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A Florida man celebrated his birthday on July 4 by stealing a tourist train in Key West, picking up passengers, and having a meth pipe in his possession, according to police.

Citing the arrest report, WPLG-TV said police received a call just before 11:30 a.m. Friday that a man had stolen the Conch Tour Train.

The arrest report states Winslow picked up ‘two random passengers’ while driving the trolley.

Police officers responded to the Conch Tour Train Depot, where they were informed that one of the trackless trolley trains had been hijacked.

According to the arrest report, police said Jonathan Patrick Winslow of Big Torch Key — who indeed was celebrating his 57th birthday — left his Kia vehicle in the train depot’s parking lot while it was still running “with rock music playing on the radio.”

A train depot employee told police that Winslow claimed to have worked at the tourism business years ago and wanted to take a tour of the train, WPLG said, citing the arrest report.

However, the worker reportedly told officers that Winslow got into the trolley and drove away.

The employee was “confused” but allegedly told investigators that perhaps Winslow had received permission to drive the train. As you might imagine, that wasn’t the case.

Tour company employees reportedly told police that GPS could track the train — and it turns out that it was on the move in downtown Key West.

The arrest report states Winslow picked up “two random passengers” while driving the trolley.

Police said officers were able to track down the stolen Conch Tour Train at the massively popular Southernmost Point Buoy tourist attraction and stop it before anything tragic occurred during the wild ride.

RELATED: Cheap hot dog sparks deadly dispute at nudist resort that ends in grisly deaths of elderly couple and dog: Police

The arrest report states that Winslow “exhibited rapid speech and appeared excited” while officers informed him that he would be arrested.

Police allegedly claimed Winslow told them that he merely “borrowed” the train. WPLG reported that Winslow told officers that he previously worked at the Conch Tour Train Depot; police said he stressed that “today is his birthday.”

Winslow was arrested and transported to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Key West jail facility.

Authorities said a methamphetamine pipe was discovered in Winslow’s pocket when a corrections deputy searched him at the jail, according to the arrest report.

Winslow allegedly asserted, “It’s a weed pipe.” However, investigators disagreed.

Winslow was charged with burglary, grand theft auto, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jail records show Winslow was being detained on a $60,000 bond.

RELATED: Man once tried to outrun police on a mule — now he’s in jail for allegedly weaponizing a raccoon

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​Florida man, Florida crime, Florida news, Strange news, Odd news, Weird news, Key west, Florida, Crime, Birthday, Methamphetamine, Train theft, Arrest 

Former President Joe Biden’s White House doctor pled the Fifth to every question asked by House Oversight Committee experts Wednesday. He doesn’t want to cooperate, but more, he is worried that he’s in real legal jeopardy. He should be worried, and Republicans should play hardball but also keep one thing in mind: Dr. Kevin O’Connor is just a mob doctor — and they’re after the bosses.

The scope of O’Connor’s evasiveness in video released by the committee is wild to watch. Citing his lawyers, he begins by asserting his right not to self-incriminate under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to questions as basic as whether he understands the rules of how questioning will work, a request that he speak clearly and respond to questions verbally, instructions for him to ask for clarity if he doesn’t understand a question, and a warning that if he lies or conceals the whole truth, he can be charged with perjury.

Who knew about all this? Who told Biden’s doctor what, and when did they do so? Those people matter more than the doctor, but he could prove useful in getting to them.

Then they got to the meat of it, asking whether there’s “any reason” he would not be truthful in his answers, whether he had ever been asked to lie about the president’s health, and whether he ever believed the president was unfit to “exercise his duties.” Fifth, Fifth, Fifth. Oh, and his lawyers finished up with a statement citing his duty to protect the privacy of the patient-doctor relationship.

Except that wasn’t his only duty. The White House doctor is a military officer charged with legitimately private matters, such as if the president is suffering from some embarrassing discomfort, but also his fitness for exercising the constitutional duties of his office. If the doctor believes the president is unable to serve, he’s required to report this to the Cabinet and potentially answer to Congress. O’Connor clearly felt differently.

“On the advice of counsel, I must respectfully decline to answer in reliance on my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” he repeated, verbatim, to every question asked. “I am not a lawyer and must follow my lawyers’ advice on this matter.”

Democrats set a powerful and recent precedent when they charged former White House officials Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro with contempt of Congress and sent both men to prison with thousands of dollars in fines. There are consequences for defying Congress, and the example is fresh in Washington’s minds.

Republicans should take this precedent seriously, and by all signs, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is taking it seriously. Prison should be on the docket, and the committee should loudly and publicly make this clear. But putting the doctor in prison should not be the actual goal.

O’Connor is just the equivalent of a mob doctor, and you don’t put mob doctors in prison when you can get more out of them than that. If he needs to plead the Fifth at all, there’s good reason to believe his lawyers know he’s in deep trouble. When he has to plead the Fifth to questions about being asked to lie, it’s a very strong indication that the president’s mental decline was more broadly known — and potentially illegally hidden — from lawful oversight.

We know a neurologist who specializes in Parkinson’s disease visited the Biden White House at least eight times, and we know the White House spokeswoman refused to answer why. So what was the reason?

Who knew about all this? Who told Biden’s doctor what, and when did they do so? Those people matter more than the doctor, but he could prove useful in getting to them. So while Republicans should publicly (and seriously) threaten prison time, in private, they should offer Dr. O’Connor immunity.

There are different types of immunity they can offer, too. There’s transaction immunity, or blanket immunity, from prosecution in exchange for useful evidence that helps the committee move up the totem pole.

Then there’s use immunity, which would protect O’Connor from being prosecuted over things he reveals in his testimony or evidence derived from that testimony. That way, if he fails to disclose important details that investigators uncover independently, he can be prosecuted for those — and thus has reason to be entirely and totally truthful and helpful.

There’s even limited-use immunity, which would promise a legal shield over violating certain laws within certain periods of time.

The doctor’s got a lot on his hands here. More, he’s friends with the Biden family, not just a randomly selected military attaché. That bodes poorly for him, but don’t let that distract from the goal of unraveling the plot to the highest levels possible.

The available tools here are extensive. Congress just has to use them.

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​Opinion & analysis, Politics 

Juliette Bryant is an alleged survivor of Jeffrey Epstein who was lured into his orbit under the pretense that Jean-Luc Brunel’s modeling agency would skyrocket her modeling career.

“I was at a bar restaurant with a friend of mine, and then I was approached by a woman called Naja Hill, who apparently worked for Fox News years later. She approached me, and she said that her friend was here,” Bryant tells BlazeTV host Alex Stein on “Prime Time with Alex Stein.”

Hill allegedly called her friend the “king of America” and told her he was there with Bill Clinton, owned his own island, and his friend owned Victoria’s Secret before asking her if she’d like to meet him.

“It would be good for obviously my modeling career, you know, I was young,” she tells Stein, “it sounded like the most amazing opportunity.”

Bryant then tells Stein that she went to a restaurant where Epstein, Clinton, and Kevin Spacey, along with a few others, were waiting, before they all met and shook hands.

“Bill Clinton actually held onto my hand for a very long time. It was very weird,” she says.

The next day, Hill called Bryant to tell her that Epstein “really liked” her, thought she’d “be great for Victoria’s Secret,” and that she should bring her modeling portfolio to the Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, where they were staying.

While there, she saw Clinton give a speech at the Western Cape Peninsula Technikon, which she describes as a lower income university in the Western Cape.

“I obviously wanted to go watch the speech, and I did, and what I did notice was Kevin Spacey was filming all the students in the hall. I don’t know why,” she tells Stein. “After the speech, we went back to the hotel, and then they looked at my modeling portfolio, and the girls were sitting there, and Bill Clinton walked past and witnessed the whole modeling casting.”

