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Forty years ago this month — June 5, 1985, to be exact — a high school senior named Ferris Bueller decided not to go to school.

Instead, he took his girlfriend, Sloane, his best friend, Cameron, and a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder (“borrowed” from Cameron’s dad) on an adventure-packed odyssey through Chicago, during which they lunched at a hoity-toity French restaurant, took in a Cubs game, and participated in the Von Steuben Day parade, all while engaging in an epic race against time, parents, and Vice Principal Edward R. Rooney.

Ironically, it’s Ferris who exhibits the very leadership qualities Vice Principal Rooney lacks.

Spoiler alert: He gets away with it.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is a teenage rebellion fantasy, but of a very different sort from the type Hollywood cranks out today.

For conservative pundit and former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein, who had a small but indelible role as a droning economics teacher, the movie is a glorious product of the Reagan era. Noting that Hughes “was an ardent Republican” who “believed Reagan could transform all of us into Ferris Buellers,” Stein celebrates Ferris as “an unregulated high school kid in an unregulated world.”

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But Ferris is no libertarian. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” celebrates loyalty, courage, and even justice. It encourages us to love our families, to stand up for our friends, and to be grateful for the time we’re given on Earth.

Yes, Ferris breaks the rules, but his mischief — unlike that of the 1960s radicals who came before him (or, for that matter, the leftists currently wreaking havoc on our streets) — is creative rather than destructive.

In fact, take a closer look at his itinerary, and you see that Ferris follows a strict moral code of his own.

Real friendship is sacrificial

Ferris’ name may be in the title, but this is Cameron’s story. Ferris is the same carefree, popular guy at the end of the movie as he is at the beginning.

Cameron complains about being roped into his best friend’s “stupid crap,” but eventually we understand that all of Ferris’ elaborate planning — not to mention the risk he assumes — is for Cameron’s benefit. It’s Cameron, not Ferris, who really needs this day off. As a true friend, Ferris realizes that the only way to break Cameron out of his shell is to make him face his deepest fears — even if Cameron ends up hating him for it.

Family bonds are important, no matter how fraught

Ferris lies to his parents, but there’s no contempt beneath his deception. He truly loves them as much as they love him.

Cameron is not so fortunate. His strict home life — ruled by an emotionally absent, domineering father — has paralyzed him with anxiety and fear. When Cameron finally confronts this truth, he resolves not to reject his dad so he can heal his “trauma” (as he might be encouraged to do today) but to stand up to him — a healthy sign that the father-son relationship is worth saving.

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Even Ferris and his seething, judgmental sister Jeanie repair their rift by the end of the film. Jeanie lets go of her resentment and helps her brother when he needs it most, while Ferris learns the humbling lesson that even he can’t always go it alone.

Authority deserves respect — but only when it’s earned

Vice Principal Rooney embodies overreaching authority — petty, ineffective, and consumed by the need for control. In the end, Rooney’s childish obsession with “beating” Ferris undoes him as much as any stunt his quarry pulls. Ironically, it’s Ferris who exhibits the leadership qualities Rooney lacks. With his natural charisma and willingness to take calculated, strategic, and effective action for himself and for others, Ferris can’t help but draw people to him.

We should be grateful for the present moment

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Ferris’ deceptively simple motto expresses deep, timeless wisdom.

All that he and friends gain by hoodwinking the adults are a few precious hours to appreciate the city of Chicago and each other’s company. And that’s enough.

They don’t waste their time while playing hooky; instead they spend it truly alive to the joy of existence. And while church isn’t one of their stops, the reverent gratitude they display brings to mind Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted in an op-ed last year that one of the ways President Donald Trump can make America healthy again is by reviewing direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ad guidelines.

“The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to the public,” wrote Kennedy. “News channels are filled with drug commercials, and reasonable viewers may question whether their dependence on these ads influences their coverage of health issues.”

The administration is now poised to tackle this issue with policies that might make it costlier and/or more difficult for pharmaceutical giants to push their products directly to patients.

Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard told Blaze News that “Secretary Kennedy has consistently emphasized direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising must prioritize accuracy, patient safety, and the public interest — not profit margins.”

“Consistent with Secretary Kennedy’s public health commitments, we are exploring ways to restore more rigorous oversight and improve the quality of information presented to American consumers, who deserve nothing less than radical transparency,” added Hilliard.

RELATED: How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Bloomberg reported that the administration is considering two policies in particular.

The first would require drugmakers to to be more forthright in their ads about the side effects of their products.

Given that pharma products often have myriad side effects, this would likely increase the run time of TV ads, thereby making them far more costly. Since a total ban on pharma direct-to-customer ads would expose the administration to litigation, this potential disincentive could have a similar effect without the consequence.

Individuals said to be familiar with the plans told Bloomberg that the second policy would entail denying pharmaceutical companies the ability to write off DTC advertising as a business expense for tax purposes.

Recent analysis from the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing indicated that the average annual global spending on advertising and promotions in 2023 among the drugmakers AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer was $1.4 billion, with Pfizer spending the most.

The advertising data firm MediaRadar reportedly found that companies spent $10.8 billion last year on direct-to-consumer pharma advertising.

Drugmakers spent a combined $729.4 million to run TV commercials for the top 10 brands in just the first three months of 2025, reported Fierce Pharma.

‘The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television.’

Bloomberg suggested that these potential policies could impact a key source of revenue for advertising, media, and pharmaceutical companies.

AbbVie chief commercial officer Jeff Stewart reportedly told analysts in May that if there were a crackdown on pharma ads, the company “would have to pivot,” potentially focusing its advertising online rather than on mass media.

RELATED: MAHA scores major victory as Kraft Heinz vows to stop using artificial food dyes

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

Alex Siciliano, a spokesperson for the National Association of Broadcasters, told Bloomberg, “Restricting pharmaceutical ads would have serious consequences for stations, particularly those in smaller markets, and could raise First Amendment concerns.”

Those concerned about HHS purging the airwaves of Big Pharma propaganda need not only fear initiatives from the Trump administration.

Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) introduced legislation last week that would ban drugmakers from using direct-to-consumer advertising outright, not only on TV and radio, but on social media, digital platforms, and in print as well.

“The American people are sick and tired of greedy pharmaceutical companies spending billions of dollars on absurd TV commercials pushing their outrageously expensive prescription drugs,” Sanders said in a statement.

“The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television. They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads.”

An Axios-Ipsos poll conducted last year found that 59% of Americans support banning TV pharma ads.

Unlike the Trump administration’s potential policies, the End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act might not survive a constitutional challenge, given that Congress is barred from making any law abridging the freedom of speech.

The independent lawmakers noted in their joint statement that HHS Secretary Kennedy is not the only relevant party who has expressed an interest in clearing the airwaves; the American Medical Association has similarly endorsed a ban.

“The widespread use of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies drives up costs and doesn’t necessarily make patients healthier,” said King.

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President Donald Trump’s broad coalition faces the hardest test of his second administration this week, all depending on what the president commits the country’s armed forces to over the next few days.

On one side of the MAGA coalition, Iran hawks, military interventionists, and remaining neoconservatives are excitedly watching for their long-awaited collapse of the ayatollahs’ regime. On the other, America-firsters, skeptical non-interventionists, and the handful of the coalition’s actual isolationists watch with worried eyes.

