Category: blaze media

The U.S. Dept. of Justice announced that the mayor of a city in Southern California has agreed to plead guilty to operating as a spy for China for two years.

Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang agreed to resign from office after she was federally charged with acting as an illegal agent for a foreign country, according to statements on the city’s website.

‘How many more are there?’

“Mayor Wang admitted to acting as a foreign agent from at least 2020 through 2022 — promoting PRC propaganda in the U.S. and acting at PRC’s direction to promote their interests,” wrote FBI Director Kash Patel on social media. “She has agreed to resign from office and plead guilty.”

Wang pled guilty in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday and now faces 10 years in prison, the New York Post reported.

Wang ran a website called the U.S. News Center that claimed to be a resource for the local Chinese-American community along with Yaoning “Mike” Sun.

Sun was Wang’s campaign manager and fiancé. Both admitted to receiving and executing “directives from PRC (People’s Republic of China) government officials to post pro-PRC content on the website.” They also “sometimes sought approval from PRC government officials to circulate other pro-PRC content,” the DOJ said in the plea agreement, according to ABC News.

In one example from Nov. 2021, Wang wanted to promote an article about the Chinese and Russian ambassador calling on Americans to respect the “democratic rights” of the PRC, the DOJ said.

A statement from the Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said that none of the spying activity was conducted while Wang was in office.

“We understand this news raises serious concerns, and we want to be direct with our community about what we know and where we stand,” wrote Lazzaretto on the city’s website.

“The allegations at the center of this case, that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a local elected official, are deeply troubling,” he added. “We want to be clear: This investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022.”

Lazzaretto indicated no city actions need to be invalidated despite accusations that the mayor worked as a spy for China.

“Following an internal review, we can confirm that no city finances, staff, or decision-making processes were involved,” he added.

Sun had been arrested in Dec. 2024 on suspicion of conspiring with Chen Jun, aka John Chen, a Chinese national who had been convicted of federal crimes, as previously reported by Blaze News. Sun was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison in Jan. 2025.

RELATED: Retired Air Force major allegedly trained Chinese pilots — spying, hacking network involved

The alarming development bolstered critics of China, who warned about communist-funded infiltration into American society, including local governments as well as institutions of learning.

“How many more are there?” wondered Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.

“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” said John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general for National Security.

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​Arcadia mayor eileen wang, Chinese spy convicted, Communist china infiltration, Socal chinese spy, Politics 

The Department of War has begun releasing the UFO files — and the most recent footage has left Americans questioning what they’re really seeing.

Ross Patterson of the “Drinkin’ Bros Podcast” tells BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales that conversations he’s had with insiders over the years have left him convinced that something far stranger may be happening behind the scenes.

“I’ve got some insight into this. It’s super weird,” he says, recalling a conversation with the late producer John Brenkus, who used to “host all of those UFO shows on Sci-Fi Channel for years.”

“I asked him, ‘Hey, let’s get real here. What’s the actual sitch?’ And he goes, ‘Look, do I think they’re manned by an alien, like a person?’”

“He goes, ‘No, I think the tech is so advanced. If they’re sending things here, … you don’t need to man that,’” he explains.

Patterson likens it to manning a drone, where there’s no risk of an occupant being injured.

And while he admits he’s “not a conspiracy dude,” he explains that some of the “crazier stories” he’s heard from “friends over there” involve “communication” with other “beings” over the years.

“They have a unique way of talking,” he tells Gonzales, noting that according to his source, it took years to figure out a code in order to communicate.

“I said, ‘Well, what were the conversations like?’” he recalls. “And they said it was mostly about energy and how they were able to use magnetic fields.”

While Patterson admits he doesn’t “know what’s real and what’s not,” there are a few theories he’s entertaining regarding the files — one of them being that their release is a “cover-up” to distract from the Epstein files.

“But I don’t know,” he says, adding that another theory is that “Hollywood has always been in communication with the White House and then pumping out movies to get Americans used to what’s coming.”

The most recent example is a new Steven Spielberg film about an alien encounter that will be released in June. The film is called “Disclosure Day,” which Spielberg himself said is “more truth than fiction.”

“He didn’t expand on it,” he adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Alien encounter, Blaze media, Blaze news, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blaze podcast network, Blaze podcasts, Blazetv, Conspiracy theories, Department of war, Disclosure day, Epstein files, John brenkus, Magnetic fields, Ross patterson, Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Scifi channel, Steven spielberg, The blaze, Truth than fiction, Ufo files, Ufo shows, White house 

The Amazon Kindle was released on November 19, 2007. A little tablet full of countless books you can take with you anywhere — it was a cool idea then, and I suppose it’s still a cool idea now. Over the years there have been a bunch of new versions. Amazon updated theirs, and other companies have released their own versions of what is now known as an e-reader.

My wife’s got one. She just bought it a few months ago. She wanted it because she was sick of looking at her phone when nursing our daughter in the middle of the night. It’s worked well. She hasn’t been scrolling; she’s been reading instead.

Sometimes I like thinking about my kids coming across my books when I’m old or dead and gone and finding these little things I’ve written.

I’ve held hers and played with it a little. It’s very cool, and I want to like it. I want to load one up with lots of books, read it on the airplane or right before I drift off after midnight with all the lights off in the bedroom, and join the future with all other fellow e-readers (the people, not the object).

But I just can’t; I like books too much.

Judging covers

I like the way the real pages feel on the pads of my fingers. I like how it sounds when I flip the page. I like to fold back the edge and mark my spot. There’s something about the smell too, especially the old books. You know that smell, don’t you? If you put your nose near the inside of the binding and sniff, you will get it. It’s the faint scent of a college library and an old house.

I love the covers of paperbacks and how they change over the years as new editions are released. I most particularly love the old(ish) ones most. I can always pinpoint the decade based on the fonts and colors. It’s funny how deeply infused a book is with the aesthetic sensibilities of the decade in which it was printed and just how easy it is to discern when one was released.

The 60s were simple and modern. The 70s had loopy fonts with lots of brown, greens, and yellows. The 80s were colorful with floral patterns, some neon, and sharp lines. The 90s were classy and simple with understated serifs and an air of sophistication.

Paperback delighter

One of my favorite things to do is lie in the hammock on a Saturday afternoon reading. A small, flimsy paperback in my right hand, two fingers on the inside holding the pages open, and three others on the outside for support. The summer breeze, the leaves on the birch above, the ropes of the hammock on my back, and a little paperback.

I love to write in my books too, mostly the more intellectual ones. I underline sentences, bracket paragraphs of importance, and write things in the margins. They are things I want to remember. Even if I don’t know when I will come back to the book again, I want to make a note in the event I do. Sometimes I like thinking about my kids coming across my books when I’m old or dead and gone and finding these little things I’ve written. Maybe they will want to read what I wrote; maybe they won’t.

I’ve heard that we don’t remember words we read on the screen as much as words we read on a page. I don’t know the science behind it, but I feel like it’s true — or at least it is for me and my wife. I asked her what she thought as a newly minted e-reader enjoyer, and she said she agrees. She said it feels like she remembers ever so slightly less. Like it doesn’t stick quite as much or like it just doesn’t go deep enough into her brain.

