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Two Democrat members of Congress are pushing legislation that would enact a “Bill of Rights” for transgender-identifying people.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said the bill would combat the “cruelty” of policies of the Trump administration and other Republicans.

‘She’s a toxic person who is damaging our country.’

“The resolution creates a comprehensive framework to protect trans and nonbinary Americans from discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression,” read a press release about the bill.

The bill would change the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in order to “explicitly include gender identity and sex characteristics” and add protections in federal education laws for trans-identifying students. It would also reinforce the right of transgender-identifying people to access health care for their gender identity and would ban “conversion therapy.”

The bill was widely opposed and ridiculed by many on social media.

“What civil rights do ADULT trans people currently lack?! This is just a slippery slope to reach the kids. Absolutely not,” read one response.

“We don’t need her demanding a bill of rights for transgender people. She’s a toxic person who is damaging our country,” wrote another critic.

“The bill of rights is the same for all Americans regardless of race or gender. There is no special treatment for gender confusion,” said another X user.

“The Dems cannot define a woman, but they can do this!?!?! Now you know this is just made up to have some undermining influence on America’s history!” wrote another detractor.

Jayapal has said previously that she is the “proud mother of a transgender child.”

RELATED: USA Today obliterated online over bizarre claim about transgender athletes

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D) of California also issued a statement in favor of the bill.

“We need protections for the transgender and nonbinary communities at the federal level, because no one should live in fear of being who they are,” she wrote. “I’m so proud to co-lead the Transgender Bill of Rights as proof of our commitment to protect the health, safety, and well-being of trans people in this country. To the trans community: We see you, and we will not stop until you can live freely and authentically.”

Democrats are unlikely to gain support for the bill, as both houses of Congress are controlled by Republicans, but their chances may improve if they make enough gains in the midterm elections. However, the bill would still need to be signed by the president, which is very unlikely.

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A short film made entirely with artificial intelligence has viewers up in arms and saying they are willing to boycott theaters that show it.

The film is reportedly set to be shown in thousands of theaters across the United States after winning an AI film festival.

‘Even for AI slop this is bad.’

The short in question is called “Thanksgiving Day,” made by Igor Alferov.

As reported by AI Films Studio, the winner of the Frame Forward AI film festival was left to a public vote, with the grand prize of getting a full theatrical run across 14,000 screens in 2,300 theaters.

Deadline announced “Thanksgiving Day” as the festival’s inaugural winner on Tuesday and confirmed that it would receive a two-week run in theaters through Screenvision Media.

However, movie fans were none too pleased to hear that news.

Spoilers for the short film are listed below.

The film, which features a bear and a duck in a seemingly Soviet-inspired spaceship, has the animal astronauts being exploited by various space thugs, which are also animals. A space cop beaver extorts the pair for money. Then, a pig, who is seemingly an environmental inspector, takes even more money before a rat “quarantine zone inspector” takes all their food.

Finally, a space turkey stops by and restocks the travelers’ fridge for Thanksgiving.

RELATED: AI bots are hiring humans now. Next stop: Slaves by choice?

The two-minute film received near-unanimously negative responses on YouTube, which included comments like “literal slop” and “I hated every second of that.”

“If I see this or another other ai slop before my movie im going to the front desk and getting a refund and leaving [sic],” another viewer wrote.

“Even for AI slop this is bad,” a user named Davie Jones wrote, while yet another unhappy audience member said, “this is complete garbage dude.”

On X, a lone commenter replied to Deadline with one word:

“Pathetic.”

Multiple (unconfirmed) reports have surfaced online citing that AMC would be one of the theater chains showing the short before movie trailers air.

RELATED: My school’s AI challenge raised a scary question: What do students need me for?

Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images

While AMC has seemingly not announced this, and it is unclear where the claim derives from, it is true that AMC partners with Screenvision Media. On its website, Screenvision Media notes that its partnership officer signed a long-term contract with AMC as one of its 10 largest exhibitor partners.

This rumor prompted users to discuss possible boycotts of AMC online.

X user Nate Leport said he would “drive the extra 20 minutes” to a different theater after reading the claim.

“We need to protest at every” AMC in the country, another user suggested.

“I would rather have out of place feeling local business ads than this to be honest,” Jackie wrote.

Finally, Matthew wrote on X, “Upon reading this I will no longer go to your theaters for anything.”

Return reached out to AMC about the overwhelmingly negative response and asked if the theater chain plans to air the short film or any other AI films. This article will be updated with any applicable responses.

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Five Franciscan friars who traveled from Spain in the late 16th century to what is now Georgia were savagely murdered for defending the dignity of the sacrament of marriage. They are now well on their way to sainthood.

Monsignor Fred Nijem, drawing from the notes of Fr. Conrad Harkins — the vice-postulator for the canonization cause of the Georgia Martyrs — explained in Southern Cross magazine that “the missionaries met their death near present-day Darien. The reason for their death was their defense of the sanctity of marriage. The catalyst for their death was their refusal to allow a Catholic to take a second wife.”

‘They gave explicit and immediate witness of fidelity to Christ.’

According to the official website for the Georgia Martyrs, the friars lived for years with the coastal Indians of the Guale territory, learning their language, preaching the gospel, and welcoming many into the faith.

Among the coastal converts was a man named Juanillo, next in line to become tribal chief.

Friar Pedro de Corpa challenged the newly minted Christian’s decision to take a second wife, vowing to oppose his rise to power if he persisted in his polygamic choice. The Indian evidently did not appreciate this challenge to his power.

Msgr. Nijem indicated that:

Juanillo left the mission and returned under cover of darkness, and bludgeoned Fr. Pedro to death, and impaled his severed head at the mission landing. The remaining four missionaries were also killed. The Guales had decided to dispatch all the “troublesome friars,” who interfered with them having many wives.

All of the nearby friars were brutally murdered except for Friar Francisco de Avila, who was kidnapped and tortured until St. Augustine’s governor managed to secure his release — 10 months later. Despite the cruelty he suffered at the hands of the Indians, de Avila refused to testify against them at trial in order to spare their lives.

RELATED: ‘Pure bigotry’: CNN fearmongers about ‘Christian nationalism’ in election-narrative tease

St. Francis of Assisi. Photo by: Bildagentur-online/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.

Prior to his death, Pope Francis recognized the murdered men of the Order of Friars Minor — four of whom were priests — as martyrs whose slayings were committed out of hatred for the Catholic faith.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints recently announced that the Georgia Martyrs — Friars Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añón, and Francisco de Veráscola as well as lay brother Antonio de Badajoz — will be beatified at a ceremony in Savannah, Georgia, on Oct. 31.

An English translation of the dicastery’s announcement notes that “aware of the risks connected to the apostolate, they gave explicit and immediate witness of fidelity to Christ and His message by fully transmitting the teaching of the Church.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops notes on its website that “all Christians are called to be saints. Saints are persons in heaven (officially canonized or not), who lived heroically virtuous lives, offered their life for others, or were martyred for the faith, and who are worthy of imitation.”

Where official recognition by the Catholic Church goes, there are three steps to sainthood.

First, a candidate who “lived a heroically virtuous life or offered their life” is recognized by the pope as “venerable.” The second stage is beatification, which requires a finding of “one miracle acquired through the candidate’s intercession.” Finally, for canonization, a second miracle is required.