Just consider the pros and cons. Foreign entanglements are rarely clean and simple, and a lot rides on the next few days.

From a certain point of view, it is the best of times to attack; from another, it is the worst of times — for both MAGA and the historically close American-Israeli relationship. So let’s examine the pros and cons.

Pro: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump are both credible wartime leaders. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister has a long history of successful hawkish intervention where he felt necessary, and Trump is no slouch either.

In Trump’s first term, the president proved the Washington blob wrong when he swiftly dealt with the Islamic State’s “caliphate,” bombing its forces into submission and hunting its leader down “like a dog.”

In Syria, too, Trump enforced the red lines he drew — but didn’t involve the United States any further than that. And in Afghanistan his famed MOAB strike helped bring the Taliban to the table.

Both men have repeatedly warned Iran for a decade that it was on the path to a war they’d gladly bring it, and here we are.

To the hawks, Trump and Netanyahu seem a match made in heaven for realizing their dreams of crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities or even ousting the regime entirely. But wait just a minute and consider why Trump is back in office in the first place!

Con: Trump was elected first in 2016, then again overwhelmingly in 2024 on great big waves of discontent.

That anger, first rippling in the Tea Party movement and then apparent from Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ first and only authentic campaign, stretches across tax policy, education policy, foreign policy, outsourcing, DEI, immigration, and the Democratic Party’s obsessions with social issues. It can all be boiled down to “the elites do whatever they want without any regard for what will actually help Americans.”

Bombing Iran’s nuclear program into the Age of the Steam Engine might be the right thing to do for an ally in need. It might be smart foreign policy, when it comes to America’s red lines being taken seriously. It might even be just. But you really, truly have to stretch far and wide into the future and all the many paths it can take to divine how intervention helps Americans here at home.

That’s a problem. It’s a big reason you see such discontent and even rage bubbling up all over the America First and MAGA right, from Tucker Carlson to the Federalist’s Sean Davis to the anonymous X poster down the way.

Some of these types think war not only doesn’t serve American interests but actively threatens our safety by unleashing broader conflict. Others recognize the promises we heard in the lead-up to Afghanistan and Iraq: that this is different from Vietnam and we won’t get bogged down because we’re way smarter now.

The reality is that a large segment of voters never signed up for another Middle Eastern war. They want the government to focus on problems at home for a change.

This discontent doesn’t just jeopardize the MAGA coalition’s unity; it jeopardizes broader domestic support for our alliance with Israel, which is already under strain among the Democrats.

None of the latter MAGA camp are happy right now, but a very short war made up of successful strikes could change a lot of their minds. Trump is just the sort of man to deliver that possibility.

Pro: Trump’s done this before, in Afghanistan and Syria. The reason he has such credibility on the national stage is that unlike his two Democratic predecessors, he delivers overwhelming force exactly when he says he will.

Let’s say American bombs could reach Iran’s football-field-deep mountain uranium enrichment plant and we blast it and go home, leaving in place an Iranian regime still clinging to power but set back decades from developing nuclear weapons.

Is Trump the man to break the curse of the Middle East? A wise man once told me the number-one trick to never getting divorced is simple: Never get divorced, even — especially! — when times are tough. Maybe all it takes to not get entangled in nation-building is not to get entangled in nation-building — especially when times are tough.

Since right around the time he descended the golden escalator 10 years ago, the president has told the Iranians to stop enriching. The United States has made that demand for decades longer still.

Now the bill has come due. Unlike previous U.S. presidents, this one collects. Wasn’t one of the driving issues of both 2016 and ’24 the Democrats’ foreign policy weakness, from “pallets of cash” and “red lines” under Barack Obama to the sloppy retreat from Afghanistan under Joe Biden? What no American voted for, however, is another 20-year war in the Middle East.

Con: Reports suggest Israel wanted to take out Iran’s supreme ayatollah but that the United States blocked the operation. The president later posted on Truth Social that we know the ayatollah’s location and will kill him if he makes a wrong move.

But what happens if he’s killed and the Iranian regime doesn’t recover? What if the entire state collapses? The regime has endured for five decades, but tyrannies often seem invincible — right up until their leaders flee to exile through Moscow International Airport.

Iran has a sophisticated society, far more advanced than Iraq’s and nothing like the tribal chaos of Afghanistan. It’s also a much older civilization. But it’s not a unified Persian monolith. Between 35% and 40% of the population — including the ayatollah’s own late father — belongs to one of the country’s many ethnic minority groups.

Maybe that wouldn’t come to any violence, and maybe Iran’s oil could pay for reconstruction. Some Iranian dissidents and expats hope Reza Pahlavi, the 46-year-exiled crown prince of Iran and eldest son of its last shah, could return. He’s the current head of the National Council of Iran, a secular, United Nations-friendly group that claims to represent millions of Iranians.

The problem is we don’t know, do we? Sure, the crown prince’s father ruled Iran at the peak of its domestic freedoms, but he was ousted by a violent domestic revolt. Iran’s hard-line regime makes it more than a little challenging to gauge domestic opinion, and lots of exiled leaders have promised the West they’d be greeted with ticker-tape parades upon their triumphant returns.

But few have pulled off such a feat without the U.S. military marching behind them, and in Iraq and Afghanistan, both exiled governments ended in failure even with American GIs dying in the streets to maintain their power. And don’t forget that during the half-century they’ve spent in exile, the council backed Iraq in its disastrous war on Iran.

So let’s assume the worst: civil war, with Iranian refugees flooding into Europe. Who steps in?

Israel has neither the ability, the mandate, nor the care to do so. Nearby China certainly doesn’t care and would probably just profit and steal along Iran’s periphery. Russia remains bogged down in Ukraine, and Europe simply cannot afford to bring stability.

So it would fall to us. Nation-building once more, whether we like it or not.

It needn’t come to that. Trump won in 2016 and ’24 saying his predecessors started conflicts but that he would end them with strength. In that sense, his involvement in this conflict isn’t really a departure from what he ran on — so far.

Trump’s foreign policy only works when allies and adversaries believe he’s willing to respond with overwhelming force when challenged. Under his leadership, the United States regains the ability to tell the West how much to spend on defense — and the world how to trade with us. Foreign leaders know he won’t hesitate to use the big stick.

Maybe he can land this plane. Just consider the pros and cons. Foreign entanglements are rarely clean and simple, and a lot rides on the next few days — both foreign and domestic.

Daniel McCarthy in the Spectator: Trump won’t be dragged into a regime-change war

Blaze News: Israel’s strategy now rests on one bomb — and it’s American

Blaze News: Massie, Dems seek to limit presidential war-making authority amid talk of Iranian regime change

ABC News: Exiled Crown Prince Reza sees ‘best opportunity’ to get rid of regime

The Spectator: Has Trump sided with the hawks?

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Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota launched into a histrionic tirade against the U.S. and pointed to President Donald Trump’s order to send military troops into Los Angeles, California, as the reason why it is no longer a beacon of hope.

Omar made the comments while being interviewed on “Democracy Now!” from the U.S. Capitol. The interview was published on Friday.

‘Can you imagine that image that is going to be coming out of our country? I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don’t even remember ever witnessing anything like that.’

