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Barney Frank spent his final months warning Democrats that the left had become a danger to itself.

Frank, the 16-term congressman from Massachusetts who died May 19 at 86, had been promoting a book scheduled for September publication: “The Hard Path to Unity: Why We Must Reform the Left to Rescue Democracy.”

The most effective revolutionaries do not always sound revolutionary. Sometimes they sound like men telling the revolutionaries to shut up, count the votes, and wait their turn.

That title says a great deal. Frank warned his fellow Democrats that they’re losing the electorate. But he was no mushy moderate. He was solidly a man of the left who understood that his party had developed habits that could cost it power — and, in his view, endanger the country.

Before anyone mistakes my point: This is not a eulogy for the co-author of Dodd-Frank, a man with more than his share of ethical lapses and scandals — male prostitution, anyone? — and a long record of expanding federal power and undermining American civilization. I am not here to praise Barney Frank’s life and career. I am here to draw a vital lesson about politics — how it works, who wins, and who loses.

Frank spent more than three decades in Congress advancing left-wing causes, from gay rights and anti-discrimination law to financial regulation and a more aggressive federal role in American life.

But not too aggressive too soon.

In one of his final interviews, Frank told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Democrats had succeeded in moving inequality to the center of the party’s agenda. But that success, he said, had “enabled people who wanted to use that as a platform for a wide range of social and cultural changes, some of which the public isn’t ready for.”

That little caveat — what “the public isn’t ready for” — carries a lot of weight.

To the activist mind, public reluctance often looks like bigotry, cowardice, or false consciousness. To Frank, it looked like politics. Voters were not clay to be molded by professors, nonprofits, and online scolds. They had to be persuaded, reassured, pressured, and moved over time.

Politics is persuasion — and persuasion can be the work of a lifetime.

Frank never confused delay with defeat. He treated delay as part of the cost of lasting victory. That was the real meaning of his final, misunderstood calls to “moderation” — something his irritating leftist critics missed or chose to ignore. He did not ask the left to abandon its goals. He asked the left to stop endangering them.

RELATED: Inside the left’s push to reshape 2028 with ranked-choice voting

Michael Blackshire/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

His career offers a useful correction to our political vocabulary. We tend to call politicians “moderate” when they sound less insane than their allies. But Frank was not moderate in his ends. He was moderate only in his sense of timing, sequencing, and risk.

Consider same-sex marriage. Frank supported gay rights long before they became fashionable in elite institutions. But he understood that the movement first had to win more basic fights against discrimination before asking the public to redefine marriage.

“When we were fighting for gay rights — a fight I think we have essentially won — we knew that some issues were more popular than others,” Frank told the New York Times a week before his death. “So we tended to start by trying to win the ones that were most popular. Gays in the military. Employment. We didn’t go after same-sex marriage, we didn’t make marriage a litmus test, until the very end.”

Then he drew the analogy to biological males competing in women’s sports. “That is the most controversial part of the agenda — the equivalent of gay marriage — so put it at the end. If you go at it that way, you build support for it. But if you insist on the most controversial parts all at once, you make it harder.”

Notice what he did not say. He did not say men in women’s sports had crossed an uncrossable line. He said the left had mistimed the fight. Prepare the ground, then advance. Move the public, then consolidate the gain. Do not force every question at once and then denounce the electorate for failing to keep pace.

Call that whatever you like, but don’t call it mushy moderation. That’s professional politics.

The same instinct shaped Frank’s conduct in Congress. In 2007, he supported removing gender identity protections from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act because he believed the votes did not exist to pass the broader bill. Activists accused him of betrayal. Frank’s answer was coldly practical: Do what you can now, and return later for the rest.

Frank was a patient institutional leftist. He understood committees, votes, caucuses, and public opinion. He could be abrasive, partisan, and arrogant. But he did not mistake moral intensity for legislative power.

That separated him from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whom Frank often criticized as a politician with little to show for decades in Congress. Sanders treats politics as indictment. The system is corrupt. The billionaires are guilty. The people have been betrayed. Some of that rhetoric can move voters, but rhetoric alone does not write statutes, build coalitions, or hold fragile majorities together.

Sanders rages against the system. Frank learned how to use it.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez complicates the picture. She entered Congress as a democratic socialist insurgent in the Sanders mold. But she has grown in office — not toward the center, exactly, but toward machinery. Frank would not have mistaken her for one of his own. But he might have recognized the beginning of her political education.

RELATED: Your enemies aren’t mentally ill. They apparently just want to kill you.

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A better comparison might be Jerry Brown.

California Republicans never got past the late-1970s caricature of “Governor Moonbeam,” and it cost them. “Moonbeam” was Jerry 1.0. The man who left the governor’s office in 2019 was Jerry 7.0, maybe 7.5: older, harder, more disciplined, more fiscally cautious, and vastly more dangerous. Brown was no conservative, though he possessed certain conservative instincts. Brown succeeded because he understood California’s currents better than the Republicans who mocked him.

Brown had his canoe theory of politics: Paddle a little to the left, paddle a little to the right, and you get where you need to go — ultimately, the to left bank of the river. Brown was smart enough and steady enough not to tip the canoe on the way there.

Conservatives should study politicians like Brown and Frank, not because we should admire or emulate their goals, but because we should understand their methods. A political movement that cannot describe its opponents accurately cannot defeat them. Worse, it cannot learn from them.

Frank’s final warning to Democrats was simple: Stop letting the loudest voices on the left turn every unpopular cultural demand into a test of moral seriousness. Read the room. Build consensus. Move when the ground can hold.

That warning should stir conservatives, too. The most effective revolutionaries do not always sound revolutionary. Sometimes they sound like men telling the revolutionaries to shut up, count the votes, and wait their turn.

​Barney frank, Bernie sanders, Democrats, Jerry brown, Opinion & analysis, The left, Alexandria ocasio-cortez, Gay marriage, Transgender agenda, Transgender athletes, Sports, Elections, Conservatives, Jake tapper, New york times, Moderate 

For years, Glenn Beck has warned that artificial general intelligence — a true master of all human intellectual tasks — will completely upend society by the year 2030.

But according to internet pioneer Marc Andreessen, AGI is already here. On a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” he claimed that we quietly crossed the threshold with the latest chatbot models like GPT-5.5, Claude Opus 4.6, Grok 4.3, and Gemini 3. Andreessen declared that these models now outperform top human experts in many domains.

Glenn believes this is critical information. Like electricity, telephones, television, the internet, and other general-purpose technologies that are so powerful and broad they fundamentally reshape how society, economies, and daily life function, AGI will revolutionize the world.

Is humanity ready to navigate the rapids, or will it crash on the rocks of blind trust and indiscrimination?

Unlike the aforementioned technologies whose transformative powers were slow, AI is “coming at the speed of light,” Glenn says.

“And because of that, there will be almost no chance to adapt or to stop and think, ‘Wait a minute, what is it we’re losing? And what is it we’re gaining here?’” he warns.

