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The Trump administration has worked with great success over the past year to dismantle racist DEI initiatives in government and public education across the country. Nevertheless leftist identity politics continue to linger in various taxpayer-funded institutions.

The parental advocacy group Defending Education recently highlighted that the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, which received $628 million in federal research awards in the 2024 fiscal year, is harboring an anti-white research project that claims America is suffering from a “Whiteness Pandemic.”

‘Family socialization into the centuries-old culture of Whiteness — involving colorblindness, passivity, and fragility — perpetrates and perpetuates US racism.’

Rhyen Staley, research director at Defending Education, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News, “This far-left programming at a major public university is another example of how ingrained DEI is in higher education and is not going away any time soon.”

The UMTC’s Culture and Family Lab, which is part of the school’s Institute of Child Development, has a page titled, “Whiteness Pandemic Resources for Parents, Educators and other Caregivers.”

The website:

characterizes the white family as a threat, stating, “At birth, young children growing up in White families begin to be socialized into the culture of Whiteness, making the family system one of the most powerful systems involved in systemic racism”;tells white adults that it is their “responsibility to self-reflect, re-educate [themselves], and act” and that they need to engage “in courageous antiracist parenting/caregiving”;recommends white adults begin “listening to, taking seriously, and following the stories and recommendations” of the scandal-plagued Black Lives Matter organization and “humanizing victims of police brutality and racism — such as Mr. George Floyd”; andlinks to various works of agitprop for parents to “read and watch with children as part of a discussion about race, racism, white privilege, and antiracism.”

While the website references content from various radical sources, it largely focuses on a 2021 paper by the lab’s director, Gail Ferguson, titled “The Whiteness pandemic behind the racism pandemic: Familial Whiteness socialization in Minneapolis following #GeorgeFloyd’s murder.”

RELATED: Woke lecturer cries ‘white supremacy’ after MAGA-racist smear doesn’t go as planned

Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

The paper, which was published in the journal American Psychologist and dedicated to repeat offender George Floyd, claims that “family socialization into the centuries-old culture of Whiteness — involving colorblindness, passivity, and fragility — perpetrates and perpetuates U.S. racism, reflecting an insidious Whiteness pandemic.”

While generally implying that “Whiteness” is a disease, the UMTC professor suggested that “color-evasion and power-evasion” specifically are “pathogens of the Whiteness pandemic” that “are inexorably transmitted within families, with White parents serving as carriers to their children unless they take active preventive measures rooted in antiracism and equity-promotion.”

According to Ferguson, who is black, and the paper’s other authors, one litmus test for whether a white mother is helping spread the supposed “Whiteness” disease comes down to how that mother responded to George Floyd’s death.

A mother’s apathy over the criminal’s death and her unwillingness to discuss so-called “systemic racism” with her children were treated as indicators that she approves of or is at the very least indifferent to imagined racism. Alternatively the willingness of mothers to express grief and concern over Floyd’s death and to discuss it “and Black Lives Matter with their children using color- and power-conscious parenting” were regarded as signs of a desired “antiracist” mentality.

The authors stressed that to dismantle “colorblind racial ideology,” white students should be subjected to “racism and antiracism education,” especially at a young age, and that “it will be important to go beyond how White women learn to say the right things to also consider how they learn to do the right things and actually ‘show up’ for racial justice.”

The basis for the conclusions in the paper was a survey of 392 white mothers, 51% of whom were “somewhat or very liberal,” 18% of whom were “somewhat or very conservative,” and over 91% of whom had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The racist initiative was made possible with the help of federal funds provided by the National Institute of Mental Health during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.

When asked about the anti-white project, the UMTC told the National Review that it remains “steadfast in its commitment to the principles of academic freedom.” The NIMH reportedly did not respond to the Review’s request for comment.

“It is not only concerning that these programs appear to still be up and running, but that absurd ideas like ‘whiteness’ also gain legitimacy through dubious activist-academic ‘scholarship,'” said Staley. “Universities must end this nonsense yesterday.”

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​Bigotry, Racism, Critical race theory, Race, Anti-white, Whiteness, Whiteness pandemic, University, Minnesota, Umtc, Leftism, Radicalism, Identity politics, Politics 

Despite thousands of lawsuits against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma now being settled, the opioid crisis continues to devastate families and communities. This is why there are massive national efforts to expand addiction treatment, develop non-opioid pain alternatives, promote natural remedies, and confront the Mexican drug cartels flooding America with fentanyl. In recent years, opioid-related deaths have finally begun to decline, suggesting that those initiatives are starting to make a real impact. But that progress may already be slowing.

The introduction of work requirements for Medicaid eligibility under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is producing unintended consequences for people in addiction recovery. Early studies show that declines in Medicaid enrollment correlate with drops in the number of patients receiving treatment for opioid use disorder. Because Medicaid is the primary source for buprenorphine and addiction services, these enrollment changes threaten fragile but meaningful recovery gains.

Conservatives champion individual responsibility — but responsibility also requires ensuring that systems meant to help people reclaim their lives aren’t working against them.

Work requirements aren’t the problem — they’re sound policy to preserve the financial stability and original intention of the program. The real issue is Medicaid’s regulatory structure, which is too rigid and dysfunctional to absorb yet another layer of complexity.

This crisis didn’t begin with work requirements. Medicaid’s own structure, combined with state policies, had been restricting access to effective OUD treatment for years. Patients face prior-authorization delays, prescriber rules that block lifesaving medications, and certificate-of-need laws that stop treatment centers from opening or expanding. Policymakers often claim these rules protect patients or control costs. In practice, they have choked off reliable care and pushed people in recovery farther from the help they need.

In states where prescriber limits and facility restrictions already make treatment scarce, adjusting Medicaid eligibility has a serious impact on the availability of buprenorphine providers. The problem lies in creating a policy that requires personal responsibility within an already bureaucratic structure that actively slows treatment access. When enrollment pressures combine with supply constraints caused by CON laws and prescription rules, the result is fewer people getting the care that keeps them alive.

This is especially true in Appalachia, which is ground zero of the opioid crisis. Pennsylvania explicitly prohibits off-site methadone “medication units,” while legislation has been floated in West Virginia that aims to ban methadone clinics. Local governments across the region routinely block zoning permits for treatment facilities, often caving to community pushback rather than addressing a staggering public health emergency. Many states still impose CON laws, restricting the ability of hospitals and clinics to add new treatment beds or open new treatment programs.

RELATED: Trump faces drugmakers that treat sick Americans like ATMs

Credit: Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images

On the provider side, well-intentioned prescribing rules have created even more barriers. Despite a dire shortage of addiction specialists, many states limit the prescription of OUD medications to certain providers, leaving primary care doctors — who could dramatically expand treatment access — underutilized or prevented from issuing prescriptions. Lawmakers have inadvertently created a bottleneck: too few qualified providers and too many hoops to jump through for those who want to treat addiction.

