Category: blaze media

Pennsylvania police say they discovered a house of horrors after investigating a report of an emaciated dog that was too weak to stand up.

Sandra Alvarado, 40, of White Oak Borough called police on July 18 to report that she had found an extremely emaciated Doberman dog abandoned in a ditch on the side of the road.

They found more evidence that the dog belonged to her, and then found far worse.

When police responded, they found a dog so “beyond reasonable treatment” that it could only be euthanized, according to court documents.

Police reported the dog had fleas, infections, ulcers, and open wounds that included exposed tendons.

Alvarado told police she brought the dog into her home, but police grew suspicious. They said the home smelled of urine and was filled with flies.

Her story fell apart after police found the dog dry to the touch and with no signs of being outside after it had been storming during that day.

On Tuesday, officers obtained animal clinic records showing Alvarado owned a Doberman named Anubis. They then interviewed people in the neighborhood who indicated that Alvarado was the owner of the dog and they had seen him several times after he ran away from the home.

Police were able to obtain a search warrant for the home and forced their way inside on Thursday.

They found more evidence that the dog belonged to her, and then found far worse.

Police said she had several dog crates with feces and stagnant urine. In the rest of the home, they found “deplorable conditions” that included “overwhelming” flies, fleas, spoiled food, soiled litter boxes, and numerous bags of trash.

They also found two firearms that were easily accessible to children. A 16-year-old teen was found to be living in the home.

The residence was deemed uninhabitable by White Oak Code Enforcement Officer John Snelson.

RELATED: Mom and boyfriend arrested after two boys escape ‘house of horrors’ and are found naked, bruised and covered with feces and blood

Alvarado faces numerous charges, including five counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, three counts of neglect of animals, cruelty to animals, false reports to law enforcement, as well as endangering the welfare of children.

She is being held at the Allegheny County Jail on a $10,000 bond and will appear for a hearing on Aug. 3.

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​Animal abuse, House of horrors, Pennsylvania, Child abuse, Crime 

Parents accepted cameras on school buses for a simple reason: catching drivers who illegally pass a stopped bus and endanger children.

What they weren’t told is that the same technology could eventually become something much bigger: a nationwide surveillance network.

Cities have explored mounting AI-powered cameras on garbage trucks to identify property-code violations.

Spy school

According to leaked internal documents obtained by 404 Media, BusPatrol — the nation’s largest provider of school bus stop-arm camera systems — plans to transform those buses into a nationwide network of Automatic License Plate Readers. Instead of activating only when a stop-arm violation occurs, the cameras would reportedly record the license plate, location, date, and time of every vehicle they encounter before sharing that information with law enforcement databases.

If fully deployed, the system would operate on more than 40,000 school buses across 24 states, creating what could become the largest mobile license-plate reader network in the United States — a system capable of documenting the daily movements of millions of law-abiding drivers.

School buses are an obvious platform for expanding surveillance. They already travel nearly every neighborhood twice a day, five days a week. Building that kind of street-level network from scratch would cost billions and almost certainly provoke public opposition. But here, the buses, cameras, and routes already exist; only the mission changes.

Safety dance

The leaked documents also describe a data-sharing partnership between BusPatrol and Axon, the law enforcement technology company known for body cameras and digital evidence systems. Under the proposal, information collected by school buses could become part of a broader investigative network used by police agencies. Privacy advocates argue that transforms a child-safety program into a system capable of tracking the routine movements of people who aren’t suspected of any crime.

Those concerns aren’t hypothetical.

The Institute for Justice has documented multiple cases in which law enforcement officers allegedly misused license-plate reader databases for personal reasons. In Milwaukee, an officer reportedly searched the movements of a woman he was dating and her former partner nearly 180 times while claiming the searches were part of official investigations.

In Idaho, a sheriff searched his wife’s vehicle more than 700 times in three months, describing the searches as “tests.” In Georgia, a police chief was arrested after allegedly using ALPR systems to stalk private citizens. None of those incidents were automatically flagged by the systems themselves.

RELATED: We’re winning the fight against Flock — but the surveillance isn’t going away that easily

The Washington Post/Getty Images

Usual suspects

School buses also appear to be only one piece of a broader trend. Cities have explored mounting AI-powered cameras on garbage trucks to identify property-code violations because sanitation vehicles, like school buses, already drive every neighborhood on regular routes. Cape Coral, Florida, abandoned its proposal after public opposition, but similar ideas continue to surface elsewhere.

Private companies are expanding these networks as well.

Flock Safety has built a nationwide system of AI-powered cameras that identify license plates along with vehicle make, model, color, decals, and bumper stickers. According to Forbes, companies including FedEx, Lowe’s, Simon Property Group, and Kaiser Permanente have participated in information-sharing arrangements involving Flock’s network. Civil liberties advocates argue those partnerships expand vehicle tracking while operating outside many of the transparency rules that apply to government agencies.

Each program is introduced as a narrow solution to a specific problem — protecting schoolchildren, solving crimes, enforcing property codes, or improving security. Over time, however, they begin to overlap. School buses, garbage trucks, private security cameras, and commercial fleets become pieces of a much larger network that records where Americans travel and stores that information for future use.

Protecting children should never be controversial, and neither should giving police the tools they need to investigate legitimate crimes.

But turning 40,000 school buses into rolling surveillance platforms is a very different question.

Before that happens, Americans deserve an honest debate about where the line between public safety and routine government tracking should be drawn.

​School buses, Privacy, Security, Surveillance, Automotive 

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Bryan Johnson made his millions by founding the payments processing company Braintree (which acquired Venmo), before selling the firm to PayPal in 2013.

In the years since, Johnson has become widely known for his extreme, highly public anti-aging “Don’t Die” protocol, which involves a strict diet, a rigid sleep schedule, daily exercise, dozens of supplements, continuous biomarker testing, and occasional experimental treatments.

His stated goal is to slow or reverse biological aging across every organ system. The endeavor costs him roughly $2 million a year.

But that’s just the beginning of Johnson’s strange goals. According to a July 21 post, he has now supposedly “cloned” himself.

Glenn Beck sets the record straight on the reality of Johnson’s “cloning” experiment.

“He didn’t clone himself. What he actually did is he took a sample of his own blood, pulled out some cells, chemically rewound them back to a blank, a baby state — you know, the kind of cell that can grow into almost any body part,” he explains, noting that this making of stem cells has been going on since 2006.

“His plan is to eventually grow fresh tissue from these cells to repair his own aging organs. That’s it. There’s no baby, no second Bryan, no clone of any real sense. Just a dish with his own cells reset to act young,” Glenn continues.

The medical implications of this science — regrowing organs, restoring eyesight, reversing disease — are “really exciting,” he acknowledges.

But Glenn has seen too much to ignore the inevitable dark side of such a technology.

“I swear to you, every day I get up, every technological breakthrough now feels like we’re speed-running through the plot of every movie that terrified me as a child,” he says.

“’Frankenstein,’ written over 200 years ago, was basically one long warning that maybe, just maybe, we should spend as much time asking ‘should we?’ as we spend asking ‘can we?’” he continues.