Slightly foxed

The books on the e-reader remain perfect forever. They look the exact same on every single device. In the event the device falls in the lake, you might be out $200, but soon enough you’ll have a new one, and all 500 books will appear on that little screen just as they were before.

Real books don’t stay perfect for very long. The pages get bent, the binding gets broken, the margins are full of ink, and the edges of the pages yellow as the years pass. The more we read a book, the more we know a book, and the more beaten a book becomes. Old floppy paperbacks that look like they’ve been through a war are coveted in the same way leather bags with beautiful patina are.

I want to like the e-reader. I want to join the future. I would feel so futuristic and so efficient with one in my hand. But I can’t, and I won’t. I like the physicality of books too much. I like the wear they have; I like the time they show; I like the fact they tell a story of who and where we were when we read them.

​Men’s style, Books, Kindle, E-readers, Amazon, Lifestyle, Culture, Family life, The root of the matter 

Last month, while many veterans celebrated Joe Rogan and President Donald Trump’s support for psychedelic drugs, those in the Huntington’s disease community like me faced another disappointment. UniQure, a company with a promising treatment, may be abandoning the U.S. market because of bureaucratic roadblocks.

I’m not the president or the world’s most popular podcaster. What I am is a daughter who has tested positive for the Huntington’s disease gene and will one day exhibit the same symptoms of this disease that ate away at my father’s personality and his mind until he took his own life.

The FDA’s answer always seems to be the same when it comes to rare disease treatments: Wait, wait, and then wait some more.

I have advocated for the Huntington’s disease community, both in my father’s memory and with the hope that my future will be different from his. The outlook is dim for those like me unless the Food & Drug Administration allows access to treatments like AMT-130, which UniQure is now advancing first in the U.K. after the FDA’s unreasonable demands pushed the United States down the priority list.

Those demands are disastrous for Huntington’s disease patients. Launching a placebo trial under the FDA’s proposed new criteria would require non-therapeutic injections into the brains of study patients — hardly aligning with medical ethics.

Even without the basic inhumanity of this type of trial, Huntington’s patients simply cannot afford the years it would take to complete it. We are living on a much shorter timeline, defined by a merciless disease that is both progressive and fatal.

I’m glad that veterans are getting the attention they deserve and that they have the support of influencers like Rogan. But it raises an important question: Why should it take a celebrity and the president to push the FDA to follow basic common sense and medical best practices?

For years, the rare-disease community has done everything we were told would make a difference. We organized, advocated, and pushed for change with whatever strength we had, often while managing devastating diagnoses and worsening symptoms.

Parents of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Sanfilippo syndrome, to name but two groups, have advocated while watching their children decline.

The FDA’s answer always seems to be the same when it comes to rare disease treatments: Wait, wait, and then wait some more. That means we’re running down hours on a clock that ticks ominously louder with every passing month. We don’t have time for years of unnecessary testing.

RELATED: Want to live to 100? Don’t expect Big Pharma to help.

Tom Merton/Getty Images

Rogan’s intervention shows that the system can move quickly when it wants to — certainly the president will listen when voices with direct access amplify a cause. Now we need to see that same urgency applied to treatments for rare diseases.

Families like mine are not looking for special treatment. We are only asking for the choice to take the risk of trying new medicines when all the old options have failed. After all, we know the future that awaits us.

President Trump already made the right move with the Right to Try Act, which gives terminally ill patients a pathway to access potentially lifesaving or life-extending treatments. It is critical that he push FDA officials to commit to the same right-to-try principles he championed in his first term.

Scientists are making incredible strides in treating rare diseases. But that innovation only matters if patients are allowed to use treatments already developed. Adults like me, and kids with terminal rare diseases whose parents approve, are absolutely willing to accept any risk that comes with trying a new therapy.

Until someone steps up to bat for people like me, our only alternative is the certainty of an illness that will slowly, relentlessly ruin our lives and then snuff them out.

​Big pharma, President donald trump, Veterans, Innovation, Huntington’s disease, Right to try act, Fda, Clinical trials, Experimental treatment, Medical ethics, Opinion & analysis 

The Southern Poverty Law Center was federally indicted on April 21 for allegedly funneling millions of dollars to the very racist and extremist groups it claimed to be fighting, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, the American Front, United Klans of America, and the National Socialist Party of America.

The Alabama-headquartered smear- and fearmongering racket — charged with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of making false statements to a federally insured bank, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering — pleaded not guilty on Thursday to all counts.

‘We have always suspected that they were monetizing hate.’

“The charges against the SPLC are provably wrong,” stated SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan Fair. “They are based on inaccurate facts and a misapplication of law. Our informant program was successful in accomplishing its purposes: Threats and attacks were prevented, criminal activity was stopped, and information was gathered to dismantle the efforts of hate and extremist groups.”

Now thanks to the state of Alabama, SPLC smear merchants will have to mount a defense on more than one front.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced on Monday that his office has launched a civil investigation into the SPLC, alleging deceptive fundraising practices under Alabama’s consumer protection statutes.

The probe is looking specifically at whether the SPLC’s alleged activities referenced in the federal indictment violated Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act or other state laws concerning charitable organizations.

RELATED: Klansman allegedly on SPLC payroll was ‘true believer’ white supremacist, not reformed infiltrator

Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Marshall’s office has subpoenaed SPLC documents disclosing to Alabama donors or prospective donors the organization’s use of “informants”; identifying the annual donations received from donors in Alabama and beyond; showing annual disbursements of donated funds to “informants”; reflecting the percentage of the SPLC’s annual budget blown on “informant”-related costs; and showing payments to groups or individuals appearing in the SPLC’s extremist files or on its hate map.

The SPLC, which has been ordered to produce these documents by June 1, confirmed to WSFA-TV that the organization’s leaders “have received notice of a subpoena and are currently reviewing.”

“My office has been fighting the SPLC for years — whether fighting them to protect minors from transgender medical procedures, fighting them to keep bad guys behind bars, or fighting them to preserve Alabama’s Republican congressional districts,” Marshall said in a statement.

“We have always suspected that they were monetizing hate and trading on race-baiting; it was just a matter of proving it,” continued Marshall. “Thanks to the U.S. Justice Department’s action to deal with the SPLC, the state’s efforts have now received a shot in the arm. We look forward to learning more about the inner workings of an organization that we have long believed was rotten but, until recently, has been impervious.”

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​Alabama, American front, Extremism, Federally indicted, Hate, Hate map, Kkk, Ku klux klan, Leftism, National socialist party, Race baiters, Race hustlers, Radicalism, Southern poverty law center, Splc, Steve marshall, United klans of america, Wire fraud, Politics 

Internet companies are perfectly happy to gobble up as much user data as possible so that they can sell it to third-party data brokers, monetize targeted ad networks, and even feed large language models that power the next generation of AI. For decades, this mass data grab went on with little legal regulation to rein in the worst offenders. However, House Republicans recently unveiled a new federal privacy bill that will change the way Big Tech handles personal and private data for good.

What is the SECURE Data Act?

Short for “Securing and Establishing Consumer Uniform Rights and Enforcement,” the SECURE Data Act directly gives users more control over the way companies access and use their personal information on the web. The bill establishes two major frameworks — one outlining the rights of consumers and the other to limit the actions of corporations.

