Category: blaze media

A Hall of Fame basketball player says that mandatory service would help Americans with discipline and structure.

Compulsory service is required in many first-world countries, like South Korea, Finland, and Sweden. While duties and service time vary, many believe the requirement can foster a more responsible citizenry.

‘Learn how to defend yourself. Shoot and handle guns properly.’

A former NBA player and champion, 6’10” Dwight Howard recently called upon President Trump to consider implementing a mandatory term of service for Americans.

“I honestly feel like the president should make one year of service mandatory for everyone born in America,” Howard wrote on X. “A lot of other countries do it. And I think it would help with discipline and structure.”

Howard then asked, “I’m curious what yall think[:] would this help America or nah[?]”

RELATED: NBA players finally drop brutal truth bombs on WNBA stars: ‘It should be common sense’

— (@)

Howard responded to a few reader remarks, including one who suggested such service could be performed during summers while a student is in high school.

In response, Howard revealed his stance on the duration for service.

“Everyone should do a year,” he wrote.

Another reader suggested mandatory customer service work for Americans, such as working in “retail, serving, bartending,” or answering phones. That notion saw Howard remain steadfast in his opinion that Americans should perform military service.

“I think military service would be better,” he replied. “Learn how to defend yourself. Shoot and handle guns properly. The bond and respect for each other would go up.”

RELATED: Rookie NFL QB declared the new Obama — and the ‘most powerful black man since 2009’

Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Following his NBA career, Howard played basketball overseas in the T1 League in Taiwan, where he again became a star. Perhaps this is where his inspiration came from, as Taiwan has a mandatory 12 months of military training for males ages 18-36, according to World Population Review.

Howard has discipline and law enforcement in his family’s background; an archived USA Basketball profile notes that his father, Dwight Sr., was a Georgia state trooper as of 2007.

According to Sky News, approximately 80 countries have some form of mandatory service or conscription. Some countries reportedly have mandatory service for women, as well, such as Sudan, Morocco, Mozambique, North Korea, and Sweden.

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​Fearless, Nba, Basketball, Military service, Mandatory service, Conscription, Draft, Sports 

One of the most consequential developments of 2025 has received far less scrutiny than it deserves: the steady surrender of executive authority to an unelected judiciary.

President Trump was elected to faithfully execute the laws of the United States, yet his administration increasingly behaves as if federal judges hold final authority over every major policy decision — including those squarely within the president’s constitutional and statutory powers.

Judicial supremacy thrives on abdication. It advances because presidents comply, lawmakers defer, and voters are told this arrangement is normal.

By backing down whenever district courts issue sweeping injunctions, the administration is reinforcing a dangerous precedent: that no executive action is legitimate until the judiciary permits it. That assumption has no basis in the Constitution, but it is rapidly becoming the governing norm.

The problem became unmistakable when federal judges began granting standing to abstract plaintiffs challenging Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to protect ICE agents under attack. Many assumed such cases would collapse on appeal. Instead, the Supreme Court last week declined to lift an injunction blocking the Guard’s deployment in Illinois, signaling that the judiciary now claims authority to second-guess core commander-in-chief decisions.

Over the dissent of Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch, the court allowed the Seventh Circuit’s decision to stand. That ruling held that violent attacks on ICE agents in Chicago did not amount to a “danger of rebellion” sufficient to justify Guard deployment and did not “significantly impede” the execution of federal immigration law.

That conclusion alone should alarm anyone who still believes in separation of powers.

No individual plaintiff alleged personal injury by a Guardsman. No constitutional rights were violated. The plaintiff was the state of Illinois itself, objecting to a political determination made by the president under statutory authority granted by Congress. Courts are not empowered to adjudicate such abstract disputes over executive judgment.

Even if judges disagree with the president’s assessment of the threat environment, their opinion carries no greater constitutional weight than his. The commander in chief is charged with executing the laws and protecting federal personnel. Courts are not.

If judges can decide who has standing, define the scope of their own authority, and then determine the limits of executive power, constitutional separation of powers collapses entirely. What remains is not judicial review but judicial supremacy.

And that is precisely what we are witnessing.

Courts now routinely insert themselves into immigration enforcement, national security decisions, tariff policy, federal grants, personnel disputes, and even the content of government websites. The unelected, life-tenured branch increasingly functions as a super-legislature and shadow executive, vetoing or mandating policy at will.

RELATED: Judges break the law to stop Trump from enforcing it

Cemile Bingol via iStock/Getty Images

What, then, remains for the people acting through elections?

If judges control immigration, spending, enforcement priorities, and foreign policy, why bother holding congressional or presidential elections at all? The Constitution’s framers never intended courts to serve as the ultimate policymakers. They were designed to be the weakest branch, confined to resolving concrete cases involving actual injuries.

Trump’s defenders often argue that patience and compliance will eventually produce favorable rulings. That belief is not only naïve — it is destructive.

For every narrow win Trump secures on appeal, the so-called institutionalist bloc on the court — Chief Justice John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — uses it to justify adverse outcomes elsewhere. Worse, because lower courts enjoin nearly every significant action, the administration rarely reaches the Supreme Court on clean constitutional grounds. The damage is done long before review occurs.

Consider the clearest example of all: the power of the purse.

Congress passed a budget reconciliation bill explicitly defunding Planned Parenthood. The bill cleared both chambers and was signed into law. Under the Constitution, appropriations decisions belong exclusively to Congress.

Yet multiple federal judges have enjoined that provision, effectively ordering the executive branch to continue sending taxpayer dollars to abortion providers in defiance of enacted law. Courts have not merely interpreted the statute; they have overridden it.

That raises an unavoidable question: Does the president have a duty to enforce the laws of Congress — or to obey judicial demands that contradict them?

Continuing to fund Planned Parenthood after Congress prohibited it is not neutrality. It is executive acquiescence to judicial nullification of legislative power.

The same pattern appears elsewhere.

Security clearances fall squarely within executive authority, yet the first Muslim federal judge recently attempted to block the president from denying clearance to a politically connected lawyer. Immigration, long recognized as a sovereign prerogative, has been transformed by courts into a maze of invented rights for noncitizens — including a supposed First Amendment right to remain in the country while promoting Hamas.

States fare no better. When West Virginia sought to ban artificial dyes from its food supply, an Obama-appointed federal judge intervened. When states enact laws complementing federal immigration enforcement, courts strike them down. But sanctuary laws that obstruct federal authority often receive judicial protection.

Heads, illegal aliens win. Tails, the people lose.

RELATED: The imperial judiciary strikes back

Moor Studio via iStock/Getty Images

What we are witnessing is adverse possession — squatter’s rights — of constitutional power. As Congress passes fewer laws and the executive hesitates to assert its authority, courts eagerly fill the vacuum. In 2025, Congress enacted fewer laws than in any year since at least 1989. Meanwhile, judges effectively “passed” nationwide policies affecting millions of Americans.

This did not happen overnight. Judicial supremacy thrives on abdication. It advances because presidents comply, lawmakers defer, and voters are told this arrangement is normal.

It is not.

Trump cannot comply his way out of this crisis. No president can. A system in which courts claim final authority over every function of government is incompatible with republican self-rule.

The Constitution does not enforce itself. Separation of powers exists only if each branch is willing to defend its role.

Right now, the presidency is failing that test.

​Opinion & analysis, Imperial judiciary, Judicial supremacy, Judicial overreach, Supreme court, Clarence thomas, Neil gorsuch, Samuel alito, John roberts, Amy coney barrett, Brett kavanaugh, Constitution, Separation of powers, Immigration, Mass deportation, Congress, One big beautiful bill, Planned parenthood, Federal courts, Judges, Monarchy, National guard, Tariffs, Donald trump, Presidency 

Despite the U.S. Justice Department’s claim in a new court filing that there is “overwhelming evidence” of a Virginia man’s guilt in the D.C. pipe-bomb case, his location and movements on Jan. 5, 2021, do not appear to be as clear-cut as the FBI’s cellphone evidence implies.

When the FBI arrested Brian Jerome Cole Jr. Dec. 4 at his mother’s home in Woodbridge, Va., agents filed a federal court affidavit that relied heavily on pings from Cole’s cell phone. Those pings placed him in a variety of general areas on Capitol Hill the night of Jan. 5. The FBI said the pings were “consistent with” the phone being in certain tower sectors where the hoodie suspect was known to be.

‘No way. The kid doesn’t walk like that.’

Experts say cell-tower ping analysis is an imprecise method when trying to define a phone’s geographic location. The FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team field guide says a phone ping only indicates the device is somewhere within one of the three 120-degree sectors that radiate from the tower, which can reach a large area, depending on how far away the next closest tower is.

What’s coming Tuesday

Cole was charged in a criminal complaint with planting pipe bombs at the Democratic National Committee building and behind the Capitol Hill Club near the Republican National Committee building between 7:54 and 8:16 p.m. Jan. 5. The DOJ has charged the crime as an act of terrorism.

Cole will be in federal court in Washington, D.C., Tuesday afternoon for a detention hearing and a preliminary hearing. There, the government is expected to present enough of its case to establish probable cause that Cole committed the crimes with which he is charged.

