Category: blaze media

After months of calls for our leaders to investigate and put an end to legal immigration abuses, the Trump administration has begun to play offense.

On Wednesday, Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito appeared on Fox Business to announce a major development in the Department of Labor’s fraud investigations.

‘As the Inspector General, my top priorities are exposing fraud, protecting American workers, and putting criminals in cuffs.’

The focus, according to the inspector general, is on the H-1B visa program and PERM, otherwise known as the Program Electronic Review Management system. He said these investigations “without a doubt” have yielded evidence of fraud — and “human trafficking.”

In the interview, D’Esposito said the Department of Labor will take “what we believe is probably the most aggressive action against foreign labor fraud by an inspector general in this administration.”

He added that the agency has “already started to issue dozens of subpoenas. We are going to make sure that we track down every lead.” He mentioned that there are “whistleblowers talking about some of the biggest companies, like Cognizant, who have been … in chatter of issues with PERM and H-1B visas.”

While the investigation does not in itself indicate any form of wrongdoing, according to Department of Labor data from the second quarter of 2026, it is true that Cognizant draws heavily from the H-1B program.

RELATED: Trump DOJ charges 455 people allegedly tied to $6.5B in health care fraud

Bonnie Cash/Getty Images

In this three-month data set alone, Cognizant successfully certified approximately 3,440 H-1B visas, according to government data.

A similar review of PERM data from 2025 revealed that the top 10 companies that use this program are:

Microsoft Corporation;FPL Food LLC;Consolidated Catfish Producers LLC;South Georgia Pecan Company;JCG Foods of Georgia LLC;Akash Management LLC;Oracle America Inc.;Merit Logistics;Wal-Mart Associates Inc.; andSalesforce Inc.

The PERM program had roughly 80,700 certified applications in 2025. However, it is important to note that this program is not itself a visa issuance program. Rather, it is a preliminary step toward approval in certain visa categories.

“My team, in conjunction with President Trump and Vice President Vance’s Fraud Task Force, has worked relentlessly to uncover fraud, safeguard taxpayer dollars, and hold bad actors accountable. For far too long, fraudsters believed they could game the U.S. employment-based visa system and get away with it. They were wrong,” D’Esposito said in a Tuesday press release.

“This isn’t just paperwork fraud — it’s the exploitation of vulnerable workers, forced labor, the displacement of American workers, and abusive human trafficking. As the Inspector General, my top priorities are exposing fraud, protecting American workers, and putting criminals in cuffs.”

D’Esposito added that his team will be working closely with President Trump and Vice President Vance’s Fraud Task Force “to exhaust every lead.”

Blaze News reached out to Cognizant as well as the Office of the Inspector General but did not immediately receive a response.

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​Department of labor, Human trafficking, Trump administration, Jd vance, Donald trump, Politics, H-1b visas 

Border czar Tom Homan said the efforts by Democrats in New York to protect illegal aliens from deportation are going to backfire very soon.

During an interview with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, Homan argued that the sanctuary city policies made everything worse for the public as well as the immigrant community.

‘It results in more agents in the streets, it results in more collateral arrests, and it’s a community safety issue, when you release a public safety threat back into the public.’

He said the Justice Department was filing lawsuits to combat the sanctuary city policies and then held up Minnesota as a successful example of local authorities cooperating with federal law enforcement.

“The way we fixed Minnesota, we gained support from the local sheriffs so we can arrest the bad guy in the safety and security of a jail, which is safer for the agent, safer for the alien, and safer for the community,” Homan said.

He said this led to “unprecedented support” from Minnesota officials and safer detentions and removals. Homan said he tried to explain the same to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat.

“I explained this to Governor Hochul. And I said, ‘When you force us into the street, we gotta send teams out there to do that.’ And when we find the bad guy, which we will, many times they’re with others, others that are in the country illegally. May not be a public safety threat, but they’re coming too.”

“It results in more agents in the streets, it results in more collateral arrests, and it’s a community safety issue when you release a public safety threat back into the public,” he added.

When Beck asked how Hochul responded, Homan laughed and said she signed the sanctuary policies despite his warning.

“And that’s why I told her, ‘OK, now you’ve forced us to send more agents to New York to enforce immigration law, when it would have taken less because you took the efficiencies of the jail away,'” he continued.

“And what she’s ignoring is the fact, now we can’t rent a bed from the sheriff,” Homan said. “So every illegal alien we arrest in New York will be immediately put on an airplane and sent out of the state. How does that benefit the immigrant community?”

“They have no access to their family because we moved them out of state,” Homan continued. “So, this wasn’t about protecting the immigrant community. This is about her supporting sanctuary policy.”

RELATED: California Democrat calls for ICE to be abolished after ‘record’ illegal alien arrests

He concluded that the administration is forced to respond with a surge into New York.

“What sanctuary cities are causing, because of their policies, is we’re going to flood the zone,” Homan said.

“All these new resources are going to be assigned to sanctuary cities because that’s where the problem is. We don’t have that problem in Florida. We don’t have that problem in Texas. The sheriffs and chiefs are working with us,” he added.

Homan also recently revealed that ICE had arrested a record 10,000 illegal aliens in a five-day period, and the agency was ramping up to increase those arrests even further.

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​Border czar, Ny gov kathy hochul, Sanctuary city policies, Illegal aliens, Glenn beck, Immigration, Illegal immigration, Tom homan 

For most Americans, the Fourth of July is a time to celebrate the nation’s founding, honor those who fought for its freedom, and reflect on the ideals that shaped the freest country in the world.

However, many voices on the left used the holiday for something else entirely: another opportunity to attack President Trump.

“It’s a good day. It’s a fun day. How could you possibly be angry about this day?” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales asks, before revealing that journalist Chuck Todd and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) found a way to be angry about it anyway.

Todd began his Fourth of July spiel by claiming Trump “ruined the American brand and the American birthday celebration.”

“The country had a bipartisan, congressionally created America 250 effort. It might have been a little messy. Might have even been a little bland at times, but that would have been fine because sometimes bland is the point,” Todd said on “The Chuck ToddCast.”

“Sometimes bland is how you make room for everybody. Maybe a little bit hokey and bland, right? But Trump couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave it alone. He created his own version of the celebration,” he continued, denigrating Trump’s Freedom 250 task force.

“It’s not your moment, Donald Trump. You selfish guy, you. I’m so angry and feel betrayed. I do. I feel betrayed as an American by him on this. And this is why I’m so pissed off. Not because I love the country less. Because I love the idea of America enough to resent seeing it cheapened by this man,” he added.

“Imagine being this low-T, soy-boy loser,” Gonzales comments.

Todd wasn’t alone in his outrage, as Gov. Gavin Newsom also gave an anti-Trump speech in honor of Independence Day.

“Two hundred and fifty years ago, 56 men in Philadelphia signed their names to one of the most radical sentences ever written: that governments derive ‘their just powers from the consent of the governed,’” Newsom said.

“And today on this Independence Day, the radical idea behind that clause, it’s again under threat from one man who exhibits the very behaviors our founding fathers fought against, a corrupt and unstable president,” he added.

“What behaviors? Cite your sources, please,” Gonzales comments, pointing out that the clip she just played was less than 30 seconds of an eight-minute speech.

