A Muslim, pro-Palestine valedictorian from a North Carolina high school blasted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during her commencement speech last week, which a school official is seen on video cutting short.

During the graduation ceremony for Clayton High School last Thursday, Leen Hijaz delivered the welcome speech, WRAL-TV said, adding in its video report that Hijaz is the valedictorian of the graduating class.

As Hijaz reached the closing remarks of her speech, she began commenting about ICE and Palestine, the station said. The following is the transcript of Hijaz’s final words based on a video recording:

Before I leave the stage, I have one last thing to say. Every single person here has a voice, and we are privileged to have the freedom to use it when so many people around the world are struggling and suffering to be heard. Whether it’s the millions suffering in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Afghanistan, and so many other countries around the world, or the families being torn apart by ICE, these are not distant issues; they are happening right now as I speak. My point is, we’re not given a voice to stay silent.

Then what appeared to be a school official approached Hijaz at the podium and cut off her speech, after which Hijaz turned and sat down in her seat onstage.

Nevertheless, the crowd gave Hijaz a big round of applause.

Below is the clip of her off-script words:

RELATED: Hillary Clinton, other leftists praise HS valedictorian’s surprise, unapproved speech attacking pro-life ‘heartbeat bill’ in Texas

The moment was captured on video as Clayton High School live streamed the commencement ceremony on the school’s YouTube page, WRAL reported.

What’s more, Hijaz on her TikTok account the day after the graduation ceremony said her diploma was being withheld due to her words in her speech, the station said.

“What I focused on throughout my entire life was my education, and for something so important to me, something that I worked hard for 12 years of my life to get taken from me, I feel oppressed,” Hijaz said, according to WRAL.

Hijaz in her TikTok video also identified herself as a Muslim and added that she was the graduating class’ valedictorian even though she was technically a junior, noting that she graduated early.

Hijaz added that for six months she did “a lot of fighting to get on that stage” before the school “gave in and they said that I could do the welcome speech.”

“The only reason why I wanted to go on that stage is because I wanted to say something,” Hijaz said in her TikTok video. “And I really think that somebody had to say something because nobody else is going to speak up. Nobody.”

Hijaz added in her TikTok video that when the high school principal approached her at the podium, the principal said that “if you don’t stop speaking right now, you’re not graduating.”

What’s more, Hijaz said in her TikTok video that her diploma was going to be “withheld for a week.”

RELATED: ‘Substantial risks’: USC releases outside commencement speakers just days after axing Muslim student’s valedictorian speech

The News & Observer said the school’s principal didn’t respond to an email requesting comment on the incident.

In a statement provided to WRAL, Johnston County Public Schools said students were required to submit their remarks well in advance of graduation and that a student deviated from what administrators preapproved.

“School administrators intervened in order to maintain the integrity and focus of the program in real time,” the district said, according to the station. “This action was not about limiting a student’s voice but about ensuring that a school-sponsored event remained consistent with its intended purpose.”

In her TikTok video, Hijaz said she didn’t submit the end of her speech as part of her official speech because she said the school would’ve denied it “immediately because of how racist they are.”

“I was extremely scared to say something and really wasn’t planning on doing it, but I had so much support from my friends and family around me, and they really encouraged me to say something,” Hijaz said in her TikTok video, adding that “I didn’t get the chance to say everything I wanted to say, but I said enough that the word went out.”

Hijaz added in her TikTok clip that her principal was yelling her name and making her feel “uncomfortable” — and that later the principal said that she was “so disappointed” in Hijaz and that the valedictorian “made this all about” herself and “abused” the “privilege to speak.”

The school district told WRAL that while it respects students’ right to express their views and encourages important conversations concerning their views, they also have “a responsibility to ensure that official school events remain inclusive, respectful, and focused on celebrating all graduates.”

“We remain committed to supporting student expression while upholding the structure and expectations of school-sponsored activities,” the district said, according to WRAL.

WRAL added that the school district has given Hijaz’s diploma to her.

