Category: blaze media

There was a time when James Carville was one of the sharpest political minds in the country — quick, blunt, and effective. He could take a complicated moment and reduce it to something people could carry. That skill is what makes watching him now so unsettling.

Sitting alone, looking into a camera, and unleashing a stream of profanity and rage, it feels less like strategy and more like something unraveling in public. The volume is high, the emotion even higher. It’s completely out of proportion to the moment.

Someone willing to torch his career, his reputation, or even his freedom is not waiting around for your argument.

There’s a sadness to that. Somewhere along the way, he decided this was necessary. You can almost trace the descent, step by step, to a place where that kind of display felt reasonable.

But this isn’t just about one man.

We used to have a line. Not perfection or agreement, but a shared understanding that how we conduct ourselves matters.

That line has eroded, and most people can feel it. This didn’t start yesterday. We’ve been coarsening for a long time.

Years ago, if you were furious, you wrote it out, read it, said it out loud, and then burned it.

Now we broadcast what used to be processed privately. And once it’s out there, it multiplies.

Some people don’t just brush up against this behavior. They live in orbit around it.

Family caregivers know this terrain in a way most people don’t, not because they’re wiser, but because they’re required to learn. Addiction. Dementia. Chronic pain. They discover that not every situation can be reasoned through.

And those lessons transfer.

What you learn sitting across from someone in addiction or confusion applies when you’re standing in front of someone screaming in a parking lot or filming themselves in a rage they can’t govern.

There is a moment where something crosses a line. The defensiveness sharpens. The aggression follows. The reaction no longer fits the moment.

And in that moment, you realize you are no longer dealing with the issue in front of you. You are dealing with something underneath it.

There’s a story behind it, which is why, if it’s hysterical, it’s historical. At that point, you are not in a conversation. You are standing in front of something that will not respond to reason.

Someone willing to torch his career, his reputation, or even his freedom is not waiting around for your argument.

It is a tug of war.

If you win, you end up on your back. If you lose, you end up on your face. Either way, you are in the dirt.

So do not pick up the rope.

That runs against our instincts. We want to engage, correct, and win. But if you take hold, you are no longer engaging a person. You are engaging the disorder or the wound. That is a fight you cannot win.

I have learned this lesson the hard way. I have leaned in, pressed harder, and tried to force clarity into moments that could not hold it. All it did was pull me deeper into the chaos.

So you learn to do something different. You slow down, take a breath, and create space.

RELATED: How the DC media machine actually works

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sometimes that space is physical. Sometimes it is emotional. Sometimes it is simply refusing to engage. You do not have to comment, respond, or show up for every fight you’re invited to.

Scripture speaks to this. The apostle Paul wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18).

If possible.

Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the other person has already decided otherwise. But you do get a vote on how you conduct yourself. That is where self-control comes in.

Self-control is not passivity or cowardice. There are times to confront and times when authority must be exercised, even forcefully. But even then, you are not called to function out of rage. You are called to do what is necessary.

And we are seeing more and more people choose escalation. A routine traffic stop becomes a standoff. A disagreement on a plane becomes removal from the aircraft. A minor infraction becomes handcuffs.

Crazy doesn’t let go, but that does not mean you have to hold on.

You don’t have to pick up the rope. You don’t have to match the volume. You don’t have to join the unraveling.

In a culture that rewards outrage, the rarest strength is self-control. And self-control may be the only thing that allows you to walk through chaos without joining it.

​James carville, Political discourse, Trump, Politics, Escalation, Opinion & analysis 

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is going to allow federal funding to flow once again to Planned Parenthood after a one-year ban, according to the Washington Examiner.

Pro-life groups are trying to keep the ban on Medicaid funds to the abortion provider when it expires on July 4.

‘Defending the right to life is fundamental and something all Republicans should fight for.’

Johnson passed a two-year ban on funds through the House last year, but it was reduced in reconciliation to one year in order to pass the Senate.

Now it appears that the reconciliation process will kill the ban altogether.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) responded on social media by calling on Johnson and other Republicans to reconsider the decision.

“I strongly supported defunding Planned Parenthood in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and have championed provisions to ensure federal tax dollars aren’t funding abortions throughout my career,” he wrote. “Defending the right to life is fundamental and something all Republicans should fight for.”

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also registered his disappointment.

“This would be a massive betrayal,” he wrote on social media. “Under no circumstance can Planned Parenthood be allowed to get taxpayer money for their abortions and gender transition insanity. Period.”

RELATED: ‘Fraud … for abortion’? Vance announces probe into Planned Parenthood’s $88M taxpayer-funded loans at March for Life

A Planned Parenthood report said it provided 434,450 abortions last year, the highest number recorded for the organization.

The Live Action pro-life organization said that worked out to about one child aborted every 73 seconds in the U.S.

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​Ban on planned parenthood funding, Mike johnson planned parenthood, Mike johnson abortion, Johnson betrayal, Politics 

A Federalist article published yesterday revealed that the government-funded Global Engagement Center assured the State Department its censorship “test bed” platform would not target U.S. audiences, yet it proceeded to fund a trial specifically aimed at Blaze Media.

“Let me break it down simply,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

“Back in 2011, Obama signed an executive order to establish the State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications … to support ‘agencies in government-wide public communications activities targeted against violent extremism and terrorist organizations,’” she recounts.

This was the “seed,” she explains, that would eventually sprout and bloom into a domestic censorship apparatus.

In 2016, Obama then signed an executive order, renaming the existing Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications the Global Engagement Center and tasking it with coordinating U.S. government-wide counterterrorism communications activities directed at foreign audiences abroad to counter terrorist messaging.

“Pay attention to these dates. 2016, [Obama] is out the door,” Sara says.

In the waning days of President Trump’s first term (December 14, 2020, to January 7, 2021), however, a GEC-funded test-bed trial diverted from its stated mission to target foreign disinformation when it set its sights on Blaze Media.

Its other target was Sputnik News, a Russian state-owned news agency and radio service.

“Why would we be as big of a target as a Russian state news agency?” Sara asks. “Is the deep state that threatened by what we talk about?”

“The answer is yes — the deep state actually is that threatened by what we talk about,” she answers definitively.

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio shut down the GEC and its successor office, the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, in 2025, the New York Times and other left-wing outlets lamented it.

Sara mocks the coverage the story received: “He closed down the State Department office on foreign disinformation. Why would we want to have disinformation? That’s bad!”

“No, it was just being used to suppress and censor actual American media,” she explains. “Sorry, I’m saying American media like it was plural — like it was like this big venture. … No, it was just us.”

Why Blaze Media specifically?