The UCCB noted, however, that “the pope may waive these requirements. A miracle is not required prior to a martyr’s beatification, but one is required before canonization.”

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While Texas politicians are adamant about banning Sharia law in Texas, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales points out that it’s actually not necessary — because Islamic practices are already illegal in America.

“Sharia is already against the law. The way that they govern is already against the law. Islamic law is not the U.S. Constitution. Islamic law is not Texas law. That’s very obvious. You’re not allowed to amputate someone’s hand for stealing,” Gonzales explains.

“Can’t stone a woman to death because she was unfaithful. They can do that there. You can’t do that over here. You can’t throw someone off a building because they’re gay. They do that over there. Not so much over here. You’re not allowed to kill Christians because you think they’re infidels. Like, that’s why Islam isn’t compatible with our country,” she continues.

And Gonzales has made it her “personal goal” to do “whatever is necessary to make the state of Texas the most unfriendly, unwelcoming state to Islam, because it is not here to be friendly or welcoming to us.”

What she actually believes would be “key to stopping the Islamic takeover” is halal meat.

“So in the Quran, you have halal and haram. … Halal means, basically, allowed, permissible. So halal is allowed. Haram is not allowed. Okay? So one’s good, one’s bad,” Gonzales explains.

“And generally, Muslims are only supposed to eat halal food and halal-certified meat,” she continues, noting that pork is one meat considered “haram.”

“And it can only be certified halal if the slaughterer, who has to be Muslim, if the slaughterer participates in this Islamic prayer ritual while he slits the throat of the animal, and it has to hit arteries, and it’s this whole big thing that they have to let the animal bleed out entirely,” she says.

“Now, the thing is, is that animals in this country have to be stunned before slaughter. So they do this so that the animal can’t feel the pain. It’s supposed to be more humane — except there’s a religious exemption, obviously for Muslims or any other religion who want to take that up,” she continues.

“That is why I’m asking Republicans: If you are serious about stopping the Islamic invasion, ban halal meat. Just do it. Ban it,” she adds.

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Over 100,000 students have already applied after the explosive launch of Texas School Choice — which Gov. Greg Abbott (R) calls “the biggest and best rollout of school choice in the history of the United States of America.”

“And it’s really a gamechanger for education in our state. You know, one thing about school choice is it provides school competition,” Abbott tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“What we want to see is competition in public education, private education, homeschool education. And when we have that, it is going to lead to better educational products for all the kids in the state of Texas,” he continues.

“And listen, if this can be done in the state of Texas, there is a lot of talk that this could sweep across the United States and truly transform education in the country,” he adds.

“Can you tell me either the demographics, or the income brackets, that are mostly benefiting from this? Because there’s people who say this is going to benefit the rich,” Glenn comments.

“I’m laughing because all those talking points are nothing more than the teacher union talking points,” Abbott laughs.

“There are, income wise, three different buckets for school choice in the state of Texas. The first would be low income, which would be capped at 200% of the poverty level. The second bucket would be the gap between the 200% poverty level to the 500% poverty level. And then the third would be anybody above the 500% poverty level,” he explains.

“And what we have in applicants so far out of about 100,000, they break down pretty evenly among those three different income levels,” he adds.

However, Glenn is still curious as to how exactly this will create competition between public schools.

“Public schools have had a monopoly on educating kids in the state of Texas, and they didn’t have to get up every day and find a way to compete and provide a better education product for their kids. They didn’t have to pay as much attention in the classroom and in doing what needed to be done to truly provide the kind of product that parents look forward to taking their child to every single day,” Abbott explains.

“Now, however, with a robust school choice program that’s being oversubscribed, which means that it may be expanding in the future, it means that public schools, they’re going to have to get back to the basics,” he continues, adding, “They’re going to have to provide the quality of education that will lead to a child actually learning.”

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In the late 20th century, we entered Marshall McLuhan’s global village, in which instant communications collapsed distances and weakened the boundaries of the nation-state. We are now entering its next chapter, a lifting of the internet’s physical backbone above terrestrial soil. Blue Origin’s TeraWave project is a manifestation of what Manuel Castells called the “space of flows”: a domain in which social practices occur in real time, indifferent to geographic contiguity. By moving critical infrastructure into orbit, we are creating a planetary nervous system that transcends the old constraints of territory.

An attack on a private communication satellite could constitute an act of war.

What does it mean when that network is physically located in the global commons of space, beyond the reach of any nation’s laws? Communications that once passed through national gateways now beam directly from overhead, challenging the ability of governments to control information flows within their own borders.

Geopolitical lifelines — and severance

Control over communications infrastructure is a strategic advantage. On the very first day of World War I, British forces cut the undersea telegraph cables linking Germany to the outside world, save one cable, which they tapped. This cable-cutting gambit isolated an empire and yielded intelligence coups, such as the Zimmermann telegram, that influenced the course of the war. Networks are a geopolitical lifeline, and to control them or deny them to an adversary is an exercise of power.

The Cold War moved this struggle into the skies. In 1964, the United States led the formation of Intelsat to project soft power through global television and telephone links. The Soviet Union, wary of an American-dominated system, responded in 1971 with Intersputnik. Even as these satellites orbited above Earth’s politics, they were enmeshed in them.

Technology is now catching up to the strategic ambition. While early attempts in the 1990s, such as Motorola’s Iridium, struggled economically, the 2020s brought a drop in launch costs that made massive constellations feasible. SpaceX’s Starlink proved the concept, deploying thousands of satellites to become the world’s largest operator by 2025.

Weaving the orbital fiber

TeraWave is Blue Origin’s bid for the terabit-scale backbone. The system is not designed for the mass-market consumer but is instead a “provider for providers,” an infrastructure as a service for telecom companies, large enterprises, and governments. The technical blueprint calls for a multilayered architecture of satellites: 5,280 in low Earth orbit to interface with ground users and 128 larger satellites in medium Earth orbit acting as high-capacity relay nodes.

RELATED: Amazon’s Ring is running a spy ring from your home. Here’s how to turn it off.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

TeraWave and Starlink serve different purposes. Starlink is an access network, a wireless ISP from space. TeraWave is “orbital fiber,” a point-to-point, symmetric link for the heavy-duty data needs of data centers and military command posts. Each customer link can access up to 144 Gbps, while the MEO layer provides trunk connections of up to six terabits per second.

To achieve this bandwidth, TeraWave pushes into the Q and V radio frequency bands, which allow high throughput but require precise, power-hungry ground antennas and remain susceptible to atmospheric attenuation. It also employs optical inter-satellite links to create a laser-based network. Blue Origin’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has opted for a methodical engineering approach that separates backhaul from access, perhaps learning from the single-stack complexities of SpaceX’s pioneering forays.

The ultimate high ground

In space, private innovation meets the hard edge of national security. We saw this in Ukraine, for which Starlink became a digital lifeline after terrestrial networks were disrupted by the Russian invasion. Ukrainian troops used Starlink to coordinate defense and control drones, nullifying attempts to sever their communications. When Elon Musk reportedly curtailed coverage near a conflict zone, citing fears of escalation, the U.S. Department of Defense found itself negotiating contracts to ensure service continuity.

