Category: blaze media

President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have formally identified acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, as one of the alleged drivers behind the rise in American autism.

On Monday, Kennedy indicated that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will notify physicians that acetaminophen use by pregnant women may be associated with a “very increased risk” of neurological conditions like autism and ADHD in children. The label on the drug will henceforth reflect this understanding.

‘We haven’t tested Tylenol to be used during pregnancy.’

Following the announcement, liberals began gobbling fistfuls of pills in protest, and foreign health officials rushed to convince the public of acetaminophen’s safety and efficacy.

Meanwhile, some critics scrutinized previous advisories and messaging regarding Tylenol. One of the messages that some sleuths evidently came across has gone viral.

Tylenol tweeted on March 7, 2017, “We actually don’t recommend using any of our products while pregnant. Thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns today.”

RELATED: Libs gobble Tylenol, foreign officials complain after Trump highlights autism link

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Whereas in at least two other tweets on theme, Tylenol suggested that pregnant and/or nursing mothers should speak with their doctors before using the drug, this particular message contained no such nuance.

Numerous critics pointed to the tweet as possible confirmation that even the iconic brand advises against pregnant women taking acetaminophen.

“What an interesting thing to say so long ago,” said one X user.

South African musician David Scott, better known as the Kiffness, noted, “Despite all the warnings, crazy pregnant women are potentially jeopardising their children’s future for a couple likes on TikTok … hope this helps some from reconsidering.”

A spokesperson for Kenvue said in a statement to Blaze News, “This post from 2017 is being taken out of context.”

“We do not recommend pregnant women take any medication without talking to their doctor,” continued the statement. “This is consistent with the regulations and product label for acetaminophen.”

When asked whether Tylenol poses an elevated risk to pregnant women and/or their unborn children and why pregnant women need to consult their doctor prior to use, a spokesperson for Kenvue told Blaze News that “acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy.”

“Our products are safe and effective when used as directed on the product label,” continued the spokesperson. “We recommend pregnant women do not take any over-the-counter medication, including acetaminophen, without talking to their doctor first.”

Another tweet that has resurfaced this week was Tylenol’s note to an expectant parent on June 17, 2019, where the company noted, “We haven’t tested Tylenol to be used during pregnancy.”

Numerous robust studies have suggested an association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders including autism.

Dr. William Parker, CEO of WPLab and visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an author on a number of such studies, recently told Blaze News:

The science tells us several things. Among the most important are: (a) Exposure of susceptible babies and children to acetaminophen (paracetamol) induces many, if not most, cases of autism spectrum disorder. b) Specific, invalid assumptions made when analyzing epidemiologic data have impeded recognition of the role of acetaminophen in the induction of autism.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Medicine, Tylenol, Acetaminophen, Drugs, Drug, Big pharma, Kenvue, Donald trump, Autism, Autistic, Politics 

A tech CEO warned that the Chinese government is ahead in key tech fields and that the threat of war is at America’s doorstep.

Tyler Saltsman is the CEO of EdgeRunner, an artificial intelligence technology company implementing an offline AI program for the Space Force to help U.S. soldiers make technological leaps in the battlefield.

‘A rogue AI agent could take down the grid. It could bring our country to its knees.’

Saltsman spoke exclusively with Return and explained that the new battlefield tools are sorely needed by U.S. military forces, particularly considering the advancements that have been made in China.

“The Department of War has been moving at breakneck speed,” Saltsman said about the need to catch up. “China is ahead of us in the AI race.”

On top of doing “a lot more” with a lot less, Saltsman revealed the Chinese government has been able to develop its AI to perform in ways that Western allies aren’t particularly sure of how it’s doing it.

“They’re doing things, that we don’t know how they’re doing it, and they’re very good,” the CEO said of the communist government. “We need to take that seriously and come together as a nation.”

When asked if China is able to take advantage of blatantly spying on its population to feed its AI more information, Saltsman pointed more specifically to the country ignoring copyright infringement.

“China doesn’t care about copyright laws,” he said. “If you use copyright data while training an AI, litigation could be coming [if you’re] in the U.S.”

But in China, feeding copyright-protected data through learning-AI models is par for the course, Saltsman went on.

While the contractor believes AI advancements by the enemy pose a great threat, China’s ability to control another key sector should raise alarm bells.

RELATED: ‘They want to spy on you’: Military tech CEO explains why AI companies don’t want you going offline

Your browser does not support the video tag.

China’s ability to take Taiwan should be one of the most discussed issues, if not the paramount issue, Saltsman explained.

“If China were to take Taiwan, it’s all-out war,” he said.

“All that infrastructure and all those chips — and the chips power everything from data centers to missiles to AI — … that right there is a big problem.”

He continued, “That’s the biggest threat to the world. If China were to take Taiwan, then all bets are off.”

Saltsman also saw the idea of rogue AI agents as a strong possibility of how China could attack its enemies. More narrowly, they could go after power grids.

“A rogue AI agent could take down the grid. It could bring our country to its knees,” he warned, which would result in “total chaos.”

The entrepreneur cited the CrowdStrike update that crippled airport systems in July 2024. Saltsman said that if something that small could bring the world to its knees for three days, then it is “deeply concerning” what China could be capable of in its pursuit of super intelligence through AI.

RELATED: Can Palantir defeat the Antifa networks behind trans terror?

Tyler Saltsman, CEO of EdgeRunner AI. Photo provided by EdgeRunner

Saltsman was also not shy about criticizing domestic AI companies and putting their ethics in direct sunlight. On top of claiming most commercial AI merchants are spying on customers — the main reason they do not offer offline models — Saltsman denounced the development of AI that does not keep humans in the loop.

“My biggest fear with Big Tech is they want to replace humans with [artificial general intelligence]. What does AGI even mean?”

Google defines AGI as “a machine that possesses the ability to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can” and “a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that aims to mimic the cognitive abilities of the human brain.”

Saltsman, on the other hand, defines AGI as “an AI that can invent new things to solve problems.”

An important question to ask these companies, according to Saltsman, is, “Why would AGI make you money if it was an all-intelligent, all-powerful being? It would see humans as a threat.”

For these reasons, Saltsman is serious about developing AI that can work in disconnected environments and work only for the user while keeping humans at the forefront.

As he previously said, “We don’t want Big Tech having all of this data and having all this control. It needs to be decentralized.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Return, Ai, Artificial intelligence, China, Api, Crowdstrike, Openai, Edgerunner ai, Us military, Department of war, Tech 

Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw took time away from his club to attend Charlie Kirk’s memorial on Sunday.

In the middle of a battle for first place in the National League, Shaw flew down to Glendale, Arizona, to attend the celebration of Kirk’s life at State Farm Stadium.

‘I feel strong about my faith and that what was meant to be happened.’

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Shaw said he received a text message from Kirk’s wife, Erika, asking him to “come to the funeral.”

“I felt as though it was something that was really important for me to do,” Shaw explained.

Shaw revealed to reporters that he met Kirk this past off-season in Arizona, which is not only where the team has its spring training but is also where the athlete lives.

Along with being “one of the biggest Cubs fans” he has ever met, Shaw said that Kirk was extremely supportive of him after they became friends and would send him a text message after every game.

“He was super, super supportive of us and obviously someone who was really faithful,” Shaw recalled.

