Suspected provocateur specifically stated, ‘We’re here to storm the capitol. I’m not kidding.’ In a new mini-documentary diving into Jan. 6, investigative journalist Lara Logan [more…]
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Agroterrorism plot? Chinese nationals arrested for smuggling potential bioweapon into US: FBI
Federal authorities arrested two Chinese nationals after they were accused of attempting to smuggle a potential bioweapon into the United States, claiming they wanted to use it to conduct research at the University of Michigan.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced charges against Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Zunyong Liu.
‘These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a “potential agroterrorism weapon” into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme.’
According to authorities, Liu arrived in the U.S. with a bag of fungus, Fusarium graminearum, which could be used as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon. The biological pathogen causes a devastating disease in wheat, barley, maize, and rice, the Detroit News reported.
RELATED: Rubio to ‘aggressively’ revoke Chinese nationals’ student visas to eviscerate CCP’s spy invasion
Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
An FBI agent claimed in a criminal filing that Liu made “false statements” to Customs and Border Protection officers regarding his reason for visiting the U.S. and his knowledge of the fungus in his possession.
“Ultimately, Liu admitted to smuggling the pathogen and stated that he brought the pathogen into the United States so that he could conduct research on it at a laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked,” the agent wrote.
Interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon stated, “The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals — including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party — are of the gravest national security concerns.”
“These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’ into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme,” Gorgon added.
RELATED: Chinese national accused of voting in US election skips hearing, prompting bench warrant
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The federal charges follow President Donald Trump’s crackdown on China’s infiltration of American universities.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration would implement new visa restrictions on Chinese students.
He wrote in a post on X, “The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
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Florida drug traffickers reportedly tortured rival by pouring hot sauce into parts of his body
Lured by the prospect of receiving payment for an outstanding debt, a drug trafficking rival of Mario Espino came to Espino’s Florida residence in October 2023, federal officials said.
But no payment was made, officials said.
Agents found the victim in the back seat with a pillowcase over his head and zip ties and electrical cords around his wrists, officials said.
Instead, the rival — who also worked with Espino previously — was subjected to 18 hours of torture and physical abuse, officials said.
According to court documents, Espino plotted with Jacob James Guest and Joey Lawrence Eugene Young to kidnap the victim, officials said, adding that the trio bound, beat, and tortured him.
As part of the victim’s torture, Espino and Young resorted to “pouring hot sauce in [his] eyes and anus,” Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Sullivan wrote in Espino’s sentencing memorandum, according to the New York Post.
Espino, Guest, and Young also demanded 10 kilograms of fentanyl as ransom from the trafficker’s cartel drug sources, officials said.
Fentanyl seized. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The Post, citing court records, added that Espino had been frustrated over being cut out of the victim’s drug business.
On October 11, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office rescued the victim from a vehicle that Espino, Guest, and Young abandoned when law enforcement approached, officials said.
Agents found the victim in the back seat with a pillowcase over his head and zip ties and electrical cords around his wrists, officials said.
Espino, Guest, and Young also left behind 22 kilograms of methamphetamine, 100 grams of fentanyl, a firearm, and more than $10,000 in cash, officials said.
The United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida, on Thursday announced that U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven sentenced Espino — now 25 years old — along with Guest and Young — now 24 and 25, respectively — to federal prison for drug trafficking, kidnapping, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of their drug trafficking crimes.
Espino received 22 years and 6 months behind bars while Guest got 20 years and Young got 25 years, officials said, adding that each of them previously pleaded guilty to the offenses.
Brian A. Jackson/South Florida Sun Sentinel
In regard to what could happen next to the defendants, Amy H. Filjones — public affairs specialist for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida — told Blaze News that the Sentencing Reform Act eliminated parole for federal crimes committed after November 1, 1987.
Tampa attorney Ron Frey added to Blaze News that “early release into a supervised release can be possible via various programs and through earned good time credit. However, this is all subject to eligibility and the specific characteristics of each particular defendant.”
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Ukraine drone strikes just changed EVERYTHING about warfare
For years, Glenn Beck has been warning of the changes coming to warfare. The next major war, he predicted, would be fought not with machine guns and fighter pilots but with artificial intelligence and drones.
Last weekend proved him right.
On Sunday, June 1, Ukraine launched a major drone attack, dubbed “Operation Spiderweb,” targeting Russian air bases across five regions. Employing over 100 drones, Ukraine struck key military airfields, reportedly destroying or damaging around 41 Russian aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers, causing an estimated $7 billion in damage.
Marine veteran and Glenn’s chief researcher, Jason Buttrill, says Operation Spiderweb just changed warfare forever.
From satellites to fracking rigs, conflict has long been the driver behind innovation, he explains. “Wars have always pushed technology.” Last weekend, Ukraine essentially turned “a $20,000 semi-truck into an aircraft carrier. That’s what we’re looking at right now.”
These drones “took out 30%” of Russia’s “strategic bombers,” says Glenn. “We’ve never been able to do anything like that.”
“The name of the game changed this weekend,” says Jason, calling Operation Spiderweb “a test drive.”
“Is that good or bad?” asks co-host Stu Burguiere. “There’s an argument that if drones are killing drones, that’s maybe a better place than where we’ve been over the past century where it’s people that are doing all the dying.”
“That is the question of our times,” says Glenn.
Jason says his mind “goes to the same conclusion that the war planners of World War II had when they created the nuclear bomb.”
Warfare shifted from killing soldiers in World War I to bombing factories in World War II to weaken the enemy, but since factories and drone control centers are in cities where people are, drone warfare may end up killing many civilians.
Right now, Vladimir Putin and his security council are asking, “Where are these things being produced? Where are they being trained? Where are they learning to do these things? Where are they pushing the button to do these things?”
The answer, Jason says, is in “cities,” which is a “very bad thing” for Ukraine citizens considering “Russia does have the ability to counter.”
However, Ukrainian leaders just proved that “[they] do have cards,” and they are “not coming from a place of weakness,” Stu points out.
Will this revelation drive Russia to the peace table?
“How do you as Vladimir Putin address your people and say, ‘Hey, we just made peace after they just took down 30% of our strategic bombers?’” Glenn asks.
“I don’t see how you can,” says Stu.
To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.
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Federal judge temporarily orders prisons to provide ‘transgender’ therapy despite Trump order
Prisons that deny trans-identifying prisoners hormone therapy could be guilty of cruel and unusual punishment, according to the newest ruling of a federal judge against the Trump administration.
Senior Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a request from a group of trans-identifying prisoners on Tuesday for a temporary restraining order against a ban on hormone therapy.
‘Neither the BOP nor the Executive Order provides any serious explanation as to why the treatment modalities … should be handled differently.’
The Federal Bureau of Prisons was ordered to provide the therapy to the group of trans-identifying prisoners as well as 2,000 other prisoners who were certified under the ruling as belonging to the same class who would suffer irreparable harm otherwise.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20 that banned federal funds for treatments provided “for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.”
