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FBI Director Kash Patel is facing some tough questions in the aftermath of yet another assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.

Trump and members of his Cabinet were targeted Saturday night at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner after a gunman rushed past a security checkpoint and opened fire in the Washington Hilton lobby. The suspect, later identified as 31-year-old Cole Allen, was staying at the hotel and was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives.

‘It was a total failure.’

Before he was apprehended and taken into custody, the gunman shot a Secret Serviceman who was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Allen’s alleged manifesto was later made public, revealing anti-Trump and anti-Christian motivations that may have fueled the attack.

Although the Secret Service successfully stopped the third assassination attempt, several questions remain about the efficacy of the security measures in place since the shooter was able to get that far.

RELATED: Stunning new details reveal the ‘depraved’ motivation of the suspected WHCD shooter

US President Trump via Truth Social/Anadolu/Getty Images

“They did a great job on the ground,” “Fox & Friends” host Lawrence Jones said of the Secret Service. “But they remain reactive. The proactive approach is still under great scrutiny. The president of the United States is averaging an assassination attempt once a year.”

“So who’s going to do the investigating of the procedures?” Jones asked Patel. “Secret Service can’t investigate themselves because there are still people in leadership at the Secret Service that were responsible for Butler. How does that happen? It was a failure.”

Patel acknowledged the failures that took place in Butler, Pennsylvania, but deferred to the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s leadership. Patel did not detail which procedures or protocols would be improved or changed but indicated that some sort of reform would take place.

“I can’t speak to Butler, and I agree it was a total failure. Absolutely,” Patel responded. “But I have full confidence in Secretary Markwayne Mullin. He oversees the United States Secret Service. I’ve talked to him repeatedly over the weekend … and said, ‘Whatever you need from the FBI, whatever we can assist in, and however we can better prepare to protect our protectees going forward, with the U.S. Secret Service, this FBI stands ready to do.’ And we’re going to improve that process under Markwayne’s leadership and oversight of the Secret Service.”

RELATED: Trump evacuated from White House Correspondents’ Dinner following possible gunfire

Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images

Patel was also pressed about the suspect’s proximity to the event. He had checked into the Washington Hilton the day before. Although the Hilton hosts the dinner, only a portion of the hotel is secured despite the dozens of dignitaries in attendance.

“This was a matter that needs to be heavily scrutinized, because it almost took the lives of dozens if not hundreds of people,” Patel said.

“We’re going to be talking about how we improve the security, not just for this event but for all events going forward,” Patel added. “We’re going to learn from this one, and we’re going to utilize President Trump’s leadership and backing of the blue and law enforcement and work with DHS to ensure our Cabinet, our protectees, and the American civilian population is as best protected as possible.”

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​Butler pennsylvania, Cole allen, Department of homeland security, Donald trump, Fbi, Fox and friends, Kash patel, Lawrence jones, Secret service, Washington hilton, White house correspondents dinner, Whcd shooter, Dhs, Markwayne mullin, Politics 

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner came to an abrupt and premature end Saturday night after shots rang out at the venue.

But the party didn’t stop for some attendees.

‘Repugnant!’

In the ensuing chaos after gunshots sounded at the Hilton, some dinner attendees decided to grab some souvenirs as most people vacated the scene.

One video has gone viral showing a blonde woman apparently grabbing two bottles of wine off an empty table, sparking an online “scandal” some have dubbed “wine-gate.”

RELATED: Stunning new details reveal the ‘depraved’ motivation of the suspected WHCD shooter

Mandel NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

One account that posted the video wrote in a caption: “So, there you have press members STEALING wine bottles: this is who the press is! Repugnant!”

It is not clear whether the woman in the video is a member of the press or another guest. She has not yet been identified.

Another photo from the aftermath of the event went viral, gaining over one million views since its posting on Saturday night.

The photo shows a man in a white tuxedo holding what appears to be two bottles of champagne.

The caption of the post, made by a user named Comfortably Smug, reads, “Bro they are removing the journos from the ballroom and journos are taking all the booze with them two bottles at a time LMAOOOOO.”

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was interrupted when a shooter attempted to breach security and opened fire at the venue. One agent, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot and taken to the hospital. The shooter was subdued and taken into custody.

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​Ballroom chaos, Champagne bottles, Online scandal, Politics, Press members, Suspected shooter, Taken into custody, White house correspondents, Wine bottles, Winegate, Repugnant behavior, Trump, Trump shooter, Cole allen 

Nine weeks after Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attempt on Donald Trump’s life at a July 13, 2024, rally in Pennsylvania, Ryan Routh tried his hand at assassinating then-candidate Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Cole Allen, identified as the suspect who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night, appears to share much in common with Routh.

‘I’m a random Californian guy.’

Besides making donations to the same party and obsessing over the same foreign power, both Routh — who was sentenced in February to life in prison over his attempted assassination of Trump — and Allen were apparently radicalized in recent years with the help of Democrats’ incendiary rhetoric.

Donations and slogans

Although not a registered member of a political party for decades, Routh, a 60-year-old North Carolina native, made multiple donations to support Democrats beginning in 2019 and voted in North Carolina’s Democratic primary in March 2024.

In addition to supporting Democrats monetarily and at the ballot box, Routh supported their divisive narrative.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats not only characterized Trump and other Republicans as fascists and imminent threats to the republic ahead of the 2024 election but repeatedly claimed that “democracy is on the ballot in November.”

In some instances, Harris — who joked in 2018 about Trump dying — coupled this claim with combative language, stating that democracy “is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it” and painting a target on Trump by referring to him as a would-be “dictator.”

Then-President Joe Biden was far less subtle, stating on a July 8, 2024, phone call with donors, “We’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye.”

RELATED: Stunning new details reveal the ‘depraved’ motivation of the suspected WHCD shooter

FBI outside a home associated with the suspected WHCAD shooter in Torrance, California. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Routh accepted this alarmist view, sometimes repeating Democrats’ slogan verbatim.

On April 22, 2024, for instance, Routh tweeted to then-President Joe Biden, writing, “@POTUS Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA … make Americans slave again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way.”

Allen, like Routh, contributed a modest donation to at least one Democratic cause, a Harris-supporting Democratic PAC in October 2024, reported the Associated Press.

The suspected WHCAD shooter, who was reportedly engaged in political activism in recent years and a member of the leftist group “the Wide Awakes,” also amplified unhinged anti-Trump messaging from Democrats online.

The investigative journalist behind the Substack Kanekoa News reported that ahead of the 2024 election, a X user believed to be Allen repeatedly shared alarmist social media posts on X from Kamala Harris, Democratic lawmakers, liberal media personalities, and the anti-Trump propaganda outfit MeidasTouch and amplified liberal characterizations of Trump as a fascist or Nazi.

Allen’s alleged manifesto and the Bluesky account ascribed to Allen are replete with evidence suggesting that he continued to stew in alarmist Democratic propaganda in the time since the 2024 election.

For instance, the Bluesky user believed to be Allen — the handle is @coldforce.bsky.social, and Cole allegedly signed his manifesto “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen” — shared a post from Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) earlier this month claiming that Trump “is deranged, unstable, and unfit to lead,” as well as a post from Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden (D) that stated Trump “must be impeached and removed from office” and “Republicans who don’t stop him will have blood on their hands.”

Ukraine obsession

Routh was unmistakably a Ukraine obsessive.

The would-be assassin:

ran a website called “Fight for Ukraine,” which details various ways — including unlawful ways — people could supposedly go to fight as mercenaries in Ukraine; pleaded online with Western defense officials and organizations to allow Afghan mercenaries into Ukraine; demonstrated in support of Ukraine’s infamous Azov Brigade; self-published a book in 2023 titled “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War” detailing his unsuccessful attempts to aid Ukraine’s war effort; andasserted on X that he was “going to fight and die for Ukraine.”

