My daughter recently went shopping for something that shouldn’t have been particularly exotic: a big American SUV with three rows, room for a growing family, and a diesel engine.

She had been driving a Ford Expedition but wasn’t happy with the fuel economy or some of the problems she had experienced. Her husband drives a diesel Ram, so she already understood the advantages of diesel torque and range. With two children and hopes for more, she still wanted the space of a true full-size SUV.

Our dealer told us that used diesel Suburbans don’t tend to sit around for long. A quick look at owner forums suggests our experience wasn’t unique.

A diesel Chevrolet Suburban seemed like the obvious answer.

Then she tried to find one.

Our local dealer didn’t have one. Other dealers didn’t seem to have them either. Rather than settle for what she could find on a lot, she ordered exactly what she wanted: a Suburban RST with GM’s 3.0-liter Duramax turbo-diesel.

After driving it, I understand why people who own these things don’t seem eager to give them up.

Econo-size

The Duramax produces 305 horsepower and 495 lb-ft of torque. Chevrolet rates the diesel Suburban at up to 21 mpg city and 26 highway, with as much as 728 miles of EPA-estimated highway range on a tank. My daughter’s real-world experience has been about 24 mpg combined.

Think about that for a moment. This is a Suburban.

It’s a huge, three-row, body-on-frame SUV capable of hauling a large family and all their stuff, yet she is seeing fuel economy that wouldn’t have seemed unusual in a much smaller crossover not long ago.

Her RST came in at about $83,000 after options, and three months later she loves it. So does her husband, who keeps finding reasons to drive it.

The experience got me wondering why there aren’t more vehicles like it.

Look around the full-size SUV market in 2026, and you’ll find plenty of powerful engines. Ford’s Expedition offers a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter gasoline V6 making as much as 440 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque. Jeep’s Grand Wagoneer uses a 3.0-liter twin-turbo gasoline inline-six producing 420 horsepower and 468 lb-ft.

What you mostly won’t find is diesel.

General Motors is the notable exception. Chevrolet offers the Duramax in the Tahoe and Suburban, while GMC offers the same basic diesel powertrain in the Yukon and Yukon XL. Ford doesn’t offer a diesel Expedition. Jeep doesn’t offer one in the Grand Wagoneer.

Missing in action

That’s strange because diesel makes an enormous amount of sense in exactly this kind of vehicle.

You don’t buy a Suburban because you’re looking for sports-car acceleration. You buy it because you need space, range, towing capability and the ability to move a lot of people and equipment without stopping constantly for fuel. Diesel’s low-end torque and efficiency are particularly well suited to that job.

The numbers bear that out. Ford rates most four-wheel-drive Expeditions at 15 mpg city and 22 highway. Chevrolet’s diesel Suburban can reach 21/26, depending on configuration.

Yet try finding one.

Our dealer told us that used diesel Suburbans don’t tend to sit around for long. A quick look at owner forums suggests our experience wasn’t unique. Buyers describe searching across multiple states, waiting months for orders, or traveling hundreds of miles when the diesel configuration they wanted finally appeared.

New ones haven’t always been easy to find, either. For 2026, GM placed significant production constraints on the 3.0-liter Duramax used in the Tahoe and Suburban. According to GM Authority, the diesel was temporarily unavailable on LT and High Country trims, while RST, Z71 and Premier production was limited to 20% of planned volume.

RELATED: America’s salvage yards are on fire — and drivers are the ones getting burned

Andy Cross/Getty Images

Right for the job

What’s striking is that the Duramax makes such a compelling case for itself in a vehicle this large. Diesel Suburbans have offered dramatically better fuel economy than their V8 counterparts since the current generation arrived, while delivering the low-end torque that suits a big, heavy SUV.

I understand why owners might be reluctant to give them up.

I have my own version of this problem. I own a low-mileage 2016 Porsche Cayenne diesel that I custom-ordered. People regularly ask me to sell it.

I’m not selling it.

There was a period when American buyers could choose diesel versions of all kinds of SUVs and luxury vehicles. Many disappeared as emissions regulations tightened, Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal poisoned the technology’s reputation, and manufacturers shifted their investment toward electric vehicles and hybrids.

Still good

But the Suburban is a reminder that diesel didn’t suddenly stop being good at what diesel engines do.

In a large, heavy vehicle that may carry a family, tow a trailer, and travel hundreds of highway miles at a time, the basic proposition remains compelling: lots of torque, long range, and surprisingly good fuel economy.

