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That ‘tax loophole’ might be the reason America still builds things

As President Donald Trump delivers Tuesday’s State of the Union, lawmakers will applaud calls for economic strength, innovation, and American competitiveness. Many of those same politicians, however, attack the very policies that make those goals possible. Their favorite target: so-called “tax loopholes,” routinely described as corruption or favoritism.

That label distorts how tax policy works.

What critics dismiss as ‘loopholes’ often serve as the incentives that help ordinary Americans — not just the rich — build, grow, and prosper.

Politicians denounce “loopholes” as if businesses are exploiting accidental gaps in laws Congress never meant to create. The implication follows: close the loopholes, collect more revenue, spend more money, and the country improves.

That framing misses the point. Most so-called loopholes are not accidents. Congress created them on purpose to encourage behavior that strengthens the economy.

Tax credits and deductions are not tricks. They are policy tools. In many cases, they work better than direct spending programs because they rely on private-sector decision-making instead of bureaucratic discretion.

That distinction matters during a period of rapid technological change. Consider artificial intelligence.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year built on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by making full and immediate capital expensing — commonly called bonus depreciation — a permanent feature of the tax code. That provision allows businesses to deduct the full cost of qualifying capital investments in the year they make them, rather than stretching deductions over many years.

Critics call that a “giveaway.” It is better understood as a growth policy.

In practical terms, full expensing matters whenever a company makes a large upfront investment — servers, advanced manufacturing equipment, or specialized hardware needed to build AI systems. Under traditional depreciation rules, a business recovers those costs slowly. That delays the tax benefit and discourages large productive investments.

Full expensing removes that penalty. It aligns the tax code with economic reality by letting businesses recover costs when they take the risk. It also works automatically, without bureaucrats deciding which firms or industries deserve support.

That design is intentional. If Congress wants more of a productive activity, it can tax it less.

The AI boom illustrates the point. The United States is competing to lead the world in private AI investment. Data centers are going up at record speed. Venture capital is funding startups that did not exist a few years ago. Large firms are racing to expand computing infrastructure for next-generation models. That kind of investment grows where policy rewards risk-taking.

By making bonus depreciation permanent, lawmakers reduced uncertainty and signaled that America intends to remain the best place to invest capital.

RELATED: At Trump’s State of the Union, remember the free-market miracle in your pocket

Shutthiphong Chandaeng via iStock/Getty Images

This provision does not benefit only trillion-dollar corporations with armies of accountants. Any business making qualifying investments can use it: a mid-sized manufacturer installing robotics, a regional logistics company upgrading its fleet, or a startup buying high-performance computing equipment. The tax treatment is the same.

In fact, the largest long-term effect may land far from Silicon Valley. Small and medium-sized businesses make up roughly half the U.S. economy. For those firms, cash flow often determines whether they can hire, expand, or modernize. Immediate expensing can make the difference.

This is not a “loophole.” It is deliberate economic policy.

Critics often argue that provisions like full expensing “cost” the government money. That view ignores the broader effect. When businesses invest more, they produce more. More production supports hiring, wages, and taxable income across the economy.

I work directly with small and medium-sized businesses navigating a tax code that is often caricatured in political debate. I have seen how these so-called loopholes function in real life. They are not exclusive perks for the wealthy or giant corporations. Their benefits extend to workers, customers, and communities through jobs, innovation, and competition.

What critics dismiss as “loopholes” often serve as the incentives that help ordinary Americans — not just the rich — build, grow, and prosper.

Uncle Sam does not always get tax policy right. But when Congress uses the tax code to encourage productive behavior instead of punishing it, the results can be transformative.

The next time a politician thunders about “tax loopholes,” ask a simple question: Is it really a mistake — or a policy designed to make the American economy stronger?

​Opinion & analysis, Taxes, Spending, Loophole, One big beautiful bill, Donald trump, State of the union, Economics, Markets, Innovation, Productivity, Artificial intelligence, Data centers 

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The most unhinged liberal videos you’ll see this week

The outside of the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Memorial became a stage this Presidents’ Day for a group of dancers protesting the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — and a clip of the performance is giving BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales “secondhand embarrassment.”

“That’s what they will pass off as art. It’s why you shouldn’t let your kids major in liberal arts. They’ll end up on the steps of the Kennedy Center performing that bulls**t,” Gonzales comments.

“I just have to wonder how many hours they spent working on that, rehearsing that all for this big moment that led them to absolutely nothing. Like great, you got the social media video. How many hours of your life did you waste that you could have been actually working?” she asks, adding, “Actually, we know liberals don’t work.”

But that’s not the only ridiculous video Gonzales came across this week.

In another clip, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) claims that the left is now guilty of being racist to her alongside the right.

“The thing that is not normal is for me to be attacked from the left. That is the, like, new wild card in this scenario. But it’s just interesting. And you know, I’ve been asked a couple of times, a couple of things about it,” Crockett began.

“I look at this specifically as a civil rights lawyer, and I see when they’re sending out ads, and they’re darkening my skin, and I’m just like, ‘I know what this is,’ right? And the reality is that yes, I woke up a black woman. I was born a black woman. I know I’m a black woman, for everybody that didn’t think I didn’t know. Just FYI,” she continued.

“But I am not running on the fact that I’m a black woman. I am running on my credentials,” she added.

“That’s all you talk about,” Gonzales comments.

“Jasmine Crockett cannot go five minutes without telling someone, ‘I’m a strong independent black woman,’” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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

​Video phone, Camera phone, Sharing, Video, Upload, Free, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Liberal, Leftism, Renee good, Alex pretti, Jasmine crockett, Liberal protests, Come and take it, Sara gonzales clips 

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‘White supremacy dog-whistling’: Democrat goes on unhinged rant — about milk

Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter (D), a woke physician who downplayed the risks associated with COVID vaccines and has since championed so-called “gender-affirming care,” recently raised eyebrows by characterizing an innocent Make America Healthy Again initiative as racist.

After repeatedly calling for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be “dismantled” during a town hall on Saturday, Dexter launched into an unhinged attack on the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“RFK Jr. is one of the biggest threats to our community and to the health of this country,” said Dexter.

“When you don’t follow the science, and you just follow your vibes or your whatever it is that he’s doing, it is absolutely the truth that you lose trust,” continued the congresswoman. “I have every reason to believe that we’ll be able to get that man at least delegitimized, hopefully fired.”

‘Drinking whole white milk has played a big role in racist and far-right thinking.’

Dexter characterized the government as a “fascist regime,” advised doctors not to “do what they are telling us to do,” and suggested that patients should “ask for the science-based regimens, not whatever RFK Jr. is getting kickbacks on or whatever whole milk, white supremacy dog-whistling that’s happening.”

The Republican National Committee’s RNC Research account noted in response to Dexter’s assertion, “Democrats’ unhinged hatred for President Trump has broken their brains.”

The Make America Healthy Again Commission released the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy in September, identifying hundreds of initiatives that could help reverse “the failed policies that fueled America’s childhood chronic disease epidemic.”

RELATED: ‘Hold Big Pharma accountable’: Vaxx giants are sure to be nervous about Rand Paul’s new bill

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

The strategy noted that the HHS and other agencies would “remove restrictions on whole milk sales in schools, allowing districts to offer full-fat dairy options alongside reduced-fat alternatives.”

