Economist Thomas Sowell once noted, “Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them.” The story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank and his illegal alien wife, Annie Ramos, is a perfect example of Sowell’s assertion.

According to CBS News, Ramos — who is now 22 — was illegally brought to the United States by her family in 2005. Staff Sergeant Blank married Ramos, knowing full well that she was an illegal alien. He stated to the New York Times, “I knew she didn’t have status. [But] we were doing everything the right way.” Ramos was eventually arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a few days after the couple was married, at the military base where Blank was stationed.

If litigants are free to ignore court appearances without consequences, the whole system falls apart.

Of course, despite Blank’s assertions to the contrary, nothing was done “the right way” in this case. After entering the United States unlawfully, the Ramos family was scheduled for an appearance before the U.S. Immigration Court. They failed to appear. When a respondent in immigration proceedings defaults, the immigration judge is required pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5) to enter an in absentia order of removal. This is clearly conveyed to all illegal aliens placed in immigration proceedings, both verbally by the immigration officers handling their cases and in all written notices issued by the court.

In absentia removal notices may seem harsh to the casual observer, but they are not. Courts engage in serious business. And running legal tribunals costs taxpayers a significant amount of money. If litigants are free to ignore court appearances without consequences, the whole system falls apart. Accordingly, courts expect litigants to appear for scheduled hearings, on time, every time. That is why every court in the United States imposes penalties, ranging from monetary fines to additional criminal charges and extended sentences, when litigants fail to appear.

Moreover, the above-mentioned statute governing in absentia removal orders provides an “out” for individuals who missed their hearings due to exigent circumstances. It specifically states that such an order may be rescinded “upon a motion to reopen filed within 180 days after the date of the order of removal if the alien demonstrates that the failure to appear was because of exceptional circumstances” or “upon a motion to reopen filed at any time if the alien demonstrates that the alien did not receive notice” of the hearing.

There is no indication that Ms. Ramos or her family ever made any attempt to reopen immigration proceedings and seek rescission of the order of removal entered against them. That is likely because the Ramos clan was fully aware they were likely to be deported. Contrary to popular opinion, the vast majority of illegal aliens do not qualify for any form of relief from removal, with 79% to 80% being either ordered removed or granted voluntary departure. Instead, Ms. Ramos waited approximately 15 years and applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama administration’s ill-fated attempt to impose an immigration amnesty by executive fiat.

And what of Staff Sergeant Blank’s status as a member of America’s armed forces? In 2022, the Biden administration unilaterally and arbitrarily directed the Department of Homeland Security “to generally refrain from seeking the deportation of U.S. military veterans or service members and their immediate family members.” Of course, that policy was unlawful. Neither the Uniform Code of Military Justice (the statute governing the actions of members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force) nor the Immigration and Nationality Act has any provisions exempting either service members, or their families, from the laws governing the admission of foreign nationals into the United States. And only Congress has the authority to enact such exemptions, which it has never done.

Accordingly, the Trump administration rescinded team Biden’s illegal policy. It began applying the provisions of the INA to service members in the same manner as to everyone else. This is as it should be. Pro forma leniency toward alien immigration violators merely because they are related to a military member is bad policy. It makes our service members targets for foreign intelligence agents. And the presence of illegal aliens on military installations undermines the security of those facilities.

Recently, Annie Ramos was released from immigration detention. It remains to see how ICE will proceed with her case. But both our political leaders and the generals in charge of our armed forces should tread carefully. Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, and guardian commences his or her military career by taking an oath that begins, “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true allegiance to the same.” If military service becomes a free pass to violate the very laws that preserve our national sovereignty, then service members are not bearing true faith and allegiance to our Constitution — they are claiming to be exempt from it.

​Ice, Illegal alien, Immigration law, Immigration laws, Us army, Opinion & analysis 

Democrats have in recent years likened redistricting efforts to the Holocaust, called them “a threat to democracy,” and characterized them as “authoritarian.” However, in the lead-up to Virginia’s gerrymandering referendum, Democrats adopted a disparate view.