The saddest part is that “technology genuinely could save millions of lives — Parkinson’s, blindness, heart disease, kidney failure, cancer” — but it’s what else it could do in the hands of the wrong people that troubles Glenn.

“I’m not scared of the science. I’m kind of scared by the scientists,” he admits.

“I just can’t shake the feeling that humanity is collectively walking through the opening scenes of every sci-fi movie ever made, smiling confidently while the audience is yelling at the screen, ‘Please stop!’”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​Bryan johnson, Glenn beck, Silicon valley, Stem cells, Blazetv show 

Five teenage basketball players from the Washington, D.C., area are accused of stealing from a Florida 7-Eleven — and their coach lied to protect some of them, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.

The accused teens — all between 16 and 17 years old and hailing from Maryland and Washington, D.C. — are members of Run It Up, a travel basketball program affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union, officials said.

The sheriff’s office added that the coach works for the Department of Juvenile Services at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center in Maryland, ‘where his responsibilities include assisting and empowering youth.’

Their team was in the area to participate in the Puma NXTPro basketball tournament, and they were staying at a Solterra Resort vacation rental, which is less than a mile from the convenience store in the 3100 block of Ronald Reagan Parkway in Davenport, officials said.

Officials said the theft occurred Thursday around 4:10 a.m. and that the suspects concealed merchandise such as Doritos, gummies, Starburst Minis, a Big Mama sausage, lemonade, and grape and orange Slurpees — with a total value of $37.60.

A clerk confronted the suspects about the thefts, and they fled the store, officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area and located three of the suspects near the entrance of the Solterra Resort vacation rental after they placed the stolen goods into a backpack and hid it in bushes, officials said.

A detective made contact with the team’s coach, Malik Abdul Harvey, 27, of Maryland, and asked if he could identify the remaining two suspects from a security video, officials said.

Later in the morning, the remaining two suspects were located, and they admitted Harvey was their coach, officials said.

Harvey then confessed to lying about not knowing the other two suspects in order to protect them, officials said.

The five theft suspects each were charged with two felonies — conspiracy to commit retail theft and tampering with evidence — as well as two misdemeanors, petit theft, and violation of the county curfew ordinance for juveniles, officials said.

Harvey was charged with felony child neglect as well as three misdemeanors: contributing to the delinquency of a minor, accessory after the fact, and resisting without violence, officials said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd spoke at length about Harvey:

RELATED: Florida fools charged with felonies after cops say they coordinated theft of food, drinks from a Wawa — totaling about $40

Image source: Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office video screenshot

The sheriff’s office added that the coach works for the Department of Juvenile Services at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center in Maryland “where his responsibilities include assisting and empowering youth.”

The basketball trip was not associated with his employment duties, officials said.

Jail records indicate Harvey remained behind bars Friday afternoon; his total bail amount is $10,000.

Believe it or not, the sheriff’s office in late June arrested a dozen adults and three juveniles who they said were stealing food and drinks from a Wawa in Davenport — and the total value of the items was about $40.

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​Florida, Polk county sheriff’s office, Davenport, 7 eleven, Theft, Child neglect, Youth basketball team, Department of juvenile services, Coach arrested, Crime 

USA Today tried once again to smear Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark on Friday, and the outlet was humiliated once again.

The news outlet published an opinion piece suggesting that Clark’s insistence on calling for a foul when she was assaulted on the court was placing lesbian black players in danger of getting lynched by white supremacists.

‘What in the actual HELL? You utter, total, spite-filled brainless JERKS.’

An uproar followed, and the writer locked down her account and issued a bizarre statement admitting she had erred somewhat.

A day later, the outlet suggested that Clark had ignored a WNBA event for spurious and petty reasons.

“Caitlin Clark skipped the WNBA Orange Carpet on Thursday, opting to get her hair done in her hometown of Des Moines,” the outlet’s post on social media reads.

A community note on the X platform undermined the attempt to mischaracterize Clark’s decision.

“Caitlin was hosting a charity dinner in her hometown,” the note said.

The outlet was immediately excoriated by many on social media.

“How in the world is USA TODAY still existing with SEXIST headlines like this only aimed at Caitlin Clark?! They just keep doubling down on their ignorance and stupidity!” sportscaster Linda Cohn responded.

“For the love of god. What is the matter with you people. Maybe she needs the support of her family after all your bullying,” Amy Siskind replied.

“What in the actual HELL? You utter, total, spite-filled brainless JERKS,” another critic said.

The outlet issued a “clarification” about seven hours later.

RELATED: Caitlin Clark puts black lesbians at risk of death, USA Today writer suggests — and cites Emmett Till lynching

“Caitlin Clark was attending an event for the Caitlin Clark Foundation, which is why she missed the WNBA All-Star Weekend Orange Carpet,” the outlet posted.

Some did not think the correction was enough.

“Wait, so the day after you publish a column claiming her actions evoke Emmitt [sic] Till and will get people lynched, you rush and post an unverified slanderous headline that turns out to be a lie? Do you wonder why you’re a joke?” one detractor responded.

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​Usa today, Caitlin clark, Wnba, Mainstream media bias, Politics 

Tony Romo was arrested in Wisconsin after performing poorly on field sobriety tests, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

Romo was driving traveling southbound on Interstate 43 Thursday when he was stopped at about 6 p.m. according to an arrest-detention report obtained by WISN-TV.

In 2017 he was hired as the lead game analyst for CBS football.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was taken into custody, booked on a charge of operating while intoxicated, and then released.

A first-time charge of OWI is a civil offense in Wisconsin and typically carries a fine between $150 and $300, according to WISN.

Romo is very familiar with the area, as he was born in Burlington and graduated from Burlington High School. He visited in 2020 to attend the dedication of the “Tony Romo Field” by the Burlington Area School District for the school’s homecoming game.

The 46-year-old is married and has three children.

It appears to be his first arrest.

Romo played in Dallas for the entirety of his career in the National Football League, from 2003 until 2016. In 2017 he was hired as the lead game analyst for CBS football.

He still holds the Cowboys franchise record for total passing touchdowns at 248.

TMZ noted that he appeared to be smiling in his booking photo.

RELATED: Former NFL player’s business vandalized with ‘MAGA’ and racist slurs — but police say it was a hoax

KSTP-TV reported that CBS had no comment about the arrest.

Romo is due in court for the OWI charge on Sept. 21.

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​Dallas cowboys, National football league, Tony romo, Wisconsin, Crime 

The massive fraud scam in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future nonprofit continues to grow after one convicted fraudster has been sentenced to an additional decade in prison for bribing a juror.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah pleaded guilty to participating in the attempted scheme to bribe a juror with $120,000 in order to secure an acquittal.

‘Farah and his co-defendants participated in an unprecedented attack on the justice system.’

Four others were implicated in the bribery scheme that was revealed in June 2024.

A woman appearing to be Somali dropped off the money bag with a family member of the juror, as previously reported by Blaze News.

“This is for juror 52,” an alleged note on the bag read. “Tell her there will be another bag for her if she votes to acquit.”

