Amazon’s Ring cameras haven’t had a great year. The brand has been plagued by a spying lawsuit, an unofficial mass surveillance dragnet feature, and unhelpful comments from the CEO. Now it’s back in the news, but this time, they company is doing something right. Ring has a new encryption standard, and you’re going to want it on your camera at home.

A new TAKE on security

The new encryption standard is called TAKE, short for “Throw Away the Key Encryption.” As the name implies, the encryption keys that protect video footage are akin to single-use plastic bottles. Once it’s used up, it’s thrown out and replaced with another key. Since the encryption keys regularly change, it should be more difficult for anyone — including hackers, Amazon employees, and even law enforcement — to grab the key and access protected footage, when compared to non-encrypted video files.

E2EE is still the gold standard for protecting digital data, but if you want to take advantage of Amazon’s cloud features, TAKE is a reasonable compromise.

TAKE keys are saved in a secure enclave within Amazon’s cloud servers, giving users access to Amazon’s entire suite of cloud services without compromises. They can also be temporarily lent out to other users who may need one — like a babysitter or a housesitter — and revoked at will.

This system is different from end-to-end encryption, which Ring also offers to its users. E2EE ensures that all data sent between one device and another is completely protected in transit and at rest so that only the end user has access. Unfortunately, if you rely on Ring’s cloud services, E2EE cuts off any ability to share your footage with other users, like a family member or trusted friend. So it has its limits.

How safe is TAKE?

If you’re like me, your ears perked up when you read the words “TAKE keys are saved in a secure enclave within Amazon’s cloud servers.” After all, what good is encryption that lives directly on a company’s server?

Earlier this year, we learned what happens when Big Tech stores security keys in the cloud. In the case of Microsoft, it can hand your BitLocker recovery key over to the government to access your PC files. Is TAKE any different?

RELATED: New lawsuit claims Ring’s smart doorbell spyware is taking photos of millions without their consent

EvgeniyShkolenko/Getty Images

According to Amazon, the company has limited capabilities, stating, “Ring can only receive access to power the intelligent features that you have active on your account, and then throws away and deletes the keys. After that, only you — and any trusted Shared Users that you have chosen to enable — retain the keys to your video on your enrolled devices, like your phone, tablet, or computer.”

Amazon continues, “You hold the master key to your videos, and you are the one who decides who gets access to a spare and for what purpose. You are in control of your keys and your videos; it is that simple.”

What makes TAKE compelling as a way to keep your data safe from prying eyes — including Amazon — is that there are two important mechanisms at play. The secure enclave, like the one built within TAKE, is designed to conceal the data stored within, even from the company that possesses it. For any data that you do allow out of the enclave, you have the power to give or revoke encryption access at will. In the end, this should limit Amazon’s ability to share your footage with anyone who shouldn’t have it.

Ultimately, E2EE is still the gold standard for protecting digital data, but if you want to take advantage of Amazon’s cloud features, TAKE is a reasonable compromise.

How to enable TAKE on your Ring camera

TAKE is expected to roll out in September, and it will become the free default option for all Ring users. That means you don’t have to do anything to enable it on your devices or your account. It will simply be implemented to protect your data when it’s available.

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​Ring camera, Cameras, Encryption, Encrypted data, Tech, Ring cameras 

The governor of New York is lashing out at the president and accusing him of Islamophobia after he criticized her for wearing a hijab at a Muslim event.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York on Friday, and video from the event showed her covering her head in observance with traditional Islamic customs.

‘The whole thing is CRAZY!’

President Donald Trump mocked Hochul Tuesday in a post on Truth Social.

“Kathy Hochul, considered the Worst Governor in the Country, in a recent picture working hard to get the Arab Vote, even though they can’t stand her!” he wrote. “Congestion Pricing in Manhattan is hurting her with everybody, but especially the people for whom she wears the hijab. The whole thing is CRAZY!”

The president referred to a policy of taxing drivers in Manhattan at the busiest traffic times in order to reduce traffic.

The governor lashed out at the president and his supporters in response.

“I was a guest in a Muslim house of worship and showed respect for the people who welcomed me,” she wrote Tuesday. “That used to be standard in this country before you came along. I’ll never apologize for treating people of any faith with dignity, no matter how Islamophobic you and your enablers are.”

Others pounced on the opportunity to ridicule Hochul.

“You stand with the oppressors of women — no one forced you to wear the garment that millions of women worldwide get murdered for not wearing. You are just disgusting Kathy,” responded Ellie Cohanim of the U.S. mission to the U.N.

“Democrats will bend the knee to political Islam while pretending its most hardline values don’t contradict everything they claim to stand for. Women’s rights. Gay rights. Free speech. Religious freedom. The irony is unbelievable,” replied online commentator Liz Benichou.

