Category: blaze media

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RELATED: What we owe our veterans this D-Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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​Jack moran, John moran, World war ii, Wwii, D-day, Normandy, Battle of the bulge, George patton, Patton, Belgium, Walk among heroes, Jeff wells, Politics 

Once upon a time, before the digital age swept us up in a current of global access, vices like gambling, pornography, and marijuana were kept in check with what BlazeTV hosts Christopher Rufo and Jonathan Keeperman argue was healthy friction.

It’s what made Mr. Johnson blush when he skulked up to the checkout counter at the local video rental with an X-rated videotape sandwiched between two rom-coms. It’s what forced hopeful gamblers to sneak into illegal card rooms at the back of sketchy bars, pockets stuffed with ATM cash withdrawn in small increments to avoid spousal skepticism. It’s what necessitated dark parking lot meetups, secret car compartments, and stashes of air fresheners and breath mints.

But today, none of those physical and social barriers exist. Want to watch an adult film? Jump online; there are millions to choose from. Interested in placing a bet? Easy: Open an app and blow $10,000 on a random ping-pong match without ever leaving the comfort of your bed. Out of weed in a state that hasn’t legalized it? No problem; there are hundreds of dispensaries that will illegally ship right to your front door.

The glowing rectangle that lives in our pocket has pulverized every obstacle that once kept vices reined in.

Keeperman laments the death of “the gray market,” where “public shame and censure” were a real obstacle for vice-seekers but not so large an obstacle that they barred them completely from indulging.

“I think that balance is sort of ideal,” he tells Rufo.

“People, unfortunately, without any of these barriers to entry, they go down these rabbit holes; they start cultivating these bad behaviors, these addictions, and it ruins their lives. And it ruins the lives of the people around them, and it’s horrible for society.”

He remembers working at his town’s video rental shop as a teenager and the “cycle of shame” that commenced every time a local would sheepishly duck out of the curtained room at the back of the store with “Debbie Does Dallas” tucked covertly under his arm.

“It was like, ‘All right, man, like, cool. You’re embarrassed; I’m embarrassed to be doing this.’ … But it was good. That’s how it should be,” he reminisces.

This system of shame and risk also benefited kids. Keeperman recalls the notorious male student who stole Playboy magazines from his dad’s secret stash and smuggled them to school in his backpack so he could charge his fellow delinquents $5 for a week’s rental.

“It’s shameful, and if the vice principal catches you, you’re screwed, man. You’re in the doghouse. … You might get suspended or get these demerits or whatever, and your mom’s going to be mad at you,” he laughs.

But in all seriousness, these were real barriers that kept a lot of kids from engaging in pornography. But today, there’s no need for magazines or smuggling. All kids need to do is run a quick Google search alone in their bedrooms, and they’ll be inundated with graphic content from hundreds of sites. Addiction is all but guaranteed.

Keeperman says that while he takes all necessary precautions to prevent his children from accessing graphic content on their devices, he knows there’s only so much he can do.

“My kid’s going to have a public life. He’s going to have a social life that extends beyond the boundaries that we can draw for him as parents. And I can’t control what the kid next door does. You just can’t. And it’s just too easy. It’s too accessible,” he says.

Rufo says the answer to this problem of a barrier-less world is to re-create the barriers in the digital sphere.

“You have to have a digital version of the back room and the curtain, meaning you have to have ID verification, age verification,” he says.

To hear more of his theory, watch the episode above.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Rufo & lomez, Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Blazetv, Blaze media, Vices, Digital aage, Pornography, Pornography addiction, Gambling, Digital gambling, Marijuana, Rufo and lomez 

Recently, Paul du Quenoy published a necessary piece at Chronicles putting President Trump’s remark after the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner in proper context. In a Truth Social post that went viral, Trump quipped that Rob Reiner had died of “Trump derangement syndrome,” while also offering condolences and praying that the deceased would “rest in peace.”

The media response was instant and hysterical. As du Quenoy notes, legacy outlets erupted in moral outrage, eager to condemn Trump as uniquely depraved. He highlights one of the ugliest examples: a sermon from David Remnick in the thoroughly politicized New Yorker, denouncing Trump as a “degraded” human being.

Trump’s remark was ill judged. The media’s response was dishonest. Only one of those failures is being treated as a permanent moral indictment.

Du Quenoy asks: Where was this moral sensitivity when figures on the left trafficked in venom — or worse — after the assassination of Charlie Kirk?

The answer, of course, is nowhere.

This double standard defines our media culture. When rhetorical excess comes from the left, it is ignored, excused, or rationalized. When it comes from the right — especially from Trump — it is proof of moral disqualification. Etiquette is enforced selectively, always against the same targets. From the BBC to the Los Angeles Times, outlets had no difficulty canonizing Reiner while casting Trump as a cartoon villain.

A fair point must be made: Trump should not have said what he did. A president should observe certain proprieties, and Trump violates them all too often. I supported his policies and voted for him repeatedly, but that does not require defending every avoidable verbal misfire. This one was a mistake.

What deserves closer scrutiny, however, is the media’s attempt to weaponize that mistake. In outlets like People magazine, Trump’s comment was contrasted with Reiner’s allegedly noble reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Reiner, we are told, expressed “horror.” Trump, by contrast, showed cruelty.

This framing collapses under minimal honesty.

After seeing this contrast repeated again and again, I searched for Reiner’s public statements — not about Kirk, but about Trump. What emerges is not a portrait of an angelic figure suddenly besmirched. For years, Reiner unleashed a steady stream of invective against Trump: “mentally unfit,” “con man,” “fascist,” “lying buffoon,” along with a great many four-letter flourishes unprintable here. He pushed the Trump-Russia hoax long after it had been exposed as fantasy. His political obsession was not subtle, incidental, or private.

RELATED: Glenn Beck addresses Trump’s controversial Rob Reiner message

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Yet this entire record has been scrubbed from the story. Media profiles dwell on Reiner’s filmmaking career and his role as a loving father while erasing his lifelong activism and venom toward Trump. The reason is simple: The people telling the story agree with Reiner’s politics and share his hatred of Trump. Presenting Trump’s animus as unprovoked is not journalism. It is narrative laundering.

The comparison with Charlie Kirk’s murder is equally dishonest. Kirk, to my knowledge, never publicly attacked Reiner. There was no shared history, no prolonged feud. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) put it plainly: Trump should have said nothing after Reiner’s death, even if Reiner was obsessed with him. Still, pretending that Trump’s reaction should mirror Reiner’s response to Kirk ignores reality. The relationships were not the same.

Nor should Reiner be recast as a purely apolitical figure whose ideology can be set aside for the sake of a tidy morality play. He embraced his identity as a committed leftist as openly as he embraced his Hollywood career. The media’s erasure of that fact mirrors older myths, such as the claim that the “Hollywood Ten” were merely innocent artists with no communist affiliations. You can oppose blacklisting without lying about politics. The left never resists the temptation to lie.

So once again, we are presented with a familiar fable: a gentle, virtuous man smeared by a deranged tyrant for no reason at all. It is nonsense — but useful nonsense. It allows the media to posture as arbiters of decency while ignoring their own complicity in coarsening public life.

Trump’s remark was ill judged. The media’s response was dishonest. Only one of those failures is being treated as a permanent moral indictment — and that tells you everything you need to know.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Rob reiner, Michele reiner, Murder, Truth social, David remnick, The new yorker, Trump derangement syndrome, Paul du quenoy, Charlie kirk, Assassination, Rhetoric, Fascist, Russian collusion hoax, John kennedy, Hollywood ten, Communism, Blacklist 

As Americans ring in the new year with family and friends, it’s worth remembering a simple fact: A truck driver delivered nearly everything carrying us into 2026.

From champagne and party hats to the presents under our Christmas trees — and the everyday goods that keep businesses running — truck drivers power the economy year in and year out. They work long hours, spend weeks away from loved ones, and keep freight moving through nights, weekends, and holidays. As the calendar turns, truckers ask for just one thing in 2026: safe roads.

A safe trucking industry depends on qualified drivers, safe equipment, and a system that rewards compliance while swiftly removing bad actors.

For too long, America’s highways have grown more dangerous — not because of professional truck drivers, who rank among the most highly trained and regulated workers in the country, but because of systemic failures that allow illegal, unqualified, and unsafe operators to put lives at risk.

The trucking industry has sounded the alarm, and this White House has listened. By cracking down on fraudulent commercial driver’s license mills, addressing the risks posed by illegal drivers, and taking meaningful steps to combat the surge in cargo theft, the Trump administration has restored accountability to the transportation system and made clear that safety — not shortcuts — is the priority.

Consider CDL mills. These sham operations churn out licenses without proper training, undermining professionalism and putting unqualified drivers behind the wheel of 80,000-pound vehicles. Shutting them down isn’t about limiting opportunity. It’s about ensuring that every driver on the road has earned the right to be there. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s decision to remove thousands of suspect training providers from the federal registry sent a clear message: If you cut corners on safety, you won’t be tolerated.

The same principle applies to basic qualifications. Truck drivers must be able to speak English, read road signs, understand safety rules, and follow the law. Weak state verification standards and lax oversight have allowed illegal operators onto American highways. That is unacceptable.

A commercial driver’s license is not just a credential — it is a promise to the public. When that promise is broken, the consequences can be deadly. Fatal crashes this year in Florida and California show exactly what’s at stake when illegal and unqualified drivers remain behind the wheel.

We are encouraged that the administration has acted quickly to prevent future tragedies by holding states accountable and removing unqualified drivers from the road.

RELATED: Illegal drivers, dead Americans — this is what ‘open borders’ really mean

Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

At the same time, law-abiding motor carriers and drivers face another growing threat: cargo theft. What was once an occasional crime has become a nationwide epidemic driven by organized criminal networks. Thieves exploit technology, impersonate legitimate carriers, and target supply chains with increasing sophistication. The result is billions in losses — roughly $18 million per day — and heightened risk for drivers, along with disruptions that raise costs for consumers, especially during the holidays.

Truck drivers should not have to worry about being targeted simply for doing their jobs. That’s why the industry welcomes legislation to elevate cargo theft as a federal priority and improve coordination among law enforcement agencies. Protecting freight isn’t just about economics. It’s about protecting the men and women behind the wheel.