AGI, Glenn explains, will render much of the world’s experts obsolete.

“This is a tool that touches every single field at once: medicine, law, education, programming, finance, therapy, research, media, art, science — everything,” he says.

In his conversation with Rogan, Andreessen claimed that medical doctors are already relying heavily on AI models to assist in diagnosing and treating patients.

“When doctors are using this in examination rooms, you need to pay attention,” Glenn says, “because it’ll reveal something really important that always comes first in history, and that’s this: The experts themselves already know.”

“While we’re sitting here using it as a toy and debating whether AI is useful, the professionals, the ones who have those deep credentials, they’ve already quietly moved on to depending on it,” he continues.

Adoption before disruption, Glenn says, has long been the pattern.

“Factories automate before workers hear about it; banks digitize before the tellers disappear; retailers optimize before the storefronts close. The future arrives inside the institution first,” he explains.

While this seems like apocalyptic news, he acknowledges the bright side: People who learn how to use AGI to their genuine advantage by employing it as their own personal “staff” will not only avoid being replaced; they’ll create new opportunities that were impossible before.

“With AI, if you know how to prompt, a small company can compete against giant corporations. A teenager can launch a product that used to have millions in capital behind it. … A single mom can get tutoring, legal explanations, business advice, health analysis … free,” Glenn says. “The upside of this is staggering.”

But there is a dark side that “matters just as much,” he warns.

While access to information has been democratized, judgment remains a skill that must be cultivated with care.

“When everyone has access to infinite information, discernment becomes priceless,” Glenn says.

He fears that those who never learned how to think critically and ask questions will blindly follow whatever AI tells them, perhaps to their demise.

“I can ask AI how to treat symptoms, but do I know the right questions to ask to see if that analysis of what I’m treating is wrong? … You can ask it legal advice, but do you know when you need a real, actual, physical attorney?” Glenn comments.

When people lose that “living moral compass” inside them — the one that detects manipulation, corruption, and ill advice — we’re in a dark age indeed.

“That’s why I have said you will be lost without the spirit to guide you,” Glenn says, “because [AI arguments are] going to be so overwhelmingly well-crafted, you may not know what is true.”

“The whole thing is not whether machines can think. Yes. The real question is whether humans can still think, and I’m not sure about that.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Artificial general intelligence, Joe rogan, Marc andreessen 

New York state officials are facing a subpoena from the Trump administration after they refused to cooperate with the investigation into a horrific lethal bus crash.

Five people were killed, including two children, when the North Carolina-based travel bus plowed into cars that had slowed down for a construction zone on Friday at about 2:35 a.m. Dozens were injured in the Stafford County, Virginia, crash.

‘This is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely tragic.’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy identified the driver as 48-year-old Jing Shen Dong, a man originally from China who could not speak English.

The agency has now indicated that Dong had a commercial driver’s license from the state of New York but is accusing the state of refusing to cooperate with its investigation.

Investigators are seeking information about what driving school Dong attended, his entry-level driver training, and other records related to his license.

The Transportation Department demanded that the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles produce the records by 10 a.m. on Wednesday or suffer consequences that could include criminal or civil contempt proceedings.

About 48 people were transported to local hospitals over injuries from the wreck, at least three of which were in critical condition.

Four of the victims killed in the crash were identified as a family of four from Massachusetts that was traveling to a wedding with homemade desserts. They had emigrated to the U.S. from Moldova in 2008.

Dong was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, but other charges are expected as the investigation continues.

Duffy vowed to uncover what agencies and companies were responsible for putting Dong on the road.

“Unacceptable. This is exactly why we are holding states accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English,” he said Friday. “If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus.”

RELATED: Security camera shows school bus blow through stop sign and get hit by city bus, 6 people hurt

Thirty-four travelers were on the bus that originated in New York City and was headed to Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I’ve got to say, this is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely tragic,” said Federal Transit Administration spokesperson Peyton Vogel on the day of the crash.

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​Chinese driver, Commercial drivers license, Lethal bus crash, Subpoena, Politics 

A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that War Secretary Pete Hegseth had acted unconstitutionally when he ordered a ban on transgender-identifying members of the military.

Two of the three judges said a preliminary injunction could stay in force against the Pentagon keeping transgender-identifying plaintiffs out of the military.

‘We have direct evidence in this case that animus motivated the classifications in the Hegseth Policy.’

The two judges said the order was likely a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

“The government’s stated reason for issuing the Hegseth Policy as based solely upon gender dysphoria was pretextual, and that instead, the Hegseth Policy was premised, at least in part, on a non-legitimate state interest to harm the politically unpopular group of transgender persons,” Judge Robert Wilkins wrote in the ruling.

Judge Judith Rogers agreed with Wilkins about the constitutionality of the order.

However, Wilkins and Judge Justin Walker agreed separately that the Trump administration would be allowed to block transgender-identifying plaintiffs who wanted to join the military as the case progressed through the courts.

In the first days of President Donald Trump’s second term, he issued an executive order declaring that the military’s “high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity” were not compatible with the “medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.”

In Feb. 2025, the Defense Department issued the new restrictions on transgender-identifying military members.

Wilkins pointed out in his ruling that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit had collectively garnered more than 80 commendations in the military and served a combined 130 years.

“This is not a case where we are left to speculate why the government drafted such broad, undifferentiated classifications,” he said. “Unless we are going to fall for the old Groucho Marx line — ‘Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?’ — we have direct evidence in this case that animus motivated the classifications in the Hegseth Policy.”

RELATED: Transgender military members sue Trump, Hegseth over trans ban

Wilkins also argued that the Trump administration had “conceded” that there was “no evidence to establish that persons with gender dysphoria are not honest, humble, and full of integrity.”

A defense official said that about 4,200 troops had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by Dec. 2024.

Walker was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump in 2020, Wilkins was nominated by former President Barack Obama, and Rogers was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.

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​Pete hegseth, Transgender military members, Us court of appeals, Lgbtq, Politics 

James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, has been distancing himself from some of his more provocative past statements now that he’s in the general election against Republican candidate Ken Paxton.

On this episode of “Pat Gray Unleashed,” Pat and the panel revisit one of Talarico’s wildest statements and criticize his convenient backtracking.

In 2021 during a Texas House floor/committee debate on transgender issues, Talarico claimed that “God is nonbinary.”

“God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is nonbinary,” he began.

He then used Scripture to justify supporting trans rights.

“In Genesis 1:26, God speaks of God’s self in the plural, saying, ‘Let us make human beings in our image to be like us.’ That’s the infinite multitude of God. The masculine, the feminine, and everything in between,” Talarico continued. “Trans children are God’s children made in God’s own image. There’s nothing wrong with them. Nothing at all. They are perfect. They are beautiful, and they are sacred.”

