Bureaucracy is where accountability gets diluted and common sense is quietly asked to wait outside for safety reasons.

You can usually spot it by the signs. Laminated, taped, stacked one on top of another, each announcing a rule that probably once made sense

Arrows point in conflicting directions. Doors are locked “temporarily,” which often means indefinitely. A desk sits between you and the thing you actually need, staffed by someone whose job is to make sure you don’t get there the wrong way.

We may not be able to change systems or bureaucrats, but we can change how they hook us into drama.

Hospitals are particularly good at this.

Clipboards multiply. Protocols overlap. Nobody is quite in charge, but everyone is certain about what you’re not allowed to do. Hospitals tend to amplify a familiar human impulse: gathering in herds, exchanging judgment for the illusion of safety.

Caregivers encounter this constantly. Not because we seek it out, but because care requires proximity to systems that prize procedure over discernment. By the time we reach the desk, our tension is already high and our patience nearly gone.

I found myself at a large teaching hospital with my wife, Gracie, as she prepared for a nine-hour surgery. We were staying with friends nearby. She had already been admitted, and the surgeon was clear about where I needed to enter so I could be with her in pre-op before they took her to surgery.

By now, most surgeons recognize that I’m not new to this. Forty years of caregiving tends to cure naïveté. I can follow the jargon, ask informed questions, and handle graphic medical realities without flinching. That familiarity earns a certain trust once you reach pre-op, recovery units, or the ICU.

The problem is getting there.

Between the parking lot and the patient lies a layered world of desks, checkpoints, screens, and policies, staffed by people who don’t know your history and aren’t allowed to consider it.

Which is how I found myself there with Gracie during her surgery, in the middle of COVID, a season I’ve come to think of as the high holy days of bureaucracy.

It was bitterly cold that morning in Denver. Montana cold I can handle. Denver cold is another matter. I had already made the long walk from the parking area to the emergency room and was not eager to be sent back outside to circle the hospital again in the frigid early morning.

At the ER security desk, I gave my wife’s name and said, “I’m here for her operation.”

The guard checked the screen and said, “You have to use the front entrance.”

“It’s closed,” I replied. “The surgeon directed me here.”

“You have to use the front entrance.”

I tried again, slower.

Same result.

So I asked, politely, “Ma’am, where did I lose you?”

She repeated herself.

Years ago, this is where I would have argued. Quoted instructions. Asked for a supervisor. Escalated things just enough to feel righteous while accomplishing nothing and raising my blood pressure.

Decades of caregiving taught me that nothing useful is changed that way.

So instead of arguing, I chose a different response. I met immovable force with irreverent restraint.

Since I have a full head of white hair, and with great hair comes great responsibility, I adopted my best Leslie Nielsen deadpan and said calmly, “Ma’am, I’m board-certified in cranial proctology. They’re waiting for me in pre-op.”

She blinked.

Her eyes widened.

She waved me through.

RELATED: The reform every society needs: Stop mistaking shock for success

Cienples / Getty Images

It later occurred to me that my last name may have served as the exclamation mark on the credentials I had just fabricated. Even nonsense, it seems, benefits from proper punctuation.

I arrived in pre-op on time, smiling to myself.

For the record, cranial proctology is not a recognized medical specialty, except perhaps in Washington, D.C., where demand appears chronic and widespread across multiple government buildings. My services, though sorely needed, remain unofficial.

Caregivers live with enough real emergencies. We don’t need to manufacture new ones by turning every bureaucratic impasse into a confrontation. We may not be able to change systems or bureaucrats, but we can change how they hook us into drama.

Not every obstacle deserves a skirmish. Some require restraint, a straight face, and conserving energy for what actually matters.

A little humor, a lot of deadpan, and the ability to avoid getting pulled into someone else’s craziness go a long way toward living a calmer life as a caregiver.

Maybe I’ll give it a try at the post office next.

Or, God help us all, the TSA.