Cole’s defense team filed a motion to ensure the preliminary hearing takes place Tuesday in addition to a hearing on whether Cole will remain jailed until trial. If for any reason the DOJ is not ready to proceed with the preliminary hearing, Cole would have to be released from federal custody, defense attorney John Shoreman wrote in a filing Monday.

The government’s case includes Cole’s reported confession that he didn’t have a side in the partisan divide, but “something just snapped” and, inspired by the IRA in Northern Ireland and video games, he decided to place bombs at both political parties’ headquarters at night and hoped they wouldn’t hurt anyone.

The FBI also cited alleged credit card purchases for bomb materials, Cole frequently wiping his cellphone data since mid-2022, cellphone pings and a license plate reader allegedly placing Cole at the crime scenes.

Location, location

The first ping the FBI describes in its evidence against Cole happened at 7:39 p.m., when his phone interacted with Tower 59323, located atop an apartment building at 103 G St. SW in Washington, D.C. The sector associated with Tower 59323 faces southeast, with an azimuth of approximately 120 degrees.

“Sector depictions represent a general antenna orientation and do not define precise or exclusive coverage boundaries,” said a retired FBI supervisory special agent who has worked with the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team. He reviewed the ping evidence in the case for Blaze News.

The FBI said Cole’s phone also pinged off Tower 126187, which faces east from its location at 200 Independence Ave. SW.

“The idealized sector depictions for the two towers overlap in a limited area on the map,” the retired agent said. “However, without [radio frequency] calibration or carrier engineering data, the actual extent and shape of any overlap cannot be reliably determined.”

The expert said that while evidence suggests Cole’s phone was south of the hoodie suspect’s location at 7:39 p.m., it can’t be proven from the data.

‘No reliable nexus can be established between the cellular records and that individual.’

“The government’s interpretation of the sector orientations suggests that the handset may have been located south of the individual observed on video; however, sector-based [cell site location information] does not provide sufficient precision to determine the handset’s exact location or its position relative to the hoodie-wearing suspect,” he said. “Without RF calibration, distance metrics, or carrier engineering data, such directional interpretations remain general and non-exclusive.”

At the exact time the FBI claims Cole’s phone pinged on the southeast-facing tower sector, the hoodie bomb suspect walked along D Street Southeast, about to turn south on Capitol Street SE toward the DNC, according to video from U.S. Capitol Police security Camera 753. The hoodie suspect did not appear to be holding or otherwise using a cell phone at the time.

The retired supervisory special agent said the security video provides no evidence supporting Cole’s phone being at the same location as the hoodie suspect.

“Geometric comparison between tower locations, sector orientations, and the video-confirmed sidewalk location demonstrates that the location of the hoodie-wearing individual is not a clean main-lobe match for the southeast-facing sector of Cell Site 59323.” The ping was “a low-specificity, general-area location inference.”

“The surveillance video provides a high-specificity location constraint for the unidentified hoodie-wearing individual at specific times,” he said in an analysis commissioned by Blaze News.

“However, the video does not identify the individual and does not show the individual using, possessing, or interacting with a cellular device,” he said. “There is no visual evidence linking the individual on video to the handset reflected in the [cell site location information] records.”

If confirmed, that would put Cole’s vehicle more than one mile away from the hoodie suspect.

A ping, shorthand for a cellular device’s interaction with a tower, “documents the activity of a device, not the actions or identity of a person,” he said.

“Absent evidence demonstrating device possession or use by the individual observed on video, no reliable nexus can be established between the cellular records and that individual,” he said.

Further, Cole’s blue 2017 Nissan Sentra does not appear on any Capitol Police security cameras in the areas of the DNC or RNC, according to video investigator Armitas, who scrubbed the video feeds of dozens of USCP cameras. Armitas found only two Nissan Sentras on the road on Capitol Hill, one of which was driven by a white individual with a white passenger. Cole is black.

The other Sentra appeared to be a visual match for Cole’s vehicle, Armitas said, but the driver’s characteristics and identity cannot be determined from the security video.

In a memo filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking to keep Cole in jail pending trial, the DOJ said Cole told the FBI he parked his car on D Street Southeast at Folger Park and walked from there to the DNC.

Folger Park is just beyond the network of more than 1,800 Capitol Police surveillance cameras. The court filings in the Cole case do not indicate if Cole was somehow aware of the boundaries of USCP surveillance cameras when selecting a parking area.

The FBI said Cole’s vehicle was captured on a license plate reader taking the Capitol Street exit from Interstate 395 South at 7:10 p.m.

The hoodie suspect was first captured on Capitol Police video at 7:34 p.m., the FBI said. Capitol Police Camera 5050 showed the bomb suspect crossing E Street Southeast on New Jersey Avenue at 7:35 p.m.

DNC bench but no ping?

Another potential phone conflict happened at 7:44 p.m., when the FBI said Cole’s phone pinged off the eastern sector of Tower 126187.

Video shows the hoodie suspect was sitting on a DNC bench at 7:43 p.m., using a cell phone. That phone did not appear to have produced a manual ping between 7:43:36 p.m. and 7:44:19 p.m. At least, no such ping is referred to by the FBI in public Cole case documents.

It seems unlikely that the hoodie suspect was on Ivy Street at 7:44:36 p.m. as the FBI asserts. The bomb suspect had to walk from the DNC bench a short distance on Capitol Street to Canal Street, then use Canal to cross Ivy Street before proceeding up Ivy Street.

Could that distance be covered in just six seconds? It seems doubtful, even if the suspect was running. The hoodie suspect no longer appeared to be using a phone when the person disappeared from DNC camera view at 7:44:30.

Third potential contradiction

A third potential contradiction in the cell-tower evidence came at 7:59 p.m., when the hoodie-wearing suspect was — according to the FBI — on New Jersey Avenue SE, about to turn east on E Street SE and continue onto North Carolina Avenue SE. Capitol Police Camera 0703 at the entrance to the Capitol Power Plant captured a glimpse of the bomb suspect turning from New Jersey Avenue to E Street.

The FBI said at 7:59:36 p.m., Cole’s cell phone pinged in a sector of Tower 147990 that faces south approximately 180 degrees from its location at 200 Independence Ave. SW. The FBI links this ping to the hoodie suspect’s appearance at New Jersey Avenue and E Street.

At roughly 8 p.m., the hoodie suspect was believed to be walking northeast toward Folger Park. There is an eight-minute gap during which the bomb suspect is not visible on any security cameras. The FBI has theorized since early in the case that the suspect used Folger Park as a base of operations.

Since the FBI said the bomber only carried one pipe bomb at a time in the backpack, the suspect would have had to acquire the second bomb before reappearing on camera walking toward the Capitol Hill Club and the Republican National Committee building.

A 2017 Nissan Sentra believed by video investigator Armitas to be pipe-bomb suspect Brian Cole Jr.’s vehicle is shown a mile from where the hoodie-wearing suspect was at the same time.Capitol Police CCTV

The hoodie-wearing suspect’s likely resupply mission presents a possible problem for the FBI’s timeline. At 8:03 p.m., security cameras captured what Armitas believes to be Cole’s blue Nissan Sentra traveling north on 3rd Street SW toward C Street SW, according to several USCP cameras along the route.

If confirmed, that would put Cole’s vehicle more than one mile away from the hoodie suspect at 8:03 p.m. Since it is a six- to seven-minute drive to Folger Park from 3rd Street SW, Cole could not be in the same location as the hoodie suspect at the time. According to Capitol Police cameras, the Nissan Sentra tracked by Armitas traveled north on 3rd Street SW to C Street SW, then turned east.

That Nissan was last seen at 8:04 p.m. on Capitol Police Camera 8483 on C Street at Second Street SW, in front of the O’Neill House Office Building. The Sentra drove onto an entrance ramp to I-395, traveling west — away from Folger Park, the Capitol Hill Club, and the Republican National Committee building. Cole could not have been hiding in or near Folger Park from roughly 8:02 to 8:08 p.m. and also been driving away from Capitol Hill more than a mile away at the same time.

Confession claim

The DOJ detention memo said Cole confessed to placing the bombs and his intention was that they would detonate at night on Jan. 5 and not the next day, on Jan. 6. The DOJ said Cole “set the timer on the first device to the maximum duration (60 minutes) and planted the device.”

Armitas said the surveillance video released by the FBI from a DNC security camera shows that the bomber took the device out of a backpack and immediately placed it under the bush near the base of the park bench. “Video from 2 different angles shows that the timer was never set,” Armitas wrote on X Monday.

“This device requires 2 full turns of the dial to set it,” Armitas wrote, “not to mention you have to unclip and reclip all the alligator clips, otherwise turning the dial will close the switch across those clips, shorting the detonator — Kaboom. As we can see in the video, the device is pulled out of the backpack and immediately placed.”

Shoes and gait

Cole’s demeanor, mannerisms, and walk look distinctly different from the bomb suspect wearing the hoodie on FBI video.

