Category: blaze media

A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel has denied an emergency request from the federal government to force California officials to set aside mail-in ballots from 20,000 people tagged as possible noncitizens.

Californian officials have resisted the request from the Dept. of Justice because they say there’s not enough time to verify the legality of each voter before the election.

‘It was determined that none of the individuals USCIS matched to the County’s Sample List were born in the United States according to USCIS records.’

They have also accused the administration of trying to disenfranchise voters on vague and unreliable evidence that has not been provided to the state officials.

On Monday evening, the appeals court ruled 2-1 that it lacked the jurisdiction to grant the emergency request. The panel of judges did not rule on the eligibility of the 20,000 voters.

The court majority ruling pointed out that the federal government knew about the possibility of noncitizen voters for months and filed its demand only after processing of mail-in ballots had already begun:

There is a material risk that defendants would be unable to complete the verification process for all voters on the October list by December 3. Thus, there is a real risk that granting plaintiff its requested relief would result in disenfranchisement, and worse, could jeopardize the county’s entire election.

Justice Department attorney Matthew Donnelly had argued California’s actions were causing irreparable harm “by allowing noncitizens to vote in violation of their own state laws. The damage is irreversible and irrevocable.”

Seth Waxman, attorney for the Los Angeles County Clerk, argued that reviewing the millions of records against the government’s list would take about 140,000 man hours, which is about 16 years of time.

He also cited a review of a sample of 200 records from the list, saying that staffers found many of them were canceled or inactive registrations or individuals with no voting history.

However, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official submitted a sworn affidavit that review of the 200 names found none of them were born in the U.S., contrary to L.A. officials alleging that 38.9% had attested to being native born.

RELATED: Justice Department seeks to BLOCK ballots of 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters in California

“After a thorough review of the immigration records of all the individuals on the County’s Sample List, it was determined that none of the individuals USCIS matched to the County’s Sample List were born in the United States according to USCIS records,” said Nicolas Bartell, associate director of the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate at USCIS.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the ruling from the appeals court.

“The U.S. Constitution gives states and Congress — not the president or the executive branch — the power to determine the time, place, and manner of elections,” he said. “The court’s order serves as an important step in our efforts to protect Californians’ right to vote and our state’s authority to run fair and secure elections.”

“Trump’s assault on democracy won’t slow down. Each and every one of us can do something: participate in democracy, don’t become disillusioned,” said Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “California is fighting back. And we are calling on all Californians to do the same.”

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​Los angeles county, Ninth circuit court of appeals, Politics, California, Noncitizen voting 

Midterm elections are just days away, and it’s not looking good for the GOP. Prediction markets strongly favor Democrats, with both Kalshi and Polymarket pointing to a Democratic sweep of both chambers.

“If you happen to be a Republican or conservative, it’s been kind of cloudy weather, right?” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere acknowledges.

“You can say you don’t believe prediction markets. You can say you don’t believe the news. All that’s totally up to you. One thing that is believable, though, is where Republicans are putting their money,” he continues, “and right now, Republicans are putting their money in states like Mississippi, South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas.”

Based on where the funding is going, the GOP, Stu argues, has “given up on states like North Carolina and Georgia,” where both Senate races favor Democrats by over 90%.

But other states, he says, seem to be going from “horrible news to less bad news.”

Displaying recent data from YouGov showing that the Democratic lead has narrowed from its September peak, Stu says that Republicans, who have been “not as passionate” as Democrats in this election, are starting to gain interest again.

“As you get closer to a race, as you come out of Labor Day, as you get out of the summer stuff, your kids go back to school, you start focusing on the election again. You start seeing a hundred million dollars of ads; all of a sudden you go from, ‘I don’t really care about this election’ to, ‘You know what, I actually kind of do care about this election, and now I am going to make sure I get out and vote,”’ he explains.

Citing more YouGov data, he continues, “85% of Democrats said they were sure to vote. That has risen to 87. … Republicans have seen a much more dramatic gain there. They were at 70% and have risen all the way to 80%, so they have closed the gap from about 15 points to seven in that time period of about a month.”

“That is very good news for Republicans and Republican candidates, if this holds true.”

Even though trends are looking more positive for the GOP, Stu is by no means celebrating.

“What the truth here is that while there is a narrowing, the narrowing doesn’t mean you’re going to see massive gains for Republicans in the House and Senate. I don’t think that’s going to happen at all,” he says soberly.

To hear more of Stu’s prediction market breakdown, watch the episode above.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Election predictions, Midterm elections, Prediction markets, Stu burguiere, Blazetv show 

As election season draws into its final week, many candidates and politicians are making their final rounds with voters across the country.

And Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came out swinging for the GOP in Michigan.

‘The Christians have been expelled. They’ve gone from 20% of the population to 4% of the population. These were genocides.’

On Monday, RFK Jr. joined Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers at a campaign event in Grand Rapids to make a final appeal to voters in what may be one of the highest-profile Senate races in the country.

And RFK Jr. spent a portion of his time dropping some lines about the Muslim Brotherhood.

He called the Muslim Brotherhood a “death cult” that embraces “murder and genocide,” causing the nations it overtakes to become “atrophied and stagnant.”

“There’s 500 million Arabs in the world. And yet they don’t produce science. They don’t win the Nobel Prize. … They don’t produce literature. … All of that tradition has been destroyed by the Muslim Brotherhood. They have created stagnant societies,” he said.

By contrast, he said, traditional Islam gave rise to “art and literature and science and engineering” and societies that for 1,000 years “were highly tolerant and pluralistic and cosmopolitan.”

While many in the corporate media fired back with examples of Arabs winning prizes and participating in culture, it seems that they unintentionally — or intentionally — ignored the primary point he was making: The Muslim Brotherhood’s “death cult” ideology has created a “stagnant society” — not that the Arab world does not have culture.

The HHS secretary went on to say that societies under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood are most effective at producing “hatred and war and victimization.”

RELATED: Senior Michigan Democrats make announcement sure to give El-Sayed an ulcer: ‘Party loyalty is not blind obedience’

He also reminded the event attendees that the Middle East has not always been Muslim.

“There were millions and millions of Christians. Those were all Christian countries,” RFK Jr. said. “Egypt was a Christian country, Libya was a Christian country, Algeria was a Christian country, Iraq was a Christian country, Syria, Lebanon was a Christian country in 1948. The Christians have been expelled. They’ve gone from 20% of the population to 4% of the population. These were genocides.”

“The only people they tell that ‘our objective is not genocide’ are Western dupes and useful idiots,” he went on.

Rogers’ Democrat opponent, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, better known as Abdul El-Sayed, has repeatedly been accused of extremism, up to and including the insinuation that he and his family are tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sayed has denied these allegations.