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​Education, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Commencement speech, Leftists, Palestine, North carolina, High school, Valedictorian, Muslim, Politics 

Computers and their graphics processing units are becoming hot commodities, and prices seem poised to get worse, not better.

Demand for processors is set to affect everything from gaming to run-of-the-mill memory sticks, resulting in a pincer attack on consumer wallets.

‘AI demand is driving up the price.’

Blaze Media’s Auron MacIntyre noted a recent price spike in handheld gaming device Steam Deck; a product that has been on the market for about four years increased in price by $300 in May.

“Over the entire history of video games, systems went down in price as they get older,” MacIntyre wrote on X. “You might say ‘who cares it’s a child’s toy’ and fair enough but it’s a signal of a wider trend[.] The price is skyrocketing because AI demand is driving up the price on all physical computing hardware from video processors to RAM.”

The culprits in the processor gold rush are tech and AI companies buying up GPUs — which are typically used in phones, laptops, and gaming consoles — to power their data centers.

Just a few years ago, a few thousand GPUs in a single facility was considered cutting edge. Now, upwards of 100,000 GPUs are “interconnected through high-speed networking systems designed to operate as a single computational unit” inside one building, according to DataCenters.com.

RELATED: Sick of Microsoft’s preinstalled propaganda on your PC? Block it now.

While the mind may imagine an all-powerful energy source or an unseen technology at the core of these sprawling data centers, photos inside the facilities show they are quite literally thousands of computers plugged into each other, powering the demands of search engines and AI agents.

The writing has been on the wall since at least 2024; Microsoft bought 485,000 Nvidia Hopper GPUs that year. Meta bought an estimated 224,000, ByteDance bought around 230,000, and xAI purchased 200,000 (per Data Center Dynamics).

Last November, Tech Powerup noted official “warnings” from manufacturers that price hikes would be unfolding as memory costs rose over 170% year-over-year.

This prediction turned out to be accurate as GPU pricing has risen between 5% to 20% or more, according to Fusion Worldwide. The outlet notes shortages in high bandwidth memory, graphics double data rate, and dynamic random-access memory.

This has led to product lead times of an additional three to seven months.

RELATED: Out of control: Here’s how a company spent $500 million on AI in a single month

Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Consumers may be well served to hoard some GPUs for themselves too. The demand is not only making prices increase, but depreciation is slower as well.

Business Insider recently cited a company selling refurbished GPUs that said in the second year of a processor’s life, it only loses 15 cents on the dollar. In its third year, the same GPU is only losing one additional cent and can be sold for 84 cents on the dollar.

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​Computers, Return, Video games, Data centers, Ai, Gpus, Tech 

“Mind the gap.”

British trains broadcast this recorded warning to passengers about to board, reminding them to avoid stumbling into the space between the station platform and the train.

The Bible explains how this one act of sacrificial love built a beautiful bridge over that infinitely large gap between you and your Creator.

But there’s a much bigger gap — a bottomless chasm of a gap — that we also desperately need to mind.

It’s the gap between us and the wholly holy God who made us.

I know. You don’t believe in a “sky daddy.” Or you do, but you prefer to avoid thinking about the ramifications of being a creation and not the Creator.

Either way, you know that you’re broken. Perhaps you rationalize your unhappiness by telling yourself the fiction that we are all just random bits of tissue, evolved from primordial ooze.

But telling yourself there is no meaning to life does not mean there is no meaning to life. You’ve just not grasped it yet.

And you can’t. Not on your own.

But again, that doesn’t mean the answers are not there. You’re just reluctant to look in the right place.

The answer you don’t want to hear

Yep, it’s the Bible. The beautiful story of who created you, and what He created you for.

Of course, you could start by just looking around — at the magnificent beauty in the world, at the unfathomable greatness of the cosmos, of the meticulously designed intricacies of the human body, of the irreducible complexity of the tiniest organism — and ask yourself honestly, is this really all random?

The people who insist that is the case are the most effective gaslighters in history. Because you’re being gaslit when someone tells you to ignore what you can plainly see with your own eyes.