The juror called the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the investigation led to seven defendants being arrested and jailed for the duration of their trial after they had been allowed to appear on their own recognizance. That juror was dismissed, and the others were questioned about whether they had been approached for bribery.

Farah had already pleaded guilty to numerous charges related to the multimillion-dollar scam and was sentenced in August to 28 years in prison.

On Wednesday, Farah was sentenced to an additional 10 years for the bribery charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy emphasized during sentencing how jury bribery could have a “chilling effect” on jury selection.

“How creepy is it that a defendant in a case was stalking you, both online and in real life?” he asked. “Following you home, coming to your door?”

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants had targeted that juror because she was the youngest juror and a minority. They obtained evidence that showed they wanted her to persuade other jurors to vote for acquittal based on claims of racial bias.

Farah spoke before being sentenced and cried during an apology to the court, the juror, and the prosecutors.

“My biggest regret revolves around the negative impact my conduct has had on my community, our great state, and the judicial system,” he said. “My conduct has cost me more than I ever imagined, and I am responsible for it.”

RELATED: FBI RAIDS ‘Quality Learing Center’ and nearly 2 dozen more in Minnesota FRAUD investigation

He also said the time he has spent in jail has humbled him.

“Farah and his co-defendants participated in an unprecedented attack on the justice system,” Murphy added.

All of the defendants charged in the bribery scheme pleaded guilty. Five of the seven defendants in the original case were convicted, while the other two were acquitted.

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​Feeding our future, Somali fraud, Minnesota, Politics 

“It’s insanity,” James Lyons told Blaze News about the latest abortion bill making its way through the Massachusetts legislature. Lyons, a former state representative and past chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, added, “And it has to stop.”

A long-standing line, one that most radical abortion legislation rarely crosses, is viability outside the womb. The rate of survival for a baby born during the 23rd week of pregnancy is 23%-27%, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. At 24 weeks the survival rate jumps dramatically to 42%-59%.

‘The legislation promises that an already ominous shadow will grow even darker over the state.’

Democrats in the Massachusetts House overwhelmingly passed a bill in a 199-33 vote on Wednesday that would greatly expand abortion access past 24 weeks, effectively making it open season on viable human beings.

Advocates for the unborn have emphasized the extreme nature of this legislation and called for the state Senate to kill it outright.

Massachusetts law currently prohibits abortion past 24 weeks unless executed by a doctor who has determined it is necessary to preserve the life of the mother; necessary to preserve the mother’s physical or mental health; warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly or diagnosis; or warranted “because of a grave fetal diagnosis that indicates that the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside of the uterus without extraordinary medical interventions.”

The bill recently passed by the House, H. 5595, would scrap these requirements for late-term abortions, enabling an abortion to be committed against a preborn baby past 24 weeks solely “based upon the professional judgment of the physician.”

H. 5595 would also change state law to bar any medical review process from overriding the decision by a doctor and patient to execute a late-term abortion, and would eliminate the requirement that except in an emergency situation, late-term abortions must be performed “in a hospital duly authorized to provide facilities for obstetrical services.”

RELATED: ‘Very s***ty’: Gay couple sue surrogate mother who REFUSED to abort baby with minor birth defect: Report

Bromberger Hoover Photography/Getty Images

Lyons further told Blaze News, “It is absolutely unconscionable what these people are doing in Massachusetts.”

He then noted that this is the latest in a sequence of radical pro-abortion maneuvers, including:

the 2020 Roe Act, which not only codified abortion rights into state law, enabled abortions after 24 weeks with the now-threatened restrictions, and lowered the age at which women can seek abortion without the consent of a parent or judge, but scrapped a provision in state law that required doctors to “take all reasonable steps … to preserve the life and health of the aborted child” if the baby survived the attempted abortion; andGov. Maura Healey’s (D) taxpayer-funded initiative to attack crisis pregnancy centers, which she complained were dissuading women from getting abortions.

“The reason that they’re getting away with it is because the Massachusetts legislature is dominated by radical leftists, and they unfortunately have done everything they can possibly do to silence any opposition,” said Lyons, who changed parties from Democrat to Republican in 1983 in part because of President Ronald Reagan but also because “there was no question about it that the Democratic Party was being taken over … by the radical left.”

Democratic state Rep. Christine Barber, a radical leftist with endorsements by Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Equity Now, told the Boston Globe that the late-term abortion bill is aimed at sparing residents from the inconvenience of having to travel out of state to kill their preborn children.

“Patients have to leave to other states, leave their support network, and pay out of pocket,” Barber said. “You should be able to get care that your doctors are recommending here in Massachusetts.”

‘The fight is not over.’

Barber cited as an example the trip that one resident, Kate Dineen, made to Maryland in 2022 to kill her 33-week-old baby. The boy suffered a stroke in utero and was reportedly given a 50% chance of dying before delivery. Dineen had a Maryland abortionist administer a lethal injection to the boy, whose remains she later delivered in Boston.

Reproductive Equity Now, an organization that has also used the out-of-state execution of Dineen’s baby to promote this legislation, celebrated the passage of H. 5595.

Claire Teylouni, interim co-executive director of the pro-abortion group, stated, “We are thrilled to see the Massachusetts House of Representatives take this crucial step to expand abortion access across the Commonwealth.”

Advocates for the unborn alternatively condemned Democrats’ campaign against the preborn.

Fr. Daniel Pacholec, direct of the Respect Life Office for the Catholic Diocese of Springfield, noted, “Massachusetts already has one of the most progressive abortion laws in the country, and this goes even further. This should make everyone squeamish. This is not a partisan issue. This is about human decency.”

Massachusetts Citizens for Life noted that “the bill passed despite the concerns of thousands of Massachusetts residents who contacted legislators and shared their opposition, and despite the fact that it would allow unborn children who are capable of feeling pain and surviving outside the womb to be killed.”

“Women experiencing unimaginable, heart-wrenching pregnancy complications absolutely deserve all the support they need, but that support is not what this bill provides,” said Myrna Maloney Flynn, president of MCFL, in a statement shared by the diocese. “Instead, this bill ensures increased abortion industry profits and taxpayer-funded late-term procedures. The legislation promises that an already ominous shadow will grow even darker over the state of Massachusetts.”

The MCFL has stressed that “the fight is not over” and urged Bay Staters to urge their state senators to oppose the version before them now, S.1563.

The Massachusetts Family Institute has also condemned the bill, noting that it would “end virtually all abortion restrictions in Massachusetts, allowing abortion at full term with no medical justification or second opinion required — for any reason, or none at all.”

When asked whether the goal of this and related legislation is to make the Bay State a national abortion destination, Lyons told Blaze News, “It certainly seems that way. And as a matter of fact, the Shield Act that was put in place was a direct result of the pressure that they were seeing outside of Massachusetts to let people know you can come here and we will protect you.”

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​Abortion, Massachusetts, Preborn babies, Eugenics, Democrats, Planned parenthood, Prolife, Politics 

The first trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday” has arrived, and it’s raising some serious questions about the future of superhero movies — especially whether or not anyone still cares about them.

And BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere admits that he has never cared less.

