Category: blaze media

A Spirit Airlines pilot reportedly was arrested at an airport amid accusations involving alleged underage victims.

Dominic A. Cipolla — a 40-year-old pilot with Spirit — was arrested July 17 while he was working at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the Guardian reported.

‘The pilot was removed from duty pending our investigation into the matter.’

A Spirit spokesperson informed the paper that the airline was “aware of a matter involving a pilot at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport … which was unrelated to the performance of their job duties.”

“The pilot was removed from duty pending our investigation into the matter,” the spokesperson stated. “And we arranged for another pilot to operate the flight.”

According to a July 11 criminal complaint out of Kansas, Cipolla is accused of stalking two children in Olathe.

Citing the complaint filed in Johnson County District Court, the New York Times reported that Cipolla was charged with two counts of stalking the minors with “reckless conduct causing fear.”

RELATED: ‘If you challenge me, it will result in your death’: Watch fists fly on Frontier flight as passenger gets pummeled

Photo by Jetlinerimages via iStock / Getty Images

The criminal complaint offers no specifics about the alleged behavior, only stating that the incident occurred “on or about” Aug. 5, 2024.

The Guardian added that the birth dates of the alleged victims listed in court documents indicate “they are approximately 12 and 17 years old.”

The Guardian said the charge involving the younger alleged victim is a felony because of the person’s age and carries a prison sentence of up to three years. The other charge is a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

On Saturday, Cipolla was taken to the Johnson County Jail in Kansas. According to jail records, he was released the same day after posting a $12,500 bond.

Cipolla is scheduled to make his initial court appearance next Tuesday, according to records.

As part of the terms of his release, Cipolla is not permitted to leave Kansas without the approval of the Johnson County District Court. He also is forbidden to make any contact with children.

Court records say Cipolla is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, which is roughly 22 miles north of Olathe.

Citing a now-deleted LinkedIn account, the New York Times reported that Cipolla has been a first officer with Spirit Airlines since 2022.

The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office, which brought the charges against Cipolla, did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

But attorney Brandan Davies said in a statement on Cipolla’s behalf that he’s “a two-time combat veteran with not so much as a speeding ticket on his record,” the Guardian reported, adding that Cipolla “denies the allegations against him and asks that the media allow the court process to take place.”

As Blaze News recently reported, federal agents reportedly stormed the cockpit of a Delta Air Lines plane and dragged a pilot off the commercial airliner. The pilot was hit with 24 charges related to sexual assault of a child 10 years or younger.

The ex-girlfriend of the arrested Delta Air Lines pilot also was arrested and charged in the disturbing case that allegedly involves her young daughter, according to officials.

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Arizona state Sen. Analise Ortiz (D) has been using her social media platforms to alert illegal aliens of federal immigration enforcement operations in the state, and she remains committed to continuing the practice.

On X, Libs of TikTok posted a screenshot from Ortiz’s Instagram story, where she shared the date, time, and address of suspected activity from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In response to LOTT’s call for the federal government to charge her, Ortiz replied, “Yep. When ICE is around, I will alert my community to stay out of the area, and I’m not f**king scared of you nor Trump’s masked goons.”

‘It appears she may be in violation of federal law.’

Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman (R) said he would be filing an ethics complaint against Ortiz for putting law enforcement in danger.

“Bring it on, Jake. ICE alerts keep people away from the area since these lawless thugs are gleefully disappearing people, including U.S. citizens and lawful residents. You try to spin a false narrative, but the people know the real threat to our safety is Trump,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz would go on to compare her alerts to the alerts the Waze app sends to users of police cars on their route.

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

Sanctuary cities on DOJ’s list set to reap the whirlwind Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

“I spoke with the U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona and referred this matter to his office to investigate, as it appears she may be in violation of federal law. Arizona Senate Republicans stand firmly in support of ICE and the important work they do to uphold our nation’s immigration laws and protect our communities,” Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R) said in a statement. “Senator Ortiz is fortunate the legislature is not currently in session, as her remarks would no doubt face significant scrutiny from her colleagues.”

The Arizona attorney general, Democrat Kris Mayes, then accused Petersen of threatening Ortiz for exercising her freedom of speech.

Assaults on federal agents in departments like ICE are up over 800% as members of the public and illegal aliens have increased their resistance to apprehensions.

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​Politics 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday that her agency is addressing the limitations in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention space and staffing to enhance enforcement efforts.

A press release from the DHS revealed a new partnership with Indiana to increase ICE’s detention space by 1,000 beds. The agreement with the Indiana Department of Correction will allow the federal immigration agency to use beds at the Miami Correctional Facility.

‘Our recruitment efforts to hire 10,000 new ICE officers has been extremely successful.’

The DHS dubbed the detention space the Speedway Slammer, adding that the partnership was made possible by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which secures funds for 80,000 new beds for ICE.

According to reports from January, ICE had the capacity to detain roughly 41,000 per day. Border czar Tom Homan has previously stated his intention for ICE to more than double its beds to 100,000.

The Speedway Slammer marks the second state agreement, after Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, to increase ICE detention space.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun (R) announced partnerships with the federal government last week.

RELATED: CNN confirms Trump’s immigration crackdown is having historic effects

Indiana Governor Mike Braun. Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP via Getty Images

“Indiana is not a safe haven for illegal immigration. Indiana will fully partner with federal immigration authorities as they enforce the most fundamental laws of our country,” Braun said.

He stated that the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and Indiana State Police had reached a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which authorizes designated state officers “to perform immigration enforcement functions such as arrests, issuing detainers, taking and maintaining custody, and operating as a joint task force with ICE.”

“Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the state of Indiana to expand detention bed space by 1,000 beds,” Noem stated. “Thanks to Governor Braun for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country. If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer. Avoid arrest and self-deport now using the CBP Home App.”

On Wednesday, Noem revealed that the DHS had waived age limits for new ICE applicants to ensure that “even more patriots will qualify.”

RELATED: Ecuador is open to accepting Venezuelans living in US illegally: Sec. Noem

Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The DHS credited the One Big Beautiful Bill Act again for allowing ICE to offer “a robust package of federal law enforcement incentives,” including up to $50,000 signing bonuses and student loan repayment and forgiveness options.

Noem told Fox News on Wednesday, “Our recruitment efforts to hire 10,000 new ICE officers has been extremely successful.”

She stated that over 80,000 applicants have applied to join ICE.

“People and patriots across this country that say, ‘We want to join. We want to help and be a part of this effort.’ It’s overwhelming to see the amount of response and support that our ICE officers have gotten and people who want to join their ranks,” Noem said.

— (@)

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​News, Kristi noem, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Indiana, Speedway slammer, Alligator alcatraz, Florida, Mike braun, Indiana department of homeland security, Indiana dhs, Indiana state police, One big beautiful bill, Immigration, Illegal immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Immigration crisis, Politics 

U.S. Border Patrol agents operating in Los Angeles have come up with a novel way to avoid detection as they approach areas where illegal immigrants are known to gather.

Far-left groups in Southern California have been posting federal vehicle models and license plates to their followers on social media to alert illegal immigrants, if they see those vehicles. On Wednesday, Border Patrol agents raided a Home Depot parking lot and caught suspected illegal aliens by surprise by arriving in a box truck.

The name of the operation was Operation Trojan Horse.

The unmarked vehicles used by federal agents are usually SUVs and sedans.

Fox News correspondent Matt Finn was embedded with Border Patrol for the operation. He posted video to X of the moment the agents jumped out of the truck. Once people in the parking lot realized what was happening, some started to run away.

