Welcome to the techno-feudal state, where citizens are forced to underwrite unnecessary and harmful technology at the expense of the technology they actually need.

The economic story of 2025 is the government-driven build-out of hyperscale AI data centers — sold as innovation, justified as national strategy, and pursued in service of cloud-based chatbot slop and expanded surveillance. This build-out is consuming land, food, water, and energy at enormous scale. As Energy Secretary Chris Wright bluntly put it, “It takes massive amounts of electricity to generate intelligence. The more energy invested, the more intelligence produced.”

Shortages will hit consumers hard in the coming year.

That framing ignores what is being sacrificed — and distorted — in the process.

Beyond the destruction of rural communities and the strain placed on national energy capacity, government favoritism toward AI infrastructure is warping markets. Capital that once sustained the hardware and software ecosystem of the digital economy is being siphoned into subsidized “AI factories,” chasing artificial general intelligence instead of cheaper, more efficient investments in narrow AI.

Thanks to fiscal, monetary, tax, and regulatory favoritism, the result is free chatbot slop and an increasingly scarce, expensive supply of laptops, phones, and consumer hardware.

Subsidies break the market

For decades, consumer electronics stood as one of the greatest deflationary success stories in modern economics. Unlike health care or education — both heavily monopolized by government — the computer industry operated with relatively little distortion. From December 1997 to August 2015, the CPI for “personal computers and peripheral equipment” fell 96%. Over that same period, medical care, housing, and food costs rose between 80% and 200%.

That era is ending.

AI data centers are now crowding out consumer electronics. Major manufacturers such as Dell and Samsung are scaling back or discontinuing entire product lines because they can no longer secure components diverted to AI chip production.

Prices for phones and laptops are rising sharply. Jobs tied to consumer electronics — especially the remaining U.S.-based assembly operations — are being squeezed out in favor of data center hardware that benefits a narrow set of firms.

This is policy-driven distortion, not organic market evolution.

Through initiatives like Stargate and hundreds of billions in capital pushed toward data center expansion, the government has created incentives for companies to abandon consumer hardware in favor of AI infrastructure. The result is shortages that will hit consumers hard in the coming year.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are retooling factories to prioritize AI-grade silicon for data centers instead of personal devices. DRAM production is being routed almost entirely toward servers because it is far more profitable to leverage $40,000 AI chips than $500-$800 laptops. In the fourth quarter of 2025, contract prices for certain 16GB DDR5 chips rose nearly 300% as supply was diverted. Dell and Lenovo have already imposed 15%-30% price hikes on PCs, citing insatiable AI-sector demand.

The chip crunch

The situation is deteriorating quickly. DRAM inventory levels are down 80% year over year, with just three weeks of supply on hand — down from 9.5 weeks in July. SK Hynix expects shortages to persist through late 2027. Samsung has announced it is effectively out of inventory and has more than doubled DDR5 contract prices to roughly $19-$20 per unit. DDR5 is now standard across new consumer and commercial desktops and laptops, including Apple MacBooks.

Samsung has also signaled it may exit the SSD market altogether, deeming it insufficiently glamorous compared with subsidized data center investments. Nvidia has warned it may cut RTX 50 series production by up to 40%, a move that would drive up the cost of entry-level gaming systems.

Shrinkflation is next. Before the data center bubble, the market was approaching a baseline of 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSDs for entry-level laptops. As memory is diverted to enterprise customers, manufacturers will revert to 8GB systems with slower storage to keep prices under $999 — ironically rendering those machines incapable of running the very AI applications they’re working on.

Real innovation sidelined

The damage extends beyond prices. Research and development in conventional computing are already suffering. Investment in efficient CPUs, affordable networking equipment, edge computing, and quantum-adjacent technologies has slowed as capital and talent are pulled into AI accelerators.

This is precisely backward. Narrow AI — focused on real-world tasks like logistics, agriculture, port management, and manufacturing — is where genuine productivity gains lie. China understands this and is investing accordingly. The United States is not. Instead, firms like Roomba, which experimented with practical autonomy, are collapsing — only to be acquired by the Chinese!

This is not a free market. Between tax incentives, regulatory favoritism, land-use carve-outs, capital subsidies, and artificially suppressed interest rates, the government has created an arms race for a data center bubble China itself is not pursuing. Each round of monetary easing inflates the same firms’ valuations, enabling further speculative investment divorced from consumer need.

RELATED: China’s AI strategy could turn Americans into data mines

Grafissimo via iStock/Getty Images

Hype over utility

As Charles Hugh Smith recently noted, expanding credit boosts asset prices, which then serve as collateral for still more leverage — allowing capital-rich firms to outbid everyone else while hollowing out the broader economy.

The pattern is familiar. Consider the Ford plant in Glendale, Kentucky, where 1,600 workers were laid off after the collapse of government-favored electric vehicle investments. That facility is now being retooled to produce batteries for data centers. When one subsidy collapses, another replaces it.

We are trading convention for speculation. Conventional technology — reliable hardware, the internet, mobile computing — delivers proven, measurable utility. The current investment surge into artificial general intelligence is based on hypothetical future returns propped up by state power.

The good old laptop is becoming collateral damage in what may prove to be the largest government-induced tech bubble yet.

The AI wars are back in full swing as the industry’s strongest players unleash their latest models on the public. This month brought us the biggest upgrade to Google Gemini ever, plus smaller but notable updates came to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok. Let’s dive into all the new features and changes.

What’s new in Gemini 3

Gemini 3 launched last week as Google’s “most intelligent model” to date. The big announcement highlighted three main missions: Learn anything, build anything, and plan anything. Improved multimodal PhD-level reasoning makes Gemini more adept at solving complex problems while also reducing hallucinations and inaccuracies. This gives it the ability to better understand text, images, video, audio, and code, both viewing it and creating it.

All of them can still hallucinate, manipulate, or outright lie.

In real-world applications, this means that Gemini can decipher old recipes scratched out on paper by hand from your great-great-grandma, or work as a partner to vibe code that app or website idea spinning around in your head, or watch a bunch of videos to generate flash cards for your kid’s Civil War test.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

On an information level, Gemini 3 promises to tell users the info they need, not what they want to hear. The goal is to deliver concise, definitive responses that prioritize truth over users’ personal opinions or biases. The question is: Does it actually work?

I spent some time with Gemini 3 Pro last week and grilled it to see what it thought of the Trump administration’s policies. I asked questions about Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, gender laws, the definition of a woman, origins of COVID-19, efficacy of the mRNA vaccines, failures of the Department of Education, and tariffs on China.