According to Prince William County Police bodycam video from the scene of a minor traffic accident involving Cole in late April 2024, Cole has more of a lumbering walk with his feet facing outward with no cadence to his steps. Blaze News obtained the 48-minute video through a freedom of information request.

Cole noticeably leans his head and neck to the left, while the hoodie suspect stood upright with a straight back and squared shoulders. As the hoodie suspect walked south down Rumsey Court to place the second pipe bomb at 8:16 p.m. on Jan. 5, video showed a confident stride with a fast cadence. On the bodycam video, Cole looked unsure of himself, withdrawn, avoiding eye contact and appearing to lack the confidence displayed by the original bomb suspect.

Cole told the Prince William County officer he had a “lapse in focus” that led to him run into the pickup truck in front of him. When the officer issued Cole a citation for following too closely, it appeared that Cole’s eyes welled up with tears. “It’s not a criminal offense,” the officer reassured Cole. “It’s just a traffic offense. So you can go to court. You can fight it if you want or you can prepay it.”

The owner of a 7-Eleven on Minnieville Road in Woodbridge, not far from the Cole family home, said Brian Cole Jr. has come into his store for years, always purchasing the same thing: pizza and two Cokes.

“I saw him for 13 years a minimum of two to three times per week,” said Sunny Sandhu. “He was probably here every day.

“Every time he came in here, it was always the same thing, same routine,” Sandhu told Blaze News in an interview. “Always had his headphones on. Always made it the same order, bought two Cokes and a pizza.”

Sandhu said if he didn’t have a fresh pizza on display, he would offer to make one for Cole, but in those cases Cole always opted instead for chicken wings. He said Cole usually didn’t say anything, but occasionally would nod when Sandhu thanked him and said goodbye.

After Cole’s arrest, Sandhu said he watched the FBI video of the hoodie suspect walking down an alley to place the second pipe bomb near the RNC.

“I go, ‘No way. The kid doesn’t walk like that,’” Sandhu said. “This kid has no confidence in his stride at all.”

Cole has a “goofy walk” that does not resemble the FBI’s bomb suspect, Sandhu said. “There’s no way,” he said.

The 7-Eleven owner said the FBI didn’t come to his store asking about Cole before or since the Dec. 4 arrest.

An FBI whistleblower who has worked in the Washington Field Office filed a protected disclosure with the U.S. House on Dec. 11, asserting that Cole was simply mentally incapable of carrying out the placement of pipe bombs while evading a massive law enforcement dragnet for nearly five years. The disclosure was filed with U.S. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Attorney Kurt Siuzdak said his whistleblower client lives in the vicinity of the Cole home in Virginia and has observed Brian Cole “hundreds of times, if not more, over the course of nearly a decade.” He said his client described Cole as “detached and vacant” and displaying “awkward” behavior.

“It is obvious he has a mental disability and likely lives in a permanent vulnerable, intellectual and emotional state,” Siuzdak wrote. “It is well understood that individuals with mental conditions are susceptible to providing inaccurate and unwarranted ‘confessions.’ The FBI should have used caution and its behavioral experts to ensure any [interrogation] was proper.”

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) outlined a litany of problems he has with the state of the pipe-bombs case, including the fact that Cole is “borderline autistic,” as disclosed by Cole’s grandmother, Loretta Cole.

“They said, ‘Look, our son or our grandson, he’s autistic and he’s operating at a 16-year-old level and he’s not capable of this,” Massie said Dec. 11. “That was their claim, and I do think that that’s relevant to know his mental acuity.”

Different eyesight?

The way Cole held his cell phone at the accident scene is very different from how the hoodie suspect held and used a cell phone on Jan. 5. Cole kept the phone less than a foot from his face while reading the screen, video showed.

The hoodie suspect, in contrast, held the cell phone in his or her lap while sitting on the park bench behind the DNC. This could indicate that Cole’s eyesight is significantly different from the eyesight of the hoodie suspect.

The Converse Chuck Taylor All Star canvas sneakers Cole wore at the 2024 accident scene also appear to be larger than the Nike Air shoes worn by the pipe-bomb suspect on Jan. 5. The FBI said Cole told agents he used to have a pair of Nike Air Max shoes but threw them away because they were in poor condition.

Ignored evidence

In its narrative accusing Cole of being the pipe bomber, the FBI apparently did not ask Cole about stopping at a bush alongside the Congressional Black Caucus Institute at 7:48 p.m. — a video discovery made by Armitas and published by Blaze News Oct. 29.

Security video shows the hoodie suspect walked from New Jersey Avenue down a sidewalk next to the CBCI building, 413 New Jersey Ave. Southeast. The suspect spent one minute, 17 seconds near the bush — first bent over, then sitting down in front of the shrub — Capitol Police security video shows. The suspect rummaged through a backpack while sitting cross-legged, then leaned into the bush and appeared to place or attempt to place something underneath.

Police walked right past DNC pipe bomb to first look under a bush where bomber sat 17 hours earlier. Photos by U.S. Capitol Police

The suspect stood up after 77 seconds and walked to the DNC building. There, the suspect sat on a park bench and, at 7:54 p.m., placed a pipe bomb under an adjacent bush, video released by the FBI showed.

The DOJ memo does not mention the CBCI or indicate whether Cole explained why he stopped at the bush next to the headquarters of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. Information on the bomber’s time near the CBCI and the video showing the suspect’s actions was shared with the FBI by Armitas earlier this year.

It also does not mention that the bomb suspect stopped in a garden in front of the C Street Center, 133 C St. SE. The building has long served as a dormitory or rooming house for members of Congress and staff.

Armitas said he believes the suspect was attempting to place the second pipe bomb in the bushes in front of 133 C Street but may have been interrupted by a Capitol Police squad car that turned onto C Street from the east with its emergency lights on.

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​January 6 

Pope Leo XIV says people need more face-to-face interaction in their lives.

Speaking with Italian mayors from the association of local Italian authorities, the Assocazione Nazionale dei Comuni Italiani, the pope touched on some of the biggest issues faces the world today.

‘Democracy atrophies, becomes just a name, a formality.’

During the Vatican meeting, Pope Leo noted that a “demographic crisis” and “struggles” among families and young people remain top issues. According to Vatican News, the Catholic leader also stated that social isolation and “social conflicts” are pervasive issues in Italy.

At the same time, the pope — Robert Francis Prevost — said he wanted to focus on one of the biggest topics in today’s world: gambling. The Chicago native explained that he wanted to “draw attention in particular to the scourge of gambling,” which has “ruined many families.”

Citing a “major increase” in gambling in Italy in recent years, Prevost cited a recent report that described gambling as a “serious problem” in terms of education, mental health, and societal trust for Italians.

RELATED: New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan resigns; pope appoints his replacement

Photo by Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

The pope stressed that gambling addiction is a form of “loneliness” and called on the local mayors to promote “authentically human relationships between citizens” as a way to tackle the issue.

Pope Leo reportedly drew from 20th-century Italian priest and activist Don Primo Mazzolari in order to illustrate the need for social interactions between Italians.

“[Italy] does not only need sewers, houses, roads, aqueducts, and pavements,” but also “a way of feeling, of living, a way of looking at one another, and a way of coming together as brothers and sisters.”

RELATED: Pope Leo XIV, Eastern Orthodox patriarch signal greater unity at site where Nicene Creed was adopted 1,700 years ago

Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images for Philipp Plein

To solve many of these modern issues, authorities must listen to the weak and the poor, the pope said. If not, he said, “democracy atrophies, becomes just a name, a formality.”

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​Align, Faith, Religion, Catholics, Gambling, Italian, Pope, Pope leo, Lifestyle 

When Lindsay Tornambe was just 11 years old, her parents and four siblings moved out to remote Minnesota to join a religious compound called River Road Fellowship. The group was led by a man named Victor Barnard, who claimed that God had ordained him to gather and shepherd the fragmented people of the Way International — a deeply heretical “Christian” sect — after its founder Victor Paul Wierwille died in 1985.

At first, things were almost idyllic. Lindsay spent her days playing with the other kids, tending to animals, and skating on the frozen lake. But it wasn’t long before Barnard’s sinister intentions shattered the pastoral facade he had created, condemning Lindsay and other victims to years-long servitude in a sex cult.

On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie Beth Stuckey interviews Lindsay about her decade as a “maiden” in a cult whose leader is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence.

After secretly grooming Lindsay, Victor, who had taken off his wedding ring, claiming he was “married to the church” like Christ, reportedly preached a sermon from the passage in Exodus where God commands the Israelites to “give” Him their firstborns, meaning redemption through small payments or temple service.

As many cult leaders do, however, Victor reportedly twisted the passage to mean that parents must literally give their firstborn daughters over to him.

“He read off a list of names. Mine was on there,” says Lindsay.

This all happened during the early 2000s, amid lingering influences from the 1999 “Summer of Love” — a notorious period in the Way International when leadership allegedly encouraged widespread sexual promiscuity among members, including married people, as a supposed expression of “God’s love.”

Victor, however, didn’t frame the girls’ role as sexual. They were merely being asked to serve Christ and the church. Lindsay, after seeing her friends eagerly volunteer, consented to being a “maiden,” having no idea what awaited her.

