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President Donald Trump issued a forceful statement announcing high tariffs on the country of India and offered his rationale for the punishing trade tax.

The president celebrated a recent report declaring that the tariffs had brought in $150 billion in government revenue in just a few months of increased tariffs on many U.S. trade partners. On Wednesday, he hit India with one of the larger tariff burdens.

‘Their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country.’

“Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!” he added.

“INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST,” he concluded.

The U.S. purchases $87.4 billion of goods from India, while it sells $41.8 billion in goods to India. This makes India the 10th largest trade partner for the U.S., while the U.S. is the top trading partner for India, which gives Trump a lot of leverage in tariff negotiations.

Economic expert and Blaze Media contributor Carol Roth said in a comment to Blaze News that the administration seems to have many different motives driving tariff negotiations.

“It appears that the administration wants to make more rapid progress on trade, and where discussions or negotiations have stalled out, putting out a larger number has worked in many cases to pressure the counterparty to come back to the table,” Roth wrote.

RELATED: Trump continues to bash Fed chair after inflation report; Powell calls for independent probe into renovation accusations

“There also seems to be a focus on putting pressure on India’s economic relationship with Russia that the administration is trying to both telegraph and ultimately to work on lessening the interdependence between those nations, particularly when it comes to energy and defense products,” she added.

Amit Basole, an economics professor at Azim Premji University in India, said a trade deal with the U.S. was “crucial” for India.

“India is a large country, but its purchasing power is not very high,” Basole said. “We need jobs very badly, particularly in manufacturing and more productive sectors. Indian companies need export markets to grow and create these jobs.”

“WE HAVE A MASSIVE TRADE DEFICIT WITH INDIA!!!” Trump added in another post.

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Ask a MAGA supporter what the biggest threat to the Make America Great Again movement is, and there’s a good chance he’ll say Democrats or progressivism.

But according to Andy Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, that’s incorrect. It’s the fake Republicans running red states whom we should be concerned about.

On a recent episode of “Blaze News: The Mandate,” Roth joined Jill Savage and Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson to expose how RINOs are sabotaging MAGA internally.

“Red states, almost all of them literally, are governed by Democrats that have an R after their name because they live in districts that are very red. They want to get into office, and they know they can’t have a D after their name, so they put an R after their name, get elected, and then vote like Democrats,” Roth says.

He points to states like South Carolina, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota as examples of red states with RINO leadership.

“It’s one of the most under-reported stories, I think, in the country,” he says.

Thankfully, the State Freedom Caucus Network is working overtime to address this issue. The conservative organization supports the creation of freedom caucuses in state legislatures across the U.S. These caucuses, modeled after the House Freedom Caucus in Congress, are groups of Republican state lawmakers who push for limited government, fiscal responsibility, and conservative policies such as opposing federal overreach, promoting election integrity, and resisting certain social policies.

“When we have … a state freedom caucus, we come in there, and we contrast ourselves with these fake Republicans so much to the point where the voters are like, ‘Wait, I guess I have a squishy Republican for a state rep or a state senator because this freedom caucus is speaking the truth,’” Roth tells Jill and Matthew.

And it’s working. Roth points to Wyoming as an example. “In Wyoming, we had only eight members in our freedom caucus, but they quickly doubled to 16, and now they’re in charge of the Wyoming House,” he says. “The speaker is a Freedom Caucus member; the pro tem [pro tempore] is a Freedom Caucus member.”

As a result, “For the first time ever, [Wyoming] passed the property tax cuts, universal school choice,” and “banned noncitizens from voting.”

“We have the model. We know how it works. We just need to do it in all 50 states,” Roth says.

“Is Wyoming indicative of a trend you see across the country?” asks Peterson, who’s hopeful a freedom caucus might find its way to Texas, the state he and Jill call home.

“We need another election cycle in Texas before we can do anything here, but Texas needs a freedom caucus, and the country needs a Texas Freedom Caucus,” Roth says.

“It feels like you can mess with Texas right now, and I don’t want that to happen,” Jill says.

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

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Through sweeping crackdowns, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has reportedly set an all-time record in prosecutions of illegal immigrants — a stunning reversal from the open-border era of former President Joe Biden.

According to a new report, Trump’s Justice Department had a record-breaking month for criminal prosecution of illegal aliens in June — notching more than 3,000 cases last month.

‘If you’re coming here illegally to live and work, being in a federal penitentiary for two years isn’t going to allow you to do that.’

The Washington Times reported that Trump’s DOJ set a record by filing more than 3,000 illegal re-entry cases in June alone — targeting illegal aliens who were deported but were caught when they attempted to sneak back across the border anyway.

Also in June, DOJ prosecutors filed 3,200 cases for simple illegal entry — while not a record high, the number was significant. The figure made up over 50% of all Border Patrol arrests last month, setting a record for prosecution rates. The Trump DOJ numbers are staggering compared to the Biden administration’s open-border era, when prosecution rates never hit 1%.

Citing Justice Department data, the Austin American-Statesman reported that federal prosecutors filed 7,660 illegal re-entry cases during the first three months of this year, compared to 4,312 cases filed during the first three months of 2024 and 3,670 during the first three months of 2023.

The U.S. Department of Justice said that it is “using all available investigative and prosecutorial tools” to fight the “invasion of illegal immigration.”

RELATED: ‘Despicable’: DHS unloads on left-leaning outlet for suggesting illegal alien pedophiles had a ‘cultural misunderstanding’

Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images

Jonathan Fahey — former assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia and the acting director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump’s first term — told the Washington Times that these cases have a very high rate of conviction.

“They’re a great way to get a conviction, a great way to get a criminal off the street, and a great way to remove them from the country in an expeditious way,” Fahey explained.

Andrew “Art” Arthur — a former immigration judge — told the Washington Times, “If I get deported, I get deported. I go back and try again. But when it comes to prosecutions, now you’ve got a federal conviction. … If you’re coming here illegally to live and work, being in a federal penitentiary for two years isn’t going to allow you to do that.”

‘President Trump has created the most secure border in the history of the nation, and the data proves it.’

RELATED: ICE deports illegal immigrant wanted for human smuggling that led to the deaths of 3 minors

The crackdown on illegal immigration has had a profound effect on encounters with illegal aliens.

Earlier this month, the White House noted that U.S. Border Patrol encountered 6,070 illegal immigrants at the southern border in June — a record-setting low that is 15% lower than the previous record set in March.

Tom Homan — Trump’s border czar — said earlier this month, “As a matter of fact, the total number of encounters is less than half of a single day under Biden on many days. Also, none of the 6,070 were released into the U.S. ZERO.”

“President Trump has created the most secure border in the history of the nation, and the data proves it,” Homan declared. “We have never seen numbers this low. Never.”

The White House proclaimed, “The number of ‘gotaways’ — illegal immigrants who escaped into the country undetected — was 90% lower compared to the same month last year.”

The White House estimates that this fiscal year is “on track to see the fewest illegal immigrant encounters in five decades.”

RELATED: Feds dismantle huge human smuggling ring that funneled 20,000 Guatemalan aliens into US, leaders face death penalty

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BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes that black people in America are under a mass psychosis led by demonic forces that’s creating racial division, spurring conflict, and ultimately giving them what they see as a free pass to take out their frustration on white people.