And when you open your eyes to that, you have to wrestle with the existence of a Creator. And that’s when you should consider opening that Bible.

It explains how a loving, wholly holy God created people, not robots. They were and are free to choose. The first people chose wrong. Like we all would have, had we been the first. God was not surprised by this. After all, He’s God. He had a plan all along.

Why did He choose to do it this way? I don’t know. I’m not God. Neither are you.

But as He is holy and perfect and we are not, doing wrong put a permanent, uncrossable, gaping chasm between Him, the holy, and us, the unholy. We don’t have a way to reach Him.

And yet — He created us to be in relationship with Him. That’s a longing we all have, to be in relationship with our Creator, but we stifle it or tell ourselves it’s nonsense until we can’t even hear the little voice that tried to point us in the right direction.

The good news …

And now we come to the good news, or gospel (which literally means “good news” in Greek). This part is in the Bible too, as it was, as I said, God’s plan all along.

Jesus, who is God, came to Earth. He allowed Himself to be crucified. And He rose again, as was witnessed by hundreds of people. He is alive now. He is still God.

The Bible explains how this one act of sacrificial love built a beautiful bridge over that infinitely large gap between you and your Creator. Your broken relationship with God has been permanently repaired.

So all that’s required to mind the gap is to access that beautiful bridge.

And that’s really quite simple. The Bible shows us the path, countless times.

In Acts 16, we’re told that the authorities had jailed the apostle Paul and his companion Silas for preaching that gospel, and God miraculously caused an earthquake to break open the jail doors and unshackle the prisoners. The jailer awoke, saw the open prison doors, and drew a sword to kill himself, believing his two prisoners had escaped. But Paul yelled to him that they were still there. The jailer rushed in: “And trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’” (Act 16:29-31).

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. That’s it. Faith in Jesus as Lord means you are saved from eternal separation from the Creator (hell) and rightly aligns you as who you were created to be.

Simple, but rich with meaning. Note the language. We are to believe in the Lord Jesus.

… and how to take it

Consider also (boldface mine):

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

Many beliefs move a person closer to God. Acknowledging that there IS a God is a start. So is acknowledging that Jesus lived, died, and even rose again. But you can intellectually come to believe the second part of that passage (believe God raised Him from the dead) without confessing Jesus as Lord — because if someone is your Lord, by definition you submit to Him.

Make no mistake, God is already in authority over you. But He doesn’t force anyone to submit to Him. As James points out, even the demons know that Jesus is God, but they don’t willingly submit to Him (James 2:19). You have been granted the same freedom to reject Him as Lord and be your own god.

Millions choose that path. But the fact is, there is only one bridge to God — that bridge forged by Christ’s loving sacrifice on the cross.

RELATED: 7 ways to know if you’re saved

HUM Images/Getty Images

Only one way

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me’” (John 14:6).

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Don’t be misled. Any path that doesn’t involve walking over this bridge will not mind the gap. It is instead a path that will leave you without God for eternity.

It’s so easy to take a wrong turn. That’s why the gospel is such good news, that fulfills every need you have with a plethora of blessings.

What prizes await

When you accept the free gift offered through faith in the Lord Jesus, His grace transforms you.

And that moment of transformation is YOUR life’s pivot point. Kind of like the best Christmas morning you could ever have, because all at once you get to unwrap all these gifts:

The gift of faith, as we are granted the ability to believe the truth.The gift of repentance, as we begin the pivot away from our old life (aka, begin to sin less).The gift of justification, which means our accounts are settled with God. The price has been paid for every sin we have ever committed or will commit. Paid in full. Done. (Spoiler: Christians will still sin. See “sanctification” below.)The gift of salvation, as we are welcomed into His eternal family and rescued from the domain of darkness. We are now His children.The gift of relationship, as we are granted personal, unquestioned access to the God of the universe (in the Old Testament, only the high priest could access the “Holy of Holies” aka God; now we all can, as we are welcome to pray at any time).The gift of the Holy Spirit within you. God comes to live in you.The gift of sanctification, which means we will grow more and more like Him as we learn more and more of Him through His word. And the more we are like Him, the more we will burn with a desire to do for Him whatever He has gifted and called us to do. We are invited to come alongside Him and build His kingdom, which is the greatest adventure any of us could undertake.