The National School Lunch Program of the Department of Agriculture long required participating schools to provide milk that was consistent with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which meant the milk offerings either had to be fat-free or low-fat.

Trump, helping the MAHA strategy along, ratified the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act last month, thereby modifying the NSLP requirements such that whole and reduced-fat milk would be added to the offerings at schools across the country.

The USDA and Kennedy have since shared a number of videos and pictures promoting whole milk, touting it as a “protein, strength, and a class choice that never goes out of style.”

While whole milk and the government’s campaign promoting it appear to be innocuous, Dexter presumed the worst — but she’s apparently not alone.

For instance, Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, recently suggested that the consumption of the universally appreciated liquid food “is political. Drinking whole white milk has played a big role in racist and far-right thinking.”

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​Milk, Dairy, Whole milk, Robert f. kennedy jr, Rfk, Hhs, Health, Health and human services, Usda, Donald trump, Maxine dexter, Politics 

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12-year-old Florida girl posts ‘detailed manifesto’ about conducting mass shooting at middle school over bullying: Cops

A 12-year-old Florida girl was arrested after she posted online a “detailed manifesto” about carrying out a mass shooting at a middle school due to bullying, authorities said.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said it got word overnight Monday about the manifesto “describing at length a plan to carry out a mass shooting at Southwestern Middle School due to bullying. Deputies acted quickly to investigate the threat and identify the student responsible.”

When detectives spoke with the suspect, she first denied any involvement but later admitted to making the plan and posting it online, the station said.

The school is in DeLand, which is about 45 minutes north of Orlando.

The student was “placed under arrest for making written threats to kill and misuse of a 2-way communications device,” the sheriff’s office added.

Blaze News is not naming or showing the face of the suspect due to her age.

RELATED: 2 Florida 15-year-olds accused of threatening to shoot up high schools

Image source: Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office

According to WOFL-TV, a friend gave the tipster the information about the manifesto, and the tipster wanted to report the information.

The station said the mass shooting plan was posted to a website — but while the plan had been taken down, the comments and username remained, the station said.

Investigators traced the IP address to DeLand and identified the suspect — a student at Southwestern Middle School, WOFL said.

Citing the arrest affidavit, the station noted that the mass shooting plan detailed when to arrive at school, where to meet up, what time to start the shooting — and even identified a teacher who “gave me an F- on my test” and named students.

WOFL said that when investigators spoke with the teacher in question, she looked at her grades to see which students had received an F, and investigators verified that the suspect was one of those students.

The station, citing the affidavit, said investigators also asked the student named in the plan if there were any students who made fun of him or didn’t like him — and he recalled the suspect, who was in his math class.

Investigators also spoke with the boy whom the suspect said would help her with her plan, WOFL said, and the boy later admitted his friend — the suspect — was the one who made the plan to shoot up the school.

When detectives spoke with the suspect, she first denied any involvement but later admitted to making the plan and posting it online, the station said.

Deputies arrested the suspect around 1:30 a.m. Monday, WOFL reported, adding that she soon was taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center.

Blaze News over the last several months has reported about Florida authorities accusing teens — and those even younger — of making similar threats and arresting them. What’s more, law enforcement agencies frequently have released the names and images of the young suspects, a decision that hasn’t made every observer happy.

Earlier this month, a pair of 15-year-olds were arrested after being accused of threatening to shoot up high schools, police said.In late October, an 11-year-old girl was arrested after writing a “kill list” at her desk at school, police said. Then just two weeks later, an 11-year-old boy from the same school district was arrested after allegedly creating a “kill list” at school, police said.Also in October, a Florida sheriff’s office came under fire for posting 9-year-old male’s mug shot on Facebook after his felony arrest for allegedly bringing a knife into his elementary school.Just a week prior, that same sheriff’s office said a 10-year-old was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, a third-degree felony, after bringing a pocketknife to school and threatening another student. The sheriff’s office posted the suspect’s name and mug shot.

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​Florida, Arrest, Threat, Mass shooting threat, Volusia county sheriff’s office, Bullying, Detailed manifesto, 12-year-old girl arrested, Manifesto posted online, Crime 

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Trump ally drops effort to prosecute Democrats over ‘seditious’ video, sources say

The six Democrats who participated in a video calling on military members to refuse illegal orders will likely no longer face the possibility of prosecution, according to sources who spoke to numerous news outlets.

President Donald Trump excoriated the Democrats and accused them of committing “sedition” over the video they posted in Nov. 2025.

‘It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime.’

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, decided against seeking the indictments, according to the sources, after a Washington, D.C., grand jury refused to indict the Democrats earlier this month. Whether federal prosecutors will attempt to indict in another district is unclear though unlikely.

“The traitors that told the military to disobey my orders should be in jail right now, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain what they said was OK,” Trump wrote after Democrats released the video.

“It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!” he added.

CBS News reported that Pirro’s spokesperson declined to comment.

Sec. of War Pete Hegseth threatened one of the Democrats involved, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, with a court martial and suspension of his military retirement benefits. That effort was also blocked by a federal judge, who said such official consequences violated Kelly’s constitutional right to free speech.

“This will be immediately appealed. Sedition is sedition, ‘Captain,'” Hegseth wrote in response on social media.

RELATED: Pentagon says court-martial possible for Sen. Mark Kelly after Trump calls him a ‘traitor’ for ‘seditious’ video

The Democrats have denied allegations that they were encouraging disobedience and argued that they were merely reiterating military rules allowing troops to deny orders they believe to be illegal.

“President Trump continues to weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) previously said about the investigation into the video.

“It’s the kind of thing you see in a foreign country, not in the United States we know and love,” she added. “No matter what President Trump and Pirro continue to do with this case, tonight we can score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law.”

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Exclusive: DHS dispels legacy media’s claims about family detention center

The Department of Homeland Security dispelled false claims from the legacy media about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Frio County, Texas.

A NBC News report on Feb. 13 described the Dilley center as a “remote, prison-like facility” with “inhumane conditions,” according to human rights advocates. The article claimed that the center has unsanitary conditions and lengthy wait times for medical care. A recent ProPublica article and another from the New York Times echoed similar allegations.

‘The fact is being in detention is a choice.’

A DHS press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News debunked falsehoods about the Dilley facility.

The agency stated that the center has a full medical staff, including physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, psychologists, pharmacy staff, and medical support personnel.

The facility reportedly provides detainees a thorough medical screening within 12 hours of arrival. Children undergo pediatric assessments that include evaluations of growth, development, behavior, and nutrition. Additionally, specialized off-site services such as hospitalization, specialty consultations, and lab testing are available.

Families are provided with life-sustaining medication immediately, the DHS stated.

RELATED: Vance crushes false narrative about ICE ‘arresting’ 5-year-old boy

Photo by Jabin Botsford/the Washington Post via Getty Images

“Medical services, including mental health and dental, are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and if necessary, medical providers refer residents to outside specialists or hospitals,” the agency’s press release read.

The staff accommodates special diets and allergies as needed.