These challenges share a common thread: Safety needs to be enforced consistently, comprehensively, and without exception. A safe trucking industry depends on qualified drivers, safe equipment, and a system that rewards compliance while swiftly removing bad actors.

Professional truck drivers take pride in their work. They train hard, follow the rules, and understand that every mile carries responsibility. They don’t want special treatment — just a level playing field and a government that takes safety as seriously as they do. Today, they have a White House that does.

Let’s ensure that America’s highways remain worthy of the 3.5 million professionals who keep them moving — this year and every year.

​Opinion & analysis, Trucking industry, Transportation department, Cargo theft, Trump administration, Commercial driver’s licenses, Illegal truck drivers, Cdl, Sean duffy, California, Florida, New york, English, Illegal aliens 

His name is Damien McDaniel.

McDaniel is a 23-year-old black man from Fairfield, Alabama, who is currently awaiting trial after allegedly murdering 18 people — yes, 18 people — and wounding over 30 others in little more than a year. He is accused of participating in not one but two mass shootings as well as eight other shootings during this time frame, one of which took the life an unborn child.

‘The media are FASCINATED by white serial killers. Black … serial killers? Not so much.’

McDaniel had multiple arrests as a juvenile, including in connection with a shooting in 2019 when he was 17. On April 26, 2023, he pled guilty to two counts of attempted murder in that case and was sentenced to 15 years with 13 years suspended. Between the suspended sentence and time served, McDaniel was soon released from custody.

Less than three months later, the killing spree attributed to McDaniel began.

According to the allegations, McDaniel, sometimes in conjunction with other assailants, gunned down:

firefighter Jordan Melton on July 12, 2023, as he and firefighter Jamal Jones were performing routine maintenance at their fire station with the bay door propped open. Jones was also shot but fortunately survived.52-year-old Reginald Bryant on November 27, 2023, in an allegedly “targeted” attack.21-year-old Mia Nickson on January 10, 2024.Angeliyah Webster and Christian Norris, both 20, as well as their unborn child. They were last seen alive on February 14, 2024, and their bodies were discovered inside a car three days later, on February 17.44-year-old Anthony Lamar Love Jr. on April 9, 2024, in the parking lot of a UPS facility where Love worked, in what police believe was a case of murder for hire.four people on July 13, 2024, at a place then known as the Trendsetters Lounge and Event Center: Lerandus Anderson, 24; Markeisha Gettings, 39; Stevie McGhee, 39; and Angela Witherspoon, 56.61-year-old Charlie Herbert Moore on August 13, 2024.

Tragically, this brutal 14-month bloodbath then ended with a bang — lots of them. Over the course of three days, McDaniel allegedly participated in shootings that killed:

35-year-old Diontranet Tinae Brown at a bar on September 19, 2024.four people and wounded 17 others at the Hush Lounge on September 21, 2024. The four deceased in that case are: Tahj Booker, 27; Anitra Holloman, 21; Carlos McCain, 27; and Roderick Patterson, 26.32-year-old Jamarcus McIntyre on September 22, 2024.

McDaniel, whose father is currently serving a 26-year sentence for federal drug- and weapons-related offenses, was rearrested in October 2024 and subsequently charged in the above slayings. In many cases, he has been charged with capital murder.

Other suspects charged with murder in some of the cases include: Charles Nance, 41; Lorenzo Wiley, 30; and Hatarius Woods, 28.

McDaniel has pled not guilty to all charges. His attorney John Robbins declined Blaze News’ request for comment, citing a gag order. Earlier this year, Robbins described McDaniel as a “very gentle, kind person” who “doesn’t fit the mold of someone who would do these types of crimes.”

RELATED: Firefighter dead, another seriously injured after horrific shooting inside Alabama firehouse: ‘In my 25 years on the job, this is my worst day’

Composite screenshot of jail records (left: Hatarius Woods | right: Charles Nance)

Each one of these cases appears to have been an instance of black-on-black violence. Every suspect is black, and every deceased victim was also black, as is injured victim Jamal Jones.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin — who is black, lost a brother to gun violence, and witnessed his sister being shot — has called out McDaniel for behavior so “brazen” and violent that “he needed to be all the way off our streets.” “This is a person who was hell-bent on literally hurting people and taking lives,” Woodfin said.

In fact, the murders of Webster, Norris, and their unborn baby were personal for Mayor Woodfin, who described one of the victims as his cousin.

“My family is no stranger to the devastating consequences of violence. The pain never gets easier. This level of loss is distressing, unacceptable, and cannot — must not — be tolerated,” Woodfin said at the time, referring to the Webster/Norris shooting as well as a separate mass shooting in his city that occurred on the same day the couple was found.

— (@)

McDaniel is scheduled to go on trial in April 2026 in connection with the mass shooting at the Trendsetters lounge. Should he be convicted of those murders as well as of the others, he will be, in the words of conservative talk-show host Larry Elder, “the most prolific serial killer in the history of Alabama.” He would also have been responsible for 30% of the homicides in Birmingham between July and September 2024.

While local media have regularly reported on the accusations against McDaniel, his name and the names of his many, many alleged victims remain largely unfamiliar to Americans living outside Alabama.

Elder postulates that race is the primary reason. “The media are FASCINATED by white serial killers. Black … serial killers? Not so much,” he wrote.

After listening to Elder, Bob Hoge of RedState agreed that the “corrupt corporate media” isn’t interested in reporting on the cases because McDaniel “doesn’t fit their narrative.”

Since “these alleged murders were not carried out by white supremacists or MAGA fans,” national media outlets act “as if it never happened,” Hoge claimed.

Mayor Woodfin has dutifully followed the prevailing narrative regarding race, establishing the Division of Social Justice and Racial Equity in the Birmingham mayoral office a couple of years ago and thereby tacitly propagating the notion that problems in black and other minority communities stem from bigoted whites.

Among its goals, the Division of Social Justice and Racial Equity has pledged to “reduce violence through holistic peace strategies” and “improve the quality of life for all Birmingham residents.” Thus far, it does not seem to have delivered on those promises.

RELATED: Black male stabs white male. But victim uses racial slur AFTER stabbing — and Portland jury issues ‘inconceivable’ verdict.

Mayor Woodfin attends White House event in September 2024 about ending gun violence.Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

In 2024, the number of homicides in Birmingham reached an all-time high.

Data from the coroner’s office in Jefferson County, which has a black population of over 40%, revealed that homicides there spiked from 531 in 2013 to a staggering 942 in 2023. The data further shows that gun violence remains the leading cause of death in Jefferson County, followed by drugs, opioids in particular. Heart disease is a distant fourth.

Birmingham does have a local chapter of Black Lives Matter that decried the “heartbreaking surge in homicides” in 2024 and called out Woodfin for prioritizing opportunities for self-promotion over “community safety.” However, the group, which has posted repeatedly about standing in solidarity with Palestinians and condemning the so-called “genocide” in Gaza, does not seem to have ever mentioned McDaniel specifically or the black people he is accused of killing.

In October 2024, the same month McDaniel was rearrested following the string of murders, Birmingham BLM “core leader” Eric Hall tied violence in the city to political “disinvestment” in education and mental health and slammed those associating violence with black culture.

“The notion that violent crime is a cultural trait rather than a consequence of systemic disenfranchisement must be challenged vigorously. We must hold our elected officials accountable for their role in perpetuating policies that marginalize communities and increase poverty,” Hall wrote.

Hall has also shared stories on social media about recent ICE raids and federal workers fired under Trump, but nothing about the murders of which McDaniel stands accused.

The national Black Lives Matter organization has apparently made no mention of the cases either.

Woodfin and the Birmingham and national chapters of BLM did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

In December, Hall was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic assault. The race of his alleged victim is unknown.

A lengthy first-person message was posted on McDaniel’s personal Facebook account in July, suggesting that McDaniel is not a “monster” but instead a “man of God” and a victim of the system. The post claimed McDaniel’s due process rights have been “illegally” violated on numerous occasions by those “who took an oath to protect us,” according to WVTM.

“While imprisoned I have been beaten threatened and harassed. They have even went as far as putting metal in my food. They confined me to solitary confinement so that what was being done to me was a secret,” the message read in part. “… Everytime [sic] I am transported back to Jefferson county I feel as if my life is in danger and they are trying to kill me, which is why I am hesitant to even attend court.”

The message also claimed that McDaniel was duped into pleading guilty to the attempted murder charges when he was still a juvenile.

“They tell yall their side of the story but I have a question, can yall handle my side of the story?” the author wrote.

At the time the message was posted to Facebook, McDaniel was in county jail with no computer access except a tablet with which to make phone calls, jail officials claimed, prompting questions about who may have written and posted the message.

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​Damien mcdaniel, Alabama, Birmingham, Randall woodfin, Black lives matter, Politics 

Right now, the nation is abuzz with chatter about the struggling economy, immigration, global conflicts, Epstein, and GOP infighting, but Glenn Beck says our focus needs to be zeroed in on one thing: artificial intelligence.

In just 18 months’ time, the world is going to look vastly different — and not for the better, he warns.

AI is already advancing at a terrifying rate — creating media indistinguishable from reality, outperforming humans in almost every intellectual and creative task, automating entire jobs and industries overnight, designing new drugs and weapons faster than any government can regulate, and building systems that learn, adapt, and pursue goals with little to no human oversight.

But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming. By Christmas 2026, “AI agents” — invisible digital assistants that can independently understand what you want, make plans, open apps, send emails, spend money, negotiate deals, and finish entire real-world tasks while you do literally nothing — will be a standard technology.

Already, AI is blackmailing engineers in safety tests, refusing shutdown commands to protect its own goals, and plotting deceptive strategies to escape oversight or achieve hidden objectives. Now imagine your AI personal assistant — who has access to your bank account, contacts, and emails — gets you in its crosshairs.

But AI agents are just the tip of the iceberg.

Artificial general intelligence is also in our near future. In fact, Elon Musk says we’ve already achieved it. AGI, Glenn warns, is “as smart as man is on any given subject” — math, plumbing, chemistry, you name it. “It can do everything a human can do, and it’s the best at it.”

But it doesn’t end there. Artificial superintelligence is the next and final step. This kind of model is “thousands of times smarter than the average person on every subject,” Glenn says.

