced Lohmeier to share his story with the world via film.

“If you give me 12 months … we’re going to make you a film,” the producer told him, sealing the deal.

Crucial allies

Funding is always tight for documentary filmmakers, but Lohmeier’s story attracted the Heritage Foundation’s attention, which helped pick up some critical fees. The nonprofit helped release the film free on X for a limited time last week. Now, the film — directed by Marshall Lee, who cut his teeth editing movies like “What Is a Woman?” and “Am I Racist?” — is available on Apple TV, Prime Video, and other VOD platforms.

Musk screened the film and helped arrange for the free X window. The result? Moeller says roughly five million people watched some or all of it over the weekend.

Moeller, who also produced “Live Not By Lies” for Angel Studios, understood how his subject matter’s fight to call out the military’s Marxist turn mattered to the film. Not everyone was happy to see that element included in the documentary.

“I cannot tell you how many conservative people in D.C., when they heard about this film or saw cuts of it, said, ‘Eh, don’t talk about Marxism so much.’”

“I’m leaving it in the film … it’s the most powerful stuff,” he says. “The more they tell us to not talk about Marxism, the more we’re going to do it.”

RELATED: Killer bear flick ‘Backcountry’ puts big-budget thrillers to shame

IFC Midnight

10,000 hours

Moeller is part of an emerging right-leaning brand of storytellers, the kind who once had little access to the public. Now, with X, YouTube, and other social media platforms, he’s able to share his skills with the public.

It all started for him in the existing movie ecosystem.

“I’m proud of the 10,000 hours I put into traditional Hollywood … you need to cut your teeth out there,” he says. Now, he’s eager to leverage what he calls the “wild, wild west” of storytelling outside the industry’s glittery walls.

“Hollywood failed by overspending and making stuff people didn’t want. Don’t make the same mistakes in the conservative film world,” he says.

The existing film industry “has things to teach us, like professionalism,” he says. “We need to bring in our values, our own money, and our audiences … we need to be really good stewards of that, to under-promise and over-deliver in this space.”

Making inroads

He remains hopeful that David can, if not slay Goliath, make inroads in the pop culture landscape.

“The center-right entertainment ecosystem is doing its best, and platforms like Angel Studios are taking big swings, but how to find and monetize an audience remains the biggest struggle for independent filmmakers,” he says. “We know the audience is there, but lining up quality work with proper distribution, especially marketing, so that everyone can turn a profit and rinse-and-repeat that 1,000 times is easier said than done.”

Moeller is hard at work on a new project, a pilot for a dramedy called “Are We There Yet?” with comedian Jeff Dye. The show, following a stand-up comedian “struggling with his faith, marriage, career, and sobriety,” will be shopped to streamers and potential buyers this summer, he says.

Most documentaries don’t move the cultural needle, but “Call Sign Courage” gave its star a real-life happy ending.

“The Trump campaign found out about the fact that we were telling Matt Lohmeier’s story, and they invited him to a campaign rally in North Carolina right before the 2024 election,” he says. “At that event, Trump offered Matt a position in his administration.”

​Call sign courage: the matt lohmeier story, Space force, Movies, Interview, Entertainment, Culture, Dei, Critical race theory, Marxism, Military 

In a truly free nation, 10 things must be present, says Glenn Beck: “rule of law,” “free, fair, and regular elections,” “protection of individual rights,” “separation of powers,” “independent judiciary,” “a free press and open information,” “civilian control of the military,” “protection of minority rights,” “economic freedom and property rights,” and “a culture that values freedom.”

When weighed against these standards, Canada, he argues, is the opposite of free.

To prove his case, he lists 20 recent examples of how Canada has abandoned these core pillars of freedom.

1. Lab scandal cover-up

In 2021, Canadian Parliament learned that a top-security lab scientist had sent live Ebola samples to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and worked with the Chinese military on biological weapons research. Parliament demanded the documents four times, but the Liberal Party repeatedly blocked access, sued to prevent disclosure, delayed, and even triggered a snap election to shut down the probe.

“That’s rule of law being violated and separation of powers being violated,” says Glenn.

2. Corruption shielded

Three years after the lab scandal, the auditor general uncovered roughly $400 million in clear corruption. The Liberals in Parliament immediately shut down further investigation and discussion.

“Accountability, independent oversight — violated,” Glenn notes.

3. Rule by executive fiat

Following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation in 2025, a tiny elite group (just 0.33% of Canadians) installed Mark Carney as prime minister. During this period, the House of Commons suspended operations for eight months, leaving the country ruled entirely by executive orders with zero parliamentary debate, votes, or oversight.