“That’s not respect that’s a surrender of women’s rights, how dare you? When women are stoned to death when they take it off?” read the response from one X user.

“New York Governor Kathy Hochul identifies as a feminist – yet she has no problem submitting to Islam when it is politically advantageous,” responded Patrick Casey.

“The left’s coalition might seem incoherent, but it makes sense when you recognize that it’s united by hatred of our civilization,” he added.

Others noted that Hochul’s appearance at the Islamic center occurred just a few days before the 25th commemoration of the 9/11 Islamic terror attacks.

RELATED: NY gov. BEGS millionaires to move back and fund welfare — after telling Republicans to leave

A Hochul spokesperson said she “has enormous respect for all the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, which is why she will proudly stand alongside them at this year’s commemoration.”

The spokesperson added, “Make no mistake: Muslim New Yorkers, like people from every walk of life, served as first responders and helped unite the city in the aftermath of 9/11. The Governor knows we can respect these families while being clear that Islamophobia has no place in New York.”

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​Kathy hochul, Hijab, Islam, Politics, Donald trump 

The 56-year-old Massachusetts woman arrested outside Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial appeared in court herself on Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, there is a big disconnect between what Dawn Light of Sutton told the Massachusetts State Police at the time of her arrest and what was allegedly found on her phone.

‘It was clear she was filming the jurors.’

MSP confirmed to Blaze News that at approximately 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday, Light was taken into custody and charged with intimidation of a witness, jurors, or person furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings.

At the time, jurors in the Clancy trial were in the midst of their fourth day of deliberations.

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Piacentini stated at Light’s arraignment Wednesday that court officers notified MSP officers in the security detail for the Clancy trial that an individual may have been filming jurors on Tuesday outside the courthouse. Judge William Sullivan had previously prohibited such photography.

Officers approached Light, who was allegedly parked in a restricted area within the employee parking lot behind the courthouse.

Piacentini alleged that when Light was asked whether she was taking pictures or filming anyone inside the parking lot, she “was adamant that she was not. She stated that she was waiting to see if Lindsay Clancy would come out of the building.”

RELATED: Torpedoing justice? Woman arrested outside trial of accused killer mom Lindsay Clancy

A cursory examination of Light’s phone initially appeared to confirm her claim. However, when police checked Light’s deleted photos, they allegedly found at least one video of people exiting the courthouse.

“State police then spoke with court officers who were then able to confirm that those individuals in those videos were the jurors in regards to the Lindsay Clancy trial,” claimed Piacentini.

“Although she states that she was looking for Lindsay Clancy to come out of the courthouse, it was clear that she was filming the jurors,” the prosecutor further claimed.

Prosecutors requested among other things that Light be held on $50,000 cash bail, barred from the court property, and altogether kept away from the jurors.

Jennifer White, Light’s attorney, told Judge Shelby Smith, “This is a complete misunderstanding, Your Honor.”

“My client was seeking a picture of Ms. Clancy and had no intention of any interaction with the jurors,” added the attorney, who emphasized that the shutterbug wasn’t a flight risk and had no prior record.

The judge denied the prosecutor’s request for the $50,000 bail but ordered Light to stay away from the courthouse grounds, avoid contact with jurors or potential witnesses in the Lindsay Clancy trial, and refrain from disseminating any photos related to the incident.

Light, a self-described “crime junkie” who apparently attended several days of Clancy’s trial, told the CT Insider, “I don’t know how I intimidated anyone.”

She is scheduled to appear in court again on October 15.

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​Lindsay clancy, Jury, Intimidation, Crime, Massachusetts, Politics 

Democrat leaders nearly lost their minds after two of their own defected to save a GOP-procedural vote, which paved the way for a House vote denouncing socialism, on Tuesday.

Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) sided with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after five Republicans jumped ship, giving Johnson the 210-208 win needed to advance a slate of GOP bills.

‘We didn’t even consider that anyone would do that.’

The aisle-crossing blindsided Democratic leadership, who quickly promised to discipline their rogue colleagues. But it turns out Gluesenkamp Perez and Golden had their reasons.

Golden’s Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act bill advanced as a result of his and Gluesenkamp Perez’s vote on the “rule.” Rules are procedural resolutions that move debate forward on groups of bills, determined by the House majority.

Golden’s bill kicks burdensome environmental regulations down the road, extending a pause on crabbing restrictions for Maine fishermen until 2035.