“It seems like they took all previous superhero movies and put them in a blender. And then just released whatever came out of that blender. A green sort of brownish mess,” he tells co-host Dave Landau on “Stu and Dave Do America.”

“The actual plot of it is nonsensical,” Dave agrees, adding that it “looks really bad.”

“I am not a fan of superhero movies generally. I don’t like the Marvel universe. I don’t get into this, so I’m not the right person to ask necessarily. To me, a lot of them seem kind of nonsensical,” Stu says.

The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doom, which, Stu points out, seems a little desperate.

“It seems like a desperation move, like when they go on vacation in a dying sitcom, you know, and then they add a brother that you didn’t know existed and you’re just like they’re just reaching for whatever at this point,” Stu says.

“I feel like it hurts the Robert Downey Jr. trajectory, because you go from heroin addict who had all kinds of problems, you know, fell asleep in his neighbor’s race-car bed,” Dave says. “And then he came back and became Iron Man and a superhero … and he’s lived this kind of extraordinary comeback. Why be the villain?”

“I am a fan of his work, but I think it hurts the actual RDJ,” he adds.

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​Robert downey jr, Stu burguiere, Dave landau, Superhero, Movie, Marvel, Blazetv show 

Under the leadership of Anthea Hartig, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is using taxpayer dollars to rewrite history in woke terms — and during a recent hearing, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) called the museum out.

“The many examples of politicization of the museum are well-documented in the comprehensive report the White House Domestic Policy Council recently issued on July 4, the nation’s 250th anniversary,” Burchett began.

“The report makes clear that the museum’s woke exhibits and materials reflect a broader vision held by the museum leadership, particularly its director, Dr. Anthea Hartig,” he continued, noting that she “proudly takes credit for changing the museum’s mission statement.”

The mission statement “no longer uses the term ‘American history’ or refers to the infinite richness of that history.”

Instead, Burchett explained, it is “now guided by an interpretive plan that ensures all topics focus on the core issues of our time.”

“Do we want to guess what they are? Race and identity, gender and sexuality, environmental change, immigration and migrations, and economic inequality top the list. Also, a Center for Restorative Justice at the museum created under Dr. Hartig’s watch hosted a decolonization working group to investigate historical harms that result in ongoing systematic oppression,” he continued.

“To remove any doubt about her intentions, Dr. Hartig in her own words states that she views history as a prime tool of social justice,” he added, before playing a clip of Hartig giving a speech.

“Before we begin, let us pause to acknowledge with gratitude the native peoples on whose land we gather today. These are the ancestral homelands of the Piscataway people, joined by the Nacotchtank and the Pamunkey tribes and, of course, their descendants,” she said.

Hartig went on to give respect and gratitude “to all of them for the opportunity to work and to live in their territories.”

“It’s not their territories anymore,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“The peoples don’t own this land. In fact, their own ideology was that nobody can own land, right? So, it’s not theirs,” he adds.

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​Pat gray, Smithsonian museum, Tim burchett, Lgbtq, Race, Gender, Sexuality, Native american, Blazetv show, Immigration 

Turns out Supergirl is faster than a speeding bullet.

One of the summer’s biggest flops is heading to home video — already.

‘I said it last night, but I’ll say it again. Man I’m so tired of this f**king president.’

“Supergirl,” the latest Hollywood clunker, will be available via VOD platforms starting July 28. The movie earned tepid reviews and gave YouTube channels endless content. The film also recalled Jay Sherman’s signature catchphrase from TV’s “The Critic”: “It stinks.”

The film barely crossed the $70 million mark domestically and will cost Warner Bros. more than $100 million in the final tally.

Star Milly Alcock did her best Rachel Zegler imitation during the publicity for the film. But nothing could save a movie with a lousy script and an unlikely heroine.

Somewhere, original Supergirl Helen Slater is smiling into her mug of Joe.

Jam bland

Dave Matthews wants in on that sweet, sweet Springsteen action. And by “action,” we mean lecturing concert-goers with anti-Trump screeds. The Boss has spent the last few months hectoring fans who paid huge sums to attend the singer’s current tour.

Some blue-collar hero.

Now, it’s Matthews’ turn. He’s using his stage time to tell fans what he thinks about President Donald Trump.

“I said it last night, but I’ll say it again. Man, I’m so tired of this f**king president.”

That’s not the only thing that’s exhausting lately.

RELATED: ‘Supergirl’ has disastrous opening after star declares character ‘doesn’t live inside the binary’

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Party line

Jimmy Fallon makes a mediocre Johnny Carson but a fine useful idiot.

“The Tonight Show” host has a habit of laundering Democrat talking points over the years. He covered up President Joe Biden’s decline, allowed Mike Bloomberg to use his NBC perch as a political ad, and hasn’t said much about the DSA politicians conquering the Democratic Party.

He’s useful to all the wrong people.

This week, he let actor/author John Leguizamo pitch his new children’s book to the masses. Left unsaid? The book extols the virtues of Greta Thunberg and multiple communists, including Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Diego Rivera, and artist Frida Kahlo.

What’s next, a Hugo Chavez pop-up book? Just know Fallon will be first in line to promote it.

Joy ride

Joy Behar doesn’t remotely look her age. She’s 83. She still sounds like an old crank who sees conspiracies wherever she goes.

That may (may?) explain her newest anti-Trump rant. And, to her credit, it’s an original.

A stark raving mad original, to be exact. Behar used her “View” perch (which is totally a news program!) to suggest that the Saudis bought off President Donald Trump to make a nuclear bomb.

And said bomb might go off over Cleveland. What about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

“… he’s making a deal with the Saudi Arabians that will allow them to produce a nuclear weapon.”

Uh, no.

“Then we’ll go to war with the 9/11 group. The Saudis were behind 9/11 and — and — are they waiting for him to drop a nuke on Cleveland? … Now I’m scared. See, I grew up hiding under the desk.”

It’s amazing her fellow “View” hosts aren’t hiding somewhere, anywhere, when she starts yapping.

RELATED: EMMY-BARRASSMENT: TV king Taylor Sheridan snubbed, while canceled Colbert cleans up

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Still the Captain

William Shatner is a legend. Full stop.

The 95-year-old’s “Star Trek” career sealed that deal. Add the eclectic music, a killer role on “Boston Legal,” and his endlessly joyful Twitter posts, and his legendary status is secure. Did we mention he has a running feud with far-left “Star Trek” alum George Takei?

Now, we’re learning he beat back stage-four cancer and helped his adult daughter do the same. The Shatners shared their remarkable story with People magazine.

Live long and prosper, indeed!

Swinging on a star

If you thought swinging from rooftops was hard, wait until you hear what actor Tom Holland must do next.

The “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” star goes from the MCU to classic Hollywood with the upcoming Fred Astaire biopic. And he won’t be using stunt doubles or AI to re-create Astaire’s signature elegance.

“I did my first few rehearsals recently. And it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread because I’ve got so much work to do to try and do Fred proud.”

Good luck, Peter Parker. You’re gonna need it.

