The Left’s premiere non-Wordle newspaper doesn’t care about that. This week, three Washington Post reporters spent hundreds of words arguing that nobody can quite figure out what “left-wing terrorism” even means, calling it “difficult to categorize.”

The piece — ostensibly about Secretary of State Marco Rubio inviting representatives from 60 nations to discuss the “resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism” — is petulant drivel. Rubio isn’t overreaching. He’s the first secretary of state in a generation willing to say the quiet part out loud.

That’s not politicization, that’s catching up.

This makes the Post’s framing all the more absurd. The piece leans hard on the idea that quantifying Left-wing violence is some unsolvable epistemological puzzle — going so far as to platform “analysts” who wonder aloud whether gunning down an insurance executive on the street even counts as a “‘left-wing’ act.”

The same paper that spent 2020 calling arson and Molotov cocktails “mostly peaceful” now wants us to believe that a coordinated cell of nine defendants — convicted on federal terrorism, explosives, and attempted murder charges for storming an ICE facility with over 50 firearms between them — is too nebulous a phenomenon to name.

Left-wing violence isn’t hard to quantify; it’s just hard for the Post to admit. It’s so hard, in fact, that the authors attempt to pretend ANTIFA doesn’t exist while simultaneously citing the group’s operations in Europe.

One European diplomat is quoted as insisting, with a straight face, “We don’t have ANTIFA.” Some anonymous ally, off to protect their diplomatic backside, tells the Post their country has no earthly reason to show up to Rubio’s summit. Then, further down the article, written by the very same three bylines, the Post casually mentions that the State Department designated ANTIFA OST, a militant group in Germany (along with two more cells in Greece and one in Italy), as a foreign terrorist organization back in November.

So, which is it? Does Europe have ANTIFA or doesn’t it? The Post can’t even keep its own reporting straight for six paragraphs, and they want us to trust their skepticism about the threat’s existence.

As for all this European “consternation,” I’d humbly suggest the diplomats waving off Rubio’s invitation aren’t worried about being lectured on domestic politics. I think several of them are worried about something considerably less comfortable: what happens when American intelligence-sharing starts asking pointed questions about who’s actually funding and organizing these “loosely knit” networks in their own countries — and how many of those funding trails lead back to Beijing’s Belt and Road partners and CCP-linked NGOs quietly propping up far-Left instability across Europe and Latin America?

Must we again reference Beijing’s Neville Roy Singham and the groups he funds to foment illegal blockade running in the Caribbean? No administration wants to be the government that has to explain why their “spontaneous” anarchist movement keeps showing up with professional-grade logistics and foreign wire transfers. We’ve already watched what happens once voters get a look under that hood — ask Javier Milei’s Argentina, Bukele’s El Salvador, or Colombia’s electorate this year. The hard-Left establishment gets tossed out the window once the receipts come out. That’s the real fear rattling around these foreign ministries, and it has nothing to do with Rubio’s invitation list being too “vague.”

None of this is to say every element of the administration’s approach is airtight — designating a movement with no central command as a foreign terrorist organization is a genuine legal stretch, and reasonable conservatives can debate the mechanics. But the Post didn’t publish a piece raising careful legal questions. It published 2,000 words insisting the entire premise is manufactured, while a decentralized movement racks up a body count that includes a Fortune 500 CEO, an ICE detainee, and the most prominent conservative activist of his generation.

If the Washington Post can’t see the pattern, it isn’t because the pattern is invisible. It’s because that would mean admitting that six years of “mostly peaceful” was always a lie.

***

Tony Kinnett is the host of The Tony Kinnett Cast at The Daily Signal. Connect with him on X: @TheTonus.

Public Opinion Strategies found Drazan leading Kotek 48% to 44%, though the poll’s four-point margin of error means the race remains statistically close. Six percent of voters were undecided. 

The survey comes as multiple nonpartisan election forecasters have shifted Oregon’s gubernatorial race in Republicans’ favor. The Cook Political Report downgraded the race from “Solid Democratic” to “Likely Democratic” on Friday, while Inside Elections moved it to “Lean Democratic,” citing Kotek’s weak standing with voters. “Kotek is unpopular and voters may be open to change after decades of Democratic control,” the analysis firm wrote last month.

Kotek has consistently ranked among the nation’s least popular governors. A recent Morning Consult survey found that just 48% of Oregonians approve of her job performance, while 42% disapprove, placing her near the bottom among Democratic governors nationwide.

Her political struggles have mounted after a series of high-profile controversies during her first term. Kotek has drawn criticism for her handling of Oregon’s transportation funding crisis, where lawmakers failed to pass a long-term funding package during the regular legislative session. After negotiations collapsed, Kotek called a special session to push through a scaled-back tax package, only to later urge lawmakers to repeal parts of the legislation amid fears it would trigger an anti-tax backlash.

Transportation funding, however, has never ranked among voters’ top concerns. Instead, the episode reinforced a broader perception that Kotek has struggled to manage the legislature effectively, despite having previously served for years as Speaker of the Oregon House.

Meanwhile, many of the priorities Kotek campaigned on in 2022 have shown little measurable progress. The governor pledged to dramatically increase housing production to address Oregon’s affordability crisis, setting a goal of building 36,000 new housing units annually. The state has instead continued to fall well short of that benchmark, while housing costs remain among voters’ top concerns. Education has likewise remained a political vulnerability, as Oregon continues to post among the nation’s weakest academic outcomes despite years of Democratic control.

Kotek also faced intense scrutiny earlier in her term after internal emails revealed she had quietly explored creating a formal Office of the First Spouse that would have expanded the official role of her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson.

The documents showed senior staff repeatedly warned the governor about ethical concerns surrounding the proposal before Kotek ultimately abandoned the effort amid public backlash. The controversy also coincided with the departures of several senior aides from the governor’s office.

While Democrats continue attempting to nationalize the race by tying Drazan to President Donald Trump, Republicans argue Oregon voters are focused primarily on affordability, homelessness, public safety, and dissatisfaction with Democratic governance after decades of one-party control.

Drazan has largely centered her campaign on economic issues, promising to lower taxes, reduce the cost of living, improve schools, restore public safety, and address homelessness. While the Republican remains firmly conservative on social issues, her campaign messaging has focused overwhelmingly on affordability and government competence rather than divisive cultural debates.

Kotek’s campaign has dismissed Republican optimism, arguing Oregon voters will ultimately reject a Republican governor in a state that has not elected one since the early 1980s. “Christine Drazan is desperate to show that she has a shot, but the reality is she is out of step with Oregon values,” Kotek campaign spokesman Federico Araujo said.

Political analysts caution that Oregon has produced misleadingly competitive polling before. In both 2018 and 2022, Republican gubernatorial candidates appeared within striking distance before ultimately falling short on Election Day.

Still, the latest polling underscores an uncomfortable reality for Democrats: even in one of America’s most reliably blue states, growing dissatisfaction with Kotek’s leadership has created what Republicans view as their best opportunity in decades to recapture Oregon’s governor’s office.

The force was originally envisioned as a 20,000-strong multinational peacekeeping presence tasked with securing Gaza and preventing the terrorist group Hamas from rebuilding its military. Instead, regional instability has severely hampered recruitment.

The deployment shortfall comes amid deep skepticism over political developments within Gaza. On Monday, Hamas announced that its governing body would step down and transfer administrative authority to a United Nations-backed Palestinian technocratic council.

Here’s the catch: Hamas conspicuously refused to commit to disarming its military wing.

Critics argue that Hamas is attempting to replicate the “Hezbollah model”—allowing a civilian administration to handle municipal duties like garbage collection while the terrorists maintain real power through their arsenal. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar strongly condemned the move, writing:

Hamas’s trick is simple. Hamas’s apparent willingness to “make room” for a technocratic government is designed to prevent its own disarmament. Hamas seeks to replicate the “Hezbollah model” in Gaza: a technocratic administration would be responsible for garbage collection and other municipal services, while Hamas would remain the dominant military force.

As long as Hamas retains its weapons, any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates. This would allow Hamas to continue oppressing the Palestinian people in Gaza, while pursuing its jihadist war against Israel. Israel insists on the full implementation of the Trump plan, with its core principles being the disarmament of Hamas and all other terrorist organizations, and the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’s trick is simple.

Hamas’s apparent willingness to “make room” for a technocratic government is designed to prevent its own disarmament.

Hamas seeks to replicate the “Hezbollah model” in Gaza:
a technocratic administration would be responsible for garbage collection and…

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 6, 2026

The ISF’s current troop shortage underscores the massive hurdles facing the broader peace plan. A small contingent of Moroccan soldiers, originally scheduled to arrive in June, is now delayed by several months. Once they arrive, they will not enter Gaza immediately; instead, they will base themselves at a newly constructed logistics hub in Israel near the border to conduct training and limited reconnaissance operations.

Broader recruitment efforts have collapsed due to conflicts involving Iran and Lebanon. Indonesia—which had previously floated a commitment of thousands of peacekeepers—placed its participation on hold after four of its UN peacekeepers were killed during clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

Until Hamas fully disarms, the civilian power transfer will remain entirely symbolic.

NBC News reported the king and Queen Camilla met with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie, and Princess Lilibet at Highgrove House country estate. The meeting came after years of public tensions that followed Harry and Meghan’s decision to step back from royal duties in 2020.

Relations deteriorated after Harry and Meghan’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the couple’s Netflix documentary, and Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” all of which included criticism of the royal family. Harry has also remained estranged from his older brother, Prince William, according to multiple reports.

After losing his appeal over government-funded security in Britain last year, Harry told the BBC he hoped to reconcile with his family.

“I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight anymore, life is precious,” Prince Harry said, insisting that the security argument has “always been the sticking point.” He also referenced his father’s cancer battle, saying he didn’t know how much time the king had left. 

Harry has visited the U.K. without his wife on multiple occasions in recent years, including for his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022 and his father’s coronation in 2023. 

British media have reported that Meghan and the children were vacationing in Portugal prior to the meeting outside London. British media reported that no photographs or video would be released.

All of this has been covered ad nauseam throughout Platner’s bid to take Susan Collins’s seat in the Senate, an effort he just ended amid rape allegations. The breadcrumbs in the trail that is Graham Platner’s life are rotten and moldy, with the distinguishing characteristic of disloyalty.

But what hasn’t been covered enough is his disloyalty to our country’s veterans. The men and women he served with. And I’m not even referring to his comments about Army Pfc. Ted Daniels (a Purple Heart recipient), whom Platner called a “Dumb motherf*cker who didn’t deserve to live.” I’m talking about Platner’s representation of veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

About 7% of all U.S. veterans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. That’s roughly 1.1 million veterans out of today’s veteran population of about 16 million. Platner has repeatedly cited his struggles with PTSD to explain much of the conduct that engulfed his campaign, particularly his online commentary. In one notable Reddit post, he mentions having to masturbate every time he sits in a porta-potty because “that blue water smell conditioned me.”

I personally know many veterans who suffer from PTSD. Not one has been accused of rape, lent allegiance to Hitler, or pleasured themselves in dirty outdoor boxes. While PTSD affects individuals in a myriad of ways, very few individuals become violent or engage in criminal behavior. Most often, the suffering is inward-facing: fear, avoidance, depression, and anxiety. Many resort to substance abuse.

In Platner’s case, PTSD has become the umbrella explanation after controversies have piled up. It should be noted that he got his infamous tattoo just a couple of years into his service, long before he most likely developed PTSD. Regardless, one diagnosis cannot become the universal answer for every bad decision someone has ever made.

The real damage isn’t what Platner says about himself. It’s what his explanation teaches the public to believe about PTSD and the damage it does to decades of progress. Veterans have fought for years to convince Americans that PTSD is treatable, survivable, and not a character defect. Our country spends over $300 billion annually on PTSD. We don’t do this to keep our veterans out of jail. We do it to repay the debt we owe them for their service to us.

We often hear about our veterans when something goes wrong. But many of them are raising kids and serving their communities while carrying a burden that most citizens will never understand. The individuals living in this shadow are the ones who are forgotten whenever PTSD becomes shorthand for moral failure.

I think about the Marine quietly awaiting counseling. The little league coach fearing a flashback at the crack of a bat. The combat veteran worried about disclosing his diagnosis to an employer. And every time PTSD is portrayed as synonymous with moral collapse, this stigma only grows. But no one ever says, “My anxiety caused me to steal,” or “My depression is why I abuse my wife.” Rational people would reject this reasoning. Mental disease deserves our compassion, but it doesn’t eliminate responsibility.

We judge a group by its norms, not by its outliers. There are bad cops, lazy teachers, and abusive parents. But the majority are none of those things, which is why we celebrate these vocations. Every profession, diagnosis, and community has exceptions. The damage occurs when we allow the exception to redefine the whole.

The norms among veterans with PTSD are resilience, treatment, and carrying the burden of it while carrying out their lives. The exception…is Graham Platner.

Americans owe veterans compassion for the wounds they didn’t choose. But it also owes them something else: refusing to reinforce the false stereotype that PTSD inevitably leads to moral failure. Millions of veterans prove every day that trauma can shape a person without defining them.

“Always faithful” wasn’t a promise that Marines would never struggle. It was a promise to remain faithful to them even when they struggle. When Platner uses PTSD as a blanket explanation for misconduct, the people who pay the price are the countless veterans quietly living with it. Is that being faithful to your fellow Marines? The easy thing is to explain away our failures. The harder thing — the more faithful thing — is to own them. Semper Fidelis.

***

Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL.

While defending their Democratic Party for dragging its feet to oust Platner, Joy Behar rehashed on Thursday the long-debunked sexual misconduct allegations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh and falsely claimed they were almost a carbon copy of Platner’s:

BEHAR: But at least the Democrats are dumping him. Whereas, Susan Collins was one of the major votes to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court and he also had allegations exactly like this. If I recall correctly. Am I wrong?

HOSTIN: Well, the allegations were a little bit different but they were of a sexual nature.

BEHAR: Exactly.

First, the claims made against Kavanaugh were completely fabricated, and there was not a scintilla of evidence. Accuser Christine Blasey Ford couldn’t even remember when the alleged sexual misconduct happened; the calendars didn’t match her claims (even of the general time frame), everyone she claimed was in the house at the time had no memory of ever attending the party, and her claims shifted over time.

That’s not to mention the asinine accusations from grifter Julie Swetnick, who asserted that a teenage Kavanaugh was running a rape gang, an accusation for which there was no evidence whatsoever.

Joy Behar falsely claims Justice Kavanaugh “had accusations exactly like” Platner’s against him.

Sunny Hostin calls on her Democratic Party to find someone who speaks to Platner’s voters because she insists Democrats can win the seat:

JOY BEHAR: But at least the Democrats are… pic.twitter.com/uTmyuviXj7

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 9, 2026

Elsewhere this week, Whoopi Goldberg, the purported “moderator” of the supposed “bona fide news program,” again engaged in electioneering, touting how people should rise up and vote to end President Trump accepting gifts from foreign countries.

But once again, Goldberg spoke in absolutes and misleadingly framed presidents accepting gifts from foreign countries as an “abnormal” practice Trump had made “normal”:

You know, this election that’s coming up, at least in my opinion, is going to highlight a lot of things because there lot of things that have happened. No longer can we accept the fact that, you know, no president is allowed to accept from foreign leaders anything, should not be allowed. (…) But this has become normal, and we the people have to put that back to being abnormal. That has to become abnormal behavior again.

The notion was ridiculous. Every U.S. president has accepted gifts from foreign countries. The U.S. even gives gifts in return.

Whoopi Goldberg falsely claims no president had ever accepted a gift from a foreign nation before Trump. pic.twitter.com/1BoXbYYF3S

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 8, 2026

A 2015 CNN article boasted of “The 12 best gifts world leaders gave the Obamas” (The View’s favorite first family), including a “9.5′ white and blue longboard with friendship flags and the Presidential Seal” from Australia, “a jeweled sword from Malaysia,” and “diamond and emerald jewelry set” from Saudi Arabia for Michelle.

Of course, none of these (including the gifts for Trump) actually go with them when they leave office. Instead, they’re turned over to the National Archive and are often loaned out to a president’s respective library or other museums.

Despite the Federal Communications Commission’s increased scrutiny of its status as a “bona fide news program,” The View just could not stop lying and spewing misinformation. ABC needs to pay closer attention because they were already sued for defamation once for accusing Trump of sexual crimes he was not found “guilty” of.

***

Nicholas C. Fondacaro is the associate editor for the Media Research Center and NewsBusters.

In the final game, Belgium defeated the United States — a sentence so nonsensical it’s almost an absurdist work of art, like one of those Salvador Dali paintings where a gigantic eyeball melts beneath a hole in the sky while elephants with spindly legs thrust their trunk tips into the clouds and trumpet the words, “Belgium defeated the United States,” as if that could actually happen in any situation besides a soccer game no self-respecting country should have been involved with in the first place.

The final score was 4-1, meaning that in a game lasting about ninety minutes, there were exactly five half-seconds during which you might have blinked and missed something semi-exciting, as opposed to the other five thousand three hundred and ninety-seven-and-a-half seconds which were as soporific as a Jimmy Kimmel monologue, although, of course, funnier.

