Is this just another cycle, or is it the END? Martin Armstrong of Armstrong Economics published an article this week about the so-called Socrates program and how [more…]
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Middle school assistant principal allegedly tried to pay for sex with 13-year-old — but it was a sting operation
Police said in a press release that they arrested a middle school vice principal in a child sex sting operation in San Jose, California.
The San Jose Police Department said officers were conducting the sting operation ahead of the Super Bowl game when they got 31-year-old Ruben Guzman to respond to their decoy.
Police asked for help from the public to identify other possible victims, given the suspect’s access to children at his job.
The suspect believed he was communicating with a 13-year-old boy when he allegedly offered to exchange money for sexual acts, according to police.
“Guzman arranged to pick up the child in the city of San Jose,” Police Sgt. Jorge Garibay said in the release. “But when he arrived, he was apprehended by officers with the SJPD Covert Response Unit who immediately took him into custody.”
Police said that when they searched him as well as his vehicle, they found “items consistent with the planned encounter” but did not elaborate on what those items were.
They then discovered that Guzman was working as an assistant principal at Sunrise Middle School located in San Jose.
Guzman was arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on a charge of communicating with a minor for sex.
Police asked for help from the public to identify other possible victims, given the suspect’s access to children at his job.
A KRON-TV report noted that his bio on the school’s website read, “My job as a teacher is to make students believe in themselves and take an active role in their community.”
Sunrise Middle School administrators said in a statement to KRON that Guzman was removed from the campus immediately and would not be allowed to have contact with students.
“Last Wednesday, we were informed by law enforcement that our assistant principal had been arrested in connection with allegations involving a minor that did not involve our school. Our immediate priority was student safety,” administrators said in part. “We have spoken with students in age-appropriate ways, communicated directly with families, and made counseling support available on campus. At this time, there is no information indicating that any Sunrise students were involved. While this is deeply upsetting, it does not reflect who we are as a school.”
Another 10 men were nabbed in the sting operation.
RELATED: Note saying ‘Call the police’ leads to arrest of elderly man’s live-in caretaker, police say
Image Source: San Jose Police Department press release composite
The suspects were named Cesar Rodriguez-Vela, Jose Garcia-Hernandez, Nelson Mejia-Rivas, Dexter Goody, Luis Medina De Leon, Gonzalo Yesca, Michael Valdeolivar, Harjeet Singh, Joey Minh Truc Nguyen, and Frank Huang, according to a separate press release.
They were also booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on charges that included attempted lewd acts with a minor, arranging meetings with a minor for sexual purposes, and child exploitation crimes.
The suspects ranged in age from 25 to 72 years old.
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Middle school principal, Child sex sting operation, Ruben guzman arrested, Super bowl child sex sting, Crime
The debt bomb is ticking, and DC spent the blast shield
America is edging toward a major economic crisis. Not a routine downturn or a mild recession, but something far worse. The Big One. We haven’t hit it yet, and we still have time to change course. But if Washington stays on its current track, trouble is coming.
You don’t need insider access to see it. It isn’t hidden. You only need to look at the numbers.
If Americans insist on responsible budgeting and smaller government, elected leaders will follow. That is how representative government works.
Federal budget documents describe an unsustainable path. Economists across the spectrum say the same. Credit rating agencies have issued warnings. The basic point is simple: We spend far more than we take in, year after year, and the bill keeps compounding.
What makes this moment dangerous is that we have little room left to respond when the next shock hits. We have nearly exhausted our fiscal space, which limits how much more we can borrow without triggering serious consequences. When the next crisis arrives, Washington won’t have the flexibility it relied on in the past. That’s when a bad situation turns into a true break.
Markets are already sounding alarms. Gold and silver prices have climbed. The dollar has weakened. Long-term rates have risen even as short-term rates fall. Foreign governments and major funds have reduced their appetite for U.S. debt. Investors don’t do that out of ideology. They do it when they see risk.
The hard part is not explaining the fix. The hard part is getting the country to accept it.
Too many Americans assume we are immune to the limits that bind every other nation. We are the biggest economy, the world’s reserve currency issuer, the greatest military power. So the thinking goes: Nothing can really happen to us.
That belief is the trap.
If we wait until the crisis becomes obvious to everyone, we will pay a much higher price. The damage will land on ordinary households first, and it will not be easily reversed. It is also immoral to hand our children and grandchildren a country buried under obligations it cannot meet.
RELATED: Washington printed promises. Gold called the bluff.
Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The remedy starts with first principles.
America’s founders did not build a system designed for permanent deficits and permanent expansion. They assumed limited government, manageable levels of debt, fiscal balance over time, and rules that protect the public without choking growth.
The economy has two broad parts: the public sector and the private sector. The public sector enforces law, protects the country, and provides basic administration. The private sector produces the goods and services that create real prosperity. When government grows beyond what taxpayers can support, it crowds out growth, drives up costs, and invites the temptation to paper over deficits with money creation.
Fiscal balance means spending and revenue align over time. When spending consistently exceeds revenue, debt rises. When debt becomes too large, governments lean on the central bank, and inflation follows. Inflation pushes interest rates higher and erodes purchasing power.
A growing government paired with chronic deficits becomes a slow-motion squeeze on the middle class through higher prices, higher borrowing costs, and higher taxes.
Regulation has a legitimate role. But today’s regulatory state has expanded into a sprawling, unelected bureaucracy that writes rules with little accountability. Burdensome regulation raises costs, slows productivity, and makes the economy less resilient.
RELATED: Congress needs to go big or go home
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
We need to bring the size of the federal government back in line with what the tax base can support. That means controlling spending, reforming programs that drive long-term obligations, and reining in regulation that serves bureaucracy more than citizens.
None of this is easy politically. Elected officials won’t act if voters demand ever more benefits and services without acknowledging the costs. That’s why public understanding matters.
Reform will require hard choices. It will require changes to benefits. But we can protect those who truly need help while restoring sanity to federal finances. The alternative is allowing events to impose those choices on us in the worst possible way — through crisis.
If Americans insist on responsible budgeting and smaller government, elected leaders will follow. That is how representative government works. The window for orderly reform is still open. It won’t stay open forever.
