Category: blaze media

A WNBA coach told media members they should be writing about female oppression regarding recent events in the league.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve spoke to reporters during a team practice on Thursday and brought up the string of hilarious yet strange events happening at WNBA events. Not one, but four separate WNBA games have seen attendees throw phallic sex toys onto the court, causing confusion and halting play.

‘It’s not funny, and it should not be the butt of jokes on any radio shows or in print or in any comments.’

The events have become so widely discussed that gambling sites have been setting odds for future games. For example, Polymarket has seen almost $200,000 worth of bets on the topic at the time of this writing. Reeve, however, doesn’t see any humor in the toy-related stoppages. Instead, she scolded media members for participating in what has been “going on for centuries.”

Reeve brought up the “distraction” with reporters and referred to it as a “disruption” before giving them a supposed history lesson.

“Um, obviously you guys know what the object is. And I just want to comment on this has been going on for centuries: the sexualization of women,” Reeve claimed. “This is the latest version of that.”

After letting reporters know that the disruptions are “not funny,” Reeve lectured reporters on how the events should be reported and commented on.

RELATED: Watch: WNBA fan ejected over the most insane stoppage you’ll ever see

“It’s not funny, and it should not be the butt of jokes on any radio shows or in print or in any comments. The sexualization of women is what’s used to hold women down, and this is no different,” Reeve continued.

Reeve insisted that the events are the “latest” “form” of sexualization and that is how the media “should write about it.”

“These people that are doing this should be held accountable, and we’re not the butt of the joke. They’re the problem. And we need to take action,” the coach demanded.

The WNBA, which is notoriously subsidized by the NBA, has seen an array of odd stoppages lately, even aside from the onslaught of sex toys being launched onto courts.

RELATED: Trump supporter booted from soccer game over ‘MAGA’ hat — but exposes glaring hypocrisy before leaving

At the end of July, a Washington Mystics vs. Phoenix Mercury game was halted after one player yanked the wig off an opponent, causing the wig-less player to run off the court covering her head.

The affair did not stop there, however, as referees soon launched an impromptu investigation to find out which person in the crowd had said something mean to the player who lost her hair. This stopped play for even longer, as the referees worked with arena security.

The fan was later identified and ejected.

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​Wnba, Basketball, Feminism, Woke, Women’s sports, Fearless, Sports 

President Donald Trump vowed ahead of the 2024 election, “I will protect persecuted Christians, I will work to stop the violence and ethnic cleansing, and we will restore PEACE between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

The president’s promise of peace seemed an unlikely goal. After all, others before him had tried and failed to bring an end to the bitter conflict between the two nations over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in the Caucasus Mountains that was alternatively known until recently as the Republic of Artsakh.

A former Obama Pentagon official … suggested in a December op-ed that Trump ‘will have earned the right to a Nobel Peace Prize’ if he ends the conflict between these two nations.

That region became autonomous in 1923 while Armenia, the world’s oldest Christian country, and Azerbaijan, whose population is 97.3% Muslim, were both still members of the former Soviet Union.

Despite two bloody wars fought over the territory — the first in 1988 and the second in 2020 — Nagorno-Karabakh remained home to over 100,000 Armenian Christians, ever defiant of Azerbaijan’s territorial claims.

However, in September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a blitzkrieg on Nagorno-Karabakh with the help of Israeli and Turkish weaponry, killing hundreds of people, destroying churches, and forcing the Christian population to flee, in many cases on foot.

Trump noted on Thursday — months after a White House special envoy’s visit to the Azerbaijani capital, which boosted binational talk of a draft peace agreement — that he would host President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia for “a Historic Peace Summit.”

RELATED: Why President Trump should keep his promise to Armenia

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left); President Donald Trump (center); Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (right). Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN,ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

“These two Nations have been at War for many years, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people. Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to ‘TRUMP,'” the president wrote on Truth Social. “My Administration has been engaged with both sides for quite some time. Tomorrow, President Aliyev AND Prime Minister Pashinyan will join me at the White House for an official Peace Signing Ceremony.”

Evelyn Farkas, a former Obama Pentagon official who now serves as executive director of the McCain Institute, suggested in a December op-ed that Trump “will have earned the right to a Nobel Peace Prize” if he ends the conflict between these two nations.

‘The two neighbors have been in conflict for decades — over 35 years — with countless lives lost and generations scarred.’

Farkas suggested further that Trump was well-positioned to close the deal, writing, “Trump can leverage his prior business relationships and credibility in Baku and Aliyev’s desire to curry his favor to get U.S. economic investments and access and to restart U.S. military assistance.”

In addition to overseeing the signing of a peace accord, Trump — who has also brokered peaceful resolutions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia and Thailand, and India and Pakistan — indicated on Thursday that he would sign bilateral agreements with both countries “to pursue economic opportunities together, so we can fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region.”

On a call with reporters on Friday, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly stated, “The two neighbors have been in conflict for decades — over 35 years — with countless lives lost and generations scarred. While many have tried, including Joe Biden, only President Trump, the peacemaker in chief, was able to successfully bring Armenia and Azerbaijan together to agree to a historic peace.”

RELATED: Not tired of winning: Trump’s 200 victories in 200 days

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

A senior administration official noted on the call that a top Armenian official expressed disbelief after walking out of the negotiating room yesterday.

“He said, ‘I can’t believe tomorrow is going to happen — not for my sake, but my grandkids will be the first kids to grow up in this area who won’t have to fight their grandfather’s war.'”

Armenia has apparently agreed to permit a 27-mile corridor through its territory — the so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity — linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave on the Turkish border, thereby enabling persons and goods to transit between Turkey and Azerbaijan without having to pass through neighboring Iran or Russia.

‘Tomorrow is the handshake in writing the check.’

Armenia also agreed to grant the U.S. exclusive special development rights for 99 years along this route, which is known as the Zangezur Corridor.

To sweeten the deal for Azerbaijan, the U.S. will lift restrictions on defense cooperation with the Islamic country by waiving a section of a 1992 law that prohibits assistance and other benefits to Baku “until the President reports to the Congress that such government is taking steps to cease all blockades and uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“By locking in this path to peace, we are unlocking the great potential of the South Caucasus region in trade, transit, and energy flows,” Kelly said.

Another official on the call indicated that this joint declaration is the first-ever bilateral declaration signed by Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The official noted, “Tomorrow is the handshake in writing the check, and we still have to ink the contract and cash the check.”

While a “historic peace” between Azerbaijan and Armenia is imminent, not all are pleased with the terms of the deal.

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, blasted the deal, suggesting that Trump was retroactively sanctioning genocide.

“The same Donald Trump who failed to stop Azerbaijan’s 2020 attack on Nagorno Karabakh is now rewarding this very aggression — further compromising Armenia’s security and sovereignty and, in the process, abetting Azerbaijan’s normalization and formalization of its ethnic cleansing, its genocide, of more than 150,000 indigenous Armenian Christians,” Hamparian said.

The ANCA complained further that there appears to be no provisions in the deal for the return of forcibly displaced Armenians to Artsakh or a “meaningful rollback” of the Azerbaijani military presence inside Armenian territory.

“Real peace cannot be built on the forced displacement of a people, the abandonment of hostages, or the rollback of sovereignty,” Hamparian continued. “You can’t declare peace while ignoring the ethnic cleansing of 150,000 Armenians and the illegal imprisonment of their democratically elected leaders. That’s not peace — it’s impunity, an invitation to renewed aggression.”

