Vice President JD Vance visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem with his wife, Usha, on Thursday, attending a private Mass and praying at the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and empty tomb.

Vance, a convert to Catholicism whose wife is a Hindu, visited all of the sites within the sprawling basilica, including Golgotha, the “place of the skull” where Jesus was crucified; the Stone of Anointing, which is believed to be the limestone slab where Jesus’ body was prepared for burial; and the Holy Sepulchre, Joseph of Arimathea’s monument where Christ’s body was interred prior to his resurrection.

‘I think we’re on a very good pathway.’

In addition to thanking the Franciscan monks who celebrated a private Mass for his family and for those Americans working for peace, Vance expressed gratitude to the Catholic, Greek, and Armenian priests who have long cared for the holy place, stating, “What an amazing blessing to have visited the site of Christ’s death and resurrection.”

Following an 4th-century investigation into the whereabouts of the site where Christ was crucified and buried, the Roman emperor Constantine settled on the current location — which had long been venerated by the early Christians — to erect a basilica.

Since Hadrian previously had the location strategically covered with pagan temples, Constantine had the pagan shrines toppled to make room for a basilica where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — largely an 11th-century crusader reconstruction — now stands despite fires, Muslim attacks, and earthquakes.

RELATED: White House hammers Jen Psaki over comments about JD Vance’s wife: ‘Circle back on that, moron’

Photo by NATHAN HOWARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

At the Stone of Anointing, a bishop provided Vance on Thursday with a red pillow on which to kneel, and so he did, making the sign of the cross, placing his hand on the limestone slab, and bowing his head in silent prayer, according to a White House press report.

After Vance and his wife headed to the empty tomb, a bishop told the White House press pool that he was lighting two candles from the flame at the Holy Sepulchre to send back to the White House.

At one point during the tour of the church, Vance joked to a bishop, “You guys have been protecting me from bumping my head. You could join the Secret Service.”

Photo by NATHAN HOWARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Theophilos III, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, was among the Christian clergymen who greeted and accompanied the vice president.

According to the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Theophilos III “conveyed his respectful greetings to President Donald J. Trump and expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the efforts of the United States administration, under President Trump’s leadership, to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and to alleviate the suffering of the innocent.”

Days prior to his visit to the church, Vance told reporters, “I hope to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe is the site that Jesus Christ was crucified in. And I know that Christians have many titles for Jesus Christ, and one of them is the Prince of Peace. … I’d ask all people of faith, in particular my fellow Christians, to pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region in the world.”

After his visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Vance stated, “May the Prince of Peace have mercy on us, and bless our efforts for peace.”

Keen on maintaining the fragile peace brokered by President Donald Trump in Gaza, Vance said on Thursday before leaving Israel that he was “insulted” by the 25-24 vote in the Knesset to annex the West Bank, stressing it was a “political stunt with no practical significance.”

Despite the provocative vote, Vance thanked the Israeli government for hosting him and underscored, “I think we’re on a very good pathway.”

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A crash on Tuesday in California involving an illegal alien truck driver resulted in three deaths and the hospitalization of several others.

Authorities identified the commercial truck driver allegedly responsible for the deadly collision as Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national in the United States illegally.

‘It is a terrible tragedy three innocent people lost their lives due to the reckless open border policies that allowed an illegal alien to be released into the US and drive an 18-wheeler on America’s highways.’

The California Highway Patrol arrested Singh, and he is being detained without bail at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino.

The CHP told KCBS-TV that officers are investigating whether Singh has a valid commercial driver’s license to operate the semitruck.

Authorities claim Singh was speeding, and they suspect he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash on the 10 Freeway in Ontario that caused three deaths and injuries to four others. All of the victims were adults, the Ontario Fire Department told KCBS.

Rodrigo Jimenez of the CHP told KTLA that one of the vehicles involved in the collision was so badly mangled that investigators still had not identified its make and model.

RELATED: Exclusive: DOT withholds $40M from blue state for flouting English requirements for truckers

Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images

“The fact that there are so many commercial vehicles involved in the crash, there’s a lot of weight behind the crash force,” Jimenez told the news outlet. “This is a very complex investigation, and that’s why officers from our multi-disciplinary accident investigation team have taken over.”

“This is a tragic crash because it was very preventable,” he continued. “If somebody had just paid attention, if everyone was driving sober, this tragedy would not have occurred.”