​Caregiving, Bureaucracy, Hospitals, Board certified, Patience, Opinion & analysis 

A far-left sheriff in Michigan has walked back some of her comments regarding federal immigration arrests in her jurisdiction.

On Wednesday, Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer took to her Facebook page — which the Detroit News described as her “personal” page, though the account name is Sheriff Alyshia M. Dyer and shares the address, phone number, and website for the sheriff’s office — to claim that four people had been arrested near school bus stops in Ypsilanti earlier this week just as schools were let out for the day.

‘ICE does NOT target schools for enforcement actions or bus stop locations.’

“On Tuesday (1/27/26), we received multiple reports from community members that ICE detained a mother in front of her child in the Ypsilanti area, along with other residents,” Dyer wrote. She also attached a parent letter from Ypsilanti Public Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross, claiming that “several parents in our community were taken into custody while off school grounds.”

Dyer added that “parents connected to local schools” may have been “targeted at a bus stop in Ypsilanti during student drop-off times.” She noted that the arrests “did not occur on any school grounds.”

Dyer then blamed Immigration and Customs Enforcement because she could not “confirm details” about those reports: “Unfortunately, it is often difficult to confirm details, as ICE frequently provides no advance notice, does not contact Metro Dispatch, and leaves families, schools, and communities to process the impact on their own in the aftermath.”

RELATED: Woke ‘pansexual’ sheriff in Michigan excited to implement far-left agenda

Photo by Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images

By Thursday, ICE had slammed Dyer’s allegations as “lies.” “ICE does NOT target schools for enforcement actions or bus stop locations. To be clear, NO children were present during these arrests,” the agency said in a statement to the Detroit News.

“Lies like these are just another reason why our officers are grappling with a 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,200% increase in vehicle attacks and a staggering 8,000% uptick in death threats,” the statement added.

Dyer updated her claims on Thursday to note that she had spoken with “immigration enforcement leadership,” who reassured her that they had not and will not “do any enforcement on school grounds, or school bus stops.” She then passively blamed the officials for some kind of miscommunication.

“They have agreed to better communicate in the future when they leave Washtenaw County,” she wrote.

In the statement, ICE clarified that agents “were conducting targeted operations seeking to apprehend illegal aliens with final orders of removal from the United States.”

The agents tailed two vehicles leaving a targeted residence and then arrested four individuals during at traffic stop: Delmy Yamileth Molina Vasquez, Gissel Alejandra Pavon Nunes, and Elder Alberto Veliz-Mencia of Honduras and Carolina Hernandez-Aviles of Mexico.

ICE database records confirmed that, as of Friday morning, the three women are detained in an ICE facility in Michigan, but Blaze News could not find any record for Veliz-Mencia. Whether any of the four individuals have criminal records unrelated to immigration is unclear.

Dyer’s office and Zachery-Ross’ office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Dyer, who identifies as “pansexual,” was elected in 2024 on a radical agenda. According to her campaign website, she pledged to prevent the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office from “collaborating with ICE” and to provide the “undocumented” with driver’s license documentation.

The same month Dyer was sworn into office, the Ypsilanti City Council voted to discontinue saying the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings.

H/T: David Bondy

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The Department of Justice announced the release of millions of new pages from the Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the 3 million files were released on a website available to the public and included 180,000 images and 2,000 videos.

‘We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect or not protect anybody.’

“Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people,” Blanche said at a media briefing.

Blanche, who previously worked as a personal attorney to President Donald Trump, denied claims that the administration had protected the president.

“We did not protect President Trump. We didn’t protect or not protect anybody,” he said.

He said the DOJ review of the Epstein files was complete. More than 125,000 pages of the investigation had already been released before Friday.

He also said that the White House had no involvement in the review of the latest documents.

“They had no oversight over this review,” he added. “They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact.”

RELATED: Bill and Hillary Clinton refuse to testify in Epstein probe — Republicans threaten contempt of Congress

Republicans have threatened to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after they refused a subpoena asking for documents related to the Epstein investigation.