“The bill is a big win not only for fishermen in Maine, but for bipartisanship in Congress,” Golden said in a statement after his bill passed in the House. “While the threat of unnecessary, industry-killing regulations is a matter of survival for lobster harvesters in Maine, the issues at play affect fishermen across the Northeast. Building bridges across party lines is essential for a functional congress, but unfortunately, it’s a skill that has been lost for far too many members.”

“What the DC bubble doesn’t get is that working waterfronts require working people,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in an X post Tuesday, suggesting she crossed the aisle to support Golden’s bill. “Nature is not a terrarium — and you don’t get effective environmentalism without the input of people who make their livelihoods and heritage on the water — whether we’re talking about lobsters or sea lions.”

RELATED: Democrat candidate admits he’s ‘utterly unqualified,’ wants a promotion anyway

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The second-term congresswoman, who narrowly defeated Republican Joe Kent twice, has a conservative track record on environmental issues. Gluesenkamp Perez has repeatedly called for lethal removal of Columbia River sea lions, calling them “Corolla-size vermin” and introducing the Protecting Columbia River Salmon Act to expand sea lion culls.

“Like a good colleague, she saw an opportunity to help out one of my top priorities, one of my constituents’ top priorities, and that’s how you do things around here,” Golden told reporters after the vote.

Golden, whose district was carried by President Donald Trump in 2020 and 2024, doesn’t have much to fear from Democratic leadership. He’s retiring from the House after his term ends in January.

The defection is a test for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who received thinly veiled criticism from longtime former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after the mini mutiny.

“I, as speaker, never — we didn’t even consider that anybody would do that,” Pelosi told reporters on Tuesday. “We never had that problem, so I’m disappointed that they did that.”

Jeffries hasn’t announced specific disciplinary actions, but he could remove both lawmakers from prized committee assignments.

“The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement issued Tuesday night. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response, and we have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take this up in short order.”

Gluesenkamp Perez is co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, a historically conservative wing of the Democratic Party. Golden is a member.

Gluesenkamp Perez, Golden, Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar did not respond to requests for comment.

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​Democrats, Hakeem jeffries, Infighting, Jared golden, Joe kent, Politics, Marie gluesenkamp perez 

Twitter’s back! Sort of. After Elon Musk rebranded the “global town square” of social media to X.com, another company swooped in to pick up the old name, claiming that Musk abandoned the brand. So far, a Trump-appointed judge has even agreed to the hostile takeover, but the story is a little more complicated. Now Elon’s fighting back, the new Twitter might be ashes again, and a final verdict of the once-legendary Twitter name now hangs in the balance of an upcoming court case.

Shortly after Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he made it clear that he had no interest in maintaining the brand or the bird that rocketed the social network to political prominence. He would keep the foundation of the app in place, but otherwise, it would take on the “X” moniker that adorns many of Musk’s entrepreneurial endeavors, including SpaceX, the Tesla Model X, and xAI.

The new Twitter hasn’t changed from the old Twitter at all.

With a new badge, a new color scheme, and a new attitude to defend the rights of free speech everywhere, much to the chagrin of the left, X.com became the new digital town square for all to enjoy. But even as X battled the odds and flourished into new ventures, opportunistic vultures began to pick through the remains of Twitter’s relinquished shell in search of a phoenix that could rise from the ashes.

The vultures swarm

The new startup, dubbed Operation Bluebird Inc., quickly swooped in, dug its claws into the Twitter name, and claimed it as its own. The excuse? Elon Musk abandoned the brand wholesale when he closed Twitter in favor of X. Even worse, a Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Judge, Colm Connolly, agreed that the brand was open for a takeover, including the logo, name, and verb to “tweet” a post.

Naturally, Musk wasn’t happy with the move. After all, even if Twitter is dead, everyone recognizes that X is the new and improved sequel. In this way, Twitter isn’t gone at all — it just evolved into something more ambitious. He filed a lawsuit in late 2025 over the brand grab, but as both sides wait for a trial, Operation Bluebird Inc. went ahead and launched a new site for its endeavor: Twitter.now.

RELATED: Elon Musk’s new megaproject is about to transform Texas

New Twitter, same as the old Twitter

There’s plenty of debate as to whether or not Operation Bluebird Inc. had any legal right to commandeer the Twitter brand, and that will surely be hashed out in court. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the new site and see if it’s any good.

Or at least, we would look at the site if it were currently live. Shortly after Twitter.now launched, the entire thing was taken down with a simple splash screen on the landing page, stating, “We’re down. We’re on it. Already learning things the hard way. We will be back as soon as we can. Love you guys 💙”

It’s been like this for more than a week.

Landing page on Twitter.now. Twitter.now.