So now you know how to access the bridge that will mind the gap, once and for all.

Whether you take that path is the most important decision of your life. God will not force you into His presence. But in His love, He has provided a simple choice you can make to live with your Creator now and for eternity.

If you choose wrong … mind the gap, my friend.

​Abide, Lifestyle, Christianity, Mind the gap, God, Jesus, Christian living, Faith 

Randall McCain bragged in a rap song that the feds were watching him but were unable to catch him. It appears the feds took that personally.

McCain was arrested for allegedly running an international drug ring, and prosecutors say that his rap lyrics helped them build the criminal case against him and dozens of others.

‘I’m on the road right now … 200 bows in a n***a’s state … 3,500 for a pound this that better weed.’

The criminal organization allegedly peddled narcotics and black-market marijuana and spanned all the way to Spain and the United Kingdom.

The ring was based out of a metro office park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but extended to California, Texas, Illnois, Arkansas, and Florida.

The suspects posted rap videos with lyrics that “celebrated and advertised” the drug trafficking operation, according to prosecutors. Some of the claims in the songs were corroborated by activities documented by police.

One of the rap lyrics cited was, “The feds tryna watch me but they couldn’t I was swapping whips,” which means the rapper was swapping cars in order to avoid detection by law enforcement.

Another set of lyrics cited was the following: “I’m on the road right now … 200 bows in a n***a’s state … 3,500 for a pound this that better weed.” The slang apparently translates to $3,500 for 200 pounds of marijuana.

Yet another refers to criminal activity from the home at the rapper’s grandmother.

They also used popular social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram to run the business, as well as encrypted platforms like Signal.

RELATED: Man who rapped about his gun having an automatic switch is arrested for possessing a machine gun, faces 10 years in prison

Eighteen suspects have been arrested, and officials say as many as 40 in total may be implicated in the drug ring.

Most of the suspects arrested already are facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony.

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​Drug trafficking, Oklahoma city, Rap lyrics, Social media, Crime 

Most people think of grants as free money handed out at random or as something reserved for large nonprofits with powerful connections. In reality, however, grants are one of the most structured and intentional forms of funding in the American economy. They are designed to connect capital with specific outcomes, and both sides benefit when that connection is made.

Essentially, a grant is a non-repayable investment. A donor, whether an individual, foundation, or corporation, allocates capital toward a defined purpose. A recipient, whether a nonprofit, business, or project leader, applies for that funding with a plan to execute that purpose.

Unlike a loan, there is no repayment, and unlike a general donation, there are expectations.

That structure is what makes grants so effective.

Understanding how that system works is the difference between missing out and getting ahead.

For recipients, the benefit begins with access to capital without added risk. Organizations can fund new programs, hire staff, or invest in infrastructure without having to take on debt or divert limited funds. That security opens the door to growth.

Grants are often used as seed funding, supporting early-stage ideas that would otherwise struggle to attract financing. They allow organizations to think beyond short-term constraints and plan for the long term.

Just as importantly, grants create credibility. When an organization is awarded funding through a competitive or structured process, it signals validation. That recognition can attract additional donors, partners, and opportunities, creating momentum that extends far beyond the initial award.

But grants are not just one-sided. For donors, instead of broadly contributing to a cause, grantmakers can define exactly what they want to support. Grantmakers can also establish criteria, require reporting, and track outcomes over time. That creates accountability and ensures that funding is tied to results, not just good intentions.

Matching grants, for example, are designed to unlock additional funding by requiring others to contribute. This approach not only increases total dollars raised, but it also expands participation and engagement. According to data from the Bolger Foundation, these types of campaigns consistently drive higher donor involvement and overall contributions.

