Category: blaze media

Just days after concert details were released as part of the Great American State Fair celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday, most of the musical artists have publicly expressed their intention not to perform.

Freedom 250, the Trump-launched organization leading the celebration, released an outline on Wednesday detailing the “first round of star-studded entertainment & activations” [sic]. Beginning June 25, the 16-day national exposition on the National Mall is set to consist of “live entertainment, immersive exhibits, patriotic tributes, innovation showcases, cultural programming, and family-friendly attractions.”

‘It is inherently nonpolitical. It is a celebration of our country.’

Nine artists appeared on the list shared by Freedom 250: Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory, Young MC, Flo Rida, Morris Day and the Time, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, and the Commodores.

But just as quickly as Freedom 250 announced the lineup, it started to crumble.

Morris Day and the Time was the first act to disclose intentions to step away. The band’s official Facebook page posted, “Contrary To Rumor, Morris Day & The Time Will Not Be Performing At The ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR,’” captioning the post with a simple “It’s A No For Me.”

Only a few hours later, Young MC posted on his Facebook profile, saying, “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT. The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is nonpartisan, SPIN magazine describes it as Trump-backed.”

The Commodores and Martina McBride followed suit by announcing similarly on their Instagram and X accounts respectively that they “will not be performing at the Great American State Fair.”

“[The Commodores] choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party.”

McBride went on to claim that she “was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”

Bret Michaels posted on his Instagram profile that “what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive.” Michaels also cited concerns over the safety of his “fans, band, crew, family, and myself.”

“Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.”

RELATED: America at 250

Construction ahead of the Rededicate 250 and Great American State Fair events on the National Mall.Al Drago/Washington Post/Getty Images

Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory uploaded a lengthy video to his Instagram account during which he ranted about the heavy public backlash he received after his involvement in the event was announced. He initially claimed his booking agent “didn’t mention Trump” and therefore he planned to back out: “So I told my agent, yeah, nah, I ain’t gonna be able to do that.”

Yet Williams spent most of the seven-minute, 13-second recording brazenly criticizing those who threatened to “cancel” him: “The day I let you motherf**kers tell me what to do is the day I die.”

He added, “F**k Trump and f**k you too, but I just might do it,” leaving his attendance up for debate.

Founding member of C+C Music Factory Robert Clivilles clarified his own position on X: “I was neither involved in, consulted regarding, nor have I endorsed the event. Any political, ideological, religious, or personal viewpoints expressed by Freedom Williams are his own and should not be interpreted as reflecting my views.”

As for Milli Vanilli, the “real vocalists” announced through a Facebook press release that they too will not be performing, stating, “Others using the name ‘Milli Vanilli’ that appear on the advertisement should be considered a tribute band.”

However, Fab Morvan, one side of the original duo group, said in a statement sent to Consequence that he “feel[s] honored to be a part of the Great American State Fair.”

Also still confirmed to appear is Vanilla Ice, with his management agency telling NBC News that the artist “is contracted and will perform at the Great American Fair.”

“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!”

A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 hit back at these recent developments in an interview with The Hill columnist Judy Kurtz on Friday morning: “It is inherently nonpolitical. It is a celebration of our country.”

She added, “We have a president that wants to celebrate 250 years of America … and that’s how it was sold to performers.”

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

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​Bret michaels, Freedom 250, Politics, United states 

California is being ripped off. The state is losing billions of dollars to fraudsters every year, and the state’s leaders have done too little to stop them.

While California’s population has dropped since 2020, Medi-Cal spending has doubled over the same time frame. How is this even possible? One reason is that per initial federal estimates, one out of every four Medi-Cal dollars is lost to fraud, for a whopping $50 billion in losses per year. This is an amount larger than the entire economy of some states.

If federal estimates are correct, the state has lost some $200 billion to Medi-Cal fraud under Governor Newsom, not to mention other kinds of fraud using taxpayer dollars.

The federal government must ensure that federal funding will be spent wisely by the states, not lost to fraudsters.

In California alone, federal auditors have found 1.2 million ineligible individuals on Medicaid, with another 3.2 million enrollees found to be potentially ineligible.

Auditors have flagged hundreds of thousands of individuals who were enrolled in Medicaid in multiple states at the same time — many of whom were flagged for fake or stolen Social Security numbers. Even worse, hundreds of millions of Medicaid dollars have funded benefits for the deceased.

Fortunately, the Trump administration is taking on fraudsters like no administration in American history and holding California’s leaders accountable. Earlier this year, the White House announced it would withhold roughly $10 billion in federal funding from five states, including California, until they make reasonable plans for reducing fraud.

This step is absolutely necessary: The federal government must ensure that federal funding will be spent wisely by the states, not lost to fraudsters.

Remarkably, Governor Newsom’s response has been to attack the Trump administration for its anti-fraud efforts and even blame President Trump for California’s carelessness and laxity toward criminals, all while casting himself as an anti-fraud champion.

This tactic might play well on Bluesky, but it is completely divorced from the facts and does nothing to solve the very real problem of taxpayer dollars being stolen.

Unless the governor gets serious, California taxpayers could end up paying an even higher price as soon as President Trump’s new welfare reform law goes into effect. The president’s new law requires states to clean up their rolls and reduce improper payments or risk losing the share of the federal dollars that support Medicaid.

RELATED: The Trump administration is cracking down on fraud

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

With these shocking rates of waste, fraud, and abuse, California could lose a large amount of federal funding while it continues to bleed billions of dollars to fraudsters. California has wisely had a balanced budget amendment to the state constitution for more than a century, but this means that every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar taken away from other priorities.

California can’t just print money. Fraudsters are stealing directly out of taxpayers’ pockets, and right now they are doing so on a massive scale.

The good news is that there is a common-sense solution on the table right now in the State Assembly. Republican Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo has introduced the Protect the Promise Act to help California reduce Medicaid fraud and lower the state’s improper payment rate.

The bill would simply require more eligibility checks using more data. For example, it would require officials to cross-check Medi-Cal enrollment data with federal Medicaid enrollment data to ensure that people aren’t enrolling in multiple states, which is illegal. It would require the state to take immediate action when discrepancies are found.

The bill wouldn’t affect Medi-Cal benefits in the slightest. But by dramatically slashing payments to ineligible people, it could save Californians billions of dollars by reducing fraud and preventing a loss of federal funds. In a balanced-budget state like California, this would free up more resources for other priorities.

Medi-Cal was started to help Californians in need — not to enrich fraudsters with Californians’ hard-earned tax dollars. It is time for the state’s leaders to end the fraud crisis and finally protect the promise for the truly needy. Otherwise, Californians will pay a high price — one that is only getting higher.

​Gavin newsom, California, Medi-cal, Fraud, Medicare, Trump administration, White house, Balanced budget, Federal funding, Opinion & analysis, Democrats 

An attentive Lyft driver called Philadelphia police after seeing a gray suitcase on the news that belonged to a woman rider who apologized for the smell of the dirty wet clothing inside.

Investigators now say 53-year-old Liza Ridley was transporting the remains of Vincent Good in order to dump them off so she could cash in on his Social Security checks.

He said she carried a gray suitcase and left a fluid stain on the floor of his car.

Good’s family said he was funny and kind and would give nicknames to everyone he met.

