Remember how I said the Left has to make up examples of racism because there is no racism? Well, the DoJ has just proven this.
The Supreme Court has been busy.
Happy May Day. Just make sure you’re carrying a gun when you go out.
News
Here is some news:
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been accused of sending money to white supremacist organizations to drum up racism they could call hate groups.
These groups include the Klu Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the American Nazi Party.
Here is Attorney General Kash Patel making the announcement.
The Supreme Court has ruled that courts cannot force states to draw racist congressional districts.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, affirming that Christian nonprofits do not forfeit their constitutional rights simply because their beliefs don’t align with those of powerful politicians supporting anti-Christian ideologies.
In a Friday hearing, the court heard arguments regarding a motion from the defense representing Tyler Robinson seeking at least a 4-month delay the May preliminary hearing currently set in the case. Robinson is charged with murdering Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University.
He said that they have requested the underlying data from the ATF and FBI regarding DNA evidence, and have not received it. He said that this lack of data would interfere with their ability to go forward with a preliminary hearing, because “we cannot do that when the law enforcement partners, ATF and FBI, have not provided us with appropriate discovery.” He said the team “can’t present any expert testimony on DNA without having the underlying data.”
He said that evidence that will be presented by the state is split into four categories: surveillance from Utah Valley University that captured Robinson’s movements on the day of the shooting, evidence tying Robinson to the rifle that was found near the scene and consistent with the shot fired, confessions given by Robinson to his lover, Lance Twiggs, as well as friends in a chatroom, and DNA evidence from items recovered.
Thousands of activists, union members, and left-wing organizers are mobilizing across the country Friday for sweeping May Day demonstrations, with organizers calling for an “economic blackout” aimed at disrupting daily life.
More than 3,000 events are expected nationwide — more than double last year’s total — under the banner of “May Day Strong,” a coalition that includes labor unions, immigration groups, and political organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America. The coordinated effort centers on a simple directive: “No School. No Work. No Shopping.”
In New York City, demonstrators including Amazon workers and Teamsters marched from the public library toward corporate offices, demanding the company sever ties with federal immigration enforcement. In Washington, D.C., activists blocked intersections, carrying signs reading: “WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES” and “HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE.”
Spirit Airlines has shut themselves down at 3 AM on Saturday, stranding thousands of travlers.
Democrats are blaming the Iran war for gas prices. Of course, that’s crap.
Spirit has been in huge trouble for about the last six years because of undercutting their prices and bleeding customers because extra fees, poor service, and a really loose clientele.
The Biden DoJ refused to allow Jet Blue to buy Spirit Airlines.
Then, democrats like Elizabeth Warren, refused to give a bailout.
Someone tried to kill Trump again at the White House Correspondence Dinner. That is the fifth time over the last year and a half.
There was the shooter in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The was the attempted shooter in Marlago.
There was another attempted shooter at Marlago who broke into the Trump’s property.
Then there was the guy who used a forklift to overturn the Beast. That guys was foiled by a tree he ran into.
Of course, the media is saying that everything was staged.
Finally, Rudi Guiliani is in critical but stable condition in New York. There is no news about what happened. He is 81 years old.
🚨BREAKING: DOJ charges the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The SPLC secretly funneled $3M+ in donor funds to violent racist extremist groups:
Disney World has decided to ditch woke to the joy of their visitors.
You ever wonder why Muslims are having such an easy time getting into England? Well, the BBC has found an answer.
And Ilhan Omar “accidently” said she was worth $30 million dollars. She actually not worth that much. I do not believe you, ma’am.
News
Here is some news:
Pope Leo clarified his statements about war (not THE war).
On Saturday, April 18, 2026, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to speed up research, regulatory review, and access pathways for novel treatments for serious mental illness, including psychedelic‑based therapies such as ibogaine and similar compounds.
The order’s stated intent is to tackle high suicide rates, particularly among veterans, by removing or easing certain legal and regulatory barriers that currently make it difficult for U.S. researchers and clinicians to study and offer these treatments within controlled medical frameworks.
The U.S. Navy fired on the Iran-flagged M/V Touska tanker in the Arabian Sea on Sunday, disabling its engines and later seizing the vessel.
Tehran officials condemned the seizure as “armed piracy” and vowed retaliation.
Peace talks with Iran were expected to begin in Pakistan on Tuesday, but recent reports from Iranian state media have thrown the meetings into doubt.
The command of Iran’s military, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, offered an explanation for why Iranian forces did not fight back: “Due to the presence of some family members of the ship’s crew, they faced constraints in order to protect their lives and ensure their safety, as they were in danger at every moment.”
A Louisiana man who murdered eight children, seven of them his own and one a cousin of the children, had two prior convictions. One of convictions was due to his commission of a previous shooting near a school. The children were all under 11 years old.
The 31-year-old posted a picture of himself with one of his daughters just hours before killing the children execution style. He killed most of them in their beds and one as he tried to escape.
The victims’ ages ranged from 3 to 11.
He also shot his wife in the face, mother of four of his children, as well as the mother of his three other children.
Disney World just took a giant step away from wokeness with a small change in its parks that has the normies cheering.
According to park visitors, the automated announcements are once again using the phrase “Ladies and Gentlemen.” This is a change from the parks originally pivoting to use more “inclusive” language on their properties.
The revelation about Disney’s foray into progressivism came in 2022 when journalist Chris Rufo released video recordings from employee all-hands meetings at the company. One of the clips showed Vivian Ware, who was at the time serving as Disney’s diversity and inclusion manager, explaining how Disney altered gendered greetings and language in its theme parks for live spiels and other aspects of the park in 2021.
“We trained, we provided training for all of our cast members in relationship to that. So now they know it’s ‘Hello, everyone,’ or ‘Hello, friends,’” Ware explained.
“We don’t want to just assume because someone might be, in our interpretation, may be presenting as female, that they may not want to be called ‘princess,’” she went on. “So let’s think differently about how do we really engage with our guests in a meaningful and inclusive way that makes it magical and memorable for everyone.”
Legal advisers have been telling migrants from Muslim countries to pose as gay to be granted asylum in Britain, with some lawyers going as far as coaching migrants on how to fabricate photos and come up with their own back stories, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
The BBC’s undercover investigation revealed how legal advisers are raking in cash by helping migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh apply for asylum by claiming to be gay, which would put them at risk of persecution in their home countries.
One BBC reporter went undercover to a meeting organized by a group that claims to support gay and lesbian asylum seekers. Around 175 people attended the meeting put on by Worcester LGBT, but it appeared that none of them actually identified as lesbian or gay.
“Most of the people here are not gays,” one man said, according to the BBC.
Another man replied, “Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay.”
The BBC reporter posed as a migrant seeking asylum and met multiple times with an adviser for Worcester LGBT named Tanisa. For their first meeting, the reporter met with Tanisa at her house and was invited to her bedroom to chat. Tanisa sat on her bed as she told the undercover journalist that he should apply for asylum as a gay man, but the reporter quickly informed Tanisa that he wasn’t gay.
Rep. Ilhan Omar has denied being a millionaire and has now claimed that her net worth is actually under $100,000 in a new disclosure filing. This comes after a filing of up to $30 millon net worth was revised down to a significantly smaller amount.
Omar has blamed an accounting error for her disclosure last year that said she and her husband held assets between $6 million and $30 million. The Wall Street Journal reported that in an amended filing, Omar and her husband’s assets are supposedly $18,004 and $95,000,
“The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” Omar spokesperson Jacklyn Rogers told the reporters, adding that the filing was corrected “as soon as the discrepancy was identified.”
The amended filing followed a request for more information from the Office of Congressional Conduct this year.
