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Devastating testimony regarding alleged vaccine side effects is under way, and the stories are heartbreaking.

Years after COVID-19 vaccines were pushed out to the public, many of those who claim it caused adverse events are still battling to be recognized, and now they’re getting a boost of support.

‘When everybody go Right, I’m not afraid to go Left when I think it’s better.’

The Allison Inquiry this week includes more than 1,400 Canadians who are willing to testify about being injured by a COVID-19 vaccine in a country that almost unanimously took the jab.

As the inquiry reaches the federal government, former UFC middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre said in a video posted Monday he wanted to share his support for the inquiry, which he said is giving Canadians who were “hurt by the COVID-19 vaccine” a chance to “explain themselves publicly” and to “let the truth come out.”

The fighter stated that he hoped that such a situation would “never happen again” and for “people to have [the] freedom to do what they want to do with their body.”

The inquiry has selected 50 claimants to testify, with many of the stories heard being just as shocking as they are sad.

Stéphanie Giguère claimed she was told her vaccine side-effect symptoms were “all in her head” before being put through a mental health evaluation.

Patricia Leidl testified that she collapsed after her second dose and now has neurological problems including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

RELATED: UFC champ: In America, there’s one thing you should ‘never’ apologize for

Other testimonies have included Dr. Crystal Luchkiw, who claimed that her brother suffered cardiac side effects following vaccination and “ultimately died.”

As well, Carole Avoine claimed she developed Bell’s palsy after vaccination.

Canadians overwhelmingly supported receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. By February 2022, 96% of the population age 12 and over had at least one dose. In 2023, more than 80% of Canadians had two doses.

For comparison, about three-quarters of Americans received at least one dose by September 2021, with the rate declining for a second dose to 61%.

According to the government of Canada’s official vaccine information website, more than 4,200 “serious” adverse events were reported after vaccination in 2021, with another 43,000+ “non-serious reports” the same year.

RELATED: How the WNBA’s hottest star became the left’s newest headache

Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

St-Pierre is not shy about touching on controversial topics, whether it be brain injuries suffered by UFC fighters or alien interactions.

Regarding the latter, the Quebec native has spoken at length about the possibility of him being abducted by aliens, including incidents where he felt like he has lost time.

Critics claimed these explanations may be evidence of brain trauma suffered from fighting.

Politically, St-Pierre said early in 2026 that he isn’t afraid to go “left” if everyone else is going “right.”

“When everybody go Right, I’m not afraid to go Left when I think it’s better,” he wrote on X.

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​Ufc, Covid-19 vaccine, Vaccine injury, Georges st-pierre, Canada, News 

The first midterm Republican National Convention wraps tonight with an emphasis on policies to help everyday Americans in areas of public health, business, and affordability and memorials honoring Charlie Kirk, victims of border crime, and the 25th anniversary observance of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Vice President JD Vance headlines the convention’s closing act, right before President Donald Trump’s closing remarks. Earlier in the evening, first son Donald Trump Jr. takes on the extreme liberal Democrats and Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary is set to outline “Golden Age of America.”

Two somber moments will take place during the middle of the night’s program. First, the convention will remember Charlie Kirk, who was killed a year ago Thursday. Pastor Lucas Miles of TPUSA Faith will deliver a prayer and tribute to Kirk, followed by a video package honoring him.

Then, the program marks the 25th observance of September 11 with a remote appearance by Tunnel to Towers CEO Frank Siller, a presentation of colors, a wreath-laying, and a performance of “Ave Maria” by Christopher Macchio.

Other speakers include: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who will speak on food choices and Making America Healthy Again. His speech is one of many touting the MAHA initiatives. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson will explain why he left the Democratic Party, and British travel creator Oliver Henry, who came to Dallas for the World Cup, speaks on what he says makes America the land of opportunity.

The night will also focus on the midterms. Texas. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Gov. Greg Abbott, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick all speak, along with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on the road ahead. Mike Rogers, running for Senate in Michigan, will highlight the radical agenda of Abdul El-Sayed. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) appear as House Republican Conference chair and NRCC chair, and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) will join angel parents Jessica and Tom Gorman. Also on the program are Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), and Brian Jack (R-Ga.), plus House candidates Laurie Buckhout, Greg Cunningham, Marty O’Donnell, Derek Merrin, Eric Flores, and Tano Tijerina.

After all the speeches and applause, a balloon drop, “YMCA,” and “Pinball Wizard” send off the arena before Macchio closes the night with “Nessun Dorma.”

​Donald trump jr, Gov greg abbott, Karoline leavitt, President donald trump, Vice president jd vance, Speaker mike johnson, Ted cruz border crisis, Donald trump, Jd vance 

A California sheriff’s office on Tuesday released bodycam video showing an August 3 incident involving a 22-year-old male angry about noise at night. The video also shows the male pulling a sword on the investigating deputy.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy around 5:30 p.m. responded to the Desert Oasis Mobile Estates in 3300 block of 15th Street West in Rosamond about a peace disturbance. Rosamond is about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles.

‘I’m going to get my sword now … I’m going to go take care of it … I’m going to go kill him now.’

Officials said the incident started with Joshua Dribin calling 911 and reporting a disturbance of the peace.

“Someone’s been waking me up at 10 o’clock at night, and I’m getting really, really mad,” Dribin told the 911 operator before adding that he’s “really gonna f**k them up.”

Dribin explained that the neighbor stopped a vehicle “right in front of my house and rev[s] their f**king engine” and that “it stopped because I threatened to punch them.”

He added that “I’m getting tired of getting waken [sic] up when I sleep in my f**king car.”

Shortly after the 911 call, a deputy responded in person and spoke to Dribin, who is seen on bodycam video telling the deputy that he asked the individual to stop revving the car’s engine but that the person responded that “I don’t give a f**k. It’s my car.”

Dribin then told the deputy that “I’m really about to punch him and sock him out” — and then asked the deputy, “Can you guys get him to stop, please, or I’m gonna put a thing on him … I’m gonna make him where he can’t come near me.”

The deputy told Dribin that “you can’t do that,” but Dribin replied that “I can, too … and you guys can’t stop me from going to go punch him, right?”

Moments later, Dribin retreated and told the deputy to “hold the gun. I’m going to get my sword now … I’m going to go take care of it … I’m going to go kill him now.”

Before long, Dribin is seen on bodycam video holding a sword, and the deputy called for backup.

RELATED: Violent punks caught on video ganging up on, brutally beating elderly man by Baltimore 7-Eleven — while wielding rifle, sword

Image source: Kern County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Office

Dribin then jumped his fence and began advancing on the deputy, who ordered Dribin to stop and drop his sword.

But Dribin repeatedly told the deputy to “shoot bitch!”

At one point, officials said Dribin was recorded on bodycam video attempting to open the deputy’s patrol vehicle door.

Dribin then continued advancing on the deputy, who told Dribin to stop and that “I’m going to shoot you!”

“Kill me!” Dribin hollered at the deputy, who soon fired three shots.

Dribin then fell to the street, tossed away his sword as ordered, and told the deputy that “I wanted you to shoot me.”

RELATED: New bodycam video shows sheriff’s deputies fatally shooting knife-wielding male who authorities say stabbed deputy

Officials said deputies treated Dribin at the scene, and he was soon transported by ambulance to a hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Officials said Dribin was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, resisting a peace officer using force, exhibiting a deadly weapon at peace officer to resist arrest, and resisting, obstructing, delaying a peace officer in the performance of their duties.

No deputies or additional civilians were injured, officials said.

Sheriff’s office detectives investigate any use of deadly force by any member of the department, officials said, adding that the results of investigations are submitted to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office for criminal review.

Officials said the sheriff’s office last Thursday convened an Incident Review Board examining the use of force in this incident, and that the use of force in this incident was determined to be within policy.

