Talk about a full “circle” moment!

“American Idol” winner Hannah Harper hit a magical milestone last night, when she made her debut at Nashville’s historic Grand Ole Opry.

Harper’s audition quickly became one of the ‘American Idol’s’ most viewed moments in its 24-season history.

“What an overwhelming honor it is to step into that circle that carries so much history, legacy, and heart within country music,” the 26-year-old mother of three posted on her Facebook page shortly after the appearance was announced.

Sharing ‘String Cheese’

The “circle” refers to the scuffed six-foot circle of maple and oak stage taken from the Opry’s original home at the historic Ryman Auditorium and installed at the new, bigger venue the Opry built in 1974.

And when Harper walked out onto that circle last night, it was both the start of a new phase of her career and a beautiful reminder of how it all began.

Shortly after beginning her set, Harper launched into a rendition of “String Cheese,” her self-penned song from her viral “American Idol” audition video. As she finished the first verse, she was joined on stage by another “Idol” winner turned country star: Carrie Underwood — one of the “Idol” judges who helped propel Harper to victory.

Ode to motherhood

Harper’s journey to the Opry stage began with a childhood immersed in the bluegrass gospel music that has captivated her family for generations. Harper began singing and songwriting at just 9 years old, but she didn’t become a household name until February, when her “American Idol” audition went mega-viral.

Performing “String Cheese” — a heartfelt ballad about the grueling reality of postpartum depression and the beautiful, fleeting days of motherhood — the Missouri native moved “Idol” judge Carrie Underwood and the rest of watching America to tears with her soulful voice and deeply personal lyrics that seemed to silence the anti-natalist noise of our time.

In a matter of days, “String Cheese” racked up millions of views and peaked at No. 14 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart. Harper’s audition quickly became one of “American Idol’s” most viewed moments in its 24-season history.

On May 11, to the surprise of few, Harper was crowned the winner of “American Idol” Season 24, making her the first female country singer to win the show since Underwood’s victory in 2005.

RELATED: ‘String Cheese’: Why an ‘American Idol’ audition is making millions of moms cry

Disney/Eric McCandless

Grateful and grounded

Harper’s performance was part of the “Opry 100” celebration during CMA Fest week. The show also featured Underwood, rising country-pop star Avery Anna, and more artists.

Days before the “Idol” finale, Harper revealed in an interview with Country Now that an Opry performance has long been the pinnacle of her dreams.

“The Opry is the goal. … That’s the biggest stage in country music in my eyes, the most honored, and it would just make my whole life to get to perform on that stage,” she confessed.

The Opry performance also marked the official launch of her “String Cheese Tour,” set to run through November 14, with concerts scheduled across the U.S.

But despite her blooming career, being a mom remains this rising country star’s deepest commitment.

Harper — who has consistently described motherhood as her “biggest ministry” — expressed intentions to bring her husband and three sons along on the road.

In post-win interviews with Lyndsanity and Parade magazine, she recounted advice she had received from Carrie Underwood about installing baby cribs on tour buses and the importance of balancing stardom with family.

“Carrie just wanted to make sure that I kept a hold of the grasp of reality once everything settled down and just made sure to still focus on the priorities, which is my kids and my husband,” she told Parade magazine.

​American idol winner, Carrie underwood, Grand ole opry, Hannah harper, Ministry, Motherhood, Postpartum depression, Ryman auditorium, String cheese, Culture 

Jay Jones, the radical Democratic attorney general of Virginia, will take over the case against a registered, repeat sex offender accused of exposing himself to girls and women in a school locker room.

Richard Kenneth Cox, 59, was initially registered as a sex offender in 1998 after he was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child. The Tier III sex offender was convicted of possessing obscene material with a minor in 2007. Cox was also convicted for failing to register as a sex offender, once in 2007 and again in 2021.

‘The statute is therefore void for vagueness.’

Cox admitted in a letter written to a judge in 1992 that he had “sexual problems.” A few years later, in a separate letter, he stated that he was aware that he experienced “compulsions to expose myself in public places,” WJLA previously reported.

He is facing over 20 charges related to allegations that he exposed his naked body in a female locker room at a Washington-Liberty High School pool on Oct. 21, 2024. The charges include indecent exposure, sex offender on school or day-care property, and sex offender loitering near school/day care/park/playground.