She, along with nine other young girls, was then removed from her family home and taken to live in Victor’s private living compound. The maidens were assigned different duties, like gardening, cooking, cleaning, and assisting Victor with various tasks, many of which were intimate.

“Things in the beginning were kind of okay,” says Lindsay, noting that she initially believed her time as a maiden was temporary.

“I was under the impression that I would serve there and live at the camp … and then I would go home and be homeschooled,” she says.

But a shepherdess who helped oversee the young girls told 13-year-old Lindsay, who had expressed excitement about returning home to her family, that her role as a maiden was a lifetime commitment. “You’re not going home. This is your home now,” she said.

“It was shortly after that that I was raped by Victor for the first time,” says Lindsay, adding that he justified his actions by claiming that “Jesus Christ had Mary Magdalene and the apostle Paul had Phoebe” as sexual partners.

He also claimed that “even though he would be having sex with me, I could remain a virgin spiritually,” she adds.

This abuse, which was often accompanied by physical and emotional abuse, lasted for years, she says.

Eventually, fear and manipulation brainwashed Lindsay into believing she genuinely loved her captor. “One thing that Victor would tell us is that the more we dedicated ourselves to him in this life and to God, the better place in heaven we would have, and so I think the thought of not being in heaven with the maidens and with Victor really scared me,” she says.

But Lindsay’s sympathetic view of Victor was a ticking time bomb.

In 2008, after most of the girls had been moved to another remote location in Washington state, one of the maidens was deported to Brazil after her student visa expired. Victor sent other maidens to live for temporary periods in Brazil alongside her.

When it was Lindsay’s turn to go, she was exposed to the outside world for the first time since her family had joined the commune. The taste of freedom was intoxicating.

When she returned to Washington, the maidens had started their own cleaning business. As a housemaid, Lindsay got another taste of life outside the cult, as she studied family pictures on walls and heard secular music drifting from radios.

This view of the outside world had already begun to sour Lindsay’s feelings for Victor, but then news came that he, still legally married to his wife, who lived next door to him, had been sleeping with married women in the community.

In Minnesota, it is against the law for pastors to have sexual relations with their congregants, so one of the women in the commune reported Victor to the police and even shared some information about his “maidens,” forcing him to flee. The infidelity broke up the original commune in Minnesota, sending Lindsay’s family back to their home state.

Lindsay, deeply disturbed by Victor’s philandering but still unaware of her own abuse, decided she was done being a maiden. Even though fellow maidens and Victor pleaded with her to stay — calling her Judas and accusing her of not loving God — Lindsay’s mind was made up.

She called her parents, who were still committed to the Way International and Victor, and they agreed to allow her to come home.

“They gave me $500 and bought me a train ticket, and I took Amtrak all the way from Washington state to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia,” says Lindsay.

Re-entering secular society at 23 proved difficult and confusing for Lindsay. “At that point, I thought the only way to make a man happy was to sleep with him, and so I slept around a lot. I lived in a lot of sin,” she says.

“I just was really interested in exploring and living life and making friends and getting away from my parents, because they were still supporting Victor.”

While her outside life looked fun and exciting, Lindsay’s internal world grew darker over the years, as she reckoned with her past life in the cult.

“I just kept thinking over and over again: If God is a God of love that I read and believed for so long, why would he let this happen to me? If heaven is so great, why don’t I kill myself now and not live in this internal pain that I feel?” she admits.

To quell the pain, Lindsay experimented with a gamut of “remedies” — self-love programs, crystals, witchcraft, even self-harm.

“I always came up feeling so empty, so unsatisfied,” she says.

But despite Lindsay’s doubt and sin, God was working in ways she couldn’t see. Single motherhood, unexpected friendships, and perfect timing wove together and allowed Lindsay to distinguish the real God from the phony one who had been used to warp and manipulate her as a child.

To hear the beautiful story of Lindsay’s redemption, including where her family is today and the trial that landed Victor behind bars, watch the full interview above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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The National Geographic Society undertook a massive astronomical survey between 1949 and 1958 at the Palomar Observatory in California, snapping thousands of photographs of the sky from the north celestial pole to 33 degrees south of the celestial equator.

According to a 1959 leaflet issued by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the result was a “map of the sky, one that can be used like any road map, to help the astronomer find his way to objects too faint to see directly at the eye-piece of a telescope.”

The Palomar Observatory Sky Survey images captured a multitude of inexplicable star-like objects that astronomers had reportedly seen appear then quickly vanish. The objects, which flashed in the sky several years before the October 1957 launch of Sputnik, supposedly cannot be chalked up to gravitational lensing, gamma ray bursts, fragmenting asteroids, and/or various non-astronomical effects.

“We’ve ruled out some of the prosaic explanations, and it means we have to at least consider the possibility that these might be artificial objects from somewhere,” Stephen Bruehl, a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Live Science.

In a peer-reviewed study published in October in the journal Scientific Reports, Bruehl and co-author Beatriz Villarroel, a Swedish astronomer, found that there are “associations beyond chance between occurrence of transients and both nuclear testing and [unidentified anomalous phenomenon] sightings.”

The duo analyzed the transient data available for the time period Nov. 19, 1949, to April 28, 1957, and tested for possible associations between the occurrence of 107,875 transients, which were observed on 310 of the 2,718 days in this period, and above-ground nuclear weapons tests, which were conducted by the U.S., the U.K., and the former USSR on 123 days during the study period.

RELATED: Pentagon psyop exposed: Military reportedly cooked up tales of alien technology in weapons cover-up

Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The researchers found that a “transient was 45% more likely to be observed on dates within a nuclear test window compared to dates outside of a nuclear test window.”

The duo also linked the transients to unidentified flying object/unidentified anomalous phenomenon reports, noting that “for days on which at least one transient was identified, significant associations were noted between total number of transients and total number of independent UAP reports per date.”

‘Why do they seem to show interest in nuclear testing?’

“For every additional UAP reported on a given date, there was an 8.5% increase in number of transients identified,” Bruehl and Villarroel wrote.

When it came down to hypothesizing what the transients might be, the duo came up with two possibilities that could account for associations of transients with both nuclear testing and UAP reports.

“The first involves an unexpected and previously undocumented atmospheric phenomenon triggered by nuclear detonations or related to nuclear fallout that may serve as a stimulus for some UAP reports and appear as transients on astronomical images,” they wrote.

The duo noted, however, that this first hypothesis is problematic, as effects in the atmosphere “would be likely to result in a streak on the image over the 50 min exposure, yet all transients appear as distinct point sources rather than streaks.”

Additionally, the researchers noted that transients were “most often observed one day after a nuclear test; such atmospheric phenomena would have to be sustained and remain localized in one location for approximately 24 h to account for the visual appearance of transients.”

After poking holes in their first hypothesis, the duo propped up their second hypothesis on the “well-known strand of UAP lore suggesting that nuclear weapons may attract UAP.”

“Within this latter hypothesis, our results could be viewed as indicating that transients are artificial, reflective objects either in high-altitude orbits around Earth or at high altitudes within the atmosphere,” they added.

Bruehl said to Live Science, “If it turns out that transients are reflective artificial objects in orbit — prior to Sputnik — who put them there, and why do they seem to show interest in nuclear testing?”

Michael Wiescher, a nuclear astrophysicist at the University of Notre Dame in France, suggested to Scientific American that nuclear tests alone might be the simpler explanation for the transients as they “obviously have an impact on the atmosphere” and can leave “a lot of junk in the outer atmosphere.”

Sean Kirkpatrick, former head of the Department of War’s UAP-investigating All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, similarly suggested that the explanation likely has to do with nuclear tests and the sun, noting that the “first thing that comes to mind is solar flare radiation or ionized particle radiation from nuclear testing.”

Kirkpatrick also suggested that high-altitude balloons, which were used for nuclear monitoring, could account for some of the UAP reports.

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One of the most vital components in consumer electronics just reached a critical low. Big AI data centers are taking up RAM faster than manufacturers can make it, and the cost is getting passed on to consumers. As the shortage takes hold, prices on many popular electronic devices are expected to jump in 2026 by up to 30%, further straining wallets and the U.S. economy.

What is RAM?

Every electronic device you own — your smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, and even your game console — comes with a tiny brain packed inside. The CPU is the control center that runs processes and commands, launching apps and keeping them awake as you click, type, and interact. The GPU handles heavier tasks, from rendering graphics to managing larger processes and more. Local storage, usually in the form of an SSD or HDD, is akin to long-term memory, holding a complete archive of your files, photos, and everything else you saved on your device over the course of weeks, months, and years. Then there’s RAM.

Big Tech and AI companies are prioritized over regular citizens like you and me.

RAM, or Random Access Memory (sometimes shortened to “memory”), is your computer’s short-term memory. It holds temporary bits of data to keep your open apps running smoothly. RAM is the reason you can switch between several tabs in your web browser without the page reloading, or open a couple Word documents side by side to copy and paste information, or type an email while you also stream your favorite show on BlazeTV.