“We are in the midst of the creation of a police state where you have masked, armed men who are in plain clothes that are snatching people off the streets, unwilling to identify themselves. You have the military being deployed in our streets. My God, this is America. You have states’ rights being disregarded, so you know, a constitutional crisis that’s being created in front of our eyes!” Omar ranted.

“And the same week where we have a president who has deployed the military, who are trained to kill our enemies — not Americans, but our enemies — are in our streets!” she added.

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Photo by BENJAMIN HANSON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

She went on to excoriate the president for the military parade Saturday in Washington, D.C., on the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

“Can you imagine that image that is going to be coming out of our country? I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don’t even remember ever witnessing anything like that,” Omar said.

“To have a democracy, a beacon of hope for the world, to now be turned into one of the worst countries, where the military are in our streets without any regard to people’s constitutional rights,” she added, “while our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade, it is really shocking, and it should be a wake-up call for all Americans.”

The president is in a legal battle with California and its Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom over whether he was acting constitutionally when he ordered troops into Los Angeles without the cooperation of local state officials. Critics accuse the president of wanting to militarize the streets, but his defenders say the attacks on federal agents justify a federal troop response.

The full interview with “Democracy Now!” can be viewed on its YouTube channel.

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Is Donald Trump a warmonger? It’s a simple question, and yet an increasingly popular accusation from corners of the political class and commentariat that once saw him as the clearest alternative to globalist foreign adventurism. But such an accusation also defies the record. Whatever else one might say about Trump, he has been — consistently and vocally — against needless foreign entanglements.

To suggest that he has suddenly pivoted toward militarism is to misunderstand either the man himself or the moment we are in. Trump is not easily swayed from his core convictions. Trade protectionism and anti-interventionism have always been part of his political DNA. On tariffs, he is unbending. And when it comes to war, he has long argued that America must stop serving as the world’s policeman.

Is Iran another Iraq, or is it more like Poland in 1980?

So when people today accuse Trump of abandoning his anti-interventionist principles, we must ask: What evidence do we have that he has changed? And if he has, does that mean he was misleading us all along — or is something else happening?

If you’ve lost your trust in him, fine. Fair enough. But then the question becomes: Who do you trust? Who else has stood on stage, risked his life, and remained — at least in conviction — largely unchanged?

I’m not arguing for blind trust. In fact, I strongly advise against it. Reagan had it right when he quoted a Russian proverb during nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union: “Trust, but verify.” Trust must be earned daily — and verified constantly. But trust, or the absence of it, is central to what we’re facing.

Beyond pro- and antiwar

The West is being pulled in two directions: one toward chaos, the other toward renewal. Trust is essential to renewal. Chaos thrives when people lose confidence — in leaders, in systems, in one another.

We are in a moment when clarity is difficult but necessary. And clarity requires asking harder questions than whether someone is “for or against war.”

Too many Americans today fall into four broad categories when it comes to foreign conflict.

First are the trolls — those who aren’t arguing in good faith, but revel in provocation, division, and distrust. Their goal isn’t clarity. It’s chaos.

Second are those who, understandably, want to avoid war but won’t acknowledge the dangers posed by radical Islamist ideology. Out of fear or fatigue, they have chosen willful blindness. This has been a costly mistake in the past.

Third are those who, like me, do not want war but understand that certain ideologies — particularly those of Iran’s theocratic rulers — cannot be ignored or wished away. We study history. We remember 1979. We understand what the “Twelvers” believe.

Twelvers are a sect of Shia Islam whose clerics believe the return of the 12th Imam, their messianic figure, can only be ushered in by global conflict and bloodshed. Iran is the only nation in the world to make Twelver Shia its official state religion. The 12th Imam is not a metaphor. It’s doctrine, and it matters.

Finally, there are the hawks. They cheer for conflict. They seek to project American power, often reflexively. And they carry the swagger of certainty, even as history offers them little vindication.

The last few decades have offered sobering lessons. Regime change in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria — none produced flourishing democracies or stable allies. While America is capable of toppling regimes, we’re not so good at manufacturing civil societies. Real liberty requires real leadership on the ground. It requires heroes — people willing to suffer and die not for power, but for principle.

That’s what was missing in Kabul, Baghdad, and Tripoli. We never saw a Washington or a Jefferson emerge. Brave individuals assisted us, but no figures rose to power with whom nations could coalesce.

Is Iran 1980s Poland?

That is why I ask whether Iran is simply the next chapter in a tired and tragic book — or something altogether different.

Is Iran another Iraq? Or is it more like Poland in 1980? It’s not an easy question, but it’s one we must ask.

During the Cold War, we saw what it looked like when people yearned for freedom. In Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, dissidents risked everything for a chance to escape tyranny. There was a moral clarity. You could hear it in their music, see it in their marches, feel it in the energy that eventually tore down the Berlin Wall.

Is that spirit alive in Iran?

RELATED: Mark Levin sounds alarm: Stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions before it’s too late

Alex Wong/Getty Images

We know that millions of Iranians have protested. We know many have disappeared for it. The Persian people are among the best educated in the region. They are culturally rich, historically sophisticated, and far more inclined toward Western ideals than the mullahs who rule them.

But we know Iran’s mullahs are not rational actors.

So again, we must ask: If the people of Iran are capable of throwing off their theocratic oppressors, should the United States support them? If so, how — and what would it cost us?

Ask tougher questions

I am not calling for war. I do not support U.S. military intervention in Iran. But I do support asking better questions. Is it in our national interest to act? Is there a moral imperative we cannot ignore? And do we trust the institutions advising us?

I no longer trust the intelligence agencies. I no longer trust the think tanks that sold us the Iraq War. I certainly don’t trust the foreign policy establishment in Washington that has consistently failed upward.

But I do trust the American people to engage these questions honestly — if they’re willing to think.

I believe we may be entering the first chapter of a final, spiritual conflict — what Scripture calls the last battle. It may take decades to unfold, but the ideological lines are being drawn.

And whether you are for Trump or against him, whether you see Iran as a threat or a distraction, whether you want peace or fear it’s no longer possible — ask the tougher questions.

Because what comes next won’t be determined by slogans. It will be determined by what we truly believe.

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​Opinion & analysis, Glenn beck, Mark levin, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Nuclear weapons, Bombing, Regime change, Donald trump, War, Endless war, Tel aviv, Tehran, Libya, Afghanistan, Civil society, Shia, Twelvers, 12th imam, Religion, Islam, Revolution, Intervention, America first, Anti-war 

This past Saturday, Israel continued its Operation Rising Lion with attacks on Iranian gas and oil facilities, Iranian Ministry of Defense buildings in Tehran, and missile launch sites in Tehran.

President Donald Trump responded to the attacks on Truth Social, writing, “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.”

“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!” he continued.

The U.S. does have many assets currently in or near Israel, including military troops, U.S. diplomats, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, patriot missile batteries, fighter jets, and U.S. Navy destroyers.

“Trump hints that the United States might get involved if Iran hits our assets,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says. “That was a pretty strong statement that President Trump said, right? If we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might is going to come down on you at levels never seen before.”

“He hints that the United States might get involved. But we’re using our assets to already protect Israel, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone if Iran attacks our Patriot missiles, our THAAD system, any of those assets,” she continues.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also said in response to the attacks that there is “well-documented and solid evidence of the support provided by American forces in the region.”

