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We covered why you should educate your kids at home in part 1.

Now we’re going to cover the “how,” which involves sparking your child’s interest and imagination from as early an age as possible. Three things will help you meet this goal enjoyably and effectively.

My number-one book recommendation for parents, right from the start, is to obtain a really good guide to children’s books.

Let’s start with what is the 100% most important thing to do. The most effective way to spark learning for young children is so simple, and it’s good for you, the parent, as well.

1. Go outside

The more time children spend exploring the outdoors, the more their curiosity is piqued and the more they learn. And this learning is the best learning, through their God-given senses.

Don’t skimp on outside time. Go out several times a day, weather permitting, and don’t rush them back inside. Walks are great!

Nature provides the best classroom, wherever you live (or visit): beauty, colors, and patterns to see; birdsong and leaves rustling and dogs barking to hear; cool breezes and warm sun to feel; velvety flower petals and rough bark to touch; and (with supervision!) fresh berries or tomatoes from the garden to taste.

Side note: Play is a child’s first job, and outdoor play is the best workplace. Playing with your children (out or inside) is one of your most important jobs, too. Laughing and enjoying each other should happen often each day!

So introduce them to the glories outside your door, let them experience it, and give them language to describe it. Don’t worry; this is what we naturally do when we’re present outside with kids. “See the pretty flower?” And, as age-appropriate: “What color is it? Feel how soft it is! No, we don’t want to pick it — let’s let it keep growing here.”

Which brings me to the second-most important part of your child’s curriculum.

2. Talk. About everything.

You will be rewarded with a more verbal child, earlier, who can share his/her thoughts and needs more effectively.

Talk to your children outside, talk to them inside, talk to them while they’re eating, talk to them during diaper changes.

Point things out, describe them in adult language, ask them to name the things you’re pointing out.

This starts with nouns (“See the ball? Can you say ball?”) but eventually they’ll be able to add adjectives (“purple ball”) and other parts of speech, leading eventually to phrases and sentences.

Side note: Treasure each adorable mis-pronunciation (yeah, get those on video if you can for the grandparents), but continue saying the words properly. Don’t correct them — just say them properly when you say them. They’ll get it.

3. Help them learn to love books

The last subject in our must-have preschool curriculum is “Introduction to Books.”

Books — hard-copy books that children can touch — should be introduced from the very beginning.

Cloth books made for teething babies are plentiful, and by all means let them gum away on them — but also turn the pages and show them the pictures, again speaking about what they’re seeing (“See the black square?”).

Books made of waterproof material are available for bath time, as well. These “chewable” books tend to be mostly images, which is what you want, for these purposes. You won’t really be “reading” them as much as describing them.

Board books will carry you through the first few years, when children aren’t yet able to be gentle with “regular” books. These should have brief, simple text and colorful, interesting images. Invest in a library of these, because you will use them over and over.

There are some time-tested classic board books (see list below) and quite a few that are outstanding for bedtime (again, see suggestions). You should keep board books in every location where your child might want a story! But keep the bedtime books separate, since they often become part of your bedtime routine (remember our principle of “order”).

Also, do teach them to respect their books. Discourage throwing or standing on them — “let’s treat our books nicely” is a lesson they need to learn so they can move on to picture books. This is the category of regular children’s books (with regular, tearable pages!) that we are aiming our children to be able to enjoy.

This level has so many good selections (again, see suggestions below) that you will probably run out of childhood before you run out of books. Again, you can have bedtime books, books for the car, books for different rooms. You can’t have too many books. (Well, that might be an exaggeration, but as a book lover, I defend my right to push this idea.)

We haven’t talked about content of board or picture books yet, so a few quick notes. First, I have seen a tendency for Christian board books to include concepts that simply aren’t appropriate for board-book-age children. As a grandparent, I ordered a couple of recommended board books and found the text of one of them to be far too advanced for a toddler; another was better but still included ideas that I deemed too much for a young child.

While I’m warning about Christian books (of all things), let me point out the obvious — the world is full of children’s books that are inappropriate in every way for any child, and that certainly includes yours. Before buying, I recommend that you quickly read through every page and scan the images (good habit if you use the library, too).

RELATED: Patriotic heresy: 4 examples of tangling faith with the flag

Tom Williams/Getty Images

What to keep out of your home (and a bonus arts curriculum idea)

Since we’re talking about things to avoid, here’s one that will probably involve some discipline on your part. But the truth is, your child could go without any screen time for the first 5 or 6 years of his/her life and be the better for it. Andy Crouch’s book “The Tech-Wise Family” suggests no screens till age 10.

Studies demonstrate that screen time is a net negative for young children, so don’t create a habit that will be painful to halt. If you have already allowed it, pull back now — the sooner the better.

Don’t read Kindle children’s books. Don’t let them play video games. Don’t teach them they need a screen to be entertained.

You may have to teach them this by example. GET OFF YOUR PHONE.

Do you want a child who wants to sit in front of a screen being entertained? Or do you want a child who loves to play and learn outside, talk to you, and spend time reading books together?

I cannot state this any more clearly: SCREENS BAD.

However, there is one way you can use your TV for a net benefit. Play symphony orchestra performances (easy to find on YouTube). Your children may learn what musical instruments look like, but more to the point, this will provide outstanding early music education as they listen during daily activities and while they play.

Your first curriculum purchases

What follows is a brief selection of really good books you may find helpful, in a number of categories.

Very first books

You won’t have any trouble finding cloth or bath-time books. Sensory books, with textures the child can touch, are also great starters, like:

“See, Touch, Feel: A First Sensory Book” by Roger Priddy

Board books

Just about anything by Sandra Boynton. Favorites:

“Moo, Baa, La La La” (also a Christmas version, “Moo, Baa, Fa La La La La”)“The Going to Bed Book”

Since we just mentioned a bedtime book, just a couple of must-haves:

“Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey (it ends with the ducklings settling down for a peaceful night’s sleep after an adventure!)“Big Red Barn” by Margaret Wise Brown“Sleepyheads” by Sandra J. Howatt

A couple of Christian board books that are more age-appropriate:

“God Cares for Me” by Kristen Wetherell“Don’t Forget to Remember” by Ellie Holcomb

Classic picture books

Just a few favorites:

“Each Peach Pear Plum” by Janet and Allan Ahlberg“Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell“The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister“Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” by Virginia Lee Burton“Millions of Cats” by Wanda Gág“The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault“Caps for Sale” by Esphyr Slobodkina“Curious George” by H.A. Rey“Harry the Dirty Dog” by Gene Zion“Ox-Cart Man” by Donald Hall and Barbara Cooney“Mr. Gumpy’s Outing” by John Burningham“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle“Freight Train” by Donald Crews“The Carrot Seed” by Ruth Krauss“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

Many of these authors have more than one classic book, so browse their other titles as well. And, of course, there are thousands of other outstanding picture books. So many books, so little time!

Guides to children’s books

My number-one book recommendation for parents, right from the start, is to obtain a really good guide to children’s books. All of the volumes below are excellent, and I don’t think it’s going overboard to have all of them in your personal home library. And yeah, these can be on your Kindle, if you prefer!

“Honey for a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life” by Gladys Hunt“Books Children Love” by Elizabeth Wilson“Read for the Heart: Whole Books for WholeHearted Families” by Sarah Clarkson“Books that Build Character” by William Kilpatrick

Congratulations!

