A Wisconsin grant program intended to benefit minority students was struck down by the state’s supreme court as discriminatory on Thursday.

The court relied heavily on a previous U.S. Supreme Court opinion against race-based admission programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

‘This is also a big win for taxpayers, who can now challenge many other race-based programs in state court.’

The Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program targeted black, Hispanic, and Native American students, as well as immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam who migrated to the U.S. since 1975.

Assistant Attorney General Charlotte Gibson argued that the state program was not restricted by the higher court order and met the standards set forth by the court.

The court disagreed.

“The Constitution requires that every person ‘must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race,'” the ruling of the court reads.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Jill Karofsky challenged the plaintiff attorney by citing a post from President Donald Trump about former President Barack Obama that many saw as racist.

“Just last week, the president of the United States posted a remarkably and insanely racist video of President and Michelle Obama depicted as apes,” Karofsky said.

“In this state, people of color contribute to the vitality of our state, and they are thanked by facing disparities when it comes to housing, access to medical care, transportation, incarceration, financial stability, and education,” she added. “Do you take issue with anything I just said up to that point?”

Luke Berg, of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, responded that the worst discrimination is “when the law treats individuals differently based on their race.”

RELATED: Supreme Court hands huge victory to Trump over DEI funding — John Roberts sides with liberal justices

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty’s managing vice president, Dan Lennington, praised the ruling.

“This is a major win for students,” he said. “Race cannot be used to dole out scholarships and other financial aid. This is also a big win for taxpayers, who can now challenge many other race-based programs in state court. WILL is proud to stand for equal rights and make that case everywhere we can.”

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​Discrimination, Race-based programs, Us supreme court, Politics 

President Donald Trump signed the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding on Wednesday evening, immediately opening the Strait of Hormuz to the free flow of oil and setting the stage for a final peace deal with Tehran.

While the markets responded positively, there was a great deal of consternation both in the U.S. and in Israel about the terms of the deal, particularly the provisions requiring money for Iran’s reconstruction and the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

‘For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep.’

The fragile peace has been undermined by more than just criticism on the sidelines.

Disregarding the demands for a cessation of hostilities, Hezbollah and Israel engaged in a brutal exchange on Thursday and Friday that has claimed multiple lives and delayed the permanent peace talks. This bloodletting has, however, since been put on pause, owing to a truce reportedly brokered by the United States and regional actors.

The Israel Defense Forces announced late on Thursday that an explosive Hezbollah drone had detonated near Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, injuring four soldiers. Another terrorist drone reportedly detonated several minutes later, injuring another Israeli soldier.

RELATED: Exclusive: JD Vance minces no words with BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey about Israeli influence, Iran deal

Jalaa MAREY/AFP/Getty Images

The Hezbollah strikes turned deadly early Friday morning when a suspected anti-tank missile struck a tank belonging to the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion in Lebanon’s Kfar Tebnit area, killing all four crew members, reported the Times of Israel.

Israel, in turn, launched numerous strikes — over 150 by early Friday — against alleged terrorist targets in Southern and Eastern Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had instructed the IDF to “strike Hezbollah with full force” and reiterated that “Israel will remain in the security zone in Southern Lebanon for as long as required to protect the settlements in the north.”

The Lebanese health ministry claimed that the Israeli strikes killed at least 47 people — at least 18 of whom were reportedly civilians — and wounded nearly 100 others since midnight.

That toll was evidently not nearly enough for Israel National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who stated, “For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!”

“With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn,” continued Ben-Gvir, one of the most outspoken critics of Trump’s deal with Iran. “In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint — you need to go berserk. To obliterate. To crush the terror..”

Three regional officials told the Associated Press that the U.S., Qatar, and Iran brokered a truce between Lebanon and Israel — a truce that a senior U.S. official told Reuters was set to begin Friday at 4 p.m. local time.

“Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire,” said the American official on background. “We understand that after the exchange of fire ⁠earlier today, Israel and Hezbollah are ⁠now in a ceasefire.”

A Hezbollah leader said in a statement to CNN that while the group’s fighters will respect the ceasefire, the movement and actions of Israeli forces in Lebanon will receive “a suitable response.”

The IDF said that it will continue its operations in Lebanon.

“These attacks by Hezbollah are violations of the ceasefire. They prove that Hezbollah’s goals remain the same: to remain on Israel’s borders and to plan and carry out attacks on our civilians,” said an IDF spokesman. “This is not a reality we can accept, and this is exactly why the IDF continues to operate in Southern Lebanon.”

Earlier this week, Trump bemoaned the loss of life in Lebanon — where the health authority reports that 3,980 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2 — saying that “the Lebanon piece is something we’ll have to work on a little bit.”

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​Middle east, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Terrorism, Strait of hormuz, Donald trump, Benjamin netanyahu, War, Conflict, Ceasefire, Politics 

A federal appeals court has sided with the Trump administration in the decision to remove display panels about slave history at the President’s House site in Philadelphia.