“It’s going to trigger some people — the fact that I’m even referencing the black KKK — but we’re going to talk about it today because it’s quite necessary. The black fatigue is at an all-time high,” Whitlock says on “Fearless.”

After several recent attacks on white people by black people — including the shooting of InfoWars reporter Jamie White, the murder of Austin Metcalf allegedly by Karmelo Anthony, and the viral Cincinnati Music Festival attacks — Whitlock claims that “the white KKK has been replaced by a black KKK.”

“They terrorize their own neighborhoods and intimidate people from speaking against them, and they terrorize their own community and own people who want to speak honestly about what’s going on. And then they occasionally — and I say occasionally, but too frequently — do violence against white people when given the opportunity and the chance,” Whitlock says.

“And none of this is on accident,” he continues. “People want a racial divide. People want racial conflict. People want black and white people pitted against each other so that we can’t really examine the real problem.”

But Whitlock believes the blame belongs at a higher level than just the black community.

“We have to identify what the problem is. And I’m going to identify the source,” he says.

“Who’s in control of the money? Who’s financing a culture where it’s acceptable to be a part of the black KKK? Who in Hollywood, in corporate America, is financing the degeneracy, the violence, the debauchery, the profanity?” he asks.

Whitlock has also noticed that the mob mentality that accompanies many of these attacks on white people, like the attack at the Cincinnati Music Festival, is similar to how inmates behave in prison.

“Their behavior is the exact same as the behavior that it takes to survive in prison. So the white man, because of popular culture, because of music, because of television, you can’t watch a TV show without some sort of subtle messaging that the white man, the evangelical white man in particular, is the most evil person on the planet and needs to be destroyed,” he explains.

“So the white man is in the crosshairs,” he says.

“He’s public enemy number one.”

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Police have arrested three of the five charged suspects in connection with the Cincinnati mob attack caught on video over the weekend — and one of the arrestees reportedly was out on bond for weapons charges when the street beatdown took place.

The arrestees so far are: 39-year-old Jermaine Matthews, 24-year-old Dekyra Vernon, and 34-year-old Montianez Merriweather, WXIX-TV reported. The two other charged suspects have not been named.

‘He never should have been out.’

Merriweather and Vernon were booked Tuesday afternoon into the Hamilton County Justice Center on charges of felonious assault and aggravated riot, WXIX said, citing jail and court records. Matthews was booked into the county jail just after 1 a.m. Wednesday on charges of aggravated riot and assault, the station reported.

Merriweather was “identified on video punching [the] victim while co-defendants are stomping the victim in the head,” while Vernon “struck [the] victim in the face with a closed fist prior to the victim becoming unconscious from the attack,” WXIX reported, citing criminal complaints. Details on Matthews’ case had not yet been filed in the court record, the station said.

RELATED: Street takeover thugs beat up 7-Eleven worker who tries to keep them from looting store. But he’s no match for mob of 50.

The Cincinnati Enquirer said Vernon’s bond was set at $200,000. Hamilton County court records show she has no prior criminal convictions in the county, the paper reported in a separate story.

Merriweather’s situation is a bit more complicated, shall we say.

It turns out he was indicted July 10 on four felony charges after investigators said he was found in possession of a stolen firearm, the Enquirer reported. Court records indicate he was charged with carrying concealed weapons, receiving stolen property, improper handling of firearms in a vehicle, and weapons under disability, the paper noted. The weapons under disability charge stems from a 2009 felony conviction for aggravated robbery, the Enquirer said, citing documents.

But after his indictment just two weeks ago, Merriweather was released upon posting 10% of a $4,000 bond, the paper said.

“He never should have been out,” Ken Kober, Cincinnati police union president, told the Enquirer.

Merriweather’s bond in connection with the mob attack charges against him was set at $500,000, the Enquirer reported.

As for Matthews, his bond was set at $100,000, the paper said — although he later was charged with felony assault, as well, and a bond for that charge will be discussed at a Thursday hearing.

Matthews apparently is no stranger to law enforcement, either. More from WXIX:

Matthews is a convicted felon who pleaded guilty in 2009 to two counts of cocaine possession and a single count of cocaine trafficking, court records show.

He was sentenced to three years in prison.

During each of his two separate arrests in those cases — in December 2008 and February 2009 — police said Matthews tried to swallow a bag of crack cocaine but spit it out after being shocked with a Taser stun gun.

The FBI on Monday opened an investigation into the mob attack, WXIX reported. Fox News said the incident is under investigation as a potential hate crime.

Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa A. Theetge told NewsNation Monday she anticipates more people will be charged over the mob attack and said “anyone who put their hands on another individual during this incident in an attempt to cause harm will face consequences.”

In the main cellphone video of the early Saturday morning mob attack, a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants is chased into the street and knocked down before multiple attackers repeatedly punch and kick and stomp him over the course of nearly a minute amid hooting and hollering.

‘The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified.’

Then, a woman in a blue dress is seen apparently trying to intervene on behalf of the beaten-up man, but she’s punched in the back of her head by another female — and seconds later, a male punches her in the face, knocking her flat on her back on the street. (It appears the video may not be viewable unless you’re signed into X.) A disturbing close-up of the woman’s face shows her eyes wide open and body motionless before a few people try to help her up.

A set of three other videos appear to show the same beatdown from different vantage points — and additional victims are seen, as well. (Again, the clips may not be viewable unless you’re signed into X.)

One that lasts 23 seconds shows three other men knocked to the surface of the same street. Then, one attacker leaps and lands his body atop one of the male victims — pro-wrestling-style — while the victim is still lying on the street surface. Afterward, a laughing, smiling male pulls the attacker away.Another video that lasts 12 seconds shows what appears to be the same victim from the 23-second video getting pummeled from behind and knocked to the ground as a voice is heard saying “sleep him again!” The victim is then dragged by his foot into the middle of the street.The third video — which lasts one minute and 14 seconds — appears to show what preceded the beatdown in the main video. It shows the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants — who was beaten up in the first video — squaring off with a male in a red shirt and black shorts who would soon take part in the mob attack. It appears to show the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts — and then it’s on.

An additional Facebook video appears to show even more of what occurred prior to the mob attack. It depicts what seems to be a verbal argument and minor scuffle that was on its way to calming down, and then the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants seems to lightly slap the face of the male in the red shirt and black shorts, which — as noted above — leads to the beatdown.

However, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock on Monday stated on “Jason Whitlock Harmony” that he’s heard the argument that the man dressed in the white shirt and black pants — a white man — “started it” by making physical contact with the male in the red shirt and black shorts — a black man, and that was justification for the mob attack.

“That’s ridiculous to me,” Whitlock said. “The level of attack on this man? Completely unjustified.”

RELATED: Victim brutally beaten by gang of bike-riding thugs speaks out: ‘I’m thankful to God that it was only as bad as it was’

BlazeTV contributor Shemeka Michelle agreed, telling Whitlock the attack was “definitely unjustified. When they tried to show the video of the guy in the red being pushed and acting as if that was justification. … But for all of these people to jump in — and it wasn’t just men jumping in; there were women jumping in as if they were men.”