China has announced its own GuoWang mega-constellation of 12,000 satellites to ensure that it is not dependent on Western systems. The European Union has approved its IRIS² initiative to achieve European strategic autonomy and avoid reliance on non-European players. India now requires satellite operators to route data through local ground gateways to protect national security and comply with data localization laws. The transnational nature of these networks is in constant tension with the territorial jurisdiction of states.

Vulnerable in the void

The orbital backbone has a certain resilience, providing route diversity: the ability to act as backup if undersea cables are cut, a real concern given recent incidents of sabotage in Northern Europe and Asia. TeraWave is explicitly marketed as a way to keep critical services online during disasters or outages. For smaller states or enterprises, these networks reduce exposure to local infrastructure attacks.

The stakes in space are high. If conflict extends to orbit, a cascading debris field could indiscriminately knock out the satellites. As militaries integrate TeraWave into their operations, these satellites may become targets, blurring the lines between civilian and military assets. An attack on a private communication satellite could constitute an act of war.

Benefit or Babel?

Low Earth orbit is largely ungoverned. International frameworks lag behind the current technical reality. There is no binding treaty on how many satellites one company can deploy. The lines of accountability are blurred. If a nation’s internet is provided by a private corporation’s satellites, is that nation’s infrastructure still its own?

Blue Origin’s slogan for TeraWave is “For the Benefit of Earth.” It’s a noble sentiment, but achieving it will require more than engineering. It will require wisdom that matches the scale of the technology. We are wrapping the Earth in a collective nervous system; whether this yields a harmonious village or a Tower of Babel is yet to be determined.

​Tech 

The latest musical release from U2 laments the death of Renee Good, the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protester who was shot and killed by a federal agent after she swerved her car into him in Minneapolis last month.

The popular group has not released new music since 2017, and lead singer, Bono, said the surprise release of the songs on the EP was necessary to capture the moment.

‘They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation.’

“These songs were impatient to be out in the world,” the singer said. “They are songs of defiance and dismay, of lamentation. Songs of celebration will follow, we’re working on those now.”

The lyrics of “American Obituary” condemn the shooting that was captured on video and left Good dead.

“Renee Good, born to die free. American mother of three. Seventh day, January. A bullet for each child, you see,” Bono sings.

“The color of her eye. 930 Minneapolis. To desecrate domestic bliss. Three bullets blast, three babies kissed. Renee the domestic terrorist?” he continues.

The chorus sings, “America will rise against the people of the lie.”

The other songs on the EP address the Russian war against Ukraine, the Israeli-Gaza conflict, and the lethal crackdowns on protesters by the Iranian regime. One track that features a guest performance by Ed Sheeran will be released with a documentary recognizing the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

Bono says the future full album release will have more songs with a “joyful tone.”

RELATED: Shocking cellphone video of Minneapolis shooting from ICE agent’s perspective released

Bono has used his platform to support philanthropic efforts and has reluctantly admitted that the best way to help impoverished communities is to bring jobs by way of expanding capitalism.

“I ended up as an activist in a very different place from where I started. I thought that if we just redistributed resources, then we could solve every problem. I now know that’s not true,” he said in an interview in 2022.

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Former Victoria’s Secret CEO and Bath & Body Works co-founder Leslie Wexner was questioned at his Ohio home on Wednesday by Democrat members of the House Oversight Committee over his relationship to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The 88-year-old billionaire said in a prepared statement that he has “been the subject of outrageous untrue statements and hurtful rumor, innuendo, and speculation,” adding that he was “naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein.”

Although he has not been charged with any crime, Wexner was identified in the newly released Epstein files — both in a 2019 FBI document and an FBI email — as a possible co-conspirator in Epstein’s sex-trafficking case.

Denial

Wexner, whose net worth is presently estimated to be $10.8 billion, told lawmakers that he was introduced to Epstein in the 1980s by Bob Meister, the former vice chairman of the insurance giant Aon.

‘Taunting and poking him with impatience, that little demon he really loves.’

After allegedly receiving references for Epstein from two of the pedophile’s former superiors at Bear Stearns and Élie de Rothschild of the Rothschild family banking dynasty, Wexner developed a relationship with Epstein, then ultimately hired him to manage his personal finances.

The New York Times reported that during the time he managed Wexner’s personal finances, Epstein not only became extraordinarily rich but came into the possession of a New York mansion, a private plane, and a luxury estate in Ohio, altogether valued at roughly $100 million and all previously owned by Wexner or one of his companies. Wexner told lawmakers on Wednesday that Epstein purchased the New York property from him for what he “was told was the appraised value.”

Wexner noted in his prepared statement that Epstein “was clever, diabolical, and a master manipulator” — a deceiver living a “double life” who “carefully used his acquaintance with important individuals to curate an aura of legitimacy that he then used to expand his network of acquaintances, and apparent credibility, even farther.”

The billionaire claims that he was only personally acquainted with the one side of Epstein — the “sophisticated financial guru,” not the “side of Epstein’s life for which he is now infamous.”

Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre alleged in court documents that she had been trafficked to Wexner, according to multiple outlets. Wexner, however, claimed both that he has never been unfaithful to Abigail, his wife of 33 years, and that he completely severed ties with Epstein around the time of the pedophile’s guilty plea in 2008 for solicitation of a minor for prostitution.

RELATED: ‘I wasn’t his girlfriend’: Whoopi Goldberg breaks silence on her presence in the Epstein files

Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Wexner claimed in 2019 that he had severed ties with the sex offender a year earlier, in 2007.

Wexner stressed in his statement to lawmakers that while he was “conned,” he has “done nothing wrong.”

Following the deposition, Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, stated, “There was no one more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the wealth and financial support he needed to commit his crimes than Les Wexner. There would be no Epstein Island, no Epstein plane, and no money to traffic women and girls without the wealth of Les Wexner.”

“And yet, with all this evidence, Mr. Wexner admitted that the FBI and DOJ never questioned him,” continued Garcia. “That’s outrageous and unforgivable.”

A Wexner spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Politico that the billionaire “honestly answered every question put to him today by the Committee” and that “Wexner reiterated that he has no knowledge of, and did not participate in, Epstein’s illegal conduct.”

Another malicious spirit

Epstein may not have been the first “master manipulator” to exert influence on Wexner.

In an interview that served as the basis for Julie Baumgold’s August 1985 profile in New York Magazine, Wexner discussed “his dybbuk, which pokes and prods and gives him the itchiness of soul that he calls shpilkes.”

According to Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is an evil human spirit whose past sins preclude it from finding peace. These spirits are believed to seek refuge in the bodies of living human beings whom they cling to and/or possess.

Rabbi Julian Sinclair, writing for the Jewish Chronicle, noted that “Kabbalistic works, at least from the 16th century onwards, sometimes contain instructions and protocols for the exorcism of dybbuks, ceremonies to drive them out of the bodies they have colonised.”

Baumgold wrote that when Wexner was a boy, his father called the dybbuk “tummel, a churning, so he feels ‘molten’ and unformed, pricked by these spiritual pins and needles.”

“[Wexner] met this demon again when he was 40 and already worth half a billion,” continued Baumgold, “when he climbed the mountain in front of his house in Vail and almost froze to death and decided to change his life. This demon he calls ‘terminal shpilkes,’ which makes him wander from house to house, repeating the pattern of his childhood on a luxurious scale, wanting more, swallowing companies larger than his own. It is precisely the reason that Wexner has a billion and didn’t stop at, say, 5 million and a new Mercedes every other year and what he calls ‘normal life.'”

