A judge's ruling temporarily blocking President Donald Trump's order to end billions in social services funds could have met its match if Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has his way.

The president tried to end federal funds being sent to California, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, and Colorado, but U.S. District Judge Arun Submaranian ruled against him on Jan. 9.

'If you won't show us a plan, a workable plan, we're gonna cut it off until you do.'

The group of states had requested a temporary restraining order against the spending freeze and was granted 14 days while the court considers a longer order.

On Wednesday, Massie said he had crafted an amendment to legislation that would allow the president to bypass the ruling.

"After rampant fraud was uncovered at daycare centers in Minnesota and elsewhere, a judge blocked President Trump's effort to put guardrails on those programs," the representative wrote on social media.

"I've offered this amendment to circumvent the judge's ruling and empower the President to withhold fraudulent funds," he added.

He posted the text of the amendment.

"None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to make payments under the Child Care and Development Fund, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or the Social Services Block Grant program to any State that the Secretary of Health and Human Services has identified, pursuant to existing law, as failing to comply with Federal eligibility or documentation requirements applicable to such program," the text reads.

HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr. claimed that the states were not punished for being Democrat-controlled, but rather because they did not comply with the federal request to create a plan to stop fraud.

RELATED: Trump says he will cut federal funds to sanctuary cities and states — beginning in 3 weeks

"The best way to help poor families is to end the fraud so that the money that is available for them. And that's what we're doing," Kennedy said. "If you won't show us a plan, a workable plan, we're gonna cut it off until you do."

The five states had argued in court that the order to end funds was unconstitutional because it could not be based on the "mere allegations or suspicion of fraud."

The temporary restraining order will end on Friday.

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In Matt Damon's new Netflix thriller, "The Rip," a bunch of cops and crooks fight over a $20 million cash stash.

Making the movie required fighting for an even more precious commodity: the viewer's ever-dwindling attention span.

'It wouldn't be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times.'

Appearing with long-time friend and co-star Ben Affleck on the "Joe Rogan Experience" last week, Damon revealed what his first collaboration with a streamer taught him about the new economics of the movie biz — and how it affects storytelling.

Dumbed down

Damon said that the "different level of attention" audiences are giving at home has started to affect how films are being made.

"Like, for instance, Netflix. The standard way to make an action movie that we learned was, you usually have three set pieces. One in the first act, one in the second, one in the third," Damon began.

"You spend most of your money on that one in the third act. That's your kind of finale. And now they're like, 'Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay tuned in,'" he continued.

Furthermore, the filmmaker explained that the reason dialogue has become simple and repetitive, in many cases, is that people are splitting their attention.

"'It wouldn't be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching,'" Damon laughed, relaying notes he might receive from the platform.

RELATED: Is real-life 'Star Wars' America's manifest destiny?

'Casual' vacancy

These types of notes and guidelines could really "infringe" on how writers are telling their stories, Damon stressed.

This theory of "casual viewing" was popularized and widely discussed in 2025, with outlet CBR calling it a style of filmmaking that is "overly descriptive, breaking basic rules of cinema and contributing to a dumbing down of the art."

Affleck cited British crime drama "Adolescence" as a show that "didn't do any of that s**t," and that's what made it "f**king great," he added.

"There's long shots of the back of their head. They get in the car, nobody says anything. ... My feeling is just that it demonstrates that you don't need to do any of that s**t," Affleck said.

RELATED: Almost half of Gen Z wants AI to run the government. You should be terrified.

Photo by Arturo Holmes/WireImage

Du cinéma au smartphone

Affleck's clear position when it comes to filmmaking and technology throughout the episode was that there will always be an audience for quality films.

"It's like supply and demand," he said. "People want to look at their phone, they can look at TikTok, they're going to do that. I think what you can do is make s**t the best you can. Make it really good."

When it comes to making movies for mobile viewers, Damon joked that he likes to rile up directors that he works with by asking them if they are thinking about how their film will look on a cell phone.

"That's a joke that I like to make with every director I work with. Like, when they're really puzzling over a shot or really grinding out something, I go, 'You know, it's not going to look as good on the phone.' ... Everyone gets angry."

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Liberals are incredibly excited about a recent study that accuses American-born U.S. citizens of committing more crimes than illegal immigrants — but BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales thinks they’re getting a little ahead of themselves.

“First of all, actually, 100% of them, if they’re here illegally, 100% of them are criminals already. But I digress,” Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“This is a talking point that they keep putting out there intentionally,” she adds, before playing clips of several prominent liberals, like Sunny Hostin from “The View,” making this claim.

In one clip, Hostin happily repeats the line, saying, “Undocumented immigrants are much less likely to have committed crimes than American citizens. American citizens commit more crimes than anyone who is undocumented.”

As she finishes her sentence, the crowd erupts in applause.

“Use your brains,” Gonzales scoffs.

The study these liberals are citing is from Northwestern and reads, “Using incarceration rates as a proxy for crime, a team of economists analyzed 150 years of U.S. Census data and found immigrants were consistently less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S. They also found beginning in 1960, the incarceration gap widened such that immigrants today are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than the U.S.-born.”

“Let’s say it’s 1% of these people committing more crime than they already committed when they entered here illegally. Who cares if it’s 1%? It’s crime that we don’t need to have. But, like, when you start looking at their argument, it completely falls apart. We’re not under an obligation to take in any criminals,” Gonzales comments.

“Just let them flood in en masse because a Northwestern study said that they commit less crime,” she mocks.

“It’s so stupid,” she continues. “But this is the kind of thing that the mainstream media and all of these leftist hacks keep pushing. ‘Well, but like, only some of them are criminals.’”

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A 35-year-old Indian student says he was told that curry stinks, but sandwiches do not.

Aditya Prakash and his fiancée, Urmi Bhattacheryya, won a settlement of $200,000 from the University of Colorado Boulder in a story dripping with progressivism.

'My food is my pride, and notions about what smells good or bad to someone are culturally determined.'

The BBC described the ordeal as a case of "food racism" while outlet Indian Express said Prakash was the "target of racism" over his microwaved food.

Ate crime

The couple reportedly claimed they faced a series of "microaggressions and retaliatory actions" after a staff member at the university — who was British, according to the BBC — complained about the "smell" of the food Prakash had in the microwave.

The staffer allegedly said the food was giving off a "pungent" odor and informed Prakash there was a rule against heating foods that have strong odors. Prakash reportedly claimed there was no such rule publicly stated and said, "It's just food. I'm heating and leaving."

The Indian also said he later inquired what foods were considered pungent. He was allegedly told that smelly foods included curry but not sandwiches.

In a pickle

The couple claimed they soon lost their research funding and teaching roles, and a lawsuit followed. Prakash claimed it was not about money, though.

"It was about making a point — that there are consequences to discriminating against Indians for their 'Indianness,'" he said.

RELATED: Illegal alien truckers with California licenses accused of hauling $7M in cocaine across state lines

Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Prakash also claimed he was a victim of "systemic racism" because his department "refused to grant" his Master's degree.