“We are confident that any reasonable person in or out of Congress will see, based on everything we release, that what you are doing is trying to punish those who you see as your enemies and to protect those you think are your friends,” the Clintons said in a letter to Congress.

This is a developing story.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday morning the arrests of several radicals who allegedly stormed Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18.

One of Don Lemon’s fellow arrestees, Jamael Lydell Lundy, is a newly announced Democratic candidate for the Minnesota Senate who previously worked for Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum and now serves as the right-hand man for Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County’s Soros-backed prosecutor.

Moments prior to the church invasion, Lundy told Lemon on camera, “I’m here to support our community activists,” reported the New York Post.

‘They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country.’

“I’m currently a candidate for Minnesota state Senate District 65,” Lundy told the former CNN talking head. “I feel like it’s important if you’re going to be representing people in office, that you’re out here with the people as well.”

“We all we got,” continued Lundy. “I’m actually married to an elected official; I work closely with elected officials, but direct action from the community, certainly within the lines of the law, is so important to show that we have one voice.”

In footage of the subsequent church invasion, Lundy appears fully engaged in the mob’s disruption of the Christian service and the parishioners’ worship, pumping his fist in the air and shouting near the altar.

RELATED: Don Lemon ARRESTED over apparent involvement in church invasion; Jim Acosta whines

Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

According to Lundy’s campaign website, he is married to St. Paul City Councilwoman Anika Bowie, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s former political director.

In his role as Moriarty’s intergovernmental relations manager, Lundy — who supported the “bananas with rice” Somali accused this week of spitting on federal agents — is responsible for interfacing with the federal government, reported the Daily Wire.

Lundy’s radicalism is in keeping with that practiced by his anti-ICE boss, who launched a project with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and other woke prosecutors on Wednesday aimed at “collaborating to ensure federal officials are held accountable when they exceed their lawful authority.”

The non-straight prosecutor has been one of the more unhinged critics of federal agents’ enforcement of federal immigration law in Minneapolis, claiming earlier this month, for instance, “If you do not have white skin, you are in danger of being approached by ICE.”

President Donald Trump suggested those who stormed the church were “agitators and insurrectionists.”

“These people are professionals! No person acts the way they act,” continued Trump. “They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing. They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country.”

Blaze News has reached out to Moriarty’s office for comment.

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​Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fbi, Arrest, Don lemon, Pam bondi, Jamael lundy, Lundy, Moriarty, Hennepin county, Face act violation, Radical, Leftism, Politics 

If you’ve been anywhere near social media lately, you have probably heard of the latest oddly named lifestyle: looksmaxxing.

It’s laughed at, pathologized, and treated as a digital disease. It is filed under narcissism, extremism, or maladaptation — anything that avoids taking it seriously.

What really offends critics isn’t the vanity but the accountability. Looksmaxxing puts the burden back on the individual in a culture addicted to external blame.

But what is it?

Checklist for Chads

At its most basic, looksmaxxing refers to a loose online movement encouraging men to improve their physical appearance through deliberate, practical self-improvement rather than passive acceptance. In practice, this usually means mundane, unglamorous changes: losing excess weight, lifting weights consistently, grooming properly, dressing with intention, fixing posture, and presenting oneself as a capable human being. It is not a philosophy so much as a checklist.

There are, inevitably, outliers — internet backwaters where bone-breaking routines are discussed without irony, extreme facial surgeries are contemplated, and pseudoscientific measurements of skull angles are treated as destiny.

These exist, and they’re easy to mock. But they don’t represent the broader phenomenon. They emerge at the margins, where men believe, rightly or wrongly, that they have exhausted ordinary options. The typical looksmaxxing example is far less exotic. A sedentary man quits junk food, joins a gym, gets a proper haircut, replaces stained hoodies with fitted clothes, and steps out of his mom’s basement.

Scarcity mindset

Looksmaxxing is a response to scarcity: romantic scarcity, social scarcity, economic scarcity. Young men are told relentlessly that confidence matters, that personality wins, that being “yourself” is enough.

