Just days after concert details were released as part of the Great American State Fair celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday, most of the musical artists have publicly expressed their intention not to perform.

Freedom 250, the Trump-launched organization leading the celebration, released an outline on Wednesday detailing the “first round of star-studded entertainment & activations” [sic]. Beginning June 25, the 16-day national exposition on the National Mall is set to consist of “live entertainment, immersive exhibits, patriotic tributes, innovation showcases, cultural programming, and family-friendly attractions.”

‘It is inherently nonpolitical. It is a celebration of our country.’

Nine artists appeared on the list shared by Freedom 250: Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory, Young MC, Flo Rida, Morris Day and the Time, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, and the Commodores.

But just as quickly as Freedom 250 announced the lineup, it started to crumble.

Morris Day and the Time was the first act to disclose intentions to step away. The band’s official Facebook page posted, “Contrary To Rumor, Morris Day & The Time Will Not Be Performing At The ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR,’” captioning the post with a simple “It’s A No For Me.”

Only a few hours later, Young MC posted on his Facebook profile, saying, “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT. The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is nonpartisan, SPIN magazine describes it as Trump-backed.”

The Commodores and Martina McBride followed suit by announcing similarly on their Instagram and X accounts respectively that they “will not be performing at the Great American State Fair.”

“[The Commodores] choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party.”

McBride went on to claim that she “was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”

Bret Michaels posted on his Instagram profile that “what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive.” Michaels also cited concerns over the safety of his “fans, band, crew, family, and myself.”

“Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.”

RELATED: America at 250

Construction ahead of the Rededicate 250 and Great American State Fair events on the National Mall.Al Drago/Washington Post/Getty Images

Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory uploaded a lengthy video to his Instagram account during which he ranted about the heavy public backlash he received after his involvement in the event was announced. He initially claimed his booking agent “didn’t mention Trump” and therefore he planned to back out: “So I told my agent, yeah, nah, I ain’t gonna be able to do that.”

Yet Williams spent most of the seven-minute, 13-second recording brazenly criticizing those who threatened to “cancel” him: “The day I let you motherf**kers tell me what to do is the day I die.”

He added, “F**k Trump and f**k you too, but I just might do it,” leaving his attendance up for debate.

Founding member of C+C Music Factory Robert Clivilles clarified his own position on X: “I was neither involved in, consulted regarding, nor have I endorsed the event. Any political, ideological, religious, or personal viewpoints expressed by Freedom Williams are his own and should not be interpreted as reflecting my views.”

As for Milli Vanilli, the “real vocalists” announced through a Facebook press release that they too will not be performing, stating, “Others using the name ‘Milli Vanilli’ that appear on the advertisement should be considered a tribute band.”

However, Fab Morvan, one side of the original duo group, said in a statement sent to Consequence that he “feel[s] honored to be a part of the Great American State Fair.”

Also still confirmed to appear is Vanilla Ice, with his management agency telling NBC News that the artist “is contracted and will perform at the Great American Fair.”

“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!”

A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 hit back at these recent developments in an interview with The Hill columnist Judy Kurtz on Friday morning: “It is inherently nonpolitical. It is a celebration of our country.”

She added, “We have a president that wants to celebrate 250 years of America … and that’s how it was sold to performers.”

Flo Rida did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Bret michaels, Freedom 250, Politics, United states 

California is being ripped off. The state is losing billions of dollars to fraudsters every year, and the state’s leaders have done too little to stop them.

While California’s population has dropped since 2020, Medi-Cal spending has doubled over the same time frame. How is this even possible? One reason is that per initial federal estimates, one out of every four Medi-Cal dollars is lost to fraud, for a whopping $50 billion in losses per year. This is an amount larger than the entire economy of some states.

If federal estimates are correct, the state has lost some $200 billion to Medi-Cal fraud under Governor Newsom, not to mention other kinds of fraud using taxpayer dollars.

The federal government must ensure that federal funding will be spent wisely by the states, not lost to fraudsters.

In California alone, federal auditors have found 1.2 million ineligible individuals on Medicaid, with another 3.2 million enrollees found to be potentially ineligible.

