Category: blaze media

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called out the mainstream media for turning a blind eye to the tragic death of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed, allegedly by a repeat offender.

Zarutska’s life was cut short after 34-year-old Decarlos Brown allegedly stabbed the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a train in North Carolina on August 22. Brown was later identified by local law enforcement and has since been charged with first-degree murder.

‘Many journalists in this room spilled plenty of ink trying to smear Daniel Penny … but none of those same reporters lift a finger to write stories about an actual murderer.’

This vicious stabbing was far from Brown’s first alleged offense, having previously been arrested for over a dozen other crimes, including convictions for armed robbery and felony larceny.

“This is pure evil on full display,” Leavitt said during Tuesday’s press briefing. “The most enraging and unacceptable part of this story is that her death was entirely preventable. Decarlos Brown never should have been on that train that night.”

RELATED: Mainstream media turns a blind eye to vicious stabbing of young Ukrainian woman

In the aftermath of the vicious attack, most outlets “shamefully and intentionally failed to report” on the tragedy, which Leavitt argued was because Zarutska’s death was politically inconvenient for the largely liberal media.

“Perhaps most shamefully of all, the majority of the media, many outlets in this room, decided that her murder was not worth reporting on originally because it does not fit a preferred narrative,” Leavitt said.

RELATED: Horrific video sparks outrage after young Ukrainian woman is fatally stabbed, allegedly by repeat offender

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

“Many journalists in this room spilled plenty of ink trying to smear Daniel Penny for defending a subway car from New York City, but none of those same reporters lift a finger to write stories about an actual murderer,” Leavitt added.

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​Iryna zarutska, Karoline leavitt, Decarlos brown, Donald trump, Trump administration, White house, Crime crackdown, Daniel penny, Legacy media, Mainstream media, Media bias, Politics 

On his second day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to shut down the weaponization of the federal government — but the FBI is still targeting traditional Catholics, defying both the law and his directive.

Americans were outraged after a declassified FBI memo approved in October 2022 revealed that Richmond FBI had begun investigating some “radical-traditionalist” Catholics for their supposed ties to “the far-right white nationalist movement” as well as their opposition to abortion and “LGBTQ protections” in the law.

Why is the FBI ‘snooping on my private chat of 43 Catholic men in South Louisiana?’

Then-Director Christopher Wray insisted in July 2023 that the memo was “a single product by a single field office,” but the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government later determined that FBI offices in Portland, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee also contributed to its development.

While the Trump administration has made significant strides in neutralizing the anti-Christian bias pervading federal agencies and the threat of the deep state against law-abiding Christian Americans, it seems that some rad-trad Catholics may still be under surveillance.

Blaze News spoke with Ross McKnight, one of the leaders of La Nouvelle Vendée, a Catholic group comprising mainly men that aims to “resist secularism,” reclaim their “patrimony,” and “restore Christendom in Louisiana by implementing the Doctrine of the Social Reign of Christ the King.”

McKnight said that FBI Special Agent Beau Barker has made contact with him and another member in recent weeks, expressing concerns about some “online” comments.

Living out the Catholic faith, unredacted

McKnight told Blaze News that the group formed two years ago and that he and about 40 other men have a private Telegram chat in which they readily share their views. He made clear that the group holds to traditional Catholic teaching without apology.

“There’s a necessity for Catholic social action towards the social kingdom of Christ,” he said. And to that end, he and his fellow LNV members gather to pray the rosary, especially at events that promote sin, such as Pride parades.

McKnight also noted that the religion of Islam is a “heresy” and therefore is in conflict with the Catholic Church. “Muslims are historically what we would call a public enemy of the Catholic Church,” he said.

On account of these views regarding Islam, the group strongly opposed the sale of a Catholic church in Buffalo, New York, to a Muslim group that intended to convert the sacred building into a mosque. McKnight shared a screenshot of part of their Telegram conversation about the prospective mosque. In it, McKnight states: “I look forward to the day wherein we [redacted], [redacted], and completely [redacted] that place, which may not be so far away.”

RELATED: Police drag away a man for saying he likes bacon near a sprawling mosque construction site

Screenshot shared with Blaze News

McKnight confirmed to Blaze News that he used the word “redacted” in brackets intentionally, though he did not clarify what he meant.

“We don’t hate Muslims. We hate the heresy that is Islam. And so that’s what we’re fighting. We’re not fighting Muslims as people,” he explained.

“I don’t have any intention of doing anything violent,” he continued.

The FBI gets involved

McKnight said he was just going about his business on August 22, 2025, when he received an unexpected phone call. The caller identified himself as Beau Barker, a special agent with the FBI.

“Hey, I’d like to talk to you about something you posted online,” Barker said, McKnight recalled.

When McKnight demurred, Barker more or less indicated McKnight didn’t have much of a choice. “I asked him for details. He wouldn’t provide them. He just said, ‘I want to talk to you,'” McKnight explained. “And I said, ‘Well, is it voluntary?’ He said, ‘Yes, but … basically, we’ll come to you if you don’t come to us.'”

‘We do not conduct investigations based solely on First Amendment protected activity, including religious practices.’

Just a few days later, Barker rang McKnight again. When he didn’t get an answer, he and a sheriff’s deputy just showed up at McKnight’s house, McKnight claimed.

Once again, McKnight pressed Barker for “details,” wanting to know why an FBI officer was so interested in him, but to no avail. Barker never divulged any details and left the property without much more conversation.

McKnight soon hired a lawyer. Last week, he told his attorney to advise Barker that he would not be speaking with him.

Blaze News reached out to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office to confirm that a deputy accompanied Barker on this visit. A representative said only that she found no record associated with McKnight’s name. The representative did not respond after Blaze News attempted to find out whether there were any records associated with McKnight’s address.

‘Right on the line’

Because Barker was so tight-lipped about the purpose of his contacts with McKnight, McKnight is left to speculate about what that purpose might be. Since Barker apparently mentioned concerns about something McKnight “posted online,” he cannot even be sure the issue stems from the private Telegram group.

However, Barker also reportedly made contact with another member of the LNV, who indicated that the FBI “found something borderline threatening” in their messages.

The other member then confirmed that Barker was focused on McKnight’s “[redacted]” statement. Without actually crossing into threatening territory, the FBI suggested to McKnight’s friend that those words in reference to the mosque were “right on the line.”

“Which indicates to me that it’s not over the line,” McKnight noted to Blaze News.

RELATED: The idols and lies behind the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting

Kumpol Pijadee/Getty Images

To the best of his knowledge, McKnight and his friend are the only two members of La Nouvelle Vendée who have been contacted by federal agents.

McKnight does not know how the FBI became so familiar with his group and their conversations, whether Barker or another agent infiltrated the group chat or whether a group member with “a chip on their shoulder” aired grievances with the agency.

In response to a request for comment, FBI New Orleans told Blaze News: “The FBI’s mission is to protect our communities from potential threats while simultaneously upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans. We focus on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. We do not conduct investigations based solely on First Amendment protected activity, including religious practices.”

The case also points to an apparently ongoing problem of FBI agents using weak pretenses to investigate faithful Catholics despite the change in leadership in the White House and on the Seventh Floor. Blaze News has reached out to Director Kash Patel for comment.

Why is the FBI “snooping on my private chat of 43 Catholic men in South Louisiana?” McKnight wondered.

“I’m just a nobody,” he added.

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President Donald Trump’s nomination of Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Taibleson for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has prompted questions about the extent of her alignment with the administration’s conservative values, particularly in light of her and her husband’s political donations to Democrats.