To give a brief recap of the action: A group of apparently grown men wearing shorts like a class of gay second-graders ran from one end of the field to the other, some of them gingerly kicking a ball with their tiny tippy-toes for no discernible reason, while others occasionally fell down and pretended to be hurt so they could leave the game because the boredom had become absolutely unbearable.

Every now and then, someone would give the ball a really good kick, probably out of pure frustration, and then the announcer would become momentarily excited, or at least conscious, even though the kicked ball sailed past the goal by eleven feet. Then the second-graders went back to prancing back and forth and falling down and generally being gay.

The media have been trying to force this excruciating ordeal on our vibrant American sports scene for years in the hopes we would become more like Europe, namely a decaying former civilization where the old people die from not having air conditioning in the summer because having air conditioning wouldn’t be good for the environment as opposed to some old codger lying dead in his bed-sit for two weeks before his grown-up children return from vacation and finally start to wonder how grandpa might be handling the hundred degree heat.

The whole idea that America would stoop to competing against irrelevant hellholes like Senegal or Great Britain is already degrading, but now we’re supposed to say something ridiculous like, “Good game, Belgium,” instead of giving Europe a little reality check by carpet bombing Belgium, then waiting around a week or two to see if anyone notices that it’s gone.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I would root for the United States to win any contest it was in. If the United States were in an international knitting bee, I would sit in front of the television shouting “Purl that yarn!” or whatever the hell you shout at knitting people, until America had taken home the trophy or the sweater. But of course, the minute we were out of the competition, I would gratefully take my skirt off and try to overcome my sense of shame, and get back to enjoying real sports like basketball or BloodRayne 2.

Anyway, for us, the World Cup is finally over, and I’m totally willing to let the whole embarrassing incident fade into the past, although I’d also be willing to round up any Americans who got swept up in this cavalcade of monotony and then shave their heads as the French did with women who slept with Nazis during the occupation.

This is America, for crying out loud. When we call a game football, it’s not because the players use their feet. It’s because they’ve been hit so hard in the head by a three-hundred-pound man that they can’t remember which part of their bodies they’re supposed to use. So let’s send the World Cup back where it came from: the world. We came here to get away from that.

This is peak ignorance dressed up as “research.” I’ve been shooting since I was a kid, over 40 years now. I’ve harvested deer and other large game with .30-06, .308, and .30-30. I’ve seen soft-point bullets do exactly what they did to Charlie: expand on impact, dump their energy into the target, and stop inside or fragment with no exit wound, especially when they hit dense structures like vertebrae or heavy muscle like you find in the neck and upper torso of a large man who played football and wore a helmet to build those muscles. This isn’t theory. This is what happens in the real world with the exact type of ammunition used here.

The ammunition: Remington Core-Lokt Soft Point, designed to stop, not sail through

Court evidence and expert identification, including from veteran analysts like Matt Tardio, point to Remington .30-06 150-grain Core-Lokt jacketed soft point. This is classic big-game hunting ammo. The design is simple and brutal: a tapered copper jacket mechanically locked to a lead core with an exposed soft tip. On contact with tissue or bone, it mushrooms rapidly, increases frontal area, and transfers all its kinetic energy into the animal, or in this case, the target. That’s the entire point. It doesn’t “always” exit. It often doesn’t exit at all when it does its job. The lead tips on these are so soft that you can write on paper with them.

Recovered bullet fragment from Charlie Kirk’s body, direct court evidence

Direct evidence confirms this real-world behavior in the Kirk case. A bullet fragment was recovered from Charlie Kirk’s body, not exploding mic pieces. Photos of the fragment were displayed in court during the preliminary hearing. These deformed fragments are consistent with a soft-point .30-06 round that expanded and broke apart on impact with dense structures such as bone or vertebrae, exactly as designed. This is powerful confirmation that the wound profile matches standard expanding hunting ammunition and refutes conspiracy claims about foreign objects or exploding devices.

According to official reporting from the preliminary hearing, a bullet fragment was recovered from Charlie Kirk’s body. Photos of the fragment were displayed on a screen for the court. Ballistics tests conducted by the ATF on the fragment were inconclusive, with defense attorneys challenging their reliability. Yet the physical presence of the deformed fragment aligns with the terminal ballistics of an expanding soft-point projectile that dumped its energy internally, resulting in no exit wound, precisely as expected from hunting ammunition like the Remington Core-Lokt. The mushroomed and fragmented jacket pieces prove this was not a shaped charge from an exploding RODE microphone. A shaped charge would leave entirely different debris, not classic expanded copper jacket and lead core fragments from a hunting bullet. There are many other problems with the idiotic “exploding mic theories,” but this should end that debate.

This is a photo of recovered bullet jacket fragments, official ATF evidence as referenced in case reporting. It shows labeled evidence pieces with close-up views of the fragmented, deformed bullet jackets, classic terminal performance of an expanding soft-point projectile that dumped its energy internally with no exit wound.

Engraved bullets introduced as evidence in court

Investigators testified about key evidence in the preliminary hearing, including engraved bullets and casings recovered from the scene. One casing was engraved with “Hey Fascist!” and others with messages consistent with the shooter’s ideological motives. These were introduced as evidence, further tying the physical items to Tyler Robinson.

Real cases: Necks, spines, and retained or fragmented bullets happen all the time

Hunters see this constantly. Neck and spine shots with .30-06 soft points frequently result in no exit wound. The bullet expands or fragments on the vertebrae and stays inside or lodges under the hide on the far side. I’ve seen it. Thousands of other hunters have seen it. Spine hits are notorious bullet traps that arrest penetration while shattering bone and creating devastating internal damage.

Just a few years back, my teenage son took a clean neck shot on an axis deer with a .308 at close range because the body was obscured by brush. No exit wound. The bullet hit the spine, deflected, and stopped a little way down. Most of the blood pooled internally into the trachea and lungs. We even hung the deer by its head to dress it, and the neck held up perfectly. See the photos and full post here.

Human cases follow the same physics. The 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was carried out with a .30-06 Remington Gamemaster. The bullet struck King’s jaw and neck and fragmented on the spine. There was no clean exit wound.

Forensic pathology is clear: retained bullets and fragmented jackets are common in high-velocity rifle wounds to the neck and shoulder when the projectile encounters bone or when expanding designs initiate upset. The neck isn’t some magical tunnel of Jell-O. It’s packed with cervical vertebrae, cartilage, dense muscle, and major vessels. Hit those with a soft point at 2,700-plus feet per second, and the bullet does exactly what it’s built to do: dump energy and stop or break apart. At an elevated angle from a Mauser, as in this case, the physics line up perfectly for exactly this outcome.

Gary Melton of Paramount Tactical — a Green Beret, sniper team leader, and professional ballistics instructor, Matt Tardio, and experts from Fenix Ammunition have directly addressed and debunked the misinformation in public statements and videos.

The “Always Exits” and “Would Have Decapitated Him” crowd are full of it

Ian Carroll and his Valhalla VFT video claiming the bullets shown in court couldn’t possibly have caused Charlie’s wound are pure grift. They rely on cherry-picked gel tests and ignore real living tissue, real living bone, and real expanding bullet behavior in living and animated targets. Candace Owens pushing exploding microphone or professional hit theories to drag Israel into this is disgusting and lazy. It lets the actual killer, the ideological actor with motive, opportunity, DNA on the towel-wrapped rifle, video evidence, engraved bullets, and the recovered bullet fragment displayed in the preliminary hearing, off the hook while smearing an unrelated country to fit her insane bigotry.

A .30-06 soft point does not always exit. It doesn’t always blow heads off. At 135 to 200 yards, with the right or wrong anatomy hit, vertebrae, dense muscle, angle, it expands, decelerates, and stays inside or fragments. That’s not a conspiracy. That’s ballistics 101 for anyone who’s actually hunted or trained with these tools instead of watching YouTube from their mom’s basement.

My friend Charlie was murdered by a leftist who hated him for speaking the truth. The rifle was an old Mauser .30-06. The ammo was standard hunting soft point. The wound profile matches exactly what that combination produces when it hits neck anatomy the way it did. The evidence, DNA, video, digital trail, motive, engraved bullets introduced in court, and the recovered bullet fragment displayed in the preliminary hearing, is overwhelming. The mushroomed fragments from inside his body prove beyond any doubt that this was not a shaped charge from an exploding RODE microphone.

Stop the conspiracies. Stop blaming Jews and Israel for everything. Face the facts: a .30-06 soft point did what it was designed to do, and the killer was the radicalized kid with the manifesto-level hatred. The rest is noise from people who wouldn’t know a Core-Lokt round from an FMJ.

Sources & Further Reading

• Matt Tardio X post identifying Remington Core-Lokt 150gr and explaining real human tissue vs. gel: https://x.com/angertab/status/2075356666472862012

• Chris Loesch on soft point expansion and energy dump: https://x.com/ChrisLoesch/status/2075341218213507225

• Matt Tardio on The Dana Show with Dana Loesch, ballistics discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvKRl6OHCo4

• Fenix Ammunition responses on expected terminal performance of expanding projectiles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmG2RgfLA5I

• Gary Melton and Paramount Tactical on ballistics misinformation and real-world performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6zFmbMmrWs

• U.S. Army wound ballistics studies, WWII and Korea era .30-06 data: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA570469.pdf

• Forensic pathology literature on retained and fragmented high-velocity rifle bullets in neck and shoulder wounds: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6474515/

• Historical record of MLK assassination: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr. and https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-2a.html

• Bullet fragment recovered from Charlie Kirk, official court evidence displayed in preliminary hearing: https://x.com/erikaca47/status/2075335407470780698, direct image link to evidence photo.

• Preliminary hearing coverage, AP News July 10, 2026, detailing bullet fragment displayed in court, ATF inconclusive ballistics testing, and engraved bullets introduced as evidence: https://apnews.com/live/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-hearing-07-10-2026

***

Photos of ammunition are representative of the Core-Lokt soft point type identified in the case, with manufacturer imagery matching the court-referenced load. The recovered bullet fragment photo reference is from official evidence presented in the preliminary hearing. Court reasoning from the hearing confirms the physical evidence of a deformed bullet fragment recovered from the body, consistent with expanding ammunition behavior at the angle and with the ammunition type used.

Chris Loesch is pro staff for Triumph Systems, a Tier 1 training company founded by Navy SEAL Jared Ogden. He has over 40 years of hands-on shooting, hunting, and ballistics experience and operates broadcast audio and video for conservative media. This piece honors the memory of my friend Charlie Kirk and stands with his widow Erika and their family in seeking truth and justice.

Platner submitted a formal withdrawal letter to the Maine Department of the Secretary of State, ending his candidacy after initially resisting calls from Democratic leaders to step aside. “Please consider this notice as my official withdrawal from consideration for this office,” Platner wrote. The letter closes with a political message reading, “F*ck ICE. Free Palestine. Up the Hearts. Solidarity forever.”

“Up the Hearts” appears to reference Portland Hearts of Pine, Maine’s first professional soccer club.

Platner framed his withdrawal as an effort to preserve the political movement that propelled him to the Democratic nomination last month. “On June 9th, 156,084 Mainers voted for a new kind of politics,” he wrote, adding that voters supported “Medicare for All,” banning billionaires from influencing elections, ending “taxpayer-funded genocide and forever wars,” strengthening unions, and expanding affordable housing. “My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine,” he added.

pic.twitter.com/gQzOXBJHJz

— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 10, 2026

His departure leaves Democrats scrambling to choose a new nominee to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races of the election cycle. Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, a Platner ally who publicly urged him to withdraw, has emerged as a potential replacement after launching an exploratory committee.

The race remains a top Democratic pickup opportunity as the party attempts to regain control of the Senate in November.

At this point, it would be more surprising if she had left politics out of it. And to hear her tell it, the word “woke” has lost its meaning anyway. But Sonnenshine did go on record defending the aspect of the new storyline which conservatives are most likely to take issue with, namely, making a local Native American family a key feature of the show despite them not being featured prominently in the best-selling books.

While Laura Ingalls and her family are still main characters, much attention is paid to the mixed-race Osage family, the Mitchells, as Variety noted in an interview with the showrunner.

“As an adult, everything is different. Especially ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ it’s all about the Osage,” Sonnenshine says. “The Osage are all over that book, but we don’t know them at all. And I thought, well, we have to know them. I have to figure out a way that we can know them, and how do you do that? Trying to create a family that parallels the Ingalls. I had to do a lot of research to figure out how to do that, and I did and we worked with a story consultant named Robert Warrior,” Sonnenshine told the outlet. 

“I’m not even sure what ‘woke’ means to people anymore, to be honest,” she went on. “I know what I think it means, which is the definition of it being aware and alert to social injustice and prejudice, in particular racial prejudice. So, when people say, ‘I hope it’s not woke,’ I think, ‘Really? Oh, that’s interesting.’ But I don’t think people are using it in that manner; I think it’s just become a catch-all word for things that I don’t quite understand. If I had to sum it up, what people are afraid of is that something from their childhood will be portrayed in a way that scares them.”

Sonnenshine reiterated what she’s “been saying from the beginning,” which is, “I feel like people are worried for no reason.”

A Slate reviewer agreed that the “Little House” reboot has indeed been altered to suit progressive sensibilities. 

“There’s no other way for me to put this: Netflix did indeed woke-ify Little House on the Prairie,” wrote Rebecca Onion. “This new version makes a deep bow to contemporary concerns about the politics of the source material. Some of the Ingalls family’s closest new friends on the show are an Osage couple, a black doctor and black storekeeper, and a French Canadian woman who wears trousers and practices free love.”

She also notes a new antagonist in the form of a stodgy, traditionalist family. 

“Netflix’s Ingalls family are good people, even by 2026 standards, and you can see it in contrast with the Jameses,” she writes. “The Jameses are town-dwelling rich folk who don’t appear in the Little House books but seem to be an adaptation of the Oleson family … The Jameses’ vision for Independence — hierarchy,  respectability, a church, a school — first seduces, then repels, the more gentle-minded Ingallses, Ma and Mary. The James matriarch, Jemma, played by Mary Holland, brings a welcome comedic hateability to this sunny show.” 

Prominent conservatives predicted this long before it happened. Podcast host Megyn Kelly posted on X in January, “Netflix, if you woke-ify ‘Little House on the Prairie’ I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project.” 

This prompted actress Melissa Gilbert, who starred on the original “Little House” series for nine seasons between 1974 and 1982, to reply, “Ummm…watch the original again. TV doesn’t get too much more ‘woke’ than we did. We tackled: racism, addiction, nativism, antisemitism, misogyny, rape, spousal abuse, and every other ‘woke ‘ topic you can think of. Thank you very much.”

Gilbert has been making headlines lately as she defends her husband, Timothy Busfield, amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

The new Little House on the Prairie adaptation debuted all 8 episodes of its first season on Netflix on July 9. The show has been officially renewed for a second season.

Real New Yorkers are from Pakistan or from Bangladesh. There’s “Little Palestine” as well.

Little Palestine, by the way, sounds really terrible if in any way it mirrors the Palestinian areas in Israel.

Mayor Mamdani released a map showing immigrant enclaves, but they missed one called Little Italy, which, of course, is probably the most historically important enclave in New York City.

Instead, Mamdani put out a bunch of neighborhoods that he invented: “Little Pakistan,” “Little Senegal,” or “Little Yemen.”

Who’s in Little Yemen, the Houthis? Anyone want to visit?

These are not real names of neighborhoods. Of course, there’s no labeling of Jewish areas in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, or Borough Park.

In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson said the map was not designed to highlight religious enclaves in the Big Apple. Instead, they said it highlights New York City neighborhoods with substantial foreign-born populations from regions and countries around the world.

Great job. You ignored Little Italy.

And the Italians are angry.

This is where we need to insert the clip of Tony Soprano explaining that Columbus was an American hero.

Remember, Zohran Mamdani is the guy who took a picture of himself and posted it on social media in the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020, flipping off a statue of Columbus with the caption, “Take it down.”

It turns out that the inanimate statue didn’t care.

So Columbus needs to go, but we must, must, must inform visitors to New York where Little Yemen is, where Little Pakistan and Little “Palestine” are.

Sounds awesome.

Mamdani is trying to run the city of New York as though it were its own little polity — its own country. Today, City-Journal reported that a top Mamdani official tried to meet with the Iranian government:

Earlier this week, Ana María Archila, commissioner of New York City’s Office for International Affairs, was scheduled to meet with Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani. Archila allegedly did not inform Mayor Zohran Mamdani of the meeting and was directed to cancel it.

The State Department instead met with Mamdani and his administration to say, “Guys, you are not allowed to do that. You don’t run your own foreign policy with regard to Iran, as much as Mamdani would like to think that he does.”

City-Journal noted:

On April 16, a message seen by City Journal was sent to staff within the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs asking them to prioritize diplomatic engagement in part based on whether foreign officials “are . . . in political alignment/leftist.”

So they wanted to engage diplomatically only with regimes that agree with them, and the first place they tried was Iran.

I can’t imagine why.

You mean that Zohran Mamdani and his priorities match the priorities of the Iranian ayatollahs?

That’s shocking. I just can’t believe it.

This is where the Democrats have gone at this point.

City Journal continued:

The administration’s international ambitions have not been limited to public comments. Last month, Mamdani intended to meet with leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The meeting was called off after the State Department declined to issue a visa following Petro’s attendance at a rally hosted by Mamdani in September. Archila’s international meetings include a two-day trip to Barcelona in April to participate in a conference hosted by the Party of European Socialists.