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​White house, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Armenian, Christians, Foreign policy, Peace, Donald trump, Trump, Politics 

A sitting member of Congress declaring on foreign soil, in a foreign language, that she has primary allegiance to a foreign country sounds like the plot of a Russian spy thriller. Instead, Americans got a political telenovela when Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told an audience in Mexico, in Spanish, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.”

The only real surprise is that Ramirez said it out loud — on camera — and without qualification. Given the decline in standards among today’s lawmakers, especially on the Democrat side of the aisle, the sentiment isn’t shocking. The candor is.

Americans deserve to see whether Congress will enforce its own standards. Every member should go on record.

Ramirez’s statement has drawn condemnation from commentators, political leaders, and media outlets. Condemnation isn’t enough. She should be expelled from the House of Representatives. The Oversight Project has even done the work for members. On Thursday, we released the draft text of an expulsion resolution.

Realistically, that won’t happen. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote to expel a member, and Democrats will protect one of their own, even when that member flagrantly violates her oath of office.

Still, the vote should happen. Americans deserve to see whether Congress will enforce its own standards. Every member should go on record. Let the chips on “foreign interference” fall where they may.

The founders foresaw this

Congress has expelled 21 members in U.S. history — 17 for supporting the Confederacy, three for bribery or fraud, and one senator for siding with the British in West Florida. Almost no precedent exists for expelling a sitting member for declaring loyalty to a foreign country. That’s what makes Ramirez’s admission so remarkable.

The Constitution is built on the premise that lawmakers must have allegiance to the United States — exclusively. The founders addressed the danger of foreign influence in the oath of office, in treason’s definition, and in George Washington’s Farewell Address warning against “entangling alliances” and urging that the “name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity,” must take precedence over all other allegiances.

Expelling Ramirez would reaffirm that basic principle. Her district in Chicago is nearly 30% foreign-born and 42% Latino, according to recent, questionable census data. Many in her district no doubt share her divided loyalties, but that does not excuse it in an elected representative to Congress. Democracy may have put her in office, but the Constitution provides a remedy when loyalty to another nation trumps loyalty to the United States.

RELATED: ‘Paperwork Americans’ are not your countrymen

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Our draft resolution makes the case succinctly: Ramirez violated the oath she took upon entering office — to support and defend the Constitution and bear “true faith and allegiance to the same.” On May 14, she posted: “I swore an oath to protect the Constitution.” She remembers the oath well enough when it suits her politics.

If Congress cannot enforce that oath in the face of such a blatant breach, then the oath is meaningless.

No dual allegiances

Over the past few decades, Democrats have turned constitutional principles into political bargaining chips. Quiet subversion has given way to open defiance — nowhere more evident than in the immigration debate. Increasingly, they argue not over policy details, but over whether the United States should have immigration laws at all.

Republicans, for their part, have largely failed to confront this trend. Too often they negotiate away sovereignty in exchange for hollow compromises. That must end.

The line is simple: The United States cannot have a member of Congress whose primary allegiance is to Guatemala — or any other nation. Congress should act accordingly. Ramirez should be expelled.

​Opinion & analysis, Immigration, Illegal immigration, Anchor babies, Birthright citizenship, Delia ramirez, Dual loyalty, Guatemala, Guatemala first, America first, Allegiance, Founders, Constitution, Citizenship, George washington, Congress, Expel, Oath of office 

Some of the easiest ways for Democrats to pander to their audience are to entertain the idea of Trump’s impeachment or to tear up while discussing illegal aliens — which is why two senators couldn’t help themselves when recent opportunities to do just those two things arose.

“Why are there no calls for impeachment? This is unacceptable. I will not live in an authoritative country, and neither will any of these people. You can do more. I like you, and I will vote for you if you are brave and you do what we need. We need him impeached. We need him removed,” a woman said passionately to Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) at a town hall.

“There is no doubt that this president’s conduct has already exceeded any prior standard for impeachment by the United States House of Representatives. I agree with you. But as I said at the beginning, I also have no choice but to be candid with you about the situation,” Ossoff responded.

Ossoff went on to claim that to impeach, Democrats must “have a majority in the United States House of Representatives.”

“He just laid it out right there,” executive producer and co-host of “Pat Gray Unleashed” Keith Malinak says. “You give Democrats power, we will impeach President Trump regardless of what the issue is.”

Joining Ossoff in his delusion is Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who staged a theatrical display of fake tears while protesting America’s stance on deportations.

“Trump has gone too far. Even for his own supporters. When a father of three U.S. Marines is violently beaten and detained. When U.S. citizens are arrested for no other offense than the color of their skin,” Padilla said, close to tears.

“When a farm worker falls to their death during an ICE raid, we know it’s gone too far. Americans deserve a better path forward,” he continued, before introducing his new amnesty plan that would allow illegal immigrants amnesty after living in the U.S. for seven years.

“We’re going to reward you for living in the shadows successfully for seven years,” Malinak comments.

Gray takes Padilla’s plan a step further, joking, “If you’ve been breaking our laws for 20 years, we’re going to give you a new house.”

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.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent announcement has most of the MAHA movement feeling energized about the future of vaccines, including BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales — though she remains a little skeptical.

“At HHS, we have a division called the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA,” he began. “BARDA drives some of our most advanced scientific research. It funds developments of vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other tools to fight emerging diseases and national health threats.”

“Over the past few weeks, BARDA reviewed 22 mRNA vaccine development investments and began canceling them,” he continued.

The reasons behind these cancellations were that most of the shots were for flu or COVID, but the pandemic demonstrated that “mRNA vaccines don’t perform well against viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract.”

“Here’s the problem: mRNA only codes for a small part of the viral proteins, usually a single antigen. One mutation, and the vaccine becomes ineffective. This dynamic drives a phenomen[on] called antigenic shift, meaning that the vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine,” he explained.

“After reviewing the science and consulting top experts at NIH and FDA, HHS has determined that mRNA technology poses more risk than benefits for these respiratory viruses. That’s why after extensive review, BARDA has begun the process of terminating these 22 contracts totaling just under $500 million,” he concluded, noting that the agency will still be prioritizing the development of safer vaccine strategies.

Gonzales isn’t fully satisfied with RFK’s announcement.

“I’m glad that we’re not now investing $500 million worth of taxpayer money to mRNA technology that doesn’t work. But it is annoying to hear him like, ‘Okay, let me be clear before people call me an antivaxxer: We definitely support safe and effective vaccines,’” Gonzales says.

“Which ones are those?” she mocks.

However, despite her slight disappointment, she doesn’t believe that getting rid of vaccines immediately is the answer.

“You don’t want to do something that’s going to turn more people off than maybe intrigue them or spark some sort of a curiosity,” Gonzales says. “And I understand that you have to do this with intention. You have to do this the right way. You can’t just come in and upend the entire system.”

“So I’m actually happy with the way that he has addressed it so far,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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

​Sharing, Video phone, Video, Upload, Free, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blaze news, Blazetv, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Trump administration, Mrna vaccines, Vaccines, Anti vax, Anti vaxxer, Robert f kennedy jr, Rfk jr 

Some residents and local politicians in New Hampshire have sounded the alarm about national security concerns after a Chinese company purchased a large property near a small town’s water system.

Earlier this year, Nongfu Spring, one of China’s largest bottled water and soft beverages companies, quietly purchased a 337,391-square-foot industrial building on 23 acres in Nashua.

‘One does not become the richest man in that brutally repressive, expansionist country without close ties to … the CCP.’

Nongfu Spring, owned by China’s richest man, Zhong Shanshan, paid $67 million, four times the assessed value of the property, after it sat vacant for over a decade.