Some devices come with more RAM installed than others. The more RAM you have, the more apps you can run at the same time (i.e., multitask) without crashes or data loss. As consumer electronics advance, the need for more RAM grows at a steady pace. For example, the very first iPhone from 2007 launched with a measly 128MB of RAM, while the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max packs 12GB of RAM. That’s a huge jump!

A RAM shortage is coming

Consumer electronics aren’t the only devices that need a lot of RAM. Data centers demand tons of it — especially the ones built to train and maintain large language models like ChatGPT by OpenAI, Gemini by Google, and Grok by xAI.

Remember how much RAM comes with the latest iPhone Pro Max? A basic AI model — the type that can run directly on a phone — requires 8-16GB of RAM. That means, depending on the model, even the best iPhone in the world will hit a RAM bottleneck due to its own hardware limitations.

Moving a step up, medium-level AI models require 32GB to 64GB of RAM. In terms of consumer devices, only the most expensive laptops on the market that are worth thousands of dollars can run these models natively. This is why most models at this level run in data centers where information is processed on a server and beamed back to users via the cloud.

At the highest end, advanced AI data centers like the ones being built by Big Tech demand 128GB to 256GB of RAM or more. This kind of RAM is necessary for training large language models, processing data, and creating content for users on the other end. You use about this much RAM every time you send a query to your favorite AI platform, whether it’s a simple question to an answer you could find on the web, a request to create an image for your Christmas card, or a command to write your annual review for work. This is also why AI data centers require so much energy to keep the lights on.

Prices on electronics are going up

Earlier this year, President Trump unveiled an AI Action Plan to build America’s first AI infrastructure. The deal streamlines the permit process to create new AI data centers across the United States. More data centers mean a higher demand for vital computer components. As the plan moves forward, RAM manufacturers are already feeling the pressure.

RELATED: Will this tech company’s huge losses sink our economy next?

Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In early December, Micron, one of the largest makers of RAM products on the planet, announced it was closing its consumer business, Crucial, after 29 years. Its new mission is to create RAM directly for Big Tech AI brands and data centers. The news is a double-edged sword, as the shutdown will both help alleviate some of the demand created by Big Tech while it also eliminates a vital option for consumers who rely on Crucial for their upgradable RAM sticks. Crucial will end all consumer shipments in February 2026.

Days later, popular PC maker Dell sounded the alarm on the upcoming RAM shortage. Due to low availability, the prices of their PCs are expected to jump anywhere between 10% and 30%, effective immediately. The report from Business Insider notes that this is an industry-wide shortage, so you should expect higher prices from brands like Lenovo and HP as well. In an attempt to make up for the shortage, Dell and Lenovo will also reportedly launch cheaper mid-range laptops with lower RAM specs topping out at 8GB, which as we already covered, is quite low for handling the demands of modern smart devices.

Not to be left out, the shortage also extends to mobile devices. In the latest projections by Counterpoint Research, the price of smartphones will inflate by 6.9% in 2026. Although Apple and Samsung are best positioned to endure the RAM shortage, no brand is immune to the price spikes. That said, Chinese OEMs are expected to take the hardest hit.

RAM-ifications of the great memory shortage

All of this is part of a bigger problem facing the American people as Big Tech and AI companies are prioritized over regular citizens like you and me.

For starters, times are still tough for most Americans just trying to get by. Latest reports indicate that job growth is slowing, the unemployment rate is going up, and AI has even led to more lost jobs than it has created. When asked about this phenomenon, Big Tech CEOs like Sundar Pichai of Google claim that “people need to adapt” to get along in the new age of AI. Until that happens, the coming price increase in consumer electronics will force many to skip out on upgrading their devices this year, negatively impacting businesses and the economy as more people hold on to the money they have left.

Another notable strain on the American people directly targets our power grid. AI requires a lot of energy to run and maintain, and without it, Glenn Beck warns that rolling brownouts are on the way. To alleviate the problem, President Trump recently approved the use of nuclear power — something that would’ve been nice to have for us normal people ages ago, but at least it’s a start. Until those nuclear plants are operational, however, our current power grid will continue to buckle under the weight of all the new data centers being built right now, the same ones responsible for the RAM shortage. Simply put, if the nuclear plants are postponed for any reason, or if they’re deactivated if/when Democrats retake power, the American people will be the first to go without in favor of the AI giants and their resource-guzzling LLM machines.

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like this mess is going to end anytime soon. President Trump recently put in a fast-lane for AI development, limiting state laws and reducing federal regulations to make it easier for Big Tech to compete against China in the race for artificial general intelligence. With fewer restrictions, AI companies can continue to strain our power grid, gobble up vital computer components, and push AI onto every facet of our daily lives, whether we want it there or not.

​Tech, Ai, Ram 

The cultural powers that be determined long ago that a film needn’t deal directly with the Nativity of our Lord and Savior to qualify as a “Christmas movie.”

Many films apparently qualify simply by virtue of their plot events’ proximity to December 25, their festive backdrops, and their occasional visual reference to Coca-Cola Claus, starred pines, and/or the birth of God.

In a way, the Christmas imagery does visually what the movie’s eponymous theme song does sonically: tease at something lovely and wonderful beyond the nightmare.

Rest assured as the bare-footed cop wastes German terrorists at his estranged wife’s office party; as the two burglars repeatedly fall prey to an abandoned adolescent’s mutilatory traps; and as the inventor’s son unwittingly turns his Chinatown-sourced present into a demon infestation — these are indeed Christmas movies.

Given the genre’s flexible criteria, Terry Gilliam’s 1985 masterpiece “Brazil” also qualifies.

State Santa

In truth, the Python alumnus’ film about a bureaucrat’s maddening investigation of his totalitarian government’s execution of the wrong man is a far stronger entry than “Die Hard,” “Home Alone,” “Gremlins,” and other such flicks.

Not only is there Christmastime imagery throughout, but such visuals are also of great importance, providing insights both into the treachery of the film’s principal antagonist — the state — as well as into what appears missing in Gilliam’s dystopian world.

In the opening scene, a man pushes a cart full of wrapped presents past a storefront window framed by tinsel and crowded with “Merry Christmas” signage, television sets, and baubles.

Next we enter an apartment where a mother reads “A Christmas Carol” to her daughter, a father wraps a present, and a boy plays at the foot of a well-dressed evergreen.

After numerous scenes featuring gift exchanges, mutterings of “Happy Christmas,” and Christmas trees, we meet a kindly faced man dressed as Santa.

Jingle hells

This is, however, no feel-good Christmas movie.

The storefront window is firebombed.

Armored police storm into the family’s apartment, jab a rifle in the father’s gut, and take him away in a bag while his wife screams in horror.

The gifts exchanged and piling up throughout the film — besides the offers of job promotions and plastic surgery — appear to all be versions of the same novelty device, a meaningless “executive decision-maker.”

The kindly faced man dressed as Santa is a propaganda-spewing government official who rolls into the protagonist Sam Lowry’s padded cell on a wheelchair to inform Lowry — played by Jonathan Pryce — that his fugitive lover is dead.

With exception to the heart-warming domestic scene interrupted by the totalitarian bureaucracy’s jackboots at the beginning of the film, the Christmas imagery rings hollow and for good reason.

Extra to dehumanizing workplaces, purposefully meaningless work, bureaucratic red tape, and paperwork that’s so bad it ends up killing Robert DeNiro’s character — at least by the tortured protagonist’s account — the regime’s population-control scheme relies on consumerism.

The regime has, accordingly, done its apparent best to empty Christmas of the holy day’s real significance and meaning, donning it as a costume to sell and control.

RELATED: Santa Claus: Innocent Christmas fun or counterfeit Jesus?

Beyond the nightmare

“Brazil” is not, however, an anti-Christmas film.

The emptiness of the costume prompts reflection about its proper filling — a reflection that should invariably lead one to Christ.

In a way, the Christmas imagery does visually what the movie’s eponymous theme song does sonically: tease at something lovely and wonderful beyond the nightmare Gilliam once dubbed “Nineteen Eighty-Four-and-a-Half.”

“I had this vision of a radio playing exotic music on a beach covered in coal dust, inspired by a visit to the steel town of Port Talbot. Originally the song I had in mind was Ry Cooder’s ‘Maria Elena,’ but later I changed it to ‘Aquarela do Brasil’ by Ary Barroso,” Gilliam told the Guardian.

“The idea of someone in an ugly, despairing place dreaming of something hopeful led to Sam Lowry, trapped in his bureaucratic world, escaping into fantasy.”

Whereas the recurrent theme from the samba references a fantasy the regime can crush, the various indirect reminders that Christmas is about more than presents and half-hearted niceties reference a hidden truth and source of eternal hope: that God was born in Bethlehem.

​Brazil, Terry gilliam, Entertainment, Culture, Christmas movies, Faith, Christianity, Merry christmas 

Everyone keeps promising that artificial intelligence will deliver wonders beyond imagination — medical breakthroughs, massive productivity gains, boundless prosperity. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. But one outcome is already clear: If data centers keep driving up Americans’ electricity bills, AI will quickly become a political liability.

