Category: blaze media

Police in Glendale, Calif., said they responded to a burglary on May 27 at Bidrussian Jewelry and discovered that a hole had been cut through the roof of the business, and an unknown amount of jewelry had been stolen.

No suspects were in custody at the time, police said.

Police said all of the apprehended suspects are foreign nationals believed to be involved in similar crimes in their own countries and in the United States.

Detectives then set out to identify possible suspects, police said, adding that with assistance from local agencies they began surveillance on the group.

Finally on Sunday evening, police said investigators got a lead indicating that the suspects were preparing to target another jewelry store — this time Rodeo Jewelers in the city of La Verne.

Turns out, it was the same M.O.

The suspects tried to gain entry to the store through the roof, police said, but this time law enforcement was ready for them.

Eight suspects were observed at the scene, police said, adding that seven were successfully apprehended with the assistance of local agencies, including the La Verne Police Department, Claremont Police Department, Glendora Police Department, and deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

The status of the eighth suspect isn’t clear.

Police said the suspects used signal jammers and cut wires to the location during the incident.

RELATED: 7 men charged in connection to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Joe Burrow home invasions

Image source: Glendale (Calif.) Police

Police said all of the apprehended suspects are foreign nationals believed to be involved in similar crimes in their own countries and in the United States.

The arrested males appear below in a composite photo from Glendale police. According to KTLA-TV, they are: (top row, L to R) Edson Gonzalez, Victor Iturriaga Lopez, Cristian Gonzalez Aburto, Jose Millafil; (bottom row, L to R) Luka Pazitiani, Vera Matias, Javier Sepulveda.

RELATED: Video: Stick-wielding jewelry store owner lowers the boom on brazen trio of masked, hooded crooks trying smash-and-grab heist

Image source: Glendale (Calif.) Police

Police said all of them were in Glendale Police custody as of Tuesday.

Those with information regarding this case can contact the Glendale Police Department’s Burglary Unit at 818-548-3127.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Crime thwarted, California, Glendale police, Arrests, Jewelry store robbery, Foreign nationals, Politics, Crime 

It’s common sense: Local challenges should be confronted and solved locally whenever possible. Protecting Americans’ health is no exception.

Yet few realize that the World Health Organization still exerts influence over American health care, even as the United States has taken steps to separate from it. Earlier this year, a presidential executive order initiated the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO, citing concerns that the organization prioritizes politics over science and public accountability.

The future of all health care should be patient-centered, not controlled by slow-moving, politically driven bureaucracies.

There is no question that leaving the WHO was and still is an important step forward for American patients, but there is much more work to be done before the organization’s foreign influence is extracted from our health care landscape and families can fully access the treatments that are best for them.

The next critical step? Detach the U.S. medical insurance coding system from the WHO’s model to ensure that it gives patients access to all medical procedures, from lifesaving precision oncology options to restorative, cutting-edge reproductive health therapies.

Unfortunately for patients, U.S. diagnostic codes are modeled after the WHO’s bulky and inherently limited insurance coding protocol. These codes play a pivotal role in determining patients’ access to care, provider reimbursement, and clinical outcome reporting. In the 1990s, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics began to establish ICD-10-CM codes, which conform to the WHO’s framework governing how health care providers bill diagnoses. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services likewise developed ICD-10-PCS codes — which mirror WHO coding protocol — for use in inpatient hospital settings.

Just one of the many problems with each of these coding systems is that they are slow to adapt to medical advancements. Restorative reproductive medicine, for example, is a comprehensive approach to solving underlying fertility complications at the core. RRM seeks to heal human reproduction systems metabolically, hormonally, and otherwise. Already, it has helped thousands of couples struggling with infertility to have children.

The CDC and CMS bureaucracies have historically failed to recognize and cover evidence-based reproductive treatments like RRM that address the root causes of infertility, leaving families seeking such treatments — such as natural family planning/fertility awareness-based methods — to cover the costs themselves or resort to in-vitro fertilization to achieve pregnancy.

At its core, inadequate diagnostic coding for RRM discourages many providers from relying on RRM to heal patients at all because they know that code limitations will prevent them from being reimbursed through insurance.

Unfortunately, the ICD-10 codes doctors are forced to use do not accurately represent the nuanced hormonal, structural, and immune-related causes of infertility such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, and luteal phase defects that so often prevent pregnancy.

Even Current Procedural Terminology codes developed by the American Medical Association do not reflect modern fertility-preserving surgical interventions such as laparoscopic restoration of fallopian tubes, excision of endometriosis, or varicocele repair.

Instead, doctors who wish to deliver comprehensive treatments such as these are tied into relying on non-specific or “unlisted” codes, leading to denials of coverage and limited patient access to restorative procedures, which, if covered, would be far more cost-effective than artificial reproductive technologies like IVF.

Perhaps even worse for American patients and doctors alike is the fact that unclear coding undermines transparency and accurate reporting in these vital areas of medicine. Failing to differentiate between RRM’s and IVF’s distinct clinical approaches, ethical frameworks, and long-term health implications limits transparency in outcome reporting while obscuring the true effectiveness and cost-efficiency of restorative treatments.

Each of these coding challenges points to a dire need for an evidenced-based, patient-centered, common coding lexicon nationwide.

The good news is that we have ample evidence that these coding changes are possible and effective. My organization, which facilitates common-sense, cost-saving therapies for our members, already allows providers to bill for effective treatments so often inaccessible through traditional insurance companies.

The federal government would be wise to do the same. The future of all health care should be patient-centered, not controlled by slow-moving, politically driven bureaucracies that rely on outdated, foreign billing and coding restrictions.

​World health organization, Health care, Who, Health insurance, Reproductive medicine, Alternative medicine, Health 

2025’s Pride Month went out with a glorious whimper. Many didn’t even notice it happened at all. Compared to previous Junes when rainbow-drenched hordes of people screamed their sexual fetishes in the streets, this June was pretty quiet.

The truth is, Pride Month “is diminishing,” says Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford. “Except for Jaguar.”

Last fall, the luxury car company released a bizarre commercial featuring “nothing but androgynous, strange people cavorting in dresses.” Their product — you know, cars — didn’t make the cut. Zero Jaguar vehicles were featured in the advertisement that was intended to launch their nonbinary rebranding campaign.

But that’s not all Jaguar did. As part of its “Reimagine” campaign aimed at transitioning into an all-electric, ultra-luxury brand by 2025, the company discontinued nearly all of its beloved previous models. In other words, “They got rid of all … the amazing stuff,” Bedford says.

And Jaguar is paying sorely for it. This April, it registered just 49 cars in all of Europe — a 97.5% drop from 1,961 sales in April 2024.

“Go woke, go broke,” Bedford says.

Through the entire campaign, from its weird “Copy Nothing” commercial to its discontinuation of the very models that made it a sought-after brand, Jaguar has hit the “self-destruct” button, says Matthew Peterson, Blaze News editor in chief and co-host of “Blaze News: The Mandate.”

“Everything about Jaguar was refuted,” he says. “Who do you think buys Jaguars?”

The company “used to be synonymous with British engineering, and now it’s gay,” Bedford says.

Thankfully, Jaguar’s refusal to abandon the path of wokeness is becoming a rarity among big companies these days. Most have walked back the pandering and virtue signaling and returned to doing practical business, which doesn’t include shoving DEI and LGBTQ+ agendas down consumers’ throats.

While “the wokeness is still present and accounted for,” we’re witnessing the beginning of the “end of all this nonsense,” Peterson says.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.

Want more from ‘Blaze News | The Mandate’?

To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Blaze news | the mandate, Blaze media, Blazetv, Chris bedford, Matthew peterson, Jill savage, Jaugar, Go woke go broke, Blaze news the mandate 

In the early hours of Independence Day, West Texas and the Hill Country received nearly nearly a foot of rain, which triggered flash floods and sent the Guadalupe River surging 20 feet above flood stage and well over its banks. The rushing waters — fed by continued downpours over the weekend — swallowed homes and vehicles and claimed the lives of scores of Americans.

The death toll rose to 70 on Sunday afternoon, the New York Times reported.

‘It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers.’

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said as of 9 a.m. Sunday, 59 victims were confirmed dead in his county — 38 adults and 21 children.

At least five of the 750 girls attending Camp Mystic — the Christian camp in Hunt that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said was “horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve seen in any natural disaster” — are confirmed dead. Eleven girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic were still missing as of Sunday afternoon.

Those numbers might have been much higher were it not for the camp’s 70-year-old co-owner Dick Eastland, whom U.S. Rep. August Plufger (R-Tex.) indicated “no doubt gave his life attempting to save his campers.”

Texas Public Radio reported that Eastland was among the dead. His co-owner and wife Tweety Eastland was found safe at their home.

Paige Sumner paid tribute to Dick Eastland in a column for the Kerrville Daily Times: “It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers. He had already saved so many lives with the gift of Camp Mystic.”

Campers also benefited from the heroism of 400 first responders and 20 agencies at work in Kerr County, including the U.S. Coast Guard, which conducted at least 12 flights near the Kerrville area.

‘It severed his artery and his arm — almost cut it clean off.’