Presented with the opportunity to all but ensure that 10 out of the state’s 11 congressional seats go to their comrades, Democrats reconstrued gerrymandering as a noble pursuit — an alleged means to “help level the playing field,” a way to “restore fairness,” and, in the words of Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a “response to what we’re seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms.”

‘The result of a process that’s unconstitutional and illegal.’

With the help of out-of-state dark money and propagandizing by big-name liberals like former President Barack Obama, Democrats proved victorious on Tuesday in disenfranchising Republican voters in Old Dominion.

The following loaded question appeared on the April 21 ballot: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

With over 97% of the votes counted, the Associated Press reported that 51.5% of the ballots were cast in favor of the proposal and 48.6% were cast in opposition — a difference of just over 88,700 votes.

Election Day votes, a majority of which were “no” votes, reportedly accounted for 55% of the total; early in-person votes accounted for 35% of the total; and mail-in votes accounted for 10% of the total, 72% of which were “yes” votes.

RELATED: How Spanberger managed to hit record-low approval rating in 80 days

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Spanberger stated, “Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they pushed back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress.”

“As we watched other states go along with those demands without voter input, Virginians refused to let that stand,” continued Spanberger, who claimed when running for governor last year that she had no plans to redistrict the state. “We responded the right way: at the ballot box.”

In a statement where he ironically criticized “unprecedented gerrymandering,” Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D) said that “fairness won. Accountability won. And the Commonwealth that gave America its Constitution has once again reminded the nation what that Constitution is for.”

Obama congratulated Virginia, thanking voters “for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.”

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) excitedly announced that “House Democrats have crushed Donald Trump’s national gerrymandering scheme.” He added, “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who previously emphasized that the new map was “the result of a process that’s unconstitutional and illegal,” said in a statement, “Thank you to all the voters who turned out to vote against this egregious power grab. The race was much closer than the left expected because Virginians know a 10-1 map is not Virginia.”

“I urge the Virginia Supreme Court to rule against this unconstitutional process that will disenfranchise millions of Virginians,” added Youngkin.

There are multiple lawsuits pending before the Virginia Supreme Court regarding the legality of the constitutional amendment. Oral arguments for the cases are tentatively scheduled for Monday.

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​Barack obama, Congress, Constitution, Democrats, Donald trump, Election day, Elections, Gerrymandering, Hakeem jeffries, Old dominion, Redistricting, Referendum, Republican voters, Unconstitutional, Virginia, Virginia supreme court, Glenn youngkin, Spanberger, Politics 

Many people were alarmed by an appalling viral video posted over the weekend of an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of Christ Crucified in Southern Lebanon. Others, however disgusted by the act, argued that he was simply a “bad apple” in the Israel Defense Forces.

However, there may be more “bad apples” than originally thought, as footage of similar attacks on Christian holy sites have resurfaced in the wake of the alarming photograph.

The monastery, which has roots dating back to the 15th century, was razed by Israeli forces during the 2006 Lebanon War.

More recorded examples of IDF soldiers apparently acting inappropriately in and around holy sites have emerged online, lending credence to the idea that these incidents are not anomalous but rather represent a pattern of behavior.

One notable example shows a group of Israeli soldiers apparently entering an Orthodox church, including the sanctuary — the restricted area behind the veil that only bishops, priests, and deacons are allowed to enter at specific times — mocking Christian saints, imagery, and rituals and pretending to have sex with each other after a mock wedding ceremony.

RELATED: IDF soldier caught smashing Jesus statue with sledgehammer — officials and critics react

COURTNEY BONNEAU/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

The original video was posted by Younis Tirawi, the same journalist who over the weekend posted the photo of the IDF soldier smashing Christ’s head with a sledgehammer. It should be noted that the IDF claims to have worked with locals in Debel, Lebanon, to replace the destroyed cross and said that it “expresses deep regret” over the recent incident.