Mamdani doesn’t need to be president. He thinks that New York is his flagship city, that he is going to run his own foreign policy, and he’s going to make it unlivable for people he doesn’t like.

I know there are a lot of Democrats saying, “He talks a big game, but he’s not going to be able to do anything.”

Famous last words.

Real estate investors are already fleeing the city.

They should. Because the city that Mamdani runs is not a city that is great for people who traditionally like our country.

It is utterly unsurprising that the same Mamdani who was flipping off a statue of Columbus is perfectly happy meeting with Iran.

It is all the same thing forever and always: The red-green alliance — the Marxist-Islamist alliance — is alive and kicking.

It also has that horseshoe aspect where they have the sympathy of people like Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Thomas Massie.

Erasing Little Italy is just the start.

Israel dispatched a delegation of more than 30 officials from the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, the Foreign Ministry, and other agencies after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, killing more than 3,800 people, injuring nearly 17,000 others, and leaving roughly 18,000 homeless, according to a top official from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Speaking Thursday with Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, commander of the Israeli aid delegation and chief of staff of the IDF Home Front Command, along with Israel’s ambassador designate to Mexico, Yoed Magen, Netanyahu said the mission is demonstrating “the true face of the State of Israel” to both the Venezuelan government and its people.

“You are rebuilding ruins, and you are also rebuilding relations,” Netanyahu told the delegation. “You are showing the people of Venezuela, as well as the Venezuelan government, the true face of the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu noted that Venezuela cut diplomatic ties with Israel nearly two decades ago, adding that the current mission illustrates “how beneficial it is to have ties with Israel.”

The Israeli delegation has spent the past 10 days working alongside Venezuela’s Infrastructure Ministry, assessing damaged buildings, classifying structures, and helping develop a national reconstruction strategy. Israeli officials said the team drafted a nationwide reconstruction plan, which was approved by acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez following meetings with senior Venezuelan officials.

Edri said the delegation has worked “day and night” with Venezuelan authorities and has also connected with the country’s Jewish community.

“We are very proud to represent the country here,” Edri said. “Both official representatives and the Venezuelan people have been very warm toward the delegation.”

Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 under Hugo Chávez after Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Under Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro, Caracas became one of Israel’s fiercest critics.

Israeli officials have expressed optimism about improving ties after the United States captured Maduro in January and backed Rodríguez as Venezuela’s acting president.

Netanyahu said Edri and Israel’s disaster-response infrastructure have “a lot of experience dealing with ruins due to the rocket barrages of our enemies.”

“We didn’t ask questions about who and what,” Netanyahu said. “We asked: ‘What needs to be done to help?'”

The Boeing 737-800 had climbed to over 16,000 feet when pieces of the plane’s engine broke away and shattered the window next to a 61-year-old Serbian passenger. His head and shoulders were forced through the opening, but his wife and passengers held onto his legs for several minutes until the aircraft descended and the cabin pressure stabilized.

“Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt,” one witness said.

The flight departed Greece at 5:55 a.m. bound for Germany. About 10 minutes later, the aircraft rapidly descended nearly 10,000 feet after the engine debris struck the window. 

Passengers said they heard a sound “like a tire bursting” during the incident. 

“We immediately realized there had been a decompression,” a passenger named Christina told Radio Thessaloniki. “There were screams … for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door.”

Masks dropped in the aircraft, and there was a “strong smell.”

“We thought the plane was going down,” another passenger named Sofia told Radio Thessaloniki. “The decompression was extreme. It felt like we couldn’t breathe. The man who was injured was bleeding and then lost consciousness several times, most likely because of the lack of oxygen and the shock.”

The plane returned to Thessaloniki in Greece, and the passengers were rebooked on another flight. 

The passenger sustained friction burns and remained hospitalized but conscious, according to Michalis Giannakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees. 

The incident drew comparisons to a Southwest Airlines flight in 2018, when engine debris shattered a cabin window at 32,000 feet. A passenger was partially pulled from the aircraft before fellow travelers brought her back inside. She later died from her injuries. 

Everyone and their brother is rushing to pull their endorsement and distance themselves from the Platner campaign over the recent sexual assault scandal that has come out against him.

Mind you, voters didn’t seem to care about Platner’s laundry list of scandals until a few days ago, when he was accused of assault by Jenny Racicot. Platner faced assault allegations over a month ago from Lyndsey Fifield, yet his lead in some polls only grew.

The trouble with the MeToo movement was never that it sought to shed light on those unfit to hold public office.

That said, in the unfortunate reality that few politicians are saints, we must distinguish between what is unsavory and what is disqualifying. If we barred anybody who ever made an inappropriate comment from holding office, it would be impossible to keep a candidate for more than 30 seconds. A serial abuser, however, should be excommunicated from the public sphere forever.

The trouble, of course, was never with encouraging women to speak up about instances of sexual assault. The trouble was with the attitude defined by the movement’s slogan, “Believe All Women.” Declaring “believe all” anything is going to incentivize certain malicious actors to weaponize society’s sympathy. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, the movement brought instances of baseless accusations designed for political and personal gain.

When Joe Biden was accused of rape by Tara Reade during the 2020 presidential election, you weren’t supposed to believe all women anymore. As with all good witch hunts, the hysteria died when the accusers bit off more than they could chew. Though the accusations did appear to have some merit, the party wasn’t going to drop its nominee over them, so they dismissed the whole case as trivial.

Whether or not Biden was guilty, “Believe All Women” got a lot more flexible when women started saying things the Democrats didn’t like. It became clear that society could not baselessly accept every single accusation, and so the pendulum swung in the other direction — being awfully quick to dismiss even the serious cases.

The simple explanation is a boy-who-cried-wolf dynamic. The MeToo movement of the 2010s had thoroughly desensitized the public to claims of sexual abuse. Or so it seemed until the Democratic establishment finally abandoned Platner over Racicot’s accusations.

But the fact that the Democrats did eventually drop Platner reveals a more concerning dynamic within the party.

What we have now is a situation even worse than the boy who cried wolf. Democratic voters still seem to understand sexual assault to be a disqualifying offense; they just have moved the goalpost of who gets to decide when something is or isn’t over the line. Instead of the natural public response that should come with plausible claims, the public response is manufactured in accordance with the establishment’s response.

I’m old enough (and one needn’t be very old) to recall the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The New York Times furiously backed the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, in dozens of articles, including a 2018 op-ed titled “Sexual Abuse Isn’t Partisan.” I think I have a carton of 2018 milk that has aged better.

Not a single witness could corroborate her story. Ford herself brought forward three individuals, none of whom recalled ever having been to a party anything like the one she described. Ford could not remember whose house the party was at, how she got there, or how she got home. Kavanaugh had attended a Catholic all-boys school at the time, and not a single person testified that he ever knew Ford.

Now let’s talk about the Platner case.

The Times massively watered down Fifield’s story. Unlike the case of Ford, Fifield was actually in a documented relationship with Platner and had provided the testimonies of friends she confided in during the time of the assault. The article conveniently omitted them. It’s also worth mentioning that while Kavanaugh had a spotless character record and reputation before his appointment in 2018, Platner had weathered scandal after scandal on precisely the subject of sexual misconduct.

Since Racicot was a Democrat, the party could no longer claim the accusation was politically motivated. At last, they were forced to act, and the moment they did, it became acceptable to call out Platner’s behavior.

The Bulwark, bastion of honest reporting that it is, published an article on Platner over a week after Fifield’s accusations. The article heavily minimized the scandal and focused on his political talents and appeal. There was no companion op-ed criticizing his behavior or calling for him to drop out over the scandal. Only after Racicot came forward and endorsements started dropping like flies did the Bulwark publish a piece titled “Graham Platner Crossed the Voters’ Red Line.” 

Could someone please identify where exactly that red line is? I’m having a hard time finding it.

The MeToo movement has, predictably, done enormous damage to the credibility of victims of sexual assault. The double standard employed by the Left hurts both those who are baselessly accused and those real victims whose cases will be chalked up to political posturing.

Justice is blind and indiscriminate. When the core principles of society are violated, the transgressors must be held accountable. The Platner case demonstrated that it is not a matter of principle, but political convenience that compels the Democratic Party to purge its ranks.

The MeToo movement was supposed to end selective silence. Instead, it simply changed who does the selecting.

The Kirk family issued a statement describing the toll on the family over the last couple of days. “The conclusion of the preliminary hearing marks an important step forward in the pursuit of justice for Charlie. Our family is grateful for the prayers, support, and kindness that has been extended to us, especially through these unimaginably painful and emotionally demanding proceedings.” 

Judge Tony Graf gave attorneys until September 1 to submit additional arguments before deciding whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence to send the case to trial. It is unclear whether he will issue a ruling that day. 

Former White House Press Secretary and attorney Kayleigh McEnany unloaded on Judge Graf after he delayed a decision, blasting the move as “mind-blowing” and arguing the Kirk family is being denied the speedy justice promised under Utah law.

“There’s ballistic evidence, there’s DNA evidence, there’s the roommate saying he confessed,” she said.

Kayleigh McEnany SLAPS AROUND Utah Judge Tony Graff for REFUSING to rule on whether there is sufficient evidence for Tyler Robinson to stand trial for the ass*ssination of Charlie Kirk until September. “This is mind-blowing… This is inexcusable. I am angry about it.”

“Judge… pic.twitter.com/ihS1sdwjyM

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) July 10, 2026

Over five days of testimony, prosecutors presented surveillance footage, forensic evidence, testimony from Robinson’s roomate and parents, and an alleged confession note. On Friday, jurors also saw enhanced rooftop surveillance footage and heard testimony from Caitlin Oliver, a forensic biologist who examined the murder weapon and bullets allegedly engraved with messages directed at Kirk, including “Hey fascist! Catch!”

Charlie’s mother and widow, Erika Kirk, were seen crying in the courtroom as the surveillance video played.

“I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with,” Trump told the New York Post. “The only thing is, I’ve left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before.”

Trump made similar remarks on Wednesday while discussing the threats against him.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me. I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists,” Trump said. “And, so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early.”

Trump’s comments come after calls for his assassination were prominently featured at state-organized funeral ceremonies for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week.

A large banner reading “We Will Kill Trump” was carried by a massive crowd escorting Khamenei’s body to its final resting place at the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad on Thursday. The banner was just one of many threats against the president displayed throughout the multi-day ceremonies held across Iran and Iraq.

Photos of the threats went viral, including posters depicting Trump with crosshairs over his face alongside the warning, “There Will Be Blood,” giant banners promising rewards of up to $120 million for his assassination, and a black wall emblazoned with the hashtag “#WeWillKillTrump.”

Daily Wire Photo Illustration, X, Majid Saeedi, Kaveh Kazemi via Getty Images

Calls for violence against Trump also came from the funeral stage itself. On July 5, Iranian poet Mohammad Rasouli, serving as the official master of ceremonies before prayer readings, asked the crowd over loudspeakers: “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive? … Why should we not kill the man who killed our imam? It would be a disgrace if we did not.” Rasouli then led attendees in a chant declaring, “Trump’s murder is our responsibility.”

Last month, members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the powerful clerical body that chose Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader following his father’s death, appeared to endorse the assassination of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring that anyone who gains access to the two leaders is obligated to “send them to hell.”

Trump also mentioned his contingency plan in February 2025 — before the last two conflicts with Iran — while signing an executive order restoring maximum pressure sanctions on the regime. 

“That would be a terrible thing for them to do. Not because of me, because if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions — if they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left,” he said.

Iranian regime supporters have openly vowed and acted on plots to get revenge against Trump since the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani. 

In November 2024, the Justice Department unsealed charges against Farhad Shakeri, an alleged asset of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accused of participating in a plot to assassinate then-candidate Trump. According to court documents, Iranian officials directed Shakeri to develop a plan to kill Trump and indicated that “money’s not an issue” when discussing the operation.

The alleged architect of the plot, Rahman Mokadam, head of the IRGC’s Special Operations Division, was reportedly killed during Operation Epic Fury in March. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the operation initially focused on Iranian missile capabilities, but individuals tied to threats against the United States were eventually added to the target list.

“We’ve known for a long time that Iran had intentions to kill President Trump, while that wasn’t the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination, never was raised by the president or anybody else,” Hegseth said. “I ensured, and others ensured that they were eventually part of the target list.”

The threats come amid escalating hostilities between Washington and Tehran. This week, the United States and Iran exchanged attacks across the region, with American forces striking more than 100 Iranian-linked targets and Tehran launching attacks against U.S. military installations and commercial shipping.

On Wednesday, Trump declared the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding effectively dead after Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“They’re scum. They’re sick people,” Trump said when asked whether the agreement could be salvaged. “These people, they lie, and they cheat.”

However, on Friday, Trump announced that Iran had requested to continue negotiations. 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump ran in 2016 against “stupid wars” in the Middle East. Then he bombed Iran. Restrainers heard a promise to avoid open‑ended conflicts; hawks saw a president willing to use conventional force against a longstanding adversary. Both camps look at the same record and see an ally. Trump holds them together because a decade of getting big things right (the border) has earned him the benefit of the doubt. But that credibility is personal, not ideological, and the coalition of restrainers and hawks lasts only as long as Trump holds them together.

This is generational, and the fault line is most visible in how Republicans of different ages see Israel. Among Republican men under 45, Israel and Saudi Arabia draw almost identical favorability, 34% and 33%, respectively. For anyone raised on the Reagan-era foreign policy consensus, that’s a different planet. That consensus held the party together for 40 years, but it no longer exists among the voters who will define the future.

The public did not turn against the war in Iran on principle. Support came with the expectation that it would be wrapped up fast. But while the American military has performed brilliantly to degrade Iran’s military capabilities, the regime’s will to fight has not been exhausted. The collapse of the latest ceasefire this week made that plain. For any president, expectations about timing are baked in, and the American people’s tolerance for protracted engagements is almost nonexistent.

In April, our national survey found that support for the Iran strikes tracked with how long people thought the war would last. Voters who expected it to end within three months backed the strikes by 57 points, while voters who expected it to drag past nine months opposed the strikes by 44 points. The largest single group, 27%, already expected it to run more than a year. Among Republicans, that group was even larger. As the conflict continues, it keeps running past the implied deadline voters set for it.

In our June survey, 74% of American likely voters said they want Trump to finalize a deal to end the war with Iran. That is one of the only positions right now that pulls Republicans and the persuadable middle in the same direction. The public wants force used swiftly and concluded on schedule. Republican restrainers have been arguing exactly that, and the broader electorate is with them. Each new round of strikes, ceasefires, or talks is being judged against that same expectation.

Which brings us to JD Vance. Trump sent the vice president to carry the peace, then joked on camera that if it worked, he’d take the credit, and if it failed, he’d blame Vance. The easy reading is that Vance got handed a poisoned chalice — the kind of impossible assignment presidents often give their number twos to keep their own hands clean. Joe Biden did something similar to Kamala Harris on the border, assigning her the problem and giving her none of the power to solve it.

Vance is in a different position. Rather than giving him a purely thankless job, Trump let him take the lead on advancing the argument he had articulated since he was in the Senate. So far, peace has eluded him. The ceasefire broke down this week, and the war keeps burning through every attempt to end it. Restrainers never trusted this war to stop on its own, and every collapsed truce vindicates their position. That puts Vance on the same side as the 74% of voters who want this conflict to end, and at the center of the fight the party is about to have with itself.

Far from a setup, this may be the clearest vantage point any 2028 contender has into where Republican foreign policy is headed.

No Republican has yet built a foreign policy that survives the absence of a singular figure who can simply tell both tribes in his camp to trust him. Trump has been that figure, but his credibility has never been transferable.

This new fight is coming to the GOP, whether the party wants it or not. The public wants American power used decisively, kept limited, and brought to a clear end on time. Iran is the latest in a series of Middle East antagonists that have dragged America back to the region for decades. And how the war ends will define the shape of the post‑Trump Republican Party.

***

Alex Tarascio is a Pollster and Principal at Cygnal.

The men’s team secured $16 million in prize money from FIFA after their run to the World Cup’s round of 16. Despite not playing a single minute of soccer, members of the women’s team will take home just as much money as the men’s team thanks to an “equal pay” agreement put in place by U.S. Soccer back in 2022. 

After U.S. Soccer takes 20% of the prize money, the rest will be distributed evenly between the 26 members on each of the rosters of the men’s and the women’s teams, meaning each player will be paid about $246,000. The money won’t be paid out to the women’s team until they qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. 

“So you’re telling me the men go out and earn while the women stay at home,” Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro said in reaction to the news. 

The “equal pay” agreement was put in place in 2022 after years of complaints by the women’s soccer team, which became known for antics including refusal to respect the National Anthem and stunts targeting President Donald Trump. 

That agreement came after a lawsuit from players on the women’s team alleging pay discrimination by the U.S. Soccer Federation. To settle the suit, U.S. Soccer agreed that prize money from the World Cup would be divided evenly among players on both rosters. 

Historically, the men’s World Cup competition has generated billions of dollars more in revenue than the women’s World Cup. The 2026 World Cup is expected to bring in over $13 billion in revenue, while the last women’s World Cup in 2023 generated roughly $580 million. 