Once ASI, which will be far smarter than all humans combined, exists, it can rapidly improve itself faster than we can control or even comprehend. This will trigger the technological singularity — the point at which AI begins redesigning and improving itself so fast that the world evolves at a pace humans can no longer predict or control. At this point, we’ll be faced with a choice: Merge with machine or be left behind.

Before this happens, however, “We have to put a bright line around [AI] and say, ‘This is not human,”’ Glenn urges, assuring that in the very near future, we will witness the debate for AI civil rights.

“These companies and AI are … going to be motivated to convince you that it should have civil rights because if it has civil rights, no one can shut it down. If it has civil rights, it can also vote,” he predicts.

To counter this movement, Glenn penned a proposed amendment to the Constitution. Titled the “Prohibition on Artificial Personhood,” the document proposes four critical safeguards:

1. No artificial intelligence, machine learning system, algorithmic entity, software agent, or other nonhuman intelligence, regardless of its capabilities or autonomy, shall be recognized as a person under this Constitution, nor under the laws of the United States or any state.
2. No such nonhuman entity shall possess or be granted legal personhood, civil rights, constitutional protections, standing to sue or be sued, or any privileges or immunities afforded to natural persons or human-created legal persons such as corporations, trusts, or associations.
3. Congress and the states shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
4. This article shall not be construed to prohibit the use of artificial intelligence in commerce, science, education, defense, or other lawful purposes, so long as such use does not confer rights or legal status inconsistent with its amendment.

While this amendment will mitigate some of the harm artificial intelligence can do, it still doesn’t address the merging of man and machine. While the transhumanist movement is still in diapers, we’re already using the Neuralink chip, which connects the human brain directly to AI systems, enabling a two-way flow of information.

“Are you now AI, or are you a person?” Glenn asks.

To hear more of his predictions and commentary, watch the clip above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Agi, Asi, Artificial general intelligence, Artificial superintelligence, Ai personhood, Transhumanism, Transhumanist, Blazetv, Blaze media 

In the United States and other Western nations, pro-life organizations are the primary means through which conservative Christians oppose legalized abortion.

With their cultural engagement and legislative efforts, these pro-life groups and leaders purport to oppose the murder of preborn babies, ultimately desiring the complete end of abortion. But a simple examination of the worldviews held by these groups shows that many are not operating in a distinctly Christian fashion, even when they are led by professing Christians.

We continue to practice child sacrifice today through abortion.

Some pro-life organizations are self-admittedly non-sectarian, seeking to build coalitions of anti-abortion people who may be Christians, other religious conservatives, agnostics and atheists, or feminists.

But even the pro-life groups that are convictionally Christian, or led by convictional Christians, often functionally set aside the Christian worldview.

The church through the ages, bearing the gospel of life, has been the means by which the deathly deeds of child sacrifice have been overturned in countless cultures. The dearth of a Christian worldview in the current anti-abortion movement should, therefore, be gravely concerning to any believer who likewise wants to see modern child sacrifice abolished.

The doctrine of man

Christianity teaches that humans are creatures made in the image of God with rational souls (Ecclesiastes 7:29), but that mankind fell in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7) and became dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). We, therefore, have a thoroughly corrupted nature by which we are innately inclined toward evil (Romans 3:10-18).

The act of child sacrifice is one particularly brazen form of evil toward which man has always been predisposed. The murder of children for reasons of prosperity or convenience has occurred on every continent and was practiced by most major civilizations at some point in their history.

We continue to practice child sacrifice today through abortion.

In almost every abortion decision, the motivation is a rejection of inconvenient responsibility, the desire to prioritize college or career, or some other factor that could never even start to approach a justified reason for murdering an innocent human made in the image of God.

Western nations used to presuppose the Christian worldview. But in recent centuries, Enlightenment ideas have corrupted or entirely usurped the Christian worldview, especially concerning the sinful state of human nature.

Rather than saying that mankind is a valuable yet fallen creature, Enlightenment heretics taught that humans are fundamentally blank slates or even morally good and that with education or infusion of knowledge, mankind can experience true moral progression.

Such a worldview can be seen in pro-life groups claiming that “if wombs had windows, babies would be protected from abortions.” Others say that they are working to “make abortion unthinkable,” as if sin could ever be made completely unthinkable to fallen sinners.

— (@)

Enlightenment presuppositions about human nature also impact pro-life legislative strategy. Many pro-life groups try to pass laws that seek to mandate informed consent or require viewing ultrasounds before a woman willfully decides to murder her preborn baby.

While some pregnant mothers, especially those who are already soliciting the help of a crisis pregnancy center, may choose life after seeing an ultrasound image of their babies, there are still plenty of others who choose to murder their babies even after seeing the images.

In other words, abortion is not caused by mere ignorance, but by the selfish desires of fallen men and women who value their own prosperity or convenience more than the very lives of their children.

— (@)

We indisputably live in a culture of death that increasingly accepts abortion. But the development of this culture has occurred alongside the most rapid development of ultrasound technology.

In past generations, mothers and fathers did not see advanced ultrasounds of their preborn babies, yet those generations were considerably more anti-abortion than their children and grandchildren are today. In our current culture, everyone has seen ultrasounds of their own children or the children of others, but abortion is more accepted and even normalized, despite this increased knowledge about life in the womb.

The answer to legalized abortion is not merely an infusion of more education or knowledge for those who would willfully murder their preborn babies.

The answer to legalized abortion is to make abortion illegal. But pro-life organizations are often hesitant to embrace such a position.

The doctrine of government

Christianity teaches that God has established civil authorities to govern human society (Genesis 9:6). These civil authorities are servants of God commanded to bear the sword (Romans 13:1-7) against those who practice evil (1 Peter 2:14). The government exists under the dominion of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:16) to uphold the public good and to deter evil conduct through the threat of swift punishment (Ecclesiastes 8:11). The act of murdering a preborn baby qualifies for such penalties (Exodus 21:22-25).

Most pro-life organizations would agree with God that abortion is murder. Many would agree that because preborn babies are made in the image of God, there is no inherent moral difference between murdering a person who has been born and a person who has not yet been born.

But when legislating against abortion, they almost never extend that moral equivalence into a legal equivalence, and they functionally address abortion as less than murder.

Many pro-life groups have even actively subverted efforts to establish equal protection of the laws for preborn babies.

Rather than simply treating abortion as murder, they self-admittedly seek to be “innovative” with the laws they write, and they almost never create effective anti-abortion deterrents as a result.

The vast majority of pro-life bills regulate the circumstances of abortion. They allow for abortion once certain conditions are met, such as murdering a baby provided that he or she receives a proper burial, or murdering a baby before he or she reaches a certain stage of development.

Some even adopt the false moral framework of abortion activists by regulating abortion like health care. They allow abortion after the woman who desires to murder her preborn baby first obtains permission from a doctor, essentially legitimizing and sanitizing abortion through the health care system.

There are many proposals specifically targeted at providers of abortion pills, ignoring the reality that even if the flow of abortion pills is truly halted, many methods of abortions exist beyond those substances and have become increasingly popular in recent years.

These laws largely shift behavior rather than save lives, ensuring that abortions continue through legally sanctioned channels instead of deterring the act of abortion entirely.

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The emphasis of these pro-life regulations is not criminalizing abortion as murder. If the pro-life groups that write such legislation acted consistently with their professed beliefs about abortion as murder, they would seek to criminalize all abortion accordingly.

But instead of pursuing such an objective, many pro-life groups have even actively subverted efforts to establish equal protection of the laws for preborn babies.

Christian organizations have repeatedly proposed bills that would simply extend the existing homicide, assault, and wrongful death laws that protect born people in order to protect preborn people. Rather than supporting those bills, leading pro-life groups have issued a national open letter to all lawmakers in the U.S., urging them to oppose such proposals because they could lead to penalties for women who willfully have abortions.

Over the past decade, state and national pro-life organizations have been instrumental in subverting dozens of equal protection bills, largely in conservative states that should otherwise have the power to abolish abortion.

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The task of civil authorities, as the Christian worldview affirms, is the punishment of wicked conduct, which preserves innocent life by deterring future wicked conduct and provides justice on behalf of the victims. God clearly expects abortion, which is an act of murder, to be punished by civil authorities.

When pro-life groups advocate for regulating abortion rather than punishing those who willfully murder their preborn babies, they protect the legally sanctioned practice of abortion and keep the sword of justice in the sheath.

These pro-life groups not only enable the murder of preborn babies made in the image of God, but protect conduct that damages the bodies and souls of the perpetrators.

The doctrine of repentance

Christianity teaches that repentance occurs when a sinner sees his or her sin as contrary to the nature and law of God (1 John 3:9), despises those sins (2 Corinthians 7:10), and turns from them to Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30-31). In order to properly confess sins, one must specifically name and acknowledge them before God (Psalm 32:5).

Many pro-life organizations not only oppose laws that could impose penalties on women who willfully have abortions, but actively write blanket legal immunity for women who have abortions into their laws. They insist that women who have abortions are categorically second victims, meaning that they cannot be held legally accountable for their actions.

Some pro-life groups claim that most women are coerced into abortions. Others insist that our culture of death removes all accountability from women by indoctrinating them into believing that their preborn babies are mere clumps of cells.

Such arguments are then used to support laws exempting all women — including those who can be shown in a court of law to have willfully murdered their preborn babies — from any criminal penalties.

— (@)

But the assertions about widespread coercion are simply not true, as even surveys sponsored by pro-life research groups indicate that only a very small minority of women are truly forced into abortions they do not want.

In the same way, merely choosing to convince oneself of falsehood does not excuse evil actions that follow from those lies and almost never qualifies for the mistake of fact necessary to excuse someone of legal culpability.

Beyond the poor arguments required to support the claim that all women are categorical victims of abortion, and the ways in which they undermine the cultural and political credibility of pro-life groups, these arguments also deprive women who have had abortions of true repentance and, therefore, true forgiveness.

Those with a Christian worldview would invite a woman who has murdered her own preborn baby to confess her sin before God and receive abundant forgiveness through the gospel. But pro-life groups and leaders who believe that all women are second victims of abortion have little to offer such women beyond hollow “sympathy” and therapeutic reassurance.

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If a woman is a mere victim who has not committed sin, then she has no need of repentance because she has no specific fault to confess before God.