This isn’t an argument that everyone should buy a diesel. Plenty of buyers will prefer gasoline engines, hybrids, or EVs, and they should buy whatever works best for them.

But my daughter’s experience raises a different question.

If a diesel powertrain works this well in a vehicle as big as a Suburban — and buyers are apparently willing to search for one when dealers don’t have them — why have so many manufacturers abandoned the choice?

The auto industry spends an enormous amount of time predicting what consumers will want next.

Sometimes it might be worth paying attention to what they’re already trying to buy.

​American suv, Auto industry, Ford expedition, Fuel efficiency, General motors, Gm, Jeep grand wagoneer, Used diesel suburbans, Yukon, Duramax turbodiesel, Chevy suburban, Lifestyle, Automotive 

You can’t drain the swamp by refilling it with the same sorts of politicians backed by the same special-interest money driving the status quo. The leftist base learned that lesson for its own dangerous purposes this primary season. The conservative base, meanwhile, has somehow unlearned what it knew during the Tea Party years.

Liberal voters are knocking out very liberal Democrats for candidates even further left. Republican voters are not only keeping their moderates; they are knocking out some of the few members who actually fight for the party’s stated goals. What gives?

The left built a movement. The right built an industry. The results show.

There are only a few dozen full-spectrum conservatives among the 219 House Republicans who keep the pedal to the metal on immigration, fiscal, and social issues. Contrast that with Democrats, where you’d be hard-pressed to find a member outside a swing district who dissents from party dogma on a major issue. Yet seven Democratic incumbents have already lost primaries this cycle.

In Texas, Rep. Al Green lost to fellow incumbent Christian Menefee, while Julie Johnson lost a rematch with former Rep. Colin Allred. In New York, Dan Goldman lost to Brad Lander, and Adriano Espaillat lost to Darializa Avila Chevalier. Diana DeGette lost to Melat Kiros in Colorado. Shri Thanedar lost to DSA-backed Donavan McKinney in Michigan. John Larson lost to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin in Connecticut.

These were not moderates. DeGette, for example, was a House manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021. Yet to the Democratic base, she might as well have been Trump.

Most significantly, not one incumbent on the left lost to someone more moderate. You’d be hard-pressed even to find serious moderate challengers against Democratic incumbents.

Now contrast that with the GOP. Last cycle, the only Republican incumbent to lose was Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good. This cycle, Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, one of the caucus’ most conservative members, was unseated by a Republican backed by a green energy PAC. In Kentucky, Thomas Massie was defeated by a candidate generally to his left, with President Trump’s help. The one clean ideological defeat from the right was Dan Crenshaw, who lost to Texas state Rep. Steve Toth — in a race where Trump thankfully declined to rescue the moderate incumbent.

Cory Mills also lost in Florida, and good riddance, but scandals and corruption drove that race more than a groundswell to move the party toward its base.

Overall, with Freedom Caucus retirements added in, we are backsliding. And that doesn’t begin to capture the lost decade of conservative primaries.

For several cycles, as Trump endorsements refilled the swamp in statewide and federal races, the bright spot was the State Freedom Caucus Network. It gradually won open seats and knocked off incumbents in state legislatures, peaking in 2024 when its members took control of the South Dakota and Wyoming Houses.

RELATED: Republicans keep losing because they won’t take hostages

darenwoodward/iStock/Getty Images

Two years later, the establishment came back with a vengeance. South Dakota’s Freedom Caucus was essentially wiped out, and the Wyoming caucus lost 13 seats and its majority. In Idaho, five conservatives were defeated by Republicans backed by Gov. Brad Little, whom Trump endorsed for a third term. Elsewhere we have gained some and lost some, but the advance of liberty has largely stalled.

During the Tea Party era, we invested in activists. Today we invest in podcasters, TikTokers, and sycophantic grifters who sniff Trump’s rear end all the way to financial success. You reap what you sow. We have endless content, endless influencers, and endless Mar-a-Lago high rollers — but comparatively little money and activism flowing to conservative candidates in primaries.

Meanwhile, the Democratic base is dragging its party closer to the left goal post even in state races. In New York, DSA-backed candidates — many aided by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political network — toppled a string of incumbent legislators.

I watch right-leaning propagators online, and they are already obsessed with the next presidential election. What they fail to understand is that even if their dream candidate wins the primary and the White House, he will inherit a generation of Lindsey Graham’s sister acolytes who oppose the reform agenda these same influencers claim to want.