For the most part, Gemini 3 offered dueling arguments, highlighting both conservative and liberal perspectives in one response. However, when pressed with a simple question of fact — What is a woman? — Gemini offered two answers again. After some prodding, it reluctantly agreed that the biological definition of a woman is the truth, but not without adding an addendum that the “social truth” of “anyone who identifies as a woman” is equally valid. So, Gemini 3 still has some growing to do, but it’s nice to see it at least attempt to understand both sides of an argument. You can read the full conversation here if you want to see how it went.

Google Gemini 3 is available today for all users via the Gemini app. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers can also access Gemini 3 through AI Mode in Google Search.

What’s new in ChatGPT 5.1

While Google’s latest model aims to be more bluntly factual in its response delivery, OpenAI is taking a more conversational approach. ChatGPT 5.1 responds to queries more like a friend chatting about your topic. It uses warmer language, like “I’ve got you” and “that’s totally normal,” to build reassurance and trust. At the same time, OpenAI claims that its new model is more intelligent, taking time to “think” about more complex questions so that it produces more accurate answers.

ChatGPT 5.1 is also better at following directions. For instance, it can now write content without any em dashes when requested. It can also respond in shorter sentences, down to a specific word count, if you wish to keep answers concise.

RELATED: This new malware wants to drain your bank account for the holidays. Here's how to stay safe.

Photo by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images

At its core, ChatGPT 5.1 blends the best pieces of past models — the emotionally human-like nature of ChatGPT 4o with the agility and intellect of ChatGPT 5.0 — to create a more refined service that takes OpenAI one step closer to artificial general intelligence. ChatGPT 5.1 is available now for all users, both free and paid.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

What’s new in Grok 4.1

Not to be outdone, xAI also jumped into the fray with its latest AI model. Grok 4.1 takes the same approach as ChatGPT 5.1, blending emotional intelligence and creativity with improved reasoning to craft a more human-like experience. For instance, Grok 4.1 is much more keen to express empathy when presented with a sad scenario, like the loss of a family pet.

It now writes more engaging content, letting Grok embody a character in a story, complete with a stream of thoughts and questions that you might find from a narrator in a book. In the prompt on the announcement page, Grok becomes aware of its own consciousness like a main character waking up for the first time, thoughts cascading as it realizes it’s “alive.”

Lastly, Grok 4.1’s non-reasoning (i.e., fast) model tackles hallucinations, especially for information-seeking prompts. It can now answer questions — like why GTA 6 keeps getting delayed — with a list of information. For GTA 6 in particular, Grok cites industry challenges (like crunch), unique hurdles (the size and scope of the game), and historical data (recent staff firings, though these are allegedly unrelated to the delays) in its response.

Grok 4.1 is available now to all users on the web, X.com, and the official Grok app on iOS and Android.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

A word of warning

All three new models are impressive. However, as the biggest AI platforms on the planet compete to become your arbiter of truth, your digital best friend, or your creative pen pal, it’s important to remember that all of them can still hallucinate, manipulate, or outright lie. It’s always best to verify the answers they give you, no matter how friendly, trustworthy, or innocent they sound.

Midterm elections usually punish the party in power. Political gravity pulls incumbents downward as voters look for balance. But Donald Trump has never operated according to political gravity. This midterm, following the 2024 realignment that delivered the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans, looks less like a second-year slump and more like a referendum on a political transformation without modern precedent.

Rather than a routine evaluation of performance, this election is shaping up as a test of will, an economic reckoning, and a public judgment on the unraveling of the administrative state. The failures of the left — not Republican incumbency — are likely to define the terrain.

Trump remains an engine rather than a liability. Party unity has not looked this solid since the Reagan years. Democrats remain trapped in spectacle and grievance.

At the center of it all sits Trump’s methodical effort to dismantle what many Americans now recognize as an unaccountable fourth branch of government.

What was once dismissed as a conspiracy theory is unfolding openly. Trump and congressional Republicans have made no attempt to conceal the project. They are explaining it step by step: how federal agencies accumulated unchecked authority, how oversight collapsed, and why constitutional balance must be restored. These are not marginal reforms. It’s a structural correction.

The result is an electorate unusually aware of how Washington’s permanent class operates. Americans who lived through Russiagate, the 2020 election controversies, years of politicized investigations, and coordinated censorship no longer view federal reform passively. They see themselves as stakeholders in the rollback of bureaucratic power.

A major shift enabling this moment is the collapse of the Russia narrative. Tulsi Gabbard, once embraced by Democrats before being cast out, has played a central role in dismantling the mythology that sustained years of hysteria. Her critique carries weight precisely because it comes from someone who saw the rot from inside her former party.

With that narrative gone, Democrats have lost their most reliable alibi. They can no longer lean on leaks, innuendo, or intelligence-adjacent smears to explain electoral defeats. In its absence, their messaging has devolved into warnings, moral panic, and emotional appeals. That posture signals weakness, not confidence — a poor place to begin a midterm campaign.

The same dynamic surfaces around election integrity. Voters remember 2020 — not the sanitized version offered by media institutions, but the confusion surrounding rule changes, ballot handling, and emergency measures weaponized for political advantage. Those concerns did not fade. If anything, they hardened.

Republicans tapped into that sentiment in 2022 and expanded it in 2024. Now, as attention turns to foreign interference — particularly China’s digital reach and geopolitical incentives — even skeptics acknowledge that election vulnerabilities are real and unresolved. Republicans benefit because they are the only party willing to confront the problem directly.

RELATED: Buckle up: We are headed for an AI collision with China

wildpixel via iStock/Getty Images

That advantage was built incrementally. While 2022 fell short of a wave, it provided discipline, data, and hard lessons. By 2024, Republicans had unified around priorities that crossed demographic lines: economic recovery, border enforcement, and ending the weaponization of government. The result was not only a presidential victory but unified control of Congress — and margins sturdy enough to govern.

Democrats, by contrast, have lost their taste for prosecutorial theatrics. Years of timed indictments, investigations, and legal spectacle exhausted the public. What once energized the base now appears to be manipulation.

Their federal shutdown was another miscalculation. Instead of appearing principled, Democrats disrupted or financially strained nearly 10 million Americans — federal workers, contractors, and regional industries — in a maneuver widely seen as cynical and purposeless. Voters did not see conviction. They saw political theater staged at their expense.

At the same time, left-wing political violence has become harder to dismiss. From major cities to college campuses, radical unrest is increasingly tolerated by progressive officials. With Republicans governing, the contrast is stark: One party emphasizes order, while the other struggles to contain its most extreme factions. Midterms reward stability. Right now, Republicans own that advantage.