Across the country, data center expansion has already helped push electricity prices up 13% over the past year, and voters are starting to push back.

Handled correctly, AI can strengthen America. Handled poorly — by letting data centers overwhelm the grid and drive families toward energy poverty — it will accelerate decline.

In recent months, plans for massive new data centers in Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Arizona have stalled or collapsed under local backlash. Ordinary Americans have packed town halls and flooded city councils, demanding protection from corporate projects that devour land, drain water supplies, and strain already fragile power grids.

These communities are not rejecting technology. They are rejecting exploitation. As one local official in Chandler, Arizona, told a developer bluntly, “If you can’t show me what’s in it for Chandler, then we’re not having a conversation.”

The problem runs deeper than zoning fights or aesthetics. America’s monopoly utility model shields data centers from the true cost of the strain they impose on the grid. When a facility requires new substations, transmission lines, or transformers — or when its relentless demand drives up electricity prices — utilities spread those costs across every household and small business in the service area.

That arrangement socializes the costs of Big Tech’s growth while privatizing the gains. It also breeds populist anger.

A better approach sits within reach: neighborhood battery programs that put communities first.

Whole-home battery systems continue to gain traction. Rooftop solar panels, small generators, or off-peak grid power can recharge them. Batteries store electricity when it’s cheap and abundant, then release it when demand spikes or outages hit. They protect families from blackouts, lower monthly utility bills, and sometimes allow homeowners to sell power back to the grid.

One policy shift should become non-negotiable: Approval for new data centers should hinge on funding neighborhood battery programs in the communities they impact.

In practice, that requirement would push tech companies to help install home battery systems in nearby neighborhoods, delivering backup power, grid stability, and real relief on electric bills. These distributed batteries would form a flexible, local energy reserve — absorbing peak demand instead of worsening it.

RELATED: Your laptop is about to become a casualty of the AI grift

Photo by: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Most importantly, this model reverses the flow of benefits. Working families would no longer subsidize Big Tech’s expansion while receiving nothing in return. Communities would share directly in the upside.

Access to local land, water, and electricity should come with obligations. Companies that consume enormous public resources should invest in the people who live alongside them — not leave residents stranded when the grid buckles.

Politicians who ignore this gathering backlash risk sleepwalking into a revolt. The choice is straightforward: Build an energy system that serves citizens who keep the country running, or face their fury when they realize they have been sacrificed for someone else’s high-tech gold rush.

Handled correctly, AI can strengthen America. Handled poorly — by letting data centers overwhelm the grid and drive families toward energy poverty — it will accelerate decline.

We still have time to choose. Let’s choose wisely.

​Affordability, Ai data center, Artificial intelligence, Big tech, Chandler arizona, Costs of living, Electricity, Opinion & analysis, Populism, Power, Power grid, Solar panels, Water 

Nature won’t tolerate a vacuum, as space will inevitably be filled by something. In physics, it’s air, particles, or water. In culture, it’s ideologies. When one set of voices goes silent, the void will demand others rise up.

The woke mind virus — which successfully convinced millions of people across the world that cutting off healthy body parts is “affirming care” and drag queens reading to toddlers is progress — is the result of evangelical Christians bowing out of cultural conversations for fear of ruffling feathers, says BlazeTV host Steve Deace.

He condemns “Hawaiian shirt-wearing, sweater vest-owning, skinny jean-having, furrowed brow perpetually-possessing evangelicalism” that sat back quietly while progressives ransacked traditional marriage, biological sex, and history. This cowardice, Deace argues, is why we have “an entire generation of believers” who don’t understand that we can genuinely love our neighbors and fight for cultural victories simultaneously.

On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Steve speaks with managing editor of the Babylon Bee, Joel Berry, about the disastrous decline of evangelical influence and what Christians need to do to reclaim their position as a driver of culture.

Evangelicals as a whole, says Berry, have foolishly adopted Tim Keller’s “third way” theory, which argues that Christians should avoid aligning fully with either the political left or right and instead seek a “third way” that allows them to appeal to secular people.

The falsity of Keller’s theory that nonpartisanship leads to “reformed culture and regenerated hearts,” however, is evidenced by the fact that “black babies are still more likely to be aborted than born” in the city where Keller’s church resides, says Berry.

“He rarely spoke about abortion from the pulpit; he was quiet about cultural issues like gay marriage; and this was kind of the state of the entire church for many decades,” he tells Steve.

While Keller pitches his avoidance of politically charged subjects as a more effective method for drawing people to Christ, Berry says it’s just cowardice. “Once you take the truths of scripture and try to live them out in the real world, live them out in the culture and in politics, it gets really messy. It gets scary,” he says.

But just like the famous Nazi-dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who bravely helped form the Confessing Church in opposition to Nazi-controlled Christianity (and died for it), “We need to be bold,” Berry argues. “Pastors need to start being more outspoken from the pulpit about the issues that their congregation is facing, day in and day out.”

The idea that shying away from or softening biblical truths in hopes that people will be attracted to the faith and ultimately change their hearts is counterintuitive. “The word of God” — no-holds-barred, no sugarcoating — “is powerful to affect change,” says Berry.

“The Bible talks about how we don’t use the weapons of the world. We wage war with spiritual weapons that have the power to tear down strongholds. That’s the message that needs to be preached. People need to see that there actually is a hope for change to turn around this culture through the power of God’s word and Spirit-filled believers.”

To hear Deace’s response, watch the video above.

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2025 was a year for the history books, and BlazeTV host Steve Deace and executive producer Aaron McIntire have the top 10 stories that made this year so unforgettable.

Story number 10, McIntire announces, was the Democrats’ 43-day government shutdown that lasted over a month and kept Americans across the country terrified of losing their SNAP benefits.

“The media was happy to act as if a shutdown wasn’t actually happening for well over a month from October 1 till its conclusion in the middle of November, with a deal Democrats had previously turned down on numerous occasions in the process,” McIntire says. “Which begs the question: If a government shuts down and nobody noticed it, is it really a shutdown at all?”

Next on the list at Number 9 is the “Department of Crashout Efficiency.”

“Much had been made, probably rightfully so, about the role tech magnate Elon Musk played in the election of President Trump back in 2024. With the inauguration of Trump came the ceremonial creation of the Department of Government Efficiency,” McIntire explains, pointing out that this new entity discovered “reams upon reams of nearly unfathomable graft, corruption, and abuse.”

“But the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, went from being a fixture in the news for much of the spring to now being relegated to ghost or legend status depending on whom you ask,” he continues.

Number 8, McIntire says, is the “election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of the nation’s largest city.”

“New York City, in less than a generation after the largest Islamic terror attack of the 21st century struck it to its core … turned around and elected an Islamist to lead it,” McIntire says.

Number 7 is Trump’s hard stance on immigration, with deportations not appearing to be slowing down any time soon.

“The official numbers of how many foreigners have left the country is generally up for debate. But one thing that’s not is that the deportations must continue until morale improves,” McIntire says.

Number 6 is “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

“On June 22, and in conjunction with Israel’s Operation Rising Lion against Iran, the United States carried out what is likely the most technologically and logistically sophisticated air operation in the history of warfare,” McIntire says.

“The stunning operation not only sent a message to Iran, but every would-be enemy of the United States,” he adds.

Number 5 centers around the passing of Pope Francis, which led to the selection of a new pope on May 8.

“They shocked the world by selecting the first pope born in the United States,” McIntire says. Deace chimes in that the new Pope, Pope Leo, is “already worse than Francis.”

Number 4 is Liberation Day.

“On April 2, the Trump administration declared Liberation Day and enacted a series of tariffs on basically every continent, every land mass, every tiny little island in the middle of nowhere under the sun,” McIntire explains.

“The administration sold those sweeping tariffs as a way to grow government revenue and/or leverage for better trade deals,” he adds.

Number 3 is what McIntire calls “Trump 2.0,” which is the beginning of Trump’s second term, and Number 2 is the “future of the right” — which McIntire and Deace believe has fractured after major conservatives like Tucker Carlson have platformed, and essentially celebrated, voices they see as destructive to the right.

“What’s left to be determined is whether this is a movement going through growing pains, or a stillbirth,” McIntire says, before reading Number 1.

“Number one story of the year is Charlie Kirk, the American martyr,” McIntire says. “His murder that everyone saw prompted a number of moving tributes, including one of the best, I thought, from the White House.”

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A former teacher in Texas has been accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a child and possession of child pornography. Just days after the substitute teacher’s arrest, her alleged boyfriend was also arrested for child sex crimes.

On Dec. 19, Madison Paige Jones was reportedly charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child sexual contact, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Jones is accused of having more than 500 visual depictions of child pornography in her possession.

According to Ellis County Sheriff’s Office jail records, Jones is being held on a $90,000 bond.

The Midlothian Police Department said in a statement that officers were “dispatched to investigate a report of a potential sexual assault involving a child” on Dec. 17.

Law enforcement reportedly zeroed in on the former 30-year-old substitute teacher and arrested her.

KDFW-TV reported that the Midlothian Independent School District said Jones worked as a substitute teacher four times in the past year at Heritage High School and Baxter Elementary School.