Trump’s first term was undermined by several appointments that did not fully align with the administration’s priorities, leading to setbacks in key legal battles and policy implementation. The president admitted that he received “bad advice … on numerous Judicial Nominations,” expressing that he was “very disappointed” with some of those picks.

‘She brings an exceptional legal mind and a firm dedication to interpreting the law as written, not bending it to fit a political agenda.’

Mike Davis, a Trump ally and the founder of Article III Project, stated that the president’s second administration would not make that same mistake again and instead would focus on selecting judges who are “even more bold and fearless” and have been “battle-tested.”

Trump announced Taibleson’s nomination in August, writing in a social media post, “It is my Great Honor to nominate Rebecca Taibleson to serve as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals, for the Seventh Circuit, in the Great State of Wisconsin. Rebecca brings a wealth of EXPERIENCE AND SUCCESS, from her time as Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and, formerly, as Assistant to the United States Solicitor General.”

“Rebecca has learned from some of the BEST and most HIGHLY RESPECTED Legal Minds in the Country, having clerked for United States Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Antonin Scalia. Rebecca will make a fantastic Judge who will fearlessly defend the Constitution, and strongly uphold the Rule of Law. Congratulations Rebecca!” Trump added.

While Taibleson, 42, meets all legal qualifications, having earned her J.D. from Yale Law, her background raises questions about her political leanings. In fact, her conservative critics have been quick to highlight that she and her husband have a history of donating to Democrats.

RELATED: Rogue judges voted to replace Trump-chosen US attorney Alina Habba. DOJ fights fire with fire.

Roman Martinez, Sarah Pitlyk, Rebecca Taibleson, and Porter Wilkinson, former law clerks for Brett Kavanaugh. Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Taibleson donated in 2022 to Joe Manchin, a former Democratic senator from West Virginia, through ActBlue, and in 2024 to Bridget Schoenborn, a judge nominated by Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. However, she also donated to Mike Gallagher, a former Republican representative, and WINRED in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

Blaze News reached out to Taibleson for comment.

Her husband, Benjamin Taibleson, contributed to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign against Trump, Kamala Harris’ Senate campaign in 2015, and Forrest Dunbar, a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate.

Despite these donations to Democrats and other elements of her record that appear to her conservative critics at odds with the administration’s priorities, Davis and the Article III Project have expressed their support for Taibleson.

“President Trump continues to deliver on his promise to appoint bold and fearless judges who will defend the Constitution and uphold the rule of law,” Davis said. “His latest nomination of Rebecca Taibleson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a testament to his unwavering commitment to restoring a judiciary grounded in constitutional principles and judicial restraint. She brings an exceptional legal mind and a firm dedication to interpreting the law as written, not bending it to fit a political agenda.”

“As President Trump further reshapes the federal judiciary with judges who understand their role is to interpret the law, not make it, the Article III Project stands ready to support Taibleson through every step of the confirmation process. We are committed to ensuring the American people get the impartial, constitutionally faithful judges they deserve,” Davis added.

RELATED: ‘Monumental victory’: Trump applauds Supreme Court for disabling Democrats’ biggest weapon

Justice Antonin Scalia. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Taibleson’s conservative supporters have pointed to her experience working as a clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, even advocating for Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, as proof of her commitment to uphold similar values. However, critics dispute this claim, noting that Scalia was known for hiring counter-clerks, or politically liberal clerks, and that Kavanaugh has been suspected of employing a similar practice.

For example, Department of Justice lawyer Danielle Sassoon opposed Trump’s attempt to dismiss charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Law professor Rachel Barkow stated that Trump’s “use of the pardon power is part of his effort to put the country on an authoritarian path.” Former Judge Michael Luttig described Trump as “a clear and present danger to American democracy.” Notably, all four individuals were former clerks for Scalia.

Some of Taibleson’s conservative supporters also point to her time with the Solicitor General’s office beginning in the first Trump administration. However, she remained on with the Biden administration through 2022, including defending Biden’s student loan forgiveness policy in a lawsuit brought by the Brown County Taxpayers Association.

As Taibleson’s confirmation process unfolds, various aspects of her record will likely spark ongoing debate about whether she fully embodies the bold constitutionalism Trump has pledged for his judicial nominees, or whether potential misalignments could mirror the challenges faced during his first term.

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Fifteen Republicans who tried to overturn the election results in 2020 can breathe free after a Democrat-appointed judge dropped all charges against them on Tuesday.

District Judge Kristen Simmons found that prosecutors did not produce enough evidence to support the eight counts of forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery that were filed against each defendant. A 16th elector involved in the operation had agreed to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for having the charges dropped.

‘Their goal is not a conviction, it is pure legal harassment.’

The judge pointedly denied that the case involved election interference.

“I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress,” Simmons said, adding that the defendants “seriously believed” there were issues with the election.

The Michigan Conservative Union released a statement applauding the decision.

“Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged everyday citizens who are farmers, grandmothers, and retirees with eight (8) felonies in July 2023. Their ‘crime’? These citizens participated in the election process by … serving as volunteer Republican presidential alternate electors in the 2020 election, supposedly to benefit Donald J. Trump,” the statement given to Blaze News read in part.

Co-defendant Meshawn Maddock accused the attorney general of legal harassment.

“Nessel is a legal thug,” Maddock said. “We all knew from day one that we had done nothing illegal or wrong. Yes, we volunteered to be an alternate elector in support of Donald J. Trump. That is not a crime, as much as Nessel wanted it to be one. To corrupt politicians, lawfare is a ‘win’ when the punishment is the process. Their goal is not a conviction, it is pure legal harassment. Nessel’s defeat today was epic.”

Marian Sheridan, another co-defendant, also decried the attorney general.

“Dana’s alternate elector HOAX rightfully died today,” she said. “It is a shame that this corrupt Attorney General got away with her political prosecution of 15 innocent Michigan citizens for over the past two years.”

The electors targeted in the prosecution included a former Republican National Committeewoman and a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

“Alternate elector slates have been used for numerous previous presidential elections,” continued the statement from the MCU. “These 15 Republicans were actually protecting Michigan from potentially losing its Electoral votes in the 2020 election by submitting a backup slate should the then-legally contested voting outcome be overturned.”

RELATED: Arizona grand jury indicts Republicans over effort to overturn 2020 election, including Giuliani, Meadows, and Jenna Ellis

Attorney General Nessel said the ruling was “disappointing” and said her office is considering filing an appeal.

“They knew they were not electors,” Nessel said of the Republicans. “They knew Donald Trump lost, but then they lied anyway. And that is a crime.”

“They did it. They beat the AG, and justice has been served,” wrote Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, a Republican, on social media.

“These folks endured years of a political witch hunt, targeted by Democrats, drained financially, and pushed to the limit emotionally. Today, justice prevailed and they’ve finally been vindicated against political weaponization!” he added.

Other attempted electors face similar charges in Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

Judge Simmons was appointed by Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2019.

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An NFL legend wrote a letter to Pope Leo XIV, hoping his holiness would grant him one request.

When Robert F. Prevost became pope in May, a hard-fought territorial battle was waged in the sports world over who could claim the Catholic leader as their own. In the end, it was determined that the papacy’s fandom resides in baseball with the Chicago White Sox (not the Chicago Cubs).

This led to a tribute to the pope at the White Sox’s Rate Field, followed by Mass with Leo XIV via video at the stadium in June.

All of this fanfare encouraged one retired athlete to think that maybe the pope is a football fan, too.

‘It’s you. It’s Tiger Woods. It’s Bradley Cooper. It’s President Bush.’

Hall of Fame quarterback and two-time Super Bowl winner Peyton Manning revealed on Monday that he sent a handwritten note to both Pope Leo XIV and his executive assistant.