Then reality arrives, usually with a swift kick to the nether regions. Faces, frames, height, grooming, fitness, posture — these things open doors long before a sentence is spoken. They decide who gets seen, who gets listened to, who gets to move on to the next round. The lie isn’t that personality matters, but that it matters first.

Critics default to dismissal because it requires no engagement. It costs nothing to tell a struggling man that he should simply “be kind” or “work on his inner self.” It costs nothing to shame him for caring about how he looks, while a culture sells beauty as destiny and desire as status.

The same people who insist looks don’t matter meticulously curate their appearance through filters, lighting, angles, brands, and cosmetic interventions. They publicly reject the rules while privately enforcing them. Everyone else pays for the pretense, most notably the average American man.

And the term average couldn’t be more apt. Overweight. Sedentary. Winded by a flight of stairs, pausing halfway like he’s summiting Everest. He is the product of abundance without discipline, comfort without consequence, a culture of convenience, couches, and calories. And he is told, endlessly, that his problems are emotional rather than physical.

Law of attraction

Looksmaxxing begins where denial ends. It says the body matters; the face matters; presentation matters. It refuses to treat biology as a slur. It doesn’t ask permission to acknowledge that attraction is selective, visual, and often cruel.

In a dating environment dominated by apps, where most singles are judged in a fraction of a second, this isn’t ideology but reality. That honesty unsettles people who have built careers telling men soothing stories about how the world ought to work rather than how it does.

As noted above, looksmaxxing can become obsessive. That pattern is familiar in any movement shaped by exclusion. But remove the extremes, and what remains is entirely reasonable. Lift weights. Lose the gut. Fix posture. Groom properly. Dress like you respect yourself. Sleep. Eat like an adult. Stop looking like you lost a bet with your mirror. None of this is radical. None of it is hateful. It is common sense.

Man up

What really offends critics isn’t the vanity but the accountability. Looksmaxxing puts the burden back on the individual in a culture addicted to external blame. It tells men that improvement is possible, but optional excuses are not. That message is intolerable to systems that profit from passivity. It is far easier to medicalize male dissatisfaction than to admit that a doughy, slumped, self-neglecting body will be judged accordingly.

There is also a class element no one wants to touch. Good looks are increasingly a luxury good: time to train; money for decent food; knowledge of grooming, style, and fitness. These are not evenly distributed. Telling men that looks don’t matter is a convenient way to ignore how much effort the winners quietly invest. Looksmaxxing is, in part, a grassroots attempt to close that gap — crude at times, desperate at others. But earnest.

There is also an undeniable element of misandry at play. When women improve their appearance, it is framed as empowerment, self-care, or self-expression. When men do the same — deliberately, analytically, and without apology — it is framed as an illness requiring immediate intervention. Looksmaxxing, a movement dominated by men, is treated as evidence of a psychological defect. The behavior is identical; the judgment is not. The double standard is structural.

RELATED: You can’t be 50 in Hollywood

Alexandre Guerra/Getty Images

What about both?

And most straight women, if they are honest, aren’t confused about what they find attractive. Who doesn’t want a good-looking man? Who doesn’t respond positively to a strong frame, a defined jawline, a body that signals health and self-command?

This doesn’t negate the need for depth. No one wants a handsome face paired with the emotional range of a vacuum cleaner. But the inverse is no more appealing. Emotional intelligence struggles to shine when it is housed in a body that signals neglect. The idea that a man must choose between substance and appearance is false. It is entirely possible — indeed reasonable — to demand both.

Looksmaxxing doesn’t promise eternal happiness, but it does promise leverage — a chance to be seen before being dismissed. A chance to compete rather than be invisible. For the overweight man incapable of doing a single pull-up, it offers something rare: a clear target and a measurable path.

Looksmaxxing exists because the social contract broke first. When institutions stopped offering stable work, when dating turned into a market, when community receded and screens advanced, men adapted.