You have just completed Home Education 101 — the Preschool Edition. Everything you need to know to prepare and get started “homeschooling” your precious littles:

Take them outsideTalk to themLove books with them

You cannot beat this combination.

A version of this essay previously appeared at She Speaks Truth.

​Homeschooling, Home education, Christianity, Godly family, Christian living, Education, Parenthood, Faith 

A loss to Belgium should not overshadow remarkable achievements and accomplishments by the United States as one of the World Cup host countries.

While the tournament is over for the United States, current and former players are trying to let fans know that this isn’t the end, but rather the start of what will be a more competitive future for the sport in America.

‘Hold your head high, and don’t for a second stop dreaming.’

Things fell apart at the end of the round-of-16 match against Belgium on Monday, with U.S. Soccer eventually losing 4-1. However, star players like Christian Pulisic said they were disappointed in their performance and thought the team did not reach its full potential.

“I’m disappointed with myself, of course, but I’m going to try to stay positive. I did a lot of good things, and the team did as well,” Pulisic said after the game, per ESPN.

After calling it an “unfortunate way to finish,” Pulisic said while he fell short of the moments he was hoping to have, he believed the team was on its way to getting to that next level.

Former U.S. players stepped in on Monday to back that reality up and said the sport and team is in a way better spot than when the tournament started.

“You can’t get away from talk shows talking about soccer, the U.S. men’s national team, talking about these individuals and how brilliant they’ve been,” former USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan said, according to Fox Sports.

“They should be extremely proud of what they’ve been able to do,” he added.

RELATED: Referee at center of World Cup red-card scandal was investigated for match-fixing in Brazil

In a tournament that saw a seemingly unlimited amount of celebrity endorsements from the likes of Jay-Z, Tom Cruise, and more, the game of soccer seems to have been elevated to a place that hasn’t been seen in the United States.

This is what so many former players urged hardcore fans to think about, including former midfielder Maurice Edu, who said, “The bigger picture still exists.”

His message to the team included, “Hold your head high, and don’t for a second stop dreaming, stop daring yourself to be the best version of this national team that we’ve ever seen. Don’t, for a second, ever, question what your ability is and what the standard is.”

Another former USA goalkeeper, Tim Howard, echoed that sentiment, declaring on his YouTube channel that the team “brought this country to new heights” and should be praised for what they did for soccer in the United States.

“This team should be proud, should be proud of what they achieved together. … This country backed our team. They gave what they had and came up short,” Howard concluded.

RELATED: Report: Trump personally involved in FIFA overturning USA player’s suspension

Michael Miller/ISI Photos/ISI Photos/Getty Images

Many agree that the game U.S. Soccer put on the field attracted more fans than ever before, with former U.S. midfielder Sacha Kljestan saying it brought him pride to see “a lot of young kids out there and a lot of fans.”

Kljestan focused on “that casual sports fan that locked in on this team and was so excited to watch them play. That was special.”

The casual fan was certainly brought out when looking at online engagement, where even CNN anchor Jim Sciutto made a patriotic X post saying the team had triumphant moments and, at times, “looked magical.”

Other fans said they had never seen the United States “dominate games like they did this World Cup.”

Wrapping up what seemed to be the most prominent takeaway from experts, another fan wrote on X, “The USMNT is young.”

“They need to build physical strength and get the experience. … Dropping out at the round of 16 is not embarrassing.”

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​Fifa, Sports, Us soccer, World cup 

For many conservatives, Project 2025 represented an actual blueprint. Its supporters argued that America finally had a plan to enforce existing laws, restore accountability, and take a weed-wacker to a bloated federal bureaucracy. It was a genuine road map for restoring sanity after years of government dysfunction. Reasonable people can debate its policy specifics. But at least the conversation centered on shrinking government overreach while strengthening it where the system had genuinely failed.

Project 2029, the Democrats’ answer to Project 2025, takes America down a far darker path. Its opening sales pitch is practically impossible to oppose: Protect children online. Keep teenagers away from addictive, IQ-draining social media.

On paper, it reads like a manifesto every exhausted parent would happily sign in blood. After all, most Americans have looked around and concluded that social media is the digital equivalent of handing a toddler unlimited candy, fireworks, and a triple espresso before bedtime. If TikTok were a real-world babysitter, it would probably encourage your 8-year-old to lick shopping carts for internet fame.

Kids will adapt. The surveillance infrastructure will stay forever.

Protecting children matters. So too does it matter that good intentions have a funny habit of checking in for the weekend and staying for generations.

Inside the trap

The cornerstone of Project 2029 is the “Kids Over Clicks” proposal. It aims to ban social media accounts for anyone under 16 while forcing platforms to strictly verify users’ ages. Supporters frame this as simple common sense. Critics see the first pieces of a much larger surveillance system falling into place.

That’s because you cannot reliably verify a person’s age online without verifying exactly who he is in the physical world. Clicking a box that says “Yes, I am 18” is about as trustworthy as asking a toddler who drew on the walls. Serious age verification requires government identification, facial recognition scans, digital credentials, or another permanent method that ties your online activity to your real-world identity.

Every major expansion of government authority arrives carrying an affable, even adorable message. Sometimes it’s national security; sometimes it’s public health. This time, it’s the kids. Nobody wants predators targeting children online, and nobody wants 12-year-olds disappearing into algorithm-driven rabbit holes filled with exploitation. The concern is entirely genuine. The proposed solution, however, deserves equal scrutiny.

Think about the children 10 years from now. Imagine growing up in a country where creating an anonymous online account is automatically viewed as a suspicious, near-criminal act. Where every major website explicitly demands your digital papers before allowing you to read or participate. Where speaking freely online increasingly resembles checking in at an airport. Children raised inside that system won’t experience it as unusual or oppressive. Fish rarely file complaints about the aquarium.

RELATED: New Senate bill punishes chilling of online speech — if it passes

Bjorn Bakstad/Getty Images

Contrary to conventional wisdom, anonymous speech isn’t just a shield for internet trolls. It has protected whistleblowers exposing corporate corruption, domestic abuse victims seeking safe havens, political dissidents challenging powerful institutions, and ordinary citizens asking uncomfortable questions without fearing professional execution. Replace anonymity with mandatory identification, and many of those crucial voices simply vanish overnight. Not because they are criminals, but because they are human beings who quite like avoiding angry mobs, career-ending screenshots, and awkward conversations with the government.

Supporters argue that responsible citizens with nothing to hide have nothing to fear. That argument has aged about as gracefully as New Coke. Databases get hacked with laughable frequency. Governments change, administrations rotate, and policies written for one benevolent purpose always find exciting new careers serving entirely different masters. A child safety database readily becomes a fraud prevention tool, a national security asset, and finally an information enforcement mechanism. Bureaucracies possess an almost supernatural ability to discover fresh, urgent reasons for expanding yesterday’s temporary measures.

A glimpse of the future

America has watched this movie before, and the sequel is usually longer and much more exacting. Other countries are already offering a depressing sneak peek. Britain has introduced sweeping online age verification hurdles. Australia is testing hard restrictions on younger users. Across Europe, digital identity systems continue to mutate. Each promised careful limits. Each insisted ordinary citizens had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Yet once that tracking infrastructure exists, dismantling it becomes politically impossible. Governments rarely surrender powers they have already collected. Why would they?