“Then, Epstein looked at my modeling portfolio and said he thought I’d be perfect for Victoria’s Secret, and he wanted to bring me over,” she explains. “After that, his office started phoning, and Leslie Graff arranged to get me a visa, and get me to New York, and I was there within three weeks.”

After Epstein’s arrest and alleged suicide, some of the celebrities Bryant saw with Epstein denied being affiliated with him — including Kevin Spacey, who claimed in an interview that he didn’t know who Epstein was when he was flying on Epstein’s airplane.

“I don’t understand how someone can fly on someone’s airplane and sit at dinner with them and not know who they are. I mean, that’s an ultimate lie,” Bryant says. “It’s very strange that he’s gone out and done this interview, because it makes you wonder why. It’s like, is he about to be exposed further? What about his accusers that were found dead?”

Want more from Alex Stein?

To enjoy more of Alex’s culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Camera phone, Video phone, Upload, Video, Sharing, Free, Youtube.com, Prime time with alex stein, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Epstein, Jeffrey epstein, Epstein island, Juliette bryant, Epstein survivor, Bill clinton, Prince charles, Michael bay, Kevin spacey 

The Department of Homeland Security forcefully denied an article from CNN claiming that DHS Sec. Kristi Noem delayed deployment of search and rescue teams to the devastating flooding in Texas.

The CNN story said that search and rescue teams are usually deployed in anticipation of a disaster, but in the case of the Texas floods, they were delayed by several days after the flooding event. The report blamed a new cost-saving measure implemented by Noem that required a personal sign-off for any spending above $100,000.

‘Display of activist journalism and distracts from the robust, coordinated federal response led by Secretary Noem that has saved over 900+ lives.’

The report depended on four sources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency who spoke to the outlet anonymously. They said the $100,000 sign-off requirement would significantly hamstring their efforts.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told CNN that other search and rescue assets were used before the need for FEMA resources rose to the point that Noem signed off on the expenditure.

“FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric deadweight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens,” read a statement from McLaughlin. “The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades.”

CNN also claimed that by Monday, only 86 FEMA staffers had been deployed to the disaster, which was “a fraction” of the response typically ordered for such an operation. That number increased to 311 staffers by Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday the official account for DHS responded on social media.

“This is a FAKE NEWS LIE from CNN. This reporting is an unapparelled [sic] display of activist journalism and distracts from the robust, coordinated federal response led by Secretary Noem that has saved over 900+ lives,” read the statement.

“While these ‘journalists’ slept comfortably in D.C., Secretary Noem deployed to Texas, working day and night to approve every possible need that search and rescue workers had,” the agency added. “Within moments of the flooding in Texas, DHS assets, including the U.S. Coast Guard, tactical Border Patrol units and FEMA personnel surged into unprecedented action alongside Texas first responders. The U.S. Coast Guard alone rescued over 230 Americans.”

RELATED: NY newspaper nailed with backlash over cartoon mocking MAGA victims of Texas floods: ‘Twisted, vile, and shameful’

The statement went on to tout Noem’s “breakthrough” management of the emergency response that focused on sending funding support immediately to the states to jump-start local response efforts.

“President Trump approved a Major Disaster Declaration, hours after Governor Greg Abbott’s request. By Tuesday, FEMA had deployed 311 staffers, providing support and shelter for hundreds of people,” the statement added. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is reforming FEMA to prioritize state-led, locally executed disaster response, as Texas has exemplified.”

Blaze News reached out to CNN for comment about the response from the DHS, and a CNN spokesperson responded with the following statement: “We stand by our reporting.”

At least 119 people are confirmed dead from the flooding.

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​Noem delays, Texas flooding disaster, Cnn vs noem, Dhs rips into cnn, Politics 

An appeals court on Wednesday overturned the felony conviction of a pro-Trump social media influencer who was facing prison time for posting satirical memes on Twitter.

Douglass Mackey, also previously known online as Ricky Vaughn, joined “The Glenn Beck Program” on Thursday to share his reaction to the recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

‘Unfortunately, it’s not part of the sweeping constitutional ruling that we wanted, but nevertheless, it’s a great victory.’

After battling the charges for four and a half years and facing a seven-month prison sentence, Mackey told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, “Only faith can get you through it.”

— (@)

During the 2016 election, Mackey posted memes on his Twitter account, which he told Beck had about 10,000 followers. He noted that he previously had an account with over 60,000 followers, but it was suspended before he made the posts referenced in the Biden Department of Justice’s case against him.

“Save time,” the posts read. “Avoid the line.”

It included instructions on how to “vote from home” for then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via text message.

The posts received only about 100 likes, according to Mackey.

Beck stated, “You have to be a nincompoop to believe this [meme is real].”

RELATED: Appeals court tosses out Biden-era conviction of social media troll for election interference

Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

Despite what some would argue was a clear satirical post, Mackey was convicted in 2023 of conspiracy against rights for attempting to interfere with Americans’ right to vote in the 2016 election.

Mackey shared the details of his arrest with Beck.

“Four FBI agents knocked on my door at 7 a.m., and that was seven days after Joe Biden was inaugurated,” he said. “They said, ‘Are you Douglass Mackey? We have a warrant for your arrest.’ The first words out of my mouth were, ‘For what?'”

“At the time, I wasn’t even on Twitter. But back in the 2016 election cycle, I tweeted thousands of times. So I had no idea. But I did know that once they make you an enemy that it’s like, ‘Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime,'” Mackey continued. “I was very curious to see what they had cooked up.”

Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston, one of the three judges on the appeals court panel, found that prosecutors’ evidence was “inadequate to show his knowing participation in a conspiracy.”

While prosecutors claimed that 4,900 unique phone numbers texted the number provided in Mackey’s meme, 98% received an automated reply informing them that Clinton’s campaign was not affiliated with the post, Livingston noted.

“The government presented no evidence at trial that Mackey’s tweets tricked anyone into failing properly to vote,” the judge wrote.

RELATED: Critics ask whether DOJ will give Jimmy Kimmel the Douglass Mackey treatment for ‘election interference’

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Mackey called the case “a total humiliation” for the Biden DOJ.

He expressed some disappointment that the appeals court’s decision was not a “sweeping” constitutional victory.

“These appellate courts, once they come to a conclusion on, let’s say, one of the grounds, they don’t rule on all the other grounds,” Mackey explained. “Unfortunately, it’s not part of the sweeping constitutional ruling that we wanted, but nevertheless, it’s a great victory.”

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​News, Glenn beck, Douglass mackey, Ricky vaughn, Hillary clinton, 2016 presidential election, Presidential election, Presidential election 2016, Joe biden, Biden, Biden doj, Biden administration, Department of justice, Doj, Memes, Meme, Politics 

In his latest crusade to rein in spending, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has set his sights on the Federal Reserve.

Vought called out Chairman Jerome Powell for greenlighting luxury renovations to the Fed’s Washington, D.C., headquarters that exceeded the original budget by roughly $700 million, totaling roughly $2.5 billion. The renovations include a rooftop terrace with gardens, VIP dining rooms and elevators, “premium” marble, and water features.

“The president is extremely troubled by your management of the Federal Reserve System,” Vought said in a statement. “Instead of attempting to right the Fed’s fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious overhaul of your Washington, D.C., headquarters.”

“The cost per square foot is $1,923 — double the cost for renovating an ordinary historic federal building,” Vought added. “The Palace of Versailles would have cost $3 billion in today’s dollars!”

‘Chairman Jerome Powell has grossly mismanaged the Fed.’