This highly controversial claim, which many Christians called heretical, has been hammered by Attorney General Ken Paxton and Republicans as powerful proof of just how radical Talarico really is. The clip has resurfaced in force during the 2026 Senate race, with Paxton using it to expose Talarico’s extreme views on gender and Christianity that are wildly out of step with Texas values and mainstream biblical theology.

It appears Talarico knows his “God is nonbinary” statement isn’t helping him in the Senate race. In a recent interview with CBS’ Ed O’Keefe, he softened his former statement.

“I was being intentionally provocative with that statement. But what it means is that God can’t be defined by human categories. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians says that in Christ there is neither male nor female,” he said, blaming Paxton for “intentionally clipping [his] cringy comments to distract from his career of corruption.”

“Oh, so it’s Ken Paxton’s fault that you’re twisting the word of God?” scoffs co-host Keith Malinak, calling Talarico “insufferable.”

In an earlier interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Talarico shared similar sentiments.

“I understand that that comment is a little provocative. I said it on the House floor when the extremists in the Republican legislature were picking on school kids who were different. But I don’t think it’s controversial theologically. Most Christians would acknowledge that God is beyond gender,” he said.

Pat notes how “bizarre” it is that a trans advocate like Talarico claims to be “a champion of women’s rights” but only seems to care about the feelings of transgender-identifying people — never the women who suffer from their spaces and sports being invaded by biological males.

“If they want to play sports, let’s come up with a way to let them engage in sports. Like with their own biological gender, they could compete, or we create a separate category for trans people,” Pat argues. “But you don’t stick them against the females. It doesn’t make any sense.”

To hear more of the panel’s analysis and commentary, watch the episode 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, Pay gray unleashed, James talarico, Pat gray unleashed 

The crowded California gubernatorial race, which started with 61 candidates, has now apparently narrowed to just three: former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D), climate advocate and businessman Tom Steyer (D), and former Fox News host and small-business owner Steve Hilton (R), according to the latest polling.

‘If we don’t get together as a party, if we don’t unite, then we could have Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra in the general election.’

With California’s primary election operating on a nonpartisan basis, which allows the top two candidates regardless of party affiliation to advance, there had previously been speculation that the Democratic Party’s failure to coalesce behind a single candidate could result in two Republicans, Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, advancing to the November 3 general election.

One month out from the election, polling showed 26% of voters were undecided, with votes split among the Democrat candidates.

However, polls conducted in the final days before the primary election revealed a significant decrease in undecided voters, an increase in support for Becerra, a close contest for second place between Steyer and Hilton, and Bianco falling behind.

An Emerson College poll conducted May 27-28 reported that 4% were still undecided. Of those surveyed, 28% stated they were likely to vote for Becerra, 22% for Steyer, 21% for Hilton, and 12% for Bianco.

A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll completed May 19-24 showed a similarly close race, with 25% supporting Becerra, 21% supporting Hilton, and 19% supporting Steyer. Bianco trailed with 11%.

RELATED: California Democrats’ search for a front-runner: Polls show 26% of voters undecided in fast-approaching gubernatorial race

Steve Hilton. Jason Henry/Nexstar/Bloomberg – Pool/Getty Images

The latest polling prompted Hilton to call on Bianco to drop out of the race. He encouraged Bianco supporters to vote for him to avoid two Democrat candidates advancing to the general election to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

“These polls are looking very concerning. Yes, it’s true that I’m leading in some of them, but it’s also true that it’s a very, very tight race,” Hilton stated on Saturday in a video published to social media.

“If we don’t get together as a party, if we don’t unite, then we could have Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra in the general election. That is a disaster for California. That means no change.”

RELATED: Katie Porter’s new ad jokes about one of her worst moments — and she’s getting CRUSHED online for it

Chad Bianco. Leon Bennett/Getty Images

“There’s one person who could stop this doomsday scenario, and that is my friend Chad Bianco,” Hilton continued. “Chad, the best time to have dropped out would have been a couple of weeks ago, but the second-best time is right now.”

The following day, Bianco dismissed Hilton’s comments by calling on Hilton’s supporters to unite behind him instead.

“It’s clear that Steve Hilton supporters should unite and support me,” Bianco wrote.

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​News, Steve hilton, Xavier becerra, California, Gavin newsom, Tom steyer, Chad bianco, Politics 

Bill Maher says that Spencer Pratt needs to stop crying about his house burning down.

On the latest episode of his podcast “Club Random,” Maher also called Pratt a “douchebag” while the two discussed Pratt’s run for mayor of Los Angeles.

‘They’re not going to have any money to take from these people to give to you.’

However, while Maher joked that being unliked meant Pratt should have no problem facing off against unfettered California bureaucracy, the duo were in overwhelming agreement when it came to the fiscal waste that cripples L.A. and the surrounding area.

About three-quarters of the way into their discussion, Maher claimed that “douchebag guys” who are in debt from gambling websites represent Pratt’s core audience.

While Pratt joked in response about having “more voters” than he realized, he immediately asserted that his true voting block consists of mothers who are concerned about the safety of their children in the city. Pratt used that talking point as a launchpad to warn young voters about opening the door to socialism.

“Socialism has captivated people. … I feel like people are all hyped on socialism because they’re like, ‘Everything’s so expensive. America’s failed. Give me money,'” Pratt explained. “But what they’re forgetting is all the people that these socialists are saying they’re taking the money and giving it, they’re gonna leave.”

Pratt added, “Then they’re not going to have any money to take from these people to give to you.”

RELATED: Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman shrink Karen Bass’ lead in tight race for LA mayor: Poll

Maher and Pratt largely agreed there is far too much red tape in Los Angeles, and furthermore, in the state, but it was Maher’s anecdote about needing three city inspections to change his garage door that perfectly framed the issue.

The 70-year-old then warned Pratt that if he becomes mayor, the “special interests” representatives are going to eat him alive by demanding policies just like those that ruined his garage revamp.

“What you’re going to go up against is a state that is just full of special interests, all of which are very, very powerful. I mean, you can’t do anything in this state without, like, getting a license or an inspection.”

At this point, Maher pointed to Pratt being a “douchebag” as a positive trait that would help him deal with the bureaucrats, whom Pratt described as “champagne socialists” who are stealing taxpayer dollars.

“This state is all these f**king pigs at the trough,” Maher lamented.

RELATED: Socialist mayoral candidate is outraged at encampment outside her LA home — but it’s not what it seems

HIGHFIVE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Pratt told the host his modus operandi has been to get into office so he can stop theft at the government level, which means letting the “successful rich people build businesses, build restaurants,” and put money into the citizens’ pockets.

The former star of “The Hills” said his leadership would get the money in the hands of the people without increasing taxes, because those “champagne socialists scammers steal” the money that is already coming in from wealthy L.A. residents.

“I can’t even comprehend taxing more,” Pratt announced.

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​Align, Bill maher, Spencer pratt, Los angeles, Karen bass, California, Entertainment 

A former journalist at the Washington Post is suing the outlet after she was apparently fired for disparaging white males in a post about the death of Charlie Kirk.