Officials said all those with information regarding this investigation are urged to call the sheriff’s office at 661-861-3110 or Kern Secret Witness at 661-322-4040.

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​California, Sword, Officer involved shooting, Assault with a deadly weapon, Arrest, Crime 

Forty-seven-year-old James “Lord” Brass reportedly surprised the federal agents surveilling him outside of his Victorville home when he left early in the morning around 4:45 a.m. on Thursday.

The agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation then followed Brass to a gas station, where they arrested him for allegedly running an election petition fraud scheme in Los Angeles.

‘If you mess with our elections, this FBI will find you.’

Two of his associates — 49-year-old Courtney Price of Jacksonville, Florida, and 33-year-old Jateisha Herron of Boron, California — have also been charged, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California.

The charges are the result of an investigation into video accounts given by some homeless people living on Skid Row, claiming that they were paid to sign the petitions.

Essayli cited the video investigation by James O’Keefe of the Citizen Journalism Foundation.

That video appears to show petition circulators passing around notes with names of registered voters so that homeless people can earn a few bucks by signing the petitions in their names.

In return for the seemingly fraudulent signatures, Brass allegedly received approximately $41,600 from coordinators related to a petition management company.

In order to submit the signatures, Brass and his accomplices allegedly signed declarations at the bottom of the petitions that each of the signatures were the “genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be,” to the best of their knowledge.

“Securing American elections from criminal interference is of the utmost importance to this FBI,” wrote FBI Director Kash Patel on social media Thursday. “If you mess with our elections, this FBI will find you.”

The California Post obtained video of the arrest of Brass by federal agents.

RELATED: Homeless people on Skid Row claim they were PAID TO VOTE — and not for Spencer Pratt

Essayli said all three suspects were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony and that Brass and Price were also charged with one count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.

“The charged conduct undermines the confidence voters have in our election systems. We will vigorously investigate and charge anyone involved in corrupting our elections,” read a statement from Essayli.

Brass appeared to be wearing a shirt supporting the Los Angeles Rams football team during his arrest.

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​Election fraud, Homeless, Los angeles, Politics 

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the atrocious murder of Charlie Kirk — TPUSA founder and beloved friend and mentor to thousands of Americans.

In the 365 days that have passed since Charlie was shot on Utah Valley University’s campus during his American Comeback Tour, much has happened; much has changed.

On this special episode of “Relatable,” Allie Beth Stuckey reflects on the evil, the fracturing, and the fruit she has seen in the year since she lost her dear friend.

The aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death, Allie explains, has brought everything from sickening malevolence to powerful unity to quiet gospel fruit.

Beginning with the evil, Allie highlights how radical progressives deepened the already cavernous divide between the political right and left with their heinous mockery of Charlie’s murder.

“The people who cheered on Charlie’s death, they’re the same people that hate you and me, the same people that hate what I have to say, what you and I believe,” she says.

But the ugliness wasn’t isolated to the left; it hit the conservative movement in a completely different way.

“Unfortunately, that unity that we felt that day and right after, it really dissipated,” says Allie. “Like this has been the most fractured year for the conservative movement in my adult life.”

She interprets this fracturing as “demonic opposition” to the powerful momentum the conservative movement was experiencing in the initial wake of Charlie’s death.

One of the ways Satan slowed the revival that was sparking, says Allie, is by turning the spotlight on Charlie’s widow, Erika.

“There has been, I think, some of the cruelest mockery of a widow publicly that I have ever seen. Erika has been a target of slander and innuendos for a year now,” she says, highlighting all the ways conservatives criticized the new widow despite the incredibly weighty roles and responsibilities she inherited amid her grieving.

Many of those criticisms, Allie notes, turned into “conspiracy theories” backed by “zero evidence” that led to “all kinds of threats and stalking.”

“[That’s] just the way that Satan works. … He is the accuser. He steals; he kills; he destroys. And so, of course, do you think that he was going to allow a revival to go unchecked? No,” she says.

But God, being infinitely more powerful, has brought much good amid the darkness, Allie claims, reiterating her favorite saying: “God’s eternal plan of redemption is going off without a hitch.”

“It’s not that the revival [Charlie’s death sparked] has been completely curtailed. … God’s work doesn’t always make headlines. It doesn’t always go viral,” she says.

Data, however, indicates that the revival was real and had significant impact.

“The American Bible Society’s 2026 poll found growth specifically in a population that it calls the ‘movable middle.’ … There was an increase of 9 million people who are open to the message of the Bible even though they’re not yet deeply engaged with it,” says Allie.

“I don’t know if [that increase is] all because of Charlie’s murder,” she says, “but again, the effect that he had, all of the videos that he had that went viral, and just the ripple effect of people knowing more about him and the mission that he was on, I do think, sparked an interest.”

Allie then points to a 2026 Gallup poll showing young men’s religious attendance up seven points, with the share who say religion is “very important” rising from 28% to 42%.

“Again, I don’t know if that’s all Charlie Kirk, but I do know that that was his mission field, was young men, and that he had a recalibrated interest in talking about the Bible and talking about theology, and I do think that he had a huge effect,” she says.

Another thing that has emerged since Charlie’s death, notes Allie, is the looming question of who will fill the gaping hole he left.

Her answer is “no one.” Charlie, she explains, was an anomaly, the likes of which this generation has never seen before.

She highlights how he was a “sophisticated political operator” who “had the ability to affect all kinds of world leaders through his powers of persuasion,” an “incredible debater,” an “extremely good speaker,” a successful “broadcaster,” a “theologian,” and an “apologist.”

“I don’t know anyone else who is all of those things,” she says.

“No one’s going to replace Charlie. … It’s going to take a lot of people to try to fill in the gaps, and so far, that just hasn’t happened,” she emphasizes.

The best thing anyone can do, Allie argues, is “do what they were called to do, “let the Lord take care of the rest,” and “just let Charlie stand alone.”

To hear more of Allie’s reflection and commentary on the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Allie beth stuckey, Charlie kirk, Utah valley university, Blazetv show 

Agentic AI, artificial intelligence that can act on a user’s behalf, has always been the goal for frontier model developers. This month, the industry leader, OpenAI, took a major step toward making agents mainstream with the launch of GPT-6 Astra. Here’s what it can do and why, at least one part of it, might be dangerous as some declare it AGI.

Astra’s launch hinged on a demo video that showed the model in action. In the video, a cast of people stepped into a room and interacted with a screen simply by speaking to Astra using normal voice commands.

AGI is such a contested term, and the more these models advance, the less clarity we have.

During the presentation, a man turned a blank canvas into a 2D drawing of a rocket ship. After several iterations, he told Astra to take the drawing and transform it into a 3D model in Blender, which it did with relative ease. Later, a woman asked Astra to root through the downloads folder on her computer to find a specific image and add it to an eBay listing, also without fault.

The interesting part is that the users never had to touch the computer to get something done. They simply sat (or stood) and instructed Astra to do the work. With voice commands, OpenAI’s latest model harnessed full control of a computer to open apps, create content within those apps, and even transfer files to other apps or programs.

That said, the video was clearly prerecorded and was not a live demo, so real-world performance may vary. However, the concept is impressive, and it shows that agentic AI is poised to sweep through the industry, likely within the next year.

But is it AGI?

AGI is the idea that AI can match or surpass human intelligence on every task. It can think, create, reason, and do everything else the smartest person on the planet can do, unrestricted. It’s essentially Big AI’s attempt to build human consciousness within the confines of a data center. Scary, I know.

RELATED: Big AI broke the internet. Now it wants everyone else to fix it.

Just_Super/Getty Images

Shortly after Astra hit the market, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang quickly proclaimed that “AGI has arrived!” The only problem is that Huang has said this before. He shared the same sentiment in March this year when gushing about Claude’s and OpenAI’s ability to build a business and generate money. For those keeping score, that isn’t exactly the old definition of AGI, but since the industry regularly can’t agree on what the moniker truly means, embellishments like this aren’t unexpected.