“The Dilley facility is retrofitted for families. Children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling. They have access to age-appropriate books, toys, and outdoor activities. All of this is generously funded by the U.S. taxpayer,” the DHS stated. “Infant care packages include formula, baby food, bottles, diapers, wipes, and hygiene items; the facility also provides sippy cups and cribs. Adults with children are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs.”

RELATED: ‘Quite literally insane’: DHS responds to new scheme from LA activists to warn illegal aliens about ICE

Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Families have access to religious services, visits from clergy, a law library, attorney visitation, and mail services.

“Being in detention is a choice,” the DHS noted, adding that all foreign nationals illegally in the U.S. are encouraged to self-deport immediately.

“The media and sanctuary politicians have repeated false claims about the ICE Dilley facility, including that children are denied medical care and don’t have educational resources,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stated. “The truth is this facility provided proper medical care for all detainees, including access to a pediatrician. Children have access to teachers’ classrooms, books, and toys. The fact is being in detention is a choice. We encourage all parents to take control of their departure by using the CBP Home app and receiving a free flight home and $2,600.”

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The State of the Union is Trump’s chance to reset deportations

At the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio didn’t mince words. He told European leaders that mass migration is not, was not, and will not become “some fringe concern of little consequence.” It was and remains a crisis that is transforming and destabilizing societies across the West.

Rubio also made the point that should be obvious but too often goes unsaid: Controlling who enters a country — and how many people enter it — is not xenophobia. It is not hatred. It is a basic act of national sovereignty. Failing to do it is not merely a policy mistake. It is an abdication of one of government’s first duties to its own people and an urgent threat to social order and civilizational stability.

We need to confront sanctuary employers, sanctuary farms, and sanctuary factories.

That is bold. It is also correct.

Yet special interests continue to pressure President Trump to abandon his promise to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history” into a much smaller project focused only on “the worst of the worst.”

Violent criminal illegal aliens must be removed, and the administration was right to begin there. Public safety comes first.

But that was always the opener. It was never the endgame.

The American people did not vote for President Trump because he promised a narrow immigration enforcement strategy. They voted for the restoration of the rule of law. They voted for what the president himself promised: to deport the illegal aliens Joe Biden unlawfully allowed to enter the United States.

The mas -deportation coalition, of which I am a proud member, exists to help the president accomplish that goal.

Two hundred thousand or even 300,000 interior removals per year may sound significant. Put it beside an illegal population that could approach 20 million, however, and the number shrinks fast. At the current pace, the math does not get you to the largest deportation operation in American history over four years.

President Trump needs help keeping his promise, and he needs a strategy calibrated to the scale of the problem.

RELATED: ‘Phase one’ was quality control. ‘Phase two’ needs to be quantity control.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

When President Eisenhower enforced immigration law in the 1950s, he did not limit enforcement to select criminal categories. The message was clear: Unlawful presence would not be tolerated. That clarity changed behavior. People left because they knew they had broken the law and would face consequences if they stayed.

That is the kind of clarity we need now.

It means expanding worksite enforcement, not merely fighting over sanctuary cities. We need to confront sanctuary employers, sanctuary farms, and sanctuary factories.

It means taking on industries that rely on and exploit illegal labor at the expense of American workers and their families. It means making clear that unlawful presence in the United States carries consequences — not selectively imposed, but consistently and uniformly applied.

As someone who led ICE and CBP under President Trump in his first term, I can say this with confidence: The machinery and capability exist to achieve 1 million interior removals by the end of 2026.

The real question is political will.

Opponents of the president’s campaign promise are trying to box him into a narrower and narrower enforcement lane. Special interests, campaign consultants, and media talking heads want enforcement to stall — and then to end in amnesty.

If enforcement remains confined to this narrow lane and eventually grinds to a halt, amnesty will come next.

RELATED: Two ‘I’ agencies, one Democratic double standard

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The State of the Union is the president’s golden opportunity to make clear to supporters, detractors, and, above all, the American people that he intends to fulfill the promise he made on the campaign trail.

It is time to move to phase two: enforcement at scale, without fear or favor.

That may sound bold to some. I know firsthand that it can be done — and must be done.

The American people returned President Trump to the White House after he made that promise. They will reward him with a historic legacy if he keeps it.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, State of the union, Immigration, Mass deportations, Immigration and customs enforcement, Border security, Illegal aliens, Workplace enforcement, Business, Employment, Sanctuary cities, Agriculture, Farms, Factories, Dwight d. eisenhower 

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District Judge Cannon issues ruling on fate of Trump adversary’s Biden-era special report

In a case that has stretched over several years, a federal judge has seemingly put a nail in the coffin of a major report, the release of which President Donald Trump has consistently opposed.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who has served the Southern District of Florida since 2020, permanently barred the Department of Justice from releasing former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report regarding Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, Politico reported.

‘Special Counsel Smith and his team went ahead for months, undeterred, preparing Volume II using discovery collected in connection with this proceeding and expending government funds in the process.’

Trump’s motion to bar the release of the special counsel’s report — which Cannon previously determined Smith and his office had unlawfully prepared during the Biden administration — was granted in full on Monday.

“The Court has reviewed the Motions and the full record pertinent to the Motions, including the United States’ position that ‘Volume II should not be released outside of the Department of Justice’ due to the unlawful appointment of Special Counsel Smith and Attorney General Bondi’s deliberative-process determination. Fully advised in the premises, Trump’s Unopposed Motion is GRANTED,” the Trump appointee wrote in the ruling.

RELATED: ‘Flagrant violation’: GOP lawmaker grills Jack Smith for ‘spying’ on former House speaker

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Cannon’s ruling on the “complex” case, which she said “generated close to 800 docket entries since the filing of the initial indictment in June 2023,” will ostensibly put to rest the impending release of Volume II of Smith’s report.

Following the order, the current Department of Justice and its successors are “enjoined from (a) releasing, sharing, or transmitting Volume II of the Final Report or any drafts of Volume II outside the Department of Justice, or (b) otherwise releasing, distributing, conveying, or sharing with anyone outside the Department of Justice any information or conclusions in Volume II or in drafts thereof.”

However, a second motion filed by two co-defendants alongside Trump was rejected in part. This separate motion requested that Volume II be destroyed, but this request was denied.

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If China conquers Taiwan, can America get enough computer chips? Japan has a surprising answer.

One might look at a map of the Pacific and see not nations or cultures, but single points of failure. A current focus of the United States is Taiwan, a humid, densely populated island that holds the world’s advanced chip capacity in a terrified embrace. The new conversation, the one taking place in strategy memos and industrial planning committees, seeks a failover, a backup system, cooler and less contested. The location is Hokkaido.

The Japan External Trade Organization does not suggest that this Northern Japanese island would entirely replace the sweltering, sleepless efficiency of Hsinchu Science Park. The ecosystem in Taiwan is too sticky, too deeply rooted in decades of institutional memory to be simply lifted and dropped elsewhere. Instead, Hokkaido would be a geopolitical insurance policy, a second, colder, resource-abundant location where a new chip cluster could be built, far from the Taiwan Strait, in a place where the water is plentiful and the missiles are more friendly.

Technology can transform a place from a frontier of agrarian settlement to a node in a global machine.