Sara believes it’s tied to Blaze Media’s COVID coverage.

“We were one of the only (actually the only) alternative media outlet that was telling the truth during COVID, myself included,” she says. “We were getting demonetized left and right because we were actually telling the truth.”

To hear more, watch 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.

​Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Blazetv, Blaze media, The federalist, Gec, Obama, Covid censorship, The blaze, The blaze censored, Global engagement center, Counterterrorism 

The attorney who represented an adult film actress who tried to take down President Donald Trump has been released from prison after serving time for defrauding his clients.

Michael Avenatti, nicknamed the “creepy porn lawyer” by Tucker Carlson, was convicted of trying to extort up to $25 million from the Nike shoe company and stealing from actress Stormy Daniels as well as others. In June, he was resentenced to serve 11 years and three months in prison in connection with some of the charges.

He reportedly cried in court before sentencing.

Avenatti once was considered one of Trump’s most potent foes and even said he was considering running for president but fell far short of taking down his opponent.

Daniels accused Trump of paying her hush money ahead of the 2016 election to keep her from speaking out about their alleged extramarital affair. Critics said the payment amounted to election interference.

Avenatti served about four years in prison and is ordered to report to a halfway house in Hollywood, where he will stay until Sept. 2028, according to TMZ. He is also ordered to stay away from unlawful controlled substances and has to participate in mental health treatment.

Fox News reported that he got early release after some of the sentences were allowed to run concurrently.

At the apex of the media circus propping up Avenatti’s celebrity, he was compared to one of the persons in the Holy Trinity by “The View” co-host Ana Navarro.

“Lately to me, you’re like the Holy Spirit,” she said in Aug. 2018. “You are all places at all times. Right? I mean, I see you all over cable news. … There’s a seat available if you want to be a co-host at ‘The View.’ There’s people here you can pitch!”

“He’s out here saving the country!” Joy Behar responded at the time.

Only a few months later, Daniels publicly accused Avenatti of ignoring her calls and starting a crowdfund campaign to raise money for her legal defense without permission. He was later convicted of stealing $300,000 from her and sentenced to four years in prison.

In 2021, he was sentenced to two and a half years for a conviction related to an extortion scheme he attempted against Nike. He reportedly cried in court before sentencing.

RELATED: MSNBC anchor makes stunning admissions about interview with Kavanaugh accuser

The next year, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for stealing from his clients and obstructing the IRS. He was resentenced last June.

Avenatti was ordered to pay nearly $6 million in restitution.

He was also accused of domestic abuse by a former girlfriend, but he vehemently denied those claims and was never criminally charged.

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​Michael avenatti prison release, Avenatti vs trump, Avenatti vs stormy daniels, Stormy daniels hush money, Politics 

The man on trial for allegedly stabbing to death a Ukrainian immigrant without provocation has been determined to be “incapable to proceed” by a state psychiatric facility.

Video from the light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, captured the moment that Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly brutally stabbed Iryna Zarutska in the neck, according to prosecutors.

Brown’s attorney argued that the capacity hearing cannot take place as long as the suspect is in federal custody.

Brown, who is 44 years old, had a long history of violence and mental illness before he allegedly attacked Zarutska, who was on her way home after working a shift at a pizza shop in Aug. 2025.

A public defender filed a court filing Tuesday citing the mental evaluation from the Central Regional Hospital, but the judge must determine whether he will accept the findings.

The case is expected to be delayed until Brown is given psychiatric treatment to restore his capacity to proceed.

Zarutska, who was 23 years old at the time of her death, had fled from Ukraine to escape the dangers of the Russian war. Her death has become a national crusade against lax criminal prosecution and was featured in President Donald Trump’s last State of the Union address to Congress.

Brown’s attorney argued that the capacity hearing cannot take place as long as the suspect is in federal custody.

WBTV-TV reported that the process of restoring competency in North Carolina can take a long time because of the lack of psychiatric resources.

The suspect’s mother has admitted that Brown suffered from mental illness and had been arrested more than a dozen times.

RELATED: Axios gets obliterated online for unbelievable framing of stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee

Tech billionaire Elon Musk donated $1 million to help fund murals across the country to honor the memory of Zarutska and bring more publicity to the cause.

Some of those efforts have been stymied by local activists and politicians who oppose the murals on the basis that they are “divisive” or do not align with their values.

“Evil doesn’t see policy. Evil doesn’t see left or right. Evil doesn’t see any of that. Evil is just evil,” said graffiti artist Gear Duran, who painted a mural in Las Vegas. “I’m here trying to combat that, to bring awareness with this mural, just to bring some positivity and light to what happened.”

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​Iryna zarutska murder, Decarlos brown jr mental illness, Decarlos brown incapable to proceed, Charlotte light rail murder, Politics 

On April 6, the WNBA’s Chicago Sky announced that it traded power forward Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for two first-round draft picks.

According to the team’s statement, the reason for the trade was “roster balance.”

But BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock isn’t buying it.

On this episode of “Fearless,” he unveils the real reason Reese was chopped after just two years with the Sky.

“I find it odd that the Chicago Sky would jettison her after just two years. I think that speaks to what a headache she was in Chicago,” Whitlock tells his panel — Jay Skapinac, Steve Kim, and Maurice from “Keep the Vision.”

“Teammates didn’t want to play with her; coaches couldn’t corral her. She was out there doing her double-double routine while the Chicago Sky were actually trying to win games or run an offense, and Angel Reese was just out there chasing stats,” he continues.

He asks the panel: “Do you think Angel Reese will adjust her approach, attitude, and style of play?”

“No, no, no, and no,” is Steve Kim’s honest response.

To Reese’s new Dream teammates, he warns, “Get ready to stick your hands out like this and never get the ball because she’s going to get the rebound, get another rebound, get another rebound, another rebound, and another rebound.”

Skapinac agrees: “She can barely — barely — make a layup, and in fact, she doesn’t make layups most of the time.”

“And Jason, I’m with you,” he continues. “She is going to be the locker-room team cancer.

“There’s never been a team — at Maryland, at LSU, and the Chicago Sky — where she didn’t have some sort of locker-room problem with her teammates. People don’t enjoy playing with her,” Whitlock says.

He does believe, however, that Reese may genuinely improve her game with the Atlanta Dream because she finally has the chance to potentially dunk on Caitlin Clark.

“She’s being offered a chance to play on a team that’s a championship-caliber team, and if she can get a WNBA championship before Caitlin Clark, that’s really going to enhance her brand, give her some standing around the league,” he says, “and I think that opportunity may for a short-term bring out the best in Angel Reese.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Fearless, Fearless with jason whitlock, Jason whitlock, Chicago sky, Wnba, Angel reese, Caitlin clark, Atlanta dream, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Actress Kate Beckinsale wants to know why she was fired but a man was not.