The lawsuit from the inmates in the case argued that the order to categorically withdraw “gender-affirming health care” from trans-identifying prisoners “regardless of their individualized medical need” is a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment prohibits the government from subjecting prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment.
“Neither the BOP nor the Executive Order provides any serious explanation as to why the treatment modalities covered by the Executive Order … should be handled differently than any other mental health intervention,” Lamberth wrote in the opinion.
Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prisons Project, said in a statement to Newsweek: “This is a critical ruling for our clients and all transgender people in Bureau of Prisons custody. This administration’s cruelty towards transgender people disregards their rights under the Constitution.”
Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Taxpayer-funded surgery for trans-identifying prisoners became a key issue in the 2024 election when it was discovered that Kamala Harris had indicated on a survey of candidates that she supported the trans prisoner surgeries. Trump lambasted Harris with the policy, and her campaign could not refute the accusation.
Neither a spokesperson for the Justice Department nor the Bureau of Prisons responded to a request for comment from Politico.
Lamberth was nominated to the court by former President Ronald Reagan.
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Trump-backed conservative wins Polish presidency, can torpedo Tusk’s liberal agenda: ‘Rebuff to the Brussels oligarchy’
Polish boxer-turned-historian Karol Nawrocki met last month with President Donald Trump and attended an event at the White House marking the National Day of Prayer. Nawrocki reportedly shared with Polish media that Trump told him he would win the Polish presidential election.
Trump was right again.
Nawrocki, backed by Poland’s national-conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) Party, defeated the liberal mayor of Warsaw — whom Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deemed a “train wreck” — in Poland’s presidential election runoff on Sunday. The results, published on Monday, showed that Nawrocki beat Rafał Trzaskowski 50.89% to 49.11%, thereby securing a five-year term.
‘You picked a WINNER!’
Upon taking office on Aug. 6, Nawrocki can continue former President Andrzej Duda’s work of preventing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s “globalist liberal government” from simultaneously advancing its leftist, pro-European Union agenda and from undoing the reforms undertaken by the previous PiS government.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Nawrocki on his “hard-earned victory,” noting that “together, the United States and Poland will forge the most ambitious alliance in our shared history on defense, energy, and commerce.”
Trump said in a Truth Social post, “Congratulations Poland, you picked a WINNER!”
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Nawrocki noted in response that his top priorities are a “strong alliance with the USA, as well as partnership based on close cooperation.”
In addition to opposing illegal immigration and the EU’s ruinous migration frameworks, the former boxer made abundantly clear on the campaign trail his opposition to leftist social policies, promising to axe any legislation that threatens to weaken Poland’s pro-life legislation or normalize non-heterosexual unions, reported the Catholic News Agency.
Nawrocki also emphasized that Poland’s national culture is rooted in traditional Catholic values, telling supporters, “Poland’s strength lies in its faith and family values.”
‘It’s bad news for the EU, Ukraine and women.’
Homeland Security Secretary Noem likened Nawrocki to Trump last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Poland and suggested that under his leadership, Poland could “steer Europe back toward conservative values.”
Various European conservatives and populists celebrated Nawrocki’s victory, including Jordan Bardella, the president of France’s right-wing populist National Rally party, who tweeted, “The Polish people have spoken and their free and democratic choice must be respected, including by the Brussels leaders who ardently hoped for their defeat.”
“Faced with a European Commission whose authoritarian policies and federalist ambitions are brutalizing national sovereignty, Karol Nawrocki’s victory in the Polish presidential election is welcome news,” said Marine Le Pen, former National Rally president. “It is a rebuff to the Brussels oligarchy, which intends to impose a standardization of legislation on member states, contrary to any democratic will.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán Viktor called the election a “nail-biter,” calling the outcome a “fantastic victory.”
Western liberals, meanwhile, clutched pearls and ramped up their fear-mongering.
Adam Simpson, a lecturer at the University of South Australia, wrote, “Nawrocki’s win has given pro-Donald Trump, anti-liberal, anti-EU forces across the continent a shot in the arm. It’s bad news for the EU, Ukraine and women.”
RELATED: Rubio wages war on foreign free-speech tyrants with visa ban
The White House
Simpson acknowledged that it’s harder to frame Nawrocki as “Russia-friendly” — a framing routinely used by critics of other national conservatives and populists in the region.
‘More anti-European, nationalist and pro-Trump.’
It’d be an especially hard case to make that Nawrocki is sympathetic to Moscow given he has called Russia a “barbaric state,” recommended cutting off diplomatic relations with the Kremlin, and has personally been put on a Russian wanted list after leading efforts to topple Soviet monuments while director of the Museum of the Second World War and head of the Institute of National Remembrance, reported ABC News.
Nevertheless, critics have made hay out of the incoming Polish president’s vow to oppose NATO membership for Ukraine and suggestion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “treats Poland badly.”
Piotr Buras, head of the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Warsaw office, told the Washington Post that Nawrocki will be a “much more radical politician” than his predecessor — “more anti-European, nationalist and pro-Trump.”
Anne Applebaum, the Atlantic staff writer who smeared as propagandists early proponents of the pandemic lab-leak theory and wasted ink last year imagining parallels between Trump and various 20th-century dictators, made sure to repeatedly label Nawrocki as an “authoritarian populist.”
In the wake of the election, Tusk, now facing some calls to step down, indicated the Polish parliament will hold a confidence vote on his government.
Jacek Sasin, a PiS parliamentarian, suggested that Tusk was a “completely frivolous man who got a red card from the Poles.”
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Elon Musk issues fiery statement against Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ — and the White House responds immediately
The White House wasted no time in responding to a fiery statement by tech billionaire Elon Musk against the president’s “big, beautiful” spending bill on Tuesday.
In a missive on Tuesday, Musk ripped into the members of Congress who voted for the bill. President Donald Trump has been pushing for passage of the massive spending bill in order to press forward on his political agenda.
‘This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.’
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” wrote Musk on the X platform.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,” he added.
The statement was a shock to many after Musk battled public criticism for donating millions to the Trump campaign last year as well as heading up the Department of Government Efficiency after Trump took office. Musk stepped down from the position on Friday after his 130-day tenure as a special government employee ended.
RELATED: Elon Musk takes jab at Trump’s ‘big, beautiful, bill’: ‘I was disappointed’
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by Peter Doocy of Fox News to comment on the level of anger the president might have after hearing the comments from his billionaire ally.
“Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” she responded.
“It doesn’t change the president’s opinion,” she added. “This is one big, beautiful bill, and Trump is sticking to it.”
Here’s video of Leavitt’s response:
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Republicans mock Democrats’ latest move to troll Trump
The Democratic National Committee again showed an inability to effectively counter the Trump administration on Tuesday, this time by funding a taco truck to be parked outside Republican headquarters in the nation’s capital.
