Category: blaze media

Olivia Nuzzi’s fall from grace continues as she parts ways with another magazine.

Once a rising star in the journalism world, Nuzzi was first fired from the New Yorker in 2024 after news broke of her alleged sexting with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., breaking the most basic forms of journalistic ethics and collapsing her engagement to then-Politico reporter Ryan Lizza. Nuzzi was later picked up by Vanity Fair to be West Coast editor.

The overlapping narratives inevitably caused a media firestorm.

Nearly a year later, the scandal has resurfaced after Nuzzi announced the release of her book “American Canto,” which apparently details her alleged behavior with Kennedy but refers to him only as “the politician.”

In the aftermath of the renewed interest in and attention to the scandal, Nuzzi and Vanity Fair “have agreed to part ways,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

RELATED: Trump calls New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi an ‘unattractive wack job’

Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for HBO

Nuzzi’s attempt at a comeback tour was met with a series of bombshell exposés written by her former fiancé, who began his career as an independent journalist following the scandal.

Lizza detailed in his Substack series how he found out about Nuzzi’s alleged sexting not just with Kennedy in 2024, but also with former presidential candidate Mark Sanford in 2020. Lizza went on to detail a toxic dynamic between Nuzzi and Kennedy, including graphic details about their sexual proclivities and the intense betrayal, while she insisted that the relationship was merely a “digital” one.

Despite the overwhelming evidence and multiple accounts of the behavior, Kennedy has denied the allegations.

RELATED: What the mainstream media’s outrage over RFK Jr.’s ‘affair’ is REALLY about

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The overlapping narratives inevitably caused a media firestorm, but it may not have translated into monetary success for Nuzzi’s new book.

Since its release on December 2, “American Canto” sat at No. 5,546 on Amazon’s best-seller list and at No. 3,059 in the Kindle store. Despite the onslaught of media attention, the supposedly “mesmerizing firsthand account of the warping of American reality over the past decade” is currently sitting at a brutal 1.69-star rating on Goodreads.

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​Mark sanford, Rfk, Robert f. kennedy jr., Olivia nuzzi, Ryan lizza, Vanity fair, The new yorker, Affair, Wall street journal, Politico 

A Democratic U.S. representative appeared to undermine her own accusations against federal agents when she posted a video of herself claiming to have been pepper-sprayed at a protest.

The newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials pepper-sprayed her during a raid at a taco restaurant in Tucson on Friday.

‘If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed.’

“ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson — a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years,” reads a post from the politician. “When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed-aside and pepper sprayed.”

She said in the video that there had been about 40 agents in vehicles, most of them masked, but that the community stopped them. She claimed she and her staffers were pepper-sprayed and she was pushed, despite identifying herself as a member of Congress.

“While I am fine, if that is the way they treat me, how are they treating other community members who do not have the same privileges and protections that I do?” she added.

Many on social media pointed out that she didn’t have the appearance of someone who had been pepper-sprayed.

Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, gave a spirited response to the Democrat’s claims.

“If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement,” McLaughlin wrote.

She went on to say that two agents were seriously injured by the mob that Grijalva joined.

RELATED: Church worker pretended to be ICE agent to extort $500 from massage therapist, police say

“Presenting one’s self as a ‘Member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement,” McLaughlin added.

Grijalva said she happened to be getting lunch at the taco place when the raid operation began. She coughed once in the video and said it was because of the pepper spray.

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​Rep adelita grijalva, Ice raid, Congressional oversight, Pepper spray, Politics 

The Indiana House of Representatives passed a controversial bill that would redistrict the state and possibly flip two seats to the Republican column in the midterm elections.

Fifty-seven members voted for the bill, while 41 voted against it. The bill will go to the Indiana Senate, where some Republicans have said they oppose the redistricting effort.

‘Fair maps are essential to protecting Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, and today the House voted to do just that.’

Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun urged the Senate to pass the bill.

“Fair maps are essential to protecting Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, and today the House voted to do just that, delivering a strong congressional map,” Braun said. “I commend Speaker Huston and his caucus for having the courage to protect Hoosier voters. I urge the Senate to move quickly next week and adopt this map so Indiana can move forward with confidence.”

However, efforts to persuade state Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, a Republican, to support the bill have failed so far.

Another Republican said that she received a threat over her opposition to the redistricting bill.

“Unfortunately, my house was the target of a pipe bomb threat on Saturday evening. This is a result of the D.C. political pundits for redistricting,” state Sen. Jean Leising wrote on social media.

Trump has blasted those Republicans as “RINOs,” an epithet meaning “Republican in name only.”

RELATED: Supreme Court allows Texas redistricting map for midterm elections; liberals dissent

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita cited the Supreme Court’s temporary approval of the Texas redistricting map for the midterms to justify his support of the bill.

“This specific map is legally solid. If any group or individual is silly enough to sue, we will defeat their attack in court,” Rokita said. “As the United States Supreme Court emphasized once again last night, redistricting for political reasons is constitutional. In fact, the Court has said that redistricting belongs in the legislature — in the hands of the people’s elected representatives, not judges.”

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​Redistricting battle, Indiana redistricting, Gov. mike braun, Midterm elections, Politics 

When BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo penned an exposé on the rampant Somali fraud in Minnesota — which saw billions of taxpayer dollars go to Somalia and terrorist groups — he wasn’t aware the story would blow up like it did.

“The Somali fraud story that we’ve been talking about for the last few weeks is, to my great surprise, still dominating the headlines. And oftentimes when you’re talking about the news, you go week by week by week,” Rufo explains on “Rufo & Lomez.”

“Stories have a trajectory where they hit orbit, and then they are spinning and gaining power for weeks and in some cases more than a month. And this is one of those stories. … We launched it, and now it’s really taken on a life of its own,” he continues.

And the Democrats, like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, are not only refusing to realistically address the fraud; they’re making sure the story never dies.

“To our Somali community, we love you, and we stand with you. Our police, many of whom are Somali themselves, are trusted partners in keeping people safe. They will not collaborate with any federal agency around doing immigration enforcement work,” Frey announced following the news of fraud.

“Our city staff and our law enforcement will not ask the question as to whether an individual is documented or not. That’s not American. That’s not what we are about. And we’re going to do right by every single person in our cities,’ he continued.

Frey then attempted to speak in what appeared to be very painful Somali.

“That really sums it up,” Rufo jokes, before pointing to something co-host Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman said regarding assimilation.

“You had a great point. You said the liberal myth is that these groups come and become American. But in this case, it’s the precise opposite,” he says. “These groups come, and the Americans become Somalian.”