Karen Attiah said Monday that her case against the Post was progressing after eight months since she was fired. She had worked as a Post writer and editor for more than a decade.

She appeared to accuse Kirk of espousing hatred and suggested the political violence against him was justified.

“After 11 years at the Washington Post, I was fired in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk killing,” wrote Attiah. “This week, I’m fighting back. My case heads to arbitration on Thursday.”

Attiah posted a screenshot of the messages she wrote on BlueSky that seem to have led to her firing. She appeared to accuse Kirk of espousing hatred and suggested the political violence against him was justified.

“For everyone saying political violence has no place in this country… Remember two Democratic legislators were shot in Minnesota just this year. And America shrugged and moved on,” she wrote.

“Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence,” she added, apparently referring to Kirk.

“Again. I don’t care for empty rhetoric,” she added.

She characterized the posts as a “refusal to strip my clothes in performative mourning for Charlie Kirk.”

Attiah also published the apparent termination notice in which she was accused of “gross misconduct” related to the messages, which the Post said had potentially endangered the safety of its staff. The letter said she had violated the outlet’s prohibition against disparaging people based on their ethnicity or race.

She went on to say that the lawsuit challenges the termination and that her presence in the editorial office was important based on the color of her skin.

“As the last remaining Black full-time staff columnist in the Washington Post’s Opinions section, I was very aware of what my firing represented for diversity in newsrooms,” Attiah wrote.

Blaze News has reached out to the Washington Post for comment.

RELATED: WaPo faces backlash over bizarre headline on ‘complex’ drop in fentanyl seizures at border

Attiah was among those who fell for a scam by a Somali activist who falsely claimed to have been assaulted with a brick by a man after she spurned his advances. A jury later found the activist guilty of faking the story in order to garner $42,000 from a GoFundMe campaign.

In 2022, Attiah also assailed white “cis” women for not being sufficiently supportive of the transgender agenda.

“Many white, cis women would rather gatekeep and maintain privilege than work in solidarity with other groups. Patriarchy is crushing us, but y’all wanna play both-sides pattycake,” she wrote at the time.

“We will need a politics of solidarity and community building to resist this, which is not something that white women have historically had to do.”

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​Karen attiah, Washington post, Political violence, Diversity hire, Politics 

An elderly grandmother was stabbed to death on an Atlanta train over the weekend in an unprovoked, daytime attack, authorities said.

Arrest warrants indicate that the 66-year-old victim was stabbed 18 to 20 times while aboard a MARTA train Saturday, WXIA-TV reported.

‘There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her family because her family is her everything.’

John Elijah Matthews, the 25-year-old suspect, first cut the throat of victim Margaret Swan just seconds after he walked next to where she was seated on the train nearing the Oakland City MARTA station, WXIA said, citing arrest warrants. Oakland City is an Atlanta neighborhood.

Video from inside the train indicates that the two never communicated, the station said, citing warrants.

Video showed Swan sitting alone aboard the train at 11:21 a.m., WXIA said, adding that just before 11:25 a.m. Matthews is seen walking to the side of the train where Swan was sitting.

Just 19 seconds later, Matthews “is seen walking up to [Swan] and standing just to her right,” the station said, adding that several seconds later he took out a knife, opened it, and cut the victim in the throat.

Warrants say Swan was screaming and trying to get up from her seat as Matthews held her and stabbed her, WXIA reported.

Matthews was then seen on video “throwing [Swan] to the floor and standing near her until the train arrived at the Oakland City Station” less than two minutes later, WXIA added.

Warrants indicate that when the train arrived at Oakland City, Matthews exited the train with the knife still in hand as officers rushed to the scene, the station reported.

Warrants add that officers tried unsuccessful lifesaving measures on Swan, WXIA reported.

The station noted in a news video that Matthews was arrested “almost immediately” after the attack and that he waived his Monday hearing.

RELATED: Karoline Leavitt blasts media for ‘shamefully’ ignoring horrific stabbing of Ukrainian refugee

Matthews does not have an address or phone number, the station said, citing warrants, and he “did not want to continue speaking with detectives” at the College Park MARTA Police Precinct.

WXIA said searches of metro Atlanta court and jail records did not immediately indicate clearly whether Matthews has a prior criminal history in the area.

The station added that Matthews is charged with murder in Saturday’s killing.

RELATED: Van Jones claims there’s ‘NO EVIDENCE’ of racial animus in Charlotte stabbing. Audio in murder footage suggests otherwise.

“My mom was the rock of her family,” Swan’s daughter, Shanae Sams, told WXIA. “There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her family because her family is her everything.”

Sams added to the station that her mother’s killer “didn’t just take away a mom, but my children’s grandmother was taken away.”

Swan had five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, WXIA reported, adding that her daughter said she used the train frequently.

A MARTA spokesperson told the station that “this appears to be a senseless act of violence, and our thoughts are with the victim’s loved ones and those who witnessed this horrific incident.”

The agency added to WXIA that “we understand the concern and fear incidents like this can cause for those who ride and work on the MARTA system. MARTA Police are actively investigating and remain committed to the safety and security of our riders and employees.”

The station’s news video added that with the FIFA World Cup soccer matches coming to Atlanta this month, concern for safety aboard MARTA trains has increased.

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​Arrest, Atlanta, Fatal stabbing, Fulton county sheriff’s office, Georgia, Marta, Train, Unprovoked attack, Crime 

As more people share their big life moments on social media, the more extravagant “ghetto prom” videos have flooded everyone’s timelines — featuring red carpets, flashy outfits, and expensive cars.

“They’re spending a lot of money on these proms, going to a lot of trouble and expense for these proms,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock comments, sharing a recent tweet that brought this to his attention.

“A white woman on tiktok said that ‘ghetto prom’ is flashy and over the top because it’s the closest thing they have in their culture to weddings. She got dragged for saying it, but many black people in the comments begrudgingly agreed with her point,” Mary Morgan posted on X.

“Have things gotten so bad as it relates to marriage and family that we’ve started a new tradition that the prom is the peak of black love, and it has to be celebrated and money spent on it like it’s a wedding?”

Whitlock asks Delano Squires what he thinks.

“I think it’s a two-part thing,” Squires says, “One, the prom also signals the end of a high school career, so to speak. So there’s a celebration aspect in that respect.”

“But then it’s also this notion that, OK, boy and girl together, got on the dresses, you know, you’re renting nice cars, and so on and so forth,” he continues, pointing out that “in the age of the internet, these things are getting even more extravagant.”

In one clip of these young prom-goers, Squires points out that a boy was “flashing a wad of cash.”

“I’ve seen reports that that young man was actually killed,” he says. “I don’t know if he was killed on his prom night or at some point after that. And there’s an even larger overarching phenomenon that’s going on here, which is that in a lot of these communities, particularly for young men, to make it to the age of 21 or 25 is an accomplishment.”