The taco truck alludes to an acronym Democrats have been pushing in recent weeks: Trump Always Chickens Out, a reference to the administration’s tariffs and trade deals. The taco truck is serving free tacos as part of the troll.
“With his idiotic trade policy, he talks a big game, caves, and then leaves working families and small businesses to deal with the fallout,” DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement to Axios. “Trump always chickens out — we’re just bringing the tacos to match.”
The Republican National Committee fired back that this is not the first time the DNC has wasted money on a stunt that falls flat.
“LMFAO. A taco truck? Are they going to be giving out free vasectomies again too?” RNC spokesperson Zach Parkinson said, referring to the Planned Parenthood site at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. “These people are morons. No wonder Democrats’ approval rating is at a historic low.”
RELATED: Planned Parenthood saw 8 medical abortion patients at mobile clinic near DNC, facility confirms
Update: Planned Parenthood saw 8 medical abortion patients at mobile clinic near DNC, facility confirms
Photo by Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance weighed in on the truck by posting to X, “We have the lamest opposition in American history.”
As for how the taco truck performed? The food ran out after having a long line composed of Capitol Hill staffers.
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Politics
‘King of the Hill’ voice actor allegedly shot dead by neighbor; tributes pour in: ‘A terrible tragedy’
“King of the Hill” voice actor Jonathan Joss was shot dead in Texas following an argument with a neighbor, according to reports.
At around 7 p.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a reported shooting at a residence in San Antonio, according to WOAI-TV.
‘He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.’
Officers with the San Antonio Police Department discovered a man near the road suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
First responders attempted lifesaving measures, but the 59-year-old victim reportedly was pronounced dead at the crime scene.
The victim was identified as Joss — an actor who has appeared in several popular TV shows.
Police identified the shooting suspect as 56-year-old Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, according to NBC News, which added that Ceja was arrested and charged with Joss’ murder.
Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja. Photo by Bexar County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images
TMZ reported that Ceja and Joss had lived two doors down from each other and that they had gotten into a “fiery dispute” Sunday that led to the fatal shooting. The outlet added that the pair had reportedly gotten into “verbal and physical fights in the past.”
Joss’ husband — Tristan Kern de Gonzales — told the Associated Press that the person who killed the voice actor screamed “violent homophobic slurs” before firing his gun.
“He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” de Gonzales declared to the AP, adding that the shooter was “openly homophobic.”
But police dispelled rumors that the murder was a hate crime over Joss being gay.
“Despite online claims of this being a hate crime, currently the investigation has found no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation,” police said in a statement. “SAPD investigators handle these allegations very seriously and have thoroughly reviewed all available information. Should any new evidence come to light, the suspect will be charged accordingly.”
Joss was best known as the voice of John Redcorn, a character on the “King of the Hill” animated TV series that ran from 1997 to 2009. A “King of the Hill” reboot is scheduled to premiere in August on Hulu.
According to Variety, Joss already had recorded dialogue for the series’ reboot.
Just days ago, Joss was seen on video promoting the reboot during a panel at the ATX TV Festival in Austin.
Joss has 49 acting credits to his name, including his recurring role as Chief Ken Hotate in “Parks and Recreation.” Joss also appeared on “Tulsa King,” “Ray Donovan,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “True Grit,” and “The Magnificent Seven.”
Tributes to Joss rolled in from celebrities.
“Parks and Recreation” co-star Chris Pratt wrote on Instagram, “Damn. RIP Jonathan. Always such a kind dude. He played Ken Hotate in ‘Parks and Recreation’ and was also in ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ Sad to see. Prayers up. Hug your loved ones.”
Fellow “Parks and Recreation” actor Nick Offerman told People magazine, “The cast has been texting together about it all day, and we’re just heartbroken. Jonathan was such a sweet guy, and we loved having him as our Chief Ken Hotate. A terrible tragedy.”
De Gonzales stated, “To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.”
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Ana Kasparian: ‘I’m done with the Democratic Party’
Ana Kasparian, co-host of “The Young Turks,” is one of the few voices in the political sphere who refuses to blindly follow the crowd based on claimed political ideology — and she’s not afraid to say it.
“I find myself in this weird politically homeless place right now, because you look at the Democratic Party, and both in pathology and in policy, I feel that they’ve taken on some of the characteristics that were indicative of the Bush-era Republicans,” Kasparian tells BlazeTV host James Poulos on “Zero Hour.”
And Kasparian believes this began to happen after President Trump’s emergence onto the political scene around the 2016 election.
“I really do think that Donald Trump specifically just kind of came in, stirred the pot, realigned things in some ways,” she explains. “So for instance, he was such a disruptive force that the left in general just really didn’t know how to react or respond to him, and I think that they, the mainstream Democratic Party, has kind of taken on ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”
“So I think the biggest mistake the Democratic Party has made in recent years is this mistake in thinking that if someone, or a political ideology, is against Trump, that must mean they’re good for the Democrats,” she continues.
And one of the Democrats Kasparian believes Americans need to watch out for is California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“Gavin Newsom is a snake, and he is setting himself up for a presidential run. And as a result, he’s kind of presenting himself as some sort of reasonable, more moderate Democrat,” Kasparian tells Poulos.
“He is someone that you shouldn’t trust or believe,” she says. “He has overseen the absolute destruction of the state that I was born and raised in, the state that I absolutely love.”
“Gavin Newsom is the perfect example of a politician who wants to be a leader but doesn’t have the characteristics necessary to actually be a leader,” she continues, adding, “Gavin Newsom follows trends, and he goes along with what he thinks is politically popular at any given moment.”
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Democrats left with egg on their face after cost of a dozen plummets under Trump
The price of eggs began spiraling out of control under the previous administration and continued rising even after President Donald Trump took office in January. While Trump noted that he had “inherited a mess,” Democrats and their allies seized on the issue as an albatross to hang around the president’s neck.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a gaggle of other Democrats wasted no time complaining, suggesting in a letter just six days into Trump’s second term that he was supposedly not doing enough to lower grocery prices. Democratic MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen, Brian Krassenstein, and other Trump critics piled on, mocking the president over the mounting egg prices.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and his comrades kept this line of attack in recent months, characterizing Trump’s promise to lower prices as a lie.
Democrats’ loss is once again Americans’ gain.
The price of eggs has plummeted by 61% since Trump took office — a trend that forced even the president’s critics at CNN to admit that his “egg price fiction has suddenly become reality.”
The price for a dozen eggs remained south of $3 between 1994 and 2022. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that but for a few exceptions, the price during that period hovered around or below $2.
Over 5.2 million birds were culled in the last 30 days.
Prices began to skyrocket during the second half of the Biden era, then hit record highs earlier this year, reaching an all-time average high of $6.22 in March. In some places, the Associated Press indicated that consumers have been shelling out as much as a dollar per egg.