Mock looksmaxxing if you want. Call it vain. Call it sad. But don’t call it irrational. It isn’t the sickness but the symptom. And until we are willing to tell the truth about attraction, status, and the price of neglect, young men will keep gravitating toward the only strategy that abandons pretense.

​Looksmaxxing, Clavicular, Men, Dating, Marriage, Plastic surgery, Memes, Lifestyle 

In a major shock to the football world, eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

While the Hall of Famers were being voted on earlier this month, Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed in order to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility.

“There’s two, like, first-ballot Hall of Fame guys,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless,” referencing Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees.

“If I were them, I would consider, like, ‘No, I’m good. Put me in with Bill next year,’ because going in this year, everything is going to be about, ‘Y’all left Bill out,’” he continues.

“The actual players, Drew Brees, Larry, they’re going to be overshadowed and would be better served going in with Bill Belichick next year,” he adds.

And Whitlock believes this is a deeper issue.

“The whole process has been headed this direction for years. The writers have egos. … It’s way too manipulated,” Whitlock says, pointing out that voters include women like Lisa Salters, who “doesn’t watch football.”

“She stands on the sidelines after games and says, ‘Hey, in the third quarter you threw for 300 yards, and in the fourth quarter you only threw for 150. What changed?’” he explains.

“It’s just a quota box at this point. Do you fit a quota,” he adds.

“The National Football League, the people that write about the National Football League, the people that coach in the National Football League, the front office folks, it’s not for everyone,” BlazeTV contributor Matt McChesney chimes in.

“The NFL is a very specific niche … and to assume that everybody belongs is not the right way to do this. So, I just don’t understand how they can put themselves in this position,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Republican lawmakers are pushing new legislation on Capitol Hill aimed at reining in members of Congress who take advantage of campaign finances for personal gain.

Wisconsin Republican Reps. Tom Tiffany and Tony Wied introduced the Oversight for Members And Relatives Act on Friday, known as the OMAR Act, which would prevent candidates’ campaign funds from benefiting their spouses. The legislation would also mandate the disclosure of campaign-related payments made to their immediate family members, according to the bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

‘The American people are sick of it.’

“Public office should never be used to pad a family’s bank account,” Tiffany told Blaze News. “For years, members of both parties have blurred ethical lines by paying their spouses with campaign funds and labeling it ‘campaign work.'”

“The OMAR Act ends this practice and restores integrity to a system that’s been abused for far too long.”

RELATED: Exclusive: SAVE Act hangs in the balance as Republican Study Committee pushes for Senate passage

Exclusive: GOP lawmaker Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

A prime example of these “blurred ethical lines” is none other than Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who reportedly paid nearly $2.8 million to her husband’s political consulting firm during the 2019-2020 election cycle.

According to Fox News, these payments accounted for nearly 70% of her disbursements during her third quarter, exceeding the total amount all congressional candidates combined paid their immediate relatives during the 2012 election cycle.

“Members of Congress are sent to Washington to represent the interests of their constituents — not to line their spouses’ pockets with campaign funds,” Wied told Blaze News.

RELATED: Biden DOJ’s probe into Ilhan Omar’s finances dropped same year her net worth surged

Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

“We’ve seen far too many egregious examples of politicians exploiting loopholes for personal gain, and the American people are sick of it,” Wied added. “I’m proud to stand with Rep. Tiffany to introduce the OMAR Act and put a stop to these shady practices once and for all.”

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​House republicans, Capitol hill, Congress, House democrats, Ilhan omar, Minnesota, Minnesota fraud, Somali fraud, Tom tiffany, Tony wied, Omar act, Campaign finance, Politics 

A nurse in Florida who allegedly said he would refuse to administer anesthesia to conservative patients is no longer registered in the state.

Erik Martindale appeared to post on his Facebook account, “I will not perform anesthesia for any surgeries or procedures for MAGA. It is my right, it is my ethical oath, and I stand behind my education. I own all of my businesses and I can refuse anyone!”

‘Healthcare is not contingent on political beliefs, and we have zero tolerance for partisans who put politics above their ethical duty.’