Activists accused the administration of trying to white out the troubling slave history of the site where Presidents George Washington and John Adams once lived.

‘The decision to do this appears to be made because the President’s House Site memorialized the nine enslaved individuals that were held there against their will by President Washington.’

A lower court had ordered the National Park Service to restore the panels, but a 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals panel found unanimously on Thursday that the order should be overturned.

The appeals court said the lower court had misinterpreted the contract between the NPS and the city of Philadelphia and also found the replacement installation was “full of historical context.”

The court added that the replacement installations “highlight the momentous events that took place in the President’s House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park.”

Workers removed the slavery panels from the site on the corner of 6th and Market Streets in Old City in Jan. 2026.

Paul Steinke of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia called the removal a “terrible day” for American history.

“The decision to do this appears to be made because the President’s House Site memorialized the nine enslaved individuals that were held there against their will by President Washington and his wife, Martha,” he said to CBS News, “and this is the only federal historic site that commemorates the history of slavery in America.”

The city of Philadelphia sued NPS and argued that it had violated their agreement to seek “communication and consultation” before implementing any changes to the site.

District Judge Cynthia Rufe, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, opened her ruling against the administration back in February with a quote from George Orwell’s “1984.”

RELATED: Judge orders Trump administration to restore slavery exhibits to presidential home site

An NPS spokesperson mocked the city of Philadelphia after the original ruling.

“We encourage the City of Philadelphia to focus on getting their jobless rates down and ending their reckless cashless bail policy,” the statement reads, “instead of filing frivolous lawsuits in the hopes of demeaning our brave Founding Fathers who set the brilliant road map for the greatest country in the world — the United States of America.”

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​American history, City of philadelphia, George washington, John adams, National park service, Presidents house, Politics, Slavery 

Despite telling Mika Brzezinski on “Morning Joe” that “there’s nothing out there that’s actually concerning,” Graham Platner’s leaked text messages have taken a turn for the worse — as they prove the Senate candidate lied about his Nazi tattoo.

In one newly released string of messages, an ex tells a friend that he “makes weird noises,” he has a “Nazi tattoo,” he was “f**king around on his [fiancee],” and that she was glad to be rid of him.

The friend responded, “All fixable except CHEATER,” to which Platner’s ex answered, “idk man I think there’s a lot of that that isn’t fixable.”

In another text exchange, one woman says about his campaign, “Hes got a decent platform,” while the other responds, “Better not take a peek at the Nazi tattoo on his chest.”

“Hard knowing what we know tho,” the first woman fires back.

And in one more leaked message, a woman writes, “It’s crazy cuz I also know he has a very unfortunate tattoo, and he never gave me back my pie dish, so I’m considering selling him out.”

“Again, another person confirming they knew about that tattoo before he ran for office, before supposedly Graham Platner said that he knew about his own tattoo and what the origins of it were. Again, this man is an absolute pathological liar, Dave,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere tells co-host Dave Landau.

“He’s a perfect candidate, though, for Democratic women willing to believe absolutely anything. So he might be your guy,” Dave agrees.

“I get why he’s lying, I’ll say that, because it is very hard to run for office and say, ‘Yeah, I knew it was a Nazi tattoo the whole time,’” he adds.

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​Dave landau, Graham platner, Nazi tattoo, Stu and dave do america, Stu burguiere 

JD Vance proved once again that unlike the left, the right is not afraid to step into the lion’s den when he sat down with the panel of “The View” — who of course took the opportunity to claim President Trump was in cahoots with Jeffrey Epstein.

“They were best friends for about a decade,” host Ana Navarro claimed.

“And remember he signed that Transparency Act under duress when some Republican women, congresswomen like Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, did not give in to his pressure of not signing. He brought Lauren Boebert into the Situation Room to pressure her into caving on not voting for that bill,” she continued.

“Let me respond to that,” Vance replied. “So number one is yes, Donald Trump — he said this — he knew Jeffrey Epstein back in the 1980s. He also threw Jeffrey Epstein out of his club when he found out he was a creep and reported him to the police.”

“That’s something that the media often misses when it reports the story. They tell the fact that they knew each other in the ’80s, which the president himself admits. They ignore the fact that he narced on him to the police and led ultimately to Jeffrey Epstein’s downfall,” he calmly explained.

“It all tracks if you’re paying attention,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“‘They were best friends for a time period,’” she mocks, before pulling up a photo of Epstein and Bill Clinton posing together.

“They look thick as thieves here. Oh, oops. That’s the wrong best friend,” she jokes.

“They always forget that relationship,” she adds.

Gonzales also points out that Whoopi Goldberg was silent throughout the exchange.

“Whoopi didn’t have anything to say there, I guess, because remember she was in the Epstein files. She wanted to borrow Jeffrey Epstein’s jet for personal reasons. She needed a plane to get to Monaco,” Gonzales says.

However, while Whoopi was silent, Ana Navarro wasn’t giving up.

“Let’s just be truthful and transparent here,” she argued. “They didn’t just know each other; they were incredibly close friends.”