The baseball player’s recollection of Sunday’s memorial was powerful, as Shaw described what he felt inside the packed stadium alongside fellow mourners.

RELATED: Houston Texans hold moment of silence — but don’t say Charlie Kirk’s name

“The amount of joy that was in that room, with everyone coming together and realizing how important their faith was to each and every person that was in there, I think just is so powerful because nobody was angry,” Shaw said about the event.

Shaw continued, saying what he experienced was a “really powerful” service that he hoped would bring more people together.

Additionally, Shaw said fan support, including Kirk’s, has helped him throughout the season.

“How much support we’ve had for this team and knowing he was a part of that, you know, I think that was a big part of our friendship, and then again his faith and my faith was an area we connected,” he explained.

As for how his team felt about the decision, Shaw said he spoke to about a dozen teammates, along with the Cubs’ legal team, staff, and management. The rookie was pleased with how well the organization responded and how smoothly different elements of the club coordinated to allow for his departure.

RELATED: NASCAR drivers go all out in memory of Charlie Kirk: ‘This one’s for Charlie’

Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw takes the field before facing the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Shaw was asked by a reporter if he was concerned about possible backlash from his decision, to which the third baseman said he would always stand on his faith.

“I’m not concerned at all. No,” he replied. “My connection with Charlie was through our faith. That’s something that drives me every day. That’s the reason why I’m able to do what I do every day, and that’s something I’m extremely thankful for.”

Shaw stressed that without his faith and his many blessings, he would not be in the position he is today.

“Whatever backlash comes is okay. I feel strong about my faith and that what was meant to be happened,” Shaw said.

Without Shaw, the Cubs lost 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Fearless, Chicago cubs, Charlie kirk, Matt shaw, Sports 

Jimmy Kimmel returned to the studio on Tuesday after missing just four episodes following a suspension over remarks about Charlie Kirk’s murderer.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was pulled off the air last Wednesday after the host claimed that Kirk’s alleged assassin was part of “the MAGA gang” that was desperately trying to disassociate the shooter from its political ideology.

“The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel remarked.

‘This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn’t, ever.’

Following those comments, Kimmel and other liberals claimed he was the victim of a government plot to silence him. However, the host returned to the airwaves on Tuesday and prefaced his monologue with a compilation of news stories surrounding his suspension. This included left-wing networks calling his return a “huge” and “pivotal” moment in history.

Kimmel took the stage to multiple standing ovations from his audience, immediately tearing up. He mentioned all the love he had received over the weekend, including from other hosts like Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert, and even a former employer who fired him from a radio station.

But when Kimmel addressed the remarks that led to his suspension, he said he was not trying to pin any ideology to the shooter.

“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind,” Kimmel said. “But I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human. And that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”

Kimmel noted he made a social media post about Kirk in support of his family, before adding, “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what … was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.”

“I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn’t, ever,” Kimmel explained.

RELATED: Nexstar stands its ground, keeps blocking Kimmel’s show

Kimmel made time to thank those who “don’t support” his show or what he believes in but support his “right to share those beliefs.”

This included “Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz.”

After playing a clip of Senator Cruz’s remarks, Kimmel still chose to make fun of the Republican by saying, “If Ted Cruz can’t speak freely, then he can’t cast spells on the Smurfs.”

The rest of Kimmel’s monologue focused on his apparent battle with the government over his right to speech, with the 57-year-old stating that Americans cannot allow their government to “control what we do and do not say on television.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had said of Kimmel’s network, ABC, last week, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” in reference to Kimmel’s false statements linking the suspected assassin with MAGA. This became the predominant source of liberal claims that the government was censoring speech.

RELATED: I experienced Jimmy Kimmel’s lies firsthand. His suspension is justice.

Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images

ABC affiliate station owners Nexstar and Sinclair still chose not to broadcast Kimmel’s show upon his return, with Nexstar telling Blaze News, “We made a decision last week to pre-empt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”

Nexstar owns 32 of 200 ABC affiliate stations.

Carr doubled down before Kimmel’s return on Tuesday and said Democrats “simply can’t stand that local TV stations—for the first time in years—stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming.”

“We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license,” he wrote on X.

Kimmel also claimed in his monologue that the powers that be, simply using the word “they,” tried to “coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air.”

“That’s not legal,” the host declared. “That’s not American. That is un-American, and it is so dangerous.”

In the end, Kimmel admitted his show is not important, but said rather that what is important is living in a country that allows a show like his to remain on the air.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Entertainment, Late night, Jimmy kimmel, Trump, Fcc, Charlie kirk, Abc, Disney, Politics 

There have been multiple left-wing politically motivated attacks since the murder of Charlie Kirk — but you won’t hear about it from the mainstream media.

In New Hampshire, 23-year-old Hunter Nadeau allegedly opened fire on a wedding at a New Hampshire country club, killing one and wounding two other adults. Nadeau may have been a former employee of the club, but that doesn’t appear to be his main reason for the attack.

“Hunter Nadeau, a former employee of the country club, had not worked at the business for a year. And so you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s just a disgruntled employee.’ No, actually, it’s political violence, because he wasn’t just shouting just random things,” Sara Gonzales explains.

“He was actually saying something very specific, according to a witness,” she continues.

That witness reported hearing the suspect shout “free Palestine” during the attack.

“Oh, okay, ‘Free Palestine,’” Gonzales comments. “And after Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air, someone shot up a local ABC station in Sacramento, California. [The suspect] was arrested, then released on bail.”

“Because California doesn’t believe in locking up criminals, and the FBI had to step in and arrest him again because he was still posting a bunch of extreme left-wing things to social media,” she continues.

But these two aren’t the only ones.

“And then, of course, two people arrested by the FBI for allegedly planting a bomb under a local Fox News van in Salt Lake City. It just so happened to be Fox, literally right after Charlie was assassinated,” Gonzales says.

“It’s almost like the point is to kill us and intimidate us into silence,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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

​Sharing, Video, Upload, Free, Video phone, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Left wing violence, Left wing attacks, Democrat violence, Charlie kirk, Free palestine, Hunter nadu 

Naomi Wolf’s 1991 best-seller “The Beauty Myth” made her the most prominent face of so-called “third-wave feminism” and a darling of the liberal elite. The young Yale graduate and Rhodes scholar served as an adviser to both President Bill Clinton and — during his 2000 presidential run — Vice President Al Gore.

But then the COVID pandemic hit. For voicing her concerns about vaccine mandates and draconian lockdowns, Wolf found herself deplatformed from Twitter, marginalized as a so-called conspiracy theorist, and rejected by the same powerful Democrats who had once made her a star.

‘A 13% to 20% drop in live births around the world, especially in Western, highly vaccinated countries.’

From Ms. to MAHA

Wolf, in turn, has left the Democrats behind. Seeing current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. join the Trump campaign last year convinced her to endorse “the MAGA-MAHA ticket,” she tells me via video call.

“I think it’s a great thing for the country for these two groups of voters to be in alignment,” she continues.

“What we’re seeing right now … the combination is making the Democratic Party obsolete. And as a lifelong Democrat, I wouldn’t have … said that was a good thing, except that the Democratic Party has turned into such a toxic, marginalized, self-marginalizing stew of festering special interests.”

With last year’s release of “The Pfizer Papers,” based on the research of over 3,000 health care volunteers, edited by Wolf and Amy Kelly, Wolf has cemented her reputation as a courageous and supremely eloquent opponent of government overreach and globalist encroachment on public policy and free speech.