Outside of regular school hours, the Washington-Liberty High School pool is open to the public.

Cox, who goes by the name Riki Cox, has claimed to identify as a female. The school district’s policy allows individuals to use the locker room that they believe aligns with their so-called gender identity.

RELATED: ‘Like they are some kind of freak’: Sex offender posing as woman allegedly exposes himself in school locker rooms

Celal Gunes/Anadolu/Getty Images

“My civil rights as a transgender person allow me to use a public facility, including restrooms and changing rooms that identify as my gender,” Cox told law enforcement authorities in Nov. 2024.

On March 12, Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Lopez granted Cox’s request to dismiss his case. The judge agreed with Cox’s claim that the Virginia law under which he was charged is vague under the 14th Amendment.

The judge was referring to Virginia Code § 18.2-370.2(B), which states, “Every adult who is convicted of an offense prohibiting proximity to children when the offense occurred on or after July 1, 2000, shall as part of his sentence be forever prohibited from loitering within 100 feet of the premises of any place he knows or has reason to know is a primary, secondary or high school.”

Lopez concluded that “loitering” was not clearly defined and that the statute lacks standards to guide enforcement.

“The statute is therefore void for vagueness,” Lopez wrote.

RELATED: 2 boys were filmed by a girl in the boys’ school locker room. The school punished the BOYS.

Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket/Getty Images

Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti’s office appealed the judge’s decision, and the Court of Appeals accepted the case. Now, AG Jones, who previously fantasized about the death of a Republican and his children, will represent the commonwealth in the case.

Separately, Cox was convicted in February for possessing child pornography, which police said they found on his phone and on a memory device when he was arrested in Dec. 2024 for charges related to the exposure case.

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​News, Virginia, Richard cox, Sex offender, Transgender ideology, Transgenderism, Politics, Jay jones 

California polls closed at 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday, but the state continues to count ballots as the spotlight remains on the gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral races.

Former Fox News host and small business owner Steve Hilton (R) and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) remain neck and neck in the race to become the next California governor. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the general election.

With only 58% of the votes counted as of Wednesday morning, the Associated Press has not announced that either candidate has secured enough votes to guarantee a place in November.

‘We are still leading. It’s looking good.’

However, Hilton holds a slight lead, securing over 1,386,000 votes. Becerra is more than two points behind with 1,267,000 votes. Democratic challenger Tom Steyer sits in third place, over eight points behind Hilton, with 979,000 votes.

Hilton called it a “very, very good night,” stating that “it does look like change really is coming to California.”

“We are still leading. It’s looking good,” he added.

Since no candidate earned at least 50% of the vote in the L.A. mayoral race, the top two finishers will face off again in November. With roughly 63% of the ballots counted as of Wednesday morning, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has secured enough votes to move on to the general election, according to the Associated Press.

RELATED: ‘Doomsday scenario’: California governor race turns into high-stakes scramble as vote split may keep Republican out

Steve Hilton. Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

Approximately 12 hours after the polls closed, Bass held onto a more than four-point lead over former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, while L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman sat in third place, over 12 points behind Bass.

Pratt appeared positioned to defeat Raman, already securing over 151,000 votes compared to the councilwoman’s 110,000 votes. If Pratt holds onto his lead, he will advance to the runoff against Bass in November.

RELATED: Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman shrink Karen Bass’ lead in tight race for LA mayor: Poll

Karen Bass. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Decision Desk HQ projected that Bass would advance and reported that Pratt “looks most likely” to join her, although it is too soon to be certain.

“Well, obviously God wanted five more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor,” Pratt told reporters on Tuesday evening. “So, it’s gonna be a fun ride. I hope she’s ready.”

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​News, California, Los angeles, Steve hilton, Xavier becerra, Tom steyer, Nithya raman, Karen bass, Spencer pratt, Politics 

Police in Daytona Beach, Florida, said they’re actively investigating a shooting that occurred early Sunday at Derbyshire Park.

Officers initially responded to a local hospital after receiving reports of a patient suffering from a gunshot wound, police said, adding that officers during the investigation determined the shooting occurred at Derbyshire Park.