The 52-year-old’s gripe dates back to 2023, when she was allegedly fired by talent agency UTA, which also represents actor Mark Ruffalo.

‘The price you pay for having a vagina while even remotely liking a post that was as un political as it could possibly be.’

‘Vagina’ monologue

Beckinsale took aim at Ruffalo by leaving a lengthy and inflammatory comment on his Instagram page last week. Ruffalo’s post was promoting a movie about Palestine, which prompted Beckinsale to leave scathing remarks claiming that UTA had fired her for liking a social media post about Palestine.

“Gosh, it must be so nice not to be fired by your Agent for liking a post about a ceasefire and not supporting the murdering of children,” Beckinsale reportedly wrote in response; her comments have since been deleted, Entertainment Weekly noted.

It only took two sentences for the “Underworld” actress to label her apparent firing as a case of sexism.

“I guess having a penis in Hollywood really counts for a lot because you’ve not been fired by the same Agent that I had and … I liked a post about a ceasefire and I’ve got fired on the same day as Susan Sarandon was fired,” she continued.

Saran-done

Unlike Beckinsale’s alleged firing, Sarandon’s was public and confirmed by UTA for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks at a pro-Palestine rally in 2023. According to Deadline, her comments included, “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.”

UTA’s CEO at the time of Sarandon’s firing was Jeremy Zimmer, who is Jewish.

RELATED: Celebrities demand ICE send illegal immigrants back … to your neighborhood

Alex Kent/Getty Images

Social justice worrier

Beckinsale went on in her reported comments to describe the tough spot she was in when she was allegedly fired, having to take care of two sick parents. She also applauded Ruffalo for his “voice” and “activism,” before blaming sexism once more as the reason she was dropped by her agency.

“… the price you pay for having a vagina while even remotely liking a post that was as un political as it could possibly be, just asking for mercy for children and babies by UNICEF, in fact doing 1 millionth of what you have laudably done, caused me to be fired and you not, and that is, to say the least interesting.”

The actress said that other actresses and “women’s advocate groups” also found the situation interesting, before claiming that she had sent Ruffalo a private message about the issue months ago but he “ignored” her.

EW also reported that Beckinsale replied to one user’s comments by saying there exists “male privilege even in the good guys.”

RELATED: Gene Simmons’ advice for celeb activists Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo: ‘Shut the f**k up’

JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

Hulk smashed

The agent in question was not named, and neither Ruffalo nor UTA have offered comment when approached by different outlets.

Beckinsale was correct to characterize Ruffalo as very politically active, though. He has put out a constant stream of commentary during the Donald Trump administration, including accidentally sharing AI images of Trump that he thought were real.

“Sorry Folks. Apparently these images are AI fakes. The fact Trump was on Epstein’s plane and what Epstein was up to is not. Be careful. Elon’s X and his allowing so much disinformation here is driving the value of his app down by 55%,” Ruffalo wrote at the time.

Ruffalo has shown his support for Palestine in many ways, including supporting the shutdown of the Oscars ceremony he was attending and calls for his union to protect pro-Palestine activists from being blacklisted.

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​Align, Hollywood, Palestine, Israel, Actors, Sexism, Woke, Liberal, Sexist, Ruffalo, Entertainment 

CBS will waste no time looking for laughs after “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” ends its near-11-year run.

Colbert has faced consistent scrutiny since reports surfaced of his show’s alleged $40 million annual losses against a $100 million budget. Now, the finish line is fast approaching as his show nears its May 21 finale.

‘The world can never have enough laughter.’

CBS will reportedly waste no time replacing Colbert and is moving right along with a new lineup for the 11:35 p.m. time slot on May 22.

Giggle gang

According to The Hill, Colbert’s late-night talk show is set to be replaced by a pair of half-hour programs featuring actual comedians.

First, back-to-back episodes of “Comics Unleashed” will air in Colbert’s soon-to-be former slot, moving up an hour from where it sits currently. The show features panels of bantering stand-up comics that have ranged from newbies to legends like Dennis Miller, Bert Kreischer, John Lovitz, and more.

Moving into the 12:35 a.m. slot is “Funny You Should Ask,” a reboot of the 1968 classic of the same name. The format has celebrities and comedians answer trivia questions, while contestants have to determine if they are giving the right answer.

RELATED: ‘LATE’ HATE: Even Hollywood is sick of Colbert’s endless pity party

Nothing personal

CBS said in 2025 that its cancellation of Colbert’s show was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

They added, “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”

This came around the same time that CBS News’ parent company, Paramount, paid a $16 million settlement to President Trump. The lawsuit claimed the network deceptively edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential election campaign, the Guardian reported.

Colbert called the settlement “a big fat bribe.”

RELATED: From Prada to politics: Meryl Streep tacks on SAVE America Act scare tactics to end of Colbert interview

Happy meal

Both shows replacing Colbert are produced by comedian Byron Allen, who has pushed out a steady stream of TV shows and movies over the past two decades.

Allen told The Hill that “Comics Unleashed” is a platform for comedians to simply “make people laugh,” adding that he truly appreciates CBS for “picking up our two-hour comedy block.”

“The world can never have enough laughter,” Allen added.

The 64-year-old is on the board of governors of the Motion Picture & Television Fund, along with other Hollywood staples like director J.J. Abrams, actor Colin Farrell, and rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The fund describes itself as supporting “working and retired members of the entertainment community with a safety net of health and social services.

In 2025, Variety reported that Allen reached a settlement with McDonald’s after filing a $10 billion lawsuit against the food chain. The lawsuit alleged that McDonald’s discriminated against black-owned media companies in its TV advertising expenditures.

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​Comedy, Align, Stand-up comedy, Late night, Talk show, Anti-trump, Colbert, Jon stewart, Entertainment 

The socialist dreams of the mayor of New York City have hit another stumbling block after fewer than 100 days in office.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration says the promise of “free and fast” public buses for all New Yorkers will not happen this year.

‘The fact that he can’t fulfill any of his silly promises is entirely unsurprising.’

Mamdani promised before the election that he would eliminate bus fares and said that doing so would cut down on violence on public transit.

“The act of fare collection on the bus happens on the bus. So when you eliminate the fare box, you make for a safer experience for the bus driver, for everyone on the bus,” Mamdani said in an interview with Trevor Noah in December.

“The safety of that bus, the efficacy of how is it moving, the question of the doors, all of this is tied to the elimination of fare at once,” he added.