"That's when we decided to seek legal recourse," he said.

The May 2025 lawsuit alleged discriminatory treatment and a "pattern of escalating retaliation" but was settled with the university that September. The terms reportedly include giving the students their degrees while denying all liabilities and banning them from studying or working at the school in the future.

Paneer miss

The dish at the center of the controversy is called palak paneer, which, according to cooking website Hooked on Heat, contains some strong ingredients.

The main parts of the dish include spinach and paneer, a soft white cheese considered to be the Indian version of cottage cheese. Also added to the dish are onion, ginger, garlic, chili powder, garam masala (Indian spices), and more.

Prakash reportedly argued that his food only stinks according to some people.

"My food is my pride, and notions about what smells good or bad to someone are culturally determined," he posited.

Cruciferous context

A counterargument he allegedly faced was that even broccoli is not allowed to be heated because of its odor, but Prakash claimed that "context matters," before adding, "How many groups of people do you know who face racism because they eat broccoli?"

His fiancée says that President Trump's re-election has caused a "narrowing of empathy" toward foreigners.

"Institutions talk a lot about inclusion, but there is less patience for discomfort, especially if that discomfort comes from immigrants or people of colour," she claimed.

RELATED: Young white Americans want their own identity politics now — and conservatives shouldn’t be surprised

Currying favor

The university told BBC that while it cannot comment on the specifics of the claims due to privacy laws, it is "committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all students, faculty and staff regardless of national origin, religion, culture and other classes protected under U.S. laws and by university policies."

"When these allegations arose in 2023, we took them seriously and adhered to established, robust processes to address them, as we do with all claims of discrimination and harassment," the school continued. "We reached an agreement with the students in September [2025] and deny any liability in this case."

The couple has reportedly not since returned to the United States, with Prakash saying he is willing to start over.

"If this case can send out a message that this ('food racism') cannot be practiced with impunity, that we, as Indians, will fight back, that would be the real victory," he said, per Indian Express.

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An official of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration explained how they successfully performed a medical evacuation from space for the first time in space operations history.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman gave as many details as he could about the incident while being interviewed by Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on Wednesday.

'It was a very serious situation, something we had not seen before in space.'

Four astronauts returned to Earth on Thursday, including the ailing member of the crew. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.

Isaacman touted the extraordinary training that U.S. astronauts undergo while offering some details about the historic incident.

"One of the greatest accomplishments that we've done at the International Space Station is the continuous human presence in space over a quarter of a century," he told Beck.

He went on to say that the environment in space is extremely harsh on the human body and requires many safety precautions.

"This is why we do extensive training. Our astronauts are practically physicians; in fact, many of them are," he explained.

"Everyone did an extraordinary job," Isaacman said of the "unexpected health-related" incident.

"The Crew 11 astronauts, their other expedition mates on the International Space Station, the flight surgeons in mission control, they all responded accordingly. The incident was stabilized very quickly," he added.

Isaacman was restricted by medical privacy rules from offering specific details on the incident.

"Clearly, it was a very serious situation, something we had not seen before in space but had accounted for the possibility. And that is why we put in motion the option to bring our astronauts home early, which I think really speaks to American leadership in space," he continued.

RELATED: Director of Glenn Beck's disaster response charity undermines Democrat attack on Trump admin's response to Texas flood

.@NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman gives an inside look at the world's first ever medical evacuation from space: "This is why we do extensive training...clearly, it was a very serious situation, something we had not seen before in space, but had accounted for the possibility.

That is… pic.twitter.com/wKLHKNF4zq
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) January 21, 2026

"We can send our astronauts up more or less on command, which is what we're going to do with Crew 12, is pull their mission forward," Isaacman added. "And we can bring our astronauts home as required. And this is very important to President Trump and obviously his position on American supremacy in space."

The four astronauts were transported to a medical facility in San Diego by NASA.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other law enforcement officers have been facing interference from the public, especially since the January 7 death of Renee Good after she nearly ran over an ICE officer with her vehicle during an immigration operation.

Not to be outdone with their spread of chaos and confusion, leftists have now apparently expanded their targets to non-ICE operations and putting other police investigations in jeopardy.

'Deranged liberals are interrupting non-ICE police actions because Democratic leaders have whipped them into a frenzy.'

On Wednesday, the Brewer Police Department in Maine reported an incident in which a woman allegedly interfered with a police investigation into a threat at a school — an investigation that had nothing to do with immigration operations.

The investigation involved a threat involving a person of interest who "had communicated an intent to kill school staff and others."

RELATED: More UNHINGED anti-ICE extremist footage: 'I am a liberal, leftist, pagan, lesbian, transgender woman, and witch!'

Staff photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

According to the police department's Facebook post, officers staged a meet-up at a residence to "safely contact the person of interest."

However, "at approximately 8:16 a.m.," an activist began interfering in the attempt to contact the person of interest, police claimed. She allegedly repeatedly sounded an air horn, refused lawful orders to leave, yelled expletives at the officers, and shouted that she "didn't want ICE" in her neighborhood.

"Her actions interfered with legitimate law enforcement operations and created a real risk to the investigating officers," the statement said.

Investigators later found that the person of interest was not responsible for the threats and that multiple schools had "received similar threats that morning, consistent with 'swatting' incidents."

The Maine Wire's Steve Robinson slammed the incident on X: "Deranged liberals are interrupting non-ICE police actions because Democratic leaders have whipped them into a frenzy. Today it was an unidentified white female using an air horn to disrupt an investigation into threats against a school."

"When will these agitators get charged?" Robinson added.

In an update to the Brewer Police Department's Facebook post, the woman suspected of interfering with the operation was identified as Mary Conmee, 63, of Orrington, a town just a few miles southwest of Brewer.

Conmee has been summonsed for the offenses of disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration.

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A gun-control advocate apologized and claimed to accidentally accuse President Donald Trump of being involved in the Epstein trafficking ring.

Cameron Kasky made the comments while speaking on a CNN panel before posting his apology on social media on Tuesday. Many called on the president to sue the activist over the comments that could be considered slanderous.

'I said that by accident and didn’t mean it.'

Kasky was confronted by commentator Scott Jennings during the segment, which led Kasky to repeat the claim. He was singing a far different tune the next day.

"I would like to retract my comments from CNN last night and truly apologize," Kasky wrote.

"Donald Trump was obviously not involved with a giant international child sex trafficking ring where women and children were systematically raped by elites," he added. "I said that by accident and didn’t mean it."

Some online believed the tone of the message was sarcastic.

While the president had a past connection to Jeffrey Epstein, he has never been convicted of participating in Epstein's alleged sex-trafficking ring. The billionaire financier later accepted a plea deal where he admitted guilt to a felony state charge of soliciting a minor for sex.

Kasky became an advocate for gun control after surviving the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. He has since spoken at rallies and in the media about restricting gun rights.

