Category: blaze media

Beloved celebrity couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are once again dominating the gossip headlines, but this time is a little different.

The rumor mills are claiming that the couple might not only be getting married this Fourth of July weekend, but blocking off surrounding roads to New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the ceremony and celebration.

But BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t buying it.

“They’re not getting married at Madison Square Garden,” Gray says.

“It might be the reception, right? It might be just a party,” executive producer Keith Malinak chimes in.

“If they get married at Madison Square Garden, I will eat my underwear because that is not going to happen. It’s not happening. They’re not going to do it,” Gray continues.

“The last thing she wants to do is get married in a dump like MSG,” he adds.

While Jeff Fisher agrees that “the Garden is a dump,” he points out that he still “loves the Garden” as it’s “New York.”

“It’s great for basketball,” Gray comments. “It’s not appropriate for weddings.”

“So Pat Gray is on the record,” Malinak confirms. “He will eat his underwear if Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift get married in Madison Square Garden.”

Want more from Pat Gray?

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​Basketball, Jeff fisher, Keith malinak, Madison square garden, Pat gray, Taylor swift, Travis kelce, Weddings, New york, July 4, Pat gray unleashed 

The previously agreed upon officer increase for the New York Police Department has been scrapped by Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) in the city’s final budget proposal amid pressure from his socialist base.

The $125.8 billion budget was originally slated to include $70 million to fund the addition of 580 NYPD officers, as outlined in Mamdani’s executive budget proposal released in May.

‘We are calling on Mayor Mamdani to reverse this proposed expansion of the NYPD.’

Mamdani has pivoted in the weeks since.

“I’ve been talking to all agency heads about ways to find savings, and [Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch] and I were able to identify ways to keep the NYPD head count at the originally authorized 35,000 while also meeting all of our crime-fighting needs and implementing the new programs that were announced earlier this year,” Mamdani said during a press conference Tuesday.

The night before the final budget vote, City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D) said she received a call from the mayor informing her of his agreement with Tisch to cut the officer increase from the budget.

“I disagree with that decision. … I do believe we need those officers,” Menin said, citing concerns over increasing rape, felony assault, and subway crime numbers.

“We are going to fight for it now,” she added.

Menin did note that the NYPD budget increased by $300 million for the fiscal year.

The NYC Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mamdani is a member and with whom he holds close political ties, has been avidly calling on the mayor to follow through on his campaign promise to keep the NYPD head count flat.

“We are calling on Mayor Mamdani to reverse this proposed expansion of the NYPD and invest the money in community safety programs instead,” NYC-DSA said on June 12.

The proposed head count increase “runs counter to the values of the socialist and working-class movement that elected him,” the group continued, adding, “When police serve as default first responders, New Yorkers are placed in harm’s way.”

RELATED: Mamdani vows to protect migrants in apparent DEFIANCE of Supreme Court ruling on TPS

NYPD graduates salute family and friends at their Recruit Graduation Ceremony at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2026. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the NYPD said, “It is no secret that the city is facing serious financial challenges, and the mayor has asked every agency head to find efficiencies. … For now, the department is able to police effectively with the budgeted head count we have, driving crime down month after month. That head count and our hiring plan gives us the flexibility we need to maintain that balance over the next fiscal year.”

NYPD funding had been at the forefront throughout last year’s mayoral election as Mamdani’s controversial X posts regarding police funding resurfaced, including one where he called the force “wicked” and “corrupt” and advocated for its defunding and dismantling.

In another post, he said, “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. … What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD.”

Council member Tiffany Cabán, a democratic socialist and chair of the council’s Progressive Caucus, backed the mayor’s decision.

“I am proud to have worked closely with the mayor and public safety advocates to ensure there was no increase to the NYPD’s headcount in this budget. Every dollar we spend on policing and incarceration means money we can’t spend on housing, mental health care, substance use treatment, and economic stability.”

The Fiscal Year 2027 budget was officially adopted by the City Council on Tuesday and signed into law the following day by Mamdani, making it the largest budget in city history.

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​Police funding, Politics, Zohran mamdani, Dsa, New york city 

The federal government is known for many things, but efficiency isn’t one of them. But now, thanks to the tireless efforts of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the DOGE, at least one process has been made easy: federal employee retirement.

In pursuit of “higher quality, faster resolution times, and enhanced efficiency,” the OPM took on the herculean challenge in September of migrating its retirement application processing operations from a mine in Pennsylvania “to a fully electronic world.”

‘By hand, on paper, in a system that feels like a time capsule from the 1970s.’

OPM Director Scott Kupor revealed on Wednesday that the challenge was successfully met — meaning greater efficiency and fewer workers having to toil underground at the Iron Mountain mine.

Quick background

For decades, federal retirement paperwork — roughly 10,000 applications per month — has been processed 230 feet underground in a former limestone mine roughly an hour north of Pittsburgh.

Kupor shed a light late last year on the cavernous Boyers, Pennsylvania, facility, noting that “it’s a place where 600 dedicated federal employees process thousands of retirement claims every month — by hand, on paper, in a system that feels like a time capsule from the 1970s.”

Kupor noted further that the mine “houses about 26,000 file cabinets filled with manilla envelopes, cardboard boxes, and about 400 million pieces of paper, a true testament to the scale and complexity of federal retirement processing.”

While impressive, Kupor said that the mine “is a microcosm of a bigger, more endemic challenge within the federal government: outdated systems and processes that have not kept up with modern technology and that lag in terms of operational efficiency.”

The process, until recently, entailed:

prospective retirees filling out their retirement paperwork on paper;the routing of the paper applications by mail to the HR departments of the retirees’ respective agencies;the routing, again, of the paper applications to the respective payroll providers; andthe shipment of pallets loaded with the completed applications to the Boyers facility.

RELATED: Trump signs ‘quantum’ executive order: Here’s what it means

Stephanie Strasburg/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Under the leadership of U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia — the Airbnb co-founder who joined the Department of Government Efficiency last year — the OPM attempted to tackle what Kupor characterized as a “50-year problem of epic proportions.”

Deliverance

The OPM announced the “Last Day of Paper” on Wednesday and the official end of paper retirement processing for over 95% of federal retirement applications.

Moving forward, virtually all retirement applications will be submitted and processed electronically through the OPM’s Online Retirement Application. ORA has already processed in excess of 155,000 retirement applications over the past year.

“Today we’re closing the book on one of the federal government’s oldest paper processes,” Kupor said in a statement.

“For decades, retirement applications were literally mailed around the country before reaching OPM. That’s over,” continued the OPM director. “By moving retirement online, we’re delivering faster decisions, better service, and greater transparency for federal employees while modernizing an essential government function.”

Elon Musk, long a champion of greater efficiencies in the U.S. government, told Fox News Digital, “Now people can retire as soon as they want, instead of waiting six months for paper to be carried into a mine.”

Kupor thanked Musk “for his vision on this project,” Gebbia “for his technical leadership,” and the OPM members who made it happen, quipping, “So long, Michael J Scott,” in reference to the fictional paper salesman in “The Office.”

The OPM is still in the process of digitizing hundreds of millions of historical retirement records.

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​Doge, Elon musk, Office of personnel management, Politics 

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for many Haitian migrants has triggered serious outrage from the left — and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales can’t help but notice the glaring issues in leftist logic.