The social media accounts ascribed to Allen — who allegedly stated in the manifesto, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes” — provide evidence of a similar obsession with Ukraine and its efforts to repel Russian forces.

For starters, the bio for Allen’s alleged Bluesky account states, “I’m a random Californian guy with posts about American politics, support for Ukraine, and observations of small creatures.”

The Bluesky user believed to be Allen also shared Ukrainian military fundraiser posts, updates on Russian attacks, and multiple posts insinuating that Trump is in league with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While highly critical of Trump, the user also directed Ukraine-related ire toward Vice President JD Vance.

At a Turning Point USA event on April 14, Vance recalled how his advocacy for ending funding for the Ukraine war ruffled feathers, then noted he was proud of the Trump administration’s refusal to continue “buying weapons and sending them to Ukraine anymore.”

This evidently enraged the Bluesky user believed to be Cole, who wrote, “He’s proud that we don’t uphold our commitments[;] what a piece of s**t.”

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​Whit house correspondents dinner, Shooter, Cole tomas allen, Cole allen, California, Assassination attempt, Washington, Dc, Manifesto, Ryan routh, Assassin, Leftism, Democrat, Democratic rhetoric, Violence, Politics 

I went to meet an old friend for coffee on the East Side of Portland. I don’t make it over to the East Side very often. That’s the more progressive, “social justice” side of town.

That’s where the most WE BELIEVE IN SCIENCE signs are. And Pride flags. And other statements of left-wing beliefs, prominently displayed.

Who in their right mind would wear an actual MAGA hat on the East Side of Portland? You might get attacked by a woman with face tattoos.

It’s also where people get stabbed, shot, and drive their cars into other people’s houses.

I live on the West Side, where people are more reserved and reasonable. Though there’s a lot of SCIENCE and PRIDE over there too.

Philadelphia Freedom

So I pulled up at the cafe to meet my friend. The sun was out, so people were sitting at outside tables: a lesbian couple, three skinny guys with tattoos, and an odd-looking woman in a dress and lipstick — but also with a tuft of gray hair growing out of the bottom of her chin. I was a bit startled by that.

And then another surprise: When I reached for the cafe’s front door, I saw myself in the glass reflection. I was wearing my bright red Phillies baseball cap.

In case you don’t know, the Phillies are a baseball team from Philadelphia. Their team colors are red and blue. Their hats are red.

I also own a Boston Red Sox hat that is navy blue, a San Diego Padres hat that is brown, and some other hats of other colors. I wear all these hats randomly. I own all these hats because I play softball in the summers and I like to rotate my hats.

The problem with the Phillies hat is that it’s almost the exact same shade of red as a MAGA hat. So if people catch sight of it out of the corner of an eye, they think they have spotted a MAGA person.

For this reason, my Phillies hat has been out of my usual hat rotation. When Biden was president, I wore it occasionally. But with Trump back in office and Portlanders suffering from their various Trump derangement diseases, I do not.

RELATED: The secret to senior softball? It’s all about the magic bat

Irfan Khan/Getty Images

Behind enemy lines

Earlier that day, I had been wearing the red Phillies hat to run errands near my house. On the West Side, nobody cares what color hat you’re wearing.

But on the East Side, they do care. They care a lot. For instance, the woman with the gray beard had looked up at me as I walked by. She was probably checking my hat. And since it didn’t say MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, she went back to her coffee.

And really, who in their right mind would wear an actual MAGA hat on the East Side of Portland? Nobody. Especially going to a hipster coffeehouse. You’d be asking for trouble. You might get attacked by a woman with face tattoos.

Seeing the bright red hat in the door’s reflection, I had to make a decision. Go into the leftist cafe with my Phillies cap? Which might draw stares. Which might provoke comments. Or go back to my car and throw it in the trunk?

I mean, at some point, you gotta say enough is enough. A hat is just a hat. Even if it was a MAGA hat, shouldn’t I be allowed to wear it? Isn’t this America?

Our Lady of the Sacred Hat

I did have a MAGA hat back in the early days. This was when I was volunteering for a Republican candidate for governor in 2018. At some point, someone handed out MAGA hats.

Unfortunately, they were so badly made that they were unwearable. The top part of the crown wasn’t stitched properly, so it pointed upward in a clownish way.

Later, I found a real MAGA hat that was immaculate. It looked fantastic. But I never wear it. I keep it under lock and key. It’s my most prized possession.

To poke or not to poke

Meanwhile, back at the cafe, I had to make a decision. Seeing my hat in the door’s reflection, I could clearly see the big white “P” on the front. The “P” stood for “Philadelphia Phillies.” Any idiot could see that.

But leftists are crazy. And they can be dangerous. Especially in Portland. One is wise not to provoke them.

Also, my old friend was probably left-leaning himself. We hadn’t discussed it, but he lived on the East Side with his wife and kids. So even if he wasn’t a Democrat, he would have to pretend he was.

Did I want to put him through the awkward moment of seeing my bright red hat and asking himself, “Why is he wearing that?”

I did not. Nor did I want to get stared at. Nor did I want to have to explain myself. Nor did I want the barista to spit in my coffee. Or worse.

Live to fight again

So I went back to my car and threw my Phillies hat in the trunk. Fortunately, my old Los Angeles Dodgers hat was crumpled in the back. I uncrumpled it, put it on, and went back to the cafe.

Now there would be no problems. Though I did get a very suspicious look from the gray-bearded lady.

​Maga hat, Lifestyle, Portland, Culture, First-person, Blake’s progress 

A proposed device has the potential to monitor how much energy a person’s skeletal muscles produce, a patent application reveals.

The notion that earbuds are simply a convenient way to take phone calls or listen to music on the go may be a thing of the past if certain applications reach their goal. However, given the timeline, headphones may already be capable of recording complex biometrics of the person who wears them.

‘The device may have more electrodes than are necessary.’

Online researchers have recently discovered the patent, first filed by Apple Inc. in January 2023, titled “Biosignal Sensing Device Using Dynamic Selection of Electrodes,” which is still pending.

The patent describes how brain activity can be monitored by electrodes placed inside or around the outer ear of the user. Images provided look very similar to Apple AirPods.

The headphones are described as a “wearable electronic device, such as an earbud, a pair of earbuds, and/or a wired headset.”

The earbuds would “measure biosignals of a user of the wearable electronic device,” which may include, “but are not limited” to: electroencephalography, electrooculography, electromyography, electrocardiogram, “galvanic skin response,” and “blood volume pulse.”

All of these measurements seem incredibly intrusive, particularly when each term is dissected in detail.

First, electroencephalography is a technique that measures the brain’s electrical signals and how its neurons communicate with each other. The patent literally states that the earbud “may be used to measure a biosignal, for example, an electroencephalogram (EEG), for measuring brain activity.”

Things only get more bizarre from there.

RELATED: Anti-Trump Indian investor wants you to use this hat that reads your thoughts

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Electrooculography, also known as EOG, is a standard technique for measuring eye movements via electrical potentials, which are the body’s tiny electrical outputs. The body’s movements — in this case from the eye — can be identified by how many millivolts are produced in the area.

Next is electrocardiogram; Apple wants its device to be able to measure electrical heart activity.

Additionally, blood volume pulse measurements would monitor the user’s heart rate.

At the same time, the patent covers electromyography and galvanic skin response. These techniques also measure the body’s electrical activity in very specific manners.

According to Cleveland Clinic, electromyography is a diagnostic test that evaluates the health and function of skeletal muscles and the nerves that control them. In this context, it would measure the electric activity produced by a wearer’s skeletal muscles.

RELATED: The FBI busted an anti-ICE attack squad by reading its encrypted messages. The FBI can read yours too.

Kevin Carter/Getty Images

Galvanic skin response is described by Noldus as the measurement of “the skin’s electrical conductance, which changes with sweat gland activity.”

“This activity is controlled by the autonomic nervous system,” the description adds. This means that the earbuds would measure the electrical conductivity of the user’s skin.