While an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew worked to whisk away 15 campers on Friday, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer reportedly remained on the ground, providing medical assistance and helping with the evacuation efforts of 230 victims into assisting agencies’ air assets.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later singled out Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Office Scott Ruskin, noting he “directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas.”

“This was the first rescue mission of his career, and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene. Scott Ruskin is an American hero,” said Noem. “His selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the USCG.”

Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images

President Donald Trump, who declared a major disaster for Kerr County, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, indicated in a corresponding statement that U.S. Coast Guard and Texas first responders have “saved more than 850 lives.”

‘He died a hero.’

About a half hour east of Camp Mystic, Julian Ryan lost his life in a similar exhibition of American greatness and virtue, trying to save his mother, his fiancée, and his 6-year-old and 13-month-old sons from drowning when the Guadalupe River rapidly poured into their trailer home in Ingram.

Ryan went to bed after finishing a long night shift as a dishwasher at a local restaurant. But both he and his fiancée, Christinia Wilson, had a rude awakening, finding that ankle-deep waters chased their 6-year-old into their bedroom along with Ryan’s mother.

Shortly after powering through the front door, the river sealed the family inside Ryan’s bedroom, where the water quickly began to rise above their waists, reported the New York Times.

When the mattress began to float, the parents put the boys atop it then looked for a way to get everyone out.

Desperate to get his family onto the roof of the trailer as the waters rose, Ryan smashed a window with his bare hand, mortally wounding himself in the process.

Wilson told KHOU-TV, “It severed his artery and his arm — almost cut it clean off.”

“He had lost all of it, all his blood,” said Wilson. “He looked at me and the kids, and my mother-in-law, and said, ‘Sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love you all.'”

Wilson, her boys, and her mother-in-law managed to survive, even though the trailer was torn in half.

Connie Salas, Ryan’s sister, tearfully told KHOU, “He died a hero.”

The GoFundMe for the family, which had raised over $71,000 as of Sunday afternoon, emphasized that “Julian gave his life for his family, passing as a true hero.”

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha indicated that those wishing to support relief and rebuilding efforts should donate to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Flood, Texas flood, Flash flood, National guard, Coast guard, Donald trump, Greg abbott, Lone star state, Disaster, Tragedy, Hero, Heroism, Kerr county, Politics, Camp mystic, Kristi noem, August plufger 

When the system can’t make a sandwich, what else is it failing to do?

My wife had just come out of her 98th surgery. It was 10:30 p.m. She hadn’t eaten in nearly 24 hours — and all she wanted was a BLT.

Something simple. Familiar. A sandwich she’s ordered many times before from the patient menu when things ran on schedule.

But this time, the kitchen had closed.

She’d been NPO for nearly 24 hours. (That’s short for nil per os — Latin for “y’all don’t eat or drink nothin’.”)

No food. No coffee. No comfort. Just waiting around with dry lips and an empty stomach until anesthesia wears off and the all-clear is given.

So she turned to me and asked, “Can you go down to the grill and get me one?”

I went downstairs to the hospital’s after-hours grill — the one that stays open for staff and visitors — and asked the cook, “Hey, could I get a BLT?”

Fixing this begins by teaching people that they’re allowed to see the person in front of them.

Let me paint the picture for you.

There was a giant pan of cooked bacon right in front of me. Tomatoes. Lettuce. Bread. All present. All visible. All just sitting there.

But instead of a sandwich, I got a blank stare — followed by: “That’s not on our menu. We don’t have a way to charge for that.”

I even tried to explain: “I’ve got money. Please. Just make the sandwich and charge me whatever you want.”

Nothing. Just more blank stares and quiet helplessness — as if I had asked them to get Prince Harry back into the will.

That was the moment bureaucracy made me want to walk into the sea.

And I was in Colorado!

A little humanity, please

I wasn’t trying to be difficult. I wasn’t asking for seared ahi tuna with a drizzle of truffle oil. I was just trying to bring a woman — who had just survived her 98th surgery — the comfort of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich at the end of a long, painful day.

They had the bacon.

They had the bread.

They had the hands.

But because there wasn’t a billing code for it, it could not be done.

I didn’t argue — much. I didn’t throw a fit. I just didn’t have it in me.

Sure, I could have ordered the bacon cheeseburger and said, “Hold the burger and cheese.”

RELATED: When the soul flatlines, call a ‘Code Grace’

LattaPictures via iStock/Getty Images

But I was tired — besmirched by 13 hours of hospital noise and fluorescent lights. I wasn’t thinking like a work-around guy. I was feeling like a husband who had just watched his wife survive another operation — and who just wanted to bring her comfort food before midnight.

The manager on duty saw me trying to explain — saw the look on my face, probably — and graciously had mercy on me.

No forms. No debate. Just a sandwich.

I left with a BLT, deep gratitude for that manager — and a sigh. One person made it right, but the system still made it harder than it should have been.

If we can’t make a sandwich for a post-op patient, what else aren’t we doing?

The bigger problem

That moment wasn’t just about a sandwich. It was a snapshot of the country we’re living in — where solutions exist, but systems won’t allow them.

You want to fix a clerical error with the IRS? Good luck.You want to talk to a live representative? You might have better odds getting RFK Jr. to share an Uber with Anthony Fauci.

America was built by people who hated “we can’t” — and yet we now tolerate “that’s not how we do it.” And somehow, we’ve come to accept this as normal.

There’s something spiritually corrosive about a system that erases people to elevate process.

We see it everywhere — health care, government, schools, even churches.

But what if “good enough for government work” isn’t good enough any more?

Where reform begins

Systems don’t change just because we complain. They change when people remember how to care.

The problem isn’t just that the forms are too long (which they usually are).

It’s that no one feels responsible.

Of course, deflection of responsibility goes all the way back to the garden — where Adam and Eve tried to pass the blame instead of owning their failure.

Fixing this doesn’t begin with a new workflow diagram or a subcommittee hearing.

It begins by teaching people that they’re allowed to see the person in front of them. See the need. See the moment. See the opportunity.

When Jesus saw people, He didn’t ask if they had a referral or a code. He didn’t ask what department handled the lepers.

He stopped. He touched. He healed. He saw the person, not the system.

If we want to model that — whether we’re surgeons, pastors, nurses, cashiers, representatives, senators, or grill cooks — we start by doing the simplest, most human thing: We see the person in front of us. And we make the sandwich.

Even if it’s not on the menu.

​Opinion & analysis, Code grace, Hospitals, Bureaucracy, Red tape, Soulless automatons, Rules and regulations, Bacon, Blt sandwich, Surgery, Managerial state, Administrative state, Administration, Hassle, Idiocracy, Jesus christ, Christianity, Charity, Billing code 

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ recent 4-1 win over the White Sox in Chicago wasn’t all fun and games, after second baseman Ketel Marte appeared to break down in tears at second base after a fan reportedly heckled him about his late mother.

The heckling took place during Marte’s at-bat in the seventh inning, before he was then consoled by manager Torey Lovullo and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.

The spectator is alleged to have made a derogatory remark about Marte’s mother, who passed away after a car accident in 2017.

After the incident, Lovullo and Diamondbacks bench coach Jeff Banister asked security to remove the fan from the stadium, and security complied. Now, the White Sox organization has banned the fan from the ballpark.

While BlazeTV host Pat Gray, who has lost both his parents, is sympathetic to the passing of Marte’s mother, he and his panel don’t believe there’s a place in baseball for tears over the past.

“So a 31-year-old male, playing in Major League Baseball, who signed a $119 million contract begins crying over something a fan yelled at him,” Jeffy says, before playing the “There’s no crying in baseball” clip from the classic film “A League of Their Own.”

“I lost my mom eight years ago as well. Same year as he did. In fact, I became an orphan at that particular time point. My dad died in 1997, my mom in 2017. I was an orphan,” Gray comments, adding, “We all miss our moms.”

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Camera phone, Video phone, Sharing, Upload, Free, Video, Youtube.com, Pat gray unleashed, The blaze, Pat gray, Blazetv, Blaze media, Blaze originals, Blaze online, Blaze news, Mlb, Major league baseball, Arizona diamondbacks, Ketel marte, White sox, Chicago white sox 

The street chaos that erupted in Los Angeles last month — when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents moved to arrest illegal-alien criminals — wasn’t random. Anyone surprised by the outburst hasn’t been paying attention.

The moral fervor driving these riots doesn’t come from thin air. Just look at the rhetoric in far-left media coverage of immigration. One outlet in particular, In These Times, offers a window into the revolutionary mindset of the #AbolishICE crowd and the broader young left. I reviewed dozens of the outlet’s immigration pieces. What I found wasn’t cherry-picked — it was consistent, radical, and dangerous.

Illegal aliens are the oppressed. ICE is the villain. Any action — including violence — is excused as righteous resistance. It’s about fighting evil.

The left’s project has always aimed to smash moral, legal, and natural distinctions. That same instinct was on full display in L.A. earlier this month. As G.K. Chesterton warned: “Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.” The left wants all fences gone.

Erasing distinctions

To a doctrinaire leftist, distinctions between rich and poor, citizen and foreigner, criminal and non-criminal, man and woman, even adult and child are “oppressive.” In immigration, the lines between legal and illegal, citizen and noncitizen, felon and guest worker get erased. Right-leaning Americans may only just be waking up to this. The rioters in Los Angeles already live it.