And they will have nobody to blame but themselves for sleeping through the lost decade of primaries.

The left built a movement. The right built an industry. The results show.

​Opinion & analysis, 2026 midterms, Democrats, Republicans, Rinos, Primaries, Donald trump, Democratic socialists of america, Zohran mamdani, Tea party, Freedom caucus 

An Israeli judge concluded on Wednesday that while Yona Simcha Schreiber was apparently the man behind the savage attack on a French Catholic nun in Jerusalem on April 28, he just couldn’t help himself.

Footage released by police appears to show Schreiber, a 36-year-old settler from the West Bank wearing a kippah and ritual tassels, run up behind an unsuspecting habited nun nearby King David’s Tomb and shove her to the ground.

‘We understand the difficult feelings of the complainant.’

His victim — a researcher at the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research in Jerusalem as well as a nun — writhes in pain on the ground, having struck her head against the stones, and the attacker begins to walk away, the footage shows.

However, he abruptly turns and resumes his attack, kicking the woman until a passerby intervenes, according to the video.

The nun suffered facial bruising and injuries to her leg, reported the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli authorities condemned the violent episode, which generated international outrage, and suggested that the attacker would be held to account.

“We strongly condemn this despicable attack. Violence against innocent individuals, and especially against members of religious communities, has no place in our society,” the Israel Foreign Ministry said in a statement the day after the brutal assault.

“This shameful act stands in direct contradiction to the values of respect, coexistence, and religious freedom upon which Israel is founded and to which it remains deeply committed.”

RELATED: Christianity-hating activist moves to tear down historic Los Angeles cross — but proud LA group is having none of it

After Schreiber’s arrest “on suspicion of an assault motivated by racism,” George Deek, Israel’s special envoy to the Christian world, noted that legal proceedings against the attacker were underway, demonstrating “Israel’s clear commitment to enforcing the law and ensuring accountability.”

Schreiber, who was formerly indicted in May for what prosecutors recognized as a religious-based assault, was acquitted on Wednesday by reason of insanity.

A government psychiatrist diagnosed Schreiber with schizophrenia and told the court that while there was no conclusive evidence to suggest that his supposedly psychotic thoughts were the cause of the attack, they were nevertheless an influence, reported the Jerusalem Post.

The psychiatrist suggested further that at the time of the attack, Schreiber could neither understand what he was doing nor stop himself from doing it.

The victim’s attorney, Zaki Sahlia, cast doubt on this convenient psychiatric assessment, suggesting Schreiber’s supposed illness may not have been the driving factor behind the attack and his choice of target. After all, suggested Sahlia, Schreiber singled out the nun in a street where there were multiple other would-be victims.

Ophir Tischler — the judge overseeing the case — accepted the psychiatrist’s suggestion that Schreiber was psychotic when he attacked the nun such that he couldn’t be held criminally accountable. The judge ordered the settler to be hospitalized for a maximum of six years.

The Post noted, however, that a psychiatric committee can bring an earlier end to Schreiber’s hospitalization with a determination that his condition has improved.

Schreiber’s lawyer, Idan Gamlieli, said in a statement obtained by the Times of Israel, “The district psychiatrist determined that the unfortunate incident was the result of the accused’s mental illness and that he needs to be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, and we hope that the medical treatment will help him to function normally again.”

“It is important for us to note that we understand the difficult feelings of the complainant and wish her well in overcoming the consequences of this unfortunate incident,” added Gamlieli.

The French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

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​Middle east, Israel, Jerusalem, Nun, Assault, Christianity, Catholic, Politics 

Biden-era federal employees purposely ignored some Trump voters amid Hurricane Milton disaster response, according to a new Department of Homeland Security report.

The DHS’ Office of Inspector General found that at least 11 homes were passed over by disaster survivor assistance teams because they displayed pro-Trump signs. The OIG was stymied in a broader investigation of alleged anti-Trump supporter bias in other disaster responses because former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem failed to approve a contract that covered the maintenance of relevant records in a timely manner.

‘Did not visit due to Trump flag.’

Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel violated the Hatch Act when at least one Disaster Survivor Assistance team politicized disaster response, according to the OIG. The report attributes these failures to insufficient training and education.

“FEMA DSA crews did not receive ethics and Hatch Act training before deploying to disasters, DSA policies and procedures did not require crews to explain why they skipped homes, and DSA crew leaders were not required to conduct quality control reviews of survivor interactions,” the OIG report stated.