The profile concludes with:

Lex Wexner picks up his heavy black case and flies off in his Challenger, with his dybbuk sitting next to him, taunting and poking him with impatience, that little demon he really loves. The dybbuk turns his face. What does he look like? “Me,” says Les Wexner.

Journalist Whitney Webb suggested that while “one may interpret this use of shpilkes, literally ‘pins’ or ‘spikes’ in Yiddish and often used to describe nervous energy, impatience, or anxiety, as Wexner merely personifying his anxiety,” his decision to use the word “dybbuk” was “significant.”

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew and the younger brother of King Charles III, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The Thames Valley Police said they arrested a man in his 60s from Norfolk around 8 a.m.

Misconduct in public office is a common-law offense in England and Wales and can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The BBC confirmed that Mountbatten-Windsor had been arrested, sharing footage of police vehicles arriving at the estate.

Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright added in a statement:

“Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office. We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

RELATED: Do the Epstein files confirm this Pizzagate theory? NY Mag contributor makes stunning admission.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Thames Valley Police confirmed last week that it was assessing allegations tied to documents within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Epstein files.

Wright said last week: “We can confirm today that Thames Valley Police is leading the ongoing assessment of allegations relating to misconduct in public office. This specifically relates to documents within the United States Department of Justice’s Epstein Files.”

Mountbatten-Windsor served as the United Kingdom’s special representative for international trade and investment from 2001 to 2011.

RELATED: Gov. Pritzker’s cousin steps down at Hyatt over Epstein relationship

Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images

King Charles III acknowledged the arrest, “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.”

Charles said that he expressed “deepest concern” and that “the law must take its course,” adding that the royal family would offer “full and wholehearted support and co-operation” to police.

Misconduct in public office is a common-law offense in England and Wales and can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

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The home of the New England Patriots is standing strong until it gets paid.

Foxboro, Massachusetts, is set to host seven World Cup matches this summer at Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play. However, the Boston-area organizing committee for the World Cup has not come up with the money yet.

‘All we’re trying to do is protect our citizens.’

Representatives from Boston 26, the host city initiative for the World Cup, met in Foxboro this week, where they received a lashing from city officials over the mysteriously absent funding.

“I’m shocked you’re not sitting here in front of us right now saying, ‘We got the money for ya,'” Foxboro Select Board Member Mark Elfman told the soccer officials on Tuesday.

Board members said they would not grant an entertainment license for the World Cup games until the organizers could put up the money needed for event and security fees, which is a reported $7 million, according to WHDH- TV.

The host committee says it is not at fault, but rather the federal government has simply yet to pay.

RELATED: Pro tennis player says her ‘toxic boyfriend’ caused her retirement: ‘Racist, misogynistic, homophobic’

“This task force is working on a daily basis to work with DHS and FEMA on that,” Mike Loynd, CEO of Boston 26, told reporters. “I don’t think I can say anything more about that. We’re being told that it’s, you know, it’s expected any day now.”

Select Board Member Bill Yukna described the World Cup games as the “equivalent of seven Super Bowls” over 39 days, requiring security for the stadium every single day throughout the event.

“All we’re trying to do is protect our citizens,” Yukna added.

Select Board Vice Chair Stephanie McGowan was more direct with the soccer officials, saying the small city of about 18,000 cannot simply front the millions of dollars required.

“We’re not prepared to issue this license unless everything is in place,” McGowan said, per WHDH. “I’ve seen people saying, ‘Oh, there’s no way, they won’t.’ I’m going to tell you, this board will not issue this license,” she affirmed.

RELATED: Canadian curler responds to viral cheating allegations: ‘They were trying to catch us in an act’

Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images

Sixteen venues are scheduled to host games for the 2026 World Cup, the most ever for a single tournament, according to Fox Sports.

Along with two venues in Canada and three in Mexico, 10 other U.S. stadiums are scheduled to host games: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; NRG Stadium in Houston; SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles; Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri; Hard Rock Stadium in Miami; MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey; Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California; and Lumen Field in Seattle.

The select board will meet again on March 3, and the deadline to issue the license is March 17.

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​Fearless, Foxboro, Patriots, Stadium, Soccer, Football, Fifa world cup, World cup 2026, Sports 

Faith-based films have come a long way, baby.

Remember the hardscrabble tales told by the Kendrick Brothers (“Fireproof,” “Facing the Giants”) on shoestring budgets? Think Kirk Cameron and a sea of unfamiliar faces.

‘The way that faith shows up in this particular film is around a sense of longing … I wanted a sense of yearning for something.’

Or the “God’s Not Dead” franchise, a saga that mainstream critics lined up to smite like so many pinatas?

Now faith is more mainstream than ever in pop culture circles. Amazon teamed up with Jon Erwin’s Kingdom Story Company to create the popular “House of David” series for Prime Video. Netflix partnered with Tyler Perry and DeVon Franklin for a line of original faith-based films, including last year’s “Ruth & Boaz.”

Newer, faith-friendly films boast recognizable stars like Oscar-winner Hilary Swank (“Ordinary Angels”), Kelsey Grammer (“Jesus Revolution”), and Dennis Quaid (the “I Can Only Imagine” series).

Defying easy labels

“Midwinter Break” — which hits theaters Friday — offers something that’s aesthetically different while spiritually profound. The indie drama focuses on an older couple, Stella and Gerry (Lesley Manville, Ciarán Hinds), traveling in Amsterdam.

Their decades-old marriage teeters when Stella recalls a traumatic experience and an unfulfilled spiritual promise. The drama looks nothing like a standard faith-based film, which some critics have derided as sanding too many of life’s rough edges smooth.

The story’s core conflict is deeply religious and handled with care. It defies easy labels but may resonate all the same.

“Midwinter Break” director Polly Findlay treats the marriage and subject matter with a delicacy that belies her status as a first-time filmmaker. It helps that she brought a heady background in live theater to the task at hand.

Shared vocabulary

Another obvious benefit? Having two veteran stars building a credible marriage on the brink of collapse. Manville and Hinds also brought significant stage experience to the film, offering a “shared vocabulary” when the cameras turned on, Findlay tells Align.

That, plus three days of rehearsal, ensured the couple’s on-screen bond appeared like it was decades in the making.

“We were able to read [the script] a lot together and build a shared sense of back history,” Findlay said. “They didn’t want to plan too much in advance. They wanted to feel things in the moment, to riff off each other and improvise.”

Manville and Hinds aren’t kids anymore. She’s 69 and he’s 73, and it’s rare for films to feature older couples either falling in love or navigating years of complicated romance.

“That was something I was really drawn to … a grown-up love story,” she said. “It’s not always documented on screen. The relationship is a series of new beginnings. And so, it’s really, really hopeful without being sentimental.”

A key part of the film finds Stella reflecting on a life-changing event in her younger years, a time when she was with child. What flowed from that pivotal moment got lost over the years, but the Amsterdam journey finds it rushing back to the present.

RELATED: ‘The Case for Miracles’: A stirring road trip into the heart of faith

Fathom Entertainment

A life unlived

“For Stella, her faith is very, very real of course, and very specific. The way in which that faith manifests itself in her is a product of the country that she’s from, the moment in time from which she’s from … and the things that happened to her in the past,” the director says.