“He reported him to the police,” Vance responded. “That’s what I’m saying. That is objectively true.”

“‘They didn’t just know each other,’” Gonzales mocks again, joking that they were “to the level” where Trump could ask Epstein to “borrow his private plane.”

“Oh, wait. That’s your co-host sitting next to you,” she adds.

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​Ana navarro, Bill clinton, Jd vance, Jeffrey epstein, Lauren boebert, Marjorie taylor greene, Sara gonzales, The view, Whoopi goldberg, Epstein files, Donald trump, Sara gonzales unfiltered 

San Francisco Giants sportscaster Mike Krukow vehemently defended the team’s Pride Night celebration in lengthy remarks after three pitchers wrote Bible verses on their hats.

Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker wrote differing forms of “Genesis 9:12-16” on their Giants rainbow-themed hats last week, and veteran commentator Krukow says it was a big mistake.

‘The strength of this city is its ethnicity, its culture.’

Krukow’s diatribe came after hosts on radio station KNBR asked him on Tuesday if he had any thoughts on the protest. Krukow did not hold back, directly comparing the “gay community” to black Americans by referring to homosexuals as an oppressed “minority.”

“It’s hard to put it into perspective when you have so much emotion and so much of love for people who have been pinged at and oppressed and there was so much prejudice at you,” Krukow attempted to explain. “The gay community has had to deal with issues, as the black community, as any minority community has had to.”

The announcer championed the Giants organization’s long history of supporting gay people, which he said dated back to 1994 when it raise money for AIDS research. This was just one of the reasons Krukow said it was the duty of Giants players to understand the culture of the city, and thus, to support gay events.

RELATED: Minor league baseball team cancels Pride Night ballgame — but still holds Pride Night to punish players

Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

“It’s your responsibility to know just how sensitive this city is in regards to that cultural freedom and religious freedom and just the way that you live your life. And I think they were in for a rude awakening with the response,” Krukow said.

However, the protests did not prevent Giants fans from showing up at the next two home games. As Blaze News reported, attendance fluctuated in the days following the allegedly bigoted acts, with more fans showing up on the Sunday after Pride Night than they did on Pride Night itself.

The 74-year-old announcer made plenty more partisan comments during his radio appearance, saying the “ethnicity” and “freedom” of San Francisco is what makes the city great.

“The strength of this city is its ethnicity, its culture,” Krukow claimed. “It’s the freedom for people to be able to come to a city and be free. And that’s a powerful thing.”

Though Krukow frequently mentioned “freedom,” he seems to have been referring to sexuality.

RELATED: Do Giants fans hate the Christian protest on Pride Night? Attendance numbers reveal the truth

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Krukow did mention that he feels it is necessary to respect both sides of the issue.

Krukow said that complaints about the Pride Night protests were not from just “trolls,” but rather “deep thoughts” and “educated opinion[s]” on why it is imperative to support the “gay community.”

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​Fearless, Mlb, Pride night, San francisco giants, Sports 

Tulsi Gabbard notified President Donald Trump late last month that she was resigning as director of national intelligence.

In her final days in the role, Gabbard not only proved that those Ukraine hawks who previously smeared her as “treasonous” and “traitorous” were dead wrong in their denial of the existence and United States’ funding of “more than 120 biolabs in over 30 countries, including Ukraine,” but created a colossal headache for former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.

‘It’s time the American people learn the real story.’

On Thursday, Gabbard declassified and published a trove of never-before-seen communications and documents that she claimed expose “how Dr. Fauci provided millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, worked with politicized elements within the Intelligence Community to suppress the truth about his actions and hide the virus’ lab-leak origins, and lied to Congress while under oath in 2024.”

Besides highlighting whistleblower allegations of retaliation against intelligence analysts who challenged Fauci’s zoonotic origin conclusions, the ODNI noted in its release that the declassified documents also show that Fauci’s close relationships with elements of the intelligence community “enabled him to assume three key roles during the pandemic that shielded him from scrutiny as he wielded outsized influence.”

Those roles, according to the ODNI, related to research funding, narrative curation, and narrative control:

“Fauci funded risky coronavirus research linked to big pharma and the pursuit of ‘universal vaccines’ worth trillions of dollars”;”Fauci was the behind-the-scenes adviser who, with his hand-picked experts, pushed the IC to endorse a natural, animal origin to hide his dangerous research”; and”Fauci became the nation’s pandemic ‘pundit’ and publicly pushed lies, disinformation, and censorship.”

RELATED: Foreign ‘Fauci acolyte’ and his African crony charged with smuggling monkeypox onto American soil

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Federal documents previously established that the NIAID under Fauci and United States Agency for International Development funded an EcoHealth Alliance subcontractor’s experiments on coronaviruses to the tune of $41 million.

The subcontractor listed as an investigator on the grants was Ben Hu — an individual whom Blaze News previously noted was the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s lead on gain-of-function research on SARS-like coronaviruses and among the pandemic’s “patients zero,” having been one of the three lab researchers first infected with apparent COVID-19 in November 2019.