According to Blaze News’ Poll Watch, El-Sayed is favored by 2.6 points over Mike Rogers with seven days left before the general election.

Vice President JD Vance appeared in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday to support Rogers before a planned trip to Weatherford, Texas, to lend his voice to another of the most contentious Senate races in this election cycle.

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​Health and human services, John james, Michigan politics, Mike rogers, Robert f kennedy jr, Jd vance, Politics, Abdul el-sayed 

The craft store Michaels is under fire for an incident that happened at its Mayfield Heights, Ohio, location earlier this month. A conservative podcaster who posts under the name Chaos Coordinator said staff refused to custom-frame three items for her: a favorite image of President Trump, a religious watercolor painting of praying presidents by artist Jon McNaughton, and an original moon-landing newspaper.

She claimed an employee cited company policy and that the manager treated the items as sensitive or inappropriate.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales plays the video that Chaos Coordinator took of the exchange.

“So this lady decided she didn’t want to service me because she didn’t like the pictures I brought for framing?” she said to the employee in reference to the manager. “Is this Michaels’ policy? Because I’m going to write to them and talk to them about that.”

“It’s not political; this is for my house,” she added.

The employee continued to claim, “We’re not allowed to do political pieces.”

In response to Chaos Coordinator’s video, Michaels responded:

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Michaels does not have a policy prohibiting the framing of political items, and we strive to welcome every customer. We’ve reached out directly to discuss your experience and ensure your project needs are met.”

“I’m just wondering: What else are you going to be doing about this, Michaels?” asks Sara.

She notes that this isn’t the first time the chain has ignited controversy by refusing a customer who wanted a Trump picture framed.

According to a 2024 Seattle Red article, a Michaels customer claimed an employee refused to frame the photo of Donald Trump with his fist raised in the air after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, because it made her “uncomfortable.” She also claimed other employees would likely feel uncomfortable as well.

“It’s very interesting. … It seems to be only Trump material that these people are worried about framing,” says Sara.

She points out that in 2009, Michaels published a press release titled “Framing Presidential History” promoting its $99.99 special to custom-frame Obama inauguration newspaper front pages.

“Wow. How historic. How special,” Sara mocks.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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​Sara gonzales, Donald trump, Blazetv show, Michaels 

A Florida mother allegedly left her four children home alone for nearly a week so she could go on a trip to Las Vegas. However, police reportedly greeted the mom at the airport and arrested her after her youngest child was injured in her absence.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that a child called 911 shortly after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The juvenile informed the dispatcher that her 9-year-old brother had been injured when a dumbbell fell on his head, police said.

‘The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate child neglect.’

According to the statement, deputies responded to the residence and found four unsupervised children, ages 14, 12, 11, and 9.

Fire rescue personnel transported the 9-year-old boy to Celebration Hospital for treatment. The boy was later discharged.

A responding deputy contacted the children’s mother, 50-year-old Irene Miller, by phone.

“She told deputies that she had a babysitter coming from Tampa in the mornings to get the children ready for school and to check on them after school, but she did not require her to stay the night,” the statement read.

RELATED: Florida mom blamed baby’s death on co-sleeping — then detectives noticed her jewelry

Miller told the officer she was working in Las Vegas and would return Friday, Oct. 23.

The New York Post reported that Miller, citing her social media, is a professional photographer and appeared to be working with a client in Las Vegas who was involved with the real estate brokerage franchise network Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

Police said Miller departed Florida for Nevada on Oct. 18.

Police bodycam video the sheriff’s office released shows deputies confronting Miller on a jet bridge at the Orlando International Airport after she stepped off her flight from Las Vegas on Friday. Deputies escorted the mother through the airport before placing her in handcuffs.

Miller, of Kissimmee, was booked into the Orange County Jail and charged with four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.

Miller has since posted bond and has been released from jail, according to Law&Crime.

Police contacted the children’s father, and he took all of the kids to his home.

Osceola Sheriff Chris Blackmon stated, “The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate child neglect. These cases will be investigated, and charges will be brought against the parents who are not properly supervising or caring for their children.”

Miller’s next court date was not immediately listed.

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​Mother arrested, Florida, Florida woman, Bodycam video, Arrest, Child neglect, Crime 

A total of over 250 congressmen, on both sides of the political aisle, have hatched a plan to change the “heritage” that people celebrate during the most American month of the year.

On Monday, Indian-born Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) proposed a resolution to designate July as “Indian American Heritage Month.”

‘If y’all are just as American as anyone else, why do you need a month to honor your distinctiveness?’

The resolution, which was co-sponsored by over 200 of Krishnamoorthi’s Democrat colleagues as well as 50 Republicans, seeks to honor “the contributions of Indian Americans.”

Citing 2023 Census data, the resolution notes that there are “more than 5,200,000 Indian Americans” in the country, though that number has likely increased substantially due in part to legal immigration programs like the H-1B visa.

Krishnamoorthi’s resolution holds that July is the appropriate time of year to celebrate the Indian people because July 2 marks the anniversary of President Harry S. Truman signing the Luce-Celler Act of 1946.

The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 was co-sponsored by Clare Boothe Luce and Emanuel Celler, better known for the Hart-Celler Act of 1965.

RELATED: ICE mocks deportation ‘sob story’ on ’60 Minutes’ — and dismantles its narrative with one inconvenient detail

Finn Gomez/Getty Images

The law made Filipinos and Indians racially eligible for naturalization; it was passed in anticipation of the successful independence movements of the respective countries.

The Democrat congressman, who was born, coincidentally, on July 19 in New Delhi, India, posted an announcement on social media celebrating the resolution.

The post, which notably bears the colors of the Indian flag without any explicit reference to any American symbols, read: “I’m proud to lead 256 bipartisan cosponsors in a resolution to designate July as Indian American Heritage Month.”

“Generations of Indian Americans have helped build and strengthen our country. It’s time we honor their contributions and celebrate their enduring legacy,” Krishnamoorthi added.

The congressman’s post, which received more than 300,000 views but only 1,000 likes, was flooded with pushback and negative comments.

“Kind of disgusting to try to coopt the month of our national birthday,” one commenter said.

Another commenter pointed out the absurdities of the proposal: “Wait. If y’all are just as American as anyone else, why do you need a month to honor your distinctiveness? What months does India set aside to honor foreign ancestries it welcomed into the country?”

Blaze Media’s Logan Hall even joined the fray, saying, “Hey buddy not sure if you are aware of this but July is when we celebrate America and Americans.”

While the resolution was overwhelmingly led by Democrats, it is also supported by dozens of well-known Republican lawmakers, including Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr; Texas Reps. Jake Ellzey, Ronny Jackson, and Dan Crenshaw; Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick; New York Reps. Mike Lawler and Elise Stefanik; and Ohio Rep. Mike Turner.

