A Florida sheriff’s deputy a few months back pulled over a driver and proceeded to tell her that she was “holding a phone” with her “right hand,” which would be a violation of the state’s wireless communications while driving law.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy told the woman during the Feb. 11 stop in Lake Worth Beach that “we’re doing an operation for distracted driving, and you drove past me holding a phone with your right hand,” according to bodycam video of the traffic stop.

‘Hand to God — you did not have a phone in your hand?’

But there was a big problem with that accusation.

The driver quickly lifted up her right arm and showed the deputy that she has no right hand. In fact, it appears most of her right forearm is missing too.

The motorist laughed and told the deputy, “So, obviously not!”

RELATED: Video: Florida motorist decides to drive in reverse for a while — and then comes face-to-face with deputies

The woman then asked the deputy, “So, you wanna just call this a day, or …?”

But the deputy persisted: “I don’t want to call it day — you had a hand up manipulating a phone.”

The woman argued back, “You just said my right hand.”

The deputy replied that he “thought” he saw her “right hand.”

She then insisted, “You didn’t” — and then held up her arm with no right hand and moved it closer to the open driver-side window.

“You didn’t see me with my right hand,” she added.

The deputy persisted and asked the woman if she had a phone in her hand, not specifying right hand or left hand.

“I did not,” she replied.

Almost comically, the deputy came back with, “Hand to God — you did not have a phone in your hand?”

The woman then raised her right arm that lacked a hand and replied, “Hand to God.”

The deputy then asked, “Your other hand to God — you didn’t have a phone in your hand?”

The woman then raised her left arm — which has a hand attached — and repeated, “Hand to God.”

With that, the deputy issued her a citation anyway for “wireless communication handheld while driving” — and the pair began sparring again before the deputy acknowledged to her that he did, in fact, say that he saw her holding a phone in her right hand and that she can take the citation to court.

The woman posted video of the traffic stop on TikTok, WPEC-TV reported, and as you can imagine, the station said the case drew widespread attention.

What’s more, the station said the civil penalty amounted to $116.

Naturally, the woman said she requested a hearing date and planned to fight the citation in court, WPEC said.

But it turns out that it wouldn’t be necessary.

RELATED: Police stop bicycle-riding male for traffic violation; turns out he has a gun and then runs from cop. It doesn’t end well.

WPEC said a hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday of this week — May 26 — but the hearing was canceled after the case was dropped.

In fact, court records show the citation was dismissed at the request of the deputy who issued it, the station said.

WPEC added in a video short published Friday that the incident is now “under agency review.”

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​Traffic stop, Florida, Palm beach county sheriff’s office, Deputy, Disabled woman, Ticket, Crime 

The new movie “I Love Boosters” asks us to root for thieves who steal designer clothes sans regret. Next month’s “Carolina Caroline” follows a pair of adorable, lovestruck thugs who swindle strangers for cash.

Whatever happened to actual “good guys”?

‘When he looked into the eyes of the 101st division, he took the time to ask their names, to shoot the breeze about fly fishing and their girlfriends.’

Look no further than “Pressure,” a new World War II saga based on incredible true events.

Extraordinary heroes

Honor. Loyalty. Courage. Heroism. The ability to make a tough decision and stand by it, no matter what. No victim complexes or complaints about rough childhoods. Just extraordinary heroes taking history into their hands.

It’s one reason we still can’t get enough of World War II films. Those qualities are front and center in this well-told tale. And it helps that the premise behind “Pressure” will strike audiences as unfamiliar, even shocking.

Rain day

The most consequential battle of World War II almost got rained out, a story that proves a snug fit for America’s 250th birthday.

Brendan Fraser stars as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander ready to storm the beaches of Normandy and liberate northwest Europe. That risky plan required an assist from Mother Nature.

Would the forecast allow for a massive amphibious assault? Or should the Allied powers wait a few days, even weeks, jeopardizing the element of surprise in the process?