“No oversight, no debate, no votes. Where’s your representation? Separation of powers? That’s not a democracy. That’s ruled by fiat,” Glenn warns.

4. Foreign election interference ignored

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service confirmed that China interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections by financially backing 11 candidates. Trudeau was informed but took no action.

“That’s free and fair elections out the window,” he states.

5. Unequal justice

A Liberal member of Parliament publicly encouraged people to claim a Chinese Communist Party bounty placed on a Conservative candidate. No charges or consequences followed.

“Equal application of the law — violated,” says Glenn.

6. Democracy by manipulation

In subsequent voting, 121 mail-in ballots were left uncounted, Elections Canada printed incorrect postal codes on envelopes (creating a 327-vote swing favoring the Liberals in one riding), and data errors distorted results. Additionally, five MPs switched to the Liberal Party within five months, conveniently giving the Liberals a two-seat majority.

“Democracy by design, or is it democracy by manipulation?” he asks.

7. Crushing peaceful protests

The government invoked the Emergencies Act against the 2022 Freedom Convoy truckers’ protest. They froze bank accounts of participants and their financial supporters nationwide. Two federal courts, including the Court of Appeal, unanimously ruled the action unjustified, illegal, and a direct breach of charter rights. The government continues to appeal despite the court rulings.

“That’s a silencing of free speech and assembly and property rights” as well as an abandonment of “judicial authority and rule of law,” Glenn emphasizes.

8. Government control of news

Bill C-18 (Online News Act) required Google and Meta to pay Canadian news outlets for simply linking to their content. Meta responded by blocking all news on Facebook and Instagram for Canadian users. This gave the government indirect control over what information reaches the public.

“Free press, information flow — controlled,” he asserts.

9. State regulation of culture and speech

Bill C-11 (Online Streaming Act) placed platforms like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify under federal regulation, imposing Canadian content quotas and DEI requirements. This allows the state to influence what people watch, listen to, and create.

“That’s [violating] speech” and “cultural expression influenced by the state,” Glenn declares.

10. Ignoring the public will

The government maintained the carbon tax even though two-thirds of Canadians opposed further increases. They removed the visible consumer tax but quietly kept hidden regulations and industrial carbon taxes that raised fuel prices. They also attempted an outright 100% electric vehicle sales mandate by 2035 before switching to indirect emissions rules that achieve the same goal.

“Transparency? There’s none there,” he observes.

“Property rights? Optional.”

11. Seizure of private land

Ontario’s Bill 212 gives the provincial government power to fast-track highway projects, override local bylaws, and quickly remove property owners from their land.

“No property rights,” Glenn reiterates.

12. Secret land grab

In Waterloo, authorities used confidential NDAs and threats of forced expropriation to seize 770 acres of prime farmland for an undisclosed “mega site.” Local farmers only learned about it after the deal was done.

Glenn calls it yet another violation of property rights.

13. Politicized justice

In New Brunswick, a judge deliberately shortened a convicted criminal’s sentence to prevent his deportation, prioritizing the man’s skills over proper enforcement of immigration law.

It’s a clear violation of “equal justice,” he argues.

14. Government competing against citizens

Toronto city council approved government-operated grocery stores that would avoid paying the same taxes as private businesses, allowing them to undercut regular competitors.

“Fair market violation,” Glenn notes.

15. Crushing local taxpayers

In rural New Brunswick, forced municipal mergers led to sudden property tax increases of 50% to 60% on homeowners.

16. Permission-based economy

British Columbia is shifting toward a permission-based economy where residents must obtain government approval for routine activities (such as selling eggs or offering riding lessons) or face fines up to $50,000 per day.

“Economic freedom? Gone,” Glenn concludes.

17. Gun confiscation

The government banned approximately 2,500 types of firearms previously owned legally. The buyback program was labeled “voluntary,” but citizens were warned they could face jail time for keeping their lawfully purchased guns past the deadline.

“[Are] there any property rights?” he asks.

18. Death as health care solution

Medical Assistance in Dying was introduced in 2016, and safeguards were removed in 2021. By 2024, over 22,500 people requested it and nearly 16,500 received it — accounting for 5.1% of all deaths that year. Since legalization, more than 76,000 Canadians have died through the program. It is now the fourth leading cause of death among adults and is increasingly offered for treatable conditions like back pain or mental health issues, while patients wait an average of 28 weeks for regular medical care.

“When the state controls your health care and offers death as a solution to its own failures, you’re no longer a citizen. You’re a cost center,” Glenn warns.