“It was eight minutes of Gavin Newsom trashing President Trump. And they want to say that Trump made the day about him. He didn’t have to. You guys did,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales, Gavin newsom, Donald trump, Chuck todd, July 4th, Independence day, Freedom 250, America, Sara gonzales unfiltered 

On Monday night, the U.S. men’s national team lost 4-1 to Belgium, concluding its run in the FIFA 2026 World Cup. The crushing defeat was a massive upset, as much of the nation had high hopes the team would make a serious run this time — maybe even win the whole tournament.

Those hopes, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock argues, largely stemmed from the fact that the team had more black players on its roster than ever before. Many U.S. fans, he says, mistakenly assumed that blacker equals better.

France was the proof. Its national team — Les Bleus — has long had one of the highest proportions of players with black or African heritage in international soccer, and for roughly the last 25-30 years, it has been one of the most consistently strong and dominant teams in World Cups.

But the blowout against Belgium — which even kept its best player, Kevin De Bruyne, on the bench — proved the same formula flopped in the U.S.

“They used this World Cup to sell you globalism, and you fell for it,” Whitlock comments, highlighting how the U.S.’ star forward, Folarin Balogun, was born in the U.S. but spent his entire life in London.

While Whitlock didn’t agree with the red card Balogun received in the game against Bosnia, he disliked Trump’s involvement and FIFA’s reversal of the suspension even more.

“If he were good enough to actually play for England, that’s where he would have played,” Whitlock says, “and watching a group of international, loosely connected, dark-skinned guys put their hands over their heart during the national anthem while this Balogun pretended like he was singing the national anthem … it didn’t move me.”

“This is the false, phony patriotism that they want you to have. It’s very soft. It’s meaningless,” he adds, calling the World Cup “a TV show” where it “[marketed] this myth” that the U.S. was a genuine contender this time.

But the loss to Belgium exposed our limits and the inauthenticity of our “globalist” roster.

Belgium, Whitlock says, was so nonchalant about the game that it sat its three best players — Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Jeremy Doku — for the majority of the game.

“Belgium, despite all this ‘fear’ and ‘discomfort,’ [said], ‘Larry Bird, Magic, Michael, you guys sit down. Mike, we’ll put you in at the end of the game when it’s over, let you get a goal,” he analogizes. “That’s how concerned Belgium was.”

If the U.S. really wants to be a top competitor in the soccer world, Whitlock argues it has to stop prioritizing women’s sports. “When you make a decision as a country to invest far more money in developing women than men, there are consequences for that, and no one wants to have that conversation.”

“We wanted World Cups for women, and that’s what we’ve got. We won four World Cups. We’re the most dominant team in the Women’s World Cup. We’ve prioritized what’s important to us,” he says.

But the price we pay is that our men’s team is perpetually subpar, and no amount of “[buying] some of this extra African talent” trying to become “baby France” is going to fix it, he chides.

“We’re not going to beat France at the game of buying and renting Africans to play soccer. … They’ve been doing it for longer than us. They have stronger connections. They got more African migrants in their country.”

“This whole little phony passion that we have for the World Cup … it’s falling for the television show,” Whitlock says.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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​Fearless with jason whitlock, Jason whitlock, World cup 2026, Usmnt 

A 17-year-old Alabama male is accused of stabbing his mother to death and seriously wounding his father reportedly after an argument over discipline Sunday night, WALA-TV reported.

The suspect faces murder and attempted murder charges, the station said.

‘Please help me, I don’t want to die.’

Investigators with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office identified the teen’s mother as 37-year-old Samantha Baker, who died outside the family’s home on Augustine Drive in Daphne, WALA reported.

Her husband, 46-year-old Lance Baker, suffered multiple stab wounds, the station said, adding that deputies found him outside a neighboring home, after which he was flown to a hospital. He remained in critical condition Monday, WALA noted.

“Our male who is still in critical condition but is hopefully going to survive — he was running to houses trying to get some help,” Capt. Justin Correa of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office told the station.

Investigators told WALA that the suspect and his parents were in an argument over discipline when the teen stabbed his parents inside and outside the home. The station said the crime scene extended across half the block and into several neighboring yards.

Next-door neighbor Shawn Scurry told WALA she reviewed her security camera video after the incident.

“That was probably the hardest part, was pulling up my camera and listening to it and listening to the father yelling for help: ‘Please help me, I don’t want to die,'” Scurry recounted to the station. “And it just carried on down, and it looks like he was trying to find an open door, and I didn’t know where he was or where anybody was.”

RELATED: Male, 25, accused of shooting to death his mother, father, brother, and brother’s girlfriend

Prosecutors said the juvenile locked himself inside the family home and called 911 after the attack, WALA reported, adding that he was arrested at the scene.

Police described the incident as a domestic situation that escalated, the station noted.

“It is really sad. It’s very sad for this family, having to deal with it,” Correa told WALA. “From everything we can see at this point, this was an isolated domestic incident that really just got out of control.”

The suspect appeared in court for a bond hearing Monday morning, the station said, adding that prosecutors requested a high bond. Baldwin County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Doggett argued for the high amount.

WALA’s video report indicated that the teen suspect — whose bond was set at $1 million — is being charged as an adult.

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​Alabama, Baldwin county sheriff’s office, Murder charge, Stabbing, Son, Parents, Teenager, Attempted murder charge, Crime 

This just in from ABC: “The View” is a news program.

Yes, that’s the same “View” that traffics in more conspiracy theories than a tinfoil salesman at an Alex Jones convention.

In 2022, Goldberg claimed without evidence that the GOP planned to take select Americans’ voting rights away as well as a woman’s right to vote.

Ridiculous? Of course it is.

The surprising part isn’t that ABC is saying it. It’s that, for decades, the FCC has effectively treated it that way by exempting programs like “The View” from the agency’s equal-time rules.

Now that long-standing interpretation is under attack — and while it’s hard to argue with mocking the gynocentric gabfest’s journalistic standards, the government shouldn’t be deciding which shows qualify as “real” journalism.

News flush

The dispute traces back to January, when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that late-night and daytime talk shows could no longer rely on a decades-old interpretation of the “bona fide news interview” exemption to the equal-time rule. Carr argued that broadcasters had stretched the exemption beyond recognition, saying legacy networks had treated their talk shows as news programs “even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes.”

Congress created that exemption in 1959 after broadcasters warned that forcing equal time for every candidate interview would discourage political coverage altogether. Lawmakers ultimately concluded that preserving editorial discretion better served the public than having regulators second-guess programming decisions.

The first major test came a few weeks later. Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico appeared on “The View” months before his expected primary against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). Under Carr’s new interpretation, ABC could no longer simply assume the interview qualified for the exemption, prompting the FCC to investigate whether the appearance should have triggered equal-time obligations.

The effects were almost immediate. Citing the same regulatory uncertainty, CBS lawyers advised Stephen Colbert not to air a scheduled interview with Talarico on “The Late Show.” Rather than risk an FCC dispute, Colbert released the interview on YouTube instead, where the agency has no jurisdiction. Whether you sympathize with Colbert or not, the episode demonstrated how quickly regulatory uncertainty can begin shaping editorial decisions.

Narrow ‘View’

Carr’s criticism wasn’t pulled from thin air. The show’s guest lineup is notoriously one-sided. According to the Media Research Center, last year “The View” hosted 128 liberal-leaning guests compared with just two conservatives. One of those two, actress Cheryl Hines, is generally considered “conservative” only because her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., serves in the Trump administration.

The guest tally merely scratches the surface. The Media Research Center has also cataloged nearly 2,500 examples of bias, misinformation and one-sided commentary on “The View.” If Carr wanted evidence that the show resembles partisan advocacy more than journalism, he hardly had to look far.