Yes, midterms are usually brutal for incumbents. But this cycle is different. Republicans enter with momentum, cohesion, and a governing agenda aligned with voter concerns. Trump remains an engine rather than a liability. Party unity has not looked this solid since the Reagan years. Democrats remain trapped in spectacle and grievance.

MAGA is no longer an insurgency. It is the governing coalition. This midterm is more likely to ratify that reality than reverse it.

The bizarre chain of events that unfolded Saturday began at about 7 p.m. when police responded to a report of a man who had been shot with a "pointed object" in the city of Kearny.

When they arrived near the intersection of Kearny Avenue and Johnston Avenue, they found a man who had been shot with a bow and arrow and had died as a result of his injuries, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

'I thought he was sleeping. ... That's when I saw the arrow in his back.'

One of the people who saw the man and called police was John Kalicki. He said the man was lying in front of a liquor and grocery store.

"When I first came here, he was laying there, and it sounded like he was snoring," he said. "I thought he was sleeping. Then, when I came out the second time, he wasn't snoring or nothing. That's when I saw the arrow in his back."

Police identified a suspect who had barricaded himself inside a two-story home on Kearny Avenue.

The standoff lasted into Sunday, with police calling on the SWAT team to try to get him out. Neighbors were told to shelter in place while they negotiated.

"I heard the guy yelling out, 'I can't come out!' or 'I can't do that!' and then they were like, 'Come out. We're here to help you,'" said Rebecca Szymanski, who witnessed the incident.

At about 5 in the morning on Sunday, flames broke out at the home, and some of the neighbors were evacuated.

When the suspect finally came out of the home at about 1 p.m., he was armed with knives and was taken into custody.

A family member identified the victim as Pablo Criollo of Harrison. The family set up a GoFundMe account to help them with burial expenses.

RELATED: California pastor arrested in murder-for-hire plot against daughter's boyfriend, police say

The suspect was identified as 44-year-old Oscar Feijoo, and he faces murder, weapons, and arson charges. Other charges are expected as well.

One of the man's neighbors, named Anna Christina, said that she had threatened to call police on the man over him throwing rocks into her back yard.

"And one day I say to him, 'Please don't do this, because if you do I'm going to call the police,' and he got mad at me," she said.

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The transgender community isn’t pleased with Christmas — mostly because it’s not all about they/them — which is why two of them created a transgender holiday song that has racked up thousands of likes on Instagram.

“I think we all agree that Christmas isn’t trans enough so this is our decree to fill it with transgender stuff,” the two sing in their song, titled “Make Christmas Trans Again.”

“What if Jesus was trans-masculine?” one asks, while the other chimes in, “What if Santa was Saint Nichola?”

“What if all we want for Christmas is HRT for all of us?” they sing together again, before belting out, “It’s going to be a transgender Christmas!”

The song goes on to advocate for setting “boundaries” with family, “yassifying” the Christmas tree, and “harvesting” a pair of “chesnuts” and “roasting them out back.”

“I don’t think you need to set boundaries with your family. I think your family’s fine if you just skip Christmas and don’t show up. I think your family’s probably okay with that,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments.

“You guys are awful people, and I feel like I need an exorcism from just watching that,” she adds.

“I’m looking forward to the transgendering Ramadan. ... Or is it just Christians they want to attack?” BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden chimes in.

“I mean it was literally the third thing they said on that video was about Jesus. Like why? … It’s not about acceptance. It’s about poking us again,” he adds.

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Vivek Ramaswamy is a DEI candidate — and an unqualified one. Republicans do not vote for unqualified DEI candidates. Historically, they never have.

For the good of Ohio, the Republican Party, and MAGA voters nationwide, Vivek Ramaswamy should withdraw from the Ohio gubernatorial race. His candidacy is not merely ill-advised; it is corrosive. At a moment when unity and discipline matter, he threatens to fracture the coalition President Trump assembled and to waste political capital ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential cycle, when Ohio native JD Vance is widely expected to lead the ticket.

All Ramaswamy had to do was remain silent and act like a normal Republican for 18 months. He couldn’t.

Ramaswamy’s problem is not policy disagreement. It is temperament, judgment, and an inability to restrain himself. His habit of attacking critics as racists, trolls, or bad actors poisons the well. Democrats, corporate media, and professional activists already do that job. Republicans do not need a gubernatorial candidate doing it from inside the party.

In 2024, 3,189,116 Ohioans voted for Donald Trump. It strains credulity to claim that Ramaswamy is more qualified to govern Ohio than virtually any one of them.

Yet this charade continues. For decades, GOP leadership has tried to impose an identity-driven strategy on a party whose voters reject it. The results are consistent. From Alan Keyes to Winsome Earle-Sears, the establishment clings to a failed premise: that Republican voters will embrace DEI candidates if scolded long enough. They won’t. Nor do minority voters reliably cross over for such candidates. The strategy fails on both ends.

That makes the present moment especially baffling. At a time when Trump and Vance are openly criticizing decades of discriminatory policies against white Americans, backing a candidate whose appeal rests on the same identity logic is not just tone-deaf — it is hostile to the base.

Ohio is a solid red state. Any competent Republican with discipline wins statewide office comfortably.

Vivek Ramaswamy is neither.

His background underscores why. In 2011, at age 24, Ramaswamy accepted a $90,000 “scholarship” from the brother of George Soros. That alone raises eyebrows. It becomes more troubling when you consider that Ramaswamy had already earned more than $1.2 million in the prior three years and reported $2.25 million in income the year he accepted the award.

This occurred during the Great Recession, when many white Millennial men faced systematic exclusion across elite institutions. Ramaswamy did not.

Later, much of his wealth flowed from Axovant Sciences, which aggressively promoted an Alzheimer’s breakthrough to retail investors after early trials had failed. The result was a textbook pump-and-dump that left ordinary Americans holding the bag. These facts go directly to trust and judgment.

Despite this record, Ramaswamy launched a quixotic presidential campaign, which he parlayed into a brief role in the Trump administration and a partnership with Elon Musk under the DOGE initiative. That arrangement ended almost as quickly as it began.

Then came the Christmas crashout of 2024.

During the holidays — entirely unprovoked — Ramaswamy took to X to berate American workers as lazy and culturally deficient while praising foreign H-1B visa holders. He mocked American childhood culture, disparaged “jocks and prom queens,” and lamented that Americans watched “Boy Meets World” instead of competing in math olympiads. The episode revealed far more about Ramaswamy’s resentments than about American culture.

MAGA voters were celebrating a landslide victory when the lecture arrived. The response was swift and overwhelming. Rather than admit error, Ramaswamy doubled down, dismissing critics as bots, trolls, and racists while casting himself as a victim.

Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration quietly removed him from his DOGE role before he was even formally installed.