“Therefore, the U.S., in our opinion, is a partner in these attacks and must accept its responsibility,” Araghchi said.

Gonzales notes that it would be hard for the U.S. to dispute this accusation, as President Trump had just spoken about Israel’s use of American weapons before the attacks.

“It’s just like if a gun manufacturer makes a gun, and then eventually someone gets sold a gun and they go on to do a school shooting or murder people or whatever. Is it the gun manufacturer’s fault? Of course not,” Gonzales says.

“This is Iran just begging, begging for the United States to get involved,” she adds.

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Police said they found a pipe bomb and other improvised explosive devices at the home of a man who was arrested near a No Kings protest in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Law enforcement searched the home of 31-year-old Kevin Krebs on Conestoga Road in East Whiteland Township on Monday evening and disabled all of the explosives, according to a spokesperson for the West Chester Police Department.

‘I always tell him, you are safe always. You’re always being protected. You’re never in any harm’s way.’

Officials had initially said that seven explosives had been found at the home but later said the total number came to 13 explosive devices.

Krebs had a fully loaded Sig Sauer P320 handgun under a long yellow raincoat when he was spotted at the protest Saturday, according to police. He also was found with ammunition, an M9 bayonet, a pocketknife, pepper spray, a ski mask, and gloves.

Police said they found an AR-15 style rifle on the floor of his SUV.

RELATED: Video captures the moment SUV driver barrels through No Kings protesters after getting surrounded in California

Photo by: Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Investigators said they also found sketches of explosive devices in the home, as well as tactical vests and other items.

Krebs was initially released on a $250,000 bond, but he was rearrested and denied bail. He is being held at the Chester County Prison and faces a slew of charges, including 13 counts of weapons of mass destruction.

Krebs’ younger brother told WPVI-TV that the suspect carried the weapons for his protection.

“In his brain, he’s scared,” said Alex Krebs. “I always tell him, you are safe always. You’re always being protected. You’re never in any harm’s way.”

In a separate incident from the protest in Riverside, California, an SUV driver barreled into protesters after they surrounded the vehicle and one damaged a rear brake lamp. Police are trying to identify the driver, and one woman suffered critical injuries from the incident.

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Timothy Snyder has built a career trying to convince Americans that Donald Trump is a latter-day Adolf Hitler — a fascist demagogue hell-bent on dismantling America’s institutions to seize power. Last week, the Yale historian and author of the bestselling resistance pamphlet “On Tyranny,” briefly changed course. Now, apparently, Trump is Jefferson Davis.

In a recent Substack post, Snyder claimed Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg amounted to a call for civil war. He argued that the president’s praise for the military and his rejection of the left’s historical revisionism signaled not patriotism but treason — and the rise of a “paramilitary” regime.

Trump doesn’t want a second civil war. He wants the first one to mean something.

No, seriously. That’s what he thinks.

Renaming Fort Bragg

Trump’s first alleged Confederate offense, Snyder said, was to reinstate the military base’s original name: Fort Bragg. The Biden administration had renamed it Fort Liberty, repudiating General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate ties. Trump reversed the change.

The Biden administration had renamed the base Fort Liberty, citing General Braxton Bragg’s service to the Confederacy. Trump reversed the change. But he didn’t do it to honor a Confederate general. He did it to honor World War II paratrooper Roland L. Bragg, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explained.

Snyder wasn’t buying it. He accused the administration of fabricating a “dishonest pretense” that glorifies “oathbreakers and traitors.”

That charge hits close to home.

My grandfather Martin Spohn was a German Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Berlin in 1936. He proudly served in the U.S. Army. He trained with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Bragg before deploying to Normandy. Like thousands of others, he saw the base not as a Confederate monument but as a launchpad for defeating actual fascism.

Restoring the name Fort Bragg doesn’t rewrite history. It honors the Americans who made history — men who trained there to liberate Europe from tyranny.

That’s not fascism. That’s victory over it.

Deploying the National Guard

For Snyder, though, Trump’s real crime was calling up the National Guard to restore order in riot-torn Los Angeles. That, he claimed, puts Trump in the same category as Robert E. Lee.

According to Snyder, the president is “preparing American soldiers to see themselves as heroes when they undertake operations inside the United States against unarmed people, including their fellow citizens.”

Let’s set aside the hysteria.

Trump didn’t glorify the Confederacy. He called for law and order in the face of spiraling violence. He pushed back against the left’s crusade to erase American history — not to rewrite it but to preserve its complexity.

He didn’t tell soldiers to defy the Constitution. He reminded them of their oath: to defend the nation, not serve the ideological demands of woke officials.

Snyder’s claims are as reckless as they are false.

He smears anyone who supports border enforcement or takes pride in military service as a threat to democracy. Want secure borders? You’re a fascist. Call out the collapse of Democrat-run cities? You’re a Confederate.

This isn’t analysis. It’s slander masquerading as scholarship.

The real division

But this debate isn’t really about Trump. It’s about power.

The left has spent years reshaping the military into a political project — prioritizing diversity seminars over combat readiness, purging dissenters, and enforcing ideological loyalty. When Trump pushes back, it’s not authoritarianism. It’s restoration.

The left wants a military that fights climate change, checks pronouns, and marches for “equity.” Trump wants a military that defends the nation. That’s the real divide.

Over and over, Snyder accuses Trump of “trivializing” the military by invoking its heroism while discussing immigration enforcement. But what trivializes military service more — linking it to national defense or turning soldiers into props for progressive social experiments?

RELATED: The real tyranny? Institutional groupthink disguised as truth

Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

And Trump isn’t breaking precedent by deploying the National Guard when local leaders fail. Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson used federal troops during desegregation. Johnson federalized the Alabama National Guard to protect civil rights marchers. The Guard responded during the 1967 Detroit riots, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and the Black Lives Matter and Antifa upheavals of 2020.

Trump acted within his authority — and fulfilled his duty — to restore order when Democrat-run cities descended into chaos.

A House divided?

Snyder’s rhetoric about “protecting democracy” rings hollow. Trump won the 2024 election decisively. Voters across party lines gave him a clear mandate: Secure the border and remove violent criminals. Pew Research found that 97% of Americans support more vigorous enforcement of immigration laws.

Yet Snyder, who constantly warns of creeping authoritarianism, closed his post by urging fellow academics to join No Kings protests.

Nobody appointed Timothy Snyder king, either.

If he respected democratic institutions, he’d spend less time fearmongering — and more time listening to the Americans, including many in uniform, who are tired of being demonized for loving their country. They’re tired of being called bigots for wanting secure borders. They’re tired of watching history weaponized to silence dissent.

Snyder invokes Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to condemn Trump. But it was Lincoln who paraphrased scripture when he said, “A house divided cannot stand.”

Americans united behind Trump in 2024. Snyder’s effort to cast half the country as fascists or Confederates embodies the division Lincoln warned against.

Here’s the truth: Trump doesn’t want a second civil war. He wants the first one to mean something.

He wants a Union preserved in more than name — a Union defined by secure borders, equal justice, and unapologetic national pride.

If that scares Timothy Snyder, maybe the problem isn’t Trump.