Though the Women’s National Team has had more relative on-the-field success than the men’s team, its on- and off-the-field antics have brought criticism. Several members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team knelt during the national anthem at several matches in 2020 and early 2021, while longtime team captain Megan Rapinoe had previously done so while representing the U.S. in the 2016 Olympics.

In 2019, Megan Rapinoe described herself as a “walking protest when it comes to the Trump administration.”

“So it’s kind of a good ‘F you’ to any sort of inequality or bad sentiments that the [Trump] administration might have towards people who don’t look exactly like him,” she said in one interview. 

According to the Pew Research Center poll, a staggering 44% of Muslim Americans expressed a favorable opinion of Hamas. The view is out of step with Americans overall, with an overwhelming 84% of the broader American public viewing the jihadist group negatively.

The poll comes as Muslims have gained political power, with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani becoming one of the most prominent Democrats in the United States. In Michigan, a state where Muslim populations have become the majority in certain pockets such as Dearborn, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is the favorite to be the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate.

Both candidates are harsh critics of Israel, where the terrorist group Hamas operates. The poll drops alongside a mountain of sickening evidence exposing the subhuman savagery unleashed by the terror group upon innocent hostages. Since the October 7, 2023 massacre, captives dragged into the dark labyrinth of Gaza had been subjected to a calculated campaign of psychological and physical destruction.

A report released in May, “Silenced No More: Sexual Terror Unveiled,” painted a stomach-churning picture of the depravity. Captives were starved in suffocating underground cages, denied medical treatment, and forced to endure systematic, dehumanizing torture designed to break their spirits.

Most horrifying of all was the weaponization of “kinocidal” sexual violence — a deliberate, systematic campaign of rape and sexual abuse deployed by Hamas monsters to terrorize and erase families. Family members were forced to perform sexual acts on each other. Other instances occurred where family members were forced to watch as Hamas brutally abused other family members.

The report states:

Hamas and its collaborators inflicted SGBV (sexual and gender-based violence) in multiple locations, employing recurring patterns of abuse. The Civil Commission identified at least thirteen patterns of abuse across multiple sites, including: 1) Rape, gang rape, and other forms of sexual assaults; 2) Sexual torture, including intentional burning and mutilation; 3) Deliberate shootings to the head, face, and genital area; 4) Killings and executions following or committed in conjunction with SGBV; 5) Postmortem sexual abuse, humiliation, and desecration of bodies; 6) Forced nudity and exposure; 7) Handcuffing, binding, and restraint of victims; 8) Public displaying and parading of women and children; 9) Abduction of mothers and children; 10) SGBV inflicted in the presence or near vicinity of family members; 11) Filming and digital dissemination of SGBV, including use of social media to document, glorify, and amplify the atrocities; 12) Threats of forced marriage; 13) Rape and other forms of sexual violence against boys and men.

Firsthand testimonies and forensic evidence confirm that women, men, and children were subjected to brutal, sexualized torture both during the initial cross-border raid and inside the terror tunnels. This systemic degradation wasn’t just a byproduct of war; it was used as an intentional tool of psychological warfare, aiming to permanently shatter the social and familial fabric of the victims.

As the public grapples with these horrifying accounts of barbarism, the Pew poll serves as a chilling wake-up call about a group that routinely practiced unspeakable, unadulterated cruelty.

It’s quite the pivot for a politician who once ran a major Western G7 nation and now finds himself playing second fiddle to a pop princess.

Katy Perry is 41 years old. She's dressed like a child while Justin Trudeau jumps around with her like a child with ADHD. pic.twitter.com/pTBB4FAYeN

— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) July 10, 2026

At age 54, Justin Trudeau finally gets his big break in the entertainment industry with a bit-part playing a mexican jumping-bean in a Katy Perry video. https://t.co/vJgYPiKkpp

— Josh Ryan 🍁 (@joshryanjames) July 10, 2026

Trudeau, 54, and Perry, 41, first sparked romance rumors in the summer of 2025 after getting cozy in Montreal and locking lips on her yacht. By October, they made it official, holding hands at a cabaret show at Crazy Horse Paris while celebrating her birthday.

In April, the duo was roasted for acting like aged-out frat boys at Coachella. While Justin Bieber phoned in a sleepy performance, Trudeau paced the festival grounds in a backward cap, clutching a red Solo cup like a middle-aged dad trying to crash a college rager.

Should we be surprised? Trudeau’s embarrassing pivot from head of state to boy toy is just the natural evolution for Canada’s ultimate “woke” poster boy.

During his decade in power, Trudeau became a global laughingstock for prioritizing virtue-signaling over actual leadership. He infamously pushed gender identity laws that led to a father being jailed for misgendering his child, and declared that “trans women are women” on International Women’s Day.

When Ottawa truckers protested for basic medical freedom in 2022, the hypersensitive PM fled.

And while anti-Israel rioters burned cars in Montreal, Trudeau was spotted dancing his worries away at a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.

After driving Canada into the ground with high costs of living and mass immigration, Trudeau finally resigned in early 2025.

It didn’t take long for him to find a new gig. While his ex-wife, Sophie Grégoire, and Perry’s ex, Orlando Bloom, move on with their lives, Trudeau is busy trying to stay relevant under the stage lights.

From running Canada to dancing for Katy, Justin Trudeau has finally found the role he was always born to play: a harmless, self-absorbed theatrical extra.

In recent years, Britain has seen high-profile stories such as the jailing of mother-of-two Lucy Connolly for a swiftly deleted tweet about asylum seekers in the midst of the Southport riots in 2024, the arrest of comedian Graham Linehan over tweets about transgenderism, and police officers dismissed from their jobs over gallows humor in private WhatsApp groups. Much more could be said about “non-crime hate incidents” resulting in police visits, a proposed special ban on “anti-Muslim hostility,” and the Labour government’s clear desire to reduce digital freedoms through different forms of regulation, and even the outright banning of Elon Musk’s X.

To American readers who take pride in the First Amendment, this might sound unthinkable. It can seem as if Britain is a victim of its un-American political system. Unlike the United States, Britain has no single written constitution. Rather, it combines unwritten conventions and statutes passed by its elected Parliament. Free speech warriors in both the U.S. and the U.K. increasingly suggest that, to protect their liberties, they should adopt a written constitution or Bill of Rights to safeguard things such as freedom of speech.

However, Britain’s Parliament has never worked this way, nor should it start. The driving force of British politics has always been parliamentary sovereignty; that is, an elected Parliament can create and remove whatever laws it likes if it has a majority and the political will.

Crucially, this means that no Parliament can bind its successor. If a new government is elected with a mandate to overturn the laws of the last one, it can always do so. This is not the case in written constitutional systems, such as the United States, which are subject to a constitution that is incredibly difficult or even impossible to change. It is this reality that has left President Trump, even with a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, unable to make good on his central campaign pledge to end birthright citizenship. In a true British system, he could have passed that law on day one.

Britain’s free speech crisis is downstream of bad laws created by Parliament. This began with the Race Relations Act 1965, which, in the wake of tensions arising from post-World War II immigration, outlawed the expression of certain political beliefs. This was worsened by the Public Order Act 1986, which criminalized speech that was “likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.” Later, already confused communications offenses designed for the era of snail mail and telephone operators collided disastrously with public-facing social media, just as “hate speech” offenses began to appear on the books under Tony Blair. It is these laws and others that helped to shape Britain’s own strain of cancel culture.

But the British answer to bad speech laws is not a new written constitution that takes the question out of our Parliament’s (and therefore voters’) hands. Instead, it is to repeal the bad laws and, if necessary, replace them with good ones.

This is the approach outlined in Reversing Britain’s Free Speech Recession, the latest report from the Prosperity Institute. Barrister Jon Holbrook, himself a vindicated survivor of cancel culture, has identified the laws that most need to be repealed or amended to restore a boom in the British free speech economy, with new legislation drafted and ready for implementation for a free speech government.

In the revived Britain imagined in this paper, laws criminalizing speech that merely causes “harassment, alarm or distress” will be repealed; communications speech will be criminal only if it is intentionally menacing and targeted; all so-called “hate speech” laws will be repealed. Interference with free speech in the civil sphere will no longer be a matter for contested anti-discrimination law, but a simple matter of tort law. Spurious allegations will be deterred by a new costs regime that protects those wrongly accused. A cultural shift will be needed, certainly. But we must start with the law.

English liberty gave the Western world its tradition of free speech. Yet lately, as Shakespeare wrote in Richard II, “That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.” But it possesses all that it needs to liberate itself once again.

***

Rhys Laverty is Editorial and Research Director of the Prosperity Institute.

The agents were searching for two people from Guatemala, whom the agents believed were in the van that Araujo was driving. Those individuals were not in the van, The New York Times reported.

The Department of Homeland Security would not confirm to the Daily Wire that Araujo was not the target of the search but said agents observed the van with an individual who resembled one of the targets. 

“After receiving a credible tip from our law enforcement partners, our officers conducted surveillance on a target’s address. Weeks prior to the incident, they noted two white vans at the property,” the department said. “On July 7, officers were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop.”

The officers were not wearing body cameras. A spokesperson for DHS told the Daily Wire that the officers “had not been issued body-worn cameras due to back-to-back Democrat shutdowns” and that officers were expected to receive body cameras in the next 60 days. Over half of ICE agent field officers have received body cameras.

Unlike previous shootings involving federal immigration agents that were captured extensively on video, such as the January shooting involving Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, this incident has little recorded documentation from both law enforcement and the public. 

Video that has emerged from the scene shows Araujo out of his vehicle, lying on the ground with a federal agent next to him. DHS says emergency services were called immediately after Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker and father of three, was shot. 

The encounter began when federal agents in an unmarked vehicle attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. Araujo was shot on the right side of his body after federal agents said he refused to follow multiple verbal commands, according to DHS.

Araujo’s family believes he would have complied with federal agents if the unmarked SUV had clearly shown it was affiliated with law enforcement. The department claims Araujo attempted to weaponize his vehicle and run over an ICE law enforcement officer. 

After the incident, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed to pursue “legal measures” that would “go beyond” a diplomatic protest. “We cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died,” Sheinbaum said, adding, “Especially to Mexicans whose only crime is working honestly in the United States.”

Several Democratic leaders in the United States have called for an independent investigation. 

Yaghi, who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has accepted a faculty appointment at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, where he will lead a newly created artificial intelligence research institute focused on accelerating the discovery of advanced materials.

The move comes as China continues to aggressively recruit top Western scientists while expanding government investment in scientific research and artificial intelligence, against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in federal research spending and refocus taxpayer funding.

Born in Amman, Jordan, to Palestinian refugee parents, Yaghi spent his childhood in a one-room home without electricity or running water. At age 15, his father sent him to the United States in search of greater opportunity.

That opportunity ultimately led to one of the most distinguished careers in modern chemistry.

After decades of working and conducting research at American universities, Yaghi joined the University of California, Berkeley, faculty in 2012. He became internationally renowned for pioneering metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs — ultra-porous materials capable of storing gases, capturing carbon dioxide, harvesting drinking water from desert air, and enabling a wide range of industrial and medical applications.

His work earned him a share of last year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa.

One of the most widely publicized applications of Yaghi’s research came in 2018, when his Berkeley laboratory successfully demonstrated a passive water-harvesting device capable of pulling clean drinking water directly from desert air. The invention, inspired in part by Yaghi’s childhood experience growing up with limited access to running water, is now moving toward commercialization through one of several American companies he helped found.

Despite building his career in the United States, Yaghi has become increasingly critical of the direction of American scientific research.

Before receiving his Nobel Prize, Yaghi criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, arguing they threatened America’s ability to attract talented scientists from around the world. More recently, he has expressed concern over reductions in federal research funding and warned that American researchers have not embraced artificial intelligence quickly enough to remain globally competitive.

In a recent interview with Scientific American, Yaghi said the current state of U.S. science was “not so encouraging” because of cuts to research grants and declining support from federal science agencies. He also argued that researchers must adopt AI “as a matter of survival of the advanced research system in the U.S.”

Tsinghua University announced that Yaghi will head a new institute dedicated to using artificial intelligence to dramatically accelerate the design and synthesis of new materials. University officials said the institute aims to replace years of traditional trial-and-error experimentation with AI-assisted research capable of solving complex scientific problems far more quickly.

Speaking during his appointment ceremony, Yaghi said he hopes the institute will develop new materials to address global challenges, including water shortages, carbon neutrality, and sustainable development, while also training a new generation of scientists working at the intersection of chemistry and artificial intelligence.

Yaghi’s move reflects China’s broader effort to attract internationally recognized researchers as Beijing seeks to establish itself as the world’s leading scientific power.

According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, China’s overall research and development spending surpassed that of the United States in 2024. Chinese universities and government-backed research institutes have increasingly offered generous funding packages, cutting-edge laboratory facilities, and leadership opportunities to scientists from around the world.

Researchers say Beijing’s strategy has evolved beyond simply recruiting foreign experts to teach students.

Marina Zhang, a science policy researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, told Nature that Yaghi’s appointment suggests China is attempting to build entirely new research models that combine artificial intelligence with advanced materials science rather than merely catching up with Western institutions. Tsinghua officials similarly described Yaghi’s appointment as an effort to bridge scientific disciplines and create technological breakthroughs capable of reshaping future industries.

Although Yaghi will now conduct his primary research from Beijing, he is expected to maintain ties to several American companies and nonprofit initiatives that continue developing technologies based on his discoveries. Still, his departure represents one of the highest-profile examples yet of China successfully recruiting a scientist whose career was largely built in the United States.

As competition between Washington and Beijing increasingly extends beyond trade and military power into artificial intelligence and advanced technology, Yaghi’s decision underscores a growing battle not only over innovation itself, but over the scientists responsible for creating it.

The multi-day funeral ceremonies, which spanned several cities across Iran and Iraq, featured threatening and graphic signs and chants calling for Trump’s assassination. Held under the slogan “We Must Rise,” the Iranian regime sought to project national unity and strength following Khamenei’s death.

Among the displays seen throughout the funeral events were posters showing Trump with crosshairs over his face alongside the warning, “There Will Be Blood,” giant banners promising rewards of up to $120 million for his assassination, and a black wall emblazoned with the hashtag “#WeWillKillTrump.”

Calls for violence against Trump also came from the funeral stage itself. On July 5, Iranian poet Mohammad Rasouli, serving as the official master of ceremonies before prayer readings, asked the crowd over loudspeakers: “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive? … Why should we not kill the man who killed our imam? It would be a disgrace if we did not.” Rasouli then led attendees in a chant declaring, “Trump’s murder is our responsibility.”

TEHRAN, IRAN – JULY 4: People bidding farewell to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lying in state in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla (mausoleum) pass by a wall full of graffiti with a written message “We will kill Trump” on July 4, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.  (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

Other signs targeted prominent Americans, including Israeli-American philanthropist Miriam Adelson, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro, podcaster Laura Loomer, entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz, beneath the warning: “Sooner or later your heads will roll.”

Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 37 years, was killed earlier this year in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation that targeted senior Iranian leadership. His death marked the most significant blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution and triggered vows of revenge from regime officials and supporters. His body reached its final resting place at the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad on Thursday.

Notably absent from the funeral proceedings was Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei. According to reports, Mojtaba was injured and disfigured in the same strike that killed his father. He has not been seen or heard in public since he assumed power, though written statements attributed to him have been released.

A mourner kicks a wanted banner of US President Donald Trump as people pay their respects at the Grand Mosalla where they gathered to pray for Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the second day of funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 5, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

The funeral also attracted a number of American activists and influencers who traveled to Tehran to participate in the ceremonies and amplify the regime’s messaging.

Among them was social media personality Jackson Hinkle, who used his platform to praise Khamenei and condemn the United States and Israel. Hinkle, who has built a following defending authoritarian governments and Iranian-backed groups, posted videos from Tehran celebrating the regime and meeting with senior Iranian officials.

In another video, Hinkle stood on a stage waving a red flag — a symbol often associated with calls for vengeance in Shiite Islam — while leading chants of “Down with Zionists.”

TEHRAN, IRAN – JULY 6: Mourners display a banner that reads Kill Trump during the third day of funeral ceremonies for Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 6, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.  (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

The threats displayed at the funeral come amid growing calls for violence from powerful figures aligned with the Iranian regime. Last month, members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts appeared to endorse the assassination of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring that anyone who gains access to the two leaders is obligated to “send them to hell.”

The funeral unfolded as hostilities between Washington and Tehran continued to intensify. Despite the funeral, the United States and Iran exchanged attacks this week, with U.S. forces striking more than 100 Iranian-linked targets while Tehran launched attacks against American military installations throughout the region, including in Jordan.

TEHRAN, IRAN – JULY 4: People hold posters depicting US President Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu as gather at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla for a farewell ceremony for Iran’s late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 4, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

On Wednesday, President Trump declared the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding effectively dead after Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz shattered a fragile agreement that had survived only 21 days.

“They’re scum. They’re sick people,” Trump said during the NATO summit in Ankara when asked whether the agreement could be salvaged. “These people, they lie, and they cheat.”

The conflict has clearly shifted back toward direct military escalation, with the Strait of Hormuz as the focal point of the latest round of retaliatory strikes, sanctions pressure, and diplomatic collapse.