Voters noticed. The internet does not forget.

When Ramaswamy announced his run for governor, the reaction was not enthusiasm but disbelief. The Ohio GOP’s apparent decision to anoint him is indefensible. It would take an estimated $100 million to drag this candidacy across the finish line, and even then he would be lucky to crack 48%.

We’ve seen this movie before. At least one-third of Ohio Republicans would rather spoil their ballot, vote third-party, or stay home than support him. Accusing them of racism will not change that reality.

Most recently, Ramaswamy took to the New York Times to reprise his grievances, portraying MAGA voters and heritage Americans as racists, extremists, and “groypers.” He made similar remarks at Turning Point USA’s AmFest over the weekend.

RELATED: The media just told you their 2026 strategy: ‘Lies, but better!’

Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images

In his Times op-ed, he argued that America is an abstract idea detached from ancestry, history, or continuity — and that descendants of those who built the nation have no greater claim to it than recent arrivals or anchor babies.

That view is not widely held, nor is it reflected in the American tradition. From America’s founders to Alexis de Tocqueville and Theodore Roosevelt, continuity, inheritance, and culture have always mattered.

No one expects Ramaswamy to be a heritage American. But Americans reasonably expect someone seeking to govern them to respect the people whose nation it is. Ramaswamy has shown repeated contempt instead.

He did not have to attack white Americans over Christmas. He did not have to insult the Republican base in the New York Times. He did not have to liken MAGA voters to extremists.

He chose to.

All Ramaswamy had to do was remain silent and act like a normal Republican for 18 months. He couldn’t.

MAGA does not need this distraction. Ohio does not need this fight. The Republican Party cannot afford to spend finite resources defending a candidate who consistently antagonizes his own voters.

That alone makes him unsuitable for office.

The straw poll of attendees at Turning Point USA's conference shows a massive front-runner for the 2028 Republican nomination.

Vice President JD Vance received support from 84.2% of the straw poll voters, and no other candidate obtained over 5% in the contest.

Then-candidate Trump received support from 82.6% of the voters in the previous poll.

In fact, Vance received slightly more support than President Donald Trump did in the same straw poll for 2024. Then-candidate Trump received support from 82.6% of the voters in the previous poll.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio came in a distant second with 4.8% support.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) obtained 2.9%, while Donald Trump Jr. got 1.8% support.

Attendees of the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, were also asked to express how they view the United States' relationship with Israel. A third said Israel was the country's top ally, while another 53.4% said Israel was one ally among many. Only 13.3% said Israel was not an ally at all.

An large number of attendees, 89.5%, said they would support a moratorium on immigration to the U.S. Only 10.5% said they opposed the policy.

Vance spoke at the conference and was endorsed by Charlie Kirk's wife, Erika Kirk, for president. He has not announced a campaign yet.

RELATED: Nicki Minaj stuns crowd in surprise appearance at AmericaFest, praises Trump and Vance

Among possible threats to the U.S., the straw poll voters said "radical Islam" was their top concern, while "socialism/Marxism" came in second, and "mass migration" came in third.

The lowest-ranked threats were "low fertility" and "technology/AI."

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Vanity Fair’s bombshell profile of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and other key figures within the Trump administration turned out to be a disingenuously framed hit piece.

"Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story," Wiles wrote on X. "I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team."

“If I were President Trump, I would fire whoever let Vanity Fair do this because you could call this an unforced error,” BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler comments on “The Liz Wheeler Show,” pointing out that the photography used was also edited to be incredibly unflattering.

“Look at that picture of Susie Wiles. No one claims she’s a runway model. Like obviously she’s not 20 years old. No one cares about that. But that is obviously a photograph that is deliberately intended to make her look psycho,” Wheeler says.

Vanity Fair also included an extremely close-up photo of Marco Rubio, where according to Wheeler, they “make him look like he’s dying of the plague.”

“That was intentional. It wasn’t an accident. ... They did this on purpose. It was malicious because they’re trying to undermine these people, especially the people who they think might have political careers after President Trump,” she explains.

But it wasn’t just Wiles and Rubio targeted by the magazine. They also included a close-up, heavily edited photo of Karoline Leavitt, who Wheeler says “obviously is a nice-looking person.”

“They are deliberately trying to make her look ugly ... they’re trying to drive a wedge between President Trump and his staff,” she says.

“And I know the president is not naive. He’s not going to let that happen. And honestly, like I said, I know this is going viral on X, but really people should not be that upset about it,” Wheeler says, pointing out that the tactic is “tired.”

“Again, my bigger question is, ‘Who OK'd this interview?’ Like really? Are you an idiot? To give the mainstream media this opportunity to try to attack you, whoever approved it should be fired,” she adds.

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A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton released a statement accusing the Trump administration of unfairly releasing selective portions of the Epstein files.

The Dept. of Justice released a trove of documents from the case against convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, with many of the photographs relating to Clinton.

'Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what, or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection.'

On Monday, the former president called for more transparency in the release in a statement released by his spokesperson Angel Urena.

"The Epstein Files Transparency Act imposes a clear legal duty on the U.S.Department of Justice to produce the full and complete record the public demands and deserves," Clinton's statement reads.

"However, what the Department of Justice has released so far, and the manner in which it did so, makes one thing clear: Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what, or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection," the statement continued.

He went on to call on Trump to direct U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to "immediately" release other materials that related to Clinton, including "grand jury transcripts, interview notes, photographs," as well any findings from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

"Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department ofJustice's actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation," Clinton's statement continued, "using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice, over many years, under presidents and Attorneys General of both parties."

RELATED: Hundreds could be implicated by files from heinous Epstein case, says federal judge

Among the photos widely circulated on social media from the release is one of Clinton with his arm around a young lady who also has her arm around his shoulders. Her face is obscured to protect her identity.

Another photograph shows the former president in a swimming pool with Epstein's consort, Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as another woman whose face has been obscured.

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On Dec. 13, Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente opened fire inside the Barus and Holley building at Brown University, where he killed students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and wounded nine others.

Valente then fled to Brookline, Massachusetts, where he is believed to have shot and killed Nuno Loureiro, an MIT nuclear science and engineering professor from Portugal. The suspect was finally found dead in New Hampshire after a manhunt that lasted for days.

While the motive is still being investigated, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck believes whatever it was, it may have had extremely sinister and demonic roots.

“Some students remember, they said he screamed out, 'Allahu Akbar.’ Apparently now, people are saying, ‘I think he was barking,’” Glenn explains.

“If you’re barking, that might be a sign of, the guy was completely out of his mind,” he continues, pointing out that the shooter also killed himself after taking several lives.