Neither safe nor effective

Wolf says that research points to the inescapable fact that Pfizer knew its vaccine was neither safe nor effective but released it on the public regardless because of an agenda that went way beyond mere corporate greed.

Wolf has sat down for this interview to discuss that research, which she recently presented before before the European Union Parliament after an invitation from German MEP Christine Anderson.

I note that Canada, too, has finally begun to question the efficacy and safety of the vaccine with the release of “Post-Covid Canada: The Rise of Unexpected Deaths” from the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms.

‘My heart breaks for Canada’

For Wolf, this is a long time coming. In her view, the situation to her north is even worse than in her home country, with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau overseeing “a horrible overall collapse of civil liberties and the rule of law … and even basic norms of decency around life itself.”

“My heart breaks for Canada all the time,” Wolf continues.

“You have no Second Amendment. You have no First Amendment. People are scared — you know, when I go to Canada, people are really scared of what’s going to happen to them if they are identified as critical of the government. You know, the poor truckers got de-banked and had to fight that fight back in 2022.”

Wolf describes Canada’s major media as being “owned by your government,” noting that “there’s been almost no coverage of ‘The Pfizer Papers’ in Canada.”

I mention that Freedom Convoy trucker and protester Chris Barber could not only receive an eight-year sentence for “mischief” (the label the Crown has slapped on his peaceful protest), but could actually have his truck — the now iconic “Big Red” — expropriated by the Ontario provincial government and destroyed. Wolf is aghast.

RELATED: Sudden child deaths after COVID shots? Trump FDA director promises answers.

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

A feature, not a bug

For her part, Wolf has not faced any legal pushback from Pfizer, despite repeatedly calling out the pharmaceutical giant for its alleged culpability in vaccine injuries and deaths.

Nor is Wolf afraid to employ a comparison even her allies may find inflammatory, likening Pfizer’s “Pregnancy and Lactation” report to “Nazi science” for the cavalier way it acknowledges the human toll of the vaccines.

“I’m not equating it with Nazi atrocities as a whole, in terms of scale,” Wolf says of the eight-page report Pfizer delivered to President Biden and then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

“But it’s a very terrifying document, because it showcases all the deaths and injuries to women and babies that Pfizer knew their injection had brought about, and … it seems to be communicating the damage to women’s reproduction is not a bug, but a feature of the injection, like, ‘Look how effective it is.’ For instance, they’ve got two babies who died in utero, and Pfizer concludes that it’s due to maternal exposure to the vaccine.”

Drop in live births

Wolf notes that this information did not stop Walensky from urging the vaccine on pregnant women or women intending to get pregnant in August of that year.

“So that sequence of events in itself really raises questions, because she knew this would kill babies,” says Wolf, raising the specter of infamous Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.

“I don’t make this comparison lightly,” says Wolf, who is Jewish and notes that her grandparents lost a total of eight siblings to the Holocaust. “[But the report is] very Nazi medicine in its methodology, because there are charts. And one of the characteristics of Nazi medicine is [being] meticulous about horrific crimes and suffering.”

“So there are charts in this pregnancy and lactation report that show tens of thousands of women injured menstrually; 15,000 women bleeding every day, 10,000 women bleeding twice a month … 7,500 women with no periods at all, meaning [that they’re] totally infertile.”

“A 13% to 20% drop in live births around the world, especially in Western, highly vaccinated countries,” Wolf says, noting that “that’s the takeaway in Canada as well.”

Sinister finding

So was this all about the profit margin?

“As a journalist, I try never to go beyond the evidence. … I went into the project thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to find out that they were just greedy, or they just cut corners.’ That’s not what we found at all,” Wolf says.

The truth, according to her, is far more sinister. “There are a number of data points that show that Pfizer intended to create a depopulating technology and that all the people up and down the chain of command — CDC, FDA, the president — knew,” Wolf says.

“That’s why I think the pregnancy and lactation report is so important, and that that was the main function — is to depopulate the West and also to create a massive scale of injury and and death, in addition to sterilization and pregnancy loss.”

​Covid vaccine, Justin trudeau, Letter from canada, Naomi wolf, Rfk jr, Maha, Maga, Donald trump, Pfizer, Lifestyle, Culture, The pfizer papers, Motherhood, Pregnany, Birthrate, Align interview 

President Donald Trump taunted the United Nations about a faulty escalator and broken teleprompter, but some of his allies suspect there was intentional sabotage.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump were on an escalator at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Tuesday when it came to an abrupt stop. Subsequently, Trump’s teleprompter also malfunctioned during his address, leading him to make light of the mishaps.

‘There better be accountability.’

“These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter,” Trump said. “Thank you very much.”

Although the president trolled the general assembly in true Trump fashion, others in his inner circle were not as lighthearted about the equipment problems.

RELATED: Trump rips into UN, globalists for failing to carry their weight: ‘They weren’t there’

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A report from the Sunday Times said that “UN staff members have joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators” in anticipation of Trump’s appearance and “tell him they ran out of money.” This excerpt has led many to speculate that U.N. staff may have intentionally sabotaged the escalator, causing a serious security risk for the president.

“If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

Leavitt later announced that the United States Secret Service launched an investigation to determine whether the malfunction was intentional.

“If we find that these were U.N. staffers who were purposefully trying to trip up — literally trip up — the president and the first lady of the United States, there better be accountability for those people, and I will personally see to it,” Leavitt said.

RELATED: Trump strongly defends Christianity at UN: ‘The most persecuted religion on the planet today’

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

While some of Trump’s allies are convinced that the escalator was sabotaged, U.N. officials point to a more innocuous explanation. In response to the speculation, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the escalator stopped “after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator.

“The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function,” Dujarric said in a statement.

“The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​United nations, Melania trump, Donald trump, Un, Karoline leavitt, Escalator, Teleprompter, Un speech, Stephane dujarric, Politics 

Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who launched the bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into the Trump campaign, was fired in 2018.

This termination took place several months after his removal from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team over Strzok’s damning text messages to then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, which denigrated the very people the bureau was investigating, including President Donald Trump.

‘The Court finds that there is no genuine dispute of material fact that would preclude the entry of summary judgment in the defendants’ favor.’

When Page texted Strzok ahead of the 2016 election for assurance that Trump was “not ever going to become president,” the FBI agent replied, “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.”

The bureau noted at the time of his termination that Strzok, whom President Donald Trump has labeled a “fraud” and a “sick loser,” “was subject to the standard FBI review and disciplinary process after conduct highlighted in the IG report was referred to the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility.”

While his firing appeared to be justly deserved, Strzok nevertheless filed a lawsuit in August 2019, challenging his dismissal and claiming that the Department of Justice and FBI violated his rights to free speech and privacy — even though his damning messages were exchanged on his FBI-issued device.

An Obama judge just delivered Strzok some bad news.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in a ruling Tuesday that after a review of years-worth of evidence and testimony, “The Court finds that there is no genuine dispute of material fact that would preclude the entry of summary judgment in the defendants’ favor and that [Strzok’s] motion for summary judgment should be denied.”

RELATED: Durham annex proves Russiagate was a coordinated smear

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Jackson noted that it was not up to her to decide “whether it was unnecessarily harsh to end plaintiff’s career after a long, unblemished record of outstanding service to the agency, or whether a severe sanction was necessary to address the lack of professionalism and appearance of bias in the messages.”