As previously reported, President Trump declared negotiations with Iran effectively over on Wednesday as he defended overnight U.S. strikes after Tehran violated the ceasefire Tuesday by attacking three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command said that American forces launched a new round of strikes on Iran after three tankers were attacked in the waterway. According to Reuters, the U.S. said it hit more than 80 Iranian targets, including air defense systems, command and control centers, radar installations, missile facilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats operating in and around the strait.

Iran then attacked U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, which U.S. officials described as another violation of the MOU. In Bahrain, the reported targets included facilities associated with the U.S. Fifth Fleet, while Kuwait reported two ballistic missiles and 13 drones in its airspace. The IRGC claimed it struck 85 U.S. military facilities in the Gulf in response to U.S. strikes, according to AFP, which cited a statement carried by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.

The latest exchange cemented the complete collapse of the memorandum of understanding, which had been intended to reduce hostilities while talks continued over Iran’s nuclear program and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Talks had already been on hold during the funeral ceremonies for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which concluded Thursday with his burial in Mashhad. During the six-day mourning period, crowds at the funeral chanted “Death to America,” called for revenge against the United States and Israel, and directed violent chants at President Trump. The funeral ceremonies coincided with a pause in negotiations as public calls for retaliation continued.

At the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump sharpened his language toward Tehran. Trump said the U.S. would “probably” strike Iran again Wednesday night after Tehran attacked — and he quickly made good on that threat. U.S. forces launched a second round of strikes Wednesday night, continuing into Thursday.

In the same exchange, Trump called Iranian leaders “scum” and “sick people” and argued that, if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, it would use it.

Trump also raised the possibility of restoring a blockade, saying that the U.S. may move to reinstate one that would apply only to Iran. The president warned that Iran could respond to that by laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

The movements of the last several days underscore just how volatile the situation is — and how quickly diplomatic relations can unravel when the Iranian regime is involved.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that he revoked the legal status of Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, resulting in his deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Minnesota Board of Pardons voted on June 10 to grant Vang a pardon despite his past conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.

.@ICEgov has DEPORTED Tou Vang, the illegal alien CHILD RAPIST @GovTimWalz pardoned in an attempt to allow him to remain in our country.

While Walz and his fellow sanctuary politicians fight to protect heinous criminals like this, we will continue putting the safety of the… https://t.co/QCzSnYh4zA pic.twitter.com/rjBXI5qhlj

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 10, 2026

“As of today, he has been removed from the United States. Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again,” Rubio said in a video posted to X.

“Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country. This administration will always stand with the American people and defend them from violent criminals,” he said.

The board, which includes Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, spared Vang days before he was set to be deported, Rubio said. Vang lost his legal status after he was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Laotian man tried to bribe his victim into silence and dismissed his crimes as “a cultural thing … to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12,” according to DHS.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted Vang a reprieve after receiving letters submitted in support of the foreign man, according to The New York Times. One of the letters was authored by his victim, who said she had forgiven Vang and supported his request for a pardon.

Minnesota officials cited the victim’s statement as a major reason for their decision to pardon Vang.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the original case against Vang, opposed the pardon and argued that he received a lenient sentence of 30 years’ probation because the victim, who was 12 at the time of prosecution, “was experiencing pressure from her family to not cooperate,” The New York Times reported.

Vang first came to the United States in 1994 and was given legal status by the Clinton administration, according to DHS.

An immigration judge issued Vang a final deportation order on October 31, 2006, following his conviction.

Vang is not the first foreigner Minnesota officials have attempted to shield from deportation. On May 27, 2026, the Minnesota Board of Pardons granted a pardon to Jai Vang, a Laotian illegal immigrant with felony convictions for robbery and robbery of a business with a gun, as well as a conviction for driving under the influence of liquor, according to DHS.

Tur unloaded a laundry list of Platner’s baggage, including a literal Nazi tattoo, racist Reddit posts, and a history of aggressive behavior toward women.

Jackson’s defense? He claimed he is an internet novice. “I’ve never been on Reddit,” the former Maine state Senate president whimpered, offering a pathetic excuse that Platner merely told him those bigoted scandals were from a “dark” time and arguing that “people can change.”

Katy Tur asks Troy Jackson why he supported Graham Platner even after he was exposed for having a Nazi tattoo, saying he would rape someone to show his "dominance," and his ex girlfriend came out claiming he abused her pic.twitter.com/954PPxh6TX

— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) July 9, 2026

Yet, despite carrying water for a toxic candidate, Jackson immediately threw his hat into the ring to replace him, quickly securing the backing of left-wing California Rep. Ro Khanna.

But Jackson is far from alone in this chaotic, fast-moving circus to take on incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. The Democratic field has instantly mutated into a crowded, free-for-all.

Among the top contenders is Nirav Shah, the former Maine CDC director who gained a following during the pandemic. After losing a gubernatorial primary earlier this year, Shah is demanding a televised debate to keep the process transparent. He’s joined by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who famously lost to Collins by over 30 points back in 2014, and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood.

Meanwhile, far-left activist Paige Loud is pitching herself as the “anti-imperialist, anti-billionaire” woman for the job. Rounding out the pack are Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban, who wants to pivot the focus back to bashing Collins, and perennial candidate David Costello.

With only weeks for the party to pick its savior, Maine Democrats are handing Susan Collins an early Christmas present. If Jackson’s spineless television appearance is any indication of what’s to come, national Democrats should start kissing this Senate seat goodbye.

The probe centers on a complaint filed by a former student at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, who alleges that the school is operating “a shadow D.E.I. program in violation of state law.” The complaint also alleges that university employees “discriminate against conservatives … and those that they perceive do not support D.E.I. or leftist political beliefs.”

The state launched the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Office of the Ombudsman last year to serve as a watchdog for universities to ensure they are not violating anti-DEI laws. The office has since begun accepting complaints from students, faculty, and employees.

The office can push to withhold state funding from schools found to have violated state law that have failed to address the issues, according to The Texas Tribune.

“The Office of the Ombudsman enforces key Texas higher education laws that prohibit divisive practices and unconstitutional discrimination as well as ensure accountability for important personnel and curriculum decisions at public universities,” Brandon L. Simmons, who leads the office, told The Daily Wire.

“We take every complaint seriously and will fully investigate allegations of potential violations. Our work helps protect a fair learning environment in which Texas students are treated equally under the law,” Simmons said.

The complaint at the center of the office’s first investigation is heavily redacted, leaving many details unclear.

In one alleged incident, the former student claimed that a campus peer tutoring office sought “to restrict political speech following Charlie Kirk’s assassination.” After Kirk’s killing, university staff informed students in the tutoring office that “we’re a political free zone,” the former student’s attorney, Tanner Franklin, told The Daily Wire.

Franklin is representing the ex-student alongside State Rep. Briscoe Caine.

The ex-student responded to the group message, saying, “I appreciate … that we’re not going to be political, but that’s not what’s happening in reality,” referring to other tutors who wore “clothing with obvious political slogans such as ‘No person can be illegal on stolen land’ and ‘From the River to the Sea,'” a Palestinian chant for wiping Israel off the map.

He was subsequently fired from the tutoring office.

Franklin said that he believes the university retaliated against his client.

“His point was that’s fine if you want to be viewpoint neutral, that’s fine, but you actually have to be viewpoint neutral. And in response, they deleted his comment immediately from the group and basically sent him a message separately, saying, ‘Well, we’ll handle it.’ And that was it. And then a week and a half later, he basically gets fired,” Franklin said.

In another instance, the ex-student said he was punished for asking a transgender student for their legal name when taking attendance. The transgender student would not provide their name, which was on the class roster, and only gave their preferred name.

“That student went and complained that my client was essentially being mean to him,” Franklin said.

The complainant and his attorney subsequently met with university officials to air his concerns.

“I left the meeting hopeful that SFA took my reports seriously and would take proper, and immediate action to address these serious issues. Unfortunately, that was not the case,” the student said in the complaint.

The school provided the former student with an “update” more than a week after the meeting took place, informing him that they “would be ‘firming up dress code expectations.'”

The university’s general counsel also told the former student that university employees “did not know what ‘From the River to the Sea’ meant.”

“This fell far short of the full and transparent investigation that I requested and certainly did not hold anyone accountable,” the complaint reads.

As a result of the university’s actions and alleged failure to address the situation, the former student chose not to “walk at his graduation” out of concern about further retaliation, Franklin said, adding that his client “was just so disheartened with how the university had handled this process.”

Franklin hopes that the ombudsman’s office can push for greater accountability.

“We appreciate the Office of the Ombudsman for taking this complaint seriously and conducting a thorough investigation. Our client’s courageous decision to file this complaint is a critical step toward holding rogue university officials accountable,” the attorney said.

“We must ensure that the free speech rights of Texas students are protected and that any restrictions on speech are applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the Legislature’s conservative majority have made it clear: Texans are tired of conservative student voices being silenced and targeted at our taxpayer-funded institutions. When it happens, there will be consequences,” he added.

In a statement, the university said it “complies with all state and federal laws,” adding that “if there is a governmental investigation, the university will fully cooperate.”

The warning, first reported by The Wall Street Journal and later corroborated by CNN, marks the latest in a years-long series of Iranian threats against Trump following the 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

According to CNN, one source said Israel relayed the warning to U.S. officials this week, while another said American intelligence agencies had already been tracking a steady stream of threats against Trump in recent weeks. The Israeli intelligence reportedly described a more specific assassination threat than previously known, though no details have been made public. 

Neither the White House nor Israeli officials publicly commented on the reported intelligence. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Instead, the White House referred reporters to remarks Trump made Wednesday.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” Trump said. “I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long.”

Trump added that Iran’s leaders are “evil, sick people” and compared the regime to “cancer” that must be confronted before it spreads. Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge against Trump since the January 2020 strike that killed Soleimani, one of the Islamic Republic’s most powerful military commanders and the architect of many of Iran’s regional proxy operations. Calls for Trump’s assassination have remained a recurring feature of official Iranian rhetoric.

During recent funeral ceremonies following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, mourners chanted “Death to Trump” while banners declared, “We Will Kill Trump.”

The Justice Department has previously charged individuals linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in assassination plots targeting former Trump administration officials, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

While U.S. officials have not publicly confirmed the specifics of Israel’s intelligence, the reported warning underscores that threats against Trump remain an ongoing concern for American security agencies.

Lance Twiggs, the trans-identifying former boyfriend of Robinson, told investigators that he received a text after Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University telling him to look under his keyboard. Under the keyboard was a handwritten confession note, Twiggs said.

“If you are reading this per my text, then I am so sorry. I left the house this morning on a mission and sent an auto-text. I’m likely dead or facing a lengthy prison sentence,” Robinson allegedly wrote in the note. “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it. I don’t know if I will/have succeeded, but I had hoped to make it home to you.”

“I wish we could have lived in a world where this was not necessary,” the note added. “Please try and find joy in this life. I love you always, Tyler.”

Images of the note had been prohibited from being broadcast before the trial officially began, Judge Tony Graf previously said. On Thursday during the preliminary hearing, Graf stepped in and asked Utah County Attorney’s Office prosecutor Ryan McBride if the note was being broadcast after it appeared on the camera feed from the courtroom, the New York Post reported. 

“Let me stop you, Mr. McBride. I’m not sure, is this being broadcast?” Graf said.

“Let’s take that down,” McBride answered back.

WATCH: Tyler Robinson Preliminary Hearing

Other evidence prosecutors revealed Thursday included a recorded interview with Twiggs where he said that Robinson confessed to the killing. 

“[He] didn’t go into detail. I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before and he said it was, starting crying a little bit, and he says he wishes he hadn’t done it,” Twiggs said. 

Robinson also confessed to the killing in text messages to Twiggs, according to investigators. 

“Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. to be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” Robinson allegedly wrote.

“You werent the one who did it right????” Twiggs asked.

“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson allegedly replied. 

On Friday, lawyers for Robinson are expected to present one more witness from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) before the case wraps for the day. After that, Graf told lawyers on both sides to craft legal briefs on whether enough evidence has been produced to bring Robinson to trial. Oral arguments on those briefs will be on September 1.

The July 15 gathering in Washington follows President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism strategy released earlier this year, which prioritizes disrupting politically motivated violent groups, including anarchist movements and what the administration describes as Antifa-affiliated networks, while also addressing extremists on the political right. 

According to the State Department, the meeting will bring together ministers and senior officials from Europe, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to improve intelligence sharing and law enforcement cooperation against politically motivated violence.

“Our counterterrorism operating system needs an update to deal with the reality of such threats, to protect American citizens and U.S. national security and interests,” a State Department official told Reuters.

The initiative, however, has drawn criticism from some current and former government officials, European diplomats, and terrorism experts, many of whom argue the administration is overstating the scale of the far-left threat. Some European officials have reportedly questioned why their governments were invited, saying left-wing political terrorism is not viewed as a major national security concern in their countries. Others have expressed concern that expanding counterterrorism authorities could eventually be applied against domestic political activists. 

The summit comes after several high-profile incidents involving alleged Antifa-affiliated extremists in the United States.

Most notably, the Justice Department last month announced lengthy prison sentences for members of what prosecutors described as a “North Texas Antifa cell” that carried out a coordinated July 4, 2025, attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Prosecutors said the group arrived armed with firearms, explosives, body armor, and medical kits before launching fireworks and explosives at the facility, vandalizing property, and opening fire on responding officers. One Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck during the attack. 

Federal prosecutors argued the attack demonstrated planning, encrypted communications, reconnaissance, and coordination consistent with organized political violence rather than spontaneous protest. FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators would continue targeting Antifa funding networks. 

The administration has also cited repeated confrontations outside ICE detention facilities and immigration enforcement operations as evidence that violent anarchist networks have become increasingly organized.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott defended the summit, saying far-left political terrorism is “an old threat re-emerging with strong transnational links and new convergences” and argued that previous administrations had not adequately addressed it. 

The “cystic” framing has misled patients and clinicians for decades. Women presented classic symptoms — high insulin, stubborn weight, acne, irregular cycles, and facial hair — only to be told their ovaries looked “normal” on an ultrasound, so they didn’t have PMOS. The diagnosis hinged on a feature that isn’t even the central problem, and countless women have spent years suffering with a real condition that was never properly named.

The rename puts the truth front and center. PMOS is a multi-system condition affecting metabolism, hormones, skin, and mental health, with insulin resistance at its core, and women will now be seen and diagnosed even when their ovaries look normal on a scan. Roughly one in eight women are diagnosed with this condition, but around 20% of women in their fertile years suffer undiagnosed.  

At its roots, PMOS is the same metabolic slowdown postmenopausal women experience with waning hormones and declining muscle, except it’s hitting women in their teens, twenties, and thirties, when their metabolism should be thriving.

To every woman with this condition, we see you and know what you’re facing. PMOS is chronic, but there is so much hope. Chronic doesn’t mean unmanageable, and for many women it can go into deep remission. 

My (Pearl’s) daughter Meadow was diagnosed as a teenager, and the standard advice of a strict low-carb diet actually made things worse. When she shifted to gentle, fiber-rich carbs, anchored her meals around lean protein, added movement and more veggies, and incorporated a supplement called myo-inositol, her insulin numbers dropped, her cycles normalized, and the condition went into deep remission. It’s an encouraging pattern we’ve seen with other women, too.

Some women need more powerful tools, and we’ll get to those. But for every woman with PMOS, lifestyle is the foundation to healing, and we believe four things consistently move the needle.

First, anchor every meal in protein, 25 to 30 grams four times a day. Protein is the body’s natural GLP-1 stimulator, the same incretin hormone the new weight-loss drugs mimic. Women with PMOS produce less GLP-1, and protein repairs the body. 

Second, don’t shun healthy carbs and get in wise fats. Do ditch sugar and processed foods. When anchored with protein, fiber-rich carbs like beans, legumes, and mid-glycemic fruits such as apples and papaya are an insulin-resistance weapon. 

A 2018 University of Saskatchewan trial found that women with PCOS who ate lentils, chickpeas, and beans saw significantly greater drops in insulin response than those on a standard diet. Because insulin resistance makes blood sugar testier, go easy on higher-sugar carbs such as white potatoes, bananas, and grapes until yours is better controlled. Wise fats such as avocado, whole eggs, butter, and coconut oil (in moderation) are crucial for endocrine health. For fat loss, the Trim Healthy Mama approach effectively separates fat-focused and carb-focused meals while keeping protein in every one.

Third, add more veggies. Intramuscular fat droplets are one of the largest drivers of insulin resistance. Non-starchy veggies help scrub them out.

Fourth, move your body. You don’t have to boot camp yourself to exhaustion, but two to three strength training sessions a week turn muscle into a glucose sponge. Gaining back lean body mass is key to combating insulin resistance. Beware punishing cardio; it spikes cortisol and works against you. A simple rhythm of strength training paired with walking is doable and effective.

Finally, a word about the pill. The standard medical answer for PMOS has long been the birth control pill, and visible symptoms can seem to improve with it. But the pill doesn’t fix the underlying condition; it puts the ovaries into a chemically induced menopause. It raises C-reactive protein inflammation and the risk of depression, blood clots, heart disease, and breast cancer, while lowering libido. It can also worsen thyroid problems—a real concern for women with PMOS, who already trend low on thyroid and on the incretin hormones that regulate appetite and blood sugar.