Perhaps, the problem lies in the man staring back at him in the mirror.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Authoritarian, Timothy snyder, Tyranny, Yale university, History, Abraham lincoln, Dwight d. eisenhower, Lyndon johnson, John f. kennedy, National guard, Confederate, Fort bragg, Pete hegseth, Riots, Robert e. lee, Jefferson davis, No kings protest, Immigration and customs enforcement, Mass deportations, California, Los angeles, Union, Fascism, World war ii, Traitor 

BIG3 opening weekend has come and gone, but not without a tense — and memorable — altercation between players Stephen Jackson and Dwight Howard.

“This is BIG3 opening weekend. No one’s going to be surprised when we hear, ‘Hey, shots fired at a BIG3 basketball game.’ No one’s going to be surprised, no one. This is the culture, the atmosphere. This is what the BIG3 is producing,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says.

“A bunch of solid to good former NBA players that are in their late 30s, early 40s, that are still little babies and children who can’t play a basketball game without getting into a fight that spills into the stands,” he adds.

And Whitlock believes this attitude is not just reflected on the basketball court.

“Stephen Jackson’s 47 years old. He’s the host of the “All The Smoke” podcast. He came to increased fame because he was friends with George Floyd. Stephen Jackson loves to lean into the victimhood mentality, into the rap, anger, gangster rapper mentality. He’s not evolving,” Whitlock says.

“This is a plague, a mental plague,” he continues. “This has been going on now for 30-plus years. Affirm any and everything. Hey, Karmelo Anthony with a ‘K,’ you just stabbed another teenager, because he asked you to get up out of a seat in an area that you weren’t supposed to be in. Let’s affirm that. Let’s make up a fake narrative. Let’s all pretend, ‘Well, this kid feared for his life.’”

“He had no choice but to stab him,” he mocks. “Let’s start a GoFundMe or a GiveSendGo, and let’s send a million dollars, half-million dollars, to Karmelo Anthony and his family. Let’s affirm Karmelo Anthony’s behavior because everything has to be affirmed.”

“You can’t just affirm any and everything, and that’s what we’ve been doing in this society,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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A former NFL player blamed Democrat Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for the “chaos” that has engulfed the state in recent years.

Jack Brewer, who played for the Minnesota Vikings and the University of Minnesota, said Walz and Minn. Attorney General Keith Ellison have put the state in a spiral, turning it into a place that does not reflect the people of Minnesota.

‘Whenever you give Satan power, he shows his face.’

“We need to start calling this what it is. These people have lost their minds,” Brewer told Fox News. “I am heartbroken to see one of the most amazing states in America completely turned around under Gov. Tim Walz. Minnesota is confused.”

After a man named Vance Luther Boelter was charged with the murder of a top Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, Brewer said the incident was a direct result of Democrats and Walz’s leadership. The former NFL player said there needs to be a “return to masculinity” in order to turn the state around.

“On this Father’s Day, I wish Minnesota would focus on restoring fatherhood — protecting women, protecting families. Tim Walz is the example of a weak, emasculated leader. That is not what God made fathers to be. It’s pathetic,” Brewer told Fox News.

RELATED: The stuff of nightmares: Boelter allegedly sought to kill 4 lawmakers

A Homeland Security K-9 officer walks around the Warren E. Burger Federal Building, where Vance Boelter had a court appearance on June 16, 2025, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Photo by Steven Garcia/Getty Images

Brewer described Minnesota as the “capital of chaos in America” and said Democrats have gone “so far left” that their party members attack anyone who does not agree with their principles.

“They are forcing everyone in the party to conform,” Brewer’s comments to Fox News continued.

The former defensive back added that the “root cause” of the problem in the state can simply be labeled “evil.”

“Whenever you give Satan power, he shows his face. That’s what we’re witnessing now.”

Brewer has also been a Donald Trump supporter for years and was allegedly a Democrat until he was inspired by the president to change course.

RELATED: Survivors of Minnesota assassination attempt release statement: ‘Incredibly lucky to be alive’

Jack Brewer, #42 of the Minnesota Vikings, is congratulated after intercepting a pass against the Green Bay Packers on November 17, 2002. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

In early 2020, Brewer declared Trump the “first black president” and said he was “changed” and “inspired” by him to keep doing God’s work by reaching out to inmates in prison, according to the Hill.

In 2019, Brewer predicted that a “black awakening” would give Trump a 20% black vote in the upcoming election, but only 12% was garnered, per the Roper Center.

Brewer was in the NFL for four seasons, playing for the Vikings, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles.

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Anderson Garcia told KSTU-TV that taking his family to the local WestFest celebration Sunday night was not in his plans.

“I didn’t even know the fair was going to be there,” Garcia recounted to the station about the annual four-day event, which took place at Centennial Park in West Valley City, Utah. “I was going to the Walmart, and my baby started crying. … I looked to my right side, and I see the fair. All I wanted was for my babies to be happy there, to have fun.”

‘For three years, I struggled with infertility, and I was finally blessed with two boys. My baby was such a happy baby.’

Sunday was the final day of WestFest, which featured “food, fun, and festivities” such as music and carnival rides about 20 minutes southwest of Salt Lake City.

Garcia added to KUTV-TV that his family was just about to leave WestFest but stopped to look at a ride — and that’s when gunfire broke out.

“I said to my wife, ‘Run, that’s gunfire, run.’ I pushed her out of the way, and all I did was use my body to cover the boys,” he recounted to KUTV. “I thought I rather the gunfire hit me than my children.”

Garcia on this Father’s Day also tried to use his body to cover the stroller, KUTV said.

Tragically, Garcia’s 8-month-old son — Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr. — was hit by gunfire and died, KSTU reported.

RELATED: Former reality TV contestant shot and killed at No Kings protest by ‘peacekeeper,’ police say

A 16-year-old male opened fire amid an argument between two groups at the festival, police said, and two others also were fatally shot: 18-year-old Hassan Lugundi of West Valley City — a male from one of the arguing groups — and 41-year-old Fnu Reena, a female bystander from West Jordan.

Adding to the heartache, Garcia’s wife — Mehili Cabrera — told KUTV that baby Anderson was a twin born after lengthy infertility obstacles.

“I have my heart and soul broken,” Cabrera said to KUTV. “For three years, I struggled with infertility, and I was finally blessed with two boys. My baby was such a happy baby.”

The devastated mother also said baby Anderson was just learning to crawl, KUTV noted, and that so many people loved him.

Indeed, the family wrote in a GoFundMe message that “what was meant to be a joyful Father’s Day celebration … became the most heartbreaking night of our lives. We are devastated and struggling to process this unimaginable loss.”

Baby Anderson’s family hope to lay him to rest in their home country of Guatemala, KSTU noted, “so he can rest in peace surrounded by our family and loved ones.”

“He was a happy baby. I’ve never seen one like him,” his father added to KSTU. “What I want: He goes where I come from.”

The family’s GoFundMe campaign can be found here; as of late Tuesday afternoon, nearly $54,000 has been raised as part of a $100,000 goal.

Anything else?

Police said gunfire at the festival also wounded two teens — a 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old male — in their arms. Police added that it’s not clear if the two wounded teens were connected to the arguing groups.

The 16-year-old male suspect was taken into custody, police said, adding that an officer fired but didn’t hit the suspect. Police also said the suspect was taken to the police station for questioning.

RELATED: ‘No brainer’: Utah becomes first state to ban rainbow flags in both schools and government buildings

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told KSTU-TV in a previous story that it’s too early to determine if the teen suspect will be charged as a juvenile or as an adult.