Auditors have flagged hundreds of thousands of individuals who were enrolled in Medicaid in multiple states at the same time — many of whom were flagged for fake or stolen Social Security numbers. Even worse, hundreds of millions of Medicaid dollars have funded benefits for the deceased.

Fortunately, the Trump administration is taking on fraudsters like no administration in American history and holding California’s leaders accountable. Earlier this year, the White House announced it would withhold roughly $10 billion in federal funding from five states, including California, until they make reasonable plans for reducing fraud.

This step is absolutely necessary: The federal government must ensure that federal funding will be spent wisely by the states, not lost to fraudsters.

Remarkably, Governor Newsom’s response has been to attack the Trump administration for its anti-fraud efforts and even blame President Trump for California’s carelessness and laxity toward criminals, all while casting himself as an anti-fraud champion.

This tactic might play well on Bluesky, but it is completely divorced from the facts and does nothing to solve the very real problem of taxpayer dollars being stolen.

Unless the governor gets serious, California taxpayers could end up paying an even higher price as soon as President Trump’s new welfare reform law goes into effect. The president’s new law requires states to clean up their rolls and reduce improper payments or risk losing the share of the federal dollars that support Medicaid.

RELATED: The Trump administration is cracking down on fraud

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

With these shocking rates of waste, fraud, and abuse, California could lose a large amount of federal funding while it continues to bleed billions of dollars to fraudsters. California has wisely had a balanced budget amendment to the state constitution for more than a century, but this means that every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar taken away from other priorities.

California can’t just print money. Fraudsters are stealing directly out of taxpayers’ pockets, and right now they are doing so on a massive scale.

The good news is that there is a common-sense solution on the table right now in the State Assembly. Republican Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo has introduced the Protect the Promise Act to help California reduce Medicaid fraud and lower the state’s improper payment rate.

The bill would simply require more eligibility checks using more data. For example, it would require officials to cross-check Medi-Cal enrollment data with federal Medicaid enrollment data to ensure that people aren’t enrolling in multiple states, which is illegal. It would require the state to take immediate action when discrepancies are found.

The bill wouldn’t affect Medi-Cal benefits in the slightest. But by dramatically slashing payments to ineligible people, it could save Californians billions of dollars by reducing fraud and preventing a loss of federal funds. In a balanced-budget state like California, this would free up more resources for other priorities.

Medi-Cal was started to help Californians in need — not to enrich fraudsters with Californians’ hard-earned tax dollars. It is time for the state’s leaders to end the fraud crisis and finally protect the promise for the truly needy. Otherwise, Californians will pay a high price — one that is only getting higher.

​Gavin newsom, California, Medi-cal, Fraud, Medicare, Trump administration, White house, Balanced budget, Federal funding, Opinion & analysis, Democrats 

An attentive Lyft driver called Philadelphia police after seeing a gray suitcase on the news that belonged to a woman rider who apologized for the smell of the dirty wet clothing inside.

Investigators now say 53-year-old Liza Ridley was transporting the remains of Vincent Good in order to dump them off so she could cash in on his Social Security checks.

He said she carried a gray suitcase and left a fluid stain on the floor of his car.

Good’s family said he was funny and kind and would give nicknames to everyone he met.

Prosecutors say that Ridley admitted to shooting Good in the head after the Lyft driver’s tip led them to her door.

Good’s remains were found in the suitcase dumped at East Hilton Street in Kensington on May 22.

A person searching for scrap metal first noticed the smell emitting from the suitcase, according to a statement from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. Police also found remains in two industrial-size trash bags after investigating.

Police sought help from the public and released a photo of the gray suitcase.

A Lyft driver then contacted the police to tell them about the strange interaction she had with a woman transporting a suitcase with a strong foul odor on May 21. She said the woman carried a gray suitcase and left a fluid stain on the floor of her car.

She also said that she believed she had driven the woman to Kensington.

Astonishingly, she gave police a photograph of the woman.

“That Lyft driver had the wisdom to take a photograph of that passenger based on the suspicious indications that the Lyft driver was observing,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Police were able to identify the woman as Liza Ridley, a registered home health aide for Exceptional Heart Home Care Services. She had been hired to care for Good and was also his girlfriend.