The latest examples don’t require a fact-checking degree to decipher — just functioning eyes and ears (a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either).

Whoopi world

Let’s start with Whoopi Goldberg. The Oscar winner has used her “View” pulpit to suggest President Donald Trump planned to separate interracial couples. Her proof? Zip … zero … nada. Nobody tell Usha Vance, an Indian-American woman and the second lady.

That kind of commentary is disqualifying on the surface. It’s doubly damning for a verifiable “news” outlet.

More recently, Goldberg and co-host Joy Behar railed against the GOP’s SAVE Act legislation, saying it’s deeply unpopular. Or as both Goldberg and Behar said into their live mics, “nobody wants it.”

Multiple recent polls show that more than 80% of the public want voters to show ID before voting, the thrust of the legislation.

Good luck finding more than 80% of Americans to agree on, well, anything (beyond a white-hot hatred for robocalls).

That’s not just a little bit off. It’s a major embarrassment, particularly for a “news” program.

RELATED: VEEP TV: JD slays in ‘View’ ratings coup

Andrew Harnik/Al Drago/Getty Images

Fact-chuckers

“The View” hosts also sit silently as guests utter the most unhinged comments without a fact-check or pushback. Earlier this year, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) claimed the modern GOP was hell-bent on bringing back slavery.

The four “View” hosts couldn’t raise a single objection, nor ask the veteran Democrat to back up his outlandish claim. Would Walter Cronkite sit still while a guest uttered something so outrageous?

“And that’s the way it isn’t.”

The show’s coverage of Austin Metcalf’s shocking 2025 murder proved how dangerous — yes, dangerous — “The View’s” misinformation can be. Co-host Sunny Hostin lied about the weight disparity between Metcalf and his killer, Karmelo Anthony.

She also lied that Anthony was the only black person in the team’s tent area where the fatal stabbing occurred. Multiple black students were there at the time. Some even testified on behalf of the prosecution.

Some news program. Is it any wonder TikTok accounts repeat misinformation tied to the case?

Fake news fever

And this isn’t a recent problem. “The View” has been twisting the truth like a Bavarian pretzel for years. In 2022, Goldberg claimed without evidence that the GOP planned to take select Americans’ voting rights away as well as a woman’s right to vote.

Evidence? Proof? Hey, Goldberg starred in that adorable “Sister Act” series. That’s enough, apparently.

Two years ago, the same Goldberg said President Trump would throw Americans into camps, including gay Americans, and “disappear” them. Any update on that claim?

In other words, Carr has identified a real problem. His solution is the dangerous part.

Butt out

Treating “The View” as the equivalent of a bona fide news interview program stretches the term beyond recognition. But the government has no business deciding otherwise.

Those slopes can be mighty slippery.

The Twitter Files offered a preview of how quickly government officials can move from combatting misinformation to shaping public debate itself. The power to decide which outlets qualify as “real” journalism won’t remain in the hands of today’s regulators forever. Eventually it will belong to another administration with very different political priorities.

Conservatives, of all people, should understand that lesson. The power you give your friends today will eventually belong to your opponents.

More voices, not fewer. Even if some of those voices would make Cronkite spin like a top in his grave.

​Abcs the view, Austin metcalf, Fcc investigation, James talarico, Joy behar, President donald trump, President trump, Rep jasmine crockett, The twitter files, Usha vance, Whoopi goldberg, Karmelo anthony, Brendan carr, Toto recall 

Fed up with the federal government denigrating American exceptionalism, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 27, 2025, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

“Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” Trump wrote.

‘The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted.’

Trump said his administration would, as a matter of policy, “restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.”

Any curative initiative worth its salt depends upon a robust understanding of the illness at hand and its symptoms. To this end, the White House’s Domestic Policy Council has diagnosed in a lengthy report released on Independence Day the disease afflicting the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and its various manifestations.

At the outset, the report notes that the NMAH should tell the American people — in an honest, proud, and serious manner — where their nation came from, what makes it distinctive, and why it is worth preserving.

Instead, ideologues behind the scenes at the NMAH have in recent years alternatively told revisionist histories in a contemptuous manner and pushed agitprop in an apparent effort to simultaneously advance leftist agendas and to disenchant and disorient visitors.

RELATED: Their likenesses were toppled, yet they still cast long shadows

Alex Wong/Getty Images

The NMAH’s ideological capture goes to the top.

The report highlights the radicalism of Anthea Hartig, the current NMAH director, who apparently:

Regards history as a “prime tool of social justice”;Figures that one of her roles is to connect “research and scholarship to activism and advocacy”;Seeks to “get out of the ‘America First’ mentality” when telling history;Wanted to “problematize the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026”; and Wanted to shift attention in the museum away from an “Anglo-centric” focus on the American founding.

Beyond raising concern about Hartig’s apparent radicalism, the report presents a mountain of evidence showing that the NMAH “purposely presents America as a problematic country irredeemably conceived, founded by deeply flawed men, and still operating today as an instrument of systemic racism and oppression.”

“In the Museum’s current telling,” the report continues, “the country is, above all, defined by white supremacy, slavery, conquest, exclusion, hierarchy, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and systemic injustice.”

The report states, for instance, that the museum:

Failed to hold any special Independence Day events celebrating America’s 250th anniversary on July 4;No longer holds patriotic Star-Spangled Banner flag-folding ceremonies or any other special programming to celebrate Flag Day;Characterized Christopher Columbus as a “murderer,” “slaver,” “killer,” and “thief”;”Slander[s]” America’s founders;Has “consistently denigrated and displaced whites, males, Christians, and Americans in educational materials and programming, failing to highlight how Christians and Christian principles also have contributed to America’s Founding and flourishing”;Teaches visitors that “[ukuleles] are … a product of U.S. imperialism,” Mickey Mouse represents “vestiges of longstanding traditions of blackface minstrelsy,” and “Wild West shows turned the subjugation of Indigenous people into theater”;Devoted 20% of the “Electric Dr. Franklin” exhibit to “Enslaved People,” including baseless speculation about whether his electrical experimentation involved “an indentured servant or an enslaved person”;Endeavors to link every exhibit to race and identity, gender and sexuality, environmental change, immigration and migrations, economic inequality, technological change, and/or nationalism and globalism;Pushes gender ideology in numerous exhibits, one of which features a trans-identifying woman’s chest binder;Targets kids with gender propaganda and claims in its glossary that “a child may feel they are a girl some days and a boy on others, or possibly feel that neither term describes them accurately”; andHeld a recurring meeting for staff members to discuss and read a radical tool kit that identified perfectionism, a sense of urgency, the prioritization of quantity over quality, paternalism, “worship of the written word,” either/or thinking, individualism, and objectivity as “characteristics of white culture which show up in our organizations.”

The Domestic Policy Council concluded that “the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”

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

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​History, Revisionism, Smithsonian, Leftism, Marxism, Donald trump, Domestic policy council, National museum of american history, Deracination, Anthea hartig, Radical, Politics 

President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that America’s ceasefire with Iran is effectively defunct.

The U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, which the president signed on June 17, declared that the signatories and their allies would terminate “military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.”

‘They’re cuckoo.’

In addition to the U.S. agreeing to terminate all types of sanctions against Iran and Iran agreeing not to procure or develop nuclear weapons, the parties agreed to respect one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; continue working on a final peace deal; and keep the Strait of Hormuz clear for the safe passage of commercial vessels.