Fauci, whose agency funded experiments on coronaviruses at the epicenter of the pandemic, publicly pushed the theory that the virus had instead resulted from a trans-species jump from an animal to a human and promoted a controversial paper — “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” — which a 2024 congressional report suggested he had originally “prompted” to discredit the lab-leak theory.

The statute of limitations on charging Fauci over alleged false testimony before Congress in 2021 about gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology apparently expired last month. He also has a blanket pardon from former President Joe Biden.

Fauci could not immediately be reached for comment. The Justice Department did not respond by deadline.

“The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and for countless people around the world. After years of lies, censorship, and cover-ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” Gabbard said in a statement.

“The tactics used to hide the truth are straight from the deep state playbook: Politicized self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected president by restricting his access to vital facts needed to keep the country safe,” continued the departing DNI. “It’s time the American people learn the real story.”

Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), who has referred Fauci to the Justice Department for criminal charges on multiple occasions, was among the many who welcomed the documents’ release. He thanked Gabbard “for her leadership and service in pursuing the truth, even when it wasn’t politically convenient.”

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​Anthony fauci, Covid, Director of national intelligence, Fauci, Gain of function, Lab leak, Tulsi gabbard, Virus, Politics 

You can’t accuse director Uwe Boll of having thin skin.

Film critics have been brutal to the German filmmaker behind “Rampage,” “House of the Dead,” and “Postal.” He once challenged his harshest critics to a boxing match to settle the score.

‘If I have six neo-Nazis raping a migrant girl, there would be no issues. Unfortunately, the criminal statistics show the [opposite].’

He knows he’ll never be an awards season darling, so when a reviewer dubbed him a “right-wing fascist” over his latest film, he shook it off like a glancing uppercut.

He saw those comments coming a mile away.

Culture war TKO

Even by Boll’s pugnacious standards, “Citizen Vigilante” is a culture war TKO. Armie Hammer, working his way back after personal revelations crushed his career, stars as a man fed up with migrant violence in Europe.

So he decides to do something about it. Think “Death Wish” with an agenda no Hollywood studio would touch.

Boll tells Blaze Lifestyle the aforementioned reviewer has every right to dislike “Citizen Vigilante,” out in the U.S. today, but he takes issue with that political slam.

“What is right-wing in saying rapists should not get off the hook?” Boll asked. Critics of unfettered illegal immigration point to high-profile cases where violent migrant offenders were spared harsh sentences.

Pardoning predators

The zeitgeist is in Boll’s corner in more ways than one.

“Citizen Vigilante” arrives days after a shocking U.K. rape gang inquiry report detailed chronic abuse across Great Britain. Migrant crime isn’t relegated to the U.K., an issue Boll explores in his violent, politically incorrect film.

For Boll, hearing stories of sexual predators getting slaps on the wrist proved bad enough. Reading reports of judges excusing the violence based on a perpetrator’s brutal youth enraged him.

“Newspapers called them poor, traumatized people who grew up with violence … but who gives a s**t? … Maybe they’re traumatized. Why are we importing them?” he asked.

“I have nothing against migrants — if they follow the rules and the law,” he added, accusing European news outlets of diminishing statistics tied to migrant crime.

“I have no words for it. … It’s the most absurd thing in my lifetime,” the 60-year-old filmmaker said.

RELATED: ‘Weekend at Biden’s’ creator takes on LA mayor Karen Bass

swiftboatproject.com/x.com/weekend_bidens

Unflinching violence

“Citizen Vigilante” lets Boll respond to those heartbreaking news stories sans filter. Hammer’s character seeks justice when the courts fail to dole out what he thinks is sufficient punishment.

The on-screen violence is unflinching.

“It’s the only movie out there that shows brutally the situation,” he said, noting that he included a shocking murder in the film’s opening scene to highlight the security concerns citizens face.

He’s also angry that his home country refused to rate his film and, more recently, banned it from theaters for allegedly promoting vigilante behavior. The ratings decision boils down to politics, he alleged.

“If I have six neo-Nazis raping a migrant girl, there would be no issues. Unfortunately, the criminal statistics show the [opposite],” he said.

He said he appealed the ratings decision to three separate guilds — directors, writers, and producers.

“I’m a member for 30 years. … Nobody even answered. Dead silence,” he said.

As for promoting violence, Boll said the film’s context drew his homeland’s ire, not the on-screen mayhem.

“Any Jason Statham movie would incite violence [too],” he argued, noting the action star’s penchant for heroes who take the law into their own hands.

“If [British Prime Minister] Keir Starmer sees [“Citizen Vigilante”] he will maybe put an arrest warrant out on me,” Boll said, perhaps tongue in cheek. Perhaps not.

Boll’s blacklist

Germany’s banishment wasn’t the only obstacle he faced while preparing “Citizen Vigilante” for its theatrical run. The film’s director of photography refused to be credited on the project, saying it might cost him future jobs.