The analogy between the two islands is tempting, but it highlights difficulty as well as opportunity. Taiwan’s dominance was not an accident of geography; its capacity was built over decades, a deliberate accretion of state-backed R&D institutes and land policy that treated universities and public infrastructure as tools of industrialization. For Hokkaido to become the “new Taiwan,” this density, the sheer weight of human skill and accumulated knowledge, would need to be duplicated. The timeline to do so might be longer than desired.

The centerpiece of this ambition is a company called Rapidus and a site in the Chitose area known as IIM-1. The timeline is aggressive: a pilot line begun in 2025, mass production by 2027. The goal is the 2nm-class chip, utilizing gate-all-around structures, a technology at the threshold of modern capability. Rapidus has already installed an EUV lithography tool, a machine that uses 13.5 nanometer wavelength light to print patterns so fine they exist at the edge of visibility.

RELATED: America’s technological horizon

luza Studios/Getty Images

An EUV scanner is not just a machine. It is a geopolitical asset, intertwined with export controls, national anxieties, and the supply chains that have become a source of concern. The machine sits in Hokkaido, but the sociotechnical world required to run it has yet to be assembled. Advanced manufacturing depends on highly situated know-how, the yield learning and micro-decisions of production that do not travel well. One recalls the friction of bringing the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to Arizona, where the transplant of a workplace culture proved harder than the pouring of concrete.

However, Hokkaido does offer something Arizona cannot: water. A region holds a portfolio of critical features: water security, renewable energy, risk distribution. Taiwan has been plagued by droughts that force chipmakers to truck in water, a reminder that the most advanced technologies still rely on the Earth. Hokkaido, by contrast, touts its snowmelt and its wind. Rapidus explicitly lists abundant water and the attractiveness for living as key reasons for its location.

The strategy bleeds into something like lifestyle marketing. The “Hokkaido Valley” is being sold not only as an excellent location for factories, but as a cure for the density of metropolitan life. The location attempts to solve two problems at once: the fragility of the global chip supply and the demographic collapse of rural Japan. The country’s development plans have long been concerned with population decline and the survival of communities. The semiconductor strategy offers a new answer: import the engineers, promise them nature, and call it compute sovereignty.

The project is not without risks. Tacit yield knowledge cannot be moved like a warehouse. An attempt to compress Taiwan’s 40 years of industrial layering into a single decade in Chitose is a gamble. Yet there is already motion toward the new location. By early 2026, reports surfaced of TSMC planning 3nm production in Japan, alongside Rapidus’ 2nm targets. The vision is of a multisite future, a diversification of risk across a map that feels increasingly unsafe.

The redesign of Hokkaido as an interface between global networks and local survival is instructive. The government of Japan is now planning for a future in which semiconductor-related total sales are a metric of national health. Technology can transform a place from a frontier of agrarian settlement to a node in a global machine, where the water and the wind and the cold are no longer just weather, but assets in a calculation of security. The chips, if they come, will be small. The rearrangement of the world required to make them is very large.

​Tech 

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Erika Kirk will attend State of the Union and be featured in Trump’s speech

Among the many guests at President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term will be the widow of Charlie Kirk, according to the Daily Wire.

Erika Kirk took the reins of her husband’s company, Turning Point USA, after his assassination in Utah and has become a leading voice in the pro-Trump movement.

‘She has risen to the occasion with grace, dignity, and a lot of hard work.’

“President Trump has been a source of strength for Erika, constantly checking in with her over the last five months, and Erika is incredibly honored to be invited by the president to attend tonight’s State of the Union,” said TPUSA spokesman Matt Shupe to the Daily Wire.

“Erika has been thrust into an enormously important role by fate and tragedy and because Charlie chose her should the horrible moment ever come, and she has risen to the occasion with grace, dignity, and a lot of hard work.”

Kirk surprised many at her husband’s memorial in September by publicly forgiving the man accused of the killing.

“That young man, that young man,” she said. “On the Cross, Our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.”

She added, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer, we know, from the gospel is love and always love.”

BlazeTV will provide full coverage of the State of the Union address beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday with analysis and commentary from hosts Allie Beth Stuckey, Stu Burguiere, Steve Deace, and others.

RELATED: Tim Allen had a powerful reaction to Erika Kirk forgiving the alleged assassin of her husband

Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, is facing numerous charges, including murder, after his family reportedly persuaded him to turn himself in to law enforcement. Many suspect that his relationship with a trans-identifying man was part of the alleged motivation for the political violence.

Mrs. Kirk’s elevation to lead TPUSA has also led to some unhinged conspiracy theories accusing her of participating in an operation to kill her husband.

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‘Dig that hole’: Gavin Newsom’s tone-deaf attempt at ‘960 SAT’ joke in Atlanta

California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom did his best to relate to an Atlanta, Georgia, audience at a recent book tour stop — but he may have insulted the audience instead.

“I’m not trying to impress you,” Newsom told Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens at the event. “I’m just trying to impress upon you: I’m like you. I’m no better than you. You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy.”

“And you know, and I’m not trying to offend anyone, you know, trying to act all there if you got 940. Literally a 960 SAT guy,” Newsom said.

“You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech. Maybe the wrong business to be in,” he added.

“Dig that hole!” says Keith Malinak, executive producer of “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“So he just called all these blacks stupid,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray comments, shocked.

“‘I’m just stupid like you are,’” Gray mocks. “‘I’m assuming that every one of you got a 960 on your SAT or less.’”

“‘And you can’t read. Just like me,’” BlazeTV contributor Jeff Fisher chimes in.

“Will this stick?” asks Keith. “We may not know for a while if it sticks or not. We may have to wait until the Democrat primary to see if maybe a black candidate comes out and drops this reminder on everybody.”

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​Video, Upload, Camera phone, Sharing, Video phone, Free, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Balze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, 960 sat, Gavin newsom, California governor, Atlanta mayor andre dickens, Democrats, Election 2028 

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‘Non-binary’ fired after hanging ‘trans’ flag at Yosemite sues Trump administration

A probationary wildlife biologist for Yosemite National Park who identifies as “non-binary” covered the side of El Capitan with a gargantuan trans-activist flag last year to protest the Trump administration’s reality-affirming policies regarding gender.

Shannon Joslin, a female resident of El Portal, California, found out the hard way that actions have consequences — and was fired.

‘Demonstrating without a permit outside of designated First Amendment areas detracts from the visitor experience.’

The LGBT activist filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, demanding her job back and claiming that the Department of the Interior violated her First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

The protest

Joslin and several other climbers rigged a 55’x35′ trans activist flag roughly one-third of the way up El Capitan on May 20, 2025, where it flapped for hours.

According to her complaint, Joslin came up with the idea to rig a flag on El Capitan as a “statement in support of trans people,” then worked over the course of multiple weeks with other activists to “stake out the technical logistics of fixing a sizable flag to the rock face.”

In the corresponding press release where she boasted about the protest, Joslin indicated that those responsible were “social workers, public servants, parents, and neighbors.”

She told Climbing.com, “Calling congressmen and writing representatives feels like yelling into the void. We have this f**king microphone that is El Cap.”