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​H1b visa, Legal immigration, July 4th, Raja krishnamoorthi, Democrats, Dan crenshaw, Politics 

The newest crime report from the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that non-fatal crime has plummeted during the first year of the second Trump administration.

The preliminary estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey — which collects information from victims of non-fatal crimes, not data from police reports — show a significant decrease in violent crime, property victimization, burglary or trespassing, theft of motor vehicles, and other household theft in 2025.

‘This success reinforces our commitment to ensuring every American can live, work, and raise a family without fear.’

The survey said non-fatal violent crime, which excludes simple assault, fell by 25%, from 9.9 out of 1,000 in 2024 to 7.4 out of 1,000 in 2025. This includes rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Aggravated assault also dropped by 31% over the same period, from 4.5 per 1,000 people to 3.1 per 1,000 people, according to a Justice Department press release on Monday.

“This report is proof that President Trump’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ agenda is working,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward in a press release statement.

“Under President Trump and Attorney General Blanche, the safety of law-abiding Americans will always come first. This success reinforces our commitment to ensuring every American can live, work, and raise a family without fear.”

Property victimization dropped by 19%, burglary or trespassing rates are down by 25%, motor vehicle theft is down 30%, and other kinds of household theft are down by 19%.

“Each year, BJS collects information from a nationally representative sample of about 240,000 persons, aged 12 or older, in about 150,000 U.S. households on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of non-fatal criminal victimization in the United States,” the DOJ explained.

The DOJ said the drop in crime rates was the greatest since the survey began in 1973.

RELATED: Task force locates 101 missing children, Memphis jail runs out of room for arrested suspects

Democrats have resisted some of the president’s orders on criminal enforcement by accusing him of employing authoritarian measures in order to intimidate his political opponents.

Others like Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, have admitted that the president sending federal law enforcement has helped stamp out crime.

Some estimates put the economic cost of crime to be between $4.71 and $5.76 trillion on an annual basis.

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​Crime rates, Crime statistics, Trump administration, Violent crime, Politics 

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday busted a Maine home health care agency that reportedly billed nearly $48 million from MaineCare.

A federal grand jury indicted South Portland’s Community Home Health Care LLC, owner Noora Abd, and five people who worked there. Authorities allege that at least $600,000 in billing was fraudulent, and all six involved individuals were arrested.

‘If, as alleged in the indictment returned last week, you steal from our health care system for your own financial gain, you too, will be shut down and brought to justice.’

Prosecutors allege that the defendants submitted fake Electronic Visit Verifications for a MaineCare member, listed as “Client 1.” MaineCare paid Community Home Health more than $600,000 for that client’s care since 2020, according to the indictment.

MaineCare later reversed about $35,000 of those payments, the indictment says.

Agents seized $116,854 in cash in Biddeford on or about June 23, most of it from a bedroom safe that also held jewelry, according to the indictment. Agents also confiscated $53,768.85 in Augusta.

Community seems to have billed more from MaineCare than any other home health care company in Maine. The company, established in 2016, received $47,986,855 from MaineCare from 2019 through 2025, according to the Maine Wire.

The state suspended its billing on June 30, according to the Maine Wire.

RELATED: Fraud, fraud, and more fraud: How Maine became a Somali scammer’s paradise

Blaze News

The Maine Wire visited Community’s office, located above a South Portland gym, in April. Staff insisted the business was legitimate.

Prosecutors allege the fraud was perpetrated in a straightforward manner. Mohammed Alkhalaf, a personal support specialist at Community, logged in to the Electronic Visit Verifications system with the usernames and passwords of co-defendants Adel Al Rashid, Sura Almohammed, and Ethar Alyaseen, plus an uncharged “Person 1,” according to the indictment.

The defendants shared their Electronic Visit Verifications access with one another so that false visits could be recorded under their names, prosecutors allege.

Abd and Faysal Kalayaf Manahe learned that federal agents were investigating the company on or about June 23, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege the pair subsequently urged a witness, “Person 2,” to refrain from communicating with law enforcement.

The duo also instructed Person 2 to give investigators misleading or inaccurate information if law enforcement officers questioned Person 2, according to prosecutors.

When questioned at his home in Augusta, Alkhalaf allegedly told an FBI agent that he had never filed care hours for anyone but himself.

All six individuals and the company itself are charged with health care fraud conspiracy, which carries up to 10 years in prison. Abd and Manahe also face an obstruction count, and Alkhalaf faces a false-statements count, according to the court docket.

Manahe is no stranger to federal court.

He runs Decent Health Care in Augusta, which billed MaineCare $4,848,112 in 2025. The state suspended its billing on June 30 after uncovering credible evidence that it charged for services that were never actually provided, according to an August report from the Maine Wire. The outlet identified Manahe as an Iraqi immigrant.

The Justice Department charged Manahe and three other home-care managers with conspiring to fix the wages of personal support workers in 2022, though a jury acquitted all four in 2023.

The case is part of the Trump administration’s Homeland Security Task Force, created under an executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.” The FBI, HHS-OIG, HSI, and IRS-CI investigated alongside Maine’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

“Health care fraud — in all its forms — costs all of us, and today’s arrests should make it clear that if, as alleged in the indictment returned last week, you steal from our health care system for your own financial gain, you too will be shut down and brought to justice,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Benson said.

Stephen Smith, an attorney for Alkhalaf, declined to comment.

Attorneys for Abd, Community Home Health Care, Al Rashid, Almohammed, and Alyaseen did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ requests for comment.

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​Maine, Fraud, Politics 

A Florida female carjacked a Good Samaritan who tried to help her after she crashed a stolen vehicle last week, but the victim fought back, officials said.

Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies around 2:47 p.m. Friday received reports of a hit-and-run crash near Northeast 54th Street and Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, deputies told WTVJ-TV.

‘We thought something would happen to her, like she’s in shock or something.’

Deputies said 44-year-old Roszetta Benjamin was in a stolen vehicle when she was involved in a crash with three other cars, the station said, adding that the people in those cars sustained minor injuries.

But after the crash, Benjamin kept driving and was soon involved in another crash at the intersection of North Federal Highway and Hillsboro Boulevard, WTVJ said.

Officials said the stolen car Benjamin was driving was then disabled, and the other driver had non-life-threatening injuries, the station said.

Investigators told WPLG-TV that a Good Samaritan stopped to help Benjamin, but she allegedly tried to carjack him.

WPLG said the two struggled over the vehicle, and deputies said Benjamin put the car in drive during the struggle.

She then crashed into a gas station’s convenience store, WTVJ reported.

Wade Anby Beau, who works at the Mobile gas station, told WTVJ he heard a loud crash and ran to the store to help. Beau added to WTVJ that a driver who also witnessed the crash made a U-turn to also try to help.