Gold, Silver, Markets, National debt, Long term bonds, Short term bonds, Economy, Government spending, Fiscal responsibility, Federal government, Opinion & analysis, Debt bomb
Gospel meets degeneracy? Christians clash over Kid Rock’s TPUSA performance
Turning Point USA’s All-American Halftime Show ignited controversy after Kid Rock took the stage — a choice BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey admits initially left her stunned.
“You’ve got Turning Point saying that they’ve got this family-friendly show, but then they have Kid Rock, who is not really a family-friendly guy, singing,” Stuckey explains, pointing out that this has become an “intra-Christian battle.”
When Stuckey initially heard that Kid Rock was playing at the Turning Point halftime show, she admittedly was skeptical.
“I don’t think of him as kid-friendly. … I know that he has a history of being very raunchy. He’s definitely about the, like, sex, drugs, and rock and roll; drinking; and things like that. So, I was very surprised,” she explains.
At one point in the show, Kid Rock began sharing the gospel.
“There’s a book that’s sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dusting off. There’s a man who died for all our sins hanging from the cross,” he said, singing, “You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance, till you can’t.”
“OK, I love that. I loved that message. I love the theme of this song. It’s called ‘’Til You Can’t.’ And that line is so true, that Jesus will give you a second chance. He’s got all of this grace to give, until you can’t, and until you take your last breath,” Stuckey comments.
However, Kid Rock also sang songs that celebrated degeneracy.
“So, very confusing, and a lot of people rightly pointed out this seems a little bit hypocritical,” Stuckey says, but one post on X helped her make sense of it.
“There seems to be a lot of confusion & backlash, especially from the Christian community, about Kid Rock’s performance during TPUSA’s All-American Halftime Show. I believe I can clear things up …,” Jon Root began in a post on X.
“Kid Rock started his set by performing ‘Bawitdaba’, which came out in 1999. It is a vulgar song, referencing topless dancers, drinking, crooked cops, bastards, etc. Hearing that was a shock to a lot of us. Rightfully so. It felt worldly, which I believe was the point …,” he continued.
“Next, there was an acoustic set with two people playing a Christian hymn. It was meant to be an emotional bridge to what came next. … Finally, it transitioned to Kid Rock, his stage name, being introduced back to the stage as Robert Ritchie, his birth name. He then played a revised version of ‘Til You Can’t,’ which included lyrics about Jesus Christ,” he explained.
“He also spoke about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, encouraged people to follow Christ, and to read their Bibles. This was supposed to be an artistic way of portraying a redemption story. I don’t know Kid Rock’s walk with Christ, but he used this moment to point people to Christ, and I rejoice in that (Philippians 1:15-18),” he concluded.
“We should always praise God when the gospel is preached,” Stuckey comments. “That is my take on that.”
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To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
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Pete Hegseth says Pentagon will repeal court order blocking punishment against Mark Kelly
A federal judge temporarily blocked the punishment against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over a video directing U.S. military members to refuse unlawful orders from the administration.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Thursday that Kelly’s First Amendment free speech rights were violated by Pentagon officials. He went on to say the punishment had “threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.”
‘This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, “Captain.”‘
Kelly and five other Democratic members of Congress published a video in Nov. 2025 addressed to members of the military to remind them that they were not bound to obey orders that were unlawful.
The administration accused them of suggesting that the military should disobey any order from the administration, which would be treasonous. Hegseth said in a statement that the “reckless and seditious video” was “clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline.”
“The traitors that told the military to disobey my orders should be in jail right now, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain what they said was OK,” President Donald Trump responded at the time. “It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!”
Kelly posted about Thursday’s ruling from his social media account.
“Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said,” he wrote.
“This is a critical moment to show this administration they can’t keep undermining Americans’ rights,” he added. “I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump and Hegseth can’t admit when they are wrong.”
Hegseth responded to the ruling on social media.
“This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, ‘Captain,'” he wrote.
RELATED: Nancy Pelosi outraged after Defense Sec. Hegseth orders removal of gay icon’s name from naval ship
Kelly responded by citing the conclusion from the judge’s ruling.
“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired servicemembers have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years,” the passage reads.
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Hegseth vs mark kelly, Democratic unlawful order video, Judge vs trump, Pete hegseth, Politics
DHS fires back at Cardi B after she threatens ICE at her concert: ‘They ain’t takin’ my fans, b***h!’
An online feud broke out between Cardi B and the Department of Homeland Security after she jokingly threatened federal officers during her concert in California.
The rapper had her Mexican fans cheer at the concert in Palm Desert before promising to “jump” Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they tried to detain her fans at the show.
‘I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, b***h!’
“Bitch, if ICE comes in here, we gon’ jump they asses!” she said to the crowd, who responded with loud cheers.
“I’ve got some bear mace in the back! They ain’t taking my fans, bitch!” she added.
Video of her comments was posted by TMZ before the official account for DHS fired back at the rapper.
“As long as she doesn’t drug and rob our agents, we’ll consider that an improvement over her past behavior,” the agency wrote.
The rapper previously divulged that she drugged men in order to rob them when she previously worked as a stripper.
Cardi B then responded right back at DHS and the Trump administration over the release of the Epstein files.
“If we talking about drugs let’s talk about Epstein and friends drugging underage girls to rape them. Why yall don’t wanna talk about the Epstein files?” she posted.
RELATED: Cardi B calls America ‘ghetto’ and complains about JD Vance in rant praising Saudi Arabia
The Department of Justice released millions of pages from the Epstein files, but Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has claimed that names of co-conspirators were improperly redacted. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) also claimed that the redacted files contain a million mentions of President Donald Trump.
Cardi B was previously praised by those on the right for demanding to know what the U.S. government does with the 40% in taxes that she pays.
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Cardi b vs ice, Ice fires back at cardi b, Celebrities against ice, Cardi b concert tour, Politics
‘Democratic Party is too liberal’: CNN analyst warns of ‘electoral repercussions’ after shocking poll results
A majority of Americans say that the Democratic Party has become too left-leaning, and it’s been getting worse for at least three decades, according to a new CNN analysis.
While many in the media have been accusing the Republican Party of being too far right, polling indicates that more Americans say Democrats have been turning too far to the left.
‘The Democrats are moving to the left, the far left is gaining power, and there could be some electoral repercussions.’
CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, demonstrated how polling showed that more Democrats identify as liberal.
“The far left is significantly more powerful than they once were. This sort of gives the game away here. Democrats who identify as very liberal or conservative — you know there used to be a lot of conservative Democrats, right?” Enten said during the CNN segment.
“Back in 1999, 26% of Democrats self-identified as conservative. Just 5% said that they were very liberal,” he explained. “It was a smidgen, a smidgen, a smidgen. Now that far left has gained considerably in power.”
He showed that recent polling had 21% of Democrats identifying as very liberal and only 8% identifying as conservative.
Enten went on to reveal polling for the last three decades that indicated more and more Americans see the Democratic Party as too liberal.
“Look at this percentage. It’s 42% in ’96, 48% in 2013, now 58% in 2025 of all voters say that the Democratic Party is too liberal. The Democrats are moving to the left, the far left is gaining power, and there could be some electoral repercussions,” he added.
The CNN analyst posted the video of his segment to his social media account.
RELATED: ‘We have a glaring disadvantage’: Democrats panic as GOP dominates in fundraising: NYT
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Enten also pointed out that among Democrats, about a third considered themselves democratic socialists in recent polling. And that is low compared to Democrats under the age of 35. 42% of that cohort reported identifying as democratic socialists.
“What happened in New York City is not some aberration,” Enten continued, referring to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election. “It is not something that just happened in New York City. It is something that we’re seeing grow within the Democratic Party at this particular point.”
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Woke ‘Snow White’ remake lost way more money than you could ever imagine
Perhaps Snow White should have kept her seven dwarfs, after all.
The 2025 live-action remake of “Snow White” dropped its use of dwarf actors and ended up being a progressive disaster as star Rachel Zegler mocked the traditional story in media interviews.
‘We didn’t do that this time.’
“Snow White” dragged its way to an $87 million domestic weekend when it opened, and while that seems like a massive sum for anyone, filings reported by Forbes showed the movie had nearly double that in losses.
Poisoned production
“Snow White” ended up going over budget, ultimately costing $336.5 million. Its domestic opening was a reported 13% less than forecast, and its eventual worldwide intake of $205.7 million hurt Disney massively, and ended up being the fifth-lowest gross for a live-action adaptation for the studio.
Many memes and unsold tickets later, the 2025 “Snow White” reportedly lost $170 million; here’s how the math works.
The U.K. government gave “Snow White” a reimbursement for filming in its region, equating to $64.9 million (per Forbes). So, while that brings their net expenses down, the box office money is split between the studio and the theaters, leaving Disney with a $271.6 million bill and around $103 million brought in.
That left the Mouse House at a $168.7 million loss.
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Snow blow
Zegler diminished her movie so much before its release that YouTube accounts had no problem making compilations of her bizarre critiques. This included clips of Zegler saying the older cartoon movie scared her the first time she watched it and confirmations that the new movie would stray away from a story about a prince rescuing Snow White.
“We didn’t do that this time,” she boasted.
The film also featured no dwarfs at all, in terms of real actors.
After “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage criticized the production for doing a “backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together” in 2022, Disney dropped its dwarf actors and replaced them with computer-generated ones.
This confused audiences, many of whom agreed with actor Dylan Postl, who remarked that the apparent progressive move actually resulted in dwarfs not getting any roles in perhaps the biggest movie there has ever been with specific characters for dwarfs.
“Peter Dinklage spoke up about this, and that was my issue,” Postl said at the time. “He had in the past no issue cashing checks that were made for dwarf roles like ‘Elf’ and all of that. Yes, he blew away the barriers when he did his roles that weren’t necessarily made for a dwarf, but the ‘Elf’ role was made for a dwarf, that check cleared just fine.”
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Woke crusade
In the months that followed, Zegler continued her woke crusade in different media appearances. At one point in December 2023, she teamed up with fellow Disney princess Halle Bailey to preach more about the religion of diversity while simultaneously declaring their victimhood.
As for “Snow White,” it ranks only above some rather infamous live-action Disney flops. It tops only “Mulan” (2020), “102 Dalmatians” (2000), “Christopher Robin” (2018), and “The Jungle Book” (1994).
According to WDW News Today, when adjusting the domestic performance of “102 Dalmatians” and “Christopher Robin” for inflation, they actually beat out “Snow White,” dropping the film down to third-worst in the studio’s history.
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Align, Disney, Woke, Remake, Snow white, Diversity, Entertainment
Super Bowl ratings DROP — and the NFL’s decline has begun
The NFL may be touting Super Bowl LX as another ratings success, but BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes the fine print tells a very different story.
“The ratings dropped for the Super Bowl and for Bad Bunny, and they got to spin it in some sort of way,” he says, though he notes there is “no positive spin on what just happened.”
“The viewership’s down 2% to 124 million,” Whitlock points out.
“If you read the fine print of the stories that are coming out and trying to spin these Super Bowl ratings, it actually tells the real story,” he explains, before reading an excerpt from a Front Office Sports report.
“Notably, this was also the first Super Bowl with Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement process. The methodology, first introduced last September, brings in millions of additional data points from set-top boxes and smart TVs. That expanded view of the market has helped produce viewership gains across much of live sports, and particularly pro and college football — but not with the Super Bowl,” the article reads.
“What that means is since September, when we rigged up this new accounting system at Nielsen that counts all of these extra people, we’ve boosted up the TV ratings for football. And since September, everybody in live sports has been benefiting from this new calculation and new system that keeps producing these record ratings,” Whitlock explains.
“They had a system in place designed to boost the ratings of the Super Bowl and didn’t boost the ratings of the Super Bowl. That’s an indicator. That’s an indicator that the NFL and the Super Bowl are losing their grip. They’ve become too arrogant,” he continues.
Whitlock believes that the drop in ratings means that “people are finally starting to wake up to the diminished content.”
“They’re producing more content, and they’re giving us more content, but the content is no good,” he adds.
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Exclusive: ICE urges Georgia sheriff not to release illegal alien ‘monster’ accused of sexually assaulting 10-year-old girl
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging Georgia law enforcement officials not to release an illegal alien charged with sexual crimes against a child, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.