“DHS says MS-13 has a chokehold on this area, which is one reason they’re carrying out the highly optic immigration raids. 16 taken into custody,” Finn reported. Just as quickly as the agents arrived, the operation ended before any protesters or bystanders could interfere.

RELATED: DHS shows Mayor Karen Bass in a big way agency is not leaving LA until the ‘mission’s accomplished’

Julio Rosas/Blaze Media

The Home Depot where the operation took place is located near MacArthur Park, where another high-profile operation took place as a show of force to both illegal aliens and Democratic leaders in the state. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) showed up to the scene shortly after the operation started and demanded to speak to the agent in charge before leaving.

In a statement to Blaze News, a DHS spokesperson confirmed that “Border Patrol conducted a targeted raid, dubbed Trojan Horse, in Los Angeles at a Home Depot that resulted in the arrest of 16 illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua.”

After hearing reports that one of its vehicles was used in the operation, Penske released a statement promising its customers that the company was not made aware of agents using a vehicle for an operation beforehand and “did not authorize this.”

“Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future,” the company added.

— (@)

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​Politics 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into a group organized by Beto O’Rourke for possibly providing illegal funds for Democrats who fled the state to thwart a legislative vote.

Republicans are trying to redraw congressional districts in order to gain five more seats in the U.S. House ahead of the midterms, but state Democrats have thwarted the vote by preventing a quorum from being called.

‘These jet-setting runaways have already lost public trust by abandoning our state, and Texans deserve to know if they received illegal bribes to do it.’

“I just launched an investigation into Beto O’Rourke’s radical group for unlawfully funding runaway Democrats,” wrote Paxton on social media. “Any Democrat coward breaking the law by taking a Beto Bribe will be held accountable.”

The press release said that Power to the People was the top provider of funds to the Democrats who abandoned their seats, according to campaign filings. Paxton said he has made a request to examine documents and communications to determine if the Democrats have violated financing laws.

RELATED: State Democrat who fled Texas likens redistricting to the Holocaust in bizarre rant

Paxton said Democrats might be guilty of bribery, coercion of a public servant, and abuse of office. He has given Democrats a deadline of Friday to return to the legislature before he takes aggressive legal action.

“Texas cannot be bought. I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all of the documents and communications obtained throughout this investigation,” Paxton added. “These jet-setting runaways have already lost public trust by abandoning our state, and Texans deserve to know if they received illegal bribes to do it.”

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​Ken paxton vs beto orourke, Beto orourke bribery, Fleeing dems bribery, Law vs texas dems, Politics 

A Texas state lawmaker who fled the state to block a vote on redistricting said in an interview that efforts by Republicans reminded her of the Holocaust.

Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones (D) made the comments in an interview with Don Lemon where she called on people to stand up to Republicans trying to redraw the congressional district map of the state.

‘People were like, “How did the Holocaust happen? How is somebody in the position to kill all them people?” Well, good people remained silent.’

“And then, integration happened, and everybody thought, ‘They accept us.’ They don’t accept us. They are showing us who they are. We should believe them,” Jones said.

“We better have the courage to stand up. Otherwise, we will fall for anything, and in this country we will be defeated, deported. I mean, we will lose all of our rights. And if you think it can’t happen, it can. And I will liken this to the Holocaust,” she continued.

“People were like, ‘How did the Holocaust happen? How is somebody in the position to kill all them people?’ Well, good people remained silent,” she added.

Lemon muttered his agreement.

“Or good people didn’t realize that what happens to them can very soon happen to me or somebody I love,” she continued. “So even if you made it, you have an obligation to help people who can’t, because God forbid they end up targeting you and your family!”

Video of Jones’ comments were posted to social media, where they went viral.

She later apologized for the comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“That was a mistake, and I apologize for it. Trump is coming for my community, and I get emotional about it and make strong statements. But that was going too far, and I retract that comparison,” she said in part.

Democrats have excoriated Republicans for trying to redraw districts in order to gain an advantage and win more seats in Congress for the midterm elections. President Donald Trump has said that Republicans are “entitled” to those extra seats because he won Texas by the highest vote count ever.

RELATED: Resurfaced video of Democrat admitting the real reason leftists want immigration is going viral

In a press conference from New York, Jones also mocked threats of possible criminal investigation from Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after arrest warrants were issued against Democrats who fled the state.

“So let me be clear, I’m a lawyer. A part of my practice is criminal defense work. There is no felony in the Texas penal code for what he says. So respectfully, he’s making up some s**t!” Jones said, with Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sitting next to her.

“OK? He’s trying to get soundbites, and he has no legal mechanism. And if he did, subpoenas from Texas don’t work in New York. So he gonna come get us how? Subpoenas in Texas don’t work in Chicago. He’s gonna come get us how?” she added.

“He’s putting up smoke and mirrors,” Jones said.

Democrats in New York as well as California have threatened to redistrict their states as well in order to gerrymander Democrats into the Congress and counterbalance the Texas redistricting.

Jones has been a supporter of LGBTQ rights since she became a lesbian after leaving an abusive marriage.

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Many fear that our increasingly digital society is eroding our sense of humanity. Artificial intelligence has perhaps amplified this apprehension more than any other type of technology, as it simulates human cognition, communication, and behavior.

These fears are increasingly legitimized as AI continues to advance at rapid speeds.

For example, former chief White House correspondent for CNN Jim Acosta just “interviewed” an AI-generated digital avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a victim of the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

“It may seem like nothing to a lot of people, but if we don’t pay attention to [this story] right now, I don’t think we recognize what it means to be human in a generation from now, if that long,” Glenn Beck warns.

Acosta, who Glenn says has shown himself to be a “publicity hound” rather than a journalist, just conducted not an interview but a “grotesque pantomime” using a soulless “AI ghost.”

He plays a clip of the bizarre interaction, in which Acosta asks Oliver’s avatar “what [his] solution would be for gun violence.”

The digital re-creation, which was dead-eyed and moved unnaturally, responded in a robotic voice with the following left-wing drivel: “I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement. We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding.”

“I think that’s a great idea, Joaquin,” Acosta responded.

Glenn’s co-host, Stu Burguiere, responds in hysterical laughter: “That is the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life!”

“It’s so bad, it’s funny at this point,” Glenn agrees.

Underneath the camp, however, is a sinister reality that Acosta facilitated “a digital ventriloquist act” using “the image of a dead kid, long buried, animated like a puppet for the politics of those who are still living.”

It raises a harrowing question everyone ought to consider: “What does it truly mean to be alive if in death you’re more useful?”

And further, “What does it mean when your image, your voice, your soul as captured by a memory or photograph can be summoned back again — not by God, but by algorithms and agenda?”

“I hate to go all religious on you, but I have to tell you, if this isn’t the making of a graven image, I don’t know what is,” Glenn says, citing the second of the Ten Commandments.

“This is taking your image, bringing you back to life without a soul. When man starts creating a likeness to wield power or emotion, we stop serving God, and we start serving ourselves.”

Although Oliver’s parents approved and facilitated the interview with Acosta as part of their gun reform activism, Glenn doesn’t blame them.

“I don’t question their grief in any way, shape, or form, but this is no longer theirs. This is not their son. This is a political puppet,” he says. “The minute Joaquin’s AI avatar spoke political opinions into a camera, it stopped being about grief and became propaganda.”

“And this, my friend, is only the beginning,” he warns. “What happens when governments use AI-resurrected faces for propaganda? What happens when terrorists use deepfake hostages — hostages who are already dead — pleading for help?”