“We thought something would happen to her, like she’s in shock or something,” Beau told the station.

Beau said the woman was acting erratically, WTVJ reported, adding that photos from the scene showed the woman standing on the hood of the car after she crashed into the store.

RELATED: Teen accused of brandishing knife amid carjacking definitely picks wrong woman to victimize

Beau noted to WTVJ that he spent two days cleaning in the store after the carjacked vehicle crashed through one of its windows; drink coolers were knocked own, and shards of glass were everywhere.

“It could be, like, something major, because people are always walking through here,” he noted to the station.

Benjamin was charged with carjacking, kidnapping, grand theft, and hit-and-run, WTVJ said, adding that a judge set Benjamin’s bond at more than $104,000.

Benjamin remained behind bars Tuesday, jail records show.

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​Florida, Arrest, Car crash, Stolen car, Carjacking, Good samaritan, Fighting back, Crime 

Some smart TVs won’t take no for an answer.

When these same machines don’t get what they’re looking for, they may implement work-arounds in order to pry into a user’s private life.

‘… a company that truly listens to its customers.’

One researcher decided to reverse-engineer a Samsung smart TV and allegedly found numerous disturbing features buried in its programming.

Some of the most damning allegations include facial recognition code that placed “bounded boxes” around faces, as seen when using a smartphone, for example.

The researcher — going by Log4j — also revealed what he deemed to be sinister listening habits of the televisions.

While many Samsung smart TVs have a built-in microphone, if it doesn’t, “it will look for connected devices with one, such as a soundbar or a connected bluetooth device,” the researcher claimed.

Moreover, the audio is allegedly broken down into categories before it is reported to its masters. Code purportedly showed “dog-barking” and “baby-crying” events, with the code even noting the TV’s camera.

“Finally found a company that truly listens to its customers,” the researcher joked.

RELATED: Every breath you take: Your own Wi-Fi signals let spies watch you inside your home

Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The self-described “reverse engineer” said he uncovered dozens of pages of functions that he hoped to discuss, all by simply running his personal TV’s code through an AI agent.

For his Samsung, the researcher said it loads a “region specific convolutional neural network” that tracks usage in apps on the TV. This includes what type of YouTube videos a user watches, which ads are skipped, and video retention time.

“So glad they’re interested in me,” he wrote.

Another researcher from the Bitcoin world, Marty Bent, claimed that Samsung TVs also have an “always-on hot mic functionality” and “automatic content recognition.”

Bent likened the purchase of a new TV to signing up for an agreement with 400 of the company’s partners.

RELATED: Apple wants you using this new product to run your household

Gado/Getty Images

The microphones on Samsung TVs have already become a rather public and contentious point for users, and Samsung even provides instructions for how to manually turn the microphone off for many of its TVs.

While some models purport to not have microphones at all and do not have the switch, internal settings show microphone access. Those consumers can still set up voice recognition with Samsung’s Bixby, a virtual assistant developed by the company. This can be accomplished with a microphone through a remote or other remote devices.

Samsung did not immediately reply to a request for comment about these allegedly hidden features and has not provided public comment on them, either.

As this is an ongoing story, information will be updated as it is received.

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​Samsung, Smart tv, Facial recognition, Tech 

Texas has successfully transformed one of the main operating bases of the “trans” regime into a refuge for the regime’s victims.

Quick background

Despite chatter in 2022 about ending the practice, physicians at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston continued performing sex-rejection interventions on minors.

‘A clinic cannot give me back what I lost, but it can help patients rebuild their lives.’

In 2023, following whistleblower revelations about the ongoing sex-rejection interventions at Texas Children’s Hospital, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into it.

A lengthy investigation by his office’s Healthcare Program Enforcement Division then ensued, and Paxton secured a settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital earlier this year.

The hospital was required, among other things, to:

permanently cease “providing, directly or indirectly, any sex-rejecting procedures” and referring patients to third parties for such medical procedures;revoke the privileges of and fire physicians who were involved in the hospital’s sex-rejection operations; andpay nearly $10 million in civil penalties to “resolve claims brought under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act and the federal False Claims Act for billing Texas Medicaid for unallowable and illegal ‘gender-transition’ interventions.”

RELATED: ‘Not medicine — it’s malpractice’: Trump HHS buries child sex-change regime with damning report

Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images

Per the terms of the settlement, Texas Children’s Hospital was also required to establish a detransition clinic to “help patients reverse the damage caused by ideologically motivated physicians who harmed patients by performing dangerous medical interventions for the purpose of ‘transitioning’ them.”

First in the nation

Paxton announced on Tuesday that Texas Children’s has opened the detransition clinic.

Chloe Cole, a detransitioner who has raised awareness about the horrors of sex-rejection medical interventions, told Blaze News, “Texas Children’s accepting appointment requests for detransition care is significant because people living with the consequences of transition deserve to be taken seriously.”

“A clinic cannot give me back what I lost, but it can help patients rebuild their lives,” continued Cole. “The medical system has a responsibility to care for the people who trusted it, including when those patients regret what was done to them.”

According to Texas Children’s, the clinic offers a team of multi-disciplinary experts with specialties including endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, psychiatry, and speech pathology.

The hospital is obligated to provide all care at no cost to patients for the next five years. To fund services beyond the initial five-year window, the hospital must include the detransition clinic as a specific gift designation on its “Giving” webpage.

Paxton vowed that he will “ensure that this clinic provides the care and support that victims of the radical left’s gender ideology deserve.”

“This is an important step toward caring for a group of patients who have long been overlooked,” Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer at the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, said in a statement to Blaze News. “Detransitioners have suffered because of the lies sold to them by transgender activists. Their struggles were often dismissed or ignored by the medical establishment. Yet they deserve as much support and care as we can give.”

Miceli added, “The Detransition Clinic at Texas Children’s is a step in the right direction. We hope to see more hospitals open similar clinics, without the Department of Justice having to step in.”

Cole suggested that the establishment of a detransition clinic presents a great opportunity “for research into improving life after transition.”

“There are serious unanswered questions about how best to care for detransitioners,” Cole told Blaze News. “If Texas Children’s is going to serve these patients properly, it needs to confront those questions: Which treatments actually help? What can realistically be restored? How do patients’ physical and psychological needs change over time?”

The clinic should be judged on whether it materially helps victims and whether it advances that knowledge, said Cole.

Paxton, who faces off with a supporter of the sex-rejection regime in the race for a seat in the U.S. Senate next week, said on Tuesday, “We will protect our children and defeat the dangerous ideology that has inflicted irreversible harm on innocent kids.”

Texas Children’s did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

Just a week away from Election Day, Democrat James Talarico still holds a slight edge over Paxton in the Texas U.S. Senate race, according to Blaze News’ Poll Watch.

