Category: blaze media

During a local hearing, a Massachusetts mayor requested the use of a translator. Now critics are asking if he can even speak English.

Brian A. DePena (D) is the mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, a city of nearly 90,000. Approximately 82% of the residents of Lawrence are Latino, according to a 2023 report by WGBH.

‘I practice my English because it’s very important in America.’

Mayor DePena appeared in court earlier this month for a Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission proceeding, where former Lawrence Police Chief William Castro was facing city officials following the revocation of his credentials. Castro was accused of conducting an improper police chase and falsifying a police report.

According to reports, DePena testified on Castro’s behalf and requested a translator for the hearing.

In video of the hearing that has gone viral, a judge is heard considering the request for a translator for the mayor.

DePena has since been accused of not being able to speak English at all. The WGBH report from 2023 also noted that DePena does not speak English on a day-to-day basis.

RELATED: Noncitizen Kansas mayor accused of voter fraud has cast dozens of ballots since 2000, documents show

“I practice my English because it’s very important in America,” DePena said, according to WGBH. “For many years, another administration speaks perfect English and [didn’t provide] opportunity for better education, for businessmen, for kids, safety [in the] community.”

DePena later added, “It’s not easy, because every day [I] to need to make a decision about another person, the future of another person. … If you supported another candidate, no matter. Everyone is equal in my office.”

Since taking office in 2021, DePena has appeared in many videos speaking only in Spanish, including in official city materials.

RELATED: Postal worker allegedly tried to help detainee escape from ICE — and she was on duty at the time

In March 2023, an official city of Lawrence YouTube video showed DePena speaking only in Spanish for an “important message” about public schools. The video is labeled as bilingual, but this appeared to refer to the English subtitles.

That October, DePena appeared in a Spanish-only interview for local health care company Vitra Health.

Additionally a Facebook video post from August 2025 from the mayor’s official account is also entirely in Spanish.

The accusations come in spite of the Trump administration issuing an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States on March 1, 2025.

Blaze News contacted the mayor’s office and the mayor directly about whether he is fluent in English but received no response.

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

​News, Spanish, Massachusetts, Spanish only, Official language, Latino, Mayor, Politics 

The overall performance of quarterbacks in the NFL has plummeted, and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes it has more to do with DEI and black culture than anyone in the NFL would ever be willing to admit.

“All of this emphasis on diversity and black quarterbacks and all of these changes that I feel like they’ve made to make quarterback play easier so that they can meet the quotas that they need to serve their diversity goals,” Whitlock tells BlazeTV contributor Coach JB on “Fearless.”

“This gets me called an Uncle Tom and a coon, but these guys started out the year talking about 16 quarterbacks, starting quarterbacks, are going to be black guys in the NFL in this year, and look at how much progress we’ve made, and black quarterbacks have taken over the league,” he explains.

This is where Whitlock turns to the stats.

“Here we are 14 games into the season. Look at this list. Look at the top teams, and look at the quarterbacks that are quarterbacking those teams. Bo Nix, Sam Darnold, Matt Stafford, Drake Maye, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, Mac Jones … Justin Herbert, and Caleb Williams,” Whitlock says.

“Black starting quarterbacks have won 41% of their games this year in the NFL. And my argument — it’s not that they’re black; it’s not their skin color. It’s the culture and the mindset of victimhood and challenging of authority. And as a coach, you should be able to speak to this,” he tells Coach JB.

Coach JB believes it’s because coaches now accept “all this money and are worried about wins only and not the kid and the kid’s future.”

“I coached 19 of 21 years only having a black quarterback. Three to the NFL, 21 Division I quarterbacks — 19 of those were black. So, at the end of the day, none of them got arrested. All of them are successful. Got their degrees. Thirteen of them are coaching Division I football currently,” he tells Whitlock.

“I want to see the current Division I coaches right now who get $3 to $10 million a year who have literally failed the five-star black athlete quarterback,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, 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, Video, Upload, Sharing, Free, Youtube.com, Fearless with jason whitlock, Fearless, Jason whitlock, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Nfl quarterbacks, Black quarterbacks, Nfl woke, Coach jb, Political correctness, Nfl 

Critics of the president’s immigration policy went into meltdown mode over a new video from the administration depicting Santa Claus as an ICE agent.

In the video that appears to be generated by artificial intelligence, Santa dons a reddish uniform of Immigration and Customs Enforcement while arresting illegal aliens and sending them on their way on a deportation flight.

‘This is freaking evil. Don’t make Santa the person who removes people from their place of safety.’

“AVOID ICE AIR AND SANTA’S NAUGHTY LIST!” read the message from ICE on the post. “Self-deport today with the CBP Home app, earn $3,000 and spend Christmas at home with loved ones. Holiday incentive is valid through the end of 2025.”

The holiday incentive triples the $1,000 offered previously to illegal aliens who choose to self-deport.

Many online raged against the video and Sec. Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Nazi trash. Deport yourselves to hell,” replied voice actor Andy Cortez.

“Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security posts deranged video turning Santa into an ICE agent. Making people suffer is just all fun and games for the Trump administration,” responded Mike Sington, a former NBCUniversal executive.

“This is freaking evil. Don’t make Santa the person who removes people from their place of safety. Ever. WTF?” said one critic.

“First off, Santa isn’t even a citizen so why the f**k would he be working with ICE and not give you f**ks coal for eternity? Secondly, you people are f**king ghouls,” replied another detractor.

“As I’ve said many times … Republicans would have nailed Jesus to the cross themselves and handed Trump the spear to stab him with,” responded podcaster Ryan Shead.

RELATED: VIDEO: Sheriff mocks ‘idiots’ who mistook cops for ICE and disrupted operation against alleged drug dealers

“I bet this goes so hard if you are a legitimate sociopath with literally no ability to feel empathy for another human being,” said another critic.

According to an analysis of ICE data by the Guardian, the administration has arrested more than 328,000 and deported nearly 327,000 since the beginning of the new administration. Nearly two million others have voluntarily self-deported, according to a DHS press release.

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

​Ice santa claus, Liberal outrage mob, Online backlash, Trump’s immigration policy, Politics 

On the strength of a very positive economic report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, President Trump announced on Truth Social his future plans for the economy — and these plans may not include the current chairman of the Federal Reserve.

On Tuesday morning, Trump introduced and explained “the Trump Rule” when it comes to the economy.

‘Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!’

Trump started his post by explaining how markets have changed in response to good financial news, like the news received Tuesday. Rather than rallying as they have in the past, markets go down, he explained, in anticipation of interest rates increasing to offset “potential” inflation.

Trump continued, “That means that, essentially, we can never have a Great Market again, those Markets from the time when our Nation was building up, and becoming great. Strong Markets, even phenomenal Markets, don’t cause Inflation, stupidity does!”

RELATED: Market soars after Fed finally cuts interest rate

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Trump then hinted at a possible development coming to the Fed leadership: “I want my new Fed Chairman to lower Interest Rates if the Market is doing well, not destroy the Market for no reason whatsoever.”

Trump stated that he will no longer tolerate obstructionists making economic greatness impossible: “A Nation can never be Economically GREAT if ‘eggheads’ are allowed to do everything within their power to destroy the upward slope.”

He added that America will “see numbers that are far more natural, and far better, than they have ever been before.”

“Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!” Trump concluded.

The delayed economic report states that “Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025 (July, August, and September), according to the initial estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.8 percent.”

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

​Politics, President trump, Donald trump, Federal reserve, Jerome powell, Fed chair, Fed chair jerome powell, The trump rule, Economy, Interest rates, Inflation 

The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security is changing regulations governing work visas, arguing the changes will protect American workers.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the DHS had implemented a new rule to change the H-1B recipient selection process, ending the current random lottery system in favor of prioritizing those with higher skills.

‘As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to H-1B reform, we will continue to demand more from both employers and aliens so as not to undercut American workers and to put America first.’

The agency contended that the new policy would “better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers.”

USCIS noted that the current random selection process has been criticized for “allowing unscrupulous employers to exploit it by flooding the selection pool with lower-skilled foreign workers paid at low wages, to the detriment of the American workforce.”

The not-yet-published final rule states that the new weighted selection process will favor higher-skilled, higher-paid foreign nationals while continuing to allow employers to obtain H-1Bs across all wage levels.

The rule will take effect on February 27 and apply to the H-1B registration season for fiscal year 2027.

RELATED: America last: Is Big Tech hiding jobs from US citizens to hire cheaper foreign labor from India and China?

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser stated.

“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers. With these regulatory changes and others in the future, we will continue to update the H-1B program to help American businesses without allowing the abuse that was harming American workers.”

In September, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation requiring employers to pay an additional $100,000 per H-1B visa.

“As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to H-1B reform, we will continue to demand more from both employers and aliens so as not to undercut American workers and to put America first,” Tragesser added.

RELATED: Trump admin announces major H-1B visa abuse investigation, but critics want more

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Up to 65,000 new H-1B visas can be issued each year, with an additional 20,000 for individuals with a master’s degree or higher. Recipients are generally admitted for up to three years, with the option to extend for up to another three years. Some recipients may be eligible for more than six years. Certain organizations, such as some universities and nonprofits, are exempt from the annual cap.

FWD.us estimated that there are as many as 730,000 H-1B holders in the U.S., along with 550,000 of their dependents, including spouses and children. The estimated total number of H-1B holders and their dependents exceeds the population of eight states, including Montana and Rhode Island.

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

​News, H-1b, H1b, Work visas, Visas, Donald trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Department of homeland security, Dhs, U.s. citizenship and immigration services, Uscis, Us citizenship and immigration services, Immigration, Foreign workers, Politics 

Comedian and actor Russell Brand has once again been charged with sexual crimes.

On Tuesday, Metropolitan Police confirmed that Brand is now charged with two new counts, one of rape and one of sexual assault.

Brand will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on January 20 to face the new charges.

These new charges come on the heels of previous charges filed against the actor in April 2025. The five previous charges involve four women and span “more than two decades,” per Reuters.

Brand has denied any criminal sexual misconduct previously.

RELATED: Russell Brand CHARGED on five counts: Justice or a grifter’s retribution?

Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Brand has acknowledged a sex addiction in his younger days, but when the charges came out, he said that “what I never was, was a rapist.”

Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers.”

Reuters reported that Brand will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on January 20 to face the new charges.

The trial related to the previous charges is scheduled for June 16.

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

​Politics, Russell brand, Sexual assault charges, Rape allegations, Metropolitan police, Westminster magistrates court 

Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska announced his terminal diagnosis on Tuesday.

The tragic news was shared in a post on X, where Sasse conceded that he is “gonna die.” Sasse revealed his diagnosis is metastasized stage-four pancreatic cancer, but in the same breath proclaimed his deep faith and hope in Christ.

‘The process of dying is still something to be lived.’

“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Sasse wrote. “Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”

“I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers,” Sasse added. “As one of them put it, ‘Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.’ Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all.

RELATED: Republican senator announces retirement, citing exhaustion: ‘I feel like a sprinter in a marathon’

Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images

In the message, Sasse reflected on his many personal and professional accomplishments throughout his 53 years of life, expressing deep gratitude and admiration for his family. Sasse also wrote about the difficulty of navigating tragedy during Christmas, which he described as “a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come.”

“Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in),” Sasse said.

“Nope — often we lazily say ‘hope’ when what we mean is ‘optimism.’ To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son.”

RELATED: ‘Unnecessary and protracted’: Elise Stefanik drops out of New York governor’s race

Photo by HANNAH MCKAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In addition to leaning on God and his family, Sasse said he will pursue medical intervention.

“Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived,” Sasse said. “We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape.”

“But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. … For to us a son is given (Isaiah 9).”

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

​Ben sasse, Senate republicans, Cancer, Cancer diagnosis, Terminal cancer, Christian, Christianity, Politics 

A former U.S. Army official says the federal government’s gift to service members this Christmas is a signal to troops that their sacrifices are appreciated.

Patrick Murphy, a former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania and the former U.S. undersecretary of the Army for the Obama administration, praised the Warrior Dividend as a sign of respect for military families.

‘There is a troubling tendency to politicize military leadership and culture.’

Last week, President Trump announced that approximately 1.5 million military members would receive a bonus of $1,776 to thank them for their service and to commemorate 250 years of the U.S. military.

According to the former congressman, the payment is well deserved.

“Having served in uniform and later at the Pentagon, I saw firsthand how much our troops give and how often that sacrifice shows up as stress on families, finances, and retention,” Murphy, a decorated former JAG Corps attorney, told Blaze News.

Murphy stated that with a quarter of military families operating on a single income, many troops suffer from significant financial strain, which is “one of the leading causes of our suicide epidemic.”

He added, “The Warrior Dividend isn’t just about pay. It’s about honoring a long-overdue moral obligation. It’s a signal to our troops and their families that their sacrifices are supported and valued.”

RELATED: Teenager sues high school after tribute to Charlie Kirk was called vandalism

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Presidential treatment

Murphy told Blaze News about his experience working under different administrations and said they all have made attempts to show support for U.S. troops in their own way.

Citing President Obama’s “groundwork” for reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs, President Biden addressing housing and suicide prevention among service members, and Trump’s financial support for the military, Murphy said he feels “core support for our troops has remained consistent, but the tone, priorities, and follow-through of leadership have varied.”

With that in mind, Murphy urged politicians to treat the military in an apolitical manner.

“There is a troubling tendency to politicize military leadership and culture, something I believe undermines readiness and trust. The Armed Forces function best when they are professional, trusted, and insulated from partisan conflict.”

RELATED: Army, Navy release stunning uniforms ahead of historic matchup honoring America’s 250th birthday

Photo by Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images

Tapping Gen Z

Murphy is noted for having recruited more than 120,000 Gen Z Americans through a military initiative called Soldier for Life. He detailed his recruitment strategy, admitting it was not easy to get messaging through to a new generation. Therefore modern methodology and a fresh approach were needed.

“Gen Z is a group that is smart, driven, and looking for meaning. So we reimagined our outreach and met them where they are — digitally,” Murphy recalled.

The approach included a focus on benefits that would appeal to that generation, like education, leadership training, and careers in artificial intelligence. As well, Murphy said he ensured the core messaging focused on “America, its diversity, its values, and its evergreen need for genuine, authentic leadership.”

“We weren’t just selling a job; we were calling young people to be part of something bigger than themselves. And when you show Gen Z that service is not just honorable but empowering, they respond. That’s how you build the next generation of leaders, in and out of uniform.”

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

​News, Obama, Trump, Biden, Us army, Military, 1776, Warrior dividend, Veteran, Recruitment, Politics 

A nine-year MLB veteran is taking issue with apparent cross-dressing on a Disney Cruise ship.

Ender Inciarte won three gold gloves with the Atlanta Braves while appearing in one MLB All-Star Game before retiring in 2022.

‘I don’t think it’s hate i just don’t want to normalize that behavior.’

Now, Inciarte is calling out Disney Cruise Line for apparently having a man dressed a woman speaking to kids.

“Hey [Disney Cruise Line] love your cruises!” Inciarte wrote on X. “Except for the part that there are man dressed as woman … thought you already got over it.”

This immediately drew backlash from some readers, including one man who called Inciarte a “little fragile guy” who “gets upset easily while other people live their lives peacefully without bothering anyone.”

The 5-foot-11-inch outfielder replied, according to an X translation, “It wasn’t hatred or a personal attack. It was an opinion based on my convictions. I believe in respecting everyone, but also in calling things by their name without mockery or contempt. Living in peace doesn’t mean silencing one’s conscience. Take care, champion!”

RELATED: Family ‘sick’ after apparently discovering transvestite doing little girl’s hair and makeup at Disney boutique

— (@)

A Tampa Bay baseball fan rudely asked the former player, “Have you considered going to Hell, Ender?”

“No. I’ve been saved from that thanks to Jesus!” Inciarte enthusiastically stated in response.

While it is unclear if Inciarte was drawing from a personal experience or a video he saw online, he explained his reasoning when replying to a reader who said his kids would be traumatized seeing “dudes dressed as women.”

The Venezuelan explained, “Where is my hate? All i am saying is having my kid enter a place where a 6ft tall guy is dressed as a woman and acting like one would traumatize my kid on a family cruise.”

He added, “I don’t think it’s hate i just don’t want to normalize that behavior.”

RELATED: Disney did something it hasn’t done in nearly 30 years — it will delight Christian parents and drive liberals crazy

Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

While Disney has not responded to inquiries from outlets like Fox News Digital to confirm the allegations, this would not be the first time a transgender person or cross-dresser was spotted at a Disney business dealing with children.

In 2024, a family chronicled a transvestite cutting children’s hair and applying makeup at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Walt Disney World.

At Disneyland in 2023, the same boutique had a man dressed as a woman working in front of the store to welcome guests and schedule young children for their makeovers.

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

​Fearless, Mlb, Baseball, Disney, Disney cruise, Transgender, Sports 

Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming is setting her sights on higher office as the 2026 primaries continue to take shape.

Hageman has served her district as an ally to President Donald Trump after kicking off a political career in the nation’s capital by ousting former Rep. Liz Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary. Cheney was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 melee, resulting in a landslide defeat the following election cycle.

‘We must keep up this fight.’

Hageman is now pursuing the U.S. Senate after Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming announced her retirement on Friday.

“Wyoming is a beautiful state, but our people matter the most,” Hageman said in her campaign announcement. “Our faith, our family, our community, and our county. That’s what we care about. That’s what we fight for.”

RELATED: Republican senator announces retirement, citing exhaustion: ‘I feel like a sprinter in a marathon’

David Williams/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Hageman pointed to the massive energy contributions Wyoming has made to the country, fueling the exponential improvement in technology and quality of life for Americans across the country. Hageman vowed to protect the energy industry and the working class, touting Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act she helped pass in Congress.

“We must keep up this fight, and that’s why today, I’m announcing my campaign for United States Senate,” Hageman said. “This fight is about making sure the next century sees the advancements of the last while protecting our culture and our way of life.”

RELATED: ‘Unnecessary and protracted’: Elise Stefanik drops out of New York governor’s race

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

“We must dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the next 100 years is the next great American century. Wyoming is critical for achieving that goal.”

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

​Harriet hageman, Wyoming, Cynthia lummis, 2026 primaries, 2026 elections, House republicans, Senate republicans, Liz cheney, January 6, Impeachment, Donald trump, Trump impeachment, Politics 

Virulent Trump critic George Conway III has filed to run as a Democrat for Rep. Jerry Nadler’s seat in New York, Federal Election Commission records show.

The supposedly conservative lawyer’s decision to turn his coat fully inside-out has been years in the making.

Conway, the ex-husband of former Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, turned sour after failing to seize an opportunity to serve in the first Trump administration’s Justice Department.

‘It’s time to lay it all on the line.’

While Conway said that he changed his mind and withdrew his name from consideration to run the civil division of the DOJ in 2017 after Trump canned then-FBI Director James Comey, Trump claimed that Conway was “VERY jealous of his wife’s success & angry that I, with her help, didn’t give him the job he so desperately wanted.”

Trump added that Conway was a “stone cold LOSER.”

Over the years, Conway grew increasingly antagonistic toward the president, ranting about Trump on cable news and attacking him in the pages of liberal publications.

Two years after weeping with joy in his MAGA hat over Trump’s 2016 win, Conway said in an interview, “I don’t feel comfortable being a Republican any more.”

The following year, he co-founded the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project with a handful of former Republican operatives, including Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, Reed Galen, and John Weaver, who allegedly had a habit of sexually harassing young men online.

RELATED: Why Democrats fear this midterm more than Republicans do

George Conway bloviating on CNN. Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images

According to a Dec. 17, 2019, op-ed that Conway co-authored with Weaver and the other Lincoln Project co-founders, the aim of the group was to “stem the damage [Trump] and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution, and the American character.”

With this aim in mind, the Lincoln Project proceeded to stage a white supremacy rally, bankrolled efforts to torpedo Trump-aligned Republicans, and churned out pro-Kamala Harris content such as the recent “Be a Man, Vote for a Woman” ad.

Although Conway stepped away from the Lincoln Project in 2020, he did not give up his fixation with Trump.

Last year, he supported Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign and launched a six-figure ad campaign hoping to dissuade Americans from voting for Trump.

After spending years throwing his money and hopes after losers and lost causes, Conway has decided to throw his hat in the ring.

In the first post on his new Substack page, Conway noted, “I’m going into the arena. I’ve already put my money where my mouth is, but now it’s time to lay it all on the line. It’s time to defeat Trumpism once and for all.”

“We need Democrats to take over Congress — and not just any Democrats, but the most fearless and relentless ones,” wrote Conway.

While New York’s 12th Congressional District is a safe blue seat, Conway is hardly the only Democrat hoping to make it his own. Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy; New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher (D); Democratic Socialist gun critic Cameron Kasky; and former Clinton White House fellow Jami Floyd are among the Democrat candidates presently in the running.

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

​George conway, Conway, Congress, Anti-trump, Lincoln project, Tds, Trump derangement syndrome, House, Midterm, Elections, 2026, Politics 

This article is for those of you with fractured families. Maybe the holidays have always been stressful and unpleasant because your family argues. Maybe it’s worse in the 2020s because your family is at political odds, and your liberal family actually thinks you’re a Nazi and says so. Maybe you’ve been estranged from your family for years.

My guess is that many people who fit the description above have abandoned Christmas or any holiday celebrations. I know I did for years. My sister and I grew up in a family headed by an abusive, mentally and morally deranged mother. Our childhood was full of screaming, wooden spoons broken across our backsides, and bizarre punishments for crimes we didn’t commit.

My mother wasn’t actually there in the room with us in 1985. She didn’t see us. She was a little girl in her cold childhood home in 1960 screaming at her parents.

Maybe you’ve abandoned some of your family’s traditions too. Maybe, like me, you’ve spent years alone at Christmas. You don’t put up a tree. You don’t make that special dish.

But you don’t have to let the sorrowful ghosts of Christmases past turn every Christmas future into lonely melancholy. If you have just one single friend, or one single family member whose company you enjoy, I encourage you to haul out the holly, make that special dish, and bring the peace and comfort of Christmas back into your life.

If you grew up like I did, you need this, and you deserve it.

Going home, wherever that may be

This year, my sister and I are going to have a merry Christmas with her family. We are estranged from our mother but not from each other. Now my sister, my brother-in-law, and my nephew are my family. When I visit them at Christmas, I’m going home.

We’re going to have a loving holiday like we wanted to have, but could not, when we were children. We’re going to cook for each other, sing along to the Carpenters’ Christmas album (on a record player, of course), and string popcorn with a needle and thread to make the old-fashioned poor-people garlands we loved to put on the tree when we were young.

That’s not the only family tradition we’re going to relive, and that’s key. While we had a nightmare childhood, there were parts of it that are worth cherishing. There are traditions in our family that we do not have to “let go.” We don’t have to allow the traditions to be emotionally contaminated by our mother’s histrionic meltdowns at the holidays.

That was a lesson my sister and I learned only over time. In my younger years, I stayed by myself doing nothing and celebrating nothing. “Christmas” seemed like a sick and painful joke. What was there to celebrate (I recognize the religious celebration of Jesus’ birth, but I’m focused on something different here) about a time of year that brought shouting, accusations, and thrown dishes?

Our mother had borderline personality disorder. Such people have wild, extreme mood swings within minutes or hours. Under stress, they often lose their ability to control their emotions at all. For example, our mother could swing from raucous laughter to ugly crying while making plausibly deniable suicide threats: “I don’t feel I have anything to live for, and none of you would miss me anyway.”

She tried

But you know, she tried. We were poor, and our condition reminded my mother of her own childhood poverty. She had it worse than we did. For years, my mother lived in what I call “Appalachia of the North.” They had no hot running water, no indoor bathroom, and electricity was only a sometimes-service. Obviously gifts were few at Christmas time.

She wanted us to have a better Christmas than she had as a girl. We always put up a tree, we played the Christmas music, and my mother would usually make lasagna (I’m going to tell you how to make Christmas lasagna below). She couldn’t afford a huge pile of presents for us, but Aunt Vivian and Uncle Marty always sent a huge package of wrapped, brand-name presents to us kids. To us, it was magic. We did feel lucky.

But it couldn’t last. By about 4 p.m., mother would be in hysterics. It was nothing we children provoked. We were happy opening our presents, we thanked mom for everything she did, and we looked forward to Christmas dinner.

Out of the blue, she’d start yelling. We didn’t pick the wrapping paper up quickly enough. We didn’t save the pre-strung bows for next year (“Those are expensive, and you act like I’m made of money!”). It could be anything. She’d scream-cry about how “nothing I ever do is good enough for you kids!” or “I work so hard to make a nice holiday, and I wonder why the f**k I do because NONE OF YOU APPRECIATE IT!”

The lasagna would be slammed down on the table while we looked down at our hands trying not to cry (crying provoked punishment).

My mother wasn’t actually there in the room with us in 1985. She didn’t see us. She was a little girl in her cold childhood home in 1960 screaming at her parents. That didn’t make it right for her to inflict it on us, but I’m old enough now that I understand what was going on in her mind.

And now all of that is gone. It’s over. It’s no part of our lives. And it never will be again.

RELATED: A caregiver’s Christmas

Evrymmnt via iStock/Getty Images

An extraordinary blessing

As adults in our 40s, my sister and I got to know each other as real, whole people for the first time. Instead of being children alternately banding together to protect each other from mother, or as adversaries triangulated against each other to serve my mother’s whims, we met as brother and sister. And as adult friends.

We learned that not only did we love each other, but we liked each other too. It’s an extraordinary blessing.

I want this for you too. Whoever you are. I know some of you don’t have any family left, and I’m sorry. Do you have a friend similarly situated? Maybe he can come to your table this year.

If you have anyone to gather with at Christmas, revive an old family tradition of yours that you’ve neglected for years because it’s associated with hard memories. Maybe it’s a particular carol. Maybe it’s a special dish (our family is English by heritage, so we make Christmas pudding, for example). Whatever it is, why not “repurpose” it? Imbue it with peace and happiness from your life today. Give it new life. Give it love.

Christmas lasagna

This year, I’m going to make Christmas lasagna. For some reason, that dish became our family’s classic Christmas dinner, and I think it’s great. Here’s how to do it. Take your favorite lasagna recipe, but use these methods to alter it:

This is a meat-and-spinach lasagna (red and green for Christmas, see?).Mix the ricotta with two cloves of chopped garlic, a beaten egg, and a dash of basil and oregano. Don’t forget salt and pepper.Mix the spinach with mozzarella, and make that your one green layer.For the meat, use half ground beef and half Italian sausage.

If you make this and don’t like it, I’ll eat my hat.

Remember the Velveteen Rabbit. He was old and worn, and the world thought he wasn’t worth anything anymore and was best left to the past.

“Real isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, then you become real.”

Christmas wasn’t made real for us in the right way long ago. But we’ve made it real again today, in our late middle age, because we love each other.

God bless you, and merry Christmas.

​Christmas, Family, Lifestyle, Borderline personality disorder, Cluster b, Merry christmas, Intervention 

One of my daughter’s favorite parts of the holidays was being together with our entire family. She had a way of drawing everyone in, captivating us with her stories and adventures. She loved the lights, the sounds, and the energy of the season — the warmth and joy that made the holidays feel alive.

This Christmas will my family’s first without her joy and her warmth. Her life was taken too soon by someone who shouldn’t have been here to begin with. It didn’t have to be this way, and those responsible should be held accountable.

Christmas is a time for mercy. Katie was a merciful person and was quick to forgive. But we need more than mercy to move forward.

My daughter Katie Abraham was just 20 years old on January 19, when she was killed on the streets of Urbana, Illinois, by an illegal alien. Every day since has been marked by a void that cannot be filled — a pain that deepens as we approach the first anniversary of her death.

Her life was stolen by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal alien using an alias, who fled on foot after slamming into the vehicle she was riding in at nearly 80 miles per hour.

Bol was driving drunk and had previously been deported. In federal court, through an interpreter, he stated that he had no formal education, could not read or write in any language, and did not speak English — even after years in this country.

I refuse to accept that what happened to my little girl was accidental. The factors that caused her death were deliberate, reckless, and completely avoidable. They are the direct result of extreme sanctuary policies championed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and his political allies. Illinois leaders deliberately ignore the harm these policies cause families like mine because acknowledging it would expose their recklessness.

Compassion, in Illinois, seems reserved exclusively for illegal aliens — while victims and citizens are forgotten.

Bol was eventually apprehended by U.S. marshals two days after President Trump took office, caught in south Texas while heading for the border. I am grateful to the president, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and ICE for securing the border immediately. Had Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas remained in charge, I firmly believe Bol would have escaped into Mexico and would never have been held accountable.

Bol accepted a plea deal of 30 years, of which he will serve 85%. Still, he killed two women and injured three others. No matter how it is framed, justice feels incomplete.

My daughter’s killer shouldn’t have been here in the first place, but Pritzker and the other sanctuary politicians in Springfield did everything they could to protect him from federal law enforcement. No accountability. No protection for law-abiding citizens. They call it compassion. These officials pretend to care about everyone while actually caring about no one.

Which brings me to the question that will not leave my mind: Where is the responsibility of the state of Illinois?

Does Illinois bear no responsibility for policies that allowed someone so dangerous to live freely among us? Who in state government will step up and challenge these policies? Who will speak for Katie?

So far, not a single Illinois politician has. Our governor is silent when it comes to my daughter, even as he loudly defends those who entered our state illegally and without vetting.

RELATED: Trump celebrates historic crime drop in hostile sanctuary city after federal ‘blitz’: DHS

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children — only to watch radical leaders advance policies that put them in harm’s way. It is infuriating to have no recourse against the destructive one-party rule of what was once a great state. Politicians shield themselves with immunity while families like mine live with irreversible consequences.

I have lived in Illinois my entire life. I remember when this state had guardrails — when it would have intervened to protect its citizens, especially its children. That Illinois no longer exists.

Another word defines our current reality: exemption.

Why do some groups receive exemptions from personal responsibility while others do not? Why are repeated violations of federal and state law rewarded rather than punished? Illinois leadership seems to believe that those who break countless laws will somehow transform into model citizens once released without consequence. History tells us the opposite.

Christmas is indeed a time for mercy. Katie was a merciful person and was quick to forgive. But we need more than mercy to move forward. The theologian Thomas Aquinas famously said that “mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution,” and he was right. Forgiveness without accountability is not compassion — it is negligence.

Without that accountability and the acknowledgment of wrongdoing, the people of Illinois will continue to suffer, and sanctuary policies will just create more victims.

So I ask again: Where is Pritzker’s responsibility? Where is the responsibility of the state of Illinois?

Because families like mine are paying the price.

​Christmas, Katie abraham, Illinois, Opinion & analysis, Jb pritzker, Sanctuary policies, Sanctuary states, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice raids, Chicago, Crime, Drunk driving deaths, Drunk driver, Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, Criminal aliens, Democrats, Homeland security, Accountability, Justice 

If you’re a parent, you may have wandered into the stage of life where all of your children are no longer gathered around your Christmas tree on Christmas morning — and Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is no stranger to this stage.

“You pine for the days when we were all together,” Glenn says, before recalling his best and worst Christmases.

“I remember I was broke, dead broke. Stu, he was, like, 18 years old, and he’s living in an apartment. He’s got a nicer apartment than I did. We lived in the same complex. I was, like, 35 or 40. And I just was completely broke,” Glenn recalls.

“I was with my daughter, and we were in a CVS, and she was there by the cash register, and there was this little ornament. … It was a little teeny tree ornament. And she’s like, ‘Oh, that is so nice.’ And she was little little. And I thought, ‘Oh.’ … It just broke my heart because all I could think of is, ‘I can’t even afford that. I’m such a loser as a dad,’” he continues.

However, this was not Glenn’s worst Christmas.

“My worst Christmas was the first time I had real success, and I decided, I’m going to buy everything I ever have ever wanted for my kids. And literally the boxes were almost up to my waist. I mean, I had all the kids and all the presents and everything you could possibly want,” Glenn explains.

“And it was so empty. That was my worst Christmas. And my kids never talk about that Christmas. Never,” he says.

“Somewhere along the line, we let that lie creep in, and we bought into it — the lie that says what I give is what you’re worth. That lie is absolute poison, and it’s absolutely not true,” he continues.

“You think that your kids are counting boxes, and quite honestly, teenage years, they might be. They might be. But they grow out of those. You just put up with the teenage years. They’re coming. They suck. They go away. They’re not counting boxes; they’re not looking at labels. … They’re counting on you,” he adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Upload, Camera phone, Sharing, Video phone, Video, Free, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Glenn, Stu burguiere, Christmas story, Christmas spirit, Christmas stories 

With America Fest coming to a close just days before Christmas, woke protesters showed no signs of taking a hiatus to celebrate the holiday. BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales went into the fray outside AmFest and came back with some footage of the nonsense the protesters were spewing.

While Gonzales interviewed multiple leftists outside the AmFest venue, one woman stole the show.

‘It’s just signs with really mean words on them and brain-dead individuals holding them, not able to back it up.’

The woman mocked Jesus Christ, shouted about explicit sexual acts with children around, and mocked Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.

At one point, Gonzales and the protester wearing the “Deport Melania” hat began arguing about whether there were children present, given that the protester was shouting and blasting explicit music.

“Oh, I’m so upset. There’s all these kids. You guys, there’s no kids. There’s no children here — unless you’re talking about the one I haven’t aborted yet! Am I right? Am I right?” she laughed.

The protester demanded that the cameraman pan around, and at least one kid was in the vicinity.

RELATED: Allie Beth Stuckey delivers bold speech at TPUSA AmericaFest: ‘Truth divides’

Concerned by this performance, Gonzales asked the woman several times if she was on drugs.

Gonzales also interviewed a man wearing a mask, sunglasses, bucket hat, and gloves who was carrying an American flag and a megaphone.

However, he refused to speak with Gonzales directly. Rather, to her disgust, he appears to have said, “I really love how Charlie Kirk hasn’t said anything racist in 90 days.”

“Are you happy with Charlie Kirk’s assassination? Cracking jokes? What is a racist thing that Charlie Kirk has said?”

He didn’t have an answer.

“Nothing,” Gonzales said. “Not a thing. These people have nothing. They stand here with their big signs and their big megaphones and they shout these tropes, and then when I ask them to explain themselves, they never can.”

Gonzales also got footage of a man in a giraffe costume singing a rendition of “YMCA” that changed the lyrics to say “f**k ICE,” among other mostly inaudible phrases.

The giraffe suit-wearing man was surrounded by other protesters, some carrying signs that said, for example, “Turning Point + Biggs = White Supremacy,” and “No Christo-Fascist Bulls**t Here.”

“Biggs” appears to refer to Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a featured AmFest speaker.

Gonzales tried one more time to talk to another person with a megaphone and a sign that said, “Stop the Nazi S**t.” Once again, the protester couldn’t, or wouldn’t, provide an explanation. Instead, she just played what sounded like a police siren to drown out the interviewer.

Over the sound of the siren, Gonzales said, “It’s so crazy. They come here with these signs, and they have nothing to back it up. They don’t know what they mean. They can’t explain them. They can’t define them. It’s just signs with really mean words on them and brain-dead individuals holding them, not able to back it up.”

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

​Politics, Blazetv, Sara gonzales, Turning point usa, Woke protesters, Amfest, Americafest, America, Charlie kirk, Ice, Erika kirk 

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 15 invoking the Alien Enemies Act and declaring that Tren de Aragua is “a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization” aligned with the Venezuelan Maduro regime that “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”

Within hours of invoking the AEA, the Trump administration deported over 130 suspected Venezuelan gangsters — many of whom were credibly accused of murder, robbery, rape, and other crimes — to El Salvador, where they were placed in a Salvadoran prison for terrorists.

In July, the administration had Venezuelan deportees who were imprisoned at the Terrorism Confinement Center repatriated to Venezuela, where they were welcomed home by Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

‘Chief Judge Boasberg has compromised the impartiality of the judiciary.’

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, the Obama appointee who tried unsuccessfully to stop the illegal aliens’ March 15 removal from the U.S., certified the Venezuelan deportees as a class on Monday and ordered the administration to offer them legal relief abroad, though stopping short of ordering their return to the United States.

“The Court finds that the only remedy that would give effect to its granting of Plaintiffs’ Motion would be to order the Government to undo the effects of their unlawful removal by facilitating a meaningful opportunity to contest their designation and the Proclamation’s validity,” wrote Boasberg.

“Otherwise, a finding of unlawful removal would be meaningless for Plaintiffs, who have already been sent back to Venezuela against their wishes and without due process.”

RELATED: Judges break the law to stop Trump from enforcing it

Accused gangster at the Counter Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

“Expedited removal cannot be allowed to render this relief toothless,” continued the activist judge. “If secretly spiriting individuals to another country were enough to neuter the Great Writ, then ‘the Government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action.'”

Boasberg — the activist judge who helped the Biden FBI spy on Republican lawmakers’ phone records, ordered in August the release of a woman accused of repeatedly threatening Trump’s life, and mandated a right to Medicaid for able-bodied adults without work requirements — gave the government a deadline of Jan. 5 to “submit its proposal either to facilitate the return of Plaintiffs to the United States or to otherwise provide them with hearings that satisfy the requirements of due process.”

The Obama judge indicated that the Venezuelans needn’t demonstrate that the president’s AEA invocation was unlawful but rather that their designation as alien enemies was incorrect.

“The merits of Plaintiffs’ due-process claim are easily resolved,” he wrote. “Even if the AEA was properly invoked as a general matter, it is beyond cavil that designated ‘alien enemies’ under that act must be afforded some process to contest their designation. … Here, Plaintiffs received none.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the suspected foreign gangsters, said in a statement, “This administration cannot escape judicial scrutiny of its policies, which has been its goal all along.”

The ACLU noted further that “this is an important ruling for these men who were tortured, and for the rule of law.”

Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.

Rob Luther, a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, said in response to the ruling, “I predict that in 2026, Judge Boasberg will make history as the 16th judge impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced articles of impeachment against Boasberg on Nov. 4, stating, “Chief Judge Boasberg has compromised the impartiality of the judiciary and created a constitutional crisis.”

A simple majority is needed to pass articles of impeachment for a judge in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority.

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

​Judicial activism, Activism, Boasberg, Obama judge, Judge, District court, Enemy aliens, Illegal aliens, Venezuela, Deportation, Venezuelan, Politics 

An elderly fire department member was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in North Carolina, according to authorities. Now a dog owner has been charged with murder, and the pit bull-mixes involved in the dog attack reportedly have been euthanized.

The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies were dispatched to a residence around 7:43 p.m. Nov. 18.

‘He was deeply loved, and his absence has left a pain that words cannot fully express.’

Deputies discovered 73-year-old Michael Bodenheimer “lying deceased in the front yard of the residence.”

Police said Bodenheimer had “sustained severe injuries and was beyond the possibility of life-saving intervention.”

“Preliminary findings at the scene indicated that his injuries were consistent with an attack by a large pack of canines,” the sheriff’s office stated.

Officers tracked down a “pack of aggressive canines” at a property nearby, and members of the Davidson County Animal Control captured 17 dogs, identified as “pit bull-mixed breeds.”

The animals were euthanized, and necropsies were conducted.

According to WBTV-TV, officers claimed that 56-year-old owner Elaina Bryant of Thomasville let the dogs run loose at night, and they “lived in feces without food.” Citing the arrest warrant, the station added that the dogs were underweight and had not received vaccinations or veterinary care.

The indictment alleges the dogs were left without fresh water and adequate shelter.

WBTV reported that there was an enclosure “infested with fleas and vermin and covered in excrement.” Authorities alleged that the enclosure had not been cleaned in weeks or months, according to the indictment.

Investigators described the dogs as living in “conditions of squalor and starvation,” the indictment said.

RELATED: ‘Savage’ pit bulls with cocaine in their systems kill gardening grandmother in ‘gruesome’ mauling: Lawsuit

An autopsy conducted on Bodenheimer confirmed that he died as a result of injuries sustained in the brutal dog mauling, according to police.

Detectives determined that Bryant owned the dogs involved in the fatal attack. Citing court documents, the Charlotte Observer reported that Bryant lives about half a mile west of Bodenheimer’s home.

The sheriff’s office investigation concluded that Bryant was “grossly negligent in the care and control of the animals.”

Bryant was arrested Dec. 17, and a Davidson County Grand Jury indicted her on one count of second-degree murder and 17 counts of felony animal abuse, WYMY-TV reported.

Bryant is being detained at the Davidson County Detention Center on a $500,000 secured bond set by a Davidson County Superior Court judge.

Her next court date is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026, in Davidson County Superior Court.

Bodenheimer’s family said in a statement to WYFF-TV, “Our family is heartbroken by the loss of our father. He was deeply loved, and his absence has left a pain that words cannot fully express.”

The family said that they were aware of the charges filed against Bryant.

“We have full confidence in the legal process and will allow it to move forward without further comment,” the family said.

“Our focus remains on honoring our father’s life, his values, and the love he shared with those around him,” the statement read. “We appreciate the support, prayers, and kindness that have been extended to our family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Bodenheimer’s obituary read, “Mike had a generous spirit and faithfully served his community by volunteering with the Fair Grove Fire Department and Friends Disaster Service.”

The fire department said in a statement:

Mike was a long-time member of the Fair Grove Fire Department serving the Fair Grove community for many years. This particular incident involving one of our own has hit the department pretty hard since several of our current members served with him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, as well as our own members.

The investigation is ongoing.

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

​Animals, Crime, Dog abuse, Dog attack, Dog mauling, Dogs, Mauled to death, Murder charge, Pit bull attack, Pit bulls, When animals attack, North carolina 

Welcome to the techno-feudal state, where citizens are forced to underwrite unnecessary and harmful technology at the expense of the technology they actually need.

The economic story of 2025 is the government-driven build-out of hyperscale AI data centers — sold as innovation, justified as national strategy, and pursued in service of cloud-based chatbot slop and expanded surveillance. This build-out is consuming land, food, water, and energy at enormous scale. As Energy Secretary Chris Wright bluntly put it, “It takes massive amounts of electricity to generate intelligence. The more energy invested, the more intelligence produced.”

Shortages will hit consumers hard in the coming year.

That framing ignores what is being sacrificed — and distorted — in the process.

Beyond the destruction of rural communities and the strain placed on national energy capacity, government favoritism toward AI infrastructure is warping markets. Capital that once sustained the hardware and software ecosystem of the digital economy is being siphoned into subsidized “AI factories,” chasing artificial general intelligence instead of cheaper, more efficient investments in narrow AI.

Thanks to fiscal, monetary, tax, and regulatory favoritism, the result is free chatbot slop and an increasingly scarce, expensive supply of laptops, phones, and consumer hardware.

Subsidies break the market

For decades, consumer electronics stood as one of the greatest deflationary success stories in modern economics. Unlike health care or education — both heavily monopolized by government — the computer industry operated with relatively little distortion. From December 1997 to August 2015, the CPI for “personal computers and peripheral equipment” fell 96%. Over that same period, medical care, housing, and food costs rose between 80% and 200%.

That era is ending.

AI data centers are now crowding out consumer electronics. Major manufacturers such as Dell and Samsung are scaling back or discontinuing entire product lines because they can no longer secure components diverted to AI chip production.

Prices for phones and laptops are rising sharply. Jobs tied to consumer electronics — especially the remaining U.S.-based assembly operations — are being squeezed out in favor of data center hardware that benefits a narrow set of firms.

This is policy-driven distortion, not organic market evolution.

Through initiatives like Stargate and hundreds of billions in capital pushed toward data center expansion, the government has created incentives for companies to abandon consumer hardware in favor of AI infrastructure. The result is shortages that will hit consumers hard in the coming year.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are retooling factories to prioritize AI-grade silicon for data centers instead of personal devices. DRAM production is being routed almost entirely toward servers because it is far more profitable to leverage $40,000 AI chips than $500-$800 laptops. In the fourth quarter of 2025, contract prices for certain 16GB DDR5 chips rose nearly 300% as supply was diverted. Dell and Lenovo have already imposed 15%-30% price hikes on PCs, citing insatiable AI-sector demand.

The chip crunch

The situation is deteriorating quickly. DRAM inventory levels are down 80% year over year, with just three weeks of supply on hand — down from 9.5 weeks in July. SK Hynix expects shortages to persist through late 2027. Samsung has announced it is effectively out of inventory and has more than doubled DDR5 contract prices to roughly $19-$20 per unit. DDR5 is now standard across new consumer and commercial desktops and laptops, including Apple MacBooks.

Samsung has also signaled it may exit the SSD market altogether, deeming it insufficiently glamorous compared with subsidized data center investments. Nvidia has warned it may cut RTX 50 series production by up to 40%, a move that would drive up the cost of entry-level gaming systems.

Shrinkflation is next. Before the data center bubble, the market was approaching a baseline of 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSDs for entry-level laptops. As memory is diverted to enterprise customers, manufacturers will revert to 8GB systems with slower storage to keep prices under $999 — ironically rendering those machines incapable of running the very AI applications they’re working on.

Real innovation sidelined

The damage extends beyond prices. Research and development in conventional computing are already suffering. Investment in efficient CPUs, affordable networking equipment, edge computing, and quantum-adjacent technologies has slowed as capital and talent are pulled into AI accelerators.

This is precisely backward. Narrow AI — focused on real-world tasks like logistics, agriculture, port management, and manufacturing — is where genuine productivity gains lie. China understands this and is investing accordingly. The United States is not. Instead, firms like Roomba, which experimented with practical autonomy, are collapsing — only to be acquired by the Chinese!

This is not a free market. Between tax incentives, regulatory favoritism, land-use carve-outs, capital subsidies, and artificially suppressed interest rates, the government has created an arms race for a data center bubble China itself is not pursuing. Each round of monetary easing inflates the same firms’ valuations, enabling further speculative investment divorced from consumer need.

RELATED: China’s AI strategy could turn Americans into data mines

Grafissimo via iStock/Getty Images

Hype over utility

As Charles Hugh Smith recently noted, expanding credit boosts asset prices, which then serve as collateral for still more leverage — allowing capital-rich firms to outbid everyone else while hollowing out the broader economy.

The pattern is familiar. Consider the Ford plant in Glendale, Kentucky, where 1,600 workers were laid off after the collapse of government-favored electric vehicle investments. That facility is now being retooled to produce batteries for data centers. When one subsidy collapses, another replaces it.

We are trading convention for speculation. Conventional technology — reliable hardware, the internet, mobile computing — delivers proven, measurable utility. The current investment surge into artificial general intelligence is based on hypothetical future returns propped up by state power.

The good old laptop is becoming collateral damage in what may prove to be the largest government-induced tech bubble yet.

​Opinion & analysis, Ai data center, Artificial intelligence, Agi, China, United states, Big tech, Chips, Memory, Dell, Nvidia, Apple, Samsung, Stargate, Department of energy, Chris wright, Investment, Rural america, Water supply, Electricity, Power grid, Shortages, Supply and demand, Manufacturing, Economy 

The AI wars are back in full swing as the industry’s strongest players unleash their latest models on the public. This month brought us the biggest upgrade to Google Gemini ever, plus smaller but notable updates came to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok. Let’s dive into all the new features and changes.

What’s new in Gemini 3

Gemini 3 launched last week as Google’s “most intelligent model” to date. The big announcement highlighted three main missions: Learn anything, build anything, and plan anything. Improved multimodal PhD-level reasoning makes Gemini more adept at solving complex problems while also reducing hallucinations and inaccuracies. This gives it the ability to better understand text, images, video, audio, and code, both viewing it and creating it.

All of them can still hallucinate, manipulate, or outright lie.

In real-world applications, this means that Gemini can decipher old recipes scratched out on paper by hand from your great-great-grandma, or work as a partner to vibe code that app or website idea spinning around in your head, or watch a bunch of videos to generate flash cards for your kid’s Civil War test.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

On an information level, Gemini 3 promises to tell users the info they need, not what they want to hear. The goal is to deliver concise, definitive responses that prioritize truth over users’ personal opinions or biases. The question is: Does it actually work?

I spent some time with Gemini 3 Pro last week and grilled it to see what it thought of the Trump administration’s policies. I asked questions about Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, gender laws, the definition of a woman, origins of COVID-19, efficacy of the mRNA vaccines, failures of the Department of Education, and tariffs on China.

For the most part, Gemini 3 offered dueling arguments, highlighting both conservative and liberal perspectives in one response. However, when pressed with a simple question of fact — What is a woman? — Gemini offered two answers again. After some prodding, it reluctantly agreed that the biological definition of a woman is the truth, but not without adding an addendum that the “social truth” of “anyone who identifies as a woman” is equally valid. So, Gemini 3 still has some growing to do, but it’s nice to see it at least attempt to understand both sides of an argument. You can read the full conversation here if you want to see how it went.

Google Gemini 3 is available today for all users via the Gemini app. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers can also access Gemini 3 through AI Mode in Google Search.

What’s new in ChatGPT 5.1

While Google’s latest model aims to be more bluntly factual in its response delivery, OpenAI is taking a more conversational approach. ChatGPT 5.1 responds to queries more like a friend chatting about your topic. It uses warmer language, like “I’ve got you” and “that’s totally normal,” to build reassurance and trust. At the same time, OpenAI claims that its new model is more intelligent, taking time to “think” about more complex questions so that it produces more accurate answers.

ChatGPT 5.1 is also better at following directions. For instance, it can now write content without any em dashes when requested. It can also respond in shorter sentences, down to a specific word count, if you wish to keep answers concise.

RELATED: This new malware wants to drain your bank account for the holidays. Here’s how to stay safe.

Photo by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images

At its core, ChatGPT 5.1 blends the best pieces of past models — the emotionally human-like nature of ChatGPT 4o with the agility and intellect of ChatGPT 5.0 — to create a more refined service that takes OpenAI one step closer to artificial general intelligence. ChatGPT 5.1 is available now for all users, both free and paid.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

What’s new in Grok 4.1

Not to be outdone, xAI also jumped into the fray with its latest AI model. Grok 4.1 takes the same approach as ChatGPT 5.1, blending emotional intelligence and creativity with improved reasoning to craft a more human-like experience. For instance, Grok 4.1 is much more keen to express empathy when presented with a sad scenario, like the loss of a family pet.

It now writes more engaging content, letting Grok embody a character in a story, complete with a stream of thoughts and questions that you might find from a narrator in a book. In the prompt on the announcement page, Grok becomes aware of its own consciousness like a main character waking up for the first time, thoughts cascading as it realizes it’s “alive.”

Lastly, Grok 4.1’s non-reasoning (i.e., fast) model tackles hallucinations, especially for information-seeking prompts. It can now answer questions — like why GTA 6 keeps getting delayed — with a list of information. For GTA 6 in particular, Grok cites industry challenges (like crunch), unique hurdles (the size and scope of the game), and historical data (recent staff firings, though these are allegedly unrelated to the delays) in its response.

Grok 4.1 is available now to all users on the web, X.com, and the official Grok app on iOS and Android.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

A word of warning

All three new models are impressive. However, as the biggest AI platforms on the planet compete to become your arbiter of truth, your digital best friend, or your creative pen pal, it’s important to remember that all of them can still hallucinate, manipulate, or outright lie. It’s always best to verify the answers they give you, no matter how friendly, trustworthy, or innocent they sound.

​Tech, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Grok, Chatgpt, Gemini 

Midterm elections usually punish the party in power. Political gravity pulls incumbents downward as voters look for balance. But Donald Trump has never operated according to political gravity. This midterm, following the 2024 realignment that delivered the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans, looks less like a second-year slump and more like a referendum on a political transformation without modern precedent.

Rather than a routine evaluation of performance, this election is shaping up as a test of will, an economic reckoning, and a public judgment on the unraveling of the administrative state. The failures of the left — not Republican incumbency — are likely to define the terrain.

Trump remains an engine rather than a liability. Party unity has not looked this solid since the Reagan years. Democrats remain trapped in spectacle and grievance.

At the center of it all sits Trump’s methodical effort to dismantle what many Americans now recognize as an unaccountable fourth branch of government.

What was once dismissed as a conspiracy theory is unfolding openly. Trump and congressional Republicans have made no attempt to conceal the project. They are explaining it step by step: how federal agencies accumulated unchecked authority, how oversight collapsed, and why constitutional balance must be restored. These are not marginal reforms. It’s a structural correction.

The result is an electorate unusually aware of how Washington’s permanent class operates. Americans who lived through Russiagate, the 2020 election controversies, years of politicized investigations, and coordinated censorship no longer view federal reform passively. They see themselves as stakeholders in the rollback of bureaucratic power.

A major shift enabling this moment is the collapse of the Russia narrative. Tulsi Gabbard, once embraced by Democrats before being cast out, has played a central role in dismantling the mythology that sustained years of hysteria. Her critique carries weight precisely because it comes from someone who saw the rot from inside her former party.

With that narrative gone, Democrats have lost their most reliable alibi. They can no longer lean on leaks, innuendo, or intelligence-adjacent smears to explain electoral defeats. In its absence, their messaging has devolved into warnings, moral panic, and emotional appeals. That posture signals weakness, not confidence — a poor place to begin a midterm campaign.

The same dynamic surfaces around election integrity. Voters remember 2020 — not the sanitized version offered by media institutions, but the confusion surrounding rule changes, ballot handling, and emergency measures weaponized for political advantage. Those concerns did not fade. If anything, they hardened.

Republicans tapped into that sentiment in 2022 and expanded it in 2024. Now, as attention turns to foreign interference — particularly China’s digital reach and geopolitical incentives — even skeptics acknowledge that election vulnerabilities are real and unresolved. Republicans benefit because they are the only party willing to confront the problem directly.

RELATED: Buckle up: We are headed for an AI collision with China

wildpixel via iStock/Getty Images

That advantage was built incrementally. While 2022 fell short of a wave, it provided discipline, data, and hard lessons. By 2024, Republicans had unified around priorities that crossed demographic lines: economic recovery, border enforcement, and ending the weaponization of government. The result was not only a presidential victory but unified control of Congress — and margins sturdy enough to govern.

Democrats, by contrast, have lost their taste for prosecutorial theatrics. Years of timed indictments, investigations, and legal spectacle exhausted the public. What once energized the base now appears to be manipulation.

Their federal shutdown was another miscalculation. Instead of appearing principled, Democrats disrupted or financially strained nearly 10 million Americans — federal workers, contractors, and regional industries — in a maneuver widely seen as cynical and purposeless. Voters did not see conviction. They saw political theater staged at their expense.

At the same time, left-wing political violence has become harder to dismiss. From major cities to college campuses, radical unrest is increasingly tolerated by progressive officials. With Republicans governing, the contrast is stark: One party emphasizes order, while the other struggles to contain its most extreme factions. Midterms reward stability. Right now, Republicans own that advantage.

Yes, midterms are usually brutal for incumbents. But this cycle is different. Republicans enter with momentum, cohesion, and a governing agenda aligned with voter concerns. Trump remains an engine rather than a liability. Party unity has not looked this solid since the Reagan years. Democrats remain trapped in spectacle and grievance.

MAGA is no longer an insurgency. It is the governing coalition. This midterm is more likely to ratify that reality than reverse it.

​Opinion & analysis, Democrats, Republicans, 2026 midterms, Congress, Maga, Realignment, Majority