The company’s limited market in the U.S., the inflated sales price, and the building’s proximity to the Pennichuck water system, Nashua Airport, defense centers, and the Federal Aviation Administration control center only further raised suspicions about the purchase.

Professor Kerry K. Gershaneck, a visiting scholar at National Chengchi University and author of “Political Warfare: Strategies for Combating China’s Plan to ‘Win Without Fighting,'” told Blaze News, “For too long, CCP-affiliated entities have been purchasing strategically significant properties across the U.S., yet communist China does not allow American entities the same rights. Why would any ethical Granite State official tolerate this lack of reciprocity?”

Water access

Besides concerns prompted by the property’s close proximity to potentially sensitive infrastructure, some residents are further concerned about Nongfu Spring’s intent to acquire access to the nearby water system, which is owned by the city, to operate the facility.

Pennichuck Water Works insists that it has the capacity to meet the company’s needs.

Pennichuck CEO John Boisvert told the Keene Sentinel that supplying Nongfu Spring with water “falls within our existing withdrawal permits.”

“We’re permitted for over 30 million gallons a day. If you look at average day demands, we’re somewhere around 11 or 12 million gallons. In the summertime, we can go up to 20. We’ve got a lot of excess capacity in that withdrawal,” Boisvert said.

RELATED: China’s back door into our military? US recruiters use CCP-controlled messaging app to target Chinese nationals

CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

While some critics are concerned about the potential strain the facility will place on the local water supply, others are worried that Nongfu Spring has plans to outright purchase the town’s water plant.

Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) told NH Journal that she plans to monitor the deal to ensure that does not happen.

“It’s critical that we safeguard New Hampshire from foreign adversaries like China. We need to ensure we aren’t allowing any national security threat to take root in our state,” she told the news outlet.

Proponents of Nongfu Spring’s purchase argue that a water deal with Pennichuck could drive down costs for residents.

C. George Bower, the chairman of Pennichuck’s board of directors, told NH Journal, “We have fixed costs and variable costs, and a contract like this brings in an ongoing revenue stream that could help us control rates.”

“There is zero plan to sell the company; there is zero plan to sell any land. We have no land to sell,” Bower said.

About the company

In 1983, before starting Nongfu Spring, Zhong worked as a journalist for the Zhejiang Daily, the official paper of the Communist Party. Zhong, who also has a controlling stake in the pharmaceutical company Wantai Biological, became China’s richest man in 2020, surpassing Tencent’s Pony Ma and Alibaba’s Jack Ma.

‘Only after the story became public and residents started asking questions did they suddenly withdraw that request.’

Gershaneck told Blaze News, “Rational Granite State officials and citizens know that one does not become the richest man in that brutally repressive, expansionist country without close ties to — and proven obedience to — the CCP.”

“Totalitarian communist China’s strict national security laws require those of Chinese descent globally to support its spy organizations, wage political warfare designed to destroy our country and our friends and allies, and even assist in military operations on its behalf,” he added.

Gershaneck noted that the inflated sales price “raises legitimate questions as to other motivations behind this purchase beyond simply gaining access to fresh water to make fruit juice.”

Despite Zhong’s suspected connections to the Chinese Communist Party, Nongfu Spring faced boycotts last year driven by Chinese nationals. They accused the company of using Japanese-inspired designs on its bottles. Chinese nationals also expressed concerns that the Chinese company would be passed down to Zhong’s son, an American citizen who graduated from the University of California, Irvine, and is currently listed as a non-executive director at his father’s company.

The rampant online campaign reportedly dropped the company’s market capitalization by $3 billion and Zhong’s personal wealth by $2 billion.

It is uncertain whether the backlash affected Nongfu Spring’s decision to purchase property in New Hampshire, and the company’s intentions for the property are still unclear.

RELATED: University of Michigan now under fire after Chinese scholars allegedly smuggle bio-weapon

Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Community reaction

New Hampshire state Senator Kevin Avard (R) has been a vocal critic of the recent sale.

Avard told Blaze News that “within weeks” of purchasing the property, Nongfu Spring “filed a request to pump up to 2 million gallons of water a day from Nashua’s public water supply.”

“Only after the story became public and residents started asking questions did they suddenly withdraw that request,” he stated. “We fought hard years ago to keep Pennichuck’s water in public hands — we shouldn’t have to fight again to keep it out of foreign ones.”

He added, “I think it’s fair to ask: When billion-dollar companies with ties to a hostile foreign regime overpay for vacant property in New Hampshire, are they buying influence, buying silence, or both?”

The Chinese company’s New Hampshire property purchase is not an isolated situation. Avard noted that “another CCP business” bought a former college campus near Nashua Airport.

Lily Tang Williams, a Republican congressional candidate in New Hampshire and a survivor of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, similarly expressed concerns about Chinese businesses purchasing property in her back yard.

“Daniel Webster College located on a 54-acre campus next to Nashua Airport was sold to a Chinese businessman in 2018. The campus is largely inactive with some buildings rented out. This, just like China’s richest man’s water company real estate deal[,] were not reviewed by [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States],” Tang Williams stated.

The Treasury Department and Nongfu Spring did not respond to a request for comment.

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​News, New hampshire, China, Chinese communist party, Ccp, Nongfu spring, Zhong shanshan, Kelly ayotte, Kerry k. gershaneck, People’s republic of china, Prc, Kevin avard, Lily tang williams, Nashua new hampshire, Politics 

CNN contributor Scott Jennings traded barbs with “The Young Turks” host Ana Kasparian after the conservative stalwart pointed out Democrats have been encouraging violence against federal agents conducting immigration enforcement.

During Thursday’s episode of “News Night with Abby Phillip,” the panel was discussing the Department of Homeland Security’s new recruitment drive to hire 10,000 new agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jennings said Republicans are the ones who are supporting the effort while Democrats have been egging on attacks against ICE, prompting Kasparian to interject.

‘Let me just tell you something, someone messes with my family, I get violent!’

“They are? How are they encouraging violence? How exactly? … So we’re just going to make a declarative statement like that without providing a single shred of evidence?” Kasparian asked.

When Jennings said one way Democrats have made ICE agents’ job more dangerous is by comparing them to the Gestapo, Kasparian shot back, “Well, they do act like Gestapo!”

“Now you’re doing it. I assume you condone the violence! Do you condone the violence?” Jennings replied.

Kasparian said ICE agents are making it dangerous for themselves by doing operations in Home Depot parking lots and arresting women and children.

RELATED: Border Patrol switches up tactics to apprehend illegal immigrants in Los Angeles

Border Patrol switches up tactics to apprehend illegal immigrants in Los Angeles Carlin Steihl/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Even though Kasparian went on to say anyone who does commit an attack on federal agents should get arrested, Jennings asked her why they were being attacked in the first place.

“Because they’ve been told the ICE agents are Gestapo,” he added, answering his own question.

“When they see their mothers or fathers or family members rounded up that leads to a lot of rage, and they retaliate! I’m not saying they should! … Let me just tell you something, someone messes with my family, I get violent! OK, that’s how I feel about family,” Kasparian continued.

DHS announced on Thursday that attacks and assaults on personnel participating in immigration enforcement operations have now risen to over 1,000% compared to the same time last year.

— (@)

Despite the intense backlash federal agents are facing, DHS has said it has received tens of thousands of applications to take part in immigration enforcement.

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​Politics 

Hi, I’m Lauren Fix, longtime automotive journalist and a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Welcome back to “Quick Fix,” where I answer car-related questions you submit to me.

