A six-time convicted felon “with a history of scams” allegedly intimidated and stole cash from an 82-year-old woman amid a home repair swindle last month, CWB Chicago reported.

Sonny Miller, 32, and two other males arrived Feb. 2 at a home in the 5400 block of South Drexel on Chicago’s south side in a white pickup truck, the outlet said, citing a detention filing.

Prosecutors said Miller had more than $2,000 on him when he was arrested, the outlet reported.

Miller allegedly approached the victim’s daughter as she was walking into the home and told her he had performed roofing work on the home a decade earlier and was there to do additional work on the basement, CWB Chicago said.

The daughter walked Miller inside to speak with her mother, who requires a cane to stand and walk, the outlet said.

Miller allegedly told the daughter to boil some water as he would need it to mix concrete, CWB Chicago reported.

Prosecutors said when the daughter left the room, Miller told her elderly mother the basement work would cost $200 — and that if she refused to pay, she would face steep fines, a police visit, and a financial lien placed on her home, the outlet noted.

At that time, the two males who had arrived at the home with Miller were outside applying unnecessary concrete to the basement’s exterior, CWB Chicago said, citing the detention filing.

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When the phony work was done, Miller went to collect payment. The elderly woman grabbed an envelope containing cash, which Miller allegedly snatched from her hand, then ran out the door and fled in the pickup with the other two men. The woman, the filing noted, “was not able to put up much of a resistance.”

The victim and her daughter called Chicago police, estimating that $900 had been taken. Responding officers collected a laminated solicitation flyer Miller had left behind, along with video footage gathered from neighbors, according to prosecutors. One video captured the truck’s license plate and images of the men.

Detectives circulated a bulletin to cops throughout the area, and Skokie police responded with information. Des Plaines police later spotted the truck when it triggered a license plate reader in their jurisdiction. Officers stopped the vehicle and detained its occupants.

CWB Chicago, citing the detention filing, said one of the males in the truck — identified as Miller’s cousin — admitted to performing the fake concrete work outside the victim’s home and allegedly identified Miller as the one who spoke to the elderly woman in her home.

Prosecutors said Miller had more than $2,000 on him when he was arrested, the outlet reported. Miller denied ever being at the woman’s home, CWB Chicago added.

Judge James Murphy III — who described Miller as a six-time convicted felon “with a history of scams” — ordered Miller detained, the outlet said.

Miller is charged with robbery of a victim older than 60, robbery, and aggravated home fraud by deception of a victim older than 60, CWB Chicago said.

Cook County Jail records on Thursday indicate Miller is behind bars on no bond; his next court date is scheduled for May 6.

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​Repeat offender, Chicago, Arrested, Jailed, Robbery charges, Robbery of a victim older than 60, Aggravated home fraud by deception of a victim older than 60, Swindle, Elderly victim, Scam, Crime 

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center under Donald Trump, abruptly resigned and accused both Israeli officials and U.S. media figures of orchestrating a misinformation campaign that led America into war with Iran.

“President Trump, after much reflection, I’ve decided to resign from my position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center effective today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent wrote in his resignation letter, which he posted to X.

“This is so damaging,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck comments. “This is Pentagon Papers stuff. This is as important as the Pentagon Papers. This is going to possibly change the course of America.”

Kent went on to claim that “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again,” he continued.

“This is going to set the world on fire,” Glenn says, disappointed.

“This is a senior official in intelligence saying in real time that the United States has entered a war under false pretenses, that Israel got us into the first war in Iraq and now they duped the American president into fighting this war,” he continues.

“This is going to fracture public trust. This is the worst letter that could be done, that I have ever seen … our allies now are going to be questioning our judgment,” he says, adding, “Our enemies are going to exploit this like crazy.”

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Joe kent, Iran war, Iran, Israel, Benjamin netanyahu, President trump, Joe kent resignation 

Ever since Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to decline his Oscar in 1973, celebrities have felt free to treat acceptance speeches as a kind of political pulpit.

Over the years, our socially conscious superiors have used the stage to advance a range of causes. Whether it’s Leonardo DiCaprio scolding us about climate change, Patricia Arquette reminding us that “wage inequality” affects even the most overpaid among us, or Joaquin Phoenix shaming milk enjoyers, many stars refuse to bask in the adulation without giving a little something back.

It was, by the standards of modern Hollywood, almost subversive.