While there isn’t much information available on what could have happened, it appears that Elon Musk and his legal team clipped the new Twitter’s wings before it even got a chance to fly. That said, if the new site ever gets airborne again, here are some things you can look forward to:

The new community notes are powered by AI: For starters, Twitter.now plans to emulate X.com’s community notes by installing an automated fact-checking tool powered by Google Gemini. That’s right, the new arbiter of truth on Twitter will be an AI bot that’s beholden to the same flaws as any other — it could hallucinate facts, misinterpret information, and inject political bias into its responses.

The new logo is worse than the original: Operation Bluebird Inc. tried to be cheeky. The new logo resembles the general shape of the original Twitter bird, but its version appears more like a phoenix, as in the mythical bird that rises from the ashes of its own charred corpse. Clever.

The new constitution is more of the same old Twitter: Twitter.now promises to “bring back a town square that’s safer and less harmful.” How, you might ask? According to the Birdhouse Constitution, it plans to force users to tweet under their real names in lieu of aliases, protect freedom of speech (that sounds familiar), and down-rank “misinformation” and other negative speech (that sounds very familiar). It is proud of its motto that freedom of speech does not equal freedom of reach. In other words, the new Twitter hasn’t changed from the old Twitter at all. The same unapproved voices will be censored to the darkest corners of the internet while the mainstream talking points are allowed to proliferate the feed.

Does X have any reason to worry?

In a word, no. First, there’s a strong chance that Twitter.now gets shut down entirely by the end of the court case filed by Elon Musk and his team. However, even if Operation Bluebird Inc. gets the all-clear to take off again, chances that the social network will succeed are rather slim. X will continue to reign as the platform for free speech, while Twitter will become a place no better than BlueSky for approved talking points, authoritarian thought control, and obscure left-wing devotees.

At the end of the day, the original Twitter.com still redirects to X.com, the real public square of the internet.

​Twitter.com, Social media, Tech, Elon musk, X.com 

A Florida woman was arrested for allegedly attempting to blackmail her lover for $20,000 and threatening to post his intimate photos after she found out that he has a girlfriend.

WPLG-TV obtained an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office revealing that 19-year-old Nathalie Rodriguez Gonzalez on Friday was arrested and hit with a felony charge of threats/extortion.

‘Give me my money, or I escalate this worse.’

Police said Rodriguez Gonzalez met the alleged victim while working as a waitress at a restaurant, and the pair entered into a romantic relationship shortly afterward.

After going on a few dates, Rodriguez Gonzalez discovered that the man had a girlfriend for the “entire time they were together,” according to the report.

WPLG reported that deputies indicated Rodriguez Gonzalez then began sending threatening text messages to the man, demanding $20,000 from him, and warning that if he didn’t send her the money, she would add an additional $5,000 to her demand for payment — and she would send his intimate photos to his girlfriend and business partner.

Deputies said Rodriguez Gonzalez threatened to publicly post the intimate photos on all of her social media accounts in an alleged sextortion plot.

The alleged victim reportedly refused to pay Rodriguez Gonzalez, and then she sent one of the photos to his business partner.

RELATED: 70-year-old woman accused of tricking boy into sending her nude photos of himself, sextorting teen

D-Keine/iStock/Getty Images

According to the arrest affidavit, Rodriguez Gonzalez asked the business partner for the phone number of the alleged victim’s girlfriend’s so she could send her the photo.

Referring to Instagram, Rodriguez Gonzalez asked the business partner, “Should I post this on my IG and tag everyone?”

Rodriguez Gonzalez sent the intimate photo of the alleged victim to the girlfriend, detectives said.

Rodriguez Gonzalez told the alleged victim’s girlfriend, “This will genuinely get posted if he doesn’t wire me money btw.”

“The defendant then posted a censored version of the photograph along with other photographs to her TikTok page,” the affidavit stated.

The affidavit said Rodriguez Gonzalez allegedly continued to send threatening messages, including: “Give me my money, or I escalate this worse.”

“The deportation does not have to happen, but I want my money, if he doesn’t wire me the money his d**k will get posted followed by, your face, his face,” Rodriguez Gonzalez reportedly said.

In a separate text message thread, Rodriguez Gonzalez wrote: “Remember I was tryna scam him, I’m finally getting to it.”

On Aug. 24, the alleged victim appeared at the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Kendall District station and reportedly identified a photo of Rodriguez Gonzalez.

Just after 9 p.m. Friday, law enforcement arrested Rodriguez Gonzalez at her home. She was then transported to the Kendall District Station for questioning.

The arrest affidavit stated, “Post-Miranda, the defendant gave a full confession, alleging she was simply joking about sending the photographs out.”

Law & Crime reported that Rodriguez Gonzalez has since posted a $7,500 bond and was released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Rodriguez Gonzalez is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 27, according to records from the Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller.