Perhaps the ultimate irony is that determined teenagers usually find a way around technological barriers anyway. VPNs exist. Shared accounts exist. Older siblings know well that they often can be bribed. Adolescents have been bypassing parental controls since the invention of parents. The kids will adapt. The surveillance infrastructure, however, will stay forever.

America absolutely should protect children online. Parents deserve better, more intuitive tools. Platforms should face devastating financial penalties when they deliberately exploit young users. And data collection targeting minors deserves strict, uncompromising limits. Those are debates worth having.

But protecting children should never become a convenient political shortcut for building systems that actively erase privacy for everyone else. The children we want to protect today may someday inherit an internet where every single opinion carries a permanent, unremovable digital name tag.

That might sound incredibly reassuring to a Democrat. It sounds terrifying to me.

​Tech 

Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr. was conducting a routine inspection of a tractor-trailer on the side of Interstate 81 South near Ashland on July 1 when a second tractor-trailer allegedly helmed by a Haitian illegal alien careened his way.

The incoming tractor-trailer sideswiped the 44-year-old trooper’s cruiser, careened into the truck that Pahira was inspecting, then struck the trooper. Although nearby construction workers were able to pull Pahira free of the flaming wreckage, he was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.

‘Because of these reckless policies, a Pennsylvania State Trooper is dead.’

In the wake of the horrific crash, the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association and lawmakers demanded answers — especially to the question of how the illegal alien, 33-year-old Michael Bon, managed to obtain a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license.

While a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles attempted to displace blame for her agency’s issuance and renewal of Bon’s CDL, the U.S. Department of Transportation has corrected the record, making abundantly clear that Massachusetts helped set the stage for Pahira’s untimely demise.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Bon was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration in July 2024. He filed an application for Temporary Protected Status in October 2024, which was never granted.

The DHS claimed that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services terminated Bon’s parole in June 2025, but the Haitian refused to leave and has remained in the country illegally — living in Massachusetts — ever since, the Boston Herald reported.

RELATED: Blue state gave Haitian illegal alien a commercial truck driver’s license — ‘and now a good man is dead’

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images

In March 2025 — months prior to the termination of his parole — Bon obtained a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license from the MRMV. After his transition to illegal alien, Bon had his CDL renewed in February 2026.

Amelia Aubourg, a spokeswoman for the MRMV, recently attempted to assign blame for Bon’s licensing to the Trump administration, telling the Herald that the “Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses program is a federal program,” and that “this individual was ruled eligible based on the Trump administration database and allowed to drive by federal law and Trump administration policies.”

What Aubourg neglected to mention was that the Trump administration issued a rule in September 2025 barring DACA recipients, asylum-seekers, refugees, TPS holders, and other noncitizens from obtaining, renewing, upgrading, or transferring non-domiciled CDL licenses.

This interim final rule, which would have barred Bon from renewing his CDL in February, was understood at the time to be a lifesaving measure.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a Sept. 26, 2025, statement, “Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers — oftentimes illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it. Today’s actions will prevent unsafe foreign drivers from renewing their license and hold states accountable to immediately invalidate improperly issued licenses.”

After reviewing emergency legal challenges filed by the American Federation of Teachers and other liberal outfits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put the rule on hold in early November.

As part of the broader campaign to torpedo the rule, Massachusetts led 18 other states in filing a joint submission characterizing the rule as unnecessary and unlawful.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (D) claimed in a November 2025 letter to Duffy that the rule’s “dramatic new restrictions on eligibility for non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses and commercial learner’s permits are unlawful” and complained that it would “strip nearly all of the country’s 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders of their licenses and their livelihoods.”

Campbell not only claimed that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration lacked the authority to impose the restrictions but cast doubt on whether “these restrictions provide any additional safety benefits.”

Campbell was joined in her opposition by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and numerous other radical Democrat officials.

A source familiar with the matter told Blaze News that “had those rules been in place during the driver’s February 2026 license renewal, [Bon] would have been deemed ineligible for renewal.”

A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson told Blaze News, “Secretary Duffy has spent the last year in office reining in a trucking industry allowed to operate like the Wild West under Biden and Buttigieg. That’s why the Department issued a final rule stopping unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers from obtaining licenses to drive commercial trucks and buses.”

“States that operate recklessly and fail to enforce our common-sense rules will be held accountable,” added the spokesperson.

Blaze News did not immediately receive a response from Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office or the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which oversees the MRMV.

The Trump administration successfully issued its final rule preventing unqualified foreign drivers from driving big rigs on March 16.

As for Michael Bon, he has been charged with felony vehicular homicide, felony vehicular aggravated assault, misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and involuntary manslaughter, and various traffic offenses.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also lodged a detainer asking Pennsylvania officials not to release Bon from jail.

“This Haitian illegal alien was RELEASED into our country by the Biden administration, and the sanctuary state of Massachusetts gave him a commercial driver’s license,” DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

“Now, because of these reckless policies, a Pennsylvania state trooper is dead after a crash that was 100% preventable. Illegal aliens should not be driving trucks on America’s highways,” added Bis.

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​Biden administration, Department of homeland security, Illegal alien, Massachusetts, Temporary protected status, Tractor trailer, Department of transportation, Michael bon, Michael pahira, Haiti, Migrants, Cdl, Commercial driver’s licenses, Truck driver, Murder, Politics 

For the first time ever, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have jointly rung their bells from the White House.

President Trump rang the opening bells of both exchanges from the Oval Office on Monday, marking the official launch of Trump Accounts for children.

‘Children, at the age of 18 and after, become very wealthy people, come into the world with essentially no money and end up, at a pretty young age, being very rich.’

The accounts, created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, became available for contributions starting July 4 and are open to children who won’t turn 18 by year’s end.

Every eligible child gets a one-time $1,000 seed contribution from the federal government, and family or employers can add more, up to annual limits. The money is invested — by default in an S&P 500 ETF, with more options coming — and grows, tax-advantaged, until the child turns 18. Parents can enroll for free at TrumpAccounts.gov.

Attendees included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Michael Dell of Dell Technologies and his wife, and NYSE President Lynn Martin, along with executives from Nasdaq and other major firms. Michael and Susan Dell pledged a $6.25 billion commitment — $250 each to the first 25 million qualifying children signed up for Trump Accounts.

At the event, Trump urged attendees to “go out and buy a Dell computer” — and Dell stock jumped more than 7% following his remarks.

RELATED: Last summer’s teen hiring market was the worst on record. Alarming report shows it’s about to get even worse — here’s why.

Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Numerous companies including Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and Robinhood also pledged to match the government’s initial contribution for employees’ children’s accounts, while SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said she would give company stock to Trump Accounts for more than 2 million children nationwide.

Trump touted the accounts as a way for children to “become very wealthy people … come into the world with essentially no money and end up, at a pretty young age, being very rich” by adulthood, adding that between individual contributions and seed funding, roughly $800 million in new capital would flow into the stock market for children this week alone.

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​Blackrock, Blaze news, Children, Goldman sachs, Nasdaq, New york stock exchange, President trump, Robinhood, Sen ted cruz, White house, Politics 

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10 in front of a massive crowd at Utah Valley University.