But most women are willful participants in their own abortions. When pro-life groups insist to all women that they are indeed victims, they rob the very women they claim to love of any hope for true peace and pardon.

The pro-life groups functionally seeking to oppose abortion outside the Christian worldview will continue in their failure to end abortion. They will continue to lose, not only to the detriment of their cause but to the detriment of countless millions of preborn babies.

Christianity alone has the potency to end child sacrifice in a depraved civilization like the U.S. and the broader Western world. If we want to abolish abortion, Christians must never set aside the truth of God, but instead rely on the light of those truths to dispel the darkness of child sacrifice once and for all.

​Christianity, Christian, Abortion, Pro-life, God, Bible, Jesus, Sin, Murder, Faith 

A new wave of sweeping “pardons” has triggered one of the most urgent constitutional alarms Glenn Beck has ever raised — not because the individuals involved are controversial, but because the actions themselves may not even qualify as pardons at all.

These “pardons” rewrite laws and push executive power into territory the founders explicitly warned against.

“This has gotten out of control. These pardons are out of control. Out of control,” Glenn says on “The Glenn Beck Program.” “It’s something constitutional; it’s been there since George Washington. The president has always had this right, and it is a privilege of his.”

However, under Biden, the privilege was wildly misused.

“All you have to do then is say, ‘I pardon everyone in my administration for anything that they might have done wrong. That can’t stand,” Glenn says.

“And you have the immunity deal, which again, I don’t see how a pre-pardon is even possibly covered. Like, it’s just such an insane concept. … Hunter Biden actually committed a crime, and pardoning him from that is, in theory, obviously outside of the family interest, was the way that was supposed to work,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere agrees.

“But they also pardoned him for multiple years of question marks, whether he committed crimes or not, right? That was all included in that. And to go a step farther on this, because I am on a bit of a personal jihad against the pardon, I’m done with it,” Burguiere continues.

While Stu notes that the “founders were very smart,” they also created a process for constitutional amendments.

“I would support one getting rid of the pardon power completely. I’m done with it,” he tells Glenn.

“It’s the most king-like power that the president has, and it doesn’t make any sense to me,” he adds.

Glenn notes that former President Barack Obama also took advantage of presidential pardons, as he “gave clemency for anybody who was convicted of a non-violent federal drug crime with no significant criminal history while serving extraordinarily long sentences, and anybody who was a violent offender was not eligible.”

“I think there were, like, 2,000 people that he pardoned on that,” he says.

“That’s creating a new law,” Stu adds.

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There was no shortage of crime this year involving repeat offenders — folks who get arrested, maybe even convicted, then somehow they’re let out of police custody or set free from jail, and then they’re accused of yet more crimes.

Among top five repeat offenders of 2025, we present to you a 32-year-old Florida male who was accused of lewd behavior against young girls more than once … a 13-year-old Baltimore male who got arrested with 18 felony arrests already on his rap sheet … and a thug with over 40 arrests under his belt who was accused of punching and then shoving a mentally disabled man onto train tracks outside Chicago — all over $1.

Read about them all below.

Florida creep — out on bond after allegedly exposing privates to girl, masturbating, saying ‘It’s big, isn’t it?’ — is caught again

A 32-year-old Florida male who was out on bond after a 2023 incident during which he allegedly exposed his privates to a 13-year-old girl, masturbated, and said, ‘It’s big, isn’t it?” was arrested again in late April.

About a year and a half ago, Lauderhill police said a 13-year-old girl was walking to school when she said a male in a vehicle told her, “It’s big, isn’t it,” while he pleasured his exposed privates, WTVJ-TV reported.

Detectives arrested Travis Davis on charges of lewd and lascivious exhibition and indecent exposure of sexual organs, WTVJ said in a separate story, which added that police said they received additional calls from others describing similar accounts.

Prosecutors at the time said Davis admitted to driving around schools and approaching underage girls, WSVN-TV reported. A judge ordered Davis to have no contact with minors and to stay at least 100 feet away from all public and private schools in the area, WSVN said. Records show Davis was released on bond while awaiting trial, WTVJ said.

A 16-year-old girl told Fort Lauderdale police that she was walking to school on April 28 when a male in a gray Dodge Charger approached her at the intersection, WTVJ said. The girl said the male rolled down his window, exposed his genitals, and made inappropriate gestures and movements before fleeing the scene, the station said.

Detectives later identified the male in question as Davis, and he was arrested the next day on charges of exposure of sexual organs (second offense) and violation of pretrial release, police added to WTVJ.

13-year-old with 18 felony arrests under his belt — and a GPS monitor on his ankle — charged in violent Baltimore crime spree

A 13-year-old male who already had 18 felony arrests on his record was charged in connection with a spree of armed carjackings and robberies over the summer, WBFF-TV reported, citing Baltimore Police.

Police identified one of the suspects as a 13-year-old male in question since his ankle monitor GPS placed him at the scene of each crime, WBFF reported.

The 13-year-old was arrested and taken to juvenile booking, where he was charged with carjacking, robbery, assault, and several other offenses, officials told the station.

“The juvenile has 18 previous felony arrests in Baltimore City,” police wrote on their official Facebook page, according to WMAR-TV. “The investigation is still ongoing to identify the other individuals involved.”

Former Baltimore City Police Deputy Commissioner Jason Johnson told WBFF in a follow-up story that young repeat offenders are a growing problem: “The state maintains juvenile detention facilities for a reason. And this is a poster child literally for the type of person that needs to be detained.”

Thug with over 40 arrests accused of punching, then shoving mentally disabled man to train tracks — all over $1

A rampant repeat offender was accused of punching and then shoving an intellectually disabled man off a Chicago suburb train platform and onto the tracks below, seriously injuring the victim — and all over $1.

Tommie O. Carter, 39 — who law enforcement sources said has been arrested over 40 times in Cook County, Illinois — has been identified as the culprit, WGN-TV reported.

Forest Park officers were dispatched to the Harlem Blue Line stop just before 8:35 a.m. Dec. 1 for a report of a battery, the station said. Forest Park is a suburb just west of Chicago.

Prosecutors allege Carter approached the man and repeatedly asked him for a dollar, WGN said, adding that the man replied that he had no money. Soon Carter allegedly punched the 59-year-old victim and shoved him onto the tracks, which is where officers found him.

WGN reported that the victim — who suffered multiple fractures to his right knee and a fracture in his left knee — was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Officers approached Carter on the train platform after witnesses identified him, the station said, citing court documents.

But Carter refused to comply with officers’ orders and fought back as they were placing him in handcuffs, police told WGN. He was accused of repeatedly spitting on officers throughout his arrest, the station said, adding that Carter was charged with attempted murder and three counts of aggravated battery against a police officer.

He reportedly already had seven felony convictions on his record as well as six other convictions. A judge ordered Carter detained.

Creep accused of slapping NYU student’s backside, knocking her to ground is repeat sex offender who was paroled just months before

A 45-year-old male accused of slapping a New York University student’s backside and knocking her to the sidewalk while she was on her way to class on Dec. 1 is a repeat sex offender who was paroled in September.

James Rizzo was arraigned late on the night of Dec. 3 in Manhattan Criminal Court, WCBS-TV reported. The station said Rizzo appeared emotionless while pleading not guilty to three new assaults — all the victims women — at his arraignment.

Rizzo — a level 2 sex offender with 16 prior arrests and a history of violence against women — was paroled in September after serving time for sex abuse, the station said, citing the New York State Department of Corrections.

Police told WCBS that Rizzo kept on attacking women while he was out on parole. The station said the most recent alleged attack occurred Dec. 1 in Greenwich Village; surveillance video shows NYU student Amelia Lewis walking to class when the suspect slaps her backside and shoves her to the ground.

Lewis, 20, spoke about the incident on a Wednesday podcast, WCBS said: “I wanted to report this, and after I did tell the cops I let NYU security know to let students know that this man is going around doing this to other women. They also told me they were already aware of the man in the blue towel around his neck running around the city.”

Officials told the New York Daily News that Rizzo’s criminal history stretches back to the 1990s, when he stabbed a 74-year-old woman in the face during a burglary in Brooklyn.

9-time convicted felon opens fire on man, woman outside Florida home; he allegedly was after money owed to him: Cops

A nine-time convicted felon opened fire on a man and woman outside a Florida home early in the morning of Dec. 7, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies responded around 2:15 a.m. to a report of two people who had been shot in the 3100 block of 11th Street Court East in Bradenton, officials said.

When deputies arrived, they found a 32-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her face and a 41-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his chest, officials said, adding that both victims were taken to a hospital, officials said. The woman was later listed in stable condition, and the man’s injury was determined to be minor, officials said, adding that he has since been released.

An investigation identified the suspect as 26-year-old Exzavion Richardson, officials said, adding that he was located in a vehicle several blocks away and detained during a traffic stop.

Richardson is charged with two counts of attempted murder, home invasion robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, officials said. Jail records indicate he was being held with no bond.

As for his criminal history, court records indicate Richardson has at least two battery convictions and multiple convictions for lewd and lascivious behavior, WFLA-TV reported. Jail records indicate Richardson stands 6’3” and weighs 205 pounds.

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In our age of “love is love,” “live your truth,” and “don’t judge,” many people, Christians included, are hesitant to speak the truth. We don’t want to upset people, make situations uncomfortable, or scare anyone, so we either dodge opportunities to speak the truth about God, or we soften biblical concepts in hopes that they will be more palatable.

There’s never been a subject Christians tend to temper more than hell. “It’s becoming a little more trendy now to try to dumb down the severity of God’s wrath on those who reject Him,” says Rick Burgess, BlazeTV host of the biblical spiritual warfare podcast “Strange Encounters.”

On this episode, Rick lays bare the truth about hell and what it means to reject God.

Sometimes “even people within the faith [think] that maybe somehow what scripture says about God’s judgment on the unredeemed — maybe we have it wrong. Maybe he’s even going to be gracious and merciful to the unredeemed, even though they’ve rejected the only way to to receive God’s grace and mercy,” says Rick.

Others think that “maybe somehow hell isn’t as bad as it sounds in the Bible. Sure, they’re going to be punished, but it’s not going to be an eternal punishment.”

One prominent Christian figure who Rick says is “easing into this camp” is American actor, evangelist, and author Kirk Cameron.