Juan Carlos Salvador Diaz, 29, was accused of sexual battery against a 10-year-old girl on August 1, 2025, and on December 1, 2023. Salvador Diaz allegedly committed these crimes at a Marietta apartment complex.
‘We need cooperation from state and local authorities to return these types of sickos over to us, so we can get them OUT of our country before they victimize more Americans.’
Local authorities arrested him on January 30, and he is facing two counts of aggravated sexual battery.
Salvador Diaz is currently being held without bond.
The DHS reported that the Honduran national illegally entered the U.S. in 2019.
The day after his arrest, ICE lodged an arrest detainer with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.
RELATED: ‘Not true’: Chicago Mayor Johnson’s ICE order has his own prosecutors up in arms
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ICE is urging the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office not to release Salvador Diaz from its jail without first notifying the federal immigration agency.
“This monster sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl. We are now asking Georgia authorities to commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainer to ensure this pedophile is not released and able to prey on more innocent children,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Blaze News. “We need cooperation from state and local authorities to return these types of sickos over to us, so we can get them OUT of our country before they victimize more Americans.”
RELATED: Sanctuary city official cries ‘abduction’ when ICE arrests alleged drug trafficker — DHS fires back
Photo by Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office’s website acknowledges that the DHS has a detainer against Salvador Diaz.
In January 2021, then-newly elected Sheriff Craig Owens terminated the sheriff’s office’s participation in ICE’s 287(g) Program, which allowed local law enforcement to identify and process immigration violators in its correctional facilities.
However, in 2024, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed HB 1105 into law, which requires “any custodial authority” to “comply with, honor, and fulfill any request made in the immigration detainer notice.”
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
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News, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Immigration crisis, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Cobb county, Cobb county sheriff’s office, Georgia, Tricia mclaughlin, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Brian kemp, Politics
Whistles not enough? LA activists find a new way to warn about ICE — and your ears probably won’t like it
Liberal activists in Los Angeles are organizing a new way to warn illegal aliens about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Amanda Alcalde founded the Highland Park Community Support Group for ICE operations and began posting flyers about their new plan: Install sirens.
‘It feels dystopian in a way.’
“We’d like to ultimately have this along all the different streets so they can take shelter,” Alcalde said to KTLA-TV.
The effort is not sanctioned by the city, so the group will have to find private property supporters and businesses where it can install the sirens.
She added that she was “really taking a lot of that influence from Minneapolis and trying to turn it into our own here.”
Activists already use whistles to alert each other about ICE agents.
“We don’t directly get ourselves involved with ICE, but we will get involved protecting the community to stay in their office or home,” activist David Trujillo said to KTLA.
Alcalde claimed that the ICE operations have led to a reduced presence of ethnic minorities in Los Angeles.
“I’ve seen a lot of fear in people’s eyes. I don’t see a lot of our ethnic minorities out in the day-to-day. It’s big change. It feels dystopian in a way,” she said.
Blaze News reached out to DHS for comment but did not receive a response by time of publishing.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, has openly opposed the Trump administration’s order to surge ICE operations in the city.
“There is no plan other than fear, chaos, and politics,” Bass said in July. “Home Depot one day, a car wash the next, armed vehicles and what looked like mounted military units in a park the next day.”
The KTLA report promoted the group’s efforts to raise donations from people who oppose ICE.
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‘Solely on the basis of race’: White-majority Chicago suburb sparks outcry with $25K payments to some black residents
A white-majority Chicago suburb is preparing to distribute hefty cash payments to dozens of black residents as part of the city’s $10 million reparations pledge.
Black residents and descendants of black residents who lived in Evanston, Illinois, between 1919 and 1969 are eligible to receive the payments. Evanston plans to pay $25,000 to 44 qualifying black residents.
‘They are just entirely giving money, usually to black residents solely on the basis of race.’
The City’s Reparations Committee previously pledged $10 million over a decade as part of its Reparations Program, which was established in 2019 and approved by the city council in 2021. The government-funded program is the first of its kind in the U.S.
Cynthia Vargas, Evanston’s communications and community engagement manager, told the Chicago Tribune that payments to the 44 individuals are intended to cover housing expenses.
The city has allocated over $270,000 to its Reparations Program, funds that it collected from the real estate transfer tax. The program also receives funding from the city’s 3% Cannabis Retailers Occupation Tax, though it is unclear how much.
The Reparations Committee has proposed providing additional funding to the program through a potential tax on Delta-8 THC products, a psychoactive substance found in cannabis that is sold in vapes and gummies.
RELATED: Chicago suburb starts disbursing $10 million reparations package to black residents
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“Delta-8 products tend to be rather inexpensive, so the tax on them, it likely won’t be a huge revenue stream, but it is revenue,” Alexandra Ruggie, the city’s corporation counsel, stated. “The other thing that we will have to work out with our finance team is how to go about collecting those taxes, whether we tax it when there’s a point of sale at an Evanston business, or whether or not we tax it when those businesses buy it from the supplier.”
RELATED: Trump pulls US out of ‘racist’ UN forum pushing ‘global reparations agendas’
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog, filed a lawsuit against Evanston last year, arguing that the Reparations Program used race as an eligibility requirement and therefore violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause.
“There’s a right way and a wrong way to do them,” Michael Bekesha, a senior attorney at Judicial Watch, told Fox News Digital. “So reparations are to repair. And so we have provided in this country reparations in the past when somebody has been wronged by the government, and we try to make that person whole.”
“The reparations programs that you’re seeing around the country that are being talked about aren’t that. They are just entirely giving money, usually to black residents solely on the basis of race. And I mean, that’s just problematic,” Bekesha added.
A spokesperson for the city told Fox News Digital that it cannot respond to ongoing litigation.
According to 2020 census data, more than 46,000 of Evanston’s 78,000 residents identify as “white alone.” Just 12,500 identify as “black or African-American alone.”
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‘Gaslighting s**t’: Joe Rogan questions the official Epstein narrative after latest files dump becomes personal
In a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” host Joe Rogan and his guest reacted to the new Epstein files release, including a very personal detail for Rogan.
Rogan and guest Cheryl Hines, who is best known for her role in the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” discussed the bizarre findings of the new Epstein files, which included over 3 million documents, and pointed out the inadequacy of the government’s handling of the case.