“Look at these two handwritten letters I wrote,” Manning told his brother Eli on ESPN 2’s “ManningCast.”

“Handwritten. I made the effort,” Manning comically continued, before explaining what his letter was all about.

He then looked into the camera and said, “These are handwritten letters, and if you’re watching, your holiness, this is an open invitation.”

RELATED: Chicago White Sox celebrate Pope Leo XIV as one of ‘South Side’s own’

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Manning was, hilariously, inviting Pope Leo XIV to come onto the ESPN 2 show where the brothers are joined by guests to swap football stories and analyze an NFL game from Monday Night Football.

“Come on the show anytime,” Manning reiterated.

The former University of Tennessee star then disclosed that the pope was on a shortlist of his viewers’ most-desired guests.

“It’s you. It’s Tiger Woods. It’s Bradley Cooper. It’s President Bush. It’s Larry David,” he rattled off. “Y’all are our most-wanted on that list for the ‘ManningCast.’ Come anytime.”

“We’d love to have you, your holiness,” Manning cordially concluded.

RELATED: Could Pope Leo XIV lose his American citizenship?

Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Always one to self-deprecate, Manning said he failed in getting the pope on the show, “Kinda like I failed to recruit Randy Moss to Tennessee.”

“I couldn’t close the pope, but I made the effort Eli,” he told his brother. “That’s the kind of effort we make here at ESPN 2. I tried my hardest.”

The same episode included iconic comedian and actor Bill Murray, though, along with Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss and current Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley.

Maybe the “ManningCast” is not yet pope-worthy, but it is certainly delivering big stars to the program.

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In a shocking development, a former New Jersey teacher has admitted to sexually assaulting two students, according to authorities.

Julie Rizzitello, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault during a hearing held late last month before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley.

‘The actions of this former teacher represent a betrayal of trust, not only to the victims, but to the entire school community.’

“An investigation involving members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau and Wall Township Police Department — assisted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Brick Township Police Department, and led by MCPO Detective Jose I. Rodriguez and Wall Township Police Detective Devin Corso — revealed that the criminal conduct by Rizzitello encompassed sex acts involving separate victims, taking place in three municipalities at various points over the course of several years,” the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office stated in a press release last week.

Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux previously noted that Wall Township Public Schools Director of Human Resources Michael Scarano contacted the Wall Township Police Department to report an illicit relationship between Rizzitello and a student after a tip from a school district employee.

Rizzitello — a former Wall Township High School teacher — was arrested without incident at her Brick Township home on July 3, 2024, according to the Coast Star.

RELATED: She once was school ‘counselor of the year.’ Now she’s accused of sexually assaulting student 100+ times, court docs say.

A criminal complaint said Rizzitello was involved in a relationship with a student between May 18, 2024, and June 14, 2024.

The relationship involved “oral and vaginal intercourse,” according to a probable cause complaint.

Rizzitello and the 18-year-old student had sexual contact in his car in Brick in May 2024, according to Fox News, which cited an NJ.com report that referenced an affidavit of probable cause. Officials said Rizzitello and the student also met at other locations, and she sent him nude photos, Fox News added.

A second student allegedly came forward to authorities saying that he and Rizzitello had vaginal intercourse “at her residence in Brick Township” between Nov. 23, 2017, and Jan. 21, 2018. Fox News said the second victim was 17 at the time.

During an interview with Det. Jose Rodriguez of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the student reportedly provided pictures and text messages to corroborate the accusations.

Sean O’Halloran — chief of the Wall Township Police Department — told the Coast Star, “The actions of this former teacher represent a betrayal of trust, not only to the victims, but to the entire school community.”

“I commend the courage of those who came forward and the dedication of our officers and partner agencies in bringing this case to justice,” O’Halloran stated. “Protecting our youth is among our highest priority, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that criminals are brought to justice to safeguard our residents and guests.”

Citing state pension records, the New York Post reported that Rizzitello was hired by the Wall Township Public Schools in 2013.

Rizzitello is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2026.

Prosecutors will pursue a 10-year prison sentence and require registration as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, parole supervision for life, and permanent forfeiture of public office, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

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President Donald Trump, determined to guide the nation into a new golden age, has gone to war with the private-public consensus that has sickened generations of American children and threatens future greatness.

The president’s battle strategy has finally come into full view.

‘I am so grateful that I work for a president that is willing to run through walls to stop this and to heal our kids.’

Trump’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, chaired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., released on Tuesday its long-awaited directives and strategies for tackling chronic disease, protecting children from toxic exposure, and helping American families flourish.

This report sets the stage for a shake-up that is sure to cause a great deal of consternation among medical establishmentarians, pharmaceutical reps, chemical magnates, and ultra-processed food manufacturers.

“We are now the sickest country in the world. We have the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world, and yet we spend more on health care than any country in the world,” Kennedy said during the public MAHA Commission meeting on Tuesday. “This is an existential crisis for our country.”

Kennedy added, “I am so grateful that I work for a president that is willing to run through walls to stop this and to heal our kids.”

RELATED: Trump establishes Make America Healthy Again Commission. Here’s what it will do.

Quick background

In his Feb. 13 executive order creating the MAHA Commission, President Donald Trump noted, “To fully address the growing health crisis in America, we must redirect our national focus, in the public and private sectors, toward understanding and drastically lowering chronic disease rates and ending childhood chronic disease.”

Three months later, Trump’s commission released an assessment report identifying four potential drivers of the rise in childhood chronic disease: poor diet largely tied to ultra-processed foods; aggregation of environmental chemicals including microplastics, fluoride, phthalates, bisphenols, and crop protection tools; lack of physical activity and chronic stress; and overmedicalization.

The report suggested that the situation was rather bleak, noting:

Over 40% of the roughly 73 million kids in the U.S. have at least one chronic health condition; 1 in 5 kids over the age of 6 is obese; 1 in 31 kids is impacted by autism spectrum disorder by the age of 8; Childhood cancer incidence has skyrocketed by over 40% since 1975;Pesticides, microplastics, and dioxins “are commonly found in the blood and urine of American children and pregnant women — some at alarming levels”;Nearly 70% of an American child’s calories come from ultra-processed foods; andStimulant prescriptions for ADHD, antidepressant prescription rates, and antipsychotic prescriptions for teens and/or children have exploded in recent decades.

RELATED: The fruit of the US pesticide industry is poison

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told Blaze News earlier this year that the May assessment was a “diagnosis,” and the next step was to “develop policy recommendations, grounded in gold-standard science and common sense.”

Next steps

In the newly released “Make Our Children Healthy Again” report, the MAHA Commission broke its strategic plan into four pillars: advancing research, realigning incentives, fostering private sector collaboration, and increasing public awareness.

Deeper dives

The first pillar tasks various federal agencies with pursuing “rigorous, gold-standard scientific research to help ensure informed decisions that promote health outcomes for American children and families, as well as drive innovative solutions.”

For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services will — through the National Institutes of Health and in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — study the root causes of autism.

The HHS, again working with the NIH, will also kick off a new vaccine injury program, investigating vaccine injuries “with improved data collection and analysis.” Although this program will initially be housed at the NIH Clinical Center, the report indicated it could expand to centers around the country.

Other research initiatives include:

Closer looks at water contamination, including an Environmental Protection Agency review of new scientific information on the potential health risks of fluoride; A concerted effort by the HHS, NIH, and EPA to complete an evaluation of the risks and exposures of microplastics and synthetics;An HHS evaluation of the therapeutic harms and benefits of “current diagnostic thresholds, overprescription trends, and evidence-based solutions”; andThe formation of a mental health diagnosis and prescription work group at the HHS tasked with evaluating “prescription patterns for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and other relevant drugs for children.”