“Now, seems like it would be kind of common sense. It’s in the name. It’s the T in TPS. Temporary. Temporary. There is an actual definition of the word ‘temporary.’ It means ‘not forever,’” Gonzales says, pointing out that they were supposed to have this status for months, but instead they have had it for nearly two decades.

“Democrats, Haitians, anyone who has the liberal brain rot — they’re losing their entitled little minds about it,” she adds.

Founder and CEO of the Immigrant Family Services Institute Dr. Geralde Gabeau yelled to crowd cheers, “This is the time for all of us to raise our voices and to say this country is also our country, is also the country of our immigrant because we are the one who built it.”

“I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to ask you for your receipts, ma’am,” Gonzales comments.

“’Haitians built this country’ is the argument that they made,” she adds.

However, celebrities have historically made their home sound like a place no one should want to leave, as Susan Sarandon, Conan O’Brien, and even Bill Maher all have donned shirts that read “Haiti is great already.”

“They were pretending like it was just this wonderful, beautiful country; it’s not a third-world s**t-hole,” Gonzales comments. “And now all of a sudden, they’re back to like, ‘No, no, you can’t send them back. No, don’t do that. It’s too big of a s**t-hole.’”

And CNN’s Jake Tapper is among those pleading.

“I heard Stephen Miller, who’s driving a lot of this, say that Haiti is safe for Haitians, and I just looked at the State Department’s website, and they have a level four ‘do not travel’ advisory for Haiti just from a few months ago,” Tapper said on CNN.

“Crimes include robbery, carjacking, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom. That doesn’t sound safe to me,” Tapper added.

“’Do not travel’ is not for Haitians. That’s ‘do not travel’ for the United States. That advisory is to American citizens traveling to Haiti, not Haitians going back home,” Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told Tapper.

“I understand that, but based on everything I’ve read, including the U.N. and Human Rights Watch, it doesn’t sound safe for Haitians. More than 8,100 killings documented last year. Those weren’t Americans. Haiti is among the top five countries with the highest rates of rape and sexual abuse, with more than 1,200 cases of sexual violence last year,” Tapper replied.

“So Haitians are making Haiti unsafe, and somehow we are expected to import them. These are criminals,” Gonzales comments.

“Why would it be our duty to import anyone from any unsafe country in the world?” she asks. “The obvious conclusion is you are only going to make our country less safe.”

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​Sara gonzales, Haiti, Jake tapper, Conan o’brien, Bill maher, Susan sarandon, Steven miller, Donald trump, Sara gonzales unfiltered 

There are films you watch, films you forget, and films that perfectly capture the moment. Uwe Boll’s “Citizen Vigilante” belongs firmly in the last category.

It’s provocative, violent, and unafraid to push the audience past their comfort zone. I watched it for free on Rumble and thoroughly enjoyed every chaotic minute — as did Elon Musk, who has been one of the film’s most vocal cheerleaders. It’s exactly the kind of cinematic hand grenade a hyper-sanitized culture desperately needs.

Watching a criminal actually face consequences on screen acts as a primal pressure valve, venting a lifetime of stored-up civic frustration.

Boll has spent his career making films that divide audiences. Never one to chase Hollywood approval or fashionable opinion, the German has built his reputation on confronting subjects most directors would rather avoid. His films are designed to provoke rather than comfort, confronting audiences with uncomfortable questions about crime, power, justice, and human nature. With “Citizen Vigilante,” he has delivered what may be his most explosive film yet.

Banned in Germany

Unsurprisingly, the film has already been effectively banned in Boll’s homeland. Regulators refused to give it a rating, terrified by how squarely it hits the nail on the head regarding the taboo subject of immigrant crime.

The story plays out like “Taken” on steroids. Armie Hammer stars as a relentless citizen vigilante — a protagonist for the right, an antagonist for the left — who decides that if the system won’t protect people from brutal gangs, he will. He hunts down violent criminals, tackles rapists, and cleans house with zero remorse. For the uninitiated, there is a delicious irony in Hammer playing a ruthless meat-grinder of a hero, considering his Hollywood career was spectacularly derailed during #MeToo by the preposterous, headline-grabbing accusation that he was a literal, real-life cannibal.

But the sensational headlines surrounding its star shouldn’t distract from what the film actually achieves. “Citizen Vigilante” taps into something many Americans and Europeans have been feeling for years: a growing belief that public safety has been abandoned while the institutions meant to preserve it are busy updating their LinkedIn profiles.

Modest expectation

The average viewers aren’t foaming-at-the-mouth psychopaths looking for bloodshed. They’re just exhausted taxpayers who enjoy seeing a little efficient, off-the-books urban renewal. They simply want the radical, avant-garde luxury of a competent government, functioning courts, and streets where a casual evening stroll doesn’t require Kevlar.

Today, that modest expectation feels like pure wishful thinking.

Across much of Europe and parts of America, headlines dominate with depressing regularity: violent crime, repeat offenders, and overwhelmed police departments. Social media ensures that every shocking incident reaches millions before breakfast. Whether official crime statistics rise or fall matters less than the overwhelming public perception that governments have completely lost the plot. That perception is powerful, and ignoring it won’t make it disappear.

When citizens watch career criminals coast through the justice system on a judicial subscription plan — while prosecutors decline charges and politicians offer nothing but thoughts, prayers, and early release — frustration ceases to be passive. Eventually, cynicism becomes the prevailing sentiment, and people begin to ask a rather important question: What happens when the people responsible for enforcing justice appear completely incapable of delivering it?

That question sits right at the heart of “Citizen Vigilante.”

RELATED: Banned ‘anti-migrant’ movie ‘Citizen Vigilante’ shoots to No. 1 after Elon Musk intervention

L-R: ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP/Getty Images; Foc Kan/WireImage/Getty Images

Broken social contract

Hammer’s character, Sanders, is no comic-book superhero in spandex. He’s simply a man looking at a broken social contract, watching violent thugs thrive while victims suffer, and decides to roll up his sleeves and fix the sewage himself. You don’t have to endorse his butcher-shop methods to appreciate the exact brand of exhaustion driving them.

The enduring appeal of vigilante cinema, from Clint Eastwood classics to “Death Wish,” has never reflected a secret public desire for lawlessness. Rather, it exposes a deep craving for consequences, a desperate desire to see the cosmic ledger balanced when the authorities refuse to do it themselves. When official justice goes missing, fictional justice becomes deeply satisfying. Watching a criminal actually face consequences on screen acts as a primal pressure valve, venting a lifetime of stored-up civic frustration.

The film understands this dynamic remarkably well, but it also highlights a dark humor running beneath the entire premise. Governments spend fortunes producing nauseating public relations campaigns celebrating “community resilience” while struggling to deliver the rather unfashionable service of keeping parasitic scum off the streets.

Citizens are treated to endless speeches about values while wondering if they’ll get stabbed on the subway ride home. Somewhere along the way, basic competence checked into a witness protection program.

No wonder the film has captured the cultural imagination. Viewers want to see what a world with accountability, no matter how brutal, actually looks like. Many in their 20s and 30s have never known a society where real consequences actually exist. I am one of those people.

“Citizen Vigilante” operates best not as a love letter to anarchy, but as an autopsy of our institutions. After all, the rogue actor only becomes a romantic figure when legitimate authority is revealed to be purely ornamental.