Just days after the young father of two was pronounced dead, 23-year-old Tyler Robinson was ushered by his parents to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, where he turned himself in.

‘I think my battery died.’

Robinson, a Utah State University dropout whom Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said had become “more political” in the lead-up to the assassination, was subsequently charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice as well as with witness tampering for allegedly telling his boyfriend to delete his text messages and to stay quiet if questioned by police.

The suspected assassin has yet to enter a plea.

On Monday, day one of the five-day preliminary hearing in Robinson’s murder case, prosecutors began laying out the evidence that they believe is sufficient both to convince state District Judge Tony Graf to try the case and to ultimately warrant the death penalty.

The court heard from former Utah Valley police officer Chris Bagley, who described the “crime scene,” specifically the roof of the Losee Center building where he found a red-and-black screwdriver “that looked out of place” and an apparent “sniper pad.”

RELATED: Foreign-born professor who danced on Charlie Kirk’s grave set to receive major payday

Trent Nelson-Pool/Getty Images

FBI Director Kash Patel claimed just days after Kirk’s assassination that DNA on the screwdriver was “positively processed for the suspect in custody.”

In addition to describing the spot that apparently had a clear view of where Kirk had been seated, Bagley recalled how he discovered a shoe print in the grass on the northeast side of the building after learning on the basis of surveillance footage that somebody ran along the edge of the rooftop, then dropped down.

One of Robinson’s attorneys, Kathryn Nester, provided some indication of the strategy the defense may adopt, casting doubt on whether Robinson could actually be identified as the gunman.

Nester pressed Bagley on his discovery of an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled and police mistakenly thought they had apprehended the gunman. Bagley expressed uncertainty about whether the holster had been fingerprinted and what ultimately happened to it.

Nester later asked Bagley about his body camera footage, of which he had roughly 27 minutes for Sept. 10. Bagley said, “I think my battery died. I don’t know.”

David Hull, a former Utah State Bureau of Investigation agent who led the initial probe in the assassination and now works for the Utah Department of Public Safety, also took the stand on Monday, touching on some of the evidence prosecutors want to introduce — including a video of the shooting taken by a female witness.

While footage of the assassination was played on Monday in court, it was not shown publicly.

Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray previously alleged in court documents that DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the suspected murder weapon — a bolt-action rifle — as well as the spent round and three unspent rounds found with the rifle, in addition to the towel in which it was wrapped.

This week, prosecutors are expected to show a video statement from Robinson’s apparent trans-identifying homosexual lover, Lance Twiggs, where Twiggs discusses messages he exchanged with the suspected assassin, CNN reported.

In the original charging documents, Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray provided alleged text messages between Twiggs and Robinson where the suspected assassin allegedly admits to killing Kirk, discusses picking up his rifle, and provides an apparent motive, stating, “I had enough of his hatred.”

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​Tyler robinson, Charlie kirk, Assassination, Preliminary hearing, Politics 

AI is meant to be the saving grace of the modern age. Proponents say it will unlock new innovations in economic growth, health care, and other industries. On the flip side, it’s also a tool for bad actors to commit digital crimes faster and more efficiently than ever before.

It’s a tension that is now reaching the law, from the courts to Congress. And not a moment too soon.

So far, hundreds of thousands of victims have been affected.

Last month, for instance, Google filed a lawsuit against Chinese scammers accused of targeting “hundreds of thousands of Americans” with financial schemes, all distributed broadly with some help from AI.

As the group’s malicious activities are exposed, you can take some simple actions to start fighting back — while Congress gets moving to ensure we can sweep back the tide of automated scams at scale.

Here’s the scoop.

The lawsuit

According to the civil lawsuit divulged on the Keyword blog by Google, the Mountain View tech giant is going after a cybercriminal group based in China called “Outsider Enterprise.” The entity uses Telegram, a third-party communications app with optional end-to-end encryption that subverts authorities, to share “phishing kits” that recreate official-looking text messages from major companies, all aimed at unsuspecting users. The goal is to trick users into clicking on a link in the messages, which then takes them to a fake copy of popular websites — including Google, YouTube, and government services — before stealing their personal information.

These types of scams are nothing new. Phishing dates back to the 1990s with the advent of AOL. What is new, however, is the breadth and scale of scams that criminals can achieve with AI platforms, like Google Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Claude by Anthropic.

Google claims that “Outsider Enterprise” runs a massive AI-fueled cybercriminal network built around 9,000 fake websites, all siphoning data gleaned from 2.5 million messages sent directly to users in two weeks during May alone.

RELATED: New Senate bill punishes chilling of online speech — if it passes

Bjorn Bakstad/Getty Images

So far, “hundreds of thousands of victims” have been affected, with more than $1 million in estimated losses.

Google lobbies for legislation

To help curb the onslaught of the AI-enabled scams that are likely to emerge in the coming years, Google demands immediate government regulation, with seven bills called out by name on its blog. Note that most of these bills are bipartisan in nature.

National Strategy for Combating Scams Act: This bipartisan bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Derek Schmidt (Kan.), is designed to crack down on financial fraud and improve anti-scam efforts on the state and local levels.Strategic Task Force on Scam Prevention Act: Led by Reps. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) and Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), this bill empowers the DOJ and FTC to create a comprehensive national scam prevention strategy task force to support scam victims.STOP Scams Against Seniors Act: Proposed by Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), STOP holds criminal organizations accountable for targeting older victims.AI Plan Act: Reps. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.). The bill enables the executive branch to devise a plan to protect the U.S.’ financial system and sensitive data from misuse by AI companies and platforms.Stopping Cross-border Attacks and Manipulation Act: This bill by Reps. Jim Baird (R-Ind.) and Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) aims directly at international cybercriminals and foreign scam networks that target American citizens. Artificial Intelligence Public Awareness and Education Campaign Act: Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) proposed a bill that compels the secretary of commerce to educate the public and provide information on the benefits, risks, and prevalence of AI as it applies to the daily lives of everyday Americans.Stop Schemes, Cyber Fraud, Abuse, Manipulation, and Swindles Act: Proposed by Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.), this bill gives the FBI the power to set up an anti-scam task force guided by a standardized system for tracking and investigating criminal groups.

Usually, companies prefer less government regulation over the products they create, so it’s strange to watch Google lobby so adamantly for AI laws that could potentially limit Gemini and its competitors. Still, given the broad impacts of AI on modern life — both good and bad — it’s clear that some regulation is necessary.

How to protect yourself

Most of these bills have a long way to go before they become law. In the meantime, there are some things you can do to protect yourself from Outsider Enterprise and other AI phishing scams:

Approach all texts from unknown senders with suspicion. Major groups, including Google and the government, rarely send official communications via SMS, RCS, or iMessage. Texts claiming otherwise should not be trusted.Flag all potential scam texts as spam within your messaging app. This helps message platform holders tune their algorithms to identify scam texts, alert authorities, and block them from reaching your phone in the first place.Turn on the spam text blocker in your built-in messaging app on iPhone and Android.

Phishing is just one way that AI poses a danger to users. Sophisticated AI platforms, like Claude Mythos by Anthropic, can supposedly hack into some of the most secure systems that protect banks, online accounts, and even government infrastructure. Concerns over AI’s growing capabilities have even caused the Trump administration to enact stronger regulations that give the government early access to frontier models before they are made available to the public. Whether or not this new procedure offers any meaningful protection from AI remains to be seen.