As the Trump administration continues to build a populist coalition that includes voters from Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other communities deeply scarred by opioid addiction, it must confront this reality head-on. Doing so does not require abandoning conservative principles, nor does it mean reversing work requirements. Those reforms remain both necessary and widely popular. But a serious conservative health care agenda must recognize that Medicaid’s regulatory architecture is undermining progress against opioid addiction — and America cannot afford to lose ground now.

Conservatives champion individual responsibility — but responsibility also requires ensuring that systems designed to help people reclaim their lives aren’t working against them. Addressing Medicaid’s regulatory failures is not just good policy; it is essential to sustaining progress in one of the most consequential public health fights of our time.

Editor’s note: A version of this article was published originally at the American Mind.

​Opioid crisis, Medicaid, Trump administration, Drug abuse, Big pharma, Opinion & analysis, One big beautiful bill, Oxycontin, Purdue pharma 

Two teenage boys have been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a 14-year-old and then lighting her body on fire.

Danika Troy was reported missing by her mother on Monday, according to Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson, who conducted a media briefing on Thursday.

‘The evidence pointed to them immediately. They took them into custody immediately.’

A day later, the girl’s badly burned remains were found by a man walking near Kimberly Road in Floridatown.

Police said they identified the remains as belonging to Troy because her mother had reported that she left with a scooter, and it was found near the remains. They also found shoes that matched those she was wearing.

Johnson said that a witness told police that 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins had planned the murder of the girl.

In an interview with police, Blevins allegedly said he blocked Troy after they had a falling out on social media. Williams also said he was upset with something Troy had said, according to police.

But a possible motive is still undetermined.

“They have been interviewed, but the motive that we’re getting doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case,” Johnson said.

The sheriff said Williams stole the gun they used from his mother.

“It’s bad enough that you kill a 14-year-old; you’re 14, you’re 16, you shoot her multiple times, and then you set her on fire,” Johnson added.

The state attorney’s office said a grand jury will determine whether the boys should be tried as adults.

RELATED: California man convicted of brutally attacking his son with a sledgehammer while he slept

“This is what major crimes calls a ground ball,” Johnson said. “The evidence pointed to them immediately. They took them into custody immediately.”

Williams and Blevins were each charged with first-degree premeditated murder. They both are in custody at the Santa Rosa Juvenile Detention Center.

“It shocks me,” neighbor Sue Petrisch said. “It’s always been so quiet here, and it’s getting bad. It’s terrifying, in fact.”

A candlelight vigil is planned to honor the victim on Monday at Avalon Baptist Church. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help pay for her burial costs.

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​Danika troy murder, Gabriel williams, Kimahri blevins, Murder of teen girl, Crime 

The idea that Adolf Hitler was some misunderstood or even “good” figure while Winston Churchill was the real WWII villain was once confined to the extreme fringes and unknown to almost everyone else. Today, however, the idea has resurfaced with disturbing visibility — no longer limited to neo-Nazi forums but now defended or entertained on major podcasts, viral social-media threads, and platforms with tens of millions of listeners and viewers.

Glenn Beck, a lover of history and collector of historical artifacts, is appalled that this revisionist narrative is being taken seriously.

“I really don’t get it. History, real history, is not a choose-your-own-adventure kind of thing. It’s ink on paper, orders in filing cabinets, telegrams, diaries, bodies. It’s what actually happened, not what we hope happened,” he says.

On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn sets the record straight about Hitler, Churchill, and WWII.

Lie #1: Poland wasn’t part of Hitler’s conquest plan

“Let me just say this calmly, factually, and finally: Germany’s plans for Poland were not reactive. They were premeditated,” he asserts.

The faulty idea pushed by Hitler rehabilitators that Britain conned the West into going to war by promising to defend Poland is easily debunked with an artifact Glenn has in his possession. “It’s called Fall Weiss,” he says. “It’s Hitler’s operational blueprint for the invasion of Poland, drafted in 1938, a year before [British Prime Minister Neville] Chamberlain said, ‘We’re going to guarantee [Poland’s] safety.”’

“Hitler’s explicitly stated road map [targeted] Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, then the East,” he explains. “Britain didn’t pull Germany into war. Germany was already marching toward war — global war.”

Lie #2: Hitler had no Western ambitions

The second WWII fallacy that demands debunking, he says, is the idea that Hitler had “no Western ambitions” and actually wanted peace with Britain.

“Really? Because we have the paper trail again,” Glenn retorts.

“How do you explain Operation Sea Lion — Hitler’s detailed plan to invade and occupy Great Britain?” he asks. “You don’t draw up amphibious landing schedules across the English Channel just in case.”

But before this plot was even fathomed, Hitler had already tried to tee himself up to dominant Britain. In May 1941, Hitler’s second in command, Rudolf Hess, secretly flew a plane to Scotland with a mission of trying to make a “peace deal” with Britain. The offer, Glenn says, was this: “Let Hitler dominate Europe, and Germany would leave Britain alone.”

He had Nazi sympathizers in high British society — including the ex-King Edward VIII, who had openly praised Hitler and was willing to be put back on the throne as a Nazi puppet if Germany invaded.

“The Nazi files recovered after the war show explicit German plans to reinstall him after an occupation,” says Glenn. “Hitler was not avoiding conflict with Britain; he was planning its subversion.”

Lie #3: Hitler was initially friendly toward America

The idea that Hitler admired America and never wanted to go to war with her is another idea that easily crumbles under the weight of basic logic.

Hitler’s ideology stands in contrast in every way possible to that of the United States.

“Hitler believed the state was supreme, that the German people existed for the Reich. In America, the Constitution is supreme, and it exists to limit the states. Rights come from the furor and the government in [Nazi] Germany; in America, rights come from God, and the government is the servant, not the master,” Glenn differentiates.

“The individual in Germany: expendable. The West is built on the sanctity of the individual. Racial hierarchy is destiny in [Nazi] Germany. The West, at its best, rejects racial supremacy. The Declaration starts with ‘all men are created equal’ — not ‘some races are destined to rule.’ Nowhere in our documents does it say the state must expand endlessly,”’ he continues.

Lie #4: The US should’ve sided with Hitler over Stalin — the greater evil

“People are arguing now that the Allies should have sided with Hitler instead of Stalin. No rational reading of history supports any of that,” says Glenn.

While “Hitler and Stalin were both monstrous,” the U.S. was forced to choose “survival.”

“The question for us was no longer, ‘Hey, which dictator is better?’ The question was, ‘Which outcome prevents Hitler from ruling all of Europe?’ Because if Hitler defeated the Soviet Union, the resources of the East — all the oil, all the grain, all the industry, all the manpower — would have made the Third Reich unstoppable,” Glenn corrects.