‘I’m in the files for not going because Jeffrey Epstein was trying to meet with me.’
Rogan’s producer pulled up an article headline from the Associated Press that read, “FBI concluded Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men, files show.” Asked for the provenance of the article, Rogan’s producer said, “It was going around the internet today.”
RELATED: ‘Smoking Gun’: Yale prof nearly blown up by Unabomber defends his Epstein emails
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“Oh, today?” said Hines, who is married to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. “I thought that was from 2005.”
“That’s the gaslightiest gaslighting s**t I’ve ever heard in my life,” Rogan said. “What do they think is going on? Just a bunch of fun? A bunch of guys hanging out, being fellas? Having cocktails, talking about science?”
Prior to that exchange, Rogan also mentioned to Hines that he was in the files, but not for the reason people think.
“I’m in the files for not going because Jeffrey Epstein was trying to meet with me,” Rogan said.
The New York Post suggested that Canadian theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss had attempted to introduce Rogan and Epstein back in 2017, citing an email exchange that was released in the latest files dump.
“I was like, ‘B***h, are you high?'” Rogan recalled asking about the man who tried to connect him to Epstein.
Hines asked him if he was glad that he never went to meet Epstein, to which Rogan replied, “I would have never went anyway. It’s not even a possibility that I would have went — especially after I Googled him.”
Krauss did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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French fry dispute between friends ends with bullet to the head, cops say
It started with a dispute between two Texas friends over sharing french fries and ended with one of them shooting the other in the head, Fort Worth police said.
Police said officers were dispatched around 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28 to an apartment complex near the 9500 block of Jeremiah Drive in reference to a shooting.
‘He didn’t think he was going to get shot, especially over french fries that [were] his.’
Officers arrived on scene and found an adult male victim with an apparent gunshot wound to his head, police said.
Detectives with the Gun Violence Unit learned that an argument between friends had taken place over an order of french fries that the victim did not want to share with the suspect, police said.
A verbal argument between the two escalated to a shooting, police said, adding that the suspect fled the apartment after the shooting. Detectives interviewed multiple witnesses and have identified the suspected shooter, who was known to live in the same apartment complex, police said.
However, police said they did not locate the suspect after conducting a search of the area and apartment complex.
Officers began CPR on the shooting victim until Fort Worth Fire EMS relieved them, police said. The victim was taken to a local hospital but was pronounced dead several hours later, police said.
Lemarques Darden, 18, was arrested Monday and faces a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Jarvis Davis, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The paper said Darden was booked into the Fort Worth City Jail. By Tuesday, he was booked into the Tarrant County Corrections Center; jail records on Thursday indicate Darden is still behind bars with no bond.
Davis’ mother, Sherika Kennedy, told the Star-Telegram that a Wingstop meal was nearly over at the apartment when the argument between the two friends erupted.
Kennedy told the paper that when Davis declined to share his fries, the suspect got angry and fired a bullet into Davis’ head. Kennedy’s son died several hours later in the trauma intensive care unit of Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, police told the Star-Telegram.
“He didn’t think he was going to get shot, especially over french fries that [were] his,” Kennedy told the paper.
The Star-Telegram added that Davis had lived in Fort Worth for a year but grew up in Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana. He moved with his family to Texas in 2020, settling in Lewisville, his mother told the paper.
“He was only 19, with his whole future ahead of him,” Kennedy wrote in a GoFundMe post. “He was a loving son, a protective brother, and a fun-loving uncle to his three nieces. He brought laughter, energy, and love to those around him, and his absence has left a deep void in our hearts.”
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Murder charge, Texas, Fort worth police, Arrest, Argument, Fatal shooting, Friends, French fries, Crime
How the FBI actually got the Google Nest footage of Nancy Guthrie’s alleged kidnapper
When the footage of Nancy Guthrie’s alleged kidnapper emerged online, it was met with optimism and confusion. On one hand, it was a much-needed lead in a case that has mostly run dry. On the other, the video wasn’t supposed to exist due to a number of circumstances. The fact that the FBI obtained and revealed the images immediately raised privacy concerns over Google’s recording and storage practices, some of which are valid, though the full truth is more complex.
The problem
On February 10, 2026, the FBI released the only known footage of Nancy Guthrie’s suspected kidnapper — a person wearing a balaclava mask, heavy gloves, a jacket and pants, and a backpack.
The admission that the FBI procured cloud-saved footage from an account with no cloud backup subscription raised red flags.
What makes the existence of the footage so perplexing is that the kidnapper disconnected the Nest doorbell camera that captured these images. He also stole the camera from its mount, removing it from the scene and making it inaccessible to law enforcement. Adding insult to injury, Nancy Guthrie reportedly did not have a Google Home Premium (formerly Nest Aware) subscription. This service stores captured video footage in the cloud so that it can be accessed remotely via the Nest app.
With no physical camera and no cloud storage backup, the FBI had no viable route to obtain footage that could identify the suspect. However, after 10 days of working directly with Google, the FBI managed to extract a short video clip “recovered from residual data located in backend systems,” according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
While it’s great to have a lead in the Nancy Guthrie case, the admission that the FBI procured cloud-saved footage from an account with no cloud backup subscription raised red flags throughout social media, with some jumping to the reasonable conclusion that Google stores video footage without users’ knowledge or consent, making it accessible to third parties and law enforcement. If true, this is a huge violation of privacy on Google’s part, and the public deserves a proper answer outside Kash Patel’s vague explanation.
Well, as it turns out, there is a reasonable explanation for everything, and it is even protected under Google Nest’s terms of service. Here’s what we think happened and why it’s actually a good thing that the footage was available.
RELATED: FBI releases terrifying video of masked and allegedly armed individual in Guthrie case
Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
The explanation
While most modern Nest cameras don’t come with big onboard SD cards or hard drives, they do feature limited onboard storage — aka “local cache” — that can save up to three hours of event video history. At the same time, this same video history is sent to Google’s servers for temporary storage, regardless of whether or not the user has an active Google Home Premium account.
“Why?” you might ask? “Isn’t that an illegal invasion of privacy?”