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​Ken paxton, Texas children’s hospital, Transgender, Chloe cole, Houston, Politics 

Vice President JD Vance is hinting that he may sit out the 2028 presidential race — but BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t convinced.

“You mentioned a couple minutes ago that in a couple years you might be out of a job,” a Michigan reporter said to Vance. “That, even in the structure of the sentence, suggests that you’d be running for a continued job.”

“Not necessarily,” Vance replied.

The reporter then asked: “Is there a chance you don’t run for president in 2028?”

“Of course there’s a chance,” Vance said. “Man, we’ve got four little kids. My wife has never loved politics. She loves public service. I think, you know, you can do a lot of good in this job, and I’ve tried to do as much good as possible.”

“But I really — people ask me this question all the time, and I think they assume because I’m a politician, of course, he’s going to run for president in 2028,” he continued.

Vance went on to explain that when it comes to “big life decisions,” even his wife will admit that he’s a “procrastinator.”

“I hate thinking about it. And what will happen is that first of all, after all these fine people elect Mike Rogers United States senator for the state of Michigan, what’s going to happen is then I’ll have to think about it,” he said.

“And then I will actually have to make a decision. But you know, anything could happen,” he adds.

“I don’t buy it. He’s running,” Gray comments.

“I can’t imagine a vice president not running,” he adds.

“It’s very difficult for him to run because he’s going to have to run on Trump’s agenda. And he’s going to have to try to separate himself from that,” Jeff Fisher says.

“He might not have to because the economy could get a lot better between now and then when the war goes away, and it should,” Gray says.

“I really believe that,” 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.

​Pat gray, Jd vance, Donald trump, 2028, Presidential election, Blazetv show 

The investigation into disgraced Democrat Eric Swalwell continues, as federal agents raided a mansion in Southern California Tuesday morning.

Swalwell, who resigned from Congress and dropped his 2026 California gubernatorial bid in April, has been under intense scrutiny since five women have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. One woman even accused him of rape.

‘It might still be connected to sexual offenses, but …’

Early Tuesday morning, FBI agents raided a home in Beverly Hills, California, in connection with the Swalwell investigation, Fox News reported. The raid occurred at a home on Roxbury Drive near Benedict Canyon Drive around 7 a.m. Pacific Time, according to KABC.

The mansion belongs to billionaire Stephen Cloobeck, KABC reported. Cloobeck ran for governor of California last year and then endorsed Swalwell after dropping out. He publicly distanced himself from Swalwell following the sexual misconduct allegations.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

Former DOJ prosecutor Jim Trusty told Fox News that when it comes to federal search warrants, “digital is king.”

“What federal authorities love to find is not necessarily the evidence of the crime itself, like finding a gun or finding a knife or finding money, but finding communications, getting access to computers and iPhones and everything else,” Trusty explained.

RELATED: FBI descends on disgraced Democrat Eric Swalwell: Report

Trusty then noted that the raid involves federal agents, while sexual assault allegations are typically prosecuted at the state level. “You have to wonder, is there a slightly different angle? It might still be connected to sexual offenses, but does it have to do with obstruction? Does it have to do with false statements when he was being investigated by Congress?” Trusty wondered.

“When you go overt, it tends to mean it’s getting closer,” Trusty continued. “So we might end up seeing either charges or statements of some substance or even a charging document or a search warrant affidavit that starts to lay this stuff out.”

Swalwell’s digital devices were confiscated and his D.C.-area home raided by the FBI in August.

An attorney for Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment, and efforts to contact Swalwell were unsuccessful.

Swalwell spent more than a dozen years in Congress, representing the East Bay area of San Francisco from 2013 until his resignation in April.

Declassified FBI documents confirmed that Swalwell admitted to having “physical relations” with suspected Chinese spy Christine “Fang Fang” Fang:

Screenshot of FBI document

This is a developing story.

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​California, Eric swalwell, Politics 

The Democratic Party is undergoing a socialist takeover, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading prospective candidate for 2028, doesn’t appear at all bothered.

Townhall Investigations published undercover footage on Monday that appears to show the radical governor welcoming the Democratic Party’s transformation and the mainstreaming of radical policy proposals from the Democratic Socialists of America.

‘We have to completely reimagine it.’

In the video, which is dated Oct. 17, a person off-screen can be heard saying, “I was wondering ’cause I’m a younger voter and a lot of us, like, we want to see the Democratic Party move forward. You know, we don’t want more Kamala Harris. We want, you know, more, I guess, democratic socialist policies.”

The individual then asks, “Where do you see, I guess, the Democratic Party going?”

Newsom responds, “I think no one is arguing to manage the status quo and fail more efficiently. So I think that the DSA — the energy, and the desire and demand for bold change, not incremental change — is very much going to be the dominant — I mean, that’s going to be the mainstream Democratic [Party]. Absolutely,” according to the video.

“You can’t play in the margins any more,” Newsom continues, according to the video. “The system’s broken. It’s completely unbalanced, and we can’t — we can’t manage the decline. We have to completely reimagine it.”

RELATED: ‘Cold civil war’ about to heat up? DataRepublican exposes evidence of color revolution plot

Blaze News reached out to Newsom’s office but did not immediately receive a response.

Last month, Newsom emphasized in an interview with “PBS NewsHour” that there is no daylight between the radicalism of the Democratic Party and the DSA. Responding to the suggestion that “there seems to be some distance between [Democrat] leadership and those DSA candidates,” Newsom said, “But not the ideas.”

The DSA’s ideas, if put into effect, would leave the republic unrecognizable. The DSA’s 2026 program advocates for:

abolishing the presidency, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate, and the Electoral College;expanding the House of Representatives;defunding police, taking steps “towards fully abolishing the police and prison system,” and ending qualified immunity;abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, halting all deportations, granting amnesty for all illegal aliens, and ending visa caps;ranked-choice voting in all elections;nationalizing large corporations;extending voting rights to noncitizens;eliminating fossil fuels;establishing Washington, D.C., as a state;universal health care, including “complete access to reproductive and gender-affirming care”;reparations for slavery;eliminating restrictions on abortion and sex-rejection mutilations;universal rent control and recognizing housing as a human right; anddefunding the Pentagon and closing overseas U.S. military bases.

According to a New York Times/Siena University poll released on Saturday, twice-failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris is the top choice for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination with 12%. Newsom placed second in the poll with 9%.

Among possible 2028 Republican presidential nominees, Vice President JD Vance was first with 33%; Secretary of State Marco Rubio was second with 23%; and President Donald Trump was third with 3% despite the 22nd Amendment, which says, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

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​Gavin newsom, Democratic party, Democratic socialists of america, Socialism, Politics 

More young conservatives are starting to believe the system is rigged, the American dream is dead, and there’s no point in fighting for a better future.