A tanker transiting the strait and another tanker off the coast of Oman were struck by projectiles on Monday. A third tanker transiting the strait was struck by a drone on Tuesday, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. No casualties were reported on the ships, UKMTO said.

U.S. Central Command claimed the affected ships were flying under the flags of the Marshall Islands, Saudi Arabia, and Liberia, respectively.

CENTCOM said the attacks, for which Tehran reportedly did not claim responsibility, constituted “a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation.”

Qatar and Saudi Arabia also condemned the attacks, calling out Iran by name.

RELATED: Neocons love Trump only when he bombs

Win McNamee/Getty Images

CENTCOM forces executed a series of strikes against Iran, hitting over 80 targets “as an immediate response to Iran’s latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”

In addition to hammering Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, and anti-ship missile capabilities, CENTCOM said it struck over 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait.

On Tuesday, the U.S. also re-imposed sanctions on Iranian oil.

Iran subsequently launched strikes, targeting American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed in a statement obtained by Iranian state media on Wednesday that “the naval and aerospace forces of the IRGC, through joint missile and drone operations, destroyed 85 major U.S. military installations in Port Salman, (the U.S.) Fifth Naval Base in Bahrain, and Kuwait’s Ali Salem Airbase, and shot down an enemy MQ9 drone that attempted to interfere in the operation.”

A U.S. official told CNN that “all missiles and drones fired by Iran were intercepted or failed to hit anything or cause major damage.”

“Bottom line, Iran’s response was defeated,” the official added.

Trump was asked about the ceasefire on Wednesday during a meeting at the NATO summit in Turkey with the military alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte.

Trump said, “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people. And they’re vicious, violent people.”

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. … There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo,” Trump continued.

Trump told reporters at the NATO summit that the U.S. will hit Iran “hard again tonight.”

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​Iran, Strait of hormuz, Memorandum of understanding, Tehran, Oil, Donald trump, Nato, Politics 

A former Indiana substitute teacher has learned her fate after authorities said she sent nude photos of herself to a 14-year-old middle school student.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by WXIX-TV, the investigation began Dec. 1, 2023, when a 14-year-old student reported to a school resource officer that a middle school substitute teacher had sent him nude photographs of herself.

‘The fact that they felt comfortable enough to tell an adult to bring this forward was an important part of this investigation.’

The school resource officer then informed the principal, court records stated.

Court documents identified the suspect as Cassidy Carter, who was 21 at the time of the incident.

WXIX reported that Carter was employed as a substitute teacher at South Dearborn Community School Corporation when the child sex misconduct accusations surfaced.

The victim told authorities that he and Carter became friends on the Snapchat social media and messaging app around the beginning of November, according to the court documents.

Citing authorities, Fox News reported that Carter sent the teen nude photos of herself every time she took a shower, often late at night.

The teen also informed investigators that Carter told him she was in love with him, according to court records.

Investigators analyzed the teen’s phone and found several messages and nude pictures of Carter on it, WXIX reported.

Dearborn County Sheriff Shane McHenry spoke with WXIX about the allegations in February 2024, saying of the case: “Shocking, no. Alarming, yes.”

McHenry applauded the victim for coming forward: “But the fact that they felt comfortable enough to tell an adult to bring this forward was an important part of this investigation.”

RELATED: ‘You stripped me of my innocence’: Ex-teacher accused of sexually abusing teen in classroom indicted on new child sex charges

Carter was arrested in February 2024 and initially charged with one count of child solicitation.

However, Dearborn County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens amended the charge after the victim moved out of the area and no longer wanted anything to do with the case, WXIX reported.

Carter pleaded guilty to one count of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, according to WXIX.

This week Carter was sentenced to two years in jail; a judge gave Carter two days of credit.

The South Dearborn Community School Corporation did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

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​Teacher arrested, Bad teacher, Teacher sex scandal, Teacher student sex scandal, Cassidy carter, Child sex abuse, Crime, Indiana 

Another Democrat has tried and failed to distance himself from previous statements against law enforcement.

Abdul El-Sayed, the 41-year-old Islamic leftist who ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2018 then served two years later on former President Joe Biden’s Unity Task Force for Healthcare, is running as a Democrat to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate.

‘I didn’t want them to be taken out of context like this.’

Enjoying the help of the Democratic Socialists of America and endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), El-Sayed — the son of an Egyptian immigrant — has led establishment Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens by several points in recent polls ahead of the Michigan Democratic primary on Aug. 4.

Since launching his Senate campaign in April 2025, El-Sayed has attempted to downplay some of his anti-police rhetoric and gaslight about what he had said previously, telling the Detroit News in an interview published mid-November, “I want to be clear, I actually never, never called for defunding.”

Of course, that wasn’t anywhere close to being true.

Among the thousands of tweets he deleted before launching his campaign was a tweet where El-Sayed stated in June 2020, “Most major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about.”

RELATED: Front-runner Democrat back on his heels after ex-staffer indicted in anti-Jewish attacks in Michigan

Photo by Sarah Rice/Getty Images

Per the Detroit News, another said, “#GeorgeFloyd and hundreds of other Black folks are murdered because our police departments are OVERfunded. #COVID19 devastated us, in part, because our health departments are UNDERfunded. There’s an obvious answer: take from one and give to the other.”

El-Sayed explicitly called for the defunding of police in multiple interviews reviewed by CNN’s KFile.

For instance, according to KFile, he told Detroit Public Radio in June 2020, “I believe that we do need to defund the police insofar as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets.”

In a 2020 WDET-FM interview, the Democratic candidate emphasized the need to spell out what was meant by the hashtag, stating, “Defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets and investing more in the means of educating and empowering and engaging communities with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty that we’ve allowed to fester in too many communities.”

“I want a re-fund on the taxpayer dollars that I pay to police who use that to buy war materiel to wage war in our streets. And I want to re-fund public health and public libraries and public schools and the means of uprooting poverty,” added El-Sayed.

Confronted with the mountain of evidence demonstrating El-Sayed had in fact called for the defunding of American police, a spokeswoman for El-Sayed’s campaign, Roxie Richner, told CNN, “His perspective has become more nuanced.”

“One simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system,” said Richner.

When asked repeatedly by CNN talking head Kasie Hunt last week whether he still supported defunding the police, El-Sayed weaseled out of directly answering the question, suggesting that he deleted his old defund-the-police tweets “because I didn’t want them to be taken out of context like this so that you could distract from the actual conversation that Michiganders really want to have about what they want their leadership to actually fight for them to do.”

Rather than focusing on funding or defunding American law enforcement, El-Sayed apparently tried instead to make spending and support for Israel a top topic in Tuesday’s Democratic debate against Rep. Stevens, stressing that “if Congresswoman Stevens makes it or [Republican candidate] Mike Rogers wins, either way, Israel will win.”

“AIPAC is perfectly fine with either of my two opponents, because they know that they will have a comfortable, reliable vote in the U.S.A.,” added El-Sayed.

El-Sayed also argued with Stevens — who has received a small fortune from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee via United Democracy Project, according to FEC filings — about the conflict in Gaza.

“I also believe that your money needs to be spent here, because at the end of the day, the ultimate losers are you and me, the taxpayers who paid that money to provide good infrastructure, build schools, provide health care for our own kids,” said El-Sayed. “Not to watch it get sent to buy bombs and tanks that end up annihilating other people and their children.”