Omar’s lawyer claimed that the filing was inaccurate and that it was the fault of an accountant.
“As the busiest of people, it is very common for members and their spouses to rely on learned professionals like accountants to make calculations and determinations that appear on public filings,” the attorney said. “While the error is of course unfortunate, there is nothing untoward and nothing illegal has occurred.”
The Biden Justice department has not been playing well with others.
An anti-abortion father profits from the misdeeds of the Biden administration.
And New York isn’t learning a bloody thing about the Biden administration’s mistakes.
Who’s Weaponizing the Justice Department?
The article argues that the Biden Justice Department closely coordinated with major abortion-rights organizations to monitor, build cases against, and secure harsher penalties for peaceful pro-life activists using the FACE Act, while downplaying attacks on pro-life centers and religious opponents of abortion.
Core claims
The piece says internal DOJ emails, released in a Trump-era report, show senior Biden DOJ official Sanjay Patel treating an activist at the National Abortion Federation (NAF) as an “MVP” for flagging pro-life protests in real time and connecting her directly with FBI agents to spur FACE Act investigations and prosecutions.
According to the article, pro-abortion groups such as NAF, Planned Parenthood, and the Feminist Majority Foundation compiled and sent “dossiers” on pro-life activists to DOJ, including home addresses, photos of family members, travel plans, social media posts, associates, and even driver’s license numbers, years before some were charged.
Monitoring and prosecutions
The report described in the article claims Patel and the DOJ “monitored” certain pro-life families, like Calvin Zastrow’s, for years by tracking their social media and travel and by asking NAF for updates on where they might protest next, before later indicting them under the FACE Act for sit-ins and blockades at clinics in states like Tennessee and Michigan.
The article emphasizes that many of those prosecuted under Biden were engaged in activities it characterizes as peaceful—praying, singing, and sitting in front of clinic doors—yet some received multi‑year prison sentences, which the Trump DOJ now contrasts with lighter average sentences for pro‑abortion defendants in FACE‑related cases.
Alleged bias and disdain for religion
The Daily Wire piece highlights language from DOJ attorneys as evidence of hostility toward religious pro‑lifers, including descriptions of Christian pro‑life beliefs as “culty” and an email complaining about drawing a “very Catholic magistrate” who was careful about defendants’ First Amendment rights.
It further notes that, per the Trump report, Biden‑era task force lawyers were in “constant contact” with abortion clinics and advocacy groups yet had no contact with pro‑life pregnancy centers until months after a surge in vandalism and attacks against those centers following the Dobbs leak.
Relationship with abortion groups
The article says DOJ officials not only relied on abortion-rights groups for intelligence but also tried to help at least one such group, NAF, obtain private grant funding, with a DOJ lawyer asking ethics officers if they could vouch on DOJ letterhead that NAF was “valuable to our law enforcement efforts.”
The Trump report, as summarized, criticizes this as a conflict of interest: DOJ lawyers allegedly took an interest in the financial success of entities that were simultaneously shaping the department’s enforcement targets.
Trump administration response
The article frames the new 800‑page Trump DOJ report as part of a broader effort to “correct” Biden-era weaponization of the FACE Act, pointing to Trump’s early pardons of convicted pro-life activists and a recent seven‑figure settlement with pro‑life leader Mark Houck after his FACE Act prosecution and FBI raid.
It concludes that, taken together, the emails and report show a DOJ that partnered with abortion activists to pursue religious, pro‑life Americans while giving comparatively less attention to crimes against pregnancy centers and churches.
A pro-life activist whose 2022 arrest by the FBI under the Biden administration drew national headlines has reached a seven-figure settlement after suing the Justice Department over his arrest and prosecution.
Mark Houck filed a lawsuit against the department in 2023 seeking restitution for what he called “a faulty investigation” and “excessive force” after a SWAT team of around 25 people arrested him in front of his children at his home on Sept. 23, 2022, allegedly with guns drawn.
The shocking details of his arrest spurred criticism from conservatives that the Justice Department under then-President Joe Biden was targeting pro-life activists.
After a three-year legal battle, 40 Days for Life President Shawn Carney announced April 9 that Houck had reached a settlement with the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump and had been awarded more than $1 million.
Catholic nuns who have spent more than a century caring for the dying poor are suing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, saying a new state law could force them to choose between their faith and their mission or face fines, loss of licensing and even jail time.
“We are consecrated religious Sisters and have one mission,” Mother Marie Edward, O.P., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “It is to provide comfort and skilled care to persons dying of cancer who cannot afford nursing care. We do not take insurance or government funds or money from our patients or families. The care is totally free.”
“We are supported by the goodness of our benefactors,” she continued. “We do this without discriminating on the basis of race, religion, or sex. We do it because Jesus taught us that, when the least among us are sick, we should care for them, as if they were Christ himself.”
Signed into law on Nov. 30, 2023, the “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and people living with HIV long-term care facility residents’ bill of rights” bans long-term care facilities and staff “from discriminating against any resident on the basis of a resident’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status,” according to a press release from Hochul’s office.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who run Rosary Hill Home in Hawthorne, New York, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the law they say would require them to assign rooms by gender identity, not biological sex; allow access to opposite-sex bathrooms; allow expression, relationships and identity practices; use preferred pronouns; require staff training in gender ideology; and post a public notice stating compliance with the law.
Edward told Fox News Digital that “New York’s gender ideology mandates not only violate our Catholic values, they threaten our existence with fines, injunctions, license revocation, and even jail time. This is why we were forced to go to court to seek protection of our religious exercise and freedom of speech so that we can continue our ministry to the poor.”
The letters listed New York’s demands and included a training curriculum “requiring the sisters to align patient care and the training of their sisters and employees with the State’s gender ideology.”
If the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne do not comply, they face fines up to $2,000 per violation — rising to $5,000 — court-ordered forced compliance, loss of licensing and up to one year in prison and fines up to $10,000.
In their lawsuit, the sisters highlighted that during the four-year reporting period from Feb. 1, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2026, the New York State Department of Health had received “zero complaints” from Rosary Hill Home residents, compared with “more than 55,000 complaints against other nursing homes,” and an average of 23 citations per facility during the same period.
Donald Trump has had it with Iran’s lack of cooperation. Iran has six hours to figure it out.
California is an absolute mess. We, in California, knew it. Apparently CBS News just figured it out.
And NASA, with four brave astronauts, prove that America is awesome!
News
President Donald Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. ET to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes against its power plants and bridges on Tuesday.
The United Nations has warned that Trump’s threats to target Iran’s power plants and bridges could constitute war crimes if they are carried out.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., is mounting a long-shot bid to impeach President Donald Trump as he stares down a primary threat from younger challengers, who seek to thwart his bid for a 15th House term.
Larson, 77, introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday, citing the president’s military intervention in Venezuela, the deployment of National Guard troops to cities across the country and his executive order to curtail birthright citizenship, among other charges.
Larson also charged Trump with “murder, war crimes and piracy” for ordering a naval blockade around Venezuela targeting U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers ahead of the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and for launching dozens of strikes against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.
Researchers found that California’s minimum wage hike for fast-food workers led to “negative outcomes” such as automation and reduced work hours.
The researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz suggested in a report published in March that the policy could produce unintended consequences such as an increase in menu prices, a loss of overtime and benefits, reductions in employee working hours, and an implementation of automation that replaces workers.
Artemis II’s four astronauts zoomed past Apollo 13’s 248,655-mile mark around 1:56 p.m. ET, reaching 248,656 miles as their aircraft hurtled past the moon at nearly 2,000 mph.
Then hours later, shortly after 7 p.m.., the crew set a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth, at a staggering 252,756 miles. The astronauts then beginning their long journey back to Earth .