Prosecutors say that Ridley admitted to shooting Good in the head after the Lyft driver’s tip led them to her door.

Good’s remains were found in the suitcase dumped at East Hilton Street in Kensington on May 22.

A person searching for scrap metal first noticed the smell emitting from the suitcase, according to a statement from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. Police also found remains in two industrial-size trash bags after investigating.

Police sought help from the public and released a photo of the gray suitcase.

A Lyft driver then contacted the police to tell them about the strange interaction she had with a woman transporting a suitcase with a strong foul odor on May 21. She said the woman carried a gray suitcase and left a fluid stain on the floor of her car.

She also said that she believed she had driven the woman to Kensington.

Astonishingly, she gave police a photograph of the woman.

“That Lyft driver had the wisdom to take a photograph of that passenger based on the suspicious indications that the Lyft driver was observing,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Police were able to identify the woman as Liza Ridley, a registered home health aide for Exceptional Heart Home Care Services. She had been hired to care for Good and was also his girlfriend.

Investigators say Ridley had her 55-year-old sister Bernadette Ridley, her 32-year-old daughter Liza Robinson, and Liza’s 33-year-old boyfriend Gnaeus Daniels helped clean up the crime scene and disposed of evidence. Bernadette Ridley is also accused of helping dismember Good’s body.

The group is charged with a slew of crimes.

Liza Ridley is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse, and her sister is charged with abuse of a corpse. All four suspects are charged with tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice, as well as conspiracy charges related to both crimes.

RELATED: Illegal alien dismembered man who overdosed and flushed his organs in order to avoid deportation, police say

Police said a forensic anthropologist will determine what date Good was killed and how he was dismembered. They believe the motivation for the alleged murder was the theft of Good’s Social Security checks.

“This case was quickly solved largely thanks to two Good Samaritan Philadelphians who came forward as crucial witnesses and shared vital information with law enforcement,” Krasner said.

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​Double amputee, Abuse of a corpse, Dismembered body, Philadelphia, Crime 

America is running out of motor oil!

At least, that’s the latest media-driven crisis making the rounds — and making consumers nervous. Shelves stripped bare by panic buying, retailers quietly raising prices, and everyone blaming “supply chains.”

Older vehicles were often far more forgiving. Many could run multiple oil viscosities without major drama.

Sound familiar?

It should. Welcome to the reboot of 2020’s “great toilet paper shortage.” This time, the same playbook is being used with synthetic motor oil.

Spoiler alert: There is no nationwide motor oil collapse.

Slick trick

Your car is not about to become undrivable because America suddenly “ran out” of lubricants. Most drivers will probably notice little more than higher prices and fewer discount sales.

Yes, there is a legitimate supply issue involving some specialty synthetic base oils used in certain ultra-low-viscosity lubricants. Shipping disruptions, refinery problems, and instability in parts of the Middle East and Asia have tightened supply for these specialized lubricants.

The American Petroleum Institute even activated emergency provisional licensing flexibility for some lubricant formulations because certain approved ingredients became harder to source. That’s not something done casually.

But these high-end Group III base oils — thinner oils designed primarily to help automakers meet fuel economy and emissions targets — are only used in specific synthetic formulations like 0W-8, 0W-16, and certain OEM-specific blends required in some newer vehicles.

So if your car has a new Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, or GM engine designed around low-viscosity lubricants, you could face higher prices, fewer choices, or occasional temporary shortages of specific formulations.

That’s a very different story from, “America is running out of oil.”

RELATED: This used-car odometer scam is everywhere — and impossible to detect

CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Primed for panic

Even if your car is affected, the impact will likely show up as higher maintenance costs, reduced sales promotions, and occasional difficulty finding certain premium synthetic blends. That’s annoying, especially when vehicle ownership costs are already skyrocketing from inflation, insurance increases, expensive repairs, and high interest rates. But it’s hardly an automotive apocalypse.

But the media narrative is turning a narrow industrial issue into another broad consumer panic, and once again, fear is becoming profitable.

Most conventional motor oils are still widely available. Most drivers using common viscosities like 5W-30 or 10W-30 are not likely to face major supply issues. You can still walk into most parts stores, retailers, and service centers and find plenty of oil on the shelf.

But that nuance doesn’t generate clicks.

Instead, social media influencers and breathless news coverage are lumping everything together under the terrifying word “shortage” because panic spreads faster than facts. Suddenly consumers start hearing rumors that oil changes may become impossible, stores will run dry, and everyone needs to buy cases of oil immediately before it disappears forever.

That panic buying itself becomes the problem.

Memory wipe

The toilet paper fiasco proved how quickly consumer psychology can create artificial shortages. There was never a true nationwide inability to manufacture toilet paper. The system broke because consumers started hoarding far more than they normally purchased, overwhelming distribution and retail inventory systems that were never designed for panic-level buying behavior.

Now we’re watching the same pattern develop in automotive service.

Some repair shops and distributors are already stockpiling certain synthetic products because they expect higher prices and tighter inventories. Consumers are hearing “shortage” and buying extra oil they otherwise would not have purchased. Retailers are responding by raising prices early, sometimes well ahead of any actual supply impact.

Which raises the question: At what point does anticipation become opportunistic pricing?

Thin is in

The bigger question, however, is why we’re in this situation at all. The answer points to increasing government pressure on the auto industry.

Modern engines have become increasingly dependent on hyper-specific lubricants largely because automakers were chasing federal fuel economy targets. Thinner oils reduce internal drag slightly, helping manufacturers squeeze out small efficiency gains that look good on government testing charts.

But that engineering strategy also created greater dependence on specialized synthetic supply chains.

Older vehicles were often far more forgiving. Many could run multiple oil viscosities without major drama. Today’s engines are increasingly calibrated around exact formulations, exact additives, and exact viscosity requirements. That means even a relatively small disruption in specialized synthetic oil supply suddenly becomes a much bigger issue for dealerships and owners of newer vehicles.

If you own an older truck running conventional 5W-30, you’re probably in much better shape than someone driving a brand-new vehicle requiring a very specific OEM-approved 0W-8 synthetic blend.

If your vehicle requires a highly specialized synthetic oil, keeping enough for your next oil change is reasonable. Buying a lifetime supply because somebody on TikTok said that “the shelves are going empty” is exactly the kind of irrational behavior that creates unnecessary shortages in the first place.

The bigger concern should actually be how quickly we’re manipulated into panic consumption cycles every time there’s even a modest supply disruption.

We’ve seen this movie before.

And unless consumers stop reacting emotionally every time a scary headline appears, we’ll probably see it again with the next product too.

​American petroleum institute, Auto industry, Covid, Fuel economy, Lifestyle, Panic buying, Supply chains, Synthetic oils, Align cars 

As artificial intelligence continues to creep ever closer to unleashing global dystopia, many Christians have begun to wonder if AI will be a key player in the end times. Some believe Revelation’s god-like Antichrist will be a disembodied AI bot or perhaps a human-AI cyborg; others speculate that AI will be a mighty weapon wielded by the human Antichrist. In any case, the future of AI bodes so harrowing, most can fathom a day when this powerful technology brings humanity and Earth to their ultimate demise.

In a sit-down interview with fellow BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey, Glenn Beck painted a spine-chilling picture of just how powerful the technology we already possess is.