Whitlock on Sunday posted a message on X calling out the mob attack, saying that “this behavior and lack of national outrage are unsustainable. It’s unsustainable. The anti-white bigotry at the root of this behavior must be addressed. Sickening.”

NewsNation reported that Police Chief Theetge blasted bystanders, noting that despite the preponderance of people with cell phones out and recording the beatdown, only one person called 911.

“For all those people recording with cell phones and for us to only get one call is unacceptable in this city,” Theetge added, according to the outlet.

The chief also ripped those who posted videos of the attack on social media given that the clips don’t show the full context of it, NewsNation said: “That social media post and your coverage of it distorts the content of what actually happened and makes our jobs more difficult.”

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Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle collaboration has not only taken over internet discourse for its sensuality — but also because it’s a young blonde woman clad in denim who is proud of her blue eyes and blonde hair, which she cheekily calls her “jeans.”

While BlazeTV host Steve Deace is well aware that the sensuality behind the ad is a sin, what he finds interesting is that those who have not only gone beyond sin but normalized it are the most outraged by the ad.

“A devolution in our day, is we have gone from sinfulness, I believe, to demonic influence. And the difference between the two … is that our sinfulness takes the natural desires, instincts, ambitions, and talents that God gives us and seeks to exploit them beyond the boundaries God put in place for them to be best practiced and utilized,” Deace says.

“What American Eagle is capitalizing is, by today’s standards, somewhat tame, although other eras would have been greatly more offended,” he explains, though he notes that even if “you’re on the wrong side” of that particular debate, the debate still centers around morality and God.

“Demonic influence is no longer when we seek to exploit the natural talents, desires, ambitions, and instincts that God gives each of us, but we now deny them. And this is now where we go the other way,” he says.

While conservatives might debate each other over whether or not the ad is too sensual to show, the left has already promoted and surpassed sinful sensuality — but oddly draws the line when it comes to Sydney Sweeney.

“The spirit of the age that has promoted that sensuality, its simps, its acolytes, are now condemning this Sydney Sweeney ad. How do you make sense of this?” Deace asks.

“It’s too salacious, but at least it’s hetero. That’s exactly why the spirit of the age is losing its mind. ‘How dare you do anything even if it is sensual,’” he mocks, “Even if it is what in other eras would have been considered perversion.”

“‘How dare you do anything that points to objective truth, objective good, and objective beauty?’” he adds.

Executive producer of the “Steve Deace Show,” Aaron McIntire, agrees.

“As you pointed out, the real enemy that we are up against, the real opponents on this mortal coil that we’re up against, they certainly feel like they are attacked, like they’re being attacked. They certainly see this as some sort of cultural shift, and they don’t like that. They don’t like it when they’re not in control,” he says.

“The spirit of the age would rather enslave you than kill you. I’ve always said that. And the moment that they start to feel like, ‘We’re not as close to enslaving you,’ or ‘We don’t have as much control as we thought,’ they start to throw fits,” he adds.

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The World Economic Forum seized on the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to realize its founder’s proposed “great reset” of capitalism — a progressive liberal plot initially hatched in opposition to the “shareholder capitalism” championed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman.

The technocratic globalist organization’s initiative was, however, exposed and torpedoed in recent years, thanks in part to President Donald Trump and so-called conspiracy theorists.

Weeks before he stepped down on bad terms as chairman of the WEF, Klaus Schwab noted in an April 1 letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, failed U.S. presidential candidate Al Gore, and the forum’s other deep-pocketed trustee board members, “I am deeply convinced that in today’s special context the forum is more important and relevant than ever before.”

In the wake of Schwab’s departure and the failure of his “great reset,” it appears that the WEF is now playing the long game — working to shape the minds of today’s youth in order to reshape the world of tomorrow.

Fellow travelers stateside appear more than keen to join forces.

Randi Weingarten announced on Friday that the American Federation of Teachers — which claims to have 1.7 million members — is partnering with the WEF “to create a curriculum that will lead to good jobs and solid careers in U.S. manufacturing.”

‘Americans aren’t going to stand for it.’

“The goal of education should be to cultivate the skills necessary to succeed in our rapidly changing world, not to create good test-takers,” said Weingarten. “That will require our education system to move beyond stifling accountability models that narrow what teachers can teach; condemn kids to low-quality, high-stakes standardized tests and excessive test prep; and do nothing to improve learning.”

RELATED: America’s largest teachers’ union declares war on the Trump administration, will use kids as foot soldiers

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Weingarten made the announcement at the 2025 AFT convention, where the union also adopted a number of radical resolutions, including resolutions in support of statehood for the District of Columbia; in opposition to the Trump administration’s detention and deportation of foreign radicals on student visas; in support of the advancement of gender ideology in schools, for “gender-affirming medical care,” and for boys in girls’ sports; and in support of working with Black Lives Matter and other radical groups to fight efforts by conservatives and parental advocacy groups to rid schools of woke propaganda.

— (@)

The AFT has not yet disclosed the details of the planned curriculum; however, critics suspect the objective will be more of the same from both the union and the forum — ideological uniformity, institutional capture, and the advancement of a progressive liberal agenda.

“This partnership is straight from a dystopian nightmare,” Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project and a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, told Blaze News. “It’s just what we need: the globalists running the education system for the entire United States.”

“Americans aren’t going to stand for it,” continued DeAngelis, who is convinced this will push more Americans out of the public school system. “We don’t want Randi Weingarten raising our kids. We don’t want the globalists raising our kids.”

‘The great reset is still ongoing.’

While it is presently unclear precisely what role the WEF will play in the development of the curriculum, it appears that the AFT will at the very least lean on the forum’s imagined authority to advance its climate agenda.

In a resolution adopted at the convention titled “Climate-smart and sustainable schools,” the union cites the claim by the World Economic Forum “that ‘urgency is our only savior’ when talking about the climate crisis.”

With this imagined urgency in mind, the union resolved to integrate a climate-focused curriculum to “facilitate comprehensive energy reduction, decarbonization, sustainability and indoor air quality projects,” and noted that education on the supposed risks of climate change can be a “powerful driver for more sustainable development, including a transition to greener societies.”

“They basically want to destroy industry,” said DeAngelis. “They’re pushing this crazy climate-change hysteria agenda, and they’re trying to use the school system to achieve the World Economic Forum’s goals.”

Alvin Lui, president of the parental rights advocacy group Courage Is a Habit, told Blaze News, “The sustainable development goals that the WEF pushes [are] all about gender and identity; it’s all about income redistribution. … It’s about climate change-ism. It’s everything that we’re trying to get out of school, get out of our culture.”

“The great reset is still ongoing; tearing down America is still ongoing. And how do you do that? You get into their organizations,” said Lui.

“Parents are not going to know that their children are consuming WEF curriculum because it’s going to be hidden,” continued Lui. “They’re not going to say, ‘Hi, this curriculum is from the World Economic Forum.’ It’s going to say, ‘This is going to prepare your child for the global workforce. It’s career readiness.'”

Reflecting on the track records of the WEF and AFT, Lui suggested that the likely goal of their curriculum will not be to produce effective graduates but rather useful idiots.