In These Times doesn’t hide its radicalism. A few representative quotes from its pages:

“We must stop thinking about citizenship for [illegal] immigrants in terms of who deserves it. Individuals should be granted citizenship simply because they are human and they are here.”“Having our [legal and illegal immigrant] community arbitrarily divided into those deserving of rights and those who are expendable reflects a system that never was meant to acknowledge our community’s full humanity in the first place.”“[Restrictionists falsely claim] job competition would slack off [with reduced immigration], and wages would go up because ‘they’ wouldn’t be taking ‘our’ jobs.”

The message is unmistakable: If you support immigration enforcement, you oppose humanity itself. Never mind the stolen Social Security numbers or the abuse of American goodwill. Illegal immigrants, we’re told, deserve the same rights as citizens — simply for existing. This rhetoric escalates quickly.

One article chastises American workers for blaming illegal immigrants for undercutting strikes: “Blaming Mexican workers for lost strikes is playing the employers’ game. … In a previous era, there would have been accusations against Black workers, or Italians, etc.”

Elsewhere: “We will need to resist local and national immigration enforcement against all marginalized communities.”

This isn’t about labor or policy. It’s about framing illegal aliens as the next great oppressed class — and erasing the moral and legal categories that make self-government possible.

Twisting moral language

At the AFL-CIO convention, In These Times published a poem titled “america” (lowercase intentional), written by the daughter of an illegal immigrant. It closed with a familiar cudgel from the left:

“While my father’s hands blister from work all day
and he doesn’t feel like he has a say
in this nation dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.”

The left routinely abuses that line from the Declaration of Independence to indict “hypocritical America” — meaning anyone who disagrees with the left. Enforcement of immigration law becomes the new Jim Crow. Homeland Security agents are cast as the KKK.

Another article accuses the Trump administration of using deportation raids to intimidate “Black and Brown” voters and suppress turnout — echoing the claim that the DHS was “race-baiting” by displaying wanted posters of criminal aliens.

Righteous violence

In this framing, the old civil rights movement becomes the template for modern street violence. Hollywood, legacy media, and academia glamorize past “moral” resistance. The left applies the same playbook to immigration.

Illegal aliens are the oppressed. ICE is the villain. Any action — including violence — is excused as righteous resistance. It’s not about the law. It’s about fighting evil.

RELATED: California cities cancel 4th of July events to shield illegal aliens amid anti-ICE madness

Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images

Manufacturing a narrative of suffering also requires hyperbolic language and imagery, which In These Times employs in droves. Making the not-uncommon comparison of ICE to Nazis, one piece quotes a Jewish anti-borders activist from a group called Never Again Action: “Imprisoning people in concentration camps, vilifying and rounding up people who are deemed ‘outsiders,’ and turning away asylum seekers and immigrants hits close to home for Jews. … We’ve seen this before, and we won’t wait for it to get worse to take action.”

Another calls U.S. immigration enforcement “ethnic cleansing,” “crimes against humanity,” and a system “designed to brutalize.” Yet another calls deportations “state violence.” ICE, we’re told, merely enforces “unauthorized” immigration. The goal, of course, is to abolish ICE and “the entire deportation and incarceration system.”

Stripping responsibility, shifting blame

In another rhetorical sleight of hand, the left denies all moral responsibility for illegal immigrants. Even President Obama’s “no fault of their own” line about Dreamers isn’t enough. In These Times insists that no illegal alien — child or adult — is to blame for anything. Poverty and violence “left them no alternative.”

Even criminal aliens get a pass. The outlet laments that while the left now emphasizes conditions for detained women and children, “there is a glaring failure to examine the violence against men, including those with criminal convictions.”

Illegal immigrants, it turns out, are “disposable” in the eyes of the U.S. government. Obama said “felons, not families,” but In These Times calls even that distinction unjust.

Amnesty proposals that carve out special treatment for “essential” illegal workers aren’t good enough either. According to Shannon Gleeson and Sofya Aptekar: “We believe all undocumented people, regardless of where they work — or whether they work at all — should be eligible for the same path to citizenship.”

Gleeson and Aptekar even reframe the looting during the 2020 George Floyd riots: What if you’re “building a more just America by helping organize the Black Lives Matter uprisings”?

America made them do it

To square the moral circle, Gleeson and Aptekar — who are university professors, naturally — assign blame to America itself. Why are illegal aliens here? Because we were there.

Illegal aliens “are here because we were there,” they contend. “Their need to leave their homes can be traced to the United States — its corporations, its government, its military, and its enormous footprint in the climate crisis.”

Immigration becomes “restitution.” Another open-borders activist writes: “People from Europe and the U.S. crossed our borders to come to Guatemala, and took over our land and economy. … Now it’s our turn to cross borders.”

Don’t call this immigration. It’s revenge masquerading as justice. Illegal immigration is really just “fighting back.”

Obliterating order

By inventing past and present grievances, the left justifies lawbreaking as moral resistance and calls it justice. Amnesty becomes the “long-overdue first step.” What’s at the root of all this supposed suffering? Us.

The idea that illegal immigrants are “owed” citizenship — that lawbreakers are the victims — is morally perverse. But it’s vital for a movement bent on erasing the line between citizen and noncitizen.

The left doesn’t want to stop at amnesty. The left wants the obliteration of law, order, borders, and the moral framework that makes all of that possible.

Chesterton’s warning about fences applies now more than ever. The left tears down every distinction without asking why it existed in the first place. Whether it’s gender, citizenship, or the rule of law, nothing is sacred — only power.

​Opinion & analysis 

A new Pew study suggests the steep decline in Christianity is finally “leveling off,” as if that’s a cause for celebration. It’s not. The damage is done. Entire generations have grown up with no real catechesis, no spiritual formation, and no sense of the sacred.

But make no mistake: This isn’t happening because the church refused to modernize. It’s happening because it did.

If the apostles walked into half these churches today, they wouldn’t smile or applaud. They’d flip tables.

For decades, the great institutions of Western Christianity traded clarity for relevance and truth for tone. Sermons stopped warning and started pandering. The word “sin” was quietly retired, considered too sharp for modern ears. In its place came talk of “journeys,” “growth,” and whatever else kept the collection plate full. The church, once feared by tyrants and hated by the powerful, rebranded itself as a wellness center with great art.

The cross became a prop. The sacraments became optional. The faith became a product: Clean, inoffensive, entirely forgettable.

It wasn’t outreach — it was surrender.

Internal sabotage

In Germany, Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke recently stepped down. Not in disgrace but in exhaustion, drained by a church more obsessed with synodal committees and gender equity audits than with souls. In England, Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, now sounds like a man trying to apologize for ever having believed anything at all. His God is not the Lion of Judah, but a poetic abstraction — something you might ponder over tea with the New Atheists, whom he now openly sympathizes with in the New York Times. Under his influence, Anglicanism traded its spine for softness, turned cathedrals into museums, and watched belief crumble under the weight of constant theological retreat.

One is Catholic, the other Protestant. Different branches, same disease: a church more eager to appease the culture than to challenge it.

Let’s call this what it is: Internal sabotage — and it’s everywhere.

The crisis facing Christianity isn’t secularism but cowardice. Many argue that the culture has conquered the church. But I argue instead that the church surrendered. A church that’s afraid to offend cannot save, command allegiance, inspire sacrifice, or offer truth.

It fades, not with a bang, but with a bow — one retreat at a time. First on marriage, then on sin, then on the very uniqueness of Christ. By the time it gets to the resurrection, no one’s listening, and even the preacher isn’t sure he believes it.

Exhibit A

You see this collapse most clearly in the rise of cafeteria Catholicism, the unofficial religion of the spiritually lukewarm, the pick-and-choose faithful. They love the incense and the music, the ashes and the Advent calendars, but deny the church’s authority and rewrite morality to match whatever’s trending on TikTok. They cross themselves at Mass, then applaud abortion at the ballot box. They genuflect before the altar only to kneel again at the altar of “inclusion.”

Jesus, to them, was a nice guy. So was Buddha. And really, who are we to judge?

It’s not faith. Not really. It’s branding. And like all branding, it demands nothing and means even less. These are people who want the comfort of religion without the burden of obedience. A God who affirms, not one who commands. A God who blesses their choices, not reshapes them. A God who whispers sweet nothings instead of thundering truth.

But a gospel that never tests is a gospel that never transforms. And a church that never says “no” is a church no one takes seriously.

For years, church leadership has whispered that hell is probably empty, celibacy is optional, and the Eucharist is just a metaphor if that’s easier for you to stomach.

So it’s no surprise that millions now treat Christianity like a salad bar: A little resurrection, hold the repentance.

No power in conformity

The early Christians weren’t tortured and killed because they tried to fit in — but because they refused to conform to the spirit of the age. They stood for something absolute. Something final. They proclaimed Christ as King in a world that demanded silence, and they paid for it in blood.

That’s what gave them power. That’s what made Rome afraid.

They weren’t trying to be liked. They were trying to be faithful. They didn’t soften their message to gain followers. Instead, they hardened their resolve, and the church exploded across the world because of it. Not in spite of the offense, but because of it. The gospel was a scandal then, and it should still be one now.