RELATED: The Clintons refuse to testify in Jeffrey Epstein probe — GOP threatens contempt of Congress

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial for additional sex-trafficking charges in 2019.

The allegations that he orchestrated an underage sex-trafficking ring for the wealthy and powerful have led to many suspicions that he was killed to avoid incriminating alleged co-conspirators.

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The House Oversight Committee revealed Wednesday that it plans to depose Ghislaine Maxwell next month as part of the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in a Texas prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse children, is scheduled to testify virtually on February 9 in a closed session.

'Ms. Maxwell will invoke her privilege against self-incrimination.'

Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) stated during a Wednesday hearing, “We need to hear from Ghislaine Maxwell. We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition, and her lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth. But we have nailed down a date, February 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee.”

Comer stated that he hopes Maxwell changes her mind about invoking the Fifth Amendment.

David Oscar Markus, Maxwell's attorney, wrote in a Tuesday letter to Comer, “Ms. Maxwell will invoke her privilege against self-incrimination and decline to answer questions.”

Markus claimed moving forward with deposition would serve “no other purpose than pure political theater and a complete waste of taxpayer monies.”

RELATED: Clintons defy Epstein subpoenas — but Glenn Beck says DON’T jail them. Here’s his shocking reason why.

James Comer. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“That is not a negotiating position or a tactical choice; it is a legal necessity,” Markus stated. He claimed that his client’s "post-conviction litigation is far from over,” referring to a pending habeas petition seeking to vacate her conviction.

Maxwell filed the petition in December, arguing that her conviction must be voided because a juror gave false answers during the selection process, “concealing a history of sexual abuse directly relevant to ‘issues at trial.’” She also claimed that prosecutors concealed a detective’s grand jury testimony that “conflicted with his trial testimony.”

RELATED: 'We need no such protection': Clinton accuses Trump of selectively releasing Epstein files — and calls for complete release

Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo by Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Democrats on the committee accused Comer of treating Bill and Hillary Clinton differently from Maxwell, claiming he was allowing Maxwell to avoid answering to lawmakers.

Comer disputed that claim, arguing that Maxwell has been willing to appear before the committee, while the Clintons have “refused to appear,” altogether ignoring the committee’s subpoenas.

“One of the proposals that Clinton made was, if we would let Hillary Clinton off, then Mr. Garcia and I could travel to Mr. Clinton’s house and bring one staffer and take notes, but no transcript,” Comer said, referring to the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). “That’s not even a thing, and you all know that.”

“What few counterproposals that the Clintons’ massive legal team has made aren’t acceptable,” Comer stated.

Comer noted that the committee has been negotiating with the Clintons’ lawyers for five months.

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The mullahs of Iran have resumed the familiar work of slaughtering their own people. (Again!) The United States can respond without firing a shot — and without waiting months for a traditional embargo to bite.

It can impose an electronic embargo.

An electro-embargo could do something sanctions often cannot: break the regime’s control quickly enough to matter while the killing is still underway.

Washington could pursue this approach unilaterally, or it could press the United Nations to authorize it under Article 41 of the U.N. Charter, which empowers the Security Council to order measures “not involving the use of armed force,” including the partial or complete interruption of “postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication.” The text already exists.

The question is whether anyone has the imagination — and the nerve — to use it.

The electronic advantage

In the context of Iran’s continuing humanitarian emergency, the United States, with a bit of diplomatic legerdemain from Ambassador to the U.N. Michael Waltz, could challenge the Security Council to act. China and Russia sit on the council. They will posture. They will threaten vetoes. But even a public debate would force them to explain why the world should tolerate a regime that murders civilian protesters in the streets.

If the Security Council approves an Article 41 action, the United States could then present its combatant commanders with something Iran has never faced at scale: an embargo not on goods but on electrons.

Physical embargoes remain a standard tool of statecraft. They also take time. Iran can evade, reroute, smuggle, barter, and stall. An electronic embargo moves at the speed of light.

Target Iran’s hardline regime — not the Iranian people — by degrading the communications infrastructure that allows the government to command and control its security forces and manage the extraction and export of oil, its primary source of hard currency.

Strike the regime’s hardened telephone and cellular systems, satellite communications, and broadcast television.

Cripple the internal nervous system that keeps the state coordinated, disciplined, and armed.

The effect would be immediate. A regime that cannot communicate cannot coordinate raids, deploy forces efficiently, jam dissident signals, or maintain operational tempo. It cannot manage a modern oil export apparatus without functioning networks. It cannot run a crackdown in real time if it loses the ability to issue orders and track compliance.

The ‘Venezuelan formula’

Just as important, an electronic embargo could reverse the regime’s favorite trick: cutting the Iranian people off from each other and from the outside world. Tehran has already tried to block the internet and throttle social media. A targeted electronic campaign could negate that control and unleash an information tsunami — one the mullahs cannot shape, censor, or contain.

That shift matters. When citizens can communicate, organize, document, and broadcast, repression becomes harder and riskier. The regime loses its monopoly on narrative. Fear starts to spread in the other direction.

RELATED: Memo to Hegseth: Our military’s problem isn’t only fitness. It’s bad education.

erhui1979 via iStock/Getty Images

One can imagine a greatly expanded “Venezuelan formula”: degrade internal communications, then use broadcast means to confuse and complicate the regime’s grip on what is happening — while simultaneously encouraging the population to resist theocratic authority. The goal would not be spectacle. The goal would be collapse: the steady unraveling of the regime’s confidence, coherence, and control.

In this mode, a combatant commander could employ SOFTWAR principles to engage and degrade the mullahs through coordinated, non-kinetic lines of operation. Properly executed, such a campaign would affect nearly every aspect of Iranian society — and it would do so without turning Iranian cities into ruins.

A greater strategic payoff: China

The strategic payoff for the United States extends beyond moral clarity. It comes down to oil — and to China.

The recent decapitation of the Maduro junta in Venezuela proved a point many analysts ignore. The key factor is not the quantity of oil in a given country. It is control of the flow of oil. Energy states matter because they can fuel, fund, and sustain adversaries.

If the mullahs fall, China loses a major energy supplier at a moment when it can least afford disruption. Beijing’s ambitions depend on stable inputs. Xi Jinping’s dream of Chinese communist hegemony runs on energy. Remove an important provider, and you squeeze China’s strategic bandwidth — again.

That result alone justifies exploring an electronic embargo.

This is not a call for war. It is a call to use power creatively, within the bounds of international law when possible, and in defense of a population being beaten, shot, and silenced by its rulers.

The mullahs survive by controlling the physical streets and the electronic space above them. Take away the second, and the first becomes harder to hold.

An electro-embargo would not solve every problem. But it could do something sanctions often cannot: break the regime’s control quickly enough to matter while the killing is still underway.

Last weekend, on Sunday, January 18, a group of roughly 40 anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during a morning worship service. They chanted "ICE out!" and demanded justice for Renee Good — the woman lethally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7 after she hit him with her vehicle while obstructing a federal immigration operation. The protesters targeted this particular church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, is also the acting field director for the local ICE office.