Singh faces charges of driving under the influence of drugs and causing bodily injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Dash camera footage from Singh’s cab showed the truck plowing into multiple vehicles without Singh appearing to apply the brakes.

Blaze News has reached out the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for comment.

RELATED: The fraud crippling American trucking: ‘Ghost’ carriers and ‘NO NAME GIVEN’ driver’s licenses issued to foreigners

Photo by: Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an arrest detainer against Singh. The department noted that he was released into the country under the Biden administration after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2022.

“It is a terrible tragedy three innocent people lost their lives due to the reckless open border policies that allowed an illegal alien to be released into the U.S. and drive an 18-wheeler on America’s highways,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

“This accident follows a disturbing trend of illegal aliens driving 18-wheelers and semitrucks on America’s roads,” she continued. “Earlier this week, DHS highlighted another fatal accident in Indiana caused by an illegal alien driving a semitruck. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is working day-in and day-out to make America’s roads safe again.”

Earlier this month, the Department of Transportation announced it would withhold $40 million from California after the state failed to comply with English-language proficiency requirements for CDL holders.

DOT Secretary Sean Duffy called the situation “OUTRAGEOUS,” adding, “This is exactly why I set new restrictions that prohibit ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS from operating trucks.”

He demanded that Newsom “join every other state in the U.S. in enforcing these new actions to prevent any more accidents and deaths.”

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​News, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, California, Jashanpreet singh, Sean duffy, Department of transportation, Dot, Trucking industry, American trucking industry, Immigration crisis, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Trucking, Politics 

A university professor is attacking classic literature through the guise of academia.

Specifically targeted are the beloved works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and even William Shakespeare.

‘Diverse populations and Africans lived there.’

Onyeka Nubia is a British historian employed as the assistant professor for the faculty of arts at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

Hobbitual racism

In a history module called “Decolonising Tolkien et al,” Nubia teaches that “people of colour” are demonized in the “Lord of the Rings” books and targets certain races of creatures and humans for his analysis.

According to the Telegraph, Nubia noted groups called the Easterlings, Southrons, and men from Harad as being particularly deprecated. According to Lord of the Rings Fandom pages, the Harad and Southrons had black skin, while the Easterlings were “sallow or olive.”

Fans of the series know that none of these races are noted as being undesirable based solely on the color of their skin, but Nubia claims that these races are depicted as “the natural enemy of the white man.”

He makes similar claims about orcs, despite the fact that they are literal monsters bred for war. As well, Nubia reportedly declares that the stories showcase “anti-African antipathy,” even though several of the story’s most significant evildoers are light-skinned males, like Grima, Saruman, and Gollum.

RELATED: Don’t fall for the fake ‘banned books’ narrative

Ian McKellen (L) as Gandalf with Elijah Wood as Frodo in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Photo by New Line/WireImage/Getty Images

Narnia business

The professor reportedly does not stop at Tolkien, though, and goes after classics like “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

The fantasy book is reportedly described as providing unbecoming portrayals of oriental stereotypes when describing the Calormenes. These characters are described as “cruel” people with “long beards” and “orange-coloured turbans.”

A fan page describes them as “tan-skinned” men who are “mostly bearded,” wearing “flowing robes, turbans, and wooden shoes.”

Nubia also provided articles that said medieval England had “diverse populations and Africans lived there,” but “ethnic chauvinism” was apparent in the literature in the region.

Bad Bard

This was also allegedly present in Shakespeare’s work. Nubia’s syllabus reportedly said the author promoted a vision of a “fictional, mono-ethnic English past.”

Calling Shakespeare’s plays problematic, Nubia claims they are “missing direct references to Africans living in England” which creates the “illusion” of racial homogeneity in the country.

RELATED: Father-Son Movie Bucket List

Director Peter Jackson attending “The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers” world premiere, December 5, 2002. Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images

As noted by Geeks and Gamers, prominent voices who cover the medium spoke out against the alleged teachings.

“If you see orcs as black people YOU are the racist,” wrote Nerdrotic, an X account with over 260,000 followers.

The Critical Drinker, who has over 2.3 million YouTube subscribers, wrote on X similarly, “If you look at Orcs and see people of colour, that’s a ‘You’ problem.”

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​Align, Lord of the rings, Racism, Woke, University, Art, Entertainment 

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) recently announced that his Democratic colleagues on the House Oversight Committee are putting together a “master ICE tracker” so illegal aliens and activists throughout the nation can be made aware of federal operations.