Users get full control over the collection and monetization of their data.

Consumer rights under the SECURE Data Act

Access: Users have a right to know when a company accesses or processes their personal data, as long as this knowledge doesn’t violate company trade secrets.

Pro: Users gain a full understanding of how their information is applied to the websites they visit, the apps they use, and the services they subscribe to. This, in turn, empowers them to make informed decisions on which companies they choose to support based on their data collection practices.Con: Companies will have to invest in expensive resources to document and report on the data of every user, costing the company time and money that lead to potential reporting delays.

Corrections: Users can contact a company to correct inaccurate details saved in their personal data. This can include user names, email addresses, home addresses, and other markers.

Pro: Users ensure that any information a company uses is current and accurate to prevent errors.Con: Companies can use the updated information to build optimized profiles of its users for even more targeted online tracking.

Deletion: If the user no longer wants a company to access their data, they can request to have their information deleted from a company’s servers entirely. This includes data that the user provides themselves, as well as information the company gathers on its own.

Pro: Users get full control over the collection and monetization of their data, and they can revoke access if the company abuses that power. This can also be used as a tool to boycott companies if/when companies take a stance that opposes the views and beliefs of their users.Con: Companies will miss out on vital data that they would use to build better products and services for their customers, potentially leading to the stagnation of future apps, products, and services.

Man_Half-tube/Getty Images

Transferability: User data must be stored in a format that can be exported and transferred to another company, such as in the case of switching from an app, service, or operating system to another.

Pro: Instead of being locked into a certain platform or app, users can freely take their data to a competitor as they see fit. As an example, this will be especially useful for users who want to switch from iPhone to Android and vice versa.Con: Without an encrypted data standard across all platforms and services, converting data into an easily transferable format could weaken encryption and lead to potential data security risks.

Control: Users reserve the right to opt out of selling their personal data to third-party partners or participating in targeted advertising.

Pro: Users can actively prevent companies and data brokers from building digital profiles that track users’ buying habits, online interests, and more.Con: A lack of user data could cause economic damage to the marketing and digital ad industries.

Company limits under the SECURE Data Act

In order to supply consumers with the rights above, companies must adhere to these key mandates:

Minimization: Companies are limited from collecting user data en masse, instead restricting them to gather only what is considered “adequate” for their business.

Pro: Companies are ultimately barred from spying on their customers’ online habits, a huge win for the sake of user privacy.Con: This restriction is too vague without any real hard limits, leaving it open to interpretation. For instance, a company like Google may insist that large amounts of user data are necessary to support its free services and ad business, while competitors are barred from gathering to the same degree.

Limitations: Gathered data can only be used for the expressed reason it was collected, and companies can’t save or repurpose data for other projects without users’ consent.

Pro: Users can feel confident that their data isn’t being used in secret projects or private moneymaking schemes.Con: This may limit a company’s ability to conduct research and development with users’ data, potentially slowing down the creation of future products and limiting innovation.

Discrimination: Data cannot be collected or processed based on race, ethnicity, or other identifying factors. Furthermore, companies can’t use these factors to deny goods and services, offer dynamic prices, or alter their products’ quality of service.

Pro: Companies would essentially be barred from punishing users who don’t align with their own ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.Con: The bill doesn’t strictly protect religious beliefs and political affiliations, leaving companies a pathway to oppose users who don’t think or vote in favor of their values.

Notice: Companies must educate users on how their data is processed, saved, sold, and applied to their business. At this point, users will also have the option to make changes as part of their protected rights.

Pro: Companies can no longer hide how they make money from their users’ private data.Con: Similar to the GDPR-compliant cookie notices that pop on the websites you visit, users may receive so many data notices from the services they use that they either accept without reading the terms or ignore them entirely.

Sale: Companies must notify users when their data is about to be sold and why, giving them the chance to opt out before the sale takes place.

Pro: Consumers can ultimately prevent companies from making money by selling their information to data brokers and third-party partners.Con: If a user doesn’t intervene before their data is sold, it may become difficult to trace where the data goes and how it’s utilized by brokers and third-party partners down the line.

Sensitive data under the SECURE Data Act

Lastly, the bill provides special protections for “sensitive data,” especially for underage users, noting that parents must consent before companies can collect information on minors. The most important part here is that unlike many of the age-verification bills coming from both sides of the aisle right now, the SECURE Data Act doesn’t require a user to prove their age through any form of identification. Instead, the responsibility to declare underage data is left in the hands of parents, not the government.

A win for consumers

Internet companies have gathered user data for decades with very little legal oversight. As usual, the government is late to legislate, and yet, the SECURE Data Act couldn’t come at a better time. AI companies, like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, have shifted their data collection practices into overdrive, all bent on gorging their LLMs before President Trump’s AI framework ends their plight. The SECURE Data Act is just another piece of the puzzle that will finally give users robust protection over their digital footprint on the internet.

​Big tech, Privacy, User data, Secure data act, Tech 

Last week, the Vatican released a report from Study Group 9 of the Synod on Synodality, one of 10 groups set up by Pope Francis in 2024 to examine controversial issues.

Titled “Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues,” the report presented testimonies from two gay Catholic men in same-sex civil marriages.

The report has sparked quite a controversy in the Catholic faith. Very traditional Catholics — and even some evangelical Christians — have largely viewed it as dangerous and subversive, seeing it as undermining long-standing Church teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts by platforming positive testimonies of same-sex “marriages” and downplaying doctrine in favor of subjective experience.

BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler, who describes herself as a devout Catholic, addressed the synod report on a recent episode of “The Liz Wheeler Show.”

She first addresses the panic of those who interpret the report as indicative of imminent change to Church doctrine.

“One of these documents from a synod is not Church dogma. It is not magisterial teaching. It has no authority to change doctrine of the Church. It is at best … an advisory committee that puts together reports that advise the pope on how to handle issues pastorally,” she says, noting that the pope is free to “accept these recommendations or not.”

As of now, Pope Leo XIV has neither formally accepted nor rejected the report.

“Even if he did [accept it], it’s not binding. It’s not doctrine or dogma,” says Liz.

That said, she acknowledges that ”there is valid concern that the ‘pastoral’ nature of this advice will encroach, at least in praxis, on the official teaching, the unchangeable doctrine, of the Church — at least at the local level,” which Liz says would be “a moral travesty” despite the fact that the “teaching remains unchangeable.”

After reading the report herself, she admits that the report is written “in an ambiguous way” that makes it unclear whether or not the synod is neutrally summarizing testimonies of two gay Catholic couples or “embracing” their viewpoints and lifestyle.

“The generous way to interpret this [synodal report] would be listening to people who struggle with sin can help you help them; there is value in hearing what led someone to a particular struggle,” says Liz.

“That would be fine … as long as your goal for these people is the fullness of Christ, as long as your goal is not indulgence, an excuse for their sin, redefinition of sin,” she explains. “So if this synod report that includes these testimonies is including the testimonies because they want to better understand how to bring these people out of their sin into the fullness of Christ, OK, that’s fine.”

Liz admits that she is reluctant to be generous in her reading of the synod report because of the ambiguity in which the testimonies are presented.