At this time, the motive for the encounter remains unclear, and there is no ongoing threat to the public, police said.

Preliminary findings indicate an adult male and an adult female met and parked together at the park when a male they did not know approached them, police said.

When a disagreement occurred between the individuals, the male who approached the couple allegedly brandished a firearm, police said.

The male victim then grabbed his own gun and demanded the unknown male leave the area, police said.

The unknown male began walking away but soon turned and fired multiple rounds, striking the male victim, police said.

But the male victim returned fire, striking the unknown male, police said.

Following the exchange of gunfire, the male victim as well as the female he was with drove themselves to a local hospital for treatment, police said.

Responding officers found the other male dead in the park, police said.

Officials said investigators have identified all parties involved. At this time, the motive for the encounter remains unclear, and there is no ongoing threat to the public, police said.

RELATED: Vietnam vet says he had to ‘get aggressive’ and grab his gun when his female tenant started screaming

Police said the investigation remains active and ongoing.

The identities of the involved parties are being withheld while detectives continue to investigate the full circumstances surrounding the incident, police said.

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​Crime, Crime thwarted, Daytona beach, Fatal shooting, Florida, Gun rights, Guns, Police investigation, Self-defense, Shootout, Second amendment 

America’s foster care system is facing a serious crisis, and the government has not only been making it worse — but stealing from orphans who need help the most.

It’s called the “orphan tax,” and Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Alex Adams has been dedicated to exposing it.

“Essentially, a child’s parents died, that child’s parents had worked, so they were entitled to some social security through earned benefits through work,” Adams tells Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck.

“Traditionally the child would be eligible for the survivor’s benefit, but in 29 states, when that child entered foster care, the state was saying ‘we are now the parent of that child. We’re going to take that survivor’s benefit from them,’” he explains.

“These states were essentially stealing from orphans and using it to cover government bureaucratic overhead. So we sent a letter to 29 states asking them to end that practice, which I find morally objectionable, and luckily 10 states changed the laws this year,” he adds.

Of those 10 states, the governors of Nebraska, Louisiana, and Indiana signed executive orders immediately ending the practice.

“We still have a long way to go, and we’re going to continue pushing on states to try to end the orphan taxation,” Adams says.

Glenn worries that this can be reversed under new leadership, so the thing to do is “encourage our houses of worship to get more involved.”

“One of my big phrases that I use at my charity is if we want the government to do less then we have to do more. If we want our government to not be involved on all of these levels because they usually will screw things up, we need to have our churches do more,” Glenn tells Adams.

“I agree with you wholeheartedly,” Adams says. “The message that we send to the faith-based community will make or break our success in child welfare long-term.”

“And families of faith are the most likely to raise their hands and volunteer and run towards the foster care system, get licensed as foster families, provide preventative services that will prevent kids from entering into foster care in the first place,” he adds.

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​Glenn beck, Alex adams, Nebraska, Louisiana, Orphan tax, Indiana, Foster care, The glenn beck program 

Republicans just got another victory at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The highest court in the land approved the redistricted congressional map for Alabama in a 6-3 decision released late on Tuesday evening. All three liberal justices dissented.

‘Our message to communities remains the same — the best way to express dissent is by showing up at the ballot box this election season.’

One of Alabama’s majority-black districts will be eliminated by the new map.

The dissent, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, accused the majority justices of “unleashing chaos” with the decision, likely confusing voters at this late stage in the election season.

“Just as Alabama doubled down on racial discrimination, the Court today doubles down on chaos,” Sotomayor claimed. “Because I choose to defend the rule of law and the right of all Alabamians to participate equally in democracy, I respectfully dissent.”

Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement in support of the decision.

“The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along, and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people, and our districts best,” she wrote. “Today’s decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our elections.”

Democrats were outraged over the decision.

“The Supreme Court has now confirmed that there is no longer a Voting Rights Act in America, and states are essentially free to discriminate against minority voters with no consequences,” said Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.), whose district was eliminated by the redistricting.

“Once again, the right-wing Supreme Court has put its blatant partisanship on full display, allowing Alabama Republicans to change the rules in the eleventh hour and use a racist congressional map that federal courts have found — on two separate occasions — intentionally discriminates against Black Alabama voters,” read a statement from Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama.