Garcia made the announcement on Monday alongside Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), who has routinely denounced ICE and Border Patrol agents arresting illegal aliens and criminals in her city.

While the Oversight Democrats insist the database will include only “confirmed cases of ICE misconduct AFTER they happen,” Democrats and the mainstream media have hyped up stories claiming misconduct of federal agents when no misconduct took place.

‘It’s only a matter of time before a citizen attacks and hurts an agent or gets hurt themselves.’

“Republicans are putting American citizens at risk by refusing to lift a finger to hold the Trump Admin accountable,” House Oversight Democrats accused.

Actions such as creating databases, doxxing agents, and calling federal agents the “Gestapo” have created an environment where the Department of Homeland Security personnel and its partners have faced an over 1,000% increase in assaults during operations.

RELATED: Illegal alien shot after allegedly ramming car into federal vehicle was once honored by Democrat

@USAttyEssayli/X

Democrats committed to targeting DHS personnel have added another layer of concern for federal agents who are eager to undo the damage they saw firsthand from the Biden-Harris border crisis.

“I think those type of applications put our lives in danger. The threats have increased since the general public is getting involved in obstructing. It’s only a matter of time before a citizen attacks and hurts an agent or gets hurt themselves,” a DHS agent told Blaze News.

“Let’s call this what it is: a pipeline that will funnel information on American law enforcement directly into the hands of anarchists, domestic terrorists, and cartel members. I am working with [Pam Bondi] to ensure that ANY individual who doxxes, threatens, or assaults our law enforcement officers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on X.

— (@)

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​Politics 

Last weekend, Alex Stein, Blaze Media’s resident troll and host of “Prime Time with Alex Stein,” entered the belly of the beast at Dallas’ No Kings protest, where violent liberal women assaulted him.

“The footage you just saw was from this past weekend. … It was the No Kings round two protest, the anti-Donald Trump protest. And I really did not understand what we were even protesting because we don’t have kings in this country,” says Alex.

“Really and truly, they were the ones that were acting like kings the whole time. They were the ones that were being rude and making me leave their country — a.k.a. the public park where they’re all doing fentanyl.”

Alex’s guest political consultant and podcast host Ryan Girdusky describes the protest as “noticeably old” and “heavily female.”

“I think that those are the last people really watching cable news, and they are creating almost like a cable news-induced psychosis that’s generational,” he says.

These geriatric protesters, he believes, “have this notion that democracy is ending,” even though “every sign is that democracy is there.”

“It so much reminds me of when teenage girls all of a sudden say they’re trans. Like it is induced by what they’re absorbing from the culture, and they have sat there and marinated in it,” he tells Alex.

“It’s kind of like the hippie Boomers that all got to buy their house for $100,000, and now they’re worth like $2 million,” says Alex.

After being assaulted by some of these people, he wonders if conservatives are really becoming genuine victims in this country. “We keep on saying we’re victims. Is that a real thing, or is that a right-wing conspiracy?” he asks Ryan.

After receiving “over a thousand threats … within a 12-hour period” of being banned from CNN for a perceived Islamophobic comment he made to Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan, Ryan says the danger is real.

“I think Republicans are under assault, and there are crazy people who don’t have the moral compass and the morality to sit there and see that there’s a soul behind somebody, and they’re created in the image of God,” he says.

And on top of that, they genuinely believe they are “fighting Nazis.”

“Is [a left-wing protest] the most dangerous place you could be? No. You could always be in a black majority Democrat-run city somewhere,” he says.

To hear more of the conversation and see footage of Alex at the No Kings protest, watch the episode above.

Want more from Alex Stein?

To enjoy more of Alex’s culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Prime time with alex stein, Alex stein, No kings, No kings protest, Dallas, Ryan girdusky, Cnn, Leftwing violence, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Current and former NBA coaches and players were caught up in a massive FBI operation that resulted in dozens of arrests.

The arrests involved not only illegal gambling on NBA games but also illegal and rigged poker games allegedly put on by the Italian mob families of La Cosa Nostra.

‘We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars of fraud.’

Current Portland Trail Blazers coach and NBA champion (as a player) Chauncey Billups, current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, and former NBA player and championship-winning coach Damon Jones were all named by the FBI in unsealed indictments on Thursday.

In both the betting and poker cases, there were three overlapping suspects, one of whom was Jones.

FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella announced the criminal enterprises, which included wild cases of extortion and fraud, resulting in 31 arrests.

According to Nocella, six defendants participated in brazen sports corruption schemes that involved insider sports betting conspiracies and included confidential information about NBA players and teams.

“Betting on inside, non-public information about NBA athletes and teams,” which included “when specific players would be sitting out” or when they would be taken out early for injuries or illnesses, the gamblers “relied on corrupt individuals, including Jones and Rozier,” who abused their long-standing friendships with players and coaches to get inside information.

“In at least one instance they got their information by threatening a current player, [Jontay] Porter, because of his pre-existing gambling debts,” Nocella revealed. Porter, who played for the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the NBA for life in 2024 after disclosing information to a bettor that resulted in a $1.1 million bet.

The U.S. attorney said that hundreds of thousands of dollars were made through fraudulent bets on the Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Raptors. Most of the money was made through prop bets, both online and in person at casinos. Those involved placed the maximum bets possible, and most of their bets were successful. The money was allegedly laundered through wire transfers and cash exchanges.

Things get even more complex and strange regarding the illegal poker games, which utilized obscure technology and even robberies.

RELATED: Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter banned from NBA for life after disclosing info to bettor for $1.1 million bet

Dozens were arrested in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games put on by the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families of the Italian mob.

As early as 2019, poker games in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan lured high-rolling players who were excited at the idea of playing cards with well-known former NBA players like Billups and Jones. These victims, Nocella noted, were known as “fish.”

The superstar athletes were referred to as “face cards.”

“Everybody else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the ‘face cards,’ were in on the scam,” Nocella explained.

Once the game was under way, the defendants “fleeced” the victims out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game. The organizers also used a variety of complicated technology. For example, they used off-the-shelf shuffling machines that had been secretly altered so that they could read the hands that were dealt and relay that information to an off-site operator.

The operator would then send that info to a person at the table via cell phone, who was known as the “quarterback.”

The “quarterback” would then signal to others at the table who had the best hand.

Other technology included poker trays that read cards, special contact lenses or glasses that could read premarked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards.

Crimes related to the card games included robbery at gunpoint in order to obtain the rigged shuffling machine and extortion to ensure that gambling debts were repaid.

RELATED: More MLB players suspended for gambling, including top Oakland reliever Michael Kelly, World Series pitcher Andrew Saalfrank

Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons. JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images

While the mob families were already hosting non-rigged but illegal card games in New York, they allegedly became involved in the high-tech games by organizing them, taking cuts of the winnings, and ensuring that debts were collected.

Director Patel called the indictments a result of “an illegal gambling operation and sports-rigging operation” that has been going on for years.

“We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud,” Patel added.

Charges related to the NBA gambling included conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering

For the poker games, wire fraud conspiracy, illegal gambling, money laundering, Hobbs Act robbery, and extortion were examples of the charges.

Rozier will appear in front of a judge on Thursday after he was arrested in Orlando, Florida, whereas Billups will see a judge in federal court in Portland.

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A 41-year-old man had just gotten home from a construction job and was sitting in his car in the 500 block of West Scott Street in Chicago texting a co-worker about the next day’s schedule, CWB Chicago reported, citing prosecutors.

With that, the outlet said another male rode a scooter through the parking lot, crashed, and fell.

RELATED: Blaze News original: A dozen times gangs on motorcycles, ATVs, and bikes harassed, attacked, and killed others

Photo by JONAS ROOSENS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

The man sitting in his car used his phone to record a short clip of the scooter rider on the pavement, the outlet said.

But apparently, the guy on the ground didn’t like his mishap finding its way on camera.

So prosecutors said he got up, parked his scooter near the 41-year-old man’s car, walked toward a grassy area, and returned holding a gun, the outlet said.

Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Jones detained on charges of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Surveillance video allegedly showed the gunman walking up to the car, standing next to the driver’s side door, and firing two shots downward toward the victim’s lap, CWB Chicago said.

He then moved to the back of the car and fired several more rounds as he walked away, the outlet said, citing prosecutors.

The armed victim returned fire from inside the vehicle and again after opening the door as the gunman — identified as 40-year-old Michael J. Jones — fled the scene, CWB Chicago said.

The victim called 911 and was found on the pavement next to his car with gunshot wounds to his thigh, calf, and scrotum, the outlet added, citing court filings.