In an interview released by Politico on Wednesday, Mamdani tried to deflect when asked if he was giving up on the free bus pledge after the New York legislature did not include funding for the program in budget proposals for this year.

“Both legislative houses included language within their one-house budget proposals in support of bringing back a free-bus pilot program,” he said. “That is something that we are encouraged by, and it continues to be part of budget negotiations. I’m absolutely committed to making buses fast and free, and we’re encouraged by the conversations we’re having with the governor and legislative leaders to take action on that in 2026 as a first step.”

Economic expert and Blaze News contributor Carol Roth responded to the mayor’s sinking socialist dreams in an email to Blaze News.

“Mamdani’s campaign always was akin to the class president promising free pizza and a hot tub in the lunchroom. The fact that he can’t fulfill any of his silly promises is entirely unsurprising,” Roth said.

RELATED: ‘Parasitic Socialist’: Elizabeth Warren is getting crushed online over her tax hike proposal

Very soon after his inauguration, some New Yorkers and bus drivers mocked and ridiculed the possibility of his promise coming true.

Even Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in November that she could not support the bus fare promise because of the prohibitive cost.

“I cannot set forth a plan right now that takes money out of a system that relies on the fares of the buses and the subways,” she said.

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​Mamdani socialist dreams end, Mamdani free bus fares, Socialism fails, Kathy hochul vs zohran mamdani, Politics 

My childhood had a simple structure: Leave the house, come back when hungry.

Nobody tracked my location. Nobody scheduled my fun. I roamed a small Irish village with a rotating gang of kids, knocking on doors to collect whoever was free, wandering fields we didn’t own, climbing trees we absolutely shouldn’t have.

Our treehouse was born from boredom. Three of us, on a long summer afternoon, with nothing to do.

Our treehouse — built from stolen timber, held together, technically, by two bent nails — would have given a structural engineer a full breakdown. We were enormously proud of it.

Bumps and bruises

There were scuffles. Real ones, occasionally bloody, always brief. Someone would throw a punch over some perceived injustice. A disputed goal, a broken rule, an insult that landed a little too cleanly. Five minutes later, we’d be back at it, whatever it was that day.

No adults mediated. No one processed feelings. The fight resolved itself because the game needed bodies, and everyone knew it. You learned, quickly, that holding a grudge cost you far more than swallowing it.

The point isn’t that we were tougher or that children today are soft, although I would argue that both are true. The point I’m trying to make is that we were unsupervised, and supervision, it turns out, changes everything.

I say this not from a rocking chair but as someone who, at age 8 or 9, split his time between farm chores and disappearing into the village like a feral little fugitive. Less than 25 years ago. A blink of the eye, really, except apparently long enough to completely reinvent childhood.

Rationing daylight

Now, one in 10 parents say their young children play outside once a week or less. One week. Seven days. Imagine rationing daylight like that. Childhood has migrated indoors, onto screens, into carefully arranged playdates where two children sit in a living room while two adults hover nearby, making sure nobody says anything upsetting. The kids sense the performance. They behave accordingly.

Researchers from Denmark recently did something beautifully simple: They asked children what good play actually feels like.

Not what it teaches. Not what skills it builds. What it feels like from inside.

The answers were slightly embarrassing for every adult who has ever built a color-coded activity schedule. Children cared about the feeling of play. That loose, almost electric sense that something is genuinely alive. They cared about belonging — not polite, managed inclusion, but being genuinely wanted by the group. They cared about imagination running slightly off the rails. They even valued a certain productive chaos, the kind that adults instinctively shut down.

Adults, predictably, care about outcomes — cognitive development, motor skills, social learning they can point to and measure. Children care about none of this while they’re playing. What they actually care about is whether it’s fun, whether they’re wanted, and whether there’s the slightest chance that it might go delightfully wrong.

Screen police

Our games always went somewhere unexpected. A football match would mutate, mid-afternoon, into something involving a rope, an old mattress someone had dumped in a field, and rules nobody could fully explain afterward. The logic was impeccable at the time. The mattress did not survive.

Modern play environments iron out exactly these qualities. Soft surfaces, approved equipment, and an adult nearby to ensure fairness and prevent anything resembling genuine consequence. The result looks like play. Children sense that it isn’t, the way you sense when a photograph has been retouched slightly too much. Something essential has been removed.

Screens fill the gap with surgical efficiency. Nearly a third of young children now engage regularly in what researchers call “media play” — a phrase that earns its quotation marks. Tapping a screen is not the same as negotiating who gets to be the villain or managing the social fallout when the smallest kid turns out to be the best climber and everyone has to begrudgingly update their hierarchy. Digital games have fixed rules, predictable rewards, and zero social friction. That’s precisely their appeal. It’s also precisely their poverty.

The consequences don’t arrive with bruises or a note from school. They arrive later, wearing other disguises. Low frustration tolerance. Social anxiety with no obvious origin. A deep unfamiliarity with boredom, which is actually the raw material of invention.

RELATED: The day my father handed me the gun

NurPhoto/Getty Images

Free range

Our treehouse was born from boredom. Three of us, on a long summer afternoon, with nothing to do. Within an hour, we had made a plan. Within a week, we had made something structurally catastrophic and deeply satisfying. Nobody told us to build it. Nobody approved the design. Nobody stood beneath it checking for hazards, which was probably wise given what happened to the second shelf.

Children need exactly that kind of space. Not the park for 15 minutes before the grocery run, but long, unscheduled stretches where the only available resource is other children and whatever the back yard contains. Boredom long enough to become uncomfortable. Discomfort long enough to force creativity.

They need, occasionally, for nobody to be watching.

We turned out fine, most of us. There were scraped knees. One incident involved a gate left wide open, a bull wandering into the street, and a level of collective amnesia that has never fully lifted. The treehouse was, after much deliberation, abandoned to the weather. The nails, I’m told, are still there.

​Childhood, Ireland, Culture, Play, Helicopter parents, Lifestyle 

The male accused of killing a woman in a Florida hammer attack last week is a Haitian illegal alien who was protected from deportation under former President Joe Biden’s administration, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

As Blaze News previously reported, a 40-year-old male is accused of hitting a woman in the head with a hammer and killing her in a horrific attack recorded on surveillance video outside a Fort Myers gas station convenience store.

‘Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him Temporary Protected Status.’

DHS said the suspect in the attack “first entered the United States in August 2022 and was released into the country under the Biden administration. A federal judge issued a final order of removal against him in 2022, but the Biden administration granted him Temporary Protected Status, which expired in 2024.”