The question before her was instead whether the bureau’s firing of Strzok “comported with the Constitution.”

When considering Strzok’s First Amendment claim, Jackson noted that the Russiagate hoaxer’s “interest in expressing his opinions about political candidates on his FBI phone at that time was outweighed by the FBI’s interest in avoiding the appearance of bias in its ongoing investigations of those very people, and in protecting against the disruption of its law enforcement operations under then-Director Wray’s leadership.”

Jackson noted further that Strzok proved unable to point to evidence that the DOJ and FBI treated him any “more harshly than they would have treated employees in similar circumstances because the viewpoint expressed in the texts was critical of President Trump.”

Apparently, there was no point of comparison as the FBI officials deposed said the situation was unprecedented.

Jackson’s full opinion was filed under seal “because it contains references to materials, such as deposition transcripts, that were filed under seal in an abundance of caution at the request of at least one of the parties at the time.”

While Strzok lost this battle, the DOJ under former Attorney General Merrick Garland entered into a $1.2 million agreement with the Russiagate hoaxer in the final months of the Biden administration to settle his privacy-invasion claims.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed earlier this month that Garland and former FBI Director Christopher Wray decided to give Strzok the money.

Politico indicated that Strzok’s attorney did not respond to its request for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Peter strzok, Strzok, Fbi, Donald trump, Lisa page, Crossfire hurricane, Russiagate, Russia hoax, Hoax, Politics 

In George Strait’s hit song “The Best Day,” a son sings to his father:

Dad this could be the best day of my life.
Been dreamin’ day and night about the fun we’ll have.
Just me and you doing what I’ve always wanted to.
I’m the luckiest boy alive.
This is the best day of my life.

Last weekend, that song came to life for me. On a flight to Virginia, my 8-year-old son looked at me, grinning ear to ear, and said, “Dad, this is my favorite three days of the year.” Not Christmas. Not his birthday. Not even our family vacations. His favorite three days are spent with me, out in the hills of Virginia, at a small father-son retreat where 25 dads and their school-age sons come together to strengthen a sacred bond.

Being a father isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence. It’s about showing up, time and again.

For the third consecutive year, we packed up and made the trip. It’s become a tradition — canoeing down rivers, building bonfires, swapping stories, touring Civil War battlefields, and wandering through museums that tell the story of America. There’s something about being shoulder to shoulder with your son, not staring at a screen, not rushing from one practice to another, but instead living deliberately in fellowship with other fathers and sons.

These moments don’t just happen. They’re carved out, preserved, and passed down.

Building generational bonds

The retreat is as much for the dads as it is for the boys. While the kids disappear into the woods for laser tag or trampoline wars, the men gather by the fire. We sip whiskey, light cigars, and talk openly — about marriage, business, faith, and the challenges of raising children in a culture that increasingly dismisses the role of good men. Some conversations are heavy. Others are hilarious. But all of them are honest. It is, in every sense of the word, fellowship.

This is what it means to be present. And presence matters.

The statistics back it up. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, children raised without their father in the home are four times more likely to live in poverty, twice as likely to suffer from obesity, and significantly more likely to end up in prison.

Moreover, boys with highly involved fathers are less likely to use drugs, get suspended from school, or commit crimes. And when it comes to faith, the father’s role is critical: If a father practices his faith regularly, his children will have a much higher probability of remaining active in that faith as adults than if only the mother practices.

These facts don’t diminish the role of mothers. Rather, they recognize that fathers have a unique and irreplaceable role in shaping the lives of their sons. In a society that often paints men as disposable, retreats like the one my son and I attend remind us that masculinity, rightly ordered, is indispensable.

Boys will be men

What struck me most this year wasn’t the canoe trips or the campfire stories. It was watching my son interact with other boys — kids he doesn’t see often, but with whom he instantly bonded. They ran free, like boys are supposed to. Sticks became swords, forts were built, dirt was rubbed into grass-stained jeans. It was chaotic, loud, and glorious. And while they played, they also absorbed something deeper: the example of a band of men who were present, engaged, and invested in them.

We live in a culture that is quick to say, “Boys will be boys,” when excusing bad behavior, but slow to recognize that boys will be men one day — and the kind of men they become depends heavily on the kind of men they see. At this retreat, they saw dads who love their wives, work hard, and take their faith seriously. They saw that masculinity is not toxic, but life-giving.

Our founding fathers placed such importance on virtue for a reason. President George Washington himself said, “Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.” And where do boys learn virtue if not first at the knee of their fathers? Visiting Civil War battlefields with my son, I couldn’t help but think of the boys who became men on those very grounds, some no older than he is now, who sacrificed everything because their fathers taught them what was worth fighting for.

Presence over perfection

Being a father isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence. It’s about showing up, time and again, so that one day your 8-year-old son looks at you and says, “This is my favorite three days of the year.”

I left Virginia with a grateful heart and a renewed conviction. Our culture may tell men to step aside, to silence themselves, to apologize for who they are. But weekends like this one remind me that America doesn’t just need strong fathers — it depends on them. A nation that undermines fatherhood is a nation in decline. A nation that honors fatherhood is a nation with hope.

RELATED: This is true fatherhood: My dad’s final act defined love and manhood

Photo by O2O Creative via Getty Images

When Alexis de Tocqueville traveled through America in the 1830s, he marveled not at our government or our military, but at our families. He saw that the strength of American democracy was tied directly to the strength of American homes. Nearly two centuries later, that remains true.

A lifetime investment

So yes, this retreat was just three days in the hills of Virginia. But in reality, it was much more. It was proof that faith, family, and freedom are not abstract slogans — they are lived out one campfire, one canoe ride, one father-son conversation at a time. And if America is to endure, it will be because fathers step back into the role God gave them, raising sons who know both where they came from and where they are called to go.

When you tally it all up, the weekend’s scorecard looked something like this: one bloody nose, one trip to the hospital for X-rays on an arm, several Coors Lights, and memories no dad could count.

And maybe, just maybe, because an 8-year-old boy knew his dad was right there beside him.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Dads, Fatherhood, Father and son 

A Tennessee man who has fostered approximately 20 children was arrested in Florida after authorities discovered child pornography on his phone while he was returning from a cruise with his family, according to court documents.

Jason Alan Miller, 48, was arrested and charged with transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to an arrest affidavit.

The affidavit states that a Homeland Security Investigations agent observed a screenshot of a folder titled ‘6yo_rare’ containing multiple images of child sexual abuse material.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office told Blaze News that the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Miller on Sept. 13 and booked him into the Broward County Main Jail.

Following an eight-day cruise in the Caribbean, the Carnival Horizon ship returned Saturday to the Port of Miami, according to Cruisemapper, a cruise information app and website.

According to the affidavit obtained by WJHL-TV, Miller disembarked from the ship along with his pregnant wife and eight children, all ages 5 through 12 — seven of whom he adopted after fostering them.

After arriving at the port, officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection selected Miller for secondary inspection, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

The affidavit said CBP officers inspected Miller’s personal property, including a Samsung Galaxy cell phone.

Miller provided the passcode to unlock the cell phone, according to the affidavit.

WJHL reported, “While searching the device ‘pursuant to border search authority,’ officers found several photos of suspected child sexual abuse material in the device’s saved Google Photos application in a folder named ‘telegram,’ according to the affidavit.”