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​Florida, Florida woman, Extortion, Blackmail, Sextortion, Arrest, Crime 

Texas Roadhouse is pushing back against a viral social media post by an account that went by “Nancy Smith” alleging that employees at the restaurant chain and Logan’s Roadhouse planned to tamper with black customers’ meals by licking their fingers before touching their food.

A screenshot of the post, which appeared in a Facebook group called “White and Proud,” spread on social media over the weekend, prompting outrage and calls for boycotts — but Texas Roadhouse claimed a subsequent investigation found no evidence of food tampering or the alleged group of employees, and the post has been deemed a hoax.

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock isn’t surprised that in 2026, race hoaxes are still going strong.

“Every time a racism hoax gets exposed, the nation gets a federal holiday. At the current pace, none of us would ever work again. That is not a joke about restaurants. That is a sales report,” Whitlock says.

“When the real product is scarce, the salesman manufactures it. Nancy Smith knew. She knew a screenshot would do the work a kitchen never did. No city, no store, no name tag, no plate. A Facebook group called White and Proud. A post that said cooks and servers at Texas Roadhouse and Logan’s Roadhouse were licking their fingers and putting them on black people’s food,” he continues.

“Then the account changed names and vanished,” he says. “That is the Nolan Wells standard of racism. The accusation is the evidence. The screenshot is the indictment. The boycott is the sentence.”

“By Wednesday, Travis Doster, their chief communications officer, said the investigation found no tampering, no 400,000-member army, and a Nancy Smith account built, renamed, and deleted,” he adds.

The company, Whitlock explains, had “hired a third-party firm to hunt the ghost.”

“BET still ran it like a question with a drum roll,” he goes on. “‘Are white and proud servers really spitting in black people’s food?’ They tied a deleted Facebook ghost to Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf. They treated a rumor as backlash and backlash as proof,” Whitlock says.

“The bar for a racism claim is not high. It is on the floor,” Whitlock says, noting that next week it’ll be “another kitchen.”

“Grievance is inventory. A healed country is a threat to revenue. If your whole identity is victim, you need a villain on the clock. You need racism to exist or you can’t breathe,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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​Austin metcalf, Boycotts, Hoax, Jason whitlock, Karmelo anthony, Racism, Texas roadhouse, Blazetv show 

The U.S. war with Iran is now in its sixth month, and at least one armchair general in a foreign country evidently figures that the U.S. must do far more than just wage economic warfare against Tehran and wear down its remaining infrastructure via airstrikes.

The Israel-based Jerusalem Post published an immodest proposal on Aug. 30: Send indebted Americans to the front lines.

‘The economics of the indebted American 20- and 30-something make this the most efficient conversion mechanism.’

According to A.J. Jaff — a retired Canadian Armed Forces officer and self-identified “geopolitical security strategist” who has effectively been advocating for a ground war since the outset of the conflict — U.S. airstrikes have not completely diminished Iran’s military capacity or solved Persia’s “institutional problem.”

Jaff suggested that “three moves remain available and must be calculated within the Pentagon and the American administration.”

The first and third moves concern weaponizing ethnic groups on the ground and U.S.-China relations, respectively. The controversial proposal sandwiched between these two “moves” concerns the weaponization of some Americans’ economic pressure points.

RELATED: Axios admits Trump has gained the upper hand in the battle for the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. airmen load an Army Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle onto a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. U.S. CENTCOM.

After suggesting that the “narrative war on the domestic American front has already failed” because the Pentagon has supposedly been unable to rhetorically disentangle the conflict from Israel’s operations in Gaza, Jaff noted, “Recruitment numbers are running below what a ground invasion of Iran would require.”

“Estimates for a successful ground campaign against Iran’s 31 provincial commands and its Mosaic Defense Doctrine run between 750 thousand [sic] and 1.5 million American troops,” said the Jerusalem Post contributor. “The current active US Army stands at roughly 452 thousand [sic]. The math does not work, obviously.”

In order to beef up the troop numbers for a new ground invasion in the country of roughly 93 million people, Jaff suggested that the way forward is “not conscription or a draft in a world war-era sense, but enlistment through a ‘debt forgiveness program.'”

“The average American aged 18 to 34 carries more than $40 thousand in non-mortgage debt across student loans, credit card balances, auto loans, and personal loans, with some estimates go [sic] as high as $100 thousand [sic],” said the foreign writer. “This is the cohort the Pentagon needs.”

Even though a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 31% of Americans support continued military action against Iran, Jaff believes Americans would volunteer to fight in the war if guaranteed total forgiveness on their student loans and credit card debt.