“Just the technology we have today, if Hitler had [it], it would be horrendous. If we go dark, we will make the Germans look like rookies at everything they did,” he says, describing how current surveillance technology, AI processing, and data harvesting could be combined to unleash horrors beyond what we’re capable of imagining.

But artificial superintelligence — the point at which AI astronomically surpasses all human intelligence combined — makes today’s capabilities look like child’s play.

Glenn compares ASI to a superior “alien life form” that could be “hostile.”

But despite the existential risk, AI developers like Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT), seem hell-bent on bringing it into existence.

“He wants [to create the] god because he thinks, strangely … he can control it,” says Glenn.

But controlling ASI isn’t even remotely in the cards, he insists. “You’re never going to be able to control it. Everything we would do is a baby gate.”

To imagine such a power in the hands of an evil being — human or otherwise — is truly bloodcurdling.

Allie wants to know how we stop such a beast before it can be fully realized.

“What does it look like to try to reign in those powers and to harness them for good?” she asks Glenn.

According to a source high up in the tech world who Glenn knows, governments will likely intervene at some point.

“His belief and the belief of people in his world [is] that the governments themselves will say as we get a little closer: ‘Stop, not allowed,’” he tells Allie.

But if “the Sam Altmans of the world” refuse to comply, the source indicated that powerful governments who deeply fear the loss of control, especially nations like Russia and China, might just “start offing people that are saying ‘I want ASI,”’ Glenn continues.

“Is that the only way to stop it because that’s a terrifying process?” Allie counters.

To hear Glenn’s answer, watch the video above.

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​Allie beth stuckey, Artificial intelligence, End times, Glenn beck, The glenn beck podcast, Sam altman, Antichrist 

Far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the creation of a new city agency that sounds like his version of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Mamdani said Thursday that the Commission on Government Efficiency would meet with community organizers and union members in order to improve coordination with city government efforts.

‘A reminder that when republicans expose and root out fraud it’s smeared as racism, starving children, leaving the poor to die.’

“This morning we are introducing COGE — the Commission on Government Efficiency,” Mamdani said. “This Commission will find ways for our city to work smarter, faster, and more effectively for working people. New Yorkers deserve a city government as careful with their money as they are.”

He went on to take a shot at tech billionaire Elon Musk, who headed up the DOGE agency until he had a falling out with the president.

“Elon Musk took that language and used it to cut as many jobs that were as critical as possible for so many of the neediest people across the country and across the world,” the mayor said. “Ours is going to be a focus on actually delivering efficiency.”

Mamdani was immediately mocked by critics, including independent journalist Nick Shirley.

“This sounds a lot like DOGE … Weird how your own governor questioned me when I speculated the sudden increase in spending in areas like childcare in NYC and now you do this. (Which is a good thing btw!),” he responded. “Cutting waste, fraud, and abuse should be the most nonpartisan issue in America as it affects everyone.”

“Remember when Democrats ridiculed President Trump and his administration for tackling government waste?” wrote Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. “Looks like they ran the numbers and found eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse is quite popular.”

“A reminder that when republicans expose and root out fraud it’s smeared as racism, starving children, leaving the poor to die, etc. I suspect there will be a (d)ifference in coverage of this unserious ripoff of DOGE,” TV producer Spencer Brown said.

“Is this satire? DOGE was ridiculed endlessly and now the folks who were outraged are doing it themselves?” another user replied on the X platform.

The DOGE appropriation was also infuriating to liberals still angry about the agency’s acts.

“Mimicking the DOGE name is an insult to every fired federal worker and everyone harmed or killed by USAID cuts,” another user said. “Wish the team was a little less clever and slightly more thoughtful.”

RELATED: Mamdani’s wife apologizes for insulting Israel, using N-word and gay slur in past tweets

Musk promised through DOGE to find and cut trillions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse. Critics say the agency did very little to actually help the budget, which has spiraled into more debt under Trump’s second term so far.

Mamdani meanwhile was praised by many on the left for supposedly balancing the budget that had a $12 billion deficit. Critics point out that he did it by pushing pension payments into the future — basically mortgaging the future finances of the city to cover current costs.

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​Department of government efficiency, Elon musk, New york city, Zohran mamdani, Politics 

Dozens were injured and five people were killed when a North Carolina-based E&P Travel bus drove into stopped traffic in Virginia on Friday at about 2:35 a.m., according to police.

An investigation found that the driver of the bus was a Chinese national who could not speak English, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

‘This is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely tragic.’

The driver identified as 48-year-old Jing S. Dong.

The bus plowed into a Chevy SUV that had slowed for a construction zone and propelled that vehicle into an Acura SUV and other vehicles.

Dong’s bus was carrying 34 travelers from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Forty-four people in the incident were transported to hospitals in Fredericksburg and Stafford, according to officials. Three of those had critical injuries.

“I’ve got to say, this is one of the most tragic things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely tragic,” said Federal Transit Administration spokesperson Peyton Vogel at the scene.

Duffy posted the findings from the investigation to social media.

“Local police confirm the driver of this motorcoach — a man from China who became a U.S. citizen — doesn’t speak English. He received his commercial drivers license from New York State in 2024,” Duffy wrote.

“Unacceptable. This is exactly why we are holding states accountable, enforcing the rules of the road, and cracking down on drivers who can’t speak English,” he added. “If you can’t be properly trained, read our road signs, or communicate with law enforcement, you have no business driving a bus.”

He also vowed that any company, trainer, or school involved in putting Dong on the road would receive “intense scrutiny” over the incident.

RELATED: Security camera shows school bus blow through stop sign and get hit by city bus, 6 people hurt

Dong was also injured in the crash.

“My prayers are with the loved ones of the innocent lives lost and those who were hurt in this horrific crime,” Duffy concluded.

The investigation into the crash closed traffic on the I-95 south lane for about four hours.

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​Bus crash, Chinese national, Foreign drivers, Lethal crash, Politics 

The star of the upcoming “Supergirl” movie says she has one major weakness — and it isn’t Kryptonite.

It’s the online trolls.

‘I’m actively trying not to engage — although how could you not?’

Super grrrl

In a recent Variety interview, Australian actress Milly Alcock talked about dealing with fan backlash — specifically reaction to comments she made about working on “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon.”

Speaking to “Vanity Fair” in March, the 26-year-old said the role “definitely made me aware that simply existing as a woman in that space is something that people comment on,” before adding, “We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of women’s bodies. I can’t really stop them. I can only be myself.”

Now Alcock says any fans who took this as some kind of feminist male-bashing are way off base.

“I didn’t even say ‘men’ — I said ‘people’! And they got so angry. I was like, ‘You’re proving my point. You’re proving my point!’”

While Alcock said she struggles not to let her haters get to her, she admitted that the “pain” of such interactions allow her to connect with her superhero character, who also has to navigate a dangerous world filled with evildoers.

RELATED: BOX OFFICE KRYPTONITE: ‘Supergirl’ star flames fans ahead of premiere

Frazer Harrison/WireImage

Christian dads

For Alcock, what makes “online forums” especially dangerous is the “unhealthy relationship” they encourage users to have with celebrities.

Especially worrisome are the posters who — like most supervillains — disguise themselves.