Following the debate, the Michigan GOP slammed El-Sayed for his radical record. In a statement given to Blaze News, Michigan GOP senior communications advisor Greg Manz said:

Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, a terrorist sympathizer and phony physician, is the face of the far-left takeover of the Democrat Party. He embraces a radical, Marxist agenda that includes Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, and calls to irresponsibly defund the police.

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​Abdul el-sayed, Bernie sanders, Defund the police, Haley stevens, Islamic, Michigan, Socialist, Us senate, Politics 

Now that the Trump Mobile T1 phone is out in the wild, it was only a matter of time before someone tore it apart … literally. Renowned smartphone demolition and repair community iFixit conducted a full teardown to reveal exactly what’s inside Trump’s gilded gadget, finally answering whether it’s truly American-made.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

At first glance, the Trump Mobile T1 phone looks awfully familiar, especially to users hailing from Taiwan and certain regions in Europe. Its silhouette closely resembles a phone from 2024, albeit with some notable tweaks.

As it turns out, Trump Mobile did the right thing.

The camera bump is wider, with “TRUMP MOBILE” emblazoned proudly on the side. The speaker grills at the bottom are circular for a more refined aesthetic.

The backplate is stamped with a bold American flag and finished with more Trump Mobile insignia for good measure. Then all of it is wrapped in gold paint that is quintessentially Trump.

Aside from those key changes, the phone appears to be an HTC U24 Pro, and thanks to iFixit, we know why.

Under the hood

It’s one thing for a phone to look similar to another on the outside, but the inside tells the full story. All devices have unique component layouts meant to perfectly fit the processor, battery, camera array, speakers, and cooling system down to the micrometer. No two layouts are alike, unless the phones are the same.

The verdict?

Trump Mobile T1 (L); HTC U24 Pro/iFixit (R)

A detailed CT scan confirms that “the internals are nearly an exact match for the HTC U24 Pro.” Take a look. Can you tell which is which?

Next, iFixit broke open the devices to inspect their intervals firsthand. Most of the differences are minor — T1 has a longer flex cable to connect components, a repositioned camera flash, and an updated speaker grill pattern. The one glaring change is the T1’s bigger battery, now rated at 19.35 Wh compared to the HTC’s 17.23 Wh power pack. As for similarities, the display, speakers, and even the motherboard — complete with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip (as we suspected) — are all virtually the same.

The real reason Trump Mobile changed the wording

At this point, it’s clear that the Trump Mobile T1 phone is not fully made in America. As an HTC U24 Pro dressed up in Trump logos and a gold colorway, the chassis, the sum of its parts, and even its design all come from the usual foreign supply chains overseas. IFixit suspects that Trump Mobile wanted to make a true “Made in America” phone, but timing and domestic manufacturing limitations led to a compromise: The phone components could be made outside the U.S., but it would be assembled here on American shores.

This is why Trump Mobile changed the wording on its website from “made in the USA” to “proudly American” sometime last year. If you recall, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took note of this change and ongoing delays, accusing Trump of “potentially deceptive practices” that harmed consumers. She even filed a joint complaint alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) with the Federal Trade Commission. (It went absolutely nowhere.)

RELATED: The Trump phone is here — and so is the controversy. Is it any good?

BasSlabbers/Getty Images

As it turns out, Trump Mobile did the right thing by not further misleading consumers to believe the phone was produced by American hands from start to finish. However, all preorders made previously under the “made in the USA” banner could be subject to legal scrutiny.

A product of today’s supply chains

If we’re being honest, the T1 phone is less American than we’d prefer, but the reason why isn’t a mystery. Ultimately, the Trump Mobile phone isn’t fully American-made because tech supply chains don’t currently allow it. President Trump just recently convinced major tech companies like Apple to invest in domestic manufacturing, and it will take many years — if not decades — for this kind of skilled labor to find its way back to American shores. In the meantime, the T1 phone is the first generation of a new smartphone brand wholly owned, operated, and assembled by Americans — which is more than most smartphone companies can say.

The Trump Mobile T1 phone is available for a promotional price of $499. It’s still listed as a preorder device, suggesting that units aren’t widely shipping to all recipients yet. If you happen to order one and receive it in a timely manner, let us know in the comments.

As for those who ordered under the belief that T1 was made in America, you may be able to request a refund through Trump Mobile support, as long as your device hasn’t shipped yet.

​Tech, Ifixit, Trump mobile t1 

A Louisiana grandfather drowned while trying to rescue his grandchild after she fell into a lake, according to multiple reports.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a man drowned while attempting to rescue his grandchild at Bayou Lacombe, WDSU reported.

‘There are no words to adequately express the void he has left in our lives or how deeply he is missed.’

The family identified the man as Chris Rushing, according to WDSU.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries describes Bayou Lacombe as a “complex including connecting bayous, canals, swamps, and marshes that are also associated with the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.”

The sheriff’s office said the young girl fell into the water, and Rushing jumped in to save her, but he began to struggle to stay afloat.

A woman jumped into the water and pulled the child out, according to police.

Fire personnel responded around 7:43 p.m. last Wednesday, WDSU reported.

Five swimmers initially searched the water, and firefighters recovered Rushing and immediately began performing life-saving measures.

The sheriff’s office said Rushing was then transported to a local hospital, where he later passed away, the outlet reported.

Rushing’s body was turned over to the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office, and an autopsy is being conducted.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Rushing’s death is “believed to be an accidental drowning,” according to WWL.

WWL reported that Rushing was an employee of the City of Covington’s Office of Cultural Arts and Events.

Sarada Bonnett, executive director at Covington’s Office of Cultural Arts and Events, said about Rushing, “It was never, ‘Oh do I have to do that?’ It was, ‘How can I help? How can I make this better?’ and he will be missed,” WWL reported.

Bonnett wrote a post on the Facebook account for the Covington’s Office of Cultural Arts and Events regarding Rushing’s death.

“Over the past several days, our hearts have been broken. Losing our teammate, our friend, and our family member, Chris Rushing, has been one of the most difficult experiences we’ve ever faced,” the statement reads. “There are no words to adequately express the void he has left in our lives or how deeply he is missed.”

RELATED: Naked woman ‘trying to be a mermaid’ in neighbor’s pond charges at deputy who deploys taser — which has ‘no effect’: Police

District D Councilman Jimmy Inman said in a statement posted to Facebook that he was “devastated” over Rushing’s death.

“My heart truly hurts,” Inman said.

“Chris focused on making our world a better place,” Inman continued. “He worked every day to do so.”

Inman said of Rushing, “Some people are called heroes, but he truly was one, giving his own life attempting to help someone else in dire need.”

Inman said Rushing made Covington a “better place.”

“The Good Lord put him on a path where his purpose was to make our community a better place,” Inman stated. “I saw him fairly regularly, and I can assure that, he did just that.”

Inman said, “Covington is a better place. Chris made it so. That mission was accomplished, and now God has called him home.”

Mayor Mark Johnson issued the following statement, according to WDSU: “Chris will be remembered for his ever-present smile, the joy that emanated from him and for his innate desire to help others. His passing is very difficult to process.”

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to support Rushing’s family and raise funds for a nonprofit the family intends to establish in his name.

“Christopher Jerome Rushing was loved by everyone who met him,” the crowdfunding campaign states. “He always had a smile on his face and a hug to give, and not one person had anything bad to say about him.”

“His legacy as a hero will live on, as he passed away saving his grandbaby,” the listing reads. “I know if he were here today, he would not think twice about the decision he made.”