​Lifestyle, Movies, Citizen vigilante, Armie hammer, Uwe boll, Germany, Death wish, Immigratiom, Review 

Has Sabo gone mainstream?

Not exactly. But considering that the last time he came to Colorado it was to stand before a judge, an invitation to hang his work in downtown Denver counts as a career boost.

“It is nothing short of a miracle that a person like myself can show art in such a liberal city where so many people can see them.”

On Friday, July 3, the public art provocateur will unveil his completed “American Tarot” series at the VFW Gallery in downtown Denver as part of the city’s First Friday Art Walk.

In the cards

The series includes four tarot-card-style pieces depicting some of the darkest and most divisive episodes in modern American history:

“The Towers” — September 11; “The Fool” — January 6; “Death” — COVID-19; and “The Hanged Man” — Jeffrey Epstein.

As Sabo tells Blaze Media, “Each card represents an event in our country’s past that greatly affected the American story, the country’s psyche, the soul of America.”

The newest addition, “The Hanged Man,” depicts the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein suspended from the tarot card’s traditional gallows.

For Sabo, the Epstein story is about far more than one depraved man.

“I believe the story of Jeffrey Epstein goes deep into how so many — from the entertainment industry to science, politics, finance, power — became influenced or compromised.”

Unsavoryagents.com

Hidden influence

In Sabo’s view, the affair helped fuel a growing distrust of elite institutions and raised uncomfortable questions about how influence is exercised among the world’s most powerful people.

Through the decades, Sabo says, he assumed celebrities and artists simply leaned left politically. Now he wonders whether some cultural figures may have been manipulated into advocating these views in ways the public still doesn’t fully understand.

“And then we saw how the music industry was influenced by the Diddy sex parties,” he said. “How many in the music industry were also swayed to speak in a way that helped support the leftist narrative?”

The questions only became more urgent during COVID, he argues, when public trust in institutions suffered another profound blow.

RELATED: Sabo’s story: Guerrilla street artist opens up in career-spanning ‘Unsavory Agents’

Unsavoryagents.com

Back for more

The former Marine has spent more than two decades producing some of America’s most powerful political street art, skewering everyone from Hollywood celebrities to corporate media and progressive politicians.

That makes the location of Friday’s exhibition all the more remarkable.

Sabo’s relationship with Colorado’s liberal-leaning authorities has been strained, to put it mildly. In October 2024, he appeared in a Denver courtroom after being charged for posting anti-illegal immigration artwork around Aurora, the Denver-adjacent city that had become a national symbol of the migrant crisis amid reports of violent Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment complexes.

The signs — which criticized unchecked illegal immigration and highlighted the plight of legal immigrants and struggling working-class communities — earned Sabo a fine and community service. Representing himself in court, the artist argued that his work was protected political speech and noted the irony that, while authorities struggled to contain far more serious crimes, they managed to find the time to prosecute a man for hanging posters.

Sabo admits he’s still getting used to the life of a respectable artist: “In street art I hit and run; no one to have a conversation with. In a gallery I feel out of my element.” But he’s grateful for the opportunity.

“It is nothing short of a miracle that a person like myself can show art in such a liberal city where so many people can see them,” Sabo says now.

Sabo’s work is available for viewing or purchase on his website.

And if you’re not a Sabo fan yet, check out our coverage of his previous missions here.

​Culture, Entertainment, Sabo, Sabo strikes!, Street art, American tarot, Jeffrey epstein 

Florida is taking action against nearly 100 organizations that will likely soon have a new “terrorist” designation under Florida law.

On Wednesday, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that some significant legislation, which provides a stronger framework for declaring groups terrorist organizations, took effect on the first day of the month.

‘We are not going to fund terrorism in our great state.’

During his announcement, DeSantis said that officials “are not going to waste any time” before beginning the “initial tranche” of domestic terrorist designations in Florida, suggesting more to come in the future as well.

“Based on the recommendations of Florida’s domestic security professionals and the authority, the newly established authority in law, my office and the [C]abinet are poised to officially designate the first slew of terrorist organizations under the new law,” DeSantis said in the announcement.

RELATED: Florida AG calls for impeachment after judge acquits mother who killed baby and blamed COVID

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Among those organizations designated, DeSantis named familiar Islamic groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but also mentioned the addition of Antifa to the list. He also named a couple of groups affiliated with drug cartels, like Cartel de Sinaloa and Tren de Aragua.

Notably, DeSantis added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran would also be added to the list among “more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, who also serves as the state’s chief domestic security officer, explained that the new law gives more tools to prevent taxpayer dollars from reaching those organizations that have been designated as terrorist groups, Florida’s Voice reported.

“We are not going to fund terrorism in our great state,” Glass told Florida’s Voice. “We’re just not going to do it.”

Glass added that the new framework will allow greater transparency for the public to see where taxpayer dollars are being distributed: “It’s actually even a public service campaign to ensure that you know where you’re receiving dollars or you’re giving dollars.”

These actions, however, have been under legal threat for months, dating back to before the legislation was signed. DeSantis acknowledged to Florida’s Voice that “we’ll definitely get sued,” though he believes the outcome “will be beneficial.”

The new law, which went into effect on Wednesday, builds upon an executive order from DeSantis on December 8, which laid the groundwork for legislation to be drafted and signed by the governor in early April.

The December executive order singled out CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood. As a result, CAIR sued the administration over the executive order, arguing that its rights had been violated.

On March 4, United States District Judge Mark Walker granted the motion for a preliminary injunction, freezing the use of the executive order. The DeSantis administration appealed the injunction two days later in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The law, signed almost exactly a month later, will likely be used as a new legal support in the ongoing legal fight over the executive order.

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​Antifa, Cair, Drug cartels, Governor desantis, Islamic, Terrorist, Tren de aragua, Politics 

One of the two teen suspects named in connection with the murder of a Penn State University senior in South Philadelphia less than a month ago was arrested by U.S. Marshals over 1,700 miles away from the crime scene — in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore announced Wednesday night that 16-year-old Azzubair Outen-Fleming was arrested, WPVI-TV reported.

‘Surrender now.’

Police are still searching for a second suspect, 16-year-old Kaiseem Smith, the station said.

Authorities said the suspects stole 22-year-old Billy Schmidt’s cell phone in the 1900 block of Durfor Street on June 6, WPVI reported, adding that as Schmidt chased after the suspects, one of them turned and shot Schmidt in the chest.

Schmidt was pronounced dead a short time later, the station said, adding that family members said Schmidt had been returning home from a nearby bar where he was watching an NBA Finals game with friends.

Both Outen-Fleming and Smith are facing murder charges, WPVI said.

Officials describe Smith as standing 4′ 10” and weighing roughly 110 pounds, WPVI reported, adding that Smith is a resident of Wilmington, Delaware, but is known to frequent the 27th and Reed area of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said investigators believe Smith was the gunman, the station said.

Image source: U.S. Marshals Service Philadelphia

“Surrender now,” Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said, according to WPVI. “If you choose to remain fugitives, the Marshals Service will relentlessly pursue every lead, every associate, and every tip until you are located and taken into custody.”

WPVI noted that U.S. Marshals have arrested Outen-Fleming’s stepfather — 35-year-old Dante Abdul Malik — who faces charges, including hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence in connection with the case.