“So part of the reason I think you see such over-the-top celebrations is because some of these proms are taking place in communities where there really is not a lot to celebrate and young men don’t live long enough to have a full life,” he continues.

“So,” he adds, “when you see this kid go from flashing stacks of money to now the quote-unquote celebration of life is going to be in the church where they’re laying him to rest. I can understand why people who live in those circumstances think … we have to throw a big bash because they’re living in a sort of cultural context where it’s like literally tomorrow is not promised today.”

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​Delano squires, Fearless, Ghetto prom, Jason whitlock, Prom, Social media, Wedding, Jason whitlock harmony 

Roxanne Brown, the head of the United Steelworkers, must recognize the reality of her members and consider the recent history of the steel industry. If she remembers what happened when steel mills closed and factory towns devolved into ghost towns, she must distinguish herself from her predecessor, David McCall, whose intransigence during his tenure was neither shrewd nor productive. To set her union on a renewed path forward, Brown must distance herself from McCall’s troubling legacy and avoid jeopardizing the very workers she claims to represent.

Brown has reportedly rejected U.S. Steel’s initial contract offer, setting the stage for the next round of negotiations beginning July. If talks go south again this summer, workers could face lost wages, disrupted health benefits, and uncertainty over retirement security. Their families would feel the pressure through tighter household budgets, delayed bills, strained child care and health care decisions, and the emotional toll that comes with prolonged economic uncertainty.

Steelworkers deserve leadership focused on jobs, wages, benefits, and retirement security — not reputation management or corporate alliances.

In steel towns and surrounding communities, the impact would ripple through local businesses, schools, churches, charities, and public services that depend on steady paychecks and a stable industrial base. A lockout would not just pause production; it would threaten livelihoods, family stability, and the economic backbone of communities built around American steel.

McCall’s reckless efforts to tank the Nippon-U.S. Steel merger led to a revolt among steelworkers, and his alliance with competitor Cleveland-Cliffs’ CEO Lourenco Goncalves showed he prioritizes his own reputation and corporate alliances over his members. In the next round of contract talks, McCall should not be allowed anywhere near the negotiating table from the union side.

For decades, steelworkers have been heavily affected by market swings and fluctuating steel production demands. 2026 has been a welcome relief of slow but steady growth, aided by investments like those from Nippon, shifts toward modernization, and economic tailwinds, but history shows this tide can turn anytime.

When the steel industry turns down, it faces facility idling, facility closures, layoffs, and industry upheaval. Despite recent upturn, this volatility has contributed to a public perception that blue-collar jobs like those of steelworkers are unstable, making the upcoming contract negotiations in July that much more significant.

The past tells us quite a bit about what could be ahead for steelworkers. Last year’s high-profile Nippon-U.S. Steel merger carried major consequences for American steel production and steelworkers’ jobs. Yet as the deal progressed through the approval process, McCall chose to advance his own interests rather than champion union members’ security and prosperity, revealing deeply troubling behavior.

In 2023, when the merger was proposed, U.S. mills produced about 89.7 million net tons of raw steel, supporting 70,000 workers in iron and steel manufacturing. The deal promised substantial benefits to American steelworkers, including: $2.7 billion in capital investments exclusively dedicated to USW facilities; a 10-year commitment to maintain steel production levels at existing facilities, protecting union jobs; a $5,000 signing bonus for union workers and eligible nonunion employees below the senior-manager level upon deal closure; and written, enforceable commitments to honor existing union contracts and labor agreements.

RELATED: The AI bubble is about to pop. Here’s how to prepare yourself.

Just_Super/Getty Images

Despite clear support among many rank-and-file members for the merger’s approval, McCall staked out firm personal opposition that did not reflect union workers’ input. In a February 2024 phone interview, McCall stated bluntly: “I want to kill this deal.”

McCall also took advantage of the Biden administration’s likely politically partisan, election-driven opposition to the merger. A lawsuit alleged that Biden sought to kill the deal to “curry favor with the USW leadership in [Pennsylvania] in his bid for re-election … motivated by ‘purely political reasons.’”

Perhaps most damning is that McCall’s opposition clashed with the interests of steelworkers.

This is a pivotal time for the future of the American steel industry. The industry can only thrive if USW and the companies that employ its members can reach a commonsense agreement that both protects workers and allows companies to continue operating.

Brown must capitalize on this unique opportunity to move the union past the destructiveness of McCall’s leadership by participating in good faith in the upcoming negotiations and avoiding prolonging the contract talks at the expense of her members’ well-being. America’s steelworkers deserve better than their fate still being in the shadows of David McCall.

​Steel mills, Roxanne brown, Us steel, Nippon steel, Steelworkers, Biden administration, American jobs, Opinion & analysis, Unions, Employment, Economy, Manufacturing, Tariffs, Investment 

In April, President Trump signed an executive order slapping 100% tariffs on patented pharmaceutical imports. The idea: force drugmakers to bring manufacturing back to American soil — an America First bet that U.S. medicine should be made in the U.S.

Two months later, one of the country’s biggest pharmaceutical companies cut a nearly $3 billion deal with a company in Beijing.

On Friday, Eli Lilly struck a research agreement with Beijing-based Haisco Pharmaceutical worth up to $3 billion — though neither company disclosed which diseases the drugs are meant to treat.

Shipments of gray-market GLP-1s from China surged 44% in January alone.

According to a Haisco press release, the deal covers “up to five innovative target programs” across “multiple therapeutic areas.” The arrangement is simple: A Chinese biotech finds the drugs; an American pharma giant bankrolls them. Haisco gets $87 million up front, with the rest of the nearly $3 billion tied to milestones and a cut of future sales.

“This collaboration is highly aligned with our international development strategy and is expected to generate sustainable value and long-term returns. By partnering with a global biopharmaceutical leader such as Lilly, Haisco aims to accelerate the global development of innovative therapies and deliver high-quality treatment options to patients worldwide,” said Dr. Pangke Yan, chief executive officer of Haisco, in the release.

Lilly has been on a buying binge fueled by blockbuster profits from its weight-loss drug Zepbound. Hours after the Haisco announcement, the Indianapolis company licensed a drug for short bowel syndrome from Korea’s Hanmi for $1.2 billion. Earlier this year, Lilly signed an $8.5 billion collaboration with China’s Innovent Biologics to develop cancer and immune system drugs.

RELATED: Why weight-loss drug prices finally fell — and who deserves credit

Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Zepbound costs over $1,000 per month without insurance — and Trump struck deals to bring that down to $245 for Medicare patients and $350 through TrumpRx. But shipments of gray-market GLP-1s from China surged 44% in January alone, as everyday Americans turned to Chinese suppliers offering the same compounds for as little as $50 a vial.