“How on earth could you not clarify whether you are embracing that testimony or whether you are simply summarizing it — especially when you know it will cause tremendous confusion, even scandal, among the faithful?” she asks.

The “defensive way” to interpret the report, says Liz, is to read it as a genuine attempt “to sneak effective changes to doctrine that [homosexuality advocates] have no authority to change into the pastoral practice of the Church, hoping it becomes the de facto norm in the Church, despite the contradiction to unchangeable Church teaching.”

While Liz is torn between the generous and defensive interpretations, the most important thing, she says, is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church actually teaches: that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered, are contrary to natural law, and can never be approved, but that people with deep-seated homosexual tendencies must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity, with every sign of unjust discrimination avoided, and are called to live chastely through self-mastery, prayer, and friendship.

“That is the official, unchangeable teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality, and it’s beautiful,” she says.

To hear more of Liz’s analysis, watch the episode above.

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To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Blaze media, Blazetv, Conversion therapy, Homosexuality, Liz wheeler, Pope francis, Pope leo xiv, Study group 9, Synod on synodality, Synod report, The liz wheeler show, Vatican, Vatican report 

Texas police said they’re investigating the death of six people found in a boxcar by a Union Pacific employee at a rail yard on Sunday.

Police said they responded to a call of “multiple casualties” at about 3 p.m. A Webb County medical examiner said the dead included one woman and five men.

One of the other dead persons appears to be a teenager. Officials said they believe they are all from Mexico and Honduras.

The examiner identified the female victim as a Mexican national and one of the men as a Honduran national.

The official noted that temperatures had reached up to 105 degrees when the bodies were found.

“Following initial examinations, it has been determined that the female victim succumbed to hyperthermia,” reads the statement from the medical examiner. “While formal examinations for the remaining five individuals are still pending, it is highly probable that hyperthermia was the cause of death for the entire group.”

One of the other dead persons appears to be a teenager. Officials said they believe they are all from Mexico and Honduras.

Laredo Police investigator Jose Baeza said determining the origin of the train was “at the crux” of the ongoing investigation, which he described as fluid.

“Imagine a loading dock at a seaport, but for trains,” Baeza said to NBC News in a phone interview. “This is where they load and unload a lot of rail cars.”

A spokesperson for Union Pacific said the company was cooperating with the investigation and was “saddened” by the incident.

RELATED: At least 46 illegal aliens found dead in a trailer in San Antonio, and death toll may climb higher

The International Organization for Migration reported that the lowest figure of migrant deaths in the Americas had been lodged for 2025, likely because of the crackdown on illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

They said about 414 migrants died in the Americas in 2025. Total deaths declined about 68% in 2025 from those in 2024, which coincides with President Donald Trump getting into office.

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​Dead migrants, Dead people in boxcar, Dead people laredo rail yard, Heat exhaustion deaths, Politics 

I have never considered flying to be a luxurious experience, and this trip was no exception. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say that all I or anyone else on the flight from Dallas to Detroit on Christmas morning wanted was for it to be over as quickly as possible.

I had waited in the inevitable jetbridge backlog, found my seat, dutifully ignored the safety briefing, and was ready to see if I could manage an hour or so of sleep. As the plane reached cruising altitude, I — having momentarily gained the upper hand in the case of Pestritto v. airline seat — began to slip into a light doze.

In the back of my mind, I knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any more bearable. The crackle of the PA system, the monotone, forced cheerfulness of the flight attendant as he delivered the fateful words: “We’d like to take this chance to tell you about a special promotion being offered on this flight.”

For a brief instant, some small part of me considered pulling the emergency door handle. Surely the icy blast of air at 33,000 feet couldn’t be any worse than enduring the dreaded American Airlines credit card pitch.

When I arrive at the airport, I am prepared to suffer.

After this brief instant of nihilism, the better angels of my nature prevailed, and I contented myself with a silent sigh, listening to the pitch as I meditated on the script’s use of the passive voice. As if the airline were saying, “This promotion is being pitched without your consent. By whom? No idea. We would certainly never inflict such an indignity upon our paying customers.”

Let me take a moment to make my position clear. I understand that air travel is an unpleasant experience. Anyone who has taken a flight more than once in his life almost certainly understands this fact.

I have shrugged my shoulders for two hours straight in a middle seat. I have sat on the tarmac for longer than I thought possible. I have nearly missed my flight because it took four TSA officers to handle the bomb threat posed by the pink sippy cup belonging to the toddler in front of me.

All that to say: When I arrive at the airport, I am prepared to suffer.

However, air travel and I used to have an agreement. Once I made it through the ritual humiliation of the airport process and actually got to my seat on the plane, I was left more or less alone to endure the next few hours as best I could.

I grew up making two-day road trips in a Suburban with my parents and seven siblings, so I consider myself something of an expert at enduring hours of cramped travel conditions. The trick is just sort of retreating within yourself, ignoring your surroundings, and letting the dull misery of the situation become a sort of vague background noise.

This strategy is why I support Delta’s recent decision to end in-flight refreshments on trips of less than 350 miles. Unless the flight is long enough to warrant it, I don’t want my restless slumber disturbed by a voice asking if I want apple juice like it’s lunchtime at the day care or, if I’m the hapless occupant of an aisle seat, my elbow socket being rearranged by the passage of the snack cart.

I want it to just be me, my popping ears, and my very sore rear end until such time as we touch down and I can begin the “Mad Max: Fury Road” experience of trying to get off the plane.

I should have known, though, that modernity is never content to rest on its laurels. Like a roaring lion, it goes about constantly seeking whom it might devour — if by “devour” we mean “deprive of both money and will to live.” Since most airline passengers are neither sober nor watchful, the airlines are as good a place for devouring as any.

RELATED: Artemis II proves America still knows how to reach for the heavens

Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

American Airlines is not alone in its quest to eliminate any and all in-flight respite. I have sat through what can only be described as lottery drawings on Spirit Airlines (may she rest in peace), heard random promotions for goodness knows what on Frontier, and been pitched on the same Delta credit card I had in my wallet at the time.

I understand, to a certain degree, why the airlines see fit to inflict these announcements on their passengers. If you look into it, you’ll find that most airlines today are basically just “banks that happen to fly planes.” They actually lose money on the flying part of the operation, which probably has something to do with the incessant attempts to bring customers over to the profitable side of the business.

The details of airline loyalty programs and how they have changed the industry is a story for another time. My concern is twofold.

First: How long can I endure these incessant credit card pitches before I commit self-harm or — far worse — break down and get one of them?

Second: What’s to stop this most heinous of sales methods from spreading to other forms of transportation? How long will it be before I have to endure automated pitches for the Honda GroundMiles Card whenever I stop at a red light?

I don’t expect much when I travel. Whether I’m sitting in Dallas traffic or at cruising altitude over Oklahoma, my greatest desire at this point is to endure the agony unassisted by the vicissitudes of corporate marketing.

​Airlines, Air travel, Airline credit cards, Delta airlines, Spirit airlines, Flying experience, Dallas, Detroit, Tsa, Frontier airlines, American airlines, Travel, Opinion & analysis 

A 29-year-old Florida male allegedly stabbed his grandmother 11 times on Mother’s Day after being asked to help carry in groceries.