Schmidt had been studying digital journalism and media and was planning to graduate in December, WTXF-TV reported.

“I hope they find them. I want [them] in jail. That’s what I want. They don’t deserve to get to walk away from what they did,” Matthew Segal of South Philadelphia told WPVI in a previous story.

Police released video of the wanted suspects earlier this month, WPVI said.

The Philadelphia Police Department was offering a $20,000 reward for an arrest and conviction in the case, the station said, adding that the U.S. Marshals Service said Wednesday it was offering up to $10,000 in reward money: $5,000 for Smith’s arrest of Smith, and another $5,000 for Outen-Fleming’s arrest.

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​Billy schmidt, Philadelphia, Us marshals, Colorado, Suspect caught, Murder, Fatal shooting, Arrest, Crime 

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language puts “room temperature” somewhere between 68°F and 72°F. Under socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New Yorkers are expected to adjust to a warmer norm.

New York is facing a heatwave with temperatures expected to hover around 100°F on Thursday and Friday. This heat wave, which the National Weather System indicates will impact multiple states and could bring temperatures as high as 115 degrees, threatens the stability of the power grid — which in New York was deprived of 1,040 megawatts of additional nuclear generating capacity in April 2021 when the Indian Point nuclear plant was shut down.

‘Just say no.’

“The power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” Mamdani told New Yorkers on Wednesday. “Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can.”

The leftist mayor noted further that the city has adopted the “78 degrees rule” in its buildings and will dim or turn off lights during peak electricity demand as well as power down “non-essential equipment.”

“A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved,” said Mamdani. “Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together.”

Critics blasted Mamdani’s 78-degree rule as yet another foretaste of the socialistic nightmare he and his ilk have in store for America.

RELATED: Democrat who wants to ‘seize the means of production’ won’t deny she’s a commie

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images

“This is what socialism looks like, folks,” said Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. “The right answer isn’t restrictions or mandates. It’s drilling, fracking, coal, & nuclear. That’s how we’ll roll in Ohio.”

Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R) tweeted, “SoCIAlisM WoRKS thO,” adding three woozy-face emojis.

“Turns out socialism actually isn’t free,” wrote Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R).

“This is a retarded post, Malaise. Defeatist. Bad form. Delete,” wrote Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet. “Enjoy capitalism while you have it.”

The Libertarian Party Mises Caucus quipped, “‘The warmth of collectivism,’ folks.”

Vickie Paladino, a Republican member of the New York City Council, had a different message than Mamdani’s for her fellow New Yorkers.

“Actually, live your life normally, use your AC in whatever manner keeps you comfortable, and if the grid collapses make them explain why we don’t have power generation capacity sufficient to our needs as a city, and make them fix it by building more capacity,” wrote Paladino.

“Do not acquiesce or normalize any of this,” continued the Republican. “Nothing socialists say can be taken in good faith. They want to take away AC permanently (as they have in Europe) and they will do it first by getting you used to the idea that your AC must be turned down for ‘the greater good,’ then by making it more expensive to purchase and operate through higher energy costs (also already happening), and finally by regulating it out of existence. Just say no.”

Residents looking to beat the heat who are presently without air conditioning can consult New York’s “Cool It!” map for directions to the various spray showers, outdoor pools, leafy areas, and drinking fountains available throughout the city.

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​Zohran mamdani, New york city, Heat wave, New york, Socialism, Politics 

America’s young men and women packed the National Mall in the nation’s capital and created scenes that likely haven’t been witnessed in decades.

The United States faced Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday, with fans across the country taking in the monumental game.

‘It’s so crazy over here!’

Team USA has now matched their performance for their last three World Cups by winning 2-0 and advancing to the round of 16, but by being one of the host nations, fans are noticing a huge change in support from young Americans.

There exists no better example than the FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Zone, an experience put on by the Trump administration’s Freedom 250 initiative at the National Mall, right in the heart of Washington, D.C.

Thousands packed the mall to watch the game in what seemed like a college football stadium atmosphere, with fans losing their minds when Team USA scored their first goal in the 45th minute to go up 1-0.

DC News Now’s reporter Tyger Munn was in the eye of the storm when the goal happened, and attendees went ballistic.

“You can’t even see me right now it’s so crazy over here!” he yelled into the microphone.

After leading a chant with the crowd, the reporter passionately described the feeling:

“Just look at all this energy, the patriotism, it’s beautiful to see here at National Mall, guys.”

RELATED: Democrats hoping to blame Trump for World Cup failures forced to change strategy after great success

When Team USA scored their second goal in the 82nd minute, video captured what seemed like an even more massive crowd erupting late into the evening.

As beer cans flew, beach balls bounced, and fans were on each other’s shoulders, the scenes were wild as the youngsters packed the area for an organized, rambunctious, and clean but safe event.

Team USA has made it to the round of 16, where the team made it in the 2010, 2014, and the 2022 World Cups.

The team’s best performance in the modern era came in the 2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea, when Team USA finished eighth and made it to the quarterfinals.

Technically, the team’s best performance came in 1930 in Uruguay, however, with a third-place finish.

Team USA did not qualify between 1954 and 1986 and also did not qualify in 2018.

RELATED: ‘Just follow the money’: NFL doctor reveals why so many players are getting injured

Finn Gomez/Getty Images

Team USA goals were scored by Folarin Balogun from Brooklyn, New York, and Malik Tillman, who was born in Germany but has played for both American and German national squads since 2016; his father is American, and his mother is German.

The United States will play Belgium on Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Lumen Field in Seattle. The Belgians have struggled to live up to past expectations this tournament, barely scraping by Senegal on Wednesday with a 3-2 win in extra time.

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​Fearless, News, National mall, Team usa, World cup, Washington dc, Sports 

President Donald Trump made his maiden voyage on the new Air Force One just days before the slew of Fourth of July weekend festivities celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday.

The new Air Force One is a Boeing 747-8 luxury plane that was gifted to the United States by the Qatari government last year.

‘Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our country.’

The new Air Force One is named the VC-25B Bridge aircraft by the U.S. Air Force. The new aircraft is the bridge to the “aging” VC-25A fleet until the upcoming and long-term Boeing VC-25B enters service. The first VC-25A aircraft went into service in 1990 during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.

“The delivery of the Bridge aircraft fulfills an imperative to relieve pressure on the aging VC-25A fleet as heavy maintenance cycles extend, safeguarding the continuity of presidential airlift operations until the long-term Boeing VC-25B enters service,” the U.S. Air Force said last month.

The Air Force noted that the new aircraft will “provide critical, secure continuity for the commander in chief.”

“The aircraft is safe, secure, and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission,” the Air Force stated. “Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed.”

“No risk was taken in security, safety, or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years,” the Air Force said.

According to ABC News, “The Air Force has said that it did little to change the cabin layout of the plane and that it spent less than $400 million on security upgrades.”

Citing industry executives, the New York Times reported in May 2025 that the Qatari-gifted luxury jet had an estimated worth of approximately $200 million.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink proclaimed:

The safety and security of the commander in chief is our highest priority. From the beginning, we meticulously evaluated every requirement to accelerate delivery while maintaining the high standards expected of the presidential mission. This effort proves that the U.S. Air Force can move fast without sacrificing quality, security, or reliability.

On Wednesday, Trump took the new Air Force One to see the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.