Blowing up the status quo

The realignment pillar of the MAHA Commission’s strategy is by far the biggest and potentially the most consequential in the report.

The report indicated that the HHS will continue its current work of eliminating harmful synthetic dyes and other additives from the food supply, addressing possible conflicts of interest at health-related federal agencies — such as those that prompted Kennedy’s purge of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June — and protecting “public health from corporate influence.”

The administration apparently also has a slew of regulatory and deregulatory initiatives in the works.

Among the changes on the deregulatory front that Americans might soon see the fruits of is the elimination of mandatory reduced-fat requirements in federal nutrition programs; the elimination of barriers to small dairy operations selling their own milk products; and the FDA’s abandonment of animal testing requirements.

On the regulatory front and as foreshadowed in a Kennedy op-ed last year, the HHS will be pushing for greater accountability where direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising is concerned.

The HHS will work with the FDA, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission to “increase oversight and enforcement under current authorities for violations of DTC prescription drug advertising laws.”

In a similar vein, the HHS and FTC will also explore potential industry guidelines to limit advertisements of unhealthy foods that target children.

RELATED: RFK Jr. did what GOP cowards won’t

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

While the FDA will, on the one hand, update nutrient requirements for infant formula and ramp up screening for contaminants, it will also encourage companies to roll out new infant formulas. Meanwhile, the USDA and HHS will work to increase breastfeeding rates.

The commission appears especially keen on ensuring that foods are accurately labeled; dietary guidelines are reflective of the current nutritional science; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are used for healthy food; and the legal loophole that apparently enables the food industry to add potentially unsafe substances to the food supply without government oversight is closed for good.

The report indicated further that the CDC will update recommendations regarding fluoride — which has a retarding effect on children — and forever chemicals in the American water supply.

Besides regulatory changes, the commission indicated that the HHS is set to undergo a “comprehensive reorganization” to create the Administration for a Healthy America, an outfit that will lead the federal government’s response to the chronic disease crisis through “integrated prevention-focused programs.”

Blasting facts and shaking hands

The other two pillars in the MAHA strategy report concerning the promotion of public awareness and MAHA collaboration with elements of the private sector are both afforded relatively little real estate. Nevertheless, they contain a handful of proposals that could prove transformative.

The planned efforts to raise awareness about the potential harms posed by exposure to pesticides, fluoride, sedentary lifestyles, drug abuse, and too much screen time may, for instance, end up yielding more immediate effects than some of the corresponding regulatory initiatives, which are sure to face legal challenges.

RELATED: Study warns of possible link between world’s most popular painkiller and autism

Photo by Jennifer Polixenni Brankin/Getty Images

The section on fostering private-sector collaboration, the most diminutive section in the document, contains two plans that stand out. The first involves an education campaign aimed at improving health and fertility in men and women who are seeking to start families.

In the interest of helping American families grow and remedying America’s abysmal fertility rate, which hit an all-time low last year, the HHS is initiating the “Root Causes of Infertility Award Challenge Competition,” which “seeks to identify new and existing solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat root causes of infertility, including chronic reproductive health conditions, and provide answers to families, improve health outcomes, and ensure a brighter future for parents and infants across the U.S.”

The HHS will also develop an Infertility Training Center to help Title X clinics identify and treat for the underlying causes of infertility.

The second plan that stands out in the private-sector collaboration section concerns working with the agricultural industry on new approaches and technologies that could reduce the amount of pesticides needed. This appears to be a consolation prize for those who wanted certain harmful pesticides banned outright.

“A lot of these 128 recommendations are things that I’ve been dreaming about my whole life,” Kennedy said. “We have accomplished more already than any health secretary in history, and the accomplishments we’re going to have by the end of the year are going to be historic and unprecedented.”

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​Maha commission, Maha report, Make america healthy again, Robert f. kennedy jr, Rfk, Kennedy, Cdc, Fda, Usda, Rollins, Epa, Zeldin, Bhattacharya, Maha, Donald trump, Politics 

Therapists have historically seen patients in an intimate, in-person setting. Since COVID shutdowns, however, impersonal meetings have become more frequent and normalized, on top of what was already an increasingly remote, digital world.

The mental health sector has been incredibly affected by these changes, spawning online therapy outlets like Talkspace and BetterHealth. Conceivably, a patient could conduct an online video call with a licensed therapist, who could diagnose the patient or talk through issues without ever being in the same room.

As it turns out, therapists also could be cheating.

‘Here’s a more human, heartfelt version with a gentle, conversational tone.’

A recent report by MIT Technology Review featured some eye-opening testimonies of online-therapy consumers who have caught their practitioners cutting corners in terms of their mental health care.

One patient named Declan was having connection trouble with his therapist online, so the two decided to turn off their video feeds. During this attempt, the therapist accidentally started sharing his screen, revealing he was using ChatGPT to procure his advice.

“He was taking what I was saying and putting it into ChatGPT and then summarizing or cherry-picking answers,” Declan told the outlet. “I became the best patient ever,” he continued, “because ChatGPT would be like, ‘Well, do you consider that your way of thinking might be a little too black and white?’ And I would be like, ‘Huh, you know, I think my way of thinking might be too black and white,’ and [my therapist would] be like, ‘Exactly.’ I’m sure it was his dream session.”

While Declan’s experience was right in his face, others noticed subtle signs that their therapists were not being completely honest with them.

RELATED: Chatbots calling the shots? Prime minister’s recent AI confession forebodes a brave new world of governance

MIT Tech Review’s own author Laurie Clark admitted in her article that an email from her therapist set off alarm bells when she noticed it was strangely polished, validating, and lengthy.

A different font, point-by-point responses, and the use of an em dash (despite being in the U.K.) made Clark think her therapist was using ChatGPT. When confronted by her concerns, the therapist admitted to using it to draft her responses.

“My positive feelings quickly drained away, to be replaced by disappointment and mistrust,” Clark wrote.

Similarly, a 25-year-old woman received a “consoling and thoughtful” direct message from a therapist over the death of her dog. This message would have been helpful to the young woman had she not seen the AI prompt at the top of the page, which was accidentally left intact by the therapist.

“Here’s a more human, heartfelt version with a gentle, conversational tone,” the prompt read.

More and more people are skipping the middle man and heading straight to the chatbots themselves, which of course, some doctors have advocated against.

RELATED: ‘I said yes’: Woman gets engaged to her AI boyfriend after 5 months

For example, the president of the Australian Psychological Society warned against using AI for therapy in an interview with ABC (Australia).

“No algorithm, no matter how intelligent or innovative we think they might be, can actually replace that sacred space that gets trudged between two people,” Sara Quinn said. “Current general AI models are good at mimicking how humans communicate and reason, but it’s just that — it’s imitation.”

The American Psychological Association calls using chatbots for therapy “a dangerous trend,” while a Stanford University study says AI can “lack effectiveness compared to human therapists” but also contributes to the use of “harmful stigma.”

Blaze News asked ChatGPT if AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, are better or worse than real-life therapists. It answered:

“AI chatbots can offer support and guidance, but they are not a substitute for real-life therapists who provide personalized, professional mental health care.”

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​Ai, Return, Artificial intelligence, Chatbot, Ai learning, Therapy, Chatgpt, Tech 

The murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska has sparked concerns about crime in the U.S. from conservatives around the country — but others, like the mayor of Charlotte, don’t seem as concerned.

“Charlotte’s Democratic mayor, Vi Lyles, thanks the media for not sharing the attack video,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey comments, disturbed.

“The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public. I want to thank our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family,” Lyles wrote in a post on X.