RELATED: Russ Vought gives Glenn Beck hint about where things stand between Trump and Musk

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Vought also pointed to Powell’s congressional testimony in June, where he denied that the lavish renovations were taking place. Vought said Powell’s testimony “raises serious questions” about the renovation’s compliance with the National Capital Planning Act, which would require the project to be approved by the National Capital Planning Commission.

“Although minor deviations from approved plans may be inevitable, your testimony appears to reveal that the project is out of compliance with the approved plan with regard to the major design elements,” Vought said. “This would bring the project outside of the NCPC’s approval and thus in violation of the NCPA, and require the Fed to immediately halt construction and obtain a new approval from the NCPC before proceeding any further.”

RELATED: Exclusive: Trump 2026 budget to slash funds for migrant programs

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The renovations were originally approved by the NCPC in September 2021 and featured plans to include the luxurious water features, terrace gardens, VIP elevators, and private dining rooms.

During the hearing, however, Powell insisted that these renovations were not taking place despite no changes being made to the original project.

“There’s no VIP dining room. There’s no new marble. There are no special elevators,” Powell said during the hearing. “There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”

Powell claimed that the construction plans previously approved in 2021 have since changed. Despite his claim, the Fed would not be able to change these plans without formally submitting the modifications to the NCPC and the Commission of Fine Arts. According to the NCPC’s website, the latest approval for the project was submitted in September 2021, and there have been no new requests filed since then.

Because of these discrepancies, Vought said OMB will be conducting further oversight on the project.

“Chairman Jerome Powell has grossly mismanaged the Fed.”

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​Jerome powell, Russ vought, Omb, Office of management and budget, Federal reserve, The fed, Ncpa, Ncpc, Versailles, Donald trump, Trump administration, Politics 

The Trump administration’s Department of Education announced a move to prevent American tax dollars from being used by illegal aliens.

‘Under President Trump’s leadership, hardworking American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for illegal aliens to participate in our career, technical, or adult education programs or activities.’

On Thursday, the Education Department revealed that it rescinded a Clinton-era interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act that allowed illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer subsidies for postsecondary education.

RELATED: America’s largest teachers’ union declares war on the Trump administration, will use kids as foot soldiers

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The department’s new interpretive rule also ensures that unqualified illegal aliens remain ineligible to access programs authorized under the Higher Education Act, including Pell Grants and student loans.

The Clinton administration issued a “Dear Colleague” letter in 1997 that “erroneously exempted career, technical, and adult education programs from being subject to PRWORA,” the department wrote.

In a Federal Register notice that has not yet been published, the Education Department wrote, “On February 19, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14218 (Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders), directing agencies, among other actions, to ensure that federally funded programs are operating in compliance with PRWORA.”

“For the reasons described herein, the Department has concluded that Federal programs administered by the Department that provide postsecondary education and other similar benefits, including adult education and career and technical education programs, are ‘Federal public benefits’ subject to the citizenship and immigration verification requirements of PRWORA,” the department declared.

RELATED: America First in action: Trump’s HHS slams the brakes on illegal aliens draining taxpayer funds

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon argued that taxpayer-funded education programs were only meant to be accessed by American citizens.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, hardworking American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for illegal aliens to participate in our career, technical, or adult education programs or activities. The Department will ensure that taxpayer funds are reserved for citizens and individuals who have entered our country through legal means who meet federal eligibility criteria,” McMahon said.

The Trump administration’s HHS made a similar announcement on Thursday, stating that it rescinded a Clinton-era interpretation that allowed illegal immigrants to receive federal health care benefits.

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​News, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Department of education, Education department, Linda mcmahon, Clinton, Bill clinton, Clinton administration, Clinton admin, Personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act, Prwora, Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, Immigration crisis, Immigration, Illegal immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Politics 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The order, set to go into effect on July 27, made it U.S. policy not to issue citizenship documents to a person whose mother was unlawfully in the country and whose father was neither an American citizen nor a permanent resident at the time of the person’s birth.

A number of individuals, organizations, and states took the Trump administration to court over the order, obtaining universal injunctions against its implementation. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 27 that these injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts.”

Liberal litigants, desperate for an alternative, have since pursued universal injunctions under the guise of class-action lawsuits.

Joseph Laplante of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire is among the federal judges who is apparently happy to help torpedo the democratically elected president’s agenda.

On Thursday, Laplante, a George W. Bush appointee, granted class action status to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the birthright citizenship order, certifying the babies of illegal aliens and temporary migrants as a class.

He then issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily shielding the supposed class from the order’s enforcement.

After the Supreme Court ruling in CASA, immigration activists requested that Laplante certify a class “of all current and future children who are or will be denied United States citizenship by Executive Order No. 14160 … and their parents.”

RELATED: ‘Game of whack-a-mole’: Leftists have new favorite way to block MAGA agenda — without universal injunctions

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Laplante obliged the activists, although he slightly narrowed the certified class, enjoining the Trump administration from implementing the order with regard to:

all current and future persons who are born on or after February 20, 2025, where (1) that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.

“This ruling is a huge victory and will help protect the citizenship of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution intended,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, which argued the case.

This class-wide injunction has the same effect as a nationwide injunction.

‘This needs to end.’

Laplante’s decision comes just a week after the Obama judge overseeing a case concerning Trump’s asylum ban certified all border-jumping asylum-seekers “who are now or will be present in the United States” as a protected class, then barred the administration from expelling members of the class — a ruling the government quickly appealed.

RELATED: Trump fighting ‘unconstitutional power grab’ by Obama judge who reopened the floodgates

Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

Justice Samuel Alito cautioned district courts against such actions in his concurring opinion in CASA Inc., noting, “Rule 23 may permit the certification of nationwide classes in some discrete scenarios. But district courts should not view today’s decision as an invitation to certify nationwide classes without scrupulous adherence to the rigors of Rule 23. Otherwise, the universal injunction will return from the grave under the guise of ‘nationwide class relief.'”

A senior White House official speaking to Blaze News this week about liberal litigants’ class-action strategy noted, “We’re ready to go immediately. We’re prepared for every outcome.”

Laplante’s ruling has already prompted some outrage among Republicans.

Rep. Mike Collins (Ga.) noted, “No one elected judges to make nationwide policy. This needs to end.”

“This is absurdity and complete madness that has to end,” wrote Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.). “We cannot allow activist judges to halt the work of a president who is carrying out the work that the American people elected him to do.”

Evidently fed up with the games played by activists on and off the bench, Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) indicated he will introduce legislation next week to “end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants once and for all.”

Laplante’s ruling won’t go into effect for seven days, affording the Trump administration time to appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the relief.

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​Donald trump, Birthright citizenship, Joseph laplante, Universal injunction, Injunction, Citizenship, Illegal aliens, Politics 

All eyes are on the New York district represented by Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after a group of violent, illegal alien gang members were arrested by federal authorities.

Eight members of the18th Street gang — a transnational gang started by Mexicans — were pulled off of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, New York, an area in AOC’s district that is now rife with gang activity and illegal migrants.

The suspects, seven of whom are illegal immigrants, are accused of unleashing terror in Queens through “assaults, extortion,” drug trafficking, and more, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz told Fox News.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, according to locals, who say these gang members are part of a complex network of criminals who have been burrowing into the city for years.

‘Roosevelt Avenue is like a completely different world — fake passports, guns, prostitution, all out in the open.’

A sense of safety is now considered a luxury in Queens, as constant outbreaks of violence and theft have permeated the streets. In a game of “pick your perennial poison” on Roosevelt Avenue, New Yorkers get to experience the third world through a bevy of prostitutes, illegal street vendors, and hotels packed to the brim with illegal immigrants paid for by their own tax dollars.