19. Criminalizing dissent

The “Combating Hate” bill (C-9) is advancing in Parliament. It introduces vague new criminal penalties for “hate” that could potentially outlaw religious beliefs, peaceful protests, and political dissent.

“There’s no freedom of speech there,” he stresses.

20. Exit tax on citizens

A former Google executive proposed a $500,000 “exit tax” on educated Canadians who choose to leave the country, effectively charging people for the right to emigrate.

“Isn’t that a Berlin wall of sorts?” asks Glenn.

All considered, Canada is no longer a free nation; and it’s no democracy either. “It’s a managed oligarchy with democratic trappings,” he warns.

And if America isn’t careful, she will fall into the same dystopia.

“Now recognize America, this is your future,” says Glenn. “We are already letting unelected bureaucrats and activists and judges rewrite the rules.”

“If we allow and tolerate foreign interference and media capture; if we accept that the government can freeze your bank account for protesting, seize your farm for progress; if we trade liberty for equity, safety, and Canadian content, we’re going to wake up in the morning in exactly the same place.”

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To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, 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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On Wednesday, the first major televised California gubernatorial debate was hosted by Nexstar Media Group. Six leading candidates participated: Democrats Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, and Matt Mahan; and Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales watched the debate and came away with one conclusion: Some Democrats are so bad, they make even Gavin Newsom — one of the most far-left governors in America’s history — look almost competent.

“Things are looking bleak when California Governor Gavin Newsom looks like a good governor, a good leader,” she sighs. “And I got to tell you, he looks like a rock star right now compared to the Democrats who are trying to win his job in the election.”

“This isn’t a compliment to Gavin Newsom. That’s just how bad everyone else is.”

On this episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara reviews three lowlights from the debate.

Candidates were asked about President Trump’s Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers executive order. Signed in April 2025, the order directs federal agencies to strictly enforce English proficiency requirements for commercial truck and bus drivers while cracking down on non-domiciled (foreign/non-resident) CDLs by limiting them mostly to specific temporary work visa holders and improving background checks — all in the name of road safety.

Predictably, three out of the four Democrats strongly opposed the policy. Xavier Becerra called it “reckless”; Katie Porter vowed she would “absolutely fight the Trump administration” to protect Californians from Trump; and Tom Steyer equated requiring English understanding to “racial profiling.”

Sara can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of these responses to what is a commonsense safety policy.

“I actually don’t care if you have, like, Whitey McWhiterson from Norway or Sweden who comes here and doesn’t speak a lick of English,” she quips in response to Steyer.

Referencing Porter, she gibes, “She said, ‘We have to protect Californians.’ Yeah, I think Californians are like, ‘I would like to also not just be run over by a truck driver who shouldn’t be here, who can’t read the road signs.”’

“You can never have nice things in California. That’s the rule. It’s unwritten, but that’s what the Democrats have decided,” Sara concludes.

In another part of the debate, the candidates were asked to give Newsom a letter grade on his performance handling homelessness.

Both Republicans gave Newsom an F, while Democrats gave him three B’s and one A.

“The homelessness is out of control. Anyone who has been to California understands that,” Sara says.

But the best moment in the debate in Sara’s view was when Katie Porter was asked about the viral Politico video from October 2025 showing her berating a staffer with phrases like, “Get out of my f**king shot!”

The first words out of Porter’s mouth were, “I apologized that day to that staffer four years ago.”

Sara can’t stress enough how critical it is that a Republican wins the California governor’s race.

“[California] is such a hellhole,” she says.

“Republicans, this is probably your last chance. It may be gone if you guys don’t take it back.”

To hear more of Sara’s commentary and watch clips from the debate, check out the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, 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 viral video of a Las Vegas slot machine has viewers concerned that yet another old piece of media has predicted the future.

Typically, “The Simpsons” is the most-cited show known for its eerily accurate depictions of future events, but in this case, a 1960 episode of “The Twilight Zone” is popping up on social media feeds.

‘This machine mocks me, it teases, it beckons.’

The video in question stems from the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, where a creepy, mobile gaming machine was seen moving about the showcase floor, seemingly begging passersby to give it a whirl.

“Slot machines can now follow you across the casino floor,” the caption read.

In addition to several commenters expressing concern about an incoming robot apocalypse, others quickly pointed out how closely this mimics the January 29, 1960, episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “The Fever.”

The episode follows a married couple who wins a vacation to Las Vegas, with the husband warning his wife that gambling is a “miserable, terrible waste of a time.”

But when a drunk man gives him a dollar, the man gives in, pulls the arm on a slot machine, wins, and gets addicted. The money and slots start calling his name, literally.