“In her statement, Mayor Lyles did not mention the victim by name or discuss any specific measures that the Charlotte area transit system or police are taking to address safety in public transit. She focused on the suspect and urged others not to demonize homeless people,” Stuckey says.

“She said the suspect appeared to have struggled with mental health and suffered a crisis,” she adds.

Lyles also stated, “We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness or mental health.”

“Mental health disease is just that — a disease like any other that needs to be treated with the same compassion, diligence, and commitment as cancer or heart disease,” she added.

“So basically, this person shouldn’t be held responsible for his cold-blooded murder because he apparently was mentally unwell,” Stuckey comments, shocked — though his “mental health” and homelessness status are far from the only reason she believes the suspect is receiving special treatment.

“Stop being afraid to talk about crimes just because of the color of the person that committed them. The facts are the facts, and the fact is this: A white person is statistically far more likely to be killed by a black person than the reverse, despite the fact that white people make up about 60% of the population and black men make up about 7% of the population,” Stuckey explains.

“Now, we should never condemn any one race and glorify another race. People are individuals. That is absolutely true. … But the facts do matter, which is why the opposite collective judgment is also wrong,” she continues.

“This is exactly what the media does — glorifies one race and condemns another, assumes that one race is guilty and that the other is completely abdicated of any responsibility. This is what progressives do,” she adds, connecting it to the death of George Floyd.

When George Floyd died, she explains, “all of your favorite apolitical pastors not only expressed outrage about that publicly, but they connected his death to the complicity of all white people, the racism of all police, and the racial injustice embedded in all of America.”

“But never, ever did or do we see the same people talk about a crime like this — one, because this kind of crime happens too often.”

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​Camera phone, Free, Sharing, Upload, Video phone, Video, Youtube.com, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Iryna zarutska, Charlotte stabbing, Mayor lyles, Mayor vi lyles, Racial agenda, Racial discrimination, Anti white racism 

While he was being interviewed on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” border czar Tom Homan laid into Massachusetts Democrats for having policies that release hardened illegal aliens back into the public.

Homan listed off the illegal aliens whom federal agents had recently apprehended in Massachusetts, including foreign nationals with charges for assault and battery, indecent assault on a minor, aggravated assault on a pregnant woman, and drug trafficking.

“So [Boston Mayor Michelle] Wu and Governor [Maura] Healey ought to be calling ICE and thanking them for making their streets safer, protecting their communities, and taking these people off the street,” Homan said. “They have turned a blind eye to this. They’re sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities and sanctuary states are sanctuaries for criminals.”

Homan once again implored Healey and Wu to allow their police departments to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to allow agents to apprehend illegal aliens who are in local custody.

‘This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them.’

“This is what we’re trying to do. We’re trying prioritize public safety threats, but we got governors and mayors who are releasing these public safety threats every day into the community. … We’ve seen some terrible incidents the past few days,” Homan continued.

After hearing what Homan had to say, co-host Mika Brzezinski maintained that ICE vehicles parked near a Spanish-speaking church is a “frightening sight given what has happened in this country.”

RELATED: Resistance mounts in Chicago as city braces for potential National Guard deployment

Wu and Healey did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

The Department of Homeland Security has launched enhanced operations in Massachusetts and Illinois to target the large illegal alien populations in those sanctuary jurisdictions. The Trump administration was given a legal win after the Supreme Court ruled federal agencies can continue their immigration sweeps following an injunction from a lower court.

“DHS is launching Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by criminal illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois,” DHS said about the Chicago operation. “This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.”

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​Politics 

The Cracker Barrel restaurant chain addressed the online opposition to its rebrand by first returning to its old logo, and now the company’s taking up the remodeling of its classic interiors.

The restaurant was known for packing its interiors with old country store items, but the new aesthetic was far more sleek and updated. Many saw it as a betrayal of the 55-year-old brand’s history.

‘We hope that today’s step reinforces that we hear you.’

“You’ve shared your voices in recent weeks not just on our logo, but also on our restaurants. We’re continuing to listen. Today, we’re suspending our remodels,” reads the company’s statement posted to X on Tuesday.

“If your restaurant hasn’t been remodeled, you don’t need to worry, it won’t be,” it added. “With our recent announcement that our ‘Old Timer’ logo will remain, along with our bigger focus in the kitchen and on your plate, we hope that today’s step reinforces that we hear you.”

The company had also previously deleted sections on its website that endorsed the LGBTQ agenda, including a statement of support for the Nashville Pride Parade.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel faces boycott over ‘woke’ post celebrating Pride month, pushing DEI initiatives with LGBTQ+ alliance

Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The company’s CEO, Julie Felss Masino, said in an interview on “Good Morning America” in August that the response to the rebranding was “overwhelmingly positive,” but that claim was not shared by online critics. The social media response included calls for a boycott for what many saw as a “woke” campaign.

“Woke ideology has changed our country in countless ways, some of which we may never get back. But Cracker Barrel has always represented the one thing I think so many Americans currently crave: NOSTALGIA,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck said. “You go to Cracker Barrel for the rocking chairs outside, the meals that taste like grandma’s home cooking, and the simple game of Chinese checkers on the table.”

He added, “‘Rebrand’ all of that to something more modern, something more inclusive, and something that erases those feelings, and you’re ‘rebranding’ the SOLE reason why anyone goes there to begin with.”

The stock price for the company dropped by about 15% initially after the outrage and then regained some of that valuation. The stock has lost about 20% of its value since the rebrand outrage until this newest announcement.

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​Cracker barrel caves, Cracker barrel backlash, Woke rebranding, Rebranding controversy, Politics 

Personal aviation vehicles have officially hit the public market.

The same inventor who brought the “Star Wars” speeder bike to life earlier this year just delivered what appears to be the next step in transportation.

‘This marks a new era in aviation.’

Tomasz Patan says his new all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft is designed for recreational and safe use.

The company, called Jetson, has released Jetson ONE, a new vehicle that seems to be part hovercraft, part helicopter, and all fun.

Described by the company as a “formula one racing car for the sky,” the aircraft does not require a pilot license, despite its use of eight motors and propellers.

“This marks a new era in aviation, where incredibly fun and easy-to-operate personal flying machines become accessible to anyone who wants to realize the dream of flight,” the company wrote on X.

The Italian company recently made its first delivery, boasting that its new billionaire pilot took less than an hour to complete training on the unique vehicle.

RELATED: This ‘Star Wars’ vehicle is now real, and you don’t need a license to fly one

Founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries, Palmer Luckey was indeed that lucky new pilot, reportedly completing the training faster than any civilian the company has seen.

While Luckey had no problem piloting the vehicle, consumers may be wondering if they need a wallet comparable to the tech entrepreneur’s in order to afford one. While new owners won’t exactly need to be a billionaire to get their hands on the Jetson ONE, it’s not exactly cheap, either.

At a price similar to a luxury car, the Jetson ONE requires an $8,000 down payment with a total price tag of $128,000. Customers will not get their aircraft until 2027, though, as the entire 2025 and 2026 production runs have already sold out. Over 515 customers will get their vehicles delivered this year, the company said in a press release.

What’s more, the 100 units of the founder’s edition appear to be no longer available.

RELATED: Right-wing investor to challenge traditional banking with national crypto bank

Palmer Luckey inspects the Jetson ONE. Image provided to Blaze News by Jetson.

“This delivery is more than a milestone — it’s a statement,” CEO of Jetson Stephan D’haene said in a statement. “Launching our first Jetson ONE with Palmer Luckey, a visionary who has reshaped both consumer and defense technology, sets the tone for what Jetson represents: innovation, freedom, and the future of mobility.”