The older video, however, has not apparently received the same response from Israeli authorities.

The video appears to have been first posted on November 25, 2024. Tirawi reported that the video was taken in a church in Deir Mimas, South Lebanon. Blaze News independently confirmed that the video matches the interior of the Monastery of St. Mamas in Deir Mimas.

The video has a caption written in Hebrew, and the soldiers in the video are also speaking Hebrew. Tirawi described the soldiers as “Israeli soldiers from the Golani Special Operations Unit,” more commonly referred to as the Golani Brigade, which has a history of operations in Southern Lebanon and the surrounding region.

The caption also includes a translation, which reads, “First wedding in the team,” followed by a cross emoji and an emoji of two raised hands.

Multiple outlets covered the video at the time. These reports claimed that the Israeli soldiers themselves posted the video first, though this video appears to have been deleted. The Council on American-Islamic Relations also issued a condemnation of the actions in the video alongside its disavowal of an alleged “call by a top Israeli official for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”

On the same day the video of the soldiers in the church was posted, the Times of Israel reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “It’s possible to create a situation in which Gaza will have less than half its current population within two years.”

Cited by a detailed article of the incident by Public Orthodoxy, the Israel Defense Forces issued a vague statement seemingly regarding the incident at the Monastery of St. Mamas, though it did not acknowledge the specific actions shown in the video. The statement, dated November 26, 2024, reads:

This is a serious incident that is not in line with the values of the IDF and its orders.
The IDF respects all religions and condemns such behavior.
The incident is under review, and those involved face disciplinary repercussions.

Public Orthodoxy explained that the incident was not the first time the church has been harmed by Israeli forces. The monastery, which has roots dating back to the 15th century, was razed by Israeli forces during the 2006 Lebanon War.

The article added that a pattern has emerged of Israeli soldiers filming and posting videos of themselves committing crimes, referring to a compilation of alleged examples by the Washington Post and Al Jazeera.

The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Christ crucified statue, Debel lebanon, Deir mimas church, Ethnic cleansing gaza, Finance minister bezalel, Israel defense forces, Israeli forces crimes videos, Israeli soldier desecrating, Israeli soldiers mocking, Monastery of st mamas, Orthodox church incident, Politics, Southern lebanon 

The other day I drove from the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula to Marquette in the Upper Peninsula.

It was about a three-and-a-half-hour drive through the wilderness. It’s not a terribly confusing trip — there’s about nine turns total, and I’ve made it many times. So I didn’t bother to summon my usual co-pilot — the always reliable Google Maps.

When I was a kid, my parents drove us from Michigan to California using a paper map. It probably took a little longer, with a much vaguer ETA.

No phone attached to the dashboard barking commands at me. No little cartoon avatar of my vehicle to look at.

And a funny thing happened. Time passed more quickly. The drive felt easier. I was less anxious. I had a more enjoyable time.

Yooper trooper

I wasn’t going particularly slow. I maintained a steady 5 to 15 over the limit, as one does on the empty and police-free northern roads of the Upper Peninsula. It’s the local custom.

I wasn’t trying to go especially fast either. It was a work trip, and I wanted to get to Marquette as soon as possible. But I wasn’t stressed, and I wasn’t annoyed at how long it was taking. I didn’t dread the drive. I didn’t even get bored. I never felt that feeling that I always feel at some point — the one where I start to think that maybe a self-driving car wouldn’t be so bad after all.

I concluded that, of course, my more relaxed demeanor in the driver’s seat was due to the absence of Google Maps on U.S. Route 2. But I wanted to test it again, just to see if it wasn’t a fluke. So I did.

Time trial

Yesterday a couple of the kids and I drove another three and a half hours south to visit their grandparents. It’s a drive I’ve made tons of times, so I left my phone on the passenger’s seat, and the same thing happened again.

The drive was easier. Time passed more quickly. I never really got sick of the road, and I really did have a much better time doing something I normally don’t really like doing at all.