The affidavit states that a Homeland Security Investigations agent observed a screenshot of a folder titled “6yo_rare” containing multiple images of child sexual abuse material.

Citing the affidavit, the Daily Mail reported that the folder contained 45 illicit images.

According to the affidavit, Miller admitted to knowing there was child porn on his cell phone.

Miller had fostered approximately 20 children at his home over the last seven years, according to the affidavit.

If Miller is convicted of both charges, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

RELATED: How cops lured a pastor to city hall to arrest him on charges of unnatural intercourse, statutory rape, and child pornography

The CBP has the authority to inspect personal belongings at U.S. ports of entry:

All persons, baggage, and merchandise arriving in the Customs territory of the United States from places outside thereof are liable to inspection and search by a Customs officer. Port directors and special agents in charge are authorized to cause inspection, examination, and search to be made under section 467, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1467), of persons, baggage, or merchandise, even though such persons, baggage, or merchandise were inspected, examined, searched, or taken on board the vessel at another port or place in the United States or the Virgin Islands, if such action is deemed necessary or appropriate.

USA Today reported, “Travelers’ rights against warrantless searches are weakened within 100 miles of any port of entry, so any person is subject to being questioned and their electronic devices — including phones, tablets, and laptops — searched by border agents regardless of immigration status.”

The outlet said U.S. citizens technically don’t have to provide their cell phone’s unlock passcode to CBP agents.

The ACLU noted that U.S. citizens cannot be denied entry into the United States for “refusing to produce passwords, provide device access, or submit electronic devices for a search.”

However, the ACLU added that those who refuse could be detained, or their device “could be seized and not returned for weeks or months.”

The ACLU also said, “Noncitizen visa holders and visitors: You run the risk of being denied entry if you refuse to provide a password, and you should consider that risk before deciding how to proceed.”

Carnival Cruise Line, the U.S. Marshals, and the DHS did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Child sex crimes, Cruise, Carnival cruise, Child porn, Child pornography, Csam, Child sex abuse material, Crime, Arrest, Florida, Foster dad 

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed early Wednesday morning that there was an active shooter at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, Texas.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement to Blaze News that while details are still emerging, “we can confirm there were multiple injuries and fatalities. The shooter is deceased by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. While we don’t know motive yet, we know that our ICE law enforcement is facing unprecedented violence against them. It must stop. Please pray for the victims and their families.”

ICE agents and other immigration officers are facing an over 1,000% increase in assaults as the Trump administration carries out enhanced deportation operations. The attacks on the agents have been egged on by Democrat officials across the country, who have accused them of being similar to the “Gestapo” and want to prevent them from wearing masks.

Police sources told WFAA that two ICE detainees were killed and one person was injured, with the gunman being found on the roof nearby.

“The obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop. I’m praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families,” Vice President JD Vance said on X.

This is a breaking news story.

​Politics 

A stranger allegedly grabbed a propane tank and chucked it through a window of a Georgia home early Monday morning before going on a rampage inside the residence, WSB-TV reported.

A woman named Michelle — who didn’t give her last name — told the station she’s a member of the family that endured the frightening home invasion in Lawrenceville, noting that the suspect “grabbed a propane gas tank, the big ones from the back, threw it at the window, broke the window, and that’s how he came into the house.”

‘If every homeowner was armed, thugs would think twice about breaking in.’

WSB said video shows a male behind the family’s home just before 4:30 a.m. and that interior surveillance video shows a shirtless suspect destroying things inside the home while the family called 911 for help.

“He was in there getting naked, taking his clothes off, smashing stuff,” Michelle told the station.

Gwinnett County Police said the residents in the home in the 2000 block of Redbark Court immediately confronted the suspect, and officers surrounded the home with the male still inside with the victims.

Police noted that as officers entered the residence to arrest the suspect, the homeowner shot him, and the suspect died.

RELATED: 3 armed thugs wearing ski masks allegedly break into Texas home. But homeowner also has gun — and simply does what Texans do.

Police said homicide detectives and crime scene investigators responded to the scene to speak with witnesses and collect evidence. The name of the victim is being withheld until next of kin is notified, police said.

“This is such a calm neighborhood,” Michelle told WSB. “We’ve lived here for over 20 years, and nothing like this has ever occurred.”

Neighbors told the station that the suspect may have hopped a fence at a nearby shopping center and walked through the woods to get to the house.

Michelle told WSB she’s grateful her family members are all OK in the wake of the terrifying incident: “Yeah, my family is all safe. Thank God. God is good.”

No charges have been announced, the station said.

Observers had no sympathy for the suspect:

“Sounds like a FAFO situation,” one commenter reasoned.”I guess the burglar found out not to enter people’s homes to rob them!!!” another commenter exclaimed.”Don’t break in if you don’t want to take a dirt nap,” another commenter advised.”If every homeowner was armed, thugs would think twice about breaking in,” another commenter declared.”Well, well looks like homeowner wasn’t charged,” another commenter wrote. “I wonder why? Must be because a crazy dude broke into their house, and they have a right to protect themselves.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​2nd amend., Break-in, Crime thwarted, Fatal shooting, Georgia, Gun rights, Guns, Home invasion, Self-defense, Crime 

Democrats are working overtime to claim Antifa is not a real group after the Trump administration designated the loose, far-left network as a terrorist organization due to its connection with violent attacks and riots in cities across the United States.

“The Order directs the Federal government to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle all illegal operations conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa. It also calls for investigating, disrupting, and dismantling the funding sources behind such operations,” the White House explained as the purpose for the order.

The order cites the movement’s desire and actions designed to overthrow the U.S. government as justification for the designation.

Antifa’s decentralized structure is purposefully designed to make it harder for local law enforcement to dismantle cells.

“Name one member of ‘Antifa,'” Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) posted on X on Monday. “If it ‘explicitly’ calls for the overthrow of the USG, where can I find that statement? Trump is trying to suppress opposition by labeling anyone who dissents as a ‘domestic terrorist.’ Do not be fooled: This is lawless and unconstitutional.”

“This group ‘Antifa’ … are they in the room with you right now, Mr. President?” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) on Tuesday.

This is not the first time Democrats have falsely claimed Antifa does not exist. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) infamously called it a “myth” during the riots in the summer of 2020.

RELATED: Antifa may get a terrorist designation in Europe thanks to Trump: ‘Enough is enough!’

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on far-left violence in 2023, Goldman attacked the creditability of this author, who was a member of that hearing’s witnesses, because I worked for conservative media. Goldman went on to use an outdated quote from then-FBI Director Christopher Wray, calling Antifa an “ideology,” not an organization.

Antifa’s decentralized structure is purposefully designed to make it harder for local law enforcement to dismantle cells, though it is not impossible. An Antifa cell in San Diego was broken up last year by local prosecutors after securing criminal convictions for the members who fought Trump supporters in 2021.

Antifa radicals have been staging attacks and acts of vandalism at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southwest Portland, Oregon, this summer in response to the arrest of illegal aliens. Antifa was instrumental in organizing attacks on the federal courthouse in downtown Portland for over a month in 2020.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Antifa 

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) once again finds himself mired in controversy, this time facing questions from a fellow congressional Republican who doubts the validity of his Bronze Star and has accused Mills of engaging in “stolen valor,” an accusation some who served with Mills have leveled as well.