The truth is that NVIDIA has a lot to gain from the AI race, largely because most frontier models are trained on a fleet of NVIDIA GPUs. The more hype Huang creates, the more GPUs his company sells. It’s basic math. But because of his stake in the race, he may not be the best source to trust on the AGI front.

OpenAI’s chief scientist Jakub Pachocki stopped short of calling Astra AGI in a blog titled “An Alien Mind.” Instead, he positioned Astra as an important milestone on the way to “personal AGI.” Given that he had a hand in building the model, he probably knows better than anyone where Astra stands on the human logic front.

Problem areas

Still, we wanted to get another opinion, so Blaze News asked AI expert Jon Stokes if Astra fits the true AGI description. We also prompted him to share any insights on possible security implications. He said:

I think AGI is such a contested term, and the more these models advance, the less clarity we have. Astra does appear to be more of the same “jagged frontier” type intelligence, but whether that meets the AGI threshold depends on the person.

All of these models have significant cyber capabilities, but whether they place us more at risk is complicated and depends on many factors, like their safeguards and how well they work. To the extent that the safeguards depend on CoT monitoring, the looped transformer architecture has implications for cyber security.

Even if Astra isn’t equivalent to human intelligence, it still poses a unique threat, though maybe not in the way you’d expect. Unlike Anthropic Mythos, Astra wasn’t dubbed a public nuisance before it came onto the scene. Part of that may be because Astra was voluntarily submitted to the Trump administration for a 30-day review as part of the new AI review framework. Once it exited the program, OpenAI was free to launch its new model as planned.

That’s when users noticed an emerging problem, as outlined by Stokes’ comment: Astra shows less of its chain-of-thought “thinking” when asked a question, compared to other frontier models. Usually, when engaging with an LLM, the model will show its thought process, which lets users see how it reached its final conclusion. Astra refrains, however, concealing its thought patterns to the point that the security-conscious fear that it could be more difficult to detect nefarious activity.

So far, these fears remain unsubstantiated. This may not be a problem at all going forward. That said, Astra is brand-new, and only time will tell if its hidden thought patterns become a problem. At the very least, Stokes believes that OpenAI’s security safeguards will play a vital role going forward.

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​Agentic ai, Agi, Artificial intelligence, Cyber security, Tech 

The Department of Homeland Security is casting itself as the Autobots — with Megatron and illegal immigrants playing the Decepticons.

It’s the latest Hollywood-inspired message from the Trump administration, which rolled out a “Transformers” mash-up to promote a new ICE tip line for reporting commercial driver’s license fraud.

‘Self-deport or find out.’

The video uses footage from the “Transformers” franchise to depict Decepticon leader Megatron demanding that the government free his allies. Instead, a voice-over identifies several illegal immigrants who the DHS says obtained commercial driver’s licenses before being involved in fatal crashes or other crimes.

First is Harjinder Singh, an Indian national accused of making an illegal U-turn in a tractor-trailer on a Florida highway last August, causing a crash that killed three people. Singh had received a commercial driver’s license from California, according to DHS.

The video also names Rajinder Kumar, another Indian national who the DHS says received a California CDL before jackknifing his tractor-trailer in Oregon in November 2025, causing a crash that killed a newlywed couple.

Also featured are Bekzhan Beishekeev, a Kyrgyz national who the DHS says killed four people in an Indiana crash, and Akhror Bozorov, an Uzbek national wanted in his home country on terrorism-related charges. Both received commercial driver’s licenses in Pennsylvania.

RELATED: Legendary video game company threatens the White House — and gets results

The video concludes with the message: “Aliens don’t belong behind the wheel of American trucks on American roads.”

The DHS followed the video with a “Transformers”-style poster — that has since been removed — showing Optimus Prime facing off against an Indian truck driver.

“Self-deport or find out,” the poster read. “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.”

“Too many American lives have been lost or permanently changed because illegal aliens who have no business being on our roads have been granted CDLs,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in announcing the tip line.

“ICE and our federal partners, including the Department of Transportation, will be cracking down on CDL fraud so that not one more American life is lost to a reckless illegal alien behind the wheel of a semi-truck,” Mullin added.

The “Transformers” footage isn’t the only borrowed material in the video. The mash-up also uses music from Linkin Park, a band that has previously objected to the use of its music in Trump-related videos.

RELATED: Trump’s new Space Force uniforms based on ‘fascist’ sci-fi classic. Would you like to know more?

In 2020, the band issued a cease-and-desist after a campaign video shared by Trump used the band’s hit “In the End.” “Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music,” the band said at the time.

Earlier this year, a White House video featuring “Somewhere I Belong” was reportedly removed after representatives for the band took action over its use.

Whether the latest video will prompt similar action remains to be seen.

The “Transformers” film rights are held by Paramount Pictures, although it is unclear whether the DHS obtained permission to use footage from the franchise.

The video comes just days after the White House removed a “Tetris”-inspired game from Arcade.gov following a copyright complaint from the Tetris Company.

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​Donald trump, Markwayne mullin, Transformers, Paramount, Linkin park, Commercial driver’s licenses, Entertainment 

Abdul El-Sayed has some explaining to do. From embracing Hasan Piker to claiming Muslims “literally built this country,” the Michigan Senate candidate is not swaying any voters from the other side to vote his way.

And BlazeTV host Pat Gray is not surprised, noting that Democrats have gotten “too radical.”

“They’re too far out there. They’ve already come too close to the fundamental transformation of the United States of America,” Gray says on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“I mean, we’re going to have more people that actually hate America in office,” Fisher says.

“You mean like Abdul El-Sayed?” Gray asks.

“He’s trying to fight off his association now with Hasan Piker,” Gray says.

However, El-Sayed was just recently standing next to Piker in defense of his views, saying, ‘I’m not here to disavow people’s views. This gotcha, this whole gotcha game, platform policing, cancel culture, I thought we were over it.’”

And on his own website, El-Sayed advertises inviting Piker onto the campaign trail and appearing with him at college events.

But his flip-flop on Piker isn’t the only glaring issue of El-Sayed’s.

“I’ve been reading our history. Muslims have been in this part of the country since 1527. Estevanico of Azemmour. Probably a name you’ve never heard. Probably the first recorded Muslim to touch ground on what is now these United States of America,” El-Sayed said in a speech.

“Estimates suggest up to 50% of people who were brought here against their will as slaves were Muslims. Muslims literally built this country,” he continued.

“We all know how stained our history is with the legacy of white supremacy. Whether that be against our African-American brothers and sisters, our Native-American brothers and sisters, our Latinx brothers and sisters. We know that stain,” he added.

Gray is not amused, muttering, “Oh jeez.”

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​Democrats, Hasan piker, Muslims, Pat gray, Slaves, White supremacy, Abdul el-sayed, Blazetv show 

For years, Canadians who say they were seriously injured by COVID-19 vaccines have sought recognition from their government. This week, some of them are getting the opportunity to tell their stories on Parliament Hill — with a powerful U.S. senator joining them.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and one of Washington’s most persistent critics of the government’s pandemic response, appeared Tuesday at the opening of the Allison Inquiry in Ottawa.

‘By the time the COVID vaccines obtained their emergency use authorizations, the cartel was firmly in control of the narrative.’

The four-day inquiry is chaired by Conservative Member of Parliament Dean Allison and organized with the Covid Testimony Association. Its stated purpose is to hear testimony from Canadians who attribute serious injuries to COVID-19 vaccination. It is being held on Parliament Hill, although it is not an official parliamentary inquiry.

Questioning the narrative

Johnson opened his testimony by questioning fundamental elements of the public health response to COVID-19, including the treatment of natural immunity and doctors who advocated early treatment.