Today’s church, by contrast, tiptoes through culture like it’s walking on broken glass. It holds interfaith dialogues with those who openly despise it and lobbies for carbon taxes while souls starve. We have Catholic bishops who march in Pride parades but are nowhere to be found at pro-life vigils. We have Protestant pastors hosting drag nights in church basements while their congregations hemorrhage members. The shepherds worry more about upsetting activists than defending the word of God. They preach about climate change, white privilege, and plastic straws.

But they stay silent on sin, judgment, and repentance. It’s time for both Catholics and Protestants to snap out of it. This isn’t a debate over doctrine. It’s a culture that wants the church destroyed, and too many inside it are holding the door open.

A purified church

If the apostles walked into half these churches today, they wouldn’t smile or applaud. They’d flip tables.

God doesn’t need marketers. He needs martyrs. Not spiritual consultants but disciples. The future of Christianity will not be built by bishops apologizing to the New York Times or pastors retweeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It will be built by those who kneel in silence and believe in public, even when the world calls them fools.

Maybe that’s the real message here: The church isn’t dying but being purified.

Let the saboteurs resign. Let the cowards step down. Let the cafeteria close. What’s left will be smaller, yes — but stronger. Not performative. Not progressive. But holy. Finally, again, holy.

​Christianity, Christians, Catholic church, Coward, Bible, Jesus, God, Maria hanke, Rowan williams, Faith 

Growing up, my music collection was always a combination of two main genres: Christian worship and pop punk rock. Putting on shuffle, I would go from songs by Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Shane and Shane, to songs from bands like Mayday Parade, Blink-182, and Simple Plan.

One day, I discovered that one of the bands I liked had a foot in both worlds. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is a secular punk band, but their lead singer, Ronnie Winter, is a Christian. I developed a soft spot for them.

The song’s chorus warns that fear leads to anger, which leads to hate — and implores the listener not to ‘buy in’ to this cycle. Except when it comes to Trump voters, apparently.

In their more than 20-year career, RJSA have tended to stay away from politics. Recently, however, that changed — and Winter came out with a stance more polarizing than anything I’ve seen from any punk band — even avowedly “leftist” ones.

In short: If you voted for Donald Trump, you are not welcome at his shows.

Lifetime ban

Winter communicated the new policy in a lengthy Instagram post. After a preamble about how “woke people” were right about “everything they said was going to happen,” Winter laid down the law:

Hi, I’m Ronnie Winter. I sing for the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and I actually follow what Jesus says. If you’re a Christian and you’re watching this and you voted for Donald Trump, shame on you. You are not allowed to come to my shows. I don’t want you there. Don’t come to my shows. If you voted for Donald Trump, do not come to my shows — ever, not just these four years.

Don’t come to my shows because you’re going to hear a lot of woke propaganda, and you’re going to hear the actual words of Jesus. You’re going to see a lot of acceptance from all areas of life and races, and you’re just going to see a lot of harmony. That’s not what you’re about. Don’t come. Refunds are available. Forever, don’t come. Goodbye.

In retrospect, I should’ve seen it coming. As was the case with many performing artists, Donald Trump seemed to hit a nerve. I first remember them going political on a song from their 2020 release “The Emergency EP.”

“Don’t Buy Into It” condemns a number of conservative “sins,” including transphobia, immigration restriction, and telling people what they can do with what “God has given them.”

“Everyone hates everyone,” goes another verse. “That’s not true, because we love you, and we’re not buying into it.” The song’s chorus warns that fear leads to anger, which leads to hate — and implores the listener not to “buy in” to this cycle.

Except when it comes to Trump voters, apparently.

Mosh pit politics

Now, punk bands identifying with the left is nothing new, of course. For example, pop-punk group Green Day has always worn their politics on their sleeves, from their anti-G.W. Bush anthem “American Idiot” to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong leading fans in a chant calling Trump a “fat bastard” at a recent concert.

Then there’s Rage Against the Machine, the quintessential “antiestablishment” punk band, with nearly every one of their songs criticizing the domestic and foreign policies of current and previous presidential administrations.

The difference is these bands implicitly welcome all fans to come and listen, as far as I know. Fans know what they’re getting into when they attend one of these shows. Those who lean conservative can either not attend or decide not to let the politics bother them. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

But Ronnie Winter has decided to go a different route. And that’s his route to choose.

That’s right, I’m not going to attack Winter for deciding he doesn’t want to associate himself with conservatives or Trump supporters. Winter is fully within his right as an artist to say, “Hey, you, I don’t want you here.” And fans of the band who may also be conservative can either decide to never support the band again or live with it.

Gospel fine print?

What I find issue with is Winter’s apparent belief that this is somehow following the teachings of Jesus Christ. That “the actual words of Jesus” he mentions are somehow not meant for the ears of those who support Trump.

I have to wonder, where in the Bible does Jesus offer an exemption from his command to love one another in the case of political disagreements? Did we forget to read the fine print for 1 John 3:16 (“offer not valid for certain voters”)?

Time and time again, the Bible showed Jesus loving the marginalized. And whether Ronnie Winter is willing to admit it or not, conservatives these days can find themselves pretty marginalized — whether they’re banned from social media platforms, dropped by a bank or payment processor, or just harassed for wearing a MAGA hat in public.

Jesus loved the marginalized and didn’t isolate or exclude those society deemed controversial. Winter is all for this … except when it comes to conservatives.

A new command

Romans 5:8 puts it clearly, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And in the exact words of Jesus, John 13:34-35 says, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

RELATED: Holy shot: Did Trump’s assassination attempt survival prove miracles are real?

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

I’m currently going through my own struggles with Christianity and my faith, but I still find within me the urge to defend it. And while I agree with Winter that using Christianity to cause hate and division is wrong, I disagree with how he chooses to respond.

You can’t fight fire with fire. I cannot sit idly by and watch a person claiming to follow Christ while simultaneously putting this much effort into division and hate. It goes without saying that if any other band said to any other faction of society that they are not welcome at their shows, it would be met with criticism, if not outrage.

No stranger to the struggle

So my question for Ronnie Winter is: Do you actually believe this is the right course to take? Do you really believe that Trump voters aren’t worthy of attending your shows — and presumably benefiting from the example of Christian faith you claim they embody?

I’m not here to question if Winters’ faith is genuine or not. That’s God’s job. I’m also not here to delve into Winter’s deeper theological views. There are people way more qualified to do that than I. I’m just a struggling Christian who still understands the core of Christianity and that this type of divisiveness should never be a part of the equation.

I’m also not going to judge. I’m no stranger to the struggle to follow the perfect example of Jesus Christ — especially over the last six years. For we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

But I can offer this charitable advice, both to Winter and anyone who takes satisfaction from the lines he’s drawn: Don’t buy into it.

​Lifestyle, Entertainment, Culture, Music, The red jumpsuit apparatus, Rage against the machine, Green day, Rock, Punk, Christianity, Donald trump, Maga, Faith, Punk’s not red 

Pedro Pascal and his sister have bonded together to attack author J.K. Rowling over the fact she wants women’s spaces for women only.

The drama stems from Rowling’s support of a U.K. Supreme Court decision that stuck to including only actual women in the government’s definition of “woman.”

Rowling posted a photo of herself on X smoking a cigar in celebration of the decision, sending Pascal, and subsequently his family, into a spiral.

‘Bullies make me f**king sick.’

Pascal lashed out on an Instagram post about the news, calling Rowling’s reaction “awful disgusting s**t” indicative of “heinous loser behavior.”

The actor is sensitive to the topic given that his younger brother, actor Lucas “Lux” Balmaceda, started claiming he is a woman in 2021 at 29 years old.

From mister to sister

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Pascal’s sister Javiera Balmaceda joined the fray with her own progressive point of view, accusing Rowling of denying the existence of their transgender brother.

“But it is heinous loser behavior,” Balmaceda decried. “And [Pascal] said that as the older brother to someone saying that our little sister doesn’t exist.”

After that, Pascal continued to label Rowling as an antagonist over her pro-female stances.

RELATED: Sick of me yet? Pompous pest Pascal in desperate race to make America hate him

“The one thing that I would say I agonized over a little bit was just, ‘Am I helping? Am I f**king helping?’ It’s a situation that deserves the utmost elegance so that something can actually happen, and people will actually be protected,” Pascal ranted to Vanity Fair.

“Listen, I want to protect the people I love. But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f**king sick,” Pascal said of Rowling.

Best supporting activist

The 50-year-old’s life is covered wall-to-wall in activism, from his projects all the way down to his family lineage.

His hit show “The Last of Us” is overflowing with LGBT politics, through and through. Co-star Bella Ramsey, a 21-year-old who claims she is “nonbinary,” has boasted about her on-set conversations with Pascal about progressive ideology.

In an interview with CBR, Ramsey said Pascal helped with her alleged gender journey, with the two actors having “honest and open” conversations about gender and sexuality.

“The Last of Us” aired an episode in 2024 entirely about the relationship of two gay men, a storyline that was only vaguely alluded to in the video game from which the show derives.

When fans voiced their displeasure with the forced narrative, actor Nick Offerman — who played one of the gay characters — called fans “homophobic” and said if fans had a question about the “gay story,” they would be an “asshole.”