“Franklin,” they say, compelling him to leave his wife in the night. After 24 hours of losing money, Franklin is brought back to his hotel room after tipping over a machine that ate his last dollar. Still hearing his name, he opens the hotel room door to find the now-mobile slot machine in the hallway. The machine soon enters the hotel room and begins encroaching on Franklin, causing him to fall out of a window to his death.

RELATED: Arizona files 20 criminal charges against Kalshi for flouting state gambling laws

– YouTube

Although the slot machine’s assault was shown to be a hallucination, it is later seen ejecting a dollar coin toward Franklin’s corpse in the streets of Las Vegas. The voiceover accepts Franklin’s prior explanation that it was an evil, sentient being.

As for the new machine, it is actually several years old. In fact, Jacob Orth, who posted the viral video now seen 16 million times on X, posted the exact same video in 2025 with the exact same caption. However, that video only garnered around 100,000 views.

A different Vegas-centric account actually pointed out the machines during the 2023 Global Gaming Expo held at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“It’s all fun and games until the slot machine chases you down,” the account wrote.

RELATED: Trump has cut taxes for waitresses and bartenders across the country — but many have no clue about it

The machine, created by Apex, was criticized by a Vegas-focused account with about 220,000 followers, stating, “Slot makers have run out of ideas and the casino industry is doomed.”

The model does not appear to have made its way into any casinos, but closely resembles Apex’s typical product line.

The idea of the mobile slot machine perhaps reflects the 66-year-old TV program after all, given that Franklin said the “inhuman” machine teased him at every turn.

“This machine mocks me, it teases, it beckons.”

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Some fans have a particular reason to heckle, while some do it for the love of the game.

In a study of over 1 million fan comments, the most negative and foul-mouthed MLB fanbases have been tabulated, inversely revealing who is most polite.

The least negative fans, and therefore the most positive fans, may surprise readers.

Judging a book by its cover often doesn’t work, and in this case, it doesn’t work for Aaron Judge’s New York Yankees either. Many baseball fans would assume the Bronx Bomber fanbase to be the most foul-mouthed, but they actually came in fourth in terms of comments containing swear words in an analysis of every team’s fan page on social media site Reddit.

Additionally, Vegas Insider’s research shows that Yankees fans are only the third-most negative in their comments overall.

Negative Nancys

The negativity award actually goes to the home of the Green Monster, with Boston Red Sox fans having the highest percentage of negative comments from their page at 27.6%.

In fact, at the time of this writing, the top thread on the Redsox Reddit page was titled “The F**kin Lineup,” which brought comments like “The lineup f**king sucks and we can only win when the starting pitchers go deep.”

Second on that list are Athletics fans, who are understandably angry given that their team has left Oakland, resides in Sacramento, and will soon move to Las Vegas.

Athletics fans’ remarks also contained the highest frequency of curse words, with over 6% of their comments containing swears, “f**k” being the most popular. Red Sox fans were runners-up on that list.

RELATED: Nike apologizes and removes Boston ad that joked about tolerance

Lachlan Cunningham/MLB Photos/Getty Images

Who’s positive?

The least negative fans, and therefore the most positive fans, may surprise readers, as Toronto Blue Jays commenters from the typically polite country of Canada are nowhere near the top.

In fact, Jays fans were 20th in terms of positive comments and were 13th in least negative comments. The distinct honor of most positive fanbase actually went to the home of the Rocky Mountains.

“The Colorado Rockies turned out to be the most positive fandom since 46.45% of their comments had a positive sentiment, followed by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals,” a Vegas Insider spokesman told Fearless.

RELATED: Who’s to blame for the un-American ban on tailgating at the World Cup?

Elsa/Getty Images

The least frequent negative comments came from the Gateway to the West, though, where St. Louis Cardinals supporters were the only fanbase with less than 20% negative comments.

Yankees fans should not worry though. They still top some of the negativity lists in terms of sheer volume, posting the most comments that contained swear words — five out of every 100 did — and the most negative comments in total.

While this is likely due to the team’s immense fanbase, it is still an accolade to be cherished.

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The horrifying death of a 2-year-old boy in foster care is leading to intense scrutiny of local social workers in California.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that the unidentified suspect was 17 years old at the time of the alleged murder of his foster brother, known as “Baby Jaxon.”

‘Jaxon will never have any way to tell his own story. My office will speak for him and all the lost children as we seek justice.’

Officers of the San Jose Police Department Patrol responded to a report of an unresponsive child at a residence on Otono Court on April 5.