Libs of TikTok shared a screenshot of the comments in a post on X, calling for him to be immediately fired and stripped of his license.

After facing backlash online, Martindale claimed that his Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram accounts had been “hacked.” Libs of TikTok disputed his claim, sharing another screenshot of a post Martindale apparently made on his Threads account.

“I will not perform anesthesia on any surgeries for registered Republicans,” the Threads post read.

“Erik is now claiming his FB and IG were hacked. There’s a slight problem. It was on threads too. Was your threads also hacked Erik?? Lmao,” Libs of TikTok wrote. “Nobody is buying this Erik. We have all the receipts!”

RELATED: Florida nurse wishes Karoline Leavitt agonizing, life-altering birth injury — red state delivers swift takedown

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

As of Friday morning, all of Martindale’s social media accounts appeared to be deactivated.

On Thursday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced, “Effective today, Erik Martindale is no longer a registered nurse in Florida.”

“Healthcare is not contingent on political beliefs, and we have zero tolerance for partisans who put politics above their ethical duty to treat patients with the respect and dignity they deserve,” Uthmeier added.

RELATED: ‘Make their lives f**king miserable’: Deranged leftist nurse apparently urges poisoning and drugging ICE agents

James Uthmeier. Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The Florida Department of Health website shows that Martindale’s license was voluntarily relinquished. The department notes that such action “does not constitute discipline.”

The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether Martindale’s license was surrendered or revoked. Blaze News was unable to contact Martindale for a statement.

Last week, Uthmeier announced that Florida had revoked Lexie Lawler’s ability to practice nursing in the state after she posted a video on social media wishing a life-altering birth injury on White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

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​News, Florida, Erik martindale, Libs of tiktok, James uthmeier, Healthcare, Health care, Florida department of health, Politics 

“People are talking. People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got.”

That was U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s description of growing independence sentiment in Alberta — comments that have energized the province’s long-running sovereignty movement.

‘When Scott Bessent says — even somewhat tongue-in-cheek — that he’s heard rumors of an independence vote, that signals awareness at the highest levels.’

As Albertans continue lining up to sign petitions calling for a provincial referendum on separation later this year, separatist advocates say the Trump administration has shown a notable openness to discussing Alberta’s future.

Members of the Alberta Prosperity Project say they have met on several occasions with individuals connected to President Donald Trump’s inner circle and governing team.

Czar power

Bessent’s remarks came while he was criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s appearance at last week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. At the event, Carney suggested that the United States under Trump had become an international bully, destabilizing global trade norms and alliances.

Bessent rejected that characterization and instead focused on Carney’s political background.

“Well, I think Prime Minister Carney tried to put on a mask for a bit, and he’s really a globalist,” Bessent said. “He was governor of the Bank of Canada, then governor of the Bank of England, then he was the U.N. climate czar, and he tried to disappear that credential, seem like he was more reasonable — and when he said he wants to make Canada an energy powerhouse,” Bessent said, “Canada has great natural resources, but I don’t think he wants to bring them out.”

Chinese checkers

He further criticized Carney’s recent engagement with Beijing.

“He was just in China, and President Trump said Canada should trade with China,” Bessent said. “But when he came out and said China shares Canadian values — really?”

Turning to Alberta, Bessent highlighted the province’s resource wealth and frustrations over stalled infrastructure projects.

“Alberta is a wealth of natural resources, but they won’t let them build a pipeline to the Pacific,” he said. “I think we should let them come down into the U.S., and Alberta is a natural partner for the U.S. They have great resources.”

Bessent also noted Alberta’s distinct political culture, describing Albertans as “very independent people,” and said he had heard rumors of a possible referendum on whether the province should remain in Canada.

RELATED: Carney puts America last at Davos; Trump hits back

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

Going it alone?

Jeffrey Rath, legal counsel for the Alberta Prosperity Project, said Bessent’s remarks reflect conversations Alberta sovereignty advocates have been having privately with U.S. officials for months.