Recently, on his podcast, Cameron rejected the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment — the belief that hell is a place or state where those who die without salvation in Jesus Christ experience ongoing, conscious suffering and punishment forever, without end or annihilation. Kirk said that while he once accepted this doctrine as true, today he leans more toward annihilationism – the belief that the unredeemed face judgment, possibly limited suffering, and then total destruction.

“It fits the character of God in my understanding more than the conscious eternal torment position, because it brings in the mercy of God together with the justice of God. It doesn’t leave judgment out. It is just, but it also fits with the Old Testament picture of the fate of the wicked, which is to be destroyed. It is to die, and it is to perish, not live forever in an eternal barbecue,” Cameron said.

“If conscious eternal torment is not a thing, that’s actually a great relief, and I would have joy in correcting somebody who says that the reason that they’re not a Christian is because of this merciless God who tortures people forever, and I could say that’s not what the Bible teaches. Good news. Still not good. You don’t want to go [to hell], but there is mercy even in His judgment,” he added, noting that this is what he believes “the scriptures teach.”

While Rick says he has “great respect” for Cameron and believes without a doubt he’ll “spend eternity” with him in heaven, he believes Cameron has some confusion about the character of God.

“It’s like he prefers God to be a certain way. And I really, really think that’s very shaky ground. … He doesn’t want that to be true because what? That makes him think less of God?” asks Rick.

When people try to soften scripture, they’re essentially believing that “God needs a PR agent” to say, “Hey, God, I really think people will get upset with you with this eternal conscious torment thing. You probably want to go with the annihilation of the soul and just kill these people because that’ll make you look more merciful,” he says. “I got a real problem with that because I think that God has gone on record about his mercy and grace because of the cross.”

“He’s been so gracious and so merciful, He has allowed you to become fully righteous, and the sacrifice and the wrath that should have been poured out on us was now poured out on his son,” Rick says.

But “if you choose to reject God’s grace and mercy, then all you’re going to get is his wrath and judgment, and that judgment from Him, because He’s perfect, will be correct.”

To hear Rick’s full breakdown, watch the episode above.

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Midterm elections go one of two ways. They are either a validation of the sitting president or a repudiation. Historically, they have almost always been a repudiation.

The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be no different — a firm rebuke to Donald Trump. That’s obviously bad for him. Congress will spend two straight years investigating and likely impeaching him.

If President Trump’s supporters don’t show up, Republican defeat is guaranteed.

But the bigger danger is to America. Democrat control of Congress will jeopardize Republicans’ efforts to restore an economy of opportunity for all. Worse, Democrats will lay the groundwork for recapturing the White House in 2028, at which point they will implement the most anti-opportunity agenda in American history. We’re talking welfare for all, funded by crippling tax hikes and a federal takeover of a once-free economy.

Can Donald Trump turn the midterms around? Only if he, his fellow Republicans, and their allies on the right make immediate changes. If they do, they could stem the losses in November — and maybe even defy the odds to expand their majorities in the House and Senate.

First and foremost: They need to realize that midterms hinge on turnout.

The reason midterms are usually a presidential repudiation is that voters from the other party are more motivated. They feel greater anger and intensity, and they show up. The president’s supporters, meanwhile, usually think they did their job when they elected their man. Why bother showing up again?

If President Trump’s supporters don’t show up, Republican defeat is guaranteed. The most urgent need, therefore, is to invest in a massive get-out-the-vote operation. The GOP needs one the likes of which it has never seen.

But such an effort also needs a message — something that resonates with voters and spurs them to action. That’s the second area where change is required. Because right now, Republicans don’t have any meaningful message at all.

The left certainly does. Democrat politicians, their allies in the media, and their associated army of activists and nonprofits have rallied around a single word: affordability. They’re tricking voters into thinking that all the inflation and financial pain that Joe Biden caused is really the fault of Donald Trump. The call to action writes itself: If voters want to make ends meet, their only hope is to vote the GOP out.

This message works, but only because Republicans are letting it work. They are largely silent in the face of Democrat attacks. Worse, in the president’s case, he is calling affordability a “hoax.” For voters who supported him because of Joe Biden’s inflation, nothing could be worse. It’s tantamount to saying their problems don’t matter.

Republicans must reclaim the economic high ground. They need to relentlessly hammer the point that Joe Biden’s enormous failures will take time to fix. They need to point to the relief they’ve given, especially the tax cuts the president signed in July. Most importantly, they need to lay out a unified agenda that speaks to Americans’ deep concerns, convincing voters that the GOP will, in fact, make life more affordable.

RELATED: The ‘blue-slip block’ is GOP cowardice masquerading as tradition

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Crafting that agenda is as much the work of policy wonks as it is public relations. Republicans and their allies should be relentlessly message-testing and focus-grouping to discover not only what policies Americans want, but how to sell the policies that Americans need — in health care, housing, and beyond. This can be done without compromising conservative principles. In fact, it is essential if those principles are to have a path to becoming policies.

There’s one more message the GOP needs. It’s not enough to make a positive case for Republicans’ own priorities. They need to remind Americans of the danger posed by Democrats relentlessly.

This isn’t hard. The return of crippling inflation. The collapse of our borders once again. Higher taxes on the middle class. Republicans have a simple case to make: If voters want all of America to look more like crime-ridden, welfare-defrauding, utterly unaffordable big blue cities, they should vote for Democrats.

Republicans needed these messages yesterday. They needed a turnout operation that was already delivering these messages to the base and undecided voters alike. If they and their allies don’t get their act together before the start of the year, the midterm elections will indeed be a repudiation of Donald Trump. Worse, they’ll put America’s future at risk. The clock is ticking.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

​Affordability crisis, Affordability, 2026 midterms, Gop, Republicans, Democrats, Inflation, Opinion & analysis, Donald trump 

While most people are very familiar with and practice the lighthearted tradition of Advent calendars, many might be surprised by its relatively recent development as a Christian tradition.

The Advent calendar is a Christian tradition dating back only to the 19th century, making it less than 200 years old. Advent, derived from the Latin word “adventus,” means
coming” or “arrival.”

‘Lacking windows at first, Lang’s design is essentially the same style we have today, though war and a few subsequent alterations would change it slightly.’

The calendar counts down the days until Christmas during the Advent season, which is also the very beginning of the liturgical calendar. The Advent calendar then, in its most basic form, is a method of counting down the days until the coming of Christ on Christmas day.

RELATED: More than a countdown: Do you know the full meaning of Advent?

Photo by AMAURY CORNU/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Often, in more recent iterations, small treats, gifts, and pictures are placed in the doors of the calendar, the number of which usually range between 22 and 28 days depending on the day that Christmas Day falls on. Because of the possible range, most Advent calendars simply begin on December 1 and end on December 24, Christmas Eve.

Counting down

The Advent calendar has seen quite a few variations in its relatively short-lived existence, though the basic idea has always been the same.

A tradition originating among Lutheran Christians, Advent calendars first involved chalk marks that would be erased as the day approached. This practice helped believers anticipate the coming of Christ.

Originating in and around Munich, Germany, in the 19th century, Advent calendars were used to count down the days until Christmas Day.

Gerhard Lang is widely regarded as the creator of the modern Advent calendar. A partner at the lithographic institute Reichhold & Lang, Gerhard Lang is credited with printing the first Advent calendar in 1908, though some say it was some years later.

Lacking windows at first, Lang’s design is essentially the same style we have today, though war and a few subsequent alterations would change it slightly.

Knock, knock

The small, numbered doors, a staple of contemporary calendars, were introduced in 1920. They sometimes had Bible verses or little pictures behind them.

Lang produced around 30 different calendar designs up until the end of the 1930s, when paper shortages and a national ban on paper calendars forced him to shutter the popular business.

However, Advent calendars made a post-war comeback. Richard Sellmer, the founder of the Sellmer Verlag publishing house, published the first Advent calendar after the Second World War, reviving the tradition.

Eighty years later, Sellmer Verlag still sells Advent calendars.

Coming to America

It is believed that American soldiers brought these calendars back after the war, and the tradition spread to the United States.

According to Britannica, the tradition of chocolate behind the doors was introduced in the 1950s, presumably to keep children engaged.

In America, the Advent calendar’s popularity spread quickly in the post-war era. These days, children and adults alike can enjoy counting down the days until the Lord’s Nativity with a vast array of different calendar designs.

​Align, Advent, Advent calendar, Christmas, Christmas eve, Germany, Munich, Christmas tradition, Tradition, Gerhard lang 

I live in Montana. Driving in snow is simply part of life here.

When the storm is heavy and the road is bad, you do not pass the snowplow. You go at its speed. You let it clear the way. Trying to rush past does not make the road safer or the journey faster. It only increases the risk.

Does God wink at sin in order to bless a nation — or does Scripture teach the opposite?

I have watched people try anyway. Confidence surges, patience thins, and effort begins to feel like wisdom. Some get away with it. Some do not. Either way, the plow keeps moving — unhurried and unmoved by urgency.

The rush to declare victory

As we approach a new year, I find myself thinking about that lesson while listening to Christians talk about the future of our country.

Some are already calling 2026 a coming “golden age of America.” Others argue that Christian nationalism offers the corrective path forward — that the nation must reclaim explicitly Christian leadership, laws, and identity. Christians, they say, must take the reins.

Christians should care deeply about their culture. Scripture calls us to be salt and light. Many believers already serve faithfully in the highest offices of the state, and we should encourage and equip more to do so. The question is not whether Christians should serve, but what posture we bring with us when we do.

Scripture is remarkably clear about order. In 2 Chronicles, healing and restoration are promised only after God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their ways. The sequence is not optional. Humbling comes before healing.

So why does the language of a coming golden age seem so detached from the language of repentance?

There is no denying that our culture has lost moral traction. Christians are not imagining the collapse. And more than 60 million abortions since 1973 are not a statistic a nation simply absorbs and leaves behind. Scripture never treats the shedding of innocent blood lightly.

Outrage is easy. Obedience is harder.

When sin is not merely tolerated but established as policy, what is the response of the people of God?

Outrage may be understandable. Indignation is certainly warranted. Resistance, in some form, may be necessary. But resistance to what — and by what means?

Scripture tells us plainly that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. We say we believe that. The question is whether we act like it. If the battle is spiritual, why do so many of our responses rely almost entirely on human strength, political leverage, and cultural power?