RELATED: Federal court strikes down Alabama redistricting effort — GOP to APPEAL at Supreme Court

“This is just the latest in a pattern of outrageous Supreme Court decisions that help Republicans desperately cling to power ahead of the midterm elections while diluting Black voices and erasing decades of hard-fought civil rights progress,” Sewell added.

She went on to accuse Republicans of taking America “back to the Jim Crow era,” an accusation that was repeated by the NAACP.

“This is a Court that is stripping Black voters of power and voice at a speed that would put Jim Crow jurists to shame,” said Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP. “Our message to communities remains the same — the best way to express dissent is by showing up at the ballot box this election season.”

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​Justice sonia sotomayor, Midterm elections, Redistricting, Us supreme court, Politics, Alabama 

AI companies have largely developed their chatbots with very little government regulation, all in an effort to beat China to artificial general intelligence. However, as these services exploit users’ mental health, enable new devastating cybersecurity threats, and arm the U.S. military with advanced capabilities, the Trump administration recently proposed federal regulation to keep the bots in check. Now, President Donald Trump wants to take government oversight a step further by invoking the power to review AI models before they’re released to the public through an executive order that was signed this week.

President Trump has mostly maintained a hands-off approach to AI regulation, bucking attempts at state-level bills to curb development in favor of a centralized federal mandate. There are clear pros and cons to Trump’s National AI Legislative Framework, but it provides a starting point for standardizing an industry where Trump has dragged his feet.

This is why the latest reports of added AI oversight, directly from the U.S. government, come as a surprise, given Trump’s previous stance. If signed, the executive order would mark a sea change within the Trump administration, signaling that AI needs direct government intervention to protect the public from potentially dangerous models.

The question is, why?

This move raises the question: How much AI regulation is too much regulation?

Trump’s decision came after Anthropic — the same company that landed on the military’s supply chain risk list — unveiled a new AI model that was purportedly too dangerous to release to the public. Labeled as Mythos under Project Glasswing, the new model excels at leveraging computer hacking and cybersecurity exploits. In other words, it’s really good at breaking the security measures of critical digital products and services, including operating systems and internet browsers.

If left in the wrong hands, Mythos could pose a huge risk to anything and everything connected to the internet — personal devices, school computers, government systems, banking platforms, and even critical infrastructure like power grids, traffic systems, and more.

Instead of allowing the public to access Mythos outright, Anthropic opted to provide the model strictly to Big Tech companies to help them find security holes in their products before a competing AI platform on the same level as Mythos reaches public status. The goal is to patch these bugs before they are exploitable by hackers using other AI platforms. So far, Mythos has poked holes in Apple’s highly secure MacOS platform and Mozilla’s privacy-focused Firefox browser. Unfortunately, while Mythos is good at finding problems, it’s bad at patching them, with recent reports noting that Mythos can further break software, even when trying to fix it.

Not to be outdone, OpenAI also claims to have a model — GPT-Rosalind — that’s too powerful for public release, this time in the sector of life sciences and molecular biology. Instead of launching Rosalind broadly, the company is offering it to researchers and scientists only.

So far, Anthropic and OpenAI have been socially responsible with their models by self-limiting access, but there’s no mandate to enforce these restrictions. President Trump’s executive order aims to eliminate any leeway and prevent truly dangerous AI models from leaking into the mainstream.

RELATED: The Trump phone is here — and so is the controversy. Is it any good?

BasSlabbers/Getty Images

This move raises the question: How much AI regulation is too much regulation, and what are the ramifications of government overreach on access to the most advanced technology known to mankind? Some view these bills and mandates as a danger to free speech. Others see it as a government power grab meant to control device, internet, and AI access. I’m somewhere in the middle — the government should prevent AI companies from outright harming the people while also keeping the people’s rights and freedoms intact.

Unfortunately, even if the Trump administration has the best intentions with its AI executive order, who’s to say that the next administration will be so benevolent? Direct government intervention over AI models gives the left the precedent they need to overtly regulate and even manipulate AI the next time they take power. Imagine a future where the left blocks AI models on the grounds of “misinformation” and “disinformation” for sharing facts that don’t align with their political views. It’s not like they didn’t try to wipe dissent from the internet before, and if given the chance, they’ll do it again.