Today’s question comes from Stephanie in Michigan.

Hi, Lauren:

Is it possible for a car owner to repair a rusted-out bottom of their automobile without a professional?

Well, Stephanie, unless you’ve got a lot of collision experience, I would recommend not doing this yourself.

Now, here’s what the pros do at the collision shop. They blast the underbody using compressed air and some type of abrasive: sand, walnut shells, baking soda.

Or these days, they may also use laser rust removal.

Theoretically, you could probably rent the equipment and do it yourself. And then you could take your car to a place like Ziebart for rust protection.

But keep in mind the safety considerations. You want to wear protective gear — and you want to know what you’re doing.

And not just for your own safety, but also for your car’s. Remember, there is a lot of stuff down there: brake lines, fuel lines, rubber hoses, driveshaft transmission. If you damage one of those, you could end up with a much bigger problem.

So you want to make sure it’s done correctly. If the rust damage is so severe that you actually have holes in your floor pan (which used to happen a lot in 80s cars), then you get into replacing sections, and it’s probably a good idea to leave it to a collision shop.

Got a car-related question? Email me at getquickfix@pm.me.

​Align cars, Quick fix, Lauren fix, Lifestyle, How to, Cars, Rusted out, Rust, Underbody, Floor plan, Ziebart, Laser rust removal 

President Donald Trump is once again clamping down on government weaponization, this time against corrupt and discriminatory financial institutions.

Some big banks have a steady track record of participating in “government-directed” surveillance programs that single out and punish conservatives. Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, some banks were directed to flag individuals who made transactions that involved terms like “Trump” or “MAGA” or with companies like Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop.

‘Such practices are incompatible with a free society.’

In response to this abuse, Trump’s signed an executive order Thursday that will prohibit politically motivated debanking and protect hardworking Americans.

“Individuals, their businesses, and their families have been subjected to debanking on the basis of their political affiliations, religious beliefs, or lawful business activities and have suffered frozen payrolls, debt, and crushing interest and other significant harms to their livelihoods, reputations, and financial well-being,” the executive order read.

RELATED: Biden admin has been using banking institutions to spy on Americans without warrants: House report

“Such practices are incompatible with a free society and the principle that the provision of banking services should be based on material, measurable, and justifiable risks,” the executive order continued.

Financial officers across the country came out in support of the executive order, commending Trump for “restoring viewpoint neutrality.”

“President Trump’s executive action directly confronts this abuse of regulatory authority,” a joint statement from 32 state financial officers reads. “By reaffirming that banks must evaluate customers based on objective financial criteria, not political or religious views, his leadership marks a crucial step toward restoring viewpoint neutrality and putting an end to unlawful discrimination in our financial sector.”

RELATED: Obama DOJ initiative became political de-banking scheme, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen tells Joe Rogan

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“We stand ready to support these efforts to secure a just and impartial financial future for all Americans,” the statement reads. “Let us send a clear message: Discriminatory debanking stops now.”

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​Donald trump, Executive order, Trump administration, Debanking, Trump, Maga, Government weaponization, Joe biden, Biden administration, Politics 

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last week declassified a 29-page document known as the Durham annex. Its publication has received remarkably little attention from major media outlets, despite containing one of the most significant intelligence disclosures since the origins of the Russiagate investigation.

The Durham annex is not conjecture, analysis, or political spin. It is a collection of sensitive intelligence reports, internal memos, and declassified emails compiled by the intelligence community and withheld from public view for years under the pretext of “source protection.”

The Durham annex reveals that the FBI ignored evidence in 2015 and 2016 suggesting that foreign governments were attempting to collude not with Trump, but with Clinton.

The declassified document offers a clearer view of what many Americans have long suspected: that the narrative surrounding Trump-Russia collusion was not only politically motivated but deliberately constructed by the Clinton campaign, facilitated by sympathetic actors within U.S. intelligence agencies, and ultimately endorsed by senior members of the Obama administration.

This trove of documents does not merely reinforce existing criticisms of the FBI’s conduct during the 2016 election. It provides evidence that the Clinton campaign approved a strategy to discredit Donald Trump by promoting a false association with Vladimir Putin. And it does so using intelligence collected from foreign surveillance of American political actors — surveillance that the CIA deemed credible enough to brief President Barack Obama directly.

The cover-up unraveled

Central to the Durham annex is a source codenamed “T1” — a foreign intelligence asset who intercepted Russian cyber-espionage activity targeting American entities, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, the Clinton campaign, and U.S. think tanks. The reports T1 relayed to U.S. intelligence included detailed assessments of internal American political strategy. In effect, T1 was watching Russian spies watch us — and reporting back.

T1’s identity remains classified, but strong circumstantial evidence points to a Dutch intelligence source. The Netherlands reportedly gained access to Russian cyber operations as early as 2014. Regardless of who provided it, U.S. agencies treated the intelligence from T1 as credible.

Then-CIA Director John Brennan quickly briefed President Obama, Vice President Biden, FBI Director James Comey, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Those briefings included memos indicating Hillary Clinton had personally approved a plan to tie Donald Trump to Russian election interference.

One memo, dated 2016 and reportedly obtained through Russian surveillance of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, outlined a Clinton campaign strategy: “Smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal” over Russia’s preference for Trump. That memo laid the groundwork for the Trump-Russia collusion hoax now known as Russiagate.

Intelligence running Clinton’s interference

The CIA labeled the intelligence “sensitive” and credible. The FBI rejected it. Agents claimed it relied on hearsay, appeared exaggerated, and might have suffered from translation errors.

That kind of skepticism might seem reasonable — if the FBI had applied the same scrutiny to the Steele dossier. Instead, they accepted that now-debunked document without verification and used it to justify surveillance warrants.

The inconsistency runs deeper than analysis. The Durham annex reveals that the FBI ignored evidence from 2015 and 2016 showing that foreign governments weren’t courting Trump — they were cozying up to Clinton.

One memo, written before Trump even announced his candidacy, described a foreign intelligence operative preparing to meet with a Clinton associate to discuss a “plan.” The operative was acting on direct orders from a foreign head of state.

RELATED: The Russia hoax and COVID lies share the same deep-state fingerprints

Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic

The precise content of the plan is redacted, but the FBI’s field office viewed it as serious enough to request a FISA warrant. That request, however, was left to “languish in limbo” by senior FBI officials, who subsequently warned Clinton in a defensive briefing.

Frayed trust, no accountability

The documents suggest a coordinated operation — one in which political, bureaucratic, and media institutions aligned to discredit a political opponent using information they had strong reasons to believe was false. The CIA deemed the intelligence worth a presidential briefing. The FBI discarded it. The media ignored it. And Clinton operatives implemented it.

This is not merely a scandal of partisan excess. Nearly 10 years after the first Hillary Clinton email leaks, and eight years after Trump’s unexpected victory, we are only now beginning to see the scope of institutional complicity in the Russiagate deception. The political cost may never be fully calculated, but the institutional damage — to the FBI, to the intelligence community, and to the trust of the American people — is already done.

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​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Russiagate, Russian collusion, John durham, 2016 presidential election, Deep state, John brennan, Hillary clinton, Barack obama, Emails, Special counsel, Robert mueller, Fisa abuse, Warrants, Fisa court, Perjury, Russia, Vladimir putin, Steele dossier, Durham annex, George soros, Open society foundations, James clapper, James comey, Fbi, Cia, Intelligence community, Chuck grassley 

Texas-born actress and former mixed martial artist Gina Carano played the character Cara Dune on the hit Disney series “The Mandalorian,” providing the franchise with a genuinely strong female protagonist.