While BlazeTV host Nick Freitas understands the frustrations driving that “black-pill” mindset — he also knows that doesn’t make it right.

“I’m watching more and more of the young right check out and black-pill,” Freitas says, “And I’m asking myself, how does that help?”

“I don’t understand how, again, we get to this point where it’s like, ‘Well, it’s just not worth fighting for,’” he adds.

“It’s a complex thing,” co-host Christian Hines chimes in. “But you know, you can go through the list … like the economy is not doing great, you have, you know, what, a generation of asset price inflation without any accompanying increase in wages to match it to the point now that homes are unaffordable for most people under the age of 30.”

“Good luck building wealth because the wealth has already been built,” he adds.

Hines points out that the “runaway asset price inflation” is “generational.”

“So those who already own the assets, which tend to be older people … they have benefited greatly from the current system,” he says.

“Whereas younger people that, you know, because they weren’t alive in the 1980s or 1990s, they haven’t had the opportunity to build that type of wealth, and it’s already been built,” he adds.

However, it’s not just the financial doomerism that has Freitas concerned, pointing out that many young men and women no longer believe they’ll find a partner to build a family with.

And he believes this has a lot to do with how they’re raised.

“If you are raising daughters and you are only teaching them what they should expect from their husbands, you’re failing them and you’re failing their future husbands. You need to also teach them what their husbands should be able to expect from them,” Freitas says.

“Happy marriages are ones where people embrace their duties and responsibilities in marriage. And both sides have some,” he continues.

“Now, the pool of people that were raised that way has dwindled significantly. I don’t disagree with that at all. But it’s not erased,” he adds.

And while the attitude of the youth looks bleak, Freitas wants them to realize “that we can turn this around.”

“Like if you black-pill, right, they will win. If our young men on the conservative side, on the right, if our young men black-pill, they will win,” he adds.

“Making the Argument with Nick Freitas” is available on BlazeTV+, YouTube, and major podcast platforms.

Start watching Nick Freitas NOW at blazetv.com and use the promo code NICK for $20 off your BlazeTV+ subscription.

​Nick freitas, Christian hines, Blackpill, Conservatives, Young men, Right wing, Blazetv show 

Thirteen years have passed since the last Grand Theft Auto launched to critical acclaim. Now, at long last, GTA VI is almost here, but thanks to the AI boom, prices on current consoles are skyrocketing, and next-gen hardware is expected to be even worse. Here’s why you might have to pay more to play this November.

If you already own a compatible game console, you’re among the lucky ones who aren’t affected by the ever-increasing gadget prices that hit gamers particularly hard starting early this year. If you don’t have a console though, or if you own the wrong game console, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny for the privilege to play GTA VI on launch day.

Most of these consoles are six years old, and instead of dropping in price, they’ve gone up.

GTA VI is a new-generation game packed to the brim with the latest graphical technology powered by Rockstar Games’ Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. A quick glance at the extended teaser from August shows stunningly realistic lighting and textures, extreme precision on fine details like strands of hair, and a dense world ready to be explored. In short, you will need a powerful console to play GTA VI, which is probably why your options are so limited.

The game will only be compatible with four consoles at launch — PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. Anything else is obsolete. That means GTA VI won’t run on the Nintendo Switch 2, nor is it playable on an old PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

You can’t even play GTA VI on PC or handhelds, like Steam Deck. This isn’t due to a technical limitation though. Rockstar intentionally made GTA VI a console exclusive for the first several months, leaving PC players out to dry until Q1 2027, when it is rumored to release more broadly.

Naturally, the PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X are the preferred consoles that deliver the best graphical experience. Unfortunately, both of these consoles, and their lower-powered siblings, are more expensive today than they were when they launched in 2020 and 2024.

Everything is more expensive

In August, Xbox raised the cost of Series X and Series S by $100 for the 512GB options and $150 for the 1TB versions. This is on top of the $20-$70 price hike from October of last year. If you want to buy one of these consoles today, you’ll pay:

Xbox Series S (512GB) – $499.99Xbox Series S (1TB) – $599.99Xbox Series X (1TB Digital Edition) – $749.99Xbox Series X (1TB) – $799.99Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition – $899.99

PlayStation isn’t any better. Sony raised prices in August as well, adding another $100-$150 to its product lineup. If you want a new PlayStation today, you’ll pay:

PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (825GB) – $599PlayStation 5 (1TB) – $649PlayStation 5 Pro (2TB) – $899

The irony here is that most of these consoles — with the exception of PlayStation 5 Pro that came out in 2024 — are six years old. Instead of dropping in price — which is what usually happens to aging technology before the next big thing comes to replace it — they’ve gone up, thanks to supply chain shortages spurred on by AI.

Lastly, the game — GTA VI itself — is also more expensive. GTA V launched at $60 for the standard version. Yes, the last game came out in 2013, so you’d expect prices to shift over more than a decade. However, the $60 base price tag for games in general stuck around for a long time before jumping up to $70 in 2020. To play GTA VI though, that one will set you back $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition, which gives you special vehicles, weapons, and clothing items for the main characters.

RELATED: This top video game company is betting its future on something gamers hate

Emanuele Cremaschi/Contributor/Getty Images

No hope for the next generation

For those who need a gaming console to play GTA VI, you might just write this generation off for what’s coming next. The next-gen consoles are rumored to roll out in several more years, but if you think you’ll get one for a decent price, think again. With supply chain shortages refusing to go away, the prices for the next consoles are expected to be even worse.

The new Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, could reportedly cost up to $1,800, making it Microsoft’s most expensive console ever. That’s a big ask for gamers who are used to paying a fraction of that on new hardware. That said, Project Helix is more than just a console. It will supposedly be closer to a hybrid console/PC with support for Xbox games and PC games. Whether the added capability is worth the higher price is up to you.

The next-generation PlayStation will also be more expensive. Rumors suggest it could cost up to $1,000 MSRP, largely due to RAM and NAND costs taking up $680 of that price tag. Unlike Xbox, the next PlayStation likely won’t have PC game support, and it may not have a disc drive since Sony is officially ending disc game releases in 2028.

Brace yourself for more

Gaming is just one industry affected by the supply chain shortages. Prices for all electronics, including phones, laptops, tablets, and more, have all gone up by 17%-42%, depending on the device. There’s real volatility in the market, and it’s impossible to predict how these prices will fluctuate throughout the holidays and into 2027.

At the same time, data shows that the AI bubble may be primed to burst. If that happens, the supply chains would get a much needed break from the AI onslaught, potentially freeing up resources to lower prices for consumers. Unfortunately, we would have bigger problems as AI investors would have billions of dollars in debt with no way to recoup, and AI would no longer be the economic engine that some said it would be.

But hey, until then, at least we have the hottest game of the year coming out soon. Grand Theft Auto VI is available now for preorder, and it will launch on PlayStation and Xbox on Thursday, November 19, 2026.