RELATED: ‘Just chaos’: Heroes who stopped ‘trans’ killer at Rhode Island hockey game speak out

El Capitan. Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Wyn Riley, a drag queen who goes by “Pattie Gonia,” was among the supporters of the protest. In a May 22, 2025, propaganda video featuring several clips of Joslin securing the flag, Riley said, “The Trump administration and transphobes would love to have you believe that being trans is unnatural.”

“Call it a protest; call it a celebration,” continued Riley. “We are bringing elevation to liberation.”

The complaint alleges that Joslin was off-duty “at all times during the preparation for and placement and display of the trans pride flag.”

The fallout

Documents show that Joslin received a notice of termination in late July indicating that she was out of a job effective Aug. 12, 2025.

The letter provided a reminder that the purpose of the two-year trial period that started for Joslin on Sept. 10, 2023, is to “determine whether newly appointed Federal employees are suitable for successful service in the areas of conduct and performance.”

“During your trial period, you have failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct,” continued the letter. “Specifically, on or about May 20, 2025, you participated in a small group demonstration in an area outside the designated protest and demonstration area without permit as required by 36 CFR 2.51 and thus circumvented rules applicable to all park visitors.”

Neither the Department of the Interior nor the National Park Service would comment on the specifics of the relevant personnel actions.

However, they both shared a statement with Blaze News noting, “We take the protection of the park’s resources and the experience of our visitors very seriously and will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences.”

“Yosemite National Park was designated by Congress to highlight the beautiful natural and cultural features of the area,” continued the statement. “No matter the cause, demonstrating without a permit outside of designated First Amendment areas detracts from the visitor experience and the protection of the park. To safeguard the protection of visitors, visitor experiences, and park resources, many demonstrations require a permit.”

The lawsuit

Joslin’s lawsuit, in which she is referred to with plural pronouns, complains about Trump’s rebuff of gender ideology and reality-affirming policies; claims that Joslin has faced “medical, financial, personal, and professional harm” as the result of her termination; and alleges that the decision to fire her violated the “First Amendment by selectively targeting for retaliation specific forms of expression based on content and viewpoint.”

The lawsuit — which lists the NPS, the Interior Department, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Attorney General Pam Bondi as defendants — also alleges that the National Park Service used a press release regarding the stunt from Joslin’s protest group against her, suggesting that doing so was a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.

The “non-binary” activist not only wants her old job back but damages and a declaratory judgment that “Defendants’ collection and use of information about Dr. Joslin’s protected First Amendment activity was unlawful.”

Joanna Citron Day, one of Joslin’s attorneys, said in a release, “If Dr. Joslin had hung a flag the administration liked, they would be working at Yosemite today.”

Regardless of the colors, Yosemite National Park maintains its prohibition for “any person or group to hang or otherwise affix to any natural or cultural feature, or display so as to cover any natural or cultural feature, any banner, flag, or sign larger than fifteen square feet (e.g., 5 feet x 3 feet).”

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​Flag, Trans, Transgender, Shannon joslin, Yosemite, El capitan, Protest, Protests, Cultural imperialism, National park, Interior department, Politics 

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‘Trans’ alleged school shooter in Canada: Did police put politics before public safety?

Two weeks ago in tiny Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, an 18-year-old man allegedly killed his mother and half-brother. He then opened fire at his former secondary school, murdering five students — some as young as 12 — and one teacher, wounding dozens more, before taking his own life.

It was one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings ever — and its worst school shooting since the 1989 massacre at École Polytechnique de Montréal.

The RCMP-issued public alert warned of a ‘female in a dress with brown hair.’

It was also Canada’s first incident of a grim trend plaguing its neighbor to the south: homicidal rampages by clearly mentally ill, transgender-identified perpetrators.

‘Female’ at large

Why does it matter that alleged shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar considered himself “trans”?

Even if you’re not convinced that the desire to change or ignore biological sex is in itself a sign of psychological disturbance or that the drugs, hormones, and surgeries used to “transition” people don’t exacerbate or even trigger mental illness, it seems clear that Van Rootselaar’s “trans” identity affected how police responded to the shooting.

Van Rootselaar was “transitioning” from male to female, and that’s precisely how he appeared: like a young man trying to look like a young woman. Yet while he was still at large, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Tumbler Ridge seemingly put woke politics and Canada’s obsession with “misgendering” ahead of public safety.

The RCMP-issued public alert warned of a “female in a dress with brown hair.”

British Columbia RCMP commanding officer Dwayne McDonald reinforced this narrative at the first news conference, announcing that the suspect was “an 18-year-old female.” It was only after prodding from a reporter that he admitted that Van Rootselaar was a biological male.

We’ve sadly come to expect this kind of obsfucation from the media — Canada’s state broadcaster refers to Van Rootselaar as “she” without qualification — but such deception from the police poses even greater risks.

Could the ideologically motivated refusal to identify Van Rootselaar accurately have led to even more deaths? It’s certainly possible.

Mental health concerns

Moreover, gender ideology may have hampered the police’s ability to prevent this tragedy.

McDonald confirmed that Van Rootselaar had previously been apprehended under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act on multiple occasions and had been hospitalized “in some circumstances.”

Under the Mental Health Act, individuals who pose a risk to themselves or others can be involuntarily detained and treated, with no fixed limit on the duration so long as medical certifications are renewed. Mental health officials have acknowledged that repeated cycles of admission and discharge — without a durable treatment plan — are not uncommon.

It is fair to ask whether institutional caution — including heightened sensitivity around gender identity issues — contributed to a reluctance to take firmer, longer-term measures when warning signs were evident.

RELATED: Media calls it ‘mental health,’ Rick Burgess calls it demonic: Unpacking the Tumbler Ridge shooting and the transgender agenda

Eagle Vision Agency/AFP via Getty Images

Armed and dangerous

Then there are the multiple firearms recovered at the school, along with additional weapons at the suspect’s residence. Police have not yet provided detailed clarification about how the firearms were obtained or whether they were legally registered.

Canada has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the developed world. In recent years, the federal government has expanded prohibitions and launched new confiscation initiatives largely affecting rural gun owners and farmers. Those measures have been defended as necessary for public safety.

Yet this case raises an unavoidable question: How did an 18-year-old with documented mental health concerns gain access to multiple firearms?

If Canada’s regulatory regime is as robust as its advocates claim, the breakdown here demands explanation. Was this a licensing failure? A background-check gap? A failure to flag mental health risk? Or unlawful access that went undetected?

And to what extent were any of these failures enabled by the RCMP’s established practice of putting the Liberal government and its pet causes ahead of the public good?

​Culture, Politics, Canada, Tumbler ridge, Tumbler ridge shooting, Trans, Transgender ideology, Rcmp, Mark carney, Letter from canada 

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Former teacher’s aide gets crushing prison sentence after her conviction of sexually abusing 4 boys: ‘Justice was served’

A former teacher’s aide in Wisconsin has been sentenced to more than half a century in prison after her conviction of committing child sex crimes against four boys, according to authorities.

The Kenosha County District Attorney announced last week that Judge David Hughes sentenced 34-year-old Anna Marie Crocker to 51.5 years in prison and 32 years of extended supervision. Crocker — a mother of four — will not be eligible for release until she is approximately 85 years old.

‘Her betrayal of trust, victim-blaming, and efforts to intimidate the victims only deepened the harm.’