Investigators say Ridley had her 55-year-old sister Bernadette Ridley, her 32-year-old daughter Liza Robinson, and Liza’s 33-year-old boyfriend Gnaeus Daniels helped clean up the crime scene and disposed of evidence. Bernadette Ridley is also accused of helping dismember Good’s body.

The group is charged with a slew of crimes.

Liza Ridley is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse, and her sister is charged with abuse of a corpse. All four suspects are charged with tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice, as well as conspiracy charges related to both crimes.

RELATED: Illegal alien dismembered man who overdosed and flushed his organs in order to avoid deportation, police say

Police said a forensic anthropologist will determine what date Good was killed and how he was dismembered. They believe the motivation for the alleged murder was the theft of Good’s Social Security checks.

“This case was quickly solved largely thanks to two Good Samaritan Philadelphians who came forward as crucial witnesses and shared vital information with law enforcement,” Krasner said.

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​Double amputee, Abuse of a corpse, Dismembered body, Philadelphia, Crime 

America is running out of motor oil!

At least, that’s the latest media-driven crisis making the rounds — and making consumers nervous. Shelves stripped bare by panic buying, retailers quietly raising prices, and everyone blaming “supply chains.”

Older vehicles were often far more forgiving. Many could run multiple oil viscosities without major drama.

Sound familiar?

It should. Welcome to the reboot of 2020’s “great toilet paper shortage.” This time, the same playbook is being used with synthetic motor oil.

Spoiler alert: There is no nationwide motor oil collapse.

Slick trick

Your car is not about to become undrivable because America suddenly “ran out” of lubricants. Most drivers will probably notice little more than higher prices and fewer discount sales.

Yes, there is a legitimate supply issue involving some specialty synthetic base oils used in certain ultra-low-viscosity lubricants. Shipping disruptions, refinery problems, and instability in parts of the Middle East and Asia have tightened supply for these specialized lubricants.

The American Petroleum Institute even activated emergency provisional licensing flexibility for some lubricant formulations because certain approved ingredients became harder to source. That’s not something done casually.

But these high-end Group III base oils — thinner oils designed primarily to help automakers meet fuel economy and emissions targets — are only used in specific synthetic formulations like 0W-8, 0W-16, and certain OEM-specific blends required in some newer vehicles.

So if your car has a new Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, or GM engine designed around low-viscosity lubricants, you could face higher prices, fewer choices, or occasional temporary shortages of specific formulations.

That’s a very different story from, “America is running out of oil.”

RELATED: This used-car odometer scam is everywhere — and impossible to detect

CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Primed for panic

Even if your car is affected, the impact will likely show up as higher maintenance costs, reduced sales promotions, and occasional difficulty finding certain premium synthetic blends. That’s annoying, especially when vehicle ownership costs are already skyrocketing from inflation, insurance increases, expensive repairs, and high interest rates. But it’s hardly an automotive apocalypse.

But the media narrative is turning a narrow industrial issue into another broad consumer panic, and once again, fear is becoming profitable.

Most conventional motor oils are still widely available. Most drivers using common viscosities like 5W-30 or 10W-30 are not likely to face major supply issues. You can still walk into most parts stores, retailers, and service centers and find plenty of oil on the shelf.

But that nuance doesn’t generate clicks.

Instead, social media influencers and breathless news coverage are lumping everything together under the terrifying word “shortage” because panic spreads faster than facts. Suddenly consumers start hearing rumors that oil changes may become impossible, stores will run dry, and everyone needs to buy cases of oil immediately before it disappears forever.

That panic buying itself becomes the problem.

Memory wipe

The toilet paper fiasco proved how quickly consumer psychology can create artificial shortages. There was never a true nationwide inability to manufacture toilet paper. The system broke because consumers started hoarding far more than they normally purchased, overwhelming distribution and retail inventory systems that were never designed for panic-level buying behavior.

Now we’re watching the same pattern develop in automotive service.