“That comes directly out of the meetings we’ve been holding in Washington, D.C.,” Rath told Align.

“We’ve raised the issue with them, and the Americans are very open to having a pipeline come down from Washington through Montana and Idaho … to the West Coast to service Korea, Japan.”

Rath said such infrastructure would strengthen U.S.-led trade alliances in the Pacific and reduce dependence on China.

He contrasted that approach with Carney’s recent visit to Beijing.

“That very alliance that Carney completely ignored when he skipped over all of them and went directly to communist China to declare, you know, Canada’s alliance and allegiance to communist China,” Rath said.

No accident

Rath also emphasized the influence of the U.S. treasury secretary within the American political system, speaking from his own perspective.

“Scott Bessent is literally the second-most powerful man in the world,” Rath said. “All it takes is one or two changes to U.S. Treasury policy towards Canadian debt, towards Canadian imports, towards Canadian investments and the taxation of Canadian businesses and assets in the United States, etc., and Canada would be bankrupt in three days.”

According to Rath, Bessent’s reference to a possible Alberta referendum was not accidental.

“When Scott Bessent is saying — tongue-in-cheek — ‘I’ve heard a rumor that there might be an independence referendum in Alberta this year,’ you know, what Scott Bessent is tipping his hand to is that … they are aware of what’s going on in Alberta at the highest levels,” Rath said.

Rath pointed to visible public support for the independence petition drive.

“They are aware of people lined up for miles into cold January nights to sign the Alberta Declaration of Independence to get Alberta out of Canada,” he said. “They’re aware of what a great partner Alberta will be to the United States of America because we’re philosophically aligned.”

​Donald trump, Canada, Alberta independence, Calgary, Oil, Pipeline, Scott bessent, Mark carney, Jeffrey rath, Alberta prosperity project, China, Lifestyle, Letter from canada 

The Senate failed Thursday to advance a government funding package that includes the Department of Homeland Security, significantly increasing the likelihood of a partial federal government shutdown as Democrats push for limits on immigration enforcement practices.

In a procedural vote required to move the six-bill appropriations package forward, the measure fell 45-55, well short of the 60 votes needed to clear the hurdle. Multiple Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, though most GOP opposition stemmed from procedural calculations.

‘Because no agreement has been reached, the failed Senate vote could allow funding for DHS and other agencies to expire at midnight Friday’

Democrats withheld support for the package while demanding changes to DHS policy, especially reforms tied to how Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operate. Party leaders say they will not back the funding bill without significant adjustments or separating the DHS from other appropriations, a stance that directly stalled the vote.

The Senate was expected to vote again Thursday night but postponed the vote until Friday morning.

RELATED: All you need to know about shutdown day

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and other Democrats outlined proposed reforms this week — including restrictions on agent conduct, enhanced accountability measures, and limits on mask use by federal agents — tied to heightened scrutiny after recent shootings by immigration agents.

“Let me be clear: Until ICE is properly reined in and overhauled, the DHS funding bill won’t have the votes to pass the Senate,” Schumer said.

Because no agreement has been reached, the failed Senate vote could allow funding for DHS and other agencies to expire at midnight Friday, bringing the government closer to a partial shutdown.

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While the Trump administration has been making every effort to resume control over Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations following a couple of fatal shootings earlier this month, leftists have continued to press their foot on the proverbial accelerator in their race to chaos.

On Thursday afternoon, a clip of self-described “comedian” Kathy Griffin urging her followers to follow in the footsteps of violent agitators in Minnesota went viral.

‘Sorry, but we have to know who’s on our team, and start to plan.’

Addressing those in her audience who are “awake,” Kathy Griffin refers to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom provoked law enforcement in the minutes leading up to their death, as “murders.” She uses these examples as well as the immigration detention centers, which she calls “concentration camps,” as proof that it is time to take action.