“We have not yet screened the case. Whether a case is filed in a juvenile or district court is a decision that is made at time of filing,” Gill said in a statement, according to KSTU. “It would be premature for us to talk about these matters at this time.”

A shocked employee of a business located next to the park told Blaze News that he feels “bad for what happened” and added that it was completely out of the ordinary for the area.

“I’d definitely say it was a one-off,” the worker noted to Blaze News before acknowledging the “dark” nature of the crime.

A pregnant woman also was injured while trying to climb a fence to flee the scene, KUTV-TV reported in a previous story.

RELATED: LGBT activists find devious way to hoist their colors despite flag bans in Salt Lake City, Boise

Roxeanne Vainuku, public information officer for West Valley City police, told KUTV that “it’s heartbreaking, I think for all of us, to see something like this happen at something that is just a real treasure, something that we really enjoy in our community.”

Vainuku added to the station that it’s not clear if the shooting was gang-related. KUTV also said police won’t release the name of the suspect since he’s a juvenile.

“I don’t even know how to explain this night,” one witness told KSTU. “I am traumatized. I don’t think I would ever go to a fair, especially if they’re not checking the people that walk in.”

Another witness added to KSTU: “I was very scared because I’m not used to hearing gunshots, and I almost had a panic attack because that was scary.”

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Arnold Schwarzenegger shut down Joy Behar when the co-host of “The View” attempted to goad him into projecting anti-ICE sentiment with a loaded question. Instead, Schwarzenegger redirected the conversation to how incredible the United States is for immigrants and how those coming to the country must “behave like a guest.”

Schwarzenegger appeared on “The View” on Tuesday, where Behar asked the former Republican governor of California if he had a “visceral reaction” to raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempting to detain illegal aliens.

‘And those people that are doing illegal things in America, they’re the foreigners. They are not smart because when you come to America, you’re a guest, and you have to behave like a guest.’

Rather than taking the divisive bait from Behar, Schwarzenegger waxed poetically about how thankful and lucky he is to be a citizen of the United States.

“I’m so proud and happy that I was embraced by the American people like that,” Schwarzenegger stated.

The bodybuilder turned Hollywood action movie star explained, “I mean, imagine: I came over here at the age of 21 with absolutely nothing. And then to create a career like that, I mean, in no other country in the world could you do that.”

Schwarzenegger legally immigrated to the United States from Austria in 1968 and then became a U.S. citizen in 1983.

Schwarzenegger said the incredible achievements in his life are “all because of America.”

“So this is why I am so, so happy to see firsthand that this is the greatest country in the world, and this is the land of opportunity,” he continued.

Schwarzenegger proclaimed that he is a “proud American” and a “proud immigrant.”

RELATED: Trump’s immigration crackdown works: 1 million illegal aliens reportedly self-deport

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

He added that the United States has a “great history” with immigrants but stressed that those seeking opportunities in the U.S. must come here legally.

“But the key thing also, at the same time, you’ve got to do things legal,” he said. “And those people that are doing illegal things in America, they’re the foreigners. They are not smart because when you come to America, you’re a guest, and you have to behave like a guest.”

“Like when I go to someone’s house and I’m a guest, then I will do everything I can — keep things clean and to make my bed and to do everything that is the right thing to do — rather than committing a crime or be abusive or something like that. So that doesn’t really work in this country,” the “Terminator” actor said.

Seemingly not in agreement with his legal immigration sentiment, “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin is seen on video tapping Schwarzenegger’s arm to interrupt him mid-sentence. Hostin then attempted to butt in verbally on multiple occasions.

However, Schwarzenegger ignored Hostin and continued to make his point.

Schwarzenegger noted that legal immigrants who “use America for the great opportunities that America has, in education, jobs, creating a family, all of those things,” have a responsibility.

Schwarzenegger declared that legal immigrants have a “responsibility … to give back to America and to pay back America and to go do something for your community for no money whatsoever.”

Schwarzenegger said it was important for legal immigrants to “make this country a better place.”

RELATED: Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids

— (@)

After the audience applauded Schwarzenegger, “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg attempted to pour cold water on his patriotic speech.

“Right, but, Arnold, don’t forget there’s — 90% of the people who come here are trying to do the right thing,” Goldberg claimed.

Goldberg then attempted to steer the conversation back to the efforts by ICE agents to detain individuals who are in the country illegally.

“And a lot of what’s happening right now is people are getting snatched who shouldn’t be snatched out of the country,” Goldberg opined. “People who have visas, people who have all those things. So, we want all the right people. We don’t want people who are doing bad stuff.”

Hostin blurted, “Immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes in this country than actual American-born citizens.”

Hostin then brought the discussion back to the anti-ICE protests by rehashing how President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to assist federal immigration agents in Los Angeles earlier this month, despite California Gov. Gavin Newsom not welcoming the troops into the city.

Schwarzenegger noted that the National Guard serves under both state and federal command, and that the president can federalize the National Guard in certain circumstances.

Just Security — an independent, nonpartisan, daily digital law and policy journal — stated, “Once federalized, National Guard troops come under the full command and control of the secretary of defense. In essence, National Guard troops become part of the federal military until and unless they are returned to state status.”

Schwarzenegger emphasized that it is “very important” for the president and governors to “work together” to achieve a common goal.

RELATED: Trump’s rising poll numbers amid LA unrest revealed

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​Arnold schwarzenegger, Immigration, The view, Joy behar, Illegal immigration, Anti-ice protests, Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, News, Sunny hostin 

Sec. Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security was reportedly rushed to a hospital in Washington, D.C., via ambulance on Tuesday.

Few details were available about her condition, but she is said to be conscious and speaking to her security detail. A CNN report cited two sources familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for DHS released a statement saying Noem was alert and recovering from an allergic reaction.

“Secretary Noem had an allergic reaction today. She was transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution,” reads the statement from Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Dept. of Homeland Security.

The development came as top officials of the Trump administration were on high alert due to the war that had broken out between Israel and Iran. Trump has been issuing threats to the Iranian regime via social media and calling on them to stand down and agree to a peace deal.

Iranian officials had previously indicated that they were willing to sign a nuclear deal with the president if all sanctions were dropped.

RELATED: CNN brings in security expert to criticize Padilla incident, but he stuns them with his assessment

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

In April, Noem was robbed of a purse with $3,000 inside by a masked man as she dined at a Washington restaurant. Police later determined the man to be a Chilean national who did not know whom he was stealing from and was in the country illegally.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited after publication to include a statement from the DHS.

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Illegal aliens are in the crosshairs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — even in the video game world.

Users of the massively popular online game Roblox are not only performing in-game raids on “illegals,” but they are also facing anti-ICE protests in the game’s fictional streets.

‘This is the only thing we can turn to.’

In Roblox, gamers can design virtually anything in a scaled-down, pixelated 3D world, leading to intricate gardens, basketball courts, or, in this case, federal agents sweeping facilities for illegal immigrants.

“Kids are cosplaying as ICE agents in Roblox, staging raids on fellow players who they deem illegal,” reporter Taylor Lorenz wrote on X. “Hundreds of kids are also protesting ICE in rallies across Brookhaven, Roblox’s most popular experience.”

In one staged scenario, ICE agents raid a Roblox version of a chicken restaurant called Los Pollos Hermanos found in the hit TV show “Breaking Bad.”