The St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​News, Strange news, Politics, Louisiana 

Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner found himself in hot water on Monday following new allegations of “sexual assault” by a woman who was described as having once dated him.

Now, Platner’s campaign hangs in the balance as Democrat leaders pulled their endorsements in light of the new allegations.

‘If a process for selecting a new nominee becomes necessary, it will be open, transparent, and inclusive.’

While Platner’s leverage in keeping his candidacy seems to be drying up as quickly as his support from Democrats, the path ahead still has a few possibilities.

Here is what Platner’s campaign looks like in the next week.

The first major test of the Platner campaign’s longevity comes Monday.

Maine law stipulates that a vacancy may be declared and a replacement named only if the candidate withdraws on or before 5:00 p.m. ET on the second Monday in July.

RELATED: ‘Taking time to reflect’: Graham Platner responds to most recent sexual misconduct allegations against him

Laura Brett/Getty Images

The Maine Democratic Party, then, faces a problem: If Platner does not withdraw voluntarily, the party will not be able to name a replacement candidate prior to the election in November, barring Platner’s death or a catastrophic illness.

Platner’s name would be removed from the ballot if he withdrew his candidacy any time prior to 70 days away from the election, which falls in late August.

Seemingly aware that Platner’s last remaining point of political leverage, if it can even be called that as his support dries up, some on the right, including Michael Knowles, have half-jokingly encouraged Platner to remain in the race lest the Democrats find a less politically damaging replacement candidate.

“Stand strong, Graham! Don’t let the establishment steal this nomination from you! Whatever you do, don’t drop out!” Knowles said on social media.

If, however, Platner decides not to heed Knowles’ advice and drops out any time before next Monday’s deadline, the Democrats will be scrambling to find a viable replacement before the end of the month.

The Maine Democratic Party, through the Democratic State Committee, will decide on the process by which a replacement candidate can be selected, assuming Platner voluntarily drops out.

This process, however, cannot begin until Platner formally withdraws his candidacy. To make matters worse for Democrats, the replacement candidate must be submitted by July 27 — a mere two weeks after the deadline for Platner’s withdrawal.

“No process to elect a new nominee can commence unless the Platner campaign is suspended. If a process for selecting a new nominee becomes necessary, it will be open, transparent, and inclusive,” a Monday statement from the Maine Democratic Party said.

“The sooner this process can begin, the more time we will have to administer an intentional and inclusive process for Mainers and Democrats.”

The Maine Wire’s Steve Robinson suggested on Tuesday that there is “enough ambiguity” in the rules for selecting a candidate that “state party leaders will be making this up as they go along.”

The Democratic State Committee, which consists of over 100 members including alternates, will be forced to agree on a replacement candidate in a two-week period.

A New York Times report, citing conversations with Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ chief of staff, Kate McBrien, stated that officials have ruled out the option that the DSC will directly choose the nominee.

McBrien told the Times that she was unaware of any precedent in Maine for selecting a new Senate candidate post-primary.

The New York Times, citing two anonymous sources familiar with party officials’ plans, also reported other possible plans include a pop-up convention on the weekend of July 25, immediately prior to the deadline, or a statewide caucus to “effectively redo the party’s primary election.”

Robinson suggested similar procedures like a snap election and a caucus, though he added that both would likely be “logistical nightmares and potential PR disasters.”

Robinson added at the end of his post that even if Platner resigns within the appointed window and the party decides on a satisfactory procedure, the Democrats still have a third hurdle to overcome before the end of the month.

They will still have to “unite behind whoever emerges, raise tens of millions of dollars, and hope that Platner’s radicals stay on the bandwagon and independent voters don’t get lefty fatigue.”

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​Democrats, Election, Graham platner, Maine, Primary election, Sexual assault, Shenna bellows, Politics 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter is a major victory for constitutional government.

By restoring the president’s authority over the executive branch and overruling what remained of the mistaken Humphrey’s Executor precedent, the justices took an important step toward democratic accountability. The decision also opens a path for President Trump and future administrations to rein in the administrative state.

Americans should celebrate this ruling as a victory for self-government.

At the heart of the ruling is a simple constitutional principle: The president, as the elected head of the executive branch, must have authority to direct executive policy and hold executive officers accountable.

That authority is not merely an administrative convenience. It is the mechanism through which the American people exercise control over executive government.

Article II vests “the executive Power” in a single president and charges him with ensuring that “the Laws be faithfully executed.” Officers exercising executive power derive that authority from the president and must remain accountable to him.

Without meaningful removal authority, the presidency risks becoming little more than a figurehead while unelected officials pursue agendas beyond democratic control.

For decades, Congress has increasingly insulated parts of the federal bureaucracy from presidential supervision. The founders envisioned no such arrangement.

The expansive appeals processes and employment protections shielding many federal employees are well known. Less appreciated is how much of the current system emerged during the 1960s and expanded over the following decades, producing a bureaucracy increasingly insulated from elected leadership.

Whatever the intentions behind those reforms, the result has been to weaken the president’s authority to manage the executive branch and the people’s ability to govern themselves through elections.

The consequences have become increasingly visible.

A Merit Systems Protection Board survey found that only about two in five federal supervisors believed they could successfully remove an employee for serious misconduct. That finding shows how procedural barriers have eroded managerial accountability.

RELATED: No slaughter for the CIA’s DEI office — yet

DigitalVision/iStock/Getty Images

The same culture was evident during President Trump’s first term, when career officials embedded policies contrary to administration priorities in guidance documents, subregulatory materials, and even formal regulations.

When executive officials deliberately frustrate lawful presidential policy, the president must possess adequate authority to remove them.

Predictably, critics warn that Slaughter will politicize the civil service and revive the spoils system. Those concerns miss the point.

President Trump has repeatedly said federal hiring should be based on merit, qualifications, and competence. His administration’s executive orders, rules, and regulations reject political loyalty tests in career hiring.

Merit-based hiring and presidential accountability are not competing principles. They are complementary.

A professional civil service should be selected because its members are qualified to perform their duties. But once entrusted with executive authority, those officials must faithfully execute the lawful policies of the elected president.

That’s far from “patronage.” It’s how representative government should function.

The administration’s Schedule Policy/Career executive order reflects that distinction. It applies to career employees in confidential, policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating positions. Those employees remain merit-based career officials, not political appointees.

But senior career officials exercising substantial policy influence should not be able to use endless procedural protections to delay, frustrate, or undermine an elected administration’s agenda.

The Civil Service Reform Act was never intended to create permanent insulation for officials exercising broad executive discretion.

The administration has also appropriately tested constitutional errors by removing officials whose statutory protections conflict with Article II. Those cases have allowed courts to reconsider precedents that steadily weakened presidential control over the executive branch.

RELATED: Trump calls ‘Slaughter’ ruling the greatest increase of presidential power in 100 years

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

In its 2026 Jackler and Jaroch decision, the Merit Systems Protection Board recognized that statutory employment protections cannot override Article II when applied to inferior officers exercising significant executive authority.

The Supreme Court’s Slaughter decision builds on that reasoning and on other precedent. It rejects the fiction that agencies exercising executive power can remain meaningfully “independent” of the executive.

Those who execute federal law must ultimately answer to the president.

Opponents will characterize the decision as a dangerous expansion of presidential power. In reality, it restores the constitutional structure the founders designed.

Americans elect a president to implement policies on immigration, the economy, national security, and countless other questions. If unelected officials can frustrate those policies through institutional resistance or procedural barriers, elections become less meaningful.

Accountability disappears because voters cannot determine who is responsible for the success or failure of executive policy.