“To be honest with you, I’m excited about the first flight. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it,” Trump told reporters before boarding the new airplane, according to USA Today.

The Associated Press reported that Trump said of revealing the new Air Force One plane, “You can do two things: You can low-key it, or you can show it.”

RELATED: America turns 250 with a broken heart

In May, the U.S. Air Force said that the VC-25B Bridge aircraft had “officially completed modification and flight testing.”

Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that some critics have “expressed concern over the last year that accepting a plane used by Qatar could present a security risk, such as by allowing listening devices or other bugs to be planted on the aircraft.”

The U.S. Air Force addressed the concerns by stating that “elite specialists from multiple government agencies developed advanced protocols to detect and, if necessary, neutralize potential technical hazards on previously owned aircraft.”

“Their rigorous approach on the Bridge aircraft has literally ‘written the book,’ and set the benchmark for integrating used airframes into the secure military inventory,” the U.S. Air Force said.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach declared, “We are proud to deliver the VC-25B Bridge aircraft to the president.”

“Many thought it could not be done, but the United States Air Force was able to execute and provide a secure, reliable airborne command post on an accelerated timeline,” Wilsbach added.

The official website for the White House says: “Capable of refueling midair, Air Force One has unlimited range and can carry the president wherever he needs to travel. The onboard electronics are hardened to protect against an electromagnetic pulse, and Air Force One is equipped with advanced secure communications equipment, allowing the aircraft to function as a mobile command center in the event of an attack on the United States.”

In May, CBS News reported that Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Air Force accepted the Boeing 747-8 “in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.”

President Trump told reporters in May, “If we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture.”

Trump added, “Now I could be a stupid person and say, ‘Oh no, we don’t want a free plane.'”

The stopgap jumbo jet will be donated to Trump’s future presidential library just before he leaves office.

Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform in May 2025: “The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years.”

Trump said, “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our country.”

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​Air force one, News, Fourth of july, America 250, Politics, Donald trump 

In a moment few saw coming, Hillary Clinton offered shocking praise for President Trump’s proposed framework for Gaza — calling it a viable path toward regional stability and reconstruction.

“I’m going to say something positive about Trump,” Clinton began.

“Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza is actually a pathway to security for Israel, reconstruction for Gaza, and the possibility of self-determination, however defined, for the Palestinians. There are a lot of people who, you know, reject it because Trump did it. But it’s the only game in town. There’s nothing else,” she explained.

“I really believe if we took this 20-point plan, which starts with, you know, the disarmament of Hamas, a huge important step yet to be accomplished, but took all of the 20 points so that it wasn’t just disarm Hamas, and you know, maybe do some reconstruction, and you know, build some resorts on the coast,” she continued.

“But if you really took the whole approach that is embodied in the 20-point plan, and I know there are people who are working to try to move forward on that, there is a glimmer of a possible path forward,” she added.

“That might be the first moment of honesty in her entire life,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray comments on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“The fact that she even read all 20 points, much less is able to compliment them,” executive producer Keith Malinak says.

“That’s a big moment for Hillary Clinton,” he adds.

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.

​Donald trump, Gaza, Hamas, Hillary clinton, Israel, Keith malinak, Palestinians, Pat gray, Pat gray unleashed 

Sony PlayStation dropped devastating news to gamers to start July, and the blowback has been nothing short of monumental.

Gaming companies are already seeing the level of disdain typically reserved for politicians and journalists due to subscription costs, micro-transactions, and the ever-increasing price of games.

‘This is what happens when you buy digital.’

Now, Sony has given gamers another reason to rage; it is following the, “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy,” World Economic Forum position from 2016.

That phrase has become a meme for a reason, but PlayStation dove headfirst into the theme on Wednesday morning and announced it is ending the production of its physical game discs and will completely cease by January 2028.

“As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued,” senior director Sid Shuman wrote.

Shuman, who used “he/him” pronouns on the post, said the move was a “natural direction for Sony” in order to adapt to “consumer trends.”

RELATED: A kid got a mint PS1 from his grandpa, and the internet is freaking out

Shuman claimed “digital media significantly outpaces physical discs” and therefore the company will be able to “align more closely” with how most of its community prefers to play games.

Withering criticism of the Sony announcement was immediate.

“You will own nothing,” said popular tech page Pirat Nation.

“You are killing ownership. … You are killing publishers,” replied popular hardware page Does It Play.

“Guys, this is a really bad decision. Wtf,” Spawn Poiint commented, a popular gaming YouTuber with over one million subscribers.

One reader responded by showing the awful truth of what it means to be digital only:

“This is what happens when you buy digital,” the user wrote, along with a photo of a PlayStation Store alert that said “licensing arrangements” meant the user would no longer be able to watch the content he already had in his library.

RELATED: Electronic Arts avoids disaster with $55B deal from Saudi Arabia, Jared Kushner, and others

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The reality of truly not owning the product one has paid for clearly does not sit will with many people. Publishers have wanted this reality of cheaper production for some time, while it has also been a reality that access to certain games or videos has a shelf life, and that depends on licensing agreements.

Issues have popped up over the years that have prevented game owners from playing their own property, and more predominantly, those who have purchased digital media have got the short end of the stick when hoping to watch some of their favorite shows, only to find they had been deleted due to expired publishing agreements.

Also on Wednesday, PlayStation announced it would no longer support its online store for PlayStation 3, which was released in 2006, and the PS Vita, which launched in 2011.

Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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​News, World economic forum, Sony, Playstation, Physical media, Tech 

The Society of St. Pius X is a breakaway Catholic sect founded in 1970 by Marcel Lefebvre, a French archbishop who took issue with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. After consecrating four new bishops in 1988 without the approval of the Vatican, Lefebvre was excommunicated. He died three years later.

The Vatican lifted the canonical excommunication on Lefebvre’s prelates in 2009 in hopes of restoring the group’s “full communion” with Rome, although SSPX remained without canonical status. The Catholic Church’s efforts since to bring SSPX back into the fold appear to have been in “vain.”

‘To tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity.’

The SSPX, which has a global membership of roughly 600,000 members and 700 priests, crossed the Rubicon on Wednesday with episcopal consecrations that Rome explicitly warned the Lefebvrists not to pursue.

In his last of multiple appeals, Pope Leo XIV wrote on June 29 to Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the superior general of the SSPX, “I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.”

“The Church is open to a path of dialogue and understanding that the Holy Spirit can make possible and fruitful,” continued the pope. “I pray for you, because to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity.”

Pagliarani said in response that the SSPX believes it “to be our very duty to do everything possible to mend Christ’s seamless garment, torn by forces and pressures incompatible with a truly Catholic spirit,” adding that the SSPX desires to serve the Catholic Church “by means that are extraordinary, as one would assist a mother in distress who requires particular help.”

RELATED: Five standout denunciations and warnings in Pope Leo XIV’s new papal encyclical

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, 1979. Wojtek Laski/Getty Images.

The SSPX proceeded, however, in Switzerland on July 1 to ordain four new bishops — Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michael Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Happier — without papal approval.

The primary celebrant executing the consecrations was Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta who was joined by Bishop Bernard Fellay — both of whom were among the original Lefebvre prelates.

The SSPX’s ordination of bishops without a pontifical mandate is regarded by the Catholic Church as a matter of great gravity and scandal because it breaks the line of succession extending back to the earliest days of the Christian church and undermines church unity.