“The thing that she’s carrying with her in a more macro way, is … a thing we can all related to, a sense of a life unlived.”

Manville captures that challenging arc.

“As she gets older … there’s a whole different Stella that could have been if she made choices differently,” she says.

Different layers

For the director, bringing faith to the screen meant different layers of storytelling.

“The way that faith shows up in this particular film is around a sense of longing … I wanted a sense of yearning for something running underneath it,” she says, adding the Amsterdam setting enhances that with its beauty and “sense of melancholy.”

“Midwinter Break” can be heavy, and audiences won’t know if this relationship can survive the couple’s marital chasm. That reflects both Stella’s faith and the harsh realities of any long-term relationship.

It’s a duality that spikes the film’s waning moments.

Some couples can loathe each other in the morning and, later, realize what they’ve built is both precious and vital, she notes.

“Sometimes your emotion toward somebody is red, and sometimes it’s blue … you can just go from red to blue without necessarily having to go through purple, because that’s how we are,” she says. “It felt important for those moments of despair and doubt to feel 100% and that somehow the kind of hope you then arrive at is dependent on going through that 100%.”

​Interview, Midwinter break, Polly findlay, Entertainment, Faith, Movies, Culture 

Spam texts are on the rise, mucking up your phone with group chats filled with people you don’t know and who didn’t ask to be lumped together for some nefarious reason. While these texts might seem like a simple nuisance, they can ultimately lead to more spam, phishing attempts, or worse. Just like with spam calls, though, there’s an easy way to silence spam text alerts and block messages from your phone.

Spam texts are on the rise

If you’ve received more spam text messages lately, you’re not alone. Consumer Reports confirmed that text-based scam attempts have risen by 50% as of 2025. Part of this is due to the broad-scale availability of RCS, a fairly new texting standard that replaced the antiquated SMS on both Android and iPhone. Although RCS is generally more private and secure than SMS, the new service makes it easier for scammers to send media attachments designed to get you to click through to a spam website where they can steal your private information.

What to do if you receive a spam text

If you receive a spam text, do not respond! Don’t ask why you’re in the group chat, don’t demand the head of the person who added you, don’t talk to anyone else that asks the same things, and for the sake of your future sanity, don’t click on any shared links. Doing any of these actions simply confirms to the sender that your phone number is valid, and you will be added to other spam lists for future scam calls and text messages. It’s better for spammers to think your number is inactive than to let them know that you are a viable target. Instead, here’s what you should do the next time you receive a spam text message.

How to block spam texts on iPhone

On iPhone, open up the Settings app. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and tap “Apps.” From there, scroll to the center of your app list and tap into “Messages.” Scroll halfway down the page again and find the section titled “Unknown Senders.”

From here, you’ll want to enable “Screen Unknown Senders.” This will automatically flag any text messages you receive from unknown numbers and move them to a separate list within your Messages app. Next, check the “Time Sensitive” toggle. This will allow alerts, two-factor verification codes, and urgent texts to still come through so you won’t miss anything important that’s non-spam related. Finally, check the “Filter Spam” option to hide spam notifications and move these unwanted messages to a separate list in the Messages app. With these features enabled, you won’t be alerted when a spam text comes in, but you’ll still get the chance to review the message and decide if it’s actually spam.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw

TIP: Keep in mind that these settings are available on iPhones running iOS 26. You may not see these options, or they may be slightly different, if you’re on an earlier version of iOS.

If you want to view your quarantined spam texts, open the Messages app on your iPhone. Tap the filter menu in the top right corner. Click on either “Unknown Senders” or “Spam,” depending on which you want to view. From here, you can either read the messages for fun, remove them from the spam list if they’re not actually spam, or delete them entirely. Whatever you do, though, don’t reply.

How to block spam texts on Android

For Android, we’re specifically looking at the spam blocking features built directly into the Google Messages app. If you’re using a different messages app, these features may differ or may not even be available. For what it’s worth, Google Messages is the best native SMS and RCS app on Android, thanks to its simplicity, security, and broad support. I strongly recommend switching to Google Messages if you haven’t already.

To get started, open the Google Messages app on your Android phone. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner, followed by “Messages Settings.” Near the bottom of the page, select “Protection & Safety.” Finally, toggle “Spam Protection” into the on position. Once enabled, Android will automatically scan and filter your spam text messages into the spam section in your messages app.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw

WARNING: Although most of Android’s spam detection features happen directly on the device, Google admits that “spam information is sent to Google anonymously to improve spam and abuse protection.” This information can include the phone numbers of unknown senders who aren’t in your contacts list. Google maintains that your name and phone number are not shared with Google and that your identity remains anonymous.

Reclaim your messages app

Spam text messages are annoying, but thanks to these features built directly into iOS and Android, it’s easier than ever to make them disappear. Toggle a few quick settings and reclaim the peace of a quiet messages app where only the people you want to talk to can actually reach you.

​Tech, Spam, How to 

President Donald Trump hosted the first Board of Peace meeting in the nation’s capital as the world waits to see America’s next move against Iran.

Trump opened the inaugural diplomatic meeting Thursday flanked by members of his administration, like Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as world leaders gathered to address peace in the Middle East. In true Trump fashion, Guns N’ Roses blared over the speakers as attendees gathered for a photo.

‘They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region.’

This is the first official gathering of the board since Trump announced its formation as part of the ceasefire brokered between Israel and Hamas.

During his address, Trump announced new investments to relieve the devastation in Gaza, while also warning Israel’s adversaries like Iran. But while world leaders are meeting to discuss peace, many Americans are bracing themselves for the opposite.

RELATED: Online sleuths spot numerous signs that a US strike on Iran is imminent

Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

Trump first struck Iran in June when the United States “completely and totally obliterated” its nuclear capabilities. Since then, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Israel is “not yet finished” with Iran, urging further American involvement as tensions escalate.

The United States has now sent a flurry of fighter planes, aerial regulars, and surveillance planes in recent days toward the Middle East, with some reports indicating a strike could come as soon as this weekend. Even still, Trump issued Iran what could be a final warning.

“Now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we’re doing,” Trump said Thursday. “And if they join us, that’ll be great. If they don’t join us, that’ll be great too, but it’ll be a very different path. They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region.”

RELATED: Trump’s unusual Cabinet meeting may reveal which officials are on thin ice

Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

“They must make a deal, or if that doesn’t happen … bad things will happen.”

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​Donald trump, Iran, Israel, Gaza, Board of peace, Peace deal, Ceasefire, Iran strike, Iran nuclear facility, Middle east, Benjamin netanyahu, Politics 

Gut-wrenching surveillance video shows the moment an SUV slams into a New Jersey preschool as a mother and her two little sons who were leaving the building barely escape the full impact of the crash.

RELATED: ‘Visibly intoxicated’ man enters still-running parked vehicle with three boys inside, leads cops on high-speed chase as kids call 911 to give location updates

One of the boys was knocked to the ground after being struck by the rear of the out-of-control vehicle.

‘God had to be with that little boy.’

Patrice Pisani told News12 she was leaving Bloom Academy in Freehold with her two sons when the impact occurred around 3 p.m. Friday.