“When they go into the workforce, they’re not going and saying, ‘Hey, I want to work at Jaguar so that I can climb the corporate ladder,’ or ‘I can make this position and get this promotion,'” Lui said, singling out Jaguar as an example of a robust brand recently blown up by woke hires. “They’re going and saying, ‘Jaguar is not inclusive enough. Jaguar doesn’t focus on human rights. They’re don’t have inclusive enough bathrooms.'”

DeAngelis suggested that the WEF will ultimately serve as another aid for Weingarten to “brainwash our kids into her socialist ideology.”

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The Senate floor has once again become the arena for lawmakers’ political theater. This time, Democrats put their infighting on full display.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey erupted at his Democratic colleagues during a heated tirade Tuesday, accusing Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota of being “willing to be complicit” with President Donald Trump.

“This, to me, is a problem with Democrats in America right now, is we’re willing to be complicit to Donald Trump,” Booker said during a floor speech Tuesday.

‘There’s a lot of us in this caucus that want to f**king fight.’

Booker’s outrage was sparked after Klobuchar and Cortez Masto sought to pass by unanimous consent a package of bills that included grants for police departments. Booker tried to offer an amendment that would alter the distribution of grants across states in response to Trump’s executive order freezing all federal funds related to DEI programs.

RELATED: Senate narrowly confirms Trump lawyer despite Republican defectors

“The Democratic Party needs a wake-up call,” Booker said.

“And what are the very people here elected to defend the Constitution of the United States saying? ‘Oh, well, today let’s look the other way and pass some resources that won’t go to Connecticut, that won’t go to Illinois, that won’t go to New York, but that will go to the states he likes,'” he went on.

“That is complicity with an authoritarian leader who is trashing our Constitution,” Booker added. “It’s time for Democrats to have a backbone. It’s time for us to fight.”

RELATED: Mike Collins launches campaign to flip key swing state Senate seat

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Notably, Booker did not put up a strong fight. Despite his indignation, Booker ultimately did not formally object to the two bills, and they passed with unanimous consent.

“There’s a lot of us in this caucus that want to f**king fight,” Booker said as he left the Senate floor. “And what’s bothering me right now is we don’t see enough fight in this caucus.“

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President Trump gave reporters new information as to why he stopped associating with infamous sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the president was asked about Epstein taking some of his employees from Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s prized resort and golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump said on Monday that Epstein betrayed him years ago by hiring multiple people who had worked at the Florida resort. On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that at least some of them were young women.

‘I think that was one of the people. He stole her.’

A reporter asked, “Were some of the workers that were taken from you — were some of them young women?”

Trump at first replied that he did not want to say before eventually confirming.

“Well, I don’t want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken. And it was the concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story’s been pretty well out there. And the answer is yes. They were.”

The reporter then asked what kind of roles the young women had while working for Trump.

“In the spa. Yeah. It’s people that work in the spa,” the president clarified before boasting about the great amenities at the Mar-a-Lago spa. “People were taken out of the spa — hired by him. In other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, ‘This guy is taking people from the spa.'”

Trump said he “didn’t know” that Epstein was poaching his employees and confronted him over the issue afterward.

“I didn’t know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him. I said, ‘Listen. We don’t want you taking our people.’ Whether it was spa or not spa, I don’t want him taking people. And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again, and I said, ‘Out of here.'”

Immediately after those remarks, a female reporter asked the president about one of Epstein’s victims.

RELATED: Trump blasts Democrats on Epstein files during Scotland trip: ‘The whole thing is a hoax!’

“Mr. President,” the reporter began just before 2 p.m., “did one of those stolen, you know, persons, did that include Virginia Giuffre?”

Giuffre had claimed in a 2016 deposition that Epstein’s partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, trafficked her after picking her up from Mar-a-Lago. According to the Washington Post, Giuffre said her father had worked in the maintenance department at Mar-a-Lago and got her a “summer job” as a locker room attendant.

“I don’t know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so,” Trump responded to the question. “I think that was one of the people. He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know.”

Giuffre said in the deposition that Maxwell wanted to hire her as a “traveling masseuse,” which eventually led to her allegedly being instructed to have sex with people even though she was 16 and 17 years old.

RELATED: Trust the FBI? Not until it tells us about Thomas Crooks

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, with a photo of herself as a teen. Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images.

Trump had famously said in 2019 that he “wasn’t a fan” of Epstein and that he had a “falling-out with him” about 15 years prior.

Recently, White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement, “The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep,” referring to Epstein.

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​News, Trump, Epstein, Mar-a-lago, Florida, Ghislaine maxwell, Politics, Virginia giuffre 

In accordance with President Donald Trump’s demands, the Senate is chipping away at the massive backlog of nominees. This time, Republicans narrowly confirmed former Trump lawyer Emil Bove, but some familiar names have once again bucked their party.

Bove was officially confirmed for a lifetime appointment to serve as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Tuesday night. Although Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, Bove was confirmed in a narrow 50-49 vote after Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine voted against the Trump nominee.

‘That’s gotta be rough, being publicly unmasked and emasculated like that.’

While Murkowski and Collins didn’t publicly comment about their disapproval of Bove, several Democrats did.

In a drawn-out floor speech, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said Bove’s confirmation marked a “sad day for the judiciary.”

RELATED: Mike Collins launches campaign to flip key swing state Senate seat

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“By confirming Emil Bove, my Republican colleagues once again failed their constitutional duties and put loyalty to Donald Trump over the good of our country,” Booker said in his social media post.

At the same time, Trump allies like the Federalist’s Sean Davis celebrated Bove’s confirmation as yet another political win for the country.

“Congrats to Emil Bove on his confirmation, and condolences to Ed Whelan and everyone else on the fake right who definitely weren’t being paid and directed to run a smear campaign against Bove to prevent his confirmation,” Davis said in a post on X. “That’s gotta be a tough pill to swallow after spending years threatening conservative lawyers that their careers would be over if they defended Trump or J6ers from left-wing lawfare.”

RELATED: One Republican’s rhetoric is even starting to spook pro-Israel groups

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

“That’s gotta be rough, being publicly unmasked and emasculated like that, and realizing that everyone now knows you were all bark and no bite,” Davis added. “Oof. Oh well!”

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​Emil bove, Senate, Senate republicans, Senate democrats, Cory booker, Lisa murkowski, Susan collins, Donald trump, Trump administration, Trump nominee, Senate confirmation, Sean davis, Ed whelan, Politics 

As President Trump concluded his trip to Scotland, he took a moment to praise the media members who were in attendance, in a rare moment of mutual appreciation between the press and the president.

Trump’s trip featured varying successes, including when he secured a massive trade deal with the European Union that saw tariffs placed on the foreign trading body that will now “completely accept” American auto and industrial standards, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Another win for Trump came when he opened a new course at Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen in Scotland. Following an impressive swing from the tee box, Trump gave the media some rare compliments.

‘We’re going to try to get things straightened out, for the world.’

Wearing a white and gold “USA” hat, Trump thanked the press in attendance.

“Thank you, everybody — and thank you to the media,” Trump began, making sure not to repeat his most famous tagline.

“The media has been terrific, believe it or not. See? I didn’t use the word ‘fake news’ one time. Not one time!”