​Tech 

Maryland police said they were surprised to realize the victim of a truck robbery was also the perpetrator of a burglary at the same time.

Jalen Godard, 29, of Odenton called police on Thursday morning to report that someone had stolen his truck at about 5:44 a.m.

‘Don’t you hate it when your car gets stolen while you’re committing a burglary?’

The Howard County Police Dept. posted footage from officers’ body cameras as well as surveillance video from the store.

“Man, someone took my truck,” Godard said to the responding officer, according to footage released.

“Did you leave it here running?” the officer asked.

“I was at McDonald’s,” Godard replied.

The officer realized there had been a burglary report at a Verizon store near the same location of the stolen truck, just a few minutes prior.

Then another piece of evidence linked the two incidents: Blood was found at the robbery scene at the window that had been broken, and the officer noticed blood on Godard’s hands.

“Let me just see your hands real quick. Let me see this hand,” the officer said.

“All right, put your hands behind your back for me,” he adds after inspecting Godard’s hands.

The officer tells Godard that he has blood on his hands, his glasses, and his shirt.

Godard denies being in a Verizon store, but the video shows footage from the store of the crook that looks very much like the suspect.

“So, the gig’s up. It’s whether you want to be honest about stuff or not,” the officer says.

Godard continues denying that he robbed the store, which makes the officer laugh.

“That’s kind of some karma s**t right there, ain’t it?” he says.

“Well, I left the keys in,” Godard replies.

“Yeah, that’s some karma s**t right there, dude!” the officer says.

Godard was charged with burglary, theft, and destruction of property.

RELATED: Cowboys football player says Chargers’ video falsely portrays him as racist

“Don’t you hate it when your car gets stolen while you’re committing a burglary?” the police department wrote on the post with the video.

“Great work by PFC Buchanan connecting the dots to the burglary across the street when this suspect called to report his car was stolen,” the department added. “Karma, indeed.”

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​Body camera footage, Burglary, Karma, Maryland police, Surveillance video, Crime 

The Federal Trade Commission is finally suing the World Professional Association for Transgender Health over sweeping recommendations for pediatric gender medicine that allegedly rested on weak evidence and conjecture.

The action is long overdue.

WPATH’s dishonesty should surprise no one. The organization has openly rejected basic biology.

WPATH has disregarded basic standards of medical honesty for years. Although the complaint was filed only recently, the organization’s indifference to evidence — and to the safety of gender-confused children — has long been apparent.

In 2022, WPATH removed minimum-age recommendations from its standards of care, reportedly under pressure from then-Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, a transgender-identifying male.

Thousands of detransitioners now live with the physical and psychological consequences of procedures they underwent as minors. Many of the doctors involved relied on WPATH’s prestige and guidelines to justify interventions children could not fully understand or consent to.

Most doctors are unwilling to risk their licenses by prescribing dangerous drugs or performing irreversible procedures without institutional cover, regardless of their ideological sympathies. Organizations such as WPATH, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics provided that cover.

Holding those institutions accountable could bring down the entire house of cards supporting pediatric gender medicine.

WPATH’s dishonesty should surprise no one. The organization has openly rejected basic biology. In 2024, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported that a senior WPATH official denied that sex is binary.

Other reporting revealed that doctors recommending certain drugs to transgender-identifying patients knew the treatments were untested or potentially harmful but continued promoting them in the name of “justice.”

WPATH went so far as to include “eunuch” as a gender identity in draft guidelines published in 2021. It relied in part on material from the Eunuch Archive, a fetish website, to support the inclusion.

The organization suggested that doctors should castrate people who identify as eunuchs because they might otherwise attempt the procedure themselves.

RELATED: The YMCA broke the first rule of summer camp

Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Why should Americans care about an organization few outside medicine had heard of until recently?

Because WPATH’s guidelines became a central source of authority in court cases defending pediatric sex-change procedures.

During 2023 litigation over an Alabama law banning such procedures for minors, opponents repeatedly cited WPATH’s standards to give their case an aura of medical credibility.

A federal judge subpoenaed WPATH’s internal documents concerning the creation of those guidelines. WPATH tried to quash the order, but the judge ruled that the material was of “crucial import” to the litigation.

The resulting documents steadily undermined WPATH’s credibility and helped lay the groundwork for the FTC’s lawsuit.

That judge understood in 2023 what the Trump administration and the FTC understand now: The medical professionals and activists behind WPATH’s guidelines helped create the current regime of pediatric gender medicine.

Calling them to account could become a decisive moment.

The FTC filed its complaint alongside attorneys general from Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas. The consequences could extend far beyond WPATH itself, affecting doctors, hospitals, professional associations, and court cases that relied on its authority.

Most important, the case could begin addressing the institutional failure that allowed so many young men and women to be fast-tracked into procedures they ultimately regret.

​American medical association, Opinion & analysis, Rachel levine, Federal trade commission, Lawsuit, Wpath, Transgender agenda, Detransition, Castration, Biology 

Thomas Jefferson wrote many letters to John Adams about government, liberty, and England’s corruption under King George III. Jefferson once put his disgust plainly: “It has been a strong reason with me for wishing there was an ocean of fire between that island and us.”

Earlier in their political careers, Adams had chosen Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson then penned a sentence that became the greatest line of revolutionary fire ever written, separating freedom from tyranny as clearly as any ocean of fire could.

With one line, the tyranny present throughout human history was turned upside down. Humanity knew real liberty in a new and enduring way.

During the classical era, pharaohs claimed godhood and treated their people as lesser beings, fit only for slavery and submission. Godhood placed the pharaoh and his ministers above the humanity beneath them.

But in the land of Goshen lived the tribes of Israel. Freed by Moses, they came to camp in the shadow of Mount Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments — the law of God on earth, demanding obedience from kings, priests, and commoners alike.

Centuries later, democracies emerged along the Hellenic coasts of Greece, while the Roman Republic arose on the Italian peninsula. These societies were imperfect but freer than the empires around them.

In Greece, that freedom lasted until Philip II of Macedon devoured the city-states and left an empire to his son Alexander. After conquering Egypt, Alexander demanded to be known as the “son of Amon,” claiming the aura of godhood and exerting a tyranny like that of the pharaohs.

In Rome, the republic endured for nearly 500 years before falling to imperial rule. The Julio-Claudian line eventually produced Caligula, who demanded to be adored as a god in the Temple of Solomon itself. Thus came the tyranny of the Caesars.

In medieval Europe, kings could not claim to be gods. But they could claim to be anointed by God, placing their crowns above ordinary men as surely as the stars appear above the sea.

King John of England ruled through vis et voluntas — force and will. The rapacity of his will and the weakness of his rule led to Magna Carta in 1215, the first great liberating document written in Europe since the Roman Republic.

A descendant of King John, Henry VIII, placed in his own person the powers of king and head of the church. He claimed to rule by divine right. The kings who followed asserted the same claim: that all beneath the sun was beneath them by God’s will.

So it is that the history of humanity is, in large part, the history of tyranny.

Then a descendant of that line, George III, inspired Jefferson’s line of revolutionary fire: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

That sentence means all of us possess the same rights, and no one has a superior right to take them away — no pharaoh, emperor, conqueror, king, queen, or dictator.