“What happens when we begin to trust synthetic testimony over actual human experience?”

“This isn’t just immoral; this is very, very dangerous. This is soul-erasing. You are entering a world now that is post-human. This is the dystopian world, and we’re just beginning to step into it,” he cautions.

“We’re entering an age where the dead can be programmed to speak the words of the living, where grief is nothing more than a marketing tool, where death is not your end but just a data set now to be parsed and projected and used politically.”

“And here’s the real sick part of this: The more meaningful your death, the more valuable your ghost. If that doesn’t shake you to your core, nothing’s going to.”

To see the eerie footage of Acosta’s dystopian “interview” and hear more of Glenn’s prescient warning, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Jim acosta, Joaquin oliver, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Dystopia 

Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida seemingly panicked on Tuesday evening, allegedly contacting Miss United States repeatedly after he learned that she had gone to the media and the police about his troubling behavior following their breakup earlier this year.

As Blaze News reported on Tuesday, Lindsey Langston, the reigning Miss United States, has accused Mills of threatening to physically harm her future romantic partners and even to share sexually explicit material of her with them after she broke up with him in February. Langston told Blaze News that she ended her three-year relationship with Mills and moved out of their shared residence in New Smyrna, Florida, after discovering that Mills, who is believed to still be married to wife Rana Al Saadi, had yet another girlfriend, Sarah Raviani, living at Mills’ penthouse apartment in Washington, D.C.

‘Only you can stop this.’

In an attempt to learn Mills’ side of the story, Blaze News and other media outlets, including Drop Site’s Roger Sollenberger, reached out to Mills and his staff for comment about Langston’s bombshell accusations. The requests for comment seemingly sent Mills and his team into a tailspin.

Langston told Blaze News that even though she had previously blocked Mills’ phone number and social media accounts, he managed to circumvent the block by using Raviani’s phone to call her Tuesday. Langston, who did not recognize Raviani’s phone number, indicated that she hung up quickly after recognizing Mills’ voice.

Langston then began receiving text messages from Raviani’s number as well, she said. These communications used emotional blackmail, begging Langston not to expose Mills because such public exposure might harm Mills’ son, Langston said.

One message Langston received read, “Only you can stop this,” while another said, “I understand you [sic] mom is going through a lot of mental health issues,” according to Drop Site.

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

RELATED: Miss United States accuses Rep. Cory Mills of sextortion, accepting ‘money bags’

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images

Catherine Treadwell, Mills’ chief of staff, also sent messages to Langston, attempting to concern-monger before threatening Langston with litigation, a screenshot obtained by Blaze News showed.

“Hey! What is going on? Is everything ok?” said the first Treadwell message, timestamped at 5:55 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.

“This reporter reached out with a lot of accusations. Can you fill me in? I dont [sic] want to be caught off guard bc [Mills’ son] reads everything,” read the second message, according to the screenshot.

“I care about you and I don’t want you to get in trouble in anyway [sic],” came the third. “FL is a two person consent state which means any texts shared with a third party including reporter without consent from both parties.”

The screenshot reviewed by Blaze News showed no response from Langston, and Anthony Sabatini, an attorney who represented Langston briefly and who ran against Mills in the 2022 Republican congressional primary, confirmed she never replied to those messages.

‘The threats made by Mills’ staffers against Ms. Langston in an attempt to pressure her to lie and drop the story are criminal and a disturbing abuse of power.’

Blaze News recently received similarly threatening messages from yet another Mills team member. In response to a request for comment about a separate story involving private messages, Jillian Anderson, Mills’ communications director, told Blaze News in an email on July 20:

As a resident of Florida, Congressman Mills has not consented to any third party using or disclosing his private text messages. Any unauthorized use of these communications would be in direct violation of state law and may expose the user to both criminal penalties — up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine — and civil liability, including liquidated damages of at least $1,000 per violation plus potential punitive damages and attorney’s fees.

Therefore, use or publication of Congressman Mills’ text messages without his express permission would be unlawful. We request that you refrain from using them unless proper, informed consent is obtained from him.

The alleged threats have not deterred Langston, who has already filed to obtain a restraining order against Mills. A judge is expected to rule on the restraining order sometime Wednesday.

Mills’ alleged communications with Langston on Tuesday night will be used to bolster the case for a restraining order, a source told Blaze News.

“The threats made by Mills’ staffers against Ms. Langston in an attempt to pressure her to lie and drop the story are criminal and a disturbing abuse of power,” Sabatini said in a statement to Blaze News.

Sabatini likewise called the threats of litigation against his former client “totally made up.” Sabatini posted to social media screenshots of some of Mills’ recent alleged messages to Langston, claiming they are evidence that Mills committed “sexual extortion,” a second-degree felony in Florida.

Blaze News reached out to Mills for comment on these latest allegations of harassment, and Anderson replied, calling our reporting on the sextortion accusations “gossip.”

Mills offered a different response about the sextortion accusations to Politico, claiming Sabatini is “weaponizing the legal system to launch a political attack.”

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​Cory mills, Miss united states, Lindsey langston, Anthony sabatini, Florida, Sextortion, Threats, Harassment, Politics 

The Trump Department of Justice published on Monday a list of American states, cities, and counties that can expect or are already fighting legal action over sanctuary policies and laws that serve to undermine or prevent the execution of immigration law enforcement.

“Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”

‘Nevada is not a sanctuary state and will never be a sanctuary jurisdiction under Governor Lombardo.’

Among the 18 cities listed are Albuquerque, New Mexico; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California.

Blaze News has reached out for comment to mayors of all of the cities on the DOJ’s list.

Four counties have so far been singled out: Baltimore County, Maryland; Cook County, Illinois; San Diego County, California; and San Francisco County, California.

The following states are also on the list: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The District of Columbia is also identified as an offending “state.”

RELATED: Wyoming joins forces with ICE to address illegal immigration crisis

Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The DOJ indicated that each state, county, and city listed will have a chance to respond to its placement on the list.

Joe Lombardo, the Republican governor of Nevada, railed against his state’s inclusion on the list.

His office stated, “Nevada is not a sanctuary state and will never be a sanctuary jurisdiction under Governor Lombardo. At Governor Lombardo’s direction, Nevada has followed all federal laws and cooperated with federal immigration authorities, and the state will continue to do so.”

In addition to declarations of sanctuary status and the implementation of laws, regulations, resolutions, or other formalized practices that obstruct ICE or limit local cooperation with federal authorities, jurisdictions can land on the DOJ’s list for:

prohibiting the use of local funds or resources to support federal immigration efforts; providing training to employees and police on enforcing sanctuary policies and refusing to respond to ICE requests for information;refusing to honor ICE detainer requests;restricting ICE agents’ ability to speak to detainees without the illegal aliens’ consent;the establishment of “dedicated offices to engage and advise illegal alien communities on evading federal law enforcement officers”; andhelping illegal aliens unlawfully exploit federally funded citizen benefits.

The DOJ’s list was published pursuant to President Donald Trump’s April 28 executive order titled “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens,” which required the attorney general both to publish a list of obstructionist jurisdictions and states and to “notify each sanctuary jurisdiction regarding its defiance of Federal immigration law enforcement and any potential violations of Federal criminal law.”

RELATED: Florida sheriff: Feds are running out of space because we’re arresting so many illegal aliens

Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

New York City, which is on the new list, was slapped with a lawsuit last month that provides some sense of the approach that may be taken with the other jurisdictions.