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​Film, Joy behar, Milly alcock, Rachel zegler, Super girl, William shatner, Entertainment 

Actor Alan Ritchson unleashed an irrational tirade against people supposedly keeping the Epstein files hidden and even makes accusations against President Donald Trump.

The star of “Reacher” suggested the president and others are hiding damaging information from the Epstein files during an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast released Thursday.

‘Move out of the way. Give me the f**king manila envelope. … I will get you the Epstein files.’

“People, I think, are a little bit afraid of me because they’re like, ‘He’s a loose cannon.’ And I’m not. I’m just saying the s**t that everybody should say if they give a s**t about humanity,” the actor said to Josh Horowitz.

He was especially incensed about the Epstein files.

“The Epstein files. The f**king Epstein files! Goddamn it! Where are they?! It’s a f**king law, bitch! Show it, you f**king pedophiles,” Ritchson ranted.

He went on to say that he shouldn’t drop F-bombs as a believing Christian — and then continued to drop F-bombs.

“I would f**king railroad these f**kers. I would get those Epstein files out in two seconds. Yeah dude, two seconds, f**king move out of the way. … Give me the f***king manila envelope. I will get you the Epstein files,” he added.

He finished up by referring to the president as a “bitch” and seemingly accused him of sexualizing young girls.

“Don’t you want to see what’s in there so that we can hold people accountable?! These f**king rapists! We’re just cool with it?” he added. “That bitch has the keys to the nuclear codes. He’s, like, all up into 13-year-olds. Like, dude, what? Go to jail. Go to jail.”

Video of Ritchson’s comments was circulated on social media. The entire episode can be viewed on YouTube.

RELATED: ‘Trump is a rapist and a con man’: Actor Alan Ritchson insults Trump, calls Christians ‘vitriolic tribe’

He went on to say that he would give a “backhand” to members of Congress who support the low minimum wage for a mother working at Waffle House.

Blaze News reached out to the Dept. of Justice and the White House for comment about the actor’s accusations.

Ritchson was promoting his new movie, “Motor City,” but he should probably not count on MAGA supporters watching after that rant.

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​Jeffrey epstein, Alan ritchson, Politics, Donald trump 

Former first lady Michelle Obama recently told SXSW London that imposter syndrome is something she sees in women, minorities, and people who don’t think they’re supposed to be in positions of power — but not in white men.

And BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock couldn’t disagree more.

“To have sat at every powerful table there is, I have seen it all. Every table. I’ve been at it … it’s not all that. Because there’s so many people like me, like you, women, minorities, folks who aren’t supposed to be at these tables because they are sitting around thinking that they are imposters,” Obama said.

“You know, imposter syndrome. … I haven’t met one [white man] who has felt it,” she added.

“Obama is describing something real. That ache is real. She just got the diagnosis wrong because imposter syndrome is not a white problem, and it is not a black problem. It’s a God problem,” Whitlock says.

He describes imposter syndrome as the “fear men and women carry when they wear their resume as armor rather than the armor of God.”

“The only people who feel like frauds are the people who forgot whose they are,” he explains.

“The world looks at that feeling and prescribes more affirmation, more representation, more DEI. We’ll fix the fear of not belonging by putting more people in the room. And it never works. The ache gets worse,” he adds.

Unlike Obama, Whitlock believes that imposter syndrome isn’t defined by the color of your skin.

“Only imposters have imposter syndrome. And I’m not saying that about black people. I’m saying it about secular people, about every person, any color, who built their identity on a foundation that can’t hold the weight,” he says.

The fear is that someone will recognize that you don’t belong in the seat you’re in, which comes from “believing your seat was given to you for a reason that has nothing to do with you.”

“And here’s where we have to be honest. We have to be honest about DEI and affirmative action because this is the uncomfortable part. When you tell an entire generation you’re here to fill a quota, you’re here because of your skin, you’re here to make the numbers look right, you have manufactured imposter syndrome on an industrial scale,” Whitlock explains.

“Of course they feel like frauds,” he says, adding, “You told them they were.”

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​Jason whitlock, Michelle obama, White men, Dei, Affirmative action, Imposter syndrome, Blazetv show 

A former teacher of the year from Mississippi has been arrested on charges of child sex crimes, according to authorities.

The Sun Herald reported that Olivia Marie Smith was arrested and charged with sexual battery and enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes.

‘We want to reassure parents, students, and staff that we are addressing this matter with seriousness and diligence.’

Anyone convicted of sexual battery in Mississippi faces up to 30 years in prison, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.

Mississippi state law notes that anyone convicted of enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes faces a minimum prison sentence of two years and a 10-year maximum, plus a fine of up to $10,000.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Calvin Taylor set Smith’s bond at $100,000 during a probable cause hearing Thursday

Smith was an assistant principal at the Oak Park Elementary School at the time of her arrest, according to the Sun Herald. But SuperTalk Mississippi Media reported that Smith was a teacher at Ocean Springs Middle School at the time of the alleged child sex crimes. Both schools are part of the same district.

WLOX-TV reported that Smith won teacher of the year in 2022 when she was employed at Ocean Springs Middle School.

The Ocean Springs Police Department said it was alerted June 20 about accusations of a school staffer having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student.

The Ocean Springs School District issued a statement to WLOX saying, “After being tipped off about potential inappropriate behavior taking place involving an employee, OSSD immediately notified OSPD and Mississippi Child Protective Services.”

The school district also conducted an internal investigation into the accusations.

The Sun Herald reported that police conducted an investigation and accused Smith of engaging in a sexual relationship with a student.

The Ocean Springs School District is fully cooperating with authorities in the investigation, police said.

The district said it fired Smith following an internal investigation.

Smith is not listed on the Oak Park Elementary School website or on the Ocean Springs Middle School site.

RELATED: Former first-grade teacher pleads guilty to sex crimes against teen student after she allegedly admitted affair to husband

The Ocean Springs School District said in the statement, “We are deeply saddened by charges announced today by the Ocean Springs Police Department against one of our former employees.”

“We understand the gravity of this situation and the concern it may raise in our community,” the school district said.

The statement continued, “We want to reassure parents, students, and staff that we are addressing this matter with seriousness and diligence. The safety of our students and staff members remains our highest priority.”

The school district said it “will not have any further comments on this matter.”

Neither the Ocean Springs Police Department nor the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded to Blaze News‘ requests for comment.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the Ocean Springs Police Department at 228-875-2211 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-877-787-5898.

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​Child sex crimes, Middle school, Mississippi, Teacher of the year, Sexual battery, Arrest, Crime 

Trouble likely awaits a budget resolution tied to the SAVE America Act as it heads to the stubborn upper chamber of Congress.

On Wednesday, the House passed a $95 billion budget resolution, 216-214, carrying with it important incentives for states to pass the SAVE America Act, alongside funding for Iran-related operations and farm aid.

‘It’s like the Senate is a place that you send things when you want them to die.’

The $95 billion package includes $73 billion for defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion for agricultural aid, and $10 billion in election-related funding for states, a key aspect of the SAVE America Act.

The bill itself is five primary issues: voter ID, proof of citizenship to register, an end to universal mail-in ballots, and bans on transgender athletes in women’s sports and transgender surgery for minors.