According to the district, Jones substituted for one day at Heritage High School on Nov. 19 and for three days at Baxter Elementary on Oct. 28, Oct. 29, and Nov. 3. The New York Post separately reported the same dates, citing the district.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that Jones is accused of possessing more than 500 visual depictions of child pornography.

The school district said there is no indication that the charges are connected to Jones’ work as a substitute teacher and that preliminary information shows none of the alleged conduct occurred on a Midlothian ISD campus or during a school-related activity.

RELATED: Ex-teacher who dodged conviction for allegedly asking teen lover to kill husband learns fate for sexually assaulting student

CBS News reported that the Midlothian Independent School District said in a statement that its process for monitoring employee criminal history “functioned as intended” and that the district was notified quickly by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The district said the substitute teacher is no longer employed and that it followed required reporting procedures with the Texas Education Agency.

Police said detectives with the Criminal Investigation Division continued the investigation and identified a second suspect, Zackery Dondlinger, 37, of Happy, Texas.

Authorities arrested Dondlinger on Dec. 23 in Loving County, Texas, according to police.

The sheriff’s office said Dondlinger was charged with sexual performance by a child and is being held at the Winkler County Detention Center awaiting arraignment.

Citing the Midlothian Police Department, CBS News reported that Jones and Dondlinger were in a dating relationship.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation include the Midlothian Police Department, the Ellis County Children’s Advocacy Center, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit, and the Loving County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information related to this case is urged to contact Midlothian Police Detective Dawson Frazer at 469-672-0056.

The Loving County Sheriff’s Office, the Ellis County Children’s Advocacy Center, and the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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Officials in Salem, Oregon, are facing a public backlash after appointing a man convicted of murdering a teenage girl to a city public safety and police oversight board.

Kyle Hedquist was convicted in 1994 of killing 19-year-old Nikki Thrasher and served 28 years of a life sentence without the possibility of parole before then-Gov. Kate Brown (D) granted him clemency in 2022.

‘Oregonians… are you tired of this kind of leadership yet? Are you ready to show up and vote these criminals out?’

Hedquist was 17 at the time of the crime. Prosecutors said he drove Thrasher to a wooded area, shot her in the back of the head, and left her body on a remote logging road. They described the killing as an “execution-style” murder.

According to prosecutors, Hedquist believed Thrasher had discovered he had stolen items from his aunt and killed her to prevent her from reporting him. Thrasher had asked him about the stolen items, which prosecutors said he interpreted as a threat.

Two years after his release, the Salem City Council appointed Hedquist to the city’s Community Police Review Board, which oversees police conduct and public safety matters. The council recently reappointed him to the position, prompting renewed backlash.

Some city officials have defended the decision, citing Hedquist’s rehabilitation and community involvement since his release.

Others strongly disagree. Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson criticized the appointment, calling it inappropriate for a public safety role.

“While I acknowledge there are appropriate ways for those who have completed their sentences and demonstrated rehabilitation to give back to our community, this is not one of them,” Clarkson said. “Our police and fire professionals have a right to expect better from city leadership.”

The Oregon Republican Party also condemned the decision in a statement, calling it “absurd” to place a convicted murderer on a board overseeing public safety and policing.

“Oregonians… are you tired of this kind of leadership yet? Are you ready to show up and vote these criminals out?” said a commenter on social media.

At the time of Hedquist’s release, Thrasher’s mother said the governor’s office did not notify her that clemency was being considered.

“He took the life of my daughter — in cold blood!” she told KOIN-TV. “He planned it!”

RELATED: Democrat mayor hit with brutal backlash after 8-year-old girl is killed by illegal alien

The Oregon Justice Resource Center, an organization that opposes mass incarceration, defended Hedquist’s appointment. In a statement on social media, the group said Hedquist has spent years contributing to his community and advocating for systemic reform.

“That kind of experience brings value to public institutions,” the group said in a statement, adding that criticism of Hedquist was “misdirected.”

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A bizarre scene unfolded in a small town in southern Italy when the mayor said that he noticed that one of the “three wise men” figures in the public Nativity scene appeared to be moving.

Galatone Mayor Flavio Filoni wrote about the incident in a post on Facebook on Dec. 10. He says that he was admiring the Nativity scene set up by the town’s tourism office when he made the startling discovery.

Rather than a wise man, the man was a foolish criminal migrant from Ghana, according to Filoni.

“I noticed a presence I had initially mistaken for part of the scene. A detail that seemed harmless, but turned out to be decisive,” Filoni wrote.

A comical image of the scene shows the man trying to blend in among the mannequins of the holy display.

Rather than a wise man, the man was a foolish criminal migrant from Ghana, according to Filoni. He had previously been sentenced by a court in Bologna to nine months in prison but reportedly fled before completing his time. When he hid in the scene, the man was being sought for allegedly assaulting an officer and resisting arrest.

Filoni said law enforcement officials were able to capture the man without difficulty.

“A result that confirms, once again, how fundamental it is to place full confidence in the day-to-day work of those who guarantee safety and legality,” added the mayor.

RELATED: ‘Why would somebody have such hate?’ Churchgoers stunned at Nativity display vandalism

“A sincere thank you to all the women and men who guard our territory with competence, attention and dedication,” Filoni said.

Galatone is a small town of about 15,000 residents in the Lecce province of southern Italy.

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The reign of diversity, equity, and inclusion over America’s elite institutions is coming to an end — and BlazeTV hosts Christopher Rufo and Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman believe those institutions may be coming to an end as a result.

But it’s not necessarily not a bad thing.

“That 10-year period … the BLM era, let’s call it. Did any of these institutions get better? … Did the journalism at the Times and the Post and the Atlantic improve? Were there sparkling, important, seismic essays that emerged in this 10-year period? … Did Hollywood produce better movies?” Rufo asks.

“The answer is absolutely not,” Lomez answers. “This isn’t even debatable. It is self-evidently the case that everything has gotten worse that these institutions were responsible for producing, and you can measure this along any metric you want.”

“Those things are dying, dead, in decline. What is doing better?” Lomez asks. “Well, all the places that these white men fled to. Crypto, you know, the frontiers of AI and tech, where they could find places to still ply their talents.”

“What happens to these institutions?” he asks. “I think we just let them — they sort of have to die.”

However, Lomez does believe there will be a “silver lining.”

“There has to be some reason this is happening and some way to make it better. And the answer I’ve come up with … these institutions actually needed to decline. They were already potentially in a sort of moment of secular decline anyway, and that this has freed a bunch of talent to go do other things,” he explains.

“I do believe these people and these impulses are going to find their way toward something productive,” he says. “And this is what’s going to arise out of this moment.”

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President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. military carried out a strike on Venezuelan territory, which he described as the first land-based attack in an escalating conflict tied to alleged narco-terrorism.

Trump made the remarks to reporters at the White House before a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said the strike targeted a dock area that he claimed was used to load boats transporting drugs.

‘Two nights ago we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard.’

“It doesn’t matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs, so we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area,” Trump said. “It’s the implementation area — that’s where they implement. And that is no longer around.”

When asked by a reporter whether additional strikes had occurred inside Venezuela, Trump declined to comment.

The Pentagon provided no details and referred all questions to the White House.

The president offered further details during a radio interview with WABC, saying the strike occurred two nights earlier and targeted what he described as a major shipping facility.

“We just knocked out — I don’t know if you read or you saw — they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from,” Trump said. “Two nights ago we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard.”

The operation would represent the first direct U.S. strike on Venezuelan land during the current confrontation. The Trump administration has previously ordered strikes against vessels it says are operated by narco-terrorist groups smuggling drugs into the United States.

Critics of the administration have questioned those allegations and accused the U.S. government of acting unlawfully, including claims by human rights organizations that the strikes could constitute war crimes. Administration officials have rejected those accusations.

Tensions escalated earlier after the United States seized a Venezuelan oil tanker that administration officials alleged had violated U.S. embargo restrictions. Trump later ordered what the administration described as a full blockade of tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.

RELATED: Venezuelan freedom fighter wins Nobel Peace Prize — and immediately dedicates it to Trump

In response, Venezuelan officials announced military exercises that they said were intended to prepare the country to defend against a possible U.S. invasion aimed at removing President Nicolás Maduro from power.

Trump has previously said the United States could take military action to reclaim oil interests that were nationalized by Venezuela’s socialist government decades ago.

“It’s about — they took our oil, they took it, and they also sent millions of people in here from jails into our country,” Trump said in the WABC interview. “Some of the worst people on Earth.”

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday said the federal government is launching a “massive” investigation into alleged fraud schemes and shared video footage from Minnesota. Earlier, FBI Director Kash Patel said Somali immigrants convicted of fraud could face possible denaturalization and deportation.

‘These criminals didn’t just engage[] in historic fraud, but tried to subvert justice as well.’

In a statement Sunday, Patel said the FBI previously dismantled a $250 million fraud scheme involving COVID-19 relief funds intended to provide meals for children in Minnesota.