It’s really very interesting and perhaps a bit counterintuitive. You’d think getting continual updates about how many more miles until the next turn, how many hours until arrival, and where exactly you are on the map might make things go more quickly. You’d think eliminating the mystery and guesswork would make for a more relaxing drive.

In fact, it’s the opposite.

Road worrier

The continual updates and ticking clock make me more anxious. When Google Maps is open on my phone, I find myself checking the route and seeing 2:35 until arrival, and then only two minutes later doing the same thing again just to see 2:33 until arrival. Over and over again I do this, and it feels like watching water boil. Having all those updates makes me feel like I’m never going to get there. It makes the trip feel longer. The information stretches time or something. It’s too zoomed in, too detailed, too much. Information over-saturation.

When I was a kid, my parents drove us from Michigan to California using a paper map. It probably took a little longer, with a much vaguer ETA. But why do we need to know the exact minute we’re going to get there anyway?

Constant companions

Learning that Google Maps was making all my car travel feel unnecessarily long and annoying makes me wonder what other technology is secretly ruining my daily life.

The global news cycle comes to mind, of course. As does most doomscrolling on social media. But those are obvious culprits. What about the less obvious stuff? The hidden stuff? I didn’t realize that the Google Map updates were having a negative psychological impact on my trip until I put the phone away on a whim. That irritating, anxiety-inducing information was hiding in plain sight.

Our modern lives are great. We enjoy so many conveniences that our grandparents could only dream of. And they say people are more anxious today than ever before. Maybe we just need to stop complaining.

Or maybe a lot of these conveniences are more curse than blessing.

What if we really are more anxious because we can order anything we want from anywhere, because we have infinite choices, because we are able check the tracking on our packages every other hour, read news from every corner of the globe, unlock new fears by way of IG reels, and get blow-by-blow updates on our phones about how many more miles until we get there and when we need to turn right?

What if we know too much?

​Google maps, Men’s style, Lifestyle, Road trips, Upper peninsula, Michigan, Family, The root of the matter 

A few years ago, surgeries and medications helped heal my broken body after a terrible accident. I was grateful for the modern medical system’s capabilities as eight broken ribs, a clavicle that was in five pieces, and a collapsed lung were treated and healed. What would have been miracles of biblical proportions 50 years ago were a process that allowed me to go back to work within months.

The pharmaceutical drugs that got my body on the road to healing were a big part of that success. As a chiropractor with almost two decades in the field, I have seen medications, drugs, and related treatments do wonders, especially after an accident, surgery, birth, or some other significant medical event. But I have also seen the true cost of Big Pharma’s greed, as many patients come to me with years of problems that have been patched over by marketing posing as pharmaceutical solutions.

Big Pharma’s solution is to ‘fix’ the problem with even more drugs.

Take the push to prescribe GLP-1s to kids as young as 13 — who are then told they should be taking these weight-loss drugs for life. Why bother with exercise and healthy diets when you can just take Wegovy every month indefinitely? For pharmaceutical shareholders, that must look like a great business model. To anyone who cares about the health of the nation, it’s a scandal.

My wife and I founded our chiropractic practice on the principles of Eric Plasker’s 100-year lifestyle philosophy. We quickly learned that living a good life for more than a century is almost impossible when you are overmedicated, sedentary, miserable, and addicted to taking the “cures” peddled to so many Americans.

RELATED: ‘Hold Big Pharma accountable’: Vaxx giants are sure to be nervous about Rand Paul’s new bill

Liudmila Chernetska/Getty Images

I see the problems caused by modern lifestyles every day at my practice. Patients come to me with aches and pains, over-inflamed by the food they eat, the drugs they take, lack of movement, and mental overload. I treat the body as one connected system led by the nervous system, using chiropractic adjustments to restore brain-body communication so that pain eases and overall health improves.

I tell patients that where possible, prevention is always better than a cure. There are also changes we can all make that will keep us healthier for longer. Focusing on eating right and leading an active lifestyle will help to keep the medications at bay.