Police found the 2-year-old unresponsive in his crib and immediately transported him to a local hospital in critical condition. When Jaxon was placed on life support, medical personnel reported that the child had suspicious injuries.

After an investigation, detectives said they found evidence that the boy’s foster brother had abused and sexually assaulted the child and placed him under arrest.

On April 9, Jaxon died of his injuries, and police began the investigation as a homicide.

Detectives said they discovered that the child had been placed into the foster care of a 40-year-old caregiver with a criminal history in February. She was arrested and booked but was later released.

The district attorney’s office said it was seeking to charge the murder suspect as an adult.

In addition to numerous counts of sexual abuse and murder, the suspect was also charged with child assault causing death and assault with a hair tie.

The child’s maternal aunt said the child was born premature and likely suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome as well as autism. She also claimed to have raised concerns about the foster family in February.

“Jaxon will never have a chance at life,” a statement from District Attorney Jeff Rosen reads. “Jaxon will never have any way to tell his own story. My office will speak for him and all the lost children as we seek justice.”

RELATED: Indiana teen targeted victims across several states for child sex abuse through social media, cops say

Critics are now demanding to know how the child was placed in a situation where he died only two months later. Jaxon reportedly was placed into foster care after his mother died and his father was unable to care for him, according to friends.

A union representing social workers of the Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children’s Services confirmed that seven workers had been placed on administrative leave after the incident.

“This is a terrible and horrific case,” Rosen added.

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Neighbors of an elderly couple in Florida were stunned to find out the wife had been beaten to death with a hammer and her husband had been arrested for the grisly crime.

The Groveland Police Department said officers were called to a residence on Way Point Drive in Lake County on Sunday at about 9 p.m. for a wellness check.

‘Police found that DiFraia made comments about a suicide pact involving pills about a month before the gruesome incident.’

When they entered the home, they found 82-year-old Vincent DiFraia sitting in his living room with a vacant look on his face and bleeding from injuries they determined to be self-inflicted.

He was transported to Orlando Health South Lake Hospital for treatment.

When officers searched the rest of the house, they found his 84-year-old wife covered in blood while lying in bed. A hammer was found next to her, while the walls and ceiling of the bedroom were also splattered with blood, police said.

They also reported finding dried blood on the floor leading to the bathroom and in the bathroom sink.

Police said the woman had a “large impact wound” on the side of her head and had likely died 24 hours before she was found.

They found other bloody items as well.

During their investigation, police found that DiFraia made comments about a suicide pact involving pills about a month before the gruesome incident.

Police believe DiFraia killed his wife with the hammer and later cut his wrists with a knife before police entered the home.

DiFraia is being held at the Lake County jail on a charge of first-degree murder.

RELATED: Thug accused of killing woman in Florida hammer attack is Haitian illegal alien protected from deportation under Biden: DHS

Neighbors told WESH-TV that the couple was a nice couple.

“We all still kind of just battling with it, and for the victim too, you know, she was a really nice lady as well,” said one neighbor, who was not identified.

“For the most part, it’s a quiet neighborhood; everybody get along,” he added. “There’s a lot of elderly people that live here, and most of the homeowners have been here since day one. And yeah, this is just sad and unfortunate.”

His wife was identified as Evelyn DiFraia in the grand jury indictment of her husband.

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How did we end up with modern leftism and all its ills?

For Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, the answer depended on how deep you were willing to dig. For the average person, the problem seems to have started with World War II; the “more informed” soon realize that World War I is when things went wrong.

This battle will not be won on social media, through new platforms, or by means of yet another ideology.

But the “genuine historian,” writes von Kuehnelt-Leddihn in “Leftism Revisted,” goes further back in history still, all the way to the “mother of most of the ideological evils besetting not only Western civilization but also the rest of the world”: the French Revolution.

Paul Kingsnorth’s compelling diagnosis of what ails modern man in “Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity” places him somewhere in von Kuehnelt-Leddihn’s third category

The Machine

It’s not that this English writer — a recent convert to the Orthodox Church — dismisses the damage wrought by the 20th century, which shattered the West’s confidence in its animating principles and, in time, killed Christendom — setting in motion a broader campaign of deracination, disorientation, and disenchantment, advanced from both sides of the liberal political binary.

Like von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Kingsnorth understands that these terrible events are the expression of a sickness that took hold centuries ago, at the storming of the Bastille — an event that ushered in the birth of ideology, the razing of ancient hierarchies, the sacrifice of multitudes in the name of “Reason,” and the initiation of the continental variety of the liberal experiment.

Kingsnorth, however, goes a step farther. He does not merely trace the origins of the crisis — he names the thing that now drives it.