As they rubberneck their way down their own streets, citizens also need to keep a firm grip on their electronics as cellphone-snatching illegal aliens whisk by on scooters.

“At their peak, migrant gangs in Midtown Manhattan were pulling off 10 to 15 robberies a day,” said investigative reporter and New Yorker Oren Levy.

“The phone-snatching scooter crews alone hit 30 to 40 victims daily, swooping in like vultures to snatch phones and vanish before anyone could blink,” Levy reported.

Not only are taxpayers footing the bill for the migrant hotels, but the hotels themselves have become operation centers for gang members to gather and coordinate their activities.

RELATED: Creep grabs young woman waiting for train and tells her, ‘You’re mine now.’ But men nearby aren’t about to let that happen.

— (@)

Highly organized gangs with specialized crews rob anyone from kids to seniors as they pickpocket, shoplift, and run guns all around Gotham City. These crimes involve GPS trackers, Wi-Fi jamming devices, and encrypted phones to stay under the radar as they conduct home invasions and robberies.

This, all under Ocasio-Cortez’s watch, has residents describing the area as the “third world.”

“Roosevelt Avenue is like a completely different world — fake passports, guns, prostitution, all out in the open,” reporter Levy told Blaze News.

“As someone who actually knows the location, I’ll tell you the truth: It’s gangland. The city shows up, cleans it up for a moment, and then it all goes right back to the same mess. Nothing ever really changes in gangland,” Levy reinforced.

RELATED: President Trump goes SCORCHED-EARTH on AOC

In addition to the crime, the “third-world” feeling on Roosevelt is hammered home by the endless columns of illegal street vendors.

“I understand people want to make a living the right way without hurting anyone, but when you walk down Roosevelt Avenue, vendors line the blocks from one end to the other,” Levy explained. “Some of them are completely unsanitary, and at times it looks and feels like a third-world country.”

Even the most sophisticated photography is unable to hide the countless vendors who make the streets even tighter and more unsafe for residents.

But public safety is indeed the top priority, according to Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.). Meng told Fox News that “dangerous criminals who commit violent crimes must be held accountable.”

There are indeed plenty of those criminals to choose from, according to Levy.

“I’ve been on the ground there, breaking story after story,” he said, pointing to brothels being run out of bodegas and random street stabbings.

A person was even reportedly stabbed for not giving a person a cigarette. “That’s the state of Roosevelt,” the reporter sadly admitted.

Representatives for Ocasio-Cortez did not reply to Blaze News’ request for comment.

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​Crime, New york, Aoc, Queens, Illegal immigration, Migrants, Politics 

Over Fourth of July weekend, Kerrville, Texas, was devastated by catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River, which rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes. The floods have claimed more than 100 lives, many of whom were children, but that number is expected to rise, as there are still several missing people.

While Central Texas is known for flooding — sometimes severe flooding — what happened last week is unprecedented in its severity. Many aren’t convinced that this was just a freak act of nature. There are growing theories that the floods were caused by human tampering with weather patterns — specifically cloud seeding, a technique where chemicals are released into clouds to encourage them to produce precipitation.

One person in the crosshairs of this theory is Augustus Doricko, founder and CEO of Rainmaker, a U.S.-based climate technology company specializing in cloud seeding. He’s been directly blamed for the Texas floods after it was discovered that his company seeded clouds in Texas just two days before the torrential rain began.

Yesterday, Glenn Beck invited Doricko on “The Glenn Beck Program” to plead his case.

“So explain what cloud seeding does and how you know you didn’t have anything to do with [the floods],” Glenn says.

While weather modification sounds like a modern practice, Doricko says it’s been going on since the 1940s when it was developed “to increase water supply for farms, for ecosystem conservation, for reservoirs, for residences, and also our industries.”

Cloud seeding “relies on identifying liquid in clouds and then releasing particulates, specifically silver iodide, into those clouds that the water freezes onto into big snowflakes and then become heavy enough to fall as rain,” Doricko explains, noting that the practice is “paid for by farmers and utilities and government entities that want more water for their constituents.”

While cloud seeding is a highly effective practice — it “can produce tens of millions of gallons of precipitation distributed over hundreds of square miles over the course of about an hour or two,” Doricko says — it could not produce the amount of precipitation that fell in Central Texas last weekend. “The remnants of tropical storm Barry that blew in and caused the flooding, that storm dumped trillions of gallons,” he differentiates.

One of the reasons Doricko has been specifically blamed for the deadly Texas floods is because Rainmaker seeded clouds in Texas on July 2 — two days before the rain began.

“We seeded two clouds, two small clouds, with about 70 grams’ worth of silver iodide,” he says, noting that while there was rainfall as a result, the clouds “dissipated about two hours after” and “could not have stayed suspended in the atmosphere by the time that the flooding started happening.”

Further, in accordance with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s suspension criteria, Rainmaker stopped its cloud-seeding operations even before the National Weather Service issued flood warnings.

“We at Rainmaker earnestly believe that this is God’s kingdom to steward, and it is our job to do no harm and do as much good as we can,” Doricko tells Glenn, noting that he became a Christian at age 20 and was actually “baptized in Dallas.”

While he stressed the need to “be cautious” to “mitigate any potential for any damage,” he also warned against banning the technology outright. Not only would it “prevent farmers from having water,” but it would also put even greater distance between the United States and China, which has an enormous weather modification program.

“The United States a year ago spent $2.4 million on cloud-seeding research,” while “China has an annual budget of $1.4 billion for cloud seeding and weather modification,” says Doricko. “They have 35,000 employees in their weather modification office,” and “they have two universities that offer bachelor’s degrees in weather engineering.”

“If the United States bans this technology wholesale … not only will we be behind China, but we won’t have regulatory statutes or the capability to monitor who is modifying the weather in the United States and otherwise,” he warns.

While Doricko agrees that weather modification sounds scary, cloud seeding is distinct from other more extreme weather modification practices. Cloud seeding encourages precipitation using “existing puffy clouds,” but “geoengineering is a global climatic intervention designed to either cool the planet down or create reflective high-altitude clouds,” he tells Glenn.

But Glenn still has questions. He points to speculation that the devastating double hurricanes — Helene and Milton — that impacted Florida and North Carolina last year were a result of cloud seeding.

“I never believed any of that stuff, but can it be done?” he asks.

“No. It, at this point in time, cannot be done,” Doricko replies.

However, he is a proponent of exploring how we might “mitigate severe weather,” like hurricanes, in the future. “I think that it would be abdicating our responsibility to try to tend to the world that God gave us if we didn’t at least think about it,” he says.

To hear Glenn’s response, watch the clip above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Augustus doricko, Cloud seeding, Weather modification, Geoengineering, Blazetv, Blaze media, Kerrville, Kerville texas, Texas, Texas floods, Camp mystic 

A Florida man on the evening of the Fourth of July noticed a rear door of his mother’s home in Osceola County was left open, so he entered the residence, WKMG-TV reported, citing the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.

RELATED: Armed intruder breaks into home after midnight. But homeowner’s son also has a gun — and permanently takes care of business.

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

After reportedly hearing strange noises, the man armed himself with a revolver, the station said. WOFL-TV reported that the noises were coming from the back bedroom.

‘Don’t let the libs hear about this … they’ll be pushing to put the shooter in jail.’

After the man called out to see if anyone else was in the home, an alleged intruder emerged from a hallway and charged toward him, WKMG said, citing the sheriff’s office.

With that, the man fired a single shot into the alleged intruder’s leg, WKMG reported.

Deputies responded around 8:30 p.m. to the home along Deer Run Road where the homeowner’s son was holding the alleged burglar — Mitchell Platt, 37 — at gunpoint, WKMG said.