“Haven’t we always believed that early disease detection prompts early treatment and produces better outcomes? Why was that fundamental tenet of medicine not only ignored but sabotaged?” Johnson asked. “Why were frontline doctors who had the courage and compassion to treat COVID patients from the start of the pandemic censored, vilified, and had their careers destroyed?”

“How could health officials deny the effectiveness of natural immunity when approximately half of the people testing positive for COVID were asymptomatic?” he continued. “Isn’t that a sign that your natural immunity is preventing you from getting ill?”

Johnson’s war

Johnson has been pursuing many of the same questions in Washington as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

In April, the subcommittee released a 38-page interim report alleging that FDA officials failed to act on a newer data-analysis method that identified previously undetected safety signals that the agency’s existing methodology had failed to detect.

The investigation drew renewed attention in July as Johnson’s committee continued examining how federal officials handled reports of possible vaccine side effects and whether potential safety signals were adequately disclosed to the public. Later that month, Johnson requested transcribed interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci and four former FDA officials about their roles in the pandemic response, including vaccine safety and efficacy

In August, Johnson’s investigation obtained Fauci’s government-issued cell phone, containing more than 34,000 text messages and 500 voicemails. Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) subsequently began releasing material from the phone as part of their continuing investigation into the government’s pandemic response.

Follow the science?

Johnson brought that investigation to Ottawa on Tuesday, where he used his appearance at the Allison Inquiry to deliver a broader indictment of the pandemic response.

“By the time the COVID vaccines obtained their emergency use authorizations, the cartel was firmly in control of the narrative,” Johnson said, using his term for the government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, media organizations, and technology companies he blames for suppressing dissent during the pandemic.

He recalled slogans including “follow the science,” “safe and effective,” and “no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

“Which, by the way, if the vaccines were that effective, why would you care whether somebody else is vaccinated?” Johnson asked. “I mean, it never made sense to me. … These phrases were used ad nauseam to bludgeon the public into submission.”

RELATED: Glenn Beck is right about Canada’s descent into tyranny — and it began with attacking one basic freedom

NurPhoto/Getty Images

From ‘injury’ to ‘impact’

Canada does have a federal program to compensate people who have suffered serious and permanent injuries following vaccination. The Vaccine Injury Support Program began in 2021 and was initially administered by a third party before being taken over by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The program itself has faced scrutiny. PHAC terminated its contract with the original administrator after an audit found serious problems with its handling of claims. The agency subsequently took over administration of the program and renamed it the Vaccine Impact Support Program in April.

The Allison Inquiry says it received more than 1,400 applications from people willing to testify about alleged vaccine injuries.

Johnson also alleged that federal regulators failed to adequately investigate vaccine safety signals.

“A few months into the vaccine rollout, my investigations have shown that the FDA and CDC were not doing sincere safety surveillance,” he said. “And it appears this willful ignorance was a worldwide phenomenon.”

What about Dr. Tam?

That question of what Canadian health authorities knew eventually brought the hearing to Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s former chief public health officer.

During questioning, Conservative MP Ellis Ross asked Johnson whether Tam’s name had surfaced in the millions of pages of federal documents obtained by his investigation.

“I’ve not heard of Dr. Tam. I may have, but, you know, the name didn’t register,” Johnson replied. “What I will do is I’ll have that as a search term with the emails and texts and I’ll see. We’ll check it out.”

Johnson then addressed his staff, telling them to add Tam’s name to their searches.

“We’ll put that in. We’ll see if there’s any [mentions],” he said.

Johnson went on to say his investigators were finding what he described as “a great deal of cooperation between Fauci and federal health officials and Chinese officials,” but said he was not yet prepared to disclose specifics.

“As we get more and more information, we’ll start releasing that,” Johnson said. “We kind of got to put the whole package together, but stay tuned on some of those things.”

​Allison inquiry, Anthony fauci, Covid, Dr theresa tam, Ron johnson, Vaccination injuries, Vaccine impact support program, Vaccine side effects, Canadians, Lifestyle, Health, Letter from canada 

As Texas gears up for the end of the detrimental Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is warning conservatives against assuming the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

“People get complacent and then they get mad that they don’t have 100% of the things that they wanted to happen, happen,” Gonzales says, noting that this attitude won’t help as “these are complete lunatics that we’re up against.”

“And they could potentially take back control if we don’t pay attention,” she continues.

“I say this from real personal experience here in the state of Texas because we have this race for the Senate that we’re talking about all the time because it’s important. Because so goes Texas, so goes the country,” she explains.

Gonzales calls the “only sane pick” in the race Paxton, who is up against this “weird, low-t soy boy.”

“I thought that they were like at the bottom of the barrel when they ran Beto O’Rourke,” she says.

“But wait there’s worse,” she adds, noting that she’s already run a ton of Talarico clips in the past that are “nonsensical.”

“It turns out there’s more that just keeps coming out,” she explains, before playing a clip of Talarico that reads as “a little bit of an admittance” that “he at least maybe dabbled in some gay stuff.”

In the clip, Talarico explained that his “colleagues are limited by their experience.”

“I know that because I, as a white straight guy, you know, have the same limitations, those same blinders. Thankfully, I’ve been able to have some experiences and relationships that have helped take off some of those same blinders,” he said.

“But a lot of my colleagues still have, you know, the full set that they were born with. And so the challenge is, how do you lift those blinders for folks?” he continued.

“What are you talking about?” Gonzales asks.

“You start to wonder.”

“Are you thinking back to those experiences that have taken your blinders off, James? Huh? I’m just going to leave that one here,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Beto orourke, James talarico, Ken paxton, Sara gonzales, Senate race, Texas, Blazetv show 

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of beloved conservative leader Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was just 31 years old on September 10, 2025, when he was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University.

‘The movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen.’

The UVU event was intended to kick off a grand college tour for Turning Point USA, the nonprofit Kirk founded in 2012. With a microphone in hand, a “Freedom” message emblazoned across his chest, and a smile on his face, the married father of two was ready to do what he always did: engage with America’s youth about the importance of family, conservative values, and the Christian faith.

Everything changed at 12:23 p.m. Mountain Time that day, when a single bullet struck Kirk in the neck. Though he was rushed to the hospital, Kirk soon succumbed to his injury.

By 2:40 p.m., President Donald Trump, a personal friend of Kirk, announced that Kirk had died:

The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!

The following day, Kirk’s remains were brought aboard Air Force Two, and Vice President JD Vance personally escorted the body from Salt Lake City back to Phoenix, Arizona, for burial.

“Now that Charlie is in heaven, I’ll ask him to talk to big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly. You ran a good race, my friend. We’ve got it from here,” Vance wrote.

RELATED: Tyler Robinson refuses to testify after prosecutors bury him with evidence

Rick Egan-Pool/Getty Images

At about the same time Vance brought Kirk’s body back to Arizona, Tyler Robinson was arrested in connection with the shooting. Family members reportedly persuaded him to turn himself in.

Just last week, a Utah judge found probable cause in the case, and Robinson, 23, has been bound over for trial, charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated murder. Prosecutors have said from the start they intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.

‘I forgive him.’

Despite their grief, the folks at TPUSA had to scramble to keep the organization going in the wake of Kirk’s death. Barely a week later, his wife, Erika, was unanimously elected to replace him as CEO.

“The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry,” Mrs. Kirk said at the time. “To everyone listening tonight across America: The movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen.”

Her words at his memorial service on September 21 were even more profound. Erika Kirk shocked and humbled the world when she publicly forgave her husband’s killer.

RELATED: Texas radical charged with making terroristic threats against Erika Kirk

Win McNamee/Getty Images

“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West — the young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live. … He wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life,” she said.

“I forgive him.”

Erika Kirk may have forgiven the shooter, but she is still determined to see him held responsible for Kirk’s death. When the suspect’s case was bound over for trial, she called it “an important step in our family’s pursuit of justice for him.”