The disruption deeply upset congregants and scared young children, resulting in multiple 911 calls. The U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating the incident for possible civil rights violations of the FACE Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with someone exercising or seeking to exercise their First Amendment right to religious freedom at a place of worship.

When BlazeTV host Steve Deace saw the video footage of the protest, he was enraged — not just with the protesters themselves but with the congregation’s weak response.

On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace delivers a scathing critique of feeble churches and calls them to implement a four-step plan immediately to protect themselves from leftist revolutionaries.

For years now, Deace has been warning that if conservatives fail to develop a “mutually assured destruction deterrent” to defend themselves against the violent left, they will surely be wiped out.

“There is no trend line I am more concerned about in terms of where we are as a society than this one,” he says. “This is human nature 101: Whatever bad behavior you do not punish, you will get more of, and it will escalate, and it will get worse.”

For far too long, however, leftists' growing extremism and violence have gone largely unchallenged, which only bolsters their confidence in continuing to push the line.

Comparing the left to a swarm of locusts, Deace says that “now that they have consumed every social institution ... and civic institution that [matters], they will now go after the sacred ones,” which has always been the left's “endgame.”

This is exactly what Satan wants, Deace says.

“He looks to our enemies on the left and says, ‘There's no one here to stop you. You have no resistance. Do whatever you want. Fly every freak flag you have. Shove it right down their throats. No resistance. In fact, you are the resistance.”’

“And then he says to us, ‘Oh, look the people you vote for, look at what cowards they are. Look how treacherous and feckless they are. No one is coming to save you. When's the shooting start?"’

And then Satan will revel in “the carnage of a once-great civilization.”

Deace warns that the clock to collapse is ticking — and Millennials and Zoomers will pay the highest price if older generations fail to “bring the sword of righteousness and be avenging angels against evildoers.”

What happened at Cities Church in St. Paul last weekend is evidence that our time is almost up. If we fail to act boldly now, the left will cross more lines until there are none left to cross.

“If they now feel emboldened to go into your churches, there's nowhere they don't feel emboldened, including your homes, and that will be next,” says Deace.

“So then what is a proper biblical response to [what happened in Cities Church]?” he asks.

“Number one: You need to teach people from the pulpit what power under control looks like — what Romans 13 really means. They have to be equipped with this in their hearts and minds, or they won't act on it properly. We are not a rival lynch mob. ... We're not pushovers though either.”

“Number two: There should always be numerous armed men in the church every Sunday — numerous. There should be a sign posted outside: ‘There are men in this church who are weapons-trained, and if threatened, this congregation will use them.”’

“Number three: The men make a defensive posture between the radicals, the rioters, the criminals, the ne'er-do-wells, the knuckle-draggers, the shooters, and the women and children. And while doing so, the men make it known, ‘You are running out of time before we will act offensively.”’

Number four: “If that doesn't work, you act — act!” Deace shouts.

“You have rights. You are an American. Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen. Use yours. That's your land. Those are your loved ones. Those are your freedoms, your liberties. You have every right to defend them. In fact, I would argue you have a mandate to.”

To hear more of Deace’s fiery monologue, watch the video above.

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In his final hours as New Jersey governor, Democrat Phil Murphy issued 97 pardons and 51 commutations.

Among Murphy's more controversial recipients of clemency was Harris Jacobs, the killer son of Democratic fundraiser and Atlantic City powerbroker Joe Jacobs. Jacobs is a friend of Murphy who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the failed 2024 Senate campaign of the then-governor's wife, Tammy Murphy.

'When politics pervades justice, the rule of law becomes subordinate to influence and power.'

Orlando Fraga — a Cuban who moved to the United States in 1980 in pursuit of a better life — was fatally struck by a vehicle when walking along Atlantic Avenue on Sept. 4, 2022.

Harris Jacobs knew he had struck Fraga. Jacobs reportedly can be seen in surveillance footage pulling into a nearby Dunkin' Donuts, then repeatedly inspecting his bloody victim before fleeing the scene.

Jacobs' defense attorney Lou Barbone suggested to WCAU-TV that the recognition that Fraga "had expired" was "simply too much of an emotional trigger" for his client to stick around and face the music.

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

Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Prosecutors noted during Harris' first trial that between the time of the hit-and-run and Harris' arrest, the killer had called his father 10 times after the crash but not the police.

Although jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision last May in Harris' first trial, they reached a verdict on Tuesday, finding the 28-year-old guilty of second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident, reported WCAU. The conviction would have carried a sentence of five to 10 years.

Barbone revealed that his client knew in advance that the jury's efforts to mete out justice were in vain.

"My client received a call from the governor's counsel at 7:30 a.m.," Barbone told BreakingAC. "The pardon was issued but not in our possession. We know it was issued before the verdict."

Barbone indicated he is filing a motion to vacate the conviction on the basis that the pardon was granted prior to the jury's verdict.

Murphy claimed that "each pardon and commutation represents a story of accountability, growth, and redemption."

"By offering second chances to individuals who have demonstrated rehabilitation and a commitment to their communities, we have strengthened not only individual lives, but our entire state," added Murphy.

A spokesperson for the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office told WCAU, "Unfortunately, when politics pervades justice, the rule of law becomes subordinate to influence and power. ... A conviction can be rendered meaningless not by the verdict of a jury, but by the intervention of political power and connections."

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"I gotta start out with a confession," Joe Allen said. "Human beings get on my f**king nerves."

He paused for effect. "I think the only creatures on earth more annoying are mosquitoes, AIs, and robots."

It was an unexpected confession from a man who has spent the post-COVID years as a sort of John the Baptist for the cause of the human race. Joe Allen, a contributor to Steve Bannon's War Room and author of "Dark Aeon," has been on a speaking tour, warning against the machinations of tech titans and how they intend to turn the human race into a sort of human/machine hybrid, a mix of genetically optimized meat meshed with artificial intelligence.

A comprehensive worldview where humanity either upgrades or disappears.

Here's the thing: They really believe in this stuff, and Joe has the receipts. Heady stuff for a Thursday night in Nashville.

The Emperor and the Twink

Allen frames the transhuman future around two figures he calls "the Emperor and the Twink": Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Augustus and Hadrian. The productive empire-builder and the more, as Allen puts it, "degenerate" aesthete.

Both are building toward the same goal through different paths: a future where humanity merges with machines or gets left behind. Maybe eliminated entirely.

Altman's funding a start-up called Conception that would let two men produce biological children together through synthetic ova. He's backing Genomic Prediction for algorithmic eugenics. Scraping embryos for height, IQ, looks, then selecting the "best" ones. "Sanitized eugenics," Allen calls it. "At scale, it would be an algorithmic filter for humanity."