Boll said Croatian officials offered him tax rebates to shoot “Citizen Vigilante” in the country, but the rebates were rescinded mid-production.

Hollywood has been abuzz with talk of free speech and alleged censorship by the Trump administration. Boll said he hasn’t gotten support from any Hollywood artists, and his fellow citizens aren’t much better.

“In Germany they’re all hanging onto [film] subsidies. … They’re all very careful,” he said, noting that a few actors reached out privately.

“You’re totally right, but don’t name me,” he recalled of their messages.

Blind casting

Boll isn’t just critical of the migration issue. He’s that rare storyteller who doesn’t pledge allegiance to DEI policies in the arts.

“I cast the way I should cast, not like I need X amount of Asians or X amount of blacks. … I hire people based on their qualifications, … not based if you’re a lesbian transgender Asian. … That’s how it has to be.”

Hammer’s character in “Citizen Vigilante” may reflect a cinematic antihero that dates back to Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” days in the early 1970s. Boll had little interest in deifying his film’s judge, jury, and executioner.

“He’s not this white knight guy. … He’s a loner. He’s also able to do the actions he’s doing … to execute them properly. … That’s a more realistic approach,” he said. “Audiences should discuss it for themselves. … Is he going too far?”

​Lifestyle, Movies, Uwe boll, Immigration, Migrant, Hollywood, Entertainment, Interview 

New York serial killer Rex Heuermann will die in prison after being sentenced to multiple life terms without parole for killing seven women and admitting to murdering an eighth victim. The victims’ heartbroken families appeared in court and castigated the serial killer as a “coward,” a “monster,” and an “ogre.”

Heuermann in April pleaded guilty to three counts of murder in the first degree and four counts of murder in the second degree for the murders of seven women, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

‘You’re a disgusting, small man, if you’re a man at all.’

The DA’s office added that Heuermann admitted “publicly, as part of his allocution, to killing an eighth victim, Karen Vergata” in 1996.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a statement that state Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei sentenced 62-year-old Heuermann to three consecutive life sentences plus 100 years without the possibility of parole.

Tierney stated:

For the families of these eight young women who have waited decades for this day, your voices have been heard. Rex Heuermann will now serve the rest of his life in prison for taking the lives of your loved ones. None of the success of the Gilgo Beach Task Force would have been possible without your relentless dedication and assistance. You are the reason we do what we do. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to all the talented investigators from the partner agencies in our task force for their amazing work.

NBC News reported that Heuermann was charged with the deaths of 20-year-old Jessica Taylor, 22-year-old Megan Waterman, 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, 24-year-old Valerie Mack, 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 27-year-old Amber Costello, and 28-year-old Sandra Costilla.

Grieving family members confronted the serial killer and delivered gut-wrenching victim impact statements during the hearing.

The New York Post reported that Amanda Funderburg — whose sister, Melissa Barthelemy, was strangled to death by Heuermann in 2009 — told the convicted killer: “Look at me while I’m talking.”

“I was forced to live with crippling anxiety, depression, PTSD, and destroyed nervous system constantly staring at my phone,” Funderburg said in court.

According to court documents, Heuermann called and taunted Funderburg’s family with grisly details of Barthelemy’s murder.

Funderburg told the Gilgo Beach serial killer that “several times you had called me from my sister’s phone telling me she was a whore.”

At the time of the murder, Funderburg was only 15 years old.

“I was robbed of my youth, I was robbed of my young adulthood, and I still feel robbed today,” Funderburg said, according to People magazine.

“Do me a favor — save me a spot in hell, because I’ll see you there,” Funderburg proclaimed.

According to NBC News, Funderburg blasted Heuermann as an “ogre,” a “repulsive monster,” and a “demon inside and out.”

Melissa Cann — whose sister Maureen Brainard-Barnes was slain by Heuermann — ripped the killer as a “coward.”

“Rex, I noticed a slight smile,” Cann said in court. “There is no honor in this. You’re a coward who hid behind a mask. You hunted and murdered to satisfy the darkness within you.”

“You are a coward who preyed on vulnerable, innocent women behind a mask, a man without empathy, without a soul, who hunted, tortured, and murdered women,” Cann continued.

Nicolette Brainard-Barnes — Maureen’s daughter — was only 7 years old when her mother was murdered.

“I was a little girl, and I needed my mom,” the distraught daughter said. “Like every sex worker, my mother was an entire human being. You make me sick, and I don’t forgive you.”

PBS noted that Heuermann said he strangled his victims — a number of whom were sex workers — and dismembered some of their bodies.

JoAnn Mack — the adoptive mother of Valerie Mack — said at the hearing, “Justice has been done, but it can’t replace what has been taken. She had dreams, and you took them all away from her.”

Jasmine Robinson — the cousin of Jessica Taylor — said of Heuermann’s sentence, “A million years isn’t enough. Nothing will ever make this right.”

Elizabeth Meserve — the aunt of Megan Waterman — blasted those who profited off “The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets,” a Peacock documentary about the murders that haunted Long Island for more than three decades.