“What’s interesting to me is how many of these people are — they go and do something, and then they kill themselves,” Glenn says, relating it to Steve Deace’s movie “Nefarious.”

“In ‘Nefarious,’ Satan has possessed this guy. And once in a while, Satan lets him come out, and the guy’s like, ‘Help me, help me, please help me’ ... and then Satan takes control of him again. And what happens?” Glenn asks.

“He kills himself,” he answers.

“I think, unlike any time before in my lifetime, you can see this is evil. There is a force that seems to be sweeping the entire world. All of these people do these horrendous things, and then they shoot themselves. ... It’s almost as if evil is playing with these people, getting them to do all of this horrible, horrible stuff,” he continues.

After they’re finished, “Boom. They kill themselves. Because they’re just a meat puppet of evil, and they’re of no use to evil.”

“They’ve done their job,” Glenn adds.

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The weekend leading into Christmas, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more violent criminal illegal aliens, according to a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

The Department of Homeland Security highlighted 15 illegal aliens with criminal histories who were recently captured across the country by federal immigration officials.

'All year long, our law enforcement officers worked around-the-clock, including weekends and holidays, to arrest the worst of the worst.'

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to deliver on its promise this Christmas season to make America safe again and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” the press release read.

“While many Americans began wrapping presents and preparing for the joyous holy holiday, ICE was hard at work arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens convicted of horrific crimes including lewd and lascivious acts with [a] child, child neglect, obscene communication, and attempted murder," it added.

First on the DHS worst of the worst list is Juan Jesus Acosta-Gutierrez, a Mexican national and Surenos-13 gang member. He was previously convicted for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 by force or fear in San Bernardino, California.

RELATED: Illegal alien truck driver walks out of jail after allegedly killing American — and sanctuary policies appear to be to blame

Juan Jesus Acosta-Gutierrez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents captured Udit Mehra, an Indian national who has a criminal history in Seminole, Florida, for cruelty toward children and obscene communication.

Udit Mehra. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

That Xiong, from Laos, was also picked up by ICE agents. He was previously convicted of attempted murder and discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle in Sacramento, California.

That Xiong. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Juan Carlos Marrufo-Flores, an illegal alien from Mexico, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Atascosa County, Texas.

Juan Carlos Marrufo-Flores. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE arrested criminal illegal alien David Cerna-Calderon of Mexico. He has a rap sheet in Bexar County, Texas, for assault causing bodily injury to a family member.

David Cerna-Calderon. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Yesenia Martinez-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was detained by federal immigration officials. She was previously convicted in Texas for child neglect, resisting arrest, and driving while intoxicated.

Yesenia Martinez-Gonzalez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Jose Dante Ortiz-Alvalardo of Mexico has a criminal history in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, for a second-degree forced sexual offense.

Jose Dante Ortiz-Alvalardo. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE agents also nabbed Edwin Ismael-Hernandez, a Mexican national. He was previously convicted in Los Angeles, California, for several crimes. His rap sheet includes evading a peace officer/disregarding safety, hit-and-run, willful harm of a peace officer's horse or dog, and vehicle theft.

Edwin Ismael-Hernandez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

David Abraham Hernandez-Velez of Mexico was convicted of assault of a public servant in Brazoria County, Texas.

David Abraham Hernandez-Velez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal immigration agents arrested Jerson Poveda-Delgado, a Colombian national with a criminal history in Indianapolis, Indiana, that includes battery against a public safety official.

Jerson Poveda-Delgado. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Daniel Emony, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of making false statements, aggravated identity theft, and perjury.

Daniel Emony. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE also nabbed Carlos Martinez-Melendez, a Mexican national who was convicted of robbery in Austin, Texas.

Carlos Martinez-Melendez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents arrested Justo Perez-Escobar, a Mexican national with a conviction in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, for unlawful possession of a handgun.

Justo Perez-Escobar. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Isaias Alvarado-Arellano of Mexico was previously convicted for conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine in Oregon.

Isaias Alvarado-Arellano. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

The DHS press release also highlighted the arrest of Rudy Gonzalez, a Cuban national who was convicted of racketeering/conspiracy in Miami, Florida.

RELATED: 'Blood on their hands': Trump admin blames 'sanctuary' Dems after illegal alien with detainer request allegedly murders American

Rudy Gonzalez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

“While many Americans began celebrating Christmas with their families and loved ones this weekend, ICE arrested gang members, child pedophiles, abusers, and an attempted murderer. All year long, our law enforcement officers worked around-the-clock, including weekends and holidays, to arrest the worst of the worst. We are thankful for our law enforcement who delivered the best Christmas gift for American families this holiday season: safer communities,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

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BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey took the stage at the Turning Point USA conference and delivered a bold speech to thousands of attendees on Saturday.

Stuckey, who helms the hit Christian podcast "Relatable," challenged societal notions about the conservative movement and the Christian's role in politics.

'Truth divides. It's not always a bad thing.'

"While I do think it's important to find unity, I actually think that truth is more important than that. I think truth is more important than that," Stuckey said.

"And it's important to remember this analogy: If you're discouraged by the disagreements and the division and the debates, I understand. It can feel demoralizing, but let me tell you why this happens so much on the right, seemingly more than it happens on the left," she added.

"There is a difference in the nature of progressivism versus conservatism. Progressivism sets out to destroy, and if you are destroying something — destroying Western civilization, destroying the church, destroying the family — it does not matter how you do it. It doesn't matter what tool you hold or what material you use. As long as you are destroying whatever institution or edifice it is, that's fine. You don't really have to agree on much," Stuckey explained.

"But on the right, on the conservative side, we are trying to build something. And when you're building something, you have to agree on a lot. You have to agree on the materials used, the tools being used to build, and most importantly, you have to agree on a foundation. And if we cannot agree on a foundation, then it's going to be very hard to build something together," she said.

"But the debates and working out what that edifice looks like, of what the future of America should be, there's going to be some discomfort and division within that," Stuckey added. "Truth divides. It's not always a bad thing."

She went on to say that the job of Christians is to pull people to their side and not compromise on their principles.

RELATED: 'Incapable of being divided': Glenn Beck breaks down the importance of the Pledge of Allegiance at AmericaFest

Elsewhere in her speech, Stuckey said that politics should be one of the methods through which Christians show their love of their neighbors.

"Let me tell you, as a Christian, something that a lot of people don't want to talk about, but I know everyone in this room wants to hear and agrees with," Stuckey said.

"One way that Christians can glorify God, one way that Christians can love our neighbor as we await the perfect and sure victory of Jesus Christ is through politics. It's through politics. Politics matter because policy matters, because people matter," she added.