“This illegal alien barbarically hit this woman in the head multiple times with a hammer. This heinous murderer was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him Temporary Protected Status,” said Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary at the DHS Office of Public Affairs. “Their reckless immigration policies cost this woman her life.”

RELATED: Florida thug accused of bashing woman’s head with hammer, killing her, in horrific attack outside convenience store

Image source: Department of Homeland Security

DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against the suspect, and he will be deported regardless of the outcome of his case.

Notably, both Fort Myers Police as well as the Lee County Sheriff’s Office spell the suspect’s name Rolbert Joachin, while DHS originally spelled it Rolbert Joachim. The reason for the spelling discrepancy is unclear, but Fort Myers Police on Wednesday confirmed to Blaze News that “the correct spelling is Joachin.” DHS on Wednesday later updated its website to the spelling Joachin.

Joachin on Wednesday remained behind bars at the Lee County Jail on charges of homicide (murder dangerous depraved without premeditation) and criminal mischief. There is no bond listed for him in jail records.

Gulf Coast News on Wednesday reported that Joachin gave a detailed confession to detectives following his arrest and indicated that he went to the gas station last week specifically to kill the victim — a gas station clerk identified as Nilufa Easmin, also known as Yasmin. The outlet added in a video report that Easmin was the mother of two daughters.

More from Gulf Coast News:

Joachin told detectives he wore the same clothes that Yasmin had seen him in two days earlier so that she would recognize him, court notes said. He then said he intentionally smashed her car with a hammer so that she would come outside.

Surveillance video from the store captured the attack. In the video, Joachin reportedly smashed her car’s windshield. The surveillance video then shows the clerk coming outside. Joachin then approaches the victim and is accused of hitting her in the head with the hammer, killing her.

The following video report about the killing aired prior to the news about the suspect’s immigration status.

RELATED: Concealed-carrying motorcyclist fatally shoots alleged road-rage driver who charged at him with hammer, police say

What’s more, detectives said Joachin is a suspect in another case they have been working on for months, Gulf Coast News reported, adding that specifics about the case were not revealed.

The outlet added in a Wednesday video report concerning the suspect’s pretrial detention motion hearing that the judge ruled Joachin will remain in jail with no bond until trial because he’s too dangerous to be released to the public; his next court appearance — his arraignment — is scheduled for May 4.

The Miami Herald reported that the Trump administration has been “fiercely litigating in the courts to end [Temporary Protected Status] for Haiti and several other countries.” The paper added that an appeals court in March upheld TPS for Haitians, which upheld a ruling from Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, “but the administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the case days later.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, referring to the killing of the Fort Myers gas station clerk, wrote on X that “this horrific murder was preventable. Even as Florida arrests hundreds of criminal aliens every day, four years of the Biden admin’s open-border policies continue to wreak havoc on our communities. Members of Congress pushing for amnesty should be ashamed. There is no dignity in allowing more American victims at the hands of those who have no right to be in our country.”

Jeremy Redfern, deputy chief of staff for Uthmeier, added on X that “U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said that ending TPS for Haitians was racist, and she blocked the attempt. Oral arguments over whether SCOTUS should stay Judge Reyes’ order happening on April 29th. So, here we are.”

Editor’s note: This article has been edited after publication to note that DHS now spells the name Joachin.

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​Department of homeland security, Immigration and customs enforcement, Arrest, Biden administration, Crime, Dhs, Florida, Fort myers, Haiti, Hammer attack, Homicide, Ice, Illegal immigration, Joe biden, Killing, Temporary protected status, Politics 

A Democrat mayor joined a mob of activists to shut down the painting of a mural in honor of Iryna Zarutska in Providence, Rhode Island, but the muralist is getting the last laugh.

Mayor Brett Smiley said the mural was against the values of the city after the owners of a prominent gay bar previously said they would allow it to be painted on one of their walls.

‘She worked to build a life for herself and lost it along the way. This mural is our way of honoring her on a building owned by an immigrant family who understands that journey.’

Halfway through the commission of the mural, the owners of the Dark Lady changed their minds and said on social media that the outrage from the LGBTQIA+ community forced them to stop the painting.

Now the mural has found a new home at a Lebanese restaurant instead of the gay bar.

The owner of Opa the Phoenician on Atwells Avenue is donating space for the mural on Federal Hill.

“She was once an immigrant chasing the American dream,” said Francois Karam about Zarutska. “She worked to build a life for herself and lost it along the way. This mural is our way of honoring her on a building owned by an immigrant family who understands that journey.”

He went on to say that the decision wasn’t made out of political motivation.

A Change.org petition garnered more than 13,600 signatures from those who demanded that the mural be returned to the Dark Lady’s wall. In an email statement to Blaze News, the petition creator lamented that the voices against the mural had won.

“While I appreciate that a version of Iryna Zarutska’s mural has been allowed to go up at Opa Restaurant on Atwells Avenue, this is no real victory. It’s a quiet concession to political pressure,” said Anthony D’Ellena, a local Republican committee chairman.

“Mayor Smiley called the original prominent mural ‘divisive’ and used his influence to bully the first business into removing it,” he added. “Now Iryna gets a diminished, tucked-away tribute on a side wall instead of the bold, visible memorial she deserved in downtown Providence.”

A separate petition on Change.org opposing the mural garnered 15 signatures.

RELATED: New butterfly species named in honor of Ukrainian woman brutally murdered on NC light rail

D’Ellena said in an update to the petition that he would continue to fight for the return of the mural.

The brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, an immigrant who survived the war in Ukraine, was captured on security video from the Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail system. A suspect with a history of mental illness and violent crime was arrested and sparked a campaign against lax law enforcement policies.

Mayor Smiley is running for re-election in 2026 against another Democrat on the ballot as well as a third Democrat candidate who is a convicted child molester.

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​Mayor brett smiley vs zarutska mural, Iryna zarutska mural, Activist shuts down iryna mural, Muralist defeats activists, Politics 

The U.S. and Iran reached a fragile ceasefire agreement on Tuesday before President Donald Trump’s threat of civilizational annihilation could be put to the test.

Trump subsequently noted that the U.S. “will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made,” adding that “this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!”

‘It is madness.’

When asked on Wednesday whether he was amenable to the Iranians charging a toll for all ships that transit the Strait of Hormuz — the body of water between Iran and Oman linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, across which one-fifth of the world’s oil customarily travels — Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, “We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it — also securing it from lots of other people.”

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Trump said, hours before Iran reportedly halted oil tankers attempting to pass through the strait, claiming Israel had violated the ceasefire by firing on Lebanon.