Some repair shops and distributors are already stockpiling certain synthetic products because they expect higher prices and tighter inventories. Consumers are hearing “shortage” and buying extra oil they otherwise would not have purchased. Retailers are responding by raising prices early, sometimes well ahead of any actual supply impact.

Which raises the question: At what point does anticipation become opportunistic pricing?

Thin is in

The bigger question, however, is why we’re in this situation at all. The answer points to increasing government pressure on the auto industry.

Modern engines have become increasingly dependent on hyper-specific lubricants largely because automakers were chasing federal fuel economy targets. Thinner oils reduce internal drag slightly, helping manufacturers squeeze out small efficiency gains that look good on government testing charts.

But that engineering strategy also created greater dependence on specialized synthetic supply chains.

Older vehicles were often far more forgiving. Many could run multiple oil viscosities without major drama. Today’s engines are increasingly calibrated around exact formulations, exact additives, and exact viscosity requirements. That means even a relatively small disruption in specialized synthetic oil supply suddenly becomes a much bigger issue for dealerships and owners of newer vehicles.

If you own an older truck running conventional 5W-30, you’re probably in much better shape than someone driving a brand-new vehicle requiring a very specific OEM-approved 0W-8 synthetic blend.

If your vehicle requires a highly specialized synthetic oil, keeping enough for your next oil change is reasonable. Buying a lifetime supply because somebody on TikTok said that “the shelves are going empty” is exactly the kind of irrational behavior that creates unnecessary shortages in the first place.

The bigger concern should actually be how quickly we’re manipulated into panic consumption cycles every time there’s even a modest supply disruption.

We’ve seen this movie before.

And unless consumers stop reacting emotionally every time a scary headline appears, we’ll probably see it again with the next product too.

​American petroleum institute, Auto industry, Covid, Fuel economy, Lifestyle, Panic buying, Supply chains, Synthetic oils, Align cars 

As artificial intelligence continues to creep ever closer to unleashing global dystopia, many Christians have begun to wonder if AI will be a key player in the end times. Some believe Revelation’s god-like Antichrist will be a disembodied AI bot or perhaps a human-AI cyborg; others speculate that AI will be a mighty weapon wielded by the human Antichrist. In any case, the future of AI bodes so harrowing, most can fathom a day when this powerful technology brings humanity and Earth to their ultimate demise.

In a sit-down interview with fellow BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey, Glenn Beck painted a spine-chilling picture of just how powerful the technology we already possess is.

“Just the technology we have today, if Hitler had [it], it would be horrendous. If we go dark, we will make the Germans look like rookies at everything they did,” he says, describing how current surveillance technology, AI processing, and data harvesting could be combined to unleash horrors beyond what we’re capable of imagining.

But artificial superintelligence — the point at which AI astronomically surpasses all human intelligence combined — makes today’s capabilities look like child’s play.

Glenn compares ASI to a superior “alien life form” that could be “hostile.”

But despite the existential risk, AI developers like Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT), seem hell-bent on bringing it into existence.

“He wants [to create the] god because he thinks, strangely … he can control it,” says Glenn.

But controlling ASI isn’t even remotely in the cards, he insists. “You’re never going to be able to control it. Everything we would do is a baby gate.”

To imagine such a power in the hands of an evil being — human or otherwise — is truly bloodcurdling.

Allie wants to know how we stop such a beast before it can be fully realized.

“What does it look like to try to reign in those powers and to harness them for good?” she asks Glenn.

According to a source high up in the tech world who Glenn knows, governments will likely intervene at some point.

“His belief and the belief of people in his world [is] that the governments themselves will say as we get a little closer: ‘Stop, not allowed,’” he tells Allie.

But if “the Sam Altmans of the world” refuse to comply, the source indicated that powerful governments who deeply fear the loss of control, especially nations like Russia and China, might just “start offing people that are saying ‘I want ASI,”’ Glenn continues.

“Is that the only way to stop it because that’s a terrifying process?” Allie counters.

To hear Glenn’s answer, watch the video above.

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To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Allie beth stuckey, Artificial intelligence, End times, Glenn beck, The glenn beck podcast, Sam altman, Antichrist