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

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

​Sharing, Camera phone, Video, Video phone, Free, Upload, Youtube.com, Rufo & lomez, Christopher rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Lomez, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Somalian immigrants, Somali fraud ring, Somali migrants, Jacob frey, Mayor jacob frey, Minnesota fraud 

Once upon a time, retired three-star Venezuelan General Hugo Carvajal Barrios was one of the most powerful men within the Caracas socialist regime. Now, he’s writing letters to President Trump and the American people from his jail cell, which he landed in after voluntarily pleading guilty in the U.S. to a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

And while many politicians, including Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), are criticizing President Trump for actions taken against Venezuelan narco-terrorists, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is in full support of Trump — alongside Barrios.

Gonzales points out that Paul is “going out and giving these little, like, press junkets where he’s telling people, like, ‘Well, these guys weren’t armed. You need to prove that they’re armed first.’”

“You know what they’re armed with, Rand? Drugs that they’re bringing into our country to kill Americans with,” Gonzales says, adding, “That’s what they’re armed with.”

And in his letter, Barrios confirms Gonzales’ sentiment.

“I see the need to address the American people about the reality of what the Venezuelan regime truly is — and why President Trump’s policies are not only correct, but absolutely necessary to the United States’ national security,” Barrios began in his letter.

“I personally witnessed how Hugo Chavez’s government became a criminal organization that is now run by Nicolas Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and other senior regime officials. The purpose of this organization, now known as the Cartel of the Suns, is to weaponize drugs against the United States,” he continued.

“The drugs that reached your cities through new routes were not accidents of corruption nor just the work of independent traffickers; they were deliberate policies coordinated by the Venezuelan regime against the United States,” he added.

Barrios went on to claim that the plan has “been successfully executed with help from FARC, ELN, Cuban operatives, and Hezbollah.”

“The regime has provided weapons, passports, and impunity for these terrorist organizations to operate freely from Venezuela against the United States. The regime I served is not merely hostile — it is at war with you, using drugs, gangs, espionage, and even your own democratic processes as weapons,” he wrote.

Barrios added, “I absolutely support President Trump’s policy towards Venezuela, because it is in self-defense and he is acting based on the truth.”

“He’s already been sentenced. He’s serving time in federal prison. And he’s like, ‘I just want to make this right within my soul.’ So I’m going to explain all of this to you,” Gonzales says.

“It probably makes a whole hell of a lot of sense why the Trump administration is going so hard on Venezuela regardless of whether they’re armed with guns. … Innocent Americans are dying, and they don’t have to, because of the Venezuelan government.”

“We need to do something about that,” she adds.

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.

​Sharing, Video, Upload, Camera phone, Free, Video phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, President donald trump, Hugo chavez, Venezuela, Narcoterrorists, Hugo carvajal barrios, Caracas socialist regime, Senator rand paul, Drug cartels, Weapons 

Search parties spent weeks attempting to locate a missing Michigan woman who was pregnant. However, the frantic search ended in a disturbing discovery that shocked a community.

On Nov. 4, 22-year-old Rebecca Park was reported missing, according to the Wexler County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, Park was approximately 38 weeks pregnant.

‘The brutality and disregard for human life displayed here are deeply troubling.’

Following weeks of searching for the missing pregnant woman, Park’s remains were found in the Manistee National Forest on Nov. 25. However, Park’s child was no longer in her womb.

According to a statement by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, 40-year-old Cortney Bartholomew and 47-year-old Bradly Bartholomew “lured” Park to their home in Wexford County. Cortney Bartholomew is Park’s biological mother, and Bradly Bartholomew is her stepfather.

“The couple then allegedly tortured Park in an attempt to remove the unborn infant, resulting in the death of both,” the statement read.

“This is frankly evil personified,” Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey said at Tuesday’s arraignment, according to Michigan Live. “These two individuals created a plan, conducted research.”

Carey continued, “Mr. Bartholomew brought Rebecca to their home, forced her into another vehicle, and took her into the woods, where they stabbed her, forced her to lie on the ground while they cut her baby out, ultimately causing her death and the death of the baby.”

Carey said Park’s death is a “case of premeditated torture and murder.”

According to ABC News, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stated, “This case involves a truly horrific homicide in which a young woman and her unborn child endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of the defendants.”

Nessel added, “The brutality and disregard for human life displayed here are deeply troubling.”

Nessel stressed that the evidence “reflects an extraordinary level of callousness and violence.”

“Rebecca had everything to live for, and our hearts are with her loved ones as they endure this unthinkable loss,” Nessel said.

Nessel vowed that justice would be “pursued in this tragic case without delay.”

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

Cortney Bartholomew and Bradly Bartholomew were arrested in connection with Park’s death.

The couple was each charged with one felony count of first-degree premeditated murder, one felony count of murder, one felony count of torture in a place of confinement, one felony count of conspiracy to commit torture, one felony count of assault of a pregnant woman with the intention to cause miscarriage or stillbirth, one felony count of conspiracy to commit assault on a pregnant woman with the intention to cause miscarriage or stillbirth, and one misdemeanor count of removal of a dead body.

If convicted of any of the felonies, the pair faces up to life in prison.

Court records identify Bradly Bartholomew as a habitual offender, which means he could face harsher penalties.

Both suspects were jailed without the possibility of bond.

People magazine reported that Cortney posted a video on her Facebook page on the same day that her daughter was due to give birth, with a caption that read: “My alibi of where I was the night my daughter came up missing.”

The video had a black screen with audio of Cortney’s 14-year-old son reportedly saying, “She gave me my meds at about 8:40. I don’t remember a lot as I just said, but she was there when I went to bed, and she was also there when I woke up the next day. I know that she never goes out and about when I’m sleeping just because she doesn’t like to drive at night.”

Park’s adoptive mother, Stephanie Park, told WWTV-TV and WWUP-TV that she had had custody of Park since she was a year old. The mother said that she has been taking care of Rebecca’s two young sons, ages 3 and 2.

Officials have not yet revealed if the remains of Park’s baby have been recovered.

Anyone with information on Park’s death is urged to contact the tip line at the Wexford County Sheriff’s Department at 231-779-9216.

The Wexford County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Blaze News.

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​Crime 

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear arguments for and against President Donald Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship.

The Trump administration appealed a lower court order that struck down the restrictions in July over a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of children affected by the policy.

‘We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term.’

Trump issued the Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship executive order on his first day in office of his second term. The order prohibits granting citizenship to persons born in the country to mothers illegally or temporarily in the U.S. and whose father is not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.

Opponents of birthright citizenship say it stems from a false reading of the 14th Amendment, which was intended to apply only to former slaves when it was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War.