While now apparently open to such a partnership with Iran, Trump suggested to reporters on Monday that the U.S. could unilaterally impose tolls on vessels attempting to pass through the strait, reported The Hill.

RELATED: Israel ramps up attacks on Middle East target despite US-Iran ceasefire

Elif Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images

“What about us charging tolls?” said Trump. “Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner.”

He also said during the press briefing, “We want free traffic of oil and everything else.”

Such tolls on vessels transiting a natural strait would seem to run afoul of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — ratified by the U.S., 170 other nations, and the European Union — which guarantees vessels the “right of transit passage” through straits used for international navigation; bars states bordering straits from hampering transit passage; and states that “no charge may be levied upon foreign ships by reason only of their passage through the territorial sea.”

Tolls can be levied only at man-made canals, according to the U.N. agreement.

Of course, the agreement’s authority and enforceability could be tested.

“All international law, unfortunately, is fragile,” Saleem Ali, chair of the University of Delaware’s geography department, told the New York Times. Ali noted that international laws depend on mutual respect between nations.

Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.

The idea clearly doesn’t resonate with everyone.

Karen Young, a senior research scholar at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, told Blaze News, “It is madness to think we are jointly collecting fees to help secure profits to the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps].”

Former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy expressed a similar objection, writing, “If President Trump lets the Iranians charge a toll for ships in the Strait of Hormuz, then every time you fill up your car at the pump, you will put money straight in the pockets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This would be a humiliating disaster for the US.”

Joint venture or no, it appears that Iran aspires to keep sweating passersby in the Strait of Hormuz, now for crypto tributes.

Hamid Hosseini, a spokesman for Iran’s government-linked Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times that his nation intends to force ships passing through the strait to pay the cryptocurrency equivalent of $1 per barrel of oil and notify Iranian officials of their cargo during the two-week ceasefire.

“Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in Bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,” said Hosseini. “Everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush.”

Reuters estimated last week that if Iran charged each vessel $2 million to transit the Strait of Hormuz, as it had already in one instance, and traffic were restored to prewar volume — 150 ships down the strait — Tehran could bring in around $110 billion annually.

According to the European think tank Bruegel, the $2 million per vessel, which “translates to roughly $1 per barrel,” would prompt the world oil price to rise “by only $0.05-$0.40 per barrel, relative to the pre-war level,” with Gulf exporters absorbing the bulk of the toll.

Of course, for Iran to impose tolls, it must first keep the strait open.

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​Sea, Strait of hormuz, Law of the sea, Iran, Us, Donald trump, Toll, Duty, Money, Oil, Gas, Energy, Persian, Gulf, Export, War, Politics 

With the whole world holding its breath amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East over the past several weeks, President Trump’s ceasefire with Iran has restored some confidence to the markets — though some uncertainty remains.

Oil prices dropped and stocks surged after Trump’s announcement on Tuesday evening that a ceasefire had been reached with Iran.

Oil prices also plummeted as the Strait of Hormuz has been projected to be opened.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 1,300 points since the close of market on Tuesday following the announcement of the ceasefire.

Likewise, the S&P 500 saw a 2.5% jump from Tuesday to Wednesday in response to the news, moving from just over 6,600 to 6,785 when markets opened on Wednesday.

RELATED: Iran reneges on key point of ceasefire amid allegations of broken promises

Punit PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images

The NASDAQ also saw a significant leap in response to the news, moving nearly 650 points for an almost 3% positive gain.

Oil prices also plummeted as the Strait of Hormuz has been projected to be opened. Crude oil WTI dropped from roughly 112 per barrel to just under 95 per barrel, a 17-point drop overnight.

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​Politics, S&p 500, Nasdaq, Crude oil, Oil prices, Gas prices, Iran, Israel, Dow jones, President trump 

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe said the recovery of a downed U.S. airman in Iran was a “no-fail mission” that required technology available nowhere else in the world.

In reference to an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter pilot who was lost in Iran, the CIA boss told reporters on Tuesday that the challenge of finding the pilot was comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the desert; but they did it.

‘If your heart is beating, we will find you.’

Director Ratcliffe revealed the agency used human and technical assets and also “executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airmen.”

He added, “At the president’s direction, we deployed both human assets and exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service in the world possesses.”

While Ratcliffe stopped short of describing exactly what those “unique capabilities” were, an insider report by the New York Post claims that the CIA implemented a secret technology known as “Ghost Murmur.”

RELATED: Trump announces CEASEFIRE with Iran ahead of deadline

The mountainous yet barren region of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in Iran offered an ideal setting for the technology’s first use, one source reportedly said.

The CIA director stated that even though the pilot was hiding and concealed in a mountain crevice, he was still visible to the CIA but “invisible to the enemy.”

It was “about as clean an environment as you could ask for” due to low electromagnetic interference, the source went on. With “almost no competing human signatures” and a strong “thermal contrast between a living body and the desert floor” at nighttime, operators enjoyed a second layer of confirmation that they had found their man.

“It’s like hearing a voice in a stadium, except the stadium is a thousand square miles of desert,” an unnamed source told the Post.

The “Ghost Murmur” tech uses long-range quantum magnetometry to identify the electromagnetic pulse of a human heartbeat. The heartbeat’s signature is separated from background noise to locate it.

The source, allegedly briefed on the CIA program, also said that “in the right conditions, if your heart is beating, we will find you.”

The source told the Post that the signal of a heartbeat is usually so weak it can only be measured in a hospital-style setting with sensors pressed to a person’s chest, however, advances in the technology — chiefly built around finding defects in synthetic diamonds — have made finding such signals more possible.

“The capability is not omniscient. It works best in remote, low-clutter environments and requires significant processing time,” the insider claimed.

RELATED: NASA astronaut gives very American response to DEI questioning

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Anadolu/Getty Images

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters at the same press conference that the pilot’s first message upon finding cover was “God is good.”

“We leave no man behind. And that is not luck. It’s the result of unmatched training, superior technology, unbreakable warrior ethos, and sheer American grit,” Hegseth added.

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​Return, Cia, Iran, Trump, Secret, Heartbeat, Tech 

In a sudden change, Iran has reportedly once again closed off the Strait of Hormuz amid allegations that the ceasefire agreement has been violated.

Iran reportedly prevented ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday morning, even though opening the strait was a key aspect of the ceasefire agreement reached Tuesday night.

President Trump has denied that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire, seemingly backing Israel’s continued advancements into the country.

According to an initial report, Iran has closed the strait in response to Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Lebanon.