There were multiple factors at play, including the shift in various states to cage-free hens and record consumer demand. However, the primary cause was the mass exterminations of commercial and backyard bird populations ordered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in response to highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5) viruses.
RELATED: The ‘cage-free’ myth: Why everything you think you know about ethical eggs is wrong
Allen J. Schaben/Getty Images
Blaze News previously noted that between Feb. 8, 2022 — when the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspect Service first confirmed bird flu belonging to the clade 2.3.4.4b in an American commercial flock — and March 2025, the USDA had directed the extermination of over 166.41 million birds. Fewer egg-laying birds naturally means diminished supply and higher prices.
The Trump administration announced a $1 billion strategy in February to curb bird flu, protect the poultry industry, and lower egg prices. Exploring temporary import options was a big part of the administration’s strategy to drive down prices — and perhaps one of the most immediately effective.
In subsequent months, the administration promoted egg imports from various countries, including Brazil, South Korea, and Turkey, and leaned on Europe to export more. Simultaneously, the administration relaxed regulations for eggs laid by hens raised for meat, reported Reuters.
While the bird flu, which is endemic in wild birds, is still infecting commercial flocks — over 5.2 million birds were culled in the last 30 days — the importation of eggs and the easing of restrictions on eggs have helped lower prices.
RELATED: The California law clucking up US egg prices — and how to beat it
The USDA indicated on Friday that a major reason why prices are down is below-average demand for eggs.
“Shell egg demand posted a slight improvement headed into the Memorial Day weekend but remained well below average in the continuation of a trend that began during the sharp price increases in late winter,” the agency said in its weekly report.
An April study from Clarify Capital highlighted by Fox Business noted that 34% of Americans had stopped buying eggs on account of the rising prices; 61% of Americans reported eating fewer eggs; and 44% reported using eggs less frequently in cooking or baking.
At the time of publication, the price of a dozen eggs was just over $2.50, according to Trading Economics.
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‘Get a life’: Transgender athlete mocks hecklers after crushing teen girls to win state championship
A transgender athlete ignored biological reality and mocked his hecklers after his second straight win at a state championship in girls’ track and field.
Veronica Garcia, a boy, won the Class 2A 400-meter dash at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Washington, on Saturday, beating out female competitors as cheers and jeers rained down.
‘I know I’m gonna push myself to keep going, but I don’t want a man pushing me to have to go.’
As Blaze News previously reported, Garcia — a 17-year-old senior from East Valley High School — used to go by the names Davina Brown and Donovan Brown.
Garcia received a fair amount of taunting in 2024, but the backlash against the male’s participation in female athletics has been much more prominent this year.
While heckling and protesting from other participants were apparent, it was the runner’s response to critics that has been making headlines.
According to the Spokesman-Review, two men stared at Garcia as he took his mark for the race and then yelled, “May the best girl win,” in his direction.
Garcia addressed the remarks after his victory, the paper said: “I’m just gonna say it’s a … shame they don’t have anything else better to do.”
The runner added, “I hope they get a life, but oh well, it just shows who they are as people,” according to Spokesman-Review.
As Garcia took the podium and was announced as the state champion, two competitors were noticeably absent: Lauren Matthew, who placed second, along with her teammate Quincy Andrews, who placed fifth, the paper said.
The girls, both from West Valley High School, refused to stand on the podium — and spoke out against Garcia afterward: “I shouldn’t have to push myself to the point of where I’m about to, like, die in order to win,” Matthew told the Spokesman-Review. “I know I’m gonna push myself to keep going, but I don’t want a man pushing me to have to go.”
Andrews talked up her teammate and called her the “best woman” who should be the rightful state champion, the paper said: “She should have won state last year, and that’s taken away from her, which isn’t fair.”
Former NCAA athlete and women’s sports activist Riley Gaines shared a photo of Matthew on her X page and declared her the “real state champ.”
Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Garcia gave Matthew props, saying she forced him to perform better, the Spokesman-Review said: “I honestly couldn’t do this without competition; Miss Matthew, I think she really pushed me.”
A handful of protesters outside the venue held signs that read “Save women’s sports!” the paper said — a sentiment that has exploded in recent months.
One of the voices responsible for the rise in women refusing to participate against transgender athletes is the CEO of XX-XY Athletics, former gymnast Jennifer Sey.
Sey told Blaze News that the conversation around whether males have an advantage over females in sports should be over.
“Activists continue calling for more research to better understand if men are stronger and faster than women,” Sey told Blaze News. “We don’t need more research. We don’t need more categories to compete in. We just need to test for sex. And athletes just need to compete in the category to which they were born.”
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Fearless, Track and field, Washington, Women’s sports, Girl’s sports, Transgenderism, Woke, Sports, Men in women’s sports, Boys competing against girls, Veronica garcia, Washington state
Wife and numerous children of Boulder terror attack suspect to be deported: DHS
The investigation into the horrific attack on pro-Israel protesters in Boulder, Colorado, has led to the arrest and detention of an Egyptian suspect’s wife and five children, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
A weekly demonstration by the “Run for Their Lives” grassroots organization against Hamas terror was itself the target of a heinous terror attack when a man firebombed the group with Molotov cocktails on Sunday.
A shirtless suspect was captured on cellphone video at the scene, and police were able to arrest the 45-year-old man identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national in the U.S. “illegally,” according to DHS, after reportedly overstaying his visa.
The development of the family’s arrest was first reported by Bill Melugin of Fox News, who said it was confirmed by several sources.
The family members are being processed for expedited removal, according to those sources, which would allow them to be deported without an immigration court hearing.
Soliman reportedly yelled, “Free Palestine!” during the attack, but law enforcement officials have been reticent to label the attack as terrorism pending the investigation. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have both characterized the attack as an act of terror.
RELATED: Colorado Democrat says fire attack on Jewish protesters in Boulder has ‘nothing to do with the border
Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images
At least eight people were harmed in the attack, with one seriously injured. Soliman is being detained at the Boulder County Jail on a $10 million bond.
“Evil struck,” said Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. “Not with a drone, not with a bomb, not with a cyberattack or a coordinated cell, but with fire — ancient, primal, vicious.”
This is a developing story, and additional information may be added.
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Pearl st attack, Wife and kids deported, Mohamed sabry soliman, Anti jewish attack, Politics
Fire attack on Jewish protesters in Boulder has ‘nothing to do with the border’: Colorado Democrat
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said President Donald Trump was wrong to bring up the issue of immigration in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on Jewish protesters allegedly perpetrated by an immigrant reportedly in the U.S. illegally.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman — a 45-year-old Egyptian national in the United States illegally, according to the DHS — has been charged with the arson attack on pro-Israel protesters who had gathered in Boulder, Colorado, to advocate the release of the hostages who remain in Hamas custody. Soliman overstayed his visa issued under the Biden-Harris administration. He filed for asylum in 2022 and was given a work permit.