The government accused New York City of violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and requested the sanctuary policies’ invalidation.

“New York City’s Sanctuary Provisions have the purpose and effect of making it more difficult for federal immigration officers to carry out their responsibilities in that jurisdiction,” said the government’s complaint. “This intentional sabotage of federal immigration enforcement is unlawful and dangerous.”

The lawsuit also highlighted the fallout of New York City Democrats’ sanctuary policies.

It noted, for instance, that the two illegal aliens who allegedly shot an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer in the face on July 19 were “repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior” but shielded from consequence and deportation.

After one of the two suspects was arrested for fourth-degree felony grand larceny and petit larceny in April, the New York City Department of Correction cut him loose, ignoring an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, as it had with 96% of ICE detainer requests last year.

Refusals to honor ICE detainers have played a major role in the avoidable loss of American life in recent years.

‘The stakes are too high.’

For instance, in July 2024, an illegal alien from Honduras with at least one assault and battery conviction to his name was arrested for allegedly beating a Virginia man to death. A judge ordered the Honduran national, Maudin Anibal Guzman-Videz, deported in 2019, and in subsequent years, ICE reportedly filed multiple immigration detainers against him with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center; however, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office reportedly failed to honor the detainers.

RELATED: 9 times sanctuary policies and a lax approach to illegal immigration endangered American lives

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

The pressure applied by the Trump DOJ has already prompted some changes of heart, including in Louisville, Kentucky, which recently appeared on a Department of Homeland Security list of sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law — a list far longer that the DOJ’s, with over 600 municipalities named and shamed.

Bondi announced on July 22 that the City of Louisville, Kentucky, was dropping its sanctuary policies “as a result of a strong written warning from my office.”

Mayor Craig Greenberg noted that his city made the list because of the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections’ practice of providing the DHS with only five to 12 hours before releasing an inmate who has an ICE detainer. Prior to 2017, Metro Corrections would provide 48 hours’ notice.

“Metro Corrections will begin honoring 48-hour federal detainers as soon as practical because the stakes are too high,” wrote Greenberg. “In turn, Louisville will no longer be considered a ‘sanctuary city’ by the federal government. This change in designation is critical.”

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​Illegal aliens, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Crime, Sanctuary, Sanctuary city, Democrats, Leftism, Alien, Deportatio, Ice, Customs, Politics 

President Donald Trump is set to announce another win as a result of his tariff policies. According to reports, on Wednesday he will highlight another massive investment in American manufacturing, which is expected to benefit the economy and create jobs.

The White House stated that Apple Inc. is planning to commit another $100 billion to domestic production to circumvent Trump’s tariffs, several news outlets, including the New York Times and Bloomberg, have reported.

‘Trump casually delivering the largest investment in Apple’s entire history like it’s just another Wednesday afternoon!’

While Apple has not yet confirmed this latest plan, it has previously guaranteed that it would invest $500 billion and hire 20,000 people in the United States over the next four years. The technology company also has plans to open a 250,000-square-foot factory in Houston, Texas, to produce servers that support its artificial intelligence system.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated last week during a call with analysts that “the vast majority” of the company’s iPhones sold in the U.S. are produced in India. Apple’s other products, including MacBooks, iPads, and Apple Watches, are manufactured in Vietnam.

“We obviously try to optimize our supply chain,” Cook stated. “And ultimately, we will do more in the United States.”

Apple announced its third-quarter results last week, reporting revenue of $94 billion, which is a 10% increase compared to the previous year.

RELATED: India surpasses China in Apple exports to US, up 240% from last year

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“Today Apple is proud to report a June quarter revenue record with double-digit growth in iPhone, Mac and Services and growth around the world, in every geographic segment,” Cook said.

Apple’s investment plan in the U.S. appears to be influenced by Trump’s threats to impose a 25% tariff on its products manufactured outside the country.

The $600 billion total investment will bring more of Apple’s supply chain to the U.S., a White House official told Bloomberg.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated, “President Trump’s America First economic agenda has secured trillions of dollars in investments that support American jobs and bolster American businesses.”

“Today’s announcement with Apple is another win for our manufacturing industry that will simultaneously help reshore the production of critical components to protect America’s economic and national security,” Rogers added.

RELATED: Big Tech’s charm campaign flops as Trump’s DOJ brings the heat

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Cook is expected to attend a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern to announce the latest investment update.

The U.S. Commerce Department stated, “This investment — part of the new American Manufacturing Program — will help reshore critical supply chains, strengthen national security, and bolster America’s economic infrastructure.”

Donald Trump Jr. reacted to the investment plan in a post on social media.

“Trump casually delivering the largest investment in Apple’s entire history like it’s just another Wednesday afternoon!” he wrote.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg.

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​News, Donald trump, Trump, Trump admin, Trump administration, Apple, American manufacturing, American manufacturing program, Economy, Tech, Technology, Iphone, Tariffs, Politics 

Americans are hanging Chinese monsters from their purses and calling it fashion. The Labubu doll — a deranged creature with elf ears and dead eyes — has become the latest “must-have” accessory across America.

Pop Mart’s stock price soars as millions of Americans embrace these plastic demons, never pausing to wonder why this craze came from China or what cultural current carried it across the Pacific.

China didn’t invent soft power. But it did refine it. It watched America perfect the art — how Disney enchanted, McDonald’s normalized, Levi’s symbolized.

This isn’t about toys. It’s about cultural dominance, and China is winning. Once the global master of soft power, America is losing its grip.

Emotional anchors

These wide-eyed mascots worm their way onto backpacks, keychains, and nightstands across America. And that’s exactly why they must be seen through a broader lens. They’re more than merchandise. They’re emotional anchors, symbols of comfort that quietly draw Americans toward Chinese brands and aesthetics.

No slogans. No speeches. Just influence, stitched with precision. These dolls act as cultural foot soldiers, normalizing Chinese imagery and planting quiet loyalty in consumers who think they’re just buying harmless fun.

Pop Mart on the march

The real brilliance lies in the infiltration method. Pop Mart isn’t just selling collectibles. It’s exporting an entire consumer experience — engineered, seductive, and unmistakably Chinese.

For the uninitiated, Pop Mart is a billion-dollar Chinese juggernaut, built on blind-box binges and dopamine-driven design. It thrives on scarcity, limited-edition drops, and the addictive thrill of not knowing which figure you’ll get.

Labubu is only one cog in this machine, part of a broader parade of designer figurines with names like Skullpanda, Dimoo, and Molly. Each one is a stylized little terror engineered to evoke affection, irony, or unease.

Pop Mart’s real power comes from how it embeds itself: sleek flagship stores, mall kiosks that look more like miniature Apple stores than toy shops. Step inside and you’re not just browsing. You’re surrendering — to a color scheme, a soundtrack, a purchasing rhythm designed in Beijing and deployed globally.

These pop-ups double as ideological outposts — compact, curated zones of Chinese influence. Pop Mart’s U.S. expansion moves with military precision. No franchises. No randomness. Each location is planted with precision — high-traffic zones, engineered for visibility and psychological pull. Nothing is accidental.

From the pastel glow to the minimalist layout, every detail is designed to feel cooler, smoother, and more seductive than the aging giants of American retail. Mattel trades on memory. Pop Mart manufactures it on demand. No legacy. No buildup. Just a nonstop stream of new icons for a generation raised on fast trends, fleeting attachments, and the rush of the next big thing.