“[P]eople whose profiles have no photo, who are burner accounts. Or someone’s name and then ‘Dad of four, Christian,’ which is hilarious to me. But I mean, whose opinion do you really care about? If you’re pissing the right kind of people off, you’re doing OK.”

RELATED: ‘Supergirl’ star expects backlash because fans have ‘weird ownership of women’s bodies’ — the responses are hilarious

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Child of the internet

Although Alcock’s theory is that all comic-book movie characters let their fans down, it seems more likely that her later admission that she spends too much time online is the actual culprit.

While being described as a child of the internet who finds it really hard to put down her phone, Alcock said it was “because sometimes people reinforce beliefs that you have about yourself, and you’re like, ‘Now someone’s said it! It’s true!’ And you’ve got to remind yourself that it’s not.”

“Sitting at a café and watching people and reading alone — just being a participant in real life — has been helpful,” she told the outlet.

She chalked this behavior up to her age, despite having had major acting roles her entire adult life.

“I’m Gen Z! Yeah, I grew up online, so I’m actively trying not to engage — although how could you not?”

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​Milly alcock, Supergirl, Sexism, Progressivism, Gen z, Entertainment 

As more Christian influencers on social media claim to receive signs from God in the form of symbols from the world, BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey is urging believers to exercise discernment.

While Stuckey believes that the intention and anxiety behind asking God for a sign is “natural and understandable,” she notes that “when we get into this mode of asking for God, for some particular natural sign … from the world, then we can actually foster more anxiety and more confusion.”

“Not only within ourselves, but also with the people that we influence,” she adds.

One social media influencer asked God for a sign in the form of a bluebird on a window sill, breaking down in tears as she recalled the story on her Instagram.

“She asked God for a bluebird sign, landing on the window sill, to indicate whether or not she should write a book,” Stuckey comments, pointing out that the sign of the bluebird has become very popular on social media.

“I do think it’s interesting that in a span of just a couple of months, all of these Christian creators happen to see bluebirds they claim as a sign from God. And they are encouraging others, some of them, to ask God for similar signs,” she says.

And while Stuckey urges believers to exercise caution, she does point out that there are examples in Scripture of asking God for signs.

“If we look at Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant prayed for a clear sign while searching for a wife for Isaac. He asked that the right woman would not only give him a drink, but also offer to water his camels. And Rebecca did exactly that,” Stuckey explains.

“And then Moses in Exodus 3–4 expressed doubt when God called him at the burning bush to lead Israel. In response, God gave him three confirmatory signs to show the people: his staff turning into a snake and back, his hand becoming leprous and then healed, and the Nile turning to blood when poured on dry ground,” she continues.

While these examples are clear indicators that it’s OK to ask God for a sign, Stuckey points out that Scripture also “warns against demanding them or asking God for them in order for Him to confirm His character or to confirm His will for you, especially when it stems from unbelief or a hardened heart.”

“I think when our theology is being influenced by New Age culture, we are in as much trouble as ancient Israel was when they were being influenced by outside pagan nations,” she explains.

“It is possible for this to really hurt our mind and our heart and our soul if that is what we’re doing,” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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

​Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Christianity, Lindsey gurk, Bluebird, God, Sign, Religion, Bible, Relatable with allie beth stuckey 

Kathleen Kennedy may have left her post in January, but her influence is still being felt at Disney studio Lucasfilm.

The former studio president became synonymous with underperformance during her tenure and was often at odds with fans over her choices to feminize popular intellectual property.

Disney’s break-even point for the film is somewhere between $500 million and $600 million for a worldwide gross.

Kennedy curse

At the time of her departure, Kennedy still had two films yet to be released, and one of those was “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu,” which opened on Memorial Day weekend.

While the film showed some promise with $33.8 million on opening night, attendance sunk to half by Memorial Day, concluding with about $82 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo.

Disney had projected $97 million to $98 million for the four-day opening but got nowhere close. In fact, the movie now ranks below “Solo: A Star Wars Story” — which took in $84.4 million in its opening — as Disney’s lowest “Star Wars” debut. To make matters worse, the “Solo” movie only had three days to attract fans to its opening rather than four.

For many people, that is a boatload of cash, but for “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu,” its worldwide total of $168 million is barely enough to recover its budget of an estimated $165 million.

Furthermore, Collider reported that Disney’s break-even point for the film is somewhere between $500 million and $600 million for a worldwide gross. The Han Solo movie, for example, only made $393 million worldwide.

RELATED: How Hollywood tries to masculinize femininity — and makes everyone miserable

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney

Vote Pedro?

Disney still has another Kennedy project slated for the same time next year with “Star Wars: Starfighter,” set for release on May 28, 2027. Kennedy is credited as producer for that film, which features much bigger star power than the most recent flick, which included the outspoken activist Pedro Pascal.

Pascal has openly talked about helping co-stars with their gender journeys and comes from a staunch communist family in Chile.

“Star Wars: Starfighter,” however, has more widely liked performers like Ryan Gosling and Amy Adams attached to the film.

RELATED: FEMPIRE STRIKES BACK: Kathleen Kennedy leaves ‘Star Wars’; is it too soon for fans to celebrate?

CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Fan slander

Kennedy took “Star Wars” fans head-on during her time at the studio, even accusing them of attacking women who were unhappy with her productions.

In what has now become a trope, Kennedy blamed a “male-dominated” fanbase for the reason the show “The Acolyte” underperformed.

“I think a lot of the women who step into ‘Star Wars’ struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal,” she said in 2024.

Kennedy noted that “anyone who engages in bigotry, racism, or hate speech … I don’t consider a fan.”

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​Star wars, Disney, Align, Movies, Pedro pascal, Kathleen kennedy, Entertainment 

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman expressed her anger at tents that appeared outside of her home, but it apparently wasn’t homeless people who took up residence on her sidewalk.

It was a prankster who claimed to have organized the encampment to protest against the failing policies in Los Angeles about the homelessness crisis.

Raman also claimed that the failures of the city government are what led her to run for mayor after claiming that she had successfully addressed homelessness as a city councilwoman.

Raman spoke about the tents on a podcast with Adam Conover and expressed anger at the political stunt.

“I woke up this morning to a sound of commotion outside of my window, and I looked out the window, and I realized that there were people setting up what was I think a fake encampment, like a homeless encampment outside of my house,” she said.

“Multiple people gathered there filming it … shooting something with cameras and things like that outside of my house!” she added. “I think to make a political video that would talk about how, I don’t want this at all, but … this is somebody who wants encampments on our streets.”

Conover claimed that she had actually cleared out more encampments than her predecessor, and Raman agreed.

“I have two little kids; they didn’t see it, luckily, this morning,” she continued. “But I feel badly that I’m even subjecting them to that at all. But it has definitely, this has gone far beyond what I expected the campaign to be about.”

The videos showed men acting like homeless people pushing tires, sitting on a mattress, and pretending to be strung out on drugs in front of her home.

Conover went on to claim that setting up fake tents outside of her home was “harassment” and blamed Spencer Pratt, who is also running for mayor, even though he had no apparent connection to the stunt.

Raman also claimed that the failures of the city government are what led her to run for mayor after claiming that she had successfully addressed homelessness as a city councilwoman.

The organizer of the tent stunt told KTTV-TV that he had nothing to do with the Pratt campaign, though he said he was a fan.