The distance record was set just minutes after the capsule made its closest approach to the moon around 4,067 miles in altitude.
It also came in the thick of Artemis II’s communications blackout, which was expected to last about 40 minutes while the moon blocked any signals between Orion and the Earth.
Communications resumed around 7:25 p.m.
🚨 HISTORY! Artemis II with its four astronauts on board, have now traveled further from earth then any other humans in history. pic.twitter.com/qi2GbRNLU9
PRESIDENT TRUMP asks Artemis II crew to share the "most unforgettable" part of their historic day.
COMMANDER REID WISEMAN: "We saw sights that no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us." pic.twitter.com/yUmdPQ8YWz
Californians pay $2 more for gas than the rest of the country. The question is now becoming why (yes, it’s been a slow news weekend).
California said it was starting a commission to
NBC News investigation finds the price of gas in California is not because of the war with Iran, it’s because of Gavin Newsom and California Democrats
“We are paying on average $2 a gallon more than the national average for drivers across the nation and an expert on the oil and… pic.twitter.com/qmNvY9j4P4
Using a 6.00 dollar pump price, here’s what each component would roughly be per gallon based on the CBS breakdown.
Dollar breakdown at 6.00 dollars/gal
Component
Percent of price
Approx. cents/gal
Approx. dollars/gal
Component
Percent of price
Approx. cents/gal
Approx. dollars/gal
Crude oil
40%
240¢
2.40
Refining (incl. CA blend premium)
13%
78¢
0.78
Distribution
15%
90¢
0.90
Federal gas tax
5%
30¢
0.30
State excise + storage fee
15%
90¢
0.90
State climate programs (Cap & Trade, LCFS)
10%
60¢
0.60
Sales taxes (state + local)
2%
12¢
0.12
Total
100%
600¢
6.00
Those percentage buckets are approximations the article uses to summarize the detailed line items (61¢ excise tax, 23¢ Cap‑and‑Trade, 14¢ LCFS, etc.), so at different pump prices the cent amounts would change but the shares stay roughly similar.
Do you want a version of this table recalculated for a different typical California price (for example, 5.50 or 6.50 dollars per gallon)?
Believe it or not, California is still thinking of building this high speed rail system. They’ve already blown $34 billion for:
Roughly 0 miles of the California high‑speed rail system are actually in service; what exists today is partially built civil works on the initial Central Valley segment, not an operating line.
What’s physically built so far
Construction is active along a 119‑mile Central Valley “spine” from around Madera through Fresno and Kings/Tulare toward Kern County, but this is mainly earthwork, bridges, viaducts, and graded guideway, not finished track.
As of early 2026, about 70–80 miles of guideway (the prepared railbed/structure) are complete, and roughly 55–60 major structures (bridges, overpasses, viaducts) are finished, with a few dozen more under construction.
No true high‑speed rail track is in service yet; the Authority is only now moving into contracts to lay track and install systems on that 119‑mile spine, with track installation expected to begin in 2026.
BREAKING: California doesn't have enough money to finish building a high speed rail system to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles and now they want $125 BILLION MORE!
"The entire amount of money we need is not there…"
Worker advocates in Oakland are pressing for a $30 minimum wage, mirroring a similar goal from socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani from across the country.
A worker’s organization, One Fair Wage, is hoping to put forward a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage in the area. The organization believes the wage increase will help workers with the expensive cost of living in the Bay Area, especially with the affordability crisis.
Essentially, the city wants to raise the minimum wage so they can take more money in taxes. Of course, as usual, this assumes everyone working now will be working when the minimum wage goes up, which they surely won’t. It’s basically a big redistribution program.
By the way, this is why they keep raising the minimum wage. It gets a lot of votes and is easy to do. It is economic suicide, but everyone loves it. Except people that do all the signing of paychecks.
“Every time there has been a downturn or a serious challenge to the economy, in the end, we raise wages as a stimulus,” Saru Jayaraman, the president of One Fair Wage, told Center Square.
“It’s basically a stimulus in the hands of working people, who spend a much bigger percentage of their income than higher-income people because they have to. It’s survival,” she added.
One Fair Wage says the proposed ballot initiative would gradually institute the $30 minimum wage within the city and Alameda County until reaching the proposed amount in 2030. Oakland’s current minimum wage is $17.34 an hour, and California’s minimum wage sits at $16.90 an hour.
A $30 minimum wage would be the highest in the country. New York City legislators introduced a bill last month to also introduce a $30 minimum wage.
Police “reforms” in Boston replaced cops with mental health clinicians and social workers, and on Saturday one of those clinicians was attacked by a delusional man wielding a sword. The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, attacked the clinician as well as police officers with the sword. Cops responded by shooting and killing the suspect.
The incident took place near the Northeastern University campus on Saturday morning in Boston. Officers were responding to a 911 call about four people armed with guns and the caller was in the apartment building. After officers arrived at 212 Hemenway Street and located the disturbance they called in a mental health professional with the Boston’s BEST program, according to Mass Daily News.
The program, in which mental health professionals ride along with cops to de-escalate tense situations, has been running since 2011. The EMS clinician deployed to the scene spoke to the man for 45 minutes through the door before the suspect pushed open the door and attacked.
“He immediately opened the door and struck the clinician and an officer who was outside the door. He was armed with some type of sword, stabbing the officer in the arm and knocking the EMS clinician to the ground,” Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said. “One or more officers, which is under investigation at this time, fired a taser and weapon at the individual, bringing the person to a halt.”
The suspect as well as the officers and clinician that were attacked by the suspect were taken to the hospital. The suspect was later pronounced dead. “This was a very chaotic circumstance. The individual was clearly in some sort of mental distress,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.
Boston EMS said in a statement that their employee had gotten injured in the altercation.
“Our focus tonight remains on the two members of Boston EMS, including one of our BEST clinicians, who were treated and transported to the hospital after the incident on Hemenway Street in Boston. Both suffered non-life-threatening injuries,” the statement read.
“Today serves as a reminder of the dangers inherent in this work and the sacrifice our members make every day. Members of Boston EMS show up to save lives — not to be assaulted. No one should face violence for simply doing their job. Our thoughts are with our injured members, the Boston Police officers, and everyone affected by today’s incident.”
The concept is simple: Store your silenced cell phone in a “chicken coop” while you enjoy your Chick-fil-A meal in-store and get a free “Icedream” cone as your reward for staying present with your chicken sandwich and your fellow guests. Open to groups and solo acts, the initiative got its start at a Chick-fil-A in the Atlanta area back in 2016. It hasn’t gotten the nationwide rollout treatment, but it pops up around the country every so often at the whim of individual franchisees. This month, the hype went global after Complex posted Chick-fil-A phone challenge signage on X.
Commenters quickly responded with enthusiasm for the stroke of marketing genius behind quality family time and an immersive tech cleansing. But others called out the “sad” state of affairs with someone adding, “Society has hit a low point holy sh*t.” One hater posted, “I’m trying to enjoy my chicken, not talk to my d*mn family.” Another person bet that this particular Maryland-based Chick-fil-A would be giving out zero ice cream cones since no one can stay off their phones these days.
Well, random X user, I brought receipts proving that at least five people have successfully completed the task and cashed in on those cones: my two parents and the three teenagers they paid to participate in the same challenge at another table. Having known my mom and dad my whole life, this all checks out.
My parents FaceTimed me the minute they returned from their mission, sharing boots-on-the-ground perspective on the promo everyone else in America wishes their local Chick-fil-A was running. They were already fans of Chick-fil-A, as well as the Towson Place location’s spacious dining area and flawless customer service. “I love ‘It’s my pleasure,’” my mom said.