RELATED: America’s birth defect did not define our destiny

Stevanovicigor/Getty Images

If our rights are given to us equally by God, then none may rule over us by claiming we are unequal. Among those rights are faith, speech, assembly, and the right to remove from power those who misgovern us.

Thus, our government is our servant — never our master.

By that one line, the tyranny present throughout human history was turned upside down. Humanity knew real liberty in a new and enduring way.

The foremost lesson of history is that tyranny is always with us.

In recent history, the murderous Bolsheviks toppled the 300-year empire of the czars, looted and burned churches, and murdered priests. They knew God would never be a socialist Bolshevik, so they placed themselves above God.

When Hitler came to power, he sought to eradicate the Jewish people, murdering 6 million Jews. He knew that neither the Jews nor God would join the socialist Nazi Party, so he placed himself above God.

In China, Mao Zedong drove the moral center out of his nation through a murderous purge, killing tens of millions of his own people in the name of revolution. Confucius had no place in Mao’s socialist order, so Mao placed himself above God.

Such is tyranny in our own time.

In America today, democratic socialists attack the faith of our Jewish neighbors and fellow citizens. They seek the removal of the Ten Commandments from schools and public squares. They attack Christianity and Western civilization. They insist that our nation under God is evil and must be remade.

It is socialism in America that must be defeated.

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the greatest sentence ever written in the history of freedom, let us hold fast to God, the creator and guarantor of our rights.

Let us hold fast to that line of revolutionary fire with a will of steel — for the sake of all our liberties.

​Thomas jefferson, John adams, Goshen, George iii, Divine right of kings, Democracy, Natural rights, Tyranny, America 250, Socialism, Opinion & analysis 

For years, the New York Times has taken an openly and aggressively progressive stance on immigration — favoring expanded legal immigration, citizenship for illegal immigrants, and asylum protections, while opposing strict enforcement measures like expanded border walls, mass deportations, or reduced refugee admissions.

Anyone who thought otherwise was labeled racist, xenophobic, or a white nationalist.

But it seems one of the Times’ biggest names has begun to backtrack ever so slightly.

Last week, BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo sat down with opinion columnist and podcaster Ezra Klein for an honest conversation about a number of divisive issues, including immigration.

Klein’s surprising comments may be symptomatic of cracks forming in the progressive consensus that treated any hesitation about mass immigration as inherently bigoted.

Reflecting on the interview, Rufo tells co-host Jonathan Keeperman, “I made the argument that it’s totally legitimate to be concerned about rapid, large-scale immigration change.”

To his surprise, Klein didn’t totally disagree.

“In some versions [of white nationalism], … if you have too much of a country not sharing a common heritage, you lose solidarity. In some cases, we’re talking about something much darker than that, right?” Klein contrasted. “There are people who just don’t like the way their community is changing, and there’s the KKK.”

“But would you say someone who is, like, for example, hesitant about rapid, large-scale demographic change is just a kind of 1% white nationalist? Because that would be, like, the majority of the country,” Rufo pressed.

“Yes, I don’t think it is a problem or unfair or even wrong to worry about large-scale, rapid demographic change,” Klein conceded.

Rufo believes this response is indicative of a broader shift.

“A couple years ago, you would not hear a prominent New York Times voice saying that it is totally legitimate, reasonable, and understandable to be concerned about large-scale, rapid demographic change,” he says, noting how the left routinely scorned such fears as byproducts of “the Great Replacement theory” and “KKK-style white supremacy.”

“Is this a concession? Is this going to be the … moderate left’s or the establishment left’s new position moving forward?” he asks.

Keeperman doesn’t believe Klein’s rhetorical concession amounts to much.

“It does not surprise me at all to hear him concede rhetorically that these things matter, that it’s OK to be concerned about … rapid demographic change, to have some concern about national identity,” he tells Rufo. “That is meaningless, however, unless it’s backed up by actual policy preferences that he’s willing to get behind.”

Until the New York Times “[makes] some kind of policy concession that would suggest they are serious about taking this concern to heart,” Keeperman refuses to believe the left is sincerely softening its stance on immigration.

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​Rufo & lomez, Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Ezra klein, New york times, Mass immigration 

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said the congressional oversight committee should investigate the Patriot Front group after its march on the Fourth of July.

Masked members of the white supremacist group marched through Washington, D.C., and at one point were photographed surrounding a black woman on public transit.

‘There are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, reprehensible, but in America, free speech is allowed.’

On Monday, Luna said the group should finally be investigated.

“What I find odd about Patriot Front is how under Biden they were never investigated,” she wrote in a statement on social media Monday.

“Well funded. Never investigated,” she added. “FBI under Biden looked into Catholics instead. So, looks like [the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform] should do some digging.

About 400 members of the group marched through D.C. on Saturday, and some carried the U.S. flag upside down to signify distress.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the group’s right to free speech on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Certainly what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with,” Burgum said, “but one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech, and there are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, reprehensible, but in America, free speech is allowed, and this is by the whole spectrum of things.”

RELATED: ‘You have to be completely out of your f**king mind’: Eric Adams rips into Mamdani aide over white supremacist comment

Burgum would not commit to advise President Donald Trump to condemn the demonstration.

Luna is the chair of the committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.

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​Washington dc, White supremacist, Free speech, Patriot front, Rep anna paulina luna, Politics 

Veteran political strategist Donna Brazile faced fierce criticism after her response to sexual assault allegations against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.

Platner has faced a damaging series of scandals, but the latest allegations are leading many Democrats to rescind their endorsements and call for him to step down.

‘He’s got a pattern of abusing women and you’re empathizing with him?’

While Brazile did call for Platner to be replaced, she also said he needed time to heal.

“It’s time for Mr. Platner to step aside and be replaced,” she wrote in a post on social media.

“Platner needs time to heal, focus on his family and well-being. Enough. Enough,” she continued.

Her strange reaction was lambasted by critics online.

“Why does he need ‘time to heal’ from assaulting women?” one user responded.

“So your main concern here is the mental health and well-being of the accused rapist? Interesting you didn’t say anything about his victim,” another reply reads.

“Wait a minute. Platner’s accused of sexual assault, and HE needs ‘time to heal’?? It sounds like he needs time to chill behind bars!” another user said.

“Heal from what? He’s got a pattern of abusing women and you’re empathizing with him?” another user replied.

“The time for Platner to heal will be after his ironically named cellmate Tiny, who is also a sexual reprobate, is done with him,” another user joked.

Politico first reported the allegations of rape by a woman who dated Platner nearly five years ago.

RELATED: ‘Should be nowhere near Congress’: Even ‘The View’ thinks Platner is a TERRIBLE candidate

Platner was also accused of sending sexually explicit messages to women while he was still married to his wife.

If Platner chooses to step down from the campaign, it would severely deflate Democrats’ hopes of wresting away control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans.

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​Democrats, Donna brazile, Graham platner, Rape allegations, Us senate, Politics 

In a massive win for women’s sports, this week the Supreme Court ruled that states have the authority to maintain sports teams based on biological sex — upholding laws in West Virginia and Idaho.

But the decision comes after young girls have already been traumatized.

“It was really her eighth-grade season when things started to get worse. She was coming home increasingly frustrated, telling us about mean and then sexually inappropriate things that this boy was saying to her,” a mother whose daughter was forced to play alongside a boy recalled in an interview.

“One day she came home and told me that he was telling her and other girls to ‘Suck my D-word.’ This was happening frequently during track practice and in the locker room from a boy who was saying he was a girl,” she continued.

“So this was really shocking and alarming to us,” she added.

“What did you do at that point?” the interviewer asked.

“We had a coach reach out to us, actually, that same day to tell us that Adelaia had lost her competition spot to this boy, and she wanted to let us know that she felt it was unfair. So we told her about the inappropriate comments and surprisingly, to us, she said that she had also heard him say many inappropriate things,” the mother replied.

The mother also explained that this boy had been asking the girls for nude photographs during track meets and taking “other inappropriate actions towards boys and girls during the season.”

The coach also had a daughter on the team and told Adelaia’s mother that she was “deeply concerned” but “couldn’t say anything for fear of losing her job.”

“So after this conversation, I was so alarmed. I spoke about it with Adelaia and told her that I felt the situation had become unsafe for her and the other girls. And I’ll never forget, she said to me after that, ‘Mom, that’s not the worst thing PJ has ever said to me,’” the mother explained.

“I just felt sick as I read that he had said to her, ‘I’m going to stick my D-word in your P-word,’” she added.

“My gosh,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says, disturbed.

“They know that he’s doing it, and it doesn’t matter, because heaven forbid they say anything about a boy who identifies as a girl,” he adds.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Pat gray, Supreme court, Transgender, Womens sports, Trans, Pat gray unleashed 

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s campaign is in hot water again after new allegations of sexual misconduct were reported Monday. Now his campaign against Susan Collins hangs by a very thin thread.

Platner issued a two-minute video response on Monday afternoon in light of a new report from Politico. In the report a woman, described as someone who once dated Platner, accused him of “sexual assault.”

‘Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.’

In the video, Platner denied the allegations against him, calling them “troubling, serious, and false,” adding that “any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.”

The progressive Democrat spent the beginning of the video praising the movement his candidacy built and “the largest volunteer base in the history of Maine politics,” fueled by “a focus on defeating Susan Collins.”

Noting the seriousness of the allegations, however, Platner then made a remark that had some viewers asking questions about the future of his campaign: “So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.”

While no definitive statement about the future of his campaign was given in his response, Platner did, however, promise to keep fighting for the base of supporters he amassed over the duration of his campaign.

RELATED: Democrats close ranks around Graham Platner despite string of scandals

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

“On June 9, 154,058 Mainers — the most in primary history — voted to reject a broken politics beholden to Washington and the donor class. They voted for hope, for change, to take back our economy, to take back our power, and to take back our Senate seat,” Platner said in the video.

“Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition and see Susan Collins defeated. And we will use every tool at our disposal to do so,” he added. “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

While Platner is not himself officially a part of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America, which has seen some success in recent primaries across the country, his progressive platform may appear to resemble the more radical wing of the party.

While some notable figures have expressed their skepticism of Platner, one Democrat leader has stuck with him through the multiple scandals that have arisen during his campaign.

Steve Guest posted a clip of a press conference earlier this year with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer being asked about Graham Platner and the explanations he has given for the past allegations.

Schumer gave a consistent answer, explicitly saying, “I endorsed Graham Platner,” and said they will defeat Susan Collins and “take back the Senate.” The clip shows Schumer’s apparent preference for Platner over establishment Democrat candidate Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign at the end of April.

Graham Platner handily won the June 9 primary and will face Collins in November, if his campaign continues.

Hours later, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who previously supported Platner’s campaign, released a statement on social media: “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Blaze News contacted Rep. Ro Khanna and Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Penn.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) but did not immediately receive a response.

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​Chuck schumer, Democratic socialists of america, Establishment democrats, Graham platner, Janet mills, November election, Sexual misconduct allegations, Video response, Politics 

A Millennial Democrat hoping to dive into the U.S. Senate has abandoned her campaign after damaging posts she made about her constituents resurfaced.

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, 39, announced on Sunday that she was throwing in the towel and endorsing whichever competitor wins the Democratic primary in the pivotal race.

McMorrow called for a change in the leadership of the Democratic Party and said she would continue in that fight.

“I want to be very clear about what this announcement is not. I may be suspending this campaign, but I am not leaving the fight,” McMorrow wrote in a statement on social media.

The Democrat tried to launch the Senate campaign after a speech she gave at the 2024 DNC went viral online, but her campaign was damaged greatly by the resurfaced posts. She had deleted thousands of tweets, but a CNN investigation documented the missing missives.

“I had a dream that the US amicably broke off into The Ring (coasts+Can+Mex+parts Mich/Tex) and Middle America,” she wrote after Democrats lost the 2016 presidential election.

McMorrow, who lived for a time in California, responded positively in another post to a user calling everyone outside California “morons.”

“There are days like these that make me miss California even more,” Morrow responded at the time.

She also appeared to try to cover up posts that contradicted her claim in her book that she moved to Michigan “permanently” in 2014.

In her announcement Sunday, McMorrow called for a change in the leadership of the Democratic Party and said she would continue in that fight.

RELATED: CNN unearths embarrassing deleted tweets from Michigan Democrat running for Senate — it could tank her campaign

“I love this country. I love Michigan. And I love the little girl who waves at me from the window every morning, trusting the grown-ups to leave her a state and a country worth inheriting,” McMorrow wrote about her daughter.

“That’s who I’m fighting for. And I’m not going anywhere,” she added. “I hope you’ll join me.”

The Michigan primary election will be held on August 4.

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​Mallory mcmorrow, Social media, Michigan, Us senate, Politics 

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is demanding that the Trump administration hit Chinese generic drugmakers with new tariffs over their alleged use of Uyghur forced labor, according to a letter exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

Scott, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, sent the letter Monday to Ambassador Jamieson Greer of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative — and he’s naming names.

‘Forced labor practices are categorically unacceptable and create a dynamic in which American workers and manufacturers are undercut.’

He singled out Sinopharm, China’s largest state-owned pharmaceutical conglomerate, as an entity under scrutiny for forced-labor ties in Xinjiang, where China has detained more than 1 million Uyghurs since 2017. The company retains an active pharmaceutical import license in the United States despite the scrutiny.

“Recent reports raise concerns about whether upstream suppliers serving the U.S. generic drug market may abuse Uyghur forced labor,” Scott wrote.

Sinopharm and other Chinese firms, Scott claimed, feed key ingredients into Indian generic drug manufacturers — some of which supply a large share of America’s Medicaid-reimbursed prescriptions.

Scott wrote, “Forced labor practices are categorically unacceptable and create a dynamic in which American workers and manufacturers are undercut by non-viable competitive pricing reliant on the systemic exploitation of human beings.”

Sinopharm and Greer did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

RELATED: Eli Lilly strikes a $3 billion Chinese drug deal

Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The senator is calling on USTR to apply its already-proposed Section 301 tariffs to generic drugs and ingredients wherever forced labor or Chinese state subsidies are propping up the market. The rates are currently set at 10% and 12.5%.

But he’s not stopping there. Scott wants an entirely new, higher tariff tier created specifically to punish “the most egregious participants in forced labor use.” He’s also demanding that the drug tariffs hit at the same time as tariffs on every other Chinese good — no carve-outs, no delays.