Lastly, the patent describes that the device may have “more electrodes than are necessary” in order to measure user biosignals. The justification for this is to account for how the device is being worn, with it dynamically choosing between different subsets of electrodes at different times.

There is no clearly stated end goal described in the patent; it chiefly seeks to monitor brain activity and “biosignals” in a manner alternate to electrodes on the scalp. What that information would be used for is up for interpretation.

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​Airpods, Apple, Brain activity monitoring, Earbuds, Earphones, Energy monitoring device, Headphones, Health, Iphone, Ipod, Return, Wearable electronic device, Tech 

Everybody talks about the cost of health care as if it is one single thing. But in our complicated system, many elements contribute to our health care affordability crisis, and some are bigger problems than others. Spending on hospital care accounted for 40% of the growth in national health spending between 2022 and 2024. And when the providers who set those rising prices consolidate their power, families, employers, and taxpayers get squeezed even more.

Over the past few decades, major hospital chains have merged with competing providers and become local monopolies. Since 1998, there have been nearly 1,600 mergers among these systems. It’s no surprise that the Federal Trade Commission now considers 90% of hospital markets highly concentrated.

If a hospital wants the legal privileges of being nonprofit, it should have to earn them every year.

And it’s not just large systems acquiring each other. They have gobbled up doctors’ offices too. Between 2013 and 2018, the share of hospital-owned physician practices more than doubled, and by 2020, more than half of physicians worked directly for a hospital or for a practice owned by one.

This is a problem because these big health systems then use that market power to charge more. Leading budget experts found that after a hospital buys a physician practice, the price of services such as MRI scans, drug infusions, and chemotherapy rises by two to three times their prior cost, and the overall price of health care services increases 14%. One patient saw the out-of-pocket expense of arthritis treatments rise over 1,000% after her outpatient clinic was acquired by a hospital. Despite these increased costs, government research has also shown that hospital mergers do not improve quality.

Another problem is just plain abuse of the tax code. Many of the largest hospital systems are legally “nonprofit,” which makes them tax-exempt, despite behaving like corporate conglomerates. In New York, the vast majority of hospitals are tax-exempt because they ostensibly provide charity care. The result is a substantial public subsidy, estimated as a $9.4 million windfall per hospital.

New York Presbyterian shows how this model can be exploited. Reporting indicates that less than 1% of the services it provides are charitable in nature, yet the institution retains the tax advantages of a nonprofit. In 2021 it recorded roughly $1.5 billion in profits and an operating margin of 17.4%. Its CEO compensation reached almost $11 million per year. It even had resources to sponsor the New York Mets.

This is not just a New York story. Most hospitals claim nonprofit status, but leadership compensation can reach the tens of millions. Those packages persist because the IRS grants large tax benefits and the standards for keeping them are weak. The Lown Institute has documented a wide gap between tax breaks received and community benefit delivered, estimating that fair share deficits in 20 states total $11.5 billion per year. Meanwhile, executives travel on private jets.

RELATED: Venture socialist health care in America: Employer insurance plans now cost as much as a car

RapidEye/iStock/Getty Images

And the care can be anything but caring. Several of the California hospitals in the CommonSpirit Health nonprofit system were disciplined by federal and state officials in 2022, 2023, and 2024 for moving deceased patients to an off-site morgue, where they were stored and even allowed to decompose for months — or in some cases years — without notifying the families.

This is a governance failure. If a hospital wants the legal privileges of being nonprofit, it should have to earn them every year by providing a real, transparent community benefit, meaningful charity care, and outcomes that justify public support. If it wants to operate like a profit-maximizing corporation, then it should pay taxes like one.

Congress already has a starting point. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee issued a report on the overuse of charitable designations by nonprofit hospitals and recommended greater federal scrutiny and possible changes in the tax code. That scrutiny should be paired with payment reform, especially site-neutral payments, and stronger antitrust enforcement in markets the FTC already calls highly concentrated.

The status quo is a quiet transfer of wealth from patients, workers, and taxpayers to consolidated hospital systems that can raise prices, claim tax exemptions, and restrict competition. The goal is not to punish hospitals. It is to achieve affordability by restoring the validity of nonprofit status and the power of competitive markets.

​Federal trade commission, Health care affordability, Hospital mergers, Local monopolies, Rising prices, Tax exemption, Transparency, Wealth transfer, Opinion & analysis 

I’ve never felt much sympathy for addicts.

Not the gamblers refreshing their portfolios at 2 a.m., nor the wine devotees who have rebranded a nightly bottle as “self-care,” nor the doomscrollers mainlining outrage as if it were a dietary need.

For decades, coffee attracted suspicion like a stranger at a school gate.

Addiction, to me, has always looked less like an illness and more like a failure of will. Which makes this confession awkward.

Mr. Coffee

I am, demonstrably, an addict — a coffee addict, to be specific. Three cups daily, minimum. Four when my sleep quality files for early retirement. I have never pawned jewelry, put my family through an intervention, or woken up in a city I have no memory of arriving in. But remove coffee from my routine, and my tolerance for other people’s existence, already a carefully managed resource, drops to levels more commonly associated with Patrick Bateman. If you have never related to that sentence, congratulations on your even temperament and your decaf. But bear in mind that you’re also, statistically, in the minority.

In America, the world’s most instructive laboratory for excess, coffee consumption has hit historic highs. Entire office towers function because of it. So do emergency rooms. It powers long-haul truckers and early-morning construction workers. Coffee, for tens of millions of Americans, is less a habit than a non-negotiable term of existence.

And unlike most dependencies, this one keeps passing its medical exams with flying colors.

Fill ‘er up

A new, long-term study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, tracking over 400,000 people, arrived at a finding that seems almost conspiratorially convenient for people like me: two to three cups a day correlates with measurably lower rates of anxiety and depression. The effect doesn’t erase your suffering or rewrite your difficult childhood. The risk simply drops, noticeably and consistently.

The mechanism is straightforward. Caffeine blocks adenosine, the chemical your brain uses to announce that it is done for the day. Dopamine rises to fill the gap. Concentration improves. The effect feels dramatic because at the neurochemical level, something genuinely dramatic has happened. This is not a trick the mind plays on itself, but chemistry doing exactly what chemistry does.

For decades, coffee attracted suspicion like a stranger at a school gate. Too stimulating. Too addictive. A gateway to jittery dysfunction. The warnings came confidently and often. Then the studies accumulated, the data became less impeachable, and coffee was acquitted of most charges.

Beyond the bean

Caveats exist, as they always do. Five cups daily and the benefits plateau, then reverse. The same compound that steadies you begins rattling the cage. To be fair, anyone drinking five cups of coffee a day has larger questions to answer about his life choices, and caffeine is probably the least of his concerns.

The bean, at least, has always been transparent about the transaction. You know exactly what you are getting and exactly what it costs.

What has been done to the bean is another matter entirely.

Somewhere between the postwar diner and the present moment, coffee got kidnapped. Starbucks, once a straightforward purveyor of decent espresso, became a laboratory specializing in whipped, drizzled, and syrup-fortified structures that happen to contain trace amounts of coffee. Syrups compounding upon syrups. Whipped cream deployed where no cream has any reasonable business. Names so elaborate they require careful study and occasionally a second opinion.

At some point, ordering coffee became something you perform rather than something you do.

The prices reflect the absurdity: six or seven dollars for something containing more sugar than a child’s birthday cake, sharing only a nodding acquaintance with the actual coffee bean.

RELATED: ‘Sugar-free’ scam: How scapegoating a pantry staple is ruining our health

Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Teddy’s choice

The backlash arrived. Starbucks has watched American foot traffic fall as customers stopped finding the ritual worth the receipt. Black coffee is gaining ground. Strong, simple, unbothered by the season, it is coffee that commits to tasting like coffee.