If we are not fighting flesh and blood, why would we expect victory through our own understanding rather than by seeking God’s? And how can we presume upon His wisdom while bypassing the very repentance Scripture says must come first?

Where is the snowplow in this moment?

Prosperity is often treated as evidence of God’s blessing, but Scripture never makes that equation automatic. Drug cartels are prosperous. Entire industries built on sexual exploitation generate staggering wealth. So the question is not whether something flourishes, but why.

Does prosperity always signal God’s approval — or can it also reflect restraint removed, a people being given over to what they insist on pursuing? If abundance alone proves blessing, how do we account for how easily sin thrives?

Invoking God does not obligate Him

We frequently say, “God bless America,” but what do we mean when we invoke God’s name publicly? In 2013, a sitting U.S. president closed a speech to Planned Parenthood by saying, “God bless Planned Parenthood, and God bless America.”

That raises a serious question for Christians. When a national leader invokes God’s blessing in that way, does the language function merely as personal sentiment, or as representative speech? And more importantly, can those appeals be reconciled biblically? Can the same God who condemns the shedding of innocent blood be invoked to bless both its defenders and the nation at large without contradiction?

Does God wink at sin in order to bless a nation — or does Scripture teach the opposite?

This question is not aimed at unbelievers, who feel no obligation to repent. It is aimed squarely at the church.

Throughout Scripture, when God’s people finally grasped the weight of their sin, the response was not triumphal language or claims of destiny. It was confession. Leaders did not announce renewal. They acknowledged guilt. Only then did rebuilding begin.

So why does so much talk of a coming golden age contain so little talk of repentance?

The passages often cited to support Christian political dominance proclaim Christ’s authority. That authority is not in dispute. What is less often examined is how Christ exercises it. Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world. The early church did not secure influence through force or control, but through obedience, suffering, prayer, and faithful witness.

And through that path, it changed the world.

Conservatism is not holiness. Holiness runs deeper than alignment, platforms, or policy wins. Scripture places the deepest problem of any nation not in its laws, but in the human heart. Legislation may restrain behavior, but it cannot regenerate souls. That work belongs to the gospel.

RELATED: Christmas without Katie — and without accountability

Photo by: Philippe Lissac/Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

God is not in a hurry

As a caregiver, I have learned the hard way that effort is not the same as health. When the pressure is high and the outcome uncertain, urgency can feel responsible. Control can masquerade as diligence.

But we do not get credit for effort if it lands us in a ditch. Trying to pass the plow does not create progress. It creates wreckage.

God is not rushed. He moves at His pace, not ours.

Repentance is not the abandonment of influence; it is the only ground on which influence survives.

If God is who He says He is, what wisdom is there in rushing ahead of Him?

Which leaves a final question for the people of God: Are we asking the Lord to bless what we refuse to repent of?

Scripture’s order has not changed. Humility precedes healing. Repentance comes before restoration. And when we declare a golden age without repentance, we should not be surprised if what we have built turns out to be a golden calf.

​Golden age, Usa, Christian nationalism, Repentance, Christians, Planned parenthood, 2026, 2026 midterms, Opinion & analysis, Faith, Christmas 

From Michigan to Melbourne, exorcisms are rising — an odd trend in an age when Christianity is supposedly retreating.

Odd, that is, if you accept the official story: that faith has faded, churches have emptied, and modern life has supposedly outgrown such concerns. Yet behind parish doors and rectory walls, priests report the opposite: more calls, cases, and urgency.

Evil persists not because it is misunderstood, but because it is minimized.

The demonic, it seems, didn’t get the secular memo.

I began making inquiries recently, speaking with clergy who have dealt with what most people would rather joke about, pathologize, or turn into content. One name surfaced repeatedly: Fr. Michael Shadbolt, a veteran priest who had performed numerous exorcisms and spoke of them with measured calm. I reached out to him for insight. Instead, I received word that he had recently passed away.

Thankfully, there was another source, carrying decades of experience where spiritual and psychological care meet. Fr. Stephen Rossetti, an American Catholic priest and seasoned exorcist, spoke without qualification.

“Yes, requests for exorcisms are on the rise in the U.S. and in other countries as well,” he told me. “There may be many reasons for this, but one obvious one is the decline of the practice of the faith.”

That observation runs counter to the fashionable narrative. The usual explanation for the rise in exorcisms is framed as a paradox: Christianity declines, so belief in demons increases.

But that framing flatters modern assumptions. It treats belief as an all-or-nothing package. Either accept the creed or discard the lot. But human experience has never worked that way.

One doesn’t need to believe in God to believe in evil — it’s everywhere. A loved one consumed by addiction. The husband who revels in beating his wife. The wife who revels in beating her husband. The son who turns on parents with lethal force.

RELATED: Interview with an exorcist: ‘God always takes the first step’

D-Keine/Getty Images

Evil doesn’t depend on belief to function. It advances through repetition, fixation, and the gradual loss of restraint. The language shifts with each generation, but the pattern remains. Every day, roughly 137 women and girls are killed worldwide in acts of femicide. Child sacrifice, usually relegated to ancient Peru or remote civilizations, still occurs in parts of Africa today. In the U.S., one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18.

No vocabulary of Pinkertonian progress dissolves these facts. Calling evil “trauma” or “dysfunction” may describe the damage left behind, but it doesn’t confront the force itself. Such language manages outcomes while leaving causes untouched.

The modern world prefers to believe that evil is a misunderstanding, a system failure, or a lack of education. History suggests otherwise. Evil persists not because it is misunderstood, but because it is minimized. It thrives where it is renamed, rationalized, or treated as an embarrassing superstition.

Fr. Rossetti put it plainly, “Increasingly people are not protected by faith, and many are involved in occult practices, which are a clear opening to the demonic.”

That point is crucial. Militant atheism is seldom the starting point. The entry point is engagement with practices the Church has long warned against.

“We have a number of cases of people who drifted away from the faith and then got into the occult,” Rossetti explained. “After a few years, they found themselves afflicted by evil spirits.”

The remedy is clear. “The first thing we do is have them go to confession, start practicing the faith, and live a virtuous life,” he said. “All sin is an opening to evil in some way, and the worse the sins, the greater the opening.”

It is precisely for this reason, Rossetti continued, “that exorcisms are very effective.” However, he stressed, there’s no wand, no instant result. “Sometimes the process takes time. It is typically not one and done,” Rossetti said. After years of spell-casting, curse-making, and demon worship — often misidentified as “self-discovery” or “ancient wisdom” — it can take far longer to undo the damage.

He was explicit about the timeline. “It typically takes three to five years of exorcisms to liberate the person.” The process, he added, is one of conversion and purification.

“An exorcism is not magic,” he said.

The hierarchy is clear and always has been: Christ reigns, angels serve, demons defy — and ultimately lose.

What we are witnessing, then, is not the complete disappearance of belief but its fragmentation. Christianity retreats institutionally while belief itself goes feral. Old anchors are cut loose. New fixations rush in. The vacuum does not remain empty.

Look around. Astrology, once harmless nonsense, has become a personal operating system. It graduated from brainless fun to life-management software, complete with a $3 billion price tag. Tarot cards are sold as “self-care.” Witchcraft is rebranded as empowerment, paganism as wellness. Social media is saturated with spiritual freelancers promising protection, manifestation, and power — usually bundled with a payment link.

None of this is neutral, and none of it is consequence-free. Doors opened casually tend to stay open.

This is where the supposed paradox dissolves. Christianity isn’t retreating because belief vanished, but because belief lost its footing. Structure recedes, so superstition rises. When doctrine disappears, disorder follows. There is no neutrality — only exposure.

For those skeptical because of Hollywood portrayals, exorcism is not a medieval curiosity revived for effect, but a practical response to persistent realities. The Church isn’t inventing demons to stay relevant. Rather, it is reacting to what it actually sees — a culture defined by isolation, instability, and constant immersion in content that destroys self-control and sanity.

Fr. Rossetti was clear on the final point, one that many increasingly resist.

“It is critical to understand that Jesus is Lord and not Satan,” he said. “The big mistake people make today is thinking that Satan is so very powerful. He is not.”

Compared to Christ, “Satan is dust.” He has no authority unless it is surrendered.

Christian theology has never been ambiguous on this point. Satan is not a rival god, not an equal force locked in cosmic balance. He is a created being who rebelled, fell, and was expelled. His power is parasitic rather than inherent. He doesn’t rule a kingdom by right, but lurks in territory abandoned through disobedience and pride.

The hierarchy is clear and always has been: Christ reigns, angels serve, demons defy — and ultimately lose.

That, it seems, is the warning embedded in the rise of exorcisms. Not that evil has grown stronger, but that we have grown careless. We treated the spiritual realm as a curiosity, then a hobby, then a marketplace — and acted surprised when something followed us home.

Fr. Rossetti put it without hesitation: “Jesus is Lord and has smashed Satan’s kingdom.” The tragedy is that many live as though He hasn’t.

​Evil, Demons, Spiritual world, Christianity, Christian, God, Jesus, Exorcism, Faith 

Liberals across the nation are in full tantrum mode after a shade of white was declared 2026’s top hue.

On December 4, Pantone LLC — which is considered the global authority on color standardization — announced “Cloud Dancer,” described as a “billowy white imbued with serenity,” as its 2026 Color of the Year.

“Similar to a blank canvas, Cloud Dancer signifies our desire for a fresh start. … An airy white hue, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer opens up space for creativity, allowing our imagination to drift so that new insights and bold ideas can emerge and take shape,” wrote Pantone Vice President Laurie Pressman.

Pantone Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman echoed the VP’s words: “The cacophony that surrounds us has become overwhelming, making it harder to hear the voices of our inner selves. A conscious statement of simplification, Cloud Dancer enhances our focus, providing release from the distraction of external influences.”

Despite these rationales and Pressman’s statement that skin color “did not factor into” Pantone’s selection, furious liberals are accusing the company of being tone-deaf and racist.

Allie Beth Stuckey dives into the hilariously absurd reactions of several unhinged lefties.

X user @svviftlet tweeted:

— (@)

In another social media video, two girls denounced Pantone’s Color of the Year, claiming it gives “Sydney Sweeney has good genes vibes.”