RELATED: ‘Organized obstruction’: Leaked alleged Signal chats show anti-ICE radicals tracking ICE agents, chasing vehicles

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Out.com

“So take that in, and I know you don’t want to participate in something radical. I don’t either. I wish I could just go on the road and do my funny stories about celebrities or making fun of politicians, but not even have to acknowledge this. But it is happening all around you.”

She goes on to talk about ICE enforcement in her hometown of Los Angeles, suggesting that the resistance model in Minnesota is something to follow:

And I think it’s time to talk to your neighbors, find out if they’re MAGA or not. Sorry, but we have to know who’s on our team, and start to plan. Is there a way we can do something as a community? When I hear from my followers in Minnesota, they describe a very sophisticated channel of a system of things that they do to help one another. And they use encrypted apps, and like I said, everyone has whistles and honks their horn. But they organize in small groups. And they’ve told me that they learned this from the George Floyd incident.

Griffin was apparently referring to the leaked alleged Signal chats in Minneapolis that independent journalist Cam Higby exposed within the last week.

“Live your life, but be conscious of this. And if you’re silent, you’re complicit,” Griffin says near the end of the clip.

The clip posted by Libs of TikTok garnered nearly 600,000 views by Friday morning.

Kathy Griffin has 1.7 million followers on X and 864,000 followers on Instagram.

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​Politics, Kathy griffin, Trump, Trump administration, Los angeles, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Ice, Anti-ice, Anti-ice protests, Signal groups, Cam higby 

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon put Don Lemon “on notice” after he allegedly joined other radicals in participating in a so-called “ICE Out Action” by storming Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18.

It appeared, however, that the former CNN talking head might avoid consequence for his alleged involvement in the church invasion when, earlier this month, an activist judge refused to issue a warrant for his arrest.

Evidently, that was a surmountable obstacle.

‘A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest!’

Federal agents arrested Lemon on Thursday night. Sources told CBS News that agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations were reportedly involved in the arrest, which apparently came hours after a grand jury was impaneled.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday morning that Lemon was arrested at her direction along with three others involved in the church invasion, namely Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy.

A source told the Washington Examiner’s Christian Datoc that Lemon has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act.

Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, stated that the arrest took place in Los Angeles, where the radical was supposedly covering this weekend’s Grammy Awards.

“Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” Lowell said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”

RELATED: ‘This is First Amendment activity’: Democrats give church-storming mobs their stamp of approval

Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Lemon — who suggested in October that “black people, brown people” should take up arms against ICE — appeared to join other radicals in disrupting a service at Cities Church, video showed. The church was targeted because of a pastor’s reported role at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The leftist interlopers not only screamed and chanted but castigated the pastor and pressed parishioners individually to answer whether they support ICE.

Lemon, who lost his CNN gig amid accusations of sexist comments, seemingly slipped in and out of character as a journalist during the mob action, stating, “There’s nothing in the Constitution that tells you what time you can protest. You can protest at any time. That’s the whole point of it — is to disrupt, is to make uncomfortable. And that’s what they’re doing, and that’s what I believe when I say everyone has to be willing to sacrifice something. You have to make people uncomfortable in these times.”

The former CNN host also lectured lead Pastor Jonathan Parnell after Parnell said the mob action was “unacceptable” and that it was “shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.”

“There’s a Constitution and the First Amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest,” Lemon told Parnell, excusing the mob’s interference and intimidation tactics.

Dhillon later responded to Lemon’s defense of the mob action, noting, “A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”

Lemon is reportedly scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday morning.

Liberals who were silent when Blaze News reporter Steve Baker was arrested for covering the Jan. 6 riot are apoplectic over the arrest.

Jemele Hill, a writer for the Atlantic, called the radical’s arrest “horrifying,” adding that “this absolutely cannot stand.”

Jim Acosta, also formerly of CNN, adhered to a similar script, writing, “This is outrageous and cannot stand. The First Amendment is under attack in America!”

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​Don lemon, Lemon, Arrest, Fbi, Cities church, St. paul, Minnesota, Anti-ice, Leftist, Radical, Cnn, Winning, Dhillon, Politics