The SAVE America Act is now sitting with a Republican-controlled Senate that is in apparently no rush to deal with it.

Trump ramped up his pressure campaign against Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) at a Georgia rally Wednesday, urging supporters to flood Thune’s office with calls demanding action on passing the budget bill and, eventually, the SAVE America Act.

RELATED: House narrowly passes SAVE America Act as rider to trillion-dollar spending bill

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

He credited Johnson and the House for doing their part, but blamed the Senate for the holdup: “It’s like the Senate is a place that you send things when you want them to die.”

“We’re not going to take this any longer. … I’m trying to be nice; I’m trying to be really nice,” Trump added.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) also suggested on X that Thune should “step aside” if he won’t act.

Politico’s reporting from inside the GOP conference shows the resistance runs well past the three sitting holdouts — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

A source familiar with the matter told Blaze News that Thune is prioritizing the continuing resolution to avoid another shutdown and that the budget resolution is in reserve.

Asked Wednesday how close he was to 50 votes, Thune said only, “Good question.”

By Thursday, he was blunter: “I can’t count to 50 right now on a budget resolution.”

Per Politico, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters Wednesday he doesn’t expect Thune to take it up at all; Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) isn’t sure the votes exist in the first place; and newly named Budget Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said there has been no formal conversation yet.

Thune himself has asked colleagues, “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”

Reconciliation needs only a simple majority, as opposed to the 60-vote threshold for passing bills into law. Even so, the bill has failed twice — once in April and again in June — with Collins, Murkowski, Tillis, and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voting no alongside every Democrat both times.

RELATED: New Jersey’s noncitizen voter blame game doesn’t add up — literally

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Earlier this month, Speaker Johnson called the package “our best shot” at 50 votes plus Vice President JD Vance as the tiebreaker. For now, McConnell’s indefinite absence drops the vote count to 99, meaning Republicans need a plain majority. One holdout flipping to yes still passes it outright, while an abstention reopens a possible 49-49 tie, putting Vance’s tiebreaker back in play.

Only if all three hold firm does the package fail.

Asked directly at Tuesday’s weekly Senate GOP leadership press conference whether the House’s reconciliation push is more than an academic exercise, Thune demurred: “We’ll see … what they get done this week and what it all consists of.”

He confirmed the Senate would “hold” any budget resolution the House sends over — but specifically as a fallback to fund the government, not to advance the SAVE America Act.

“I hope that’s not necessary,” he said, noting he’s already having “productive conversations” with Democrats on a separate funding deal to carry the government past the November election.

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​Andy ogles, Budget resolution, Jd vance, Mitch mcconnell, Proof of citizenship, Ron johnson, Save america act, Senate, Susan collins, Thom tillis, Transgender athletes, Transgender surgery, Voter id, John thune, Politics 

President Donald Trump is bullish on American technology and keen to see America dominate the “global race for AI.” He has, accordingly, become a champion of artificial intelligence data centers and has even tasked his administration with using federally owned land and resources to help develop them.

Trump emphasized during an event on Thursday at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in the national capital that opposition to the erection of data centers across the country is futile — but that consumers should not fear having to shoulder the burden of supporting such inevitable facilities.

‘You have to go with it.’

In his State of the Union address in February, the president acknowledged that many Americans are “concerned that energy demand from AI data centers could unfairly drive up their electric utility bills.”

Recent polls show that Americans largely oppose data centers. A Gallup poll conducted in March found that 71% of Americans somewhat or strongly oppose the construction of an AI data center in their area. A survey conducted this month by Public First found that 41% of respondents oppose building a data center within three miles of their homes, up from 28% in January, and only 24% of respondents support such an initiative, down from 37% at the beginning of the year.

To assuage such concerns, Trump announced in his SOTU speech that the negotiation of the “Rate Payer Protection Pledge,” which has companies agree to: spare consumers from price hikes by building, bringing, or buying new power supply; paying for new power delivery infrastructure upgrades; paying special rates “whether they use the electricity or not”; and investing local job creation.

Within days of the announcement, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI signed the nonbinding pledge.

On Thursday, Trump revealed that the pledge now has among its signatories 23 governors, various state legislators, numerous electricity providers, and data center developers.

RELATED: The path to America-first AI

The three Republican governors who did not sign the pledge were Phil Scott of Vermont, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Ron DeSantis of Florida. DeSantis ratified legislation in May to ensure that “local governments maintain the authority to reject data center development in their communities” and to protect Florida’s water resources from data center consumption.

According to the White House, the pledge “now covers 80% of all power delivered to U.S. homes and businesses and protects 263 million Americans when a data center is built nearby.”

After suggesting that adherence to the pledge and the construction of additional infrastructure to support the incoming data centers would actually drive down utility rates, Trump stressed that “America’s goal must be to dominate the future, and that includes being the number one superpower in artificial intelligence.”

“Whoever wins that race is probably going to win, period,” he added.

Trump suggested that foreign “propaganda” might be partly to blame for those “communists” and others now opposed to having data centers in their back yards. According to the president, communities desirous of data centers “are the smart communities because it means tremendous numbers of jobs, very little actual disruption.”

“You have to convince your community how great these things — you can’t fight it. You have to go with it,” said Trump.

“If you don’t have it, everybody else wants it.”

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​Amazon, Artificial intelligence, Donald trump, Meta, Openai, Oracle, Politics 

Google already has a reputation for spying on users through the microphones embedded in smart devices. Some of these accusations have even landed Google in legal trouble. Now the company looks to make its eavesdropping software public with a new AI-powered listening feature for Pixel phones called “Audio Memory.”

Before we dive too deep, keep in mind that Google hasn’t officially announced this feature yet. Instead, the words “Audio Memory” were spotted in a software teardown by 9to5Google for Android System Intelligence, an app integrated into the Android’s core system that controls various smart features, such as Live Captions, Live Translate, and more.

A privacy concern for users and a legal nightmare for Google?

While the feature isn’t live yet, it’s clearly in development and may launch sometime in the future. Still, there are some hints around what Audio Memory will actually do, and none of it is particularly good if you like privacy.

What is Audio Memory?

Google left a few clues in the Android System Intelligence teardown about what its new feature could entail. “Audio Memory” is listed under the codenamed “blueflax,” and it will supposedly “keep track of what you hear throughout your day, from the music around you to your important conversations.”

Folks who follow Google’s always-listening track record already know that Android comes equipped with a couple of services that hear the world around you.

For starters, compatible Android phones listen for the “Hey, Google” or “OK, Google” hot words that summon either Google Gemini or Google Assistant on demand (depending on the age and capability of your device).

Second, Google Pixel phones all come with a “Now Playing” feature that listens for songs playing within reach of your phone and automatically displays the name of the song on your home screen. It’s a neat little feature for those times you like a song and want to know more about it, but it’s also kind of creepy when you consider that your phone has to constantly analyze the music you hear in public to display the correct information.

Audio Memory sounds like an expansion of Now Playing, except instead of just music, it’s now listening for everything. Based on Google’s wording in the teardown, the feature will likely function in a similar manner as AI pins, which record conversations to be saved, analyzed, and archived into readable transcripts and memorable audio files.