Andrew Scott of “Fleabag” fame plays James Stagg, the meteorologist brought in to advise Gen. Eisenhower on the best path forward. He predicts that conditions will turn D-Day into a disaster. Is he right, or does the existing weather expert (Chris Messina) have the right forecast?

Earned respect

Fraser, the “Whale” alum who once again changed his physique to play “Ike,” told Align why he admires the man who not only helped win the war but later became a two-term U.S. president.

“He was an excellent communicator; he was a diplomat of sorts,” Fraser said. “He conducted military operations over dinner tables. Apparently he was very funny and charming at them. … That’s a form of communication too.”

There was a method to his unorthodox ways, the Oscar winner said.

“He did all this because he cared intensely about the troops’ well-being,” Fraser said. That extended to bonding with the men facing daunting odds of survival, especially in the D-Day invasion.

“When he looked into the eyes of the 101st division, he took the time to ask their names, to shoot the breeze about fly fishing and their girlfriends. He was respected because he earned it. … It was almost like a secret weapon in the operation,” the actor noted. “They wanted to please him, and they knew what they were up against.”

RELATED: ‘Call Sign Courage’: One soldier’s fight against creeping Marxism in the military

Root/Cause

Historic battle

Director Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” captured the early stages of the Normandy invasion without flinching. It’s one of the goriest war sequences ever shot, showing how soldiers ran toward a wall of bullets that took hundreds of lives in a flash.

“Pressure” doesn’t attempt to out-do Spielberg’s version, but the film shows how the beaches were quickly stained a deep red color.

“It was no secret that they were going into a bare-knuckle fight with a chainsaw,” Fraser said of that historic battle.

The project gave Fraser, now gearing up to shoot another “Mummy” film with co-star Rachel Weisz, an appreciation for Ike’s role in history.

“He was the type of leader who did not want to punish his foe, his enemy. … He didn’t let him off the hook, either. … He partnered with them, neutered them that way, and made them accountable,” he said.

Little-known perspective

Fraser’s co-star, Irish actress Kerry Condon, gets a less splashy but still consequential role in the war drama. She plays Captain Kay Summersby, Gen. Eisenhower’s loyal aide.

“She brought the emotional intelligence when the men were struggling,” the actress said of her role, including a critical subplot involving Stagg’s pregnant wife. Summersby would later move to the U.S. and become captain in the Women’s Army Corps.

Many moviegoers may not have realized the role weather played in the D-Day invasion. Count Condon among that group.

“It was shocking to think it was one person who changed the course of history. … That’s why I wanted to do [the film]. It’s a very interesting perspective on World War II.”

​Culture, Movies, World war 2, Brendan fraser, Dwight d. eisenhower, Entertainment, Review, Interview, Lifestyle 

The June 27, 2024, debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden will go down in history as one of the most disastrous performances ever delivered by a presidential candidate. Many say that Biden’s shaky delivery, verbal stumbles, and moments of confusion sunk his campaign right then and there, as it confirmed everyone’s fears that he was experiencing serious cognitive decline.

Almost two years after the fact, former first lady Jill Biden is now suggesting that Joe might have been having a stroke during that debate — starkly contradicting her initial public praise of his performance.

In a recent “CBS News Sunday Morning” interview, she said, “I was frightened because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never. … I don’t know what happened. As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”

BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales believes Jill Biden, whom she dubs “the former elder abuser in chief,” is “trying to rewrite history.”

Sara points out that if Jill was actually concerned that her husband was having a stroke, then surely she would have sought immediate medical attention.

But instead, she let him flounder until the debate was over and then gushed praise over his performance.

Sara plays the infamous clip of Jill congratulating Joe, exclaiming: “Joe, you did such a great job! You answered every question; you knew all the facts!”

“She was so concerned that he was having a stroke that she paraded him on stage to look like a toddler … to tell him, ‘You answered all the questions, Joe. You did so good’?” Sara sarcastically asks.

She then recounts how after the debate, Jill and Joe made a spectacle of going to Waffle House to celebrate.

“If you really think your husband’s had a stroke, it doesn’t seem like that would be the best place to go for medical care,” she says.

