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Oklahoma country singer J.D. Graham was airlifted to a hospital after a serious interstate accident with a semitruck that broke his neck and back.

The University of Notre Dame in Indiana announced last month that pro-abortion radical Susan Ostermann had been appointed to lead the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

The administrative elevation of an activist whose secular ministry is fundamentally at odds with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church and the school's corresponding pro-life position proved intolerable to Notre Dame's members and supporters — including the cleric invested with the power to prohibit the institution from identifying as Catholic.

'A win for consistency, clarity, and common sense.'

The sustained protest by scholars, supporters, alumni, and clergy — including 15 bishops and two archbishops — appears to have paid off.

Keough School of Global Affairs Dean Mary Gallagher, the administrator who reportedly first made the appointment, announced in a letter on Thursday to students and faculty that Ostermann "has decided not to move forward as director."

"I am grateful for her willingness to serve and for the thoughtfulness with which she approached this decision," wrote Gallagher.

Gallagher suggested further that the activist — who has dehumanized the unborn, downplayed the dangers of abortion, equated childbirth without the option of abortion as "violence," worked with an organization that seeks to enshrine pro-abortion policies around the world, and vilified the pro-life movement — is a "respected scholar" whose "research and teaching reflect the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary excellence at the heart of both the Lieu Institute and the Keough School of Global Affairs."

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Photo by ROBERT CHIARITO/AFP via Getty Images

Ostermann said in a statement included in Gallagher's letter that "the focus on my appointment risks overshadowing the vital work the Institute performs, which it should be allowed to pursue without undue distraction," reported the Irish Rover.

She noted further that "it has become clear that there is work to do at Notre Dame to build a community where a variety of voices can flourish."

The announcement comes two weeks after Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend condemned Ostermann's appointment, underscored that her views and activism were disqualifying, and told the university to "rectify this situation."

Following the news that Ostermann had thrown in the towel, Bishop Rhoades expressed gratitude "to all the members of the Notre Dame community and beyond who, out of love for Notre Dame, expressed their opposition to the appointment."

'The Bishop did not urge us to sit silently and watch our Lady’s University fall before our eyes.'

"The reason I opposed the appointment is because the appointment of persons to leadership positions at a Catholic university is an act of institutional witness, a mission-governance issue," wrote Rhoades.

"Clearly Notre Dame is reaffirming its fidelity to a core truth of Catholic social teaching that is central to the Church’s commitment to integral human development."

Mary FioRito, senior fellow at the Catholic Association, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News, "Professor Susan Ostermann's decision not to accept the position of director at the University of Notre Dame’s Liu Center is a win for consistency, clarity, and common sense."

"As an explicitly Catholic university, Notre Dame owes its students and faculty 'truth in advertising,'" continued FioRito. "Ostermann’s public advocacy of legal abortion would have overshadowed the good work of the Liu Center and significantly hampered its ability to form students."

Catholic and conservative student groups — including Notre Dame Right to Life, Knights of Columbus Council 1477, and the Militia of Immaculata — were planning to hold a prayerful protest Friday evening where they would urge Rev. Robert Dowd, the president of the university, to rescind the appointment and "exercise his authority to enforce Notre Dame's Catholic mission."

Sophomore Luke Woodyard, co-organizer of the planned demonstration, stated, "The Bishop did not urge us to sit silently and watch our Lady’s University fall before our eyes; he gave us a clear call to action."

Notre Dame Right to Life President Anna Kelley told the Observer on Thursday that in light of Ostermann's decision, students will still assemble on Friday but for "a prayerful procession in gratitude of the recent decision" and in thanks "for the true Catholic identity of Notre Dame."

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Government micromanagement has throttled economic growth for decades. The latest example came when the Surface Transportation Board deemed the Norfolk Southern-Union Pacific merger application incomplete and rejected it without prejudice. That decision delays what would be the first uninterrupted transcontinental railroad in American history — a privately financed project that could strengthen supply chains, boost growth, and improve American competitiveness without costing taxpayers a dime.

For now, that vision sits on hold.

A stronger rail network would help stabilize the supply chain while lowering costs for producers and consumers alike.

The STB said the 7,000-page filing lacked several key materials, including a full market-impact analysis with traffic projections. Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific now must fill in the gaps and refile.

That setback does not decide the larger question. Rail mergers have recovered from early regulatory obstacles before, and the STB’s ruling on completeness says nothing definitive about the underlying merits of this merger.

In May 2021, for example, the STB rejected CSX’s application to acquire Pan Am Railways as incomplete. Two months later, CSX resubmitted the application, and the board accepted it. The combined railroad later expanded shipping options, lowered freight costs for shippers, and supported regional growth.

Opponents of the present merger nevertheless treat the incomplete ruling as a final victory. It is not. It is a procedural delay, not a substantive rejection. And history shows that rail mergers of this kind can generate real economic benefits.

Today, shipping goods across the country by rail often means navigating a patchwork system of freight lines, transfer points, and carriers. Businesses must coordinate among multiple operators just to move a product from one coast to the other.

That fragmentation imposes real costs. It slows delivery, raises uncertainty, and forces businesses to protect themselves with larger inventory buffers and wider shipping windows. Those costs do not disappear. Businesses absorb some of them, and consumers pay the rest.

Farmers, manufacturers, and other suppliers feel that pressure most acutely. Many already operate on thin margins. Add shipping delays and higher freight costs, and those businesses face hard choices: eat the loss, cut investment, or raise prices.

That is why the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger matters.

A stronger rail network would help stabilize the supply chain while lowering costs for producers and consumers alike. It also would mark the first time companies attempted to create a true transcontinental rail line without asking taxpayers to foot the bill.