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​Grand theft auto, Grand theft auto vi, Gaming, Games, Prices, Artificial intelligence, Shortage, Supply chain, Tech 

Lakepointe Church senior pastor and host of the “Live Free” podcast, available on BlazeTV, Josh Howerton is calling on his fellow pastors to fight back against “intimidation” efforts from secular activists and to speak forthrightly about the “moral asymmetry” between the two major political parties in America ahead of the upcoming midterms.

Howerton — who discussed the misconceptions about the separation between church and state earlier this year on “Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey” — also implored fellow pastors in Texas and across the nation, via social media, to encourage their congregants to vote and not be afraid of the threat of lawsuits from organizations like the Freedom from Religion Foundation that use IRS complaints to intimidate pastors to remain silent.

‘No church in US History has ever had their tax exempt status removed for a sermon, much less for a separate podcast.’

Howerton claimed in the post that millions of Christians in Texas may not vote in the 2026 midterm elections that could be decided by a few hundred thousand votes. Howerton said, “Pastors, consider encouraging your people to vote real quick in announcements next couple weeks.” He then told those pastors that their congregations were comprised of “salt of the earth” people who want their pastors to do this.

Days after this initial exhortation, Howerton identified Ashley Wooldridge, the senior pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley in Arizona, as a pastor who has been delivering the goods.

Responding to a video where Wooldridge urges followers of Christ to go vote, Howerton wrote, “People who don’t come from ‘pastor world’ won’t understand this, but Pastor Ashley will get crushed just for doing this (his church is over 50k people). And every member of his church should have his back and be proud he’s their pastor for doing it.”

In the interview earlier this year with Allie Beth Stuckey, Howerton explained what the so-called separation of church and state does not mean.

“Morality is all that gets legislated. Every law that has ever existed legislates a morality,” he continued. “So separation of church and state doesn’t mean a separation of morality and state, and separation of church and state doesn’t mean a separation of politics and religion. That’s actually impossible and clearly not what the founders desired.”

Howerton knows firsthand what backlash awaits those conservative Christians who dare to raise their voices during an election year.

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Howerton spoke forcefully about matters of faith, morality, and political agency, emphasizing that “if the church won’t disciple people, the world will.” In particular, one of his sermons evidently got under the skin of the secularists at the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a tax-exempt progressive advocacy group that works zealously to remove all signs and sounds of Christianity from public spaces.

While the secularist group acknowledged that Howerton wasn’t explicitly endorsing a presidential candidate in the sermon, it nevertheless asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Lakepointe Church and terminate its tax-exempt status.

Drawing on his experience with the FFRF’s 2024 complaint and what he regards as pastor-focused “harassment and intimidation,” Howerton noted last week that “progressives selectively report churches to the FFRF every year and FFRF selectively threatens only one side with (toothless) lawsuits.”

The Internal Revenue Code has long prohibited churches and other tax-exempt nonprofit organizations “from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”

RELATED: Talarico gets DEMOLISHED after he cites Bible in defense of abortion

Congress has yet to repeal the Johnson Amendment and related legal battles are ongoing, but the IRS said last year that pastors could formally endorse political candidates from the pulpit without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status under the Johnson Amendment.

After suggesting that FFRF turns a blind eye to pro-Democratic messaging in progressive churches, Howerton emphasized that “no church in U.S. History has ever had their tax exempt status removed for a sermon, much less for a separate podcast, and that goes triple for cases in which no candidate has even been endorsed and QUADRUPLE for simply encouraging your people to vote and bringing clarity of moral asymmetry of policy proposals.”

“In the words of a couple knowledgeable guys I consulted with, it’s a harassment and intimidation tactic to silence pastors,” said Howerton.

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

“There is NO threat from this whatsoever, you are 100% free to be clear with your people about the (radical) moral asymmetry between the current proposed policies and ideologies of the parties AND to encourage your people to vote as an application of the command to be ‘the salt of the earth’ (Matt 5:13) and to ‘seek the welfare of the city’ (Jer 29:7) and to ‘love your neighbor’ (Mk 12:31),” continued the pastor. “Stand firm.”

Howerton is not alone in asking Christian faith leaders to step up.

In an interview on Fox News earlier this month, Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice similarly urged pastors to engage in the political process “because there are many political issues that are, at their heart, theological issues and moral issues that strike at the very center of what we believe to be true and what we believe people need to know in order to flourish personally and as a culture.”

“I think throughout American history, pastors have had a strong voice at key moments in American political history,” added Rice.

Rice also observed that theologically conservative pastors retreated from public political fights in recent years, leaving a “vacuum” that was exploited by “those on the theological and political left.”

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​Faith, Josh howerton, Blazetv, Freedom from religion foundation, Texas, Politics 

A beloved former Texas school janitor — who spent nearly four decades cleaning classrooms and helping students — burst into tears after receiving an unexpected honor from the school district.

Marilyn Hampton retired as a custodian in 2022 after working for the Aubrey Independent School District for 39 years. Hampton told WFAA-TV that she continued to work by caring for infants and toddlers in the Aubrey Independent School District’s Early Bird Learning Center.

‘God put you where you are supposed to be.’

During a school board meeting last Wednesday, Aubrey ISD Superintendent Dr. Shannon Saylor asked Hampton if she could perform one last task.

Saylor asked Hampton to roll out a red carpet in front of the speaker’s podium in the room.

Hampton, 76, unrolled the red carpet but did not initially realize what had been written on it. It read: “Marilyn Hampton Elementary School.”

Saylor announced that a new school would officially be named the Marilyn Hampton Elementary School.

Hampton broke down in tears upon hearing that the new school would be named in her honor. “You’re too good. I wasn’t expecting this. Thank y’all. I can’t speak,” Hampton said through tears, according to the New York Post.

“Oh my goodness. Oh God. You all are the best,” the elated Hampton said.

Hampton told the room, “I didn’t bring my phone.”

Then Saylor quipped, “That’s OK, it’ll be everywhere.”

Saylor said Hampton is “truly Aubrey ISD.”

“She may not have the official title of an educator, but she was in every meaningful sense a teacher and an educator at heart,” Saylor said of Hampton.

“Her teaching legacy that she left behind about being kind, work hard, continue to persevere, and overcome,” Saylor added.

Saylor said the school board takes “great pride in honoring those who have really contributed to the lives of our kids.”

The Aubrey Independent School District said the surprise announcement was done to “publicly put a stamp” on Hampton’s legacy.

RELATED: Hero fishermen save 38 dogs on the verge of drowning in Mississippi lake

Hampton told WFAA on Friday, “I still can’t believe it. I haven’t stopped crying.”

The school board presented her with a Marilyn Hampton Elementary School T-shirt.