The president continued, “Today, they’re not fake news. Today, they’re wonderful news. I just want to thank you. They’ve treated us really well, and they respect what we’ve done.”

“Really, at a level you rarely see nowadays, so I really, very much appreciate it.”

There was one media member who was seen as impolite, however, and caused enough commotion to garner moans and groans from his colleagues.

RELATED: Canada declares independence from Liberal censorship — with Donald Trump’s help

— (@)

As Trump was leaving the golf course, a reporter yelled, “Mr. President, what will you say next to Benjamin Netanyahu?”

Other media members were aghast at the question, likely due to the high levels of cordiality between the media and Trump at that point in the day, but the president answered the question anyway.

“We’re going to try to get things straightened out, for the world,” Trump replied.

As cameras flashed, one man is heard saying, “Come on!” in response to the question, with the White House response team eventually writing on X that “the Fake News just can’t help themselves.”

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​Trump, News, Media, Scotland, Press, Politics 

“Conspiracy theory” is the go-to smear against those of us who questioned any aspect of the government’s authoritarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But as the great Austrian economist Murray Rothbard once observed, the smear serves one purpose: to divert the public’s attention away from the truth.

“An attack on ‘conspiracy theories,’” Rothbard writes in “The Anatomy of the State,” means that the subjects of a regime “will become more gullible in believing the ‘general welfare’ reasons that are always put forth by the State for engaging in any of its despotic actions.”

The democratization of information means that censorship just doesn’t work as well as it used to.

“A ‘conspiracy theory,’” he continues, “can unsettle the system by causing the public to doubt the state’s ideological propaganda.”

The more I dig into the origins of the COVID pandemic, the more “despotic” our state seems to become — and the more “conspiratorial” I get.

Unsettling the system

I am trying to put together the final pieces of the puzzle of what I consider among the greatest public policy scandals of my lifetime — not only who did it, but more importantly, why would they do it?

A few months ago, I spent a day with Matt Taibbi, the iconoclastic muckraker and “Twitter Files” reporter, for the latest episode of my BlazeTV investigative series, “The Coverup.”

As he dug through the trove of emails and texts, Taibbi discovered the conspiracy to blacklist and silence Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the subject of the first episode of “The Coverup” and now the head of the National Institutes of Health. Taibbi soon learned that the same tactics and tools — and even many of the very same deep-state actors — have their fingerprints all over both the Russia collusion hoax and the COVID cover-up.

A precedent for censorship

Recently released documents from Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard reveal that the so-called Russia collusion hoax wasn’t just wrong — it was deliberate. The Obama administration orchestrated the fabrication, pushing U.S. intelligence agencies to leak a report suggesting Vladimir Putin had helped Donald Trump steal the 2016 election.

That leak, repeated endlessly by the press, fueled a national narrative branding Trump’s presidency as illegitimate — despite those same agencies having already dismissed the claim.

This kind of manipulation would be outrageous if it weren’t so familiar.

Five years after the COVID lockdowns stripped millions of Americans of basic liberties, we’re still uncovering how the deep state used propaganda to silence dissent. Throughout the pandemic, scientists and doctors raised alarms about the damage lockdowns would cause — and did cause. Some of the world’s most respected experts signed the Great Barrington Declaration to oppose the government’s heavy-handed response.

But the public never heard from them. Bureaucrats and media allies moved swiftly to smear, suppress, and sideline these voices using one of the oldest authoritarian tactics: control of information.

In fairness, public health agencies didn’t have to twist many arms. The legacy media followed their lead willingly — even when the guidance contradicted itself or defied basic logic.

But unlike the days of Project Mockingbird, when the CIA could shape coverage by nudging the New York Times or CBS, controlling the old guard wasn’t enough. The rise of social media — decentralized, fast-moving, and open to anyone with a computer or phone — posed a new challenge. The administration needed a more aggressive strategy to dominate the narrative.

Strong-arming social media

In episode 5 of “The Coverup,” I ask Taibbi how they pulled it off. As one of the first journalists to dig into the Twitter Files, Taibbi exposed the machinery behind the censorship regime. Americans suspected that platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube were suppressing dissent during COVID. But the Twitter Files confirmed what many feared: They weren’t acting alone. They took orders from the FBI directly.

And these weren’t polite requests, either. When the government “suggested” something, tech companies treated it as a command.

It all traces back to — surprise, surprise — the Russia hoax.

In 2017, Congress hauled tech executives into hearings and accused them of letting Russian disinformation run wild. Essentially, they were given an offer they couldn’t refuse: Allow the government to play a role in content moderation or prepare to be regulated into submission.

RELATED: On the 9th anniversary of Russiagate, the hoax is finally crumbling

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Their surrender gave U.S. intelligence agencies de facto control over what Americans could say online. The feds told platforms which posts to delete, which users to silence, and how to suppress the rest. You could post your opinion — as long as no one could see it. “Shadow bans” became the preferred method of censorship: clean, quiet, and deniable.

The silver lining

Thanks to Taibbi — and a handful of journalists who still value truth over access — we now see how the government sold Americans on fiction. Russia hacked the election. COVID came from a bowl of bat soup. Question either and you’d vanish from the digital public square.

Millions believed these lies. And under their influence, they did real damage — locking down schools, closing businesses, and sowing doubt about fair elections.

But truth has a way of leaking out.

It’s taken time, but the lies are unraveling. And that’s the silver lining. In a world where information moves faster than censors can keep up, suppression doesn’t work like it used to. So long as we have truth-tellers willing to dig and defy — like Taibbi — the regime won’t have the last word.

We won’t get fooled again.

Episode 5 of “The Coverup” premieres Thursday, July 31.

​Opinion & analysis, Russia collusion hoax, Russiagate, Intelligence community, Social media, Matt taibbi, Twitter files, Authoritarian, Censorship, Shadow banning, Shadow banned, Cia, Fbi, Covid-19, Tyranny, Pandemic, Control, Lies, Facebook, Twitter, Murray rothbard, Liberty, New york times, Cbs news, Disinformation, China, Content moderation, Matt kibbe, The coverup, Anthony fauci, Youtube, Great barrington declaration, Tulsi gabbard, Jay bhattacharya 

Yesterday, in yet another act of mass violence, a gunman identified as Shane Tamura killed four people, including an NYPD officer, and critically wounded another in a shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan before taking his own life.

“You’re going to hear all kinds of things,” says Glenn Beck. “You’re going to hear ‘more gun control,’ yada yada yada. But will we ever talk about the real issues here?”

The real issue, he explains, is not guns but mental illness, which Tamura had a “history of.”

According to a handwritten note found in his pocket, Tamura targeted the office building on Park Avenue specifically because the National Football League headquarters are located there.

“He wanted to express his grievance with the NFL,” says Glenn.

Tamura claimed to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy — a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.

Thus far, police have found no evidence to confirm whether Tamura had CTE, but it was confirmed that he played football in high school.

In his suicide note, Tamura requested that his brain be studied.

“This is a tale of insanity,” sighs Glenn. It’s “a tale of evil, a tale of broken minds, a tale of innocence destroyed in the place where it was least expected, a skyscraper in New York turned slaughterhouse and a Monday night that turned to mourning.”