The Slaughter decision restores that chain of accountability. It strengthens the president’s ability to direct officers exercising executive power while preserving a federal workforce hired on merit and expected to execute the law faithfully. That is neither radical nor unprecedented. It is the constitution’s design.

The federal government exists to serve the American people, not to function as an independent center of political power.

By reaffirming presidential authority under Article II, the Supreme Court strengthened democratic accountability and helped ensure that executive power remains where the Constitution places it: with the president elected by the American people.

Americans should celebrate this ruling as a victory for self-government.

Elections cannot provide meaningful accountability when officials exercising executive power are insulated from the president voters chose.

Slaughter helps restore that constitutional chain: Executive officers answer to the president, and the president answers to the people.

​Administrative state, Executive orders, Opinion & analysis, Article ii, Donald trump, Supreme court, Trump v. slaughter, Constitution, Bureaucracy, Congress, Humphrey’s executor 

A convicted “high-risk” pedophile hired by the city of Syracuse, New York, was fired after he was arrested for “horrific” allegations involving a 12-year-old girl.

On Thursday, police responded to a report of a man with an underage girl in a parking lot. The man fled the scene after being approached by another adult, according to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office.

He allegedly lured the child to an isolated area in the Town of Lafayette and subjected her to a sexual act two separate times.

An investigation of the victim’s social media found that she had been interacting with a male through Snapchat. The messages indicated they had been having a sexual relationship.

The man was identified as 45-year-old James M. Desantis, who was already registered as a high-risk sex offender.

Desantis was arrested Thursday and booked into the Onondaga County Justice Center. He faces a slew of charges that include:

First-degree attempted rape;Luring a child to commit a felony;First-degree sexual abuse;Sexual abuse with an underage child;First-degree coercion;Third-degree aggravated sexual abuse;Aggravated sexual abuse with an underage victim;First-degree stalking; First-degree disseminating indecent materials to minors;Third-degree obscenity; andTwo counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17.

Desantis was previously convicted of sex crimes against children in 2004 and 2005. In the first case, he was sentenced to 10 years probation for the rape of a 14-year-old girl. In the second case, he was convicted for the rape of another 14-year-old girl and sentenced to five years in prison.

Both victims were known to Desantis.

In the more current accusations against Desantis, he allegedly lured the child to an isolated area in the Town of Lafayette and subjected her to a sexual act two separate times. Both times, he sent a photo of a firearm to her and said he knew where she lived.

Desantis was hired by the Syracuse Department of Public Works in 2017 and was promoted to an on-location supervisor in 2024. He was fired after the arrest, and city officials are now being questioned about how a child sex offender had been working for years at the city.

RELATED: Michigan parents charged with murder and torture after 7-year-old boy dies with disturbing weight

Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens said her administration is investigating how Desantis was hired by the city and reviewing hiring practices.

“I’m very angry,” Owens said to WSYR-TV. “I spent my life working with children and protecting families, and this, quite frankly, is pissing me off.”

Desantis is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday.

The sheriff’s department asked for help from the public to find other possible victims in the case.

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​New york, Pedophile, Snapchat, Syracuse, Social media, Child rape, High risk sex offender, Crime 

On June 23, standing before a crowd in Pennsylvania, President Trump was asked where he stood on a national right to carry.

His answer was four words: “Yeah, we’re working on it.”

The crowd roared.

For millions of law-abiding gun owners, those words pointed toward something they have awaited for decades: an end to a system that treats a constitutional right like a privilege that must be renewed at every state line.

Let’s be honest about where things stand.

The president has not signed anything, and no national reciprocity law exists today. The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act cleared a House committee last fall but has stalled in the Senate.

Our rights are only as strong as our willingness to defend them.

This is the starting line, not the finish line. But it is the right race to run, because the issue reaches far beyond the convenience of carrying a firearm across state borders.

I think about that every time I drive from my home in upstate New York to North Carolina to visit my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.

I travel through New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Four states. Four sets of gun laws. Four different answers to the same question: What rights does a free citizen carry when he crosses an invisible line on a map?

We accept this with almost no other right.

My driver’s license is honored in all 50 states. My freedom to speak, worship, and remain secure in my home does not evaporate at a tollbooth.

President Trump has made the same point since 2015, comparing a carry permit to a driver’s license: If one works in every state, so should the other.

The argument is common sense. The principle beneath it runs deeper.

The Second Amendment does not create the right to self-defense. It recognizes a natural right the founders understood to be endowed by God.

The right to keep and bear arms is not a permission slip issued by the government. It is the people’s right of self-preservation.

The founders knew what they were guarding against because they had lived under it.

Strip people of the means to defend themselves, and every other freedom becomes a favor granted by those in power. Free speech becomes a suggestion. Religious liberty becomes a privilege.

History is brutally consistent on this point: Disarmament often comes before oppression, not after it.

RELATED: ‘Shall not be infringed’ — even if you’re high, Supreme Court rules

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Yet over the past century, America has moved from treating the right to bear arms as a birthright of citizenship to treating it, in too many places, as a government-granted privilege hedged in by fees, waiting periods, and paperwork.

The result is a maze of state and local laws so inconsistent that the same citizen, with the same clean record and character, can be legal in one state and a criminal the moment he crosses into another.

That is not the rule of law. That is a trap for honest people.

National reciprocity would cut through that maze. It would recognize a simple principle: Your right to carry should travel with you.

Twenty-nine states already recognize that citizens should not need government permission to carry. The Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision also affirmed that the Constitution protects the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense rather than leaving it to the discretion of local officials.

Reciprocity would extend that logic across state lines.

So yes, the president’s words in Pennsylvania were encouraging. But encouragement is not law, and the bill remains stalled in the Senate. It will stay there unless the people who care about this issue make themselves heard.

I have often said that elections are only victories in individual battles. The fight for freedom continues long after the votes are counted.

This is one of those fights.

If you believe your God-given rights should not change the moment you cross a state line, say so. Call your senators. Talk to your neighbors. Make the national right to carry a question every candidate must answer.

Our rights are only as strong as our willingness to defend them.

The founders did their part. The question is whether we will do ours.

​Concealed carry, Drivers license, Gun owners, President trump, Second amendment, Supreme court, Right to carry, Pennsylvania, Opinion & analysis 

Europe is warming at an unprecedented rate. England is experiencing record-breaking temperatures this summer, with the month of June being the hottest the country has ever recorded. In the same month, Spain saw over 1,000 heat-related deaths, and in France 40 people died from drowning in one week’s time, as people rushed to bodies of water to escape the suffocating heat.

Sadly, these deaths aren’t uncommon. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 175,000 people die from heat-related causes in Europe every year.

The irony is that Europe has some of the world’s most ambitious climate policies. Many countries have rules limiting how cold public buildings or offices can be set; energy costs price the majority out of purchasing air conditioning; and the public largely views climate change as an urgent crisis demanding immediate aggressive action.

Glenn Beck is nauseated by the number of Europeans dying from what’s an easily fixable problem.

“It’s a box in a window that blows cold air. What a crazy thought,” he scoffs, citing a study that found that “air conditioning cuts heat deaths by as much as 75%.”

“So, you would think with bodies piling up that Europe might be like, yeah, we got to get a box in every window. … You’d think that that would be one thing everybody could agree on, but you’d be wrong,” he sighs.

Glenn plays a recent clip of British climate activist Dr. Kush Naker urging Brits to essentially ditch their gas-powered air conditioners.