In December, Crocker pleaded guilty to first-degree child sexual assault, child sexual exploitation (filming), second-degree sexual assault of a child, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, intimidation of a victim, and child enticement-sexual contact, according to WITI-TV.

Before being sentenced, Crocker claimed to have taken “full responsibility for what has taken place,” WISN-TV reported.

“I am disturbed by the harm and distress, along with the trauma that you have to endure,” Crocker continued. “I am deeply sorry that this has caused confusion, pain, and anger, and that you have to live with this the rest of your lives.”

WISN reported that Judge Hughes said during sentencing, “She sought out children, she used children, and she took advantage of children.”

Kenosha County Deputy District Attorney Rosa Delgado prosecuted the case and proclaimed, “Justice was served today for the four children this defendant groomed and sexually abused.”

Delgado also declared, “Her betrayal of trust, victim-blaming, and efforts to intimidate the victims only deepened the harm.”

Kenosha County District Attorney Xavier Solis said in a statement, “This case represents a profound breach of trust.”

Solis added, “When an adult connected to our schools exploits our children, the harm is severe and lasting.”

As Blaze News reported in October 2024, officers with the Sensitive Crime Unit of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department began an investigation into Crocker after she was suspected of sexual misconduct involving a “current and former student of the school.”

At the time, Crocker had been a teaching assistant at Riverview Elementary School.

According to a criminal complaint, Crocker sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy in the winter of 2023-2024.

The victim told investigators that Crocker removed his pants and was on top of him and noted that she was “naked.”

“She then began making him do things that she wanted,” the complaint read.

According to the complaint, the victim repeatedly told Crocker “to get off of him, but she would not listen,” and that he “also tried to push her off.”

The criminal complaint stated that the victim told investigators that he was “scared and traumatized.”

The complaint noted that the victim said Crocker told him to apologize for the sexual abuse and that she was trying to “make him feel guilty.”

RELATED: Judge drops hammer on former teacher who sexually assaulted 2 students and was impregnated by one of them

A detective with the Twin Lakes Police Department interviewed a 13-year-old boy who “reported to a school staff member that he received inappropriate material and messages” from Crocker, the complaint stated.

The victim told police that he had received sexually explicit videos from Crocker, according to court documents.

Court docs said the second victim was “scared” about interacting with the educational assistant because the first victim, who is his friend, told him that Crocker raped him.

A 14-year-old male victim told police that he had been “exchanging sexual chats and pictures via Snapchat with the defendant,” according to the criminal complaint.

The court documents said the victim told investigators that Crocker “sexually assaulted him in a parking lot in Racine County in August of 2024.”

Detectives searched Crocker’s Snapchat and discovered a conversation between her and a 16-year-old that the former school staffer made sexual, according to the complaint.

Court docs noted that the boy’s younger brother is “friends with the defendant’s son,” and Crocker told the victim not to tell his younger brother “about them having sex, if it were to happen.”

The teen said Crocker “sent him pictures in which sex was ‘inferred,'” according to court records.

The court docs said the victim told police that Crocker “wanted to have sex with him at her residence and that they agreed upon a day, but that he never went through with it.”

The criminal complaint said Crocker invited the boy to her home on Oct. 11, 2024, even though the underage victim divulged his age.

WITI reported that Crocker was taken into custody on Oct. 11, 2024.

According to WISN, the school board terminated Crocker on Oct. 14, 2024.

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​Anna marie crocker, Grooming, Crime, Teacher’s aide arrested, Teacher’s aide sex scandal, Teacher’s aide student sex scandal, Conviction, Prison sentence, Wisconsin 

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‘This is crazy’: Glenn Beck questions Obama alien claim and Trump’s response

Last week, Barack Obama sent a shock wave through the public when he acknowledged the existence of alien life. During a podcast interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, the former president answered, “Yes, they’re real,” when Cohen point blank asked, “Are aliens real?”

Obama followed up his admission, however, with, “But I haven’t seen them,” which he reiterated in greater detail the following day on social media.

President Trump then responded to the viral comment by accusing Obama of improperly disclosing classified information, calling it a “big mistake,” while stating he personally doesn’t know if aliens are real. He then announced that he would direct federal agencies and the Pentagon to begin releasing government files on UFOs, UAPs, extraterrestrial life, and related matters due to “tremendous interest” in the topic.

“This is crazy,” says Glenn Beck.

“You wouldn’t be breaking the classified information rule if you were saying they didn’t exist and they didn’t exist. That’s not classified information. Why would you classify that they didn’t exist?” he asks.

What’s really going on with this sequence of high-profile comments on alien life? Is full disclosure finally here, or is something else at play?

On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn, his chief researcher Jason Buttrill, and executive producer Rikki Ratliff-Fellman address this hot-button question.

Glenn and Jason aren’t convinced that these recent events will lead to genuine disclosure. They speculate that the establishment bracing for massive fallout is a sign the hype might be engineered.

For example, just last month, Helen McCaw, a former senior analyst at the Bank of England, wrote an urgent letter to its governor, warning that any official White House confirmation of extraterrestrial life could unleash immediate financial catastrophe.

Glenn reads from a New York Post article that addressed the controversy: “If such a disclosure comes from the White House, Cambridge-educated McCaw projected in her letter, the revelation will send shockwaves through financial markets and the banking system — and inspire general unrest amongst Earthlings.”

“Are we really that fragile?” Glenn asks skeptically, noting that his church attendance and stock investments wouldn’t be rocked by the revelation that alien life is real.

In fact, he believes that the probability of alien life is rather high.

“As Carl Sagan used to say, what a horrible waste of space if we are alone. I mean, think of the vastness of space. All of this was created, and we’re the only forms of intelligent life? That makes no sense whatsoever,” he declares.

But is the exchange between Obama and Trump really leading us toward an answer?

Although the prospect of finding out the truth about aliens makes him “kind of excited,” Glenn and Jason aren’t hopeful that genuine disclosure is on the horizon.

“It does seem very, very convenient that every time a major story is going on, we get a new disclosure hint,” says Jason.

“I think this whole thing is much more likely a psyop,” Glenn agrees. “I mean, what would be the one thing that would unite everybody on Earth? People in space coming to get you.”

“So what is the psyop? Are they trying to distract us from … war with Iran? The economy?” asks Rikki.

Glenn’s answer?

Epstein.

“This is all happening the week of Epstein,” he says.

To hear more of the panel’s conversation, watch the video above.

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Epstein-friendly lesbians managing fraud-plagued Manhattan club in hot water — again

Core, an invitation-only private club in Manhattan where membership fees reportedly range from $15,000 to $100,000 a year, has counted among its approximately 1,500 members Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.

Dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was also a longtime patron of the club as well as a founding member.

Jennie and Dangene Enterprise — the lesbian couple who run the club — are both under intense scrutiny over their friendship with the child sex offender in light of new insights from the Epstein files.

Jennie Enterprise, however, might be in especially hot water over the apparently irreconcilable sworn statements that she allegedly provided about her club’s finances in two separate cases regarding COVID fraud and rent delinquency.

Competing claims

The club entered a 20-year lease with 711 Fifth Ave Principal Owner LLC in 2021 and took over four floors of the building in 2023.