Then there's the AI work itself. OpenAI and ChatGPT aren't just productivity tools. They're the foundation for what Altman believes will be artificial superintelligence. First the little-g gods, then maybe the big-G God. Artificial general intelligence self-improving into something that makes humanity obsolete.

RELATED: Cash-starved OpenAI BURNS $50M on ultra-woke causes — like world's first 'transgender district'

Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

To keep humans relevant in that future, Altman's pushing World ID: biometric iris scans linking your eyeballs to a government ID and blockchain cryptocurrency. "One of the many tentacles," Allen said, "of the vast digital beast system slowly strangling the life out of everything we once knew to be human."

He's also invested in Merge Labs, ultrasound systems to read brain waves and create higher-bandwidth communication with AI. A chance for some biological humans to keep up when the machines take over.

The South African car dealer

Musk presents himself as the alternative. The "based" option. xAI is the competitor to OpenAI's "woke" ChatGPT, because when we're all consulting chatbots to determine what's racist or sexist, you'll want "maximally truth-seeking" AI that hasn't been neutered by progressive ideology.

Fair enough. But the destination's the same.

Neuralink is the centerpiece. First sold as healing technology, helping the paralyzed walk and the blind see. But Musk's open about the long-term plan: hundreds of millions of normal humans drilling holes in their skulls to install high-bandwidth interfaces with AI. "If I'm not to be emperor," Allen said, "I'll at least be cooler than the gaybies wielding drones and flamethrowers around me."

Then there's Optimus: the humanoid robots Musk promises will outnumber humans three or four to one within a decade or two. "Algorithmic immigrants," Allen calls them, "coming across the border from the platonic realm of mathematical possibilities and swarming into reality."

Right now, they can barely fold laundry. But if the vision succeeds, we'll be surrounded by entities that can do everything we can do, only better. Which raises an obvious question: What are we for?

Race, robots, and religion

Allen organized his talk around three concepts: race, robots, and religion. Or as he rephrased it: bloodline, cultural transmission, and cosmic worldview. Genes, memes, and spirit.

The bloodline question is straightforward enough when it comes to Altman's synthetic reproduction technology. But it applies more broadly. Who continues? What survives? The transhumanist vision explicitly embraces what Allen calls "cultural and perhaps even biological genocide": the gradual or rapid replacement of biological humans by superior cyborgs and AI.

"First the coders, then white-collar workers, then blue-collar workers," Allen said, echoing Musk and Altman's own predictions. "We're left completely economically unviable. Obsolete."

The robots are the mechanism. They'll do our work. They'll fill our needs. They'll provide "radical abundance." A world where no one has to labor, where everything is taken care of, where we live as pets or preserve species while the AI spreads through the solar system and beyond.

Or we get turned into biofuel. "Better to reconfigure our atoms into robot components," Allen notes, "than keep us around using up resources as pets."

The religion part is where it gets really dark. This isn't just technology. It's theology. The conscious creation of artificial gods to rule over us or replace us entirely. A "sacred canopy" that fills the void in a godless universe.

Allen quotes Bryan Johnson, whom he describes as a vampire who injects his son's blood to stay young, laying out the five goals every ambitious man should have: Found a company, found a country, found a religion, don't die, become God.

"It's a bold claim," Allen said dryly. "I am somewhat skeptical."

The war against humanity

Championing humanity doesn't come naturally to Allen. He grew up in the hollers of Appalachia, developing "a keen sense of misanthropy and technophobia," where he related better to the trees and streams than to people.

But we have to put that aside for what Allen sees as a war. "If we're not going to be replaced by machines, if we are not to become robotic entities ourselves, it's going to require a certain degree of tolerance for humanity."

He means accepting human messiness. Human imperfection. The "dirtiness and nastiness of humanity" that makes us frustrating but also makes us us. Because the alternative is accepting that machines really are superior. That Silicon Valley's wealthiest men, backed by the most powerful governments on earth, are right about where we should go.

"Everyone is going to have to make a choice," Allen said. "Accept the status quo or reject it outright."

The rejection requires something most of us aren't good at: forgiving people we disagree with. Looking past differences. Banding together. "When you are fighting a hyper-cooperative superorganism," Allen said, "you're going to need a gang."

Allen argued that human solidarity, even with people whose beliefs or lifestyles or sins we can't stand, is the only viable resistance to algorithmic replacement.

"That person is a human being," he said, "and you will have to put humans first."

The prophets

At one point, Allen pitched a satirical product: transhumanist trading cards. Each card would feature a prominent figure in the movement (or occasionally an anti-transhumanist). Statistics like net worth, number of concubines, humans replaced. A small stick of gum "alternately dosed with LSD or nanobots."

It was a bit. But like good satire, it made a point: These people have names. Sigmund Freud, who prophesied humanity becoming "a kind of prosthetic God." Julian Huxley, who coined the term transhumanism to describe a human race taking control of its own evolution through technology. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the priest who saw technological civilization as the face of Christ incarnating on earth.

Then the modern saints: Ray Kurzweil and the singularity. Peter Thiel, the accused vampire with rumored interest in young-blood transfusions. Ben Goertzel with his leopard print cowboy hat, giving "dire prophecies of machines taking over with a kind of jolly glee."

And of course, Yuval Noah Harari. "Looking like the demonic dark elf that he is," Allen said. "So often quoted, almost never understood, but probably the greatest anti-tech propagandist of our time. Which goes to show you how stupid people are that they believe he's a transhumanist himself."

The point isn't the cards. It's that these aren't random technologists tinkering in garages. They're building toward a vision. A comprehensive worldview where humanity either upgrades or disappears.

We're already transhuman

Allen's message is bleak enough that you want to dismiss it as paranoia. Nobody's actually going to drill holes in billions of skulls. Sam Altman's not really going to create algorithmic master races. This is science fiction, not policy.

Except they're building it right now. They're funding it. They're selling it. They're openly stating these goals.

Allen compared it to communism. An insane vision that seems impossible until you realize people really believed it and acted on it and reshaped the world trying to achieve it. The reality that emerged wasn't the utopian dream, but it killed tens of millions of people and enslaved hundreds of millions more.

"These futures that these guys are putting forward," Allen said during the Q&A, "some approximation already exists. A greater degree of approximation will exist, and you just simply have to draw your lines where you will."

Here's the uncomfortable part: Most of us have already crossed some lines. We're already cyborgs, as Allen admits. Smartphones, wearables, the constant digital interface with our brains. The question isn't whether to engage with technology. It's where the sacred boundary sits. How much is too much.

Allen compared it to having "a pristine, simple cyborg on one shoulder and a very smelly Amishman on the other. And you're never going to be either of those things, but they're always vying for your decisions, trying to steer you one way or the other."

Fair enough. But the cyborg has enough cheerleaders. We need more people willing to LARP as armed Amishmen.

The middle path

Allen was asked: Is there a peaceful way to interface with these technologies? Some middle path between full rejection and full adoption?

"I'm no fundamentalist," he said. "These sacred boundaries are really important, but they're always going to be bound against."