And it’s no isolated tale. Around the same time as Tamura’s murderous rampage, another gunman killed three people and injured three others in the valet area and parking lot of the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. The suspect was shot by police and taken into custody in critical condition.

While “no motive has been determined so far,” it’s clear that “we have an epidemic of mental illness in this country,” says Glenn.

Just a couple of months ago, Glenn experienced this personally when he and his wife were in Manhattan.

“A black guy on a bike rides towards us, and he begins to circle us on his bike on the sidewalk … all the while looking me right directly in the eye and pointing with one hand, the other on the handlebars, saying, ‘I’m going to kill me a white man today,”’ Glenn recalls.

“Luckily, he noticed that I had two armed security people behind us. He recognized maybe they might kill a black man on a bike today. He rode away. The man was clearly unstable.”

“We have become a society that has gone into madness. … How much more madness will it take before we stand up and say enough is enough?”

To hear more of Glenn’s commentary and analysis, watch the episode above.

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You may not have heard the term “anarcho-tyranny” in a while — maybe never. But it’s the only phrase that fits what’s unfolding in Canada right now: a system that punishes peaceful political dissent while letting real criminals off easy. It’s lawfare in service of regime security.

That was true under Justin Trudeau, and it’s even more apparent under his successor, Prime Minister Mark Carney — a globalist banker who cashed in on political connections and now presides over a government determined to crush dissent.

Even if Barber and Lich are granted the absolute discharge that their lawyers are requesting, the Liberal government has proven its point: Defy us, and we will … ruin your life.

Drawn-out sentencing

Just look at the ongoing prosecution of Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, two of the main organizers of the 2022 Freedom Convoy — the trucker-led protest that captured global attention when thousands of Canadians rolled into Ottawa to peacefully demand an end to COVID-19 mandates and lockdowns.

The trial began shortly after Labor Day 2023. On April 3, 2024, the pair were found guilty of mischief, but nearly six months later, they still haven’t been sentenced. Their next court date isn’t until October 7.

That makes this the longest mischief trial in Canadian history.

Let’s be clear: Barber and Lich face up to eight and seven years in prison, respectively. For mischief. For organizing a protest. The Crown — Canada’s prosecution — has also filed a request to seize Barber’s truck, known as “Big Red,” an icon of the convoy.

Extraordinary harm?

At a sentencing hearing last week in Ottawa, Crown prosecutor Siobhain Wetscher argued that the two were “criminally responsible for extraordinary harm.” She’s pushing for a seven-year sentence for each, plus an additional year for Barber for “counselling others to disobey a court order.”

A separate hearing to decide on the truck’s forfeiture is set for August 12.

Meanwhile, the presiding judge, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey, admitted during the hearing that she was unaware that convoy participants and even donors had their bank accounts frozen by the Trudeau government under the Emergencies Act — a chilling use of power that shocked observers around the world.

Worse than manslaughter

Think about it: In Canada, people are routinely sentenced to six years for manslaughter. Rapists and violent criminals often serve far less. Car thieves are let out on bail and vanish. But organize a peaceful protest against the ruling party’s COVID regime? You get dragged through court for two years and potentially thrown in prison for nearly a decade.

Even if Barber and Lich are granted the absolute discharge that their lawyers are requesting, the Liberal government has proven its point: Defy us, and we will drain your finances, squander your time, and ruin your life. As both Barber and Lich have told me, “The process is the punishment.”

RELATED: Canadian feds to seize iconic ‘Big Red’ as Freedom Convoy persecution rolls on

Courtesy Chris Barber

Third-world politics

This is not a free society. This is selective repression. Canada now only permits political protest that aligns with the Liberal Party’s agenda. March for climate, Pride, or Palestine? No problem. Challenge government overreach or reject the woke orthodoxy? Prepare for hell.

This is a Canada out of step with both Trump’s America — where woke politics and deep-state control are under attack — and much of Europe, where populist movements are rising, lockdown policies are being questioned, and citizens are reclaiming sovereignty from unelected elites.

To put it bluntly, this is third-world politics without the tropical weather.

The very idea that two peaceful protest organizers could spend eight years in prison should alarm anyone who still believes in democracy, civil liberties, or basic proportionality in the justice system.

But this is the state of Canada in 2025.

​Freedom convoy, Lifestyle, Truckers, Tamara lich, Chris barber, Big red, Covid mandates, Canada, Justin trudeau, Mark carney, Donald trump, Anarcho-tyranny, Letter from canada 

Adam Carolla tried to warn us.

The contractor turned podcast star spent years telling Californians how hard it is to build anything in the Golden State. Decades, to be more accurate.

Carolla calls politicians like Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass ‘somewhere between incompetent and nefarious.’

It’s a red-tape nightmare under one-party rule, Carolla cautioned.

Now, six months after wildfires devastated large swaths of the greater L.A. area, locals are learning that lesson the excruciating way.

No progress in ‘progressive’

Carolla is tracking the rebuilding effort, or lack thereof, on his podcasts and YouTube channel.

“You don’t get how pernicious these regulations are. Everything’s in triplicate. It makes it really hard to build stuff,” Carolla says.

He hates being right, but so far, the state’s Democratic machinery has proved to be as slow as predicted. He can see the results — or lack thereof.

“I’ve scoured the place on almost a daily basis,” the California native tells Align of looking for signs of construction in the afflicted areas. “There are a couple of structures, maybe three I’ve seen in the Palisades area being rebuilt. Zero in Malibu that I’ve seen.”

Newsom has suspended some environmental restrictions to allow for speedier recovery efforts, but even the left-leaning Wired admitted the progress has been agonizing.

Home-building chops

Carolla, who flexed his home-building chops on his “Catch a Contractor” TV show, knows the visual cues that accompany a work site. Flatbed trucks. Stacks of plywood. Cement mixers.

All of the above are in short supply, he laments.

The hard-working comic started a new YouTube-based series chronicling the rebuilding process. “The Malibu Fires: 6 Months Later” video generated more than 900,000 views in two weeks along with 4,600 comments.

He’s struck a nerve following the wildfires, but it’s a lament he began during his days co-hosting the syndicated “Loveline” radio show in the 1990s with Dr. Drew Pinsky.

“Nobody ever gave a s**t about what I said,” he recalls.

Early warning

Carolla broached the subject anew after leaving his Malibu home in early January. He recorded a raw, 45-minute monologue from a hotel room that day, and it swiftly went viral.

“Be prepared to deal with the city of Los Angeles, the red tape, the coastal commission,” he recalls saying at the time. He added insurance nightmares would only complicate the rebuilding efforts.

Carolla interviews a crush of personalities on “The Adam Carolla Show,” from celebrities to influencers. He even quizzed then-Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2013, a hardball Q&A that left the future governor reeling.

Out of office

The Democrat isn’t likely to revisit their chat, and Carolla assumes other state Democrats will avoid his podcast studio, too. He calls politicians like Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass “somewhere between incompetent and nefarious.”

“They’re process people. They don’t know how to build anything,” he says. “[Bass] didn’t get elected to do this. She wants to fight ICE.”

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

Mario Tama/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Carolla cracks wise for a living, but highlighting the California rebuilding process is no laughing matter. Some could consider his commentary “clapter,” the kind of political banter that plagues the now-canceled “Late Show” with Stephen Colbert.