The ceasefire agreement, announced by Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on Tuesday, specifically stipulated that the ceasefire applies everywhere, including Lebanon: “With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”

RELATED: ‘Golden age of the Middle East’: Trump lays out plan for coming weeks after Iran agrees to temporary ceasefire

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

According to multiple reports, President Trump has denied that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire, seemingly backing Israel’s continued advancements into the country.

These discrepancies raise more questions about the exact nature of the ceasefire deal and, perhaps, the authority with which Pakistan’s prime minister speaks on behalf of the two parties in the conflict.

For Israel’s part, the Israel Defense Forces announced that in “10 minutes,” they “completed the largest coordinated strike across Lebanon since the start of Operation Roaring Lion.” The strike reportedly targeted 100+ Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Beqaa, and southern Lebanon.

In his post, Prime Minister Sharif announced that the ceasefire would be further discussed at the upcoming “Islamabad Talks” on Friday.

This is a developing story.

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​Politics, Iran, Strait of hormuz, Israel, Idf, Lebanon, United states, Trump, President trump, Shehbaz sharif, Pakistan, Hezbollah, Beirut, Israel defense forces 

If you think this is just another harmless piece of paperwork coming out of a state legislature, think again.

Minnesota’s HF 3865 is being sold as a simple clarification of collector car rules, but the reality is far more consequential. This proposal doesn’t just tweak the language — it redraws the lines around when you’re allowed to enjoy a vehicle you already own. And if it passes as written, classic car owners could find themselves boxed into a narrow window of “acceptable” use, with little room for the freedom that defines car culture.

Classic cars require regular use to remain functional. Sitting idle can lead to mechanical issues, from dried seals to fuel system problems.

For decades, collector vehicle laws have operated on a basic understanding. These vehicles are not daily transportation, and owners accept that limitation in exchange for reduced registration requirements and, in many cases, historic recognition. But within that framework, there has always been a reasonable level of flexibility. Owners could take their vehicles out for a drive, attend informal gatherings, test car repairs, or simply enjoy the result of years of restoration work.

HF 3865 changes that balance.

Centralized rule

The bill establishes a centralized rule governing how all collector-class vehicles can be operated in Minnesota. That includes vintage vehicles, classic cars, and other limited-use automobiles that have historically existed under a more flexible understanding between owners and regulators.

What makes Minnesota’s approach notable is that it cuts against the direction of travel in other states. In California — hardly a state known for regulatory leniency — lawmakers are advancing “Leno’s Law,” a proposal to ease emissions requirements for qualifying collector vehicles based on how rarely they’re driven and the practical limits of testing older cars.

Yes, even California is beginning to recognize that legacy vehicles don’t fit neatly into modern regulatory frameworks. Minnesota, by contrast, is moving to define — and restrict — how those vehicles can be used.

In practice, that shift matters. Once a centralized rule is in place, interpretation falls to regulators, inspectors, and law enforcement — each with their own threshold for what counts as acceptable use. What looks like a narrow clarification on paper can quickly become a broader constraint in reality.

Sunday drivers

That ambiguity doesn’t stay theoretical for long. It shows up in everyday situations: An owner takes a freshly repaired car out for a test drive and gets pulled over — does that qualify as permitted use? A weekend cruise without a formal event destination — allowed, or not? A quick drive to keep seals lubricated and the battery charged — reasonable to the owner, but potentially questionable to an officer enforcing a stricter reading of the rule. When the line isn’t clear, the practical burden often falls on the owner to justify the drive.

The concern isn’t just about what the bill says today, but what it enables tomorrow. When the state defines “appropriate use” for collector vehicles, it creates a framework that can be tightened over time — through enforcement patterns, regulatory guidance, or future amendments. What begins as a modest clarification can evolve into a far more restrictive system.

RELATED: ‘Leno’s Law’ could be big win for California’s classic car culture

CNBC/Getty Images

Eroding the culture

For owners, this isn’t theoretical. Classic cars require regular use to remain functional. Sitting idle can lead to mechanical issues, from dried seals to fuel system problems. Owners often need to take vehicles out for test drives after repairs or simply to keep them in working condition. Limiting when and why those drives are allowed adds friction to ownership in a way that goes beyond paperwork — it affects whether maintaining these vehicles is practical at all.

There’s also a cultural cost to consider. Classic cars are not just transportation; they’re rolling artifacts of American design, engineering, and craftsmanship. They connect generations and preserve a hands-on relationship with mechanical systems that is increasingly rare. Restricting their use doesn’t just inconvenience owners — it gradually erodes the culture that keeps them alive.

Supporters of HF 3865 may argue that the bill simply clarifies existing rules. But clarity is not always neutral. When clarification narrows behavior, it functions as restriction. And when that restriction applies to how individuals use their private property — particularly in ways that have long been understood as reasonable — it deserves closer scrutiny.

Minnesota lawmakers have a choice to make. They can preserve the balance that has allowed collector car culture to thrive, or they can begin redefining it in ways that may be difficult to reverse.

For classic car owners, the stakes are simple: This isn’t just about regulation. It’s about whether the freedom to enjoy what you own is quietly being rewritten.

​Lifestyle, Classic cars, Minnesota, California, Emissions, Culture, Leno’s law, Jay leno, Align cars 

Don Lemon is in the headlines again — this time for floating the idea of running for president. On the March 29 episode of the “Pod Save America” podcast with former MSNBC host Alex Wagner, the former CNN anchor admitted that he’s open to running if the right opportunity presents itself.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray played and reacted to the clip on a recent episode of “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

Wagner asked Lemon if he was considering running for office. After a tangent about how he’s disadvantaged because he’s “not a white man” so the “rules are different” for him, Lemon said that he was open to the idea.

“Do I ever think about it? Yes. Could it happen? Yeah, it could happen if the opportunity presented itself — the right opportunity presented itself. … I think I could be president of the United States. I could definitely run this country better than Donald Trump,” he said.

“A towel roll could. You would be a marked improvement,” Wagner replied.

“As an independent though, there would be a hard time for me to run for anything because, you know, the way the system is set up. I’d have to choose a side. And so, you know, I probably would have to become a Democrat,” Lemon added.

“You know what else I think that I could run better than most people? … A news organization because I was there. I’ve been in the game for so long, and I’m not interested in being, you know, the anchor out front. I could come in and fix the bulk of their problems and lickety-split in no time flat,” he continued, noting that he’s currently “building his own channel.”

Pat says the only thing Don Lemon could run well is “maybe a gay bar.”

“What do you want to bet there’ll be over five people there watching?” he asks, referencing Lemon’s new channel.

Between Meryl Streep’s warning to women about the dangers of the SAVE Act and Lemon’s presidential aspirations, Pat “[loves] what’s happening with the left.”

“They’re all so brilliant,” he laughs sarcastically.