In response to the attack, Trump said the suspect had come into the United States “through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly. … This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland.”
Open borders, burned streets: Immigration insanity hits Boulder
Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
When asked by CNN about Trump bringing up how Soliman entered the country, Crow asserted it had “nothing to do with the border.”
“Well, President Trump routinely just attacks his opponents when terrible things happen. And that‘s not leadership. That‘s not the type of leadership that the president needs. Of course we need answers. We need answers about the visa overstay, and a visa overstay is not — has nothing to do with the border,” Crow explained.
“You know, I believe in border security. We need border security, but in this incident, it doesn‘t look like that is what is at play here at all. And we need to enforce the laws. There’s no doubt about it. But President Trump has been president for nearly six months now, and I want to know why an attack that had been planned for the entirety of that time was missed,” he continued. “You know, what should have been seen? What were the warning signals? What did the FBI know, what the FBI didn‘t know — we do need some answers to all of these questions.”
The Boulder attack bolsters the Trump administration’s position of cracking down not only on people who crossed the border illegally, but people who have overstayed their visas, even if they do not have criminal records. From day one, administration officials like border czar Tom Homan have said anyone who is in the country illegally is subject to deportation.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, illegal aliens who did not have a criminal record were not prioritized for removal.
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Politics
Controversial assistant chief embroiled in 2010 fraud scandal named acting Capitol Police chief
Sean P. Gallagher, the assistant U.S. Capitol Police chief who became embroiled in a time-card fraud scheme in 2010 and was blamed by a top department commander for disastrous inaction in the USCP Command Center on Jan. 6, has been named acting chief of the department.
The U.S. Capitol Police Board made the appointment as the search begins for a permanent replacement for just-retired Chief J. Thomas Manger. The three-member board includes the House and Senate sergeants at arms and the architect of the Capitol. The police chief serves as a non-voting member.
‘Supervisors are held to a lower standard, even when the conduct is criminal.’
Gallagher’s appointment as acting chief will most likely not lead to him being offered the permanent job, according to Capitol Hill sources who spoke with Blaze News on the condition of anonymity. Still, his appointment was described by several police sources as a morale-killer among the rank and file.
Gallagher has drawn fire throughout his nearly 25 years with U.S. Capitol Police, including a felony-level time-cardfraud case that involved him forging the signature of a USCP inspector in order to file bogus overtime claims, internal documents show.
Gallagher was one of the subjects of a scathing Jan. 6 whistleblower letter that alleged that he and the then-chief “simply watched, mostly with their hands in their laps” while officers fought for their lives across Capitol grounds after tens of thousands of protesters surrounded the building.
“It’s the white shirts that are so corrupt,” one source told Blaze News on June 2. “They’re the ones who almost got us killed on January 6.”
Acting Capitol Police Chief Sean Gallagher joined the department in 2001. His tenure has been marred by controversy.Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
The move to place Gallagher in the top spot was most likely intended as a resume pad to help him move on to another law enforcement department or agency, sources said.
Manger, who joined as chief in July 2021 and retired May 30, oversaw massive budget growth in the wake of Jan. 6. He submitted a budget request to the current Congress for nearly $1 billion.
Manger’s final six months in office were marred by high-profile security failures. In January 2025, a man was admitted through the Capitol Visitors Center checkpoint armed with a 9mm handgun hidden in his waistband. The man was later detained after he exited the Library of Congress.
On March 4, a congressional staff member who attempted to bring a loaded handgun through a security checkpoint told Capitol Police that he successfully brought the weapon through security the day before.
Manger blamed the security lapses on “the hardest kind of failure to address: human failure.”
Former Capitol Police Lt. Tarik K. Johnson, who was suspended for nearly 18 months after Jan. 6 by former acting Chief Yogananda Pittman and the Office of Professional Responsibility, said if Gallagher is named permanent chief, the truth about Jan. 6 will never come out.
“If he gets the position permanently, January 6th will go down in history as an insurrection caused by President Trump,” Johnson wrote on X, “as Gallagher will ensure nothing comes out that would disturb the insurrection narrative.”
Johnson was one of the first officials to call out the Jan. 6 inaction of Gallagher and Pittman that he said endangered House and Senate members as the Capitol was overrun. The leadership vacuum in the Command Center delayed evacuations and set up the conditions leading to the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt just outside the Speaker’s Lobby, Johnson has said.
Capitol Police radio transmissions show that Johnson pleaded for permission to evacuate the U.S. Senate just before 1:30 p.m. that day, but was greeted by complete silence from the Command Center. Johnson eventually acted on his own, rushing senators and staff to safety just as an angry crowd moved toward the main Senate entrance.
Johnson’s suspension was officially because he wore a red Make America Great Again ball cap as he moved in and out of the crowds on Jan. 6. Johnson counters that the real reason for his discipline and demotion was that his decisions exposed the failures of senior leaders assigned as area commanders for the Capitol that day.
Gallagher’s appointment is a head-scratcher, sources said, given a checkered history that includes sustained charges of felony-level time-card fraud in 2010 that cost taxpayers at least $10,000.
Overtime fraud discovered
Documents obtained by Blaze News in 2024 showed that Gallagher was recommended for termination for a time-card fraud scheme involving himself and two lieutenants under his command.
According to Rhoda Henderson, a retired USCP sergeant and whistleblower, the other participants in the fraud scheme included Deputy Chief John Erickson and former Lt. Wendy Colmore, who left the department in 2015 for a post in the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms office.
According to Office of Professional Responsibility disciplinary records obtained by Blaze News, Gallagher forged his supervisor’s signature on overtime pay submissions, using a different color pen for the forged signature from the one he used for his own. The fraud scheme was discovered in 2010 and sparked a long investigation.
An OPR memo dated Dec. 18, 2013, recommended Gallagher’s termination “for having defrauded the government of more than $10,000.”
U.S. Capitol Police Assistant Chief Sean Gallagher testifies during the House Committee on Administration Subcommittee on Oversight hearing on March 12, 2024.Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
“The offense is egregious and, absent any mitigating factors, warrants nothing less than termination,” the memo read. “This offense was willful and frequent, occurring on eight occasions. Captain Gallagher misrepresented his times, forged his supervisor’s signature on overtime authorization forms, falsified pay certification sheets, and forged his supervisor’s signature on pay certification sheets to defraud the government for significant personal gain.”
Despite the fraud alleged, Gallagher kept his job. A Capitol Police source told Blaze News that then-Capitol Police Chief Kim C. Dine intervened in Gallagher’s case. Dine assigned the discipline investigation to Inspector Daniel Malloy, the supervisor whose signature Gallagher was accused of forging. Chief Dine left the job in 2015.
The OPR investigation recommended that Gallagher be demoted from captain to lieutenant, but Gallagher escaped with only a 10-day unpaid suspension.