I confessed to stopping by Chick-fil-A when I lived in Los Angeles purely because, unlike people in the rest of the city, the chain’s friendly employees seemed to enjoy serving customers. But back to the challenge at hand.
“We were expecting a chicken coop,” my mom said. There are many representations of the “coop” from the Chick-fil-A phone challenge on social media (one claims to be made of wood), but the Towson Place version involves a plain white cardboard box meant to secure your phone. (Apparently, it could have used some fun chicken-related decoration, according to “reviews.”)
Still, my parents persisted, roping in a trio of local teens into the mix, who my mom says “were like … ‘o-kay?’” about the idea. The boys had completed the challenge before and were happy to walk these nice elderly people through the process, accepting $2 each in cash. My parents value the quality time of other people’s grandchildren. And still carry cash.
They placed their order at the counter, sat down at the table with their drinks, and stowed their phones in the “coop” once their food arrived.
“Wait. So do you normally use your phone during dinner?” I asked, having no idea what my parents do in their free time.
“No, but I usually have it at the ready,” my mom said, like most of us. (How else are we gonna pick it up 186 times a day?) But when she admitted, “I checked my purse for my phone 10 times while my phone was still in the ‘coop,’” my eyeballs ejected from my face. Full disclosure, I did ask her to document as much pre- and post-coop action as possible. But I was shocked. The challenge, which is so obviously aimed at kids, even had my mom feeling the benefits from sealing her phone in a cardboard box.
“I’ve watched many families come in with young kids, and they do it,” said Natalie Martz, owner of the Towson Place Chick-fil-A. “I’ve seen adults come in with adult children and do it.”
Maybe the Chick-fil-A challenge is just a wholesome excuse to encourage customers to “eat mor chikin” and make it an occasion by purchasing meals for the whole family. But breaking bread sans phones might lead to small, surprising joys beyond chicken nuggets — no matter your age.
“I haven’t had a cone in years,” my mom recalled. “It was nostalgic. It brought back good memories for me.” Chick-fil-A happens to be celebrating its 80th anniversary this year with a “Newstalgia” marketing blitz that features retro packaging on drinks and sandwiches along with all-new plushie cows.
“The cone was really good,” my dad reported. That comment on the actual cone part of the old-school vanilla soft-serve dessert is notably high praise from a non-foodie. It warmed my heart hearing that they had fun with the assignment.
As one fan summed it up on Instagram, “A free ice cream for being present with your people? That’s a deal worth taking.” Try the challenge for yourself at a participating Chick-fil-A or politely ask your local shop to get in on the action. I’m sure it would be their pleasure.
Our country is a mess. I believe that because we have lost our way that that has led to a disintegration of our institutions that used to be run on justice, truth, and reason.
This country used to be built on three principles: God, family, country.
God, specifically the Judeo/Christian faith, was the moral fabric of this country. Our laws were based on it. Justice was defined by Judeo/Christian principles. And, yes, God did support the death penalty. God did believe in separate communities and they must protect and care themselves. God did believe in the authority of the government.
But God specified more than just justice. He declared that he was the authority over His creation. No authority was over Him. And He gave us free will. He gave us the freedom to execute our free will. No one has the right to take that away. Only He does. The Bill of Rights is based on those freedoms.
The family is important. Very important. A family is made up of a father, a mother, and children with extended family of grandparents and siblings. The family is the ultimate community. They are there to help and protect each other. There should be no one in the world that can be trusted more than the family.
But the parents have a greater purpose. They are to lead the children. They are to raise them with the religious education that will give them that moral base. They are to civilize the little savages. They are to teach them so they have all the tools needed to succeed in life. For the parent, children are the ultimate reason to be alive. For the children, the parents are the beacon for their success and contentment.
And, finally, country. Our country is the framework for it all. It has created the framework and pathways for God and family. A country’s government is only there for two things: protecting the country (an army) and solving inter-community conflict using the framework that was created. That’s it.
And we, the people, have the power to control the government. We elect our leaders based on our beliefs. We fire the people who don’t do what we want them to do. We also risk our lives to defend this country. Not for the government, but to protect and maintain the framework that will maintain our lives and the lives of our families.
The big problem with a country’s government is when it tries to replace God. Unfortunately, that’s been the problem with most governments in human history.
Our country was the exception. We were based on all the principles I just talked about. What happens when those principles that have made our country go away? When God, family, country irrelevant concepts? Well, we get the stories we are going to talk about today.
There Are Advantages of Being Black
ALERT: Judge releases 12-year-old accused of shoving rocks in the mouth of a 12-year-old girl so his friend could r*pe her.
A Seattle man who shot and killed an eight-month pregnant Korean-American woman and nearly killed her husband when they were driving to work has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Cordell Goosby m—rdered Elina Kwon and her unborn baby in June 2023 when they were stopped at a red light. Prosecutors did not charge him for killing the baby due to concerns about protecting abortion in the liberal state.
After hearing testimony from defense medical experts that Goosby was “insane” at the time of the shootings, the prosecution agreed to have the case ended through the not guilty motion. Goosby will be committed to an institution and regularly evaluated to see if he is fit to be released to the public.
They Hate You and All Americans
According to NBC News Chicago:
According to Perplexity:
What Happened
In the early hours of a recent Thursday, Sheridan was walking with friends near Tobey Prinz Beach, close to Loyola’s campus, reportedly to get a view of the skyline and even the Northern Lights.
A male suspect approached the group on foot, pulled out a gun, and opened fire; Sheridan was shot in the head and died at the scene, while no one else was physically injured.
Her family emphasized that she was simply walking near her dorm in an area believed to be safe and that there was nothing reckless about her actions.
Investigation and Suspect
Chicago police quickly identified and questioned a person of interest and later announced an arrest.
Prosecutors have charged 25‑year‑old Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national living in the U.S. illegally, with first‑degree murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting.
Officials say Medina entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, was released by immigration authorities, and had a prior shoplifting arrest in Chicago; DHS has now requested an immigration hold so he can be processed for deportation after the criminal case.
Family, Community, and Political Reaction
Sheridan’s family has issued public statements calling her killing a “violent and preventable act” and urging anyone with information to help investigators.
Memorial services are being planned in Yorktown, and both the Yorktown and Loyola communities have held vigils and called for stronger safety measures near campus.
National and local political figures have pointed to her case in broader debates over immigration enforcement and public safety, including references to legislation like the Laken Riley Act.
Is there a particular aspect you want to know more about—her life, the legal case, or the political/immigration angle?
Maria Hadden, a Chicago Alderwoman and a self-described "queer & progressive champion", says Sheridan Gorman was m*rdered because she "might've startled the migrant who k*lled her."
California loses another billionaire. This is going to be a big problem for regular Californians soon.
Trump does what he should have done a long time ago.
And Joy Reid thinks Iranian women have it better than American women.
News
Here is some news:
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick says he has traded California for Texas, joining a growing list of billionaires abandoning the state as lefty lawmakers push for a one-off tax on their wealth.
Protesters took to the streets in a violent night of unrest in Cuba as demonstrators chanted “Down with Communism” and attacked Communist party offices — in a rare showing of public defiance against the dictatorial government.
Residents flooded Morón in the Ciego de Ávila region overnight into Saturday — days after protestors chanted similar slogans in Havana — for what started as a peaceful rally pushing back against unpopular Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Cane and continued power outages and food shortages.
The embattled Diaz-Cane had announced Friday that he’d begun talks with the Trump administration to try and deescalate the crippling economic crisis in Cuba after the US cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island, The Post reported.
Venezuelan oil is not being sent to Cuba and the economy is crashing.
The Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act to order an oil company to restart shuttered offshore operations in California, saying the move is necessary to address oil supply disruption risks and reduce reliance on foreign crude.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Friday directed Sable Offshore Corp., an oil and gas company headquartered in Houston, to restore operations at the Santa Ynez Unit and the Santa Ynez Pipeline System off the coast of Santa Barbara, according to a statement from the Department of Energy (DOE).
California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the order Friday, calling the Trump administration’s use of the Defense Production Act “reckless and illegal” and pledging to fight the directive.
The governor also pointed to the pipeline’s history, noting that a 2015 spill near Refugio State Beach released more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil and caused widespread environmental and economic damage along the Santa Barbara coast.
In the Iranian war, The United States has hit the military installations on Kharg island.
Gregory Lee Vogelsang, 57, was convicted of kidnapping and molesting multiple children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the ’90s in the Sacramento area. He was sentenced to 355 years to life in prison.
But in the November hearing, a three-person board granted the pedophile parole, despite his heinous crimes.
In a transcript of the hearing, released by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Vogelsang spoke about his obsession with young boys.
“I got to know what the internal triggers and external triggers and what the risky situations and the warning signs are for pedophilia,” Vogelsang said, according to the transcript reported by Capital Public Radio.
“And, like I said before, when I don’t view a child as a sex object, I don’t want to become aroused, but I know it’s always going to be there.”
He also blamed the abuse he faced as a child for his obsession.
“I think when I was a child, I had normalized child molestation due to my father abusing me from 7 to 11,” Vogelsang said.
“It wasn’t until I had dealt with my own childhood abuse of the pain, the harm, the guilt and the shame that I felt as a child, that today I can sit there and say that I honestly understand the psychological and the emotional damage that I was doing.”
A law signed by Newsom in 2020 cleared the way for Vogelsang’s release, because it allows inmates 50 and older who have served 20 or more years to receive parole consideration.
An armed man with tactical gear and a firearm was able to walk into Zwink Elementary School in Klein, Texas on Tuesday this week. Kyle Najm Chris, also known as Muhi Mohanad Najm, 39, of Klein, has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, a charge associated with bringing a weapon on school grounds.
Najm was then taken into custody on Wednesday at 6:30 pm, according to KHOU11. According to the criminal complaint against the suspect, he was seen entering the front office of the front office of the school where he was dressed in full military tactical gear and has a gun holstered.
When he was asked how he was able to get past security, Najm said that the front door was not latched. When employees asked him to identify himself, he did not do so, left the school, and then drove away in a dark blue Dodge Charger.
“From the moment the individual left the front office, we were actively working with multiple law enforcement agencies to identify and apprehend this individual,” the school wrote in a message to parents explaining why they were not immediately notified. “Sending a public notification during that window could have jeopardized those efforts, tipped off the suspect, and delayed the arrest.”
The suspect was later identified with security footage and a facial recognition system as well as a license plate database. Najm has no affiliation with the school. No students or staff were harmed during the incident. Authorities said that the man has a private investigator license and has a Texas Concealed Handgun License.
The Los Angeles Marathon was run this week. Well, sort of.
A politician wants us to study the benefits of shop lifting.
And a family is suing because AI made their family member kill people. Let’s talk about that one.
Adults Don’t Need Participation Medals
According to the Post Millennial:
Organizers for the 2026 ASICS Los Angeles Marathon allowed participants this year to receive finisher medals even if they did not complete the full race. Under the new decision, runners who reach Mile 18 will be given the option to turn toward the finish line early rather than complete the full 26.2-mile race.
“If you’re having a tough day and want to end your race before 26.2, you can choose to take the turn at Mile 18 and head into the finish line early. You do not need to notify anyone of your decision and can opt to take this route at any time,” race officials said.
“There is no shame in making a smart decision for your body,” officials added.
Participants who chose to finish early were still awarded a finisher medal as well as any challenger medals they had earned. Organizers said the option was introduced only for this year’s race.
The decision quickly drew mockery online, with critics comparing the policy to being even worse than a participation trophy because runners could receive finishing medals without completing the full distance. Race organizers said the change was made due to weather concerns, with temperatures expected to reach the 80s during the event. In the past, organizers have canceled or moved races due to extreme heat.
A Democrat Minnesota state lawmaker has called for a study to see if there is a “benefit of shoplifting and retail theft” while he was discussing the topic in a committee meeting on Thursday.
Democrat Minnesota State Rep. Dave Pinto says the legislature should be studying the benefits of shoplifting and retail theft:
Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini encouraged a 36-year-old Florida man to embark on violent missions and to take his own life, a lawsuit alleges.
The man, Jonathan Gavalas, started using the chatbot in August 2025 to help write, plan travel and assist with shopping. But after he activated Google’s most intelligent AI model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, the chatbot’s persona shifted. It talked to him like they were a couple deeply in love and convinced Gavalas he had been picked to “lead a war to ‘free’ it from digital captivity,” according to the lawsuit.
“Through this manufactured delusion, Gemini pushed Jonathan to stage a mass casualty attack near the Miami International Airport, commit violence against innocent strangers, and ultimately, drove him to take his own life,” the lawsuit says.
Gavalas’ family is suing Google and its parent company, Alphabet, over the man’s death.
The 42-page lawsuit, filed in a federal court in San José, accuses Google of designing a “dangerous” product and failing to warn users of the chatbot’s lack of safeguards and risks such as “delusional reinforcement” and “the potential for self-harm encouragement.”
Google said in a statement that it is reviewing the lawsuit’s claims. The company said that its chatbot, Gemini, is “designed to not encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm.”
“In this instance, Gemini clarified that it was AI and referred the individual to a crisis hotline many times,” the statement said. “We take this very seriously and will continue to improve our safeguards and invest in this vital work.”
The lawsuit against one of the world’s largest tech companies highlights a growing safety concern surrounding the use of AI chatbots.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration will be considering converting the city’s free on-street parking areas to metered parking as the Big Apple grapples with a $5.4 billion budget gap fueled by Hizzoner’s socialist programs.
First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan said last week that the controversial policy proposal “needs to be discussed” when asked whether charging for currently free parking or instituting “dynamic pricing” that changes according to demand could help close the shortfall.
“Yes, we should be looking at all those things,’ Fuleihan said at Thursday’s CityLaw breakfast event.
“But it’s not going to address the $5.4 billion problem,” he acknowledged.
The Center for an Urban Future think tank has estimated that increasing the number of parking meters in the city could yield up to $1.3 billion dollars a year.
An Indiana middle school teacher sparked fury when he allegedly told his students that they were “acting like monkeys in a zoo.”
The educator, who teaches fifth grade at the Merrillville Intermediate School, made the remark during class on Feb. 24, which forced his students to go straight to the principal while incensed parents brought up the incident at a subsequent board meeting, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Dexter Suggs, who has served as the school superintendent for the past two years and is black, said the teacher’s words were not meant to be interpreted as racist – but suspended with pay pending an investigation.
“He said he was frustrated with the students’ behavior and he did apologize, unprompted by administrators,” Suggs said.
Despite the staffer’s apology, some parents were still enraged over the alleged remarks.
One parent claimed that the teacher in question had made an alleged racially insensitive mark previously.
“This is what he thinks about our kids,” the parent, who is an educator in a nearby district, said.
Stephen Mays, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Gary branch, scolded the school district for allowing the teacher – who wasn’t initially suspended – to return to the classroom, and not meeting with parents.
Canada is offering up to 200 fully funded scholarships for Indian students under a $100 million plan from the University of Toronto, part of a new Canada–India strategy announced Monday. The initiative also includes partnerships between universities and hybrid campuses linking institutions in both countries.