There are also practical advantages on the donor side. Contributions can offer tax benefits, and tools like donor-advised funds allow individuals and families to strategically manage their giving over time.

However, the grant system only works when the right capital meets the right opportunity. Too often, organizations struggle to identify funding sources that match their mission. At the same time, donors can find it difficult to connect with projects that align with their goals.

RELATED: No more free ride for federal grant hogs

Porcorex/Getty Images

That disconnect slows everything down.

That’s why more and more firms like mine have grown increasingly focused on grant matching as a way to close that gap.

By helping connect recipients with funding opportunities that align with their work and aligning donors with clearly defined outcomes, the process becomes more efficient for both sides. The alignment happens, and the results are tangible: Projects move forward faster, funding is deployed more strategically, and donors and recipients alike have greater confidence.

Grants are part of a system designed to direct resources where they can have the greatest impact. Understanding how that system works is the difference between missing out and getting ahead.

For organizations looking to grow, grants offer a path to funding without added burden. For donors looking to make a difference, they offer a way to turn intention into measurable results.

The opportunity is already there. The question is whether more people are ready to use it.

​Grants, Us economy, Small businesses, Grantmakers, Donors, Entrepreneurs, Corporations, Opinion & analysis 

Morris Katz is not only a political strategist credited with helping engineer Zohran Mamdani’s rise in New York politics and who is now reportedly involved with Graham Platner’s campaign, but also a children’s book author.

At only 27 years old, BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler isn’t surprised that Katz is the “kingmaker” of “communist candidates like Zohran Mamdani and Graham Platner.”

But what is surprising about Katz is a children’s book he authored titled “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Puberty ― and Shouldn’t Be Googling: For Curious Boys.”

“This book is targeted, by the way, at young boys aged 10 and up. Think of a 10-year-old child, a 10-year-old boy. This is who this book is targeted to,” Wheeler says, before homing in on page 17 of the book.

Katz used fruit and animals to symbolize different stages of puberty but added a note on page 17 that reads: “At first, we were going to use images of my penis to get this point across but the publisher said it was inappropriate so here we are, with some fruit and animal metaphors.”

“This is not normal. This is disgusting, disturbing degeneracy, and it gets even worse than that,” Wheeler says, before pointing out a chapter in Katz’s book titled “Sexual Feelings.”

“It can feel embarrassing if your crush is a friend or someone a lot older than you,” Katz wrote.

“You could find yourself with a crush on someone who’s not really thinking sexual thoughts yet,” he continued, calling it “perfectly normal.”

“What on earth is he writing? Normalizing to children not only sexual relationships between young people and significantly older people — which, if you’re writing this to a 10-year-old, would be a predator relationship, a relationship with a sexual predator, a crime,” Wheeler comments.

“He’s also normalizing being attracted to, quote, ‘someone who’s not really thinking sexual thoughts yet.’ What is that?” she asks.

“That would be a child. A crush on a child, a sexual crush on a child, is not normal. And yet, according to Morris Katz in his book, he says, ‘All perfectly normal,’” she adds.

Katz even wrote a chapter on “sexuality,” where he made sure children know that they can like “girls, boys, both, or neither.”

“That is called grooming. Grooming children into certain sexual identities by introducing the concept to them. Grooming children to be gay by telling them that it is a perfectly normal feeling to have deviant sexual feelings,” Wheeler says.

Katz goes on to encourage transitioning, writing, “The sexual organs you are assigned at birth determine your gender at birth. If you are born with a penis, you are considered a boy, and if you’re born with a vagina, you’re considered a girl.”

“But not everybody feels at home in their body or identifies with the gender they are assigned at birth. Some people don’t identify as a boy or a girl,” he added, urging children to talk to a parent, doctor, or therapist if they’re feeling confused.

“Ten-year-old boys. And Politico reports he sold hundreds of thousands of copies,” Wheeler comments. “I hope that’s not true because it means that children all across our country would be subject to this content.”

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​Puberty, The liz wheeler show, Liz wheeler, Morris katz, Graham platner, Zohran mamdani