Lilly is not alone. New York-based Pfizer struck a $10.5 billion deal with Innovent — the same Chinese biotech Lilly just partnered with — to develop 12 cancer drugs. North Chicago-based AbbVie struck a $745 million deal with Haisco for two non-opioid pain treatments. U.S.-based Frazier Life Sciences licensed a Haisco lung disease asset for up to $955 million in January.

More than half of large pharmaceutical companies’ licensing agreements this year have come from China, up from 39% last year and just 5% in 2022.

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The U.S. and Israel kicked off a 39-day bombing campaign against Iran on Feb. 28 during which over 13,000 targets were hit, including the upper crust of the regime in Tehran. While the U.S. and Iran agreed in early April to a ceasefire, it has been strained in recent days and weeks by violent exchanges between the warring parties.

While admittedly not in a rush to strike a deal to end the war in time for the midterms, President Donald Trump nevertheless expressed optimism early Monday that “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us.”

Hours later — and after U.S. Central Command announced that a pair of Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces in Kuwait had been intercepted — Iranian state media reportedly announced that Tehran has suspended peace talks with the United States, citing as cause Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and escalations in Beirut.

‘I don’t particularly want to talk either.’

Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a statement before his nation’s state media threw cold water on the peace talks that “the ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.”

Following the news of the initial ceasefire in April, the Israel Defense Forces announced that the Israeli military had “ceased fire in the operation against Iran” but was “continuing to conduct targeted ground operations against Hezbollah” in Lebanon, where the IDF already had a significant troop presence.

In the months since, Israeli forces have expanded their occupation of the south of the country — going well beyond the Litani River — and claimed significant gains over Hezbollah militants.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he ordered attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

RELATED: Congress may be quietly seeking to integrate US and Israeli militaries — but critics have taken notice

Ronen Zvulun/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Mohsen Rezaei, an Iranian politician who served as military adviser to the late Ali Khamenei, said on Monday, “The Strait of Hormuz is under Iran’s management. We will not allow the continuation of the maritime blockade, and the escalation of tensions in Lebanon will not be tolerated either. The patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has its limits.”

Tasnim, the semi-official state news agency that is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, subsequently reported that “the Iranian negotiating team will suspend ‘talks and the exchange of texts through mediators.'”

The agency also claimed that Iran and its allies would “activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait” at the entrance of the Red Sea.

Trump told NBC News’ Garrett Haake, “I think it’s fine if they’re done talking.”

“It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” the president said. “But they haven’t informed us of that.”

Trump noted that the apparent suspension of talks “doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there” but that the U.S. will “keep the blockade. Blockade is a piece of steel.”

“If they don’t want to talk, that’s okay with me. I think it’s fine. I don’t particularly want to talk either. We talk too much,” Trump added.

In an apparent effort to rescue the peace talks from total collapse, Trump announced around 1:30 p.m. on Monday that after speaking to Netanyahu, “there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.”

The president also said Hezbollah had agreed not to attack Israel.

Tump said in a Truth Social post just minutes later that “talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

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​Iran, Tehran, Lebanon, Israel, War, Donald trump, Negotiations, Ceasefire, Military, Foreign entanglement, Strait of hormuz, Politics 

A savage attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has led to the arrest of a “violent agitator” as described by the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Photos posted by DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin showed the bleeding bite mark left on the forearm of the agent, who was allegedly attacked during rioting at an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey.

‘Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’

“Last night, a violent rioter savagely kicked and bit ICE law enforcement officers outside of Delaney Hall. Today, this violent agitator is being charged,” wrote Mullin on social media Friday.

Anti-ICE protesters claim that detainees at the ICE facility at Delaney Hall are being held under improper conditions and that some are responding with a hunger strike.

Mullin has denied the allegations and claimed that the hunger strike is actually based on demands from detainees that they be fed food from their respective ethnic origins.

“There was only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat because they want their ethnic right food,” he said from the White House. “Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want. … This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

A statement from the DHS indicated that five of the six arrested on Friday in relation to the anti-ICE violence were alleged agitators from outside New Jersey. The agency cited this as evidence that the demonstrations were a “coordinated campaign of violence” against federal agents.

“Our ICE law enforcement officers are facing an 8,000% increase in death threats and a 1,300% increase in assaults against them,” the agency added. “This violence against law enforcement must end.”

In another incident from the Delaney Hall center, an agitator was recorded on video Wednesday screaming that he would kill the wife and children of an ICE agent. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said agents were actively seeking to identify and arrest the man for the alleged death threat against a federal agent.

RELATED: WATCH: Protester screeches ‘Nazi b***h!’ at Fox News reporter on air during NJ protest

DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin X post

There are about 300 detainees being held at the privately run Newark ICE facility that holds about 1,000 beds. The detainees also have access to digital tablets with online connection.

“The Trump Administration will ALWAYS stand with our federal law enforcement officers,” Mullin added. “Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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​Hunger strike, Newark ice facility, Death threat arrest, Anti-ice protests, Politics 

A viral “alien disclosure” scandal has been rocking Christian circles after a group of charismatic pastors claimed the government held a secret meeting warning religious leaders about impending UFO revelations involving a fake rapture and a massive deception.

“There’s groups of people meeting to talk about their beliefs about aliens or the government, that’s not new at all. That’s been going on for quite a long time. But the idea that government officials were there and that they were informing these pastors so that the pastors could help the people because the government was about to tell us stuff that was so wild,” Bible teacher Mike Winger tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey.

“They absolutely misled the people into thinking that they had some sort of government-approved inside information, and it was just smoke and mirrors, the whole thing,” he explains.

However, they were actually just meeting with “private Christians who they say are intelligence operators.”

“They like to use that phrase, but they don’t actually work for any government agency or any sort of government at all,” he says.

Rather, these Christians actually just have “theories based upon publicly accessible information.”

“It’s all been declassified info for years. And they just go and they try to put it together in a way that they think tells a story that they believe is true. And the story they believe is true, interestingly enough, is that the government’s going to affirm aliens do exist,” Winger says.

“And they’re going to couple this with propaganda from the government itself to say Christianity is false,” he says, noting that one man in attendance claimed that “there will soon be an alien in the sky who will be a false Jesus, and there’ll be a false rapture event, and they’re going to use this to deceive Christians around the world.”

“These are kooks. These men are kooks,” he continues.

“They try to position themselves as ‘the government has informed us of what’s really coming guys, you need to listen to us, we will be your guides, we’ll be your thought leaders through this turbulent time of disclosure,’” he explains.

“And I was like, this is going to hurt a lot of people,” he continues, adding, “They should not be our thought leaders.”

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​Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Allie beth stuckey, Mike winger, The bible, Ufos, Alien, Christianity, Rapture, Disclosure, Relatable 

Democratic socialist and anti-Zionist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has become the first New York City mayor to boycott the Israel Day Parade since its creation in 1964.

At a security briefing on Thursday for the then-upcoming parade, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, alongside Mamdani, shared details on the security measures that would be implemented in order to ensure the safety of all attendees.