There’s something satisfying in that correction. Not moral superiority — nobody earns virtue by ordering an Americano — but a return to proportion. The unnecessary removed, the thing itself restored. Real coffee demands nothing from you. No rehearsed order, no twelve-step customization, no theatrical pause before naming your flavor preferences. Hot water meets ground bean; the transaction is completed. The fog between you and the day lifts on schedule.

And so I have made my peace with the label. Addict, junkie, dependent — the word changes nothing about what is in the cup. There are considerably worse things to crave. Voltaire drank dozens of cups a day. Beethoven counted out exactly 60 beans every morning. Theodore Roosevelt consumed a gallon before most men had finished breakfast. All three left the world considerably more interesting than they found it. Correlation may not be causation, but it is a remarkably consistent pattern among people who got things done.

​Addiction, Starbucks, Theodore roosevelt, Dopamine, Coffee, Lifestyle, Make america healthy again 

Over the past two weeks, the nation’s attention has focused on space following the successful launch and orbit of the Artemis II craft. This event marked a major milestone in space exploration as the United States of America advanced its mission to return humans to deep space and re-establish its leadership beyond low Earth orbit.

Space has always thrilled people of all ages and motivated us to dream bigger than any single individual. Few things in this world are more difficult than configuring a craft and mission capable of exiting and entering Earth’s atmosphere and transporting to various points in space. From the earliest age, boys and girls look up to the heavens to gaze at the moon and star constellations and tell their parents about their aspirations to go there one day. As children grow into young adults, they identify the visible specks of planets and research corresponding details to fill gaps in their imagination and understanding of the complex solar system.

The Artemis II crew carried more than just their mission; they carried the hopes of a nation longing to believe in something bigger than any of us.

The Artemis II mission is more than a launch; it signals that America is leading again in space exploration. During this trip, the crew of four astronauts traveled more miles from Earth than any in the history of humanity, shuttling about 252,756 miles from our planet. Like the Apollo missions of previous generations, Artemis II reminded men, women, and children alike of the limitless possibilities available to the United States when we focus our best and brightest. Americans have so much to be proud of as they assess this mission and await the next launch in this series, which may see humans set foot on the Moon’s surface again as soon as this decade.

Artemis II reflects the strength of our aerospace workforce, the ingenuity of American innovation, and the kind of long-term investment that drives economic growth here at home. States like Arizona play a direct role in that success, supporting high-skilled jobs, advanced manufacturing, and the next generation of engineers and scientists. Honeywell in Glendale developed critical Orion spacecraft systems, including guidance and navigation, displays and controls that astronauts will rely on during the flight, command and data-handling hardware, core flight software, and vibration-dampening technology. Northrop Grumman’s Gilbert facility is also contributing by supporting broader Artemis elements, such as the HALO capsule for future missions. At the same time, the company’s solid rocket boosters provide massive thrust and safety systems that power this historic launch.

Many people deserve thanks for the renewed American push to re-enter and conquer space — especially President Donald J. Trump, whose vision restored focus and direction to the United States space program, ensuring our nation remains competitive on the global stage. President Trump understands the critical nature of space exploration and how vital it is that our country regain its luster and edge in this boundless arena. His administration is working hard to open even more opportunities for our astronauts and space vehicles to travel where few men have gone before. This legacy will endure long after his presidency and life concludes.

The Artemis II crew carried more than just their mission; they carried the hopes of a nation longing to believe in something bigger than any of us. We are teaching the next generation of Americans to dream about what they can do, what they can see, and where they can go. There is nothing the United States can’t do when it puts its collective national mind to it. Artemis II again proved that fact.

​Artemis ii, Deep space, Next generation, Northrop grumman, Space exploration, Opinion & analysis 

Death threats and political violence against conservatives are no longer rare incidents — they have become a dangerous daily reality, creating a climate of fear designed to silence dissent.

On April 14, Erika Kirk, the widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, announced that she was backing out at the last minute from a TPUSA event in Athens, Georgia, where she was scheduled to interview JD Vance, due to “very serious threats” directed at her.

Just a few days before that, TPUSA Frontlines reporter Savanah Hernandez was brutally attacked by a violent anti-ICE mob in Minnesota while she was simply trying to video a protest.

“She was going to be on the show today, and I just got this note from her,” Glenn Beck says through tears. “‘Glenn, you know I never would turn you down, but I’m struggling with some dizziness and head pain today and had to end up canceling all of my appearances for the day.’”

Glenn is overwhelmed by the brutality he’s witnessing. On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” he delivers an urgent message about the terrifying rise of political violence in America.

“My first death threat happened in 2007. … I was on a tour for ‘The Christmas Sweater,’ and we had serious death threats,” he recalls. “My tour bus was run off the road.”

Right now, Glenn contends, America is in “a time that is thick with credible threats.”

“And that’s happening because the powers that you name — the liars, the corrupt, the enemies of the Bill of Rights, and the Western inheritants — have marked you,” he warns. “They want you silent. They want you gone for a reason.”

While it’s tempting to shrink away from these threats out of the instinct of self-preservation, he pleads with his audience to resist them.

“You were born for times such as this,” Glenn says through tears.

“You think [God] is hunting for a heart that’s never trembled?” he asks. “It’s not true. He’s not. Every hero you knew felt the same terror that you feel now … even Christ.”

“He didn’t cease to be afraid in order to obey. He obeyed while and in spite of him being afraid,” Glenn continues. “That’s the only courage that has ever changed the world.”

He points to German Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who boldly “[stood] against the Nazi machine” on the principle that “silence in the face of evil is evil itself.”

“Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. [Bonhoeffer] didn’t escape the noose by being quiet. He escaped the greater death: the death of the soul that refuses to live by truth,” Glenn says.

He then quotes Soviet army officer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was sent to the gulags for eight years for criticizing Stalin: “Live not by lies.”

Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and many other brave souls have iterated similar sentiments in the face of unspeakable fear.

Glenn points out that the cup these courageous men bore is not some relic from days past. It has been passed to us.

“The threats are real. The fear is honest. But the calling is louder,” he encourages.

To hear more of Glenn’s moving monologue, watch the video above.

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We are watching Democrats increasingly enact liberal policies in imperviously red states with Republican supermajorities. It’s not just that weak Republicans provide openings for Democrats to seize political opportunities, but those weak Republican governors appoint liberal judges, who in turn ratify left-wing policies.

However, there is a check on lawless judges that our founders believed was a deterrent strong enough to prevent a corrupt judiciary from redefining the Constitution. Why is impeachment of judges not being used regularly in deep-red states?

Utah is the new Virginia.

On February 20, 2026, the Utah Supreme Court affirmed a district court opinion essentially stripping the legislature of its authority to draw maps and mandating the use of a map drawn by left-wing groups, which will create a guaranteed Democrat House seat in urban Salt Lake City. This decision is in the news this month because Judge Diana Hagen, one of the justices who overruled the legislature, is under investigation for meeting with and allegedly having a romantic relationship with one of the lead attorneys for those challenging the legislative map.

As we watch hopelessly with numerous federal judges legislating from the bench at the national level, the Utah situation is completely redressable. Whereas Republicans will never garner a two-thirds majority in the U.S. Senate to remove an impeached federal judge, Utah Republicans enjoy a 22-6 majority in the state Senate. It should be a no-brainer for Hagen and her compatriots to get the boot from the very people they are usurping.

Although Republicans wield a 61-14 majority in the state House, Rep. Trevor Lee (R), a supporter of impeachment, divulged on my podcast that they probably have no more than 30-40 votes in support of impeachment and only a handful of conservatives who would convict Hagen in the Senate. These recalcitrant Republicans think a judge needs to rob a bank in order to raise the ire of the legislature, but our founders did not see it that way.

RELATED: How Republicans have failed to defund sanctuary cities for a generation

J. David Ake/Getty Images

Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist #81 that the power of impeachment alone would be a “complete security” against judges usurping legislative power and would “remove all apprehensions” of those who feared that judicial review would morph into judicial supremacy.