RELATED: Why TikTok is a serious national security threat

Chesnot/Getty

Big ‘Impact’

The Labubu phenomenon extends beyond individual purchases into social conditioning. These dolls create visible proof that Chinese products are desirable, trendy, and worth displaying publicly.

The strategy mirrors other Chinese incursions hiding in plain sight. Genshin Impact, a Chinese video game, has made billions from Western players, many of whom spend years immersed in Chinese mythology, aesthetics, and moral frameworks.

They’re not just playing. They’re absorbing ideas about heroism, loyalty, and fantasy shaped by Beijing, not Burbank. Millions now prefer Chinese character design over Western equivalents. Some might call it chance. I call it a calculated cultural correction.

Soft power 2.0

Then there’s Shein, a company that rewired American fashion just as smoothly. What once looked exploitative now looks aspirational. Young women ditched the mall for an app that trained them to crave speed, disposability, and prices only China can deliver.

Of course, TikTok is the crown jewel. ByteDance didn’t just build an app; it created a nervous system for American youth. It slipped in unnoticed, reprogramming attention spans while quietly extracting oceans of personal data.

Every swipe feeds the system, and every second scrolling further shapes reality. What teens see, what they believe, what they buy — it’s curated by a feed they don’t control, engineered by a company they don’t understand.

China didn’t invent soft power. But it did refine it. It watched America perfect the art — how Disney enchanted, McDonald’s normalized, Levi’s symbolized. These were much more than brands. They were delivery systems for values: individualism, freedom, consumer optimism. A Big Mac wasn’t just food — it was a flag. A Disney film wasn’t just entertainment — it was a sermon in Technicolor about the American dream. China took notes — then it rewrote the playbook.

It understood the power wasn’t in the message; it was in the medium. The delivery. The emotional pull. So it kept the mechanics and rebuilt the machine to serve its own ends. American consumers are outmatched not because they’re stupid, but because they’re unarmed.

They think they’re buying toys. They’re buying cultural conditioning in collectible form. This is the new battlefield. And the weapons don’t look like missiles. They look like dolls with elf ears, sleek apps, and flashing discount timers. The monster isn’t at the gates. It’s in your mall, your feed, your pocket — and now, your purse.

​Labubu, Soft power, Pop mart, China, Tik tok, Lifestyle, Culture, China virus 

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee has officially launched her campaign to run for governor of the Volunteer State.

Blackburn announced her campaign Wednesday morning to replace outgoing Republican Gov. Bill Lee, whose term will come to an end in 2026. The senator is expected to face off against Republican Rep. John Rose of Tennessee, who announced his candidacy in March.

‘Trump is back, America is blessed, and Tennessee better than ever.’

“It’s official!” Blackburn said in a post on X. “I’m running for Governor to ensure Tennessee is America’s conservative leader for this generation and the next.”

“I would be honored to have your support.”

RELATED: GOP firebrand Nancy Mace launches gubernatorial bid, vowing to ‘flip the tables’

Photo by Sarah Silbiger – Pool/Getty Images

Blackburn boasts a lengthy political career, first serving in the Tennessee state Senate in 1999. Four years later in 2003, Blackburn went on to represent Tennessee’s 7th District in the House of Representatives, where she held her seat until 2019.

Blackburn then won her Senate seat in 2018 and has since been re-elected to a second term, which began in January 2025.

RELATED: Democrat grovels after skipping Israel arms votes for Colbert show: ‘I owe it to my state’

Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

“Trump is back, America is blessed, and Tennessee? Better than ever,” Blackburn said in her campaign ad.

“Tennessee is the greatest place in the world to rear a family, make a life and a living, and together, we can make our great state even better.”

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​Marsha blackburn, Donald trump, Senate, Tennessee, Senate republicans, Bill lee, Politics 

An emotional vigil took place Friday evening in Bessemer, Alabama, for Ke’torrius “KJ” Starkes Jr. — a 3-year-old boy who died after being left in a hot car on July 22, WZDX-TV reported.

RELATED: Florida teen mom allegedly endangers her crying 2-year-old so she can watch ‘Smurfs’ movie in peace

“He was our bright little child,” a family spokesperson said, according to the station, which added that green, blue, and white balloons were released skyward as mourners shared memories of KJ, and his distraught parents leaned on faith and loved ones.

‘He should be here today.’

On the same day of the vigil, Birmingham Police arrested 54-year-old Kela Stanford.

The Jefferson County District Attorney said Stanford was hit with a felony charge of being a person for hire responsible for a child under the age of 7 and leaving the child unattended in a motor vehicle in a manner that creates an unreasonable risk of injury or harm. The DA said a conviction could result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

“This is a terrible tragedy that was completely avoidable and unnecessary,” DA Danny Carr added. “Our condolences go out to [KJ’s] family.”

Stanford was working as a contractor for the Alabama agency in charge of child welfare, the Washington Post reported.

Alabama’s Department of Human Resources assigned Stanford to take KJ on a weekly basis from his day care to supervised visits with his father, family attorney G. Courtney French said at a Friday news conference, according to the Post.

WZDX added that KJ was living with a foster family while his parents worked to regain custody through the court system.

More from the paper:

On July 22, KJ’s visit with his father ended around 11:30 a.m. local time, according to French. Instead of taking the child back to day care, Stanford took a detour and ran errands, including buying groceries and visiting a tobacco shop, and arrived at her residence at 12:30 p.m., French alleged at the news conference.

She then allegedly left the boy unattended in the vehicle for five hours with the windows up, French said. A preliminary investigation conducted by law enforcement and the fire department said the heat index inside the car could have reached upward of 140 degrees, French added.

The day care later called Stanford to ask about the child’s whereabouts, French said. Stanford allegedly told police that she had forgotten he was inside her vehicle, French said.

The Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office pronounced KJ dead at 6:03 p.m., the Post noted.

“She had one job to do,” French said of Stanford, according to the paper, “and that was to pick KJ up from the day care and to take him back. … DHR and these workers are responsible for this child’s death. He should be here today. This should never happen to another child.”

RELATED: ‘Break it!’ Bodycam video shows moment cops save crying little kids locked in dangerously hot car for nearly an hour

Brittney Johnson, KJ’s maternal aunt, said at the news conference that her nephew was an “active” child, and she found it hard to fathom that he was quiet or asleep while under Stanford’s supervision, the Post reported.

“KJ was a child full of life,” Johnson said, according to the paper. “It’s heartbreaking for the mom and the dad because they’re not going to see him again.”

The Post said jail records indicated that Stanford was released from Jefferson County Jail the same day she was arrested on a $30,000 bond. The paper added that it wasn’t immediately clear Saturday if Stanford had an attorney, and she couldn’t be reached for comment.

“A child in DHR custody was being transported by a contract provider when the incident occurred,” a DHR spokesperson said in a statement to WIAT-TV. “The provider has terminated their employee. Due to confidentiality, DHR cannot comment further regarding the identity of the child or the exact circumstances.”

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​Hot car, Arrest, Death, Hot car death, 3-year-old boy victim, Alabama, Child welfare, State of alabama, Department of human resources, Contract worker, Ke’torrius "kj" starkes, Kela stanford, Vigil, Crime 

At least five U.S. soldiers have been shot at Fort Stewart in Georgia, and the suspect in the shooting was reportedly apprehended.

The base went into lockdown after reports of an active shooter at about 11 a.m. Casualties were confirmed, but the number of casualties had not yet been reported. Schools in the area were also locked down.

‘Five Soldiers were shot today in an active shooter incident in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area.’

The fort released a brief statement on its Facebook page.