Carolla makes sure to bring some wit to his monologues.

Room for humor

“I use half my comedic brain and half my construction brain,” he says, understanding that lives have been disrupted, or much worse, by the fires. “My job is to be accurate.”

He relies on a tried-and-true comic technique to broach the challenging subject.

“If you watch the vlogs, the humor is I’m the butt of the joke … so as long as I’m the one who ends up looking foolish, there’s always room for some humor,” he says.

Carolla isn’t hopeful that the rebuilding efforts will suddenly pick up, mostly based on local restrictions. The state is still a relentlessly blue region, although for fellow Los Angelenos, the fires represent a “rock bottom” moment where voting preferences might change.

Might.

“I don’t know about California,” he says. “There’s still a broad Democratic stupidity that goes on in this state.”

Carolla already has his sights set on Nevada as his future home, but he sees a glimmer of hope for the Golden State.

He recalls spending time with the Army Corps of Engineers and has faith in the American people rolling up their sleeves when given the chance.

“When the workforce is unleashed, they’re pretty miraculous,” he says.

​Adam carolla, California wildfires, Karen bass, Gavin newsom, Lifestyle, Culture, The adam carolla show, Red tape, Rebuilding, Align interview 

Late Monday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan, the summer heat clung to the glass and steel of Park Avenue, usually a quiet street save for the occasional honking horn or blaring siren. But as the sun dipped behind the towering skyscrapers, violence erupted.

A 27-year-old man, whose name I won’t bother mentioning, stepped out of a black BMW he had double-parked near 51st and 52nd Streets. His movements were calm, deliberate. In his hands, he carried an AR-15 rifle. His target was 345 Park Avenue, a tower of wealth and power, housing the offices of Blackstone, the National Football League, and Rudin Management. The idea of chaos here, in this building, felt foreign — until it wasn’t.

If we don’t get back to the root causes of violence, we’re doomed to continue spiraling into chaos.

The shooter made his way into the building lobby, where he shot in the back 36-year-old New York City Police Officer Didarul Islam, whose wife was about to give birth to their third child. The gunman then gunned down a woman hiding behind a pillar, her life taken in an instant.

The footage shows him moving with a chilling calm, methodical and relentless. A guard behind a desk became his next victim. Then another man, an NFL employee, was shot and is still in critical condition.

The shooter made his way to the elevators, and, strangely, as one opened, a woman stepped out. He let her pass. Why? We’ll never know. But she will likely ask herself that question for the rest of her life.

He continued to the 33rd floor, where Rudin is located. There, in the quiet hum of fluorescent lights and the soft chatter of cubicles, he began “to walk the floor, firing as he traveled.” Another victim fell, another family destroyed.

And then, in a final act, he turned the rifle on himself.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that the scene was contained. But the damage was done. Four people were dead: one officer, one security guard, and two civilians. Several more were wounded.

The root issue: Mental illness

As details emerged, we learned more about the gunman’s background. He had driven cross-country from Las Vegas to New York. By trade, he was a security guard at a Las Vegas casino, and he held a concealed carry permit. Yet his history of mental illness, coupled with a backpack full of ammunition, medication, and his clear intent, painted a grim picture.

We also learned that his real target was the NFL, not Rudin. The shooter, suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease common in high-contact sports caused by repeated head collisions, blamed the NFL for his condition.

He had played football in his youth, but never at the professional level. His note, found on his body after he shot himself, said he wanted his brain studied, to contribute to the understanding of his condition.

This wasn’t just an ordinary act of violence; it was a tragic collision of a mentally unstable man and a gun.

A growing crisis

America is in the midst of an unprecedented mental health crisis. As I walk through cities like New York, I am confronted by the increasing number of unstable individuals teetering on the brink of violence. Not long ago, my wife and I were walking through Manhattan when a man on a bike circled us, looking me directly in the eye, saying, “I’m going to kill me a white man today. Today is the day.”

RELATED: NYC ignores staggering number of ICE detainers sent by Trump’s DHS — Bondi takes action

Photo by Michael M. Santiago / Staff via Getty Images

The man was clearly unhinged. Fortunately, he noticed the armed security behind us, and he quickly rode away. But what if they hadn’t been there? What if he had been someone who wasn’t aware of the people around him?

The world we live in today is one where violence is erupting in public spaces, fueled by mental illness, societal breakdown, and a lack of accountability — and it’s becoming a national trend. This isn’t just about guns or laws — it’s about what’s happening inside the minds of those who perpetrate these acts.

A wake-up call

It’s easy for people to point fingers. To blame social media, to blame the media itself, to call for more laws. But this crisis is about much more than that. It’s about a loss of morality, family, social cohesion, transcendent purpose, genuine human connection, and so much more that comes with a society whose values are rooted in God’s truth.

I’m not a mental health expert, but surely the degeneration of these social goods and the historic rise in mental disorders, especially among young people, are not coincidental. We can’t keep turning a blind eye to such things and pretend that new laws or more regulations will fix it.

This isn’t just about changing laws; it’s about changing hearts. If we don’t, we’ll keep losing those we hold dear.

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​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Glenn beck, Park avenue shooting, Shane tamura, Mental health crisis, Nfl, Blackstone, Manhattan, Nypd, Mental illness, Las vegas, Social media, Cte, Football, Chronic traumatic encephalopathy 

“Conspiracy theorists” have been sounding the alarm about organ donation and the practice’s potentially shady incentives for decades, only to have their concerns brushed aside as crazy or even selfish — until now.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a major initiative to begin reforming the organ transplant system following an investigation that revealed horrific practices by a major organ procurement organization.

“Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying,” Kennedy said, explaining that these organ procurement organizations must be held accountable.

Dr. Raymond Lynch is chief of the organ transplant branch at the Health Resources and Services Administration, which demanded a thorough, independent review of one federally funded organ procurement organization.

Lynch tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey that the findings were “highly concerning.”

This particular organ procurement organization that’s been under investigation was operating in Kentucky, Southwest Ohio, and part of West Virginia, and they were found to be taking organs from patients that were showing signs of life.

And it’s been going on for much longer than this investigation.

One man, T.J. Hoover in Kentucky, was admitted to Baptist Health’s emergency room in 2021. He was unresponsive for two days before his family agreed to donate his organs. However, while he was being prepped for organ donation surgery, he began thrashing, crying, resisting, and showing signs of life.

And according to the HRSA investigation, Hoover’s case is far from the only one.

“HRSA examined 351 cases where organ donation was authorized but not completed, identifying issues — 103 cases. Of those, 73 patients showed neurological signs incompatible with organ donation, and 28 may not have been deceased when procurement began,” Stuckey says.

“The investigation uncovered poor neurologic assessments, lack of coordination with medical teams, questionable consent practices, and misclassified causes of death, especially in overdose cases,” she continues. “Not to get conspiratorial here, that’s very scary.”

One of the issues with their approach, Lynch explains, is that when potential organ donors are being assessed, there can be confusion as to whether or not their neurologic function is nonexistent or if it’s simply being “clouded by drugs.”

Not only that, but the family of the deceased donor will receive no compensation, and instead, the organ procurement organization pays the hospital for time and resources used. So some of the fees they collect are used to fund their activities.