Justice Joseph Story made it clear that “high crimes and misdemeanors” were political in nature, not just criminal, and included “attempts to subvert the fundamental laws, and introduce arbitrary power.”

James Wilson, one of the preeminent founders and an original Supreme Court justice who helped draft Article III, clearly articulated this point: “In the United States and in Pennsylvania, impeachments are confined to political characters, to political crimes and misdemeanors, and to political punishments.” That is why the trial is held in a competing branch of government, not in a court with criminal proceedings.

The only reason why impeachment never became a regularly used and effective check on the judiciary is because as quickly as our political system began to operate, we suffered from the rise of political parties. So rather than competing branches of government checking each other, we were divided between parties who inevitably wielded enough authority to block impeachment.

However, by my count, Republicans have the numbers to impeach and remove rogue state judges in 20 states. With judges attempting to usurp legislative authority on transgenderism, abortion, and election law, why are Republicans shying away from impeachment?

One common problem in red states is county and district judges in blue areas who believe in “restorative justice” and release dangerous criminals. In Florida, Leon County Judge Tifanny Baker-Carper released Daniel Spencer — a man previously convicted in a child sex crime sting — on bond before sentencing. While out, Spencer and his wife allegedly abused and murdered Spencer’s 5-year-old stepdaughter, Melissa “Missy” Mogle, in Tallahassee. The case sparked outrage and led to the legislature passing “Missy’s Law,” a bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on March 31, 2026, which restricts judges’ discretion in releasing certain sex offenders or violent felons pending sentencing.

However, the governor chided the legislative leadership for not going a step farther. “You have the power, and you have sufficient numbers in your chamber, to impeach this judge, Tiffany Baker-Carper,” observed DeSantis. “Until you start holding these judges accountable, they are going to continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element.”

Why is DeSantis the only one pushing to impeach such subversive judges when they exist in every red state?

As we have painfully learned from Virginia this week — a state where Republicans wielded supermajorities just a decade ago

— political power is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. If you give Democrats a foothold in your red state, it won’t be red for much longer. Utah, with its new, judicially created Democrat congressional seat, is the new Virginia.

​Opinion & analysis 

A murder charge was filed Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of a St. Louis-area Steak ‘n Shake worker at the fast-food restaurant’s drive-through window earlier this month — allegedly after an argument over onion rings, KMOV-TV reported.

Shortly after prosecutors announced the murder charge in the case, family members of the victim — Chauncia Meekins — gathered for a vigil outside the Steak ‘n Shake in Spanish Lake, Missouri, where she was shot and killed on the night of April 8, KMOV reported. Spanish Lake is about a half hour north of St. Louis.

‘Chauncia just so happened to be in harm’s way; this could have been anyone’s child, at the convenience store buying potato chips, at the gas station taking too long at the pump.’

St. Louis County prosecutors said 20-year-old Jada Bell is charged with six felonies in the case, including murder and armed criminal action, the station said.

“I saw my daughter as she’s getting ready to be laid to rest. She looked beautiful, she looked happy, right, and I didn’t know why, but now I know why she is happy … because her crime has been solved,” Chauncey Lovell Meekins, Chauncia’s father, told KMOV.

Family members added to KMOV that the arrest, while it doesn’t bring Meekins back, does set in motion the chance for accountability.

“As a family, as a whole, we will be pushing for the death penalty — not for revenge, but to set an example because we need to stop this senseless violence out here,” Anthony Willhite, Meekins’ cousin, told the station.

RELATED: Mom with child in tow accused of shooting toward sushi server. What allegedly triggered her is far from your average motive.

Willhite added to KMOV that the violence could happen to anyone, anywhere: “Chauncia just so happened to be in harm’s way; this could have been anyone’s child, at the convenience store buying potato chips, at the gas station taking too long at the pump.”

Jail records indicate Bell’s next court date is scheduled for Tuesday. A previous KMOV story said Bell was being held on a $1 million, cash-only, no 10% bond.

The station, citing court records, said Bell pulled up to the Steak ‘n Shake drive-through window and had a dispute with employees, including Meekins, over her food order.

KMOV said Bell threw her drink at Meekins, who threw it back at her — and then Bell fired several shots from a handgun at Meekins, who died as a result of the shooting.

Another person was shot in the hand, the station said, adding that the shooting was recorded on surveillance video from the restaurant. Bell’s phone was in the area at the time of the shooting, KMOV added.

Meekins’ mother, Tamela Washington, told the station the argument was over onion rings: “It’s never that serious to take a person’s life over fast food.”

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​Arrest, Chauncia meekins, Jada bell, Missouri, Murder charge, Police, Spanish lake, St. louis county, Steak n shake, Crime 

For decades, a boat-shaped formation in Eastern Turkey has been held up by some as the possible remains of Noah’s ark — and just as consistently dismissed by mainstream geologists as a natural formation.

The site, known as the Durupinar Formation near Mount Ararat, has been the subject of repeated claims, investigations, and debunkings since it was first identified in the mid-20th century.

Skeptics can explain shape. What’s harder is explaining everything else that keeps lining up with it.

Critics have long argued that it is the result of mudflows and erosion — an unusual shape, but nothing more.

But the latest round of subsurface scans is forcing a more careful look.

Here are five reasons the story isn’t going away.

1. The shape is still the starting problem

The Durupinar site isn’t vaguely suggestive — it is distinctly boat-shaped.

That alone doesn’t prove anything, but it does set a high bar for coincidence, especially given its proximity to the region named in the book of Genesis as the ark’s resting place.

Skeptics can explain shape. What’s harder is explaining everything else that keeps lining up with it.

2. The dimensions track the biblical blueprint

Genesis describes the ark in specific proportions: 300 cubits long, 50 wide, 30 high.

The Durupinar Formation closely matches those ratios.

Not exactly, but close enough to keep the question alive. If this were just random geology, you wouldn’t necessarily expect proportional alignment with one of the most famous construction descriptions in human history.

RELATED: 8 arguments that the Resurrection really happened

Photo 12/Getty Images

3. Subsurface scans show structure, not just mass

Recent ground-penetrating radar scans reportedly reveal:

Corridor-like voids A central hollow chamber Angular features resembling compartments

That’s significant because the ark described to Noah wasn’t a hollow shell — it was divided into levels and rooms.

Natural formations can produce cavities; they don’t typically produce organized internal layouts.

4. Multiple lines of evidence are starting to converge

Taken individually, each claim is debatable. Together, they’re harder to ignore:

Radar anomalies suggesting internal divisions Soil chemistry differences (including elevated potassium) Distinct vegetation patterns within the formation Thermal imaging hinting at a buried structure

Get enough converging signals like this and you have a real archeological argument.

5. The question is about to become testable

For years, the debate has been stuck at the surface, but that may be changing.

Researchers say the next step is core drilling and inserting cameras into the detected voids. If those spaces turn out to be structured — walls, compartments, passages — the conversation changes immediately.

If not, the theory collapses just as quickly. Either way, this may finally move from speculation to verification.

Extraordinary claims?

The strongest skeptical argument is still the simplest: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

That hasn’t been met — yet. But it is no longer obvious that this is just a random hill shaped like a boat. And that’s why the Durupinar Formation will continue to draw attention from believers and nonbelievers alike.

​Apologetics, Noah’s ark, Durupinar, Turkey, Archeology, Genesis, Bible, Christianity, Faith 

Bombshell new details reveal the possible motivation of the suspected shooter who opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night.

The suspected gunman was apprehended in the Washington Hilton lobby after attempting to rush through security and shooting a Secret Serviceman who was wearing a bulletproof vest. Just moments after numerous loud shots rang out, President Donald Trump and other dignitaries were rushed out of the dinner by Secret Service.

‘What was supposed to be a fun night at the WHCA dinner … was hijacked by a depraved crazy person.’

The suspected assailant was later identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, a California resident who was staying at the hotel the night of the dinner. Agents fired back at the suspect, but he was not hit. The agent is expected to recover, and no other injuries were reported.