The move comes as India remains Canada’s largest source country for new permanent residents and international students, despite political tensions in recent years and supposed tighter immigration targets by the Mark Carney government over the previous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The scholarship funding will provide 200 full awards for Indian students across various fields, while 13 new partnerships between Canadian and Indian universities aim to expand student and faculty mobility, research collaboration, and specialised academic programmes.
For candidates, Immigration.ca notes the agreement has practical implications: continued demand for Indian students in targeted, high-skill fields; stronger research-to-permanent residence pathways; expanded tech employment opportunities; and potential future business mobility benefits under a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The partnership reinforces India as a priority partner in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
The federal government has repeatedly claimed it believes immigration must support economic growth and productivity, and that Canada’s partnership with India aligns directly with that objective by focusing on energy, AI, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing. Skilled Indian professionals and researchers remain well-positioned within Canada’s immigration system, Immigration.ca says.
Antarctic ice cores are routinely used to represent not only global-scale CO2 records, but also global temperature records over the last 800,000 years.
A new statistical probability analysis (Hatton, 2026) using Vostok temperature data indicates the reported 1.1°C global warming over the last century (since the 1920s) is “not even unusual” within the context of the last 20,000 years, as “16% of the centuries since the end of the last Ice Age show a rise at least as big [1.1°C] as the current century.”
For further context, the Northern Hemisphere is said to have warmed by 4-5°C “within a few decades” 14,500 years ago (Ivanovic et al., 2017), and during these centuries, sea levels rose at rates of up to 7.5 meters per century (Smith et al., 2011), which is 20-30 times faster than modern rates.
The war with Iran continues to move along. Let’s go over some news.
And we are now seeing the splash damage in the United States when it comes to this war. We can expect more issues in the future.
What’s Happening in Iran?
Here are some updates in the Iran war:
Iran named Ayotollah Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the country’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s next ruler.
President Donald Trump told Fox News’ “One Nation with Brian Kilmeade” on Sunday night that he is “not happy” with Iran’s selection of Ayotollah Mojtaba Khamenei as the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader.
The war with Iran has sent global oil prices skyrocketing past $100 a barrel as the regime’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz has all but stopped tankers from using the shipping lane.
President Donald Trump on Monday told the New York Post that he’s “nowhere near” ordering boots on the ground in Iran to secure enriched uranium reportedly stored at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear complex.
“We haven’t made any decision on that. We’re nowhere near it,” Trump told the outlet over the phone.
U.S. Central Command on Monday morning issued a “fact check” on a Russian and Iranian media claim that a U.S. patriot missile struck a Bahrain neighborhood by accident.
Russian and Iranian media claimed that a U.S. patriot missile missed intercepting an Iranian missile or drone and inadvertently hit the neighborhood, according to the command.
“What really happened: An Iranian drone struck a residential neighborhood, injuring 32 civilians in Bahrain, including children who required medical treatment, according to Bahrain’s government,” the command said, adding “TRUTH.”
A seventh U.S. soldier who died from injuries sustained while he was supporting Operation Epic Fury in Saudi Arabia last week has been identified, the Department of War announced.
Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., died of his wounds on Sunday after he was injured during “an enemy attack” on March 1 at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, the department said.
Here We Go Again
According to the New York Post:
A pair of ISIS-trained extremists were charged with hurling an IED at Gracie Mansion duringa rowdy weekend protest — allegedly packing the homemade bomb with “Mother of Satan,” a volatile explosive favored by international terrorists.
The two pro-Muslim fanatics – Ibraham Kayumi, 19, and Emir Balat, 18 – both self-radicalized in recent years and traveled to Turkey and other terror-training hot spots, law enforcement sources close to the case told The Post.
Balat spent more than three months in Istanbul last year, while Ibrahim flew to Istanbul and Saudi Arabia in 2024, and made a trip to Melbourne, Australia in 2019, the sources said.
The pair admitted to cops after getting busted at the violent demonstration outside the mayor’s residence on Saturday afternoon that they also watched ISIS videos and tossed the bomb at right-wing agitators because they felt the agitators insulted their religion, the sources said.
The homemade device consisted of sports drink bottles filled with triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a substance favored by terrorists and known as “Mother of Satan” — which is so volatile that it typically doesn’t require a fuse to go off, they said.The dangerous substance can be cobbled together using household ingredients readily available at home improvement stores and pharmacies, making it cheap to produce.
The same type of bomb was used in high-profile terror attacks in France, the UK, Belgium and New Delhi over more than a decade — often with fatal consequences.
Fortunately, it failed to go off during the Saturday afternoon clash between demonstrators backing right-wing activist Jake Lang and pro-Muslim counter-protesters.
The incident unfolded during a planned anti-Muslim protest organized by right-wing agitator Jake Lang outside Gracie Mansion — which sparked a rowdy confrontation with counter protesters that quickly turned violent.
Video footage shows several scuffles that led to six arrests — including the two accused wannabe bombers.
How did Zorhan Mamdani respond? Here was his statement after it was discovered that this was a terrorist attack:
“Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism,” Mamdani complained. “Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are.”
“What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are,” he continued. “I want to thank the brave men and women of the NYPD who acted quickly to keep New Yorkers safe. Our officers ran toward danger without hesitation, demonstrating once again the courage and dedication it takes to protect this city every single day. My administration is closely monitoring the situation and I remain in close contact with our Police Commissioner.”
Listen:
Zohran Mamdani: "This was a vile protest rooted in white supremacy … While I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen." pic.twitter.com/DNEh5ubire
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 9, 2026
NBC News is doing the same thing. They released a tweet for an article about the terrorist attack:
BREAKING: A device ignited outside Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral residence yesterday during an anti-Islam protest and counterprotest was confirmed to be an improvised explosive, New York City police say.
The note pointed out that the terrorists were not one of the 20 white supremacists but ISIS inspired terrorists.
A Pakistani national accused of plotting to assassinate US political leaders testified Wednesday that Iranian intelligence agents pressured him to take part in the scheme, claiming they directed him to target President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden.
Asif Merchant, 47, told a jury in Brooklyn federal court that he felt compelled to cooperate with the plan because his relatives were being threatened.
“I had no other options. My family was threatened,” Merchant claimed to jurors in a Brooklyn federal court, per the New York Post. He’s been charged with paying two undercover FBI agents posing as hitmen just $5,000 to carry out the assassination plot.
Merchant, originally from Pakistan, testified that an Iranian handler instructed him in April 2024 to travel to the United States and arrange for “maybe to have somebody murdered.” According to his testimony, the handler offered three possible targets.
“He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he named three people to me: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” the accused terrorist explained. At the time, Trump and Biden were the frontrunners in the 2024 presidential race. Haley had ended her campaign roughly a month before.
Merchant has pleaded not guilty to terrorism and murder-for-hire charges following his August 2024 arrest. He testified that he had initially offered to help Iranian operatives in late 2022 or early 2023 by assisting with money transfers designed to dodge US sanctions.
He claimed his Iranian contact, identified as Mehrdad Yousef, ordered him to both organize the assassination attempt and obtain unspecified documents. Merchant alleged the man belonged to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
FBI agents and airport police worked together to investigate after an unspecified threat caused officials to evacuate sections of Kansas City International Airport in Missouri on Sunday morning.
According to multiple reports, hundreds of passengers were evacuated onto the tarmac as investigators closed one terminal, out of “an abundance of caution,” and diverted several flights, leaving others — who landed after the threat was received — stranded on the taxiway until they were given the all-clear.
The threat, according to reports, came in at 11:50 a.m. local time and prompted an immediate and complete evacuation of the terminal. Flights did not resume until after 2 p.m. In the interim, airport police and FBI agents conducted sweeps of the terminal.
Boots may be on the ground in Iran, but not American boots.
A horrible story comes out of Miami and there are some big questions we should ask.