Mills has long leaned on his military service and Bronze Star as evidence that he has the qualifications to serve his community in Congress. “Cory Mills is a decorated U.S. Army combat Veteran, and recipient of the Bronze Star,” an old version of his official government bio stated.

As recently as July 18, Mills repeated the “Bronze Star recipient” boast.

‘All this could be put to bed with real, verified documents, and he doesn’t have them or refuses to share them.’

However, as Blaze News previously reported, questions have swirled for years about Mills’ Bronze Star and the DA Form 638 used to recommend him for it. A photo of the form that has circulated online does confirm that Mills was recommended for a “Bronze Star medal” for his “SVC” in Operation Iraqi Freedom. It also suggests that now-retired Brig. Gen. Arnold Gordon-Bray signed off on the application.

According to Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), that form was completed and signed by someone other than Gen. Bray.

“The general did not sign the form,” Mace told Blaze News during a phone interview. Mace then reiterated that accusation on Tuesday’s episode of “Blaze News: The Mandate.”

“I spoke to General Bray over the weekend,” Mace told hosts Matthew Peterson and Jill Savage. “… Well, come to find out the general whose name is on that form didn’t even sign it and didn’t actually see the document before his signature was placed on it.”

RELATED: Cory Mills vs. the truth: Top 10 times the GOP wunderkind played fast and loose with the facts

Blaze News reviewed a recording of Mace’s conversation with Bray. On the recording, the man identified himself as Gen. Bray and confirmed that he authorized the Form 638 for Mills via an email sent to a woman named Cathy, whom Bray believed to be a member of Mills’ staff. A woman named Catherine Treadmill does work as Mills’ chief of staff.

Bray also acknowledged on the recording that the form was incomplete when he first reviewed it and that he did not sign it himself. Instead, he said that his email to Cathy would serve as his “signature.”

Though Bray denied ever signing the form, a signature does appear on it:

Screenshot of corymillswatch.com

Gen. Bray did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

Another point of contention with the DA Form 638 linked to Mills is that it was issued on an April 2021 version of the document, even as the document indicates the Bronze Star was for Mills’ service in Iraq between February and June 2003.

Mace, who noted that she is not a veteran, told Blaze News that while “upgrades” in military awards appear to be nothing unusual, the military typically does not issue a new award after so much time has lapsed. As she described it, soldiers very rarely go “from zero to something” after nearly two decades.

“My understanding is that soldiers do get upgrades periodically,” she explained. “… Usually, when you see these forms filled out 20, 25 years later, it’s an upgrade of an award because new information has been provided, new witnesses, information that was missing because there is the fog of war. It’s usually in an upgrade scenario. That’s not what this is.”

“All this could be put to bed with real, verified documents,” Mace told Blaze News, “and he doesn’t have them or refuses to share them.”

Furthermore, not all Bronze Stars are created equal. A Bronze Star with a valor device is awarded to those who have demonstrated remarkable bravery on the battlefield. Those Bronze Stars such as Mills’ without the valor device are rather commonplace these days, denoting some demonstration of general merit.

Another source who spoke with Bray told Blaze News that Bray emphasized that the Bronze Star he authorized for Mills was for merit only and did not have the valor device. On the recording, Bray confirmed that he recommended Bronze Stars for all of his platoon sergeants, including Mills.

RELATED: Rep. Mills’ risky road trip through Syria raises eyebrows

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

After Mills cast the deciding vote last week against Mace’s bill that would have censured Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for her disparaging remarks about the late Charlie Kirk, Mace began a tweet storm about Mills, sharing many of the alarming allegations against him that Blaze News has reported in recent months.

On “The Mandate” on Tuesday, Mace expressed admiration for whatever military service Mills rendered but indicated that the integrity of that service has been compromised by Mills’ repeated lies and exaggerations about it. She even hinted that he is an “imposter.”

‘There’s no reason to lie and say that you’re Rambo or 007 or this Ranger sniper commando guy … — there’s no “there” there.’

“He told people he was an Army Ranger,” Mace stated. “I talked to two people today who knew him, and they flat-out said he said he was an Army Ranger and was a sniper and all these things. Turns out it was not true.”

“I think it’s very admirable that Cory Mills was an ambulance driver like he was,” she said, though quickly adding that “we’re not even sure he was trained as a medic. We can’t find proof of that right now.

“But,” she continued, “whether you’re a medic or an ambulance driver, you have decided to serve your country. That, in and of itself, is admirable. So there’s no reason to lie and say that you’re Rambo or 007 or this Ranger sniper commando guy … — there’s no ‘there’ there.”

Mace stated that Mills’ troubling track record of alleged stolen valor, among other accusations, makes him a threat to “national security” and should therefore lead to his removal from his congressional committees.

“Because of this negativity, the negative press he’s been attracting for months locally, his seat’s at risk if we don’t replace him,” Mace claimed on “The Mandate.” “And then when you look at the allegations of the arms dealing, the bags of cash, allegedly, you know, is this guy a national security threat? He sits … on the Foreign Affairs Committee. How the heck is he even on this committee? If there is allegations are swirling around him, we can’t have someone who’s stolen valor on the House Armed Services Committee.

“Like, what are we even talking about?”

Mills’ spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Cory mills, Nancy mace, Stolen valor, Bronze star, Forgery, Politics 

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

RELATED: The radical left is poisoning our schools — here’s how we fight back

Photo by Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

Want more from Glenn Beck? Get Glenn’s FREE email newsletter with his latest insights, top stories, show prep, and more delivered to your inbox.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Charlie kirk, Charlie kirk assassination, Charlie kirk memorial, Hillsdale, Online courses, Education, College, Universities, Broke students, Self education 

Sometimes I sit down to write, and I can’t.

More often than not, the only topics that really move my heart (and fingers) to put something down on a digital page are, in some way, related to being a parent.

Parenting is the great leveler. Not everyone becomes one, but everyone who becomes one becomes the same thing.

I sit there, stuck, wondering if I really want to write about parenthood as much as I do. With a blank look on my face, my fingers resting on the thin black keys, the cursor blinking on the white page, my eyes search the sky as I investigate the corners in my brain trying to find anything I really care about.

Stuck, at a loss.

Slipping on Hot Wheels

So I ask myself, “Why wouldn’t I write about parenthood?” People who are single and dating write about finding love. People in war write about death. I’m a dad, so I write about slipping on Hot Wheels cars first thing in the morning, the pictures my kids draw, and how being the bad guy (because if you don’t teach your kids right, no one else will) really is the worst part of it all because I really just want to have a good time with my kids.

I saw a post from Barstool Sports the other day. It read: “Negotiation Masterclass: Hunter Renfrow Missed 10 Calls From The Panthers About Signing A Contract Because His Daughter Declined Them All To Watch ‘Bluey’ On His Phone.”

I don’t know who Hunter Renfrow is, and I don’t really care about professional football, but it was one of the most human and relatable things I had read that day. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how famous you are, if you are a parent, you are a parent, and if you are a parent, you know what that means.

The great leveler

Parenting is the great leveler. Not everyone becomes one, but everyone who becomes one becomes the same thing. Sometimes, I see videos of kids in Japan or Africa, South America or some other far-flung place, and they are doing the same things my kids do. Sometimes, I see silly “parent humor” Instagram videos from these same places, and I get the jokes. I have no idea what they are saying, but I know what’s happening.