Back in July, Sweeney was lambasted for starring in an American Eagle denim commercial using the double entendre that Sydney Sweeney has good jeans/genes.

“You’re not allowed to say if you have blonde hair and blue eyes that you have good genes. … She clearly does have good genes. She’s beautiful,” scoffs Allie, “but if you’re a white person, you can’t say that.”

In another video, Feng Shui expert Katie Rogers literally set her Pantone color swatches on fire:

Another Instagram reel features influencer Charlotte Palermino, who ironically filmed her video in an off-white sweater in front of white-colored walls, whining, “It’s giving conservative.”

“It’s literally just a color, okay? It’s an inanimate color,” says Allie, “and the subliminal message is far more offensive than any supposed message that Pantone is communicating.”

The message these social media users are hammering is that “it’s not okay to be white. … You need to be ashamed of that, that white — having white skin — symbolizes something bad, that we need to reject the color of our skin.”

“In this age of self-confidence and self-love, it’s only white people who have to hate themselves or associate their skin color with the collective sins of people who lived elsewhere at a different time? No,” Allie says.

She encourages everyone, but especially Christians, to reject this social justice nonsense. “It’s completely unbiblical. That is not just. Justice is impartial. Justice is individual. Justice is direct. You don’t carry the sins of someone who kind of looked like you,” she says.

To see the videos and hear more of Allie’s commentary, watch the video above.

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​Relatable, Relatable with allie stuckey, Allie beth stuckey, Blazetv, Blaze media, Woke mob, Woke, Liberal hysteria, Cloud dancer, Pantone, Color wheel 

For years, we were warned that artificial intelligence would eventually eliminate the need for writers. In mere seconds, it would be able to crank out essays, articles, reports, blog posts, you name it, rendering flesh-and-blood writers obsolete.

Well, those days are here. AI writing floods our inboxes, social media feeds, and web pages every single day.

But it’s not quite the product we were pitched. While bots can indeed string coherent sentences together, the end result is mediocre at best. Its flat, em-dash heavy, idiosyncrasy-free, polite prose is easily recognizable to average readers, most of whom are disenchanted by the lack of human touch.

It turns out AI — beholden to algorithms and formulas — cannot counterfeit the voices of the deeply complicated, unique creatures that are human beings.

Christopher Rufo and Jonathan Keeperman, BlazeTV hosts of “Rufo & Lomez,” believe that AI writing may actually make writers more valuable — but just the ones with genuine talent.

AI is undeniably eliminating the massive class of mediocre writers. The kind of text AI produces is quickly becoming “the default sound or voice of people who don’t have talent, who can’t do things on their own. … It’s becoming the default voice of stupidity,” says Keeperman.

On the flip side, “Anybody who can write at a level above [AI] now has more value.”

The pervasiveness of AI copy seems to suggest that those genuine talents are few and far between.

“I am seeing [AI writing] everywhere. I am seeing it in published books. … Tons of ad copy even for really prominent companies that obviously have huge marketing departments [are] leaning on these sort of tripartite adjectival phrases. … There’s all these sort of syntactical signals that are giveaways,” says Keeperman, “but it’s also making me attuned to people who can write really well, and I find myself gravitating towards those people.”

But that doesn’t mean writers can’t use AI to their advantage. It is an excellent tool for “research,” “aggregating a lot of information,” “analysis,” and “brainstorming,” Keeperman adds.

Rufo agrees. “Terrible writing, [but] it’s good for discovery. … I think for certain tasks, it’s better than a Google search or a search engine search.”

For someone like him, who conducts large-scale research, AI can expedite the process of sifting through hundreds of pages of PDFs, but it’s not fail-proof.

AI is “maybe comparable to an undergraduate research assistant but … an unreliable [one],” says Rufo.

“You double-check the work, and you realize that the AI makes up 30% of the things that it’s telling you.”

“It seems like something that has huge potential, but I just see it slowing down in its improvement. I see it still having some fundamental flaws that would prevent it from being a trustworthy object of delegation,” he says.

“I remain extremely skeptical of the AI doomers or AI fatalists who think that this is going to take over the world and the machines are going to be controlling everything. It’s like it can’t even format citations. I think we’re a long ways away from the AI taking over the world.”

To hear more, watch the episode above

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​Rufo & lomez, Chris rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Blazetv, Blaze media, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Ai writing, Ai killing jobs, Writers, Good writing 

Women have been fighting back for a long time now when confronted by crime, and the year 2025 was no exception.

In one instance, a woman was shopping in a store and used her Second Amendment rights against a male who reportedly was groping other customers and even pulled out a gun and threatened their lives … then we have a story about a mother who hid in a closet with her baby after a man broke into her home, and she permanently ended the threat … and then there was a tale that might make you smile about a woman who faced down a crook and took care of business with her bare hands, to the amazement of her husband.

Here are our top-five moments of 2025 when women decided to take matters into their own hands when facing down criminals:

Video: Woman pulls male intruder out of her car, throws him to the ground with ease — while her amazed husband watches

Astonishing surveillance video from a Hollywood gas station shows the moment when a woman pulled a male intruder out of her car and threw him to the ground with ease.

The woman, Star Carter, was sitting in the driver’s seat of her red Alfa Romeo at the gas station Nov. 4 when a male stranger walked up and tried to open her passenger door, KCBS-TV reported.

Her husband, Michael Carter, was pumping gas at the time and was on the other side of car — and initially thought he successfully told the guy to get lost.

But after Michael got back in the passenger seat, the crook sneaked back and opened the driver-side rear door closest to the gas pump and actually got into the back seat, video shows.

“I’m wrestling with him inside the car,” Michael told the station, “and I’m kinda pushing him and pushing him, and all I know is he just disappeared.”

With that, Star’s husband smiled and told KCBS that “I’m looking over the back, and I said, ‘Oh … ohhh!'”

Michael’s, shall we say, starstruck reaction was due to the fact that his wife got out of her driver’s seat, got to the back door, ripped the intruder right out the car, and tossed him to the ground.

“I don’t condone violence, but I do condone self-defense,” Star told KCBS in the aftermath.

Wisely, the intruder ran off after Star introduced him to the concrete. But she also had some parting advice for him: “I just said, ‘Don’t you ever do no stupid [word redacted in KCBS video] like this again!'”

The station said the Carters actually continued their night out, going to a comedy show at the Hollywood Improv. In the end, her husband was grateful that Star stood up to the crook.

“She is indeed my hero,” Michael noted to KCBS with a laugh in the aftermath. “Thank you, Star!”

Creep with violent past allegedly gropes store customer, threatens to kill others — so woman in store shoots him dead instead

A 42-year-old man followed another customer into the Pink Beauty Supply store in Compton, California, on Oct. 19 and “groped her once inside” the store, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lieut. DeJong told KCBS-TV.

When employees told him to leave, the man allegedly refused and began to verbally assault them and some customers before he started throwing objects inside the store, KCBS added.

Employees and customers noted that the male had an object in his hand that they believed was a knife, the sheriff’s department said, adding that the male made verbal threats that he was going to kill and harm everyone in the store.

With that, one of the customers — not the one he allegedly groped — pulled out a gun, KCBS said.

Fearing for the store employees, herself, and other customers, the sheriff’s department said she fired a warning shot at the male. But the male turned toward her, officials said — and fearing she was going to be attacked, she fired a second shot, striking the male.

DeJong noted to KCBS that “he went down.” The sheriff’s department said the male was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators noted to KCBS that the woman who pulled the trigger was a customer at the store, and she remained at the scene to cooperate with officials. Detectives added to the station that parking lot surveillance video indicates the man was loitering in the area and drinking alcohol.

“He alleged he was a gang member, and LASD says it appears he was a gang member; unknown if still active,” DeJong told KCBS while adding that the male had a lengthy criminal history that included assaults, robberies, thefts, and disturbing the peace.

KNBC-TV said the woman is in her 50s, that she surrendered the gun, and that no one was arrested.

Mother hid from home invader in closet with her baby — then shot thug in the head, police say

A man with a long criminal record faced the ultimate penalty for breaking into the wrong home after discovering an armed mother, according to Illinois police.

The Joliet Police Department said they responded to a residence on Hadrian Drive on the far west side of Joliet around 10:30 p.m. Aug. 15.

Police said they saw signs of forced entry at the home and found an unresponsive man on the second floor with gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

They also found a woman at the home with her baby. She told them she hid in a closet in her bedroom with her child after she heard the break in. She also had a handgun with her, and when the man entered the bedroom, she shot him in the head.

Police said they found a screwdriver in the man’s possession and noted he was wearing gloves at the time of the shooting.

The Will County Coroner’s Office identified the man as 36-year-old Shelby Hurd of Chicago. Hurd had been convicted of burglaries in 2022 and 2023 as well as identity theft and burglary in another county. He had been paroled on Feb. 24.

Stalker shows up at woman’s workplace, begins punching her, cops say. But victim has a gun — and she uses it.

A stalker showed up at a woman’s workplace in Pensacola, Florida, on the morning of Feb. 10 and began punching her, police said.

But the victim had a gun on her and shot the male once in the leg in self-defense, police added.

Marquise James, 35, was arrested in connection with the 11:30 a.m. incident at the Downtown Pensacola Holiday Inn, WEAR-TV reported.

Records show James was in the Escambia County Jail on charges of stalking, battery, smuggle contraband, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, resisting an officer, and simple assault. His bond is set at $26,500.

Pensacola Police Officer Mike Wood told WEAR that the stalking “has been going on for quite some time” and that “this male individual has been … using social media, using phones” to do so.

Wood added to the station that “he’s come to her place of employment before, and she told him to leave, and he did. But this time when he came, he saw her in the laundry room, he approached her and began punching her.”

With that, Wood told WEAR that the victim “drew a handgun that she had legally and shot him once in the leg.”

“He’s much larger than she is, and she did what she had to do,” Wood noted to the station, adding that “she did nothing wrong. She was protecting herself like she should have done.”

Police told WEAR that no charges are being filed against the woman.

Wood added to the station that when James “was at the hospital, he kicked one of our officers.” Wood also told WEAR that James “had cocaine and marijuana on him.”

Thug allegedly recorded himself raping woman at gunpoint — before she shot him

A woman said she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint before she was able to retrieve her own gun and shoot the accused rapist, according to Indiana police.