“Five Soldiers were shot today in an active shooter incident in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area. All Soldiers were treated on-site and moved to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment. There is no active threat to the community,” the statement reads.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering support to local law enforcement.

“The President has been briefed on the shooting at Fort Stewart in Georgia,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote. “The White House is monitoring the situation.”

RELATED: Naval air base attack was ‘an act of terrorism,’ gunman visited NYC before the shooting

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia issued a statement about the shooting from his social media account.

“I’m heartbroken to see the news of an active shooter incident at Fort Stewart today,” he wrote. “I’m monitoring the situation closely and join all of Georgia as we pray for the safety of our servicemembers, staff, and their families.”

“As we wait for more information, please join me in praying for the soldiers and first responders at Fort Stewart today,” wrote Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia.

Fort Stewart is located in the southeastern part of the state near Savannah. More than 10,000 people live on the base, including civilians.

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​Active shooter, Fort stewart shooting, Military base shooting, Georgia base shooting, Politics 

One day after a bill passed that would dramatically redraw Texas’ congressional maps, at least 51 Texas House Democrats left the state.

This is known as “breaking quorum” and brings the House to a standstill — preventing any consideration of House Bill 4 by the full chamber.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was not pleased.

“Real Texans do not run from a fight, but that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business,” Abbott said in a statement.

“The truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, August 4, 2025,” he continued, before threatening, “For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House.”

Abbott also reminded the Democrats that they “may also have committed felonies.”

“Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws,” Abbott said.

“The same could be true for any other person who ‘offers, confers, or agrees to confer’ such funds to fleeing Democrat House members,” he added.

“And then he goes on to say that he will work with DPS to extradite the Texas Democrats who skipped the session,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales explains on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

Gonzales, who historically hasn’t been a fan of Abbott, may be changing her tune.

“Fines will be issued and arrest warrants will be issued to bring the Texas Democrats back and conduct the business that they were sent to the Capitol to do. And if they follow through on this, damn it, Greg, I don’t like you very much, but you’re going to force me to like you if you do that,” Gonzales says.

BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden is on the same page.

“When I read that earlier today, I was like, same thing. Don’t you dare make me like you, Greg Abbott, because this is awesome,” he says, adding, “I mean, it was a brilliantly worded statement.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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​Free, Video phone, Sharing, Video, Camera phone, Upload, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Greg abbott, Texas democrats, Arrest texas democrats, Governor of texas, Breaking quorum 

Governor Greg Abbott (R) confirmed to Fox News that some of the Democrats who are not present in the state Capitol have not left Texas and that state troopers are looking for them, along with the representatives who went to other parts of the country.

Arrest warrants were issued this week for Democrats who were not at Texas’ special House session. Many of the representatives who fled went to Illinois and New York, but Abbott told host Will Cain that a few members did not leave the state. The Democrats left the Capitol to prevent a quorum from being reached in order to stall the creation of a new map for Texas’ congressional districts.

‘Texas Department of Public Safety officers are on the streets looking for those Democrat House members to arrest them.’

Due to their absence, the state cannot move forward with providing relief to the areas that were hit with massive flooding last month.

“Earlier today, I spoke to Representative [Tom] Oliverson here in Texas, and he made me aware, which I was not aware, that some of the Democrats who are not showing up for a quorum are actually still here in the state. So is it the case that you could actually arrest those representatives and bring them back to Austin to establish a quorum?” Cain asked.

RELATED: What Texas Dems are now saying after arrest warrants were issued for fleeing the state

Texas Democrats Scott Olson/Getty Images

“So that is correct, and, Will, as we’re talking right now, Texas Department of Public Safety officers are on the streets looking for those Democrat House members to arrest them and to take them to the Texas Capitol and hold them there until a quorum is reached,” Abbott replied.

Abbott conceded that he did not know the total number of Democrats who are still in Texas, but added that DPS is working with other states to “find ways in which we can try to arrest the Texas Democrat members in other states and bring them back to the state of Texas.”

Abbott said any money taken by the representatives in order “to escape or not take a vote” opens them up to having their seats vacated and that his administration will be working to reach that end. New elections will be called if the seats are freed up.

During a press conference in Illinois, some members said they are willing to face the consequences of their unexcused absence because fleeing the state to prevent a new congressional district map is more important.

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​Politics 

Two seemingly foreign truck drivers were ticketed while driving transport trucks through rural Alabama.

A state trooper from Dekalb County, Alabama, may have been among the first in the nation to issue tickets under President Trump’s executive order that compels the use of “commonsense rules” in the trucking industry.

‘They can’t communicate, and they can’t read road signs.’

The state trooper pulled over one driver from Texas and another from Florida to issue them tickets for not abiding by a simple new rule applied to truckers: Be proficient in English.

According to a report from WAFF 48, both tickets written by the trooper read, “Non-English-Speaking Driver” as the reason for the infraction. While it is unclear if these truckers were foreign nationals or illegal aliens, it may surprise some to learn that the standard for truckers needing to speak English has been around since the 1930s, according to outlet WTOC 11.

Mark Colson, CEO of the Alabama Trucking Association, commented on the matter and stated, “The English language proficiency standard has been there for a long time,” and that the Barack Obama administration actually loosened enforcement on the rules and lowered penalties, he added.

A White House fact sheet explained in late April that the secretary of transportation was ordered to rescind guidance that “watered down the law” in terms of requiring English proficiency for commercial drivers, which was issued under President Obama.

A bilingual truck driver from Huntsville, Alabama — who is American — was also asked to give his thoughts, and he was not forgiving to truckers who do not speak the country’s now-official language.

RELATED: The deadly trucker crisis — and why mass migration is to blame

Driver Jose Reyes said the number of drivers who do not speak English would “be a shock to a lot of people.”

“Drivers are out here on the road, they’re operating 80,000 pounds, and it’s super dangerous. They can’t communicate, and they can’t read road signs,” Reyes said.

The Alabama Trucking Association and Reyes agree: It is all about safety. Colson said being able to read the rules of the road and communicate with law enforcement, or anyone, is paramount.

Reyes added, it is a matter of safety to “get those drivers off the road because they can’t read or write basic English.”

A recent report from KTSM 9 News said truck drivers from Mexican companies are now scrambling to learn English so they are not ticketed while driving in the United States.

RELATED: Highway to hell: Mass influx of foreign-born truckers cause carnage on American roads

The Juarez Transportation Association in Mexico has been providing English classes for some of its drivers, one of whom told reporters that he was told “a long time ago” he needed to learn to speak English.

“Today, it is more necessary across the border,” said the commercial truck driver.

For now, Reyes says non-English-speaking drivers are “having to use Google Translate to be able to talk to people, and you shouldn’t have to do that.”

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​News, Truckers, Truck driving, Mexico, Illegal immigrants, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Trump, Politics 

Everyone knows who Mel Gibson is. He’s an absolute dynamo and a giant of the cinema industry. But if you ask me, he’s still deeply underrated, underestimated, and underappreciated.

Gibson’s always felt cut from a different cloth and a bit separated from the rest of Hollywood and celebrity culture. Yes, he’s a mega-celebrity. But even still, you can tell his mind has always operated on a completely different level than most of his peers.

Gibson was defending a worldview, alone, in the middle of a media machine that existed solely to discredit him.

He’s always been direct and clear about his religious belief. He’s not pretending to be some gnostic “Christ consciousness” guru like a Russell Brand or a Jim Carrey would. He’s a firm and open believer in the Trinitarian God of the Christian faith. It’s not a side note with him. It’s foundational.