Jim Konczos, chairman of the Capitol Police Labor Committee’s executive board at the time of the overtime fraud investigation, described a department culture in which “supervisors are held to a lower standard, even when the conduct is criminal.”
Gallagher was promoted to assistant chief in October 2023 from his previous title of deputy chief and head of the Protective Services Bureau. He was named inspector in June 2018 and became commander of the Dignitary Protection Division. He became deputy chief in 2019. From 2010 to 2018 he was assistant commander of the Dignitary Protection Division and the Capitol Division. From 2008 to 2010, Gallagher was assistant commander of the Investigations Division.
The USCP Public Information Office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
‘Two bumps on a log’
A 16-page whistleblower letter sent to Congress in September 2021 faulted Deputy Chief Gallagher and acting Chief Pittman for inaction that led directly to injury of officers and put lawmakers in danger.
“In the Command Center, they simply watched, mostly with their hands in their laps,” wrote former Deputy Chief Jeffrey J. Pickett. “They did not try to help or assist as officers and officials were literally fighting for each other, their lives, and the Congress.”
The signature on the whistleblower letter was redacted, but Pickett later acknowledged writing the document.
“What I observed was them mostly sitting there, blankly looking at the TV screens showing real-time footage of officers and officials fighting for the Congress and their lives,” Pickett wrote. “This observation of their inaction was reported and corroborated by other officials and non-USCP entities.”
Pickett said he believed the inaction was intentional.
“It is my allegation that these two, with intent and malice, opted to not try and assist the officers and officials, blame others for the failures, and chose to try and use this event for their own personal promotions,” Pickett wrote.
“These two instead, while officers were being injured, elected to do nothing, lie and attempt to profit professionally,” Pickett wrote. “They chose to watch, as one non-USCP witness stated, ‘like two bumps on a log,’ make calls, and start to blame everyone for their failures.”
Former acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman testifies before a U.S. Senate committee on April 21, 2021.Photograph by Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Pittman, who was named acting chief for the six months prior to Manger being named chief, in February 2023 became chief of police at the University of California at Berkeley. Although she did not yet qualify for Capitol Police retirement pension, Manger granted her five months of leave without pay until she reached the retirement threshold.
The department has been mired in other scandals since January 6. Former Officer Harry Dunn and Special Agent David Lazarus gave conflicting and apparently false testimony in the trial of four Oath Keepers and one associate in 2022.
Lazarus testified that he witnessed a confrontation between members of the Oath Keepers and Dunn in the Small House Rotunda, but at the time he cited, he was not even in the Capitol. The Oath Keepers had left the building prior to Lazarus meeting up with Dunn, according to a multi-part Blaze News video series by Steve Baker.
Lieutenant Michael L. Byrd, who shot and killed Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. outside the Speaker’s Lobby, was shielded from public view for seven months, hidden in a luxury hotel room at the Joint Base Andrews military facility in Maryland.
Capitol Police paid for $21,000 in security upgrades to Byrd’s Maryland home, awarded Byrd nearly $40,000 in unrestricted retention funds, and helped him establish a GoFundMe campaign that netted more than $164,000, according to a November 2024 letter from U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.).
Byrd had been accused of abandoning his post in the Speaker’s Office for a nearby cloakroom card game in 2001, then lying about it to internal affairs investigators.
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Capitol police, Uscp, Thomas manger, Sean gallagher, January 6, Jan 6, J6, Whistleblower, Tarik johnson, Yogananda pittman, Rhoda henderson, John erickson, Wendy colmore, Office of professional responsibility, Kim dine, Daniel malloy, Jim konczos, Jeffrey pickett, Michael byrd, Harry dunn, David lazarus, Politics
Here are all the NFL teams that haven’t virtue-signaled for Pride Month
Fewer than a third of NFL teams declined to show their support for Pride Month this year, meaning they did not post public celebratory images or statements on their social media accounts for Pride Month.
In addition, some NFL teams did post Pride celebrations this year despite not doing so in 2024, while only three new teams were added to the list of Pride noncompliance.
‘Pride Month was always about catering to small demographics in American culture.’
In total, nine NFL teams did not post messages in support of gay pride in 2025, which represents a net zero change from the year before.
A list quickly circulated online Sunday, as June 1 is the official start of Pride Month; it indicated 12 teams did not participate this year. But just like the prior year, three teams quickly fell off that list — perhaps due to pressure or scheduling their posts for later.
RELATED: Here are all the NFL teams that haven’t virtue-signaled for Pride Month (2024)
LA Rams cheerleaders attend the 2023 WeHo Pride Parade, June 4, 2023, in West Hollywood, California. Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
The following are the nine teams that had not posted Pride Month celebratory messages at the time of this story’s publication:
Cincinnati BengalsCleveland BrownsDallas CowboysIndianapolis ColtsKansas City ChiefsLas Vegas RaidersNew Orleans SaintsNew York JetsTennessee Titans
The initial list circulating online from ML Football also included the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Seattle Seahawks. However, Blaze News found that each of those teams posted subsequent Pride celebrations, including the Steelers‘ post, which hit social media just as the list was going viral.
The Seahawks showed off their rainbow-themed logo hours later, while the Ravens posted a rendition of their logo the next day — June 2 — which celebrated race and transgenderism too.
The Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and the Steelers were part of the list of teams in 2024 that did not celebrate Pride Month, but all three changed their tune this year. The Falcons posted their message early on June 1, while the Broncos promoted a rainbow football field on their lunch break the same day.
This left six NFL teams (Bengals, Browns, Titans, Chiefs, Cowboys, Saints) who went against the woke grain for the second straight year and didn’t promote Pride Month.
In addition, the Colts, Jets, and Raiders broke away from their pro-Pride Month programming from last year and did not give shout-outs to Pride Month this year.
RELATED: Ex-NFL star rejects league’s ‘wild’ support for Pride Month: ‘Football is none of these things’
Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant at MetLife Stadium on September 26, 2022, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant made his voice heard on the issue this year as teams rolled out their multicolored statements. Bryant responded to a post that included an NFL ad from 2021 which proudly declared that “football is gay” and “football is transgender,” among other messages.
Bryant replied, “Football is gay. Football is queer. Football is transgender.. these are wild statements to make..excuse my silliness.”
The former star added that he would “proudly” tell his sons that “football is none of these things” and later explained that in his view, the messaging was being shoved in fans’ faces.
“It’s gay players in the NFL..but forcing it in people’s faces..especially children..can send the wrong message,” Bryant wrote. “Football is a real community, like the gay community. Imagine telling gays they have to advocate for straight people..they probably would have a problem.”
OutKick’s Alejandro Avila told Blaze News that sports fans largely do not care to see their teams bring up such issues: “Pride Month was always about catering to small demographics in American culture.”
Avila added to Blaze News that it would be in the NFL’s best interest to wean itself off Pride celebrations and that the league seemed to be “not spotlighting it as heavily as before.”