For women whose symptoms don’t yield to lifestyle changes alone, three tools are worth discussing with your doctor. First, get a full thyroid panel. Most doctors stop at TSH and T4, but women with PMOS need free T3 and Reverse T3 measured too. Restoring thyroid function with the right hormone support can be a game-changer. Second, ask about bioidentical progesterone, which some endocrinologists believe may help the brain and body restore normal rhythms disrupted by PMOS, with the bonus of tamping down the hormonal cascade that drives acne. Third, a small, carefully prescribed dose of a GLP-1 medication can fill the gap when the body isn’t making enough on its own — a bridge, not a crutch.

Used wisely, these tools meet the body where it is.

PMOS is real. But so is the room to heal, and women deserve to hear that too.

***

Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison are the founders of Trim Healthy Mama and New York Times bestselling authors of the forthcoming title “The 7 Skills to Lasting Health.”

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

The former “Sexiest Man Alive,” 60, said he gave the idea “real thought” before concluding he could make a greater impact outside elected office. 

“Over the past several days, I’ve been asked a question more than once: Would you ever run for the United States Senate?” Dempsey wrote in an op-ed published in the Portland Press Herald earlier this week.

Ultimately, he decided to stick to his day job.

“As I reflected on all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I truly want to serve in Congress?” he wrote.

“After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no. Not because public service isn’t honorable — it absolutely is. But because I believe I can contribute more effectively through the life I’ve already built,” Dempsey said.

He ended the piece by encouraging fans to help others no matter what.

“That’s the work I want to keep doing. So no, I’m not running for office. But I am asking something of the people who do,” he wrote, encouraging the community to “Lead with humility. Tell the truth. Put people before party.”

Dempsey’s comments come as Democrats search for a replacement after Platner suspended his campaign for the U.S. Senate after a series of scandals — ranging from his Nazi-themed tattoo and raunchy social media posts to allegations of troubling behavior, sexual assault, and even rape.

Several names have since been floated online as potential replacements, including anti-ICE children’s content creator Rachel Accurso, known as “Ms. Rachel.” 

On the drive home, number 20 commented that number 2 was wearing the correct number, because she was a turd. Such was a Saturday when one of your daughters played competitive soccer. Such was the commentary when the player was nine years old, I think, at the time of that match. Even then, though, there was one glaring difference between those little girls and the men who played in the pros: the little girls hated taking dives and flopping about as the professional men are wont to do.

It wasn’t specific to my daughter’s club, and this isn’t about girl power, but the art of the flop is perhaps an under-discussed aspect of why soccer hasn’t taken off in the United States. We already have one professional sport in which players are rewarded for flopping — the NBA. We don’t need another, even if the soccer players have a patina of logic to their predilection for thrashing about on the ground like someone just removed one of their vital organs with a spork.

FIFA has attempted to address this, but it remains too averse to simply stopping the clock, which is ridiculous. As such, players remain incentivized to flopping about instead of staying engaged in battle. There’s also the truth that stoppage is imprecise, no matter what the governing bodies claim. Anyone who has watched the sport on any level has held their breath as their team drives for that last chance to win — or tie, since ties are okay in soccer, which is a whole other matter — only to hear the final three blows of the whistle just as the offense was advancing toward the opponent’s goal.

Apologists for the current system will point out that NFL players also find ways to kill time. Rather than pointless passing, they’ll run the ball to keep the clock moving. They can also kneel at the end of the game. Football teams also play to win, and it’s unseemly to run up the score on a team that’s already lost. Also, football players suffer many more injuries than soccer players, so they don’t need to feign them.

That is, male football players suffer more injuries than male soccer players. The concussion rate for girls who play soccer is higher than that of boys. (Number 20 had at least three before retiring to focus on choir.) So not only are the girls flopping less, but they’re getting injured more.

Not that concussions are something to be celebrated. Head injuries are bad, and maybe the girls need to learn a little something from the boys about being more focused on self-preservation, though when they get kicked in the head (third concussion) while stopping a goal (no call), that’s when the refs need to remember that one of their jobs, at least in youth sports, is to protect the youth.

Encouraging more toughness in soccer might not directly help American teams win or boost widespread interest in the sport. As a country, we may not have the capacity for another sport to become truly popular. However, that shouldn’t stop us from trying. The United States Women’s National Team is the most successful in World Cup history, and its players rarely spend time on the ground. They stay on their feet, inspiring young girls to look up to them, even as men’s teams often expect boys to keep their eyes on the ground.

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Rich Cromwell is a writer living in Northwest Arkansas. He produces the Cookin’ Up a Story podcast, which you can listen to here. You can also follow him on X: @rcromwell4

This same institutional cynicism animates A24’s latest comedy, “The Invite,” Olivia Wilde’s loose adaptation of a 2020 Spanish film, “The People Upstairs.” From the outset, we are introduced to Joe and Angela, played by Seth Rogen and Wilde, a bickering couple trapped in the throes of a loveless marriage, held together primarily by resentment and their 12-year-old daughter.

Wilde, who also directed the film, has a masterful grasp of Angela’s archetype. Her performance wonderfully exudes the insecurities and frustrations of a repressed housewife, functioning on a cocktail of prescription medication and channeling her anxieties into perennial redecoration. This leads to such vexing domestic inquiries as “Is that a new rug?” when her husband stumbles home, weary and stupefied, from work.

The reason Angela has procured this new rug, we soon learn, is to impress their hip and suave upstairs neighbors, Hawk and Piña, played by Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz at her most seductive. Indifferent to conventional mores, the couple throw lavish swinger parties and express affection in such excessive and saccharine degrees that they begin to resemble villains in a Larry David sketch. Joe and Angela know this because, every other night, they can hear what sounds like a brothel operating directly above their ceiling.

For Angela, this bohemian hippie lifestyle presents something of a buoy. Her sexuality is so thoroughly repressed that she sees Hawk and Piña’s arrival as a last-ditch opportunity to “spice things up.” The film is appreciably cleverer than simply sending its vanilla couple tumbling into a lewd spiral of orgies and erotic humiliation. Its real interest lies in the awkward and comic realization that a sexually fallow marriage is often a symptom of emotional detachment.

Rogen, whose raspy disposition I usually find grating, portrays Joe with such conviction that you would think he had personally experienced the same failures and resentments. A defeated jazz musician, Joe has been relegated to teaching at a third-rate music conservatory and smoking pot — his version of prescription Xanax — in an apartment he inherited from his parents. Eventually, he concedes to being a failure who amounted to nothing.

Joe and Angela live in a constant state of misery, unwilling to connect with each other except through complaint. “We haven’t had sex in a year,” they confess later in the dinner party. It is under these grim and isolating circumstances that Angela tries to bring fresh friends into their lives by inviting over the upstairs libertines. “We’re not cancelling; we don’t have friends,” she scowls at Joe after he suggests they are unprepared to host, having arrived home worn out from work and without the wine she had asked him to fetch.

Hastily finalizing her charcuterie before the guests arrive, Angela whips out a perfectly fine bottle of champagne from the fridge and asks, “Is this weird?” Joe, confused, replies that yes, it is: “What is this, New Year’s?” This is plainly wrong. Champagne is the perfect aperitif for any dinner party at any time of year. It is refreshing, sprightly, and naturally pairs with anything. Are these people so estranged from pleasure that even champagne seems suspicious?

Among the most celebrated episodes of NBC’s “The Office” is “Dinner Party.” It is engrossing precisely because of how difficult it is to watch, capturing clawing awkwardness and discomfort with almost sadistic precision. It is a testament to Wilde’s directorial talent that “The Invite” captures a similar feeling of morbid embarrassment and unease. Complementing intimate camera shots with tense, brooding string arrangements composed by Devonté Hynes, Wilde creates a palpable sense of claustrophobia inside the couple’s apartment, such that the rooms themselves often feel like part of the cast in the evening’s slow-motion collapse.

I have rarely recoiled with as much discomfort and internal pain as I did watching a wide-eyed, wickedly desperate Wilde coerce Rogen into opening a 1982 Château Haut-Brion, the legendary first-growth Bordeaux from Pessac-Léognan, to serve their guests in the absence of literally anything else in their apartment. The indignity is compounded by Joe pulling it out of a cupboard and uncorking it without even bringing it to proper cellar temperature, to say nothing of decanting the bottle. It is an act of vino vandalism, made worse by the knowledge that nobody in the room is emotionally stable enough to appreciate what has just been sacrificed.

Returning to Oscar Wilde, the film ultimately pushes back against his aphorism. Marriage has not stripped Joe and Angela of affection; their reluctance to communicate has. Their love has withered under years of avoidance and disappointment. This becomes exceedingly clear when their lascivious guests begin divulging their raunchy escapades and give the beguiled Joe and Angela what amounts to a TED Talk on swinging. “There’s a menu you mark off: bondage, pegging, whatever you’re into,” Hawk explains, as if he were a waiter reciting the specials.

Despite its R rating, the film is largely suggestive in dialogue rather than explicit in action. Its most revealing moment comes when Angela and Joe, both brimming with sexual frustration, indulge their guests’ amorous advances, only to botch their attempted orgy with the grace of Woody Allen trying cocaine in “Annie Hall.” This barely qualifies as a spoiler, since the film’s tone is decidedly conservative. This is hardly some avant-garde French exercise where orgies are as encouraged and commonplace as cigarettes.

What Joe and Angela come to understand is that intimacy and physical affection are manifestations of love and mutual trust. Detached from that context, sex becomes a vapid hedonistic pursuit, thrilling in the moment and hollow almost immediately after, leaving you chasing the same high in perpetuity.

“The Invite” is a thrilling minimalist comedy about love, marriage, and family. As Wilde’s third directorial feature, it is easily her strongest, conveying a palpable conviction in family as something worth preserving rather than escaping. There is a memorable scene in which Angela bellows at a moping Joe, “You have a daughter who worships you,” reminding the erstwhile musician that there are far more important things in life than stardom and sold-out shows.

Oscar Wilde’s skepticism toward marriage holds no weight here. The reason to marry, “The Invite” suggests, is precisely to remain — and always be — in love.

***

Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at BetweenBottles.com.

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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Bone Thugs-N-Harmony just got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you’re wondering what everyone was doing in 1996, they were listening to the hip-hop group’s hit “Crossroads” on repeat. Now you can snap a selfie with BTNH’s star in front of The Fonda Theatre. (Still holding out for Ginuwine to get a star for “Pony.”)

I’m also feeling floral vibes this summer. And casually thinking of starting a GoFundMe to afford the Jasmine Damask Rose candle from Los Angeles brand Flamingo Estate, which I accidentally fell in love with at White’s Mercantile in Franklin, Tennessee. It’s “spendy,” but smells exactly like the fresh-blooming star jasmine that makes even grimy Hollywood streets smell bougie and enchantingly “plantsy.” 

 

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I’ve always wondered how fragrance triggers such vivid memories. It turns out that, unique to our other senses, aromas skirt the thalamus relay station in our brains and go straight for the olfactory bulb, which instantly connects with the amygdala and hippocampus. In short, one sniff and you’re transported to the exact moment and feeling of the first time you smelled that smell. Just so I don’t sound like a total snob, I also get a scent-memory from Marlboro cigarette smoke, which reminds me of childhood vacations to the Jersey Shore. (Fuhgeddaboudit!)

The girl with Erling Haaland’s face

Newsflash: Most of us agree that a sense of humor is one of the most attractive traits. Capitalizing on comedy and genetics, Russian model Anastasia Kostromitina is totally leaning into looking like a man, no doubt a famous one: Norway’s star striker Erling Haaland. She’s taking a timely break from high fashion to pose like the goofiest memes from the World Cup.

 

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Anastasia seems to be having fun with comments jokingly suggesting “Erling” get back to playing soccer, instead of focusing on a modeling career. The son of former pro baller “Alfie” Haaland, Erling has scored seven goals so far in the tournament, and Norway faces England in the quarterfinals on Saturday. In the meantime, even non-soccer fans have fallen in love with Erling’s fluttering lips, “zen celebrations,” kit-coordinating scrunchies, and “cyborg” walk. 

When he’s not trying on cowboy hats and boots at Bill’s Western or doing the Viking row, he makes not having eyebrows summer’s hottest look. He deserves that World Cup trophy made of 1.36 million LEGO bricks, or no one does.   

Wanna check the “sharkcast” for your next beach vacation?

This year’s super El Niño brings warmer tides and sharkier oceans. (Yeah, you’re gonna need a bigger boat.) It’s not yet fully functional everywhere, but a scientific alert system will allow surfers, swimmers, and sharks to co-mingle without reenacting “Sharknado.” The forecast “feels like” dolphins … right? 

 

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The “sharkcast” concept is long overdue, especially if you’re like me who went surfing — once — and spent the whole time thinking about lurky-loos under the surface as I tried not to look like a juicy seal in my head-to-toe wetsuit. With shark populations on the rise since the ’90s thanks to conservation efforts along U.S. coastlines, text messages about different types of shark sightings, ocean temperatures, and AI-powered SharkEye surveys of great whites could take some of the edge off the galeophobia you get from simply imagining sharks in the deep end of your backyard pool. 

Get ChatGPT out of your head. Read that again.

We’ll never “cognitive surrender”! Well, we’ll do what we can while we can still think for ourselves. As AI becomes a ubiquitous life hack, let us preserve our most smartest minds.

 

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Just like you wouldn’t hire a trainer to lift weights and run on the treadmill for you, the way you utilize AI matters, too. “The goal shouldn’t be to use AI to avoid cognitive effort, it should be to use AI to deepen it,” Anthropic researcher Judy Hanwen Shen advises. AI is awesome at summarizing, generating ideas, and streamlining tedious tasks. But our brains can stop braining and “fall asleep at the wheel” after relying on AI for just 10 minutes.

AI isn’t always right, but we’re biased toward thinking it is! Asking follow-up questions and excluding it from creative spaces such as conceptualizing and writing helps preserve our uniquely human executive function. “AI removes the productive struggle through which people develop not only accurate knowledge but accurate self-knowledge,” Carnegie Mellon University researcher Grace Liu notes. “Without opportunities to work independently, people never learn what they are capable of.” Here’s to keeping those robots on their toes.

A former homeless teen’s inspiring graduation speech

Prince Weeks used to pretend to be sick in the ER just to get something to eat. Now, at 19, he’s inspiring others to go for their dreams by graduating as valedictorian of his class.

 

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After bouncing around between living situations all over the East Coast, Weeks earned his high school diploma equivalency in two months through the Pathways to Graduation-Staten Island program from the New York City Department of Education. “There’s many times where I could have done the wrong thing to make ends meet, but I didn’t want to go down that path,” he said in his speech. “You will always prosper when you put in the hard work and you show up.”

Now employed by LaGuardia Airport as a sanitation tech, he’s saving up for college. Emboldened by his natural love of learning, he hopes to get into science. “Stay determined and never falter,” Weeks told his classmates. “Everyone here has greatness inside of them waiting to be unleashed.” 

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We’re not leaving here without animals! Here’s 30 seconds of baby Tibetan foxes that will have me booking a trip to Nepal by tonight, and Neil the Seal moves his 2,200 pounds surprisingly well on land. I love reading your comments and hearing your stories. Always feel free to email me and share the fun! See you next week — Lauren 

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

The profile made sure to note my homemade raw milk butter — a “MAHA elixir,” as they called it — alongside our sourdough, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and my request to be called “Mrs. Waters.”

My actual work promoting root-cause care for infertility received less airtime, unless you count the academic naysayers quoted throughout. Restorative reproductive medicine (RRM), something I “evangelize,” was framed as a scare-quote “natural” approach that “many medical experts argue may give false hope.” One reproductive endocrinologist dismissed it as “essentially a repackaging” of standard fertility care, while others allege RRM is a backdoor scheme to steer couples away from IVF “until it is too late.”

Notice the trick. RRM is simultaneously an ideology with no clinical basis and care that fertility clinics already provide. Both cannot be true. Either it’s just an ideology, or they already offer it. The reality is neither: RRM is not an ideology (the medical approach has been around since the 1970s, or so), and fertility clinics are not offering it, which is perhaps why more and more patients are rethinking the “one-size-fits-all” model of IVF in favor of personalized approaches to treating the underlying causes of their infertility.

When I joined Heritage in 2022, I pitched them on the idea of building out a conservative policy platform addressing reproductive technology, infertility, and promoting the health of men, women, and babies. At the time, it was a niche issue, to say the least. I had an intuition that it would become a major one, and in 2024, right as the presidential election cycle reached a fever pitch, that hunch paid off.

With the Alabama Supreme Court decision — which declared frozen human embryos are persons in the case of a Wrongful Death of a Minor suit — IVF moved to the forefront of the political debate, with both parties positioning themselves as the “pro-family, pro-IVF” side. What quickly became apparent then, and is the basis of my work now, is that even if social conservatives managed to enact protections for parents and human embryos undergoing IVF, or even if others managed to enact an IVF mandate, both approaches would fail to answer the deeper and far more consequential question: how do we help couples who are dealing with infertility have the children they desire?

To unpack this, it is helpful to begin with what infertility is. Infertility is not a standalone disease or condition. It doesn’t present itself like a cancer tumor, heart disease, or a ruptured appendix. Infertility is a symptom of underlying conditions such as endometriosis, PMOS, thyroid dysfunction, insulin resistance, and hormonal imbalances in women, or low sperm count, low sperm motility, and other lifestyle factors in men. And, unlike the impression one often has, the burden is shared roughly equally between men and women, with research finding an average of four or more such conditions in one or both partners when a couple is diagnosed.