The House of Mouse, which has long tolerated extreme rhetoric and controversial views from its liberal talent, proved unwilling to permit Carano’s expression of mainline conservative views during the pandemic, giving her the boot.

No shrinking violet, Carano fought back against the corporate giant. On Thursday, she was rewarded for her perseverance.

How it started

In February 2021 — following the conclusion of the second season of “The Mandalorian” — Lucasfilm canned the actress, letting her find out herself from second-hand sources.

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm, and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”

In previous months, Carano enraged LGBT radicals by jokingly stating her pronouns were “beep/bop/boop,” enraged Covidians with her criticism of pandemic mask policies, and enraged Democrats by urging for voter ID laws.

However, the straw that broke the mouse’s back was Carano’s social media post pointing out parallels between COVID authoritarianism and the rise of Nazi Germany and the worsening political climate.

RELATED: What Pedro Pascal’s stardom reveals about Hollywood — and its war on real men

Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic

“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors … even by children,” the post said. “Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”

‘They will fire you if you say anything they disagree with, even if they have to MISREPRESENT, MALIGN, and MISCHARACTERIZE you to do it.’

While Carano’s post was characterized as “abhorrent” and unwarranted, she was writing around the time that polling showed that 45% of Democrats supported throwing the unvaccinated into camps and that 48% of Democrats supported federal or state governments fining or imprisoning Americans who questioned the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines on social media, TV, radio, or in digital publications.

Responding to Lucasfilm’s claims about her “denigrating posts,” Carano said in a February 2024 statement,

The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time. My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me.

After noting further that “artists do not sign away our rights as American citizens when we enter into employment,” Carano announced that she had taken up Elon Musk’s offer of legal support for those fired over lawful exercises of free speech.

Carano sued Disney in early 2024 for alleged wrongful termination and sex discrimination.

RELATED: The culture war isn’t a distraction — it’s the main front

Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage

When Disney tried in April 2024 to throw out the lawsuit, Carano put them on blast, writing, “Disney has confirmed what has been known all along, they will fire you if you say anything they disagree with, even if they have to MISREPRESENT, MALIGN, and MISCHARACTERIZE you to do it.”

How it turned out

Hours after writing, “The truth will set you free,” Carano announced on Thursday evening that she had come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm, suggesting it “is the best outcome for all parties involved.”

In addition to thanking Elon Musk — “a man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit” — the actress expressed gratitude to her lawyers, her supporters, and God.

“I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me,” added Carano.

A Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement to Variety, “The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies. Ms. Carano was always well-respected by her directors, co-stars and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect.”

“With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future,” added the spokesperson.

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​Gina carano, Disney, Carano, Mandalorian, Censorship, Lucasfilm, Star wars, Elon musk, Politics, Entertainment 

Eighteen-month-old Mohammed Zakariya al-Matouq of Gaza reportedly suffers from cerebral palsy and genetic disorders — but that didn’t stop the American media or Gaza’s leadership from using a photo of the boy as proof of widespread starvation and for anti-Israel propaganda.

His image has been used on the front pages of newspapers around the world and in broadcasts like the BBC, CNN, and Sky.

In the Guardian’s story on the photo, it was captioned that Muhammad was “facing life-threatening malnutrition.” The U.K.’s Daily Express called it “a horrifying image encapsulating the ‘maelstrom of human misery’ gripping Gaza.”

Mohammed’s photo was also distributed by Anadolu Agency, the Turkish state news service, as the amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza has been challenged and questioned. Critics are arguing that Hamas omitted the child’s medical history, as confirmed by his mother and Dr. Suzan Mohammed Marouf in order to amplify a starvation narrative.

In the photo, Mohammed is held by his mother, who BlazeTV host Pat Gray can’t help but notice “seems pretty OK.”

“I’m not saying she’s gigantic, I’m just saying she’s not starving. So if you’re eating all his food, you might want to share there, mom, because you look pretty healthy,” Gray says.

“So it turns out, he’s got several other problems genetically that he was born with … and they are the problems that cause him to look like that, right? Not the fact that Israel is keeping food from these Palestinians,” he adds.

“I don’t remember a time in the past,” he says, “and they’ve been through this kind of stuff many, many times with the Palestinians. I don’t remember them ever cutting off a food supply.”

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​Upload, Camera phone, Video, Sharing, Video phone, Free, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Hamas propaganda, Hamas, Gaza, Palestinians, Starving gaza boy photo, Media lies 

An executive order signed by President Trump upon taking office is having a ripple effect on gender activism in Canada.

On January 20, Trump signed an order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

The order affirmed the “biological reality of sex” and formally recognized only two genders in the United States. Canadians were recently notified that the order is now restricting their gender performance in terms of travel documents.

‘Canada must uphold its commitment to gender inclusion.’

Since 2019, Canadians have been allowed to designate their genders as “X” on their passports, a policy that progressed through the Nexus travel cards, a joint program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The program allows travelers between the two countries to cross faster using expedited lines and screening processes.

Now, the CBSA has confirmed that Nexus users from Canada will no longer be allowed to label their gender as “X” and must be compliant with Trump’s executive order moving forward.

As Juno News reported, current Nexus cards will remain valid if they use the X, but all future applications are required to select either “male” or “female.”

Canadian border officials confirmed that this will affect hundreds of Nexus members.

RELATED: Border Patrol switches up tactics to apprehend illegal immigrants in Los Angeles

Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

Approximately 550 Nexus applications have been submitted with the gender marked as “X” between January 2022 and March 2025. It is unknown, however, how many current card holders will have to change once they renew; Nexus cards are valid for five years.

A CBSA spokesman told the Canadian Press that while Canada’s government recognizes the “X,” it cannot guarantee entry to other countries.

“Not all countries have the same values and legal system that we have in Canada,” Luke Reimer said in a statement. “As a result, it is important for travelers to be informed about the legal framework and social customs governing sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics in the destination country.”

Predictably, transgender activists in Canada were not pleased about the change and labeled it a regression.

RELATED: Sanctuary cities on DOJ’s list set to reap the whirlwind

Photo by Stacey Newman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Removing the “X” option is a “step backward for the recognition and inclusion of trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people,” according to Helen Kennedy. Kennedy is the executive director of Egale Canada, a gay activism charity. Kennedy told the Canadian Press, “Canada must uphold its commitment to gender inclusion and human rights by working with U.S. counterparts to find solutions that do not erase the identities of 2SLGBTQI people.”

A lawyer named Sarah Mikhail claimed the change is a “manifestation” of how Trump’s policies affects different gay identities.

“What we are seeing right now is a policy that is at odds with our own policy and inconsistent and incompatible with it,” she told the Canadian Press. She added that the change of policy is “distressing and troubling” to those who believe they are transgender or nonbinary.

The U.S. will continue to accept Canadian passports that use an “X” gender for general travel, though.

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​News, Trump, Canada, Gender ideology, Gender identity, Woke, Transgenderism, Politics 

Texas Democrats have once again fled the state — not in the face of danger or persecution, but to block a vote they know they’ll lose.

This time, they’re trying to derail a redistricting plan that would likely establish five more Republican districts. Rather than face the debate, they bolted. Gov. Greg Abbott responded by ordering the Texas Rangers to investigate the absent legislators for potential violations of state law, including bribery.

Voters should recognize that these performative walkouts have nothing to do with democracy or the rule of law. They’re tantrums — undemocratic and unaccountable.