But conservatives aren’t the only ones who refuse to buy Jill’s new narrative.

“Even CNN, I’ll point out, isn’t buying her bulls**t,” Sara says.

She plays a clip of CNN’s Abby Phillip calling out the deceptiveness of Jill Biden’s updated story.

“What kind of political system covers that up and makes it OK to lie to people about what everybody knows is true?” she asked on a segment of “NewsNight.”

“You tell me, Abby!” Sara exclaims. “You guys were the ones who were doing it every day.”

As for Jill’s claim that Joe’s debate performance was some kind of one-off incident, Sara says that we all have “receipts upon receipts upon receipts of Joe Biden declining.”

She plays a compilation of the various blunders he made throughout his presidential career and after.

“It was just an isolated incident, other than the entirety of his life now,” Sara mocks.

“Jill Biden, I am calling you out. That is a lie. You did not think he was having a stroke.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, Jill biden, Joe biden 

It has been a dismal year for ranked-choice voting.

RCV allows voters to rank candidates instead of choosing one. It then runs multiple rounds of counting, adjusts rankings, and discards “exhausted” ballots to determine a winner.

Lawmakers, courts, cities, and voters are increasingly rejecting a system that makes elections harder to understand and easier to distrust.

Two states have already banned it. One state’s pilot program was phased out. A statewide ballot proposal failed to qualify. Several city councils rejected it. A state supreme court struck down an expansion bill. And the year still has months to go.

The states that banned RCV this year were Indiana and Ohio. The Ohio legislature first introduced a ban in 2023. It passed the Senate but not the House. This year, lawmakers passed it through both chambers on the second attempt, with Sens. Theresa Gavarone (R) and Bill DeMora (D) leading the effort. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bipartisan bill into law in February.

Indiana acted even faster. Lawmakers introduced a similar ban and enacted it two months later. The legislation reflected growing concern that RCV makes elections less transparent and harder for voters to trust.

“It is important to ensure Indiana’s voting system is secure and accurate for Hoosier voters. Having to rank each candidate could end up being a vote against the voter’s intended candidate, creating confusion and frustration, which is why we need this law in place,” said state Sen. Blake Doriot (R), the bill’s sponsor.

RCV supporters also suffered a setback in Utah, where the pilot program ended this year. Before the program closed, more than 20 cities tried it, but supporters never moved the state toward broader adoption. Multiple cities dropped out before the program ended.

In Michigan, Rank MI Vote’s RCV ballot proposal fell 200,000 signatures short of qualifying. RCV donors can find one consolation: At least they will not have to spend millions on another failed ballot measure, as they did in six states in 2024.

RELATED: Trump’s endorsement power keeps saving the wrong Republicans

KC McGinnis/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Albuquerque, New Mexico, also rejected RCV. The city council voted it down 6-3. The bill’s sponsor claimed switching from the current runoff system would save money, but the proposal failed because of concerns over system upgrades, staff training, and a long public education campaign. Similar proposals also failed in Vista, California, and Appleton, Wisconsin.

The District of Columbia offers another warning. Voters approved RCV, but the city has struggled to prepare for implementation. District residents will use the system for the first time in June, and a recent Opportunity D.C. survey found that 43% of voters remain unaware of the change. To address the confusion, the Board of Elections is spending $50,000 to educate voters.

D.C. Councilmember Wendell Felder introduced emergency legislation to delay implementation until 2027. The bill failed, so voters and election workers will have little time to prepare.

Finally, an effort to expand RCV in Maine was struck down in March when the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled the bill unconstitutional. Because the Maine Constitution requires a plurality for state elections, RCV remains limited to federal elections.

Every year, ranked-choice voting’s backers promise simplicity, fairness, and reform. This year showed the opposite. Lawmakers, courts, cities, and voters are increasingly rejecting a system that makes elections harder to understand and easier to distrust.

​District of columbia, Elections, Indiana, New mexico, Opinion & analysis, Ranked-choice voting, