Category: blaze media

After more than two centuries, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has put in its final two cents — sort of.

On Wednesday, at an event that included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach, the mint stamped the last two U.S. pennies that will ever be made after production costs and the rise in digital financial transactions made the one-cent coins wasteful and impractical.

‘Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation[‘]s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.’

Those lucky two pennies have been marked with what USA Today described as a “special omega mark” and will not enter into circulation.

The Philadelphia Mint first began stamping pennies in 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. According to the New York Post, at the time, items that could be purchased for a penny included a biscuit, a candle, a piece of candy, and of course, a person’s thoughts.

RELATED: Bitcoin and the return of honest money

Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

However, these days, the one-cent coins cost nearly four cents to make, and the decision to discontinue stamping them is expected to save the Treasury Department $56 million in materials annually.

“Ongoing increases in production costs and the evolution in consumer habits and technology have made its production financially untenable,” a statement from the department said, according to USA Today.

The department further noted that the penny “remains legal tender and will retain its value indefinitely.” Reports estimate that at least 250 billion pennies are currently in circulation.

President Donald Trump has railed against ongoing production of the penny for months, calling for it to end. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” he posted on Truth Social back in February.

“I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation[‘]s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

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​Brandon beach, Donald trump, Penny, Philadelphia, Scott bessent, Treasury department, Us mint, Politics 

The House Oversight Committee recently received over 23,000 documents from the Epstein estate in response to a subpoena. Democrats on the committee published a handful of the dead sex offender’s emails on Wednesday that referenced the president, suggesting the documents “raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific crimes.”

Keen observers noticed, however, that the documents bore signs of strategic alterations that apparently had been made, allowing Democrats to attempt to conceal critical context and tarnish President Donald Trump.

One of the documents shared by Oversight Democrats shows an email exchange dated April 2, 2011, between sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, where Epstein noted, “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.”

“[VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned,” added Epstein.

Maxwell responded, “I have been thinking about that …”

— (@)

Oversight Committee Republicans were quick to point out that the victim’s name was not redacted in the documents that were originally provided to the committee at large.

“It’s because this victim, Virginia Giuffre, publicly said that she never witnessed wrongdoing by President Trump,” noted the committee Republicans. “Democrats are trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump. Shame on them.”

RELATED: Accountability or bust: Trump’s second term test

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

Giuffre, who reportedly died by suicide in April a month after being injured in a car crash involving a school bus, claimed in a 2016 deposition that Maxwell trafficked her after recruiting her while she was working as a spa attendant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Giuffre made it abundantly clear that while Trump was a friend of Epstein, “he didn’t partake in any sex with us” and “never flirted with me.” She also wrote in her memoir that when she met him in 2000, “Trump couldn’t have been friendlier.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Blaze News, “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump. The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.”

Leavitt added, “The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre. These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”

The other emails shared by the Oversight Democrats are between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, a fanatical critic of Trump whose works the White House emphasized “are riddled with mistakes and inaccuracies.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

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​Virginia giuffre, Jeffery epstein, Jeffrey epstein, Epstein, Ghislaine maxwell, Pedophile, Elite, Cult, Sex offender, Trafficker, Mar-a-lago, Donald trump, Politics 

An Illinois middle school teacher has been accused of sexually assaulting a student after her neighbors noticed something suspicious about her house and tipped off police, according to authorities.

Jessica Bergmann — a 34-year-old teacher at Washington Middle School in Aurora — was arrested on Friday without incident. Bergmann was charged with felony criminal sexual assault by a person in a position of authority and two felony counts for aggravated criminal sexual abuse, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a Saturday statement.

‘Cases involving alleged abuse by a teacher strike at the core of community trust.’

Bergmann was released from custody after her initial court appearance, but she was ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 years old, the attorney’s office said.

The state’s attorney’s office said the Wheaton Police Department began an investigation after receiving leads about “suspicious incidents involving a minor male and an adult female.”

The Daily Herald said it obtained court documents indicating that the Wheaton Police Department launched an investigation in October after concerned neighbors tipped off law enforcement that a young male made frequent visits to Bergmann’s home.

The state’s attorney’s office said in the press release that Bergmann first met the alleged victim when he was a student at Washington Middle School. Bergmann — a math teacher at the school — also was a coach on a school soccer team, of which the boy was a member, according to prosecutors.

The attorney’s office noted that the student graduated from middle school, but Bergmann and the boy began “communicating via text messages and phone calls” when he was a sophomore in high school.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Wheaton Police Department Chief P.J. Youker accused Bergmann of having an “inappropriate sexual relationship with a student.”

The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office stated:

It is alleged that at some point in time, the relationship between the two turned sexual. It is further alleged that the relationship progressed further and that the victim would frequently go to Bergmann’s home, occasionally staying overnight, where the two would engage in sexual intercourse.

RELATED: Shocking texts allegedly reveal sinister plan by teacher and her boyfriend to groom, sex traffic her student

Berlin declared, “The profound abuse of trust and authority allegedly displayed by Ms. Bergmann is extremely disturbing and will be met with the full force of the law.”

Berlin also said in his statement:

Teachers are entrusted with our students’ well-being. They are given the awesome responsibility to guide and protect our students, not to harm or exploit them. A teacher who takes advantage of a student, as alleged in this case, is not only breaking the law, but they are also breaking the trust placed in them by the community, the school, and the victim’s family.

Chief Youker said of the alleged sexual abuse allegations:

Cases involving alleged abuse by a teacher strike at the core of community trust. This behavior is unacceptable, and the Wheaton Police Department is dedicated to fully investigating any reports involving this allegation, to fully ensure the safety of our community and our children.

The DuPage County Children’s Advocacy Center assisted in the investigation, according to authorities.

The Daily Herald noted that the student is now 17 years old.

At the time of publication, Bergmann was not listed on the employee directory for West Aurora School District 129.

Washington Middle School Principal Marchel Rogers and West Aurora School District 129 Superintendent Michael Smith did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

Bergmann is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 1 in front of Judge Margaret O’Connell.

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​Teacher arrested, Teacher student sex scandal, Teacher sex scandal, Bad teacher, Jessica bergmann, Jessica bergmann teacher, Child sex crimes, Child sexual assault, Crime, Illinois 

Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to criticize the rise in energy costs under the Trump administration — and then was reminded that his state pays the highest costs for power.

In a social media post published Tuesday, the liberal governor tried to blame rising energy prices on President Donald Trump’s global warming skepticism. The governor attended the COP30 climate change conference in Brazil and blasted the administration’s policies.

‘Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have NO credibility on the affordability issue.’

“Utility costs have risen 11% in the last year as Trump has promoted fossil fuels and curbed investment in solar and wind power. Climate change is an affordability issue,” posted the X account for Newsom’s press office.

Critics quickly reminded Newsom that California has little room to criticize national energy prices.

“Electricity cost have risen 64% since 2020 as Newsom has promoted ‘green’ energy and chased away investment in cheap, reliable power. Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have NO credibility on the affordability issue,” replied Corey Uhden, a regional development officer of the California GOP.

“Gavin Newsom is in Brazil touting his failed energy agenda — the same one that’s left Californians paying some of the highest gas and electricity prices in the nation,” replied Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.). “After harming our state’s domestic energy production, California now relies on foreign oil — and imports from Brazil have increased to 20% of our imported supply.”

“Gavin Newsom is probably the last person on the planet who should talk about energy affordability. Under his failed leadership California has the highest electricity rates in the lower 48 [and the] highest gas prices in the country,” replied Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.).

The White House piled on through a statement from a spokesperson.

“Governor Newscum flew all the way to Brazil to tout the Green New Scam, while the people of California are paying some of the highest energy prices in the county. Embarrassing!” said Taylor Rogers. “If Gavin News[o]m’s support for the climate agenda was sincere, he would not be attending a climate summit that required chopping down thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest for a special purpose highway. It’s time for Newscum and other countries to drop the climate facade!”

RELATED: Gavin Newsom lashes out at Joe Rogan for accusing him of ruining California: ‘He did horrible s**t!’

Newsom seems to be trying to position himself for the presidential nomination in 2028 by criticizing Trump. When the president won his second election, Newsom declared California the leader of anti-Trump state resistance.

Aside from the cost of energy, California has also been lambasted by critics for mismanagement of the energy grid that has led to deadly and damaging forest fires.

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​Newsom vs trump, California energy crisis, Newsom presidential hopes, Backlash against newsom, Politics 

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley is not in favor of giving politicians preferential treatment.

Coakley, archbishop of Oklahoma City, was elected as the next president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in a secret ballot on Tuesday and will serve a three-year term as president.

‘I think in many cases it becomes the right decision and the only choice.’

Coakley has set a strong precedent for supporting the denial of communion to certain politicians that dates back more than a decade.

Most recently, in 2022, Coakley spoke in support of Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco. As reported by Life News, Cordileone decided to withhold communion from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at the time after she backed the Democrats as they blocked a vote on a bill to stop infanticide at least 80 times.

As Pelosi’s district encompasses San Francisco, Cordileone informed Pelosi she would be denied communion following her repeated dismissal of the archbishop, who attempted to speak with her about supporting “grave evil.”

Coakley supported the decision, saying, “I applaud the courage of Archbishop Cordileone and his leadership in taking this difficult step. Let us continue to pray for Abp. Cordileone, priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Speaker Pelosi, for the protection of the unborn, and for the conversion of hearts and minds.”

The new USCCB president has remained consistent, and the proof is showcased in an interview he gave in 2014.

RELATED: They think ‘Christian AI’ will hasten Christ’s second coming — and now they’re building it

— (@)

After Coakley said that many Catholic politicians have been at the forefront of “fostering so-called abortion rights,” he was asked about denying them communion due to the “severity” of their support for abortion.

Coakley replied, “I think one has to determine yet at what point it can be determined that they have come to that state of obstinate refusal to desist from that condition of manifest, grave sin.”

He told Life Site News, “I think we have an obligation as bishops, as pastors, to try to work with them to bring them to a change of heart and refusing them communion would be, not the first, but more than likely, the last stage in a serious [sic] of steps.”

The outlet then clarified, asking if it was something he would rule out or not.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Coakley reiterated. “I think it is something that Canon Law sanctions and that I think many bishops find themselves with no other choice but to make that decision. I think in many cases it becomes the right decision and the only choice.”

RELATED: Protestant pastor says polygamy is biblical: ‘He divinely ordained it’

VATICAN – 2022/06/29: US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R), with her husband, Paul Pelosi (C), attend a Holy Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul lead by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica. (Photo by Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Upon accepting his new role, Coakley wrote a statement on X about being “put out into deep waters” in his new position.

“Once again, the Lord is inviting me,” he wrote. “Please pray that I may be a faithful steward and a wise servant of unity and communion with our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and with my brother bishops.”

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​Align, Lifestyle, Catholic, Archbishop, Nancy pelosi, California, Abortion, Communion, Liberal, Oklahoma, Faith 

Operation Midway Blitz, one of the most publicized deportation operations in the country, turned two months old earlier this week, and leaders have begun to celebrate its success. The Chicago operation has yielded a precipitous drop in crime, and the numbers prove it.

In a press release on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced a plummet in crime rates since September, when the operation began.

‘It’s common sense — when you remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country, crime rates plummet.’

According to the press release, Chicago homicides are down 16%; robberies are down 41%; carjackings are down 48%; and transit crime is down 20%.

RELATED: ‘War from within’: ICE agents descend from helicopters to nab suspected TDA gangsters in Chicago apartment

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Notably, shootings have dropped 35% as well, the lowest in four years.

“For decades, sanctuary policies exasperated [sic] the crime crisis in Chicago. Now thanks to our brave DHS law enforcement, Chicago is experiencing a historic drop in violent crime,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

“It’s common sense — when you remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country, crime rates plummet,” McLaughlin added.

Commander at large of the U.S. Border Patrol Gregory Bovino, who has bravely spearheaded many of the missions despite assassination threats, posted a photo of Border Patrol agents in front of the Bean in Chicago, saying, “The United States Border Patrol is dedicated to making American cities safer, one deportation at a time.”

President Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate the success of Operation Midway Blitz.

“I am proud to announce that Chicago, Illinois, despite all of the radical opposition and obstruction we have from the Mayor and the Governor, has seen Car Theft, Shootings, Robberies, Violent Crime, and everything else, drop dramatically,” Trump said.

Looking to the future, Trump added, “As we ramp up more assets, these numbers will continue to drop. This has been achieved despite the extraordinary resistance from Chicago and Illinois Radical Democrat ‘Leadership,’ and the constant Violent Leftwing Terrorism against ICE Officers and Federal Agents that Insurrectionist Democrat Officials refuse to stop or prosecute, including constant physical assault and attempted assassination.”

The press release included mug shots of some of the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” apprehended during the operation, many of whom allegedly belong to violent gangs.

The operation was started in honor of drunk driving hit-and-run victim Katie Abraham. Abraham was killed allegedly by criminal illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol.

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​Politics, Dhs, Department of homeland security, Trump, Tricia mclaughlin, Operation midway blitz 

How would you destroy a country if you had the opportunity?

Deracinate the native population? Create authoritarian hate-speech legislation to prevent civilians from questioning the state’s actions? Smear those who disagree as dumb, racist idiots? Eliminate symbols of national solidarity and pride?

Leicester is one of the first British cities to have a non-white majority, thus earning the newly coined progressive accolade ‘super diverse.’

The British state has done all of the above.

Suicidal empathy

Liberal elites think “diversity is a strength.” I would call it suicidal empathy. White British people made up 98% of the United Kingdom’s population in 1968, but they are predicted to become a minority by 2063. The barbarians are at the gates, and we have merely opened the doors. All in the name of multiculturalism.

What is so alarming is the speed of increase. Net migration has increased the number of people living in the United Kingdom by 3.7 million since 2010 — more than the population of Connecticut. The percentage of foreign-born people living in the U.K. has almost trebled in 30 years.

If you only account for people entering the country, about 3.6% of Britain’s total population has arrived between 2021 and 2023. To put this in context, the Huguenots, who are sometimes referred to as “Britain’s first refugees,” arriving between the 16th and 17th centuries, made up about 1% of the population. It took about 50 years to accomplish.

It wasn’t always this way. For the bulk of the 20th century, immigration had a minor impact on British life. Between 1945 and 1995, net migration to the United Kingdom was less than 1 million.

Care Blair

That all changed in 1997. It was multiculturalism’s year zero. The “New Labour” government was new Britain: managerial elites and technocrats exercising power through bloated government bureaucracies and radically transforming society. The architect was Labour Party leader and newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sought to socially engineer a multicultural society and “rub the right’s nose in diversity.” In the 30 years since 1995, net migration has rocketed to almost 8 million.

Mass immigration, along with its accompanying doctrine of multiculturalism, has been a 30-year flawed experiment. The notion that the West has entered a post-historical period in which cultural practices, religion, and ethnicity would coalesce into a harmonious global community based on universal principles has proven to be dangerously false.

The limits of tolerance

What has happened to my country over the last few decades gives the lie to the neoliberal fantasy of an all-inclusive, peaceful, and prospering multicultural society. A once-tolerant citizenry has grown weary of the fruits of diversity: Pakistani grooming gangs targeting mainly white, working-class girls; cousin marriage; inter- and intrareligious conflict; terrorism; Sharia law courts; and independent MPs advocating for Islamic blasphemy laws.

Our compassion for asylum-seekers has also waned — especially with the realization that many of the people our government chooses to import harbor values antithetical to Western civilization — if not downright opposed to it.

Brothers Hashem and Salman Abedi — responsible for killing 22 people when Salman blew himself up at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in 2017 — were both born in the U.K. after their Libyan parents were granted asylum in 1993.

But their father had Islamist ties back in Libya and took his family there in 2011. It is believed that both boys — then teenagers — fought with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group against Muammar Gaddafi.

Just last month, an Afghan migrant was found guilty of threatening to kill Nigel Farage, the Reform U.K. leader.

RELATED: Cry ‘God for England’

Nina Power

Super diverse

The Muslim population of England and Wales has risen to 4 million — a 44% rise in a decade. Driven by a huge increase in Asian immigrants from Pakistan and India, immigration has led to rapid demographic change to major cities across the country. Leicester is one of the first British cities to have a non-white majority, thus earning the newly coined progressive accolade “super diverse.”

When Conservative MP Robert Jenrick stated that he had not seen another white face while walking around Handsworth, an inner-city area of Birmingham, he was merely stating a fact. There are approximately 600 White British people in the neighborhood, out of a total population of about 12,000.

But Jenrick was criticized for being “divisive” and “irresponsible” by Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, where Muslims account for about 45% of the resident population, according to 2021 census data.

Khan won his seat partly on a pro-Palestinian platform and has criticized the major parties for what he describes as neglect of his community. He also endorses cousin marriage and controversially labeled the grooming gang scandal a “false right-wing narrative.” It’s not so much Britain first as anywhere else first.

Collapse of cohesion

I could go on. Among the issues that increasingly preoccupy the British public are those rooted in rapid demographic and cultural change. Coroners have warned that vulnerable elderly patients are dying because some foreign care-home staff lack adequate English — one 2024 case involved workers unable to distinguish “bleeding” from “breathing” when calling emergency services.

White British children are a minority in one in four English schools. The national flag, though legally unrestricted, is often treated as an embarrassment outside state-sanctioned occasions such as football tournaments. And several of Britain’s largest cities — including Birmingham and Bradford — regularly appear near the top of European crime rankings, a trend critics link to poor integration and rapid immigration.

Each of these concerns points to a deeper unease about whether the institutions meant to preserve national cohesion are still capable of doing so.

In 2014, a BBC straw poll asked viewers the question, “Is multiculturalism working?” 95% of the respondents replied with a resounding “no.”

The mood has not improved since then; more than half of U.K. voters now support mass deportations.The British, renowned for their toleration and stiff upper lip, have had enough.

​Immigration, Diversity, Mass immigration, Islam, Ayoub khan, The united kingdom, England, Lifestyle, Letter from the uk, Culture 

A nose-ringed Indiana University lecturer is accusing the university of racism for investigating her in-class smear of MAGA as racist.

During a press conference held on Friday by the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, IU School of Social Work lecturer Jessica Adams claimed that she was barred last month from teaching a “Diversity, Human Rights, and Social Justice” master’s class and from contacting her students after a student filed a complaint over her use of a graphic that suggested “Make America Great Again” is a form of “covert white supremacy.”

‘I feel like white supremacy is actually on full display in the way that my case has been handled.’

According to the graphic Adams provided to the Indianapolis Star, “Make America Great Again” is a form of “socially acceptable” and “covert” white supremacy.

The following are also listed as forms of “covert white supremacy” on Adams’ pyramid:

“Bootstrap Theory,” the idea that individuals can achieve success through their own efforts;anti-immigration policies;paternalism;”Euro-centric Curriculum”;”English-only Initiatives”;police killing non-whites;”Denial of White Privilege”;”Denial of Racism”;celebrating Columbus Day;”Fearing People of Color”;“Expecting POC to Teach White People”;colorblindness; andthe assertion that “we’re just one human family.”

The placement of the different forms of “white supremacy” in the critical race theory pyramid is intended to signal their severity. “Make America Great Again” is located just below the line that separates “covert white supremacy” from “overt white supremacy” — a category that includes neo-Nazis, cross burnings, lynchings, and the KKK.

RELATED: Coddled Harvard students cry after dean exposes grade inflation, ‘relaxed’ standards

Trump supporter at a rally in Evansville, Indiana. Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images.

Adams claimed that while a student had initially complained about the leftist propaganda to Indiana Republican Sen. Jim Banks’ office, the formal complaint was ultimately filed by her dean, Kalea Benner, who allegedly accused Adams of presenting “biased information as fact.”

Evidencing her ideological blinders and apparent antipathy for the school’s administration, Adams, who appears to be white, suggested that the dean of the IU School of Social Work was a racist for questioning the factual nature of the pyramid, stating, “I feel that the assumption that it is not evidence based is rooted in white supremacist ideology. I feel like it’s very much rooted in the assumption that the experiences and the voices of minoritized populations, individuals, communities are not valid. And so I feel like white supremacy is actually on full display in the way that my case has been handled.”

Adams suggested further the critical race theory pyramid was credible since it is used by leftist organizations such as the National Education Association “as a tool for anti-racist and anti-oppressive education.”

A letter from IU administrators indicated the woke lecturer potentially violated Indiana’s intellectual diversity law, reported the Star.

Indiana Republicans passed legislation last year aimed at cultivating intellectual diversity on campuses and in classrooms.

Under Senate Enrolled Act 202, professors and other faculty members at state educational institutions are expected not only to foster a culture of free inquiry and free expression inside the classroom but to refrain from subjecting students “to political or ideological views and opinions that are unrelated to the faculty member’s academic discipline or assigned course of instruction.”

Adams has suggested, however, that she was teaching within her discipline and the scope of the course.

“I was asked to teach on structural racism, and as you teach on structural racism in the United States, you cannot not discuss white supremacy,” Adams said during Friday’s press conference. “It is the ideology that emboldens racist behavior.”

While reportedly removed from the one class, Adams continues to teach three other courses at the university.

Under the IU code, a faculty member could face various disciplinary sanctions, including a written reprimand, a probationary period, a temporary suspension without pay, termination of employment, and/or immediate dismissal.

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

IU spokesman Mark Bode told WFIU Public Radio that the university does not comment on personnel matters.

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​Indiana, Jessica adams, Indiana university, Critical race theory, Woke, Racist, Race, Leftism, Propaganda, Fafo, Maga, Make america great again, White supremacy, Politics 

Artificial intelligence and Christianity were never meant to share a pew. One was built on the mystery of divine creation; the other on the arrogance of re-creation. One asks for faith; the other for feedback. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Silicon Valley says, “We’re still in beta.” The two are about as compatible as the Garden of Eden and a Google campus.

Without swift changes, the trajectory is clear: AI becomes man’s latest Tower of Babel — a cathedral without God, where the worshippers speak in code and measure divinity in data points. It promises omniscience without morality, communion without confession, salvation without sin. If AI seeks to simulate humanity rather than serve it, when imitation becomes indistinguishable from incarnation, the heresy is complete.

We’re reluctant to realize until it’s too late that we built a golden calf with customer support.

There’s something absurd about watching tech CEOs quote Scripture as they roll out neural networks. Patrick Gelsinger’s “Christian AI” through his company Gloo is a fine example — an attempt to digitize devotion, automate the altar, and outsource the soul. He speaks of hastening “the coming of Christ’s return,” as if the Second Coming might now depend on cloud storage and quarterly funding rounds. The Reformation had Luther and the printing press; Silicon Valley has sermon slides and subscription tiers.

To say AI and Christianity neatly align is to confuse omniscience with omnipotence, a mix-up Gelsinger seems to find profitable.

Christianity begins with the admission of imperfection — that man is fallen and must be redeemed. The nascent church of AI begins with the belief that perfection is achievable, just one dataset and funding round away. One kneels before mystery; the other dissects it. To the Christian, knowledge without humility is literally the oldest sin in the book. To the eschaton-immanentizing technologist, it’s the business model.

What sermon can stop the theological train wreck? AI is coming for everything — art, law, love, and, inevitably, faith. It will write psalms, confess sins, and deliver homilies with the warmth of a toaster. It will perform digital miracles that leave priests wondering if they should have learned Python. Already, chatbots soothe the lonely and counsel the broken. Tomorrow they’ll offer absolution, complete with a “forgive me” button and instant feedback on spiritual progress. The modern confessional booth will be equipped with terms of service.

The danger, I suggest, isn’t that AI will destroy religion but, in our convenience-hungry culture, out-market it.

RELATED: Google’s AI called Robby Starbuck a predator. Now he’s suing.

Photo by Bloomberg/Getty Images

Hope with a progress bar, delivered quietly, efficiently, and with better UX. People won’t pray but prompt. They won’t seek God’s voice; they’ll fine-tune a model until it tells them exactly what they wish He’d say. That’s the tragedy of this new gospel: It offers comfort without conviction, certainty without sacrifice. It gives you grace without God.

Still, mere mockery of Gelsinger’s “Christian AI” misses a deeper truth. The age of AI isn’t waiting for our theological approval. A machine doesn’t care whether you call it sacred or satanic. Regardless, it can learn your hymns, mirror your morality, and sell you an app that scores your sanctity. The church can ignore it, or it can prepare for the reckoning. Because whether you like it or not, the algorithm is coming for Sunday service.

So what would a respectable Christian AI look like? Not Gloo’s chipper chatbot that mistakes engagement metrics for evangelism. Not another “faith tech” product designed to “optimize ministry engagement” or “gamify discipleship.” A respectable Christian AI would reflect restraint, not reach for reverence. It would refuse to pretend it knows God’s will, and it would never charge a fee to interpret it. It would encourage silence over speech and contemplation over computation.

In short, it would imitate the virtues of the church, not the vanity of its donors.

Imagine an AI that didn’t flatter human desire but challenged it. An AI that told uncomfortable truths instead of personalized platitudes. One that said, “No, you’re not special,” and meant it lovingly. It would not track your prayers like Fitbits track your steps; it would remind you that prayer is more intimate than an input ever can be. It wouldn’t replace your priest or pastor. It would remind you to see him in person.

But will we build that AI? Silence and modesty don’t tend to attract venture capital. Silicon Valley prefers small-g gods it can measure and monetize. The market has little use for mystery. And so we march, like digital Israelites, toward a promised land of perfect prediction, reluctant to realize until it’s too late that we built a golden calf with customer support.

If Christianity survives the algorithmic age, it won’t be because it out-coded Google. It will be because it remembered what no machine can: that conscience cannot be coded, wonder cannot be wired, and the divine resists human design. Faith was never meant to be efficient, and salvation is not a software update.

AI will teach us many things about ourselves: our hunger for control, dread of solitude, and addiction to ease. But perhaps, in its cold imitation of creation, it will also remind us why we need the real thing. When the screen insists, “I am always here,” the believer should reply, “So is God, and you’re not Him.”

In the end, maybe that’s the only way to keep faith alive. Not by competing with the machine, but by refusing to become one.

​Tech, Culture, Faith 

Many Americans view Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City as harmless, but BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler and host of “Ideas Have Consequences” Larry Taunton are well aware that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“Do you believe that Zohran Mamdani is engaging in taqiyya … this Islamic belief that essentially allows you to lie and hide your true beliefs in order to infiltrate Western society to advance Islam?” Wheeler asks.

“Of course he is, and he’s very clever at it,” Taunton says. “You know, he has this charming smile, and he seems like such an outgoing, pleasant, likeable fellow. But at the end of the day, he’s a jihadist.”

“Islam is a religion of conquest. … That’s what it’s all about. It’s about conquering, you know, the entire world until there’s nothing but that which is for Allah, is the way the Quran puts it.”

“This is the Muslim strategy, the Islamic strategy for millennia,” he explains.

Taunton notes that the Islamic strategy isn’t carried out by dropping busloads of Islamic children off and giving them AK-47s. Rather, it’s through the “radicalizing of youth” and of “turning a blind eye to violence.”

“Roughly a quarter of a million British white girls, according to the Times of London, trafficked on an industrial scale, and almost no one has been punished,” he continues. “Now, why is that? Well, it’s because the violence, the rape gangs, the knifings, all of this is part of the plan. It’s not something that the politicians are going, ‘Gosh, I wish this hadn’t happened again.’”

“It’s because in [Sadiq] Khan’s London, he wants it,” Taunton tells Wheeler.

“There will be an exodus of people out of those cities. So you eventually surrender a whole, you know, metropolis, Britain’s most important city, the United States’ most important city, surrendered to jihadists,” he continues.

“And I know that there are some people who are listening to this and going, ‘Oh, this is, you know, this is just so wild. I just don’t believe this.’ I’m telling you, I’ve seen it. It’s the way it works,” he adds.

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California illegally issued thousands of commercial driver’s licenses, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

A Wednesday morning press release from the department claimed that the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles “has admitted to illegally issuing 17,000 non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to dangerous foreign drivers.”

‘This is just the tip of the iceberg.’

Those who were issued the allegedly illegal licenses have been notified that those licenses no longer meet federal requirements and will expire in 60 days.

The DOT credited the findings to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ongoing nationwide audit of non-domiciled CDLs. The review revealed “systemic policy, procedural, and programming errors in California’s non-domiciled CDL program,” the department reported.

“The audit also found that more than one in four of the non-domiciled CDL records sampled in California failed to comply with federal regulations. This includes issuing licenses that extended well beyond a foreigner’s work permit,” the DOT wrote.

RELATED: Exclusive: DOT withholds $40M from blue state for flouting English requirements for truckers

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The department threatened in August to withhold funding from California if it refused to comply with English language proficiency requirements for truck drivers.

The California Highway Patrol indicated in July that it had no plans to place commercial drivers out of service for failing to meet ELP standards.

In October, the DOT announced that it was withholding $40 million from the blue state.

RELATED: The fraud crippling American trucking: ‘Ghost’ carriers and ‘NO NAME GIVEN’ driver’s licenses issued to foreigners

Photographer: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The DOT stated that it will continue to pressure California to revoke illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs, noting that it is prepared to withhold $160 million in funding for noncompliance.

“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we’ve exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses are being revoked,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”

Newsom’s office and the California DMV did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

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​News, California highway patrol, Chp, California department of motor vehicles, California dmv, Commercial driver’s licenses, Cdls, Cdl, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, Federal motor carrier safety administration, Fmcsa, Department of transportation, Dot, Transportation department, Sean duffy, Politics 

Stevie Nicks has decided to “weigh in” on abortion. In a recent interview with the Center for Reproductive Rights, she described how an unwanted pregnancy — conceived during her years of promiscuity — led to an abortion she now defends as necessary for her career.

You might remember Stevie Nicks. She’s the former Fleetwood Mac singer who chose to end her child’s life to preserve fame and fortune. A few years later, the dysfunctional group fell apart anyway, torn by jealousy and resentment. Nicks sacrificed her child for an illusion of success — and lost it all.

The idols of the 1960s — unrestrained desire, sexual libertinism, and the worship of self — have produced nothing but loneliness, guilt, and moral ruin.

“I got pregnant, how could this be? I have an IUD,” Nicks recalled. “Fleetwood Mac is big, and it would have destroyed the band.” She remembered thinking, “Everybody kept asking, ‘Why won’t someone do something?’ I thought, I have a platform, I tell a good story, maybe I should do something.”

She told a story, all right — a horror story. In her own words, she chose abortion not because her life was in danger but because she feared an awkward confrontation with her ex-lover and bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. “Having a child with Don Henley,” she said, “would not have gone over well in Fleetwood Mac, with Lindsey and me. … It would have been a nightmare for me to go through.”

So a child died to spare a rock star an emotionally uncomfortable conversation.

The moral wreckage of ‘free love’

Nicks’ confession is more than a personal tragedy; it’s a parable of an era. The generation that preached “free love” is now paying the bill. The idols of the 1960s — unrestrained desire, sexual libertinism, and the worship of self — have produced nothing but loneliness, guilt, and moral ruin.

The abortion Nicks defends didn’t liberate her. It enslaved her to a lie — that personal freedom justifies killing the innocent. The band she protected disintegrated. Her fame faded. And the moral emptiness she embraced has followed her into old age.

The irony is that this rebellion against “patriarchal control” delivered precisely what the so-called patriarchy wanted: women stripped of prudence and virtue, persuaded to destroy what men once had to protect. The revolutionaries of “free love” preached empowerment while handing men a permission slip for irresponsibility. Men couldn’t believe their luck.

A real-life trolley problem

Philosophers use the “trolley problem” hypothetical to explore moral choices — sacrificing one life to save others from a runaway trolley. Nicks faced her own real-life version. One track held her child’s life; the other, her fame and comfort. She threw the switch. An innocent child died. Her fame soon followed.

The members of Fleetwood Mac later turned on one another, proof that the god she served — success — wasn’t worth the price.

RELATED: Christians are refusing to compromise — and it’s terrifying all the right people

Photo by Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A reckoning awaits

Jordan Peterson recently refused to entertain a student’s hypothetical about lying to save Jews in World War II, saying he’d never live in a way that forced such a choice. Virtue prevents moral traps before they arise. Stevie Nicks created her own trap through promiscuity and “solved” it by ending a human life.

But Nicks’ reckoning doesn’t end with the interview. Her child’s soul, like all souls, lives on. One day she will face that child — and the creator who gave that child life. When asked why she ended it, her only honest answer will be: for fame, for money, and to avoid a hard conversation.

That conversation will be harder still when she faces God Himself. For her sake — and for those tempted to follow her path — one hopes she repents and seeks the forgiveness found only in Christ, while there is still time.

​Fleetwood mac, Stevie nicks, Abortion, Trolley problem, Opinion & analysis, Morality, Sexual revolution, Don henley, Lindsey buckingham, Decadence, Free love, Guilty, Freedom, Loneliness 

As the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation operations continue to clean up our cities and remove illegal aliens across the country, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem took a moment to celebrate a big win in Florida.

On Tuesday, the secretary shared details in a Fox News interview about Operation Criminal Return, or as she liked to call it, “Operation Dirtbag.” The DHS posted a clip of the interview on X.

‘It’s remarkable, and we need to do more of it.’

Operation Dirtbag was so called because of the more than 230 criminal illegal aliens arrested, over 150 of whom were sexual predators, many against children, Noem explained.

“These individuals were sex offenders, but not just sex offenders — they targeted children,” Noem stated.

RELATED: Illegal alien pedophile allegedly ‘physically assaulted’ ICE agent during immigration operation: DHS

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“These individuals should’ve never been in our country to begin with, and the fact that they were sexual deviants and perverts and now we’ve gotten them off of our streets — it’s remarkable, and we need to do more of it,” Noem added.

Among the crimes committed by these illegal aliens were attempted premeditated murder with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, lewd and lascivious molestation of children, possession of narcotics, possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, according to the DHS’ X post.

Secretary Noem expressed her department’s appreciation for Florida’s cooperation in the operations.

“Our kids will be safer. And this partnership with Governor DeSantis in Florida is a model that we want to replicate across the country.”

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Something in America’s atmosphere has shifted. A chill has entered public life. The temperature of our moral climate has dropped, and too many pretend not to notice.

Just days ago, outside a Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley, a mob gathered to protest, riot, shout down students, and mock the death of Charlie Kirk, chanting about his assassination as if it were a punch line.

The world does not need more outrage. It needs more heroes — ordinary people who will stand, speak, and serve even when no one applauds.

It was not a peaceful political protest — it was cruelty on display, a glimpse of how numb parts of our culture have become to basic humanity. You can feel the shift in moments like that — not in policy debates or press releases, but in the tone of the crowd, in the hard edge of its laughter.

A nation in the cold

We all learned Newton’s third law in school: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. It is not just a rule of motion; it speaks truth about reality itself.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. Every act, every choice, demands a response. When Charlie Kirk was killed, the impact of his assassin’s bullet rippled through the soul of a nation. Millions felt it at once, as if something beneath the surface had cracked.

But out of that shock came something extraordinary. Instead of despair, there was revival. People who had not prayed in years began to whisper to God again. Vital questions rose out of grief: What is truth? What is courage? What is my purpose?

The counterforce

What we are seeing now — from Berkeley’s riots to the venom spreading online — is that pushback. It is the equal and opposite force. The lies about Charlie’s death, the hatred masquerading as justice, the growing comfort with cruelty — they are all part of something older, something that has always despised awakening.

The eternal struggle between good and evil has stepped out from behind the curtain and taken center stage. Whether we wanted it or not, we have been written into this story where both light and darkness work through human hands. That means each one of us has a role to play.

What heroism really means

Heroism is not reserved for the famous or the fearless. It is not about applause or recognition. It is the quiet resolve to do what is right when it would be easier to stay silent.

Courage starts small — the parent who refuses to surrender her values, the student who speaks truth in a hostile classroom. These small acts are the foundation of moral civilization.

Courage is a muscle. If you wait for a grand moment to use it, you will find it lacking.

Heroism is giving something of yourself — your time, your voice, your loyalty. It may go unseen, but it is never wasted. The heroes who carry civilization forward are rarely remembered by name. But they are remembered in the lives they touch and in the good they preserve.

RELATED: Why Gen Z is rebelling against leftist lies — and turning to Jesus

Photo by Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Standing when it matters most

We live in an age when fear is constant — fear of loss, fear of exposure, fear of being alone. But fear is not destiny. It is a test. And courage is not the absence of fear; it is acting while afraid. When you tell the truth, when you remain loyal, when you choose what is right over what is safe — that is courage.

The world does not need more outrage. It needs more heroes — ordinary people who will stand, speak, and serve even when no one applauds. This is a dark time, yes. But we should be thankful for it, because in the darkness, we discover who we are meant to be.

You do not need to change the world. You only need to change what stands before you — your home, your community. That is where real heroism lives.

When you feel fear, act anyway. That is courage. That is faith. And that is how light triumphs over darkness.

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​Uc berkeley, Antifa, Courage, Heroism, Charlie kirk, Charlie kirk assassination, Left wing violence, Opinion & analysis, Freedom of speech, Tpusa, Leftism 

Tiny everyday miracles: This is the short answer for how a group of monks in Wyoming built a sprawling monastery worthy of awe.

For more than a decade, the Carmelite monks have been hard at work building a 145,000-square-foot French Gothic-style monastery, set on a 2,500-acre cattle ranch.

As images and video of the work had already captivated the faithful online, Return reached out to the group to find out exactly how such a work of art, typically seen at historical sites, is physically possible.

‘The decision immediately was to build this monastery to last for centuries …’

During the initial design phase, it became painfully obvious to the monks that if they took the path of least resistance by acquiring the services of an architect, there would never be any monastery to speak of.

“A number of national contractors presented their bids to build the monastery, and we realized that if we went that route, we would never be able to raise the astronomical funds needed,” Brother Isidore Mary told Return. “Rather than quit, or dumb down the vision, we adapted.”

Spotting that the stonework was by far the largest cost in the build, peak male curiosity took over: “How hard can it be to cut stone?” they asked.

Without any background in fields like computer design or stone carving, the monks went to work applying themselves to each trade.

‘God’s grace has not failed us.’

Brother Isidore cited “a series of millions of little, tiny everyday miracles” that manifested through the acquisition of skills while already “on the job.”

This meant learning software programs to design buildings, digital sculpting, and CNC machine programming; all were self-taught. The monks learned from local subcontractors and professional masons, taking in everything they could as a concrete block core was built in order to secure the structure from seismic activity that comes from being so close to Yellowstone.

The monk explained, “These skills have certainly taken years to acquire, and we are still learning every day. We started construction in 2014 with the simplest buildings, such as the hermitages where the monks live, and as our skills developed, so did the complexity of each building we undertook, until finally we have now set to work on the most challenging part and crown jewel: the chapel itself, the throne room of God.”

RELATED: Wyoming monks use cutting-edge tech to carve epic stone monastery 20 years in the making

Your browser does not support the video tag. Video courtesy Carmelite Gothic

Brother Isidore revealed that the project was completed in poverty, which he even admitted may be surprising to hear given the beauty of the structure. He claimed every dollar was stretched as far as it could go, and the team took extra time and invested in more durable materials to ensure a long-lasting architecture.

“The decision immediately was to build this monastery to last for centuries rather than something to fall apart in 20 years, leaving a problem the next generation of monks would have to face.”

3D monks

The images of monks using 3D design programs and engaging in complex stone-carving techniques has certainly raised questions as to whether or not the use of such advanced machinery is becoming of such religious servants. Brother Isidore said the monks encounter this idea regularly, but it is not consistent with the truth.

“I think it stems from the notion that something traditional must be archaic. The monastery certainly reminds one of something medieval, from the architecture and stonework, to the Latin and Gregorian chant, to the very robes the monks wear,” he explained.

The use of technology is not at odds with monastic life, he went on. “In fact, monks have frequently been pioneers in many of the trades and sciences, in fields as varied as metallurgy and genetics. We find the use of CNC technology and these sophisticated stone-cutting machines quite in keeping with this tradition of innovation and our monastic way of life.”

RELATED: The Land of the Gods

Photo by Carmelite Gothic

Cult of ugliness

The monastery’s construction is mainly funded by donations, domestic and abroad, the monk explained. These, coupled with the monks’ coffee roasting business, have helped fund their modest lifestyle as well.

Mystic Monk Coffee, started in 2007, has a “loyal following [of] coffee drinkers” who have helped contribute to construction costs, but purchases primarily cover daily expenses at the monastery. The business funds food, utilities, medical bills, and education on-site.

Any gaps that are inherent in such a modest income have been overcome by the group’s desire to create an expression of their faith. In line with this, Brother Isidore described a want to battle the apparent “cult of ugliness” that pervades modern culture.

“We have lost the understanding that humans are composite beings, made body and soul in God’s likeness, and that the natural world around us does influence our soul. Beauty is an attribute of God and reflects Him. So shouldn’t the churches we build for Him be beautiful?”

The monks took design elements from Gothic structures across the world, particularly from Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. At the same time, the window tracery was described as Bohemian Gothic, the vaulting is English Gothic, and the spires are inspired by German architecture.

Photo by Carmelite Gothic

When asked about the positives of living and working in such a remote area in Wyoming — about seven miles from the nearest neighbor — Brother Isidore described the architecture and wilderness of God’s creation as the perfect backdrop for the monks’ primary work: a continual act of worship and praising God.

At the same time, though, the mountains of Wyoming “aren’t exactly gentle, and the remoteness and weather certainly introduce many challenges in the construction of the monastery.”

While not many were familiar with Catholic monks, any initial concerns the locals had (reported previously as possible environmental disturbances) have since faded away, the representative said.

Still, other than Wyoming weather, it seems the monks don’t have much, if any, outside interference in their mission.

“The locals saw there was nothing to worry about. I think many don’t even realize this monastery exists.”

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Another member of the Kennedy political dynasty is launching a high-profile campaign, and this time it’s for Congress.

Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy’s 32-year-old grandson, announced his congressional campaign to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York. Schlossberg originally rose to political stardom on TikTok, where, like many of his relatives, he would criticize and mock Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

‘With control of Congress, there’s nothing we can’t do.’

Schlossberg will be entering a crowded primary race alongside state Assemblyman Micah Lasher and nonprofit CEO Liam Elkind. These candidates are looking to represent New York’s 12th congressional district, which is one of the most Democratic districts in the state and boasts one of the highest incomes per capita in the country.

On his campaign website, the Kennedy heir said he launched his congressional bid because “the best part of the greatest city on earth needs to be heard loud and clear in Washington and deserves a representative who won’t back down.”

RELATED: ‘Pathetic’ Senate Democrats cave, advancing key shutdown vote and prompting intraparty uproar: ‘It’s a surrender’

Disney/Randy Holmes

In his campaign announcement, Schlossberg also emphasized his ambition for Democrats to take back control of the House. Republicans currently hold a historically narrow advantage in the House, partially due to two Democratic vacancies following the deaths of Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona.

“We deserve better, and we can do better,” Schlossberg said. “And it starts with the Democratic Party winning back control of the House of Representatives.”

Notably, Schlossberg is running to replace a Democrat in a deep-blue district, meaning the partisan split in the House will be unaffected by his candidacy.

RELATED: JFK’s grandson trashes RFK Jr. and says he’s ‘excited’ about voting for Biden

Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“With control of Congress, there’s nothing we can’t do,” Schlossberg said. “Without it, we’re helpless to a third term.”

“My name is Jack Schlossberg, and I’m running for Congress to represent my home: New York’s 12th congressional district, where I was born and raised.”

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​Jack schlossberg, Donald trump, Jfk, John f. kennedy, Robert f. kennedy jr., Rfk, Jerry nadler, New york, Congress, Congressional democrats, Mike johnson, House of representatives, Sylvester turner, Raul grijalva, Politics 

While Mark Levin is one of President Trump’s most vocal supporters, he is concerned about America’s fraternizing with Qatar — a country pitched as “one of the great leaders of the Middle East and the world.”

“I say no, Qatar is a very dangerous country,” says Levin.

He reminds us that in 2002, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was brutally beheaded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda’s chief of operations and the architect of 9/11. It was Qatar who sheltered KSM from the FBI — specifically the father of the country’s current ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Further, these same Qatari family members, Levin says, “are the sugar daddies for Hamas” — funding the terrorist organization for years, hosting its leaders, and acting as its political lifeline.

That hasn’t changed. Even though Qatar has been a key broker alongside the U.S. and Egypt in the tiered ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, it’s still on Team Hamas, Levin says.

Just last month, Sheikh Tamim delivered an address at the opening session of the 54th annual Shura Council.

He was clear about where Qatar’s loyalty lies: “Israel has violated all laws and norms governing relations between nations through its aggressive actions against the mediator and its attempt to assassinate members of a negotiating delegation. We consider this aggression to be state terrorism. And the global response was so powerful that it shocked those responsible. What’s happened in the Gaza Strip in the past two years amounts to genocide — a term that encapsulates all atrocities. It is regrettable that they remain incapable of enforcing its respect when it comes to the tragedy of our brotherly Palestinian people.”

This is a load of lies, says Levin. “The Israelis weren’t trying to take out the negotiators. They were trying to take out the Hamas leaders that [Sheikh Tamim] was protecting.”

“[Qatar] is [America’s] new best friend,” he laments.

“They’ve gotten into the West,” into “all parties, every aspect of our culture, our educational system. … They are behind the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Jihad, Hamas. They supported the Taliban, and they support the destruction of our universities and colleges.”

For Levin, Qatar’s billions and diplomatic handshakes can’t erase its track record. America’s “new best friend” remains a Trojan horse for terrorism and anti-Western ideology.

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​Levintv, Mark levin, Donald trump, Qatar, Middle east, Blazetv, Blaze media, Israel, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas attacks on israel 

Police officers in Florida probably got a little more than they bargained for after responding to a recent call about a disturbance in a home in the 1400 block of Bartell Avenue in Port St. Lucie.

Police said a 15-year-old female was in the middle of the road with a shovel and began to approach the arriving patrol car — and then struck the hood of the vehicle with the shovel.

‘Regardless of age, resorting to intentional damage of people or property in our city will result in an arrest.’

Police posted bodycam video of the incident, which took place around 4:45 p.m. Nov. 3. The teen appeared to strike the police vehicle with the shovel at least four times.

One officer can be heard on the clip remarking, “You kidding me?” as he exited the police vehicle to confront the teen with what appears to be a powered-up Taser.

A second officer can heard ordering the teen to “put the shovel down!”

The video shows the girl immediately tossing the shovel to the street — and apparently issuing some sort of hand gesture to officers, which is redacted in the police bodycam video.

Image source: Port St. Lucie (Fla.) Police Department video screenshot

Police said the girl was arrested and charged with felony criminal mischief and that she caused more than $1,200 in damage to the vehicle’s hood.

“Regardless of age, resorting to intentional damage of people or property in our city will result in an arrest,” police said in a Facebook post, adding that the girl was “taken into custody without incident.”

RELATED: Massive mall brawl: 300 teens descend upon shopping mall, run amok, fight — even with cops. TikTok influencer set ‘meetup.’

The video has received more than 140,000 views. The following is a small sampling of some of the accompanying comments:

“Happy the officers are safe and weren’t also attacked, just the car,” one commenter noted. “They never know what type of crazy they will deal with or how quickly a situation can turn dangerous, every single day.””The amount of value sharing this video adds to our community is astonishing,” another user said. “Thank you for your service.””I pray she receives the help she needs,” another commenter wrote. “Clearly something seems off here.””Exemplary de-escalation!” another user exclaimed.”15…. Where are the parents? What’s her story? Home life, personal life, abused, etc. [?]” another commenter mused. “Yes, she did wrong. Obviously. But [a] 15-year-old kid doesn’t just take a shovel for a good time. At 15, many can’t even control their emotions. Officers handle it without incident, thank God.”

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A Biden-appointed federal judge who recently imposed nationwide restrictions on how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can make arrests is poised to potentially release hundreds of illegal aliens arrested by federal agents in the Chicago area.

Background

In May 2018, ICE arrested over 100 illegal aliens including numerous convicted criminal noncitizens in the Chicago area as part of Operation Keep Safe.

The National Immigrant Justice Center, an open-borders advocacy organization, swooped in to defend a handful of the illegal aliens who were captured, accusing the first Trump administration of Administrative Procedure Act and 4th Amendment violations.

The legal campaign to challenge the alleged warrantless arrest of the illegal aliens snowballed into a class-action lawsuit involving two additional activist groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which worked in a supporting role.

The plaintiffs managed to surmount the government’s attempt to have the case dismissed and in 2022 secured a settlement requiring ICE to follow specific procedures for apprehending illegal aliens without warrants in Illinois and five neighboring states.

The settlement, which ICE policy was augmented to reflect, was set to expire on May 12, 2025.

Biden judge obliges open-borders activists

In March, the NIJC challenged the second Trump administration’s warrantless arrests of dozens of illegal aliens in Illinois, requesting that ICE be held accountable for alleged violations of the 2022 settlement.

RELATED: A historian’s warning: The Democrats have gone full totalitarian

Photo by Anadolu/Getty Images

Despite the NIJC’s pending motion to enforce the settlement, ICE’s principal legal adviser Charles Wall circulated an email in June to all ICE employees indicating that the settlement was terminated and the corresponding policy was rescinded. The agency continued with its campaign to target illegal aliens in a manner unpalatable to the open-borders group, most recently as part of Operation Midway Blitz, which was launched in September.

‘They’ve been uniformly violating the consent decree.’

Amid ICE’s efforts to catch violent criminal noncitizens including rapists and members of the terrorist gang Tren de Aragua, the NIJC went running back to the court on Sept. 26, complaining of additional alleged violations of the consent decree and asking that the agreement be extended for another three years.

On Oct. 7, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings, a Biden appointee, ruled that ICE violated the settlement — which was supposedly kept alive past its expiration date by the NIJC’s pending motion to enforce — citing practices such as ICE agents allegedly carrying blank administrative arrest warrants and filling them in after detaining suspects.

Cummings not only granted an extension of the consent decree settlement until Feb. 2, 2026, but ordered ICE to apply the corresponding policy to all agents nationwide.

While attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security have argued that Congress has denied federal courts the ability to grant parole to large groups of illegal aliens in ICE custody, WLS-TV reported that Cummings is contemplating doing just that.

The Biden judge is expected to provide some insight during a hearing on Wednesday into whether he will order ICE to release illegal aliens on interim “alternatives to detention” such as ankle monitor programs or check-in appointments with immigration agents via mobile apps.

Mark Fleming, associate director of litigation at the NIJC, told WLS that the number of illegal aliens arrested in violation of the consent decree is over 3,000 people.

“If they did not have a prior order of removal, in almost all circumstances, they’ve been uniformly violating the consent decree,” said Fleming.

Fleming added, “The bargain was if you violate this, the individual [is] eligible for release.”

While Fleming is clearly hopeful that Cummings will cut the whole lot loose, WLS legal analyst Gil Soffer suggested that “there’s a statute that makes it very difficult for the district court, federal district court, to require the government to take or not take any action in the immigration space.”

Blaze News has reached out to the DHS for comment.

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The first thing Westerners notice in China’s Pearl River Delta is the friction, the palpable tension of timelines colliding. Walking through a Hong Kong market, one sees this new social phenomenon written in miniature. A street vendor, surrounded by handwritten signs, accepts payment via a printed QR code. This is not a quaint juxtaposition; it is the regional ethos. This cluster of cities — Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou — has been ranked the world’s number-one innovation hub, a designation that speaks to patents and R&D, but fails to capture the lived reality: a place where the old and the new are forced into a daily, unceremonious dialogue.

The story of Shenzhen is the region’s core mythology, a narrative of temporal compression. It is difficult to overstate the speed of this transformation. In 1980, Shenzhen was a small settlement, a footnote. Today, it is a metropolis of over 17 million, a forest of glass and steel dominated by the 599-meter Ping An Finance Center. This 45-year metamorphosis from “fishing village to tech powerhouse” is not just development; it is a deliberate act of will, “Shenzhen Speed” fueled by top-down policy and relentless, bottom-up human energy. Millions poured in, bringing with them an entrepreneurial hunger and a lack of attachment to the past. The resulting culture is one where, as a local observer put it, “nobody’s afraid to experiment.”

Of course, this relentless optimization has a human cost.

This experimental ethos is not confined to boardrooms; it is encoded into the infrastructure of daily life. In this, Hong Kong was the progenitor. Long before the “digital wallet” became a Silicon Valley buzzword, Hong Kong had made the seamless transaction a mundane reality. As early as 1997, its citizens were using the Octopus card not just for transit, but for coffee, groceries, and parking. By the 2000s, there were more Octopus cards in circulation than people.

On the nearby mainland, this convenience has achieved a totality. In Shenzhen and Guangzhou, cash is an anachronism. The QR code is the universal medium, scanned at luxury malls and roadside fruit stalls alike. The city’s nervous system has been externalized, compressed into the super-apps that handle chat, bills, ride-hailing, and food orders. The medium is the smartphone, but the message is speed. This expectation of immediate fulfillment has subtly, irrevocably reshaped social interactions.

Yet the operating thesis here is not displacement, but accommodation. Technology does not simply erase tradition but provides a new container for it. One can visit a Buddhist temple in Hong Kong and see patrons burning incense while making donations with a tap of their Octopus cards. In Guangzhou, the old ritual of yum cha, the gathering for tea and dim sum, persists, even as a diner at the next table uses a translation app. The ancient custom of giving red envelopes at Lunar New Year has not vanished; it has been reborn as a digital transfer on WeChat, and in the process, it has become even more popular among the young. The cultural narrative adapts.

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CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Nowhere is this synthesis of technology and identity more visible than in the region’s public spectacles. The city skyline is not a static sight, but a nightly performance. Every evening at 8 p.m., Hong Kong stages its “Symphony of Lights,” a choreographed ritual involving lasers and LED screens on over 40 skyscrapers. The city itself becomes a canvas, reinforcing its identity as a dynamic, luminous hub.

Shenzhen’s reply is a different kind of sublime, one that looks only forward. The city has become renowned for its record-breaking drone shows, sending thousands of illuminated quadcopters into the night sky to perform airborne ballets. These swarms of light, forming giant running figures or blossoming flowers, are a live illustration of algorithmic choreography. It is a 21st-century incarnation of fireworks, a new form of communal awe that declares, “We are the future.”

In the maker hubs, like Hong Kong’s PMQ or Shenzhen’s OCT Loft, new ideas are built on the skeletons of the old economy. In renovated police quarters and factory warehouses, 3D-printing workshops sit next to traditional calligraphy galleries. This is techne in its most expansive form, fusing high-tech engineering with aesthetic design.

Of course, this relentless optimization has a human cost. The “996” work culture, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, is the dark corollary to “Shenzhen Speed.” The “smart city” that optimizes traffic flow also deploys surveillance and facial recognition. There is a palpable tension between the Confucian ideal of a harmonious, orderly society and the individual agency of 17 million people.

The Pearl River Delta, then, is more than a story of economic success. It is a laboratory for the human condition in the 21st century. It is a place grappling day by day with the paradox of technology: its power to connect and to alienate, to liberate and to control. One future is being prototyped here, in the gesture of a street vendor holding out a QR code, a silent negotiation between what was and what is next.

​Tech, Culture