‘I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that the mayor of New York City, a city that has the largest Jewish population outside of the state of Israel, chose not to be here.’

“This Sunday, New Yorkers will see the most extensive security plan that the NYPD has ever put together for the Salute to Israel Parade, including the largest number of officers ever assigned to that detail. Included in that security plan will be the most heavy weapons teams ever, robust camera coverage of the area, and comprehensive screening of everyone entering the parade route including spectators, vendors, participants, and the press,” Tisch said.

Despite the commissioner’s plans to march “proudly” as the honorary grand marshal, Mamdani, when asked his response to critics who say that he can still attend the parade to support Jewish New Yorkers without directly supporting the current Israeli government, replied: “I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear.”

He also said: “I take seriously my responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of every New Yorker and every event, regardless of my attendance.”

The Israel Day Parade, formally called the Israel Day on Fifth, is the largest gathering in support of Israel in the world. It has been held annually in New York City for the past 61 years, with every mayor from Robert F. Wagner Jr. to Eric Adams having marched in it during their time in office. The parade consistently attracts tens of thousands of participants and spectators every year.

The event is also profoundly pro-American, with this year’s theme of “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists” visible in the sea of American and Israeli flags down Fifth Avenue.

Mamdani’s decision comes at a frightening time for Jewish New Yorkers. For the month of April, anti-Semitic hate crimes made up 60% of all reported incidents in the city, while numerous anti-Israel demonstrations — many of which Mamdani has supported — have been held outside synagogues and Jewish institutions.

However, it isn’t as though skipping out on a cultural celebration is a norm for Mamdani. The mayor was in attendance at this year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, during which he compared historical Irish suffering to the “genocide” of Palestinians.

In March, Mamdani attended the Lunar New Year Parade with New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul. Last year, he appeared at the Puerto Rican Day Parade, India Day Parade, and Pakistan Independence Day Parade.

RELATED: Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accuses NYC Mayor Mamdani of anti-Semitism after his first day in office

kena betancur/AFP/Getty Images

Mamdani also became the first mayor in the city’s history to address an International Workers’ Day rally, also known as May Day, on May 1.

Notable officials and figures who marched in the Israel parade on Sunday include Gov. Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), former Mayors Eric Adams (D) and Michael Bloomberg (D), Nassau County executive and Republican nominee for governor Bruce Blakeman, and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, among many others.

“I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that the mayor of New York City, a city that has the largest Jewish population outside of the state of Israel, chose not to be here,” said Lawler, who has been a vocal critic of Mamdani and his administration.

Adams uploaded a video to his official Instagram account Friday publicly announcing his excitement for the parade: “As your mayor, I was proud to march in this parade for all four years I was in office, and this year will be no different. I’ll be right there, marching with tens of thousands of New Yorkers.”

The CEO of the prominent Jewish organization UJA Federation of New York, Eric Goldstein, blasted Mamdani in an open letter Friday.

“You are the first mayor in the history of New York City — home to the largest Jewish diaspora community in the world — to refuse to participate in this parade because you fundamentally reject Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.”

Goldstein claims Mamdani’s “refusal to participate this Sunday is not principally grounded in criticism of a particular Israeli government or policy” but rather rooted in a “refusal to acknowledge the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.”

“Your absence — and what it represents — will be long-remembered.”

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​Jessica tisch, Mayor zohran mamdani, New york city, Politics 

The cost of doing business today may be higher than ever, even if it involves fewer humans.

While some major U.S. companies are starting to see the vast costs of their robotic colleagues as prices soar for AI-driven operations, companies are still pushing employees to use more and more AI.

According to executives at computing companies, the cost of AI has now exceeded the typical employee salary totals.

The mantra is that even more AI usage needs to happen.

“For my team, the cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees,” Bryan Catanzaro, vice president of applied deep learning at chip maker Nvidia, said in early May.

The cost of AI computing, especially when it comes to coding, has come as a surprise to some companies once they start integrating it into their teams and spreading access to their engineers.

Most of the major corporations have been using Anthropic’s Claude, which is seemingly cheap when it comes to image generation, but dollar signs pile up when generating documents or computer code.

As Forbes reported, Uber ran through its entire 2026 AI budget in just four months. Chief technology officer at the company, Praveen Neppalli Naga, even admitted to spending $1,200 by using AI for a personal demo, with the company’s engineer cost ranging from upwards of $250 per month in usage, all the way up to $2,000 per month.

RELATED: DOJ asked to probe whether Biden officials let Microsoft off easy in exchange for cushy jobs

Huiying Ore/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Between December and March, Uber achieved a 95% usage rate among its engineers to implement AI tools and use Claude for coding.

Over at Microsoft, thousands of its developers were invited to use Claude for coding, but so were project managers, designers, and other employees.

The Verge reported that after starting in just December, the usage has become so popular that the company is making a switch and adopting Microsoft’s own Copilot model into its workflow.

The mantra shared by all of these companies is that even more AI usage needs to happen. Amazon, Uber, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Meta are pushing employees to keep spending tokens.

RELATED: Self-driving trucks are about controlling the roads — not making them safer

Idrees MOHAMMED/AFP/Getty Images

Uber ranked its engineers on internal leaderboards based on Claude code usage. A Meta employee reportedly made a leaderboard titled “Claudenomics” to track which workers were using Claude the most.

Fortune reported that Amazon is pushing employees to “tokenmaxx” and use as many tokens as possible.

As icing on the cake, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said he believes eventually every employee at his company will work alongside 100 AI agents.

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​Return, Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Uber, Amazon, Ai, Claude, Tech 

The Democrat hoping to win a seat in the U.S. Senate from Texas for his party for the first time in decades goes to a very unorthodox, woke church.

James Talarico frequently employs religious wording and concepts to justify his far-left agenda, but his church is openly supportive of the extreme LGBTQ+ movement and funding abortion.

The far-left church calls abortion a ‘blessing’ and uses donations to fund the transportation for women to obtain abortions outside of Texas.

Talarico has even preached sermons at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, according to a Daily Wire report.

The far-left church calls abortion a “blessing” and uses donations to fund the transportation for women to obtain abortions outside of Texas. It also lists Planned Parenthood as one of the organizations that shares the church’s “vision and goals for the world.”

The church also supports Out Youth Austin, a group that runs a transgender summer camp and stocks sexually explicit books for children in its library.

Talarico has been very public about his belief that the Bible supports abortion.

“I say all this in the context of abortion, because before God comes over Mary, and we have the incarnation, God asks for Mary’s consent,” he said in an interview with Joe Rogan. “You cannot force someone to create … so that’s how I come down on that side of the issue.”

That reading of the Bible may not be in line with the vision and goals of traditional Christians in Texas.

The church also sides with Palestinians in Gaza by supporting an organization that lists “Zionism” along with “racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, queerphobia, transphobia, classism, and ableism.”