Pope John Paul II, since declared a saint, noted when recognizing the SSPX as schismatic in 1988 that “it is impossible to remain faithful to the Tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to whom, in the person of the Apostle Peter, Christ himself entrusted the ministry of unity in his Church.”

For having carried out “an act of a schismatic nature,” namely the “episcopal consecration of four presbyters, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff,” Galarreta, Fellay, and their four new bishops incurred automatic excommunications from Rome, according to a decree released on July 2 and signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In addition to those who participated in the ceremony, all of SSPX’s priests, bishops, and lay adherents have also been excommunicated and are now considered schismatics by Rome.

The Vatican decree noted further that:

the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are invalid.

In addition to warning Catholics to refrain from taking part in celebrations promoted by the SSPX, the decree noted that “the Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion.”

According to Catholic canon law, an excommunicated person is prohibited from: celebrating or receiving the sacraments; administering sacramentals; celebrating the other ceremonies of liturgical worship; and from exercising any ecclesiastical offices, duties, ministries, or functions.

Excommunication is regarded as a medicinal spiritual penalty that effectively pushes the offender out of the church in hopes of prompting a change of heart. Although his or her baptism cannot be effaced, the excommunicated person is effectively a stranger to the church until brought back into the fold.

The SSPX General House stated following the ordinations on Wednesday, “The profound joy inspired by these episcopal consecrations cannot, however, be overshadowed.”

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​Faith, Pope leo, Schism, Vatican, Christianity, Politics, Catholic church 

“In New York, they don’t say ‘I love you,’ they say ‘NYPD suck my d**k’ and I think that’s beautiful.”

“A world without borders — just like a world without prisons or police — is possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward.”

Voters judge political parties by what they do, not by what they call themselves.

“Trick question — Israel doesn’t exist.”

Those are social media posts or reposts from Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate who won the 2026 Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District.

Many Democrats still insist the Democratic Socialists of America remain a fringe movement with little influence over the party. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), for example, recently promised that “common-sense Democrats will fight back” against the socialist agenda.

The evidence suggests otherwise.

The DSA’s influence no longer depends on how many members it elects to Congress. Its influence comes from how many of its priorities have become mainstream Democrat positions.

Approximately 250 DSA members held public office in 2025, with roughly 90% elected after 2019. Only two currently serve in Congress, but the movement’s real strength lies elsewhere: dozens of state legislators and nearly 150 local officials, including mayors, city council members, county commissioners, and school board members. Another 35 DSA-backed candidates advanced through this year’s primaries and appear positioned to win office.

Increasingly, the DSA shapes the Democratic Party from the ground up.

Consider the issues. The DSA openly advocates sweeping changes on immigration, policing, transgender policy, censorship, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The DSA has long called for expanding the Supreme Court to reduce conservative influence. Democrat leaders have moved in the same direction. Former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed Supreme Court reform, while Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced legislation in 2024 to expand the court to 13 justices, joined by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

On gender policy, the DSA advocates taxpayer-funded transgender procedures, including for minors, and has threatened hospitals that refuse to provide them.

Former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) argued that schools should be permitted to withhold information from parents when a child socially transitions at school. Whatever differences may exist around the edges, the underlying assumption is similar: Parents should not always have the final say.

RELATED: Yet another establishment Democrat taken out by a Mamdani-like socialist from a foreign land

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Immigration presents another point of convergence.

The DSA opposes meaningful immigration enforcement and has labeled Immigration and Customs Enforcement itself an instrument of “state violence.” Democrat officials have likewise resisted federal immigration enforcement in a variety of ways.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) publicly aligned himself with anti-ICE activists, while New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) has limited state cooperation with federal immigration authorities and expanded state funding for immigrant legal defense.

The rhetoric differs. The practical effect often does not.

The same pattern appears on free speech.

After Elon Musk purchased Twitter and restored numerous previously restricted conservative accounts, the New York City DSA launched a dedicated “Stop Musk” campaign.

Democrat officials have repeatedly criticized Musk’s moderation policies and supported efforts, both here and abroad, to pressure X over the speech it permits.

Again, the methods differ. The destinations look remarkably similar.

The DSA also embraced the “Free Palestine” movement immediately after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack, issuing a statement calling for an end to the Israeli regime.

Many of the Democratic Party’s most prominent progressive members have likewise become leading voices in the pro-Palestinian movement. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have all championed that cause, while several have also supported reducing police funding or sharply limiting law enforcement.

No, today’s Democratic Party is not formally controlled by the DSA. But it increasingly advances many of the same priorities. That is why Democrat leaders spend so much energy insisting they are not socialists. They understand the label remains politically damaging.

The problem is that voters judge political parties by what they do, not by what they call themselves. When the Democratic Party repeatedly adopts positions first championed by the Democratic Socialists of America, the distinction becomes more difficult to see.

Democrats may not like the comparison. Their policies increasingly invite it.

In 2026, voters should recognize an uncomfortable political reality: A vote for today’s Democratic Party increasingly advances the agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America.

​Opinion & analysis, Democratic socialists of america, Democratic party, Darializa avila chevalier, Ed markey, Adam schiff, Supreme court, Palestine, Israel hamas war, Terrorism, Transgender agenda, Congress, Grassroots, Elections 

The First Amendment has been under a decade-long attack from the left with mainstream oppressors bulldozing anyone who opposed COVID’s origin story, engaged in scientific debates over climate change and gender norms, or argued about the emerging reality of voter fraud.

Now, a new bipartisan bill led by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) aims to tamp down the onslaught of online censorship pervading modern society with real repercussions for any government agency or representative that violates that sacred right.

The JAWBONE Act is poised to return free speech to the online and real-world arenas.

The censorship machine

The First Amendment is quite clear:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That should be enough to keep politicians from violating the rights of millions of Americans from coast to coast. However, in recent years, elected officials on the left — and their supporters — have found ways to silence right-leaning voices, especially in online spaces where all opinions are meant to be heard and debated equally. Here are just some of the ways the left has created its own ideological echo chamber where dissent is denied wholesale:

Twitter banned a sitting president from the platform due to supposed violent rhetoric surrounding January 6.Facebook excessively moderated COVID-19 content that defied the accepted narrative after receiving pressure from the Biden administration.Twitter files revealed mass social media censorship under the guise of COVID misinformation, disinformation, and “mal-information.”Big Tech censored anti-Biden content, including the Hunter Biden laptop scandal that was later proven true.The Biden-Harris administration ran multiple anti-misinformation campaigns against American citizens and right-oriented media outlets.Universities canceled and disinvited speakers who didn’t espouse mainstream narratives.Revered speaker, podcaster, and man of faith Charlie Kirk was silenced with a bullet for speaking truths that were uncomfortable for some to hear.

When silencing culture rises to the level of targeted murders, you know things have gone too far. Luckily, the Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach to Networked Expression Act, or JAWBONE Act, is poised to return free speech to the online and real-world arenas.

JAWBONE Act

The JAWBONE Act is a new bill proposed by Sen. Cruz and Sen. Wyden that provides clearer restrictions on government-sponsored censorship campaigns. As its namesake suggests, it strictly forbids “jawboning,” or the act of government entities pressuring private social media, AI, and broadcasting companies from silencing free speech on their platforms.