The man who fired the shot was not injured, investigators added to WKMG.

Platt was hospitalized for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, was released, was then arrested, and was being held on no bond for charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling and possession of burglary tools, WKMG said.

RELATED: Female accused of stabbing pregnant woman 14 times in front of victim’s 5-year-old daughter over $2 pizza delivery tip

Mitchell Platt. Image source: Osceola County (Fla.) Jail

Osceola County court records show Platt “having a number of court cases relating to arrests for drug possession, theft, and burglary,” WESH-TV reported.

Those with information about the incident are asked to call the sheriff’s office’s non-emergency line at 407-348-2222, WKMG noted.

Not all of the observers who left comments under Yahoo News’ republication of WOFL’s story were completely satisfied with the outcome of the incident:

“You, sir, need more time at the gun range!!!” one commenter declared. “Why[?] Because IT lived.””At the leg. Oh, please,” another commenter lamented. “You ought to practice more at the range. Now, your tax [dollars are] … taking care of this dude’s medical bills, etc.””The shooter needs to learn how to shoot — make every shot count — now, he will probably be sued by the [burglar],” another commenter opined.”Don’t let the libs hear about this … they’ll be pushing to put the shooter in jail,” another commenter predicted. “How dare he [shoot] an intruder … right libs?””Correct me if I’m wrong, but a revolver should hold six rounds. Dead men tell no tales. They also commit no more crimes,” another commenter wrote.

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John Brennan, former director of the CIA and chief counterterrorism adviser to former President Barack Obama, appears to be having a rough year — and it’s likely to get a lot worse.

How it started

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order blasting Brennan and the 50 other former intelligence officials who signed the infamous Oct. 19, 2020, letter, which served to discredit the New York Post’s factually accurate Oct. 14 report about the discovery and damning contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop.

“The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions,” Trump noted in the order.

‘All the world can now see the truth.’

To remedy this perceived injustice, Trump decided to revoke signatories’ security clearances, which prompted Brennan to whine on MSNBC, claiming this was just the president’s effort to “try to get back at those individuals who have criticized him openly and publicly in the past.”

There were, however, more skeletons in Brennan’s closet the Trump administration wanted to take for a walk.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe released a damning review last week concerning how the agency under Brennan reached the conclusion that Russia tried to sway the 2016 election in favor of then-candidate Donald Trump.

— (@)

Ratcliffe’s review indicates that the intelligence community’s December 2016 assessment, which was conducted at the urging of Obama and became a pillar of the Russian collusion hoax, was a rushed botch job impacted by “multiple procedural anomalies.”

RELATED: Deep-staters threaten to use color revolution tactics against Trump admin: Report

Photo by Evy Mages/Getty Images

Despite high-level warnings that the Steele dossier — a political opposition research report paid for in part by the Clinton campaign — “did not meet even the most basic tradecraft standards” and posed credibility risks, Brennan reportedly included it in the assessment anyway, showing “a preference for narrative consistency over analytical soundness,” says Ratcliffe’s review.

The review also indicates that the direct engagement in the assessment’s development by Brennan was “highly unusual in both scope and intensity” and “likely influenced participants, altered normal review processes, and ultimately compromised analytic rigor.”

Ratcliffe noted on X, “All the world can now see the truth: Brennan, Clapper and Comey manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump.”

‘I think they’re crooked as hell.’

A week after the release of the report, Department of Justice sources revealed to Fox News Digital that Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for potential wrongdoing related to the Russian collusion hoax, including allegedly making false statements to Congress.

While little detail has been provided about the investigation — the New York Times noted that CIA and FBI officials have declined to comment, and the DOJ has indicated it won’t comment on “ongoing investigations” — DOJ sources reportedly characterized the FBI’s view of Comey and Brennan’s interactions as a “conspiracy.”

The Washington Post confirmed, however, that Ratcliffe referred Brennan to the FBI last week to be criminally investigated for allegedly lying to Congress.

The facts outlined in Ratcliffe’s review appear to disagree with Brennan’s 2023 assertion to Congress, under oath, that he did not believe the Steele dossier should be included in the intelligence assessment.

How it’s going

Seeing the writing on the wall, Brennan did what he does best: play the victim on cable news.

After Ratcliffe released his review, Brennan went on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” last week to invoke Nazi Germany and suggest that the Department of Justice’s investigation into him and Comey was straight out of the “authoritarian playbook.”

RELATED: Vindicated? Patel’s FBI uncovers apparent Chinese communist plot to rig 2020 mail-in vote for Biden

Photographer: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

On Wednesday, Brennan picked up where he left off, telling MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, “This is, unfortunately, a very sad and tragic example of the continued politicization of the intelligence community, of the national security process.”

When asked on Wednesday whether he wanted to see Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey thrown in jail, President Donald Trump said, “I think they’re very dishonest people. I think they’re crooked as hell, and maybe they have to pay a price for that. I believe they are truly bad people and dishonest people. So whatever happens, happens.”

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​John brennan, Brennan, Cia, Intel letter, Russia, Russian collusion, Russia hoax, Hoax, Leftism, Democrat, Ratcliffe, Fbi, Doj, Donald trump, Comey, Politics 

President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services made a significant step on Thursday toward preventing illegal aliens from draining taxpayer funds.

The HHS announced that it has rescinded the Clinton administration’s interpretation of an act that allowed immigrants unlawfully in the U.S. to receive federal benefits.

‘For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration.’

A press release explained that, for over two decades, the HHS used the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to “improperly extend[] certain federal public benefits to illegal aliens.”

The Clinton administration’s 1998 interpretation “improperly narrowed the scope of PRWORA, undercutting the law by allowing illegal aliens to access programs Congress intended only for the American people,” Trump’s HHS wrote.

The department called Thursday’s announcement “a significant policy shift” to comply with federal law.

“The new policy applies PRWORA’s plain-language definition of ‘Federal public benefit,’ reverses outdated exclusions, affirms that programs serving individuals, households, or families are subject to eligibility restrictions, and clarifies that no HHS programs have been formally exempted under PRWORA’s limited exceptions,” the HHS said.

The HHS estimated that the changes would result in American citizens having up to $374 million annually in additional funds for Head Start services. According to the Office of the Administration for Children & Families, Head Start supports “children’s growth from birth to age 5 through services centered around early learning and development, health, and family well-being.”

RELATED: Trump admin targets federal funding to Planned Parenthood over ‘possible violations’ of law, executive orders

Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

ACF’s acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison stated that the department “is committed to providing and protecting resources that serve America’s most vulnerable.”

“Head Start’s classification under the new PRWORA interpretation puts American families first by ensuring taxpayer-funded benefits are reserved for eligible individuals,” Gradison said.

The administration’s new policy will impact several other programs, including Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, the Community Services Block Grant, the Health Center Program, the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program, the Title X Family Planning Program, and the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant.

The list is “not exhaustive,” the agency added.

RELATED: Trump admin making sure illegal aliens don’t get food stamps

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated, “For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration.”

“Today’s action changes that — it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people,” he said.

The HHS stated that the policy change aligns with Trump’s February executive order, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.“

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​News, America first, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Trump’s hhs, Department of health and human services, Health and human services, Hhs, Robert f. kennedy jr., Robert f kennedy jr, Rfk jr, Rfk jr., Clinton, Bill clinton, Clinton administration, Clinton admin, Personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act, Prwora, Politics 

I didn’t want to write this. I still don’t.

The push notification lit up my phone while I was working out — campers swept away as the Guadalupe River surged dozens of feet in under an hour. I walked out of the gym and teared up in my truck.