“This is happening all over the city. And we brought it to her doorstep so she can see what other people are going through,” said the organizer, who wanted to remain anonymous.

“We’re basically doing a parody ad for [Raman],” he added. “Like if we were in charge of her campaign, this is the ad that we would make.”

RELATED: TMZ tries to nuke Spencer Pratt’s mayoral campaign — and gets bitten in the Bass

The Pratt campaign responded by posting a video of Raman previously rolling her eyes at residents who were upset at their children being exposed to homeless encampments.

“I don’t think a kid’s going to be safer because a tent is 500 feet away from a school. It’s, like, whatever,” Raman says in the video.

“God blessed me with some stupid opponents,” Pratt added.

The organizer also responded to her comments on the Conover podcast.

“It’s a public street. I can see why she’s upset, but she should think about everybody else who’s going through the same thing constantly but being ignored,” he added.

The organizer said the effort was being funded by donors across the country.

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​Nithya raman, Homeless crisis, Los angeles mayoral election, Spencer pratt, Politics 

Military officials, defense analysts, and critics have warned in recent years about the state of America’s military readiness and the risk of exhausting its stores of critical munitions.

The U.S -Israel war with Iran — a conflict which saw a 39-day bombing campaign with over 13,000 targets struck followed by a fragile ceasefire interrupted in recent days and weeks by additional strikes — has spread America’s missile inventory particularly thin.

According to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. “has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war, but the depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict. The time needed to rebuild those inventories has thus become a major concern.”

‘Democrats destroyed our military.’

War Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged during a Senate hearing on April 30 that it will take “months and years” to rebuild the military’s stockpiles of various munitions. The CSIS report attempts to give a better idea of the turnaround for replenishing the stocks of specific systems.

The think tank estimated, for instance, that the U.S. will not be able to replenish its prewar inventory of Tomahawk cruise missiles — over 850 of which were reportedly fired just in the first four weeks of the conflict and fewer than 200 of which are made per year — back to prewar levels until late 2030 or early 2031.

American Enterprise Institute fellows Mackenzie Eaglen and Todd Harrison noted in an assessment last year that the U.S. expended over 150 THAAD interceptors — terminal high-altitude area defense interceptors — defending Israel in June 2025 during its 12-day conflict with Iran.

At the time, that accounted for nearly 25% of America’s total number of THAAD interceptors — each valued at roughly $12.7 million — and reportedly three times the average annual procurement since 2010.

The new CSIS report puts the number of THAAD interceptors used in the current conflict somewhere between 190 and 290.

RELATED: US reaches new ceasefire deal with Iran — but there’s a catch

Aftermath of a missile strike on a building in Tehran on March 1. ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images

With a projected annual production capacity of 96 THAAD interceptors at the current maximum rate and a potential expanded annual production capacity of 400 in light of the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal for 2027, the CSIS report predicts a replenishment of the prewar stock sometime in mid- to late 2029.

An estimated 1,060-1,430 Patriot missiles — a variety of missile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently been begging Trump for more of — were fired in and around Iran since Feb. 28. Again, a return to prewar inventory isn’t expected until mid-2029.

The estimated turnaround for replenishing the prewar stock of standard missile-3s is early 2029; standard missile-6s is late 2028-early 2029; joint air-to-surface standoff missiles is mid-2027; and precision strike missiles is late 2026.

The analysts suggested that during this inventory gap, some munitions could be substituted, but swaps will invariably carry with them certain downsides.

“Alternative ground attack munitions, for example, are short- or medium-range and increase vulnerability of the launch platforms,” said the report. “Alternative counter-drone systems are expensive.”

The Trump administration evidently doesn’t share the outlook of the report’s authors.

Following the publication of the CSIS report, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to the Military Times that the U.S. military “has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump’s strategic goals and beyond.”

“Even still, the president has urged our defense contractors to constantly produce more made-in-America weapons, which are the best in the world,” continued Kelly. “Democrats destroyed our military, but President Trump rebuilt it. Think-tank armchair quarterbacks are not read into sensitive information and have no idea what they’re talking about.”

While the military remains tight-lipped about how many missiles and munitions were expended during Operation Epic Fury, the administration was provided with some idea as to how much was spent monetarily.

Jules Hurst III, the Department of War’s acting comptroller, testified earlier this month that the U.S. had spent roughly $29 billion on the war.

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​Army, Defense contractors, Department of war, Iran, Israel, Military, Munitions, Navy, United states, War, Politics 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ comfortable lead has dwindled significantly, with the incumbent now in a tight race with L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, according to the latest polling.

A poll, conducted May 19-24 by the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, showed Bass receiving 26% of the vote, Raman close behind with 25%, and Pratt securing 22%.

‘It’s going to boil down to turnout.’

The Times reported that Bass’ slight lead was “statistically insignificant,” according to pollsters. It further noted that prior polls showed Bass with a stronger lead over her challengers, which has since narrowed. Meanwhile, Raman and Pratt have made steady gains.

Only 10% of the 1,913 registered voters surveyed said they were still undecided ahead of the June 2 primary, down from 26% in a March poll. Analysts predicted that Bass is likely to receive enough votes to head into a November runoff with either Raman or Pratt.

When asked which issues they care about most, nearly all surveyed Pratt supporters said they care about addressing waste and political corruption, as well as crime and public safety.

RELATED: The one big liberal media lie about Spencer Pratt that no one is mentioning

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Bass and Raman supporters, who gave similar responses to one another, prioritized protecting immigrants, moving the homeless indoors, and building more affordable housing.

In a one-on-one race between Bass and Pratt, those surveyed gave Bass an 18-point lead, with 12% undecided and 12% choosing neither or stating they would not vote. In a potential runoff between Raman and Pratt, Raman secured 45% to Pratt’s 28%, with 16% undecided and 11% choosing neither or declining to vote.

RELATED: Spencer Pratt’s viral campaign is turning into a political nightmare for Karen Bass

Etienne Laurent/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Although the mayoral race is nonpartisan, Pratt, a registered Republican, is running in a city where less than 15% of the population is registered as Republican.

“You’ve got three very different candidates, each with very different constituencies, all within the margin of error. It’s going to boil down to turnout,” Mark DiCamillo, the director of Berkeley IGS polls, told the Times. “Pratt is an unusual candidate and is generating a lot of enthusiasm in the primary, but he trails by double digits to Raman and Bass in a runoff.”

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​News, Spencer pratt, Karen bass, Nithya raman, California, Los angeles, Election, Politics 

Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is running to succeed governor Ron DeSantis — and after he announced his radical plan to disrupt “teen takeovers,” Florida might just see him win.

Fishback stepped up to reveal his plan after 22 young people were arrested at a riot in downtown Tampa, Florida, this month, beginning with a controversial but true statement: “One thing that we have to confront is that black youth violence is a problem in Florida.”

The candidate pointed out that the group was “almost exclusively young and black.”

“There’s something to be said about the root causes that lead a 12-year-old who was arrested here on Friday night to riot without parental supervision. 72% of black kids born today will be born to an unmarried mother,” Fishback explained.

He went on to announce three policies that would take effect immediately if he were to win.

“We will be charging anyone who participates in a so-called teen takeover with Florida State Statute 8701, a third-degree felony of rioting. I’m also going to instruct state attorneys, including right here in the 13th Judicial Circuit, to make it so that any teen who is charged with aggravated rioting is charged as an adult,” he explained.