A firefight ensues, and ICE makes arrests of several employees.

RELATED: Antifa mobilizes in the Pacific Northwest to attack DHS locations and agents

Other videos posted to TikTok show a raid on a character in his bedroom at the hands of just one ICE agent with a baseball bat, while another shows an organized anti-ICE protest, complete with signs that say “F Ice,” likely because curse words are not allowed on the platform.

Lorenz spoke to a 17-year-old who she said “organized the largest anti-ICE protest in Roblox,” which featured burning police cars and Roblox characters holding Mexican flags while battling police.

“A lot of young people really want to protest and put their words and beliefs out there but are unable to,” the child told Lorenz. “So this is the only thing we can turn to.”

At least six more in-game anti-ICE protests were being organized, according to the teen. Most of the action has reportedly happened in “Brookhaven,” the most popular server in Roblox, which has seen upwards of one million users at one time.

RELATED: Is your child being exposed to pedophiles in the metaverse?

Police and National Guard troops take measures as thousands of anti-ICE protesters are gathered outside of the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2025, amid protests over immigration raids. Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

Blaze News previously reported on Roblox’s enormous user base last year, about 58% of which were under the age of 16, equating to around 46 million children on the platform.

However, Roblox has strict safety measures and a history of taking serious precautions to protect children.

Roblox did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether or not in-game scenarios like the protests and raids went against their terms of service.

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​Return, Video games, Roblox, Ice, Immigration, Ice raids, Protest, Pc, Tech 

The steel-driving man of American legend, John Henry, attempted to beat the machine — and won, though it cost him his life. At the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League’s (A2RL) Drone Championship in April, man tried to beat the machine and lost — and the technology responsible could soon claim many a life on battlefields the world over.

There were four race formats at the drone competition co-hosted by the Drone Champions League and A2RL this past April in Abu Dhabi: an autonomous drag race where lightweight flyers fired through multiple gates at speeds of over 93 mph; a multi-drone race; an AI grand challenge; and a match pitting elite DCL human pilots against an autonomous drone.

In the fourth type of race, an autonomous quadcopter drone built and trained by a team of scientists and students at Delft University of Technology’s aerospace engineering MAVLab in the Netherlands beat three former DCL world champions, reaching speeds on the winding indoor track of nearly 60 mph.

A2RL concluded in a release that the races demonstrated that “AI, when given the right tools, can make complex, real-time decisions in a dynamic physical world. And it can do so safely, at speed, and at scale.”

‘Autonomous drone racing is an ideal test case for developing and demonstrating highly efficient, robust AI.’

Footage shows the drone whip effortlessly through a series of 22 indoor gates using only a front-facing camera and a motion sensor.

According to the university, the feat — possible because their “efficient and robust AI system [is] capable of split-second, high-performance control” — was historic.

Humans have been losing in games played virtually to supercomputers for decades. However, the university noted that “this achievement happened in the real world.”

RELATED: Ukraine drone strikes just changed EVERYTHING about warfare

An FPV drone controlled via a fiber-optic cable flies during Ukrainian military training on January 29, 2025 in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Photo by Dan Bashakov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Team lead Christophe De Wagter said in a statement, “I always wondered when AI would be able to compete with human drone racing pilots in real competitions. I’m extremely proud of the team that we were able to make it happen already this year.”

“I hope that this achievement and this type of competition in general forms a springboard for real-world robot applications,” added De Wagter. “Robot AI is limited by the required computational and energy resources. Autonomous drone racing is an ideal test case for developing and demonstrating highly efficient, robust AI.”

The efficacy of autonomous drones on the raceway certainly has implications for the future of warfare.

Already in Ukraine, drones — which Kyiv is on track to produce 2.5 million of annually — have blunted the competitive edge of state-of-the-art bomber aircraft and armor and now reportedly cause an estimated 70% of deaths and injuries. The vast majority of drones in the war are, however, human-operated.

A special report published earlier this month by the Institute for the Study of War noted that “Russia and Ukraine are engaged in an active technological race to develop and deploy drones with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities” as doing so would reduce their reliance on human drone operators and defenders, overcome human limitations in target identification, and accelerate decision-making processes involved in drone warfare.

The warring nations have reportedly demonstrated some integration of AI capabilities into drones as of last month but have not deployed them on scale in the battlefield.

In one instance, a Ukrainian electronic and radio warfare expert observed Russian forces field a swarm of six drones, each of which carry a 6.6 pound warhead and have a range of up to 50 miles.

RELATED: A brutal wake-up call from America’s most powerful banker

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

ISW noted that Ukrainian forces, on the other hand, deployed a new AI-powered “mother drone” on the frontlines in late May — a drone that can reportedly deploy two first-person-view drones and launch a strike at a range of 186 miles.

The mothership was created by the Ukrainian startup Strategy Force Solutions.

The CTO of the company, who identified himself only as Andrii, told Forbes, “A $10,000 mission replaces what previously required $3-$5 million missile systems.”

“By pairing them [small FPV type drones] with AI mothership drones, we can guarantee precision strikes,” added Andrii.

The TU Delft drone evidences a technological leap that if utilized in the warring nation’s UAVs could mean greater effectiveness when attacking in dynamic combat zones as greater difficulty on the part of targets to evade or shoot them down.

The Dutch university indicated that one of the novel aspects of the racer drone’s AI is its use of a deep neural network originally developed by the Advanced Concepts Team at the European Space Agency, which enables the system to bypass a traditional human controller and direct commands straight to the motors.

“Traditional, human-engineered algorithms for optimal control were computationally so expensive that they would never be able to run onboard resource-constrained systems such as drones or satellites,” said the university. “ESA found that deep neural networks were able to mimic the outcomes of traditional algorithms, while requiring orders of magnitude less processing time.”

“We now train the deep neural networks with reinforcement learning, a form of learning by trial and error,” said De Wagter. “This allows the drone to more closely approach the physical limits of the system. To get there, though, we had to redesign not only the training procedure for the control but also how we can learn about the drone’s dynamics from its own onboard sensory data.”

According to a MarketDigits 2023 projection, the autonomous drone market will reach $53.4 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 18.9% during the forecast period.

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Democrats are up in arms after President Donald Trump has threatened to send ICE into sanctuary cities and start deporting illegal aliens en masse — which he explained on Truth Social in signature Trump fashion.

“Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History …” Trump began in a post on Truth Social.

“ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” he continued.

“In order to achieve this, we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside,” he added, before calling these cities the “core of the Democrat Power Center.”

While Republicans are on board, Democrats continue to push the idea that illegal immigrants are at the heart of America, which they say would not be what it is without them.

“It seems like we have this big lie that’s being told in our country that our economy cannot function without the participation of these people in it,” Texas Rep. Mitch Little (R) tells BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“And to that, I just say, let’s find out,” he adds.

But it’s not just the illegal immigrants whom Little takes issue with.

“I’m also very concerned about the ongoing participation of China in our higher education,” he explains. “This is not really a place for us to be making exceptions.”

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A Florida sheriff issued a fiery statement against singer Lizzo over accusations on social media that he threatened to kill peaceful protesters.

Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, posted the accusations and said she was appalled that law enforcement officials would threaten to stamp out the constitutional right to free speech in the U.S.