Meanwhile, TPUSA continues to keep Charlie’s memory alive. The day after the memorial service, the group resumed its scheduled campus tour and fulfilled each previously scheduled date, including a stop at Utah State University on September 30.

These events featured Kirk’s friends and conservative colleagues, such as BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey and Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. Even Vice President Vance headlined a TPUSA event at the University of Mississippi.

As Blaze News previously reported, a statue of Kirk recently arrived at Utah Valley University, creating some controversy.

TPUSA is hosting an event at UVU on Thursday to commemorate Kirk’s untimely death and his enduring legacy. TPUSA is also using the opportunity of the memorial event at UVU to continue evangelizing the culture for Christ:

TPUSA Faith is leading a nationwide initiative inviting Christians of every denomination and tradition to honor Charlie’s mission to make Heaven crowded by inviting a friend or family member to church beginning Sunday, September 13, and throughout the month of September.

Americans from every corner of the country are welcome to share the moment on social media with a simple message: Charlie’s seat continues to be filled by a new generation of faith-filled believers.

UVU has closed its campus on Thursday and canceled all classes in honor of Charlie Kirk and “the tragic events” surrounding his death.

RELATED: TPUSA plans return to UVU on solemn anniversary of the Charlie Kirk assassination

Photo obtained by Blaze News

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​Charlie kirk, Erika kirk, Turning point usa, Tyler robinson, Utah valley university, Politics 

The corridors of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, buzzed with almost as much excitement as the arena itself the first day of the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention as Republicans from all over the country convened prior to the midterm election.

The arena’s floor was filled with excited state delegations and media personalities as the first night kicked off, with a number of Republican representatives, activists, and pastors speaking in the first few hours of the event Wednesday.

‘We need to get Paxton some more money so he can win this race against Talafreako.’

Convention attendees mingled with figures such as Scott Presler, congressional candidate Brandon Herrera, and Fox News’ Bret Baier as the night began.

In the first half of the night, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) received one of the longest standing ovations from the crowd, which by that time filled most the levels of the arena.

The delegations on the convention floor waved American flags and signs that said, “Keep the Majority,” and “Republicans are Fixing Democrats’ Mess.”

And the excitement didn’t die down outside the arena.

RELATED: Watch live: Night 1 of the GOP Midterm Convention

Blaze News

Texas, one of the best represented states at the convention, had attendees from all over the state.

Asked who he was most excited to see at the event, convention-goer Randy told Blaze News, “Obviously President Trump. But all of them I’m looking forward to seeing.”

“And obviously we need to get [Attorney General Ken] Paxton some more money so he can win this race against Talafreako,” Randy, who came to Dallas on Wednesday from San Antonio, added in an interview with Blaze News.

The floor and arena seating continued to fill with more cowboy hats and MAGA hats as the night went on.

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​Brandon gill, Texas, Republican midterm convention, Politics, Scott presler 

The atmosphere at the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention reached a crescendo on Wednesday as President Donald Trump took the stage. The president spoke for roughly an hour and a half, touting the accomplishments of his first two years but warning against complacency going into the midterms.

“If we lose,” Trump said, in reference to the impending midterm elections in November, “you’re going to lose your border. You’re going to lose your tax cuts. You’re going to lose your safety and security. … You will be going through hell.”

‘He has a great sense of humor. People forget that.’

The crowd was fired up throughout the speech, which began just after 8 p.m. Central Time, frequently breaking into chants of “USA! USA! USA!”

Afterward, attendees said they felt energized by the president’s commitment to winning in November. Randy Berholtz, a delegate from California, called the speech “vintage Trump.”

Another attendee from Idaho told Blaze News she was encouraged by Trump’s effort to turn out additional midterm voters and added that Trump’s rhetorical style made the speech thoroughly enjoyable.

“He has a great sense of humor,” she said. “People forget that.”

RELATED: The mood is high as midterm convention gets under way

Blaze News

During the speech, Trump announced a plan to use tariff revenue to pay American adults $5,000 each, so long as Republicans maintain control of Congress after the midterms. “We’ll call it the Trump dividend,” the president said.

The announcement caused quite a stir both in the arena and online. One attendee from Washington told Blaze News he was encouraged by the dividend, adding that he thought it would be “good for families.”

The arena remained full throughout the speech, prompting the president to comment on the “fake news media” searching for empty seats to photograph.

Leaning into the energy from the crowd, Trump spoke confidently about his administration’s plan to continue pushing the GOP agenda forward through the next two years. He returned again and again to the importance of preventing Democrats from returning to power.

“America is not for sale. … We do not negotiate with communists, with socialists, or with radical left lunatics.”

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​Fake news media, Republicans, Democrats, Midterm convention, Dallas, Trump dividend, Tariffs, Politics, Donald trump 

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales’ war on H-1B abuse is bearing fruit: Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito just clamped down on two major visa sponsors.

D’Esposito suspended Cognizant and Cloudera’s Program Electronic Review Management pipelines and H-1B applications on Tuesday. He sat down with Gonzales to break down the Trump administration’s progress on the foreign labor issue.

‘Handcuffs await.’

PERM is a regulatory hurdle employers must clear before they are allowed to sponsor employees’ green cards.

“It’s a bad time to be a fraudster right now, in the Trump 2.0 America,” Gonzales said at the top of the show. “It’s actually a bad time to be any sort of abuser of our immigration system right now, because the Trump administration is doing so many things to crack down on all kinds of fraud, from H-1B fraud to discriminating against American workers.”

Tuesday’s action didn’t come together overnight, D’Esposito told Gonzales.

D’Esposito spearheaded a nationwide probe in July alongside acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and the White House Fraud Task Force. Investigators manned tip lines, executed search warrants, and interviewed both victims and suspects to secure Tuesday’s DOL action against Cognizant and Cloudera.

“Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated,” Gonzales said, reading D’Esposito’s X post that announced the action. “Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await.”

Cognizant is a massive U.S.-Indian information technology firm. It’s one of the U.S.’ largest H-1B sponsors, with 3,510 applications approved in fiscal year 2026 and over 11,000 labor condition applications filed in fiscal year 2025. LCAs are part of the U.S. work visa approval process.

Cognizant recently announced it would hire just 1,500 U.S. college graduates in 2026, compared with its thousands of H-1B and LCA filings over the same period.

A 2024 federal jury found that Cognizant discriminated against non-Indians in hiring, and a Manhattan jury later awarded $8.4 million to a former executive who claimed he was fired after complaining about “race and national origin discrimination.”

In response to the 2024 verdict, a Cognizant spokesperson told Bloomberg: “We provide equal employment opportunities for all employees and have built a diverse and inclusive workplace that promotes a culture of belonging in which all employees feel valued, are engaged, and have the opportunity to develop and succeed.”

The Manhattan jury did not find that Cognizant discriminated on the basis of race or national origin, only that the company retaliated against the employee for complaining.

Cognizant and Cloudera did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Blaze News.

RELATED: DOL takes action after Sara Gonzales’ latest expose of alleged H-1B fraud: ‘Walls are closing in Mohammad’

Sara Gonzales

Gonzales dove into Cognizant’s troubles in Texas.

“For viewers who are not familiar, Cognizant has a huge track record — massive importer of foreign workers here in Texas,” Gonzales said. “And just in Texas in 2025, there were 41,571 beneficiaries approved for H-1B visas. That was across 6,137 companies. One state. That’s what I’m saying. Just in Texas.”

She noted that Cognizant received the most H-1B approvals in Texas and highlighted the 2024 discrimination verdict against the company.

“They’ve … been up to no good for a very long time now. From 2024: They were found liable for intentional discrimination against a class of terminated non-Indian and non-South Asian Americans,” Gonzales claimed.

“They’ve got a long track record of discriminating against American workers.”