A lifelong ‘Passion’

Everyone knows he funded and directed “The Passion of the Christ” with his own money. But what people don’t always pick up on is that his faith doesn’t just show up in his subject matter. It informs his whole understanding of history and of humanity’s destiny.

This includes questions about the nature of God, questions about the nature of our universe, about where we come from, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.

Everything is contained within the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Gibson tackles every subject matter from that foundation.

That’s what sets him apart. Mel Gibson isn’t just a guy who makes movies. He’s a man trying to wake people up. And the way he does it is by bringing the historical past roaring back into the present.

Truth in history

Think about it: “Braveheart” is about the Catholic Scottish struggle against the British crown. “Apocalypto” is a raw and brutal depiction of Mayan pagan savagery and ends with the moment Catholic Spanish ships arrive. “Hacksaw Ridge” tells the story of a Christian soldier in WWII whose unshakable faith ends up restoring the courage of the broken men around him.

All of these films are built on the same foundation: The truth contained within history is more powerful than fiction.

That resonates with me deeply as an apostolic Christian. And I think it explains why the powers that be in Hollywood have targeted Gibson so aggressively over the years. He’s not just a threat because of his beliefs. He’s a threat because he’s effective.

He makes powerful, unforgettable art with spiritual conviction. And he’s been doing it since long before the rest of us even realized what kind of cultural war we were in.

The burden of being first

I respect him immensely for that. I “woke up,” so to speak, around 2015 or 2016, around the time of the first Trump campaign. But this man has been “awake” for decades. He’s been carrying burdens we didn’t even know existed.

And when you go back and watch old interviews, like the one he gave Diane Sawyer after the release of “The Passion,” you start to realize how outnumbered and outgunned he really was.

In that interview alone, Gibson was relentlessly henpecked by Sawyer for completely innocuous things like the claim that God helped him make the movie or for cinematically depicting the “radical” gospel narrative that the Pharisees brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate to be executed.

At one point, Sawyer even calls into question the validity of the gospel itself, saying that historians often argue the Gospels were written a century after they took place. She laid this at Gibson’s feet, as if to say he was wrong and even (as she eventually says) anti-Semitic for making a film about the most widely spread and historically influential religion in human history.

Against the media machine

It’s obvious that he wasn’t just defending a film. He was forced to defend himself, solely because he was so good at bringing the most important narrative in human history to life in a painstakingly realistic and historically accurate fashion. He was defending a worldview, alone, in the middle of a media machine that existed solely to discredit him.

And this was all before smartphones, before YouTube, before Twitter, back when legacy media controlled the entire narrative and could destroy you with the click of a headline. The media painted him as crazy because it couldn’t risk anyone taking him seriously. It had to make an example of him.

But now? The world has changed. And on some level, we’ve gone through what he has, too. Anyone who was on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram during the COVID and Biden eras saw their ideas censored, shadow banned, mocked, and silenced.

We’ve learned firsthand how the system works. And we’re starting to realize that maybe a guy like Mel Gibson wasn’t insane at all. Maybe he was just early.

And now, once again, he’s ahead of the curve.

Trump’s Hollywood ambassador

As the media world fractures and Hollywood continues its slow implosion, Mel Gibson is stepping into a new role as Trump’s official Hollywood ambassador.

What does that mean? It means he’s leading the charge in building a new entertainment world. One that doesn’t run through Los Angeles, corporate studios, or globalist gatekeepers. One that’s not rooted in mindless CGI, gender ideology, or committee-approved scripts, but in real stories that actually push artistic boundaries.

The big development he’s involved in right now is the proposed U.S.-Italy co-production treaty. Expected to be signed at this year’s Venice Film Festival, this deal would make it easier for American and Italian filmmakers to collaborate, meaning joint financing, easier logistics, shared tax incentives, and streamlined distribution across both countries. It’s being backed by Trump and spearheaded on the ground by people like Mel Gibson and Italian film producer Andrea Iervolino.

But again, this isn’t just a business move. It’s a cultural reset. A spiritual realignment of what kind of stories we tell and where they come from.

You might not realize it, but we’re entering a new era. And the clearest sign of it is the content itself.

Just look at “The Leopard,” a new Netflix series based on the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe di Lampedusa. It’s a tale about the tragic disintegration of aristocracy in Italian society during the Italian unification of 1861. It’s not woke. It’s not postmodern garbage. It’s a return to historical memory. It tells a story about something that actually matters, something that actually happened and that actually shaped the world we currently live in.

The production and distribution of a show like this is an indication of where the cultural landscape is trending.

And that’s exactly the kind of trend Mel Gibson has always been ahead of.

He’s not chasing fantasy or modern social narratives.

He’s saying: Look to the past.

Look to the martyrs. Look to the saints. Look to the bloodlines and the battles that shaped civilization. That’s where the real stories are. And now, slowly, the industry is starting to catch on.

Gibson isn’t waiting. He’s moving fast. Right after the treaty gets signed, he’s jumping into production on “The Resurrection,” the long-awaited sequel to “The Passion of the Christ,” filmed entirely in Italy.

He’s also producing a series on the Siege of Malta, one of the most overlooked and epic moments in Western history. These aren’t vanity projects. They’re cultural weapons that are meant to break the spell of modernity.

Roadblocks ahead

There are some roadblocks. The biggest one is EU competition law. Because Italy is part of the EU, it technically can’t strike up an exclusive partnership with America without Brussels stepping in. The EU has rules against giving unfair advantages to individual countries. And if this deal is seen as bypassing France, Germany, or other major players, it could be blocked or slowed down.

But there are ways around it.

The “cultural exception” clause is a legal doctrine used within EU law that allows member states to restrict free trade in order to protect and promote cultural goods, particularly in film, broadcasting, and publishing. France has famously used this to restrict the influx of Hollywood films, arguing that cinema is not just a commercial good but a vehicle of national identity and cultural heritage.

Italy could invoke this same clause if it were to partner with Mel Gibson to co-finance or co-distribute his upcoming historical epics (including “The Resurrection” and “The Siege of Malta”) through the framework of an Italian production company. This would grant the project partial European identity, potentially shielding it from EU anti-monopoly measures or accusations of unfair American dominance in the cultural market.

But this may be an uphill battle.

While the EU talks a big game about cultural diversity, in practice, France and Germany dominate cultural policy, and they often use EU institutions to serve their national interests. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, despite growing support across parts of Europe, is not trusted by France or Germany. In fact, Macron has reportedly snubbed her from prior engagements involving the U.S. president, presumably fearing she’d strengthen Italy’s bilateral ties with the U.S. outside of the EU framework.

Europe’s cultural future

This is a key geopolitical tension. Many southern and eastern EU nations (Italy, Spain, Hungary, Poland) secretly miss the U.K.’s presence in Brussels, not because of ideological alignment, but because Britain was a balancing force against Franco-German hegemony. With Brexit, that counterweight vanished, and now France and Germany rule.

So if Meloni wants to collaborate with Mel Gibson and Trump on a “Hollywood-Vatican axis” of cultural production, it won’t just be about entertainment. It will be a political fight over who controls Europe’s cultural future.

Here’s where the story gets even richer. Mel Gibson, despite being the Hollywood icon that he is, is deeply distrusted by the American liberal elite and European establishment alike. His unapologetically Christian worldview, his reverence for history (especially Christian history), and his refusal to bend the knee to modern progressive orthodoxy make him an absolute nightmare to Brussels cultural bureaucrats.