Questions abound

The part that’s unclear is whether or not Audio Memory is constantly active or if it must be triggered before it starts listening. AI pins are designed to do the latter — they have to be powered on and told when to record a conversation by pressing a button, ensuring they can’t eavesdrop on something you don’t want them to hear.

RELATED: Private companies are tracking your location without notice or a warrant — and it’s all perfectly legal

Moor Studio/Getty Images

Google, however, takes a different approach, at least with hot words and Now Playing. These are always active, waiting to be needed. If Audio Memory works the same way — always listening to and recording your conversations — this feature is both a privacy concern for users and a legal nightmare for Google.

Imagine having every conversation saved and analyzed directly on Google’s servers for the sake of what? Preservation? Memories? Or something more sinister? Aside from the endless lawsuits Google would face over such a feature, most phones also don’t have the battery capacity to listen to and record audio all day long. This, at least to me, is the one shred of hope that says Audio Memory isn’t as intrusive as it sounds on the surface. There’s clearly more about this feature we don’t know yet.

One final question remains: Which phones will receive Audio Memory?

The feature was first spotted in a version of Android System Intelligence for Google Pixel 10. This is to be expected, since Pixel 10 is currently Google’s latest released smartphone, and the company likes to test new features on its hardware first. There’s also a chance that Audio Memory is a Pixel-exclusive, just like Call Screening, Magic Eraser, and Gemini integration before it, though many of these features usually trickle down into the rest of the Android ecosystem over time. Lastly, depending on how much on-device processing is involved, there’s a chance that Audio Memory isn’t even compatible with older Android devices that don’t support local AI.

A simple choice?

Given Google’s recent legal troubles over always-listening privacy concerns, the company is likely to tread lightly with Audio Memory to avoid further litigation. However, most of the legal complaints Google received came from its always-listening software secretly recording conversations without users’ knowledge. The game changes if Google convinces users to allow Audio Memory to record their lives willingly. After that, the company theoretically has an open invitation to listen to everything its users do and say.

I guess we’ll have to wait for Audio Memory to launch to get the rest of the story.

​Google, Android, Security, Cell phones, Tech 

A Democratic state representative who pleaded guilty last year to refusing a breathalyzer during a DUI arrest has crashed out once again, this time over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrest of his “neighbor,” an illegal alien identified by authorities as a “known member of MS-13.”

Rhode Island state Rep. Enrique Sanchez (D) has even apparently threatened ICE for getting the dangerous foreigner off American streets.

‘State Rep. Enrique Sanchez should be thanking our law enforcement for removing dangerous criminals.’

Ivan Rene Mendoza Meza, a 28-year-old also known as “El Negro,” stole into the U.S. illegally at least twice. According to ICE, he is “a self-admitted member of MS-13 in Honduras and states he has committed crimes on behalf of the gang,” which is a designated foreign terrorist organization.

ICE Boston issued an immigration detainer for Mendoza following his August 2023 arrest for allegedly trafficking fentanyl, a substance that killed an estimated 38,084 Americans just last year.

Mendoza was accused of being one of the “key members” of a drug-trafficking organization and linked to a residence where five bags of fentanyl pills along with a digital scale and an anti-GPS tracking device were allegedly discovered during a raid.

The 6th District Court of Rhode Island disregarded the detainer and cut the gangster loose on bond.

He spent two years as a free man, but after a brief chase that prompted the involvement of Providence Police and the evacuation of a multi-unit home, the gangster was finally captured by ICE on July 13, 2025.

The MS-13 terrorist’s capture caused apoplexy among the usual suspects.

RELATED: ICE haters claim victory after ‘major bank’ shuts down deals with detention companies

Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Rhode Island branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, for instance, condemned the presence of local police at the time of the gangster’s capture, calling for the termination of Providence Police Department Chief Oscar Perez, and demanding the removal of ICE from city streets.

State Rep. Enrique Sanchez, a self-identified socialist, also melted down, calling ICE “the Nazi Gestapo,” referring to the gangster as his “neighbor,” and characterizing their successful operation as an “act of terror.”

This week Sanchez — whose big mouth and radicalism previously got him in trouble during his time as a substitute Spanish teacher — suggested that he had mental problems and that ICE was the cause.

“Fighting and dealing with ICE since last year has f**ked me up in the head after trying to protect and defend hundreds and hundreds of our community members in Providence and across Rhode Island,” wrote the radical.

Sanchez then issued an apparent threat to ICE, stating, “Your day of reckoning will come motherf**kers. I swear to god.”

He shared a version of the same message on Instagram in a foreign tongue.

When asked for comment, ICE referred Blaze News to the Department of Homeland Security, which said of Sanchez’s remarks, “Because of smears and attacks like this, our ICE officers are now facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.”

The DHS noted that “instead of vilifying law enforcement, state Rep. Enrique Sanchez should be thanking our law enforcement for removing dangerous criminals,” then proceeded to list a number of criminal noncitizens whom ICE has captured, including Mariel Valdez Nunez, an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic convicted of human slavery; Phet Phommasinh, an illegal alien from Laos convicted of homicide, assault, and aggravated assault with a weapon; and Touthtou Sengsavang, an illegal alien from Laos convicted of failure to register as a sex offender, molestation of a minor, selling cocaine, and other crimes.

Sanchez, who has repeatedly vowed that ICE “will pay” for doing their jobs, responded, “Ok.”

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​Department of homeland security, Ice, Ms-13, Rhode island, Us immigration and customs enforcement, Politics 

The atrocious assassination of Charlie Kirk last September has ignited numerous conspiracy theories, some of which involve the nation of Israel. Even though Charlie was publicly very pro-Israel for years, especially in light of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, rumors that the TPUSA founder was beginning to waver on his support for the Jewish nation have led some to speculate that Israel might have been involved in his murder.

So where did Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA really fall on the issue of Israel?

On a recent episode of “Rufo and Lomez,” co-host Jonathan Keeperman sat down with executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” and TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, who addressed this question.

“This issue [of Israel] was probably the most difficult for Charlie to navigate in life,” says Kolvet.

He explains that for Charlie, there was one “bright line” when it came to Israel: “Jew-hate has no place in the conservative movement,” and “the scapegoating of an entire people group” is an “ancient evil” that cannot be tolerated.

However, that doesn’t mean that he was ever part of the hard-line, activist “pro-Israel” crowd who demand unconditional, unquestioning support for every Israeli policy. That’s why Charlie was sometimes “accused of being an anti-Semite,” Kolvet explains.

He notes that the “driving force” of the Trump-era conservative movement — which Charlie heavily shaped — has always been “non-interventionalism.”

“Charlie was certainly a driver of that and certainly a proponent of that. He wanted the government to focus more on domestic issues, but he also wasn’t willing to go to that point and blame, you know, a small nation in the Middle East for all the world’s ills,” Kolvet tells Keeperman.

This balanced stance became harder to maintain after Hamas’ October 7 attacks. Many on the right who already held non-interventionist views saw the war in Gaza as validation of their skepticism toward Israel.