The Post reported that the series featured exclusive interviews with Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and daughter, Victoria Heuermann — and added that they both “were reportedly compensated for participating.”

“These individuals profited from the monstrous acts committed against our loved ones by the demon sitting in this courtroom,” Meserve declared.

“This is the kind of world we live in,” Meserve noted. “A demon tortures and kills our loved ones, and his family gets filthy rich off his crimes.”

RELATED: Alleged border-hopping black widow who drugged, robbed, and killed older men she met on dating apps faces extradition: FBI

Heuermann told the court, “There are no words that I can say. The words I would say have no meaning.”

Judge Mazzei slammed the serial killer, “You’re a disgusting, small man, if you’re a man at all. And you’re a coward.”

The judge then ordered, “Get him out of here,” which elicited cheers from the distraught family members.

The Guardian reported that Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, did not attend the sentencing hearing “out of respect for those who endured unimaginable loss and suffering.”

Her attorney said, “She does not wish her presence to distract from the purpose of these proceedings.”

Court documents said the gruesome murders took place between 1993 and 2010, but authorities didn’t get their big break in the case until several years later.

NBC News reported that Heuermann was arrested in 2023 “based on a trove of evidence, including DNA traces from a discarded pizza crust found in a midtown Manhattan garbage can.”

PBS reported that investigators gathered cellphone and tracking data showing Heuermann arranged meetings with some victims shortly before their disappearances. After Heuermann’s arrest, PBS said prosecutors recovered a “blueprint” for the killings from his computer files.

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​Crime, Long island, Murder, New york, New york crime, Rex heuermann, Sentence, Serial killer 

Just months after integrating customers into its massive AI user base, Microsoft is walking back its promise of being the “everyday productivity app for work and life.”

That is, of course, unless businesses are willing to pay.

‘… it is not possible to offer Cowork as an unlimited service.’

In January, Microsoft quickly turned its customer base of more than 430 million paid users of Microsoft 365 into AI users by combining its Office Suite with its Copilot AI.

“The Microsoft 365 Copilot app is your everyday productivity app for work and life that helps you find and edit files, scan documents, and create content on the go,” the company said at the time.

It seems, however, that Microsoft has realized what many companies have: Unfettered AI usage is awfully expensive. Therefore the Bill Gates brand says it will start charging companies using Copilot’s Cowork feature based on how much they use.

Microsoft already charges and arm and a leg for its Microsoft 365 Business platforms, with prices ranging from $1,500 per year ($12.50 per person) for its standard version to $2,640 per year ($22 per person) for 10 business licenses, for example.

According to a new report by Axios, Microsoft will charge companies that use Copilot Cowork based on usage. Cowork is an AI service that “sends emails, schedules meetings, creates documents,” and manages the user’s calendar.

Charles Lamanna, Microsoft’s executive VP for Copilot, told Axios that it is not possible to offer Cowork as an unlimited service.

RELATED: Top companies admit humans cost less than AI — but still want more bots

Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images

“We have users who do hundreds of tasks a week, which is great — they’re way productive — but the consequence is the costs can go very high,” Lamanna said.

Instead, Microsoft is considering offering a version of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI program, at a lesser price. Axios reported that the model would be offered as a lower-cost alternative that is fully hosted on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud platform.

However, since DeepSeek typically withholds user data in China, the Microsoft version would keep user data in Western hands by storing it on its own service.

RELATED: Sick of Microsoft’s preinstalled propaganda on your PC? Block it now.

Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Blaze News previously reported on large companies that were starting to understand the full cost of using metered AI services.

For example, Uber reportedly used up its entire 2026 budget for AI in just four months.

At the beginning of June, a report circulated from an AI consultant that said one company he worked with racked up around $500 million in AI usage in just one month.

AI pricing structures vary, but costs pile up when employees are encouraged to integrate AI into workflow, such as when making large documents.

Anthropic’s Claude may charge just under $5 to produce around 1,000 average-sized images, but dollar signs stack when using the AI for coding or for large documents that charge based on tokens. For Claude, one token is equal to approximately four written characters in English text or “0.75 words.”

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​News, Microsoft, Artificial intelligence, Copilot, Tech 

An elderly man who uses a walker — but still has plenty of grit left in him — fought back in brutal fashion when a much younger male unleashed an attack on him with a wrench Thursday in Fresno, California.

The incident occurred on San Ramon Avenue near 4th Street just before 9 a.m., KFSN-TV reported.

‘Self defense. I have a small custom-made machete. One can protect oneself by any means — fist, [knife], gun.’

Police told the station a 45-year-old male with a wrench approached a 65-year-old man using a walker.

Authorities told KFSN the younger male hit the older man with the wrench multiple times before the victim eventually used his walker as self-defense.

Fresno Police Sgt. Diana Trueba Vega told the Fresno Bee that the victim said the male with the wrench was acting erratically — possibly while under the influence — prior to allegedly striking him in the hands with the tool.

The older man then pulled a knife out of his walker and stabbed the suspect in the arm and chest, the station said.