That’s why restorative reproductive medicine works with the body to diagnose and treat these underlying causes, relying on cycle tracking, targeted lab testing, lifestyle interventions, medical and hormonal therapies, and corrective surgeries to restore natural fertility for both men and women. And, unlike IVF, which bypasses the body to create human embryos, RRM works to improve egg and sperm quality, decrease miscarriage rates, balance hormone levels, and optimize a woman’s body to support the child in utero.

And, despite the claims made by dissenters in the article, there is a large and growing body of clinical evidence to back this up. In an Irish general-practice study of 1,239 couples, most of whom had been trying to conceive for over a year, such restorative treatment produced a 52.8% live-birth rate over two years. An international study spanning 10 clinics in four countries found 44% of couples achieved a live birth despite averaging nearly five diagnoses per couple. In one of the largest cohorts studied, 62.1% of couples took home a baby after a median of 11 months. In another study, among women who had already failed IVF, restorative care achieved a 32.1% live-birth rate, with 92% of those babies delivered at term, with a single twin pregnancy in the entire cohort.

Compare the incumbent: $15,000 to $30,000 per IVF cycle, a live-birth rate of roughly 32% per cycle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of more than two cycles per baby, and success rates below 10% for women over 40. Indeed, cost estimates for RRM range from $2,000 to $16,000, depending on surgery and insurance, but with success rates comparable to or higher than IVF. And, if a couple’s natural fertility is restored, they don’t have to restart more cycles if they want to have more kids. Moreover, while IVF bears much higher risks for the mom and baby — including higher rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, and multiples — RRM is the only approach that actually improves the health of mom, dad, and baby.

Which brings us back to Dr. Kallen’s claim in the New York Times that this is all “repackaging” of standard care, to the detriment of patients who cannot conceive with these kinds of treatments.” If restorative medicine were already standard, Arkansas would not have needed to pass a first-in-the-nation law to get it covered. RRM physicians would not be forced out-of-network because insurance coding has no language for the diagnostic work they do. And medical residencies would presumably teach it, and yet researchers reviewing training programs found that “knowledge of fertility does not change throughout residency training.”

As for the claim that RRM delays essential care (i.e., IVF), it is important to keep two things in mind. First, given that infertility is a symptom of underlying conditions or pathologies, targeted treatments to restore health are the treatment. And second, even if a couple later decides to move on to IVF, their success rates will likely be higher, as their own bodies are much healthier than if they had just done IVF first.

Indeed, what I appreciate about RRM is that restorative physicians don’t promise a baby. They do, however, emphasize and work exceptionally hard to improve the overall and reproductive health of men and women, including their ability to conceive and birth children. As journalist Madeleine Kearns found in her reporting, couples told her it was the IVF doctors who tended to make promises they couldn’t keep, whereas restorative physicians were more honest: no guaranteed baby, but no stone left unturned in figuring out and treating the problem.

For example, a March 2026 survey from Carrot found that 89% of women would prefer to try a less invasive option for treating infertility before anything else, and 78% said they would choose these options first if they simply had better information about them. Other polling shows that nearly 80% of Americans want personalized care that treats the root causes of infertility. The demand is clearly there; what has been missing is access and awareness.

The Times also noted my view that IVF, egg freezing, and delayed marriage could mean more women “[run] out of time.” I stand by it, because this is the deeper problem with treating access to reproductive technology as the solution: the promise of these technologies’ shapes when — and whether — we marry and have children at all.

Indeed, one of the most common and unsupported claims in modern discourse is that more IVF will raise the birth rate. But as Lyman Stone at the Institute for Family Studies has argued, IVF subsidies don’t boost fertility; they change who has babies, and when. Younger women become slightly less likely to have children, older women slightly more, and the net effect is a wash, except that the woman who might have had three children starting in her late 20s now has one or two starting at 40. The numbers bear it out: IVF accounted for about 2.3% of first births in 2022, but only 1.8% of second births and 0.9% of third. A technology sold as insurance against the biological clock could, in practice, have the unintended consequence of further delaying fertility.

That is why expanding real access and awareness is what my work focuses on, and it has been succeeding at every level of government. In the last year and a half alone, Arkansas became the first state to enact the RESTORE Act (promoting such root cause care), with other states following suit. The Texas GOP even included Natural Procreative Technology (part of RRM) in its party platform.

Federally, Congress has introduced a bicameral RESTORE (Reproductive Empowerment and Support Through Optimal Restoration) Act, with the Department of Health and Human Services advancing several grants this year alone, promoting innovative root-cause approaches to infertility, fertility tracking, and body literacy.

Moreover, the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Treasury proposed a rule allowing employers to offer standalone fertility benefits covering diagnosis and treatment of infertility’s root causes. The deadline to submit a public comment closes on Monday, July 13.

Even President Trump, the self-described father of IVF, now says such root-cause care “will hopefully reduce the number of couples who ultimately need to resort to IVF.” He’s right. It’s not about being “anti-IVF” or trying to limit options. Quite the opposite. It is about ensuring couples have more options than ever before to treat their infertility, starting with the least invasive root cause approaches first. And, as for the birth of more “beautiful babies,” one recent simulation found that expanding restorative care could raise the U.S. fertility rate from 1.77 toward 2.02, which is within reach of the fertility replacement rate.

Meanwhile, the associations dismissing all this as “ideology” are the same ones that recently redefined infertility to include a person’s relationship status, meaning that two men or a single woman could be deemed “infertile” despite their own bodies, if properly united with the opposite sex, bearing no causes for infertility. Let that sink in. No two men, no matter how hard they try, can conceive a child, and yet certain states and leading fertility organizations redefined infertility to include them.

So, while the Times wonders what to make of a 28-year-old who likes raw-milk butter, I am far more interested in empowering men and women with access to real fertility care. Besides, if it’s just an ideology, doesn’t work, or is already being offered, Big Fertility should explain why it finds it so threatening.

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Emma Waters is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation and the author of “Lead Like Jael: Seven Timeless Principles for Today’s Women of Faith” and host of the new podcast Rethinking Fertility. 

The famous Italian neighborhood in Lower Manhattan has been a cultural landmark since the 1880s — meaning that it was established long before many of the other neighborhoods Mamdani honored, such as Little Yemen, Little Palestine, and Little Bangladesh.

Mayor Mamdani’s map of NYC immigrant neighborhoods sparks outrage for ignoring Little Italy: ‘Terrible mistake’ https://t.co/dR97RS7CPz pic.twitter.com/dKvqap5K2a

— New York Post (@nypost) July 8, 2026

In addition to the fact that Little Italy has been around far longer than the other highlighted neighborhoods, it is also one of the most visited, consistently placing on top things to see in New York City travel lists. 

Also noticeably missing from the map is “Little Ireland” in Woodlawn Heights, the northernmost part of the Bronx. Mamdani’s Office of Immigrant Affairs has since removed the map, but a series of immigrant enclave illustrations remain — and Little Italy and Little Ireland are still conspicuously absent.

NYC Mayor’s Office

The artist who drew the immigrant enclave illustrations is Celia Deming-Bernstein, whose work has also been featured in the anti-Trump, ‘No Kings’ movement. One of her recent pieces shows President Donald Trump depicted as the wolf from the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood” and was titled “Predator President.” When she presented her immigrant enclave illustrations on social media, she captioned her drawings, “No One Is Illegal On Stolen Land.” 

NYC Mayor’s Office

A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office told the New York Post, “The immigrant enclave series began during the [Eric] Adams’ administration, and we are planning to add more neighborhoods in the upcoming months.”

The illustrations come with instructions on how to promote and share them. “Today, we kick off #ImmigrantHeritageWeek by paying tribute to all the ways immigrant New Yorkers are central to our city’s workforce and economy, bringing our city to life every day. #ImmigrantsPowerNewYork.”

Mamdani’s administration is not only pro-immigrant but pro-illegal immigration. In his speech for America’s 250th birthday, he highlighted immigrant struggles including the “laws enacted by the federal government to bar their entry.” Mamdani’s administration has passed stronger sanctuary city policies, including an executive order that prohibits ICE from entering city property.

She said Mexico’s response would “go beyond” a diplomatic protest, saying officials “are preparing measures” over the shooting and the deaths of other Mexican nationals while in ICE custody.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the Mexicans who have died,” Sheinbaum said, adding, “Especially to Mexicans whose only crime is working honestly in the United States.”

Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said the Mexican government will be requesting that the incidents be investigated as criminal matters. Velasco added that the government will also file civil lawsuits against private companies operating in the immigration detention centers in the United States.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker and father of three, was shot and killed Tuesday during an encounter with ICE agents in Houston after picking up members of his work crew.

Araujo’s family told CNN they believe he would have complied with federal agents had the unmarked SUV they were in been clearly identified as law enforcement. 

The Department of Homeland Security disputed that account, telling The Daily Wire that Araujo “attempted to evade arrest” and “weaponized his vehicle” by attempting to run over an ICE agent, who fired in self-defense.

Araujo was reportedly shot on the right side of his body. He had resided in the United States without legal status for roughly 35 years. 

The family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo is calling for an independent investigation after Araujo, a Mexican national who the family says has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years, was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Houston on Tuesday. More:… pic.twitter.com/eGij94wYSz

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) July 9, 2026

The shooting sparked protests in Houston, where demonstrators called for an independent investigation.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Thursday that the ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras.

More than a thousand protesters chanting ‘ICE out of Houston’ marched near the spot where a US ICE officer fatally shot a man driving to work, the latest in a spate of lethal encounters from increasing deportation raids nationwide https://t.co/bkQqeJQuuY pic.twitter.com/GApbuTXDoj

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 9, 2026

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, the president wrote, “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY. This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”

The Supreme Court ruled in June that children born in the United States are subject to its jurisdiction and are citizens at birth. “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land,’” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. “We keep that promise today.”

Trump’s executive order, signed on January 20, 2025, aimed to eliminate immediate birthright citizenship for children whose parents are illegal immigrants or who are living in the U.S. on temporary visas. The Supreme Court ruled that birthright citizenship is protected by the 14th Amendment.

Trump’s post followed viral images of a billboard near the border advertising “birth packages in South Texas,” which directed viewers to the website “havemybabyinTEXAS.com.”

“Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with ‘Deliveries starting at $4000,’” Trump said. “Billions of Dollars will be illegally made by this SCAM, with Citizenship going to anyone willing to pay.”

The law also permits the entire families of these citizens into the nation, something Trump asserted is “not sustainable.” 

The Supreme Court has not granted a rehearing in an argued case since 1965. It has reversed itself on rehearing only once, in a 1957 case over the court-martial of two American civilians overseas.

Trump’s move is a long shot, but many on the Right argue it’s necessary to advance the President’s immigration agenda. D. John Sauer, the 49th Solicitor General of the United States, said that “no one knows for sure” how rampant birth tourism is. The Center for Immigration Studies said that there are 20,000 to 26,000 births by women on tourist visas annually.

What the students found was a 9,000-year-old skeleton that was soon nicknamed Kennewick Man. It was certainly one of the most precious anthropological finds ever. At the time, it was the oldest human skeleton ever found in North America, and it had signs of an injury from an arrow or a spear. More intriguingly, it seemed to have less in common with the skeletons of Native Americans than with those of ancient Japanese peoples, thus potentially changing our understanding of how humans first arrived in the New World.

But that’s when the federal government stepped in. Under a law called the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, skeletons found on federally owned land (as Kennewick Man was) must be turned over, or “repatriated,” to the Native American tribes they’re related to. NAGPRA was written in response to the actions of 19th- and early 20th-century archaeologists who sometimes engaged in practices that would be unacceptable today to acquire specimens, and it requires not only the “repatriation” of human remains, but also of “funerary objects” — that is, things buried alongside bodies.

Kennewick Man was far older than any existing tribe and not related to any of them. Nevertheless, tribal officials insisted that the bones be kept away from scientific study and turned over for reburial, which would destroy their usefulness for scientific research. In compliance with those demands, federal officials confiscated the skeleton and buried the Kennewick Man site under 600 tons of rock and fill to prevent any further discoveries.

Scientists sued, arguing that NAGPRA simply doesn’t apply to objects that old. After years of litigation, federal courts ruled in their favor. Indeed, the courts found that government officials had acted in bad faith and awarded the scientists $2 million in attorney fees. A year later, even though DNA research revealed that Kennewick Man was closest to South American indigenous peoples, an executive order by then-President Barack Obama forced the scientists to turn Kennewick Man over to a group of Northwest Coast Native American tribes who destroyed the bones forever.

That was bad enough, but in the years since, tribal activists and sympathetic politicians have taken increasingly aggressive positions in demanding the “repatriation” of specimens — many of which have no true connection to tribes, and others that aren’t even particularly old. Some museums have even “repatriated” artworks made in the 1980s and purchased from gift shops — as if these were sacred remnants of someone’s ancestors.

Today, in museums across the country, it has become common to see empty display cases, featuring signs like the one spotted recently at the San Diego Museum of Us: “As part of our decolonization process, these items have been moved to a sanctuary space.”

Equally absurd are cases in which scientists are forced to relinquish animal bones — literally the trash our ancestors threw away — on the theory that they’re somehow “funerary objects” that should be off-limits out of racial or religious sensitivities.

What’s more, some museums have adopted rules based on tribal practices to govern how scientists handle objects in their collections. These sometimes bar female scientists from handling specimens, since that’s sometimes prohibited by Native religious taboos. Museums are also required by federal regulation to have “advisory” committees that include practitioners of tribal religions. Christians, Jews, and Hindus aren’t given the same preferential treatment.

It’s hard to imagine a starker example of the collision between racial identity politics and the scientific rationality that our social and technological progress depends on. Out of deference to politically correct race politics and irrationally romanticized conceptions about “stolen land,” the institutions where science should reign supreme are being suborned into erasing the accumulated knowledge of centuries. In effect, an entire field of scientific inquiry has been placed at risk by an overzealous activist movement using the regulatory power of the state.

The study of human remains and artifacts isn’t just some antiquarian hobby. It provides critical insights about present-day issues like climate change and provides insights that can help police officers solve crimes. But entire areas of anthropological research may now be shutting down, thanks to the aggressive use and misuse of NAGPRA.

The science of anthropology can still be saved if we act now. Museum officials and state governments can push back. For one thing, many “repatriation” efforts aren’t actually required by NAGPRA. Museum leaders should refuse to be cowed by activist demands that fall outside the law. And states should adopt legislation prohibiting the return of specimens that are too old to be associated with a tribe or too young to be a “funerary object.” They should also forbid any museum from following rules that discriminate on the basis of sex or religion.

Science is too precious to be sacrificed to the political demands of DEI and the wishful thinking of angry activists who prioritize race over research, discovery, and progress.

***

Timothy Sandefur is the vice president for legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Elizabeth Weiss is a professor emeritus of anthropology at San José State University and author of the Goldwater Institute report, “The Reburial of the Southwest: Closing Off Native History and Archaeology”

Pratt, in a nine-minute video posted on Wednesday, laid out the reasons people believe California elections are rife with fraud — and why he believes they’re right to be worried.

WATCH:

I didn’t get cheated.

You did. pic.twitter.com/ihDoZeEh9J

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) July 9, 2026

“In judicial ethics, the mere appearance of potential fraud is disqualifying,” Pratt began — and then compared that to elections. “Whether or not there is widespread fraud occurring, there certainly could be. And it doesn’t matter how many times you scream, ‘There is no widespread fraud.’ A lot of people believe there is.”

Pratt went on to explain how California, in particular, had built a system that at best enabled the appearance of fraud and at worst facilitated it: “This isn’t about whether fraud is swinging the election — the appearance of fraud already is swinging the election.”

Using his own election as an example, Pratt explained that the mail-in ballot system — which allows votes to be counted for days after the election — created the appearance of fraud even if that wasn’t what was happening. In the Los Angeles mayoral race, he explained, he was in second place on Election Day — and the mail-in ballots that came in after benefited Nithya Raman, who had been the third-place candidate.

“For some reason, only the third-place Democrat who needed the votes saw a disproportionate spike in votes several days after the election,” he said.

Pratt compared the whole system to a bank heist in which the bank owners “can’t lock the bank vault, you’re not allowed to have security cameras, and you can’t count the money inside the vault. Robbing the bank is still 100% illegal, but there’s no way to stop it from happening.”

“How can you secure the money if you can’t lock the vault?” Pratt asked. “How can you catch the robbers if you’re not allowed to monitor the vault? And how can you even identify if the vault were even robbed in the first place if you can’t even count the money? … The bank vault is wide open.”

Pratt called for an overhaul of the system, saying that the right way would not be easy, but it would end with “commie animals in handcuffs.”

“To all you fraudsters out there, we’ve been watching you,” he added. “And justice is coming.” 

Farage, leader of the surging Reform UK party, stepped down Tuesday as the member of Parliament for Clacton after Parliament’s standards watchdog opened an investigation into whether he improperly disclosed financial gifts from wealthy donors. Farage has denied any wrongdoing and insists the investigation is politically motivated.