He says current enforcement doesn’t come close to matching the scale of the problem. Despite the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s presumption that anything made in Xinjiang involves “forced labor,” only one of 43 licensed pharmaceutical companies in the region has actually landed on the UFLPA Entity List.

Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection data shows pharmaceuticals and chemicals are the second-largest category of goods blocked under forced-labor import laws, Scott claimed. More than $19 million in shipments have been denied entry since 2022.

RELATED: Chinese fraudster convicted for ripping off Americans with bogus COVID tests

Jabin Botsford/Washington Post/Getty Images

The tariff push is one of several efforts under way to confront the issue. Separately, other proposals are seeking to restrict taxpayer-funded Medicaid reimbursement for medications whose upstream production relies on forced labor, alongside a push to add significantly more Xinjiang-linked entities to the UFLPA Entity List.

Scott framed the tariff request as part of a much larger pattern of Chinese trade abuse. He pointed to currency manipulation, China’s spot on the USTR’s Priority Watch List for intellectual property theft, its blown commitments under the 2020 Phase One trade deal, and a Chinese mining company’s alleged role covering up a pollution disaster in Zambia.

“China’s reputation as both a trade cheat and a human rights violator remains unparalleled in the global economy,” Scott wrote.

The letter builds on Scott’s broader campaign against America’s reliance on Chinese-linked generic drugs. It follows an October 2025 investigative report he released with Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and the bipartisan Clear Labels Act, which the two introduced in January to force country-of-origin labeling on prescription drugs.

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​Politics, Prescription drugs, Rick scott, Trump administration, Us trade representative, Uyghurs, China 

Immigration isn’t just one issue among many — it’s the issue driving nearly every other political battle in America.

And after the latest Supreme Court ruling to uphold a broad conception of birthright citizenship and reject President Donald Trump’s executive order, BlazeTV host John Doyle is sounding the alarm.

“It’s kind of like if you have cancer for years, and now it’s progressed to stage three. Well, because the cancer’s been around for a while, you actually just have to let it progress to stage four. It would be inconsiderate to the tumor,” Doyle says.

“Don’t you believe in growth for the sake of growth? The ideology of a tumor, it’s completely suicidal,” he continues, explaining that the ruling “has to be defied in some way, very legally, very coolly.”

“And Kavanaugh, though he technically dissented, he did so on a statutory basis, and basically you can’t just overturn this with an executive order; you have to pass legislation to do so,” Doyle says.

“There’s already guys in Congress working to get legislation here, so it’s not the end of everything. And frankly, just going decade to decade, the fact that we even have a president who is willing to challenge this and people occupying Congress, even if in the minority, willing to challenge, I’ll take that as an absolute win,” he continues.

However, Doyle notes that it “doesn’t really matter how it’s done.”

“This is obviously a civilizational threat to us, a threat to the lives of patriots specifically, especially considering travel is far easier now than it was in the 19th century. Anyone can literally just show up here in a day and give birth, secure citizenship,” he says.

“If you are a foreigner, the easiest thing in the world for you to do is to get pregnant and plop out the baby on U.S. soil, and then Amy Coney Barrett will be there to catch it,” he adds.

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The husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may face charges after he allegedly drove his convertible into a parked car in Napa Valley and drove away Friday.

The Napa County Sheriff’s Office said deputies found Paul Pelosi about a quarter of a mile away from the alleged accident with damage to the front of his brown Maserati.

‘Mr. Paul Pelosi has personally apologized to the owner of the vehicle.’

Police said he told them he hit something but was unaware of what caused the damage to his vehicle.

No injuries were reported. A witness saw the crash and called 911 at about 2:30 p.m.

The 86-year-old did not have alcohol in his system, according to police. He was not arrested, and the sheriff’s office recommended a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident.

Photos of the damage in the case were obtained and published by the New York Post.

The sheriff’s office also said it referred Paul Pelosi to the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine whether he should be allowed to continue driving.

Paul Pelosi previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence in Napa County in 2022. He was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation but served only two days in jail.

A spokesperson for the Pelosis released a brief statement about the hit-and-run report.

“Mr. Paul Pelosi has personally apologized to the owner of the vehicle and assured them that he would take responsibility for the damage to their vehicle,” the spokesperson said. “Speaker Pelosi will not be commenting further on this private matter.”

RELATED: Bodycam footage from the Paul Pelosi attack FINALLY released

Paul Pelosi was also apparently involved in a lethal car accident when he was only 16 years old.

His 19-year-old brother David was killed when Pelosi crashed his sports car near San Mateo in 1957, according to the Daily Mail, citing an article from the San Francisco Examiner in February 1957.

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With just a few months under new leadership in the gaming division, Microsoft is set to perform a significant overhaul of Xbox, including a number of job cuts in the process.

Microsoft’s Xbox is planning some major changes to the company — with some staff reductions starting as soon as Monday — under the new CEO, Asha Sharma.

‘I also want to be direct that the roles eliminated today are not being replaced by AI. At the same time, what is true is that AI is changing how work gets done.’

Bloomberg reported that Xbox plans to lay off 3,200 workers in that division alone. Some 1,600 jobs were reportedly eliminated on Monday, and 1,600 more are planned over the next 12 months.

Planned cuts across Microsoft, including outside Xbox, on Monday amounted to 6,400 employees, according to Bloomberg.

RELATED: Microsoft says business must pay to use its AI — and eyes cheap Chinese model for lowly consumers

Finn Gomez/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

“We are still early on this journey, and there will be more changes ahead; other parts of our business will need to make similar changes,” Chief People Officer Amy Coleman wrote in a memo published on Monday.

In addition to the staff reductions, Xbox is seemingly gearing up to reverse course on several growth initiatives overseen by Sharma’s predecessor, Phil Spencer.

Xbox will reportedly sell or attempt to sell five different studios in the near future, all of which were acquired under Spencer in an attempt to grow the company.

These studios include Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Double Fine, and Compulsion Games, with a view to sell a fifth studio based in Lyon, France, that has yet to begin the consultation process to “review potential strategic options.” Bloomberg reported this process will take longer due to strict labor laws in the country.

Sharma wrote that those acquisitions over the past decade “created meaningful value,” but “they did not grow at the pace we expected,” adding that “in a typical year” Xbox was losing 64 cents for every dollar it invested.

Sharma said that the restructuring would affect several internal studios as well, including Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. She emphasized the importance of Mojang (Minecraft) and King (Candy Crush) and added that they would now report directly to her as the two consistent cash cows of the company.

While many employees worry that their jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence, especially in the tech industry, Coleman addressed this issue head-on: “I also want to be direct that the roles eliminated today are not being replaced by AI. At the same time, what is true is that AI is changing how work gets done. Some of the tasks we do every day can now be automated, and that means we all need to keep learning, keep building new skills, and keep adapting as the work evolves.”

This announcement comes just months after Microsoft’s first-ever buyout program for retirement-age employees in the United States. Coleman’s announcement reported that 30% of eligible employees chose to participate in the program. In April, CNBC reported that there were roughly 125,000 U.S. Microsoft employees as of June 2025 and that about 7% of the workforce was eligible for this one-time program.

Assuming these figures are accurate, this program may have bought out up to around 2,600 more employees earlier this year.

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