This isn’t a new tactic for Democrats in Texas. In 2003, they fled to a motel in Ardmore, Oklahoma, to block another redistricting vote. Eleven Senate Democrats later fled to New Mexico in a failed attempt to stop the plan. In 2021, Democrats once again abandoned their posts — this time flying to Washington, D.C. — to obstruct a bill that tightened mail-in voting rules and curbed 2020-era voting expansions in Harris County. That bill passed too.

Now they’re repeating the act, claiming to “defend democracy” from Republican gerrymandering while retreating to safe blue havens like Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York. One Democrat compared the new redistricting map to the Holocaust (she later apologized). Others predictably called the plan “racist.” Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries flew to Austin for “closed-door meetings,” and California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged to pursue their own gerrymanders back home.

The hypocrisy is as plain as it is tedious.

As journalist Matt Kittle noted in the Federalist, this brand of protest isn’t just ineffective — it’s absurd. Wisconsin Democrats tried something similar in 2011, fleeing to Illinois to block a bill that curbed public-sector union power. Then-Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans passed it anyway using a procedural maneuver to overcome the quorum requirement.

Kittle also pointed out the irony: The Democrats’ sanctuary states — Illinois, New York, California — are among the most gerrymandered in the country. Yet those states don’t seem to trouble the “defenders of democracy.”

It’s easy to see why Texas Democrats like Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Al Green want to preserve a system that favors them. What’s harder to see is what they hope to gain from this stunt. They have no leverage. Their absence ensures failure. Even as political theater, it’s weak and self-defeating. It makes them look unserious and incapable of governing.

Rep. Salman Bhojani, one of the Texas Democrats who fled, may not return at all — he reportedly needs to leave the country for a “family medical emergency.” His constituents in Euless should ask: Who’s representing them now?

But most won’t ask. Most don’t even know who Bhojani is. And that’s the deeper problem.

Too many state legislators are anonymous placeholders. They win office by running with a “D” or “R” next to their names. They stay in office because they’ve been there before. Their constituents rarely track their votes or positions — many wouldn’t even recognize their representative if they saw them on TV.

Bhojani faced no opponent in his last election. Apart from donors and staffers, almost no one in Euless likely knows who he is — until now that he’s left the country and quite likely his job.

RELATED: The cold civil war is real — and only one side is fighting to win

Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

So what kind of democracy is this?

If lawmakers go unchallenged, remain largely unknown, and face no accountability for skipping out on their duties, can we really call this democratic representation? And if redistricting efforts aim to align political boundaries more closely with population centers — rather than carve out safe enclaves for party operatives — might that not restore some of the lost accountability?

At present, most lawmakers serve parties and donors, not voters. The party ensures they run unopposed or draws the district to guarantee victory. The campaign is just a formality. Once elected, they vote the party line and maybe dabble in social media branding.

Right now, this is more a problem for Democrats than Republicans. But that could easily flip. Voters of all stripes should recognize that these performative walkouts have nothing to do with democracy or the rule of law. They’re tantrums — undemocratic and unaccountable.

Republicans in Washington and across red states should follow Texas’ lead: Call the bluff, pass the bills, and begin the work of restoring actual representative government. That’s what voters want — left, right, and center.

​Opinion & analysis, Texas, Democrats, Quorum, Quorum breakers, Redistricting, Gerrymandering, Greg abbott, Texas rangers, Republicans, Gavin newsom, California, Jb pritzker, Illinois, Kathy hochul, New york, Democracy, Jasmine crockett, Al green, Salman bhojani 

You are what what you eat eats. Try saying that in a hurry.

It’s a simple maxim, but one that guides me in my nutritional choices and in the advice I give to other people about improving their diet. If the meat and animal products you eat come from animals that live unhealthy, unhappy lives — if they’re stuffed full of poor-quality food they shouldn’t even be eating and housed in an unnatural environment — then you’re not going to derive as much benefit from those products as you should.

If you feed animals badly, you get a bad product. It’s that simple.

And why would you want that?

Animal welfare matters

Animal welfare matters not only because it determines the quality of the food you eat, but also because animals are sentient, feeling creatures who deserve moral consideration.

This doesn’t get said enough, actually, and there’s been a rather depressing tendency for so-called conservatives to pay little heed to the suffering of livestock or animals. This is part of a broader Philistine tendency on the right, I think, that reduces everything to economics and lines on a graph.

But of course it’s more economical to immobilize 10,000 chickens in a strip-lit warehouse instead of pasturing them on grass, in rather the same way it might seem economical to import your nation’s birth rates and undercut native labour with cheap foreigners at half the price — and of course they don’t unionize either!

A two-way pact

Domestication, which created cows and chickens and sheep and pigs as we know them, was a two-way pact, and we shouldn’t forget it. We got reliable, high-quality nutrition that didn’t have to be hunted on the plains and in the forests, at great risk to ourselves, and the animals got care and protection — including from other animals like wolves and bears and big cats.

The terms of this pact, and of man’s proper relation to nature more broadly, were given their most solemn expression in the book of Genesis, when God granted man “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

By “dominion,” God didn’t mean, “You can do anything you want to these animals.” He meant, “You are the lord of these animals, and like every lord and his subjects, you have obligations to them. They are in your care. They are not to be abused or misused.”

I didn’t really intend this piece to be a bit of Biblical exegesis, but oh well — here we are.

But as I was saying, if you feed animals badly, you get a bad product. It’s that simple.

Farmed salmon ‘toxic’

Take farmed salmon, for example. I think we all know we’re supposed to eat more oily fish to get those important omega-3s in our diet, but the truth is, farmed salmon may be one of the most toxic foods on the planet, and it’s all to do with how the fish are raised and in particular what they’re fed.

RELATED: Cattle rancher’s STARK warning: You’ll only have meat ‘as a treat’

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Research has linked regular consumption of farmed salmon to diabetes and obesity. Mice fed farmed salmon gain twice as much weight as mice fed other foods. Farmed salmon has been shown to carry an enormous payload of harmful chemicals, which probably explains its obesogenic effects.

A 2004 study showed at least 13 different persistent organic pollutants in the flesh of farmed salmon and that levels of polychlorinated biphenyls — chemicals known to be carcinogenic and to cause hormonal disruption — were eight times higher in farmed salmon than wild. Two other kinds of carcinogenic chemicals — dioxins and polybrominated diphenyl ethers — have also been found in high concentrations in farmed salmon.

One of the main foods given to farmed salmon is eel and other fatty fish, which are chosen because of their high protein and fat content. The problem is that fatty fish readily accumulate harmful substances, many of which are lipophilic (attracted to fat) and get stuck in their fat stores. A lot of the fatty fish that go into fish feed are taken from the Baltic, one of the most heavily polluted seas on the planet, concentrating the waste of nine industrial nations. (In Sweden, fishmongers are legally required to warn customers of the health risks of consuming fish caught in the Baltic. I bet you didn’t know that.)

Pigs under pressure

The same is true of pigs and pork. Apart from chickens, pigs bear the greatest burden of suffering in the modern industrial farming system. If you want any further reason to pray for the Three Gorges Dam to fail, look up China’s multi-story pig farms, which have the capacity to house and slaughter millions of pigs a year.

We in the West aren’t much better, though. For the most part, pigs here are just as unhappy: cramped, stressed, stuffed full of cheap corn and soy to fatten them up for slaughter as quickly and economically — there it is, that word again — as possible.