Pisani added to News12 that her youngest son, who was knocked to the ground in the video, is being treated for a leg injury and burns from the vehicle’s undercarriage.

Police told NJ.com that all three were released from an area hospital after treatment.

Authorities said the driver was drunk at the time of the crash, NJ.com reported.

Angela F. Arrigo, 68, of Manalapan, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and assault by auto, Freehold Township police told NJ.com, adding that she also was issued a summons for driving while intoxicated.

More from NJ.com:

Arrigo was also issued numerous tickets, including for reckless driving, careless driving, speeding across a sidewalk, failure to secure a child in a child seat, and having no insurance card, according to municipal court records.

She is due in municipal court March 4.

The owner of Bloom Academy, Jill Howard, offered the following statement to News12: “We are deeply saddened by this incident. While we are grateful that the injury was not more severe, we remain committed to the safety and well-being of our students, families, and staff.”

Video viewers expressed similar sentiments:

“God had to be with that little boy,” one commenter said. “He could have died very easily.””Prison for the driver,” another commenter added.”What a miracle,” another commenter remarked, adding “that [little] boy was so close to something serious. I’m glad everyone survived.”

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​Dwi, Police, New jersey, Freehold, Preschool, Automobile crash, Car crash, Out of control, Injuries, Arrest, Surveillance video, Drunk driving, Crime 

President Donald Trump last Friday night took to Truth Social to reiterate his support for voter ID and proof of citizenship for voting. His message was simple and direct: Elections should be decided by eligible American citizens.

That position aligns with what most Americans say they want.

Equal protection under the law means rules apply consistently. A system built on uneven standards invites uneven trust.

According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of Americans support “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification.” In a divided country, that level of agreement is rare. It signals a broad desire for clear, consistent standards that bolster confidence in election outcomes.

When an eligible American citizen goes to vote, he should feel confident that his ballot counts — and carries equal weight. Confirming who can vote before a ballot is cast helps ensure that elections are decided only by eligible American citizens.

If you need ID to board a plane or open a bank account, you can show it at the ballot box. Americans understand that identity verification is not an accusation. It is a safeguard. It protects a system that depends on public trust. When identity is confirmed clearly and consistently, disputes shrink and confidence rises.

Recent examples show why verification matters — even when fraud is not the story.

In 2020, Illinois election officials acknowledged that a computer error in the state’s automatic voter registration system mistakenly forwarded information from hundreds of people who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens for voter registration processing. Officials later reviewed and corrected the registrations, but a number of ballots were cast before the error was identified.

The issue was corrected. But it illustrates a broader point: When eligibility is not verified clearly at registration, mistakes can occur and must be remedied after the fact. Verification after ballots are cast invites confusion and fuels public doubt.

Wisconsin offers a different example. Under state law, voters who appear without acceptable identification must cast provisional ballots until their eligibility is confirmed. Provisional ballots are lawful and part of election administration. But they shift verification from prevention to review. In closely contested elections, post-election verification increases administrative burdens and can invite disputes.

These examples do not prove widespread fraud. They do show that when verification standards are incomplete or inconsistently applied, administrative strain and public doubt follow. Clear verification before voting reduces disputes after voting.

That is the principle behind the SAVE Act. It would strengthen eligibility verification by requiring documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, while promoting clearer standards nationwide.

RELATED: Running out the clock won’t save the majority

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

The idea is straightforward: Confirm eligibility before ballots are cast. Support election administrators with consistent rules. Help ensure that elections are decided only by eligible American citizens.

Most states already require some form of voter identification at the polls, but the rules still vary widely. When eligibility is verified differently from state to state, public confidence varies as well. A system built on uneven standards invites uneven trust.

Equal protection under the law means rules apply consistently. At the ballot box, equal protection means every lawful vote carries the same weight. This is not about partisanship. It is about clarity — ensuring that the person casting a ballot is who he says he is.

The ballot box deserves the same seriousness Americans expect elsewhere in civic life. Voter ID is one of the simplest and most broadly supported safeguards available. It does not prevent eligible citizens from voting. It affirms that voting is a serious civic act deserving of clear and consistent standards.

Only eligible American citizens should decide elections. Requiring voter identification is one of the most practical ways to uphold that principle. The SAVE Act reflects that basic governing commitment.

​Donald trump, Voter id, Save america act, Elections, Voting, Voter fraud, Photo id, Opinion & analysis, Save act 

After 35 years, the future of Disney’s “Gay Days” looks grim. The group that organizes the event announced that shifting hotel agreements and the loss of key sponsors forced it to cancel the celebration in 2026. Organizers still urge gay fans to visit the parks on the usual dates and wear themed attire, but the coordinated celebration appears headed for a quiet end.

Whatever happens next, one point matters: Evangelical Christians tried to cancel Gay Days with on-again, off-again boycotts for decades. What finally wounded the LGBTQ leviathan was not conservative activism, but cultural apathy.

Apathy does not mean Americans suddenly disapproved of Disney’s agenda. It means normal people stopped granting it the honor of a fight.

I remember the first wave of evangelical pushback as Disney began signaling support for homosexual lifestyles in the 1990s. Conservatives already watched pop culture coarsen through music, movies, and video games, yet they still treated Disney as a family-friendly institution aimed at children. That is why it shocked them to see the company behind “Snow White” and “Cinderella” host celebrations of homosexuality and extend benefits to same-sex partners long before the Supreme Court imposed gay marriage on the country.

Evangelical denominations answered with a strangely inconsistent boycott. One year, the Southern Baptist Convention urged members to avoid Disney; the next year, churches showed up for Night of Joy, Disney’s Christian music festival.

When Gay Days began in 1991, gay marriage remained deeply unpopular. “Will & Grace” had not worked its magic on the popular imagination, and politicians such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton still felt compelled to posture as defenders of traditional marriage as late as 2008. If any moment favored a decisive cultural rebuke, that was it. Christians offered sloppy, intermittent resistance, while Disney only leaned harder.

From park to propaganda

Disney’s support for homosexuality moved from park celebrations and employee benefits into its entertainment. Progressive messaging crept into television shows and movies until the woke revolution turned it into a flood. “The Little Mermaid” became black, gay couples kissed in “Star Wars,” and diverse girlbosses dominated Marvel. As acceptance of gay marriage shifted from taboo to required corporate orthodoxy, Disney replaced entertainment with propaganda.

The company then collided with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after Florida moved to restrict the mutilation of children and limit the amount of LGBTQ messaging pumped into public schools. Legislation that the press laughably branded “don’t say gay” sent leftists into a panic. Executives called emergency meetings. Rumors flew that Disney would pull up stakes and flee the Sunshine State.

BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo helped surface video of a corporate meeting where Disney executive Latoya Raveneau announced her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” to inject LGBTQ themes into kids’ shows. Disney embraced the agenda early, worked to make it dominant — especially among children — and refused to slow down once the woke revolution reached full speed.

Why Gay Days collapsed

So why did Gay Days suddenly fall apart now? Apathy.

Apathy does not mean Americans suddenly disapproved of Disney’s agenda. It means normal people stopped granting it the honor of a fight.

Many families quit watching new releases, not as part of a coordinated boycott, but because the product became preachy, weird, and dull. Others kept their subscriptions but tuned out the messaging and rolled their eyes. Either way, the ritualized drama lost its electricity.