“Congress has never passed a federal statute that confers birthright citizenship. So it’s not in the Constitution, it’s not in federal law, it’s not in the legislative history, and yet it is being used,” argued BlazeTV host Mark Levin.

“Birthright citizenship is the argument, is the position, is the policy the Democrat Party holds on to because they want monopoly power for all time,” he added, “and they don’t care if it’s foreigners or not.”

Supporters of the policy point to the longstanding precedent of automatically granting citizenship to babies born in America.

“No president can change the 14th Amendment’s fundamental promise of citizenship,” said ACLU legal director Cecillia Wang. “We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term.”

The case will be heard in the spring, and a decision is expected by early summer.

RELATED: DHS slams Newsom over illegal alien accused in death of 11-year-old boy on Thanksgiving

Others point to the troublesome practice of “citizenship tourism” as justification for the order.

“There is a tourism industry surrounding this whole birthright citizenship. Women come here before they give birth so that they can just give birth here, and then their babies become United States citizens. That’s nuts, and to [Trump’s] point, nobody else does this,” said Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” on BlazeTV.

The birthright order would not take away citizenship from those who already obtained it before the order went into effect.

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​Birthright citizenship, Trump executive order, Supreme court, Immigration policy, Politics 

The incoming socialist mayor of New York City says that he will end the clearing out of homeless encampments in the city once he enters office.

Zohran Mamdani made the comments during his “Hot Chocolate, Frozen Rent” event in Manhattan on Thursday, where he posited that homelessness is a result of “political choice.”

‘Radical left communists would rather the homeless freeze to death on the streets, live in tents without showers food or medicine than make sure they have PROPER housing.’

“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” he said.

“We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing, whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is,” he added. “Because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made time and time again.”

Republican NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov torched Mamdani over the announcement.

“The radical left communists would rather the homeless freeze to death on the streets, live in tents without showers food or medicine than make sure they have PROPER housing and mental health treatment which many of them desperately need,” said Vernikov.

While the mainstream media has tried to mischaracterize Mamdani as moderate, he has previously posited that the government might need to ban private property in order to address the housing crisis.

RELATED: Actor Jon Voight calls on Trump to ‘terminate’ election of Mamdani in NYC

“Mamdani voters are rich entitled liberals who never have to struggle and who believe that leaving the homeless on our streets in their tents is also appropriate PUNISHMENT for our ‘intolerant and racist’ neighborhoods,” Vernikov continued. “BRACE YOURSELVES.”

Mamdani shocked many when he won the Democrat nomination in the mayoral race despite being vastly inexperienced to run the massive city. At least one liberal commentator has compared him to Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr.

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​Zohran mamdani, Homelessness, Homeless encampments, Socialist policies, Politics 

A traditional gender activist group has been fined in Australia for the “vilification” of two transgender-identifying males who competed in women’s sports.

The Binary Australia advocacy group was found guilty in August of identifying the athletes and exposing them to ridicule and hatred from critics of the transgender agenda.

‘Women have effectively been erased from law and attempts to advocate regarding public policy are shut down for the sake of the feelings of a few.’

Binary Australia spokeswoman Kirralie Smith said the fine was an infringement on her free speech rights and said the group would appeal the ruling.

“It is disappointing that the word ‘woman’ has been redefined to include males and that the words ‘violence’ & ‘vilification’ have been applied to speaking the truth about information in the public domain,” she wrote on social media.

“Australians should be very concerned about their freedoms,” she added. “Women have effectively been erased from law and attempts to advocate regarding public policy are shut down for the sake of the feelings of a few.”

Transgender activist Heather Corkhill of Equality Australia praised the ruling and accused Smith’s group of inciting hatred and violence.

“These women were subjected to horrendous harassment online, including being publicly identified, outed, and misgendered,” Corkhill said of the male athletes.

“People who target vulnerable minorities to incite hatred and fear need to be called out and stopped,” she added. “Smith and her supporters are out of step with the law, out of step with community values, and out of step with modern Australia.”

The 95K in Australian dollars equates to about 63K U.S. dollars.

RELATED: ‘F**king horrific’: Liberals rage after largest girl youth group in UK bans trans-identifying boys

“Males should never be permitted to participate in female sport. As a registered third-party political campaigner and a woman, I should have the right to advocate for this without being penalized,” Smith continued.

“The law might state men can be women, but it defies the laws of nature and cannot be sustained,” she added. “Nothing will steal my joy in knowing that I am a woman and no male ever will be. I am proud to stand for truth and reality.”

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​Binary australia, Vilification of transgender athletes, Kirralie smith, Transgender agenda, Politics 

An Oregon cattle rancher did his own research into an apparent rise in obscure medical conditions after the opening of an Amazon data center.

The facility, which requires enormous amounts of water to cool its infrastructure, stands accused of adding wastewater — laden with nitrates — to an already struggling filtration system.

‘Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members.’

Jim Doherty from Morrow, Oregon, sought out to investigate the alleged increase in health problems stemming from toxins in the local water supply. Doherty has since performed tests, worked alongside his county, and knocked on doors to try to solve the equation. He spoke with Rolling Stone about his findings.

The rancher said he surveyed 70 local wells and shockingly found that 68 of them violated federal limits for the allowable levels of nitrates in drinking water. In the same report, Doherty detailed that of the first 30 homes he visited in his area, 25 residents had recently suffered miscarriages.

The report alleged a number of illnesses related to the water supply — which included different forms of cancer — and pointed the finger at pollution exacerbated by an Amazon data center that popped up in 2011. The square-footage of the data center ranges in estimates from 120,000 to 200,000 but comes with a 15-year tax abatement worth nearly $200 million.

The cost of this, allegedly, is a slew of health problems.

RELATED: Apple to invest $500 billion in US including new AI server factory in Texas

Amazon Web Services and Iron Mountain data centers in Manassas, Virginia, on July 9, 2025. Total power usage in the US is expected to climb 2.15% in 2026, spurred largely by a 5% spike from commercial users because of the expansion of data centers, according to a US Energy Department report released in June. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“One man about 60 years old had his voice box taken out because of a cancer that only smokers get, but that guy hadn’t smoked a day of his life,” Doherty told Rolling Stone.

Another woman reportedly wrote Doherty to tell him her husband got “kidney cancer in his early 40s. His doctor thought it was due to exposure to herbicides and pesticides. He lost a kidney, but he lived.”

“We had acceptable levels of [toxins in our] drinking water when we first moved there,” the woman claimed. “After my husband’s cancer, we realized they went up and up through the years. It’s very sad.”

Doherty’s wife, Kelly, also claimed that out of the 14 people that live on their road, “I think nine of them have cancer right now.”