If you’re suffering from a major illness or recovering from a severe accident, you should use the very best medicines our society offers. However, too many people rely on drugs as a be-all, end-all solution to their problems, turning to them for minor illnesses, for non-severe pain, and as a substitute for exercise, eating healthily, and taking a positive mental outlook on life.

As a society, we have forgotten how to listen to our bodies. We have replaced movement with sitting and staring at screens, filling our bodies with high-sugar, overprocessed food, substituting real social connections with electronic friends, and letting stress rule our lives. Our bodies are at maximum toxic overload. And we wonder why we don’t feel good and are labeled the sickest nation in the world.

Standard medical thinking is that a drug can “fix” the problem with the body. However, the drugs often have a two-part negative impact: they mask the messages that our body is trying to tell us and create unwanted side effects.

Of course, Big Pharma’s solution is to “fix” the problem with even more drugs. The cycle is endless.

Today, Americans pay roughly three times more for medicines than people in any other country, accounting for about three-quarters of the pharmaceutical sector’s profits. Sure, modern medicine can work miracles. But the sheer expense is often unmanageable for too many families, forcing them into financial difficulties or making choices between food and medicine.

Instead of spending years patching themselves up and paying for overpriced drugs, my patients watch their bodies follow their natural healing processes. We’d all like to live to 100, but no pill or jab will help you reach that milestone. True health and longevity can only be achieved when we say no to Big Pharma and take control of our own health.

​Active lifestyle, Longevity, Maha, Modern medical system, Opinion & analysis 

A 6-year-old Florida girl thanked a police officer by giving her a heartwarming drawing after an investigation into alleged child abuse.

The investigation began after the girl showed up at Enterprise Elementary School in Volusia County with bruises, swelling, and redness.

The girl also allegedly told police that she was fed only once a week.

When she was questioned by police, the girl said she had been slapped in the face 17 times because she was “acting up and destroyed her room” and spanked the next day by 29-year-old Jeffrey Morales.

An arrest report said the girl’s 35-year-old mother, Melissa Husk, had kept her out of school for two days afterward in order to cover up her injuries.

Husk told the girl to tell people she fell and threatened that she would be taken away if she didn’t, according to deputies.

The girl also allegedly told police that she was fed only once a week and couldn’t remember the last time she bathed or brushed her teeth.

Morales was arrested for child abuse, while the mother was charged with child neglect.

The girl was placed into the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

WESH-TV obtained video of the man’s arrest from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

RELATED: Child sex abuse material found on PE teacher’s phone after he inappropriately touched students, police say

The girl gave a drawing to one of the deputies involved in the case. The drawing appeared to be made on a kitchen paper towel and showed the girl next to the deputy officer.

“That’s a keeper,” reads a post with the drawing on the sheriff’s office Facebook account.

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​Child abuse florida, Volusia county sheriffs office, Melissa husk abuse, Girl gives deputy photo, Crime 

In September 1787, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia came to a close. Delegates had spent months debating and negotiating the structure for a new American government. When the final document was presented for signatures, most of the delegates agreed to support it. But one of the most influential figures in the room refused.

George Mason of Virginia would not sign the Constitution.

Mason’s refusal did not stem from radical opposition to the new proposed government. In fact, he played a major role in shaping America’s early political philosophy. Yet when the convention concluded, Mason believed something essential was missing. The proposed Constitution created a powerful federal government, but it contained no explicit protections for individual liberty. Without a Bill of Rights, Mason warned, citizens would have little protection against abuses of power.

If artificial intelligence is going to help shape the future of our society in profound ways, should it not also be built to respect the same freedoms that Americans have fought for since the founding of the republic?

History ultimately proved his concerns justified. Mason’s refusal helped spark the debate that led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights a few years later. His message was simple. When a new, powerful institution is created, the protection of liberty cannot be an afterthought.