The West Palm Beach Police Department said it received a call around 1:26 p.m. from a relative reporting that Keo Nottage had stabbed his grandmother, WPEC-TV reported.

‘Someone is going to die today.’

When officers arrived at the scene on 52nd Street, they found Nottage and his cousin involved in a physical altercation, the station said.

The grandmother — who was attacked during the incident — told officers Nottage’s cousin had just returned from the grocery store to prepare for a Mother’s Day dinner, WPEC said.

When the cousin asked Nottage to help bring in groceries, Nottage allegedly replied, “Someone is going to die today,” the station said.

Shortly afterward Nottage entered the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and stabbed his grandmother 11 times, WPEC reported.

Witnesses told the station the cousin tried to help the grandmother during the attack. According to a WPBF-TV video report, Nottage began chasing the cousin with the knife.

RELATED: ‘I’m not dying today’: Grandmother outwits, fights attackers after being severely beaten, threatened with her life in quaint Iowa wine shop where she works

WPEC said that while the cousin was on the phone with police, Nottage tried to flee the scene.

But the cousin stopped Nottage, which led to another physical altercation between the two and resulted in an injury to the cousin’s hand, WPEC said.

Surveillance video and eyewitness accounts confirmed the sequence of events, WPEC said, adding that police subsequently accused Nottage of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

WPBF said Nottage — who appeared in court Monday — is being held without bond.

The grandmother was taken to a hospital for surgery and was in critical condition, WPEC said.

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​Stabbing, Florida, Mother’s day, West palm beach, Grandmother, Groceries, Police, Arrest, Jailed, Attempted murder, Aggravated assault, Crime 

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson (D) took it a little too far last week when he screamed in the face of state troopers unprovoked, all because he disagreed with the result of the state’s redistricting special session.

Pearson not only asked the state troopers what was wrong with them while addressing them as “boy,” but he also yelled, “You stupid motherf**ker!”

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is disturbed by the outburst.

“What a juxtaposition, what a transformation that we went from the 1960s, where law enforcement was speaking disrespectfully to black protesters and black people and calling them ‘boy’ and being intimidating to in 2026, we have an elected official, a college-educated person, someone in a suit and tie that is supposed to be a professional person shouting ‘boy’ and dropping ‘MFs’ and all of this other stuff,” Whitlock comments.

“Like, wow, things have changed. And people want to pretend like things haven’t changed, but clearly they have,” he adds.

Whitlock explains that while black politicians like Pearson are framing the redistricting as a “black-white thing,” it’s actually “a Democrat-Republican thing.”

“Republicans, I believe, have a black woman that they want to put in that seat,” he continues, adding, “This is crazy.”

“He’s very dramatic,” Anthony Walker agrees.

“That video was just appalling to me because … if you’re really trying to fight for voter rights, what does this behavior do to support any of that? All it does is support the stereotype. All it does is support, you know, just foolishness,” he adds.

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​Black protesters, Black woman, Blaze media, Blaze news, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blaze podcast network, Blaze podcasts, Blazetv, Blazetv host, Elected official, Jason whitlock, Jason whitlock harmony, Justin pearson, Law enforcement, Liberal meltdown, Redistricting special session, State troopers, Stereotype, Tennessee state rep, The blaze, Voter rights 

The man arrested for shooting at security officers at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the alleged assassination attempt.

Cole Tomas Allen is charged with one count of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, one count of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, and two counts of a gun charge.

Public defender Eugene Ohm said that it would be ‘wholly inappropriate’ for two attorneys general to be victims in the case while directing the prosecution’s case.

Allen was captured on surveillance video running through a security checkpoint before he fired his shotgun and was shot by an officer who saw him approaching. Investigators allegedly found a handgun and knives in his possession as well.

Investigators found a note allegedly written by Allen where he appeared to apologize in advance to his family for the assassination plot. He also left a manifesto and a long digital footprint documenting his hatred for the president and other members of his administration.

On Monday, he pleaded not guilty in court.

Allen’s attorneys have filed a motion to disqualify U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro from the case as well as the other attorneys general from the Washington, D.C., office. They argue that Pirro’s statements to the media suggest they are “purported victims and witnesses” of the alleged assassination plot.

Public defender Eugene Ohm said that it would be “wholly inappropriate” for two attorneys general to be victims in the case while directing the prosecution’s case.

The government has until June 22 to respond to the motion.

If convicted, Allen faces life in prison for the charges.

RELATED: Judge APOLOGIZES to suspected would-be Trump assassin — and compares him to Jan. 6 defendants

Many were outraged when Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui apologized to Allen over the conditions of his imprisonment at the Washington, D.C., jail. He was placed on suicide restrictions, despite being cleared as a suicide risk.

“These conditions are excessive restrictions on his liberty that serve no justifiable purpose and deprive Mr. Allen of dignity while incarcerated,” his attorneys argued.

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​Cole allen, Whcd assassination attempt, Not guilty plea, Trump assassination attempt, Politics 

Former FBI counterintelligence agent Wayne Barnes says one of the best ways to catch a spy is to ask a simple question — like when his birthday is.

Barnes, whose new book “A Traitor in the FBI: The Hunt for a Russian Mole” came out last month, spent nearly 30 years in counterintelligence, where he debriefed a record number of Soviet and Soviet-Bloc assets. In an interview with Align, Barnes described the psychological tactics, subtle tells, and ethical contrasts that defined Cold War espionage.

‘You have to have the straightest poker face you could ever imagine.’

Born yesterday

While Barnes acknowledges that his career could occasionally involve the kind of dramatic deception shown in the movies, he often employed more mundane subterfuge.

Take the man from Afghanistan who applied to join the FBI in the 1980s. While his background could have made him a useful asset, Barnes, then working as a security officer in Washington, D.C., wanted to vet him first.

The interview happened in late December. Noticing that the man had listed his birthday as January 1 on his application, Barnes decided to see how he handled a simple question.

“I asked, ‘Do you have any plans for your birthday?’ and he said, ‘Why’d you ask that?’ And I said, ‘Well, it’s in a couple weeks.'”

Without thinking, the man corrected Barnes: “Oh no, my birthday is July 6.”

“For most people, the day they were born is a day that they won’t forget,” Barnes remembers telling the applicant.

From there, the man’s story began to fall apart. Eventually the agency concluded that the applicant was working for the Afghan mujahideen.

RELATED: The doomer delusion

Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Poker face

Barnes describes his interview technique as a “verbal polygraph”; it’s not an exact science, but if you know what you’re doing, it will “ferret out” a lot of people.

That required intense discipline from FBI agents themselves. When debriefing Soviet intelligence officers or defectors, Barnes says agents had to carefully conceal what they already knew.

“You have to have the straightest poker face you could ever imagine,” he says.

Agents would sometimes spread out photographs of Soviet embassy personnel they suspected of spying and casually ask whether the subject had seen them at a restaurant, training class, or bar. Every response mattered — not just what was said, but how long someone spoke, how nervous they appeared, or whether they seemed too rehearsed.

“[Did] he talk about him too long? Did he talk about him too short?” Barnes explains. “Debriefing intelligence officers is very tricky … and … very narrow.”