On the contrary, Amazon spokesman Lisa Levandowski told Rolling Stone that “the apparent narrative” about the 45,000-person county is “misleading and inaccurate.”

“The truth is that this region has long-documented groundwater quality challenges that significantly predate AWS’ presence, and federal, state, and local agencies have spent years working to address nitrates from agricultural fertilizer, manure, septic systems, and wastewater from food processing plants,” Levandowski explained.

She went on, “Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members; nitrates are not an additive we use in any of our processes, and the volume of water our facilities use and return represents only a very small fraction of the overall water system — not enough to have any meaningful impact on water quality.”

RELATED: Zuckerberg to dump hundreds of billions into new Manhattan-size projects

An Amazon Web Services data center in Stone Ridge, Virginia, US, on Sunday, July 28, 2024. Data center developers in Northern Virginia are asking utility Dominion Energy Inc. for as much power as several nuclear reactors can generate, in the latest sign of how artificial intelligence is helping drive up electricity demand. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Oregon Rural Action, an activist group focused on preserving water, compared the situation to the “historical precedent” of Flint, Michigan.

“In part because of how slow the response to the crisis has been, and in part because of who’s affected. These are people who have no political or economic power and very little knowledge of the risk,” executive director Kristin Ostrom told Rolling Stone.

The argument that Amazon has increased the amount of toxins in the water is indeed a complex one as there exist arguments on both sides that require investigation to prove.

As the Department of Energy explains, the process of cooling with water typically includes water softening to remove harmful toxins, but that does not mean there aren’t additives involved in the process.

Possible additives include phosphates to prevent corrosion, acids to adjust pH levels, and anti-foaming agents, to name a few. Nitrates can also be used to prevent corrosion in cooling systems.

The DOE also notes that when water evaporates from cooling towers, dissolved solids or toxins become more highly concentrated. This is typically solved by removing a portion of the highly concentrated water and replacing it with “fresh make-up water.”

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​Return, Amazon, Oregon, Data centers, Ai center, Tech center, Water supply, Nitrates, Tech 

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights is undertaking a nationwide campaign to protect parental rights in pediatric medicine and cracking down on those institutions that fail to provide parents with access to their children’s medical records, as required by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a video on Wednesday, “A parent’s right to guide their child’s health decisions — that right is not optional, it’s non-negotiable, and under the Trump administration, it will not be ignored.”

‘Religious exemption rights are one aspect of true informed consent and refusal.’

It appears that HHS already has one alleged offending institution on its radar.

Kennedy indicated that his agency has launched an investigation into a “troubling incident” in the Midwest — where a school is alleged to have illegally vaccinated a child with a federally provided vaccine without the parents’ consent.

According to Kennedy, the child also had a “legally recognized state exemption” for the vaccine.

“When any institution — a school, a doctor’s office, a clinic — disregards a religious exemption, it doesn’t just break trust; it also breaks the law,” said Kennedy. “It fractures the sacred bond between families and the people entrusted with their child’s care, and we are not going to tolerate it.”

In the video, Kennedy did not identify the vaccine, school, or state involved in the case, and when pressed for comment by USA Today, HHS reportedly declined to provide any clues.

RELATED: FDA finally admits COVID-19 vaccine killed kids: ‘This is a profound revelation’

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

HHS indicated that its Office for Civil Rights will determine whether the school acted in compliance with the Vaccines for Children Program requirement that conditions the federal provision of reduced-cost, public-purchased vaccines for eligible children on compliance with state religious and other exemptions from vaccine laws.

— (@)

Extra to scrutinizing the school’s conduct, HHS provided a strong reminder to health care providers in a letter on Wednesday that the HIPAA privacy rule “generally gives the parent the right to access the child’s medical records as the child’s personal representative, unless one of the limited exceptions applies.”

Absent limited exceptions such as in the case of children for whom health care decisions are made at the direction of a court or a person appointed by a court, HHS emphasized that “a covered entity (and, where applicable, its business associate acting on the covered entity’s behalf) may not place additional limitations on a parent’s access to the child’s medical records beyond any existing limitations in applicable law.”

In September, HHS’ Office for Civil Rights sent another “Dear Colleagues” letter on theme, noting that providers participating in the Vaccines for Children Program must follow state laws relating to religious and other exemptions to vaccination laws.

“The Vaccines for Children Program should never circumvent parents’ rights,” CDC acting Director Jim O’Neill said of the latest initiative on the part of the HHS. “Secretary Kennedy’s decision to probe potential abuse of the VFC is a necessary step in restoring public trust in immunization policy.”

Children’s Health Defense, which was chaired by Kennedy from 2015 to 2023, lauded the initiative.

Mary Holland, president and CEO of CHD, said in a statement, “CHD strongly supports the right to informed consent and informed refusal of all medical interventions — this is the essence of what the Nuremberg Code stands for.”

“That document was the antidote to the medical atrocities of World War II,” continued Holland. “Religious exemption rights are one aspect of true informed consent and refusal — whether that ‘informed’ nature comes from religion or science or wherever else.”

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​Health and human services, Hhs, Health, Vaccine, Vaccination, Jab, Shot, Politics 

Did Halle Berry just go MAGA?

Sadly no. But the Oscar-winner did take a strong stand against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chances at becoming the next U.S. president.

Former video store clerk turned Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino unloaded on this actor in ways that you just don’t do in Hollywood circles.

Did Berry cite his abominable record in the Golden State? His silly social media memes designed to out-Trump Trump? His state’s abysmal record on homelessness, gas prices, and more?

Maybe she cited those super-creepy leg crosses?

Nope. The actress is anti-Newsom due to a single bill that she feels could help menopausal women. Turns out Newsom doesn’t support the Menopause Care Equity Act, which would have, according to Time, “ensured insurance coverage for evidence-based treatments and required physician training: practical, cost-effective steps backed by leading medical experts.”

“And with the way he’s overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us in midlife, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying.”

Meanwhile some heavy Hollywood hitters are flooding the zone for Newsom’s 2028 presidential campaign because, as they see it, he’s a “fighter.”

Now if he could only fight on behalf of his fellow Californians …

Mad Maddow

Rachel Maddow gets the big bucks for a reason. She’s the biggest draw on her low-rated MS NOW network, and she’s as stubborn as the proverbial mule.

How stubborn? You know that Russian collusion hoax she helped peddle for far too long? Well she’s still living in a pre-Mueller Report world. In fact, her recent appearance on “The Late Show” was hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

“I don’t know what Putin has on [Trump], but he works for Putin, and it’s an embarrassment to this country.”