While acknowledging that the “moral reading on this is uncomfortable,” Jaff concluded, “The economics of the indebted American 20- and 30-something make this the most efficient conversion mechanism available to the Pentagon and the Trump administration.”

When asked for comment about the proposal, the White House referred Blaze News to the Department of War.

On whether it was considering recruitment through a debt forgiveness program of the kind discussed in the article, the Department of War referred Blaze News to “the services for programs on recruitment and enlistment programs.”

When asked whether a ground invasion of Iran is presently an option on the table and how many troops would be immediately needed, a War Department official told Blaze News, “We won’t speculate on future operations or hypotheticals.”

Jaff — who projected last month that the U.S. would mount a ground invasion of Iran in the third quarter of next year — is hardly the first to advocate throwing blood after treasure in Iran.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, suggested in a July article published by the Washington Examiner that to achieve victory over Iran, Trump would need to incur “combat deaths.”

Olsen advocated for militarily occupying “the region around Iran’s key port on the Strait [of Hormuz], Bandar Abbas, to dramatically reduce its ability to interdict Strait traffic.”

“The Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in the region could be used to seize the city, with reinforcements flown in from the continental United States to expand and entrench American control,” wrote Olsen.

President Donald Trump — who announced on July 8 that America’s tenuous ceasefire with Iran was “over” — has emphasized that he is “not in a hurry” to negotiate an end to the conflict and claimed on Tuesday that America is presently in a favorable position with “almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and [Iran’s] economy totally collapsing.”

After U.S. Central Command forces’ latest airstrikes on Iranian targets, Trump warned that if “the failed Nation of Iran retaliates,” it “will be hit again at a much harder and higher level.” The president noted further that “the biggest attack of them all” is still “waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!”

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​Iran war, Donald trump, Jersualem post, Ground war, Regime change, War, Politics 

The newest Catholic parish in Arlington, Texas, is named for Matthew Ayariga, one of 21 men murdered by Islamic State terrorists on a Libyan beach in February 2015.

Ayariga was a Ghanaian migrant worker captured alongside 20 Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians. Little is known about his life before then, including whether he was already a Christian. Some accounts say the faith of his fellow prisoners inspired him to convert during their captivity, while others suggest that he had previously embraced Christianity.

When they asked whether she had a weapon, Stang raised her Bible. ‘This is my only weapon,’ she said.

What is known is that Ayariga chose to identify himself with the Copts when their captors demanded that the men renounce Christ. “Their God is my God,” he reportedly said before he was beheaded with them.

Last week, Michael Olson, bishop of Fort Worth, announced the establishment of St. Matthew Ayariga Catholic Church, the first Catholic parish anywhere in the world placed under Ayariga’s patronage.

New martyrs

The announcement points toward a fact at times easily forgotten in the comfortable West: The age of Christian martyrs did not end with Nero, the Roman arena, or even the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. Christians are still dying for the faith.

In 2023, Pope Francis established a Commission of New Martyrs to gather the names and stories of Christians killed during the first quarter of the 21st century. By September 2025, the commission had compiled the names of 1,624 Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant martyrs and witnesses to the faith who died between 2000 and 2025.

The catalogue includes 643 Christians killed in sub-Saharan Africa, 357 in Asia and Oceania, 304 in the Americas, 277 in the Middle East and North Africa, and 43 in Europe.

Those figures do not constitute a complete census, nor does inclusion amount to formal canonization by the Catholic Church. In fact, the Vatican has withheld the full list because publicly identifying some of the victims could endanger Christians still living in the same regions.

Living for the Eucharist

Among those remembered by the commission is Father Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean Catholic priest who returned to his native Iraq after studying in Rome. As violence against Iraqi Christians intensified, extremists repeatedly warned him to close his parish. Ganni refused to leave while his people still needed him.

“Without the Sunday Eucharist, we cannot live,” he said at a Eucharistic congress in Italy in 2005. “For us, the terrorists take life, but the Eucharist gives it back.”

On June 3, 2007, gunmen confronted Ganni outside his church in Mosul after Sunday Mass. They murdered him and three subdeacons.

RELATED: Texas’ newest Catholic parish takes name of martyr beheaded by ISIS: ‘A testimony to the victory of Christ’

L/R: Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service/Getty Images; IBRAHIM EZZAT/AFP/Getty Images

Wielding a Bible

Another is Sister Dorothy Stang, an Ohio-born nun who spent nearly four decades working among poor settlers in the Brazilian Amazon. She helped farming families secure legal title to their land and promoted sustainable agriculture, bringing her into conflict with powerful ranchers and loggers.

Despite repeated death threats, Stang remained in the region. On Feb. 12, 2005, two hired gunmen stopped the 73-year-old nun on a muddy road.