Barnes also notes that it was standard for agents from the Soviet Bloc to claim they had already compromised Western forces.

“Whether the Romanians or Czechs, or Poles or Hungarians, they always say, ‘Oh, we have you penetrated.'”

On the hook

Barnes also describes how Soviet operatives recruited Americans willing to sell secrets.

“Follow a guy from the Soviet embassy in his car. He leaves at 5:30, and [you] see he lives in a garden apartment someplace in Alexandria, Virginia,” Barnes details.

“He goes inside, and you have a note in your hand, and you put it under his windshield wiper, and the next morning he gets it. It says, ‘I have secrets to sell …'”

“The Russians almost always followed through,” Barnes says.

At first, the payments were small — just enough to create leverage.

“They’d say, ‘This was good stuff, but it’s only worth $5,000. If you want another $5,000, you need to bring more.'”

Once an American accepted money, Barnes says, fear and blackmail often kept them cooperating. In reality, however, the chances of the Russians exposing a spy were slim.

“The Russians won’t turn him in,” Barnes explains, as their priority is to extract as much information as possible.

RELATED: ‘Multiple people’ taken into custody as FBI RAIDS top Virginia Democrat’s offices over alleged corruption

Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Moral difference

The Soviets were also not above pressuring their own agents by threatening family members, Barnes says.

“If your brother’s in college, his life is over,” Barnes says. “That’s the leverage [they] had on the KGB people.”

For Barnes, that dynamic highlighted what he viewed as a major moral difference between the United States and the Soviet Union. While Soviet intelligence services allegedly threatened defectors’ families, American handlers often tried to help them — including offering medical assistance or protection.

Many Soviet defectors, Barnes adds, changed sides not because of ideology, but because they realized they had been lied to about life in America.

“They’d come here and see stores full of food — entire stores just selling cheese,” Barnes says. “It was a, ‘They’ve been lying to me,’ sort of realization.”

That contrast, he says, often planted the seed for future cooperation with American intelligence.

“We live in a land of freedom,” Barnes concludes. “Compared to the Soviet Union, there’s nothing like America. … Their system was set up in such a way that was so different than ours. … So it was really a terrible place.”

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​Align, Fbi counterintelligence agent, Fbi officer, Russian agents, Secret agents, Soviet embassy, Lifestyle 

A German couple has been sentenced on charges related to the horrific abuse of their three children out of fear of the coronavirus pandemic.

Police said they rescued the three children in April 2025 from their home in Oviedo, Spain. They arrested the two parents after discovering the disturbing living conditions in the home.

When they were allowed outside, the kids touched the grass.

The children hadn’t been seen outside for years, and police reported that when they were allowed outside, the kids touched the grass and began breathing “as if they had never done so before in their lives.”

They also saw a snail and “were completely fascinated.”

Police reportedly found bags and bags of garbage inside of the home, and the children had no devices, no television, and didn’t even have shoes in their sizes. The children were reportedly kept in diapers and sleeping in cribs.

The children, who were between the ages of 8 and 10 at the time, were reportedly hunched over and bow-legged when rescued. The Sun published some of the shocking photos of the conditions inside the home.

Christian Steffen, 54, and Melissa Ann Steffen, 49, were arrested and charged with child abuse, domestic violence with habitual psychological abuse, and illegal detention.

Prosecutors sought 25 years in prison for the parents, but the Provincial Court of Asturias sentenced them on Monday to only two years and 10 months in prison each.

Police believe the children were locked up from 2021 until their rescue in 2025. They were tipped off by a neighbor who had catalogued the suspicious activity at the home in a notebook.

RELATED: NC Dem used pandemic loan to throw herself lavish 50th birthday party, prosecutors say

The couple also had their parental rights stripped for three years and four months, and they were forbidden from communicating with the children. In addition, they have been ordered to pay the children the equivalent of $35,000 each.

The children are receiving psychological treatment and are in the care of child protective services.

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Some say it’s a meme, others say it’s relief from perpetual screen use.

Either way, a Generation X craze has gone so viral that retailers are selling out after the game’s popularity spiked late last month.

‘On a good day, I get 200 to 300 visitors to my website. We’re now pushing 4,000.’

Charlie, a 13-year-old from New Jersey. recently told Good Housekeeping that he started playing because one of his friends saw it online and wanted to try it out.

“Then we all started playing,” he revealed.

Money bags

The online trend has created a massive resurgence of footbags, often generically called “hacky sacks,” despite the fact that Hacky Sack is actually a trademarked brand owned by Wham-O Toys Inc.

Google Trends shows that searches for queries like “hacky sack” and “footbag” exploded by upwards of 500% at the end of April, which included searches for the popular brand Dirtbag, which makes classic hacky sacks with a stick figure logo.

The company said it is sold out of footbags on its website, its Amazon storefront, and its TikTok shop. The craze took off shortly before this year’s spring break, reaching new heights once students returned to school.

Retailer Mike Heher, who runs Bomb Footbags out of Lake Tahoe, California, told the Boston Globe that he had no idea what was going on before speaking to the paper.

“I’m 41, I’ve been selling hacky sacks since I was a teenager. And on a good day, I get 200 to 300 visitors to my website. We’re now pushing 4,000.”

Many of the sales can likely be attributed to viral videos on TikTok as well.

RELATED: Tech billionaire Palmer Luckey calls out homeschool haters’ hypocrisy

– YouTube

Hack-a-thon

One video with over 320,000 views stated that hacky sack is slowly “taking over” their school, and from there, users can doomscroll countless similar videos from high school students to adults, to even minor league baseball teams.

Another user mentioned getting her father’s hacky sack out from the archives to learn how to play, while other videos show groups of girls playing, something typically unheard of in the 1990s/2000s, perhaps showcasing the monster this trend has become.

The movement is growing and seems to have taken hold in Massachusetts high schools where teens have created social media pages for their “sack team.”

The Globe noted that using the word “sack” as much as possible is part of the reason boys find it hilarious to take part in the game, using hashtags like #SpreadSackNotHate.

Jason Gallagher, a headmaster at Boston Latin School, told the Globe he has never seen a trend “explode as quickly as this.”

Students agree:

“I’d never seen anyone playing it at school, then all of a sudden in the past week people are playing in the bathroom, the parking lot, the teachers are playing it,” said Ben, a junior at Gloucester High School. “I now keep a hacky sack in the back seat of my car.”

RELATED: This used-car odometer scam is everywhere — and impossible to detect

Faith Cathcart/Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

Teenage kicks

The Mass. teams are even competing to climb the rankings of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association official hacky sack rankings, which was jokingly created as an unofficial state ranking system but is getting very serious. It now has at least 96 teams participating in the rankings.

Ryan, an 18-year-old senior from Westwood High, said there were probably double the amount of people playing in Massachusetts alone.

“It’s just mayhem, everyone arguing to get their ranking up, which makes it more fun,” he told the Globe.

This is yet another example of “retro toys” making a comeback, Jenn Lynch of the Toy Association told Good Housekeeping. She added that part of the reason is that today’s parents are the “original hacky sack generation.”