Stephen Colbert, to the shock of no one, didn’t correct the MS NOW anchor. The only surprise from the segment was that neither Colbert nor Maddow brought up the “very fine people” hoax for good measure …

RELATED: Why Gavin Newsom’s Bible quotations should alarm Christians — before it’s too late

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

King of cringe

This prince isn’t a fan of kings.

Prince Harry also visited “The Late Show” this week, and he proved a quick study on the show’s demographic. Think TDS sufferers and shut-ins. Except Meghan Markle’s lesser half couldn’t even get the show’s audience on his side.

Harry pretended to interrupt Colbert’s nightly monologue Wednesday. The two exchanged a few words, including how Harry wanted to endear himself to Americans by starring in a Christmas movie. Besides, he argued, Americans are obsessed with royalty.

Colbert scoffed at the idea, setting up this droll quip.

“Really? I heard you elected a king,” Harry said.

The crowd, to everyone’s shock, booed and groaned. That response was brutal, but imagine the reaction he got when he returned home …

Goin’ ‘South’

Did Cartman’s creators lose their nerve?

We all know that Trey Parker and Matt Stone cast aside decades of apolitical comedy to skewer Trump this season on “South Park.”

You never go the full “Saturday Night Live.” But they did.

Now Parker and Stone are wrestling with a long-delayed project described as a “slave comedy.” The film’s original premise had a black slave re-enactor learning that his white girlfriend’s family once owned slaves in the pre-Civil War South.

It’s a provocative setup, the kind that the “South Park” duo once would tackle sans fear. But now? The pair just signed a billion-plus deal with Paramount, and their TDS-themed “South Park” season has made them beloved in the media and the DNC. (But we repeat ourselves.)

Would they risk that love and affection by creating an unwoke comedy?

Regardless, the film is troubled, to say the least. The title was originally slated for a 2025 release, but now the best-case scenario will have it land in theaters in 2027. That’s assuming they get the actual film done. A new report suggests major reshoots are in order.

Let’s hope for their sake they didn’t “put a chick in it! Make her lame and gay!”

Wong turn

BD Wong made a tasteless joke on social media.

Never mind that the vast majority of people missed it completely. And a good portion of that group is probably asking themselves, “BD who?”

As a woke revolution hold-out, the veteran actor is determined to grovel like it’s 2020 and so posted this overwrought gesture of self-flagellation:

As most people in hot water do, I deleted it for Damage Control but it’s out there & continues to hurt & disappoint & I’m really sorry about the hurt part. Super dumb, but I tried to follow the “Wrong Answers Only” prompt with the wrongest answer. This succeeded only in that it was Super Wrong. I know nobody gets a free pass. I’m sorry if this #wtfbd moment tarnished any respect you may’ve had for me. & thanks if you advocate for an internet that’s safe for everybody.

Apologies are fine. He trafficked in a crude gag on social media, and some people didn’t get the joke or appreciate the irreverent tone.

Still can we stop pretending that we can be “hurt” by a tacky or tasteless joke? Or do we need to keep up the Apology ToursTM in perpetuity?

Foot in mouth

Did Paul Dano forget to be kind and rewind his VHS tape?

Former video store clerk turned Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino unloaded on Dano in ways that you just don’t do in Hollywood circles.

Here’s what the “Inglourious Basterds” director said about Dano, best known for films like “There Will Be Blood,” “The Batman,” and “Love and Mercy.”

“And the flaw [in ‘There Will Be Blood’] is Paul Dano,” Tarantino said. “Obviously it’s supposed to be a two-hander, and it’s also so drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. … He is weak sauce, man. He’s a weak sister.”

It could be worse. Tarantino could have said Dano has ugly feet.

​Entertainment, Hollywood, Culture, Donald trump, Paul dano, Gavin newsom, Halle berry, Stephen colbert, Rachel maddow, Toto recall 

During President Trump’ s first term, Americans were forced to wake up and realize that immigration was a serious problem — and that we were losing who we were and what we stand for as a country.

“And then Biden gets in, who’s this — he’s not even a person. He’s this just sort of like empty vessel … and what they do immediately with him is not just like turn the immigration spigot back on, it’s supercharged,” BlazeTV host Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman tells co-host Christopher Rufo on “Rufo & Lomez.”

“OK, we get in Biden’s four years, the equivalent of 12 years of immigration. The preceding 12 years combined ends up equaling what Biden does — another like eight million illegal immigrants,” Lomez says.

“Millions of these get away, they’re not even processing people at the border. … Alejandro Mayorkas just decides unilaterally, we’re going to start taking in people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people basically flying illegal immigrants, paying to fly illegal immigrants into the country to be resettled by these refugee programs,” he continues.

“They’re getting hundreds of millions of dollars from DHS to do this. You have hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors, OK? We’re just taking in the world. We’re taking in the entire world.”

“And when I say we, I mean Alejandro Mayorkas, who should frankly be in jail and tried for sedition,” he adds.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

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​Camera phone, Video, Sharing, Video phone, Upload, Free, Youtube.com, Rufo & lomez, The blaze, Chris rufo, Lomez, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Immigration, President trump, Alejandro mayorkas, Joe biden, Immigration under biden, Donald trump, Assimilation 

Netflix announced a massive deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., a company that controls huge entities like HBO and CNN.

Which networks Netflix will control, however, is a bit complicated.

Warner Bros. put itself up for sale last month, and as Blaze News reported, was simultaneously being eyed for acquisition by Amazon.

‘Our mission has always been to entertain the world.’

Netflix has seemingly won the battle though, with a cash and stock transaction valued at $27.75 per share for Warner Bros. Discovery, totaling approximately $82.7 billion, which equates to an equity value of $72 billion after debt, according to CNN and Netflix.

The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026, which will give WBD a chance to conclude the separation of its company, which has huge implications in terms of which channels Netflix takes control of.

Split decision

In June 2025, WBD decided to split itself into two companies, WBD Global Networks and WBD Streaming & Studios. The split is expected to take effect in summer 2026, after which Netflix will take over the Streaming & Studios company.

RELATED: Netflix features trans teen kissing scene in kids’ cartoon — but it’s not the only one

NEW YORK – JUNE 10, 2007: Actor Ray Abruzzo attends an HBO screening of the series finale of ‘The Sopranos.’ (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

This means Netflix will gain Warner Bros Pictures/Television/Games, HBO, streaming service HBO Max, TNT Sports (international), and studio New Line Cinema.

The acquisition also comes with the rights to some of the most highly sought after shows around, such as “Friends,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Sopranos,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and those in the DC Comic Universe. As well movies like the “Harry Potter” franchise will move to Netflix.