Even moments that touch on family have often been refracted through politics. At the 2020 Golden Globes, Michelle Williams credited her success to the children she didn’t have: “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose” — while in the same breath celebrating the two kids who presumably didn’t run afoul of her reproductive rights.

But Sunday night, Irish actress Jessie Buckley did something far more unusual: She praised marriage, children, and the ordinary drama of family life.

Accepting Best Actress for her role in “Hamnet” — a film that imagines the marriage of William Shakespeare and Agnes Hathaway and the grief they endure after the death of their young son — Buckley turned not to politics but to her husband and infant daughter, even revealing her daughter’s name publicly for the first time:

Fred, I love you, man. … You’re the most incredible dad. You’re my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you. … And Isla, my little girl … I love you, and I love being your mom, and I can’t wait to discover life beside you.

It was, by the standards of modern Hollywood, almost subversive.

She returned to the theme later in the speech, noting that it was her first Mother’s Day in the U.K. and dedicating the award “to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”

She was even more effusive backstage. Speaking to reporters, Buckley described the moment as a kind of “crazy alchemy,” noting that her Oscar win fell on her first Mother’s Day. Her daughter, she said, had just gotten her first tooth.

I woke up with her lying on my chest, snuggling me … what a gift to get to explore motherhood … and then to become one myself … and then to receive this recognition of the incredible role mothers play in our world on this day is something I will never, ever forget.

Buckley has suggested the role didn’t just portray motherhood — it stirred a longing for it. While filming “Hamnet,” she said she “deeply wanted to become a mother,” an experience she described as “quite intense” before it became real. Soon after, it was.

Some commentators wondered why Buckley didn’t thank her on-screen husband Paul Mescal, the film’s Shakespeare. Was it a calculated move to avoid being overshadowed by a bigger name?

More likely, they’re overthinking it.

Buckley has always seemed as grounded as she is talented. Born and raised in Killarney, County Kerry, one of five children, she comes from a large, close-knit family — a background that makes her ease with motherhood feel less like a rebrand than a continuation. She is married not to a fellow celebrity but to a man the public knows only by his first name. Her speech reflected that life: intimate, unvarnished, and oriented toward something other than careerism.

And that, in today’s Hollywood, is what made it feel radical.

In an industry that often frames family as an obstacle — something to be delayed, outsourced, or quietly regretted — Buckley spoke of it as the central adventure. Not a burden, but a joy. Not a limitation, but a calling.

For decades, Oscar speeches have tried to tell audiences how to remake the world.

Buckley’s suggested something simpler: that the most meaningful work might already be waiting at home.

​Culture, Hollywood, Jessie buckley, Motherhood 

The confirmation for President Donald Trump’s top choice for the next head of the Department of Homeland Security is off to a rocky start, thanks to one Republican senator.

Trump tapped Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to replace current DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. While most of Mullin’s Senate colleagues have praised Trump’s choice, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was not keen on the nominee.

‘Seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us.’

Paul opened the confirmation hearing Wednesday by challenging Mullin to disavow political violence. Paul was specifically asking Mullin to address alleged past comments in which he said he “completely” understood why Paul’s neighbor attacked him in 2017, leaving him with severe injuries including broken ribs.

“You have never had the courage to look me in the eye and tell me that the assault was justified,” Paul said of Mullin’s comments. Paul also claimed Mullin referred to him as a “freaking snake.”

RELATED: Noem is OUT — and Trump has named her replacement

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Mullin addressed Paul’s claims, insisting that he and Paul had a conversation about their differences when Mullin was still a member of the House. Mullin also looked directly at Paul and said, “I’m very blunt and direct to the point. And if I have something to say, I’ll say it directly to your face.”

Mullin then added, “Seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us.”

Paul later said he would note vote for Mullin’s confirmation, saying Mullin’s “temperament was not suitable” and that his “anger issues are a problem.”

“They’ve had to have known for weeks that I couldn’t be real happy about a guy that won’t apologize and thinks that my assault was perfectly understandable,” Paul said.

A “no” vote from Paul could cost Mullin the confirmation. Mullin first needs to be approved by a simple majority of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Paul chairs. If senators vote on party lines, just one Republican defection could throw the whole nomination.

RELATED: Trump’s unusual Cabinet meeting may reveal which officials are on thin ice

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

If Mullin’s nomination advances through committee, he will need a simple majority in the Republican-controlled Senate.

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​Donald trump, Kristi noem, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Rand paul, Senate republicans, Markwayne mullin, Trump nominee, Senate confirmation, Confirmation hearing, Political violence, Politics