His line for himself: zero use for AI in creative work. Anyone using AI to write, compose music, or create images should list the model alongside their name "as a mark of shame for being a hack and basically a vessel for an algorithmic parasite."

That's harsh. But it's a clear boundary. And it matters because the question isn't just about capabilities. It's about what makes us human and what makes work meaningful. Whether the polished precision of algorithmic output is worth losing the messy, opaque, human quality of actual creation.

Allen mentioned reading "Paradise Lost" and finding the confusing passages charming "because they're self-evidently the personal creation of John Milton." The alternative is flawless, efficient, and utterly dead.

Allen mentioned James Poulos, a tech thinker he respects, who takes a different approach. Poulos argues we need to "identify the tools that are of use to you to protect against this sort of nightmare future" while cultivating deeply religious life and communities. But crucially, "not to reject technology out of hand and see it as somehow inherently evil." It's a middle path that acknowledges we're already compromised but still draws meaningful boundaries based on what actually serves human flourishing.

What happens next

Allen's not optimistic about avoiding horror. "I don't suspect maybe that won't be the case," he said when asked about preventing a high-tech repeat of 20th-century atrocities. He sees deepfakes and AI erosion of trust requiring "a hyper-vigilant posture in which we don't trust anything at face value."

His advice: Cultivate human relationships with people you trust. Develop channels where the person on the other end is verified. "Hope for the best. I'm not going to say all of us are going to make it. But enough of us are going to make it."

But here's the thing he said that stuck with me: "This war against humanity, this war in favor of machines and more particularly in favor of the men who own the machines — this isn't something that will be solved or concluded in our lifetimes. This is something that began long before we were born, will continue long after we die."

If you care about your children or other people's children, you have to accept this isn't ending anytime soon.

Allen closed by urging us to write our own futures. Not to accept the vision laid out by Musk, Altman, and the rest. "Write it boldly," he said. "Write it without apology. Write it beautifully. And for God's sake, write it in a way that is not cliché or irritating."

Then he added, "Because I don't think I can take any more."

The question now is what we do about it. Whether we have the will to resist the most powerful technological and financial forces on earth. Whether we can tolerate each other enough to band together. Whether we can draw our sacred boundaries and hold them.

Allen's asking us to make a choice. I don't know what mine is yet. But I know that men like Altman and Musk aren't waiting for us to decide.

They're building the future right now. Whether we like it or not.

Memento mori

You might expect Joe to be an angry misanthrope, but nothing could be further from the truth. I've known Joe for a few years now, and he's quite possibly the most upbeat, happy-go-lucky guy I know. Always the life of the party, always a joy to hear speak, and a walking encyclopedia of esoterica.

After his talk, I was talking to folks in the crowd who would ask, "How did he memorize all that?" The thing about Joe is that he is always "on." What you see on stage is what you see in person: a happy warrior riding full bore into existential dread with a grin and a devil-may-care attitude.

I asked Joe how he's able to retain such a sunny disposition in the face of seemingly insurmountable darkness. "Memento mori: In the end, it's all a momentary drama," he told me.

After months of threats and recriminations, President Donald Trump announced that he has reached a "framework" of a deal on Greenland with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The president made the announcement on social media Wednesday after speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

'This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations.'

"Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region," the president wrote. "This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations."

He added that he would revoke the threat to impose tariffs on eight nations after reaching the deal. The tariffs had been scheduled to go into effect February 1.

"Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland," he added, referring to a missile defense system proposal.

Earlier in the day, he argued that annexing Greenland was essential to U.S. security as well as that of the Western Hemisphere.

"Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory. It is sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the United States, Russia, and China," he said in his speech.

"This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America — on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere," he added. "That's our territory. It is therefore a core national security interest of the United States of America — and in fact, it's been our policy for hundreds of years to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere."

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The president said that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff would lead the negotiations on the deal.

The president has also said he would focus less on peace in his tactics on Greenland after the Nobel Committee snubbed him for the Peace Prize.

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BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales appears to have uncovered a rash of possible H-1B visa fraud in the Lone Star State.

"If you thought Somalian day-care fraud was a problem, it turns out that's just the tip of the iceberg," said Gonzales. "There's a whole new problem that it turns out is taking tens of thousands of jobs away from Americans and changing our communities forever that you probably haven't even thought of. I'm talking about H-1B visas."

The H-1B visa program enables U.S.-based employers to temporarily hire foreign workers into specialized positions that American citizens supposedly can't do. H-1B specialty occupation workers are generally admitted for a period of up to three years, which can in most cases be extended for another three years.

'I'm not buying it.'

While the H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa, it paves the way for foreigners to obtain permanent residency in the country.

Lawmakers from both parties have in recent years expressed concerns about H-1B visa fraud and abuse, proposing amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act that would reform or even abolish the program.

Amid chatter online about serial abuse of the program in Texas, Gonzales began scrutinizing H-1B employers operating in her region, two of which didn't pass the smell test.

One of the two companies, which appears in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' H-1B Employer Datahub as Qubitz Tech Sysystems [sic] LLC, had 12 H-1B beneficiaries approved last year. The company, whose visa job contact is Hari Madiraju, has apparently been hiring "software developers" from abroad for years.

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BlazeTV

Gonzales went to the address listed for Qubitz in Frisco, Texas — a four-bedroom house in a residential neighborhood where a man responding to "Hari" answered the door.

In footage of the encounter, Hari appears greatly vexed by Gonzales' presence and even more so when she asks about Qubitz and its H-1B visa workers.

The moment that Gonzales mentions Qubitz, Hari announces that he is calling the police.

"I would love for the cops to come out here," says Gonzales.

"Are the workers in here? Are the 12 workers for your company in here? Do they work out of here?"

Hari indicates that the workers are located at his "company." When Gonzales asks where his company is, Hari appears to tell the 911 operator, "Somebody is knocking on my door and then they are like threatening me. ... Please, can you help me?"

Gonzales later paid a visit to the supposed Qubitz office Hari suggested was headquarters for his dozen or more workers only to find a prison-cell-sized room with a single chair and some folding tables.

"Pretty cramped working quarters for 12 H-1B workers," said Gonzales. "I'm not buying it."

3Bees Technologies Inc., which is listed as active on the Texas Comptroller website, similarly raised eyebrows.

According to the H-1B Employer Datahub, the company — whose agent, director, and president is Vamsi Krishna Vajinapally — had 27 H-1B beneficiaries approved in 2022 and 19 visa petitions apparently denied the following year.

While the visas approved in 2022 for Vajinapally's foreign workforce — which at one time supposedly comprised software developers, software quality assurance analysts, and software engineers — are apparently no longer valid, Gonzales was nevertheless surprised to find little evidence the recipients had a legitimate workplace to leave behind.

The BlazeTV host visited the location listed as the company's address in Irving, Texas. As with Qubitz, she found a house in a residential neighborhood.