More from CWB Chicago:

Police identified Jones through an informant who knew him by name and had learned of his involvement. Additional video footage showed Jones walking toward his nearby home shortly after the shooting, prosecutors claim.

When officers arrested Jones recently, they found a loaded handgun in his cargo pants pocket, prompting Jones to explain that he carried the weapon because he lived in a dangerous neighborhood, according to prosecutors.

Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Jones detained on charges of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the incident, which occurred just before 9:30 p.m. July 11, the outlet said.

Jones has a 2016 felony gun conviction, CWB Chicago said, citing court records.

Cook County Jail records indicate Jones was booked Saturday and is scheduled for a Thursday hearing.

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​Chicago, Scooter, Repeat offender, Aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, Shooting, Felon in possession of a firearm, Arrest, Crime 

Lawmakers and the public have long grown tired of Silicon Valley’s “move fast and break things” ethos. But Big Tech hasn’t learned its lesson.

In the mad rush to roll out artificial intelligence, companies have cast aside basic corporate responsibility. Meta’s chatbots allowed children to engage in sexual conversations. OpenAI’s ChatGPT helped a child plan and commit suicide. And mounting evidence shows AI chatbots harming mental health, particularly for children.

OpenAI has created a copyright infringement factory.

The latest example of Silicon Valley’s negligence? Mass copyright infringement.

The wild digital west

When AI products like ChatGPT were new, copyright infringement — while potentially common in AI training — was more opaque. The early versions of today’s large language models weren’t really capable of producing realistic copies of original copyrighted works that could compete with the originals. Moreover, training data was hidden from public view.

But new releases, particularly OpenAI’s Sora 2, have smashed that paradigm. This past week, X and other social media platforms have been flooded with Sora 2 users’ reproductions of TV shows like “Family Guy,” “South Park,” “SpongeBob,” and more. While these clips are not yet perfect replicas, they are extremely close, and it is likely a matter of years — if not months — before users can produce copyright-infringing content that is essentially indistinguishable from the originals.

Flipping the script

OpenAI initially put the onus on copyright holders to “opt out” of their creations from being used in Sora 2. But this simply is not how copyright law works. In fact, it violates the express purpose of copyright law: to ensure that your work stays yours. Others have to ask you for permission to opt in to using your work; reversing that would render copyright law toothless.

After the understandable outcry from copyright holders and actors’ guilds, OpenAI changed its copyright policies, switching from the opt-out model to opt-in. Rights holders now choose whether to have their creations included in Sora 2.

CEO Sam Altman seemed to imply that he was surprised at the backlash. “I think the theory of what it was going to feel like to people, and then actually seeing the thing, people had different responses,” he told the Verge. “It felt more different to images than people expected.”

This dubious claim is not an excuse to violate copyright laws wantonly. In waiting days to change course, Altman has also opened a Pandora’s box: the idea that AI can create entire seasons of your favorite shows. Altman knows that users will want it and may hope that the pressure will force copyright holders to take a deal that doesn’t fully represent the value of their intellectual property.

Altman has said as much. “We are going to try sharing some of this revenue with rights holders who want their characters generated by users,” he wrote recently. His questionable usage of “try” notwithstanding, the game he is playing is clear: Audiences are going to want this. You either give us permission — after which we will “try” to compensate you — or people will likely use AI to violate your copyright anyway.

RELATED: Does anyone think we’re up to the task of controlling AI?

Mininyx Doodle via iStock/Getty Images

Congress must act

None of this will eliminate AI’s chilling ability to generate lifelike images of people. While the Trump administration cracked down on some of the worst offenders with the Take It Down Act — which bans involuntarily created AI porn — you can still easily create false images of people doing all sorts of things.

For now, the predominant use case may be “funny” videos of SpongeBob fleeing from police. But it would be a simple task, for example, to replace SpongeBob with realistic videos of innocent people committing crimes.

OpenAI and other AI companies have, in essence, created a copyright infringement factory that puts the onus on copyright holders to vindicate their rights, while signaling that they may leverage a rabid user base if copyright holders don’t get in line. This isn’t right, and it shouldn’t be how the law works. Given how flippantly OpenAI and other Big Tech companies have treated the law, Congress needs to consider legal clarifications that force these firms to change their behavior.

​Opinion & analysis, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Openai, Sam altman, Chatgpt, Sora 2, Copyright, Congress, Big tech, Spongebob squarepants, South park, Family guy, Entertainment, Television, Data, Theft