RELATED: Pedro Pascal attacks JK Rowling over UK’s Supreme Court ruling protecting biological women from transgender individuals

Javiera Balmaceda Pascal and ‘Lux’ Pascal at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Photo by Darren Eagles/Getty Images

Viva la revolución

“The promotion of gender ideology is evil,” Fandom Pulse editor John F. Trent told Blaze News.

Trent added, “The Pascal family has clearly deluded themselves into pushing this evil in order to placate their brother, who pretends to be a woman.”

The Pascals also have deep ties to left-wing ideologues that put them less than an arm’s length away from communist political groups.

The L.A. Times reported in 1995 that Pascal’s Chilean parents, José Balmaceda Riera and the late Verónica Pascal Ureta, were forced to flee Chile in the 1970s after they harbored Ureta’s cousin Andres Pascal Allende, the leader of the Leftist Revolutionary Movement. The political party is described as a Marxist-Leninist group.

Fertility fraud?

Also according to the Times, Pascal’s father then fled the United States after being hit with dozens of lawsuits and a criminal probe into his work at UC Irvine’s Center for Reproductive Health.

Balmaceda was accused, along with his partners, of egg-swapping without patients’ consent, as well as financial wrongdoing.

Balmaceda reportedly returned to the United States in 2022 and plead guilty to tax fraud and agreed to a plea deal. He has since received adoration in the media for his journey to reunite with his son Pascal.

Born José Pedro Balmaceda, Pascal took his mother’s maiden name as a tribute to her after her death in 1999.

The Balmaceda family has deep roots in Chile’s political history, with about a dozen politicians in the family, including former Chilean President José Manuel Balmaceda (1886-1891).

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Align, Communism, Leninist, Pedro pascal, Hollywood, Transgenderism, Woke, Lbbt, Lifestyle, La la land 

Canada is one of a handful of countries that have legalized active euthanasia — the practice of ending a patient’s life by administering a lethal drug or substance, usually by a physician, at the patient’s request. People in Canada don’t even need a terminal illness to request euthanasia — just an incurable condition they claim causes unbearable suffering.

While this culture of death is already disturbing enough, Canada has now taken to forcing hospice centers to offer euthanasia as an option, even when those facilities are morally or ethically opposed.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn invited Delta Hospice Society Executive Director Angelina Ireland to the show to share the gruesome story of how her palliative care company became a victim of Canadian fascism.

Public-private partnerships, Glenn explains, are the tools of fascists. “They let you do your own thing … and as long as you abide by all of [the government’s] rules you’re fine, but the minute you disagree, you don’t have a say; they’ll throw you out on the streets so fast your head will spin,” he says.

That’s exactly what happened to Ireland’s Delta Hospice Society, which she describes as a 34-year-old privately run palliative care nonprofit that cares for the chronically and terminally ill until “their natural end.” To open the center, the founders raised “$8 million” and obtained “a 35-year land lease with the public health authority.” However, they also received federal dollars to fund “operating costs.”

“Everything went fine until this thing they call the state euthanasia program — called MAID [Medical Assistance in Dying] — came into law,” says Ireland, “and then the province basically came to us and said, ‘You’re going to have to start providing euthanasia … because you’re getting public money.”’

“We said absolutely not,” she tells Glenn, “at which point … the fascism kicked in. I just call it stone-cold communism.”

When the government “canceled the service agreement,” Delta Hospice Society stood firm and said, “We’ll be fine without your money.”

But that was apparently “the wrong answer,” says Ireland, “because then they went after the lease” that the company “had 25 years left on” and “canceled it.” The buildings Delta Hospice Society had built entirely with private funds were promptly seized.

“They evicted us … from our buildings; they expropriated those assets, which were valued at $8.5 million, kicked us out, and took our stuff,” says Ireland.

But the worst part came next.

“Then they started to operate our hospice, and they put in the euthanasia,” she says.

Although Ireland went to “three very, very prominent lawyers” to explore her options to fight the seizure, all of them told her, “You’re not going to win.”

“They advised us again and again and again to just move on, take our punches, take the licking from the government, and move on,” she tells Glenn.

While Delta Hospice Society remains operational, it is still without brick-and-mortar buildings.

The seizure of Ireland’s palliative care facilities over refusing to kill patients, says Glenn, is yet another example of the spirit of death that powers this ever-increasing fascism. Whether it’s the intifada-preaching Islamists, the radical leftists and their love of abortion and sterilizing gender-confused children, or the governments legalizing euthanasia and other assisted suicide practices, the common denominator is that they “take glee in death.”

Ireland agrees, calling Canada’s experience with the legalization of euthanasia a “culling.”

“It’s a Canadian cull,” she says. “They’re killing the sick, the old, the mentally ill, the disabled veterans, the homeless, the poor, and now they’re going after the children.”

“It’s truly a national horror for Canadians.”

To hear more of Ireland’s story and more about the dire predicament of Canada, watch the clip 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.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Canada, Hospice, Euthanasia, Physician assisted suicide, Suicide culture, Angelina ireland, Delta hospice society, Fascism, Canadian government 

Back in the 1990s, not too long after my college days were over, I often made the couple-hour drive to the Texas coast to do some bay fishing. Sometimes I went with friends, and other times I went alone. The Copano Bay State Fishing Pier was my favorite destination — a former highway bridge spanning the mouth of Copano Bay. Any fish swimming in or out of Copano Bay swam beneath that pier.

On this particular trip, I went by myself. I set up my poles and chair under a light and had a successful night of fishing for speckled sea trout. In the wee hours, I returned to my car, pointed it east, reclined the driver’s seat for a few hours of sleep, and with the rising sun, I returned to the pier for a little more fishing before heading home.

‘If I hadn’t gone to prison, I might even be dead now. Who knows.’

The fish were no longer biting, so I kept moving farther out on the now-empty pier until settling in at the end. Lost in thought, I was surprised by a big strike on the line. While reeling in, I realized I now had company. A weathered man of indeterminable age was watching me.

The fish turned out to be a hardhead catfish, a junk fish that steals bait and is armed with a wicked dorsal fin. I removed the hook and threw the fish back into the bay.

“Why’d you throw it back?” the stranger asked.

“Just a hardhead,” I replied.

“What’s wrong with a hardhead?”

“Lousy eating.”

“Ever ate one?

“No.”

“Then, how can you know? Shouldn’t you try one first?”

I laughed and told him I probably should try one someday, but for now, I’d keep pursuing trout and flounder. Still serious, he asked me, “Ever gone hungry?”

“No,” I replied, to which he didn’t respond.

He then returned to his poles, which were leaning against the rails behind me and a little way down the pier. Not too long after, I hooked another hardhead. The stranger was watching me. I was not going to keep this fish, but it seemed that offering a hardhead catfish to him was a pathetic form of charity. I’d rather have caught a respectable fish or just given him a trout from the cooler in my car.

“Want it?” I asked. He took it and thanked me as he dropped it in his bucket.

“One more, and my dad and I will have enough for supper.”

“Here with your dad, are you?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Left the women behind?” I tried to joke.

“Not exactly. Mom’s dead, and my ex left me a long time ago.”

“Where are you staying?” I followed, trying to make light conversation.

“We got us a trailer in Fulton. Dad’s sleeping in.”

About then, I caught another hardhead and again offered it to the stranger. He took it and then asked if he could throw his line on my side of the pier. I was happy to oblige, since catching hardheads wasn’t providing me any satisfaction.

“Where’re you from?” he asked.

“Austin,” I answered. “How about you?”

“All over, I guess. Huntsville for most of my adult life.” (Huntsville is home to the Texas State Penitentiary.)

“Work at the prison?” I asked.

“No. I was incarcerated there.”

RELATED: Vibe shift: Christians must seize this cultural moment

Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images

At that moment, I realized it would not only be tacky to pursue the line of conversation (“So what were you in for?”), but I also did not want to discuss a criminal’s record — alone at the end of a long, empty pier. Not knowing whether he was a car thief or a murderer, I could assume the best, quickly concede that the trout just weren’t biting, pack up, and go. It suddenly felt unsettling to recall I’d slept alone in my car at the pier.

The quiet was a little awkward, so he spoke. “You’re from Austin. You a Longhorn fan?”

“I am. I went to UT a couple years ago,” I replied. He made an expression of acknowledgement but didn’t respond.

“Don’t hold it against me,” I joked.

He now responded, “Hell, you were smart to get an education. The third time they sent me to Huntsville, I didn’t know if I was ever coming back out. I decided to use their library. Either I’d die in prison a smart, old man, or I’d learn enough to get by on the outside if I was ever released.”

“I suppose there’s plenty of time for reading.” (“Third time?!” I was thinking.)

“Time for lots of stuff if you put your mind to it. That last time, I decided to set some goals for myself while I was there.”

“Goals for life after prison?”

“Yeah. And in prison.”

“Like what?”

“I didn’t want to be just another drug dealer staring at TV.”

(“Just another drug dealer,” I thought. Whew.)

“What were your goals, then?” I asked.

“Learn the law. Learn who helps the guys who want to stay clean after prison. Help those guys avoid coming back. Keep myself away from the gangs and the really bad guys. Make friends with guys who’d look out for me. Guys who study do OK in prison. I got by OK.”