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Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The competitiveness argument matters too. A USDA study found that wheat grown in 2022 cost more to ship by rail to western ports in the United States than in Canada, even across comparable distances. Canada produces far less wheat than the United States, but its less fragmented rail network gives its exporters an advantage. American farmers, by contrast, compete from a structurally weaker position because the U.S. rail system remains broken into discontinuous lines.

That disadvantage carries real consequences. When uninterrupted, rail can move freight at costs up to 60% lower per ton than other transportation modes. A more seamless coast-to-coast rail network would narrow the gap between American producers and their foreign competitors.

Critics argue that the merger would reduce competition in shipping. That view is too narrow. Freight competition does not occur only within rail. Shippers compare rail with trucking, barges, pipelines, and air cargo. A stronger rail network would not eliminate those alternatives. It would complement them. In a resilient supply chain, businesses need multiple transportation options, not fewer.

An efficient rail system would make the entire freight market stronger by giving shippers another dependable, lower-cost tool for moving goods.

The task now is straightforward: Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific should complete the review process quickly and responsibly. The precedent exists for a successful resubmission after an incomplete ruling. If that happens here, Americans will gain the kind of privately financed infrastructure upgrade the country badly needs.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) are among those leading the charge against not just a radical Islamic takeover in Texas — but the rest of the nation.

And it’s never been more important that they succeed.

“It is a really big problem, not just in this state or your home state of Texas and my home state of Texas, but in this entire country. And I’m very, very concerned that there are a lot of sleeper cells that are here because of the Biden administration being asleep at the wheel for four years,” Gonzales tells Roy.

And Roy couldn’t agree more.

“Under the First Amendment, you can believe what you want you to believe. But this is a political movement. It’s an ideological movement. The Muslim Brotherhood has a plan," Roy tells Gonzales.

"That plan is on full display in Dallas-Fort Worth as ground zero."

“We have no-go zones where women don’t want to go, in Arlington, in Richardson, in suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth. That is part of their plan to Islamify Texas in our country. That is a political and ideological movement that is not square with the First Amendment. And we should treat it as such,” he continues.

“We should resist it. We should fight it. We should stand up on our Judeo-Christian values,” he adds.

And while standing up for our values against insidious ideologies like Islam is clearly important, the alternative is devastating.

“If we stand together for revival, a revival of faith and a revival of freedom, that faith is our Judeo-Christian principles, our Christian beliefs, and our dedication to freedom. Then we will win, and we’ll have the greatest century in our history,” he explains.

“If we recoil and let people hide behind the First Amendment to radically Islamify our country, if we back away from freedom and the ability of Americans to live without being under the thumb of government, then we will lose,” he continues.

“Those are the issues,” he adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Graham “Nazi Tattoo” Platner, the current frontrunner (by a lot) to win Maine’s Democrat nomination to the U.S. Senate, used his X account Thursday to promote an X post that originated with Stew Peters.

The post Nolte: Maine Democrat Graham ‘Nazi Tattoo’ Platner Promotes Holocaust Denier appeared first on Breitbart.

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New American Heart Association report predicts 59% of women will have high blood pressure by 2050, up from 49% today, in addition to higher diabetes and obesity rates.

A large-scale prison breakout took place in the beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, where a group of cartel gunmen helped break out 23 inmates. The large-scale operation went largely unnoticed earlier this week as Cartel Jalisco New Generation spread terror throughout Mexico following the death of their leader, Ruben Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera.

The post 23 Inmates Escaped from Puerto Vallarta Prison Amid Chaos After El Mencho’s Death appeared first on Breitbart.

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Talks are set to continue with technical-level discussions next week in Vienna, amid heightened regional tensions and a major U.S. military buildup in the Middle East.

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Some cruise lines decided to bypass stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, this week due to ongoing violence in the country following the death of cartel leader Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes.

Oseguera, a 59-year-old drug lord who led the Jalisco New Generation cartel, was killed by the Mexican army during a security operation over the weekend in the town of Tapalpa. Six other cartel associates were also killed in the raid.

'We've made the decision to shift itineraries on a handful of sailings to bypass Puerto Vallarta for the next few weeks.'

Oseguera's death sparked violence in the streets from his apparent supporters, who set fires to vehicles and blocked roads in western Mexico.

The U.S. briefly issued a shelter-in-place order for tourists in certain parts of Mexico, including Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Ciudad Guzmán, Tijuana, Chiapas, and Michoacán. That order was lifted on Tuesday.

Carnival Corporation told Blaze News that it had altered itineraries to skip stops in Puerto Vallarta.

"Our team has been monitoring things in Mexico throughout the week, and cruise tourism has continued to operate normally across most of the country. That said, we've made the decision to shift itineraries on a handful of sailings to bypass Puerto Vallarta for the next few weeks," Carnival Corporation said. "Our cruise lines are directly notifying affected guests and travel advisors."

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Photo by Yilmaz Yucel/Anadolu via Getty Images

A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line also stated that the company had bypassed a scheduled stop in Puerto Vallarta.

"The safety and well-being of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are always a top priority. Due to ongoing security operations and the recent U.S. travel warning issued for select areas in Mexico, Norwegian Bliss' scheduled call to Puerto Vallarta on Feb. 25, 2026, has been canceled. We are closely monitoring the ongoing situation and any additional itinerary updates for ships scheduled to call to Mexico in the near future will be communicated directly with impacted guests," the spokesperson told Blaze News.

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Photo by Ulises Ruiz / AFP via Getty Images

Royal Caribbean told Blaze News on Wednesday that "the safety and security of our guests and crew are always our top priority" but that there had not been any changes to the cruise line's visits.

"Should there be, we will contact impacted guests and travel agents directly," the company said.

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