But even still, “We knew at the time Stalin was just as bad. We knew we were going to be in war with Stalin at some point.”

Lie #5: Winston Churchill was the real WWII villain

Nobody could see Stalin’s wickedness more than Winston Churchill, says Glenn. “He was the one saying, ‘We can’t have this guy as an ally.”’

Even still, it’s “not about defending Churchill, who I think is a hero; but it’s about defending the record, the truth, so in our moment of confusion and upheaval and ideological extremism, we don’t lose our footing on the bedrock of fact.”

“When we begin to question whether the West should have resisted Hitler, where are we going? When we entertain the idea that freedom and tyranny could have co-existed, you’re not just rearranging interpretations; you’re reopening a door millions died to close,” Glenn warns.

“Be very careful when someone tells you the villain wasn’t really the villain. Woe unto him who makes evil good and good evil.”

To hear more of Glenn’s commentary, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Adolf hiter, Wwii, World war two, Nazi germany, Hitler, Nazis, Revisionist history, Hitler myths, Winston churchill 

Olivia Nuzzi’s fall from grace continues as she parts ways with another magazine.

Once a rising star in the journalism world, Nuzzi was first fired from the New Yorker in 2024 after news broke of her alleged sexting with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., breaking the most basic forms of journalistic ethics and collapsing her engagement to then-Politico reporter Ryan Lizza. Nuzzi was later picked up by Vanity Fair to be West Coast editor.

The overlapping narratives inevitably caused a media firestorm.

Nearly a year later, the scandal has resurfaced after Nuzzi announced the release of her book “American Canto,” which apparently details her alleged behavior with Kennedy but refers to him only as “the politician.”

In the aftermath of the renewed interest in and attention to the scandal, Nuzzi and Vanity Fair “have agreed to part ways,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

RELATED: Trump calls New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi an ‘unattractive wack job’

Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for HBO

Nuzzi’s attempt at a comeback tour was met with a series of bombshell exposés written by her former fiancé, who began his career as an independent journalist following the scandal.

Lizza detailed in his Substack series how he found out about Nuzzi’s alleged sexting not just with Kennedy in 2024, but also with former presidential candidate Mark Sanford in 2020. Lizza went on to detail a toxic dynamic between Nuzzi and Kennedy, including graphic details about their sexual proclivities and the intense betrayal, while she insisted that the relationship was merely a “digital” one.

Despite the overwhelming evidence and multiple accounts of the behavior, Kennedy has denied the allegations.

RELATED: What the mainstream media’s outrage over RFK Jr.’s ‘affair’ is REALLY about

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The overlapping narratives inevitably caused a media firestorm, but it may not have translated into monetary success for Nuzzi’s new book.

Since its release on December 2, “American Canto” sat at No. 5,546 on Amazon’s best-seller list and at No. 3,059 in the Kindle store. Despite the onslaught of media attention, the supposedly “mesmerizing firsthand account of the warping of American reality over the past decade” is currently sitting at a brutal 1.69-star rating on Goodreads.

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​Mark sanford, Rfk, Robert f. kennedy jr., Olivia nuzzi, Ryan lizza, Vanity fair, The new yorker, Affair, Wall street journal, Politico 

A Democratic U.S. representative appeared to undermine her own accusations against federal agents when she posted a video of herself claiming to have been pepper-sprayed at a protest.

The newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials pepper-sprayed her during a raid at a taco restaurant in Tucson on Friday.

‘If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed.’

“ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson — a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years,” reads a post from the politician. “When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed-aside and pepper sprayed.”

She said in the video that there had been about 40 agents in vehicles, most of them masked, but that the community stopped them. She claimed she and her staffers were pepper-sprayed and she was pushed, despite identifying herself as a member of Congress.

“While I am fine, if that is the way they treat me, how are they treating other community members who do not have the same privileges and protections that I do?” she added.

Many on social media pointed out that she didn’t have the appearance of someone who had been pepper-sprayed.

Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, gave a spirited response to the Democrat’s claims.

“If her claims were true, this would be a medical marvel. But they’re not true. She wasn’t pepper sprayed. She was in the vicinity of someone who *was* pepper sprayed as they were obstructing and assaulting law enforcement,” McLaughlin wrote.

She went on to say that two agents were seriously injured by the mob that Grijalva joined.

RELATED: Church worker pretended to be ICE agent to extort $500 from massage therapist, police say

“Presenting one’s self as a ‘Member of Congress’ doesn’t give you the right to obstruct law enforcement,” McLaughlin added.

Grijalva said she happened to be getting lunch at the taco place when the raid operation began. She coughed once in the video and said it was because of the pepper spray.

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​Rep adelita grijalva, Ice raid, Congressional oversight, Pepper spray, Politics 

The Indiana House of Representatives passed a controversial bill that would redistrict the state and possibly flip two seats to the Republican column in the midterm elections.

Fifty-seven members voted for the bill, while 41 voted against it. The bill will go to the Indiana Senate, where some Republicans have said they oppose the redistricting effort.

‘Fair maps are essential to protecting Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, and today the House voted to do just that.’

Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun urged the Senate to pass the bill.

“Fair maps are essential to protecting Hoosiers’ voices in Washington, and today the House voted to do just that, delivering a strong congressional map,” Braun said. “I commend Speaker Huston and his caucus for having the courage to protect Hoosier voters. I urge the Senate to move quickly next week and adopt this map so Indiana can move forward with confidence.”

However, efforts to persuade state Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, a Republican, to support the bill have failed so far.

Another Republican said that she received a threat over her opposition to the redistricting bill.

“Unfortunately, my house was the target of a pipe bomb threat on Saturday evening. This is a result of the D.C. political pundits for redistricting,” state Sen. Jean Leising wrote on social media.

Trump has blasted those Republicans as “RINOs,” an epithet meaning “Republican in name only.”

RELATED: Supreme Court allows Texas redistricting map for midterm elections; liberals dissent

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita cited the Supreme Court’s temporary approval of the Texas redistricting map for the midterms to justify his support of the bill.

“This specific map is legally solid. If any group or individual is silly enough to sue, we will defeat their attack in court,” Rokita said. “As the United States Supreme Court emphasized once again last night, redistricting for political reasons is constitutional. In fact, the Court has said that redistricting belongs in the legislature — in the hands of the people’s elected representatives, not judges.”

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​Redistricting battle, Indiana redistricting, Gov. mike braun, Midterm elections, Politics 

When BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo penned an exposé on the rampant Somali fraud in Minnesota — which saw billions of taxpayer dollars go to Somalia and terrorist groups — he wasn’t aware the story would blow up like it did.

“The Somali fraud story that we’ve been talking about for the last few weeks is, to my great surprise, still dominating the headlines. And oftentimes when you’re talking about the news, you go week by week by week,” Rufo explains on “Rufo & Lomez.”

“Stories have a trajectory where they hit orbit, and then they are spinning and gaining power for weeks and in some cases more than a month. And this is one of those stories. … We launched it, and now it’s really taken on a life of its own,” he continues.

And the Democrats, like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, are not only refusing to realistically address the fraud; they’re making sure the story never dies.

“To our Somali community, we love you, and we stand with you. Our police, many of whom are Somali themselves, are trusted partners in keeping people safe. They will not collaborate with any federal agency around doing immigration enforcement work,” Frey announced following the news of fraud.

“Our city staff and our law enforcement will not ask the question as to whether an individual is documented or not. That’s not American. That’s not what we are about. And we’re going to do right by every single person in our cities,’ he continued.

Frey then attempted to speak in what appeared to be very painful Somali.

“That really sums it up,” Rufo jokes, before pointing to something co-host Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman said regarding assimilation.

“You had a great point. You said the liberal myth is that these groups come and become American. But in this case, it’s the precise opposite,” he says. “These groups come, and the Americans become Somalian.”

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​Sharing, Camera phone, Video, Video phone, Free, Upload, Youtube.com, Rufo & lomez, Christopher rufo, Jonathan keeperman, Lomez, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Somalian immigrants, Somali fraud ring, Somali migrants, Jacob frey, Mayor jacob frey, Minnesota fraud 

Once upon a time, retired three-star Venezuelan General Hugo Carvajal Barrios was one of the most powerful men within the Caracas socialist regime. Now, he’s writing letters to President Trump and the American people from his jail cell, which he landed in after voluntarily pleading guilty in the U.S. to a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

And while many politicians, including Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), are criticizing President Trump for actions taken against Venezuelan narco-terrorists, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is in full support of Trump — alongside Barrios.

Gonzales points out that Paul is “going out and giving these little, like, press junkets where he’s telling people, like, ‘Well, these guys weren’t armed. You need to prove that they’re armed first.’”

“You know what they’re armed with, Rand? Drugs that they’re bringing into our country to kill Americans with,” Gonzales says, adding, “That’s what they’re armed with.”

And in his letter, Barrios confirms Gonzales’ sentiment.

“I see the need to address the American people about the reality of what the Venezuelan regime truly is — and why President Trump’s policies are not only correct, but absolutely necessary to the United States’ national security,” Barrios began in his letter.

“I personally witnessed how Hugo Chavez’s government became a criminal organization that is now run by Nicolas Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and other senior regime officials. The purpose of this organization, now known as the Cartel of the Suns, is to weaponize drugs against the United States,” he continued.

“The drugs that reached your cities through new routes were not accidents of corruption nor just the work of independent traffickers; they were deliberate policies coordinated by the Venezuelan regime against the United States,” he added.

Barrios went on to claim that the plan has “been successfully executed with help from FARC, ELN, Cuban operatives, and Hezbollah.”

“The regime has provided weapons, passports, and impunity for these terrorist organizations to operate freely from Venezuela against the United States. The regime I served is not merely hostile — it is at war with you, using drugs, gangs, espionage, and even your own democratic processes as weapons,” he wrote.

Barrios added, “I absolutely support President Trump’s policy towards Venezuela, because it is in self-defense and he is acting based on the truth.”

“He’s already been sentenced. He’s serving time in federal prison. And he’s like, ‘I just want to make this right within my soul.’ So I’m going to explain all of this to you,” Gonzales says.

“It probably makes a whole hell of a lot of sense why the Trump administration is going so hard on Venezuela regardless of whether they’re armed with guns. … Innocent Americans are dying, and they don’t have to, because of the Venezuelan government.”

“We need to do something about that,” she adds.

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​Sharing, Video, Upload, Camera phone, Free, Video phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, President donald trump, Hugo chavez, Venezuela, Narcoterrorists, Hugo carvajal barrios, Caracas socialist regime, Senator rand paul, Drug cartels, Weapons 

Search parties spent weeks attempting to locate a missing Michigan woman who was pregnant. However, the frantic search ended in a disturbing discovery that shocked a community.

On Nov. 4, 22-year-old Rebecca Park was reported missing, according to the Wexler County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, Park was approximately 38 weeks pregnant.

‘The brutality and disregard for human life displayed here are deeply troubling.’

Following weeks of searching for the missing pregnant woman, Park’s remains were found in the Manistee National Forest on Nov. 25. However, Park’s child was no longer in her womb.

According to a statement by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, 40-year-old Cortney Bartholomew and 47-year-old Bradly Bartholomew “lured” Park to their home in Wexford County. Cortney Bartholomew is Park’s biological mother, and Bradly Bartholomew is her stepfather.

“The couple then allegedly tortured Park in an attempt to remove the unborn infant, resulting in the death of both,” the statement read.

“This is frankly evil personified,” Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey said at Tuesday’s arraignment, according to Michigan Live. “These two individuals created a plan, conducted research.”

Carey continued, “Mr. Bartholomew brought Rebecca to their home, forced her into another vehicle, and took her into the woods, where they stabbed her, forced her to lie on the ground while they cut her baby out, ultimately causing her death and the death of the baby.”

Carey said Park’s death is a “case of premeditated torture and murder.”

According to ABC News, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stated, “This case involves a truly horrific homicide in which a young woman and her unborn child endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of the defendants.”

Nessel added, “The brutality and disregard for human life displayed here are deeply troubling.”

Nessel stressed that the evidence “reflects an extraordinary level of callousness and violence.”

“Rebecca had everything to live for, and our hearts are with her loved ones as they endure this unthinkable loss,” Nessel said.

Nessel vowed that justice would be “pursued in this tragic case without delay.”

RELATED: Half-naked woman ‘missing flesh’ and handcuffed in backyard was tortured for weeks, beaten with bat, shot with BB gun: Cops

Cortney Bartholomew and Bradly Bartholomew were arrested in connection with Park’s death.

The couple was each charged with one felony count of first-degree premeditated murder, one felony count of murder, one felony count of torture in a place of confinement, one felony count of conspiracy to commit torture, one felony count of assault of a pregnant woman with the intention to cause miscarriage or stillbirth, one felony count of conspiracy to commit assault on a pregnant woman with the intention to cause miscarriage or stillbirth, and one misdemeanor count of removal of a dead body.

If convicted of any of the felonies, the pair faces up to life in prison.

Court records identify Bradly Bartholomew as a habitual offender, which means he could face harsher penalties.

Both suspects were jailed without the possibility of bond.

People magazine reported that Cortney posted a video on her Facebook page on the same day that her daughter was due to give birth, with a caption that read: “My alibi of where I was the night my daughter came up missing.”

The video had a black screen with audio of Cortney’s 14-year-old son reportedly saying, “She gave me my meds at about 8:40. I don’t remember a lot as I just said, but she was there when I went to bed, and she was also there when I woke up the next day. I know that she never goes out and about when I’m sleeping just because she doesn’t like to drive at night.”

Park’s adoptive mother, Stephanie Park, told WWTV-TV and WWUP-TV that she had had custody of Park since she was a year old. The mother said that she has been taking care of Rebecca’s two young sons, ages 3 and 2.

Officials have not yet revealed if the remains of Park’s baby have been recovered.

Anyone with information on Park’s death is urged to contact the tip line at the Wexford County Sheriff’s Department at 231-779-9216.

The Wexford County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Blaze News.

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​Crime 

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear arguments for and against President Donald Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship.

The Trump administration appealed a lower court order that struck down the restrictions in July over a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of children affected by the policy.

‘We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term.’

Trump issued the Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship executive order on his first day in office of his second term. The order prohibits granting citizenship to persons born in the country to mothers illegally or temporarily in the U.S. and whose father is not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.

Opponents of birthright citizenship say it stems from a false reading of the 14th Amendment, which was intended to apply only to former slaves when it was ratified in 1868 after the Civil War.

“Congress has never passed a federal statute that confers birthright citizenship. So it’s not in the Constitution, it’s not in federal law, it’s not in the legislative history, and yet it is being used,” argued BlazeTV host Mark Levin.

“Birthright citizenship is the argument, is the position, is the policy the Democrat Party holds on to because they want monopoly power for all time,” he added, “and they don’t care if it’s foreigners or not.”

Supporters of the policy point to the longstanding precedent of automatically granting citizenship to babies born in America.

“No president can change the 14th Amendment’s fundamental promise of citizenship,” said ACLU legal director Cecillia Wang. “We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term.”

The case will be heard in the spring, and a decision is expected by early summer.

RELATED: DHS slams Newsom over illegal alien accused in death of 11-year-old boy on Thanksgiving

Others point to the troublesome practice of “citizenship tourism” as justification for the order.

“There is a tourism industry surrounding this whole birthright citizenship. Women come here before they give birth so that they can just give birth here, and then their babies become United States citizens. That’s nuts, and to [Trump’s] point, nobody else does this,” said Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” on BlazeTV.

The birthright order would not take away citizenship from those who already obtained it before the order went into effect.

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​Birthright citizenship, Trump executive order, Supreme court, Immigration policy, Politics 

The incoming socialist mayor of New York City says that he will end the clearing out of homeless encampments in the city once he enters office.

Zohran Mamdani made the comments during his “Hot Chocolate, Frozen Rent” event in Manhattan on Thursday, where he posited that homelessness is a result of “political choice.”

‘Radical left communists would rather the homeless freeze to death on the streets, live in tents without showers food or medicine than make sure they have PROPER housing.’

“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” he said.

“We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing, whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is,” he added. “Because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made time and time again.”

Republican NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov torched Mamdani over the announcement.

“The radical left communists would rather the homeless freeze to death on the streets, live in tents without showers food or medicine than make sure they have PROPER housing and mental health treatment which many of them desperately need,” said Vernikov.

While the mainstream media has tried to mischaracterize Mamdani as moderate, he has previously posited that the government might need to ban private property in order to address the housing crisis.

RELATED: Actor Jon Voight calls on Trump to ‘terminate’ election of Mamdani in NYC

“Mamdani voters are rich entitled liberals who never have to struggle and who believe that leaving the homeless on our streets in their tents is also appropriate PUNISHMENT for our ‘intolerant and racist’ neighborhoods,” Vernikov continued. “BRACE YOURSELVES.”

Mamdani shocked many when he won the Democrat nomination in the mayoral race despite being vastly inexperienced to run the massive city. At least one liberal commentator has compared him to Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr.

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​Zohran mamdani, Homelessness, Homeless encampments, Socialist policies, Politics 

A traditional gender activist group has been fined in Australia for the “vilification” of two transgender-identifying males who competed in women’s sports.

The Binary Australia advocacy group was found guilty in August of identifying the athletes and exposing them to ridicule and hatred from critics of the transgender agenda.

‘Women have effectively been erased from law and attempts to advocate regarding public policy are shut down for the sake of the feelings of a few.’

Binary Australia spokeswoman Kirralie Smith said the fine was an infringement on her free speech rights and said the group would appeal the ruling.

“It is disappointing that the word ‘woman’ has been redefined to include males and that the words ‘violence’ & ‘vilification’ have been applied to speaking the truth about information in the public domain,” she wrote on social media.

“Australians should be very concerned about their freedoms,” she added. “Women have effectively been erased from law and attempts to advocate regarding public policy are shut down for the sake of the feelings of a few.”

Transgender activist Heather Corkhill of Equality Australia praised the ruling and accused Smith’s group of inciting hatred and violence.

“These women were subjected to horrendous harassment online, including being publicly identified, outed, and misgendered,” Corkhill said of the male athletes.

“People who target vulnerable minorities to incite hatred and fear need to be called out and stopped,” she added. “Smith and her supporters are out of step with the law, out of step with community values, and out of step with modern Australia.”

The 95K in Australian dollars equates to about 63K U.S. dollars.

RELATED: ‘F**king horrific’: Liberals rage after largest girl youth group in UK bans trans-identifying boys

“Males should never be permitted to participate in female sport. As a registered third-party political campaigner and a woman, I should have the right to advocate for this without being penalized,” Smith continued.

“The law might state men can be women, but it defies the laws of nature and cannot be sustained,” she added. “Nothing will steal my joy in knowing that I am a woman and no male ever will be. I am proud to stand for truth and reality.”

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​Binary australia, Vilification of transgender athletes, Kirralie smith, Transgender agenda, Politics 

An Oregon cattle rancher did his own research into an apparent rise in obscure medical conditions after the opening of an Amazon data center.

The facility, which requires enormous amounts of water to cool its infrastructure, stands accused of adding wastewater — laden with nitrates — to an already struggling filtration system.

‘Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members.’

Jim Doherty from Morrow, Oregon, sought out to investigate the alleged increase in health problems stemming from toxins in the local water supply. Doherty has since performed tests, worked alongside his county, and knocked on doors to try to solve the equation. He spoke with Rolling Stone about his findings.

The rancher said he surveyed 70 local wells and shockingly found that 68 of them violated federal limits for the allowable levels of nitrates in drinking water. In the same report, Doherty detailed that of the first 30 homes he visited in his area, 25 residents had recently suffered miscarriages.

The report alleged a number of illnesses related to the water supply — which included different forms of cancer — and pointed the finger at pollution exacerbated by an Amazon data center that popped up in 2011. The square-footage of the data center ranges in estimates from 120,000 to 200,000 but comes with a 15-year tax abatement worth nearly $200 million.

The cost of this, allegedly, is a slew of health problems.

RELATED: Apple to invest $500 billion in US including new AI server factory in Texas

Amazon Web Services and Iron Mountain data centers in Manassas, Virginia, on July 9, 2025. Total power usage in the US is expected to climb 2.15% in 2026, spurred largely by a 5% spike from commercial users because of the expansion of data centers, according to a US Energy Department report released in June. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“One man about 60 years old had his voice box taken out because of a cancer that only smokers get, but that guy hadn’t smoked a day of his life,” Doherty told Rolling Stone.

Another woman reportedly wrote Doherty to tell him her husband got “kidney cancer in his early 40s. His doctor thought it was due to exposure to herbicides and pesticides. He lost a kidney, but he lived.”

“We had acceptable levels of [toxins in our] drinking water when we first moved there,” the woman claimed. “After my husband’s cancer, we realized they went up and up through the years. It’s very sad.”

Doherty’s wife, Kelly, also claimed that out of the 14 people that live on their road, “I think nine of them have cancer right now.”

On the contrary, Amazon spokesman Lisa Levandowski told Rolling Stone that “the apparent narrative” about the 45,000-person county is “misleading and inaccurate.”

“The truth is that this region has long-documented groundwater quality challenges that significantly predate AWS’ presence, and federal, state, and local agencies have spent years working to address nitrates from agricultural fertilizer, manure, septic systems, and wastewater from food processing plants,” Levandowski explained.

She went on, “Our data centers draw water from the same supply as other community members; nitrates are not an additive we use in any of our processes, and the volume of water our facilities use and return represents only a very small fraction of the overall water system — not enough to have any meaningful impact on water quality.”

RELATED: Zuckerberg to dump hundreds of billions into new Manhattan-size projects

An Amazon Web Services data center in Stone Ridge, Virginia, US, on Sunday, July 28, 2024. Data center developers in Northern Virginia are asking utility Dominion Energy Inc. for as much power as several nuclear reactors can generate, in the latest sign of how artificial intelligence is helping drive up electricity demand. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Oregon Rural Action, an activist group focused on preserving water, compared the situation to the “historical precedent” of Flint, Michigan.

“In part because of how slow the response to the crisis has been, and in part because of who’s affected. These are people who have no political or economic power and very little knowledge of the risk,” executive director Kristin Ostrom told Rolling Stone.

The argument that Amazon has increased the amount of toxins in the water is indeed a complex one as there exist arguments on both sides that require investigation to prove.

As the Department of Energy explains, the process of cooling with water typically includes water softening to remove harmful toxins, but that does not mean there aren’t additives involved in the process.

Possible additives include phosphates to prevent corrosion, acids to adjust pH levels, and anti-foaming agents, to name a few. Nitrates can also be used to prevent corrosion in cooling systems.

The DOE also notes that when water evaporates from cooling towers, dissolved solids or toxins become more highly concentrated. This is typically solved by removing a portion of the highly concentrated water and replacing it with “fresh make-up water.”

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​Return, Amazon, Oregon, Data centers, Ai center, Tech center, Water supply, Nitrates, Tech 

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights is undertaking a nationwide campaign to protect parental rights in pediatric medicine and cracking down on those institutions that fail to provide parents with access to their children’s medical records, as required by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a video on Wednesday, “A parent’s right to guide their child’s health decisions — that right is not optional, it’s non-negotiable, and under the Trump administration, it will not be ignored.”

‘Religious exemption rights are one aspect of true informed consent and refusal.’

It appears that HHS already has one alleged offending institution on its radar.

Kennedy indicated that his agency has launched an investigation into a “troubling incident” in the Midwest — where a school is alleged to have illegally vaccinated a child with a federally provided vaccine without the parents’ consent.

According to Kennedy, the child also had a “legally recognized state exemption” for the vaccine.

“When any institution — a school, a doctor’s office, a clinic — disregards a religious exemption, it doesn’t just break trust; it also breaks the law,” said Kennedy. “It fractures the sacred bond between families and the people entrusted with their child’s care, and we are not going to tolerate it.”

In the video, Kennedy did not identify the vaccine, school, or state involved in the case, and when pressed for comment by USA Today, HHS reportedly declined to provide any clues.

RELATED: FDA finally admits COVID-19 vaccine killed kids: ‘This is a profound revelation’

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

HHS indicated that its Office for Civil Rights will determine whether the school acted in compliance with the Vaccines for Children Program requirement that conditions the federal provision of reduced-cost, public-purchased vaccines for eligible children on compliance with state religious and other exemptions from vaccine laws.

— (@)

Extra to scrutinizing the school’s conduct, HHS provided a strong reminder to health care providers in a letter on Wednesday that the HIPAA privacy rule “generally gives the parent the right to access the child’s medical records as the child’s personal representative, unless one of the limited exceptions applies.”

Absent limited exceptions such as in the case of children for whom health care decisions are made at the direction of a court or a person appointed by a court, HHS emphasized that “a covered entity (and, where applicable, its business associate acting on the covered entity’s behalf) may not place additional limitations on a parent’s access to the child’s medical records beyond any existing limitations in applicable law.”

In September, HHS’ Office for Civil Rights sent another “Dear Colleagues” letter on theme, noting that providers participating in the Vaccines for Children Program must follow state laws relating to religious and other exemptions to vaccination laws.

“The Vaccines for Children Program should never circumvent parents’ rights,” CDC acting Director Jim O’Neill said of the latest initiative on the part of the HHS. “Secretary Kennedy’s decision to probe potential abuse of the VFC is a necessary step in restoring public trust in immunization policy.”

Children’s Health Defense, which was chaired by Kennedy from 2015 to 2023, lauded the initiative.

Mary Holland, president and CEO of CHD, said in a statement, “CHD strongly supports the right to informed consent and informed refusal of all medical interventions — this is the essence of what the Nuremberg Code stands for.”

“That document was the antidote to the medical atrocities of World War II,” continued Holland. “Religious exemption rights are one aspect of true informed consent and refusal — whether that ‘informed’ nature comes from religion or science or wherever else.”

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​Health and human services, Hhs, Health, Vaccine, Vaccination, Jab, Shot, Politics 

Did Halle Berry just go MAGA?

Sadly no. But the Oscar-winner did take a strong stand against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chances at becoming the next U.S. president.

Former video store clerk turned Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino unloaded on this actor in ways that you just don’t do in Hollywood circles.

Did Berry cite his abominable record in the Golden State? His silly social media memes designed to out-Trump Trump? His state’s abysmal record on homelessness, gas prices, and more?

Maybe she cited those super-creepy leg crosses?

Nope. The actress is anti-Newsom due to a single bill that she feels could help menopausal women. Turns out Newsom doesn’t support the Menopause Care Equity Act, which would have, according to Time, “ensured insurance coverage for evidence-based treatments and required physician training: practical, cost-effective steps backed by leading medical experts.”

“And with the way he’s overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us in midlife, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying.”

Meanwhile some heavy Hollywood hitters are flooding the zone for Newsom’s 2028 presidential campaign because, as they see it, he’s a “fighter.”

Now if he could only fight on behalf of his fellow Californians …

Mad Maddow

Rachel Maddow gets the big bucks for a reason. She’s the biggest draw on her low-rated MS NOW network, and she’s as stubborn as the proverbial mule.

How stubborn? You know that Russian collusion hoax she helped peddle for far too long? Well she’s still living in a pre-Mueller Report world. In fact, her recent appearance on “The Late Show” was hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

“I don’t know what Putin has on [Trump], but he works for Putin, and it’s an embarrassment to this country.”

Stephen Colbert, to the shock of no one, didn’t correct the MS NOW anchor. The only surprise from the segment was that neither Colbert nor Maddow brought up the “very fine people” hoax for good measure …

RELATED: Why Gavin Newsom’s Bible quotations should alarm Christians — before it’s too late

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

King of cringe

This prince isn’t a fan of kings.

Prince Harry also visited “The Late Show” this week, and he proved a quick study on the show’s demographic. Think TDS sufferers and shut-ins. Except Meghan Markle’s lesser half couldn’t even get the show’s audience on his side.

Harry pretended to interrupt Colbert’s nightly monologue Wednesday. The two exchanged a few words, including how Harry wanted to endear himself to Americans by starring in a Christmas movie. Besides, he argued, Americans are obsessed with royalty.

Colbert scoffed at the idea, setting up this droll quip.

“Really? I heard you elected a king,” Harry said.

The crowd, to everyone’s shock, booed and groaned. That response was brutal, but imagine the reaction he got when he returned home …

Goin’ ‘South’

Did Cartman’s creators lose their nerve?

We all know that Trey Parker and Matt Stone cast aside decades of apolitical comedy to skewer Trump this season on “South Park.”

You never go the full “Saturday Night Live.” But they did.

Now Parker and Stone are wrestling with a long-delayed project described as a “slave comedy.” The film’s original premise had a black slave re-enactor learning that his white girlfriend’s family once owned slaves in the pre-Civil War South.

It’s a provocative setup, the kind that the “South Park” duo once would tackle sans fear. But now? The pair just signed a billion-plus deal with Paramount, and their TDS-themed “South Park” season has made them beloved in the media and the DNC. (But we repeat ourselves.)

Would they risk that love and affection by creating an unwoke comedy?

Regardless, the film is troubled, to say the least. The title was originally slated for a 2025 release, but now the best-case scenario will have it land in theaters in 2027. That’s assuming they get the actual film done. A new report suggests major reshoots are in order.

Let’s hope for their sake they didn’t “put a chick in it! Make her lame and gay!”

Wong turn

BD Wong made a tasteless joke on social media.

Never mind that the vast majority of people missed it completely. And a good portion of that group is probably asking themselves, “BD who?”

As a woke revolution hold-out, the veteran actor is determined to grovel like it’s 2020 and so posted this overwrought gesture of self-flagellation:

As most people in hot water do, I deleted it for Damage Control but it’s out there & continues to hurt & disappoint & I’m really sorry about the hurt part. Super dumb, but I tried to follow the “Wrong Answers Only” prompt with the wrongest answer. This succeeded only in that it was Super Wrong. I know nobody gets a free pass. I’m sorry if this #wtfbd moment tarnished any respect you may’ve had for me. & thanks if you advocate for an internet that’s safe for everybody.

Apologies are fine. He trafficked in a crude gag on social media, and some people didn’t get the joke or appreciate the irreverent tone.

Still can we stop pretending that we can be “hurt” by a tacky or tasteless joke? Or do we need to keep up the Apology ToursTM in perpetuity?

Foot in mouth

Did Paul Dano forget to be kind and rewind his VHS tape?

Former video store clerk turned Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino unloaded on Dano in ways that you just don’t do in Hollywood circles.

Here’s what the “Inglourious Basterds” director said about Dano, best known for films like “There Will Be Blood,” “The Batman,” and “Love and Mercy.”

“And the flaw [in ‘There Will Be Blood’] is Paul Dano,” Tarantino said. “Obviously it’s supposed to be a two-hander, and it’s also so drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. … He is weak sauce, man. He’s a weak sister.”

It could be worse. Tarantino could have said Dano has ugly feet.

​Entertainment, Hollywood, Culture, Donald trump, Paul dano, Gavin newsom, Halle berry, Stephen colbert, Rachel maddow, Toto recall 

During President Trump’ s first term, Americans were forced to wake up and realize that immigration was a serious problem — and that we were losing who we were and what we stand for as a country.

“And then Biden gets in, who’s this — he’s not even a person. He’s this just sort of like empty vessel … and what they do immediately with him is not just like turn the immigration spigot back on, it’s supercharged,” BlazeTV host Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman tells co-host Christopher Rufo on “Rufo & Lomez.”

“OK, we get in Biden’s four years, the equivalent of 12 years of immigration. The preceding 12 years combined ends up equaling what Biden does — another like eight million illegal immigrants,” Lomez says.

“Millions of these get away, they’re not even processing people at the border. … Alejandro Mayorkas just decides unilaterally, we’re going to start taking in people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people basically flying illegal immigrants, paying to fly illegal immigrants into the country to be resettled by these refugee programs,” he continues.

“They’re getting hundreds of millions of dollars from DHS to do this. You have hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors, OK? We’re just taking in the world. We’re taking in the entire world.”

“And when I say we, I mean Alejandro Mayorkas, who should frankly be in jail and tried for sedition,” he adds.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Camera phone, Video, Sharing, Video phone, Upload, Free, Youtube.com, Rufo & lomez, The blaze, Chris rufo, Lomez, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Immigration, President trump, Alejandro mayorkas, Joe biden, Immigration under biden, Donald trump, Assimilation 

Netflix announced a massive deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., a company that controls huge entities like HBO and CNN.

Which networks Netflix will control, however, is a bit complicated.

Warner Bros. put itself up for sale last month, and as Blaze News reported, was simultaneously being eyed for acquisition by Amazon.

‘Our mission has always been to entertain the world.’

Netflix has seemingly won the battle though, with a cash and stock transaction valued at $27.75 per share for Warner Bros. Discovery, totaling approximately $82.7 billion, which equates to an equity value of $72 billion after debt, according to CNN and Netflix.

The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026, which will give WBD a chance to conclude the separation of its company, which has huge implications in terms of which channels Netflix takes control of.

Split decision

In June 2025, WBD decided to split itself into two companies, WBD Global Networks and WBD Streaming & Studios. The split is expected to take effect in summer 2026, after which Netflix will take over the Streaming & Studios company.