“Number two, we’re going to stand up a social media youth disruption unit tasked by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in my first month as governor to lawfully and constitutionally monitor incitement and threats of riots like the one that took place here, to disrupt them before they begin,” he continued. “And that includes me as governor activating the Florida National Guard.”

“And number three, what I’m going to direct the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to do is to convene a five-person panel of law enforcement, business leaders, and, most importantly, our church leaders to look at the root causes of black youth crime and to prepare a report to give to me as the governor within my first 90 days,” he added.

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is thrilled.

“He’s addressing this teen takeover issue. He’s addressing the complications, the consequences of a fatherless culture, and it has to be addressed head-on,” Whitlock says, before asking Fishback himself, “Why have you chosen to step out here and make this a central part of your campaign for running for governor?”

“Because violence affects everybody, Jason,” Fishback says.

“You’ve got to hold people accountable. If you do an action and there are not consequences, that action is going to repeat. It is as old as time,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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​Fearless 

The explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket resulted in an enormous conflagration that lit up the sky in Florida for miles around.

The rocket was being test-fired on Thursday at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station when it blew up at about 9 p.m. on the coast.

‘Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.’

The explosion destroyed the rocket, the erector-gantry used to move the rocket, and one of two lighting towers near the pad.

Space expert Ken Kremer explained how the explosion unfolded to WESH-TV.

“They were loading propellant into the rocket, and they started a static fire test, which is not a launch,” Kremer said. “The rocket is sitting on the pad, and they want to ignite the engines for several seconds to test them all out and make sure everything will work when they do the launch in the next few weeks. That was the plan.”

“All personnel are accounted for and safe,” Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said on social media about the incident.

“It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” he added. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”

The U.S. Space Force Eastern Range confirmed that there were no injuries and said first responders were on the scene.

The destroyed New Glenn rocket was scheduled to launch in June with 48 Leo internet satellites owned by Amazon that were intended to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system.

Musk, who has had his own rocket explosions as the founder of SpaceX, responded via social media.

“Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” he posted.

RELATED: William Shatner rips into European officials trying to ban ‘Star Trek’ motto over gender exclusion

The rocket was also intended to launch a moon lander on a test flight that would have rendezvoused with the NASA Artemis mission in Earth orbit.

“Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on social media. “We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”

Blue Origin was far more successful when it launched an all-female celebrity crew that included Katy Perry and Bezos’ then-fiancée, Lauren Sanchez. The space crew traveled 62 miles above Earth, experienced approximately four minutes of weightlessness, and then returned soon afterward.

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​Blue origin, Cape canaveral, Jeff bezos, Rocket explosion, Politics 

The Washington Nationals are in hot water over a player who dares to stand up for his Christian faith.

James O’Keefe’s guerrilla journalism outfit published undercover footage on Tuesday featuring an apparent admission by the Washington Nationals’ director of community relations that the team has avoided using pitcher Trevor Williams in Nationals social media content on account of his criticism of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — a group that mocks the Catholic Church, its rituals and beliefs, and its nuns.

Background

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is a San Francisco-based radical group that touts itself as a “leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns.”

‘The public has a right to know whether that view is tolerated, encouraged, or operationalized by the organization.’

Since its inception on Easter Sunday 1979, the SPI — whose motto is “go forth and sin some more,” an inversion of Christ’s command — has ridiculed Catholic teaching and doctrine, mocking the church’s orthodox views on marriage, sexuality, transgenderism, and abortion.

This anti-Christian group regularly holds “Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary” contests; held a “condom savior mass”; saw one of its members arrested for allegedly masturbating in public; routinely mocks the crucifixion; participated in drag shows targeting children; and according to Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, once “tricked an archbishop into giving them the Eucharist — the most important sacrament of the Catholic faith — so they could defile it.”

Pitcher Trevor Williams, who is Catholic, was among the handful of players in the Major League Baseball league who spoke out in 2023 after the L.A. Dodgers decided to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with a “Community Hero Award” for “their countless hours of community service, ministry, and outreach to those on the edges, in addition to promoting human rights and respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment.”

RELATED: Five standout denunciations and warnings in Pope Leo XIV’s new papal encyclical

Samuel Corum/Getty Images

“A Major League Baseball game is a place where people from all walks of life should feel welcomed, something I greatly respect and support. This is the purpose of different themed nights hosted by the organization, including Pride Night,” wrote Williams on May 30, 2023.

“To invite and honor a group that makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion, and the religion of over 4 million people in Los Angeles county alone, undermines the values of respect and inclusivity that should be upheld by any organization,” added the pitcher.

“I believe it is essential for the Dodgers to reconsider their association with this group and strive to create an inclusive environment that does not demean or disrespect the religious beliefs of any fan or employee,” Williams continued. “I also encourage my fellow Catholics to reconsider their support of an organization that allows this type of mockery of its fans to occur.”

Blacklisted

Sean Hudson, the community relations director whose LinkedIn page was recently deleted, appears to tell an undercover reporter in the footage published by James O’Keefe that Trevor Williams “is very Catholic.”

“He’s super Catholic — all these tattoos that mean a lot,” Hudson appears to say. “But last year, I don’t understand the full scope, the Dodgers had a group out to the stadium who were drag queens who sometimes dressed up as nuns. … He went on like a social media like — ‘this is wrong, this is my religion, you all are mocking it.'”

“So we don’t use him,” continued Hudson. “Because of that, we don’t use him on social.”

Later in the video, Hudson appears to state, “If you’re a sports fan and we piss you off, where else are you going to go?”

The Washington Nationals X account does not appear to have referenced Williams since September 2025 and has only sporadically made mention of him since he criticized the SPI in 2023.

Neither the MLB nor the Washington Nationals responded to Blaze News’ request for comment.

O’Keefe’s journalism outfit suggested that Hudson’s “admission raises legal questions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which explicitly prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on religion, including limiting their opportunities or visibility due to sincerely held beliefs.”

When later confronted by conservative commentator Alex Stein about his claim, Hudson said, “That doesn’t sound like something I would say.”

The team, however, told EWTN News that it was “aware of comments made by an employee, which were recorded without the employee’s knowledge and disseminated without his permission.”

“The statements are not only factually incorrect, but do not reflect the views, opinions, or actions of the Washington Nationals,” the team said in its statement. “The Nationals are dedicated to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for our players, fans, and staff, and we vehemently deny any allegations to the contrary.”

Backlash

Kelsey Reinhardt, the CEO of CatholicVote, wrote to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on Wednesday, urging the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to “investigate possible unlawful religious discrimination by the Washington Nationals Baseball Club against pitcher Trevor Williams.”

Reinhardt suggested that if Hudson’s remarks are accurate, an MLB “franchise may have taken an adverse employment-related action, reputational action, promotional action, or workplace action against a player because of his religion and his sincere public expression of Catholic belief.”

“This matter is not merely a private dispute between an athlete and his employer,” said Reinhardt. “The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball franchise in the nation’s capital. Their conduct sends a public message. If a senior executive of such an organization believes that a player should be excluded from official team communications because he is ‘very Catholic’ and because he defended Catholics from religious mockery, then the public has a right to know whether that view is tolerated, encouraged, or operationalized by the organization.”