Patan added, “I still remember the early days when Palmer reached out to us and said he wanted to become a Jetson ONE owner. Originally scheduled for early 2023, the delivery took a bit longer than anticipated.”

The Jetson company was started in Poland by Patan, who developed the aircraft’s prototype in 2017. He then moved to Italy in 2022 to undergo full production of the vehicle. The company is now ready to expand operations, which includes training pilots in California.

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​Return, Aviation, Palmer luckey, Jetsons, Flying car, California, Tech 

The Ruth Institute grieves with the community of the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis. As we mourn the lives lost and the innocence shattered, our hearts are with the families, teachers, and students who will never be the same.

But our grief must not hinder us from taking a sober-minded look at the situation. A moral catastrophe of this magnitude has multiple contributing factors. Although new information continues to emerge, we can say with confidence that family breakdown, mental illness, and the transgender ideology all played a role.

Claiming that people can resolve their distress by ‘transitioning’ to the opposite sex masks existing mental illnesses.

I have a long history of speaking out on each of these issues. Even before I founded the Ruth Institute in 2008, I was deeply concerned about the impact of family breakdown on children.

Primal bond

My first book, Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village, explained the importance of solid attachments between infants and their mothers. That primal bond contributes to the development of a conscience and self-control. A society cannot manage large numbers of people who do not care about others and who do anything they can get away with.

Since then, I’ve continued to study the risks associated with family breakdown. Divorce can shatter a child’s understanding of their identity, with long-lasting negative effects. I have interviewed numerous people who have left a gay or lesbian identity behind; in many cases, their initial confusion stemmed from their parents’ divorce. “When my parents divorced, I had no identity,” one woman told me. She embraced a lesbian identity, struggled with drug addiction, and was haunted by the idea that she might want to become a man.

A broken family

As has been widely reported, Robert Westman’s parents were divorced in 2013, when he was 13 years old.

Reading Westman’s manifesto reveals a deeply disturbed person, consumed with hatred for others — both individuals and groups — and for himself. I have not seen reports of whether he had any kind of mental health diagnosis. But he was clearly not well, with a documented history of minor mental health-related incidents.

Too little, too late

As is too often the case, we can only discuss Westman’s mental health now that it is too late. This is a persistent problem with the American approach to mental illness in general. We have yet to find a balance between respecting individual autonomy and preventing the psychologically disturbed from hurting themselves or others before they have demonstrated this potential.

As I once wrote,

We don’t have facilities for people who pose a threat to others, but who haven’t done anything yet. Many mentally ill people cycle between homelessness and the county jail, incarcerated for petty crimes, but receiving no long-term help. … As many as a third of the homeless suffer from either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. But we can’t make the mentally ill take their medications, even if those medications can mean the difference between a rational person who can function normally and a delusional person who is a danger to others.

That article was in response to the Virginia Tech mass shooting back in 2007. Evidently, the situation has not appreciably improved.

Sowing confusion

This brings me to the most destructive change I’ve seen over the years: the promotion of a transparently false ideology by political, business, media, and even medical leaders. I am speaking, of course, of transgender ideology, which claims, without the slightest hint of proof, that a person can be “born in the wrong body.”

This ideology has created enormous confusion and done incalculable harm. Claiming that people can resolve their distress by “transitioning” to the opposite sex masks existing mental illnesses. Teaching young people that changing the sex of the body is even possible creates a whole new set of problems.

Backed by business and foundations, this ideology has torn families apart and corrupted the medical profession. Trump’s executive order withdrawing federal support for such ideology illustrated just how deeply the U.S. government had been actively promoting it.

RELATED: The idols and lies behind the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

No refuge for parents

Westman’s home state of Minnesota has created a particularly toxic environment. Parents of a 17-year-old boy who thinks he is a girl cannot engage a licensed therapist to help him explore his feelings and help steer him back to comfort with his body. A therapist who offered such services could lose his or her license. That’s because Minnesota bans “conversion therapy,” defined as efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

For parents who are divorced and not in agreement about their child’s gender confusion, the family courts get involved. In blue states like Minnesota, family courts all too often favor the parent who wants to medicalize the child’s confusion. Even more telling, Minnesota has officially declared itself a “trans refuge.”

The stated aim of this legislation is to help families in states that limit their “access” to “gender-affirming care,” better known as cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and surgery. However, parents who want these medical interventions for their children were already able to come to Minnesota any time they wanted. The real purpose of this and other “sanctuary laws” is to facilitate a child seeking such intervention without parental supervision and even against the wishes of the child’s parents.

Pray for healing — and change

It is no exaggeration to say that the trans lobby gets what the trans lobby wants. Yet the post-Annunciation political conversation seems to be all about guns. In my opinion, this is a deflection from the weighty problem of trans-domination of state politics.

As we continue to pray for healing, we implore the public to enter into a serious conversation about these important issues in the days and weeks ahead. Let us not compound this atrocity by neglecting the opportunity to learn from it.

​Annunciation church and catholic school, Mass shooting, Ruth institute, Robin westman, Robert westman, Divorce, Transgenderism, Culture, Trans tyranny, Annunciation catholic church and school 

One anti-woke comedian whose life was changed by Monday nights is about to try weekends on for size.

Kam Patterson, known mostly for his appearances on the viral comedy podcast “Kill Tony,” has already landed roles in Kevin Hart’s upcoming Netflix comedy “72 Hours” as well as the David Spade/Theo Von buddy pic “Busboys.”

Turns out he’ll also be trying his hand at another, more established, weekly variety show.

‘Seeing people try to attack a black kid because he said he “voted for Trump” is absurd.’

“Monday nights changed my life, let’s see how I do on Saturdays,” Patterson wrote on Instagram, tagging his new employers, NBC.

Last week, “Saturday Night Live” revealed Patterson would be joining the cast for the 51st season, alongside four other rookies.

“Welcome to the cast!” the company wrote. Others in the media were not so sanguine about the Orlando native’s new job.

RELATED: ‘I apologize to absolutely nobody’: Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe says media used Puerto Ricans as ‘political fodder’

Pajiba’s Dustin Rowe attributed the hiring to SNL head Lorne Michaels’ desire to tap into the “alt-right comedy space.”

“He still uses ‘gay’ as a pejorative in the way it was tossed around in the ’80s,” sniffed Rowe, while also noting that Patterson voted for President Trump.

Meanwhile, NPR‘s only note about Patterson’s stand-up career was his defense of friend Tony Hinchcliffe, who dared to make a joke about Puerto Rico at an October 2024 Trump rally.

Syracuse.com took umbrage with Patterson’s attacks on upstate New York, noting that the Orlando native had likened the food in Rochester, New York, to “pig slop” during one “Kill Tony” appearance, prompting Hinchcliffe to add that people in upstate New York settle down with “the first person that said they like you” before getting “stuck there, forever in eternal hell, while literally the rest of America laughs at you.”

RELATED: Dave Landau slays on ‘KILL TONY’

BlazeTV’s Dave Landau offered a different take, however.

“Kam is a genuinely kind person and comedian that crowds really love,” the comedian said. “I think ‘SNL’ is making the right choice with Kam because it’s about being funny, and comedy should never be about filling a quota or an agenda.”

Landau continued, saying that Patterson has already won, despite what critics are saying.

“Seeing people try to attack a black kid because he said he ‘voted for Trump’ is absurd. I hope he hits superstardom.”

On top of his many, many appearances on “Kill Tony” as an act, Patterson has also appeared on the panel at least four times (“Kill Tony” #633, #664, #700, and #710), despite outlet Pajiba claiming the reason he “hasn’t sat on a panel is because he’d overshadow everyone else.”