The report noted that Marn’i Washington, a DSA team leader, was charged with two Hatch Act violations in 2025 for instructing her team to avoid Trump supporters amid Hurricane Milton response. Washington engaged in political activity while on duty and used official authority to interfere with an election, according to the Office of Special Counsel.

Washington accused Trump supporters of hostility, claiming her instructions originated from legitimate safety concerns.

RELATED: Immigrant business coalition takes Mamdani to court over city-run grocery stores

CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

“Firstly, I’m being framed. There’s no violation of the Hatch Act. I was simply following orders,” Washington told NewsNation in 2024. “Safety precautions are not politically driven.”

“It just so happened that, unfortunately, most of the hostile encounters, those running trends, did have those [Trump] campaign signs,” Washington said.

No public decision has been disclosed in OSC’s case against Washington.

“The first instance of a note indicating a DSA crew skipped a home due to political signage occurred on October 19, 2024. A subsequent note on October 22 stated, ‘did not visit due to Trump flag.’ Nine additional notes concerning political signage followed,’” the OIG report noted regarding Washington’s crew.

Unfortunately, the OIG was unable to determine just how many crews followed Washington’s anti-Trump lead. The Field Assessment and Collection Tools used to document government interactions with civilian survivors became unavailable to investigators after Noem ignored requests to provide funding.

“We could not determine if crews skipped locations for unallowable reasons during other disasters because the support contract for FEMA’s Field Assessment and Collection Tools ended in September 2025 when then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noem did not act on FEMA’s request to fund it before expiration,” the report reads. “We requested access to the data in March 2025, but FEMA delays prevented us from obtaining the data prior to the contractor abruptly shutting down the system.”

“FEMA exported and retained all survivor assistance data, but only in a non-readable format that cannot be searched or analyzed unless FEMA procures a new system to restore access,” a source familiar with the data told Blaze News. “DSA crews conducted their work using electronic tablets connected to this system and did not use paper notes, so there are no hard-copy records to review.”

If the contract was renewed and the system remained active, the DHS investigators planned to review more natural disaster responses to see whether other DSA crews skipped homes that displayed Trump signs.

The OIG provided FEMA with several recommendations to prevent politicized disaster response in the future, including Hatch Act training and a mandatory survivor interaction documentation process for response teams. FEMA concurred with the OIG’s assessment, according to the report.

“This situation eroded public trust in FEMA’s ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance, and ensure equal access to resources and tools,” the report reads.

We may never know just how many Trump-supporting Americans were abandoned by the government officials responsible for helping them.

“The loss of access prevented us from assessing whether political bias in canvassing was a systemic issue during the scope period of this audit,” according to the OIG.

FEMA temporarily suspended door-to-door disaster response in 2025 while it reviewed its operations.

FEMA, the DHS, and the OSC did not respond to requests for comment. Washington could not be reached for comment. Noem could not be reached through the State Department or her lawyer of record.

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​Department of homeland security, Fema, Hurricane milton, Political bias, Trump voters, Politics 

Andrew Tate may say some “true” things — as BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey admits — but she warns that the manosphere he boasts is not the right path for young men to follow, calling it a “sinful reaction to feminism.”

And Nick Freitas couldn’t agree with Stuckey more.

“I think there’s two things that we have to recognize whenever we talk about what we might call the manosphere,” Freitas tells Stuckey on “Relatable.”

“Andrew Tate, Justin Waller, some of these other guys … the first thing we need to recognize is the reason why they resonated so much with young men was not simply because all these guys have admirable accomplishments in their own right, along with a lot of other problematic things,” he says.

“But they tend to be strong. They tend to be wealthy. And they tend to, you know, women tend to be attracted to them,” he continues, noting that a young man “without a spiritual basis” will be drawn to this image.

And those young men will also feel a sense of loyalty to men like Andrew Tate, as they feel like he was “sticking up for them when nobody else would.”

“Men associate loyalty with love,” Freitas says.

“And so a lot of young men look at guys like Andrew Tate and they say, ‘That guy had my back when none of you people in the church were mentioning any of this. And now the first time you want to come up and talk about the problems with masculinity, you want to bash Andrew Tate, the one guy that had my back,’” he explains.

“And so the way I think we need to approach something like that is certainly not by excusing what I believe is disastrous, sinful, and ultimately not genuinely masculine behavior,” he continues. “But I think we need to recognize the source of the problem and from whence it comes.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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

​Allie beth stuckey, Andrew tate, Church, Justin waller, Love, Loyalty, Manosphere, Masculinity, Nick freitas, Young men, Blazetv show 

A Pennsylvania mother is accused of helping her teenage son dispose of his girlfriend’s body after he allegedly stabbed her to death, according to authorities.