That means atrocious misery and poor-quality pork and lard to boot. There’s been a lot of talk of putting away seed and vegetable oils and returning to healthy traditional animal fats like butter and tallow and lard, but lard from industrially raised pigs is anything but healthy or traditional. Because pigs don’t have a rumen — those magical multiple stomachs possessed by cows and sheep — if they’re fed trash like soybean oil, they can’t convert the fats in it to saturated fat. As a result, the fat content of the pork comes to resemble soybean oil, and you’ve got seed oil but it’s called lard. So it goes.

Meet Acorn Bluff

Thank God, then, for Acorn Bluff Farms, a family farm in the rolling bluff country of Louisa County, Iowa. The farm has been in continuous use for nearly 200 years, but in the last five years its owners have converted the farm to focus on producing the highest quality pasture-raised pork, using one of the world’s most prestigious heritage breeds: the Hungarian Mangalitsa.

Mangalitsa pigs were originally bred for the Habsburgs, the royal family of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You can recognize them by their absurdly cute curly hair. Since they were bred for European royalty, you can bet Mangalitsa pigs taste good. Some call Mangalitsa the “Kobe beef” of pork, Kobe beef being one of the priciest and most prized kinds of beef in the world. The cows are fed beer and given massages. (Really: Look it up.)

Acorn Bluff Farms

The other red meat

At Acorn Bluff Farms, the pigs and piglets are allowed to roam and forage and wallow in the mud and chase one another through the fields and forest like pigs and piglets should. Follow the farm’s Twitter account (@acornblufffarms) for regular heartwarming videos.

In the middle of the 20th century, pork began to be marketed as “the other white meat,” but this was only really possible because modern farming methods were turning pork into an insipid, watered-down, pale shadow of the meat it really is.

If you buy some pork chops or a side of spare ribs from Acorn Bluff Farms, you’ll see pork in its true form: the other red meat. And what’s more, you can enjoy every single mouthful, without guilt — which is how it should be, because God said so.

​Maha, Acorn bluff farms, Pork, Farming, Mangalitsa pigs, Lifestyle, Health and wellness, Fitness, Provisions 

The Department of Labor reported on August 1 that the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up slightly in July to 4.2%. Employers added just 73,000 jobs — well below the 110,000 economists had projected.

Democrats pounced immediately.

This isn’t economic chaos. It’s called a comeback.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed the report showed Americans are “paying the price” for “Donald Trump’s destructive trade war.” He called the data an illustration of “economic chaos.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — already positioning himself for a 2028 presidential run — declared that Trump is “crashing our economy” and insisted, “We haven’t seen conditions like these since 2020.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D) of Connecticut said the economy was “chaotic and full of corruption.” He later wrote on X: “Companies don’t want to create jobs in Trump’s chaos economy with weakening rule of law and rampant corruption.”

But the reality is far less dramatic than the rhetoric.

Numbers in context

Yes, the July jobs report was underwhelming. But it was far from catastrophic.

The 4.2% unemployment rate in July 2025 is the same as it was in July 2024 — and in March, April, May, August, and November of last year. The rate has held steady for months. In what way is that “crashing our economy”? That’s called consistency.

By contrast, unemployment rose significantly during President Biden’s final year in office. In July 2023, the rate was 3.5%. A year later, just before Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, it had climbed to 4.2%.

The fact is, Trump didn’t inherit a strong economy. He got Biden’s inflation, stagnation, and policy uncertainty. So what we’re seeing now is more of a course correction, not a crash.

Signs of progress

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, full-time employment has grown by 1.1 million over the past 12 months. Layoffs in July were down 15% year over year.

Gross domestic product also rebounded. The Commerce Department reports that U.S. economic output rose 3% in the second quarter of 2025, reversing a 0.5% contraction in the first.

None of this suggests economic free fall. It suggests recovery.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has brokered major trade agreements with key global players and secured historic investment deals — moves that will pay off in the years ahead.

Japan pledged to invest $550 billion in U.S. industries, and Saudi Arabia agreed to $600 billion in new investments. In May, the United Arab Emirates agreed to more than $200 billion in commercial deals, on top of a $1.4 trillion commitment earlier this year to back emerging technologies.

Domestic investment is ramping up

American companies are also stepping up in response to Trump’s pro-business regulatory agenda.

Apple this week reached an agreement with the White House to commit another $100 million to domestic manufacturing. This follows the tech giant’s announcement in February of plans to spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over four years, focusing on operations in Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina.

IBM pledged $150 billion over five years.

RELATED: Powell’s tight money policy is strangling the US economy

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Eli Lilly in February committed $27 billion for new domestic manufacturing, including four new plants. That initiative alone will create more than 3,000 permanent jobs and 10,000 construction jobs.

These investments are not instant, but they are real — and they will reshape America’s economy.

The real panic is political

The Democrats’ sudden alarm over a flat unemployment rate reveals more about their political fears than economic facts. A strengthening Trump economy threatens their narrative — and their electoral strategy.

They’re hoping manufactured panic can drown out progress. But Americans can see what’s really happening.

The July jobs report may have missed expectations, but the broader trend is unmistakable. Trump is rebuilding what Biden’s policies eroded. Jobs are returning. Investment is growing. Stability is taking root.

This isn’t economic chaos. It’s called a comeback.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Economy, Trump economy, Economic recovery, Donald trump, Apple, Ibm, Eli lilly, Unemployment, Joe biden, Chuck schumer, Economic chaos, Gavin newsom, Chris murphy, Recession, Expansion, Manufacturing, Tariffs, Trade, Bureau of labor statistics 

After one fan was arrested for throwing a sex toy at a WNBA game, other fans did not heed the warning — as they have continued throwing them on the court.

On Tuesday night, green dildos were thrown at Barclays Center during the Liberty-Wings game and at the Crypto.com Arena.

In the Los Angeles game, the sex toy was thrown onto the court and appeared to hit Fever star Sophie Cunningham, before Sparks star Kelsey Plum kicked the green object away from the court.

“Stop throwing dildos on the court,” Cunningham posted on X following the incident. “You’re going to hurt one of us.”

While the women of the WNBA are not happy, BlazeTV host Alex Stein is a fan of the development.

“The WNBA is being barraged by a bunch of fake penises, and America loves it actually. So much so that the betting lines are getting more action on whether or not a dildo will be thrown on the court than on who will win or lose the game,” Stein says on “Prime Time with Alex Stein.”

And it’s true. Crypto-based prediction market Polymarket is allowing users to put money on whether or not more dildos will fly. One user even earned more than $6,000 following the latest sex toy stunt.

“I, for one, am all about this. I’m actually going to start going to a lot of WNBA games,” Stein says.

“This is brilliant,” he continues. “I just love that we have hacked the WNBA where we can have a gambling edge.”

Want more from Alex Stein?

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Two men were arrested after they were found squatting at a family’s home in Texas while they were away on vacation, according to Houston police.

Connie and Joe Cases told KRIV-TV that they were alerted by a relative about a strange man on their front porch at their home on Thiess Road. He was identified as 43-year-old Jerry Vallade.

‘They drank all our alcohol, chopped up some brisket, had hot sauce out.’

“He told him he knew us, because he’d seen our name,” Connie Cases said to KRIV. “As he’s talking to him, our Jeep comes pulling down the road with the other thief driving it.”

They said the other man got out of the Jeep and walked off to a gas station before police arrived. He was identified as 40-year-old Dustin Gamblin, and within an hour both men had been arrested.

When the couple returned, they found that the men had helped themselves to their food and their alcohol and had even worn their clothing. They also found weapons, money, and electronics missing.