Now I’m stuffing sunscreen and swimsuits into two trunks. My older two kids head off to sleepaway camp next week. How do I tell them the adventure they’re so giddy about just turned fatal for other families? What can a keyboard jockey like me offer when other parents are living a nightmare? My first instinct was to close the laptop, whisper a prayer, and stay quiet.

But silence isn’t always the faithful response.

Entire campsites — from Kerr County to the back roads of Texas Hill Country — have been wiped away. Parents who expected mosquito bites and ghost stories are now scanning riverbanks for anything recognizable. They don’t need punditry. They need the rest of us to witness their grief without turning it into the next battleground in the culture war.

That’s the part I dread most.

Within hours of the first siren, the internet erupted in blame. Was it climate change? Outdated flood maps? Local negligence? Federal failure? Pick your camp, rack up your retweets, move the score marker. The bodies weren’t even identified before the hashtags started trending. It’s as if we’ve forgotten how to mourn without also trying to win.

‘Where was God?’ feels like the only honest question when the water rises. But storms don’t mean vengeance, any more than sunsets are God’s apology.

Then there’s that phrase believers lean on — “thoughts and prayers.” “Ts and Ps,” as Gen Z sneers. If I lost one of my kids, those words would feel like a whispered lullaby in a room suddenly emptied of breath — tender, well-meaning, and painfully inadequate.

Not because prayer is pointless. Because the cliché is.

When calamity struck, Job’s friends “sat with him on the ground seven days … and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” No carbon emissions debate. No X threads. Just presence. Silence. Solidarity.

Maybe that’s the posture we need now — especially along a river whose name, Guadalupe, traces back to “river of the wolf.” Creation still has teeth. Even waters we picnic beside can turn predator in a single thunderstorm. Wolves hunt in packs. They also protect their own. Maybe that’s the symbolism: The same river that devoured so many calls the rest of us to move as a pack — toward the survivors, not away.

Real faith doesn’t show up as a hashtag. It comes in the form of casseroles and chain saws, spare bedrooms and Venmo links. It hauls soggy photo albums into the sun. It listens more than it lectures. When Jesus met Mary and Martha at the tomb, He wept before He preached. Maybe that’s the order we’ve lost.

RELATED: Liberal women quickly learn what happens when you say vile things about little girls killed in the floods

Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

So what can we do from a distance?

Give until it pinches — money, blood, bottled water, even unused PTO if your workplace allows donations. Relief crews will need support for months, not days.

Go if you can. Student ministries, church groups, skilled contractors — this work doesn’t end when the cameras leave.

Guard these families’ dignity. Share verified donation links, not drone footage of recovered bodies. If you wouldn’t show the image to your child, don’t post it.

Grieve aloud. Let your kids see adults who don’t numb tragedy with mindless scrolling.

And yes, pray — not as a substitute for action, but as its source. Prayer is oxygen for those on their feet. When the apostle James said, “Faith without works is dead,” he might as well have been looking out the window of a rescue chopper.

I get the temptation to shake a fist at heaven. “Where was God?” feels like the only honest question when the water rises. But storms don’t mean vengeance, any more than sunsets are God’s apology. Scripture calls Him a refuge and redeemer, not a puppet master yanking strings to break hearts. Turning away from God now is like fleeing the only lighthouse in a gale.

If grief makes prayer sound hollow, answer the hollowness with action — and with the stubborn belief that the Creator remains good, even when creation feels cruel.

I still don’t want to write this. I’d rather tuck my kids in tonight and pretend rivers respect property lines and holiday weekends. But if this piece offers anything, let it give permission to mourn without politicizing. For one day — one hour even — let grief be grief. Let dads hold their kids tighter. Let moms remind us that safety doesn’t come with a zip code. Let the church prove it’s more than a Sunday address.

With the sparklers of Independence Day barely cooled, maybe the most patriotic thing we can do is recover the lost art of compassionate presence. No monologue — including this one — can fill a bunk bed left empty. But through gifts, sweat, silence, and prayer, maybe we can shoulder a sliver of the weight.

If you’re reading this in a dry living room, remember the families whose furniture is floating somewhere downriver.

Before you post, pause.

Before you debate, donate.

If “thoughts and prayers” still feel hollow, add two more words: “Here’s how.”

Then go do it.

​Opinion & analysis, Texas, Flood, Hill country, Guadalupe river, Tragedy, Christianity, Camp mystic, Death toll, Book of job, Gospel, God, Rescue, Recovery, Survivors, Donations, Thoughts and prayers 

New York City just took a sharp left turn, voting for Muslim communist Zohran Mamdani over Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary.

And in a recent speech to conservative insiders, Vice President JD Vance succinctly explained how this happened — and why it signals a dangerous new phase for the American left.

“A 33-year-old communist, running an insurgent campaign, beat a multimillion-dollar establishment machine politician in the New York Democratic mayoral primary,” Vance said, noting that his win drove home “just how much the voters in each of the respective parties have changed.”

“If President Trump’s victory in 2024 was rooted in a broad, working- and middle-class coalition, Mamdani’s coalition is almost the inverse of that,” he continued, explaining that his voters reflect “a left that has completely left behind the broad middle of the United States of America.”

“This is a guy who won high-income and college educated New Yorkers … but he was weakest among black voters and weakest among those without a college degree. That’s an interesting coalition. Maybe it works in the New York Democratic primary. I don’t think it works particularly well in the United States at large,” he added.

Vance then called Mamdani’s voters “the party of highly educated but downwardly mobile elites.”

Blaze media senior politics editor and DC correspondent Christopher Bedford is impressed by Vance’s analysis.

“It was so spot-on,” Bedford tells BlazeTV hosts Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News: The Mandate.” “A lot of what drives and unites them, if anything unites them much any more, is mutual loathing.”

“This is a coalition that’s not even largely driven by values. The working-class values, the green values, have gone by the wayside,” he continues, noting that their view of the world has become very observably bleak, as demonstrated by their response to the floods in Texas.

“A literal children’s doctor in Houston, Texas, earlier today posted on Facebook about how these children who were washed away from a girls’ Christian summer camp, from all ethnicities by the way, deserved it, because of the way their parents voted,” he explains.

“That is hate. That is pure, pure hate,” he adds.

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​Video, Video phone, Free, Upload, Camera phone, Sharing, Youtube.com, Blaze news tonight, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Zohran mamdani, Jill savage, Jd vance, Nyc mayoral primary, Andrew cuomo, Christopher bedford 

It has been five years since fans of Washington’s NFL team were robbed of their beloved moniker Redskins. Now, with new ownership since 2023, the team seems closer than ever to bringing the name and famous logo back.

In 2020, the franchise announced it would bend the knee to activism and retire the Redskins name as well as their logo, which bared the likeness of Blackfeet Chief John Two Guns White Calf.

It was even reported that the team would avoid using any Native American imagery at all. Now, as the walls of wokeness crumble all around, the team is slowly creeping toward a reintroduction of the old tradition.

‘We are excited to celebrate Washington’s incredible history.’

Washington’s NFL franchise used the embarrassing interim name of the Washington Football Team for 2020-2021, until becoming the Washington Commanders in 2022. When Josh Harris bought the team in 2023, the fire in fans to bring back the old name quickly started burning again.

For the upcoming 2025-2026 season, the Commanders took a step in that direction when they announced they would be bringing back their “Super Bowl Era” uniforms for three separate games. Celebrating their 1982, 1987, and 1991 Super Bowl wins, the team will bring back their iconic burgundy, white, and gold uniforms.

In a promotional video, the franchise showed off old footage featuring the Redskins logo, reliving the “grit” and the “glory” the fans felt in the 1980s and 1990s. Although, there was one obvious catch.