“This is an instance of where our preconceived bias, confirmation bias was played into by geopolitical events,” Kolvet says.

The intense fighting reinforced the idea that U.S. ties to Israel drag America into foreign conflicts, creating a “perceived reality” that has grown since October 7 and put pressure on Charlie’s middle position. “It’s a tricky issue,” Kolvet acknowledges, “but we have to be able to say a couple things very, very clearly, I think, on our side if we’re going to keep the coalition together.”

“One, we are America first. Our interests are more important than Israel’s interests. If you are an American, that has got to be a bright line in the sand,” he adds, acknowledging that there are legitimate questions about Israel spying on the U.S., the recurring “$4 billion” in annual U.S. aid to Israel, and the sharing of intelligence and technology with the Israeli military.

“I think those are all valid questions, because we have to be about our own business first and foremost. We have to be about our own priorities first and foremost,” he adds.

However, if American interests “align with Israel,” Kolvet sees that as a positive.

“I certainly don’t think we should be asking that same question when it comes to Hamas, for example, right? … There’s no moral equivalency between the two,” he says. “But we also have to just be really up front that we have domestic issues that we need to get done and we need to accomplish or we’re going to lose this country and the West will fall if America does not get this right.”

He laments the reality that the conservative base’s division over Israel has “poured into the story of Charlie.”

Ultimately, TPUSA stands for two basic principles, says Kolvet: “Reject Jew-hate,” but “be about our own business first” and then address “geopolitics and foreign policy.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Andrew kolvet, Tpusa, America first agenda, Israel, Charlie kirk, Rufo & lomez, Blazetv show 

America’s AI debate is a hot mess. Policymakers, technologists, investors, and activists cannot agree on the destination, the strategy, the acceptable costs, or even what “winning” the artificial intelligence race means.

That confusion shuts ordinary Americans out of a debate that will shape their jobs, businesses, institutions, and way of life. Yet an America-first AI regime cannot be designed only by Washington policymakers, Silicon Valley moguls, or a priesthood of engineers. It must serve the people who build businesses, sign paychecks, raise families, and sustain the country.

America’s technological order should be built around productive citizens rather than a handful of companies pursuing a woo-woo race to turn the planet into a cyber-utopia.

My Independence Day forecast looks more accurate now than it did when I wrote it: No single political authority controls America’s technological future, and no shared moral authority guides it. We still have the Declaration, the Constitution, federalism, and one another. Almost everything else remains unsettled.

The Kimi shock

Since July 4, factional warfare among the AI elite has intensified after the release of Kimi, a Chinese open-source model that reportedly outperformed leading American closed-source systems on important benchmarks.

Kimi did not emerge from an isolated Chinese laboratory. Its engineers trained it by distilling capabilities from American proprietary models — the very systems OpenAI, Anthropic, and their allies argue must remain closed to preserve America’s lead.

The result presents a serious problem. America has poured immense financial, scientific, and political capital into closed frontier labs. If Chinese developers can cheaply reproduce much of their practical value, Washington faces a nightmarish choice: either cede global AI leadership and control to Beijing or allow the pursuit of AI dominance to transform our form of government into something we may not recognize as “American.”

America’s historic model combines private innovation, free markets, and strategic federal investment. That model has supported both prosperity and national power. But if massive collaboration between government and closed-source hyperscalers cannot sustain an AI edge, Americans deserve a debate about what comes next — not a panic-driven transfer of more power and money to the same institutions.

How can America face the future if its greatest strategic advantage has become a liability? Without public agreement on what should replace the old model — or even what kind of country a “refounded” United States should be — what can we do next?

RELATED: The question of the AI age: How much humanism is too much?

Moor Studio/iStock/Getty Images

Three rival factions

Right now, among the AI elite, three factions have emerged in response to this problem.

The first faction argues that Kimi changes less than it appears. Chinese engineers did not surpass American frontier models across the board; they optimized around the most expensive benchmarks and competed where open systems could win. Closed labs can adjust, Washington can revise its strategy, and American dominance can survive.

That may be partly right. Frontier labs still possess enormous resources, talent, and political support. They will not disappear simply because open models become more useful.

The second faction believes such economic and political concerns will soon become obsolete. Its members expect recursively self-improving artificial superintelligence to transform or absorb human civilization. Their task, as they see it, is to accelerate the transition and ensure that it occurs under acceptable management. If done right, we would enter a new age that would be pleasurable beyond comprehension.

The test of an America-first AI policy is whether advanced technology strengthens the constitutional nation and the people who give it life.

The left-coded version appears in Effective Altruism. The right-coded version insists that America, not China, must command the coming superintelligence. Both treat maximum acceleration as a moral imperative. From that perspective, open-source AI is dangerous because it disperses capability, slows the drive toward a single frontier breakthrough, and weakens the control of the institutions leading the race.

The third faction rejects the bargain behind closed-source supremacy. Its argument is that hyperscalers are frightening Americans into financing their rise as private governors of technological progress. The companies gain ungodly wealth and authority; Washington gains the hope of planetary AI dominance; citizens inherit the cost and the risk.

Kimi strengthens that argument because it competed by optimizing for what businesses actually need: efficient computing, useful workflows, enterprise deployment, and practical web applications. Open models can undercut closed systems precisely where American economic life is strongest — decentralized experimentation by workers, entrepreneurs, and firms.

This faction therefore urges America to embrace and encourage domestic open-source AI. The point is not that every model must be public or that frontier capabilities require no safeguards. It is that America’s technological order should be built around productive citizens rather than a handful of companies pursuing a woo-woo race to turn the planet into a cyber-utopia.

RELATED: America needs an artificial intelligence coalition, not an AI fortress

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The real America-first path

Of the three positions, the third offers the clearest route to America-first AI because it begins with the right political subject: the American people. Technology should enlarge their capacity to create, compete, govern themselves, and live well. They should not be treated as raw material for a government-corporate project aimed at controlling the future.

The first faction is also correct that closed frontier labs will remain part of the system. Some Americans genuinely want to invest heavily in the most powerful possible models. The federal government also believes its military, financial, and geopolitical position may depend on sovereign access to frontier AI.

That belief creates the greatest danger.

Washington may conclude that preserving its global dominance requires technological control beyond civilian resistance. If officials decide they must choose between the survival of the federal regime and the survival of America’s constitutional order, “national security” will become the justification for hoarding data, compute, models, and authority on a scale the country has never seen.

China would then win without beating America at the frontier. By flooding the world with useful, inexpensive, business-friendly open models, Beijing could tempt Washington into becoming more centralized, secretive, and coercive — less recognizably American.

America should refuse that trap. It should protect genuinely dangerous capabilities, preserve a competitive frontier sector, and make room for open models that empower American businesses and citizens. The test of an America-first AI policy is not whether it produces the most powerful machine at any cost. The test is whether advanced technology strengthens the constitutional nation and the people who give it life.

If our AI strategy requires America to stop being America, China has already won.

​Artificial intelligence, Artificial superintelligence, Federal government, New age, National security, America first, Generative ai, China, Effective altruism, Open-source ai, Opinion & analysis, Tech