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​Align, Games, Trend, Tiktok, Footbag, Gen x, Generation x, Boston, Lifestyle, Hacky sack 

After exposing an alleged billion-dollar fraud scandal in Minnesota’s Somali-run child care programs, 24-year-old independent journalist Nick Shirley became an overnight sensation. While he continues to bust suspected fraud rings, like alleged hospice/Medi-Cal fraud in California, lately he’s had his sights set on busting a different kind of scandal: America’s dangerous flirtation with socialism.

This endeavor recently led him to Cuba, where he spent only 24 hours documenting life under communism before he was forced to leave due to being followed by intelligence agents, experiencing seizure of his equipment, and having a disturbing confrontation with a Cuban general.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Shirley recounted his intense venture into a country that captures the dark reality of socialism.

Shirley tells Glenn that he decided to go to Cuba primarily because of the “rise of communism and socialism here in the United States.”

“I was shocked by what I saw inside of Cuba,” he says.

“Somebody described Cuba to me just the other day as from a distance it looks beautiful and quaint, and then when you get right up to it, it is rot and decay and suffering. Is that what you found?” asks Glenn.

“One hundred percent,” says Shirley, recalling how Cuba’s beautiful historic buildings are “crumbling” and their streets are “not in good condition.”

And then there’s the plight of the people.

“People are starving. Seven out of 10 people are going without three meals a day. Kids aren’t going to school because there’s no power. The universities actually shut down because they can’t go to school when there’s no power,” says Shirley.

Even though Cuba blames the nation’s condition on the United States, he argues time does not corroborate this narrative.

“For 60 years, they’ve been underneath this communist regime, and they haven’t figured it out. … They’ve decided to be our enemy for so long, and now the United States is even offering support, it looks like, and it seems like they’ve rejected that support,” says Shirley.

Shirley’s mini documentary that captures his short stint in Cuba is an honest picture of what the socialism so many left-wing Americans and politicians are advocating for here in the U.S. actually looks like.

“So you’re going to see how people really don’t have freedom of speech inside of this country, how the buildings are eroding, how these children aren’t going to school, how there’s no hope in the eyes of these people,” says Shirley.

“All the young people that I spoke to, they’re all ready for a change. A lot of them even said like communist is the worst thing that can possibly happen,” he adds.

Communism certainly wasn’t beneficial for Shirley, a visiting foreigner, either.

Upon landing in Cuba, authorities at the airport immediately seized most of his professional camera equipment. He and his team were then followed all day by intelligence agents. When they tried to sneak out of their hotel around 4 a.m. to leave early, a two-star general was waiting and interrogated them about their filming and interviews before they managed to escape to the airport.

Shirley points out the irony of the Americans who are actively pushing for a socialist government in the U.S.

“Right now, we have this huge movement inside of our country for ideas like socialism, for communism, and these people are protesting every week,” he says. “Underneath the communist regime, they would not be able to protest, so they’re wanting something that would actually suppress them and stop them from doing exactly what they are doing here inside the United States.”

And yet when he or others show the grueling reality of communism in other countries, these protesters only seem to double down.

“Either they’re getting paid heavily to promote this communist idea that it would be great here inside the United States, or quite literally they are brainwashed to the point where they have somehow believed that capitalism have spelled them so bad that they want to accept a government that would make them so suppressed that they would not even be able to voice their opinions out in public,” he tells Glenn. “That’s what really shocked me.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​Blaze, Blaze media, Blazetv, Communism, Communist cuba, Cuba, Democratic socialism, Fraud scandal minnesota, Glenn beck, Nick shirley, Socialism, The glenn beck program 

The Mother’s Day video released by Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt documented the disastrous Democratic policies that have made him enter the political arena.

The video shows his wife, Heidi Montag Pratt, showing their young children the empty lot where their family home used to be before it burned down during the Pacific Palisades fires in Jan. 2025.

‘She’s the most incredible mom to our boys. She’s why I fight.’

“Is this the house?” one of their young sons asks. “How do you get it up?”

Pratt announced his campaign for mayor on the anniversary of the Palisades fire. Critics blame the incompetence and hubris of those in office, who are overwhelmingly affiliated with the Democratic Party, for allegedly allowing the fire to grow out of control.

“Heidi and I have been through hell together,” Pratt says in the video.

The former reality television star made headlines in the wake of the fires by criticizing government incompetence on social media. He outperformed expectations in a recent debate against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass but faces an uphill battle in a very liberal electorate.

“I am constantly in awe of Heidi,” Pratt continues. “She’s the most incredible mom to our boys. She’s why I fight.”

The Mother’s Day video ends with the phrase, “Mother’s Day is every day,” and an image of Pratt and his wife holding each other amid the ruins of their home.

Many online responded emotionally to the ad.

“Incredibly poignant. We can’t let Bass get away with what she did to your neighborhood and your city,” one user said.

“Incredible ad. Yes, it’s Mother’s Day, but this also shows what a great dad you are, Spencer, such a great example to your boys. Keep fighting,” another replied.

“Bass is absolutely shameless running for reelection after destroying Pacific Palisades. She should have resigned in disgrace,” another user responded.

RELATED: Pratt gives socialist mayoral candidate a wake-up call at debate: ‘She’s gonna get stabbed in the neck!’

Pratt’s supporters have used AI to create their own campaign videos, some of which have gone viral for their aggressive messaging against Bass and other California Democrats.

“I’ve waited a whole year for someone to step up and challenge Karen Bass, but I saw no fighters,” Pratt said when he announced his campaign. “Guess I’m gonna have to do this myself. Let’s make LA camera ready again!”

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​Spencer pratt, Mother’s day video, Viral video, Pratt vs bass, Politics 

A school district in Virginia is shamelessly using artificial intelligence to inject diversity, equity, and inclusion policies into student instruction, a report from Defending Education claims.

The director of equity education at Albemarle County Public Schools said in an email that a “GenAI Equity Prompt Sheet” should be used by school subcommittees to impose “equity-centered” policies, according to the report from Defending Education.

‘The fact that the district is vetting AI based on its compliance with diversity, equity, and inclusion should be concerning for parents.’

“It’s intended to surface questions around access, bias, stakeholder voice, and policy alignment in a practical, usable format,” read the alleged email from Ayanna Mitchell dated May 21, 2025.

The plan involved imposing policies including cultural responsiveness, gender inclusivity, and identity affirmation, according to the email. The AI format was to be used by both teachers and students of the district.

“While schools should engage in good judgment and do their due diligence when it comes to artificial intelligence integration, the fact that the district is vetting AI based on its compliance with diversity, equity, and inclusion should be concerning for parents,” said Rhyen Staley, a research director at Defending Education.

“By only allowing the use of AI and information sources that reflect a lef-wing political bias,” he added, “district administrators are setting a precedent that is harmful to the learning process and neutrality of schools.”

The far-left Albemarle school district is headquartered in Charlottesville and includes the historic Monticello estate owned and designed by Thomas Jefferson.

The findings of the Defending Education report were published by the Federalist.

When ACPS chief communications officer Jason Grant was asked to respond to concerns that the AI framework often discriminates against white people and offers abjectly incorrect query results in service to liberal biases, he refused to answer, the Federalist reported.

The report is more astounding considering that the district had already denied that its policies were in violation of President Donald Trump’s ban on discriminatory programs.