No, actually. According to Nest’s terms of service, Google processes video data on its servers to “provide the Nest Cam features and services that you’ve requested.” These features include livestreaming, which is accessible when a user opens the Nest app to check the live feed on one of the cameras. It also enables three-hour event history that users can search to find important motion events, like a creepy stalker removing your doorbell camera from the wall.
The residual data that the FBI gathered from Google was likely included in the three-hour event history that was saved on the device and transmitted to Google’s servers for safekeeping.
The big takeaway is that all users agree to send their footage to Google when they install and use a Google Nest product. It is part of Nest’s feature set, and it is completely within Google’s rights to share this information with the FBI for life-threatening cases, the same way the company would share your Google Drive files with law enforcement if they were implicated in a criminal case.
Nest’s privacy faux pas is actually a good thing
The ironic part in this entire story is that the suspect himself is the reason the footage exists. For users who don’t have a Google Home Premium subscription, the three-hour event history saved directly to Nest cameras and Google servers is temporary. It is designed to be overwritten as the camera continues to run and capture new motion events.
That didn’t happen in this case, however. Why? Because the suspect disabled the camera and removed it from the wall, thus stopping it from collecting more recordings and overwriting the evidence that he was ever there. If he had simply left the camera running, the last footage available would have shown the police searching the grounds of Nancy’s home instead of himself. It was the ignorance of the suspect, and the suspect alone, that froze the three-hour window on the images of his face, delivering a devastating blow to his covert operation.
The kidnapper essentially outed himself to the world.
Google is not completely innocent
While the suspect’s ill-fated actions may be the seminal piece of evidence needed to reveal his identity, Google isn’t off the hook entirely here. Yes, Nest’s terms of service imply that Google may process captured video data on its servers, but it’s not explicitly clear that videos are sent off to the cloud in a manner that makes them obtainable from Google’s servers. This means that practically anyone’s footage captured in the most recent three-hour window is potentially accessible by law enforcement. This isn’t something that should be possible, even for cases involving the FBI.
The privacy concerns that have spread throughout social media are completely valid, and Google deserves all the criticism for it. Just because this time the extracted footage may be helpful in a critical case, that is no excuse for the loophole in Google’s system that made it possible in the first place.
Tech
Seahawks crushed with California taxes post-Super Bowl — how much they lost will ‘blow your mind,’ says Glenn Beck
For a football player, winning the Super Bowl is the Mount Olympus of athletic dreams. Unless, of course, he wins it in California.
“If you win the Super Bowl in California, then they send you a bill that says, ‘Uh-oh, you lose,’” laughs Glenn Beck.
Since the Super Bowl was hosted in San Francisco, the state of California taxes not just the income the players earned for the game but for all their “duty days.”
But just how much money are we talking?
“This is going to blow your mind,” says Glenn.
Unlike many other states, “California reaches backward months into the past, and they claim the right to tax a slice of your entire season salary based on how many duty days you spent in the state. … So they’re not just taxing the bonus; they’re not just taxing the game check; they’re taxing you the entire year,” he explains.
What does that mean for the Seahawks players, who each received a $178,000 bonus for winning the Super Bowl? It means that they “[owed] the state more than that in taxes,” says Glenn.
“How can you lose money winning the Super Bowl? Well, California’s found a way to do it,” he scoffs.
California implements what is called a “jock tax,” which is the harshest nonresident income tax scheme on visiting athletes.
“In California, they’re giving you the highest marginal rate in the country. It’s over 13%, and they’re thinking about raising it,” says Glenn.
“When a government decides it can tax income earned elsewhere just because you happen to pass through, you’re not taxing activity; you’re taxing existence. That doesn’t work out well,” he warns.
In the 1970s, Richard Cloward and Frances Piven — two “crazy Marxist professors,” says Glenn — “collapsed New York [City]” when they intentionally overloaded the U.S. welfare system by mass-enrolling eligible people in benefits, aiming to force a crisis that would lead to major reforms.
“They had high taxes, aggressive enforcement — ‘you owe us because you were here.’ What followed in the 1970s?” asks Glenn. “Capital flight.”
“Why do you think Rush Limbaugh left? Why do you think Sean Hannity left? Why do you think I left?”
France has a similar story in its history books. In the 1980s, the nation imposed a hefty “wealth tax,” spurring a historic exodus of the nation’s richest people.
“The wealthy didn’t pay more. They left. And by the time the [French] government repealed the tax, tens of billions of dollars in capital already [were] gone, along with all the jobs and the investment that came with it,” says Glenn.
Ancient Rome is yet another example.
“In Rome — late empire — they took productive citizens and just squeezed them,” says Glenn. “Why? Because … they were bloating the state. They needed to pay for the giant state. Tax base completely collapsed. Economy followed — gone.”
“There is a lesson in every civilization that has tried this. … You cannot tax people into staying. You can only tax them into leaving.”
But will California heed history’s warnings? It’s not looking promising for the Golden State.
“Six straight years of net population loss [in California]. … Hundreds of major companies are gone. Film production is a thing of the past. Billionaires are moving their residence. Where? To Florida,” says Glenn.
But “instead of asking the question what’s happening here, they just answer the same way: just tax what’s left.”
“That’s the danger of the ‘jock tax’ mentality,” says Glenn, “because once you accept the idea that location alone gives the government the right to reach into your entire life, there is no limiting principle any more.”
To hear more, watch the video above.
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The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Super bowl 2026, Blazetv, Blaze media, Super bowl, Seattle seahawks, New england patriots, California, California taxes, Jock tax
‘Sit there and smirk’: Sen. Johnson blasts Ellison over deadly protests in Minnesota
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sharply criticized a Minnesota Democrat during a Senate Homeland Security hearing Thursday, blaming him for encouraging protests that the Republican lawmaker said helped set the stage for the deaths of two activists amid a high-profile federal immigration enforcement operation.
Johnson accused Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison of creating conditions that, he said, contributed to the fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
‘Yeah, sit there and smirk. Smirk. It’s sick. It’s despicable.’
“Two people are dead because you encouraged them to put themselves into harm’s way,” Johnson told Ellison during the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
“A tragedy was going to happen, and you encouraged it. And you ought to feel damn guilty about it.”