Rather than wait for Parliament’s ethics process to play out, Farage triggered a by-election by resigning his seat, arguing that the people of Clacton — not what he calls Britain’s political establishment — should decide his political future. “I’ve decided the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said. “I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started.”

The move immediately drew criticism across Britain’s political spectrum, with opponents accusing Farage of staging a political spectacle to distract from questions about his finances. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the resignation a “desperate stunt,” while other Labour figures dismissed it as a gimmick intended to shift attention away from the investigation.

This is a desperate stunt from Nigel Farage.

Politics should be about improving the lives of millions of people, not about personal gain. pic.twitter.com/UVgmYkxhHJ

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 7, 2026

In an even more unusual twist, Britain’s major political parties have largely refused to participate in the by-election at all. Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats each announced they would not field candidates, arguing that Farage’s resignation should not be rewarded with a conventional campaign.

That decision has left Farage facing perhaps the most unconventional opponent imaginable: Count Binface. The Count — an “intergalactic space warrior” and leader of the Recyclons, an alien species hailing from the planet Sigma IX — portrayed by comedian Jon Harvey, has become something of a fixture in British politics after repeatedly running against prime ministers and other high-profile politicians, all while wearing a silver cape and an oversized trash can helmet.

“Game on, Nige,” Binface posted on X shortly after Farage announced his resignation. Appearing on BBC Radio, Binface quipped that his campaign slogan was simple. “I’m not Nigel Farage.”

The satirical candidate has spent years running on comedic proposals such as forcing cyclists who repeatedly violate traffic laws to ride unicycles, building a singular affordable house, and nationalizing Adele. Now, however, his candidacy has suddenly taken on a more serious profile as anti-Farage voters search for the only viable alternative on the ballot. When asked if he could win, he replied, “Probably not, but then, my job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy.”

Farage’s allies argue the boycott demonstrates that Britain’s political establishment is afraid to confront the Reform leader directly. Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf blasted the decision by the major parties as “cowardly and transparent,” writing on X that “the establishment is on the ropes.”

The by-election comes as Reform UK continues to lead or closely contest national opinion polls, cementing Farage’s status as the dominant figure on Britain’s political Right despite never serving in government. Whether his decision ultimately strengthens that image remains to be seen.

What was intended as a populist referendum on Farage himself has instead produced one of the strangest electoral contests in recent British history, a race that may ultimately pit one of the country’s most polarizing politicians against an extraterrestrial with a garbage can for a helmet.

New York City’s socialist mayor was caught on video chuckling alongside Governor Kathy Hochul, speaking about blowing taxpayer cash on his custom-made jacket. When Hochul asked, “Is this from my budget money?” Mamdani responded,  “Yes, straight out of Albany.”

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani laughs alongside Governor Kathy Hochul as he brags about blowing taxpayer money on his custom-made jacket.

Hochul: “Is this from my budget money?”

Mamdani: “Yes, straight out of Albany.”

These entitled grifters aren't even hiding it anymore.… pic.twitter.com/rXd4P6MQov

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) July 8, 2026

That little comedy routine tells you everything you need to know about how the city’s first socialist executive treats taxpayers’ hard-earned money.

While the mayor plays fashion model allegedly on the public dime, he has celebrated a massive $4 billion bailout from Albany to plug a staggering $5.4 billion budget hole — a deficit largely manufactured by his own radical, pie-in-the-sky campaign promises. Hochul, desperate to appear moderate ahead of her upcoming reelection bid, caved to the socialist’s demands after months of gridlock.

To fund Mamdani’s progressive wonderland, Hochul scraped together billions by raiding public employee pensions, delaying smaller class sizes for city schoolchildren, and slapping a new “pied-à-terre” tax on luxury second homes. That gimmick balances today’s books on the backs of future generations.

But the real tragedy of Mamdani’s bloated $126 billion fiscal plan isn’t just the creative accounting — it’s who he left out in the cold.

The radical new budget funnels a massive $37.9 billion to the Department of Education and splashes tens of millions on immigration services designed to push back against federal enforcement. Meanwhile, the NYPD got a measly $6.6 billion. There is no funding to recruit new officers into a city police force that is already bleeding staff and facing severe burnout.

Mamdani totally surrendered to anti-police activists, completely walking back a prior campaign pledge to stabilize officer headcount. While rank-and-file cops log crushing overtime hours to keep the streets safe, the mayor is instead funding $1,000 college vouchers for kindergarteners and throwing cash at cultural institutions.

In a Tax Day video outside Ken Griffin’s penthouse, Mamdani said, “When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Today, we’re taxing the rich.”

New York City has been legally required to balance its books since the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. But instead of practicing actual fiscal responsibility, Mamdani is just leaning on Albany to keep his socialist experiment afloat.

That proves once again that when progressives run out of their own money, they just come for yours.

Earlier this week, multiple posts were published on Tobey’s Instagram account appearing to show him with Loren Waters, the sister of former Spurs guard and current free agent Lindy Waters III. An X account under the username @WembyAlienEra captured screenshots of the two posts that blew up across multiple social media platforms.

Another post: “Me and the new girl LorenkWaters :)” pic.twitter.com/9L6Wh7rLQB

— Wemby Alien Era (@WembyAlienEra) July 7, 2026

A person identifying herself as Tobey’s ex-girlfriend also posted a since-deleted message on VSCO, a photography-focused social platform, saying he had been unfaithful.

“This is now his ex girlfriend. I was visiting his family w[ith] him [for] two weeks (we were on day 3) when I found out about him and Loren,” an account under the username kass3rine posted on the platform. “He woke up. And his parents made him take down the story. Stay safe out there ladies.”

“You can be 6 years in visiting grandparents one hour and sleeping in bed the next at his family home and they will still cheat,” the post said.

Tobey, 29, became the Spurs’ play-by-play announcer just before the 2024-25 NBA season, during which he also sometimes performed the national anthem for games. Before working with the Spurs, Tobey spent four years as a sports anchor at 9News in Denver and called play-by-play for Fox Sports and the Pac-12 Network.

Just weeks before his firing, Tobey announced on X that he had signed a multi-year extension with the Spurs to stay on the broadcast team. Tobey has since set all of his social media accounts private, and the X post is no longer viewable.

Neither the San Antonio Spurs nor Tobey’s representatives at The Montag Group responded to a request for comment.

The White House insisted that the new aircraft is equipped with advanced security measures, as reports suggested that the older presidential jet’s defense capabilities may have factored into the decision.

Journalist Andrew Feinberg wrote on X that the “most likely reason” for the change was that the former Qatari jet “doesn’t have the self-defense capabilities needed when flying from Turkey while in a shooting war with Iran.”

Former CIA station chief and Fox News contributor Daniel Hoffman said the switch reminded him of threat briefings he delivered to senior U.S. officials. 

“Credible threats required us to take countermeasures,” Hoffman said, adding that the older Air Force One reportedly has enhanced security capabilities that the newer aircraft does not. “I clearly think this is part of the president’s calculus.”

Later reports indicated that the Secret Service urged Trump to leave Turkey on the older Air Force One as a security precaution, citing sources familiar with the matter. The reports also said Trump told reporters the switch had nothing to do with security.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the Qatari Boeing 747 is “a state of the art aircraft” equipped with “high-level security protocols” and added that the administration uses “every tool at our disposal, including distraction and misdirection,” to protect the president.  

The speculation came as Trump said Iran considers him its “number one target” amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. 

Trump pushed back on the idea that the change was security-related. When asked what security concern caused the switch, he said, “We sent it a little early so the base could see the plane.”

A reporter then asked why passengers were told to close their window shades.

“Because you’re on a dangerous flight,” Trump replied.

Trump later said on Truth Social that he sent the newer aircraft ahead to RAF Mildenhall, a U.S.-operated air base in Suffolk, England, where American service members toured the plane before Trump boarded it for the flight back to Washington. 

In 2022, a chunk of the Republican Party convinced itself of something untrue: that all you had to do to win was imitate Donald Trump. The premise was that Trump wasn’t something unique. You could take some Trump-adjacent magic and pour it into a bunch of weird bottles and then win a bunch of Senate seats.

Republicans decided to endorse and then run Herschel Walker for the Senate in Georgia, a man who, it turns out, was genetically related to half the state. And they lost that Senate seat. In Pennsylvania, they ran Doug Mastriano, someone far too extreme for Pennsylvanians. They lost. They lost again by nominating Doctor Oz. Republicans ran Kari Lake for Arizona governor that same year, despite her being a conspiracy theorist with some wild mannerisms. They lost. They ran Blake Masters, a tech pro who ran weird drone commercials in Arizona, and they lost that seat. They ran Don Bolduc in New Hampshire and lost.

Republicans lost at least four Senate seats and at least one gubernatorial seat. Republicans got high on the Trump supply.

The lesson is that there is only one Donald Trump, and he cannot be copied. He cannot be cloned. He cannot be emulated. The magic isn’t some sort of brand; it’s not a platform. It is the candidate, because candidate quality matters.

Democrats don’t seem to have learned that lesson at all. They watched Zohran Mamdani win in New York — a city that has 11 Democrats for every 10 voters — and they drew precisely the wrong conclusion.

They decided that the Democratic Socialist pixie dust was actually the transferable part. You simply take that stuff and pour it into a bunch of weird bottles the same way the Republicans did back in 2022.

Thus, they ran a guy in Maine with multiple rape allegations and a swastika issue, and a man in Michigan who is so sympathetic to terrorism that he wouldn’t celebrate Ayatollah Khamenei’s death because many of his supporters admired him.

They’re running a dude in Texas who hates traditional Christianity.

That’s some wild overconfidence, and it’s curdling into stupidity. The exact same disease that cost Republicans the Senate in 2022 could cost Democrats the Senate in 2026.

That’s the warning, forever and always. When you get high on your own supply, when your ideological silo tells you you can’t lose, and candidate quality doesn’t matter, you nominate people who lose. Republicans learned it the hard way in 2022, and Democrats seem about to learn it the hard way in 2026.

All of which brings us to Graham Platner. He’s suspending his Maine Senate campaign after a sexual assault claim.

The real reason the Democrats decided to abandon Platner is that he was losing in the polls.

Members of the Maine Democratic Party voted on Wednesday night and told the nominating convention to select a replacement for Graham Platner. He started losing in the polls, and suddenly, all these scandals were taken seriously by Democrats just to get rid of him.

Platner decided that he was going to cut a video from the woods of Maine in which he paints himself as the victim, claiming, “This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen … Amy and I are regular people. We were not looking for this experience. We were not looking to get into politics. We had no desire to run for office. I just want you to think about, like, what you would do as a regular person in a position where a much larger world, large forces were working against you personally to accuse you of the worst thing that a person could do and it was not remotely true.”

He’s the victim. Imagine if it happened to you. If you ran for office, surely there would be bevies of women emerging with claims that you raped them, wouldn’t there?

Running for office is tough. It is true that in today’s social media-driven landscape, everything about you will come to the fore. Every single thing, which is something you have to think about when you decide to run for office. Unfortunately, people respond by not running if they have any sense of shame, and only running if they are shameless.

Graham Platner is totally shameless. This is a dude who would get drunk in bars, take off his shirt, and show off his Nazi tattoo. We’re not talking about someone who is driven by any sense of internal guilt or shame over his sins.

At the moment, political office tends to draw people who are somewhat sociopathic because most people don’t want to go through this. But most people, if they did go through this, would have things uncovered about them that might not be a Nazi tattoo or a lot of rape.

I don’t think that he’s the biggest victim. Was he shocked when he woke up and looked in the mirror and discovered that he had a Nazi tattoo? Was he shocked to wake up one morning and discover that there were many allegations about him being rapey?

If he actually believes this is false, he has a moral obligation to stay in the race and fight it. If somebody makes a false rape allegation about you, you have a moral obligation to fight the allegations and not to destroy your candidacy on the shoals of that.

But nobody believes that all of the weight of these allegations is nonsense. No one believes that.

The entire Democratic Party is swiveling into DSA land — which is filled with crazy people — at a rapid pace. If they welcome the DSA, which is a bunch of revolutionary psychopaths, they will end up with some revolutionary psychopaths as candidates.

The Democrats are trying to have it both ways. They want the jet fuel of DSA energy, but they want to claim that the DSA is not actually painting them into a corner.

The DSA is going to eat the Democrats’ lunch. It’s funny to watch the old-school Democrats try to convince themselves that this is all okay.

They’re like Quint in “Jaws,” with their lower body half-eaten by the shark while maintaining that their legs have not been eaten.

In an interview on Newsmax’s “The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” Netanyahu said the close relationship between the two leaders has allowed them to speak candidly, including on issues where they do not see eye to eye. 

“He said it couldn’t be better,” Netanyahu said, referring to Trump’s own description of their relationship. “Friends can have agreements and disagreements.”

Netanyahu acknowledged that one disagreement involves the Trump administration’s consideration of selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Trump has said he would consider the sale while also moving to lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey, drawing concerns from Israeli officials.

“I think this is not a good thing,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader stressed that he has conveyed those concerns directly to Trump rather than through public statements.

“What I’m telling you, I say to my friend, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, in private conversations. It’s not that I’m hiding it,” he said.

Rather than viewing those disagreements as evidence of a strained alliance, Netanyahu argued they demonstrate the resilience of the relationship between the two countries.

“This is a real friendship, a real alliance.”

He said Israel remains deeply appreciative of its alliance with the United States, describing both nations as democratic societies where political disagreements can occur openly without undermining the broader partnership.

“We’re a robust democracy, too,” Netanyahu said of Israel. “I never lose sight of the fact that it is the ability to have disagreements that marks a free country.”

Contrasting Israel and the United States with countries such as Iran and Turkey, Netanyahu argued that authoritarian governments suppress dissent rather than tolerate open political debate.

“That’s not the American way, and it’s not the Israeli way,” he said. “Thank God we have our two democracies to continue the tradition of freedom and open discourse.”

Downtown sparkled as it welcomed visitors from around the world for the six games it hosted at Lumen Field, rebranded Seattle Stadium for the tournament. In addition to exciting games, soccer fans enjoyed a city with noticeably cleaner streets and few visible signs of homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness that are familiar to residents.

But this is not what long-term success looks like.

Mayor Katie Wilson and her team did not clean up the city. They simply moved the problem elsewhere, like a child shoving his toys under the bed when told to clean his room.

Under Wilson’s direction, the homeless were swept out of downtown and pushed into surrounding neighborhoods and minority communities already struggling with crime and disorder.

Journalist Jonathan Choe regularly reports on the plight of Seattle’s Chinatown-International District, an Asian American community overwhelmed by open-air drug use and stolen-goods markets. Here, many businesses are boarded up, and those that have survived are quickly losing money. Merchants report ongoing theft and crime. Parks meant for children and families are instead filled with drug users and paraphernalia. Residents have pleaded with city officials for help, but there has been little response. Choe calls it “the city’s human dumping ground.”

Seattle is not the first to engage in these deceptive city-cleaning tactics. Hiding the homeless is a common occurrence in cities across the nation when they host large events or important national and international figures. The Associated Press noted such instances in New Orleans ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl, Chicago ahead of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and Atlanta ahead of the 1996 Olympics. The most notorious might be the cleanup of San Francisco in preparation for Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.

These cities appear more concerned with making a good impression on visiting tourists, dignitaries, and soccer fans than with the experiences of residents who live with these conditions year-round.

Those who live and work in downtown Seattle know the reality. Daily commutes often involve navigating not only traffic, but discarded needles, human waste, and individuals who shout, scream, and curse at random. The Emerald City has the third-highest number of individuals experiencing homelessness in the nation, outranked only by Los Angeles and New York City. Despite the city spending millions over the years, the crisis has only worsened.

Seattle is like this because its leaders allow it. One homeless man explained that he left his home in Whatcom County, two hours north of Seattle, because the residents there wouldn’t tolerate his lifestyle. He came to Seattle because, in his words, he and his friends can “live how we want to live.”

Under the faulty belief that housing is the solution for this crisis, Seattle and many other cities have poured millions of taxpayer dollars into housing projects that often fail to materialize. For instance, Wilson promised 500 new shelter units ahead of the FIFA World Cup. She delivered 75 at a cost of $3.95 million — and those units appeared to remain empty 24 hours before the first game. Not a promising start for her larger campaign promise to open 4,000 shelter beds during her first term as mayor.

Even when they finally open, these projects fail to meaningfully change lives. Addicts continue to use illicit drugs, the mentally ill go untreated, and many end up back on the streets. Some die.

Homelessness is not an economic problem. The people living on our streets are not primarily suffering from a lack of housing, but from addiction, untreated mental illness, and broken relationships. This requires a different response than just housing; they need detox, treatment, and help restoring their lives. Hopefully, recent federal reforms will encourage cities in a better direction.

When the World Cup ends, and the visitors return to their home cities, states, and countries, the homeless who were pushed to the outskirts will return, still addicted, still mentally ill, still desperately in need of help. Until these cities take the needs of these individuals seriously and enforce the laws against prostitution, theft, and violence, the homelessness crisis will continue to grow.

The best way to showcase our country’s cities to the world is not to stage a clean downtown for a few weeks. It is to create clean, safe, and thriving cities for their own residents every day.

***

Caitlin Cory writes about homelessness at Discovery Institute. She has been published in The Federalist and the Puget Sound Business Journal. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Maryland.