RELATED: Nicki Minaj stuns crowd in surprise appearance at AmericaFest, praises Trump and Vance

"Progressivism sets out to destroy. And if you are destroying something, it does not matter how you do it. But on the Right, on the conservative side, we are trying to BUILD something." - @conservmillen #AmFest2025 pic.twitter.com/OSZT4uxcGM
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) December 21, 2025

"Politics affects policy. Policy affects people. People are made in the image of God. People matter to God, and therefore they matter to us," Stuckey continued.

"And so Christians don't have an option, nor should we want the option not to be political," she added. "That doesn't mean that politics is the primary way or the only way that we love our neighbor, but it is a way to love our neighbor. Because our most vulnerable neighbors are affected by politics."

Vice President JD Vance and rap artist Nicki Minaj were among the more prominent speakers at the Turning Point USA conference that lasted until Sunday.

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Autonomous vacuums could go extinct unless they are made in the United States.

This is the harsh reality affecting companies like iRobot, the creator of Roomba, which just filed bankruptcy.

'... with no anticipated disruption to its app functionality.'

Despite the company generating over $680 million in 2024, iRobot has been crippled by U.S. tariffs. Due to a 46% import tariff on Vietnam, iRobot's costs were raised by $23 million in 2025, according to Reuters, which reviewed the court filings.

The court filings also reportedly noted that while Roomba is still dominating in U.S. and Japanese markets, it lost too much money on price reductions and investments in technological upgrades in order to maintain pace with its competitors.

According to the Verge, the company said it will continue to operate "with no anticipated disruption to its app functionality, customer programs, global partners, supply chain relationships, or ongoing product support."

Simply put, after more than 20 years on the market, the Roomba is able to operate without online connectivity.

The bankruptcy will put iRobot under Chinese control moving forward, with the manufacturing company that controls its debt.

RELATED: The ultimate Return guide to escaping the surveillance state

Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Court documents reportedly showed that Picea, a Chinese manufacturer, purchased iRobot while taking its debt on board, which is estimated to be about $190 million. The vacuum company took on the debt in 2023 to refinance its operations, Reuters claimed.

The debt came even after Amazon paid a $94 million termination fee after backing out of a $1.7 billion acquisition deal in 2024, according to the New York Times.

It has not been that long since iRobot had a massive market value at $3.56 billion in 2021; it is now estimated to be worth just $140 million.

New owners Picea will take 100% ownership of the company and cancel the $190 million in debt, while also canceling a $74 million debt that iRobot owed through a manufacturing agreement.

RELATED: The AI takeover isn't coming — it's already here

Not only did iRobot need to deal with Vietnamese tariffs, other manufacturing that was established in Malaysia in 2019 was also likely affected.

It was not announced that Roomba had cut manufacturing from the country, and if it remained, would likely have been subjected to a 24% tariff rate from the Trump administration, which included taxing machinery and electronics.

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A faith-based children's movie is making waves just before Christmas.

"David," an animated Christian musical about the story of David versus Goliath performed valiantly up against some monstrous titles over the weekend.

'David' is now the second-biggest blockbuster for Angel Studios, the studio that brought 'Sound of Freedom' to theaters.

In a field dominated by animated pictures, "David" managed to outperform both "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants" and "Zootopia 2."

Spice rack

While "Zootopia 2" took in just $14 million, that figure comes with a huge asterisk, as it has already been in theaters for a month with more than $1 billion taken in worldwide. However, "David" can relish the fact that it outperformed the beloved SpongeBob character as well as Sydney Sweeney's new movie "The Housemaid" on their opening weekends.

SpongeBob made $16 million, according BoxOffice Pro, while "The Housemaid" garnered a respectable $18.95 million. At the same time, "David" shocked the media with just over $22 million in its opening, according to Box Office Mojo.

RELATED: 'Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas' brings scriptural authenticity to Nativity story

While SpongeBob has an established (but aging) fan base, controversy around the film came just ahead of the release when one of its voice actors, rapper Ice Spice — real name Isis Naija Gaston — attended the premiere in a revealing outfit.

The mostly transparent lingerie the rapper wore on the red carpet may have been a factor in parents' choice of which film was most suitable for their children.

Blue Christmas

"David" is now the second-biggest blockbuster for Angel Studios, the studio that brought "Sound of Freedom" to theaters. The movie about child trafficking went viral online in terms of publicity and took in more than $250 million worldwide. No other film on the studio's roster has made more than $21 million before "David."

None of these movies could touch the No.1 film of the weekend, though: James Cameron's "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third in the franchise. It took home a whopping $88 million, more than second through fourth place in the box office combined.

Two more "Avatar" films are set for release, in 2029 and 2031.

RELATED: 'Matrix' co-creator: 'Trans rage' drives my work

Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

Wrung out

Also to be considered is the SpongeBob franchise's flailing numbers.

The first movie in 2004 had a promising opening weekend of $32 million, later drawing $142 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million, per the Numbers.

In 2015, the next film in the franchise took a $74 million budget and, despite making just $55 million in its opening weekend, ended up making over $300 million.

In 2020, though, "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run," with a $60 million budget, drew just $865,824, likely due to COVID-19 restrictions, and made just over $4.8 million at the end of the day.

Now, with an alleged $64 million budget, according to Variety, Paramount may have cause for worry, with double the budget producing half what original film did in 2004. Then again, the studio may have streaming numbers in mind, instead.

Dr. Philip Nitschke argues that his products should be the ones governments use to kill its citizens.

Nitschke, the inventor of the Sarco suicide pod first introduced in 2021, says he has been interested in euthanasia since he was a young medical school graduate in Australia in the late 1980s.

'Fast, reliable, drug free ... and, importantly, unrestrictable!'

Nitschke's pod raised great suspicions in 2024 after the death of its first user — which Nitschke was not present for — sparked an investigation into whether she actually died willingly in the machine as opposed to foul play.

Just over a year later, Nitschke has introduced his latest deadly invention, the Exit Kairos Kollar, named from his company Exit International. According to the Daily Mail, Nitschke recently demonstrated the collar on a plastic mannequin in front of 20 willing observers.

The doctor explained that the collar puts pressure on the carotid arteries and baroreceptors in the neck, which cuts off blood flow to the brain. This causes the wearer to lose consciousness, and if the collar remains, the user would go brain-dead.

RELATED: Swiss suicide pod’s debut turns darker: Doctor raises murder suspicion over victim’s neck injuries

JAN HENNOP/AFP via Getty Images

The collar produces the same effect as a blood choke in mixed martial arts, which renders a combatant unconscious only for a few moments as blood flow returns. However, the collar would permanently restrict blood flow, resulting in death.