D’Esposito responded that the freeze was just the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s campaign against anti-American labor discrimination.

“It’s just the beginning. For everyone listening at home, this isn’t the end,” D’Esposito said. “I’ve already seen probably a thousand tweets today on my X post saying: ‘Who else?’ ‘Why not this one?’ Give us a minute, all right? It’s two of the biggest companies in the world that were suspended today, and we’re gonna keep at it.”

Gonzales is no stranger to H-1B investigations. She previously tracked down alleged ghost offices and suspected fraudulently registered companies with Texas Senate candidate and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

Paxton later issued civil investigative demands to nearly 30 North Texas businesses as a result of her reporting. Paxton thanked Gonzales by name.

Gonzales and D’Esposito teamed up to track down another alleged fraudster in August, tracing green-card-scam accusations to apparently empty offices in Dallas.

“The fact is that these foreign labor visas, especially when they’re abused and extorted, are taking good-paying, fair wages away from the American people,” D’Esposito told Gonzales. “That’s why acting Secretary Sonderling and I, under President Trump’s leadership, have made this a priority.”

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​Department of labor, Green cards, Labor secretary, Sara gonzales, Trump administration, Politics 

The Pentagon is spending $11 million to turn red blood cells into cellular endurance runners. UC San Diego researchers are using CRISPR to redesign blood at the sub-microscopic level, ensuring DARPA’s future infantrymen can sprint up a mountain in 100-degree heat without running out of breath. We understandably worry about AI replacing human labor, yet the immediate biological future involves stuffing the human chassis with synthetic upgrades to keep soldiers primed and ready for action.

America is upgrading its biological hardware for a simple reason. The alternative is watching the enemy do it first. Chinese military researchers at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences have openly experimented with CRISPR technology to enhance high-altitude endurance in combat troops stationed along the Himalayan border. Kremlin-backed laboratories have continuously pursued metabolic bio-interventions and neurological stimulants to keep tank crews awake and operational for three straight days without crashing, both literally and mentally. The global arms race has moved beyond hypersonic missiles, silent drones, and stealth bombers. It is now coming for actual human arms — along with our legs, lungs, and brains.

The alternative is letting rival powers develop these technologies first.

Now, I understand the impulse to draw a line between military necessity and human biology. But that line gets a lot harder to defend when an unenhanced Marine is carrying an 80-pound pack into combat against an opponent whose biology has been engineered for utter domination. One soldier runs out of oxygen. He builds up lactic acid, then collapses from heatstroke. The other has synthetic hemoglobin that delivers extra oxygen to working muscles on demand. The tactical advantage is absolute. Special forces, fighter pilots, high-G flight crews, deep-sea combat divers, and long-orbit military astronauts will inevitably receive these genetic upgrades first because extreme operational environments demand maximum physical tolerance. Silicon Valley spent years pitching bio-hacking as a luxury life span optimization trick for oddballs like Bryan Johnson. The Department of Defense looked at the same technology and saw something considerably more practical: a powerful weapon.

But technological advances like these come with some obvious complications. Consider the domestic logistics of integrating these apex predators back into civilian life once their service contracts expire. A veteran with genetically altered red blood cells steps into a local YMCA for a pickup basketball game, effortlessly sprinting for six continuous hours without sweating, breaking every local cardio record, while his opponents hyperventilate on the sideline. Standard drug tests at a city marathon become entirely useless when an athlete’s blood was permanently reprogrammed by the federal government 10 years prior.

Those in charge will eventually need to decide whether ex-soldiers require biological down-throttling before re-entering society or if civilian life simply includes a new sub-species of retired infantrymen.

No turning back?

Many Christians view cellular re-engineering as crossing a moral line, encouraging us to play God with the human body. As a Christian, I understand the concern. But I also think the issue gets more complicated when the alternative is letting rival powers develop these technologies first. And make no mistake: China is already well on its way.

RELATED: It’s getting harder to prove you’re human — and this ‘solution’ is only making it worse

Moor Studio/Getty Images

Survival against a hostile power, one could argue, overrides classical theological hesitation every single time. Practical military necessity routinely displaces abstract morality on the battlefield. Survival is pragmatism, and pragmatism builds better red blood cells.

Keeping these military enhancements separate from ordinary civilians won’t be easy, but it is possible with strict federal regulation, military law, and genetic tracking. Military medical commands already control every vaccine, pill, and procedure a service member receives from enlistment to discharge. Treating military gene edits as proprietary defense assets keeps the technology strictly inside base perimeters. It prevents synthetic blood overhauls from leaking into commercial cosmetic clinics, private longevity spas, or your weekly game of hoops. Civilian populations will continue operating on baseline natural biology, while the armed forces maintain specialized cellular modifications built exclusively for national defense objectives.

Future wars will require human operators who can withstand unimaginable levels of physical demands while integrating directly with automated machine hardware and AI battle networks. AI-driven combat systems move too fast for a standard human central nervous system to direct effectively. Upgrading the soldier’s blood, reaction time, muscle recovery, cellular repair, and stress response bridges the biological gap between skin and bone and high-speed digital warfare. America simply can’t afford to send ordinary soldiers into battle while its most dangerous rivals treat human genetics as another frontier of military technology.

The case for pursuing biological enhancement is straightforward. A nation either builds the most capable fighting force possible or risks surrendering the technological high ground to adversaries who would love nothing more than to see America brought to its knees.

​Bioengineering, Tech 

The family of a man who was shot three times says he nearly died while bystanders looked on and refused to help him.

21-year-old Matthew Lanske had finished having dinner with friends and family on Sunday when he found himself at a street takeover at the Belltown neighborhood in Seattle, according to his family.

The family said onlookers recorded the bleeding man but did not try to help him.

Two women and a man tried to rob one of Lanske’s friends at gunpoint, and he intervened by trying to take the gun.

“My brother tried to take it from him and then ended up getting shot,” said Lanske’s sister Rebecca Garberding.

He was shot twice in the stomach, and another gunshot struck a major artery and shattered his pelvis, according to the family.

Shanda Barney, Lanske’s mother, said he was bleeding profusely.

“My son had been shot three times. He was bleeding to death, yet somehow, he walked two blocks trying to find somebody to help him,” Barney said.

Lanske later said that he had tried to get into a 7-Eleven store while bleeding but that they refused to let him inside.

“He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, ‘Mom, they wouldn’t let me in. They locked the doors. I begged them to let me, and there was so much blood coming out of my stomach, I thought I was going to die,'” his mother said.

Lanske eventually sat down and texted his girlfriend for help. He was transported to the Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

He was placed on life support for two days and was unable to speak, according to his mother.

The family said onlookers recorded the bleeding man but did not try to help him.

“What breaks my heart almost as much as the shooting itself is knowing that while my son was fighting for his life, people were standing around filming him, taking pictures instead of helping him,” Barney continued.

“If you were running away from that area and you didn’t do anything, feel ashamed,” she added. “Please feel ashamed right now because you didn’t help to do anything when you could have.”

Lanske has undergone two surgeries and has many more in his future before he can return to his job in construction.

RELATED: Bystanders taunted and laughed as police officers were being fired upon in Philadelphia

The family is asking for help from the public to identify suspects in the attack.

“We are asking for accountability, answers, and justice,” said Garberding.

“Somehow, someone out there knows something. Maybe you saw something. Maybe you heard something. Just please come forward,” she added.

The family set up a GoFundMe account to help them pay for his medical bills.

“To my baby brother, I love you. We love you. Keep fighting. You’re not alone,” his sister added. “We’re right here and we’re never going to give up on you.”

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​Street takeover, Seattle, Shooting, Bystanders, Crime 

The Romans had a phrase for when wine starts talking: In vino veritas.

In wine, truth.

‘Good person’ is not a diagnosis, a legal defense, or a Christian understanding of the human heart.