Clear examples of jawboning include the period when social media companies shadow banned accounts on behalf of the Biden administration throughout COVID, as well as during the Russia collusion hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

Most notably, the JAWBONE Act exists not only to protect citizens from deliberate speech violations, but it “create[s] a cause of action against any government agency or employee” that attempts to subvert the First Amendment.

RELATED: GOP bill aims to gut online censorship funds — where the money is going will shock you

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

That means victims can sue the government for merely attempting to jawbone them and obtain financial compensation, including damages and attorney fees, following any successful or attempted wrongdoing. To further hold government bodies accountable, government communications initiated with private social media, AI, and broadcasting companies must be submitted through a portal with public summaries detailing the essence of the messages, though any communications involving criminal and civil matters are exempt.

The ultimate goal is to fully “hold the government accountable for censorship and violations of the First Amendment,” by limiting the government’s illegal anti-free speech activities and returning the power to the people. Unfortunately, private companies aren’t included in the bill, so they can still theoretically silence and ban users on their own volition, although some states, like Florida, have passed anti-deplatforming legislation to deter potential offenders.

The JAWBONE Act is currently waiting for consideration before moving on to a vote. If passed, this bill would be the biggest protection conservative voices have against an authoritarian leftist government that could arise with a vengeance as we head into the midterms, especially without the SAVE America Act in place to prevent unwanted voter fraud that may tip the scales of power sooner than later.

​Senate, Ted cruz, Ron wyden, Online speech, Free speech, First amendment, Tech 

Police said that the parents and grandparents of 16 children subjected them to severe neglect and horrible living conditions described as “pure evil.”

Police executed a search warrant on Tuesday at about 10 a.m. at the residence on Ohmer Street in Hamden, according to a press release from Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson.

‘I can tell you this is pure evil. What we saw down here today is pure evil.’

Inside the home they found 16 children living in a 12-by-12-foot space, and they were surrounded by human feces.

The children ranged in age from a 1-year-old to an 18-year-old and included boys and girls. Two of the children were so injured, they were flown to level 1 trauma centers. Others were evaluated and treated at local hospitals.

“Most of the livestock was kept in better condition than the children,” Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain said.

Police arrested the parents and grandparents, who were identified as Gary Siders Jr., Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders.

“The conditions these children lived in were horrific, and we are sickened by it. Fortunately, this tragic chapter has closed, but their recovery will take time,” Cain added. “Our investigators will continue following the evidence wherever it leads.”

The four suspects were all charged with 17 counts of endangering children, a second-degree felony.

Wilson said the children were “literally about to fall through the floor” and that many of them were unable to speak. The 18-year-old was unable to spell her name.

“I’ve been doing these types of cases for a long time. I’ve spent a big portion of my career dedicated to prosecuting these types of cases, and I can tell you this is pure evil. What we saw down here today is pure evil,” Wilson said.

The home was described as having an area of only 1,300 square feet with a total of five rooms, and it was owned by a trust of a deceased women.

Investigators said that the Siders moved between various properties in Ohio since 2008 and avoided establishing government and medical records during that time.

“This case continues to reveal the unimaginable conditions these children were forced to endure,” Wilson added Wednesday.

“Our focus remains on protecting these children, supporting their recovery, and ensuring everyone responsible is held fully accountable under Ohio law,” he continued.

RELATED: Texas cops investigating odor at home believed someone died inside — they found 2 children living in horrific conditions

Investigators said the case did not appear to involve human trafficking, but was instead one of “prolonged and extreme interfamilial neglect and abuse.”

The four suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges during a court hearing Wednesday, where they appeared via Zoom. A judge set cash bail for each at $300,000.

The Vinton County Prosecutor’s Office may file further charges after more information is discovered. If convicted, the suspects could face up to 12 years in prison for each count, which would be 204 years.

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​Endangering children, Neglect, Evil, Ohio, Child abuse, Crime 

This week, the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released a report accusing the Israeli military of deliberately targeting children. The commission alleged that more than 20,000 Palestinian children were killed and more than 44,000 were wounded between October 2023, after the Simchat Torah massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, and October 2025.

As with nearly every story of Israeli atrocities and Palestinian genocide, the report lacks essential context and frequently veers into outright fabrication. Writer Jonathan Sacerdoti quickly debunked the commission’s claims, noting the glaring lack of evidence that any of this is actually happening. Instead, the report relies heavily on unreliable Palestinian testimony.

The left understands that the conflict in the Holy Land reflects the larger conflict in the West between the secular left and the Christian right.

“The same pattern recurs case after case: a family account, a doctor’s guess about which weapon caused a wound, and a conclusion of premeditated murder,” Sacerdoti wrote. “Nothing connecting the dots.”

Missing from these accounts are the Hamas terrorists hiding behind — and under — those children.

It is well documented that Hamas uses human shields and places tunnels and command posts under schools, hospitals, and mosques to protect itself from the Israel Defense Forces. Hamas fighters also refuse to wear uniforms, allowing them to blend into civilian crowds at a moment’s notice. Worst of all, children used as cover for terrorists on the run are often recruited to become terrorists themselves.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers face severe restrictions in their pursuit of Hamas terrorists. They are forced to evacuate populated areas and warn civilians before operations. This gives Hamas time to escape, hide, and regroup.

That absurd cat-and-mouse game helps explain why Israel’s campaign against Hamas has been so painfully slow. Palestinian authorities hope to exhaust the Israelis and turn world opinion against them as civilian casualties mount over time.

For years, most American Christians who followed the conflict understood this challenge and supported Israel’s efforts. On one side stood a civilized liberal democracy attempting to follow the rules of war. On the other stood a failed Palestinian polity ruled by radical Muslim thugs who resort to lies, terror, and human shields.

Rather than build up their society, normalize relations with neighbors, and join the world economy, Palestinian leaders have kept their people in permanent refugee status for nearly 80 years. They have spent billions in foreign aid on unprovoked attacks against Israel and global public relations campaigns designed to excuse them.

The basic situation has not changed, but support for Israel has fallen significantly across the political spectrum.

RELATED: ‘All deportations are wrong’: Mamdani-backed socialist challenges Jeffries-supported Democrat

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Some of that decline follows the confusing and frustrating conflict with Iran, which Israeli leaders helped instigate in hopes of weakening the chief sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah. But most of the resentment against Israel stems from ignorance and naivety among younger Americans.

Older generations who grew up in the 20th century had plenty of experience with corrupt, duplicitous foreign powers. Communist regimes lied. Islamist republics and dictatorships lied. Much of what came from the non-Western world had to be treated as propaganda designed to keep corrupt rulers in power.

And the corruption was not limited to governments. In many of these societies, business owners exploited workers, law enforcement preyed on citizens, political authorities embezzled public funds, and ordinary people learned to survive by surrendering agency and blaming suffering on outside forces beyond their control.

As a result, many of these countries never advance. They rely on Western support to prop up their existence. Trust is so low that collective action fails, and reform becomes nearly impossible. Foreign aid then worsens the dysfunction and corruption it was supposed to relieve.

That is the story of the Palestinians.

Their leaders blame all their problems on the West, especially Jews and white Westerners, and spread falsehoods both to the world and to their own people. They are always the passive victims. Failure merely happens to them; they never cause it.