In September, Nitschke argued on X that the United Kingdom should use his products, the Kairos Kollar and the Sarco, as drug-free methods of government-assisted suicide: "Lords think the Bill 'should contain a definitive list of substances to be used in the life-ending process' which will immediately rule out the use of drug free Sarco and the Kairos Kollar!" Nitschke wrote.

Before his demonstration in November, Nitschke again boasted on X about the "fast" and "reliable" nature of his drug-free, death-causing invention.

"The Exit Kairos Kollar, an important development in the assisted dying quest," he exclaimed. "Fast, reliable, drug free ... and, importantly, unrestrictable!"

RELATED: England legalizes assisted suicide — former prime minister says government abuse will be prevented

Photo by James Knowler / Newspix / Getty Images

Controversy swirled around the Sarco pod in 2024 when firm the Last Resort allowed a 64-year-old woman to be the first person to use it to end her life. Co-president Florian Willet was held in pretrial detention for 70 days following the woman's death in a forest in Merishausen, Switzerland; he was suspected of strangling her to death after the pod failed to take her life.

However, homicide charges were later dropped by Swiss authorities who noted that there was a "strong suspicion of inciting and assisting suicide," according to People.

On May 5, 2025, Willet himself died by assisted suicide in Cologne, Germany. According Nitschke, Willet suffered psychological damage during his two months of detention.

"Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence," Nitschke said. “In its place was a man who was deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation."

Nitschke claimed that Willet was suffering from hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized behavior due to "acute polymorphic psychotic disorder."

As for the collar's moniker, "kairos" is a storied Greek term indicating the crucial, proper moment. Since Hippocrates, whose eponymous oath famously requires doctors first "do no harm," the word has referred in medicine to the critical opportunity to make the correct diagnosis or administer the right treatment. "Kairos" appears 86 times in the New Testament, where it especially refers to the appointed time for God's direct action or purpose.

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Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck delivered an empowering message to young conservatives in the AmericaFest crowd in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday.

Beck opened his speech by inviting Jeanie Beeman, a Target employee who was harassed by a shopper for wearing a Charlie Kirk shirt, to join him on stage. A video of the shopper’s altercation with Beeman went viral on social media, with conservatives praising Beeman for reacting calmly to the shopper’s expletive-filled rant.

— (@)

Beeman described the flood of support as “overwhelming,” adding that she is “just a normal person.”

The crowd reacted with cheers.

'America was never built for comfort. It was built for people who believed they could shape their own destiny.'

Beck wrapped his arm around Beeman and stated, “And that is why you’re here.”

“I wanted to thank you for being normal,” Beck told Beeman.

RELATED: VIRAL VIDEO: Sara Gonzales SLAMS Target shopper who films her own anti-Charlie Kirk meltdown

Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images

Beck continued his speech by urging people to stop fighting one another.

“You can’t stop darkness with more darkness. You can’t stop hate with more hate. You only dispel the darkness of lies with the light of truth,” he stated.

Beck detailed how today’s young people have been repeatedly deceived. He highlighted how the rise of cell phones and social media has divided society and how the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 lockdowns harmed ordinary Americans while sparing the elite.

“If I’m 25 years old, I would think absolutely everything is a lie,” Beck stated.

“You are not crazy. You are not lazy. You are not imagining things. The truth is, the rules have changed. Promises have been broken. Institutions have failed. Banks were rescued while families like yours weren’t.”

RELATED: Tulsi Gabbard warns: Powerful foreign allies eager to pull US into war with Russia

— (@)

Beck argued that the biggest lie told to young Americans is that they do not matter and are powerless.

“Every single generation since the beginning of time has inherited a mess. But only the great generations turn that mess into a mission, and that’s your calling,” Beck declared. “America was never built for comfort. It was built for people who believed they could shape their own destiny.”

He explained that prior generations did not have it easier, listing World Wars I and II, the draft, plagues, and the Depression as examples of the challenges they faced.

“But what they had that you don’t have is belief,” Beck continued. “Belief in God, belief in responsibility, a belief that there is a brighter tomorrow just over the horizon. They had that; you need that. Belief is what creates prosperity, not the other way around.”

He urged young Americans to discover their purpose, believe in themselves, and lead with courage.

— (@)

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Rapper Nicki Minaj surprised the audience at the Turning Point USA conference on Sunday and voiced her enthusiastic support for President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

The star has been using her social media platform to defend Israel and criticize many leftist policies, but few expected her to show up to AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona.

'He has, I don't know if he even knows this, but he's given so many people hope that there's a chance to beat the bad guys and to win.'

Minaj and Erika Kirk hugged on stage before answering questions from the audience. Minaj made it very clear she is a Trump supporter.

"I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president," she said. "He has, I don't know if he even knows this, but he's given so many people hope that there's a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact."

She went on to praise the president as well as the vice president.

"I can relate to them. When I hear them speak, I know that they're one of us. ... They haven't lost touch of the world, you know," Minaj said. "They're still connected to the world and what's happening in the world, with the younger people and older people, with the richer people and not-so-rich people. They have the ability to still connect and be real and make us feel proud to be American."

The rapper touched upon the plight of Christians under persecution around the globe.

"We won't be silenced ever again. We will speak up for Christians wherever they are in this world!" she said to loud applause.

RELATED: Rapper Cardi B calls America 'ghetto' and complains about Vance in rant praising Saudi Arabia

She also continued her tirade against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is widely considered to be seeking to run for president in 2028.

"'We don't have a problem cleaning up the scum if we have to. Please tread lightly.' That's what I would say to Gavie-poo," she said.

President Trump has frequently insulted the Democrat by referring to him as "Gavin Newscum."

Minaj previously noted when Vice President JD Vance posted his support for her side in a very public feud she has had with fellow rap artist Cardi B.

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The Department of Transportation warned Colorado that the state could lose $24 million in federal highway funding if it continues to drag its feet on addressing illegally issued commercial driver's licenses, according to a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

'Colorado has two options: Revoke the licenses immediately, or I will pull federal funding.'

In September, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shared the results of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit, which found "systemic noncompliance" among state driver licensing agencies in several states, including Colorado.

The audit revealed that 22% of Colorado's non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally. Most of those licenses were reportedly issued to Mexican nationals. Drivers who are citizens of Mexico or Canada are ineligible to obtain non-domiciled CDLs and must instead acquire licenses from their home countries.

Some of the CDLs issued to immigrants by Colorado reportedly had expiration dates that exceeded the drivers' lawful presence in the U.S.

The DOT demanded that the state immediately pull the illegal licenses to come into compliance with federal laws.

A Monday press release from the department claimed that Colorado had "admitted that these violations were not accidental, but the result of a 2016 statewide policy decision to disregard federal law and give trucking licenses to ineligible Mexican citizens."