When they asked whether she had a weapon, Stang raised her Bible.

“This is my only weapon,” she said.

As she began reading from the Beatitudes, the gunmen shot her six times.

Brothers in arms

The commission also remembers seven members of the Melanesian Brotherhood, an Anglican religious community devoted to evangelism and peacemaking in the Solomon Islands.

During civil unrest in 2003, militants took Brother Nathaniel Sado hostage and tortured him to death. Six other brothers went looking for him. Three were shot upon arrival; the remaining three were beaten, tortured, and killed the following day.

At their funeral, a banner preceded each coffin bearing the brother’s name and the words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”

Two days later, the Melanesian Brotherhood admitted 48 new members.

A child’s vision

The youngest of those singled out by Pope Leo was 10-year-old Abish Masih, a Pakistani schoolboy killed in the March 2015 Taliban attacks on two churches in Lahore. In a notebook he left behind, the child had written a simple aspiration: “Making the world a better place.”

These men, women, and children belonged to different countries, cultures, and Christian communions. Their inclusion in a common memorial reflects what John Paul II called the “ecumenism of the martyrs” and Pope Francis later termed the “ecumenism of blood.”

Those who persecute Christians often make no distinction between Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant believers. Martyrdom reveals a unity that centuries of ecclesiastical negotiation have yet to restore fully.

Bearing witness

In September 2025, Pope Leo XIV gathered with representatives of numerous Christian traditions to commemorate the new martyrs. He called their witness an “unarmed hope” and warned that the persecution of Christians had not disappeared with the dictatorships of the last century.

“On the contrary,” the pope said, “in some parts of the world it has increased.”

The word “martyr” comes from the Greek word for “witness.” A martyr is not simply someone who dies tragically or becomes a victim of violence. A Christian martyr bears witness to Christ by remaining faithful when faithfulness exacts the ultimate price.

By naming the new parish for Ayariga, the Diocese of Fort Worth is helping preserve the witness of the 21 martyrs for another generation.

“Where violence seeks to erase a man’s identity, the Church remembers his name,” Bishop Olson wrote. “Where death boasts to have the final word, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ declares otherwise.”

​Christian martyrs, Matthew ayariga, Middle east, Pope leo xiv, Christianity, Isis, Terrorism, Faith, Texas 

I have no desire to run for public office. The last elected position I held was junior class vice president at St. Francis High School in La Cañada, California. That was in the late ’80s. My campaign for senior class president failed spectacularly and culminated with a lecture from a courageous Cuban refugee on democracy properly understood — a humbling story for another time.

Apart from that, I have no desire to spend weeks or months of a campaign defending every little thing I’ve said and written over the past 40 years, which, at this point, amounts easily to a couple million words.

Repentance requires confession. Rebranding only requires a delete button. Voters are entitled to know which one they’re looking at.

No, I’m not going to disavow the column I wrote for the UCSD Guardian in the early 1990s arguing, more or less, for the repeal of the 26th Amendment. Yes, I stand by the piece I wrote for the Sacramento Bee more than a decade ago declaring Millennials “the Idiot Generation.”

But that’s part of the deal. When you run for office, you’re running on your record.

Which makes the spectacle of Democratic candidates — democratic socialists especially — frantically scrubbing inconvenient old social-media posts so absurd. And so very delicious.

People are allowed to change their minds. Politicians too. Heaven knows I have.

But changing your mind is not the same thing as deleting evidence that you once held certain opinions.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is learning this lesson the hard way.

El-Sayed had already been taking flak over his relationship with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who notoriously said, “America deserved 9/11.” El-Sayed disavowed Piker’s comments in early August.

But now a deleted El-Sayed post from the 20th anniversary of 9/11 has resurfaced. He mourned the nearly 3,000 Americans murdered that day, then turned to the far larger number of people he said were killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan in the wars that followed.

I don’t particularly care whether El-Sayed’s argument offends anybody. Foreign policy is debatable. So are America’s wars. I care that he tried to make the argument disappear.

If he believes it, he should defend it. If he doesn’t, he should explain why not. But he shouldn’t get to hide.

RELATED: Hasan Piker is the anti-Charlie Kirk

Blaze Media Illustration

There is an amusing wrinkle. El-Sayed’s communications director, Roxie Richner, has a remarkable social-media record of her own. During the “Summer of Floyd” in 2020, the freckle-faced ginger girl declared that “all white women are policy failures,” lectured white people about “dismantling white supremacy,” and lashed out at people asking whether she was defending looting.

Richner was young. Very young. And demonstrably stupid. She had interned for El-Sayed’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign when she was just 16.

But she was hardly some random teenager sounding off online. By 2020, she was already working professionally in Democratic politics.