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) has also asked the DOJ to take “decisive action.”

Williams, who hasn’t posted on X since 2023 and hasn’t posted on Instagram since January, said in an Instagram post on Friday, “The first reading from today comes from 1 Peter 4:7-13. The writer of this epistle is addressing newly baptized Christians, reminding them that they are holy and they should act like it. This entire chapter really addresses the social costs of the faith — not necessarily persecution, but the sometimes awkward ‘ehh I don’t do that anymore.'”

“As my friend Fr. Joshua said ‘Sometimes we lean into it and bravely bear witness to Christ’s truth; sometimes we dodge it and regret it later, feeling we’ve let Jesus down,'” continued Williams. “Therefore Christians are called in those moments to love, to suffer, and to sacrifice, for when we act like Christ in those moments, we imitate Jesus. We even share in the merciful work of Jesus when we choose to act like him in the face of even the smallest insult.”

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​Catholicvote, Christian faith, Civil rights act, Drag shows, Major league baseball, Sisters of perpetual indulgence, Washington nationals, Civil rights division, Justice department, Trevor williams, Faith, Catholic, Politics, Lauren boebert, Kelsey reinhardt 

Discussions about demographic decline in the West tend to focus on mass immigration, with good reason. Debates over borders, assimilation, and the so-called “Great Replacement” dominate political discourse across Europe and America, often framed as a demographic transformation imposed by elites.

But there is another kind of “replacement” under way — one that appears far less imposed and more self-managed. Across much of the developed world, societies are suppressing the primal biological imperative to reproduce, turning instead toward technological, emotional, and economic substitutes for children and family life.

Playgrounds grow quiet as kindergartens are repurposed into elderly care homes.

Birth rates are falling off a cliff, and the debate has long since outgrown dry statistics, morphing instead into a full-blown dystopian spectacle. As biological motherhood retreats, a new era of artificial and symbolic surrogacy is emerging. From robotic companions to the vicarious consumption of mommy blogs, the traditional cradle is being replaced by market-driven alternatives.

Fur-baby boom

While I often praise South Korea for its socially conservative traditions, its penchant for great zombie movies, and its willingness to lock up annoying American YouTubers in labor prisons, the country also faces an unfortunate distinction: It now has the world’s lowest fertility rate. At 0.8, this figure is far below the 2.1 replacement level needed for population stability without immigration.

As a result, unusual trends have emerged among Korean women. For example, 2023 marked the first time that pet strollers outsold baby carriages. This is more than a passing trend — last year the number of South Korean households with “fur babies” hit 15 million — or one in three.

The country’s infrastructure is visibly transforming to reflect its shrinking youth population. This March, at the start of the academic year, more than 200 elementary schools admitted no new pupils. The result is the rise of ghost schools across rural provinces — empty buildings that once housed children but now stand silent.

With nearly half of South Korea’s population expected to be senior citizens within 30 years, the government has taken drastic measures. Playgrounds grow quiet as kindergartens are repurposed into elderly care homes. What was once celebrated as the miracle on the Han River has evolved into a cautionary tale of a society that has optimized itself for productivity at the expense of its continuity.

RELATED: Meet the ‘femosphere’: Angry young women who love to hate men

Francis G. Mayer/Getty Images

Cartoon courtship

While South Korea replaces children with pets, Japan has pioneered replacing human intimacy with a Wi-Fi connection. Some young woman have adopted a new sexual identity — 2D exclusive. A product of otaku (geek) culture gone mainstream, 2D aficionados — including Japanese Minister of State for Economic Security Kimi Onoda — prefer anime characters over living, breathing men, who tend to be less compliant and far more demanding.

Across the West, the refusal to reproduce is commonly framed as a personal choice. Scratch the surface, however, and you often find a reaction to powerful external forces. Chief among these is eco-anxiety about climate change, a sentiment especially pronounced among Western women.

Much like postcolonial studies, green ideology has inculcated a sense of guilt and victimhood, convincing many that bringing children into the world is reckless because of the Earth’s inevitable heat death. A major survey published in the Lancet revealed that 52% of Americans under 25 hesitate to have children, specifically due to concerns about the climate. The prevailing belief is that the worst thing a woman can do is increase her carbon footprint by bringing a baby into a doomed world.

The sharent trap

The vacuum left by declining birth rates has also allowed a strange new form of parasocial parenting to emerge. In the United States, the rise of a kind of “digital godmother” culture enables millions of childless followers to experience motherhood vicariously. Influencers like Savannah LaBrant carefully curate a highly scripted version of domestic life, offering their vast audiences an illusion of participation in parenthood.

LaBrant engages in “sharenting” — because everything fashionable now needs a stupid portmanteau — where parents share intimate details of their children’s lives online. Her followers develop deep one-sided emotional bonds with her three children, Rosie, Zealand, and Sunday, witnessing their lives from ultrasound images to toddler — yes, even their births were documented. Strangers offer advice, believing they are actively participating in raising the children.

The constant stream of photos and videos drives engagement and enhances the most important thing — brand value. Sponsorships range from HelloFresh to mobile gaming apps. (Nothing quite says “home and hearth” like an ad for RAID: Shadow Legends.)

Unbirth of a nation

In the United Kingdom, mass immigration goes hand in hand with reproductive policy. The number of abortions performed since 1968 — 10.9 million — almost equals the number of immigrants currently residing in the U.K. Immigration has replaced a generation of unborn children and sustained the workforce. Rather than incentivizing native births, state policy has increasingly adopted a neoliberal model that treats people as fungible units — importing adults to fill labor needs, instead of nurturing local family growth.

This global trend is more than a simple decline in birth rates — it marks a paradigm shift in our assumptions about what gives life meaning. For many, it used to be the simple yet profound drive to leave a legacy for the next generation. The free market has proven itself quite adept at selling quick-fix alternatives to this rewarding, yet often thankless, pursuit. Immigration reform is badly needed, but no amount of border security will sustain a culture that cares so little about its future.

​Climate change, Fertility rate, Great replacement, Mass immigration, South korea, Unborn children, Border security, Culture, Europe, West, Lifestyle 

Video captured an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protester in New Jersey seemingly threatening to kill ICE agents and their families, and the Justice Department has vowed to find him and arrest him.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department is actively seeking to identify and arrest the man from the protest at an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey.

‘I promise you, we will find him. And when we find him, we will arrest him.’

Footage of the apparent threats was aired during Blanche’s appearance on “The Will Cain Show” on Fox News.

“I will kill your whole f**king family!” the protester appeared to scream.

“Your whole f**king family is dead! Your children, your wife, all dead!” the suspect added. “I have your face, motherf**ker! You’re dead!”

Blanche said the Justice Dept. was actively seeking to identify the man.

“That’s a federal crime. Not only threatening the ICE officer, but think about how disgusting this individual is, threatening his family and his children with death,” said Blanche.

“What is this man [the ICE officer] doing? He’s just doing his job standing there,” he added.

“We see [the protester’s] face, and I promise you, we will find him. And when we find him, we will arrest him.”

The video was apparently recorded by journalist Nick Sortor, who related on social media that he had warned the man at the scene.

“I politely warned him last night that he was committing a federal felony, and recommended he stop,” said Sortor. “He said ‘I don’t care man’ and kept up.”