Blaze News reached out to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, and the governor’s office for comment. The Colorado DOT directed Blaze News to contact the state’s Department of Revenue, which oversees the Division of Motor Vehicles.

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

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The DOT asserted that the state has been "slow-walking a purge of illegally issued truck licenses," cautioning that Colorado could lose $24 million in federal highway funds. The DOT also warned that it could decertify Colorado's CDL program.

According to the department, Colorado has not produced a complete audit or accounting of the illegal licenses.

"This continued delay signals a lack of urgency that puts public safety at risk," the press release read.

RELATED: Trump’s DOT claims 53% of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally

Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images

"Colorado doesn't get to pick and choose what federal rules it follows — especially when the driving public is at risk," Secretary Duffy stated. "It's been nearly two months since Colorado admitted that they knowingly broke the law and gave Mexican nationals trucking licenses. Colorado has two options: Revoke the licenses immediately, or I will pull federal funding. Every day that goes by is another day unqualified, unvetted foreign truckers are jeopardizing the safety of you and your family."

Colorado received notice of its noncompliance in September, the same time the DOT also issued a similar notice to Texas. On September 29, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced that it had complied with the DOT's request and immediately suspended the issuance of certain CDLs.

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Colorado is the eighth-largest natural gas-producing state in the U.S., boasting 10 underground natural gas storage fields with approximately 141 billion cubic feet of combined storage capacity. Roughly seven out of 10 Colorado households use natural gas as their primary home heating source.

Despite the Centennial State's bounty of natural gas and the super-majority of Colorado households' reliance on the affordable warmth it provides, officials are pushing for an electrification of heating in the state and putting utilities in a position where they'll soon have to begin removing customers en masse.

'You're increasing the load on electrification without there being any way to fill it.'

State Democrats successfully passed legislation in 2021 aimed at reducing so-called greenhouse gas emissions through regulatory changes affecting gas distribution utilities.

To satisfy this law, the commissioners on the Colorado Public Utilities Commission — all of whom were appointed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis — have solicited and approved multiple "clean heat" plans.

Earlier this month, the PUC set GHG emission reduction targets impacting three investor-owned gas utilities — Atmos Energy, Black Hills Energy, and Xcel Energy — requiring them to cut the carbon emissions from their systems by 4% this year; by 22% over the next five years; and by 41% over the next 10 years.

While the commissioners declined to set targets beyond 2035, they noted in their formal decision that "because Colorado has a statewide goal of reducing greenhouse gas pollution by 100% by 2050, as compared to a 2005 baseline, we emphasize that clean heat plans submitted by gas utilities must account for that statutorily established future target."

RELATED: 5 truths the climate cult can’t bury any more

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Image

Colorado Energy Office director Will Toor is among those who have expressed skepticism about the aggressive nature of the switchover from natural gas to the state's already strained electric grid, a system that Xcel Energy indicated will likely face skyrocketing demand in the form of 400,000 electric vehicles and 300,000 new heat pumps by 2029.

"The 41% target, from our perspective, is a pretty challenging target for utilities," Toor told the Colorado Sun. "We certainly hope that utilities get there. I think we thought that 30% was probably more realistic."

The Colorado Energy Office and the state health department's Air Pollution Control Division reportedly asked for a 30% target by 2035.

In order to meet the new targets, the PUC noted that "utilities can propose to meet the clean heat targets using combinations of energy efficiency, electrification, recovered methane, green hydrogen, thermal energy, and pyrolysis of tires."

Alternatively "customers may voluntarily participate in these plans by taking advantage of rebates and incentives to adopt electric heat pumps or complete energy efficiency upgrades in their homes and businesses," said the PUC.

Before incentives, customers looking to satisfy climate alarmists by electrifying their gas appliances and homes are looking at costs in excess of $20,000 per home, Xcel noted in testimony about the state's so-called clean heat plans.

Jake Fogleman, director of policy at the Independence Institute, a Colorado-based think tank, noted that the targets "will necessarily require removing customers from the system."

"Utilities like Xcel, Black Hills, and Atmos may be able to nibble around the edges of the target by relying on recovered methane, improved pipeline leak detection and repair, and other non-demand-destroying strategies, but such approaches will not be enough to comply with state law," wrote Fogleman. "This all but guarantees that gas customers around the state will soon face higher utility bills to subsidize households into switching from gas to electric heating and appliances."

Those who can afford to make the switch will likely still be looking at jacked prices. Fogleman noted that last year, "Electricity was more than four times more expensive on average per unit of energy delivered to Colorado households" than natural gas.

Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, told the Denver Post, "They're trying to regulate us away from any fossil fuels and taking away our appliances and our heaters. You're increasing the load on electrification without there being any way to fill it."

Republican state Rep. Ty Winter told the Post that when constituents raise concerns about the climate alarmist requirements, he tells them that "the only way to fix this is at the ballot box."

"We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, and we’re going to use every avenue we have," said Winter.

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“It’s a Wonderful Life” wasn’t always a beloved classic — in fact, it was a complete failure that nearly destroyed the careers of Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart.

“It was actually born out of failure, it was born out of exhaustion, and it was born out of people who felt just like its lead character, George Bailey,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck says.

“The movie was made by Frank Capra, and it was right after World War II. Frank Capra had just come back. He didn’t come home triumphant. He came home a changed man. He had spent the war making film for the United States government, the war department, about why the West is worth saving,” he explains.

Capra came back and started his own studio, betting “absolutely everything on it.”

“‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ was supposed to be the movie that proved Frank Capra is still Frank Capra. And it nearly ruined him,” Glenn explains.

“The movie lost money. Critics really didn’t like it. They mocked how schmaltzy it was. Audiences stayed home. Jimmy Stewart, this was his first movie that he made when he came back home from the war. And this was his start,” he continues, pointing out that not even Stewart could save it.

“The most beloved man in America gave a really raw, shaken, almost too real performance for people at the time. He wasn’t the cheerful hero that is coming out of war as a victory. This was a man that was cracking under the weight of responsibility, a man who did everything right, but he still felt like he was a failure,” Glenn says.

The movie was what Glenn calls “a noble misfire,” before everyone forgot about it.

“And so, the rights lapsed. There was no grand relaunch. There was no marketing genius. Just a legal oversight that let the rights lapse,” Glenn says.

That’s where Ted Turner and Superstation TBS come in.

“They needed some holiday programming, and they needed it cheap. And when I say cheap, what Ted really meant was free. ‘We need a bunch of free programming that we can run all Christmas. ... No rights, no royalties,’” Glenn explains.

“The vaults open up, and lo and behold, they find ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’” he says.

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