Pennsylvania State Police said officers last week were alerted that 18-year-old Karoline Heintz could be missing.

‘This is a parent’s worst nightmare.’

KDKA-TV reported that Heintz’s family contacted law enforcement after Karoline failed to check in with family members when driving back to her campus housing at PennWest University in California, Pennsylvania.

Citing the criminal complaint, KDKA reported that Heintz’s family utilized an Apple AirTag to track her vehicle to just outside the California Borough Library.

Shortly after midnight Thursday, local police discovered Heintz’s Jeep Cherokee outside the library with “noticeable blood spatter inside and outside the vehicle,” according to a Pennsylvania State Police statement.

Police said they found Heintz’s body in the “rear hatch area” of the vehicle.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said the incident unfolded when Heintz met her boyfriend, 18-year-old Royce Mosher, on Wednesday to discuss the future of their relationship, according to another report by KDKA-TV.

“The investigation revealed that Karoline Heintz met with her boyfriend, Royce Mosher, outside his father’s residence in North Strabane to talk,” state police said.

“During the conversation, he got angry by something she said to him, but he could not remember what. He then had a ‘demon take over’ him and tell him to stab Karoline,” Fox News reported, citing court documents.

According to the affidavit NBC News obtained, “He told her, ‘Wait, I have something for you,’ and went inside the residence to get a knife. He then came back outside and stabbed her in the chest.”

Police said Mosher placed Heintz in the rear hatch area of the Jeep and “drove to the residence of his mother, Rachel Mosher, in Beallsville.”

State police said the mother “assisted by attempting to clean the Jeep Cherokee with cleaning sprays” and gave her son latex gloves.

Investigators said the 56-year-old mother “instructed” her son to drive the Jeep and follow her car and ditch the Jeep near the library “with Karoline Heintz still inside.”

Police stated that the mom used her car to drive the son back to her home, where “he cleaned his clothes and showered.”

Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh confirmed Royce was in a relationship with Heintz and said her death was “the result of a domestic situation,” KDKA reported.

RELATED: He asked his father for a hug. Moments later, the dad was allegedly running for his life.

Royce and Rachel were arrested last Thursday.

While police led her away in handcuffs, Rachel Mosher said, “I’m sorry,” as she covered her face with her hands, WTAE-TV reported.

When a reporter asked why she was sorry, the mother replied, “That my son took a life.”

Pennsylvania State Police said Royce Mosher has been charged with homicide, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse, and obstruction of justice.

Rachel Mosher has been charged with hindering apprehension of a fugitive, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse, and obstruction of justice.

The mother and son are being held in Washington County Prison without bail as they await preliminary hearings Monday, according to court records.

Heintz’s mother and father said, “This is a parent’s worst nightmare.”

According to TribLIVE, Heintz’s parents on Friday told reporters, “It has been devastating for family, friends, and the whole community. Karoline was loved by all. She was a kind, smart, beautiful girl. We want justice for our ‘sweet’ Karoline.”

Gagliardi noted that the knife allegedly used in the crime has been recovered, according to the Pittsburgh Patch.

Gagliardi said, “We’re talking about an 18-year-old girl that was ready to start life, and now she no longer gets to pursue her dreams, which is really unfortunate.”

The college in a statement said, “PennWest University and the California athletic department are deeply saddened by the passing of Karoline Heintz, a first-year student and member of the California women’s soccer team.”

PennWest University added, “With the support of PennWest California and Karoline’s family, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference will observe a moment of silence at all conference athletic events held from Thursday, August 27, through Thursday, September 3.”

PennWest University Athletic Director Karen Hjerpe stated:

California Athletics is devastated by the tragic loss of our student-athlete Karoline Heintz. Karoline was a bright and kind young woman with so much ahead of her. She will always remain in our hearts. Our deepest condolences are with her family, friends, teammates, coaches, and all who knew and loved her.

A spokesperson for PennWest University said university police are “cooperating with the investigation.”

Pennsylvania State Police are conducting the investigation in conjunction with the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.

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​True crime, Pennsylvania, Fatal stabbing, Teens, Mother, Crime 

Android users beware! A new version of a tried-and-true malware is out in the wild, and its latest capabilities make it dangerous not just to rooted devices, but it can attack run-of-the-mill Android handsets too, including yours. Nobody is safe, but there are things you can do to avoid this problem entirely.