RELATED: Netflix features trans teen kissing scene in kids’ cartoon — but it’s not the only one

NEW YORK – JUNE 10, 2007: Actor Ray Abruzzo attends an HBO screening of the series finale of ‘The Sopranos.’ (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

This means Netflix will gain Warner Bros Pictures/Television/Games, HBO, streaming service HBO Max, TNT Sports (international), and studio New Line Cinema.

The acquisition also comes with the rights to some of the most highly sought after shows around, such as “Friends,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Sopranos,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and those in the DC Comic Universe. As well movies like the “Harry Potter” franchise will move to Netflix.

CNN not included

There were questions as to what it would mean for CNN should WBD be acquired by a different platform, but the news network will fall under WBD Global Networks and not move to Netflix.

The same goes for networks like HGTV, Discovery, TBS, the Cartoon Network, TNT Sports (U.S.), along with the rights to the NHL, NCAA, and Olympics in terms of sports.

RELATED: Elon Musk claims to have canceled Netflix subscription over Charlie Kirk mockery and transgender indoctrination

Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Shareholder service

Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix said, “Our mission has always been to entertain the world.”

He added that the combination of Warner Bros.’ library and Netflix’s catalogue will “give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling.”

Greg Peters, the other co-CEO of Netflix, said the acquisition will “accelerate” their business for decides.

“With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create — giving our members more options, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders.”

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav added that the sale to Netflix will “ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come.”

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​Align, Networks, Netflix, Hbo, Tlc, Cnn, News, Discovery, Streaming, Amazon prime, Entertainment 

If America had an official “documentarian laureate,” Ken Burns would be a shoo-in for the job.

Over the last four decades, the filmmaker has devoted his career to capturing the country’s history and culture, in works ranging from “Baseball,” “Jazz,” and “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” to his groundbreaking 1990 masterpiece “The Civil War.” And despite his avowed “yellow-dog Democrat” tendencies, he has done so with remarkable nuance.

Those rallying around the American cause are portrayed as a loose collection of criminals, anarchists, slavers, and exiled aristocrats united by high Enlightenment ideals.

Now, just in time for America’s 250th anniversary, Burns has returned with a new six-part PBS series exploring how it all got started.

Fanfare and apprehension

“The American Revolution” arrives with suitable fanfare — and an almost absurdly star-studded cast of voice-over artists. Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Giamatti, Josh Brolin, Meryl Streep, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, and Michael Keaton are among the luminaries who provide narration.

Even so, there has been a level of apprehension surrounding the show, particularly among conservatives. Could a commemoration of America’s founding even work in our current moment — when even mild appeals to patriotism and national unity seem to stir up bitter partisan disputes?

Burns seems to have a found a way around this by making his retelling as clinical and unromantic as possible. He is clearly passionate about the American project, but he is unwilling to embrace the mythological or nationalistic sides of that passion.

Whose revolution?

“It’s our creation story,” historian Rick Atkinson says as he discusses the importance of the Revolution. But most of the experts Burns showcases prefer to focus on the negative, puncturing what one calls the “unreal and detached” romanticization of the founders.

Instead, we’re invited to ponder the role that slavery and the theft of Native American land played in the fight for independence — not to mention a fair amount of unsavory violence perpetrated by the revolutionaries.

While the series does a good job of covering the conflicts between 1774 and 1783, it takes frequent detours to discuss the issues surrounding the revolution: the role of women contributing to the war, the perspectives of English Loyalists as they became refugees fleeing the conflict, the madness of the Sons of Liberty’s antics, and the perspectives of slaves trying to survive and find liberty too.

RELATED: Yes, Ken Burns, the founding fathers believed in God — and His ‘divine Providence’

Interim Archives/Boston Globe/Getty Images

Living in the tension

A pronounced classical liberalism pervades the storytelling, one reflecting the secular Enlightenment idealism that a “new and radical” vision for mankind could be found through self-determination and freedom, apart from the aristocratic and theocratic haze of Europe.

This vision acknowledges progressive criticism of the era’s slavery and classism, but tries to integrate those faults rather than use them as grounds to discard the entire experiment. It attempts to live within the tension of history and sift out what is still valuable, rather than abandon the project altogether.

Indeed, Burns is generally good about avoiding any sort of score-settling or modern politicking, shy of a few buzzwords. He constantly uses the word “resistance” and ends with a reflection on the potential ruination of the republic by “unprincipled demagogues,” proudly quoting Alexander Hamilton that “nobody is above the law.”

The show’s consensus is overwhelmingly that the values of the Revolution were greater than the severely flawed men who fought it. To Burns, it was not merely a war, but a radical ongoing experiment in human liberty that escaped the colonies like a virus and changed the world forever. He certainly doesn’t want to throw out the liberal project, and so he constantly circles back on defending the war’s idealism.

Idealism and discomfort

This accounts for the show’s title, focusing on its revolutionary implications. It wasn’t just a war, but a change in the way people thought. The show argues that “to believe in America … is to believe in possibility,” and that studying the Revolution is important to understanding “why we are where we are now.”

Unfortunately, the intervening 12 hours require the viewer to swallow a fair share of dubious and rather inflammatory claims, including that George Washington was primarily driven by his class interests as a landowner, that popular retellings often “paper over” the violent actions of the revolutionaries, and that the founders were, on balance, hypocrites.

Its overall perspective is that it is impossible to tell the nation’s origin story in a way that is “clean” and “neat,” with clear heroes and villains. Those rallying around the American cause are portrayed as a loose collection of criminals, anarchists, slavers, and exiled aristocrats united by high Enlightenment ideals.

“The Revolution” wants both this idealism and discomfort to sit equally in your mind, as you ponder how morally compromised men could change the world. As one of the historians asks, “How can you know something is wrong and still do it? That is the human question for all of us.”

Overall, Ken Burns’ latest proves a very bittersweet watch, hardly the sentimental reflection on Americanism that the country’s approaching 250th anniversary demands, but also too idealistic and classically liberal to comfortably fit anyone’s agenda. It wants to lionize the founding’s aspirational values of democracy, equality, and revolution, while assiduously avoiding praising the people involved.

It’s a remarkably watchable and entertaining work of sober disillusionment.

​Entertainment, Culture, Television, Pbs, Ken burns, Documentaries, Film, The american revolution, History, Review 

With the season for Christmas shopping now in full swing, Amazon is testing out a new service for much faster deliveries.

On Monday, Amazon announced the limited launch of Amazon Now, a delivery feature promising swift deliveries in 30 minutes or less.

Amazon Now is first launching in parts of Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The announcement called the service “ultra-fast” delivery.

Amazon Now is first launching in parts of Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Photographer: Bess Adler/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The service focuses on essential household items and groceries. Amazon’s press release explains it will be using “specialized smaller facilities designed for efficient order fulfillment.”

Prime members will have to pay delivery fees starting at $3.99 for an order, and non-Prime members will have to pay $13.99.

Amazon will continue to offer Prime members its usual same-day, overnight, and next-day delivery options.

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