In the years since, the Enterprises have been engaged in a bitter legal battle with property developer Michael Shvo. For instance, the Core Club reportedly sued Shvo in 2024 for $600 million, alleging that he failed to deliver promised upgrades to the 711 Fifth Ave. property and other locations. Shvo, in turn, accused the Core Club of defaulting on its lease at the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco.

Last year, the landlord served the Core Club with a termination notice, alleging that it had “defaulted on its obligation to pay the Base Rent and/or Additional Rent under the Lease in the amount of $3,633,787.13 by Aug. 1” as purportedly required under the lease.

RELATED: Ex-Victoria’s Secret owner now claiming Epstein ‘conned’ him once suggested he was demonically possessed

Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

The Core Club, in response, sought what is called a Yellowstone injunction barring the landlord from terminating the lease and evicting the club.

A judge with New York County’s Commercial Division court obliged the Enterprises in September, finding that their club had “established ‘it is prepared and maintains the ability to cure the alleged default by any means short of vacating the premises.'”

Attorneys for the landlord have pointed out an apparent discrepancy between the story that Jennie Enterprise and the Core Club told the court and what they told the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in their COVID-era relief fraud case in August.

The landlord’s attorneys alleged in a court filing on Wednesday that the Core Club secured its injunction “by making materially misleading representations to this Court about its financial health,” and has “repeatedly been delinquent” on its use and occupancy payments.

The attorneys noted that in September 2025, the club “represented to the Court that it had a more than sufficient financial ability to cure its default of over $3.5 million in past due rent and that it could continue paying Rent at the Least rate.”

‘You have influenced my life in a really amazing way.’

While supposedly able to pay millions in allegedly past-due rent, the attorneys noted that the club managed in August to avoid paying back most of the over $4 million that Core Club entities — controlled by Jennie Enterprise — fraudulently received in COVID-era relief funds and paid only a fraction of the $8.1 million consent judgment against the club.

The attorneys highlighted that court documents show that Jennie Enterprise’s sworn financial disclosures about the Core Club’s “financial condition” to the USAO-SDNY led the government “to accept in compromise” a settlement of only $366,000 spread over several years.

The Wednesday court filing alleged:

These apparent representations by the SDNY Core Defendants to the United States Attorney regarding their supposed inability to pay a civil penalty greater than $360,000 over five years flies directly in the face of Tenant’s representations to this Court regarding its supposed ability to cure its default of over $3.5 million in past due rent and continue paying Rent at the Lease rate.

The landlord suggested that under the circumstances, the injunction should be vacated and further relief should be conditioned on the Epstein club’s payment of the outstanding rent.

When asked for comment, the Core Club’s attorney Marc Kasowitz said in a statement to Blaze News, “Shvo’s latest attempt to relitigate issues the Court has already addressed will fail, just as his others have. Shvo’s motion falsely claims that Core violated the Yellowstone order, but Core is current on rent and has fully complied with the Court’s directives.”

Kasowitz suggested that the apparent function of the filing was to distract from “pressures surrounding Shvo’s broader real estate ventures” and noted, “Core will oppose this motion vigorously and is confident the Court will recognize it as another meritless attempt to manufacture a default where none exists.”

Shvo’s office did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

Epstein’s gal pals

The latest trove of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice provides insights into Epstein’s involvement with the club and the Enterprises, whose relationship with the pedophile apparently thrived after his guilty plea in 2008 for solicitation of a minor for prostitution.

Epstein not only routinely visited the club’s spa and had women in his network attend but clearly made an impression on Jennie Enterprise, who appears to have written to the pedophile just months after his guilty plea, “You are and have always been sooooo special too me ….not sure u will ever know how much you have influenced my life in a really amazing way.”

The club recently downplayed Epstein’s involvement, telling the Wall Street Journal in a statement that the pedophile was one of 150 members who belonged from 2003 and 2007 but continued thereafter as a client of the club’s spa.

Dangene Enterprise often applied Epstein’s skin treatments, reported the Journal.

“The Enterprises were never part of this individual’s social world,” the club alleged. “He was a sounding board for the Enterprises on a variety of subjects, as he was known to be a highly in-demand, influential financial advisor and philanthropist in New York City.”

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​Core, Manhattan, New york city, Club, Jeffrey epstein, Jennie enterprise, Elite, Lesbian, Fraud, Covid relief, Politics 

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‘This is disgraceful’: Mamdani raked over the coals for attack on NYPD

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced sharp criticism Tuesday from lawmakers and police unions after a chaotic snowball fight in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park turned into an attack on NYPD, with agitators pelting officers with snow and ice during a major blizzard.

The incident unfolded Monday afternoon as hundreds gathered for what began as a playful snowball fight amid heavy snowfall. Police responding to reports of disorder were targeted, forcing officers to retreat into their vehicles. Videos showed individuals hurling large chunks of snow at close range, including one dumping ice on an officer’s head.

‘Back the blue and hold those who disrespect them accountable.’

No arrests have been reported, but NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the behavior “disgraceful” and “criminal” in a statement on X.

“Our detectives are investigating this matter,” she said.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and ex-Mayor Eric Adams, both Democrats, quickly blamed Mamdani’s history of anti-police rhetoric for fostering an environment of disrespect toward law enforcement.

RELATED: ‘Despicable attack’: Brazen mob pelts NYPD officers with snowballs, multiple cops reportedly injured — and it’s all on video

“This is disgraceful. But with a mayor who has a history of calling the police ‘racist, evil, wicked and corrupt,’ he set the tone,” Cuomo posted on X. “Words have consequences. We are seeing that in the growing disrespect for law enforcement — just as we’ve seen it in the rise in antisemitism. Real leaders understand that. This mayor does not.”

Adams echoed the sentiment, saying the attack should outrage all New Yorkers.

“Watching officers get pelted with snow while they are out in brutal weather protecting this city should make every New Yorker furious. It is disgusting behavior,” he said. “And the politicians who constantly bash the police and refuse to have their backs are setting a terrible example. Leadership matters. Tone matters.”

U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from Staten Island, urged Mamdani and other officials to condemn the actions.

“This is disgraceful. @NYCMayor and every elected official in our city should denounce this juvenile attack on our NYPD,” she posted on X. “Back the blue and hold those who disrespect them accountable.”

RELATED: Illegal alien released after attack on NYC cops in May just got arrested, released for another alleged crime

Photo by BG048/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

Another Republican congresswoman from New York, Claudia Tenney, directly attributed the incident to the mayor’s anti-cop stance: “You can thank Mamdani’s anti-police rhetoric for this.”

Police unions demanded arrests and accountability. The Police Benevolent Association called the attack “unacceptable and outrageous,” urging city leaders to condemn it and charge those involved with assault on a police officer.

Scott Munro, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, described it as a “deliberate, outrageous, and dangerous attack.” He called on Mamdani and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to ensure prosecutions, saying: “No free pass. No get out of jail free card.”

Mamdani’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Politics, Mamdani, Nyc, Police attack, Police attacked, Snow 

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‘F**k off’: Newsom’s team erupts with profanity at reporter doing her job

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s communications team fired off a nasty response to a reporter who requested documentation of the governor’s supposed dyslexia diagnosis.