Luckily, the left might not get that opportunity. President Trump’s AI executive order was put on hold the day it was meant to be signed, though the unsigned version was leaked online for your viewing pleasure. Still, even with the order paused at the eleventh hour, its albatross looms as a possibility for future AI regulation that could either save the people from certain chatbot destruction or steal away our rights to access “unapproved” versions of these models that don’t comply with the party in power.

​Tech, Artificial intelligence, Trump administration, Executive order, Anthropic, Openai 

To kick off Pride Month this year, a famous UFC fighter has posted an AI video that takes a shot at past woke corporate pandering — and several shots at the face of Bud Light’s biggest mistake.

On Tuesday, UFC fighter Sean Strickland posted an AI-generated video of him sparring with a likeness of Dylan Mulvaney, the infamous transgender-identifying influencer to whom Bud Light once sent commemorative cans of beer to celebrate his “365 Days of Girlhood.”

‘I’ve yet to see one rainbow flag. We’re back!!!’

In the video, Strickland can be seen punching Mulvaney several times in the octagon before knocking him out.

RELATED: Sean Strickland mocks ‘mentally stunted famous women’

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Mulvaney is wearing a pink dress and gloves in the AI video.

The end of the video cuts away from the fight and reveals that it is a fake Bud Light commercial. “Bud Light. The official beer sponsor of UFC,” a voiceover says.

Strickland captioned the Instagram video, saying, “I’ve yet to see one rainbow flag. We’re back!!!” He also mentioned Bud Light in the caption.

At the time of this writing, Strickland’s fake Bud Light commercial garnered roughly 123,700 likes on Instagram.

In that same spirit, Strickland, who has been very active on X lately, lauded the changes in June 2026 compared to Pride Months in the past, crediting the current administration: “Say what you want about Trump but June has got far less gay.” He included several clapping hand emojis in the post.

Strickland has, however, also been vocal in his criticism of Trump in other areas. “Being elected in 2024 was the easiest job. … Better trade deals[.] Cut regulations[.] More gas[.] More building[.] No new wars[.] Enforce immigration laws[.] Thats it … thats all you had to do and we would of been happy,” he posted May 28.

Strickland celebrated his 31st professional career win in early May after a split decision in his face-off against Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC 328.

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​Bud light, Pride month, Rainbow flag, Sean strickland, Politics, Instagram, Ufc, Ai, Dylan mulvaney 

Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D), who has a habit of obsessing over LGBTQ “rights” when it comes to children, has finally answered questions about his love life.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is not convinced he’s being honest.

“One of the more juicy bits of gossip that people are talking about is that people were like, ‘James Talarico does not have a girlfriend; there’s no way he has a girlfriend,’” Gonzales comments.

“He’s super secretive about his love life, and he has the scrawny arms, and he doesn’t eat meat,” she continues.

When Talarico was asked about having a girlfriend, he gave what Gonzales calls the “weirdest, probably least convincing answer ever.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Talarico was asked on “The Jamie Kern Lima Show.”

“I do,” he answered, laughing. “And she is my rock; she is my best friend. I don’t know if I could have gotten through the last six months of this crazy race if she hadn’t been by my side. So, um, yeah, thanks for asking about her as well.”

“Sounds like a beard if you ask me,” Gonzales says.

According to an exposé in the New York Post, Talarico’s girlfriend is a vegan named Brianna Menard who used to be his chief of staff.

“I’d like to see some receipts if this was happening as she was his chief of staff because I don’t think it’s a good look to prey on your staffers. In fact, the Democrats, the party of ‘Me Too,’ have reliably informed me that that is an abuse of power,” Gonzales says.

The girlfriend in question reportedly describes herself as a “cat mom” who “likes dancing the night away at her local gay bar.”

“Now I’m wondering if maybe that’s how they met. Maybe that’s how they originally met, and then he brought her on as chief of staff. I don’t know. But this is all tracking now,” Gonzales says.

“Of course, all of this is not helping to quiet the rumors that he is a flaming homosexual,” she adds.

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​Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, James talarico, Democrat, Texas, Lgbtq, Brianna menard