“That could still change,” Avila also told Blaze News. “Plenty of big leagues like the NBA sacrificed viewership for progressivism. The NFL could very well go back to pandering.”
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Fearless, Nfl, Pride month, Gay pride, Social media, Dez bryant, Sports, Football
Trump looks to rally Republicans as Senate takes up his ‘big, beautiful bill’
Congress is back in session, and President Donald Trump has wasted no time lobbying lawmakers to pass his “big, beautiful bill” in the Senate.
House Republicans narrowly passed reconciliation by a 215-214 vote in May after weeks of negotiations that crescendoed with Trump’s appearance on Capitol Hill to rein in remaining holdouts. After a dramatic saga on the House side, the bill was sent to the Senate, where it will inevitably be rewritten and returned to the House.
The Senate is now back in session with the hopes of sending the bill back by the July 4 deadline, but trouble is already beginning to emerge in the upper chamber.
‘So many false statements are being made about ‘THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL.’
RELATED: The senators to watch in reconciliation’s next battle
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was one of the first senators to draw a red line with respect to reconciliation. Hawley has repeatedly said that any cuts to Medicaid make him a “no” vote on the landmark legislation and has said the president backs his position.
“So many false statements are being made about ‘THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,’ but what nobody understands is that it’s the single biggest Spending Cut in History, by far!” Trump said Monday. “But there will be NO CUTS to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.
“The only ‘cutting’ we will do is for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, something that should have been done by the Incompetent, Radical Left Democrats for the last four years, but wasn’t,” Trump added.
Although there haven’t been any direct cuts to the program, House conservatives fought for amendments to the Medicaid work requirements that would weed out bad actors and ensure that only those eligible receive the benefits. These work requirements were integral in gaining support from fiscal conservatives, and any attempt to roll them back may cost Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) some votes.
RELATED: Elon Musk takes jab at Trump’s ‘big, beautiful, bill’: ‘I was disappointed’
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
Fiscal conservatives on the Senate side are also giving Trump a hard time, particularly Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Trump has likened Paul to Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky in public and in private, noting their refusal to vote for other spending bills in the past. Massie was one of the two “no” votes on the bill in the House, and Paul is expected to vote against it in the Senate.
“The math doesn’t add up,” Paul said Tuesday. “I’m not supporting a bill that increases the debt by $5T. I refuse to support maintaining Biden spending levels.”
“Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas,” Trump said Tuesday. “His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!”
RELATED: Spending hawks dig their heels in as White House battles to keep ‘big, beautiful bill’ afloat
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
With reconciliation talks back in full swing on the Senate side, Trump has been keeping Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) at arm’s length.
Thune can afford to lose only three votes on the bill due to the 53-seat majority Republicans secured in November. Thune has reiterated his goal to find more savings and to permanently extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act just as Trump has asked for, and he is pushing for the July 4 deadline.
“When the American people elected [Trump] and a Republican Congress last November, they expected us to deliver,” Thune said Tuesday. “We’ve worked hard to deliver on our mandate, and we are not taking our foot off the gas.”
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‘OMG people, the world is ending’: AI company shows just how easy it is to be a social media influencer
An artificial intelligence video company released eerily realistic video content poking fun at the modern world of social media influencers.
Described as “brilliant and depressing,” the video from the Dor Brothers utilized Google’s Veo 3 AI model to generate a video about a terrorist attack, complete with mock coverage from over-the-top social media creators who are the spit and image of real life.
‘Men literally destroy everything, and my girls need to stop being so soft with these basic losers.’
Race activists, fitness influencers, and cryptocurrency pushers were all targets of the hyper-realistic video that mocked the shallowness and vapid personalities of a stereotypical online character.
“OMG, people. The world is ending. Are you seeing this? This is actually so exciting,” an AI-generated woman said, recording herself in an active war zone.
A would-be relationship guru then popped up to say, “Like, it would totally be better if we ran it. You know? Men literally destroy everything, and my girls need to stop being so soft with these basic losers.”
RELATED: AI models are reprogramming themselves to ‘play dumb’ or copy their data to other servers to survive
The video then turned to a cryptocurrency influencer: a muscular man in his car, with a Bitcoin button on his shirt — typically referred to as a crypto bro — encouraging followers to capitalize on the disaster by buying stocks while they are low.
“Guys, this collapse is literally the perfect dip. I’m buying more right now.”
As fitness influencers tell followers “the world collapses when men stop lifting” and streamers tell donors to send money for a boat before they drown in a flood, the only differentiators between the footage and real life appeared to be unusually smooth skin and the occasional tooth or hand glitch.
The audio also still needed to be tinkered with, but videos have circulated from other studios, or perhaps prompt-writing sources, that showed equally as impressive work with Google’s AI models.
RELATED: Warner Music signs AI-generated singer with endorsement deals with Dior, Versace, and Kim Kardashian
These videos, which are separated from reality along a razor-thin line, are only the tip of the iceberg, according to Return’s Peter Gietl.
“The video is funny in how it skewers a generation of ‘influencers’ who’ve somehow been able to turn wars, natural disasters, and race riots into content for their audience,” Gietl said. “Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is despite being hyper-realistic, it’s at least one or two generations behind the latest videos in terms of blurring the lines between AI videos and reality.”
As scary as the renders may be, the Dor Brothers did seem particularly adept at mimicking the mind of an influencer, particularly with their race and gender activist character.
“Even as the world burns, my struggle for visibility and acceptance continues,” a female character with multicolored hair said. “This is exactly why representation matters now more than ever.”
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Ai, Artificial intelligence, Return, Influencers, Social media, Tech
Actor WARNS Google’s new AI could be the DEATH of Hollywood
The new version of Google’s AI video generator, Veo 3, includes the ability to generate sound effects and dialogue — and the result eerily resembles a big-budget Hollywood film.
“It absolutely looks real, and it’s just somebody typing in prompts,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck tells actor Zachary Levi. “How concerned are you by what Google released this week?”
“I’m very concerned,” Levi answers. “I hate to sound like a doomer and gloomer, but this is something I’ve been foreseeing for a really long time. I’ve been banging this drum for a really long time and trying to wake people up and say, ‘Hey, listen, technology, it moves exponentially.’”
“This is one of the things that I think most people just don’t understand, whether it’s people in my industry or other industries,” he continues. “This is knocking on the doorstep of entertainment right now.”
But it’s not just those in entertainment who should be concerned.
“AI is knocking on the doorstep of all of our industries. Your industry, radio, you know, everything in entertainment. Certainly anything that can be recorded and broadcast,” he says. “There are huge experts in many fields that say within a year, two years, certainly within five years, every white-collar job will be gone.”
“And a lot of blue-collar jobs are going to be right behind that, because you have to recognize that AI is not just moving exponentially, but also humanoid robots and the development of humanoid robots is developing exponentially. And exponential growth is something that people just don’t understand,” he continues.