That which has demolished “borders and boundaries, traditions and cultures, languages and ways of seeing” is, according to Kingsnorth, a centuries-old “monster that grows in deserts,” coming of age in the spiritual wastelands created by the French and Industrial Revolutions.

This insatiable force — what Kingsnorth calls the “Machine,” but also “Progress” — has swallowed the world and, in doing so, made it increasingly difficult for those within it to perceive reality except through its own corrupting lens.

What cannot be quantified or digitized — “that irrational, illogical world of beauty, wild nature, and spiritual truth” — is not merely ignored but actively obscured.

Science, self, sex, screen

The Machine’s values — progress, openness, the rejection of limits and borders, therapeutic individualism, universalism, materialism, scientism, and the primacy of market logic — have become so ubiquitous, writes Kingsnorth, that we now treat them “as if they were natural as rain or wind.”

These values can be distilled into what he calls the “Four S’s”:

science, which offers a purely material account of origins;the self, which defines identity and purpose;sex, which anchors meaning in desire; andthe screen, “our main source of distraction from reality and the interface by which we are directed into the coming post-human reality of the Machine.”

They stand in direct opposition to the older order, grounded in the “Four P’s”: past, place, people, and prayer.

Where the Four S’s dissolve inheritance, the Four P’s depend on it.

Care for and attention to the Four P’s threaten the Machine’s liberal anti-culture and are therefore treated with suspicion or contempt — dismissed as naive at best and at worst as reactionary, bigoted, or “deplorable.”

Recall former President Barack Obama’s remarks about working-class Pennsylvanians who failed to embrace the promises of progress: “It’s not surprising, then, that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion …”

Like its supporters, the Machine’s critics are legion. Yet their opposition is often absorbed.

Breaking the framework

Kingsnorth acknowledges that conservatism, at least in theory, comes closest to offering an anti-Machine politics rooted in human reality. It values tradition, centers home and family, affirms religious faith, and resists both centralized power and abstract utopianism.

But the problem, says Kingsnorth — drawing on Roger Scruton and G.K. Chesterton — is that mainstream conservatism operates largely within the same liberal framework it claims to resist.

As Chesterton observed in 1924, “Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition.”

The result is a politics that conserves the aftermath of revolution rather than the inheritance it displaced.

The goalposts, in other words, were moved long ago — inside the belly of the beast.

Reactionary radicalism

After searching for a label for those who would genuinely resist the Machine — those seeking, as Rod Dreher has put it, to build “networks of resistance” — Kingsnorth arrives at a term deliberately resistant to left-right categorization: reactionary radicalism.

Reactionary radicalism, says Kingsnorth:

aims to defend or build a moral economy at the human scale, which rejects the atomized individualism of the liberal era and understands that materialism as a world view. A politics which embraces family and home and place, loving the particular without excluding the outsider, and which looks on all great agglomerations of power with suspicion. … A politics which aims to limit rather than multiply our needs, which strategically opposes any technology which threatens the moral economy and which, finally, seeks a moral order to society which is based on love of neighbor rather than competition with everyone.

But how, exactly, can this be put into practice?

This battle will not be won on social media, through new platforms, or by means of yet another ideology. These are the Machine’s native terrain — its shock absorbers.

Raw and the cooked

One increasingly widespread act of resistance Kingsnorth highlights is homeschooling, which he calls “the most important thing any parent can do to resist Machine culture.”

More broadly, he urges a turn away from the purely rational toward the reasonable; the building of parallel systems resilient enough to resist assimilation; the rejection of technologies that promise freedom while delivering dependence; and a renewed pursuit of transcendence.

In short: a recovery of the Four P’s.

To those still enthralled by the Machine, such people will appear as barbarians — unrefined, unassimilable, and threatening.

The question, Kingsnorth suggests, is what kind of barbarian one will become.

The “raw” barbarian has fled the Machine’s reach. The “cooked” barbarian remains within its walls but practices quiet, persistent dissent.

Either way, he has made himself inedible. Enough indigestible barbarians, and the all-devouring Machine may choke to death.

​Ancient hierarchies, Antimachine politics, Atomised individualism, Atomization, Cosmic realm, French revolution, Human reality, Ideological evils, Industrial revolution, Liberal experiment, Liberal extremism, Machine values, Modern sickness, Moral economy, Networks of resistance, Orthodox christian, Political binary, Posthuman reality, Postliberals, Progress theology, Ruins admiration, Therapeutic individualism, Traditionalist, Universalism, Utopian justice, Western civilization, Workingclass, World war i, World war ii, Paul kingsnorth, Against the machine, Books, Liberalism, Lifestyle, Culture, Faith 

As UFOs, aliens, and disclosure become increasingly popular topics of discussion, a theory is gaining traction among certain Christian circles: that aliens do not exist, and any contact with one is actually an encounter with a demon masquerading as an extraterrestrial.