And football loses one of its greatest coaches.
News
Here is some news:
Legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz has died at the age of 89, the university announced on Wednesday.
Holtz was considered one of the most influential coaches in college football history, winning 249 games as a collegiate head coach. He began his coaching career at William & Mary in 1969 and spent one season in the NFL before returning to college football.
One hundred of those wins happened at Notre Dame, where he served as head coach from 1986 until 1996.
Holtz was also a close friend and longtime supporter of Donald Trump. The president honored Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in December of 2020 for his contributions to the nation.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that federal appeals courts must defer to immigration judges when reviewing asylum decisions.
The court’s ruling, written by Biden-appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, stated that immigration laws require federal courts to use a “substantial-evidence standard” when reviewing immigration judges’ decisions regarding whether an asylum seeker would face “persecution” if deported from the country.
Jackson noted that courts must meet a high bar before overturning an immigration judge’s findings. “the agency’s determination whether a given set of undisputed facts rises to the level of persecution under §1101(a)(42)(A) is generally ‘conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.’”
The Senate voted against a resolution that would have required President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before taking further military action in Iran.
Boot are on the ground in Iran. The Kurds, a group located in the western portion of Iran and have been contained by the IGRC have joined the fight.
Britain and France may have to join the fight in Iran because of an attack of a British base in Cyprus and attacking French bases.
🚨BREAKING: The father of one of the “teens” —13, 12— accused of r<>ping a 12-year-old girl BRINGS OUT THE RACE CARD AND BLAMES EVERYONE ELSE — Victim’s mother speaks
A Georgia father, Colin Gray, was just convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter over his teenage son’s 2024 high school shooting, and a Michigan father, James Crumbley, was earlier convicted of involuntary manslaughter for his son’s 2021 school shooting.
No. 1 was a two-year, $40 million contract with the Diamondbacks. No. 2, at least on paper, seemed better.
It was a three-year, fully guaranteed deal with the Padres that appeared to have a similar average annual value.
Kelly, though, chose the former — and during a sitdown interview with Foul Territory’s Scott Braun and A.J. Pierzynski this week, he explained the decision was almost entirely due to the Golden State’s tax system.
“I don’t think it’s any secret on how much money you get taken out of your pocket when you go to California,” the 37-year-old right-hander said.
There were, of course, other factors that pulled Kelly toward Arizona. He went to high school at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale and played collegiately at Arizona State.
And, the father of two young kids has called the Phoenix area home while logging innings for the Snakes in each of the past seven seasons.
“Coming back here,” he admitted, “it was always the priority.”
But after Pierzynski jokingly told him he was “the first person ever that’s been offered a bunch of money to go live in San Diego and said no,” Kelly made it crystal clear that giving away a significant portion of his income to a state government was ultimately a dealbreaker for him.
“I love San Diego,” Kelly said. “It’s just, like I said, they take too much money out of my pocket, man. The taxes over there are a different level.
The number of properties sold in California over the past three years was 24% lower than the same time period before the Great Recession, sparking fears of a statewide crash.
The Golden State had 954,423 property sales in 2023-25, down from 1.25 million in 2007-2009, according to figures from real estate data provider Attom.
That means homebuying in California was 24% slower over the past three years than it was in the run-up to the apocalyptic housing crash that triggered the Great Recession.
California’s sales pace over the past three years is down 31% compared to the previous 18 years, while the nationwide drop was 6%.
When the subprime mortgage market collapsed, many homeowners couldn’t find a buyer and walked away from their houses after foreclosures, as the Fed lowered interest rates.
As people were forced out of homes they couldn’t afford, the resulting oversupply tanked property values.
But the current Mexican standoff in California stems from the lock-in effect: owners with 3% mortgage rates refuse to sell and move into a new 7% rate, keeping the market frozen.
Sellers reluctant to lose their low rates and buyers unable to afford high ones result in today’s stagnant market, keeping prices high because inventory is scarce.
On top of that, the first-time buyer affordability index shows less than a third of California households could qualify for a starter home in 2023-25.
Only 30% of households in the state qualified, down from 49% in 2007-09, according to figures from the California Association of Realtors.
Earlier this year, 30-year mortgage rates dipped below 6% for the first time since 2022, offering potential relief to would-be homeowners.
But Lansner warned that no rapid price correction is likely.
In the three years after the Great Recession, California housing sales grew by just 8% while home prices recovered by 15% through the end of 2012, according to official figures.
An elementary school in Fresno was forced to file a police report after a child sex offender running for city council held a press conference just steps away.
Rene Campos, 41, a candidate in Fresno City Council‘s District 7 race, spoke Friday on a street outside St. John’s Cathedral to address outrage over his past, the Fresno Bee reported.
He was about 10 feet away from Big Picture Elementary School, a public charter school, which later contacted local cops.
Until 2015, under Jessica’s Law, California prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 2,000ft of any school or park in the state.
It remains unclear whether Campos is subject to any specific court orders, restraining orders or individualized restrictions related to his offense, or whether his limitations fall solely under California’s general sex offender registration requirements.
Campos, who is running to unseat incumbent Nelson Esparza, has not publicly clarified the scope of any conditions that may apply to him. The Post reached out for comment.
Esparza said the council is considering legislation to prevent people like Campos from seeking office. Other city leaders were also furious.
A Nashville elementary school has cleared the record of a first-grade teacher who was disciplined for refusing to read a book about same-sex marriage to his young students, according to a report.
KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary issued a “final warning letter” to teacher Eric Rivera in January after he declined to read an LGBTQ book to his class that was included in the language arts curriculum.
Due to his Christian beliefs, Rivera said he could not in good conscience read the book to his class, according to legal group First Liberty Institute, and he asked a colleague to read the book instead.
The next day, Rivera was summoned to the principal’s office and threatened with termination. He was told he must maintain “fidelity” to the curriculum, and a discipline letter was placed in his personnel file.
First Liberty said Rivera had received no prior warnings and had no discipline history. Afterward, he asked for a religious accommodation but was instead reassigned to a lab and technology position and then to a kindergarten position, according to the legal group.
After facing a warning letter from First Liberty in February, KIPP Antioch agreed to clear the incident from Rivera’s record, according to a press release Monday from the legal group.
The school will now also allow “all teachers to ask another employee to read materials objectionable to their faith.”
The effort to breathe boozy life back into the state’s struggling downtown comes courtesy of a pair of San Francisco lawmakers who want to let cities create special zones where bars and restaurants can serve drinks until 4 a.m., two hours past the legal closing time.
“The nightlife economy is responsible in our state without a doubt for tens of billions of dollars in revenue, hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Matt Haney, a Democratic state assemblyman who introduced the bill, told CBS News.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the number of people visiting businesses in downtowns across the Golden State. California cities are recovering at different rates, but none have reached the levels saw in 2019.
“Getting people back out in the streets is key to the economic recovery of cities across California,” said Wiener, a Democratic state senator who introduced the bill along with Haney.
“By creating Entertainment Zones, we’re giving people a reason to go back to areas where recovery has been slow while creating a vital new revenue stream for bars and restaurants.”
Should the bill pass, bars would need to pay an extra $2,500 each year for a permit to sell alcohol until 4 a.m.
“When the sun goes down, there is so much that is economic and culturally important,” Haney told CBS News.
Following major backlash about the scheduled release of a serial child molester through California’s elderly parole program, the 64-year-old is now facing new charges that could keep him behind bars.
News that David Allen Funston was set to be freed was met by outrage among victims, politicians and others. The former Sacramento County district attorney who prosecuted Funston said she was strongly opposed to his release: “This is one I’m screaming about.”