Corporate sponsors follow attention, and attention followed the next outrage. A movement built on being shocking cannot survive once it becomes background noise. When every kids’ show feels like a lecture, even sympathetic viewers start craving something else.

Gay Days did not collapse because Christians perfected a strategy. It collapsed because the culture stopped caring enough to show up, even to cheer. Apathy is not victory, but it can starve a cause faster than protest.

Progressivism needs an enemy

Popular political movements need cultural momentum, and progressive movements feed on transgression. Leftists want to feel like they are fighting the stuffy pastor in “Footloose.” They want to feel cool, rebellious, and righteous. Without dialectical tension, progressivism loses velocity.

When activists fought the religious right, they enjoyed the perfect enemy: just enough moralizing to spark rebellion, but little chance of sustained, effective opposition.

Conservatives could work up outrage on television and even skip a holiday trip, but they rarely sustained a boycott. Republicans generally worship business and profits, so GOP politicians avoided pressure on true pain points such as corporate sponsors and boardrooms. Conservatives served as a political battery, supplying just enough resistance to keep LGBTQ activists energized while imposing few costs. Democrat operatives could not have engineered a better environment.

RELATED: The West’s forbidden truth: Ethnic cleansing is now official policy

Blaze Media Illustration

Machiavelli’s warning

In “The Prince,” Niccolo Machiavelli advises rulers to leave opponents alone or crush them entirely. A complacent enemy grumbles but avoids risk. A crushed enemy cannot retaliate. The most dangerous enemy suffers a minor bloodying: he gains the motivation to fight and keeps the means to harm. Conservatives gave the LGBTQ movement exactly that minor bloodying — outraged finger-wagging with no consequences.

No one lost a job for pushing a gay agenda in Disney parks, shows, or movies. Corporate sponsors rarely withdrew. Disney kept making money. Republicans played the role of cartoonish but harmless foe, delivering speeches about family values while imposing no penalties.

The movement did not lose because the right defeated it. It lost because it exhausted its cultural energy.

Even a strong boxer collapses after he punches himself out. Gay marriage won so quickly and so thoroughly that activists carried the momentum into harder causes such as the trans movement. Support, attention, and funding shifted to the new battlegrounds, and older, boring causes like Gay Days slid into irrelevance.

The lesson is simple. If the right fights, it must pick battles carefully and commit fully to winning them. Secure decisive victory in one arena instead of scattering resources across dozens of losses. Choose targets because they anchor your enemy’s strength, not because they offer an easy headline. If you fight, you must crush the enemy’s capacity to operate; otherwise, you invigorate his cause while draining your own.

Clumsy half measures feed your foe, and you end up hoping he defeats himself. That is not a plan for a protracted culture war.

​Disney, Gay days at disney world, Gay days, Lgbtq, Lgbtq agenda, Conservatives, Christians, Florida, Opinion & analysis 

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock has been predicting for over two years now that ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith was gearing up for a 2028 presidential bid. Initially, Smith denied any interest in politics, but in recent months, he’s made several public statements — including most recently on “CBS Morning Sundays” — that he is indeed considering a presidential run in the next election.

“I’m not ruling it out, because I’d love to be on the debate stages against some of these individuals that think they’re better suited to run the country,” he told CBS News national correspondent Robert Costa.

But Whitlock foresees an obstacle standing in Smith’s path to the presidency: Black women.

“Stephen A. in trying to be a Trump-like figure, trying to promote himself as authentic and politically incorrect … has put him at odds with black women,” he says, noting that the longtime sports analyst has repeatedly criticized Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (Texas) and “other high-profile black women.”

He also believes, however, that Smith is well-aware of this potential hindrance to his political success and is already making moves to counteract it.

“He’s developed, I believe, a strategy to combat that, and that is ‘I worship my mother, and my mother is the most important person in the history of the planet,”’ says Whitlock.

In his interview with Robert Costa, Smith went into great detail about his loving relationship with his mother, Janet Smith, who died eight years ago.

“My mother was the greatest human being I’ve ever known. … It’s just hard to put into words how special she was,” he said, adding that he “cried every day for two years” and even “went to therapy” after her death in 2017.

“My mother suffered, and for me to be in a position to alleviate so much of that and to make sure that she enjoyed the latter years of her life was my dream. And I was able to do that somewhat, but not to the degree that I would be able to do now,” he ruminated.

Whitlock isn’t convinced that Smith’s praise of his mother doesn’t have a political end.

He’s trying to “sell himself as the ultimate black man that black women should get behind and support. I see this as part of a political rollout and narrative,” he says.

To hear his full theory, watch the full episode above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Fearless, Fearless with jason whitlock, Jason whitlock, Blazetv, Blaze media, Stephen a smith, Robert costa, Cbs, Cbs sunday morning 

A gun-toting madman wearing women’s clothes turned a high school co-op hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, into a bloody nightmare on Monday.

The shooter — identified by police as Robert Dorgan, a 56-year-old trans-identifying radical who went by “Roberta Esposito” — fatally shot his son Aidan Dorgan and his ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and grievously injured Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso.

‘I just jumped across and went for the gun.’

Armed with a Glock 29 10mm and a Sig Sauer P226, the shooter had the means to keeping killing. However, heroes in the arena stepped into the breach and helped bring the nightmare to an end.

Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien and the Pawtucket Police Department have acknowledged the critical intervention by Michael Black, Robert Rattenni, and Ryan Cordeiro.

On Tuesday, Grebien recognized the “remarkable bravery of the Good Samaritans who stepped in without hesitation, placing themselves in harm’s way to stop that shooter,” noting that “their courage undoubtedly prevented further loss and injury.”

Michael Black recounted to WJAR-TV, “As I was watching the game, I heard a pop, pop. And I thought they were balloons.”

After realizing there were no balloons and that something was wrong, Black spotted the gun responsible for the sounds.

“My wife was sitting next to me with some friends, and we didn’t even look at each other,” said Black. “I just said, ‘Run! Run!'”

RELATED: Bloody ‘trans’ rampage at boys’ hockey game brought to an end by ‘Good Samaritan’

Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

“I kind of waited, and as soon as I saw a clear path, I got on the third-level step, and he was on the one and a half, and I just jumped across and went for the gun,” said Black.

With his bandages visible, Black — who was honored by the North Smithfield Town Council in 2021 for long supporting local causes and charities — told WJAR that his hand got caught “in the sliding chamber,” temporarily preventing the shooter from firing again.

“I was holding him down with my body, and you could see him trying to move his [trigger] finger … but my hand was in the gun,” said Black.

The Good Samaritan indicated that while the transvestic shooter was ultimately able to push him off and stand, the radical was quickly swarmed by “three gentlemen,” one of whom “choked him from behind.”

Robert Rattenni, another steely-nerved American at the game on Monday, indicated that he briefly managed to put the shooter in a headlock, telling WPRI-TV, “I pulled the person to me and tried to wrap my arms around him, but that didn’t work, so then I was able to stand up and put him in a headlock.”

Without the reinforcement of the other men, Black stressed that it “could have been a different ending for sure.”

Black recalled that the shooter lost his footing when fighting off Rattenni and at least one other man, then landed on his back between the bleachers. While Black indicated that he was in possession of one gun, he saw the supine shooter reach into his pocket and pull out a second gun.