As tiring as it is, the endless lies that flow from this learned helplessness must be challenged every time. Accepting baseless claims of genocide in Gaza will only prolong violence in the region and delude otherwise sensible Americans.

On the basis of dubious testimony and little hard evidence, many Americans now suspect Israel — and Jews generally — while foolishly trusting the fanatics who use children as shields and soldiers to terrorize innocent civilians.

Worse, the logic behind siding with the Palestinians carries over into American politics. That is why radical leftists, especially the socialist candidates who recently won primaries in New York City, talk so obsessively about Israel.

They believe lies about Palestinians because those lies help them believe their own lies. They study the techniques of “Pallywood,” the Palestinian propaganda machine, so they can repurpose them in their own campaigns. They express solidarity with “besieged” Palestinians so they can express solidarity with “besieged” American minorities. They accept the con so they can con others.

RELATED: Democrat with ties to Islamic terrorism wins primary in New Jersey

DREW ANGERER/AFP/Getty Images

All of it amounts to a political Ponzi scheme that works only so long as enough people believe it. By the time the truth comes out, the liars have often taken control and transformed the country into an authoritarian Third World mess. Look at the United Kingdom.

Jesus famously said, “The truth will set you free.” The logical inverse is also true: Lies will enslave you. When lies become commonplace and trust evaporates, every path to progress and flourishing closes.

Understandably, many younger people on the right want to stop talking about Israel and Palestine. Many Christians want to give up defending Israel’s actions. But that cedes moral and political ground to younger leftists who love talking about these issues and know exactly what they are doing.

The left understands that the conflict in the Holy Land reflects the larger conflict in the West between the secular left and the Christian right.

If the right wants to win that fight, it must become better at standing for truth and honesty. For now, that means supporting Israel’s fight against Hamas and Hezbollah and rejecting the lies that continue to pour out of this war.

​Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Un, Propaganda, Hamas, Idf, American christians, Socialists, New york city, Opinion & analysis 

Since its founding in 1844, the YMCA has become a household name, earning a reputation for safety, reliability, and positive childhood experiences, such as youth sports, summer camps, and neighborhood gyms that offer something for everyone.

Recently, however, the YMCA has cashed in on its longstanding trust with families to quietly implement policies that are antithetical to this reputation.

The YMCA has made crystal clear that it has no interest in protecting girls — neither their innocence nor their safety.

Last summer, American Parents Coalition exposed YMCAs across the country for effectively eliminating separate boys’ and girls’ private spaces by allowing men and boys into girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and private spaces. In many locations, these policies even extended to sleeping accommodations at summer camps.

When the YMCA was confronted with questions about these policies, it deleted references to its values from its corporate website.

Since the attempt to hide these values and recommendations one year ago, APC has discovered that the policies extend not only to branch patrons and summer campers but also to counselors. Certain camps are allowing older teen and adult biological male counselors to sleep in girls’ cabins too, provided they “identify” as girls.

According to Michigan’s Sherman Lake YMCA’s 2026 camp policy, counselors may choose whichever gender-segregated cabins they feel “comfortable leading and sleeping in,” regardless of biological sex. The camp also offers “all-gender” cabins that can include children and counselors “of any gender.”

McGaw YMCA Camp Echo, also in Michigan, similarly promotes “all-gender cabins with multiple counselors who have different gender identities,” while admitting that counselors assigned to cabins separated by gender only “most often” share “the same gender identity as campers in that cabin.”

In Colorado, Camp Shady Brook’s May 2026 handbook states that both campers and staff are assigned to cabin groups based on “gender identity.”

Not only do Sherman Lake YMCA and McGaw Camp Echo allow children and counselors to choose cabin assignments based on gender identity, but staff are also instructed to withhold information from parents if a child identifies as LGBTQ+ unless the child gives “express consent.” Sherman Lake further states that staff are “trained” to “regularly” ask children to share their preferred names and pronouns.

In Minnesota, YMCA Camp Olson says, “Some of our campers don’t fit in the boxes of ‘boy’ or ‘girl,’” and offers special cabins for children who identify “outside the gender binary,” while allowing “trans individuals” to “select either restroom.” In New York, Camp Gorham claims its cabins are “gender specific” before immediately clarifying that “Girl+ cabins are a space for girls, trans, and nonbinary campers.”

Camp Hazen YMCA in Connecticut similarly lets families choose between “Girls+,” “Boys+,” and “all-gender” cabins, with the “+” specifically intended to include “cisgender, trans, and nonbinary youth.”

RELATED: The Supreme Court finally confirmed what I knew all along

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If that were not enough, South Mountain YMCA in Pennsylvania now offers a “Pride Camp” for children as young as 7, described as a “safe-space, non-gendered village” complete with programming built around LGBTQ+ identity and “social justice conversations.”

How is this the same YMCA generations of Americans grew up trusting? The YMCA has made crystal clear that it has no interest in protecting girls — neither their innocence nor their safety. At countless YMCAs across the country, camps are still operating with policies that place gender ideology above biological reality and parental rights.

Sadly, the YMCA has become yet another activist institution obsessed with appeasing a radical fringe that demands everyone around them, including children, embrace the lie that biological sex is meaningless and that boundaries between men and women do not matter even in the most intimate spaces.

What many Americans do not realize, however, is that American families fund the YMCA. Nearly every one of the camps named above has received thousands, if not millions, of dollars in federal funding through various government grants and taxpayer-supported programs.

If the YMCA insists on functioning like an activist organization while ignoring Title IX requirements, then the federal government must stop treating it like a neutral public institution worthy of taxpayer support.

Enough is enough.

​Biological sex, Gender identity, Locker rooms, Opinion & analysis, Summer camp, Ymca, American parents coalition, Reality, Title ix, Transgender agenda, Trust 

At a time when many Americans feel disconnected from their nation’s history, filmmaker Jon Erwin is changing that with his film “Young Washington” — a tribute to America’s founding story in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck loved the film, telling Erwin that he watched it “with such pride and admiration.”

“It’s a great story and a great movie,” he adds.

“I just wanted to write kind of a love letter to the country for our 250,” Erwin says, “and it’s the only film in theaters nationwide that celebrates American history as we go into the 250.”

“We really want to do more of these stories. We want to do more stories on the life of George Washington. We want to do more stories on the founding of America,” he explains, noting that the story is “unbelievable.”

“As you know, it lives up to the hype. And you’re just filled with a sense of gratitude and awe and wonder and pride that this nation exists at all. And it really is something to celebrate together. It is a miracle. I mean, talk about low statistical odds of success,” he says.

And so far, audiences have loved the film as well.

“When our audience unifies our voice around something and shocks Hollywood, millions and millions of people see it that wouldn’t otherwise see it because of the fear of missing out. And that’s my hope, and that’s my prayer,” Erwin says.

Erwin tells Glenn that as the film has been screened across the country, audience members have chanted “USA” at the end.

“But what I love is a lot of people say, ‘I was up on Google all night researching, like, did this really happen,’ because some of the most extraordinary things in the movie actually happened. So, that’s my hope,” he says, adding, “is that it will serve as a spark of curiosity for Americans everywhere.”

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​Glenn beck, Young washington, Hollywood, Filmmaker, George washington, History, America, 250th us anniversary, Fourth of july, The glenn beck program, Jon erwin