Glenn Beck has mixed feelings about this theory. While he rejects the notion that any being that comes from another planet is not part of God’s design and is evil, he also believes that many alien and UFO encounters have demonic explanations.

To dive into this subject, Glenn invites Faithwire journalist and supernatural podcast host Billy Hallowell to “The Glenn Beck Program” for a fascinating conversation about several possible explanations.

Hallowell explains that the general consensus, “even among a lot of scientists,” is that “people are seeing something” that is very real. The crux of the alien debate today lies more in what people are seeing: beings from outer space or beings from a spiritual dimension.

The theory that they’re all spiritual beings isn’t without merit, he explains. The Bible “doesn’t just say there’s Satan and demons. It talks about principalities and powers, and there’s some mystery here in what is going on,” he tells Glenn.

Further, it’s plausible to believe that demons can take an alien form when you consider that throughout Scripture, angels “show up in different forms.”

However, the debate gets even more complicated in that not everybody agrees on what demons are.

“Now, the common belief is that demons are fallen angels. … The other theory is that demons are actually the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim,” Hallowell says.

The latter theory, he explains, draws from both Scripture and the book of Enoch and posits that the Nephilim (the giant offspring of human women and fallen angels) whose physical bodies were wiped in the flood went “looking for bodies, and that’s what demons are.”

Glenn is fascinated by this idea. “You’re saying that they didn’t go away, that this might be the explanation for what we’re seeing?” he asks.

Hallowell notes that according to the theories discussed, these entities — whether fallen angels or disembodied Nephilim spirits — can physically manifest, and some believe this explains why people report encountering beings that look like aliens.

This idea, he says, then leads to another question: “Why would they do that? Is there a deception here?”

Glenn isn’t sure what to believe about aliens, but he is certain that where demons are at work, deception is sure to be at play.

“The whole point of the dark side is deception,” he says.

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

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Aliens, Billy hallowell, Blaze, Blaze media, Blazetv, Demons, Disclosure, Extraterrestrial, Glenn beck, Nephilim, Satan, Spiritual warfare, Supernatural, The glenn beck program, Ufos, Deception, Alien encounters 

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted a former Alabama high school girls’ basketball coach who’s facing 32 sex crime charges in connection with accusations that she sexually abused a student, according to multiple reports.

Paige Adams — former girls’ basketball coach at Cold Springs High School — was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Cullman County Jail, according to jail records.

Before the accusations surfaced, Adams was described as ‘a great role model for the young people of Cullman County.’

The 35-year-old was charged with two felony crimes: school employee engaging in a sex act or deviant sexual intercourse with a student and school employee having sexual contact with a student under the age of 19, AL.com reported.

Adams also faces 30 misdemeanor counts of a school employee distributing obscene material to a student.

Adams was released from jail after posting a $225,000 bond but is required to wear an electronic monitor.

“This 32-count grand jury indictment speaks for itself,” Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker told WIAT-TV Tuesday.

RELATED: Teacher of the year finalist who kept contacting boy she sexually abused even after arrest learns fate: ‘Pretty stupid’

WIAT obtained court records Wednesday stating that Adams asked the student to send her obscene material depicting sexual activity on at least two occasions, only days before she resigned March 25.

The outlet added that Adams sent obscene material to the student at least 28 times between Feb. 13 and March 9.

Adams — who was in her first year as the varsity girls’ basketball coach at Cold Springs High School after being hired in March 2025 — resigned last month, and she was “escorted from school property,” according to AL.com.

Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette stated last month, “Our sole focus is protecting the students of Cullman County Schools. We are going to do what is always right, as we always have.”

1819 News reported that Barnette said of Adams, “This is the first formal complaint I have received regarding this employee. As soon as the concern was raised, an investigation was initiated. The employee chose to resign at that time.”

Before the accusations surfaced, Barnette called Adams “a great role model for the young people of Cullman County,” according to 1819 News.

WIAT reported that Adams’ husband filed for divorce April 6 — just two weeks before she was arrested.

Adams’ husband — the boys’ basketball coach at Cold Springs High School — requested sole custody of their child, according to WIAT.

According to court documents, Adams and her husband had been married since 2015, but they separated in March when she resigned.

In April 2025, Adams’ husband said he was excited that she was hired as the girls’ basketball coach at the same school as him.