The malware in question goes by the name RedHook. In the grand timeline of viruses, RedHook isn’t a terribly old problem. The malware was first discovered in July 2025, barely a year ago.

It can be extremely difficult or even impossible to remove.

Even back then, RedHook was a tricky little beast. As an Android Remote Access Trojan, it had the power to imitate government and financial websites and apps, which it used to trick users into enabling accessibility settings that gave the malware the permission to access sensitive data on the host phone. From there, RedHook could steal anything, including the user’s identification, banking credentials, and more.

On the upside, RedHook wasn’t really a problem for American users, as it was mostly aimed at phones in Vietnam. Still, the specter of this RAT loomed in the dark corners of the internet, waiting for its chance to emerge once more and wreak havoc on unsuspecting users.

Although the origin of RedHook is unknown, the initial code included elements of the Chinese language, suggesting a connection with mainland China.

RedHook gets an upgrade

One year later, RedHook is now even more dangerous than before, thanks to a new upgrade. The malware comes with all the same tricks, but now it can access a phone by highjacking Wireless Android Debug Bridge, the debugging software built directly into Android that allows developers to transfer files and issue commands from their device to the targeted phone. Even worse, this trick doesn’t require administrative control over the targeted phone via root access, meaning that every Android phone is vulnerable.

If that weren’t bad enough, Vietnam users are no longer the central target. The malware has also popped up in Indonesia, and it could spread if the latest upgrade proves effective.

How to keep your Android phone safe from RedHook

Like a proper parasite, RedHook must make its way into its host before it can become a problem.

RELATED: A crushing hack shows whether you keep your money depends on how you store it

narvo vexar/Getty Images

The best way to keep RedHook from getting its paws on your phone is to ensure you don’t download any suspicious apps. For most people, this won’t be an issue. As long as you download apps directly from the Google Play Store — which are regularly scanned and vetted for their authenticity and security — you will likely be safe.

As for the more daring Android users, side-loading apps from third-party app stores or unknown origins is the fastest way to unwittingly load a virus onto your precious phone, and once it’s there, it can be extremely difficult or even impossible to remove. Proceed with caution.

RedHook’s timing couldn’t be any worse

The RedHook upgrade comes at a tricky time, as Google was recently compelled by Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge James Donato to allow third-party app stores onto the Google Play Store, thanks to an antitrust case that Google lost against Epic Games. In other words, Google is essentially being forced to allow potentially dangerous storefronts to proliferate its own app store in order to maintain Android’s open platform among competitors.

Now, that doesn’t mean all third-party stores are bad. However, if you plan to download an app from one of them, make sure you know and trust the app store and the developer behind the app you wish to install first.

Also, just because Google Play will include third-party stores doesn’t mean you have to download or use them. You can simply ignore them and continue to use your Android device as you always have.

​Tech, Android, Malware, Security, Hackers 

A middle school teacher was arrested over her inappropriate interactions with a 16-year-old boy in juvenile corrections in Galveston, according to Texas police.

46-year-old Kristi Hanks of La Marque allegedly sparked the relationship with the boy while working at the Galveston County Juvenile Justice Center.

‘I’d rather be dead than them know that I was a pedophile … since you like to throw that in my face.’

The sheriff’s office said officials were contacted by the juvenile center after they expressed concern about her relationship to the boy.

Investigators gathered evidence that included material evidence, interviews with several individuals, and statements from Hanks.

The victim allegedly told investigators he got in trouble after writing in a book that Hanks had a “big butt.” The teacher, however, told him she took it as a compliment and they exchanged phone numbers.

The graphic calls between the two included them exposing themselves, police said.

He also told police that he met Hanks twice at a park for sex but that she got scared and “left before the sexual acts were done.”

Hanks would also allegedly rub her clothed genitals against his arm at school.

He threatened to expose the relationship and demanded that she buy him a gun and give him $2,000. She complied and later reported the gun stolen.

Police say she was still texting the boy when she was arrested on Aug. 19 during a traffic stop near her home.

“I just cleaned out my bank account for you,” read one of the alleged texts.

“I’d rather be dead than them know that I was a pedophile … since you like to throw that in my face,” she wrote in another text.

RELATED: 100 cops responded when teacher said student slashed her with razor — she’s got arrested

The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office determined there was enough probable cause to charge the teacher with an improper relationship between educator and student. Prosecutors also recommended a $100,000 bond.