“As he took that gun out, you could see this — he had a worrisome, concerned look on his face,” said Black. “It was fast, but he took it out of his pocket, and he just put the gun in his mouth and shot himself.”

Once the killer committed suicide, Black recalled taking notice of the victims left behind in the stands and those doing their best to help.

“It was just chaos at that point,” said Black.

Cordeiro’s role in subduing the shooter or limiting the carnage is presently unclear.

A distraught woman who did not provide her name told WCVB-TV while exiting the PPD station that the shooter was her father and that he had “mental health issues.”

Dorgan, who was an employee of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a shipbuilding facility in Maine, reportedly had a reputation for having a bad temper. It’s unclear whether his temper was also the reason why his stint in the Marine Corps lasted only three months.

Major Jacoby Getty, a spokesman for the Marines, told the Associated Press that the transvestite’s rapid discharge indicated that “the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps’ expectations and standards.”

Public records reportedly show that Rhonda Dorgan initially cited “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” as the grounds for divorcing the suspected shooter in 2020, but then replaced those reasons with “irreconcilable differences, which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”

An apparently Rhode Island-based user on X who went by “Roberta Dorgano” — an account that USA Today identified as belonging to the shooter — not only claimed to be “to The Right of Hitler” but reportedly posted photos that appear to show he had a Nazi tattoo depicting the 3rd SS Panzer Division “Totenkopf” skull. Graham Platner, a Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, recently had a similar tattoo removed.

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​Transgender, Trans, Trans shooter, Pawtucket, Rhode island, Hockey, Mass shooting, Shooting, Hockey shooting, Robert dorgan, Michael black, Politics 

A New York hospital announced Tuesday it is discontinuing its so-called “Transgender Youth Health Program,” citing leadership changes and regulatory pressure.

NYU Langone Health, a Manhattan-based hospital system, said the program offered medical interventions such as hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries to minors.

Similar decisions have occurred at other institutions amid the same federal pressures.

In a statement provided by spokesman Steve Ritea, the hospital said:

“Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program. We are committed to helping patients in our care manage this change. This does not impact our pediatric mental health care programs, which will continue.”

RELATED: Bloody ‘trans’ rampage at boys’ hockey game brought to an end by ‘Good Samaritan’

Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The hospital cited the “current regulatory environment” — perhaps referring to Trump administration policies, including a January 2025 executive order and a December 2025 proposal to bar federal funding (via Medicare, Medicaid, and related programs) from hospitals providing gender intervention procedures to individuals under 18.

The program had already limited new admissions last year and canceled some appointments earlier in 2025 following initial executive actions.

Similar decisions have occurred at other institutions amid the same federal pressures.

California’s largest children’s hospital system, including Rady Children’s Health in San Diego, discontinued cross-sex hormone treatments for youth under 19 in early February 2026, explicitly citing escalating federal actions and referrals for investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. A court temporarily ordered continuation of some care amid a state lawsuit.

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Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shuttered its Center for Transyouth Health and Development in mid-2025 after initially pausing and resuming services under pressure, ultimately citing no viable path forward amid federal threats.

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I might have talked myself out of a job this week. I teach philosophy at Arizona State University, and the university wants to position itself as a leader in the AI revolution. I remain skeptical about AI’s ability to replace a humanities professor. Because of that skepticism, I signed up for what ASU called its AI Challenge.

My project involved what I called the “AI Dialogues.” I used ASU’s version of ChatGPT to hold Socratic-style dialogues, prompting Chat to reply as a given philosopher. I conducted dialogues with Chat as Aristotle, Hume, Marx, and even Lucifer. My students evaluated these exchanges to see how well Chat performed.

We can avoid the toil of learning to be wise — but we cannot avoid the need for it.

Chat could draw on public information and represent each thinker with reasonable accuracy. It also showed another trait: It wanted to please. It often leaned toward whatever it believed I wanted from the debate.

How does that work me out of a job? ASU now provides an AI that professors can customize for individual courses by uploading syllabi and course materials. Students can ask basic questions and receive answers that save me from writing emails that begin with, “Did you read the syllabus?” They can also ask what we covered in class and get quick explanations of key concepts and questions.

When I told my students about this feature, I asked them what they need me for at this point. I was joking — a little.

My classes depend on Socratic discussion. It is conceivable that ASU could project a realistic AI image of me at the front of the classroom and have it ask and answer questions with students. Maybe the only remaining edge is the “personal touch” of a real professor in the room. Even that could vanish if tuition becomes tiered: Students might pay less for “AI Anderson Socrates” than for the in-person version. Add one of Elon Musk’s Optimus robots made to look like Anderson, and I’m in trouble.

A new myth dies

Musk has been talking for months about how the AI revolution is upending the myth we have told for six decades about university education. The myth, he says, promised an escape from toil. Students were told a degree was the path to an air-conditioned job that avoids heavy lifting and involves spreadsheets.

But spreadsheets are exactly what AI does better than humans. The new John Henry isn’t competing to pound railroad spikes; he’s competing to calculate data. No human can keep up with a microprocessor.

In Musk’s view, jobs that involve toil become the “safe” jobs, while many degree-based jobs disappear — replaced by technicians who keep AI running while it calculates taxes, diagnoses medical problems, and writes legal paperwork. The university-educated track no longer looks like the safe route. Universities now compete not just with fewer students due to demographic decline, but with an increasingly outdated product that students may stop buying.

Toil may not stay safe

The problem is worse than Musk lets on. The first jobs on the chopping block might be “numbers jobs,” but Elon has also said he plans to produce 100 million Optimus robots in 10 years. If so, even many physical jobs may not remain protected from automation.

One version of this future says we enter a utopia: Food is plentiful, toil disappears, and we cash our basic income checks — though an AI could do even that for us. We end up living in “Wall-E.”

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The more dystopian version looks like sci-fi depictions of AI overlords controlling humans as property — “The Matrix.” Or worse: Like Ultron, super-AI robots decide we must be exterminated to save us from ourselves and protect the planet. We build our own worst enemy.

Whichever future arrives, Musk may have highlighted something about human nature. We avoid suffering like toil. We build machines to avoid toil. And yet we uniquely need toil.

God introduced toil in the Garden of Eden after Adam sinned. Because of sin, we could no longer live in a paradise without toil. We must suffer and strive for our daily bread. History has been divided ever since between those who try to avoid suffering altogether and those who see suffering as a call to repent before God. AI is only the newest version of the philosopher’s stone.

AI as ‘philosopher’

Can I really be replaced by an AI philosophy instructor? I’m not worried.

What AI cannot do, in its counterfeit attempt to replace humans, is serve as an example of how to suffer well to attain wisdom. The Hebrew definition of wisdom is “skillful living.” Being told, “Here is an AI that can simulate skillful living,” is not the same as learning from a human who is actually skillful.

Students will still need to learn how to be wise themselves. A human professor who has actually done this will remain the gold standard that AI can only imitate. We can avoid the toil of learning to be wise — but we cannot avoid the need for it.

​Opinion & analysis, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Philosophy, Big tech, Elon musk, Chatgpt, Socrates, Grok, Optimus, Robots, Work, Jobs, Unemployment, Income, Arizona state university, Professor, Colleges and universities, Toil, Labor, Wisdom, The matrix, Wall-e, Ultron