I was no longer afraid of him, and he was comfortable talking about prison, so I was now curious to learn a little more about him. “So you thought you might not get out this last time?”

“Three drug convictions was a life sentence in the ’70s. All I sold was marijuana.”

“How’d you get caught?”

“Bein’ stupid.” He felt no need to elaborate beyond that.

I thought about how devastating it would be to be locked up for so many years of early adulthood. “Does it make you bitter?” I asked.

“Sometimes I want to, but you can’t let it. It’ll eat at you like a cancer. And you know what, the law was clear back then, and I broke the law. I may not have agreed with it, but I understood the consequences. If I hadn’t gone to prison, I might even be dead now. Who knows.”

“What do you do now?” I asked.

“I mow lawns, some handyman jobs, but mainly, I just look out for my dad. We can live pretty cheap.”

He went back to fishing and caught himself a hardhead. He threw it in his bucket, then started packing up to leave the pier.

“You know,” he said, “my biggest regret isn’t those lost years. It’s how it hurt my folks. They had to always try to avoid talking about family. They stopped going out much. It hurts to have to say, ‘My boy is in prison in Huntsville.’ Mom died while I was in prison, and I missed her funeral. I’ve paid my debt to society. I think I’ve overpaid. By looking out for dad, I can try to repay a more important debt.”

As he started to walk back toward land, he smiled at me and said, “If you’re ever hungry, you oughtta try a hardhead.”

I’ve caught a lot of hardhead catfish since then, and I’ve thrown every one back. But catching a hardhead always recalls the gentle ex-convict whose path in life briefly intersected with mine one morning on a South Texas pier.

​Opinion & analysis, July 4, Independence day, Fourth of july, Fish, Hardhead catfish, Ex-convict, Prison, Redemption, Poverty, Hunger, Wisdom, Marijuana, Huntsville, Texas, Austin, America 

If you rewatch “The Jetsons,” it’s clear that robots were initially designed to help humanity.

The show features a robot named “Rosie,” who serves as the family’s maid, dusting in hard-to-reach places and vacuuming under the rug. For a long time, gadgets like Roombas seemed harmlessly novel, alleviating the burden of small, unwanted jobs. But our relationship with robots as quirky helpers has changed significantly with the proliferation of technology and artificial intelligence.

It’s a cheat code for a faster, more efficient life — but a life that is safe, sanitized, and numb.

The rise of AI, for example, has transformed machines from helpers of humanity into its surrogate thinkers.

Educators are sounding the alarm. They claim the widespread availability of AI has severely impacted the education process — and for good reason. Tech companies and academic institutions have argued that AI can allow for “equitable” education that provides immediate, adaptive feedback. It is an expanse of knowledge, distilled into a chatbot or webpage.

But for a technological advancement that sounds so liberating, its implications are actually quite confining.

Classmates to chatbots

In the past, students were encouraged to think critically and to collaborate with their classmates, whether through coloring together in kindergarten or having a lab partner in high school. But now students are bypassing their classmates — and their own cognitive abilities — through AI, using machines to formulate “their” ideas.

One recent study showed that only 16% of students said they preferred to brainstorm ideas without the help of AI programs. Another study found that students preferred to collaborate with AI rather than a human partner because it felt less judgmental.

The data is clear: Students are now learning to self-isolate.

The loneliness economy

This new form of “companionship” extends outside of the classroom.

The COVID-19 pandemic hastened not only a shift from office to remote work but a movement from in-person learning to online schooling. In 2019, approximately 5.7% of Americans worked from home. In 2025, that number has hit nearly 20%, meaning the number has almost quadrupled in less than a decade. This means that people who were previously accustomed to office culture and frequent human interaction have now had many of their personal relationships relegated to Zoom calls and email chains. Couple that with the fact that most Americans consider themselves lonely, and you have the perfect recipe for robotic disaster.

RELATED: If AI isn’t built for freedom, it will be programmed for control

Laurence Dutton/Getty Images Plus

Recently, fears over people forming close relationships turned from a joke into reality. People who have struggled to find human partners have rejoiced in their ability to use AI to engage in emotional relationships. Some have even begun to consider AI personalities their spouses, using chatbots as substitutes for other people who can be fully customized to their desires.

Empathy, kindness, and something that looks like love can all be generated without any of the work required for interpersonal relationships.

The extremes of AI have launched a thousand think pieces, stirring criticism independent of political affiliations. The technology is most commonly used to solve questions, generate images, or summarize long essays. It makes life a little bit easier because we can spend less time researching, designing, or reading.

But our dependence on AI is growing at an alarming rate. Employees use it to correct the grammar in work emails or comb through valuable data in a white paper. Middle schoolers use it to solve math homework, college kids use it to form a thesis, and your boss uses it to put together an earnings report. It seeps into daily life in innocuous ways, and it slowly — but steadily — becomes normalized.

Cognition crisis

AI is supposed to be a little helper, just like the Jetsons’ “Rosie” robot. But the reality is far more sinister.

New analysis shows that frequent use of chatbots can result in decreasing brain activity and lowered cognitive function. Neurological, linguistic, and behavioral skills are drastically impaired after extensive AI use.

It’s becoming clear: AI is eating away at peoples’ brains.

RELATED: Your job, your future, your humanity: AI just crossed the line we can never undo

Schools and companies worldwide have been promoting AI as the new wave in human excellence. They claim AI will make education more accessible and argue that it will fast-track human progress. But it erodes the human experience. Children isolate themselves, adults destroy their relationships, and everyone’s analytical skills deteriorate.

It’s a cheat code for a faster, more efficient life — but a life that is safe, sanitized, and numb.

Creation can’t be coded

Human creativity is actionable. It builds cathedrals, epic poems, and timeless operas. From ballet to Botticelli, the creative spirit has expressed itself throughout history as a testament to mankind. The result of experience and struggle is beauty. AI removes these things because they aren’t part of a streamlined system. The technology is built to view the pedantic parts of life as barricades to productivity. It’s a machine, and humanity will always be just a little bit broken.

In the early 16th century, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. For four years, he laid on his back, matching colors, mixing paints, and grunting through brutally hot Italian summers. He had to carefully consider each small detail that would represent the awesomeness of God. When he finished, small mistakes were overlooked, and every pain was worthwhile because he had produced something new.

AI can’t do this. It can repeat patterns, but it lacks the capacity for the painful lows and rewarding highs of creation. AI generates “new” ideas instantly. It removes the need for individuals to muscle through problems. But it also removes the ability to create anything outside of its preprogrammed database.

AI is trying to kill creativity, and it’s our job to shut off its takeover.

​Artificial intelligence, Ai, Jetsons, Machines, Human creativity, Technology 

The hot dog is much, much more than a backyard barbecue staple — it is a quintessential American icon that has become a symbol of American patriotism.

The humble handheld repast is a beloved food that brings people together. Hot dogs have been embraced by baseball fans at ballparks across the country, Americans celebrating with backyard cookouts, prestigious presidents, and competitive eaters on the Fourth of July.

‘A hot dog at the game beats roast beef at the Ritz.’

The term “hot dog” may have been coined in April 1901 at the New York Polo Grounds because of their dachshund-like shape, according to some historians. However, the hot dog has many names, including weenie, wiener, glizzy, snappy boy, Coney, dirty water dog, and frank. No matter what you call a hot dog, it is always a delicious bite of pure Americana.

German immigrants brought their beloved “frankfurters” — named after Frankfurt, Germany — to the United States in the 1800s, introducing Americans to the sausage-style snack that would soon become a national favorite.

Whether topped with mustard, ketchup, relish, sauerkraut, chili, or Chicago-style with onions, tomatoes, pickles, and a dash of celery salt, the hot dog adapts to regional tastes while staying true to its all-American roots: iconic, irresistible, and endlessly reinventable.

Hot Dog VendorImage Source: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

The simple hot dog, once a humble street snack, skyrocketed to fame thanks to Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island, New York.

In 1916, Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker launched a hot dog stand on Coney Island, selling dogs for just 5 cents. Handwerker was able to start his hot dog business thanks to a $300 loan from friends and a secret spice blend from his wife.

The first official and recorded Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest took place in Coney Island on July 4, 1972.

Now, roughly 40,000 people attend the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, while hundreds of thousands of Americans watch the annual contest every July 4 on ESPN.

Joey Chestnut — the king of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest — has won the competitive eating contest a record 16 times. Chestnut holds the record for most hot dogs eaten during the competitive eating contest, with 76 hot dogs consumed in 2021.

Hot dogs are also the iconic food of America’s pastime — baseball. Hot dogs perfectly encapsulate the spirit of the game and its fans.

MLB fans chowed down on an estimated 20 million hot dogs at stadiums across the country during the 2024 baseball season, which breaks down to approximately 8,000 hot dogs per game.

Actor Humphrey Bogart once famously said, “A hot dog at the game beats roast beef at the Ritz.”

Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Hot dogs are widely regarded as one of America’s most patriotic foods, famously enjoyed by politicians and presidents alike.

On June 11, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt hosted King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during a picnic at his Hyde Park estate in New York. FDR served the royal couple hot dogs, which was reportedly the first time that King George VI ate a hot dog.