Johnson’s criticism continued when Ellison appeared to smirk, stating: “Yeah, sit there and smirk. Smirk. It’s sick. It is despicable.” Ellison fired back, labeling Johnson’s remarks “all lies” and a “nice theatrical performance.”
RELATED: Olympic skier who wrote ‘F**k ICE’ in snow now says he is victim of ‘hate and vitriol’
Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Johnson went on to detail incidents of protester violence and interference that he said escalated the danger for federal agents. “These law enforcement officials have been shot at. Their vehicles have been rammed by some of these ‘peaceful protesters,’ probably the trained activists. They’ve had rocks thrown at their vehicles,” Johnson said.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“You’ve got all these trained activists behind you,” Johnson said, “Is it any wonder they’re at hair-trigger alert? A tragedy was going to happen, and you encouraged it!”
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‘GayDays’ at Disney World on ice after sponsors pull out
In yet another sign of a reverse in cultural trends, the organizers of the annual “GayDays” at Disney World announced the event has been put on “pause” this year after several sponsors dropped out.
The event usually lasts for several days and occurs in June during LGBTQ+ Pride Month. This year’s event would have been the 35th anniversary at the Orlando resort in Florida.
Another post promotes ‘glory holes,’ ‘dark corners,’ and adult film stars at a ‘carnal adventure.’
“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to pause the GayDays Orlando event scheduled for June 2026,” the statement reads.
“Changes to our host hotel agreement, the loss of key sponsorship support, and broader challenges currently impacting LGBTQIA+ events nationwide made it impossible to deliver the experience our community deserves,” the organizers added.
However, the company added that it was only a “pause” and not completely ended.
“For more than 30 years, GayDays has been built by and for our community. Our focus now is on reimagining the future and returning with a stronger, more sustainable event,” they added. “We will share updates in the coming months as we shape the next chapter together. Thank you for your support, your patience, and for being part of the GayDays family.”
The event is not officially recognized by Disney but was rather a fan-organized independent meetup that was supported by local hotels and other businesses.
“Gay Days is just really a vacation gathering of gays and lesbians from around the world, and straight people,” said Chris Alexander-Manley, an organizer of the event, in an interview from 2002.
Critics of the event have opposed it based on anecdotal reports of excessive displays of public affection at the park, inappropriately revealing attire worn by LGBTQ+ members, and other related events that do not align with the family theme of Disney parks.
RELATED: ‘Go f*** yourself!’ Elon Musk rips into Disney and other advertisers dropping from X platform
On social media, GayDays promotes “Drag Bingo” as well as “Porn Star Bingo” among its events at a pool party. Another post promotes “glory holes,” “dark corners,” and adult film stars at a “carnal adventure” for those “who seek uninhibited freedom, raw connection, and pulse-pounding thrills.”
“You will get laid!” reads a sign from a mostly undressed man in the media image.
Prominent sponsors of the event in the past included Showtime and Bud Light.
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‘Kick their a**!’ Republican leadership touts key protections against men in women’s sports
During a closed-door lunch Wednesday, House Republican leadership touted Congress’ efforts to protect women from trans-identifying male athletes.
Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) hosted Republican colleagues, female athletes, and advocates to highlight the progress being made to keep men out of women’s sports. During the lunch, Emmer shared the advice he would give his own daughter if she were to compete with a boy.
‘My life changed completely in an instant.’
“I got seven kids — six boys and one daughter,” Emmer said. “And this may be inappropriate, but I’m going to say the way I believe. I not only taught my daughter to compete with boys, I taught her to kick their ass!”
“But I just look at my daughter, and I asked myself, what parent would not stand up and say this is wrong?”
RELATED: ‘This is a must-win’: These 4 Republicans voted against banning trans surgeries on children
Courtesy of Rep. Emmer’s office
Republican Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida, who co-hosted the lunch, shared the pushback she experienced trying to advocate for female athletes.
“I was the chair of the bipartisan women’s caucus, and we were taking a vote on initiatives that we were going to champion as Republicans and Democrats. In the final five minutes of the meeting, I said, ‘Hey, we’re missing a key issue here. I think we should take a position as women on protecting women’s sports.'”
“You would not believe the conversation that ensued,” Cammack said. “I had more women shouting me down, telling me how hateful we were for even mentioning this and that we were going to be excluding people. I knew in that moment that we had to do something.”
In the aftermath, Cammack founded the Republican Women’s Caucus, where she continued to stand for women’s sports.
RELATED: RFK Jr. moves to ban transgender procedures for children: ‘This is not medicine; it is malpractice’
Courtesy of Rep. Emmer’s office
Several female athletes were also present, all of whom had their own experience playing against male athletes who claimed to be women.
One athlete in attendance was Payton McNabb, a former girls’ volleyball player whose life was turned around because the adults around her refused to stand up for the young women on her team. McNabb was severely injured in 2022 when her high school volleyball team was forced to compete against a male athlete who slammed the ball in her face and knocked her unconscious.
“I went to the doctor, and they explained how I had a concussion, a brain bleed, and permanent whiplash,” McNabb said. “All this could have been completely avoided from the start, and I could have been living my normal life playing college volleyball. But all of that got taken away because of this game, and I never played volleyball again.”
“I couldn’t drive for several months. I went from being top three in my class to needing extra time on tests and accommodations in school. … My life changed completely in an instant. It was really hard on me — not only on me, but on my family who had to watch me suffer. … That’s why it’s been so important to share my story across the country.”
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Tom emmer, Payton mcnabb, Kat cammack, House republicans, Transgender athletes, Men in women’s sports, Women’s sports, Politics
‘Scandal’: Abortion radical’s appointment at University of Notre Dame has local Catholic bishop outraged
The University of Notre Dame in Indiana announced last month that pro-abortion radical Susan Ostermann had been appointed director of the school’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.
This appointment — reportedly made by Keough School of Global Affairs dean Mary Gallagher and approved by Notre Dame provost John McGreevy — has enraged those members and supporters of the university under the impression that the institution is still Catholic.
Despite significant backlash and resignations by some esteemed scholars, the university dug in its heels, refusing to reverse course. It may come to regret doing so sooner rather than later.
Leaning into his apostolic responsibility to protect and strengthen the school’s Catholic identity, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend made abundantly clear on Wednesday that Ostermann’s abortion advocacy is disqualifying.