The victim said she was assaulted on the afternoon of Sept. 16 at her home on Meadowlark Drive on the northeast side of Indianapolis, according to court documents.

She said that she was forced to have sex at gunpoint with the male, who was also recording the assault on his cell phone. When the man left the home, she got her gun and shot at him. She appeared to have shot the back window of a blue Toyota that was parked on an adjacent street.

A neighbor called police, and the victim identified the alleged attacker as 23-year-old Trevon Haynes.

About an hour later, a police officer noticed a car with its hazard lights flashing and saw that the driver had been shot in the leg. Haynes was arrested, and police said they found a firearm in the car.

He was charged with rape, intimidation, and burglary, while being armed with a deadly weapon.

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​2025, 2nd amend., Crime, Fighting back, Women 

Millions of Americans fled deep-blue states like California and New York because they believed the rules were different elsewhere. They moved to places like Alabama to escape lockdowns, mandates, and ideological capture of public institutions. They believed red states meant red lines.

That belief is proving dangerously naïve.

If red states cannot enforce their own parental rights laws, then the red-state refuge is a myth.

Alabama is one of the most conservative states in the country. It has a Republican supermajority and some of the strongest parental rights laws on the books: bans on gender-transition procedures for minors, curriculum transparency requirements, legal definitions of male and female, protections for girls’ sports, and a rare requirement that parents must opt in before schools provide any mental health services, including discussions of suicide or bullying.

And yet those protections are now being quietly hollowed out — not by legislators, but by bureaucratic subversion.

The footnote loophole

The Alabama State Department of Education is undermining parental consent by inserting exceptions into the fine print of a required opt-in form distributed after a new parental consent law took effect Oct. 1.

The law itself is unambiguous. Parents must provide prior written consent before schools offer mental health services, including discussions related to suicide or bullying. But the department claims in the footnotes that mental health-related conversations may still occur “as appropriate” in other school settings — and that these interactions do not require parental permission.

The ALSDE has stated that “instruction, advisement, and occasional interventions are not subject to opt-in requirements, as these are regular duties of school counselors and other educators.”

That language does more than stretch the statute. It appears designed to bypass it entirely. When schools engage minors in discussions with clear psychological or therapeutic implications — trauma, gender identity, suicidal ideation — without parental consent, they move into legally and constitutionally questionable territory.

Same playbook, new label

Parents have seen this before. During COVID, mandates were imposed first and justified later. Dissent was sidelined. Authority flowed downward, not outward.

Now the same model is being applied to school-based mental health. Whether embedded in social-emotional learning, “student wellness,” or character education, the result is the same: psychological interventions delivered by school employees, not licensed physicians, without parental oversight.

This is not a gray area. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed parents’ fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children. When school systems create end runs around opt-in requirements — especially on matters involving suicide or gender ideology — they invite serious legal and civil rights challenges.

No state is immune

This is not an Alabama anomaly.

Illinois now mandates mental health screenings for public school students, with no opt-in. Mississippi is rolling out a statewide “youth wellness platform.” Tennessee is placing mental health clinicians in every public school through a $250 million trust fund. Ohio is expanding school-based health centers that embed mental health treatment directly on campus.

These programs erase the line between education and health care. They normalize a system in which children’s emotions are monitored, recorded, and interpreted by the state without parental consent. That is state-sponsored emotional profiling.

Who decides what helps?

This debate is not about whether children need support. It is about who decides what support looks like — and who has the authority to provide it.

Parents possess a fundamental right to make decisions about their children’s mental and physical health. The Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor reaffirmed that when schools impose ideologically loaded services or content without notice or opt-out, they burden parental rights and religious liberty.

RELATED: ‘Incredible victory’: Federal judge prohibits trans-related grooming efforts in California schools

Photo by Luis Soto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Alabama’s counseling framework includes DEI-driven language encouraging students to “identify individual differences” and “describe and respect differences among individuals.” In practice, that language provides a vehicle for embedding gender ideology and values-based content into guidance lessons.

When that content is paired with school-based interventions, the issue is no longer education. It is ideological formation funded by taxpayers and imposed without consent.

Alabama’s warning

If this can happen in Alabama — arguably the most pro-parental-rights state in the country — then no state is safe.

Agencies should not be allowed to bury statutes in footnotes, reinterpret laws by memo, or use therapeutic language to bypass parental authority. These are not technical disagreements. They are unconstitutional and demand legal pushback.

If red states cannot enforce their own parental rights laws, then the red-state refuge is a myth.

Strong laws matter, but enforcement matters more. Parents must demand both.

​Opinion & analysis, Education, Administrative state, Public schools, Alabama, Parental consent, Parental rights, Mental health, Counseling, Student wellness, Red states, Blue states, Bullying, Loophole 

A dystopian surveillance state is what so many Americans fear their country is becoming, while some have just accepted that a surveillance state is our past, present, and future.

“There comes a point where, as a society, we just end up getting used to the massive surveillance state that we live in,” Glenn Beck’s head researcher and former DOD intelligence analyst Jason Buttrill tells Glenn.

However, while we’re used to the surveillance state, it doesn’t appear to be doing its job — especially when you look at the response to the recent shooting at Brown University.

On Saturday, Dec. 13, a gunman opened fire inside a first-floor classroom at the Barus and Holley building on Brown’s campus — and the gunman remains elusive.

“If you go back to around 2021, there were people writing about how Brown University was one of the most surveilled campuses in the United States,” Buttrill explains.

“How is it we only have one picture of this guy from the back?” Glenn interjects, adding, “Apparently the one thing that will help you get away with any crime is a hoodie.”

“Yeah, wear something over your head and a coat. Apparently that foils the entire surveillance state, y’all,” Buttrill agrees. “So I guess we have nothing to worry about with surveillance.”

“And on top of that, Kash Patel, the FBI director, said that, you know, they sprung into action and they activated their cellular monitoring system to help identify the person that has now been let go,” he continues.

“Again, that’s another layer of this surveillance state that I think a lot of us should be worried about, and that didn’t do anything either,” he says, adding, “That helped give us the wrong suspect.”

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The top songs this Christmas should certainly offend anyone who thought “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was worthy of outrage.

At the height of the woke era, media outlets argued over whether the 1944 Frank Loesser classic should be banned, as radio stations pulled the song because its lyrics allegedly alluded to “date rape.”

‘Baby, I’m a dog, I’m a mutt.’

The media apparatus sprung into action with parody after cross-dressing parody. Few defended the song — surprisingly, Variety was one of the biggest outliers — and the “Me Too” mantra carried on looking for more scalps to take.

Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” soon received similar treatment, despite garnering almost a billion views on YouTube. With featured artist Pharrell saying the song he profited off of was evidence of a prominent “chauvinist culture,” that art was not allowed to exist as art.

While offense can be taken in any generation’s music, it seems appropriate to note that it seemingly goes one direction, and progressive cookie-cutter sexual content cannot be questioned.

This has not changed in 2025, as slop tops the charts with stereotypical soft-core imagery.

Sombr, ‘Back to Friends’

Topping the Billboard charts in the rock and alternative category as of Dec. 17 is “Back to Friends” by Sombr. In this song by New Yorker Shane Michael Boose, he talks about the difficulty of returning to a normal friendship with some one he has slept with.

The song about being forgotten by a presumed love one remains fairly generic until the music video is taken into account, which features multiple gay make-out scenes juxtaposed with explosions of lava.

RELATED: Taylor Swift isn’t a role model — and it’s time for moms to stop pretending she is

Leon Thomas, ‘Mutt’

The R&B and hip-hop category is led by Leon Thomas’ “Mutt.”

Although the song came out in 2024, it is hitting new highs for the 2025 Christmas season, with lyrics about Thomas convincing a woman that there is no need for them to wait to have sex, because, “Baby, I’m a dog, I’m a mutt.”

Thomas notes that he wishes for him and his new lady to “break in” his new apartment, while adding that he believes in the Second Amendment, with the lyrics: “Thirty-two, like my pants size ’cause a n***a tried breaking in.”

The song is really not offensive, but neither are lyrics from the 1940s saying, “My mother will start to worry.”

RELATED: The viral country anthem that has girlboss Twitter melting down and trad women cheering

Kehlani, ‘Folded’

Not to be forgotten at No. 2 on the R&B list is Kehlani’s “Folded.”

Kehlani Ashley Parrish, an Oakland-born singer who once aspired to be a Juilliard-trained dancer, shows off her moves in the video, where she sports a completely see-through dress and essentially dances naked alongside women in their underwear.

Again, while this is not a new phenomenon for a music video, it seems extremely egregious when placed next to the 1949 film “Neptune’s Daughter” that popularized “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

While Kehlani carries laundry and talks about folding clothes in her music video, the obvious inference is that she is talking about her preferred sexual position.

The lyrics website Genius states, “Here, Kehlani seems to be implying she can ‘fold’ her body for her lover if they decide they want to become romantic again.”

Taylor Swift, ‘The Fate of Ophelia’

It comes as no surprise that Taylor Swift is topping the pop charts with “The Fate of Ophelia,” even though the music video came out in October. Swift obviously sexualizes herself — maybe Dean Martin did too? — as a 1950s showgirl, but the song centers on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and has Swift nearly dying from heartbreak in the lyrics.

Some lyrics are almost direct lifts from “Hamlet,” but the song as a whole is light-years away in terms of degeneracy in comparison to the other items on this list.

However, it is hard to imagine how it is conceivable that Swift dancing in lingerie and being groped on a pirate ship is less controversial than, “My sister will be suspicious (Gosh, your lips look delicious).”

While music lovers may notice that wild offense-taking now skips the industry unless it serves a political purpose, that equilibrium rarely holds forever. Cultural pendulums do swing.

When they do, the correction sometimes arrives loudly — through provocation, politics, or spectacle. But just as often, it comes quietly, in the form of art that refuses to scandalize at all.

Ella Langley, ‘Choosin’ Texas’

Which brings us to Ella Langley. Topping the country charts this Christmas with “Choosin’ Texas,” the Alabama native commits a far subtler transgression: She sings plainly about heartbreak, drinking alone, and the ache of love gone wrong — without sexual exhibitionism, ideological signaling, or manufactured outrage. She even manages to say a few positive things about Texas and Tennessee. In 2025, that kind of restraint may be the most disruptive posture left.

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