Since then, numerous American presidents have made hot dogs part of their patriotic branding, including former President Ronald Reagan.

Hot dogs have transformed from a simple food to a symbol of American identity that is woven into the fabric of U.S. history, politics, and patriotism. Plus, hot dogs are seen as an accessible food that is treasured by Americans of all social classes.

American politicians are often seen eating hot dogs as a prop in their patriotic photo-ops.

Image Source: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Fire up the grill and pass the mustard, because no food sizzles at patriotic celebrations quite like the cherished hot dog.

No food completes a Fourth of July cookout or a Memorial Day picnic quite like the hot dog.

Hot dogs take center stage during many red, white, and blue bashes since the tasty treat is the undisputed champ of patriotic snacking.

According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans devour an estimated 150 million hot dogs on Independence Day alone — enough to stretch from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles more than five times over.

Photo by Robert R. McElroy/Getty Images

So when you are grilling hot dogs this Fourth of July, remember that you are not just eating a snack — you’re biting into a piece of American history.

The hot dog has transcended from immigrant dreams to presidential picnics.

This unapologetically American cuisine doesn’t just feed our bodies — it feeds our souls with patriotism, nostalgia, and the simple joy of coming together to celebrate what it means to be part of this country.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​American hot dog, American patriotism, American traditions, Fdr hot dog, Fdr hot dog picnic, Fourth of july food, Hot dog history, Hot dogs and politics, Nathan’s famous, Nathan’s famous contest, Patriotic foods, Political food symbolism, Presidential foods, Presidential hot dog, Summer cookout ideas, Align, Patriotic recipes, Summer cookout classics 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Tensions are still high in southern California as immigration enforcement operations continue in the aftermath of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots last month.

The Department of Homeland Security has deployed additional resources to the region to carry out President Donald Trump’s directive to arrest illegal immigrants despite local resistance.

The unlawful assembly declaration angered the crowd; they claimed it was police who made it unlawful by pushing them into the street.

That resistance did not take a break this Independence Day.

Multiple far-left groups organized protests around Los Angeles County, with protesters mainly focusing on city hall and the federal building nearby. Waving Mexican flags and upside down American flags, the anti-ICE and anti-Trump crowd spread out to the front and the back of the federal building where U.S. Marines, National Guardsmen, and DHS agents were stationed to protect the facility.

Many in the crowd berated the service members for protecting the building that rioters had targeted barely a month ago. One agitator threatened to “knock” their teeth in because he did not care about going to jail.

— (@)

Toward Friday evening protesters gathered behind the federal building to prevent federal vehicles from going in and out of the complex. This forced DHS agents and military members to come out to clear a path for the vehicles, which the crowd sometimes attacked.

RELATED: Border Patrol arrest at Home Depot punches hole in Democrats’ narrative

Image source: Julio Rosas/Blaze Media

An unlawful assembly was declared after agents briefly clashed with the crowd and rioters threw bottles at the police line. With help from Los Angeles Police officers, DHS agents and military members pushed the dwindling crowd away from federal building. The unlawful assembly declaration angered the crowd; they claimed it was police who made it unlawful by pushing them into the street.

— (@)

— (@)

While the protest was supposed to last until midnight, the upset crowd was forced away from the federal building by 8 p.m. Blaze Media did not observe any arrests during the course of the day.

Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass used Independence Day to call for an end to the federal immigration enforcement operations.

“This July 4th, let’s remember what patriotism really means: defending our values, our people, and our Constitution. Send the troops home. Stop the raids. Stand for freedom,” she said on X.

Once Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill, the mayor again voiced her frustration with the federal government enforcing immigration laws.

“Instead of investing in housing, jobs, or health care, they’re funding fear — tearing families apart in our neighborhoods. These raids must end,” she added.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Los angeles riots, Anti-ice protests, Dhs, Department of homeland security, Donald trump, Karen bass, Los angeles police, Unlawful assembly, Independence day, Us military, Mexican flags 

The left’s side of the abortion debate is evil enough as it is, but a woman on TikTok decided to take it a step further and add her pit bull — a breed well known to attack children — into the mix.

“As many of you saw, I had an abor-bor earlier this year, not only because I don’t want children right now, but you want to know the real reason? I already have a baby, it’s this one right here,” the woman said proudly as she panned her camera to the pit bull behind her.

“He cost me a lot of time and energy and money, and if I had to choose between a human baby’s needs and this one, I’m choosing this one every time,” she continued.

“That’s why this fall, there’s only one candidate protecting our reproductive freedoms, and if she doesn’t win — don’t make me choose between a human baby and this one — because this one wins every freaking time,” she added.

“My political ideology is whatever makes that illegal,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey comments. “Every part of that, actually. There’s so many things in that clip that I think should be illegal; having an abortion and owning a pit bull.”

“This really just goes to show disordered priorities and disordered desires just put your whole life out of whack,” she says. “That’s really what’s happening here. When you worship the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever, amen, as Romans 1 tells us, then everything gets distorted and disordered.”

“Like, if you cannot see how absolutely depraved and backwards and dark that is, this is, like, a spiritual issue, a demonic problem here, then you need to be reading your Bible and praying a lot more,” she adds.

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.

​Camera phone, Video phone, Sharing, Upload, Free, Video, Youtube.com, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Reproductive freedom, Abortion, Reproductive rights, Womens rights, Christianity, Pro-life, Pro-choice, Pitbull, Pitbulls, Pitbull attacks 

A New Jersey man was arrested for attacking another passenger on a Frontier Airlines flight just before the plane landed in Florida earlier this week, authorities said.

Flight 1203 was en route Monday from Philadelphia to Miami when a fight erupted on the plane.

‘At that moment, it was, you know, the fight or flight responses kicked in.’

The victim — identified as Keanu Evans — told WSVN-TV that a passenger seated near him began uttering strange, unsettling phrases during the flight.

“He was doing some, like, dark laugh like, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha.’ And he was saying things like, ‘You, you puny mortal man, if you challenge me, it will result in your death,'” Evans told the station.

Evans reportedly said he left his seat to use the restroom — and to notify the flight crew of the bizarre behavior of the passenger, later identified as 21-year-old Ishaan Sharma of Newark, New Jersey. A flight attendant advised Evans to push the call button if the passenger continued to exhibit concerning conduct.

Evans returned to his assigned seat, but the situation reportedly escalated.

RELATED: Video: Flight attendant repeatedly pounds fist on male passenger who allegedly was attacking female sitting in front of him

Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

“He kept threatening me with death,” Evans added to WSVN. “That’s what made me get up and press the button above me, and I just turned around, and I looked at him, and I responded to him. A lot was going on, and immediately he just got up, and he put his forehead on my forehead like he was challenging me.”

Evans explained, “You know, he’s looking at me very angrily, and we’re looking eye to eye, forehead to forehead, and then he just grabs me by the throat and just starts choking me. At that moment, it was, you know, the fight or flight responses kicked in.”

Evans noted that he was forced to defend himself because he was locked in a “tight, confined space on an aircraft.”

Another passenger recorded video of the fight between the two men; it shows the pair grappling and shoving each other into the wall of the commercial airliner.

Passengers and the flight crew told the men to stop fighting, but the melee continued. The mid-flight brawl eventually was broken up after the men were separated.

RELATED: ‘Blood spattered’: FAA air traffic controller charged with assault for alleged fight inside DC airport’s control tower

ABC News reported that Evans suffered only “superficial” injuries. However, a bloodied and battered Sharma suffered a “visible laceration to his left eyebrow which required medical assistance,” according to the affidavit ABC News obtained. Sharma’s mugshot shows him with a large shiner over his left eye.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Sharma, transported him to Jackson West Hospital, and then to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Sharma was charged with battery and jailed on a $500 bond, according to jail records.

An attorney for Sharma claimed her client was “meditating” before the fight broke out.

“My client is from a religion where he was meditating,” defense attorney Renee Gordon said, according to the Daily Mail. “Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that.”

Evans stressed that he is a “good person,” and that the video doesn’t “capture what started the whole thing.”

“It makes me feel bad because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about who I am as a person. I’m a good person. You know, I recently got baptized,” Evans told WSVN. “The biggest drawback for me, what I wish that I could have done better was just not go back to my seat and been more adamant like, ‘Hey, keep me away from this guy.'”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Air travel, Arrest, Crime, Fight video, Fights, Flight fight, Frontier airlines, Plane fight, Viral video, Battery charge 

Texas officials prepared early last week for heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding, ensuring that local first responders had what they needed to act quickly and decisively. They were, however, met with a downpour far worse than expected.

Officials in West Texas and the Hill Country momentarily were put on the back foot in the early hours of Independence Day by nearly a foot of rain, which triggered flash floods; Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that reportedly caused the Guadalupe River to rise at least 26 feet in a matter of 45 minutes.

‘So many people have been swept up into an extraordinary catastrophe.’

Among the settlements swept by the floods was Camp Mystic — a Christian camp for girls near the Guadalupe River in Hunt. Of around 750 campers, 27 were still reported missing as of Saturday afternoon. The mother of 9-year-old Janie Hunt told CNN that her daughter, who was among the missing, has been confirmed dead.