“So people have got to wake up,” Levi says, adding, “For people in my industry, I think that yes, we should all be very, very concerned. But everyone should be very concerned.”
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Exclusive photos: ICE raids club owned by suspected terrorist — captures scores of illegal aliens, including alleged killer
Immigration and Customs Enforcement led an operation on Sunday in Charleston, South Carolina, that resulted in the arrest of a suspected terrorist and captured dozens of illegal aliens.
A Department of Homeland Security press release, obtained by Blaze News, stated that Homeland Security Investigations Charlotte led an operation alongside local law enforcement that targeted “an underground illegal nightclub” called the Alamo.
‘Leave now or ICE will find you and deport you.’
The press release claimed the unlicensed establishment was operated by “a suspected member of the Los Zetas Cartel,” formally known as Cártel del Noreste, which President Donald Trump previously designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
Department of Homeland Security photo obtained exclusively by Blaze News
According to the press release, ICE received a tip indicating that the Alamo was a hub for widespread illegal activities, including weapons, narcotics, and human trafficking.
ICE’s operation resulted in the arrest of 72 illegal aliens and the recovery of six children, who were then transferred to social services to ensure their safety and well-being.
Department of Homeland Security photo obtained exclusively by Blaze News
The arrests are still being processed, the agency noted.
Federal immigration authorities also seized cash, narcotics, and firearms during Sunday’s raid.
ICE referred to Sergio Joel Galo-Baca, described as “a Honduran illegal alien and foreign fugitive with an active Interpol Red Notice for homicide in Honduras,” as one of its “most high-profile arrests” of the operation.
Department of Homeland Security photo obtained exclusively by Blaze News
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “Day in and day out, the brave men and women of ICE are working with local law enforcement to keep American communities safe. The successful operation that took place in the Charleston area resulted in more than 70 arrests of illegal aliens — including an international murder suspect and the dismantling of a nightclub run by a suspected cartel member where drug, weapon, and human trafficking were taking place.”
“Under President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, fugitives and law breakers are on notice: Leave now or ICE will find you and deport you,” McLaughlin added.
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Trail Life USA takes up the mission abandoned by Boy Scouts
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
To generations of American men, the Boy Scout Oath is as familiar as the Lord’s Prayer. Those 40 words encapsulate a legacy over 100 years in the making.
‘In Trail Life, fathers can find a community of like-minded men who also want to make sure their sons grow up to be great Christian men.’
It look little more than a decade to destroy it.
The beginning of the end was May 23, 2013. This was the day the Boy Scouts of America
voted to allow the admittance of openly gay members.
The move met with pushback from parents and religious organizations, who saw this supposed concession to the times as a betrayal of the BSA’s founding principles and predicted that it was the first step in a radical reinvention of the storied institution.
RELATED: Destruction of male-only spaces needs to stop — if we want masculinity to survive
Photo by Stan Badz/PGA Tour
Boy Scouts in decline
Their fears turned out to be warranted. A scant two years later, the BSA
lifted the ban on openly homosexual adult leaders. Three years after that, in 2018, the organization was opened to women and girls.
Last February, just in time for the 115th anniversary of the BSA, the group rebranded under the “more sort of gender-neutral name” (per president and CEO Roger Krone)
Scouting America.
It took only 12 years for the Boy Scouts to go from an organization where young men could learn to embody Christian values and American patriotism to a coed organization intent on indoctrinating its members with the ideals of the contemporary American left.
These changes have left the BSA’s traditional adherents at a loss. Fathers who grew up and thrived in the Boy Scouts could no longer trust the organization to teach sound values to their sons. Churches that partnered with the organization have had to cut ties or risk compromising on their own moral teachings.
Be Prepared
Fortunately, some of them noticed the early signs of decline and — in the spirit of the motto “Be Prepared” — began building an alternative: Trail Life USA.
Founded in 2013 as a traditional, Christian version of the Boy Scouts, the organization grew quickly.
According to CEO Mark Hancock, over 1,200 people from 44 states attended the inaugural convention in the fall of 2013. “Three months later, we launched with over 5,000 members.” Trail Life USA currently has over 65,000 members and 150,000 alumni.
The fact that Trail Life was “forged in the fires of this cultural battle” is largely responsible for the continued growth of the organization, says Hancock.
Christian values
The BSA was founded in a society whose common Christianity could be taken for granted. Having seen what happened to the BSA when that faith dropped away, Trail Life USA’s founders were careful to incorporate explicitly Christian values into every aspect of the organization.
The most prominent of Trail Life USA’s
“core values” is a commitment to being a “Christ-centered” organization. To this end, individual churches sponsor each troop, which takes as its aim the formation of “godly young men.”
In Hancock’s view, Trail Life’s call to inspire “the increased demonstration of Christlike character and courage by both adult and youth members” is a way of promoting real action against American cultural degradation.
Or as Hancock puts it, the organization seeks nothing less than to develop “a generation that not only manages the rising tide of cultural change but turns back the tide itself.”
Boys to men
Peter Ohotnicky, a former BSA member whose family has been involved with Trail Life since 2013, agrees. He points to the organization’s reliance on charter organizations and financial policies as assurance of continued fidelity to its principles. “It means that Trail Life is much more likely to stay aligned with our values.”
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Photo by Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Ohotnicky says Trail Life’s explicitly Christian focus has made hiking and camping with his sons far more impactful than during their time with the BSA. “These activities have been pivotal in preparing my adult sons for manhood and continue to be how I help my teenage sons to grow into the men God expects them to be.”
Besides its explicitly Christian identity, another element that sets Trail Life apart is its emphasis on the involvement of fathers. Ohotnicky says this aspect has made his family’s involvement even more meaningful. “Boys and men form bonds by doing challenging things together.”
Trail Life has not only helped him to raise his sons, but to bring that experience to others. “In Trail Life, fathers can find a community of like-minded men who also want to make sure their sons grow up to be great Christian men.”
A real demand
Although Trail Life bears many cosmetic resemblances to BSA, such as uniforms, badges, and outdoor activities, Hancock says the organization’s “specific development of boys within a context that embraces biblical principles” allows it to offer “a distinctive and independent experience.”
Offering this experience has worked well for Trail Life so far. The organization currently has over 1,360 troops across all 50 states, showing a real demand among American Christians for organizations that can be trusted with the formation of their children.
As mainstream culture continues to decline, groups like Trail Life will find themselves even more in demand. Their active and unapologetic focus on a much-maligned demographic has been central to Trail Life’s ability to meet that demand. As Hancock puts it, “the emphasis on Christ-centered and boy-focused distinctives cannot be overstated.”
For more information about Trail Life USA — including a directory of troops in your area — visit its website
here.
Boy scouts, Scouting, Trail life usa, Lgbt, Wokeness, Faith, Christianity, Lifestyle