The phrase is linked to Pliny the Elder, who wrote that drunkenness brings out “the secrets of the mind.”

His examples included lust, anger, reckless words, violence, and lost memory.

When restraint disappeared, wisdom did not show up.

Wine is not a truth serum. Alcohol clouds judgment and weakens self-control. We do not get drunk before driving, watching children, or making important decisions. Impaired judgment rarely produces better choices.

Still, nobody says, “He got drunk and spent the evening showing patience, wisdom, and self-control.”

Take away the guardrails, and something besides goodness often comes out.

What does this say about free will? We often talk as though the will sits above our desires. Christianity teaches something different.

The Fall did not make us puppets. We make choices, but sin has bent what we want.

We can do what we want. Our problem is what we want.

Fallen man cannot turn himself toward God. God must renew the will.

Pelagius was a fifth-century monk who taught that people could obey God without first being changed by His grace. Semi-Pelagianism offered a softer version. It admitted that sin damaged us and that we need God’s help. But it still claimed we could reach toward God first. God would then complete what we started.

The church rejected that teaching at the Second Council of Orange in 529 AD. Scripture teaches that even our desire to reach for God begins with Him. God does not merely help willing people save themselves. He makes unwilling sinners willing.

RELATED: Gloria Steinem is gone. Lindsay Clancy is still here.

Greg Derr/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Why does that ancient argument matter? Because our culture still assumes an untouched pocket of goodness remains inside us. Remove the wounds, diagnoses, and poor choices, and the good person underneath will finally come out.

Total depravity does not mean utter depravity. People can love, sacrifice, work hard, and show courage.

But much of what keeps us from becoming worse is restraint.

Conscience, families, laws, reputations, consequences, and God’s common grace restrain us.

Those things help keep a lid on the pot. They do not clean what is in it.

Restraint is not redemption.

That’s why the conversations following Lindsay Clancy’s mistrial trouble me.

I am not asking whether Clancy met the legal standard for criminal responsibility. That was the jury’s task. I am asking why so many people outside the courtroom seem determined to acquit human nature itself.

Clancy does not deny killing Cora, Dawson, and Callan. Her defense argued postpartum psychosis left her not legally responsible. Prosecutors disagreed. The jury divided.

Clancy’s attorney described her as strong, brave, wonderful, and loving. His admirers joined in. A lawyer should defend his client, but a legal defense cannot declare the human heart innocent.

Someone can show love while remaining capable of terrible evil.

Past good behavior does not erase present horror.

Scripture makes this clear in the life of David. He was called a man after God’s own heart. Then he committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged the murder of her husband.

When confronting him, Nathan the prophet did not defend David by listing his courage, worship, or service to Israel. He looked at the king and said, “Thou art the man.” David did not point to all the good he had done. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

David returned through repentance, not reputation. He was forgiven, but Uriah remained dead. Severe consequences followed David and his family from that moment on.

My father used to say, “God forgives instantly. Man takes a while. Nature never does.”

Sometimes what we do in a few minutes establishes a lifetime of consequences.

RELATED: ‘That far’ always becomes here

Erhui1979/Getty Images

“Good person” is not a diagnosis, a legal defense, or a Christian understanding of the human heart. Nor should three dead children become background characters in the tragedy of the adult who killed them.

Before a holy God, we stand fully exposed. No lawyer can reshape the record. No diagnosis can turn evil into good. No list of past virtues can erase present sin. God knows every illness, impairment, pressure, and intention, and He judges perfectly.

But if I use this case only to point at Lindsay Clancy, I have missed the doctrine entirely. Human depravity gives me no place to stand and announce that I am one of the good people.

I do not need to imagine what I might do without restraint. I see enough of my own sin with every guardrail God placed around me still standing.

The gospel is not God placing a better lid on a basically good heart. Christ gives us new hearts. He renews our minds. He changes what we love.

Alcohol and other mind-altering substances may expose some of what restraint keeps hidden. Stress and pain may do the same. The cross reveals the deepest truth about us. Our sin is worse than we think, but we are not beyond the reach of Christ.

Restraint can limit depravity. Only redemption through Christ can rescue us from it.

​Christianity, Consequences, Courage, Criminal responsibility, Drunkenness, Forgiveness, Lindsay clancy, Postpartum psychosis, Redemption, Opinion & analysis 

Republicans seek office while Democrats seek power. That explains our politics in a nutshell. It also explains why nothing ever changes — at least not for the better.

The four years of Biden’s presidency were among the most miserable in recent American history in terms of culture, affordability, freedom, and America’s standing in the world. But any critically thinking person should ask: Why didn’t we enjoy the residual effects of Trump’s first term?

Republicans warn voters that Democrats will wield power aggressively if they win, while demonstrating that Republicans themselves are reluctant to wield it while they have it.

On the surface, that observation sounds sophomoric. Of course Biden countermanded policies from Trump’s first term. That was to be expected. But dig deeper and you realize that nearly every auspicious conservative policy was implemented through executive action rather than codified into law. It could therefore be reversed by a succeeding administration or challenged in court.

That is why every ounce of Trump’s political capital should have been focused on codifying his core campaign promises into must-pass legislation so we would not repeat the same history when the pendulum eventually swings back toward Democrats.

Instead, Republicans have blown through nearly the entirety of what is likely Trump’s second and final governing trifecta with almost none of their core immigration or economic promises codified into permanent law. Now they are canceling most of the remaining legislative days before the election under the guise of giving members more time to campaign for another term in a majority they are struggling to defend.

They are also staging a first-of-its-kind midterm convention to scare Republican voters about Democrats — all while ignoring, and in some cases relinquishing, the power they currently possess.

What is the point of campaigning to retain power while you hold it but refuse to use it? What changes after the election even if Republicans retain the House? And why, with the party facing serious political headwinds, would Trump and congressional Republicans not use every remaining legislative day to focus on popular issues that could inject some momentum into an otherwise listless campaign?

Last week, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that the House would return for only a one-week session in mid-September and then adjourn until after the election. That leaves House lawmakers just four more legislative days before November 3.

I suppose one could argue that given how bad they have been, it is better to keep them out of Washington.

But if that is our attitude, why should anyone vote to send them back?

RELATED: Washington must not forget the grassroots

Leon Neal/Getty Images

It didn’t have to be this way. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on birthright citizenship, Republicans could have used the budget, the National Defense Authorization Act, or reconciliation to try to prohibit federal funding for citizenship documents issued under circumstances they oppose. They could have pursued legislation changing how noncitizens are treated in congressional apportionment. They could have attempted to defund sanctuary jurisdictions or restrict programs that allow foreign workers to compete with Americans for jobs.

In other words, they could at least have attempted to use their final legislative days before the election to fulfill their mandate. That itself would have been a stronger campaign message than the languid narrative they currently offer.

After all, what is the point of clearing the schedule for extra campaign days if you have nothing positive to campaign on?

Instead, Republicans returned last week and quickly passed a continuing resolution funding the government through December 11 with virtually none of the immigration or economic reforms conservatives spent the past two years demanding. The House passed it 370-48.

“Well, they don’t want to rock the boat close to the election, so they opted for a clean CR,” you might retort.

Except it was not really clean in the sense conservatives usually mean when they use that term.

The bill contained at least two significant policy provisions. One delays new restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived THC products that Congress enacted last year. The restrictions were scheduled to take effect November 12 and would have barred many products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids per container. The CR now pushes that deadline to December 11.

The hemp industry lobbied heavily for that reprieve, and the White House supported the delay. Republicans who objected argued that Congress was postponing restrictions aimed at increasingly potent and easily accessible products.

Unfortunately, Trump is well-connected to the hemp and marijuana industries, so naturally he is willing to fight for them more than any of his immigration or economic promises.