In other words, Gibson isn’t just trying to tell a story. They believe he’s trying to transform the cultural narrative itself. And isn’t that precisely what they’ve always come after him for, going all the way back to “The Passion”?

They’ve been dragging the man’s name through the mud for years, and they might be doing some more of that in the coming years. But he’s never quit. And now, he’s leading the charge into something new, or rather, something old that’s simply resurfacing.

If Gibson is successful in harnessing the power of this cultural trend, if faith, history, and truth return to the screen in a serious way, if a new golden age of entertainment is restored, then we’ll look back at his entire journey and body of work one day and realize that he was never wrong. He was never crazy. He was just early.

​Italy, Mel gibson, Passion of the christ, The resurrection, Faith, Abide, Netflix, Movies, The movie industry, Braveheart, Donald trump, Catholicism, Christianity, Culture 

Government officials, the establishment media, and pharmaceutical representatives advertised the experimental mRNA vaccines that were rushed to market during the pandemic as “safe and effective.”

Those who correctly suggested otherwise were often attacked and censored, and many of those Americans who refused the jabs — the first-ever mRNA vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the liability-shielded manufacturers of the vaccines enjoyed record profits.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long understood that the mRNA vaccines “don’t prevent transmission” and suggested in 2021 that the COVID-19 jab might be “the deadliest vaccine ever made,” announced on Monday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is winding down its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

‘The vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations.’

Blaze News senior editor Daniel Horowitz, author of “Rise of the Fourth Reich: Confronting COVID Fascism with a New Nuremberg Trial So This Never Happens Again,” said in response to the announcement that “there have been concerns in the medical freedom movement that RFK has forgotten about the issue that brought him to the ball amidst his focus on healthy food. However, yesterday’s cancellation of mRNA research contracts shows that he has steadily maintained his focus on the dangers of mRNA.”

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

“Most of these shots are for flu or COVID, but as the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don’t perform well against viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract.”

Kennedy noted that mRNA “only codes for a small part of the viral proteins” and that all it takes for the vaccine to become useless is a single mutation.

“This dynamic drives a phenomenon called ‘antigenic shift,’ meaning that the vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine,” said the health secretary.

After consulting with experts and reviewing the relevant science, HHS has concluded that “mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses,” said Kennedy.

HHS indicated that its wind-down of the mRNA regime includes axing the agency’s contracts with Emory University and Tiba Biotech; the “de-scoping of mRNA-related work in existing contracts with Luminary Labs, ModeX, and Seqirus”; and canceling or rejecting pre-award solicitations, including proposals from Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur.

‘Those shots are very problematic yet have received new approval.’

HHS has further instructed Global Health Investment — its partner that managed BARDA Ventures — to cease all mRNA-based equity investments and indicated that no new mRNA projects will be greenlit. However, a handful of final-stage contracts will apparently be permitted to wrap up “to preserve prior taxpayer investment.”

RELATED: How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

When pressed for further comment, HHS referred Blaze News to its press release.

“Let me be absolutely clear: HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” said Kennedy. “That’s why we’re moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses and investing in better solutions.”

While celebrating the cancellations, Horowitz noted that the key test will be whether Kennedy goes after existing approval for the current mRNA shots both for COVID and RSV.

“Those shots are very problematic yet have received new approval,” said Horowitz. “Moderna has received approval for its new COVID shots. Likewise, despite its children’s RSV shot showing negative efficacy … Moderna had its mRNA RSV shot for seniors approved.”

Horowitz added, “It reflects what is likely a balancing act for Bobby — attempting to implement what he knows is right in the face of some mRNA lobbyists close to the president who want to see the shots continue. This is going to be a constant tug-of-war, but it’s good to see that RFK hasn’t given up on the fight.”

HHS’ about-face on mRNA technology comes just weeks after the FDA required Pfizer and Moderna to update the side-effect warnings on their mRNA vaccines.

The FDA indicated on June 25 that it required Pfizer and Moderna to note the estimated unadjusted incidence of heart conditions following administration of the 2023-2024 formula of the Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines, as well as the longitudinal results of a 2024 study concerning cardiac manifestations and outcomes of vaccine-associated myocarditis in American youths.

The agency required both vaccine manufacturers to include this information in the adverse reactions section of the jab information inserts.

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​Health, Science, Hhs, Health and human services, Vaccine, Jab, Injury, Mrna, Robert f. kennedy jr, Rfk, Kennedy, Maha, Make america healthy again, Healthy, Politics 

When an elected official swears an oath to uphold the Constitution and defend the United States, that pledge should mean something. But what happens when a member of Congress chooses to place her allegiance with another country over the United States? It’s a violation of that oath, plain and simple.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), a sitting member of Congress, openly stated in Spanish during a political event in Mexico City, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.”

If we don’t demand that our elected leaders place their loyalty to the United States above all else, then we risk the very foundation of this republic.

Ramirez didn’t have a casual slip of the tongue. Her statement was a declaration of her loyalty to another nation. And it’s not just her words that are troubling; her husband, according to Rolling Stone, is in the U.S. illegally. That’s a violation of our immigration laws — laws that Ramirez should be sworn to uphold.

— (@)

Ramirez’s statement isn’t an isolated incident. This is part of a growing pattern where elected officials, like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), proudly identify with their country of origin before America. They claim cultural pride, but celebrating your heritage is distinctly different from putting your identity above the country that gives you the freedom and opportunity to express that identity.

Heritage vs. loyalty

I’m proud of my heritage, as many Americans are. My wife’s family is a great example. They’re Italian-Americans who are very proud of their roots. But they would never say they’re “Italian before American.” They are Americans who cherish their heritage.

This is what Theodore Roosevelt meant when he said, “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.” This is not a swipe at immigrants. This is a call for unity under one flag, one national destiny. For too long, we’ve allowed dual loyalties to take root in the very institutions that are meant to protect our sovereignty. This is how nations crumble.

George Washington warned against foreign entanglements and divided loyalties in his Farewell Address. He understood the dangers of dual allegiances. He knew the republic couldn’t survive if its leaders pledged allegiance to foreign powers instead of the Constitution.

This isn’t about whether you love your country of origin. It’s about the fundamental principle of loyalty to the United States. You can’t serve in Congress, be part of the body that governs and protects America, if you’re more loyal to another country than to the sovereignty and integrity of the U.S.

National security at risk

This issue goes beyond politics. It goes to the very heart of our national identity. The growing influence of foreign allegiance among our elected officials poses a direct threat to national security. You can’t be trusted to defend America’s borders and enforce immigration laws if you’re willing to place another country above your sworn duty.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar claims Somalia is better than America

Photo by Anadolu/Getty Images

Congress must hold these people accountable. Ramirez must be removed from any committees related to national security or immigration. She has shown that her loyalty lies elsewhere. Her position on the Homeland Security Committee is not only a conflict of interest, it’s a violation of the trust placed in her by the American people.

Her husband’s illegal status must be investigated thoroughly. If you or I were in the same situation, we’d be facing the consequences. There’s no reason why she and her family should be above the law.

Time to act

This issue is about loyalty, integrity, and national security. If we don’t demand that our elected leaders place their loyalty to the United States above all else, then we risk the very foundation of this republic. The time to act is now.

Will Congressional lawmakers listen to the American people and choose America, or will they continue to play politics with our sovereignty? We need to know, now more than ever, whom these leaders are really serving.

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​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Rep. delia ramirez, Delia ramirez, Ramirez guatamala, Ilhan omar, Rep. omar, Rep. ilhan omar