In the hours after the shooting, reports revealed that Allen had allegedly written a manifesto stating he wanted to target President Donald Trump and administration officials. Allen also allegedly had anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the suspect “sought to assassinate” Trump, which would make Saturday the third assassination attempt on the president.

RELATED: Trump says suspect who shot Secret Serviceman at WHCD identified: ‘It’s always shocking’

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

“What was supposed to be a fun night at the WHCA dinner with President Trump delivering jokes and celebrating free speech was hijacked by a depraved crazy person who sought to assassinate the President and kill as many top Trump administration officials as possible,” Leavitt said in a statement.

“I was with President Trump and the First Lady back stage after we were quickly ushered to safety by Secret Service,” Leavitt added. “President Trump was truly fearless, but as he said last night, this political violence needs to end.”

Leavitt confirmed that a Secret Service agent was shot by the suspect, thanking the “brave agent who took a bullet to the chest and immediately moved to neutralize the shooter.”

Trump also confirmed the manifesto’s existence, saying it was clear from the writing that the suspect “hates Christians.”

“The guy is a sick guy, when you read his manifesto,” Trump said. “He hates Christians, that’s one thing for sure. … He was a very troubled guy.”

RELATED: Trump evacuated from White House Correspondents’ Dinner following possible gunfire

Andrew Leyden/Getty Images

The Secret Service reportedly interviewed Allen’s sister, who allegedly claimed her brother made radical statements and referred to a plan to do “something.” According to multiple reports, Allen was also confirmed to have purchased a shotgun and two handguns prior to the dinner.

Allen’s potential political affiliation is further reinforced by his reported participation in No Kings protests as well as a $25 donation to former Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

During a press briefing at the White House moments after the incident, President Trump insisted that the dinner will be rescheduled, saying, “We’re not going to let anybody take over our society.”

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​Donald trump, Secret service, No kings protests, Cole thomas allen, Jd vance, Kash patel, Todd blanche, Markwayne mullin, Pete hegseth, Melania trump, Karoline leavitt, Trump assassination attempt, Assassination attempt, White house correspondents dinner, Whca, No kings, Act blue, Kamala harris, Political violence, Manifesto, Politics 

Mollie Hemingway is the editor in chief at the Federalist and is known for her in-depth reporting on the Supreme Court.

On a recent episode of “Relatable” with Allie Beth Stuckey, Hemingway shared insider information about the wild circumstances leading up to the Dobbs decision — the landmark U.S. case that overturned Roe v. Wade and pushed abortion back to the states — including the Supreme Court justice who threw an epic tantrum behind closed doors.

“Everyone knew that [Roe v. Wade] was a problem. Everyone knew from the moment it was decided,” Hemingway says. “Even people on the left admitted this case, this decision isn’t even trying to be constitutional law. … But then because the left so greatly wanted to believe that they had a right to kill unborn children, they just moved heaven and earth to keep that decision, even when it shouldn’t have really been lasting for one year, much less 50 years.”

When the Court finally decided to hear the long overdue case, five justices were in favor of overturning the ruling. Justice Samuel Alito was assigned by Clarence Thomas to write the majority opinion.

What Alito produced was a “masterpiece work” — so much so that the dissenting judges were “shocked by how exhaustive it was.”

“There was no argument left standing,” Hemingway says.

Three months after the initial distribution, however, Alito’s draft opinion was infamously leaked, igniting a furious uproar among the left.

“We know that immediately the justices faced death threats, serious threats on their lives. They all had to be moved or be under a great deal of protection, increase their security posture,” Hemingway says, “because if any one of them had been killed … that would have meant that the Dobbs decision would not have been handed down in the way it was. There would no longer have been a majority there.”

Allie and Hemingway speculate that this could have been the sinister intention of the leaker — to either get a justice killed or “gin up” enough outrage to pressure the weaker judges to join the dissent and eliminate the majority.

But none of the majority justices relented, despite the threats on their lives.

After the leak and the subsequent threats, the dissenting justices still hadn’t written their dissent.

“They were delaying the dissemination of this,” Hemingway says.

This was problematic because the majority justices were facing death threats.

“Alito asks if they can wrap it up because left-wing activists have a motivation to kill them, and that’s a concern to the conservative justices, and they wouldn’t,” Hemingway recounts.

Justice Neil Gorsuch requested that the dissenting justices at least give them a date by which they’d have their dissent complete, but they refused.

Justice Stephen Breyer, however, while on the dissenting side, was “the person most likely” to write an opinion that would expedite the process, Hemingway says, because “he was a decent, nice guy who cared about his colleagues.”

“According to my sources, Kagan goes to his chambers and screams at him not to in any way accommodate this request. As one person put it, ‘The walls were shaking,’” Hemingway shares.

Eventually, the dissenting justices relented and agreed to have their dissent ready by June 1.

“Meaning that the [concurring] justices would only have their lives threatened on a continuous day-to-day basis for one month,” Hemingway says.

However, when they finally delivered their dissent, they included a “totally unnecessary” reference to “a New York State rifle decision.”

“So they put that in there just so that they could delay it even further,” Hemingway says, noting that the final Dobbs decision wasn’t released until June 24.

“This is day-to-day attacks on these justices’ lives. You have Amy Coney Barrett having to put on a bulletproof vest in front of her children. You have justices being moved to secure locations or having to greatly increase their security fencing,” she continues, “and it seemed to the justices and their staff that the left-wing justices really didn’t care about what they were going through.”

To hear more of the interview, watch the episode above.

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

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Washington has a messaging problem on self-driving cars — and it’s becoming harder to ignore.

Regulators and politicians keep telling Americans that autonomous vehicles are the future. Safer roads. Fewer accidents. Smarter mobility. That’s the pitch. But at the same time, they’re turning up the heat on the one company that has already put the technology into millions of vehicles: Tesla.

Tesla has millions of vehicles generating data. Most competitors don’t. That raises a bigger question: control.

If this technology is so important, why does the most widely deployed system keep getting singled out?

Target: Tesla

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has escalated its probe into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, taking a closer look at incidents involving the technology. The focus is on low-visibility conditions — fog, glare, dust — where camera-based systems can struggle.

That’s a legitimate concern. But it’s not unique to Tesla. Every system on the road today — whether it’s Super Cruise, BlueCruise, or any lane-centering technology — faces similar limitations.

Yet Tesla remains under the most consistent scrutiny.

That’s where this starts to look less like routine safety oversight and more like selective pressure. Regulators are right about one thing: These systems are not fully autonomous. Drivers still need to stay engaged. That hasn’t changed. So why the escalation now?

Mixed messages

At the same time Washington is warning consumers to stay alert, it’s also pushing policies and funding that accelerate autonomous vehicle deployment. That’s the disconnect. You can’t fast-track a technology and undermine confidence in it at the same time.

And while U.S. regulators focus on Tesla, real-world issues elsewhere are raising broader questions.

In Wuhan, China, more than 100 robotaxis operated by Baidu’s Apollo Go reportedly stalled in traffic following a system-wide glitch, creating disruption across active lanes. No injuries were reported, but the incident highlighted the risks of systems operating without a human fallback.

Waymo problems

We’ve seen similar issues closer to home. In San Francisco, service disruptions — including outages and connectivity problems — have temporarily sidelined Waymo’s robotaxis. In China, Apollo Go vehicles have struggled in complex environments like construction zones — situations that still challenge autonomous systems more than human drivers.

Here’s the part that often gets overlooked: Tesla’s system still requires a human in the loop. Robotaxi services are designed to operate without one.

When a driver-assist system makes a mistake, a person can step in. When a fully autonomous fleet runs into problems, those issues can scale quickly across the system.

That’s not just a technical issue. It’s a scalability risk.

So again — why does Tesla draw so much attention? Because it’s visible. Because it’s ahead in deployment. And because it took a different path.