“These documents would not change any of the practices that are already going on at Albemarle County Public Schools,” said Helen Dunn, public affairs and strategic communications officer, in an April 2025 report. “We are not engaged in any practices that would infringe upon Title VI laws.”

As of Monday afternoon, the website for the ACPS Office of Equity Education remains live, with Mitchell still listed as the director, but the most recent “spotlight on equity” post appears to be a year old.

ACPS did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

RELATED: Sierra Club embraced social justice, DEI after being ‘flush’ with cash — then destroyed itself

President Donald Trump has made it a focus of his administration to stamp out DEI policies imposed by the government. In Jan. 2025 he issued an executive order cutting out DEI policies from his administration left over from the Biden administration and fired employees whose sole purpose was to implement them.

“These review efforts will continue as the Department works to end discrimination based on race and the use of harmful race stereotypes,” a notice from the Department of Education read, “both within the agency and throughout America’s education system.”

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​Diversity equity inclusion, Dei in schools, Trump dei ban, Virginia school district, Politics 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has filed multiple criminal referrals for former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci to the Department of Justice over the geriatric immunologist’s apparent false testimony before Congress in 2021.

According to Paul, the statute of limitations on charging Fauci over his alleged perjury expires on Monday. If it does, the Biden Justice Department will not be alone in having failed to indict the Biden pardonee credibly accused of helping cover up the likely lab origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

How it started

Months after testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, “America’s doctor” was brought back before the same committee on July 20, 2021, to discuss the origin of COVID-19 and U.S. funding ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese communist lab that possibly manufactured the virus.

“Dr. Fauci, as you are aware, it is a crime to lie to Congress,” Paul said during the hearing.

“On your last trip to our committee on May 11, you stated that the NIH ‘has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.’ And yet, gain-of-function research was done entirely in the Wuhan Institute by Dr. Shi and was funded by the NIH,” he continued.

Paul cited as evidence a paper from scientists at the WIV, including Ben Hu — a EcoHealth Alliance subcontractor who was among the suspected COVID-19 patients zero — that discussed gain-of-function work on coronaviruses and acknowledged funding from NIAID as well as from the United States Agency for International Development’s Predict program.

RELATED: Former Fauci adviser INDICTED for allegedly hiding emails about the origins of COVID

Feature China/Future Publishing/Getty Images

The paper describes research both conducted at the Wuhan lab and funded under an NIAID award where genetic information from different SARS-related coronaviruses were combined and fashioned into new artificial viruses capable of infecting human cells.

“Viruses that in nature only infect animals were manipulated in the Wuhan lab to gain the function of infecting humans,” said Paul. “This research fits the definition of the research that the NIH said was subject to the pause in 2014 to 2017 — a pause in funding on gain-of-function.”

Fauci declined to retract his previous statement that “the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

In addition to telling Paul that he “never lied before the Congress,” Fauci claimed that the experimentation referenced in the paper did not constitute gain-of-function.

“Senator Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly,” added Fauci. “And I want to say that officially.”

How it’s ending

Paul raised the alarm earlier this month that “on May 11th, the statute of limitations expires on the possibility of indicting Anthony Fauci for denying under oath that he funded gain-of-function research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, the origin city of the pandemic.”

There is a five-year statute of limitations on lying to Congress. It’s unclear, however, whether May 11 is the deadline to indict Fauci as he reiterated on July 20 that he did not want to amend or retract his statement.

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

The Kentucky senator has counted down the days since, emphasizing that “the American people want Fauci behind bars” — and still, there’s been no indictment from the Justice Department.

On Monday, Paul tweeted, “Today is the deadline to charge Fauci, or he walks away from one of the biggest cover-ups in American history without ever facing a jury.”

While Fauci received a “full and unconditional” pardon in former President Joe Biden’s name for possible federal crimes going back to 2014, the Trump DOJ has expressed doubt about the pardon’s validity.

U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, for instance, said late last year that his “office cannot support the validity of AutoPen pardons for individuals such as Anthony Fauci, Adam Schiff, Mark Milley, and many more without further examination and fact-finding.”

“In my tenure here, I have not seen any evidence supporting the theory that President Biden was personally aware and authorized these AutoPen’d pardons,” added Martin.

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A Georgia high school teacher had an inappropriate sexual relationship with an underage student, police have said.

The Savannah Police Department said in a statement that 35-year-old Chatham County teacher Paulina Walden was arrested May 1.

‘The district takes any accusation of inappropriate conduct by an employee very seriously.’

Walden was charged with improper sexual contact with a student and child molestation; she was booked into the Chatham County Detention Center where she was being held without bond.

According to Georgia law, anyone convicted of child molestation can be punished by imprisonment for a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years.

Georgia law adds that a conviction of improper sexual contact by a person in a position of trust faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

Police said they were notified on April 24 regarding a report of a teacher having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student.

“When administration became aware of the allegations, the educator was immediately reassigned to a non-school location with no student contact,” the police statement read.

Police also said the alleged sexual contact occurred off campus, which made the Savannah Police Department the lead agency for the case.

The Savannah Morning News obtained a statement from the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System saying Walden was an English teacher at Jenkins High School. Walden has worked at the school since September 2023.

“The district takes any accusation of inappropriate conduct by an employee very seriously,” the press release said. “The matter will be reported to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.”

The school district told WTOC-TV:

She remains an employee of the district at this time as the case has not yet been adjudicated. Since she is not actively on the job, she would need to use any accrued leave time or personal days in order to be paid. If she returns to work, she will remain reassigned to a location where she will have no interaction with students.

The school district told WTOC that Walden teaches mythology and oral speaking.

WTOC reported, “Through her social media, we know she has worked with Jenkins’ theatre department in multiple plays and productions. She has been the yearbook adviser and a head coach at one point for the dance and flag team.”

WTOC said Walden’s teaching certification status is still active until 2029, and her certification “does not show she is under investigation or has any ethical status complications.”

“No further comment can be made on the allegations as it involves a personnel matter,” the school district stated, according to another report from WTOC.

RELATED: Former girls’ high school basketball coach hit with 32 sex charges, including ‘deviant sexual intercourse with a student’

According to WTOC, Walden was previously a teacher or teaching assistant at Garrison School of Visual and Performing Arts, Shuman Elementary School, Savannah Country Day School, and East Broad K-8.

Walden’s husband — who reportedly also is a teacher — did not have a comment on his wife’s arrest, WTOC said.

Walden does not have a criminal record in Chatham County, according to the station.

The Savannah Police Department and the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020 or submit an anonymous tip through the Savannah Police Department mobile app.

Walden is the second Savannah Chatham County Public School System teacher to be arrested on child sex crime charges in less than a year.

In October 2025, 32-year-old Jawan Johnson was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation of children, solicitation of sodomy of a child under 18, and grooming of a minor.

According to the indictment WTOC obtained, Johnson had material in his possession that depicted a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct — and solicited the same child for an act of sodomy for money and used electronic communications to make the illicit offer.

At the time of his arrest, Johnson was a 7th-grade social studies teacher at New Hampstead K-8, according to WTOC.

In February, Johnson pleaded not guilty to the charges, WJCL-TV reported.

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