RELATED: Residents of Navajo reservation are asked if ‘cultural appropriation’ bothers them. Leftists won’t like their answers.

While mostly obscuring their “W” Commanders logo, the promo did make a point about embracing the future and will not feature the Redskins logo alongside their new jerseys.

The good news is that pressure, timing, and public opinion is definitely on the right side of history.

In April, the team announced plans to move back to the heart of D.C. with a new stadium. Then in early May, President Trump and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that D.C. would host the 2027 NFL Draft.

These moves coupled with the fact that the Blackfeet chief’s family actually wants the team to bring back the old logo, and it certainly seems like the momentum is moving in a positive direction.

In a press release about the throwback uniforms, team president Mark Clouse even said the team was trying to find ways to connect the past to the present.

RELATED: ‘The fans want him back’: Family of Blackfeet chief, the inspiration for Redskins’ logo, calls for logo’s return

Red Mesa Navaho High School, Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. Photo courtesy of Rob Eno.

“Ever since Josh Harris and our ownership group acquired the team back in 2023, they’ve placed great value in finding ways to connect the past and present and honor those that made the burgundy and gold what it is today,” Clouse said in a statement.

“These uniforms recognize the most successful era of our franchise — one that reflects a culture of excellence and encompasses many historical moments and special memories amongst our fanbase. Our coaches, players, and the entire organization could not be more excited to celebrate our team’s legacy while creating new memories in these uniforms this season,” Clouse added.

At the same time, these comments could be interpreted as the team being willing to address the past, without making it a future reality.

For instance, during a 2024 preseason press conference, owner Harris said that the old Redskins name “can’t come back.”

“We’ve been very clear, we can’t, for obvious reasons, the old name can’t come back,” Harris explained, per sports radio station the Team 980 AM.

Noting that he wanted to “honor” the team’s heritage and past, Harris said he was focusing on unity and “not things that might drive people apart.”

In 2025 and beyond, though, bringing back the old name seems to be exactly what would bring fans back together. Hopefully for Redskins supporters, a new stadium, the draft, and President Trump can be big enough catalysts to make their wishes come to fruition.

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Score one for Adam Sandler.

The “Saturday Night Live” alum appears, by all accounts, to be a genuine good guy in the Hollywood ecosystem. He proudly shares his Jewish faith on screen, something you don’t typically see in blockbuster comedies.

When it’s time to make a new project, he calls upon his famous pals. He and Rob Schneider are rarely seen apart on screen. Loyalty matters.

Now, we’re learning how Sandler defied Hollywood ageism on his newest project. “Happy Gilmore 2” reunites much of the 1996 film’s cast, including Christopher McDonald (Shooter McGavin). It’s also set to feature Sandler’s squeeze Virginia Venit, played then and now by Julie Bowen.

The 55-year-old “Modern Family” alum expected the sequel to cast a younger, hotter actress opposite Sandler this time ’round. That’s just how Hollywood rolls.

Instead, Bowen got the call to reprise her “Happy Gilmore” character. And while she doesn’t have as much screen time as in the original, Sandler assured her how vital she is to the project.

“You’re the heart of the movie,” Sandler told her.

While the “Jack and Jill” star may seem an unlikely crusader against the industry’s double standards, it should come as no surprise to those who know anything about Sandler’s personal life.

The SNL alum has been married to wife, Jackie Titone — with whom he shares two daughters — since 2003. And not a whiff of sleazy scandal.

Which is more than we can say for many an outspoken Hollywood “male feminist.”

Perry’s scary stage SNAFU

Can things get worse for Katy Perry?

Her latest album got crushed by critics, and clips of her current tour drew social media mockery. She dipped a manicured toe in space, a trip that also generated a digital drubbing. Plus, she and her longtime steady, Orlando Bloom, just split.

Her latest indignity? A stage prop misbehaved, leaving her clinging for life midair. Her stop in Adelaide, Australia, hit a snag when a stunt involving a suspended sphere went haywire. She clung to the sphere’s bars while technicians rushed to fix the issue.

She emerged unhurt, but her ego took another hit along the way …

Star Trek: Trump Derangement Syndrome

Oh, my!

George Takei has finally cut the cord on his iconic Sulu character from the original “Star Trek” series and multiple feature films. How? He’s now a full-time Trump critic, and he proved it anew with a pathetic performance on the immersive liberal holodeck known as CNN.

He compared ICE’s deportation efforts to the Japanese-Americans rounded up during World War II by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

They’re not remotely similar, of course. The worst part? Takei was one of those Japanese-Americans swept up in the country’s anti-Japanese fever in the 1940s. He even wrote a play about those memories.

Now, all he can do is summon them to smite Orange Man Bad. Set phasers on “stunned” …

RELATED: The technology of ‘Star Trek’

Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images

We’d ‘Rather’ not

The very last person who should speak out about CBS’ $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over a selective editing scandal is Dan Rather.

The disgraced newsman used the “60 Minutes” brand to peddle fake news about then-President George W. Bush to sway the 2004 election. It failed, in part, because an army of citizen journalists rose up and debunked it step by step.

Rather never backed down, despite losing his plush anchor chair. A 2016 movie about the incident asked audiences to believe both that the newsman got the basic story right — and that he could be convincingly played by Robert Redford.

The title? “Truth.” That’s Hollywood.

So, naturally, Variety turned to Rather to weigh in on the Trump settlement.

“It’s a sad day for journalism. … It’s a sad day for ‘60 Minutes’ and CBS News. I hope people will read the details of this and understand what it was. It was distortion by the president and a kneeling down and saying, ‘Yes, sir,’ by billionaire corporate owners,” Rather said.

Variety couldn’t bother to tell readers who didn’t live through “Rathergate” why the Texas newsman is, to be kind, an unreliable narrator.

Then again, if anyone knows about fake news, it’s Danny Boy …

Putting the man in ‘romantic’

What can’t the patriarchy do?

Director Celine Song of “Past Lives” fame is blaming men for the death of the rom-com. Her latest film, “Materialists,” isn’t as frothy as most romantic comedies, but it loosely falls under that banner.

And it’s good!

That doesn’t mean Song’s approach to the subject is admirable. She says Hollywood stopped making rom-coms due to the patriarchy. Toxic men dismiss the genre as “chick flicks” and nothing more.

Except we never stopped loving rom-coms. The rom-com giants (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan) aged out of the genre. The newer versions offered up strained, gimmick-laden plots (“How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”), and some focused on lust, not love (“Friends with Benefits,” “No Strings Attached”).

And when young, attractive stars get a chance at rom-com glory, they often hit the bull’s-eye. “Anyone But You” wasn’t “good,” but it boasted the attractive duo of Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. And it made a whopping $220 million in global theaters.

Scapegoating the patriarchy is always a woke winner, but this time, the blame falls squarely on Hollywood’s stooped shoulders.

​Hollywood, Entertainment, Culture, Adam sandler, Fake news, Donald trump, George takei, Star trek, Tds, Dan rather, Katy perry, Toto recall 

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas could not resist another opportunity to shine the spotlight on herself.

In the midst of the Texas floods that have claimed the lives of at least 120 loved ones, the Democratic rising star posted a video pointing the finger at President Donald Trump and talking about how the tragedy will most affect her. Notably, Crockett’s district is roughly 300 miles away from where the floods raged through Kerr County, which is about the same distance between Boston and Philadelphia.

Despite her long history of tone deaf remarks, Crockett has emerged as one of the most popular Democrats in her party.

Crockett starts the video by saying her “heart is truly heavy for all these families,” before immediately making it about herself and how Trump is working around the clock to “hurt us.”