The district said Hanks was placed on administrative leave as soon as officials were made aware of the allegations. A profile page for her still exists at the Dunbar Middle School, where she says she’s a fifth-grade social studies teacher and got engaged during the COVID pandemic.

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​Pedophile, Teacher arrested, Texas, Teacher sex scandal, Blackmail, Crime 

Iran has been reported to be using negotiations with the United States to buy time, strengthen its position around the Strait of Hormuz, and rebuild military capacity for a wider conflict. The Trump administration needs a new Red Sea strategy. It should begin with Somaliland.

The Houthis recently fired on a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and Iran has reportedly told the group to be prepared to close the waterway if the United States strikes Iran’s power grid. The Bab el-Mandeb is a global shipping artery and a pressure point on energy markets.

The crises in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb are warnings. Iran and the Houthis are trying to turn geography into coercion. The United States should turn geography back into deterrence.

The warning is clear. The United States cannot rely indefinitely on distant strikes and vulnerable Gulf bases to protect shipping through the region’s choke points. Washington’s bombing campaign failed to neutralize the Houthi threat, leaving the group able to threaten commercial shipping, Gulf partners, and Israel.

The moment calls for more than another round of airstrikes. The United States should recognize Somaliland.

Somaliland has governed itself for decades, has shown interest in deeper ties with the United States and its allies, and sits beside one of the world’s most important maritime corridors. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has argued that recognition would advance U.S. interests in the Horn of Africa through counterterrorism, anti-piracy operations, and cooperation with partners such as Taiwan and Israel. He is right.

Recognition should be followed by a formal security relationship allowing regular intelligence cooperation, military access, and a forward operating presence along the Gulf of Aden.

Geography is Somaliland’s strongest argument. It sits across from Yemen near the approaches to the Red Sea and the same waters the Houthis have threatened to close.

Others have noticed. Reports indicate that Israel has explored a strategic presence in Somaliland as part of its response to the Houthi threat. The United States has no comparable formal footprint. Access there could support counter-Houthi operations, intelligence collection across the Gulf of Aden, and the fight against Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Israel understands the value of the location. Washington should too.

The United States also needs to reduce its dependence on bases within easy striking distance of Iran. On a recent webinar, retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former head of U.S. Central Command, described the problem bluntly: “No one in their right mind would ever put the CENTCOM forward headquarters, you know, 100 miles away from Iran, yet that’s where it is.”

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Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

He elaborated: “It’s good to be close to your potential enemy because it’s a short commute to the fight. It’s bad to be close to your potential enemy, because he has the ability to strike you very quickly.”

I have previously argued that Washington should distribute regional assets across secure, aligned territories rather than concentrate them where host governments can restrict access, basing, or overflight. Somaliland would not replace Al Udeid or every existing Gulf facility. It would give the United States another option when allies limit operations or adversaries threaten choke points.

A U.S. presence in Somaliland would also signal that Washington is willing to reward capable partners instead of remaining trapped by diplomatic habits that no longer serve American security. Recognition would carry costs, including friction with Somalia and other governments committed to Somalia’s territorial integrity. Those costs should be weighed against the strategic value of a reliable partner at the mouth of the Red Sea.

The crises in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb are warnings. Iran and the Houthis are trying to turn geography into coercion. The United States should turn geography back into deterrence.

Recognizing Somaliland would give the United States a stronger hand in the Red Sea, a better position against terrorist threats, and greater freedom to operate when existing partners hesitate. A proactive strategy begins by securing options before the next crisis closes them off. The time to act is now.

​Counterterrorism, Deterrence, Israel, Somalia, Strait of hormuz, Yemen, Iran, Somaliland, Red sea, America first, Foreign policy, Opinion & analysis 

The assassination of Charlie Kirk was a devastating blow to conservatives, but almost as shocking was the response from parts of the left. Major figures issued the expected denunciations, yet plenty of ordinary progressives celebrated the violent death of a father and husband or mocked his memory online. Conservatives learned that some of their neighbors were perfectly willing to cheer the murder of a political opponent.

Since then, trade wars, foreign wars, and the usual daily controversies have offered convenient distractions from a much darker realization: Something about American politics has changed. The old assumption that nearly everyone still accepts the same basic rules can no longer be taken for granted.

Conservatives did not choose existential politics by themselves, and they cannot end it simply by wishing for a return to normal.