Patel said the case resulted in 78 indictments and 57 convictions. He identified several defendants — including Abdiwahab Ahmed Mohamud, Ahmed Ali, Hussein Farah, Abdullahe Nur Jesow, Asha Farhan Hassan, Ousman Camara, and Abdirashid Bixi Dool — who were charged with crimes ranging from wire fraud to money laundering and conspiracy.

“These criminals didn’t just engage[] in historic fraud, but tried to subvert justice as well,” Patel said. He added that Abdimajid Mohamed Nur and others were charged with attempting to bribe a juror with $120,000 in cash. Those defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced, including one individual who received a 10-year prison term. Courts also ordered nearly $48 million in restitution in related cases, Patel said.

Patel described the scheme as the “tip of a very large iceberg,” adding that the FBI would “continue to follow the money and protect children” and that the investigation remains ongoing.

Noem said Homeland Security Investigations agents are currently operating in Minneapolis as part of what she described as a “massive” investigation into alleged child-care fraud and other fraud schemes.

Video shared by the DHS showed investigators questioning a man outside a facility, while another clip depicted agents entering what the DHS described as a “suspected fraud site.”

“MASSIVE fraud in Minnesota is finally being exposed. Time for accountability,” the White House wrote in a post on social media.

RELATED: News outlet is getting wrecked for story on Somali migrants’ economic impact on Minnesota

— (@)

The increased scrutiny followed the publication of video by independent journalist Nick Shirley, in which he is seen confronting proprietors of day-care centers in Minnesota. Shirley blamed Gov. Tim Walz, the failed 2024 Democrat vice presidential candidate, for overseeing the state while the alleged fraud schemes flourished.

A spokesperson for Walz pushed back by noting that the state had investigated the fraud claims and that the governor had spent years working to “crack down on fraud.”

Nevertheless, a group of former state health workers have accused Walz of obstructing efforts to uncover the scams.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud, but no, we got the opposite response,” read a statement from the group.

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Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck stunned the crowds at Turning Point USA’s AmFest 2025 when he took on the lies force-fed to younger generations — and why it’s more important than ever that they wake up and lead the country to a better place.

“I wanted … to warn you that today the times have changed and you are desperately needed,” Glenn began. “Desperately needed. But there’s something else that I think is more important that you need to hear. We must stop fighting with one another. It is important to stand for the truth, but people are not your enemies. Lies are your enemies.”

“You can’t stop darkness with more darkness. You can’t stop hate with more hate. You only dispel the darkness of lies with the light of truth,” he said. “A single candle will light up a room.”

That’s when Glenn turned his focus toward the youth — as the America they’ve come to know has been one full of turmoil and deception.

“If I were you, and I’m 25, I was 1 when the World Trade Center came down. I would have no memory of that,” he explained. “And I certainly wouldn’t have a memory of the United States before that.”

Post-9/11, the United States these children grew up in was a surveillance state that has been constantly “on the verge of global war” — complete with the 2008 financial crisis that bankrupted many of their parents.

“Nobody went to jail. And you and your family paid the price that none of them had to pay. Then 2008, 2009, the cell phone comes out, social media comes out. It’s supposed to connect us so we can talk to our friends, and it does just the opposite. It divides us; it changes us,” Glenn recalled.

“Then 2020 hits, COVID happens. … Once again, you saw the entire system turned upside down and the little guy get screwed,” he added.

Not only did the youth see what happened to their parents, but they were told that if they went into debt to go to college, they would see great returns. Instead, the debt has only continued to pile up, and they received an “education” in which instructors insisted on telling blatant lies, like “men can be women.”

“And there are no jobs for you,” Glenn said. “Everything. Everything. If I’m 25 years old, I would think absolutely everything is a lie.”

“The biggest lie that you were told is that you don’t matter. Here’s the thing. I want you to understand: A broken system does not erase human agency. It reveals who still has agency. Every single generation since the beginning of time has inherited a mess,” he continued.

“Only the great generations turn that mess into a mission,” he said. “And that’s your calling.”

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On Friday, independent video journalist Nick Shirley published a video on X that he claims shows widespread fraud involving purported day-care centers in Minnesota. Shirley wrote that he “uncovered over $110,000,000 [in fraud] in ONE day.” The video is the latest public allegation of fraud tied to Minnesota’s Somali community and comes as failed Democrat vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faces renewed scrutiny over the issue.

In the video, Shirley and his team are seen traveling Minnesota and visiting addresses where federally funded day-care centers are supposed to exist. When he arrived, he often found buildings with no children and seemingly no active day-care facilities.

‘There are not enough words to describe the breathtaking failure that has happened under the watch of @GovTimWalz.’

In a clip from Shirley’s video that Education Secretary Linda McMahon shared over the weekend, Shirley is shown standing outside a day-care facility identified as “Quality Learing [sic] Center.” The sign appears to misspell the word “learning.” Shirley says that when he attempted to enter the building during regular weekday hours, it was closed and its windows were blacked out. He also claims the center received $1.9 million in government funding.

In sharing the clip on X, McMahon wrote, “There are not enough words to describe the breathtaking failure that has happened under the watch of @GovTimWalz.”

RELATED: Somali fraud inspires Democrats to assimilate to Somalian culture

Blaze Media Illustration and Getty Images

Walz’s office pushed back over the weekend against Shirley’s allegations. Fox News Digital reported Sunday that a spokesperson for Walz said the governor has spent years working to “crack down on fraud” and has taken steps to strengthen oversight of state programs, including launching investigations into several facilities.

The spokesperson also pointed to the state legislature’s role in overseeing the programs and said that at least one business highlighted in Shirley’s reporting had already been shut down by Walz’s administration.

Despite the response, criticism continued. In addition to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Vice President JD Vance praised Shirley’s work, writing on X, “This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 [Pulitzer] prizes.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X that the bureau is aware of the allegations circulating online. Patel wrote that the FBI had already deployed additional personnel and “investigative resources” to Minnesota to address “large-scale fraud” involving federal programs, even before the issue gained widespread attention on social media.

“Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide,” Patel wrote.

Patel also cited previous arrests and convictions as evidence of the bureau’s ongoing efforts to combat fraud in the state.

BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo disputed Patel’s characterization, calling it “misleading.” In a post on X, Rufo said Patel was taking “credit for investigations and convictions that occurred under the Biden Administration,” adding that the unresolved question concerns alleged fraud that has not yet resulted in charges. “When do we see arrests, mugshots, and new prosecutions?” Rufo wrote.

Rufo previously reported on alleged fraud involving Minnesota welfare and health programs earlier this year. As independent journalists such as Shirley continue to highlight the allegations, scrutiny of Minnesota officials, including Walz and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has intensified.

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After the Allied forces successfully stormed Normandy, France, on D-Day, the German army launched a 200,000-strong counteroffensive on December 18, 1944, in the Ardennes region in Eastern Belgium. The attack marked the beginning of World War II’s Battle of the Bulge.

Over 700,000 Allied troops, including Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.’s Third Army, were involved in the combat that lasted 41 days.

This December, Walk Among Heroes brought U.S. Army veteran John “Jack” Moran to Bastogne, Belgium, for the 81st anniversary of the start of the battle.

‘To me, just seeing the reactions of the Belgian people, thanking Jack over and over again, makes it all worthwhile.’

Moran, a former Army staff sergeant and member of Patton’s Third Army, joined the military at the age of 18 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne.

Moran shared his firsthand account with Walk Among Heroes about crossing the Rhine River, the final major natural barrier for Allied forces advancing into Nazi Germany. The effort to cross the river, known as Operation Plunder, began in March 1945.

“There’s no way in the world that 142 men can do anything and keep quiet,” Moran explained. “They can’t. It’s an impossible possibility.”

RELATED: WWII veteran honors Gen. Patton’s legacy with touching gravesite tribute alongside renowned general’s granddaughter

A local Belgian girl takes a photo with Jack Moran. Image source: Walk Among Heroes

“So we slowly slip our paddles into the water, start paddling out into the middle of the … river. All of the sudden, the Germans light it up, just like this room — even brighter than this room,” he continued. “And here we are, sitting right there.”

“They opened up on us with five heavy machine guns,” Moran said. “Chopping us up badly. We lost half our men.”

During the trip, Moran met Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, who presented the WWII veteran with the Victory in Europe Medal at the 101st Airborne Museum. Walk Among Heroes reported that the crowd was “very emotional” when Moran received the medal.

RELATED: What we owe our veterans this D-Day

U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Stacey Feinberg meets Jack Moran. Image source: Walk Among Heroes

“In recognition of your military service during the Second World War, this is to certify the award of the Victory in Europe Medal to Staff Sergeant John Moran,” the announcer stated.

“Your fight for freedom and democracy is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon yourself, the 87th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.”

“To me, just seeing the reactions of the Belgian people, thanking Jack over and over again, makes it all worthwhile,” Walk Among Heroes president and founder Jeff Wells told Blaze News.

Wells explained that Moran had plans to visit Patton’s grave at the Luxembourg American Cemetery. He noted that Moran would be accompanied by Patton’s granddaughter, Helen Patton.

“General Patton was Jack’s commander, so we are very excited to visit with him,” Wells said.

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