CNN not included

There were questions as to what it would mean for CNN should WBD be acquired by a different platform, but the news network will fall under WBD Global Networks and not move to Netflix.

The same goes for networks like HGTV, Discovery, TBS, the Cartoon Network, TNT Sports (U.S.), along with the rights to the NHL, NCAA, and Olympics in terms of sports.

RELATED: Elon Musk claims to have canceled Netflix subscription over Charlie Kirk mockery and transgender indoctrination

Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Shareholder service

Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix said, “Our mission has always been to entertain the world.”

He added that the combination of Warner Bros.’ library and Netflix’s catalogue will “give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.”

Greg Peters, the other co-CEO of Netflix, said the acquisition will “accelerate” their business for decides.

“With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create — giving our members more options, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders.”

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav added that the sale to Netflix will “ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”

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​Align, Networks, Netflix, Hbo, Tlc, Cnn, News, Discovery, Streaming, Amazon prime, Entertainment 

If America had an official “documentarian laureate,” Ken Burns would be a shoo-in for the job.

Over the last four decades, the filmmaker has devoted his career to capturing the country’s history and culture, in works ranging from “Baseball,” “Jazz,” and “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” to his groundbreaking 1990 masterpiece “The Civil War.” And despite his avowed “yellow-dog Democrat” tendencies, he has done so with remarkable nuance.

Those rallying around the American cause are portrayed as a loose collection of criminals, anarchists, slavers, and exiled aristocrats united by high Enlightenment ideals.

Now, just in time for America’s 250th anniversary, Burns has returned with a new six-part PBS series exploring how it all got started.

Fanfare and apprehension

“The American Revolution” arrives with suitable fanfare — and an almost absurdly star-studded cast of voice-over artists. Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Giamatti, Josh Brolin, Meryl Streep, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, and Michael Keaton are among the luminaries who provide narration.

Even so, there has been a level of apprehension surrounding the show, particularly among conservatives. Could a commemoration of America’s founding even work in our current moment — when even mild appeals to patriotism and national unity seem to stir up bitter partisan disputes?

Burns seems to have a found a way around this by making his retelling as clinical and unromantic as possible. He is clearly passionate about the American project, but he is unwilling to embrace the mythological or nationalistic sides of that passion.

Whose revolution?

“It’s our creation story,” historian Rick Atkinson says as he discusses the importance of the Revolution. But most of the experts Burns showcases prefer to focus on the negative, puncturing what one calls the “unreal and detached” romanticization of the founders.

Instead, we’re invited to ponder the role that slavery and the theft of Native American land played in the fight for independence — not to mention a fair amount of unsavory violence perpetrated by the revolutionaries.

While the series does a good job of covering the conflicts between 1774 and 1783, it takes frequent detours to discuss the issues surrounding the revolution: the role of women contributing to the war, the perspectives of English Loyalists as they became refugees fleeing the conflict, the madness of the Sons of Liberty’s antics, and the perspectives of slaves trying to survive and find liberty too.

RELATED: Yes, Ken Burns, the founding fathers believed in God — and His ‘divine Providence’

Interim Archives/Boston Globe/Getty Images

Living in the tension

A pronounced classical liberalism pervades the storytelling, one reflecting the secular Enlightenment idealism that a “new and radical” vision for mankind could be found through self-determination and freedom, apart from the aristocratic and theocratic haze of Europe.

This vision acknowledges progressive criticism of the era’s slavery and classism, but tries to integrate those faults rather than use them as grounds to discard the entire experiment. It attempts to live within the tension of history and sift out what is still valuable, rather than abandon the project altogether.

Indeed, Burns is generally good about avoiding any sort of score-settling or modern politicking, shy of a few buzzwords. He constantly uses the word “resistance” and ends with a reflection on the potential ruination of the republic by “unprincipled demagogues,” proudly quoting Alexander Hamilton that “nobody is above the law.”

The show’s consensus is overwhelmingly that the values of the Revolution were greater than the severely flawed men who fought it. To Burns, it was not merely a war, but a radical ongoing experiment in human liberty that escaped the colonies like a virus and changed the world forever. He certainly doesn’t want to throw out the liberal project, and so he constantly circles back on defending the war’s idealism.

Idealism and discomfort

This accounts for the show’s title, focusing on its revolutionary implications. It wasn’t just a war, but a change in the way people thought. The show argues that “to believe in America … is to believe in possibility,” and that studying the Revolution is important to understanding “why we are where we are now.”

Unfortunately, the intervening 12 hours require the viewer to swallow a fair share of dubious and rather inflammatory claims, including that George Washington was primarily driven by his class interests as a landowner, that popular retellings often “paper over” the violent actions of the revolutionaries, and that the founders were, on balance, hypocrites.

Its overall perspective is that it is impossible to tell the nation’s origin story in a way that is “clean” and “neat,” with clear heroes and villains. Those rallying around the American cause are portrayed as a loose collection of criminals, anarchists, slavers, and exiled aristocrats united by high Enlightenment ideals.

“The Revolution” wants both this idealism and discomfort to sit equally in your mind, as you ponder how morally compromised men could change the world. As one of the historians asks, “How can you know something is wrong and still do it? That is the human question for all of us.”

Overall, Ken Burns’ latest proves a very bittersweet watch, hardly the sentimental reflection on Americanism that the country’s approaching 250th anniversary demands, but also too idealistic and classically liberal to comfortably fit anyone’s agenda. It wants to lionize the founding’s aspirational values of democracy, equality, and revolution, while assiduously avoiding praising the people involved.

It’s a remarkably watchable and entertaining work of sober disillusionment.

​Entertainment, Culture, Television, Pbs, Ken burns, Documentaries, Film, The american revolution, History, Review 

With the season for Christmas shopping now in full swing, Amazon is testing out a new service for much faster deliveries.

On Monday, Amazon announced the limited launch of Amazon Now, a delivery feature promising swift deliveries in 30 minutes or less.

Amazon Now is first launching in parts of Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The announcement called the service “ultra-fast” delivery.

Amazon Now is first launching in parts of Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

RELATED: Amazon wants Warner Bros. so it can rule your screen

Photographer: Bess Adler/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The service focuses on essential household items and groceries. Amazon’s press release explains it will be using “specialized smaller facilities designed for efficient order fulfillment.”

Prime members will have to pay delivery fees starting at $3.99 for an order, and non-Prime members will have to pay $13.99.

Amazon will continue to offer Prime members its usual same-day, overnight, and next-day delivery options.

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Odell Beckham Jr. is being roasted online by fellow athletes and other NFL personalities for a resurfaced video that went viral over Thanksgiving weekend.