Should something an 18-year-old tweeted follow her forever? Probably not. But if those views no longer represent her, the obvious question is the same one her boss should answer: What changed?

Which brings me to Darializa Avila Chevalier, scourge of the American empire and Western civilization.

The New York democratic socialist congressional nominee deleted an old Twitter account from which the Internet Archive preserved more than 3,600 posts. Among them were praise for Marxism and communism, demands to abolish police, prisons, and borders, and some spicy rhetoric about seizing private property.

Chevalier wants voters to know she has “grown considerably.”

Growth is good! But forgive me if I have a few questions.

What precisely was the catalyst for that considerable growth? Did it occur before or after she decided to run for Congress? Which of those old positions — if any — does she now reject? Does she still favor abolishing “the very concept of policing”? What about prisons? Borders? All private property?

Which belief did she abandon first, and what convinced her it was mistaken? Apart from political viability, obviously.

Those are exactly the questions anyone claiming political maturation should be prepared — even eager — to answer.

Growth describes movement from one place to another. If a candidate wants credit for the distance traveled, voters have a right to know where she started, where she ended up, and what happened along the way.

Otherwise, “I’ve grown” isn’t so much an explanation as it is a cheap evasion.

RELATED: Woke 2.0 is coming … and it will be worse

Photo by Sarah Rice/Getty Images

Wisconsin’s Francesca Hong offered another funny variation this summer. In 2020, the failed democratic socialist gubernatorial candidate posted “Cancel Thanksgiving,” calling the holiday a celebration of colonialism. The post disappeared. This summer, Hong announced that Thanksgiving was actually her “favorite holiday.”

I guess the turkey won her over. Unfortunately for Hong, it didn’t win over the voters.

Scrubbing inconvenient positions from the public record is not exclusively a Democratic vice. Republicans do it too. Trump-backed Maryland gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox scrubbed portions of his website after winning his 2022 primary. This year, Republican congressional candidates Eric Flores and Ralph Alvarado quietly de-emphasized their support for the president on their websites after securing their nominations.

The rule applies to everybody.

It’s not like we’re talking about stray remarks uttered after a few drinks at somebody’s wedding. These were political statements (“arguments” might be too generous a term), made publicly and often repeatedly, because the people making them wanted other people to like and share them.

Then some of them decided to run for higher office and discovered that an electorate is considerably larger and less zealous than activists at a DSA meeting.

The Wayback Machine is not an opposition-research dirty trick. It is your record.

But I’m happy to offer an honorable way out. Fess up. Own it.

“Yes, I said it. I believed it. I was wrong.” Then explain why.

Or: “Yes, I said it. I still believe it. Elect me or don’t.”

I would respect either answer.

Some things I’ve said and written over four decades have aged well. Some haven’t. Some undoubtedly look pretty dumb today — I assume. They’re still mine.

Repentance requires confession. Rebranding requires a delete button.

Voters are entitled to know which one they’re looking at.

​Opinion & analysis, Politics, Abdul el-sayed, Hasan piker, 2026 midterms, Darializa avila chevalier, Democratic socialists of america, Francesca hong, Marxism, Twitter 

The climate movement has a new catastrophic prediction, and BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t buying it.

The prediction is that the climate could lead to four billion deaths by 2050.

“The hysteria on the left continues,” Gray says. “Criminal hysteria, I would say.”

“David Cromwell … this global warming goofball, his latest thing is ‘there’s going to be four billion dead, and there are no words for why humanity just can’t, and the media just won’t deal with this,’” he continues, mocking Cromwell. “Are you kidding me? They’re not playing your climate change hysteria reel?”

“Nothing could be farther from the truth,” Jeff Fisher chimes in.

“It’s pretty amazing how he talks about how four billion people are going to die from climate change by 2050 … less than 25 years from now,” Gray says.

“Like everything else they’re hysterical about though, the end of humanity thing, because of climate change, I think it’s worn really thin on anybody who has a speck of common sense or any access to the internet to actually look things up for themselves and see what the actual reality is,” he continues.

However, one group is struggling with all the climate-change propaganda the most.

“It’s despicable what they’ve done to the youth, because they have almost entirely bought in on it,” Gray explains, noting that 75% have reported anxiety over the future because of “climate change.”

“And how do you get them to get that hope back up for themselves?” Fisher asks.

“It’s really hard because we set up our teachers as the people who are experts, and they’re going to teach all this stuff, and so they believe them,” Gray says.

“Have to put your faith in government,” executive producer Keith Malinak chimes in, adding, “That’s their God.”

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Climate change, Pat gray, Jeff fisher, Keith malinak, David cromwell, Greta thunberg, Blazetv show