RELATED: Dallas is the GOP’s last chance to remember why Trump won

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

The continuing resolution also temporarily blocks the Office of Management and Budget from finalizing a proposed rule that would significantly change federal grant-making by giving political appointees greater authority over grants and allowing agencies broader power to modify or cancel awards.

That reform cuts to the heart of one of the central complaints conservatives have made about the administrative state: Federal grant-making often finances organizations, universities, nonprofits, and programs that advance ideological priorities long after the voters who elected the current administration have changed course.

Yet Republicans allowed the stopgap bill to block one of the administration’s more consequential attempts to bring that grant-making under direct political control.

Why?

This is the recurring problem. Republicans routinely decline to codify their own executive actions, then permit temporary spending deals to constrain the executive authority they actually possess.

Meanwhile, they campaign for more power.

The larger record is difficult to ignore. Republicans have controlled the House for 24 of the past 32 years. Yet many of the policy victories conservatives celebrate remain vulnerable to the next president, the next court case, or the next appropriations fight because Congress never secured them in statute.

Holding office becomes the achievement.

The irony is almost perfect. Republicans warn voters that Democrats will wield power aggressively if they win, while demonstrating that Republicans themselves are reluctant to wield it while they have it.

Then they leave Washington to campaign for another chance.

​Federal funding, Midterm convention, Gop, Democrats, Trump, Mike johnson, Washington, Save act, Opinion & analysis, Congress 

On September 3, Messianic rabbi and bestselling evangelical author Jonathan Cahn was flying home to New Jersey from Dallas on an American Airlines flight when, he says, a casual conversation with his seatmate — 67-year-old Arizona realtor Arthur Lundeen — turned into chaos.

According to Cahn’s account, conversation was flowing normally between them until Cahn mentioned his new book and the gospel, at which point Lundeen allegedly flipped in an instant and began cursing Jesus before allegedly hitting Cahn’s laptop and grabbing at him.

Other passengers described the outburst turning violent, with Lundeen allegedly shouting a slew of profanities, including racial and homophobic slurs, allegedly biting one of the passengers who stepped in to help restrain him, and bleeding from wounds passengers said he inflicted on himself from struggling.

After Lundeen was restrained with zip ties and duct tape, the flight was diverted to Baltimore, where police arrested him and charged him with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Cahn told the Blaze Media co-founder that news reports covering the incident are heavily focused on “side things” and are missing the much bigger story behind what he describes as “the flight from hell.”

“What happened was demonic. It was real spiritual warfare,” Cahn tells Glenn, noting that this wasn’t the first time he’s been caught up in the cosmic war between light and dark.

“Every time … I put out a book there’s crazy attacks,” he says, “and that makes sense … because the books reveal the spiritual realm.”

Cahn’s newest book, “The Altar of Pergamon: The Mystery of the Dark Angel and the Future of the World,” which his publisher billed as his most “explosive revelation” yet, released on September 1 — just two days before Lundeen allegedly attacked him.

“I get on the plane, and the guy is to my left — friendliest guy in the world. By the way, Glenn, I wasn’t supposed to be on that seat. Last minute, I’m switched to that seat,” Cahn recounts.

He says their conversation about family and life went on for “two hours” and was so amicable the flight attendants thought they “knew each other.” But the second Cahn turned the chitchat to spiritual matters, the warmth vanished.

“I wanted to get work done, but I figured, OK, maybe God wants me to talk to this guy … and then I said, ‘God, give me a chance to share Your love with him, Your salvation with him,’ and so it happens,” says Cahn.

Lundeen, according to Cahn’s account, explained that he had “rejected” Christianity “as a kid” because of things he didn’t like about “Christians.” When Cahn then tried to explain to him that Christianity isn’t about Christians but about “you and God,” “God’s love,” and being “born again,” Lundeen allegedly got defensive.

“He says, ‘How do you know God is real?’ and I said, ‘Well, I was an atheist. I saw biblical prophecy coming true, and I couldn’t argue with it,”’ he recounts.

“Everything’s great, and then it turns. That moment, I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. It was like his face changes, his voice changes. … He’s cursing God. … He’s cursing Jesus. It’s blasphemy on the airplane. They didn’t put that in the articles,” Cahn recaps.

Lundeen’s vehement reaction to the gospel, Cahn says, then began to spiral out of control.

“He’s saying vulgar things. People all around are getting disturbed. … Then the flight attendants come over … and then he stands up, and he goes to the people in front and says, ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ And then he starts talking about hell,” he says.

“Imagine a demonic manifestation … and then suddenly, he turns friendly again like he’s a different person.”

But the sudden shift back to amiability didn’t last long, says Cahn.

He explains that earlier that week before he went on his book tour, a small “black patch” had unexplainably appeared on his computer screen. According to Cahn, when Lundeen saw the black patch, he “[tapped]” it “three times,” and it immediately “[spread] across [his] screen.”

“Then he puts his hands around me … and he’s laughing like it’s a joke,” he tells Glenn.

But what triggered the “ultimate escalation,” he says, is when Lundeen saw an image of his book’s cover — which features a hooded, winged “dark angel” representing Satan — on the computer screen in the area the black patch hadn’t covered.

“Then he starts shouting … ‘What did you do? What did you do?’ like I did something wrong,” says Cahn.

“You will never see this in any newspaper, but … he says, ‘I’m going to punch your blanking Jewish face in.’ … Then he starts hitting me.”

At this point, it dawns on Cahn that dark spiritual forces are trying to destroy his computer, which stores his life’s work as a Christian author.

“I take my computer, I start closing it up. … At that moment, he lunges at me, and he lunges at my computer, and he grabs my computer with all his might, and he’s trying to wrest it from me and undoubtedly to destroy it,” he says, adding that this struggle turned into a “wrestling” match that he ultimately won but not without reinjuring his newly healed arm.

At this point, other passengers got involved, leading to Lundeen being restrained and the plane’s diversion to Baltimore. This is part of the story news outlets have honed in on, says Cahn, adding that some articles he’s seen even frame Lundeen as a “Christian who is racist.”

Glenn confirms that the articles he’s read frame the incident around Lundeen’s alleged racist, sexist, and homophobic comments. “None of what you said was in that story — none,” he tells Cahn.

That’s because the “real story” of the gospel triggering a “demonic manifestation,” says Cahn, is one the media would never dare touch.

To hear more wild details from Cahn’s “flight from hell,” watch the full interview above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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

​Glenn beck, Spiritual warfare, American airlines, Blazetv show 

President Donald Trump believes he can defy history and maintain control of Congress in the midterms — and he just announced the policy that could pull it off.

The president was in high spirits as he championed his first two years in office, especially his economic success, at the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas on Wednesday night. In fact, Trump said the country is doing so well that he’d be returning the profits to the American people.

‘We’ll call it the Trump Dividend.’

“I will issue a dividend to every citizen in the United States of America for 5,000 dollars, very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution to its shareholders,” Trump said.

The $5,000 payout, however, is conditional on a certain result in November’s midterm elections.

“If Republicans win the United States House and Senate, I will issue a dividend to every adult in the United States of America for $5,000,” the president said. “You gotta spend the money in the United States of America.”

The president claimed that Democrats couldn’t pull off such a payment because “they don’t do tariffs.”

RELATED: The mood is high as midterm convention gets underway

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Because we’ve done so well, because our country is making so much money, only I can make this promise to you,” Trump said before promising the post-election payment. “If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend. We’ll call it the Trump dividend.”

The president also vowed to make all of his tax cuts permanent, putting even more cash back into voters’ pockets. Trump tied the proposed dividend to the “over $20 trillion in foreign investment” he’s recruited from allies, his tariffs, and Vice President JD Vance’s war on fraud.

“He’s doing a great job, by the way,” the president said.

With the midterm elections only 55 days away, Trump and the Republican Party are pulling out all the stops to make history.

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​Congress, November elections, President donald trump, Republicans, Politics, Midterm convention, Payout