Setting the pace

Tesla didn’t wait for perfect conditions or full regulatory alignment. It put its system into the real world and improved it through over-the-air updates, collecting large amounts of driving data along the way. That’s a lead competitors are still trying to close.

But that approach doesn’t fit neatly into traditional regulatory models. Regulators are used to slower, more predictable development cycles. Tesla operates more like a software company — iterating continuously and improving through real-world data. That forces regulators to react instead of setting the pace.

According to NHTSA findings, recent updates may not fully resolve visibility-related issues. That matters. It shows the technology is still evolving. But that’s true across the entire industry. Edge cases — weather, lighting, unpredictable road conditions — remain unresolved challenges for every system on the road today.

The difference is scale. Tesla has millions of vehicles generating data. Most competitors don’t. That raises a bigger question: control. Autonomous vehicles aren’t just about convenience. They’re about data, infrastructure, and who ultimately controls mobility.

RELATED: The great Chinese EV hype: What the media isn’t telling you

VCG/Getty Images

Backseat driver

Governments understand that. And they’re not just regulating for safety — they’re shaping the outcome.

That creates friction. Because innovation — especially software-driven innovation — moves faster than regulation ever will.

Tesla is pushing forward in real time. Washington is trying to catch up. And instead of offering clear, consistent rules, it’s sending mixed signals that confuse consumers and distort the market.

Meanwhile, global competition isn’t slowing down. China continues expanding robotaxi programs. U.S. companies like Waymo are scaling more cautiously. Partnerships involving Uber and Lyft are waiting in the wings. The race to define autonomous mobility is already underway — and it’s not just about technology. It’s about leadership.

If regulators are serious about safety, standards need to be applied evenly — not selectively against the most visible player. If autonomy is the future, policy should support innovation, not work against it. Right now, we’re getting mixed signals.

Until Washington decides what it actually wants, the future of self-driving cars won’t be shaped by technology alone — it will be shaped by policy.

​Tesla, Lifestyle, China, Self-driving cars, Robotaxis, Waymo, Ev, Align cars 

Sharing one’s testimony of faith feels intimidating for a lot of people. Many Christians, churches, and discipleship programs get their guidelines from the apostle Paul’s testimony in Acts 26 when he stood before King Agrippa and shared his coming-to-faith story — starting with his former life, moving to his encounter with Jesus, and concluding with his decision to repent and follow Christ.

While Acts 26 is one of the most commonly used biblical models for creating personal testimony templates in Christian discipleship, Jase Robertson says that people are overcomplicating what should be a simple task.

“There’s one point,” he says, that a testimony hinges on: We give our lives up because He gave his life up for us.

A testimony, Jase says, “should be 99.9% about what He did, and your 0.1% is, I gave my life to Him.”

“Your testimony is, you’re going to point to Jesus and say, ‘You want to define love? You want to define how my life turned around? It all started with God becoming a human and giving up His life,’” he says.

Al agrees and says that too many people when sharing their testimonies overfocus on the bad things they did before they knew Christ, but “those things don’t matter” in light of the redemption Christ freely offers.

“The good part of the testimony is: I finally relented. I finally submitted,” he says.

This submission, Al argues, shouldn’t be just the focus of our testimonies; it should be the focus of the entire Christian walk. He points to the marriage passage in Ephesians 5:21, which instructs married couples to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

“That’s the idea,” Al says. “It’s the giving up of yourself, and it’s not just for marriage, but of course, it’s for everything.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

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​Acts, Acts 26, Al robertson, Apostle paul, Christianity, Jase robertson, Marriage, Redemption, Sharing testimonies, Testimony, Unashamed, Unashamed with the robertsons, Christian walk, Blazetv, Blaze media 

This week, the NFL Draft descends on Pittsburgh. For many fans, Draft Day is the most hopeful day of the year — a chance to believe one rookie or well-timed trade will finally deliver the championship that always seems just out of reach. It’s also a time for the age-old debate between building your offense or your defense.

Political parties face the same pressure. Hall of Fame coach Bear Bryant put it bluntly: “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” But Republican leaders have too often misinterpreted that maxim and taken it to its extreme, seeking to minimize risk at the expense of boldly pursuing wins.

If the GOP wants to be remembered for something more than last year’s highlight reel, the party should deliver more wins through budget reconciliation by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

For example, imagine your favorite team coming out after kickoff and immediately dropping into a prevent defense. You’d be furious. That scheme is for closing out a lead when time is on your side, not for playing an entire game. Deployed prematurely, it surrenders easy, incremental yards and hands the opponent the initiative.

This is why Republicans must get off their back foot and go on offense. In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, let’s call back to our founding fathers for a different strategy from our first president, George Washington: “Offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only … means of defense.” Or as the legendary boxer Jack Dempsey distilled this principle: “The best defense is a good offense.”

So how could the GOP go on offense and force Democrats to play defense for a change? House Republicans have a golden opportunity right in front of them right now.

RELATED: How Republicans have failed to defund sanctuary cities for a generation

J. David Ake/Getty Images

This week, the Senate took the first step to unlock the federal budget process called reconciliation, which allows for Congress to make changes to spending for that fiscal year without the threat of a Democrat filibuster. The Senate-passed budget resolution contains reconciliation instructions for only two committees to produce text for the final bill, focusing on funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol — a direct response to end the DHS shutdown caused by Democrats’ outrageous refusal to fund those parts of the Department of Homeland Security. While Republicans need to fund the DHS, reconciliation is a time-intensive and arduous process. Given the time crunch and the need to deliver more legislative wins, congressional Republicans can and should use the reconciliation process to do more and go on offense.

Specifically, House Republicans could go big by including policies that reform wasteful spending and eliminate fraud, delivering impressive wins for everyday Americans that reduce the cost of living.

The effort required to enact this plan might make some in D.C. bristle. It would take long nights and likely some weekends, but the American people would finally see and feel the tangible effects of federal policy on kitchen-table issues, just like how people filing their taxes this year got a boost from the Working Families Tax Cut signed into law last year, using the same reconciliation process.

Voters expect more than business as usual from their elected representatives. No one wants to see their team down the field just to kick a field goal without even attempting a touchdown. That approach denies the American people the opportunity to see the full potential of policies that could be enacted if the GOP went on offense.

Enough fans will suffer through another disappointing season, remaining loyal to their losing teams. Americans are hungry for a win. If the GOP wants to be remembered for something more than last year’s highlight reel, the party should deliver more wins through budget reconciliation by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

​Championship, Department of homeland security, Immigration and customs enforcement, Nfl draft, Political parties, Senate, Opinion & analysis 

The Israeli government announced on Monday that this June, “the Dead Sea becomes Pride Land, the biggest LGBTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East,” adding that “Pride rises at the lowest place on earth.”

This celebration of degeneracy and non-straight lifestyle choices — set to take place near what is believed to be the site of Sodom, the city razed by God because of its brazen sexual corruption — will run 24 hours a day from June 1 to June 4.

‘You won’t see this anywhere else in the region.’

According the Jerusalem Post, the non-straight festival will raise a city in the desert featuring parties, a central performance arena, art complexes, “relaxation” areas, and “family-friendly areas with children’s activities.”

“This is not just another festival; it’s the biggest thing we’ve done here,” Aaron Cohen, the main producer behind “Pride Land,” told the Post. “It’s an experience that lives 24/7, from quiet visits to nights of Pride, with a living envelope of music and people.”

The promotion of the event by the Israeli government — just one day after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that one of its soldiers smashed a statue of the crucified Christ outside a church with a sledgehammer — prompted significant backlash among some conservative Christians.

RELATED: ‘There is no mama’: How a viral video accidentally exposed the true cost of gay adoption

Sepia Times/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

American theologian and pastor Dale Partridge tweeted, “The devil couldn’t have written it better. ‘The lowest place on earth’ ‘The Dead Sea becomes pride land.'”

BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre raised the matter of whether his tax dollars might be subsidizing the event, then asked, “Can anyone very carefully explain to me why American Christians owe anything to this?”

Conservative commentator Michael Knowles insinuated that the Israeli government’s announcement answered the question recently posed by the New York Times about the cause of the recent increase in meteor sightings overhead.

Knowles’ colleague, Matt Walsh, called the planned festival “absolutely evil and disgusting.”

Tomasz Froelich, an Alternative for Germany politician who serves in the European Parliament, noted that “the Patriarch of Jerusalem was denied access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday for security reasons, but there is comfort: The Pride can take place without a care!”

The eponymous host of BlazeTV’s “The John Doyle Show” wrote, “God could do the funniest thing ever.”

On Friday, the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., plugged the event, stating, “You won’t see this anywhere else in the region.”

While the Israeli government appears keen to get the word out about the Sodom-adjacent LGBT festival, the U.S. State Department has recommended that Americans reconsider travel to the country due to terrorism and civil unrest and instructed travelers to avoid crowds.

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Many years ago, a man approached me after church.

“I heard about you and your wife’s journey,” he said. “I know exactly what you’re going through. I know how you feel.”

What happened to the people in pain? Did their burdens lift? Did their circumstances change?

I remember being surprised. I didn’t know anyone in that city who walked a road like ours. By that point, both of my wife’s legs were gone, and we were somewhere around surgery number 75.

“Oh?” I said.

“Yeah,” he replied earnestly. “My wife broke her ankle last month.”

Of the many gifts our heavenly Father has bestowed, sarcasm didn’t make the cut, so I bit my tongue and learned to like the taste of blood. After a brief but violent collision between my brain and my mouth, I responded the way any good Southerner would.

“Bless your heart.”

Yet his words stayed with me. That word “exactly” was doing a lot of work. He didn’t ask to understand. He announced that he already did.

A broken ankle is certainly nothing to be minimized, but it is not the same as a life marked by decades of surgeries and a body that no longer has ankles. And treating those two things as the same doesn’t honor suffering. It distorts it.

RELATED: You don’t have to engage with crazy

Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images

We do this more than we realize. Not just in church hallways, but on far larger stages.

One of the most famous moments was during the 1990s when Bill Clinton leaned in to a camera during a presidential town hall debate, softened his voice, and told a distressed audience member, “I feel your pain.”

Or, as he said it, “Ah feel your pain.”

It worked. He connected with enough people to win. But it raises questions.

What happened to the people in pain? Did their burdens lift? Did their circumstances change?

When suffering is approached with certainty rather than humility, it becomes toxic empathy. It sounds like compassion, but it satisfies the speaker and leaves the sufferer untouched. It doesn’t just fail to help; it often abandons people in the very moment they asked not to be.

Understanding is claimed. Burden is often avoided.

When someone shares their pain, he’s not asking you to take over. He’s inviting you in — but not to rearrange the furniture.

Too often, we grasp for words that sound right instead of doing what is right. Words are how we connect, but in moments like these, too many of them get in the way.

I never know exactly how someone else feels. But I can listen. I can pay attention. I can show up. And I can resist the urge to insert myself into something I haven’t carried. I learned that from my wife, Gracie.

A woman once started to share something painful with Gracie, then stopped and said, “My situation doesn’t compare to yours.”

Gracie didn’t let that stand.

“Don’t minimize your pain by comparing it to mine,” she said. “If you’re going to compare anything, compare this: If I’ve found God to be faithful in my journey, then hold on to that while you trust Him in yours.”

Somewhere along the way, that woman probably learned to measure her pain before she spoke of it. To decide whether it qualified. Gracie didn’t accept that. She let her know she deserved to be seen.

We tend to mishandle each other’s and our own pain. Sometimes we insert ourselves into someone else’s pain. Sometimes we talk ourselves out of our own. And in both cases, something essential gets lost.

Suffering doesn’t need a spokesperson. It needs someone willing to see and stay.

Years ago, Gracie and I waited in line to meet President George W. Bush. When our turn came, he reached out to greet me, then turned to her. He noticed her uncovered prosthetic legs below her skirt. This was long before people displayed them the way they do now, especially women.

He didn’t say anything. He met her eyes, took her hand, and held it in both of his. I watched his expression change. His eyes softened. There was a hint of moisture there. And he just stayed with her for a moment that seemed to stretch.

The most powerful man on the planet at the time didn’t insert himself into her story. He didn’t try to prove he understood it. He simply met her in it.

We see the opposite often enough. Public figures stand under bright lights and assure people that they understand. They speak quickly, confidently, sometimes even spiritually, about pain they have never carried. It sounds compassionate. It polls well and is usually offered in exchange for votes or money.

But it leaves people alone. Because the moment someone claims to fully understand another person’s pain, he has stopped listening. And when suffering becomes a platform, the work of carrying it gets left to someone else.

Respecting someone’s pain doesn’t involve saying, “I know exactly how you feel.” It starts with admitting you don’t and staying anyway.

​Opinion & analysis 

Today, Trey Tucker is a therapist and an author, but he used to go on undercover human trafficking raids — rescuing young girls out of the dark clutches of sex slavery.

In total, Trey helped rescue 20 underage girls and women out of trafficking rings. The memories he carries still haunt him.

But they also give him insight. On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie Beth Stuckey asked Trey to weigh in on Jeffery Epstein’s sinister sex trafficking operations and his ability to wield enormous influence over so many people. His perspective gave her chills.

“How is it possible that some of the most powerful people in the United States, some people that we’ve looked to as moral exemplars, some of the most powerful people in the world, are apparently part of a pedophile trafficking ring?” she asks.

“The stuff that I was hearing long ago that … most people dismissed as conspiracy theories, I said, ‘No, that’s probably real,’” Trey says. “I didn’t have firsthand access to whatever was going on on that island, but I’ve seen the depravity enough to know, yeah, that can happen to any of us if you really let that go that far.”

He describes the elite world as a “power club” that can only be accessed by doing something that gives the group “blackmail” against you.

“It’s hard for me to understand the hold that [Jeffery Epstein] had on so many people,” Allie says.

She asks, “From your therapist perspective, when you’re looking at those power dynamics and just his personality, like, what do you see?”

Trey says he sees the primordial human struggle to attain “satisfaction” — not just in Epstein himself but in all the people who occupied his power circle.

“Epstein himself, he was just the puppet or the pawn. Like, he just had that magnetic charisma about him, and he was the guy at the door, like the bouncer that could let you into this world that you thought was going to satisfy,” he explains.

Allie wants to know more about the “psychology” behind a charisma like Epstein’s. “What makes someone publicly appealing even if we know that they’re not good people?” she asks.

“It comes down to really two major categories: identity and psychological safety,” Trey says.

Someone’s identity, he explains, can essentially be hijacked and manipulated by a powerful public figure.

It is entirely possible, Trey tells Allie, to “take someone’s beliefs, political or otherwise” and “transform them” so that they become the core of that person’s identity. Anyone who then opposes those beliefs isn’t just disagreeing with that person; they are “attacking” their very identity.

What is happening at the neurobiological level, Trey says, is “you’re moving beyond somebody’s logical brain and … into their subconscious, and when the subconscious takes over, it shuts down the prefrontal cortex — the logic brain.”

This produces fear, causing the individual to “fight and argue no matter what the actual facts are.”

“And so these politicians know how to take what should be just a nuanced issue where the front of your brain is just thinking evaluatively, and they know how to go right to that subconscious and put you into fight or flight mode instead,” Trey explains.

The second component, psychological safety, exploits someone’s inherent need to feel safe. This need is so strong that people will often override their sense of logic just to get it.

“Any politician that really is charismatic, they know that people are anxious, they’re uncertain, and if they can bring a level of strength and certainty, then people will look past their record,” Trey says.

He warns that this isn’t a partisan issue. “It really doesn’t matter the party. Like, all these politicians, I believe they’re just actors within the same play.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the full interview above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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