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​Comedy, Saturday night live, Kill tony, Woke, Politically correct, Entertainment 

The race for John Cornyn’s Senate seat is becoming more crowded as another Democrat announced his bid for the seat on Tuesday.

Texas Representative James Talarico, a self-described “progressive Christian,” announced on Tuesday that he will be throwing his hat in the ring to challenge incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn. Talarico’s bid is the most recent challenge in an already crowded field of Senate hopefuls.

‘We’re the underdogs in this fight. We’re going up against a rigged system and a lot of money.’

“I get the sense that there is a deep hunger across the political spectrum for a fundamentally different kind of politics,” Talarico said in an interview ahead of his announcement, according to the AP. “It’s been 10 years now of Trumpian politics, politics as a blood sport, … and there is a hunger 10 years later for a return to more timeless values of sincerity and honesty and compassion and respect.”

Talarico gained increased attention on social media when he sat down with Joe Rogan on “The Joe Rogan Experience” on July 18.

RELATED: ‘Progressive Christian’ claims abortion is biblical on Joe Rogan

Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images

“Billionaires have taken over Texas and taken over America — but together, we can take power back for working people,” Talarico said in a Tuesday morning X post.

In a request for campaign funding, Talarico delivered a similar message about punching upward in the race: “We’re the underdogs in this fight. We’re going up against a rigged system and a lot of money. Big Money is powerful, but it’s nothing compared to People Power.”

Talarico was also a leading figure in the Texas redistricting fight during July and August. Democrats fled the state in an attempt to delay the vote on the redistricting motion, which was ultimately passed in late August.

Senator John Cornyn will be running for a fifth term in the Senate. Democrats see a path to victory if Attorney General Ken Paxton beats Cornyn in the March primary.

Talarico joins a crowded field of Democrat candidates, including former NFL player Colin Allred and former astronaut Terry Virts. Beto O’Rourke has also reportedly not ruled out joining the race.

Talarico will reportedly launch his campaign with an event on Tuesday in his hometown of Round Rock, Texas, which is north of Austin.

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​Politics, James talarico, Texas, Texas senate, John cornyn, Texas redistricting, Texas redistricting fight, Joe rogan, Ag ken paxton, Ken paxton, Colin allred, Terry virts, Beto orourke 

A 34-year-old homeless man with a long criminal history has been arrested on charges of murdering a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee — who fled the war in Ukraine for a better life here in America.

Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly viciously stabbed Iryna Zarutksa on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22. CCTV footage revealed that the young woman was stabbed several times, including once in the neck.

She died on the spot.

“She was seeking the safety and the freedom and the promise that America still stood for something good. She never made it off that train alive because of the guy in the red hoodie. He’s a repeat offender, a man with a long rap sheet,” Blaze media co-founder Glenn Beck says, disturbed.

“Her name should be everywhere. Her story, when you see it, is like watching a horror film. It is extraordinarily evil and disturbing. Yet, outside of local coverage, you’re not seeing this anywhere,” he continues.

“No, there’s no wall-to-wall coverage, no breathless reporting, no endless panels on this,” he adds.

Glenn believes the mainstream media is ignoring this story because it “does not fit the narrative.”

George Floyd’s death in 2020 “generated tens of thousands of articles, cities were burned, corporations bent the knee,” and “media made it the moral center of the universe.”

“Why is this one completely invisible to the legacy media?” Glenn asks. “A young woman, an immigrant, a refugee, brutally loses her life on American soil, career criminal. Silence.”

“It brings up and makes you ask all the wrong questions. It shines a spotlight on a justice system that keeps turning violent men loose on the streets, over and over again. It reveals the double standard that screams louder than words, that some lives are politically useful,” he says, adding, “others are disposable.”

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​Sharing, Video, Camera phone, Upload, Free, Video phone, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Decarlos brown jr, Iryna zarutska, Charlotte, North carolina, George floyd, Democrats, The leftist media, Racism, Racial discrimination 

The owner of a Detroit clothing store said it took crooks only five minutes to steal $90,000 in merchandise from his place of business in a predawn heist Monday, WDIV-TV reported.

“When I get here, the police was already here, but the damage has already been done,” Waheed Ahmed, owner of J-Bees on Gratiot Avenue for 26 years, told the station. “Merchandise was gone.”

‘You know, when you’re in the community, you’re trying to bring good brands to the community, try to bring good quality things to the community, and you build a relationship with certain customers. So it’s like, what you gonna do? You gonna shut it down, or you gonna stay open?’

Ahmed, 57, told WDIV that security video showed the crooks arriving in a white minivan and a black pickup truck at 4:49 a.m.

At least a dozen individuals quickly exited the minivan while another group got out of the pickup, the station said.

By 4:53 a.m., the crooks smashed a window and door, forced open the storefront gate, and went inside, WDIV reported, adding that the crew emptied tables and shelves, destroyed mannequins, and broke into a back office.

The thieves were gone by 4:56 a.m., the station said — just five minutes to steal an estimated $90,000 worth of clothing, the station said.

RELATED: Crooks try getaway after daytime smash-and-grab heist of Rolex watches in downtown Chicago — but time runs out on them

“They moved quick. They had an idea what they wanted,” Dee, the store’s general manager for the last 15 years, told WDIV.

Dee added to the station that “they had, like, 12 to 15 guys. This is a routine. This is probably something that they do on the daily.”

WDIV noted that this incident is the second time this year that the store had been robbed in such a brutal fashion.

“I feel like someone came in and scoped the store out,” Dee added to the station. “They took a look around and seen where everything was at, where everything was set up — like the high-end merchandise — and that’s what they went after.”

More from WDIV:

Dee said that robberies like this are tiresome, and he feels the store needs more security and better protection with the help of Detroit police.

Both Ahmed and his general manager are frustrated with this type of crime, as they want to keep businesses like this in the neighborhood.

“You know, when you’re in the community, you’re trying to bring good brands to the community, try to bring good quality things to the community, and you build a relationship with certain customers,” Dee noted to the station. “So it’s like, what you gonna do? You gonna shut it down, or you gonna stay open?”

Ahmed added to WDIV that “I love this neighborhood. It’s been 26 years, so I am seeing a third generation in my place, so I get connected with the third generation.”

But the crime is taking a toll on him, too.

“I really enjoy doing business with them,” Ahmed noted to the station. “But I say it’s getting frustrating.”

Detroit police detectives arrived Monday afternoon to gather information about the robbery, WDIV said.

Between the damage and the stolen merchandise, Ahmed told the station that even with insurance, he could be looking at a total loss of at least $200,000.

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​Detroit, Clothing store, Theft, Organized retail theft, Crime 

Last week, Dearborn, Michigan — a city near Detroit known for its large Islamic population, which drives much of the city’s culture — proposed adding a patch to its police officers’ uniforms that read “Dearborn Heights Police” in Arabic script.

While some reacted to the idea positively, public outrage far outweighed support. Shortly after the idea was announced, Dearborn’s mayor walked the Arabic patch proposal back, and the police department clarified it was a premature, unapproved idea.

Glenn Beck says the incident is more evidence that “we no longer respect the ethics and the constitutional norms that created this country.”

The proposed change was supposedly just meant to reflect and honor the city’s large Muslim population, but Glenn says it’s far more than just “a small gesture of outreach.”

“It is a signal, and signals matter,” he says.

America was designed to be a melting pot: “You could come here from any land, speak any language, [practice] any faith, and … if you believed in the laws and the Constitution of America … and you upheld those things, we could melt together, and we could create something even greater than you could even imagine,” Glenn explains.