“I must express my dismay and my strong opposition to this appointment that is causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond,” the bishop said in a lengthy jeremiad. “Professor Ostermann’s extensive public advocacy of abortion rights and her disparaging and inflammatory remarks about those who uphold the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death go against a core principle of justice that is central to Notre Dame’s Catholic identity and mission.”
Bishop Rhoades noted that Ostermann, an associate professor of global affairs at the university, has repeatedly attacked the pro-life movement and defended the slaughter of the unborn “using outrageous rhetoric.”
RELATED: Pope Leo calls out ‘inclusive’ language as a painful, ‘Orwellian’ movement in the West
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
In a December 2022 article that she co-authored with ex-Notre Dame professor Tamara Kay, Ostermann claimed:
“Criminalizing abortion results in irreparable harm”; It is a “lie” that “abortion kills babies”; “There are no babies or fetuses” present during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, evidently discounting all the scientific evidence to the contrary;Abortion is not dangerous, evidently discounting the perspective of the unborn baby; andAbortion “doesn’t affect future fertility.”
In a July 2022 article she also co-authored with Kay, Ostermann claimed that white supremacy was one of the primary motivations behind the abortion abolition movement in the U.S., neglecting to mention how America’s abortion regime was largely driven by racist eugenicists like Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.
‘These are all outrageous claims that should disqualify her.’
In a May 2022 article, the radical duo characterized pregnancy and childbirth without the option of abortion as “violence,” “sexual abuse,” and “trauma,” and abortion, alternatively, as “freedom-enhancing, in the truest sense of the word.”
Among her numerous other abortion propaganda pieces is an article claiming that a ban of the abortion pill mifepristone would “violate human rights” as well as an article attacking pro-life pregnancy centers.
‘Rectify this situation.’
“These are all outrageous claims that should disqualify her from an administrative and leadership role at a Catholic university,” the bishop wrote.
Bishop Rhoades also denounced the radical appointee’s affiliation with the Population Council, an outfit that works to enshrine pro-abortion policies around the world.
“I hope that Professor Ostermann will explicitly retract these claims, and I pray that she will have a change of mind and heart that will lead her to affirm the innate dignity of unborn babies as well as that of their mothers.”
After citing the late Pope Francis’ assertion that it is a “false compassion which holds that it is a benefit to women to promote abortion,” Pope Leo XIV’s recent reminder that “the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion,” and reiterating the Catholic Church’s unchanging defense of “the inalienable right to life of mothers and their unborn children,” the bishop underscored that “Professor Ostermann’s opposite view thus clearly should disqualify her from holding a position of leadership within the Keough School.”
The position publicly championed by Ostermann is at odds with the university’s official position:
Consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion, research involving human embryos, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other related life issues, the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.
In his message, the bishop — whose diocesan territory includes the university — noted both that such “appointments have profound impact on the integrity of Notre Dame’s public witness as a Catholic university” and that the university has until July 1, when Ostermann’s appointment is scheduled to go into effect, to “rectify this situation.”
The decision to cancel the appointment reportedly rests with the six Holy Cross priests and six laypeople on the university’s Board of Fellows.
‘Going ahead with this appointment is repugnant.’
Holy Cross Father Wilson Miscamble, a professor emeritus of history at Notre Dame, recently noted in First Things that the board has a “fiduciary responsibility to maintain the university’s ‘character as a Catholic institution of higher learning.'”
A university spokesperson told the Irish Rover that the university had yet to change its position as of Feb. 8.
The Catholic Observer reported that if a bishop determines that a Catholic university is failing to faithfully execute its mission, he can issue a formal warning, bar the celebration of Mass at the institution, and forbid the school from identifying as Catholic. He can reportedly also seek an intervention by the Vatican.
Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, the newly retired Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, and Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Forth Worth thanked Bishop Rhoades for speaking out.
Bishop Barron noted that “going ahead with this appointment is repugnant to the identity and mission of that great center of Catholic learning.”
Ostermann told the National Catholic Register late last month that she is “fully committed to maintaining an environment of academic freedom where a plurality of voices can flourish.”
“While I hold my own convictions on complex social and legal issues,” the pro-abortion radical continued, “I want to be clear: My role is to support the diverse research of our scholars and students, not to advance a personal political agenda.”
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Religion, Faith, Catholic, Christian, Notre dame, University, Susan ostermann, Radical, Abortion, Pro-abortion, Eugenics, Life, Pro-life, Education, Bishop, Rhoades, Kevin rhoades, Robert barron, Winning, Politics
Tom Homan signals seismic shift in Minneapolis operation
Border czar Tom Homan announced that he will be making significant changes to the federal presence in Minneapolis, citing major progress made on the ground.
Homan recapped the administration’s efforts in Minneapolis, including locating 3,364 unaccompanied migrant children who were lost under former President Joe Biden’s leadership. Homan also touted progress made with local and state officials, thanking both Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
‘We have a lot of work to do across this country.’
In light of the progress made, Homan announced that Operation Metro Surge was ending and that he has begun withdrawing federal agents from Minneapolis.
“I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude,” Homan said.
RELATED: ‘Justice is coming’: Border czar Tom Homan vows to stay in Minneapolis ‘until the problem is gone’
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
“A significant drawdown has already been under way this week and will continue through the next week,” Homan added.
Homan clarified that the federal resources previously sent to Minneapolis will either return to their original post or be reassigned to continue their efforts in another city.
“We have a lot of work to do across this country to remove public safety risks who shouldn’t even be in this country and to deliver on President Trump’s promise for strong border security and mass deportation,” Homan said.
“Law enforcement officers drawn down from this surge operation will either return to their duty station or be assigned elsewhere to achieve just that.”
RELATED: Trump offers hilarious rebuttal to Tim Walz’s absurd Civil War analogy
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Homan also dispelled several inaccurate narratives about ICE’s presence in Minneapolis.
“During this surge operation, ICE has not arrested anybody inside a hospital,” Homan said. “We have not arrested anybody inside of an elementary school. We have not arrested anybody inside a church.”
“However, those locations are not off the table.”
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Tom homan, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tim walz, Jacob frey, Donald trump, Ice, Cbp, Federal agents, Operation metro surge, Illegal aliens, Mass deportations, Politics