Authorities told KFSN the suspect ran off before being taken into custody; he’s being treated at Community Regional Medical Center. Police told the Bee the suspect was listed in stable condition.

Once medically cleared, the suspect will be booked into the Fresno County Jail, the station said. Police told the Bee he’ll be booked on an assault charge and an outstanding warrant.

Police told KFSN the elderly man acted out of self-defense.

RELATED: Intruder allegedly breaks into Florida home, threatens mother and her children, refuses to leave — but victim has her gun

Image source: Fresno (Calif.) Police Department

Those reacting to the station’s Facebook post about the incident seemed pleased the elderly victim came out on top:

“I’ll buy the man a new knife,” one commenter wrote. “Good job, sir.””That sounds awesome,” another user said. “Glad he had that knife on deck.””Self defense,” another commenter noted. “I have a small custom-made machete. One can protect oneself by any means — fist, [knife], gun.”

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​Arrest, California, Elderly victim, Fighting back, Fresno, Physical attack, Police, Self-defense, Walker, Wrench, Crime 

On the eve of the Juneteenth observance, it was reported that several Confederate statues, which were removed almost a decade ago, have made a quiet return to Baltimore, Maryland.

The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday that four Confederate statues have made their return to the city, but many details remain unknown.

‘They are being stored in a secure facility. We will not be disclosing their location.’

The statues, which were taken down before dawn on August 16, 2017, just days after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, were most recently stored in California. They were on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

Just after the statues were pulled from their pedestals, they were stored for years in a Baltimore impound lot, during which time vandals cost tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to the collection.

RELATED: Baltimore nonprofit that was run by mayor’s wife shut down after getting $100K of taxpayer cash — and Soros is involved

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott Nathan Howard/Getty Images

The statues are: the statue of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson that originally stood outside Wyman Park Dell, the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument that stood on Mount Royal Avenue, the Confederate Women’s Monument, and the Roger B. Taney Monument.

The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument sustained the most damage during the storage period after vandals “chopped off an arm and a Confederate flag and doused the whole thing with bright red paint,” according to the Sun.

But now, officials have confirmed that the statues have been returned to their original city, though questions remain.

“The Confederate monuments are back in Baltimore,” Lauren Schiszik, executive director of the city Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, told commissioners during a June 9 briefing session, according to the Baltimore Sun.

“They are being stored in a secure facility. We will not be disclosing their location.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) has been at the forefront of the removal efforts since before they were taken down by his predecessor Mayor Catherine Pugh (D).

Scott has consistently held that these statues and those like them have “ties to the dark side of America’s past.”

In a resolution at the time, then-Councilman Scott wrote, “Monuments with ties to the dark side of America’s past have come under increased scrutiny in recent years with cities across the country debating on whether they should be removed. Following the acts of domestic terrorism carried out by white supremacist terrorist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend cities must act decisively and immediately by removing these monuments. Baltimore has had more than enough time to think on the issue — it’s time to act.”

Scott’s press office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Robert e lee, Stonewall jackson, Politics, Baltimore, Confederacy, Maryland, Brandon scott 

Damon Packard’s movie diary

Damon Packard is the Los Angeles-based filmmaker behind such underground classics as “Reflections of Evil,” “The Untitled Star Wars Mockumentary,” “Foxfur,” and “Fatal Pulse.” His AI-generated work recently appeared as interstitials for the 18th annual American Cinematheque Horrorthon and can be enjoyed on his YouTube channel. After a long day making movies or otherwise making ends meet, he likes to unwind with late-night excursions to the multiplexes and art house cinemas of greater Los Angeles.

May 20, “Obsession” (d. Curry Barker), AMC Century City 15

This movie is exactly the kind of hollow, dystopian misery porn that brainless contemporary culture keeps walloping with praise. I found it tedious, annoying, and dull.

I know this has nothing whatsoever to do with De Palma’s “Obsession,” but at least DePalma’s film (and its inspiration, Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”) knew how to seduce you with mood and atmosphere, mystery and romance. I’ll take a single dreamy close-up of Genevieve Bujold in soft diffusion filters over an hour of a possessed, shrieking, creepy, clingy girlfriend.

At some point in the last act, there was a lot of screaming and noise in the theater, and they shut the film off because someone had a seizure or something. So I was spared suffering through the rest.

As I left, I heard Bernard Herrmann’s music in my head. I watched the paramedics arrive. They all looked jaded and took their time pushing the gurney into the elevator. I walked past the huge “The Mandalorian and Grogu” forest planet display they have out front of the AMC Century City, and Herrmann’s music seemed to keep following me.

And then I saw her. A Geneviève Bujold look-alike drifting silently past the Funko Pop claw machines in a cream-colored coat, soft curls glowing under the multiplex exterior lights. She turned slightly, just enough for me to catch the resemblance, and then vanished onto the escalator like the ending of a forgotten De Palma dream.