A new power is emerging

More than two centuries later, we find the United States again standing at the edge of a transformative moment. Today, the institution taking shape is artificial intelligence. And this institution may end up being just as consequential to society as the shaping of the country in the late eighteenth century.

The most advanced AI systems are already beginning to shape our culture and how people access information, businesses make decisions, institutions function, and public discourse unfolds. These systems are being integrated into everything from banking and education to media and health care. In many cases, AI models act as intermediaries between humans and the world of information around them.

This development carries enormous promise. Artificial intelligence could accelerate medical research, improve productivity, and unlock scientific discoveries that once seemed impossible.

At the same time, the growing influence of AI raises an important question. What values will guide the systems that increasingly shape our society?

AI is not neutral by default. Every model reflects decisions made by its designers. The data used to train it, the rules used to filter its responses, and the priorities embedded in its algorithms all influence how it interacts with users. Beyond just answering questions and responding to prompts, these systems influence what information people encounter and how issues are understood.

In other words, the institutions building AI today are quietly creating the informational infrastructure of the future.

Where are the safeguards for freedom?

George Mason understood that powerful institutions require clear limits. His concern centered on ensuring that a strong central government would respect the rights of the people it serves.

Artificial intelligence deserves the same scrutiny.

Recent controversies surrounding AI tools have revealed how easily political or ideological assumptions can shape technological systems. A growing body of studies has found that many leading AI models tend to reflect left-leaning political assumptions in their outputs, raising concerns about viewpoint bias. Major AI platforms have faced backlash for producing historically inaccurate outputs to satisfy modern ideological expectations, as seen in widely publicized image-generation failures.

Social media platforms, powered by similar AI-driven algorithms, already curate what users see, amplifying certain viewpoints while quietly burying others. Even leaders within the AI industry have acknowledged the risk that these systems could influence public discourse in ways that are difficult for users to detect.

More egregious examples can be seen with Chinese AI models, such as DeepSeek, which have been shown to avoid or redirect discussion on topics that conflict with official government positions, reflecting the priorities of the state rather than the pursuit of truth.

Taken together, these examples demonstrate how AI can be shaped to filter reality itself, whether by governments, corporations, or the assumptions embedded by developers.

These examples illustrate a basic reality. Artificial intelligence can either serve as a tool for expanding human freedom or as an instrument for shaping and controlling public discourse and, by extension, society. The outcome will depend on the values embedded in these systems today.

A meaningful step forward would be the adoption of clear, principled guidelines for building and deploying these systems. At minimum, AI development should prioritize truth-seeking over narrative-shaping, ensuring that systems are designed to inform rather than steer users toward predetermined conclusions.

Developers should also commit to transparency in training data sources, so the public has a clearer understanding of what informs these models.

Just as important, developers should resist coercion from governments or corporations seeking to suppress lawful speech or manipulate outcomes. They should reject internal policies that seek to bury dissenting views under the vague banner of “safety,” a term that too often masks subjective judgment.

These principles may not solve every problem, but they would begin to align AI with the values of a free society.

George Mason’s warning for the AI age

George Mason refused to sign the Constitution because he believed liberty needed stronger protection before a new federal government was enacted. His insistence on a Bill of Rights helped ensure that the American experiment would endure longer by providing explicit protections for individual freedom.

The United States now faces a similar moment as artificial intelligence becomes woven into the fabric of modern life. AI will influence how people learn, communicate, and understand the world. The values guiding these systems will shape society in ways that are difficult to predict.

Before this technological infrastructure becomes fully embedded in our daily lives, it is worth asking a question that George Mason would likely recognize.

If artificial intelligence is going to help shape the future of our society in profound ways, should it not also be built to respect the same freedoms that Americans have fought for since the founding of the republic?

The founders believed liberty required clear protections before a new, powerful structure was fully unleashed. As we enter the age of artificial intelligence, their lesson remains as relevant as ever.

​Ai models, Artificial intelligence, Bill of rights, Constitution, Heartland institute, Technology infrastructure, Opinion & analysis