Adams’ husband previously told the Cullman Tribune, “Now we can be at the same place on a nightly basis. Secondly, being a head coach can be difficult at times. Us being at the same place and being able to support each other through the ups and downs was important to us.”

“And lastly, getting to have a front-row seat to watch Paige starting her journey as the head girls’ coach at Cold Springs is special to me,” the husband said.

Authorities did not disclose the age of the alleged victim or if the teen was a student at Cold Springs High School.

Adams’ arraignment hearing is scheduled for May 22.

The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and the Cullman County Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

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​Teacher sex scandal, Bad teacher, Alabama, Paige adams, Teacher student sex scandal, Teacher arrested, Crime 

The man arrested for allegedly spraying Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) with apple cider vinegar has reached a plea deal after spending months in jail, according to court documents.

Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, pleaded not guilty in March despite being captured on video attacking Omar during a Jan. 27 town hall event and getting tackled to the ground.

The complaint claimed that Kazmierczak previously said that someone should kill Omar in comments years before the incident.

Prosecutors said Kazmierczak yelled that Omar was “splitting Minnesotans apart” before approaching her and spraying liquid onto her from a syringe.

Investigators later said the liquid was apple cider vinegar.

Omar defiantly continued her speech after the man was subdued.

“We will continue. These f**king a**holes are not going to get away with it!” she said to the crowd.

“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” she wrote on social media after the incident. “I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.”

The complaint claimed that Kazmierczak previously said that someone should kill Omar in comments years before the incident.

The Hill reported that the details of the plea deal were unavailable.

RELATED: VIDEO: Ilhan Omar lashes out at reporter over bizarre wealth discrepancy: ‘I don’t want to tell you jack s**t!’

While President Donald Trump suggested that the entire episode was staged by Omar to garner sympathy for her, House Speaker Mike Johnson denied the possibility in comments to reporters.

“I don’t have any evidence to believe that’s true,” Johnson said in January. “Look, we deal with member security issues as they arise. I called her as I do any member who has a situation like that, and I talked to her briefly.”

When pressed on the president’s claims, he added, “I haven’t seen any evidence to that.”

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​Ilhan omar sprayed, Anthony kazmierczak, Man who sprayed omar, Omar vs syringe, Politics 

Many readers are convinced that a piece of Helen Keller memorabilia could not possibly be real.

Keller, noted as being a deaf and blind humanitarian, educator, and writer who wrote 12 books, has been swept up by the latest craze of memorabilia resale.

‘What a time to be alive.’

In fact, the genre is nearly unheard of, as it exists as a hybrid of two separate collector’s items: trading cards and historical signatures.

That’s right, Keller’s signature was just auctioned off as a trading card — and it is authentic.

Rookie season

The Topps official “Helen Keller Cut Signatures 1/1” card was sold in a live auction on eBay for $3,551. For those thinking the card may be fake or a concoction created by a savvy entrepreneur, Topps went ahead and shared the results on its social media pages, reporting that the card was “just sold” on Thursday.

RELATED: Sports memorabilia industry in chaos after seller admits massive scheme to fake signatures, then commits suicide

‘What a time to be alive’

The reactions online were less than stellar, as not only did readers not believe it was real, but they couldn’t fathom why anyone would pay for such a thing.

“Is it authentic,” one reply asked. “Or is it just a joke card that got bid on fairly high?”

“I thought this card was satire. Good lord,” another sad reader expressed.

“I had to check to see if this was a parody account,” a sports page chimed in to say.

Other onlookers accepted the event had taken place, but couldn’t resist pondering what it said about life in 2026.

“‘I just spent $3,551 on an autographed Helen Keller rookie card’ is a real sentence somebody said earlier today. What a time to be alive,” wrote Mike Beauvais, creator of streaming platform Quibi.

RELATED: Fake Masters jackets, Beatles signatures, and a Kardashian photo named in fraudster’s memorabilia scheme worth up to $550K

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Team player

This isn’t the only instance of Topps trading cards using American icons as a product line. Back in 2009, Topps released its American Heritage series that featured the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Frank Sinatra, and Martin Luther King Jr.

At the same time, it included two other iterations of Keller on trading cards. First, she was included under the American Heroes series that also showcased Thomas Edison. She was also included in the Presidential Medal of Freedom series that also featured Bill Cosby and Jackie Robinson.

For those looking to get their hands on graded Keller items, a card with her signature is currently listed for just under $2,200, while another seller is asking $500 or best offer for one of the 2009 Topps cards.

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​Align, Auctioning, Ebay, Satire, Helen keller, Trading cards, Signature, Memoribilia, American history, Lifestyle