I once saw a video of a baby gorilla poking a big gorilla in the butt and running away whenever the big gorilla turned his head to see who was doing the poking. After the third poke, the big gorilla (who we are supposed to believe is the parent) chases after the little gorilla, disappearing off screen. Someone’s in trouble.

Ever since having kids, I’ve been trying to figure out what really changes in you. I don’t mean the surface level stuff like having another little person to care for or worry about. I don’t mean the obvious logistical stuff of transportation, either. I mean the deeper thing. The feeling inside that you didn’t feel before.

I’m not sure I really understand it and am not sure I can really put it all into words, either. The closest I’ve been able to come to describing it is when you are a parent, you become more of everything: more intense and harsher, yet also, weirdly, more emotional and softer. I think you just become more human, and the knowledge that this becoming more in every way is a universal experience is comforting in some sense.

RELATED: What fatherhood has taught me as my children move on

Photo by Taylor Kopel via Unsplash

On the same page

In our strange era, we have a tendency to see ourselves as something apart from the world. With so much criticism to level at the multitude of problems we see, we end up estranged from more and more of the basic human experience of life on earth in 2025. On a shrinking island floating off beyond the atmosphere and into space, we are alone with a critical stance directed toward everything and everyone else.

We are atomized by the format of the digital world, too. Weirdly connected in some new, shallow ways, but alone and isolated in other deeper ones. There’s no mass media anymore and no grand civilizational stories, either; no one’s on the same page. An empty world observed by lonely people with nothing in common other than the fact that they share nothing in common. That’s how the modern world can feel at the extreme.

But that universal experience of being a parent, that’s real, and it’s comforting, and it’s not going away. It’s not dependent on time or era. Sure, maybe parenting looked a little different in the year 392, but there were parents, and there were kids, and some things never change.

Not alone, not unique

The knowledge that you aren’t alone and that even people who you don’t like and will never like share that same thing; the realization that you even share this with your greatest enemies, and even though you never meet, there is some unspoken thing or secret you are both aware of: There is something strangely comforting about it.

I write about being a parent because that’s who I am right now. It’s what fills my days and what makes my worries. I like writing about it because I have a lot to say about it, even if I sometimes wonder if I should write about it as much as I do. But I think I also write about it, or enjoy writing about it, because of the universalism of it, the leveling, and the historically unremarkable yet totally transformational experience it (being a parent) is.

It’s also humanizing knowing I’m not alone and not unique and that all parents and all kids are the same in some way — it’s always been this way and always will be. It’s playing a little part in a big story, the biggest one in the world: the story of life. I think I’ll keep writing about being parent.

​Men’s style, Parenthood, Fatherhood, Lifestyle, The root of the matter 

The average American parent has no idea who Ta-Nehisi Coates is — and that would normally be a blessing. His writings on race offer nothing new or edifying. He is a darling of the intellectual left who advances its racialist philosophy through anecdote and grievance.

But his recent denunciation of Charlie Kirk in Vanity Fair should prompt parents to take notice. If your kids plan to attend a university — especially a public one — they will be taught Coates’ worldview: that America is a systemically racist nation steeped in “heteronormativity” and “exclusion.”

Coates substitutes personal narrative for reasoned debate, even as he cashes checks and accepts awards from the very nation he condemns.

Much of my career has been spent exposing the radical left’s capture of the humanities. The method is always the same: sweeping declarations, superficial evidence, and endless personal stories of mistreatment that become excuses for remaking the world. Coates’ work fits the pattern perfectly. It is not inspirational. It is self-pity repackaged as wisdom.

Caricaturing Charlie

In his postmortem of Kirk, Coates warns that memorializing him might overlook his faults. At first, that sounds like a truism — we all fall short. But funerals are not for airing grievances. They are for remembering what we loved in the departed. The “bad things” fade into insignificance, and the dead cannot defend themselves against unfair caricature.

Yet caricature is exactly what Coates serves up. He repeats leftist talking points with such confidence that casual readers may mistake them for facts. They are not. They are distortions that reveal the low academic rigor of today’s radical left. For Coates, everything revolves around feelings of “hate,” never truth or argument.

Feelings over reason

This has always been Coates’ style. He substitutes personal narrative for reasoned debate, even as he cashes checks and accepts awards from the very nation he condemns. The hypocrisy is obvious. Consider Ibram X. Kendi, another star in Coates’ circle, exposed for wasting millions meant to “end racism” while achieving nothing of the kind. The pattern is grievance rewarded, not results delivered.

What Coates really offers is a window into a mind shaped by anger, envy, and resentment. A man showered with praise and wealth should rejoice in the opportunities America provided and use his platform to inspire others. Instead, he insists that structural racism explains every hardship. He never considers alternative interpretations or the role of moral choices in shaping outcomes.

Staying in school, avoiding drugs, marrying before having children — these choices matter. The statistics are clear. None of them hinge on “structural racism.”

Kirk understood this. When confronted by students claiming that poverty forces crime, he rejected the premise. That view dehumanizes the poor, excuses immorality, and reduces human life to material conditions. Kirk countered with a vision rooted in responsibility, virtue, and perseverance.

Coates, by contrast, repeats the falsehood that Kirk hated immigrants and LGBTQ people. He didn’t. He hated the sins that enslave people. He loved them as fellow humans and wanted them freed through Christ. He urged compliance with immigration laws not out of hate but out of respect for the rule of law — the same standard applied to Americans abroad. These facts are easily verifiable if one is willing to look.

The hypocrisy goes deeper. When Jimmy Kimmel was recently suspended, comedian Jim Gaffigan urged people to read his words directly rather than rely on secondhand distortions. Good advice. Why won’t the left follow it when it comes to Charlie Kirk? President Barack Obama claimed he never censored opponents, but his record shows otherwise. For decades, the left has policed speech, thought, and hiring.

A grievance parade

Coates claims to fear that American history is being covered up. What he really fears is that his interpretation of history has been challenged and found wanting.

He dwells on slavery but ignores the hundreds of thousands of young men who died to end it and the countless Christians who fought for abolition. He invokes Jim Crow and redlining but skips over the Democratic Party’s role in enforcing them. He wields “racism” as a bludgeon against dissent. But that weapon has lost its power.

RELATED: Joy Reid said the quiet part out loud — and it’s ugly

Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Fast Company

American history is human history — the story of sinners, yes, but also of a nation shaped by Christians who proclaimed that true freedom comes only through Christ. Charlie Kirk preached that message. He affirmed the dignity of his opponents by debating them. He loved his country, he upheld its laws, he wanted its people to flourish — but above all, he loved Christ and urged students to turn to Him as Savior.

That is what we should remember. And that is what Coates cannot understand.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Charlie kirk, Charlie kirk assassination, Ta-nehisi coates, Grievance, Grievance studies, Blm, Black lives matter, Critical race theory, Critical race theory in classrooms, Critical race theory in schools 

When Kevin Weller signed a lease at Portside Towers in Jersey City, New Jersey, the rent was already steep — around $4,500 a month. Living just across the Hudson River from Manhattan might have made it worth it, but it hardly made it manageable. By the time his first lease ended, he was shocked to learn that his rent would jump $1,500 a month. Soon, he discovered that many of his neighbors were facing similar hikes, with increases reaching 30% to 40%.

This wasn’t the result of sudden building upgrades or soaring property taxes. The new rates were being set by an algorithm.