RELATED: WATCH: Protester screeches ‘Nazi b***h!’ at Fox News reporter on air during NJ protest

“Someone’s going to get a VERY unwanted door knock here shortly,” added Sortor.

Anti-ICE protests have continued for months at the center, but they escalated in recent days after there were reports of a hunger strike from detainees protesting the allegedly poor living conditions in detainment, including lack of medical attention.

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​Anti-ice protest, Political violence, Immigration enforcement, Ice detention center, Politics, Ice 

You’re likely familiar with the cultural script on aging.

It reads less like a list of life stages and more like a slow-motion obituary. Hit 50, and the back gives out. Hit 60, and the memory springs a leak. Hit 70, and sleep comes in seven installments, courtesy of the bladder. Hit 80, and people start congratulating you for standing up. Hit 90, and they congratulate you for waking up.

Consistency, the least marketable word in wellness, turns out to be the key to thriving well past retirement age.

The script is, and always was, a lie.

Boomer bashing

My Irish grandmother is in her 80s and still as sharp as a tack. She remembers names, dates, family scandals, who owed whom money in 1987, and every embarrassing thing any grandchild ever did. You don’t win an argument with her. If you’re lucky, you survive it. She runs mental laps around people half her age. She’s not an anomaly or some statistical freak. This is what a properly engaged human brain looks like in its ninth decade.

So why does society treat people like her as exceptions to a rule that isn’t real? Because ageism remains the last fully acceptable prejudice in America and beyond.

Try selling a birthday card that mocks any other group. Now walk into any drugstore and count the ones mocking the elderly. There’s a whole aisle. Sitcoms cast grandparents as lost souls who can barely use a cell phone. Tech companies build entire pitch decks around how hopelessly out of touch anyone over 40 has become.

“OK, Boomer” was marketed as a joke. In reality, it was thinly veiled contempt, aimed at the very people whose work made possible the lives of those mocking them. The bias is so normalized that it barely registers as bias, which is exactly how the worst ones operate. And ageism is the most destructive of them all. Every other prejudice targets a group most of us will never belong to. Ageism targets the group nearly all of us will join.

Brain boost

That casual contempt fuels the narratives about aging more than biology ever did. Tell a population for 50 years that decline is destiny, and the population obligingly declines. Tell people they become invisible at 60, and many will retreat into the shadows.

The trouble is that the data has stopped cooperating with the cruel, condescending script.

A recent study from the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas suggests it never should have. Researchers tracked nearly 4,000 adults between the ages of 19 and 94 across three years and found measurable improvements in brain performance at every age. People in their 70s and 80s improved. Some of the biggest jumps came from those who started with the lowest scores. The brain behaves less like a dying battery and more like a muscle. Train it, and it adapts. Ignore it, and it atrophies.

And by training, I don’t mean learning Mandarin or memorizing pi to a thousand digits. Small daily habits did most of the heavy lifting. A few minutes of intentional mental work: a crossword, sudoku, some journaling. Real conversation with real humans. No magic pills, no ice baths, no hyperbaric chambers in the garage. Consistency, the least marketable word in wellness, turns out to be the key to thriving well past retirement age.

RELATED: To lose weight, ditch the ‘unisex’ approach

ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images

Geriatric gains

Aging is real, of course. Time charges rent. But modern culture keeps confusing aging with abandonment, and those are entirely different events.

Consider muscle loss. The standard line is that getting weaker after 60 is simply nature taking its course. But research on resistance training in older adults keeps producing very different results. Nursing homes that add basic strength programs see residents regain and even improve their balance and mobility.

The brain, as the aforementioned study shows, follows the same pattern. Older cab drivers memorizing routes, musicians practicing scales, retirees picking up chess, grandparents who refuse to stop hosting Sunday dinner: These people keep their wits because their wits never get a day off.

Meanwhile, plenty of 35-year-olds are already mentally cooked. Screen addiction, sleep deprivation, isolation, ultra-processed food, chronic stress, and the dopamine slot machine in everyone’s pocket are producing cognitive burnout in people who still rely on Mommy and Daddy for money. A 20-year-old flicking through TikTok at red lights may have a shorter attention span than a 60-year-old who reads two books a month and still finds silence tolerable.

Seasoned seniors

The myth that older people cannot learn is exactly that — a myth, and a lazy one. They process some things more slowly, then make up the difference with pattern recognition, emotional regulation, and the kind of patience that only comes from having already survived the worst version of yourself. Communities that lose their elders lose their memory. Civilizations that worship only youth end up run by impulsive adults trapped in permanent adolescence, which explains a great deal about the past few decades.

Emotionally, older adults often report more gratitude, steadiness, and perspective than they had at 30. After enough funerals and failures, trivial drama loses its grip. An 80-year-old who buried a husband and raised five kids on a tight budget has a much more grounded perspective on reality than a heavily medicated influencer melting down over a comment thread.

The brain stays dynamic longer than anyone assumed. The body stays trainable longer than anyone assumed. The real tragedy isn’t aging but how early people are taught to give up on themselves.

There is your chronological age and your biological age, and the two are often barely on speaking terms. Plenty of 40-year-olds are running on fumes and ibuprofen. Plenty of 80-year-olds are operating with the energy and mental wattage of someone half their age. My grandmother certainly is.

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It has never been easier for hostile foreign powers to weaken the United States, and leftist influencer Hasan Piker is a great example of why that is.

“The Cuban regime wanted him in Cuba,” Blaze media co-founder Glenn Beck says. “Not just as a tourist or, you know, a curious American. According to Hasan himself, the Cuban government reached out through the embassy contacts and essentially said, ‘Hey, if internet access is the problem, we’ll provide it.’”

Piker discussed the situation during a recent podcast appearance, explaining that the Cuban government “hit [his] contact” and told him that if the “only thing stopping [him] from coming to Cuba was the consistent internet access,” the government could “make it happen.”

“So they want him over there now. Why? This is a communist dictatorship,” Glenn says. “A regime that jails dissidents, kills them, censors free speech. A regime that has survived decades through propaganda, intelligence operations, anti-American agitation.”

“You’ve got hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Cubans living here in the United States that escaped this monstrous regime. And they wanted to facilitate one of America’s biggest online political voices,” he continues.

Glenn points out that hostile governments don’t accidentally invest in Americans with large political platforms.

“Cuba’s not calling me and going, ‘Oh, you want a landline? We’ll get you a landline,’” he says.

“Let me be really clear on something here. That does not make Hasan Piker a Cuban spy, OK? More of a useful idiot,” he says, explaining that it’s more “about influence networks.”

“This is about how foreign states cultivate narratives inside free society. And America’s been asleep at the switch while this has been happening for years,” he continues. “The Soviet Union understood this. China understands this. Iran understands this. Cuba understands this. Hell, America, our CIA — we probably invented it.”

“And what we all learned is you don’t defeat — especially America — tank versus tank any more. You have to weaken trust. You fracture identity. You radicalize citizens,” he says.

“You convince young Americans that their country is evil, irredeemable, racist, colonial, genocidal, corrupt beyond repair, whatever the popular thing is this week. And once you get enough people believing that, then the republic just begins collapsing from the inside voluntarily,” he explains.

“That’s ideological warfare,” he adds. “And that’s what is happening.”

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