“They drank all our alcohol, chopped up some brisket, had hot sauce out,” Connie Cases said.

The couple found evidence that the men intended to return to the home and continue their unauthorized residence when they were rudely interrupted by the rightful owners.

“I’m sure they were going to stay longer — Connie just found some boudin in our freezer. I guess they were going to cook it tonight if we didn’t come home,” Joe Cases said, referring to Cajun/Creole sausage.

Connie Cases said that when she went to take the Jeep to be cleaned at a car wash, she discovered a bag of meth inside the console. Police said the men had drugs in their possession and that they found drugs inside the home as well.

RELATED: Woman says judge refused to evict squatters in her house to avoid them being homeless over Christmas — while she was homeless

The Cases were thankful that the men didn’t make a mess of their home.

“At least they didn’t tear the house up,” Joe Cases said. “It could’ve been worse.”

They did, however, use the couple’s toothbrushes and leave dirty clothing in their hamper. Connie Cases suspected that the men were homeless and that they stayed in the woods near the home to befriend their dogs before making their move.

The two men face numerous felony charges, including drug possession, breaking and entering, and unauthorized use of a vehicle. Gamblin was given a $60,000 bond, while Vallade was given a $35,000 bond.

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The Trump administration recently ended the Transportation Security Administration’s outdated shoe-removal rule — a long-overdue rollback of post-9/11 security theater. But at the same time, it’s resisting a bipartisan push to rein in something far more intrusive: the agency’s unregulated use of facial recognition technology at airports.

The Traveler Privacy Protection Act — co-sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) — would set limits on the TSA’s biometric surveillance program at airports.

Facial recognition checkpoints are already being piloted at major airports. TSA officials have made clear that their goal is to replace traditional IDs altogether.

Here’s what the bill does:

Restores consent: Manual ID checks would become the default again. Passengers would have to opt in to facial recognition. The TSA would be required to notify travelers clearly that they can opt out.Limits retention: Most biometric data would have to be deleted within 24 hours.Restricts sharing: The TSA could no longer hand over biometric data to other federal agencies or private entities, except in very narrow circumstances.

The legislation follows a bipartisan letter sent in November 2023 to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, requesting a full audit of the TSA’s biometric collection, retention, deletion, and cybersecurity protocols. The letter was co-authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

“TSA has not provided Congress with evidence that facial recognition technology is necessary to catch fraudulent documents, decrease wait times, or stop terrorists from boarding planes,” the senators wrote.

Despite that, the TSA appears to be quietly lobbying against the bill.

When asked directly whether the TSA was fighting the legislation, Kennedy said: “The short answer is yes; the long answer is hell yes.”

Behind-the-scenes pressure

The Senate Commerce Committee had planned to mark up the bill just before the August recess. But at the last minute, the legislation was pulled from the docket.

Officially, the travel industry raised concerns. But Politico reported that behind the scenes, TSA leadership — backed by political appointees — played a central role in derailing the bill. Republican staffers familiar with the process said the agency helped coordinate opposition that ultimately killed the markup.

It’s not hard to see why TSA brass would resist oversight.

Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill previously served as TSA chief of staff during part of Trump’s first term. After leaving government, she joined BigBear.ai, a company specializing in facial recognition and identity verification powered by artificial intelligence. She eventually became the firm’s president.

Now she’s back — nominated to lead the TSA for the duration of Trump’s administration.

AI, contracts, and civil liberties

Under McNeill’s leadership, the TSA has pushed to expand its use of AI-powered surveillance tools. In 2023, officials openly discussed plans to eliminate boarding passes and photo IDs altogether in favor of biometric scans.

“Imagine embarking on a journey where the seamless orchestration of technology transforms traditional security checkpoints,” said Kristin Ruiz, the TSA’s deputy chief information officer, at an AI summit last year. “AI-powered advancements signify an evolution driven by data science, analytics, and intelligent automation.”

That vision may sound efficient. But it’s also a red flag for anyone who doesn’t want American airports to become nodes in a Chinese-style surveillance state.

The TSA isn’t alone. The Department of Homeland Security has been inking massive contracts with tech companies specializing in surveillance.

Palantir Technologies, co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel, has landed a $1 billion contract with the DHS. The company also has similar contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon, now worth a combined $10 billion.

RELATED: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal

Photo by DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images

Palantir’s market cap now exceeds $400 billion — bigger than Home Depot or Coca-Cola. Since its first DHS deal was announced in April, the company’s stock price has jumped 131%.

It doesn’t need a marketing team. The federal government is its customer.

Palantir has also benefited from the revolving door.

Gregory Barbaccia, Palantir’s former head of intelligence, now serves as the chief information officer of the federal government.Clark Minor, a longtime Palantir employee, now holds the same role at HHS.Jacob Helberg, a senior adviser to Palantir CEO Alex Karp, was appointed to lead the State Department’s economic and trade policy.

This is the ecosystem driving the TSA’s resistance to reform: private contractors, political insiders, and intelligence bureaucrats profiting from biometric surveillance — at your expense.

The stakes

Facial recognition checkpoints are already being piloted at major airports. TSA officials have made clear that their goal is to replace traditional IDs altogether. And if this bill fails, there may be no legal limit to how far the agency can go.

Congress has a choice: Protect passengers or protect the Big Tech-Big Government industrial complex.

At the very least, senators should not confirm McNeill without hard, enforceable commitments: clear opt-outs, data deletion requirements, and strict limits on sharing and retention. The federal government should not be harvesting and storing your face just so a contractor can hit its quarterly earnings target.

You don’t build a free society by handing over the keys to Big Tech and hoping the companies don’t abuse them.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Facial recognition, Facial recognition technology, Transportation security administration, Tsa, Palantir, Palantir ceo alex karp, Big tech, Big government, Security, Ha nguyen mcneill, Traveler privacy protection act, Jeff merkley, John kennedy, Ed markey, Roger marshall, Ted cruz, Privacy, Liberty, China 

According to court documents obtained by Blaze News, Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) has been ordered to appear for a court hearing regarding a request for a restraining order filed by Miss United States Lindsey Langston. The restraining order filing was first reported by Drop Site News.

Mills has been battling numerous allegations of improper behavior, but the latest allegations have to do with harassment and threats made against an American beauty queen who said she had a relationship with the congressman.

Langston broke up with Mills, and he allegedly threatened to send private videos of her to her acquaintances to embarrass and humiliate her.

On Thursday, in an apparent attempt to shift the narrative, Mills said in a statement to the Floridian that a judge had denied the application of the restraining order against him.

However, while an emergency protection order was rejected in Columbia County, according to Daytona Beach News-Journal, a restraining order can be still be granted after both sides present evidence at a hearing for consideration. The Journal reported that a hearing had been scheduled. The matter has not been fully adjudicated.

Blaze News has reviewed a copy of a court order from a judge in Columbia County. That document set the hearing for August 18 at 1:30 p.m. via Zoom for a hearing before a judge. As the respondent, Cory Mills was told to appear. The order states that if either party fails to appear, they will be bound by the ruling of the judge.

In addition to reporting on the upcoming hearing, the Daytona Beach News-Journal also noted that Mills has retained the services of an attorney to represent him in the matter.

On Tuesday, Lindsey Langston told Blaze News that she had met Mills when she was in her twenties, about a year before he won his first congressional election. Langston claimed that they had a romantic relationship and that Mills proposed that they get married and begin a family.

After a tumultuous relationship, Langston broke up with Mills, and he allegedly threatened to send private videos of her to her acquaintances to embarrass and humiliate her.

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