RELATED: Stephen Colbert melts down when CBS pulls Talarico interview just months before show ends

Talarico is running against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has had his own problems in relation to marital infidelity accusations and other various scandals. Paxton has used his office to oppose abortion in Texas.

Paxton has a slight edge over Talarico in the latest polling. If the far-left candidate is able to pull an upset, it would help tremendously toward Democrats winning control of the Senate.

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​Ken paxton, Woke church, James talarico, Us senate race, Politics, Texas 

The House Armed Services Committee released its first draft of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization bill last week.

Section 224, a provision buried hundreds of pages into the $1.15 trillion defense policy legislation that outlines the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” has generated some controversy on the fringes of Capitol Hill.

‘This provision would flip the script on the current bilateral relationship.’

Committee member Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) is among those who rushed to characterize section 224 as benign, stating that it amounts to a “security agreement” that “will allow for the US to leverage advanced Israeli technologies.”

Some, however, have expressed concerns that the initiative will effectively mean a politically consequential integration of the U.S. and Israeli militaries along with their respective industrial supports.

The legislative proposal

Section 224 of the 2027 NDAA draft would have the secretary of war designate a Pentagon official to oversee the synchronization of “cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation.”

The designee would, among other things,

identify Israeli-origin or jointly developed technologies that the U.S. could integrate into its systems and programs;facilitate the transition of such technologies from research and development into procurement and acquisition pathways;establish “frameworks for joint ventures, licensing agreements, and United States-based co-production or manufacturing partnerships with Israeli industry”; andpromote “joint training exercises and information-sharing mechanisms to enhance operational readiness to deploy jointly developed technologies.”

The section clarifies that the “cooperative efforts” pursued under this technology initiative can be carried out through numerous domains including: counter-unmanned systems; anti-tunneling and subterranean threats; missile and air defense technologies; AI; directed energy; cyber warfare; biotechnology and biomanufacturing; network integration; and defense industrial base cooperation, manufacturing, and co-production.

Backlash

Ben Freeman, director of the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute, claimed in a recent analysis for Responsible Statecraft that “if fully enacted, this proposal would provide a higher level of military-industrial integration than the U.S. has with any other country in the world.”

RELATED: White House says no worries after report claims rebuilding missile inventory used in Iran strikes will take years

YOAV LEMMER/AFP/Getty Images

While acknowledging that the U.S. has worked closely “with its NATO partners on co-production and shared supply chains, most notably via the Defence Production Action Plan,” Freeman said that section 224 would not only “fuse the U.S. and Israeli defense sectors in multiple areas vital to the battlefields of the future” but afford the foreign power “the opportunity to greatly expand one of the most powerful levers of influence in U.S. politics: jobs in the U.S.”

Beyond potentially setting the stage for more Israeli influence over American politics and fusing together the two nations’ military-industrial complexes at a time when the majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Israel, Freeman — echoing a colleague at the Quincy Institute — suggested that the initiative will shield the relationship from public scrutiny by migrating it from a visible aid vote in Congress “into the opaque machinery of defense acquisition, where oversight is limited and political accountability is minimal.”

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Pentagon did not respond to Blaze News’ requests for comment.

Responding to Freeman’s report, departing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) tweeted, “If the provision in the NDAA to integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries (section 224) makes it out of committee, I’ll offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor.”

“We are a sovereign country,” Massie added in a post Rep. Van Orden suggested was the “dumbest possible take.”

Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.), who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said that he will introduce an amendment in committee to axe section 224. Khanna noted further that “Trump can’t kill the Massie/Khanna partnership no matter how much he posts on Truth Social.”

A New Policy, the PAC founded in 2024 by a pair of Biden staffers who quit over the administration’s support for Israel, is campaigning against section 224.

“At a policy level, this provision would flip the script on the current bilateral relationship, shifting the leverage we currently hold because of our security assistance to Israel over to the Government of Israel who would be able to hold key [Department of Defense] capabilities hostage through the integration of Israeli technologies into the DOD supply chain,” states the PAC’s template letter to members of the House Armed Services Committee. “Section 224 also assumes a commonality of national security interests between Israel and the U.S., which, as the current conflict with Iran clearly demonstrates, does not exist.”

Code Pink, the leftist group co-founded by former Democrat political activist Jodie Evans, has also seized upon section 224 as a cause du jour, calling upon Congress to reject “US integration with the Israeli military.”

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​Military industrial complex, Military, Israel, United states, Technology, Manufacturing, Business, Israeli, Ndaa, Section 224, Politics 

California used to be a land of promise that produced fine Americans who mocked D.C. elites, a former U.S. Marine officer says.

In the face of failed state and federal leadership in the Democratic Party, an ex-soldier has a message for inland communities.

The coastal cities and elites are supported by the inland residents, says security expert and veteran Adam Castillo.

‘I’m tired of being the butt of jokes for MAGA.’

In an interview with Blaze News, Castillo explained that he found opportunity in Myanmar after being left as an “unemployed veteran as part of that massive sequestering period by the Obama administration around 2013.”

Promises from the Barack Obama administration of finding jobs for veterans turned into nothing more than a check-box item for hiring managers, Castillo claimed, who would then say, “Hey, we we interviewed a veteran,” and move on.

Castillo ran a security company during Myanmar’s 2021 coup d’état, which taught him a valuable lesson: things can be done properly with the right leadership, even under the harshest conditions.

It is that experience that brought Castillo to believe the inland communities of California should be the focus for Republicans while the rest of the state crumbles around them.

“To be frank, who do you think supports these coastal cities? The inland desert communities, right? We’re the ones commuting to the cities to make sure they’re run, to make sure that the sanitation infrastructure is run [and] the electricity is run,” Castillo declared.

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Republicans and conservatives should start with town councils, school boards, and the like before splintering outward into state legislatures, Castillo suggested.

“When you start going inland, specifically into the deserts, this is where it gets really conservative. … They are the power of California.”

“What we need to concentrate on in terms of organization at the community level is the inland communities, not the coastal cities,” he went on.

“School board, city council, mayor, state legislator, then congressman, then senator,” Castillo said.

For the coastal elites, Castillo says the voters need to deal with the consequences of their elections for a bit longer.

“I think we just let the liberal coastal cities rot,” the former officer bluntly stated. “Honestly. They’re already rotting. So let them continue to rot. They do not represent us. They don’t even have that many representatives.”

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While Castillo’s remarks could be seen as divisive or jarring by some, he remained confident that a Republican governor in 2026 and beyond would set an amazing precedent in smaller communities and provide much-needed inspiration.

In the end, his belief that Californians can still recapture their glory years serves as his ongoing motivation.

“I’m tired of being the butt of jokes for other states. I’m tired of being the butt of jokes for MAGA,” he concluded.

“We’re Californians. We were better than you people,” he said of D.C. elites. “We were born better than you people. It’s about time we reclaim our seat at that power.”

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​Align, California, Maga, Marines, Republicans, Democrats, Lifestyle