Algorithms are quietly reshaping American housing — not through real market forces, but through engineered scarcity and price manipulation.

RealPage, a Texas-based company, produces rent-setting software now used in roughly one-quarter of the U.S. multifamily housing sector. Landlords feed the system private data about vacancies, rental histories, and competitor pricing. The program then spits out a “recommended” rent, which, according to ProPublica, is followed 90% of the time.

Instead of landlords competing with one another to attract tenants, many are now marching in lockstep, guided by the same software. The White House estimates that in 2023 alone, renters paid an additional $3.8 billion because of this practice. For tenants, that means higher costs, fewer concessions, and diminished bargaining power, all while corporate landlords reap higher profits.

A price manipulation monopoly

The Justice Department, joined by attorneys general from eight states, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage in federal court. The complaint alleges that RealPage’s software violates Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by reducing competition and monopolizing the rental pricing software market.

The system relies on landlords sharing sensitive rental data, which the algorithm uses to set prices and restrict independent decision-making. Features like “auto accept” and built-in pricing advisers push landlords to maximize rent and minimize discounts.

With an estimated 80% market share, RealPage has created a data-driven feedback loop that entrenches its dominance. Internal documents reveal executives boasting about preventing a “race to the bottom,” while one landlord even admitted the software felt like “classic price fixing.”

RealPage’s defenders argue the program simply improves efficiency and that landlords still act independently. They claim there is no proof of coordinated intent — a requirement for antitrust violations — and warn that the government’s case could stifle innovation and restrict housing supply. Yet the software’s design undermines those defenses. When landlords feed the same data into the same system and overwhelmingly follow its recommendations, independence is more fiction than fact.

Some cities aren’t waiting for the courts to decide. San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and San Diego have already passed bans on algorithmic rent setting, and others are considering similar measures. RealPage, in response, has begun challenging these laws, even going so far as to argue that its rent recommendations are protected speech.

But housing isn’t a luxury like a rideshare you can cancel when prices surge. It is the foundation of stability, family, and community. Treating homes as mere commodities to be optimized for corporate profit through opaque algorithms erodes that foundation.

Federal action required

Congress and state legislatures should follow the lead of cities that have acted. Whether through outright bans on algorithmic rent-setting, requirements for transparency in AI pricing tools, or stronger tenant protections against extreme hikes, higher levels of government must step in.

RELATED: America’s ‘prosperity’ is built on broken families and debt

Photo by Greggory DiSalvo via Getty Images

Kevin Weller’s story shows what is at stake. He and millions like him face an impossible choice: Accept rent hikes dictated by a line of code, or risk losing their homes and communities. Multiply his story across the station, and it becomes clear that algorithms are quietly reshaping American housing — not through real market forces, but through engineered scarcity and price manipulation.

Overriding the free market

We should not wait for a court to tell us what common sense already makes clear. The question is not only whether RealPage’s tactics are legal. The question is whether they are fair to everyday Americans.

Some might say that banning the use of these algorithms is anti-free-market, but the opposite is true. This powerful technology is being used to manipulate markets, often to the benefit of large corporations that are supposed to provide a public benefit in exchange for special tax breaks and liability protections.

No families should be forced from their homes by corporate software designed to squeeze every last penny from working Americans.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Realpage, Price fixing, Rent, Rent control, Rent prices, Monopoly 

Even MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow couldn’t save former Vice President Kamala Harris from herself during a recent interview where she asked her some questions about her latest book, “107 Days.”

“Madame Vice President, I have to ask you about the, I think the part of your book that has people most upset thus far, which is some of your writing about the decision around the president abandoning his re-election campaign, the timing there, and how it’s handled,” Maddow said to Harris.

“You say in part, page 46, ‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision. We all said that like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision,’” Maddow continued.

“Whose decision should that have been? How should that decision have been made?” she then asked.

“So, when I write this,” Harris began, as she appeared to struggle to find her words, “it’s because I realize that I have, and had, a certain responsibility that I should have followed through on, which is — and so when I talk about the recklessness, as much as anything I’m talking about myself.”

“There was so much, as we know, at stake, and as I write, you know, where my head was at at the time is that it would be completely — it would come off as being completely self-serving,” she added.

“If you said to President Biden that you did not think he should run again?” Maddow asked.

“Yeah. Or even that he should question whether it’s a good idea,” Harris replied.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray is shocked that Harris so willingly gave up that information.

“Is that an admission that she knew he shouldn’t be running?” Gray asks, intrigued. “But she stayed quiet.”

“Kamala Harris,” executive producer Keith Malinak asks, pretending to press the former VP further, “who tweeted for Joe Biden, especially on that day he dropped out? Did they run the tweet by you first?”

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.

​Video phone, Camera phone, Sharing, Upload, Free, Video, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Keith malinak, Rachel maddow, Msnbc, Mainstream media, Joe biden, Jill biden, Joe biden mental decline, Kamala harris, Kamala harris interview, Kamala harris confession 

Two people have been arrested after police said they found six children locked inside a storage unit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last Tuesday.

Milwaukee police were dispatched to the storage units near 27th and Silver Spring after receiving a report of a child crying from inside a locked unit, according to court documents.

‘We’re not supposed to be loud.’

When they investigated the report, police said they heard a child crying and another coughing, so they brought in the Milwaukee Fire Department to cut off the unit’s padlock. Inside they found the children, ages 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 years old, as well as a 2-month-old baby.

The unit had only a bucket for the children to relieve themselves, and police said there was just a small sliver of light coming through the crack of the door.

“We’re not supposed to be loud,” one child said to an officer.

The oldest child identified the parents as 33-year-old Charles Dupriest and 26-year-old Azyia Zielinski, and allegedly told police that they locked the children in the unit. He also said he was in charge of taking care of the baby and had no way to contact the parents in case of an emergency.

Dupriest and Zielinski would drink “tequila and vodka, become drunk, and slump over,” according to the child.

Police said the unit was in disarray and the smell inside was so “putrid” that they could not remain inside, even with the door open. There was a couch and a twin mattress without bedsheets for the children to sleep on. They found a box of chips, milk, and a case of soda. The unit had no electricity, lights, or running water.

RELATED: Wife and son helped father dismember man’s body with a chainsaw after a lethal poker game, police say

Dupriest and Zielinski were found sleeping in an SUV in the parking lot of the storage facility, and they told police that they were homeless and slept in the car with their dog. Later, they admitted that the children could have stayed with family members.

Zielinski told police that they had been living in the storage unit for about a month and a half but had been trying to secure housing for seven years. She said they received support from the Women, Infants, and Children federal program; food stamps; and $2,000 in Social Security benefits.

Police said they claimed to have been “kicked out” of a rescue mission after she gave birth, but a spokesperson for the organization told WDJT-TV that they had claimed to have found permanent housing before leaving.

Zielinski made her first appearance in court on Friday, where she was berated by the court commissioner.

“We have your children stating that they had no food, that the only food they found was from the garbage. They didn’t have a bathroom. They used a bucket,” the commissioner said. “And what’s more disturbing than all of that are the statements that both you and father had made that you and the children could have stayed with family members.”

Both were charged with six counts of child neglect, while Dupriest also faced a charge of criminal possession of a weapon.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Azyia zielinski arrest, Charles dupriest arrest, Children in storage unit, 6 children locked up, Crime