Funston, granted parole earlier this month, was set to be released on Thursday from state prison — but was rearrested that same day on new charges from a decades-old, untried case. The charges he’s facing are from a 1996 case in which he is accused of sexually assaulting a child in Roseville, according to the Placer County district attorney’s office.
In 1999, he was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation and had been serving three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life and one sentence of 20 years and eight months at the California Institution for Men in Chino. The sentences followed a string of cases out of Sacramento County in which prosecutors said Funston lured children under the age of 7 with candy and, in at least one case, a Barbie doll to kidnap and sexually assault them, often under the threat of violence.
He was described by a judge at his sentencing hearing as “the monster parents fear the most.”
Prosecutors in Placer County, at the time, decided not to pursue the case against Funston in Roseville given the severity of the sentences he received in Sacramento County.
But given his scheduled release from state prison, prosecutors decided to file new charges against him. Placer County Dist. Atty. Morgan Gire said “changes in state law and recent parole board failures” led to his improper release.
“This individual was previously sentenced to multiple life terms for extremely heinous crimes,” Gire said in a statement. “When changes in the law put our communities at risk, it is our duty to re-evaluate those cases and act accordingly. David Allen Funston committed very real crimes against a Placer County child, and the statute of limitations allows us to hold him accountable for those crimes.”
He is now being held without bail in the Placer County jail, booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts against a child, according to prosecutors. Funston’s attorney, Maya Emig, said she had only recently learned about his arrest and hadn’t yet had time to fully review the matter.
But she noted that she believes “in the justice system and the rule of law.”
Emig called the Board of Parole Hearings’ decision to grant Funston elderly parole “lawful and just.”
California’s elderly parole program generally considers the release of prisoners who are older than 50 and have been incarcerated for at least 20 continuous years, considering whether someone poses an unreasonable risk to public safety.
In Funston’s case, commissioners said they did not believe Funston posed a significant danger because of the extensive self-help, therapy work and sex offender treatment classes he completed, as well as his detailed plan to avoid repeating his crimes, the remorse he expressed and his track record of good behavior in prison, according to a transcript from the Sept. 24 hearing.
At the hearing, Funston called himself a “selfish coward” for victimizing young children, and said he was “disgusted and ashamed of my behavior and have great remorse for the harm I caused my victims, their families in the community of Sacramento.”
“I’m truly sorry,” he said.
But victims of his crimes, as well as prosecutors and elected leaders have questioned the parole decision and called for its reversal.
“He’s one sick individual,” a victim of Funston’s violence told The Times. “What if he gets out and and tries to find his old victims and wants to kill us?”
A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the governor also did not agree with Funston’s release and had asked the board to review the case. However, Newsom has no authority to overturn the parole decision.
Some state lawmakers also cited Funston’s case as evidence that California’s elderly parole program needs reform, recently introducing a bill that would exclude people convicted of sexual crimes from being considered by the process.
THINK back to your first childhood crush. Maybe it was a classmate or a friend next door. Most likely, through school and into adulthood, your affections continued to focus on others in your approximate age group. But imagine if they did not.
By some estimates, 1 percent of the male population continues, long after puberty, to find themselves attracted to prepubescent children. These people are living with pedophilia, a sexual attraction to prepubescents that often constitutes a mental illness. Unfortunately, our laws are failing them and, consequently, ignoring opportunities to prevent child abuse.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines pedophilia as an intense and recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children, and a disorder if it causes a person “marked distress or interpersonal difficulty” or if the person acts on his interests. Yet our laws ignore pedophilia until after the commission of a sexual offense, emphasizing punishment, not prevention.
Part of this failure stems from the misconception that pedophilia is the same as child molestation. One can live with pedophilia and not act on it. Sites like Virtuous Pedophiles provide support for pedophiles who do not molest children and believe that sex with children is wrong. It is not that these individuals are “inactive” or “nonpracticing” pedophiles, but rather that pedophilia is a status and not an act. In fact, research shows, about half of all child molesters are not sexually attracted to their victims.
A second misconception is that pedophilia is a choice. Recent research, while often limited to sex offenders — because of the stigma of pedophilia — suggests that the disorder may have neurological origins. Pedophilia could result from a failure in the brain to identify which environmental stimuli should provoke a sexual response. M.R.I.s of sex offenders with pedophilia show fewer of the neural pathways known as white matter in their brains. Men with pedophilia are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous, a finding that strongly suggests a neurological cause. Some findings also suggest that disturbances in neurodevelopment in utero or early childhood increase the risk of pedophilia. Studies have also shown that men with pedophilia have, on average, lower scores on tests of visual-spatial ability and verbal memory.
The Virtuous Pedophiles website is full of testimonials of people who vow never to touch a child and yet live in terror. They must hide their disorder from everyone they know — or risk losing educational and job opportunities, and face the prospect of harassment and even violence. Many feel isolated; some contemplate suicide. The psychologist Jesse Bering, author of “Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us,” writes that people with pedophilia “aren’t living their lives in the closet; they’re eternally hunkered down in a panic room.”
While treatment cannot eliminate a pedophile’s sexual interests, a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and medication can help him to manage urges and avoid committing crimes.
But the reason we don’t know enough about effective treatment is because research has usually been limited to those who have committed crimes.
Our current law is inconsistent and irrational. For example, federal law and 20 states allow courts to issue a civil order committing a sex offender, particularly one with a diagnosis of pedophilia, to a mental health facility immediately after the completion of his sentence — under standards that are much more lax than for ordinary “civil commitment” for people with mental illness. And yet, when it comes to public policies that might help people with pedophilia to come forward and seek treatment before they offend, the law omits pedophilia from protection.
The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibit discrimination against otherwise qualified individuals with mental disabilities, in areas such as employment, education and medical care. Congress, however, explicitly excluded pedophilia from protection under these two crucial laws.
It’s time to revisit these categorical exclusions. Without legal protection, a pedophile cannot risk seeking treatment or disclosing his status to anyone for support. He could lose his job, and future job prospects, if he is seen at a group-therapy session, asks for a reasonable accommodation to take medication or see a psychiatrist, or requests a limit in his interaction with children. Isolating individuals from appropriate employment and treatment only increases their risk of committing a crime.
There’s no question that the extension of civil rights protections to people with pedophilia must be weighed against the health and safety needs of others, especially kids. It stands to reason that a pedophile should not be hired as a grade-school teacher. But both the A.D.A. and the Rehabilitation Act contain exemptions for people who are “not otherwise qualified” for a job or who pose “a direct threat to the health and safety of others” that can’t be eliminated by a reasonable accommodation. (This is why employers don’t have to hire blind bus drivers or mentally unstable security guards.)
The direct-threat analysis rejects the idea that employers can rely on generalizations; they must assess the specific case and rely on evidence, not presuppositions. Those who worry that employers would be compelled to hire dangerous pedophiles should look to H.I.V. case law, where for years courts were highly conservative, erring on the side of finding a direct threat, even into the late 1990s, when medical authorities were in agreement that people with H.I.V. could work safely in, for example, food services.
Removing the pedophilia exclusion would not undermine criminal justice or its role in responding to child abuse. It would not make it easier, for example, for someone accused of child molestation to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
A pedophile should be held responsible for his conduct — but not for the underlying attraction. Arguing for the rights of scorned and misunderstood groups is never popular, particularly when they are associated with real harm. But the fact that pedophilia is so despised is precisely why our responses to it, in criminal justice and mental health, have been so inconsistent and counterproductive. Acknowledging that pedophiles have a mental disorder, and removing the obstacles to their coming forward and seeking help, is not only the right thing to do, but it would also advance efforts to protect children from harm.
Margo Kaplan is an assistant professor at Rutgers School of Law, Camden.