May 29, “Backrooms” (d. Kane Parsons), AMC Century City 15

You know you’re in trouble when the first two minutes are instant boredom and the rest doesn’t get any better. Yeesh, what a waste — ultimately an endurance test to get through. Not a single interesting moment or idea.

I like that actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, but what the hell is he doing in this? Not only is he miscast, but he’s above this kind of tripe.

When I hear them praising ‘Disclosure Day,’ I’m like George C. Scott in ‘Hardcore’ when he finds out his daughter has been abducted into the porn industry.

I would have hoped a 20-year-old boy-wonder director would bring the reckless energy to make something at least half watchable, but nope, just as horrible, bland, lifeless, dull, and dumb as every other thing the clueless moron masses who wouldn’t know what a good film was if their life depended on it flock to.

Sam Raimi was 21 when he made “Evil Dead”; Steven Spielberg 24 when he made “Duel”; Orson Welles 25 when he made “Citizen Kane”; Bernardo Bertolucci 22 when he made “Before the Revolution”; Louis Malle 23 when he made “Elevator to the Gallows.” Now THOSE were great films.

Spielberg is now 79, and “Disclosure Day” looks like a bland, generic, insipid pile of direct-to-Tubi junk. But is it really age and vitality, or is it that nobody can write good stories any more? Or that nobody would finance one if it even existed?

RELATED: Mission: Impossible (to sit through); Final Dud-stination; RIP Joe Don Baker

Mike Malloy/Damon Packard/Cinerama/Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images

June 2, “Pressure” (d. Anthony Maras), AMC Century City 15

Just when you thought every WW2 story had been exhausted over the last 80 years, along comes this little $5 million production set within a world of dueling weathermen!

What immediately sounds like mundane, made-for-cable fodder turns out to be a surprisingly terrific and engaging little movie, with an interesting perspective and new take.

Mostly due to the things you rarely see in films these days: good writing, good music, good direction, and interesting characters. Superb performances and casting all around, even for the initially perceived as a terribly miscast Brendan Fraser, who gives it his all and wins you over in the end. Special mention to the lovely Irish actress Kerry Condon, who makes a perfect 40s military babe.

Nothing phenomenal, but as far as mainstream theatrical releases, it is one of the best I’ve seen this year so far and a reminder some people still know how to make proper films (even if they are shot on the Arri Alexa 35 and technically shouldn’t be called “films”).

June 6, “The Doors” (1991, d. Oliver Stone), Vista Theater Hollywood

Caught a late show in 70mm last night. Which looked beautiful but seemed to be missing the subwoofer channel or something. The sound was all high and mid frequencies, zero low end. Not sure what the deal was there, a print issue or something not switched on? A projectionist might know the answer.

I really like this film, and it always brings back certain feelings and memories of sneaking onto the set with my friend Chad and joining the background actors at 3 a.m. at the Whiskey back in 1990. The cult worship of Morrison is not dead; there were girls screaming in the theater. The Vista still has a bag-checking policy; therefore I always make it a point to sneak in food and drink just on principle

June 12, “Disclosure Day” (d. Steven Spielberg), AMC Burbank 16

Caught a nice and empty 11:30 p.m. showing of “Disclosure Day” last night. Talk about a moronic, bland snoozefest. The latest major mega-embarrassment from an aging cine-Boomer. So incredibly dumb, dull, and out of touch that you just sit there half awake in a stunned stupor, taking it all in while trying to stay awake.

How anyone can actually defend this is beyond me. It never ceases to amaze: No matter how awful some new mainstream pile of garbage is, there are plenty of defenders — people (clueless, brain-dead walking software programs) who have zero proper film knowledge or education or interest and wouldn’t know one way or the other.

When I hear them praising something like “Disclosure Day,” I’m like George C Scott in “Hardcore” when he finds out his daughter has been abducted into the porn industry. Oh, never mind, that’s another film and actor you’ve probably never heard of.

The John Williams score is good. Spielberg may not have it any more, but Williams still does.

June 17, “The Furious” (d. Kenji Tanigaki), AMC Marina Marketplace 6

Caught a late show of this this mostly pretty darned awesome and entertaining Hong Kong action film.

It feels very much like the kind of creative (and at times goofy and hilarious) Hong Kong martial arts exploitation films we were getting in the 1980s. With a lot more blood and violence.

Top-notch fight scenes, even if they get a little overlong in the third act (which is typical). American action movies that borrow from Hong Kong can never come close to the real deal, and this here is seventh-generation Asian action fight choreography done right.

The AI lip sync is a completely flawless and amazing tool, for those who have never seen it. (I’m pretty sure with all the idiotic knee-jerk AI hatred right now, they don’t want people to know they’re using it, even though it’s impossible to tell.)

Only wish I saw this in a better theater instead one of the few non-upgraded multiplexes in this area, with muddy images and weak sound. It’s stuff like THIS that should be dominating the premium screens.

Still, I’m grateful we get little surprises like this in an otherwise predictable world.

​Damon packard’s movie diary, Lifestyle, Movies, Entertainment, Steven spielberg, Disclosure day, Reviews