To see Lemon’s clip and hear more of Pat’s commentary, watch the video above.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Pat gray unleashed, Pay gray, Don lemon, Don lemon president, Alex wagner, Blazetv, Blaze media 

A new Republican-led bill pushing for bipartisan reform to the immigration crisis has sparked intraparty clashes over major amnesty concessions.

Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida, who introduced the Dignity Act in the House, lashed out at her GOP colleagues critiquing the “compassionate” bill, even though some provisions provide a pathway to “legal status.” Salazar said that calling it an amnesty bill is a “deliberate distortion” of the legislation despite language protecting “Dreamers,” halting deportations, and allowing illegal aliens to enter a seven-year program for “renewable legal status.”

‘I want dignity for Americans.’

“At some point in the future, another legislator will write another law to give them path to citizenship,” Salazar said. “Right now, what we need to do is to buy peace for these people — allow them to stay to continue working, because they are needed.”

Despite clear-cut protections for illegal aliens, Salazar’s Dignity Act has secured 20 Republican co-sponsorships and 20 Democrat co-sponsorships.

RELATED: ‘She was screaming’: Rep. Brandon Gill clashes with Ilhan Omar as immigration battle heats up

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

While several Republicans have signed on to the bipartisan bill, prominent GOP House members have sounded the alarm.

Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas slammed Salazar’s bill, saying it’s another case of “mass amnesty” and that it “would constitute a terrible betrayal of our voters.”

“Maria, your ‘DIGNIDAD Act’ would give legal status to over 10 million illegal aliens,” Gill said in a post on X. “It’s rank amnesty and everybody knows it. I want dignity for Americans — the people whose interests we represent — not illegal aliens. That means doing what we said we’d do: mass deportations.”

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​Donald trump, Open borders, Amnesty, Immigration crisis, Maria elvira salazar, Brandon gill, Dignity act, Mass migration, Dreamers, Politics 

As an avid library-goer, I’ve watched with interest how American libraries continue to shift and evolve in our new “post-book” world.

That’s right, one thing you notice in libraries these days: There are fewer books. And the ones they do have are checked out less often.

She shrugged and said, ‘Libraries are for everyone. I’m not allowed to tell them to turn their phone down.’

If you can’t find the book you want, you can always reserve it through the library system’s website. But increasingly, those books are not located in a branch library. They are in a warehouse somewhere. In a state of storage.

When you receive these stored books, they often look strange and sickly. Like they haven’t seen sunlight in a while. Like they belong in a museum, an artifact from the past.

Into the future

A couple of years ago, I visited several recently completed public libraries in major North American cities: Seattle, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Calgary, among others. I noticed these libraries had been specifically designed in anticipation of a decline in book-reading.

These new buildings had “craft” areas, or recording studios, or computer labs. They had conference rooms, where they held workshops for seniors to help them use their smartphones, or instruct young people on how to start a business.

Most of these new libraries were socialistic in nature. They were becoming places where people could access social programs and government assistance. You could sign up for job training. You could get help with your taxes.

Prisons and psych wards

Another thing I noticed: The designers and architects of these libraries seemed to believe that rampant homelessness was not a passing trend. In their minds, this was a permanent situation, which libraries would need to accommodate and serve.

Because of this, many contemporary libraries look and feel very different from the classic library environment.

They had removed old, comfortable furniture and replaced it with unbreakable plastic chairs and tables. Reading lamps were gone, with harsh overhead LED lighting taking their place. Charging stations and sleeping lounges were favored over cozy study nooks. Couches or armchairs were made of odor-resistant, easily disinfected fabrics. Outdoor areas were constructed so they could be hosed down.

Because of these changes, many new libraries often looked like a cross between a prison and a psych ward. They’d been designed to house unclean, unpredictable, occasionally violent, and sometimes incontinent humans.

Shhhhhhhh!

One recent incident I found interesting: I was in a local library, and a patron was watching a TV show very loudly on his phone.

A librarian appeared to see what the noise was. I looked at her like, “Can you say something to that person?”

She shrugged and said, “Libraries are for everyone. I’m not allowed to tell them to turn their phone down.”

She wasn’t allowed? I thought to myself.

“But you,” she said, looking at me. “You can say something.”

Looking at the TV-watching patron, I didn’t feel inclined to confront him. But how could it be that the librarian wasn’t allowed to intervene?

In search of the ‘luxury library’

Like I said, I love libraries. I love the quiet. I love the atmosphere. I love being around other studious types like myself.

I’ve kept tabs on the libraries in my own city, frequently visiting some of my old favorites, to check on which ones are making progress and which ones are getting worse. (They’re all getting worse.)

But recently, I stopped doing that. I don’t go to the big central library building anymore. I have seen enough during recent years to know what that looks like.

Now what I do — at home and in other cities I visit — is figure out where the wealthiest parts of town are, and I find small regional libraries in those areas.

In such places, you have the best chance of finding the “original library experience.” Peace. Quiet. Clean carpets. Comfortable chairs.

You encounter kind, thoughtful librarians (as opposed to the PTSD librarians you encounter in the war-zone libraries).

Actual families visit these places. Moms with their kids. Teenagers after school.

There’s no need for armed security at the front door. There are no Narcan canisters rolling around in the bathroom.

What about the children?

But even these places are subject to change, as they continue to expand their purview.

In one such “luxury library” I frequent, the library has become a kind of part-time nursery school. During certain hours, one half of the building fills up with small children. There are toys and games and little play areas set up for them.

Because this small library is basically one giant room, I am exposed to the screams and cries of the children. They run around. Occasionally, I find them hiding under my table as I work.

I don’t mind the children at all. I don’t have children of my own and always enjoy their antics. And the library has to do something with that space, don’t they?

RELATED: When did America’s public libraries become homeless encampments?

Genaro Molina/Getty Images

Still searching

Even in these wealthy neighborhoods, it’s clear that the libraries are struggling to find ways to remain relevant to their communities.

They have my sympathies. I don’t want libraries to go away. But what purpose will they serve going forward?

I’d prefer that libraries not become another arm of the “nanny state,” full of progressive propaganda and social activism. (“Drag Queen Story Hour” is trying to make a comeback at one library in my city.)

And what about the homeless? Is it really the fate of our great American library system to become a charging station and nod-out zone for drug addicts and street people?

But such is the nature of our socialist society. Tiny enclaves of luxury. Prisons and psych wards for everybody else.

The only solution I have found is to seek out these “luxury libraries” — and make full use of them. And I recommend that others do the same.

​Lifestyle, Culture, Books, Libraries, Social services, Blake’s progress