RealClearPolitics political correspondent Susan Crabtree reached out to Newsom’s taxpayer-funded communications team after Fox News’ Sean Hannity criticized the governor for mentioning his low SAT score as a way to connect with voters in a majority-black city.

‘I’m going to continue to ask tough questions despite this vitriolic attempt to intimidate me.’

Newsom “Thinks a 960 SAT Makes Him ‘Like’ Black Americans. Let That Sink In,” Hannity wrote in a post on X. Newsom replied to Hannity by noting his “lifelong struggle with dyslexia.”

Crabtree asked Newsom’s office for documentation verifying the governor’s dyslexia diagnosis, highlighting apparent contradictions in Newsom’s account of when he learned of his diagnosis. She noted that Newsom has previously claimed that he discovered the paperwork from his childhood about his dyslexia diagnosis after his father passed away in 2018.

“Newsom also has said he was diagnosed with dyslexia in 1972 — that would be when he was five or six,” Crabtree wrote. “Is there anything the governor can point to as proof of this?”

Izzy Gardon, the director of communications for Newsom’s office, replied to Crabtree, writing, “Hey, Susan — thanks for reaching out. Respectfully, f**k off.”

Newsom has stated that he struggled with dyslexia as a child and still finds it difficult to read.

“There’s certain things I can’t do, and I’m in the wrong business to not be able to do them. Meaning, I can’t read very well, and when you have to give speeches all the time … it’s hard because you can’t read a script,” Newsom said in a 2017 video interview.

He called it “horribly difficult” to read a script from a teleprompter.

RELATED: ‘I’m like you’: Newsom insults audience in a failed attempt to relate to voters in majority-black city

Gavin Newsom. Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

In the 2017 video, Newsom stated that he found out he had been previously diagnosed with dyslexia “in fifth or sixth, seventh grade.”

Newsom appeared to contradict himself during an April interview, in which he said he had recently read a 350-page book in less than two hours. To finish the 11-hour audiobook in two hours, one would need to play it at 5.5 times the normal speed.

“I went through it in a quick hour and a half, almost two hours. And trust me, I don’t read very fast, but it reads at an unbelievable pace,” Newsom stated.

RELATED: California Democrats crushed by backlash against tax proposal to replace revenue lost by electric car mandate

Gavin Newsom. Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images

Newsom “obviously doesn’t like all the California corruption we exposed in our book, ‘Fool’s Gold,’ but I’m going to continue to ask tough questions despite this vitriolic attempt to intimidate me,” Crabtree told Blaze News.

When asked whether Gardon has ever expressed similar hostility toward her previously, Crabtree said, “A few weeks ago he called me ‘delusional’ when I was asking about Newsom’s inflated claims about his ‘college baseball career’ that only amounted to — at the very most — several months on the JV team without playing in any official games.”

Blaze News contacted Gardon to ask if he would like to provide further context about Crabtree’s request or any documentation confirming Newsom’s diagnosis.

“Conspiracy MAGA blogger pivots from Bigfoot to medical record fishing. We’ll pass!” Gardon replied.

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​News, Gavin newsom, Newsom, California, Susan crabtree, Politics 

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Team USA hero Jack Hughes defends women’s team for skipping White House visit: ‘Everything is so political’

The men’s Olympic hockey team is headed to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, but the women have other plans.

On Sunday, Team USA men’s hockey completed the sweep of the hockey category with a 2-1 overtime win against Canada, winning gold just as the USA women did days prior.

‘We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning US Women’s Hockey Team.’

After the men’s win, President Donald Trump gave the team a call in the locker room in what was a highly circulated moment of patriotic celebration.

“Unbelievable. You were all unbelievable. That team is pretty good you played,” Trump said about the Canadians.

He then invited the team to his presidential address on Tuesday.

“We could send a military plane or something. But if you would like to [attend], it’s the coolest night. … We’ll do the White House the next day.”

The president then joked, “We’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” or else he “probably would be impeached.”

The invitation was sincere, however, and the men unanimously agreed they would love to go to the event. The same could not be said about the women’s team though.

“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a spokesperson for the American women began.

RELATED: Team USA’s amazing gold-medal gesture you may have missed

“Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” the statement added, per CNN.

Those academic commitments are likely in reference to the fact that seven of the American women on the Team USA roster are still in college.

Four players are currently playing in Wisconsin: Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Ava McNaughton, and Kirsten Simms.

Abbey Murphy goes to Minnesota, Joy Dunne plays at Ohio State, while Tessa Janecke plays for Penn State, the NCAA noted. It is also noteworthy that 23 of the women previously played NCAA hockey as well.

For the men, the NHL schedule picks back up Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Hero Jack Hughes, who scored the gold medal-winning goal, was asked about the women declining the invitation; he quickly came to their defense.

RELATED: Unpaid bill has Foxboro refusing to grant license for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium

“People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Hughes said from Miami, where the team has been seen celebrating their win.

“People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them. And we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us,” the athlete continued, per the Daily Mail.

Hughes was asked about visiting the president too, to which he said the team was indeed “excited.”

“Everything is so political. We’re athletes,” he explained. “‘We’re so proud to represent the U.S., and when you get the chance to go to White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic.”

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​Sports, Hockey, Olympics, Sotu, State of the union, Trump, White house, 2026 winter olympics, Politics 

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‘Despicable attack’: Brazen mob pelts NYPD officers with snowballs, multiple cops reportedly injured — and it’s all on video

A snowball-throwing mob was caught on video pelting New York City Police Department officers Monday afternoon in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, and multiple officers were injured as a result, WABC-TV reported.

Police told the station that officers responded to the park around 4 p.m. for a report of a number of people atop a roof.

‘This is the environment that NYC police officers are up against.’

Police added to WABC that the officers were then hit with snowballs, and multiple officers were taken to a hospital with facial cuts.

RELATED: DA Bragg offers plea deals to illegal aliens charged in vicious mob attack on NYPD cops

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Monday night wrote on X that she’s aware of the videos and that “the behavior depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal.”

RELATED: Teen Tren de Aragua-linked mob ambushes NYPD in another brazen Times Square assault: Report

Tisch added that detectives are investigating.

The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York called the incident “unacceptable and outrageous,” WABC added.

RELATED: Illegal alien released after attack on NYC cops in May just got arrested, released for another alleged crime

“This is the environment that NYC police officers are up against. Our police officers are being treated for their injuries, but the case CANNOT end there,” the PBA said in a statement on social media, according to the station. “The individuals involved must be identified, arrested, and charged with assault on a police officer. And all of our city leaders must speak up to condemn this despicable attack.”

Scott Munro, president of the NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association, called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to ensure that those responsible are prosecuted, WABC reported.

RELATED: ‘Who would have thought?’: Mamdani takes side of knife-wielding suspect — not the cops

“No free pass. No get out of jail free card. Make no mistake: Detectives will do what they always do. They will identify those involved, and they will apprehend them,” Munro said in a statement, according to the station. “Our men and women in blue deserve to be safe. They deserve to be protected. And they deserve to be respected. They earn it every single day.”

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​Snowball fight, New york city, New york city police, Cops hit with snowballs, Injuries, Nypd, Criminal, Nypd commissioner jessica tisch, Crime