In October 2024 on “The Pivot” podcast with former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder, OBJ made a comment about money that many interpreted as tone-deaf, given the majority of Americans are struggling with the rising cost of living.

In the clip, he says, “Bro, you give somebody a five-year $100 million contract, right? What is it really? It’s five years for $60 [million]. You’re getting taxed. Do the math. That’s $12 [million] a year, you know, that you have to spend, use, save, invest, flaunt, like whatever.”

“Just being real. I’ma buy a car. I’ma get my mom a house. Everything costs money. So if you spending $4 million a year, that’s really $40 million over five years — $8 [million] a year — and now you start breaking down the numbers, it’s, like, that’s a five-year span of where you’re getting $8 million. Can you make that last forever?” he continued, adding that people who “ain’t us” couldn’t possibly understand this kind of struggle.

And the response online was essentially: You’re right — we can’t understand your luxury problem of an eight-figure salary.

Jason Whitlock, BlazeTV host of “Fearless,” says OBJ’s real problem is the black culture that’s conditioned him to think that any pushback on his financially “irresponsible behavior” is just racism or white folks selling out black excellence.

“What he’s basically saying is, like, ‘Hey, white people can’t relate. They don’t get it — all the pressure that we’re under and … all the people we have to help,”’ Whitlock translates.

Whitlock — who grew up legitimately poor, spent years grinding to achieve financial success, and had to assume financial responsibility for both his mother and grandmother at a young age — says he knows “the pressure that OBJ is talking about.”

But this kind of pressure isn’t unique to black people. Whitlock says he’s seen his “adoptive family,” who’s white, navigate the same scenario of having money and feeling obligated to help out struggling friends and family.

The pushback OBJ has received for his comments sparked some defensiveness. On December 2, the free agent tweeted:

— (@)

Whitlock says OBJ’s inability to receive criticism is a result of the “feminized matriarchal culture” of “excuses and delusion” he exists in.

When this is your context, “you end up embracing a lifestyle and an image that will make you [an] old, broke joke — and that’s what OBJ is,” he says.

To hear more of Whitlock’s take, watch the episode above.

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I’m one of those people who likes to write in cafés. I like the atmosphere. And the people. And the smell of espresso machines.

Recently I was walking in a newly developed area of my hometown (Portland) and discovered a new coffee place.

I ordered the house-blend coffee. I took it to the cream-and-sugar counter and poured a little milk into it. Much to my horror, the milk curdled instantly.

It looked like an excellent writing spot. There were solid tables and comfortable chairs and a window you could look out when you weren’t typing.

That smell

But then I went to the counter, where I recognized the distinct smell of a certain kind of Pacific Northwest coffee.

It’s the smell of artisanal roasting, done on the premises. Or in some cases, a small roaster nearby who provides the café with elaborately packaged organic, roaster-to-retail, artisanal coffee beans.

In other words: left-wing coffee.

That’s right: left-wing coffee. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s now left-wing and right-wing coffee. And as you’d expect, left-wing coffee is terrible.

*******

Stumptown

The best example of left-wing coffee is Portland’s own Stumptown brand. Stumptown has spread all across the world and at one point was widely advertised as Alaska Airline’s exclusive in-flight brand.

And what does Stumptown taste like? It tastes like someone poured a little orange juice into your coffee. Or some other acidic, citrusy liquid. This gives it a weird, tangy taste initially. And then a bitter, sour aftertaste.

The important thing is: It’s bad. It tastes bad. But that isn’t surprising. That’s what the left does. It takes good things and makes them bad. Movies? Architecture? Your local library? The left can ruin almost anything.

Now you might say: But all artisanal coffee doesn’t taste the same! Ah, but it does! Even though each individual coffee roaster handcrafts his coffee in his own unique fashion, somehow, by some strange process, all the artisanal coffee tastes remarkably similar and equally awful.

Coffee curdle

My favorite experience to relate about left-wing coffee came when I visited a popular Portland café with a friend.

I’d been there many times, so I knew the coffee there was artisanally roasted and therefore barely drinkable. But the café was buzzing with people, and my friend liked it, and there were good seats available for people-watching. So here we were.

I ordered the house-blend coffee. I took it to the cream-and-sugar counter and poured a little milk into it. Much to my horror, the milk curdled instantly.

Alarmed, I took my cup back to the counter and explained to the barista guy (with a man bun) what had happened. He shrugged. “Yeah, it does that sometimes; it’s the acid in the coffee.”

I said, “Why is there acid in the coffee?”

“It’s just the type of bean,” he said. “Sorry about that. Maybe don’t put milk in it?”

*******

The reason these artisanal-roasted coffees are left-wing is because left-wing people drink it. And serve it. And roast it. And brag about it.

It is a trend that began in coastal cities during the “locally sourced,” “farm-to-table” craze. It continues to exist to this day in college towns and other progressive strongholds in the rest of the country.

Leftists always want to change things. Especially things that people already like. They changed sports (they added gambling). They changed sex (they added pornography). They changed marriage (they added no-fault divorce).

So now they changed coffee by adding citrusy, floral, nutmeg-flavored, acidic, rainforest-protecting coffee beans that taste bad.

But that’s what they do. Bad is good to leftists.

RELATED: Corporate America turned coffee shops into cubicles. A more human cafe culture is fighting back.

Hertiage Images/Getty Images

Where the girls are

A couple years ago, I met a young Texan living in Warsaw, Poland, who agreed with my assessment of the leftist coffee problem but insisted it was still worth it to patronize “artisanal roaster” cafés because those were the best places to meet trendy girls. He said this was the case all over Europe.

And he was right. Everywhere I went on that trip, I googled “artisanal roasters” to find cafés. And sure enough, that’s where the hipsters were, the trendoids, the pretentious expats, the people wearing “statement glasses.”

This is also the case in L.A., San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and all the other leftist strongholds. Which reveals an obvious truth: that most hipsters, most trendsetters, most influencers are, at heart, brainless conformists.

If everyone else is drinking the terrible coffee, they’ll drink it too.

Take the ‘hints’ — please

So if Stumptown is left-wing, what coffee is right-wing?

I would say that any coffee that tastes like coffee is right-wing. Especially if it’s good. Like McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Hortons, Peet’s, or Starbucks.

If it doesn’t have words like “ethical” or “fair trade” or “locally sourced” and doesn’t have “hints” of lavender blossoms or “notes” of Scandinavian pine cones, it is probably right-wing.

If there are no drawings on the package of impoverished indigenous South American folks, suffering under the yoke of American capitalism, it is probably right-wing.