‘Until earlier tonight, I had never heard of her.’

“I just watched a video of law enforcement saying they would kill — kill anyone who exercises their First Amendment rights to protest. And I’ve never seen anything more unconstitutional in my life. It was actually appalling,” she said in the video on Instagram.

She said that people have to get louder to combat officials acting illegally.

“I want to encourage everybody to remember their constitutional rights,” she added. “I want to encourage everybody to also protect each other. Because the people that we put in position to protect us are not doing that. Know your rights and stand on ’em.”

Jefferson was likely referring to a viral video of Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, who warned protesters ahead of the No Kings demonstrations to avoid criminal behavior or face the consequences.

“If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital and then jail. If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital and then jail and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs that we have here,” said Ivey in the viral video.

Ivey did threaten to use lethal force against protesters, but he specifically said that about anyone who uses extreme violence during a protest.

“Throw a brick, firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at,” he added. “Because we will kill you graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.”

After hearing about her post, Ivey responded to Jefferson’s post and excoriated her for misconstruing his comments while confirming that he’s not a fan of her music.

“Lizzo who?” he said to Fox News Digital. “Until earlier tonight, I had never heard of her. So what she thinks matters exactly zero to me! She clearly didn’t listen to what was actually said during the press conference, as is evidenced by how inaccurate her quote is.”

The post from Lizzo to her 11 million followers on Instagram had garnered nearly 75,000 likes.

“At no time were people peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights [ever] threatened, as what was actually said was that peaceful protests are part of our democracy, and we will provide a safe environment for peaceful protest to take place!” Ivey added.

“My warnings were directed at violent protesters whose actions would put citizens and law enforcement officers’ lives at risk!” he concluded.

RELATED: Video captures the moment SUV driver barrels through No Kings protesters after getting surrounded in California

Photo by RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images

Fox News Digital said it reached out to Lizzo’s management company but did not get a response.

Millions of people participated in the No Kings protests, and some violence was reported at a number of demonstrations. Statistically, between 1% and 1.5% of the total population joined the protests against the Trump administration.

Lizzo also made headlines when some fat-positivity activists expressed outrage that she had betrayed the movement by seeking to lose weight after initially pushing for more fat acceptance.

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The Minnesota man who is suspected of killing a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband was caught by police hiding in a rural field, but who he is and possible motives only get murkier as more information is revealed.

Vance Boelter also allegedly took the life of the Hortmans’ golden retriever, Gilbert; shot Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife in their home; and had stacks of No Kings flyers that were recovered in his car. While some have claimed that Boelter was a Trump supporter, the discovered flyers, which simply said “No Kings,” in reference to the nationwide anti-Trump protests, have caused some confusion.

“I mean, none of this makes any sense,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray of “Pat Gray Unleashed” comments. “Nobody knows necessarily his motivation. They are calling it political.”

The last time Boelter is known to have been a registered Republican was over 20 years ago in Oklahoma.

But it gets weirder, as Boelter is married, but he has a roommate.

“How is he married, and he has a roommate? I don’t understand this situation. His roommate says he was a big Trump supporter,” Gray explains, noting that his wife was found with passports, food, cash and a loaded-up car.

“Was he going to abandon the roommate and take off with his wife?” Gray asks, dumbfounded, though he does know one thing. “I think we have an idea what kind of guy he is: a psycho murdering kind of guy.”

“Man, what a weird situation,” he adds.

Keith Malinak notes that even stranger, Hortman recently cast a vote that caused issues between her and her own party.

“She’s the one that crossed party lines to go and vote and stop this health care for illegals in Minnesota, which is strange because she’s really extreme left on many issues,” Malinak says.

Want more from Pat Gray?

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

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New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents after locking arms with a man who was in court for potential deportation.

Lander is also a candidate for New York City mayor in the upcoming primary election. His policy proposals include ending homelessness for the mentally ill, standing up to Donald Trump, preparing for the “climate crisis,” and standing up for “our immigrant neighbors.”

Lander was apparently attempting to do just that when he was filmed near a courtroom at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan following immigration hearings.

‘You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens!’

In the hallway outside of the courtroom, Lander latched onto a man as federal agents approached him. The agents represented ICE, the FBI, and the Treasury Department, according to amNY.

As video of the confrontation shows, Lander refused to let go of the alleged illegal immigrant who was reportedly just seen by a judge for possible deportation. AmNY claimed the man’s case was dismissed but provided no specifics.

Agents attempted to separate Lander from the man, as the comptroller yelled, “Show me your warrant! Show me your badge!”

RELATED: Trump’s immigration crackdown works: 1 million illegal aliens reportedly self-deport

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Still holding on, Lander took a calmer approach and said, “I will let go if you show me a judicial warrant,” and, “I would like to see the warrant, and then I will let go.”

The agents forcibly separated the two men and took both into custody as Lander yelled, “You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens!”

Lander claimed he was “not obstructing” and was simply “standing right here in the hallway,” before again telling agents they did not have the authority to arrest him.

RELATED: Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass to California: ‘Look what you made us do!’

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In a statement to Blaze News, Dept. of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander was arrested for “impeding a federal officer.”

“Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413% increase in assaults against them — it is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment,” McLaughlin continued. “No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences.”

A spokesperson for Lander told amNY that the comptroller was “taken by masked agents and detained by ICE.”

Meanwhile, Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, posted on his X page on his behalf, saying, “Brad is still in ICE custody.”

“We are grateful to the many friends, supporters, and allies who have gathered in Federal Plaza,” Barnette wrote. “Together we are standing up for those with no voice.”

DHS did not confirm the name or status of the man Lander latched himself to.

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An executive order from President Donald Trump opened up records that led to the identification of more than two dozen incidents where noncitizens may have illegally voted in the 2024 election.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Tuesday that 33 cases of potential illegal voting were referred to his office by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson.

‘Noncitizens must not be allowed to influence American elections, and I will use the full weight of my office to investigate all voter fraud.’

Paxton said that the data was discovered as a result of Trump opening up access to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s SAVE Database to the states. Nelson used the database to identify the 33 cases.

She said that having access to the database was a “game changer” for the mission of her office.

“Not only have we been able to identify individuals who should not have voted in the last election, we have also been able to confirm naturalization of dozens more,” Nelson explained.

The database is compiled by the federal government to confirm the citizenship status of those who are applying for benefits or licenses.

“Noncitizens must not be allowed to influence American elections, and I will use the full weight of my office to investigate all voter fraud,” said Attorney General Paxton in a written statement.

“In order to be able to trust the integrity of our elections, the results must be determined by our own citizens — not foreign nationals breaking the law to illegally vote,” he added. “These potential instances of unlawful voting will be thoroughly investigated, and I will continue to stand with President Trump in fighting to ensure that our state’s elections are safe and secure.”

RELATED: Chinese student criminally charged for illegally voting; officials are reportedly unable to void the ballot

Photo by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Trump’s executive order in February directed state officials to improve their policies in order to ensure illegal aliens are not abusing the social safety net.

“We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and it is our duty to ensure states confirm the identity and verify the immigration status of SNAP applicants,” wrote Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a statement at the time. “USDA’s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans. To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous.”

Paxton is running to unseat Republican Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) in the Republican primary. Cornyn has been in the U.S. Senate for 23 years and is 73 years old.

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