After finding no discernible evidence of people working at the location during business hours and receiving passing insight from a neighbor that something shady was afoot on the block, Gonzales traveled to the recently updated Plano address on the 3Bees website.

At that location, Gonzales found a building under construction, devoid of signs of office workers and software development. Gonzales indicated that while the location is currently being transformed into a social club, the location was formerly a WeWork, a remote office space that anyone can rent.

Gonzales indicated that Vajinapally of 3Bees has attempted to hire H-1B workers for another supposed tech business whose alleged Texas-based office is another rentable virtual office in Lewisville.

Qubitz and 3Bees did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

"Once you start scraping data from H-1B databases, you start seeing immediately all of these patterns," said Gonzales.

"The biggest question I have right now is: If we were able to find this with just a little bit of Google-searching and follow-up, why hasn't USCIS done anything to combat this?"

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is taking action in response to a public school district's alleged plan to use its facilities for an event sponsored by a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to a letter obtained by Blaze News.

The Islamic Games Houston 2026 is scheduled to be held in Cypress, Texas, in September or October, according to the event's website. The event will feature several competitive sports, including basketball, soccer, a charity run, track, and swimming.

'Texans expect immediate action to curb the spread of Islamic extremism, and public facilities funded by their tax dollars will not be utilized to benefit terrorist organizations.'

While the event webpage notes that the date and location of the games are still being determined, it features an aerial map of Sprague Middle School and Bridgeland High School, unified campuses in the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District. The map of the schools' properties indicates where attendees can enter, register, pray, grab food, and participate in the various sporting events.

According to an archived version of the Islamic Games Houston 2025, Bridgeland High School and Sprague Middle School hosted the games last year.

The website previously listed the Council on American-Islamic Relations' New Jersey chapter as a sponsor but has since removed the organization's logo. Abbott designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations in November. CAIR has pushed back against the governor's designation.

On Wednesday afternoon, Abbott's office sent a letter to the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District demanding it “immediately preserve all records and communications concerning this event.”

“You must confirm with my office within seven days of receiving this letter that any negotiations or agreements for this event have been terminated. If you fail to do so, I will direct the Texas Education Agency to immediately seize and uncover any communications direct employees may have regarding CAIR, any attempts to conceal CAIR’s involvement, and any agreements or financial statements related to the proposed event,” Abbott wrote.

He stated that he would also direct the Texas Education Agency to refer any of its findings to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for possible legal action.

RELATED: 'Total ban' on Sharia law is on the horizon, Texas Gov. Abbott tells Glenn Beck: 'That will pass overwhelmingly'

Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

In the letter to the school district, Abbott accused CAIR-NJ of praising "Hamas' slaughter of innocent civilians."

"You cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools. In fact, state law requires public schools to prohibit illegal activities from taking place on school property. It is obvious, then, that you may not use taxpayer-funded public facilities to host events sponsored by a designated terror organization. To do so would violate your duty to taxpayers and the safety of students. Radical Islamic extremism is not welcome in Texas — and certainly not in our schools," Abbott wrote.

"Texans deserve immediate action to curb the spread of Islamic extremism, and public facilities funded by their tax dollars will not be utilized to host terrorist related groups,” he added.

The Islamic Games’ website also indicated that it was slated to host the 2026 Dallas event at a school within the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District on May 9 and 10. However, the district told Blaze News that the reservation for the facility "was still in negotiation review and not yet finalized."

"On January 19, GCISD was made aware that an organization listed as a sponsor of the Islamic Games in North Texas has been declared a Terrorist Organization by the Governor of Texas. Texas Government Code § 2252.152 states that, '[a] governmental entity may not enter into a governmental contract with a company identified as a foreign terrorist organization,'" Nicole Lyons, GCISD's executive director of communications, told Blaze News.

"Thus, GCISD provided notice that it is severing the negotiations for the use of District properties for the 2026 Islamic Games," Lyons added.

Abbott’s letter to CFISD noted that GCISD “rightfully” announced it had severed negotiations and encouraged CFISD to do the same.

RELATED: Gov. Abbott talks redistricting victory, action against CAIR with Glenn Beck

Greg Abbott. Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A spokesperson with CAIR-NJ told Blaze News that its chapter "fully supports" the Islamic Games but noted that the group typically sponsors the events held in New Jersey.

"This one is outside of our state," the spokesperson stated.

The Islamic Games have upcoming events outside Texas, including in New Jersey, Ontario, Illinois, Maryland, and Michigan.

CFISD and the Islamic Games did not respond to a request for comment.

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Democrats Salman Bhojani and Dr. Suleman Lalani are the first-ever Muslims to be elected to the Texas legislature — and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is sounding the alarm that their presence is more insidious than Texans might think.

“They were both born in Pakistan. They were both, by the way, sworn in as Texas House representatives with the Quran, which, in my opinion, shouldn’t be allowed. And they’re both attempting to implement Islamic laws, values, morals, principles, honor into our state,” Gonzales explains.

“They’re both running again for re-election in the Democrat primaries. … I want to show you what they just did — both did and attempted to do in the last legislative session,” she continues.

Lalani has put forward several resolutions that concern Gonzales, like HR32, recognizing “Pakistan Day” at the Capitol.

“Now, again, it’s a resolution. It’s very informal. You know, you might say, ‘Well, it doesn’t really mean much.’ Well, actually it does. Actually it does — that the Republicans in the state of Texas would go along with this. Actually it does, because this is not about freedom of religion,” Gonzales explains.

“In Pakistan, sex outside of marriage is illegal. The punishment for that particular offense ranges from up to five years in prison for minors to 100 lashes for unmarried adults to — it could be as severe as stoning to death for married adults,” she says.

“And because the majority of citizens believe in Islam and Sharia law, including law enforcement, there’s actually a lot of things that happen that are technically illegal, but they just kind of cover their eyes and let it happen,” she continues, pointing out that this covers “honor killings.”

Honor killings occur usually when a woman or girl is perceived to have brought shame on her family by her actions. A male typically carries one out by murdering the girl or woman for her actions.

“By the way, child marriage? Fine in Pakistan,” Gonzales comments, disturbed.

“Data from the National Police Bureau indicates that at least 405 women fell victim to honor crimes during the year. Domestic violence accounted for at least 1,641 cases of murder and 3,385 cases of beating,” she reads from a report. “That’s what the culture is like over in Pakistan.”

Another piece of the report Gonzales refers to covers the story of a Christian man who was badly beaten by a mob after being accused of “blasphemy” and died from his injuries shortly after.

“Can’t be Christian there. You can’t say anything. You better not say anything bad about Allah or Muhammad, else you get killed in Pakistan. And acid attacks are also a thing there, of regular occurrence,” she explains.

“By the way, journalists are mysteriously killed. If you criticize the government, if you criticize any of the leaders, you might just mysteriously end up unalived. Also, you’re not allowed to protest the government. If you’re a citizen and you protest the government, you may actually just poof, disappear,” she continues.