In addition to the more than 1,000 responders and 800 vehicles the state has deployed, an army of local, federal, and volunteer rescuers have been working around the clock to save victims from the waters, reunify families, clear debris, and tend to the injured.

The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office indicated that as of Saturday morning, first responders had evacuated over 850 uninjured people, including eight injured people. They also recovered the bodies of 27 people who perished in the floods.

Among the dead were nine children, one of whom has not yet been identified.

Shortly after signing a disaster declaration on July 4 for 15 counties the flooding has impacted, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters, “This is a time when we as a state, we as a community, need God more than ever.”

“Little kids off at camp joyfully excited about the upcoming day to celebrate the Fourth of July; campers alongside the [Guadalupe] River doing the same thing and enjoying one of the beautiful spots in the State of Texas — asleep, probably just a few hours from waking up,” said Abbott. “So many people have been swept up into an extraordinary catastrophe.”

While emphasizing the need for prayer, Abbott indicated that search-and-rescue operations were underway and would continue as flooding continues across the state.

— (@)

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that his administration was working with state and local officials and added, “GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!”

Lt. Gov. Patrick said Friday, “I’ve talked to several people at the White House. The president sent the message, ‘Whatever we need, we will have.'”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday activated the U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency resources and was working to get the Camp Mystic girls to safety, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on social media.

Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty Images

There also has been an outpouring of support and prayers for the victims of the floods and their families.

“Our nation’s heart breaks for the victims in Texas and their families. Just an incomprehensible tragedy,” wrote Vice President JD Vance. “I hope everyone affected knows they’re in the prayers of my family, and of millions of Americans. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”

The NFL’s Houston Texans are among the organizations that have shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide support and resources to those impacted by the floods.

This is a developing story.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Natural disaster, Flood, Flooding, Texas, Hill country, Greg abbott, Dan patrick, Disaster, Rains, Dhs, Kristi noem, Donald trump, Politics 

Back in April, New York City unveiled a behemoth of a statue in the middle of Times Square called “Grounded in the Stars.” Standing at 12 feet tall, the bronze sculpture depicts an average-looking, overweight, anonymous black woman dressed in casual clothing standing with hands on hips. The artist, Thomas J. Price, said it was designed to challenge traditional norms regarding who deserves monumentalizing, forcing a confrontation with the supposed systemic erasure of marginalized bodies and identities.

In other words, it’s a woke, finger-wagging lecture in the form of a looming bronze woman.

And a lot of people hated it. The statue sparked a firestorm of criticism and mockery from people of all races, some of whom demanded the statue’s immediate removal.

But New York City just can’t seem to get the message that its denizens are sick of looking at bad art. That very same month, it debuted a 10-foot fountain in the form of a pink foot and leg covered in red-lipped mouths with tongues sticking out, giving the impression of infection or disease. The artist, Mika Rottenberg, designed the grotesque structure as an “irreverent take on the tradition of classical fountains.”

When Rick Burgess, BlazeTV host of “The Rick Burgess Show” and “Strange Encounters,” recently traveled to the Big Apple to visit his son, he was fortunate enough to avoid this bubblegum-pink monstrosity, but his content producer, Chris Adler, wasn’t so lucky.

On a trip to NYC for his wedding anniversary, Adler and his wife encountered the “big pink foot.” He plays a video of the fountain for Rick and the panel.

Rick immediately notices something strange about the shape of the leg.

“It’s so important to look at the toes,” he says, joking about the phallic shape of the shin, where the rounded top shoots out water. “I noticed a lot of people from the Pride parade begin to gather around it like it was a god.”

“I guess they didn’t notice the foot,” he laughs. “I hate to disappoint you; it’s a leg.”

“There’s some sickies out there,” says Adler.

To hear more of the panel’s conversation and see a video of the fountain, watch the clip above.

Want more from Rick Burgess?

To enjoy more bold talk and big laughs, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The rick burgess show, Rick burgess, Blazetv, Blaze media, New york, Nyc, Big apple, Art, Ugly art, Pink foot, Pink foot fountain 

Let’s stop pretending we don’t know why men are done with marriage. They’re not “afraid of commitment.” They’re not “toxic.” And they’re certainly not “intimidated by strong women.” No, men have just finally figured out what the rest of us should’ve admitted years ago: It’s a terrible deal. Not for women — oh no, we’ve gamed it beautifully. For men.

And now, they know it.

Any man who walks away from marriage isn’t afraid of commitment. He’s just smart enough not to sign up for a state-sanctioned mugging disguised as romance.

According to research from the Marriage Foundation, between 70% to 80% of divorces are initiated by women. Among college-educated women, that number jumps to 90%. Translation: The more educated she is, the faster she realizes she can exit stage left with the house, the kids, the 401(k), and a monthly check. All she has to do is say, “I’m not happy,” and a judge will handle the rest.

And what a show it is! He loses his kids, his paycheck, and often his sanity, trying to keep up with court-mandated payments while living in a sad little apartment, granted visitation rights so limited he needs a calendar app and a court order just to see his own kids. Meanwhile, she’s posting #SingleMomStrong like the children are accessories she won in the divorce. How exactly is this empowering for anyone?

Women’s emotional garbage cans

It’s not just the divorce itself — it’s what leads up to it. Modern women have traded femininity for feral instinct, egged on by a culture that rewards emotional instability and calls it “empowerment.”

Think I’m exaggerating? Just spend five minutes on TikTok. You’ll find women screaming into their phones about “healing energy” and “divine feminine rage,” sipping boxed wine in a bathtub surrounded by crystals and court summonses. These women don’t want to love a man — they want to fix their daddy issues with a living, breathing human wallet.

They call it love, but what they really mean is trauma alchemy: “If you loved me, you’d fix me.” No, sweetie. You fix you. Then maybe, just maybe, you’ll attract a man who doesn’t have to call his therapist after every date.

This epidemic of emotional dysfunction isn’t accidental. Many of these women were raised in homes where masculinity was vilified, fathers were absent, and mothers were so bitter they could curdle milk with a glance.

These girls were handed generational rage and told it was feminism. They didn’t heal; they weaponized their pain and waited for the first man dumb enough to step into range. And if he’s not dumb? He’s the enemy. Because how dare he not offer himself up as a sacrifice on the altar of her unprocessed trauma.

Courts eat men alive

Family courts, of course, are the handmaids of this dysfunction. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that less than 20% of custodial parents are fathers, despite all evidence that children need both parents. But try telling that to a judge who thinks “fatherhood” is a weekend hobby and “child support” is a government-backed extortion racket.

Many states rake in billions through Title IV-D incentives, meaning the more money the state extracts from fathers, the more it receives from the federal government. It’s not justice — it’s a racket. It’s a taxpayer-funded kickback scheme that rewards broken families and punishes paternal love.

RELATED: Democrats can’t mock masculinity and expect men to vote for them

Ivan Rodriguez Alba via iStock/Getty Images

Worse, child support is often calculated not on what a man actually earns but on what the court believes he should earn. That’s called “imputed income” — and it’s how you turn a plumber into a felon because he couldn’t pay child support based on the fantasy that he’s a brain surgeon. If he misses a payment, he goes to jail. If she violates a custody order, she might get a warning. Maybe.

This isn’t equality. This is Turner v. Rogers in action. The Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that authorities can lock a man up for not paying child support without providing him a lawyer. Land of the free, indeed.

Here’s what’s wild: Women still don’t get it. Men aren’t angry at women — they’re done with them. Like this woman said, men are done negotiating with feral energy. They’re not trying to win an argument anymore. They’re exiting the game. Quietly. Permanently. And still, the same women who created the chaos stand around wondering, “Where did all the good men go?”

Honey, they’re over there — dodging alimony, living in peace, and thanking God they never married you.

‘Empowered’ women, depressed men

Here’s the kicker: We’re not even ashamed of it. We brag about it. We meme about it. Divorce glow-up. Trauma bonding. “Soft girl era.” Meanwhile, the men are just trying to stay out of court and off antidepressants. Feminism? Please. This is narcissism with a publicist.

Men want peace. They want loyalty, partnership, and respect. They want what their grandfathers had — a woman who had their back, not a woman who records their fights for social media clout.

But those women are rarer than ever. We’ve traded homemaking for hot-girl summer, traded character for chaos, and traded companionship for control. And then we expect men to marry us?

Newsflash: Men don’t marry liabilities.

We told them they weren’t necessary. We told them masculinity was toxic. We told them they owed us emotional labor, financial support, and full-time access to their phones. And when they refused, we called them weak. Now, they’re gone. And we still have the audacity to act confused.

Maybe it’s time we stop blaming men for not wanting us and start asking if we’re actually worth wanting. Until we clean up the emotional landmines, stop weaponizing the courts, and remember what being a woman actually means, we’re not a risk worth taking.

And any man who walks away from this mess isn’t afraid of commitment. He’s just smart enough not to sign up for a state-sanctioned mugging disguised as romance.

​Opinion & analysis, Men, Mental health, Marriage, Divorce, Family, Depression, Loneliness, Single, Alimony, Child support, Marriage foundation, Toxic masculinity, Toxic femininity, Feminism, Narcissism, Social media, Tiktok, Hashtag, Family court, Culture, Men and women, Supreme court, Turner v. rogers, Jail