“The sad part is I think that my heart is going to carry a level of weight that will continue to weigh me down as we have to continue to do our best to survive an administration that literally is against us,” Crockett said in a post on Instagram. “An administration that is doing everything, in my mind, to hurt us and not help us, and it feels like we’re fending for ourselves.”

RELATED: Here are the top 3 LEAST patriotic members of Congress

In the same post about the Texas flooding, Crockett made sure to give a shoutout to her hairstylist.

“My staff said y’all are commenting about my BOB!” Crockett wrote in the post. She thanked her stylist for “orchestrating the look” followed by a kissy face emoji.

RELATED: Jasmine Crockett says Trump impeachment inquiry ‘absolutely’ on the table

Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Court Accountability

Despite her long history of tone deaf remarks, Crockett has emerged as one of the most popular Democrats in her party.

In a hypothetical Senate primary, Crockett is leading with 35% support among Democratic voters, followed by former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who polled at 20% support, according to a poll conducted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Failed presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) were also tied for 13% in the poll.

Although Crockett has secured a healthy lead in the primary, she has not formally announced or publicly signaled her interest in running to unseat Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.

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The Trump administration, to its credit, is prioritizing the development of mining and critical minerals to protect U.S. economic and defense interests and secure a reliable domestic supply.

At the center of this effort is President Trump’s recent executive order “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.” The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, now known as the Permitting Council, spearheads these administration efforts.

America needs to get real about sourcing its domestic critical mineral supply and supporting reliable mining partners in their operations abroad.

Thankfully, it’s now increasing “transparency, accountability, and predictability for the permitting review process for … critical mineral production projects.”

Abroad, the administration is also pursuing strategic deals, particularly by supporting mining operators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A newly signed minerals agreement between the Congo and Rwanda — brokered as part of the U.S.-backed peace treaty — marks “a success for Trump against the backdrop of U.S.-China competition over critical minerals.”

With all this activity in the global mining sector, it’s essential that the U.S. government adhere to the following principle: Support and partner with real — and reliable — mining operators.

America can’t afford to gamble with startups backed by tech billionaires with no mining experience nor mining companies that are backed by China. We need to be realistic about supporting the mineral needs of “USA Inc.” Moreover, policymakers must not fall for the slick PR and flashy AI claims currently inundating the industry.

It’s time to stop the madness.

Flashy ‘mining’ startups

So who are the culprits driving this frenzy? The first is KoBold Metals, a California-based startup backed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg. The company’s trio of green activist billionaire backers should raise significant concerns within the administration. Gates, for instance, was in Singapore recently touting the ill-advised return of support for “climate reform.”

A deeper problem lies in KoBold’s misleading image. The company calls itself a mining firm, but it has never run a mine.

Its strength lies in artificial intelligence and data harvesting, not excavation, logistics, or engineering. KoBold claims to lead “the world’s largest exploration R&D effort” using AI and novel hardware. The language sounds impressive. The reality is far less so.

KoBold lacks the infrastructure, operational know-how, and supply chain muscle needed for serious mineral exploration and production. At its core, it’s an AI platform masquerading as a mining company.

RELATED: Graham says Ukraine has trillions of dollars of ‘critical mineral assets’ and could be ‘the best business partner’

Temizyurek via iStock/Getty Images

Even more troubling, the administration appears to be assisting KoBold in advancing a lithium mine in the DRC. According to Bloomberg, the announcement came after the DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi met with Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for African affairs, to discuss potential American investment and security assistance in the DRC’s fight against a rebel group in the east, which is backed by neighboring Rwanda.

I am confident Boulos, who also happens to be the father-in-law of President Trump’s youngest daughter, will soon come around and realize what’s real and what’s not.

Lining China’s pockets

Given the stakes, the administration must weigh reliability when deciding which mining companies to back. Rio Tinto doesn’t make the cut.

Yes, Rio Tinto is a real mining company. It’s been around since 1873 and operates on a global scale. But it doesn’t serve U.S. interests.

The Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd., or Chinalco, holds a 14.56% stake in Rio Tinto. Chinalco is a Chinese state-owned enterprise. That makes Beijing the company’s largest shareholder — and that alone should disqualify Rio Tinto as a potential partner.

Propping up Rio Tinto would only tighten China’s grip on the world’s critical minerals supply — at America’s expense. As international policy and trade analyst Dewardric McNeal recently wrote:

The United States must now treat critical minerals not as commodities but as instruments of geopolitical power. China already does. Escaping its grip will require more than mine permits and short-term funding. It demands a coherent, long-term strategy to build a complete supply chain that includes not only domestic capabilities but also reliable allies and partners.

Exactly right. The U.S. needs a strategic, grounded approach — not one riddled with internal contradictions.

America needs to get real about sourcing its domestic critical mineral supply and supporting reliable mining partners in their operations abroad. The clock is ticking, and neither flashy startups nor Chinese-backed companies are the keys to solving this puzzle.

​Opinion & analysis, Mining, Rare earth minerals, Deal, Treaty, China, Congo, Bill gates, Executive order, National security, Economy, Michael bloomberg, Jeff bezos, Artificial intelligence, Kobold metals, Startups, Business, Partnership, Felix tshisekedi, Massad boulos, Rio tinto, Aluminum, Strategy 

Earlier today, BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler of “The Liz Wheeler Show” made an appearance on Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s show to, in his words, “articulate and channel some of the frustrations that the base and the audience is feeling” in the wake of the DOJ and FBI’s announcement that the Epstein client list we were promised doesn’t exist.

Kirk picked the perfect person. Liz was hot out of the gate with her scathing condemnation of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

“This has been an unforced error due to choices that Attorney General Pam Bondi has made,” Liz tells Kirk.

Back in February, Liz was invited to an exclusive White House event, during which she, along with other prominent conservative personalities, was given a binder by Pam Bondi labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.”

Unfortunately, this file contained virtually no new information. Bondi admitted to the group that the binders didn’t have any “juicy, dirty details” because the “SDNY [was] hiding truckloads of documents,” per a whistleblower’s report, but that she had sent FBI director Kash Patel a formal request to release the complete files, promising Liz and the others that the full story was coming down the pike.

Months later, now we’re told there is no story, meaning there will be no accountability for the untold numbers of elites who were complicit in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls.

Liz is furious at what she perceives as a bald-faced lie from Pam Bondi. During the White House meeting, “she actually bragged about creating that [binder] cover sheet,” which read “the most transparent administration in history,” she scoffs.

This performative act in tandem with her February appearance on Fox News claiming that the Epstein list was sitting on her desk pending review simply doesn’t square with the DOJ’s final verdict that “there’s no Epstein client list; there’s no blackmail operation; Epstein definitively killed himself … and [Americans] are not getting any more of these documents,” says Liz.

“The reason that the American people are having such a visceral reaction to this … is because we voted for justice when we voted for President Trump,” she tells Kirk. “This does not seem like justice.”

“We have this evidence [of Epstein’s crimes] before our eyes, and then we’re being told by government officials … that we should discount and ignore what we’re seeing … and instead believe them, and they’re telling us things that contradict the evidence that we’ve seen,” she explains. “The simple fact of the matter is Pam Bondi said she had the client list on her desk and she promised to release it, and then she didn’t do it.”

“What could make this right in your estimation?” Kirk asks.

“She’s a liability to the Trump administration. It’s costing him tremendous goodwill among his base,” says Liz, “and I say this sorrowfully because there’s a lot of things Pam Bondi has done that I like and that I agree with, but it’s time to not allow her to have this be something that tarnishes President Trump’s legacy and office. It’s time to move on from her.”

“Are you calling for her resignation?” asks Kirk.

“Yes, I believe President Trump should give her the option to resign because she didn’t tell the truth to the American people,” she says. “It’s the right thing to do.”

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