If the most descriptive thing it says on the packaging is “100% Arabica coffee,” it is probably right-wing, and it probably won’t curdle your milk.

Good to the last drop

My own favorite coffee shop in Portland is a quiet student café near Portland State University. It is an outlier in its coffee selection. It only serves ILLY brand coffee.

The ILLY company started in 1933. The original founder also invented this little thing called the ESPRESSO MACHINE. So I would guess he knew what he was doing.

Three generations later, ILLY is still one of the most loved and respected coffee companies in the world.

And guess what? ILLY doesn’t taste like anything except coffee. And it is delicious.

It is so good, I don’t even buy it to make at home. Because I don’t want to get used to it. I prefer to visit that one particular café once or twice a week to luxuriate in the perfect cup of coffee.

*******

The good news is, nobody is talking about Stumptown coffee anymore. Alaska Airlines has come to its senses and returned to ordinary coffee for in-flight customers.

And I’m guessing that even the trendiest young people will eventually abandon bad coffee. They have taste buds too.

But of course, leftists will continue to seek out new areas of Americana to mess with. Get ready for equitable corn flakes, nonbinary toothpaste, rainbow-infused gasoline for your car. At this point, I wouldn’t put anything past them.

​Lifestyle, Stumptown roasters, Coffee, Artisanal, Starbucks, Barista, Blake’s progress 

President Donald Trump and members of his administration have worked doggedly over the past year to broker a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.

While there have been multiple instances when an end to the bloodshed appeared within reach, Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin have both repeatedly thrown up obstacles to sealing the deal — in most cases over proposals regarding territorial concessions and security guarantees for Kyiv.

There are, however, others actors in the mix who appear content to stymie the U.S.-mediated peace negotiations.

English-language notes allegedly detailing a conference call held on Monday between Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and numerous other EU leaders revealed the extent of the contempt and distrust some European leaders have for the United States as it relates to Washington’s role in the peace talks.

According to the notes that were leaked to the German publication Der Spiegel, Macron suggested that there was a chance that the U.S. — a nation that has kept Ukraine viable with the help of hundreds of billions of dollars and top-notch armaments as well as by sanctioning its foe — might “betray” Ukraine.

“There is a chance that the U.S. will betray Ukraine on territory without clarity on security guarantees,” Macron reportedly said, adding that the territorial matter presents “a big danger” for Zelenskyy.

Macron was among the EU leaders who rejected Trump’s original 28-point peace plan last month and echoed an old complaint that certain proposals would require EU consent. His office has claimed that he “did not express himself in these words” as described in the notes but did not indicate how he had expressed himself.

RELATED: Zelenskyy’s hold on power uncertain as criminal charges reach his inner circle

Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Merz, whose nation is set to pass a new conscription scheme, reportedly said that Zelenskyy must be “very careful” in the talks ahead, noting that “they are playing games with both you and us.” Der Spiegel indicated that the “they” Merz referred to was likely Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been working on the peace negotiations.

Alexander Stubb — the Finnish president who complained in a recent interview that “all the conditions for a just peace we’ve talked so much about over the past four years are unlikely to be fulfilled” — reportedly said on the conference call, “We must not leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys,” again apparently referring to the U.S. representatives.

The notes for the call, which several participants confirmed to Der Spiegel had taken place, indicate that Rutte agreed, stating, “I agree with Alexander that we need to protect Volodymyr.”

While a spokesperson for Zelenskyy told Der Spiegel he did not want to comment on the content of the call, the Ukrainian president said in a statement on Thursday, “Ukraine is prepared for any possible developments, and of course we will work as constructively as possible with all partners to ensure that peace is achieved — and that it is, after all, a dignified peace. Only a dignified peace provides real security, and we fully understand that this requires — and will continue to require — the support of our partners.”

The White House did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

On Tuesday, Putin suggested European leaders were undermining the peace process, stating, “They don’t have a peace agenda; they’re on the side of the war,” reported the Associated Press.

The Russian president further accused the Europeans of introducing “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thereby “blocking the entire peace process.”

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​Europe, European, Zelenskyy, Zelensky, Macron, France, Germany, Ukraine, Merz, Russia, Kyiv, Donald trump, Witkoff, Peace, Peace deal, War, Politics 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) joined Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck to share his reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Republicans’ proposed redistricting map. He also talked about his recent actions against the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

On Thursday, SCOTUS temporarily approved the GOP’s redistricting efforts in Texas for use in the upcoming midterm election. As a result, Republicans are likely to gain five additional seats in the U.S. House.

‘The Supreme Court beat down the lower court for violating that precedent.’

The Supreme Court’s latest decision overturned a lower court’s order, which would have required Texas to return to 2021 district lines.

Abbott joined “The Glenn Beck Program” on Friday morning to share his thoughts on the recent Supreme Court decision, calling it “huge news” for Republicans across the U.S.

“This is total vindication for the state of Texas, for the legislature,” Abbott told Beck.

The Texas governor explained that the map was redrawn to “fully” comply with the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedent as well as “truly represent the values of people of our state.”

Abbott accused the lower court of abandoning precedent previously established by SCOTUS.

“The Supreme Court beat down the lower court for violating that precedent,” he told Beck.

RELATED: Supreme Court allows Texas redistricting map for midterm elections; liberals dissent

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

During Friday morning’s interview, Abbott also discussed his effort to remove the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ tax-exempt status, citing the organization’s alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

Abbott sent a letter to Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week requesting that the Treasury Department open an investigation into the group and suspend its tax-exempt status.

“CAIR has historic connections to terrorism,” Abbott stated. “Here’s the bottom line: If CAIR doesn’t want to be labeled as a terrorist organization, if it wants to shed its early ties to terrorism, it needs to stop supporting those who are identified by the federal government as supporters of terrorism.”

“Because they support terrorists to this day, that is exactly why they deserve, for one, to be labeled a foreign organization, and, for another, why they should not be receiving the benefits of a 501(c)(3) organization,” he added.

RELATED: Islamist groups in Texas rake in $13M in taxpayer-funded grants amid Abbott’s battle against Sharia law

Greg Abbott. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

CAIR sent its own letter to Bessent the following day, claiming to debunk the governor’s accusations.

“Governor Abbott is afraid,” CAIR stated. “He knows that his proclamation targeting CAIR-Texas is unconstitutional, so now he is desperately trying to find another way to target our organization.”

“Unfortunately for Mr. Abbott, his lies about us are easily disprovable and the truth about him is clearly evident: He’s an Israel First politician who is obsessed with CAIR because our lawsuits have defeated his attempts to silence Texans critical of Israel three times in a row. We look forward to defeating him in court for a fourth time soon, God willing,” CAIR’s statement read.

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