Hampton remarked, “Can you believe it? I can’t. I cannot. All I can say is God is good.”

Hampton proclaimed that her “heart is full.”

Hampton said she once felt like a failure because she never attended college but later found that being a custodian brought her satisfaction. Hampton said, “I just thought, ‘You know, Marilyn? God put you where you are supposed to be.’ And I’m very happy with the way things turned out.”

During her time as a custodian, Hampton not only cleaned the school, but also bought school supplies and helped struggling students study for tests.

“When I could help a kid and turn their smile up instead of down, that’s what I wanted to do,” Hampton said.

Hampton said, “Whoever thought a janitor would have a school named after them?”

“My goodness. What an honor. It’s an honor that I never thought in my lifetime I would have seen,” Hampton continued. “It’s not anything I could have even imagined.”

The Marilyn Hampton Elementary School, which will be located in Aubrey, Texas, is set to open in August 2027.

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​Good news, News, Texas, Public schools 

For 15 years, Amazon’s Fire tablets served as affordable options for anyone who liked to read books, surf the web, watch videos, and shop for products on Amazon. That’s why it’s a surprise that Amazon just killed off Fire tablets for a new, more expensive option that you’ll either love or hate.

Amazon Fire tablets were cheap, both in quality and affordability. They were made of plastic, they ran a forked version of Android that cut out the Google Play Store in favor of the Amazon App Store, and they cost anywhere between $50 and $200, depending on the model. This made them easy to give to kids, throw in a bag, or keep around the house without much concern.

Premium devices require premium price tags, and Alexa Tablets deliver in spades.

Amazon Fire tablets were useful in their category, but compared to Apple’s iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab series, they weren’t nearly as capable. For this reason, Amazon officially killed the Fire tablet in early October in favor of something else — a new product crafted for the personal intelligence era of society.

Dubbed Alexa Tablets, these new devices come in three distinct sizes: the largest 12-inch Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, the middle 11-inch Amazon Alexa Tablet 11, and the smallest 8.7-inch Amazon Alexa Tablet 8.

They’re premium in both look and feel, featuring aluminum frames, 60Hz-120Hz refresh rate displays for smooth performance, and refined designs.

Unlike the Fire tablets of the past, Alexa Tablets run a full version of Android 16. That means users can access the Google Play Store and download all their favorite apps, including Google services like YouTube, video games like Genshin Impact and Roblox, and Amazon apps, including Kindle, Amazon store, and Prime Video.

As their names suggest, Alexa Tablets are built around the premium version of Amazon’s personal assistant, Alexa+. Although it may not generate as much buzz as ChatGPT, Claude, or even the new Siri, Alexa+ is a generative AI chatbot that can field questions, make reservations, and more.

Under the hood, some of Alexa Tablets’ appeal starts to wane. The 8-inch version comes with 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB) and up to 128GB of storage — pretty small metrics by today’s standards, and the RAM shortage over AI isn’t helping. As for the 11-inch Pro tablet, it comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, upgradable to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

All three tablets feature MediaTek chips in lieu of Qualcomm — 8189 8-core on the smaller versions and Dimensity 8400 on the larger Pro. MediaTek is usually considered the cheaper and less performant option than the Qualcomm Snapdragon series found in most flagship Android devices today. These were likely chosen to cut costs.

RELATED: Google is killing its popular Chromebook. Here’s what’s next — and how to prepare.

John Moore/Staff/Getty Images

As a whole, Alexa Tablets seem like decent devices — not groundbreaking but not bad either. They look good, they should feel premium in the hand, and the overall quality exceeds anything that Fire tablets delivered in a decade and a half.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Amazon’s device division is headed up by Senior Vice President Panos Panay. Panay, who joined Amazon in 2023, previously worked as the chief product officer at Microsoft, meticulously building and refining the Surface product series for 15 years.

If you’ve never listened to Panay wax poetic over new hardware, it’s something to watch. His adoration for tech is infectious. He clearly loves what he does. Any of us would be lucky to have a spouse that fawns over us like Panay does his tech. But I digress.

The biggest problem with Alexa Tablets is the price.

Premium devices require premium price tags, and Alexa Tablets deliver in spades. The cheapest Alexa Tablet 8 starts at $279.99, a far cry from the $50 Fire tablet days. Continuing the climb up the price chart, Alexa Tablet 11 clocks in at $379.99. Then at the top, reigning as the most premium option on the list, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro can be yours for $499.99.

Now, it’s important to look at these prices in context. While they’re worlds more expensive than the Fire tablets of yesteryear, and while these new versions may be too pricey to hand off to a child or throw around like their predecessors, Alexa tablets are still surprisingly affordable compared to iPad and Galaxy Tab.

The base model iPad Mini and iPad start at $599 and $449, respectively, while the high-end iPad Pro will cost you $1,199 or more. At the same time, Samsung will sell you the cheapest Galaxy Tab S10 Lite for $399.99, up to the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra for $1,399.99. This makes Alexa Tablets one of the most affordable “Pro” tablets money can buy, even if they are a sticker shock compared to the outgoing Fire series.

Alexa Tablets are available for purchase now from Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and other retailers.

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​Amazon, Tablet, Tech 

A 42-year-old member of the Hells Angels biker gang was sentenced after pleading guilty to numerous charges related to child pornography, according to the Fontana Police Department.

Investigators of the Fontana Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Unit opened an investigation into Ryan Van De Car on November 16, 2023.

He will remain on federal probation for the rest of his life and will be prohibited from associating with any member of the Hells Angels.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an undercover operation and found Van De Car was utilizing “multiple online chat and social media platforms” in order to “obtain illicit photographs and videos involving children.”

Law enforcement officers “seized and examined multiple electronic devices” with evidence that Van De Car was using social media platforms to “exploit juvenile victims,” as well as obtain and distribute child sex abuse media.

Prosecutors also said he had produced and distributed “adapted child pornography and obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children.”

Investigators identified Van De Car’s accounts on the Kik platform that included “littlelove14369,” “familylustfun,” “30 Days on Kik,” “Ryan Nice,” and “Not new account was taken 42 m USA bi married dad.”

In April 2025, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in California on one count of distribution of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and production of adapted child pornography.

In September, he was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, according to the Fontana police. He will remain on federal probation for the rest of his life and will be prohibited from associating with any member of the Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang after his release.

RELATED: Bikers beat down man who shot and killed victim at bar during fight over ex-wife, Washington state police say

Fontana Police Dept. social media release

“The Fontana Police Department recognizes the investigative efforts of the participating law enforcement agencies, forensic personnel, investigators, and prosecutors whose combined efforts contributed to the successful prosecution of this case,” the police department said.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was founded in 1948 in the city of Fontana.

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​Child pornography, Hells angels, Biker gang, Child abuse, Crime