“If you can switch your electricity provider to one that’s completely renewable, or you speak to your MP and tell them that we need to get off oil and gas … those are the sorts of things that means that we can actually make our grid green and that we can actually have air con without making climate change worse,” he said.

“Good Morning Britain” anchor Richard Madeley pushed back, “But all of that would take a heck of a long time. Are you saying in the interim you shouldn’t have air con? You should wait until you can say, hand on heart, ‘Yep, it’s green energy that’s keeping me cool?’”

Despite the fact that thousands are dying from the heat, Naker — who was also addressing a mother of young children whose bedrooms are often hotter than the threshold of what’s considered safe — replied, “We need to be honest about the fact that it has costs, right? And then when we face these sorts of costs, we then need to make a decision: Well, who should we prioritize?”

“These people are out-of-their-mind nuts!” Glenn exclaims.

He then shares a harrowing story out of France, where several schoolchildren have fainted or been hospitalized from classrooms reaching over 100-degree temperatures.

In late June 2026, during a severe heat wave in Nîmes, a young pupil at École Primaire La Planette fainted in class as temperatures hit around 104 degrees F with no air conditioning.

Parents, frustrated by the conditions, crowdfunded money to buy and install AC units themselves.

“Problem solved, right? Of course not! You’re in France,” Glenn scoffs, calling the mayor of Nîmes a “communist.”

The left-wing municipality in Nîmes, led by communist Mayor Vincent Bouget, ordered the removal of the parent-funded air conditioners. The stated reason was that it “set a precedent” and created inequality, as not all neighborhoods/schools had parents with the means to do the same.

“Everybody sweats together. I just want you to know that’s not a glitch. That is the socialist philosophy. … You’re all going to be miserable,” Glenn says.

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Europe, Climate change 

One company believes biology should not limit who should be able to conceive children.

That same company says it has now made strides to turn that belief into a reality.

‘Yeah, I’m gay, and it’s something that got me so personally interested.’

Fertility company Conception announced last week that it accomplished what was, until recently, only possible with mice: creating early human egg cells.

“Biology limits who can have children and when,” Conception says on its website. “Egg supply declines and medical barriers can limit fertility entirely, as birthrates fall across the globe.”

To counteract this, Conception says, it has finally “generated the first early human eggs derived from stem cells.”

CEO Matt Krisiloff said that after a simple blood draw, his company converted blood cells into stem cells, and from there, “coaxed” those stem cells into becoming “miniature human ovaries containing the early eggs.”

Krisiloff has not hidden his intentions; in fact, he made them crystal clear during a 2023 interview with NPR. Inside the company profile, Krisiloff expressed that he is personally invested in being able to create babies for gay couples.

“My personal biggest interest in it is that it could allow same-sex couples to be able to have biological children together as well,” the CEO said. “Yeah, I’m gay, and it’s something that got me so personally interested in this in the first place.”

RELATED: Disembodied human brains kept ‘alive’ for drug testing by controversial American startup

Seoul National University/Getty Images

Conception calls its technology “in-vitro gametogenesis” and claims it is a “profound advance” in reproductive technology.

The recent announcement discusses the process, which comes from successful trials of making viable eggs from stem cells in mice back in 2016. Conception’s collaborative scientist, Katsuhiko Hayashi, reportedly demonstrated that skin cells in mice can be turned into stems cells capable of becoming any type of cell in the body, which in turn were used to create usable eggs.

“These eggs produced healthy [mouse] pups that lived normal lifespans and reproduced naturally, having healthy pups of their own,” Conception wrote.

While the process has been far easier to achieve in mice than in larger animals, the company said, the technology is still “worth pursuing” in humans.

No public information is available on what other animals Conception has tested on.

The company’s financial backing is available, though, and this includes investments from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Skype founder Jaan Tallinn, and Recursion Pharmaceuticals co-founder Blake Borgeson, who all contributed to a $20 million round in previous years.

RELATED: At 250, America’s fate is wonderfully unwritten

Conception’s co-founders, Pablo Hurtado Gonzalez and Bianka Seres, also shared their views on the project. Hurtado Gonzalez said, “There is something intrinsic, sharing a life that is half me and half my husband.”

“I don’t have the capacity right now, and I am devoting my life to try to change that,” Hurtado Gonzalez added.

Seres also said the project is likely to be a “pretty big” deal around the world.

“And for individuals, I think it’s going to be life-changing,” she contributed.

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​Fertility, Sam altman, In vitro fertilization, Tech 

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Houston led to the shooting death of a Mexican illegal alien who allegedly tried to run over officers.

Officers were performing a traffic stop as part of a “targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien” just before 7 a.m. at the intersection of Canal Street and Wayside Drive, according to an ICE spokesperson.

‘All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation.’

Rather than pull over, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo reportedly tried to escape in his vehicle and rammed into an ICE vehicle.

ICE said he then “weaponized” his vehicle and tried to run over an officer, who fired in self-defense.

Araujo was struck in the stomach and transported to a hospital, where he was later declared dead.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, according to ICE, but the FBI said it was investigating the potential assault on a federal officer, not the man’s death.

Video reportedly from the incident shows Araujo groaning on the ground near a white van while officers attend to him.

Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Texas issued a statement about the incident on social media.

“ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force,” she wrote.

RELATED: Video shows protester apparently shooting at federal agents during immigration operation at California farm

“All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation,” she added. “The victim’s family, my constituents, and the entire community deserve a complete and transparent accounting of what happened.”

Houston City Council Member Alejandra Salinas also called for a “thorough and impartial investigation” into the circumstances of the lethal shooting.

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​Ice shooting, Illegal alien, Immigration and customs enforcement, Traffic stop, Deadly force, Houston, Politics 

A Democratic congressman in California reiterated his call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a record high number of arrests was reported.

Border czar Tom Homan appeared on Fox News and lauded the historic number of arrests over the five-day period while talking about the effort to strip commercial licenses from illegal aliens.

Federal officials had been able to rescind over 28,000 commercial licenses that were being held by illegal aliens.

“In the last five days, ICE has arrested over 10,000 illegal aliens, which is a record for the agency,” Homan said to Fox host Dana Perino. “So we’re hitting on all cylinders. There’s just a lot of these people to find, but we are out there every day looking for them.”

He suggested that officials in states like New York were sheltering illegal aliens from these federal investigations.

“The problem is, we’re working very well with red states; in blue states it’s still a struggle, right? Places like New York, I mean, ICE and CBP can’t even get access to the DMV database!”

He added that federal officials had been able to rescind over 28,000 commercial licenses that were being held by illegal aliens since May 1.

In response, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) posted a statement on the X social media platform calling for ICE to be replaced.

“We cannot ignore their continued abuse and violation of human rights. It’s time to abolish ICE and replace it,” Khanna wrote in the post.

“These people being detained are being denied basic human rights,” Khanna said in a video attached to the post.

RELATED: Majority of Americans approve of Trump’s response to anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis: Harvard poll

“I was at the California detention center. I saw someone with blood in his urine who was denied medical care,” he continued. “I saw rocks in the food. I saw people shivering because they didn’t have clothes. We need to stop funding ICE that’s violating human rights.”

Homan went on in the Fox interview to accuse sanctuary mayors and state governors of “normalizing” illegal immigration by allowing illegal aliens to have driver’s licenses.

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​Immigration and customs enforcement, Rep ro khanna, Illegal aliens, Tom homan, Ice arrests, Sanctuary cities, Politics