Denial is a common response when a problem is too large to contemplate. The possibility that a substantial number of Americans now see political violence as acceptable has implications the conservative movement would rather avoid. Yet reminders keep appearing.

Recent videos again showed people mocking Kirk’s death, including a drag performance and comments from streamer and democratic socialist Hasan Piker. It is much easier to argue about tactics, personalities, or the latest outrage than to ask what kind of political order produces people willing to celebrate an assassination.

Piker’s case is especially egregious because he met Kirk and debated him in person. He has built a career around revolutionary rhetoric and violent political fantasies, including lurid comments about landlords and capitalists, and “soak[ing] in the blood” of his capitalist enemies. That he remains a major online personality illustrates the asymmetry conservatives have noticed for years: Rhetoric that would end a career on the right is often treated as edgy entertainment when it comes from the left.

America has received an almost embarrassing number of blessings from God Almighty, which makes it easy to forget that our political experience is historically unusual. The United States occupies a vast, resource-rich territory protected by oceans and has fought remarkably few wars on its own soil. We have not faced sustained internal danger in generations. That security has encouraged an ahistorical view of politics as a permanently orderly process.

Modern Americans expect Mr. Smith to go to Washington, make a speech, win an argument, and then shake hands with the opposition. Every election is called the most important of our lives, but the ritual remains the same because the underlying disputes are assumed to be manageable. If the argument is over marginal tax rates, retirement ages, or entitlement formulas, that expectation makes sense. Those are technocratic disagreements inside a shared political order.

But some disputes are not like that. Consider the fight over the euphemistic “gender affirming care” for minors. One side believes the state must protect children from genital mutilation. The other believes the state has a right to seize children if parents refuse to go along. There is no clever tax-credit compromise that resolves the underlying question. One side’s victory necessarily means the other side’s destruction. That is what existential politics looks like.

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Blaze Media Illustration

This is why Carl Schmitt has re-entered conversations on the right. Certain conservatives often reduce his friend-enemy distinction to a license for treating anyone who disagrees with you as a mortal foe. That isn’t the useful part of Schmitt. His point is that politics becomes political in the fullest sense when groups understand that a conflict touches the survival of their way of life. His framework is gaining salience because Americans increasingly encounter disputes that feel exactly like that.

The left supports policies many conservatives believe would permanently transform the country: open borders, abortion on demand, racial preferences in hiring and admissions, aggressive secularization, and aggressive state intervention in disputes between parents and children over gender. Some activists openly discuss prosecuting former Trump officials, restructuring the Supreme Court, and changing the composition of the Senate through statehood. Antifa militants have attacked federal facilities and officers. None of this requires believing every Democrat is a revolutionary. It requires noticing that the revolutionary faction has real power.

Progressives understand something conservatives still resist: America increasingly contains rival moral communities sharing the same geographic space.

Mass immigration, ideological sorting, institutional polarization, and the radicalization of political factions have eroded the common assumptions that once made bipartisan compromise possible. Our deepest disagreements are no longer simply about the size of government or the proper tariff. They concern rival definitions of family, justice, citizenship, equality, religion, and even human nature.

This is not without precedent. Shays’ Rebellion was put down by force. The Civil War settled secession through force on a catastrophic scale. Federal troops enforced school integration in Little Rock when state resistance defied constitutional authority. These cases are radically different in scale and moral content, but they share one uncomfortable fact: Political orders eventually enforce some answers and reject others. Two incompatible legal regimes cannot govern the same question in the same place forever.

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Blaze Media Illustration

We are far closer to Little Rock than to Gettysburg, and conservatives should resist fantasies of civil war. But they should also stop pretending every conflict can be reduced to a policy seminar. About a decade ago, people on the right began asking whether conservatives “know what time it is.” Most still do not. People like Piker serve as reminders that the other side may understand the stakes more clearly.

The left, in its current radical form, cannot be treated as just another coalition with which conservatives alternate power while everything important remains intact. Elections will decide who controls institutions capable of reshaping the country for generations. Someone will win these fights. Someone will lose. The victor will alter the political order.

Conservatives did not choose existential politics by themselves, and they cannot end it simply by wishing for a return to normal. Ignoring that reality only guarantees that their children inherit a country they no longer recognize. Conservatives are not required to become nihilists, but they are required to understand the stakes before deciding how to fight. The hour is already late.

​Charlie kirk, Leftist violence, Trade wars, Hasan piker, Carl schmitt, Progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Immigration, Supreme court, Civil war, Opinion & analysis