“We [don’t] erase cultures. We elevate what unites us instead of elevating what divides us, and we don’t bend our civic institutions to mirror any kind of tribal or religious identities. We don’t create parallel systems of justice or identity.”

Never in the history of this country has an immigrant or religious group had law enforcement “tailor itself to them,” he says.

In fact, it’s often been the opposite. Glenn points to Mormons, who were at one time persecuted for their faith, despite being “the most patriotic of any religion in America.” “They didn’t bend America to their faith; they bound their faith to America,” he says, adding that Catholics, too, have faced religious persecution in this country.

But for some reason, Muslims have not only avoided persecution, they’ve been catered to. “Week after week, from the pulpits of the local mosque [in Dearborn], the imams openly declare their goal — not to join the American project, but to replace it, not to preserve the Constitution, but to subvert it.”

“They preach the supremacy of sharia law over American law, and now the police department, a symbol of our secular constitutional order, decides they want to appeal to that group? To wear that identity on its uniform?” says Glenn. “That’s not inclusion. That’s not assimilation. That’s not the melting pot. It’s the opposite. It’s balkanization at its kindest.”

“It is the state bending towards the demand of a religious political ideology that seeks to replace our American civilization. Let me be really, super clear on this: This cannot stand,” he warns.

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

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Former Obama adviser Van Jones and CNN talking head Abby Phillip attacked Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Monday for daring to suggest that racial animus may have been a factor in the savage Aug. 22 murder of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The liberal chatterboxes’ eagerness to avoid the controversy over the murder becoming — as Phillip put it — “some sort of, like, reciprocal George Floyd situation” evidently had them overlook what the alleged murderer apparently says in the gruesome footage of the stabbing.

From avoidance to spin

The liberal media appeared keen to overlook 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska’s murder last month on the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, even in the wake of revelations about suspected killer Decarlos Brown’s lengthy criminal history and the release of footage showing the stabbing.

When the horrific story and the reaction to it online became too big to ignore, some outfits belatedly attempted to cure the narrative on Monday.

The New York Times, for instance, concern-mongered about the unprovoked stabbing turning into “an accelerant for conservative arguments about the perceived failings of Democratic policies,” suggesting it might be “successfully used” like Laken Riley’s murder by an illegal alien.

CNN, among the liberal outfits that delayed covering the murder, similarly attempted to orient the public’s focus away from what set the stage for Zarutska’s murder and toward political implications of the backlash.

RELATED: Wikipedia editors are trying to scrub the record clean of Iryna Zarutska’s slaughter by violent thug

AzmanL/Getty Images

The eponymous host of “NewsNight with Abby Phillip” kicked off the panel discussion Monday evening stating that she was “trying to understand why this has become such a flashpoint on the right.”

Phillip, Van Jones, and other liberal panelists did not appear particularly receptive to the explanation offered early on by Republican strategist and commentator Brad Todd — that every murder is a tragedy but this one is particularly tragic because it was so avoidable.

“The man who committed this crime was out on cashless bail, which has been a crusade of the political left. He also has a repeat offender, career criminal, 14 times he was arrested,” said Todd. “He clearly is someone who should not have been out on bail in January when he was released on bail.”

Strategic deafness

After some of the panelists tried to center the conversation on the theme of mental illness, Phillip played a clip from Charlie Kirk where the conservative noted:

A white Ukrainian refugee was murdered just because she was white. Everybody knows that, obviously. … If a random white person simply walked up to and stabbed a nice, law-abiding black person for no reason, it would be an apocalyptically huge national story used to impose national, sweeping political changes on the whole country.

“Van, they’ve been looking for opportunities to make this some sort of, like, reciprocal George Floyd situation,” said Phillip. “And that’s the part that I think he’s almost giving away the game. It’s sad to see a lot of people going along with it.”

RELATED: Mainstream media turns a blind eye to vicious stabbing of young Ukrainian woman

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Before suggesting that there were no “sweeping changes imposed on society” following the death of George Floyd, Jones first stated that “we don’t know why that man did what he did.”

“For Charlie Kirk to say, ‘We know he did it because she’s white,’ when there’s no evidence of that, is just pure race-mongering, hate-mongering. It’s wrong,” continued the former Obama adviser. “He should be ashamed of himself. No one mentioned the word ‘race,’ ‘white, ‘black,’ or anything except him.”

Contrary to Jones’ suggestion, the violent thug who murdered Zarutska, an aspiring veterinarian assistant, appears to repeatedly say in the video as blood dropped from his knife, “I got that white girl.”

Blaze News has reached out to Kirk for comment.

FBI Director Kash Patel indicated Monday evening that the “FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one.”

Decarlos Brown has been charged with first-degree murder. Blaze News has reached out to the DOJ about whether Brown might face federal hate crime charges as well.

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With Rep. John James (R-Mich.) turning his sights to the governor’s mansion in Michigan, some conservatives have been on the hunt for someone who can take James’ place representing the 10th district of Michigan in Congress. And they think they’ve found their man — Captain Mike Bouchard, son of longtime Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

Back in July, the super PAC Draft Captain Mike Bouchard announced a list of those who hope to entice the 31-year-old Michigan Army National Guard captain to run as a Republican for the seat James will vacate at the end of this term. The 19 initial names on that list included: his father, Sheriff Bouchard; Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido; and Macomb County Treasurer Larry Rocca.

‘He’s a true American warrior.’

That list has since grown to 32 supporters, including rock legend Ted Nugent, former Michigan Gov. John Engler and his wife, and former state Attorney General Bill Schuette, according to a press release given to Blaze News.

Sheriff Bouchard, who took the reins at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in 1999, expressed enthusiasm for his son’s candidacy.

“My son … is an amazing person and is very qualified to do this,” the sheriff told Blaze News.

“He wanted to be in the Army from the time he was tiny,” the proud dad continued. “… He feels very strongly about serving this country, and I think the next step in his mind would be to serve in a different capacity where his experience and knowledge could help.”

“He’s just wanting to make a difference.”

RELATED: Rep. John James hammers Michigan GOP over political failures: ‘What are we even talking about?’

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Sheriff Bouchard has been a familiar name in Michigan and Republican circles for more than 30 years. He spent nearly a decade in the Michigan legislature before turning to law enforcement. He was named the Ferris E. Lucas Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriffs’ Association in 2016, the sheriff of the year by the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association in 2022, and the sheriff of the year by Major County Sheriffs of America just this year.

Captain Bouchard, a full-time operations officer with the Michigan National Guard, is currently deployed to the Middle East but is expected to return home sometime this fall. He could not be reached for comment.

Other conservatives are also hopeful he’ll agree to jump in the race.

“While playing a sold-out concert in Macomb County, I heard the news that Army Captain Mike Bouchard may be running for Congress,” Nugent said, according to the press release. “I couldn’t be more excited! He’s a true American warrior, currently serving overseas, and I know he’ll be a relentless fighter for us in Washington.”

“I am proud to support Captain Mike Bouchard for Congress,” added a statement from Schuette. “I served in Congress. I know what it takes to succeed and to serve Michigan — and Mike Bouchard has exactly the right skills and talent to get the job done.”

In response to a request for comment about Captain Bouchard’s possible candidacy, a spokesperson for Rep. James told Blaze News, “Given the current dynamics and potential candidates in Michigan’s 10th District, John’s confident [Republicans] will hold the seat.”

Other Republicans who have expressed interest in running for the 10th congressional district of Michigan, covering an area just north of Detroit, include state Rep. Joe Aragona, assistant prosecutor Robert Lulgjuraj of Sterling Heights, and former Oakland County GOP Chairman Rocky Raczkowski of Troy, the Detroit News reported.

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