“Is it reasonable to wonder if there would be more of an incentive, then, to allow a patient to die so that their organs could be harvested than it would be to keep them alive? Because there would be no reimbursement if that patient survives,” Stuckey comments.

“Well, to some degree we’re dependent on medical ethics, right?” Lynch says. “And this is a good faith system.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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

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A man who allegedly attacked a woman in her home in Pennsylvania on Sunday was later determined to be an illegal alien who claimed to be homeless.

Police said that the 32-year-old woman reported being awakened by a man on top of her, who attacked when she resisted at about 2 a.m. She was able to fight him off by punching him in the eye and kicking him in the face, according to an affidavit.

His attorney had argued that he was not a bail risk because he was homeless and did not have any money.

At one point, she says that the man put her in a stranglehold and was cutting off the flow of oxygen before she was able to escape his grip. He ran away but was able to steal her iPad on his way out.

The woman described the man as having shaggy hair, wearing a baseball cap as well as a green-yellow windbreaker. She said he only spoke Spanish.

About nine hours after the attack, police were able to find a suspect who matched the victim’s description. She was able to positively identify him, and police said that he was in possession of her iPad. He also had a fresh injury to his eye, which matched with the woman’s description of the fight.

The man was identified as 31-year-old Jonathan Avila-Arevalo.

Avila-Arevalo was arraigned on Monday morning with the aid of an interpreter and was held on a cash bail of $99,000. His attorney had argued that he was not a bail risk because he was homeless and did not have any money.

One of the keys to capturing Avila-Arevalo was that police were able to track the iPad he allegedly stole.

RELATED: Video shows illegal alien dragging away screaming woman who tried to escape from captivity and sexual assault

WCAU-TV reported that Avila-Arevalo was determined to be an illegal alien who had entered into the U.S. in 2023 through Texas from Guatemala. Federal officials have placed an immigration detainer on the man if he makes bail.

Avila-Arevalo was charged with a slew of crimes, including burglary, strangulation, aggravated assault, and criminal trespassing.

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​Illegal alien crime, Jonathan avila-arevalo, Illegal alien attacks woman, Homeless crime, Crime 

One of the late comedian George Carlin’s most famous rants gave us the line, “It’s a big club … and you ain’t in it.” That sentiment rings especially true when it comes to the financial services industry, where wealthy investors and insiders gatekeep the most lucrative opportunities for themselves and their friends.

So what should you think when they suddenly want to let you in?

The private equity party is a bit dim right now, and that’s why they are sending out more invitations. Be careful before you RSVP.

There’s no red flag bigger than when someone wants to let you in on something very exclusive — especially if it’s from people who’ve spent decades keeping you out of the club.

Case in point: the private equity industry’s latest push to open its funds to everyday retail investors.

The private equity world is one I know well, as a recovering investment banker who works with a firm to evaluate deals. My husband also worked in the sector. Like any other industry, it has both good and bad players.

Private equity involves deploying capital to buy ownership stakes in private companies, distinct from equity invested through the public markets in publicly traded companies. These firms are often actively involved with the company, as opposed to the more passive investing in public market companies. Their stakes are typically substantial, often including majority ownership.

The good players in private equity provide capital, professionalization of businesses, governance, business insights, and capital for growth. They may reward employees with an ownership stake to align incentives.

Some private equity players, however, focus on financialization — that is, playing around with the capital structure of a company and not adding a lot of value otherwise. Private equity is rife with examples of firms that have ruined businesses with too much leverage and engaged in a variety of greedy — and often, outright abhorrent — behaviors.

But this latest trend isn’t about good firms versus bad firms. It’s about the broader industry’s poor performance — and desperation.

The returns are drying up

Private equity has a problem. Too much money has flooded the space in recent years, driving up valuations and pushing down returns. Funds are struggling to find new investors to cover their high management fees. So now they’re turning to you.

They aren’t suddenly being generous. They’re just trying to survive.

According to the Financial Times, a major private market index has underperformed the S&P 500 over the past one-, three-, five-, and 10-year periods. Any outperformance was skewed toward earlier years — and even then, it came with significantly higher fees and far less liquidity.

This underperformance comes with heavy fees and a lack of liquidity for your investment. It’s not a coincidence that you are seeing private equity opening up to retail now when it is struggling from deal competition, higher valuations, higher capital costs, and slower deal exits.

RELATED: Red states get it: Economic freedom beats blue-state gimmicks

Nuthawut Somsuk via iStock/Getty Images

Speaking of slower exits, the Wall Street Journal noted that “private equity remains the biggest fee generator for the broader Wall Street ecosystem of banks and advisers” and that private equity firms are sitting on a record number of companies that they are waiting to exit — that is, sell and record a profit … or a loss. Longer hold times for private equity firms mean they are not returning capital to their investors, and, in turn, the investors are not reinvesting in the latest and greatest fund.

Whether it’s the new push to allow private investments into your 401(k) or your financial planner calling you with “new, exciting alternative investment opportunities,” please be appropriately skeptical. Always probe a fund’s track record (especially over the past several years), fee structure, and whether it is a fit for your objectives and goals.

The private equity party is a bit dim right now, and that’s why they are sending out more invitations. Be careful before you RSVP.

​Opinion & analysis, Investing, Private equity, Savings, Capital, Capital markets, Free markets, Stock market, S&p 500, Investment banker, Industry, Retail investors, George carlin 

President Donald Trump denied accusations that he ordered the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s late night show but then said that two others were likely to lose their shows.

Many on the left have imploded with fury in the belief that the president had somehow demanded the cancellation after many years of criticism from Colbert. The network’s parent company was able to secure government approval of a billion-dollar merger after the cancellation announcement.

‘These legacy shows are hemorrhaging money with no real end to that in sight — people are just not tuning in.’

In a brief statement Tuesday on social media, the president denied having any part in the cancellation and mocked Colbert.

“Everybody is saying that I was solely responsible for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night. That is not true! The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!” Trump wrote.

The reported financial loss to CBS was not confirmed but had become a talking point for those who defended his cancellation.

“Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel, and then, a weak, and very insecure, Jimmy Fallon. The only real question is, who will go first? Show Biz and Television is a very simple business. If you get Ratings, you can say or do anything,” Trump continued.

“If you don’t, you always become a victim,” he added. “Colbert became a victim to himself, the other two will follow.”

Most of the entertainment world has responded to the cancellation with anger against the Trump administration and Paramount Global, but others, like Jay Leno, have been warning that comedy was oversaturated with politics.

RELATED: Libs are outraged at Jay Leno’s comments about politics in comedy amid cancellation of Stephen Colbert

Even Colbert’s defenders, however, have admitted that he was likely losing money for CBS and that other such shows are next in line.

“It definitely was hemorrhaging money. These legacy shows are hemorrhaging money with no real end to that in sight — people are just not tuning in,” said comedian Samantha Bee, who said Colbert was her friend.

“It is also true that when the president of the United States has to give his sign-off on a corporate merger, the thing you can’t do is make jokes about him,” she added.

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​Trump vs stephen colbert, Colbert cancellation, Trump vs late nite, Stephen colbert outrage, Politics, Trump vs late night