“Hearing what the culture in Pakistan is all about, hearing what it’s like in this Islamic state, the Islamic state of Pakistan … are any of those values that you align with?” she asks. “I’m guessing the answer is no. So why did the Texas House honor Pakistanis on Pakistan Day?”

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Things allegedly got ugly at a Texas 24 Hour Fitness earlier this month when authorities said a 25-year-old female became enraged after spotting another woman she believed was involved with her boyfriend.

Deputies with the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office said Aralyn Martinez grabbed a 25-pound weight plate and rushed toward the other woman, who was working out on the floor of the gym in Spring, KHOU-TV reported. Spring is about 30 minutes north of Houston.

'Now the boyfriend & the victim are enjoying date night while she’s in lockup. Do better.'

Cellphone video deputies reviewed reportedly shows Martinez threatening to drop the weight on the woman before throwing it toward her head, the station said.

The woman was able to move out of the way just in time, avoiding serious injury, KHOU reported.

Precinct 4 Capt. Juan Flores told the station that other gym users intervened and were able to calm the situation before it escalated further.

Martinez left the gym shortly after the confrontation but was later arrested, KHOU said.

RELATED: Texas yoga teacher who murdered love rival and fled country seeks retrial, pushing victimhood narrative

Image source: Harris County (Texas) Constable Precinct 4

Martinez is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony, the station said, adding that she has since been released on a $1,000 bond.

As part of her bond conditions, Martinez was ordered to stay at least 200 feet away from the home and workplace of the alleged victim, KHOU said.

Authorities added to the station that Martinez and the other woman did not know each other personally before the incident.

“Not very often with weights and not very often at a gym,” Flores remarked to KHOU regarding the unusual case.

“We do know a 25-pound weight, or any weight ... can be a deadly weapon considering where you hit the person.”

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Commenters under KHOU's video report about the incident were incredulous over the bond amount — among other issues:

• "That bond is ridiculously low," one commenter said. "These courts don’t hold very much respect for human life. She tried to kill someone."
• "Hold up, she could've killed her, and she got a $1,000 bond?" another commenter inquired.
• "Only $1,000 to repeat it successfully next time," another commenter observed. "How nice, always for the criminals."
• "There’s an epidemic of people [who] can’t control their emotions," another commenter noted.
• "Goofy. Now the boyfriend & the victim are enjoying date night while she’s in lockup," another commenter wrote. "Do better."

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While the Minnesota fraud scandal and ensuing investigation are nothing to joke about, two Health and Human Services officials took a moment out of their busy schedules to share some "unsolicited commentary" about their job performance.

On Wednesday morning, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill and assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families Alex Adams stepped in front of the camera to respond to the humorous feedback they have received from those paying attention to their work.

"Protecting state and federal child care dollars and holding Governor Walz accountable, courtesy of Bert and Ernie," read a caption to the video.

— (@)

'This is what I want my government to be.'

The two officials took turns reading comments from viewers.

"Why does this feel like a late-night class-action lawsuit commercial? 'Do you or a loved one have mesothelioma? Call 1-800 ...'" O'Neill read.

RELATED: Trump administration sends Democrats into hysterics by freezing funding to 5 blue states over fraud concerns

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"They look like injury-claim lawyers that have the nickname 'the Hammer' on a billboard in rural Indiana," Adams read out loud.

"These are the kind of nerds that will save the union," O'Neill said.

"I'm getting strong Bert and Ernie energy," Adams said.

"You're Bert," O'Neill joked.

A lengthier comment said, "These dorks are amazing. They found policies that enable the massive fraud, they're stopping it, and they got in front of a camera to explain it to us. This is what I want my government to be."

In a final comment, Adams read, "I love these guys. The vibe feels like 'behind the camera' people being told they need to wear a suit tomorrow."

The fraud investigation was helped by the outpouring of information into HHS' tip line at childcare.gov, where they said that they had quickly received more than 500 tips for their investigation.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a rhetorical beatdown against Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Newsom is trying to expand his national and global profile for the sake of a possible presidential campaign in 2028 and used the forum to criticize President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Bessent issued a strong rebuke of the Democrat.

'Shame on him. He is too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything.'

"I think it's very, very ironic that Governor Newsom — who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken — may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris," said Bessent.

"He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros. And Davos is the perfect place for a man who, when everyone else was on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having thousand-dollar-a-night meals at the French Laundry [restaurant]," he added.

"My message to Governor Newsom," Bessent said, "is the Trump administration is coming to California, we are going to crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse."

He went on to list California's problems, including homelessness, the mass exodus of residents, a massive budget deficit, and continued fallout from the devastating Palisades fire a year ago.

"Shame on him. He is too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything," he concluded.

"Let me know if you need any further clarification!" he added.

RELATED: Scott Bessent has joined the effort to uncover funders of Antifa violence, White House says

.@SecScottBessent in Davos: "I think it's very, very ironic that Newsom — who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ben — may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris. He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros." pic.twitter.com/9BmdpaebEd
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 21, 2026

President Donald Trump also spoke at Davos and defended his campaign to annex Greenland while touting the state of the economy under his leadership.

"Greenland is a vast, almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped territory. It is sitting undefended in a key strategic location between the U.S., Russia, and China," said the president.

"It is a core national security interest of the U.S. — and in fact, has been our policy for hundreds of years to prevent outside threats from entering our hemisphere," Trump added.

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Whether it’s Jimmy Kimmel’s increasingly unhinged rhetoric or carbon-copy monologues from all the late-night hosts accusing President Trump of having a relationship with Epstein — comedy has taken a serious nose dive.

And BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere is among those getting a little tired of it.

“Late-night hosts have come to this place where now they seemingly, anytime Trump does anything, they just accuse it as being somehow tied to the Epstein files,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere tells film critic and reporter Christian Toto on “Stu Does America.”

“Jimmy Kimmel ... he’s one of the smallest, and he obviously had this big back-and-forth with the president where he tried to be Mr. Tough Guy, and he was praised by Hollywood and the left for this,” he continues.

“He’s calling him a maniac for not only just killing people overseas but killing an unarmed 37-year-old woman during the ICE operation. He put a shirt on TV that said Donald Trump is going to come kill you. This is a man who’s almost been assassinated multiple times,” he adds.

“Yeah, squint all you want. You’re not going to see comedy,” Toto responds. “That’s not even the point at this point.”

“You know, the thing that makes me really sad about the culture at large is that I think it was 2017, Kathy Griffin put up that fake Trump head, you know, it was bloody, it was disgusting. And collectively, as a culture, we recoiled, and her career just vanished overnight,” he continues.

However, while Griffin's move was career-ending, Toto points out that today no one would bat an eye.

“I think people on the right would blink for sure, and they’d be upset about it, but I think center-left people, people who just go about their day-to-day business, I don’t think anyone would bat an eye. ... And Jimmy Kimmel is part of the reason why,” he says, adding, “And what he’s doing is wildly irresponsible.”

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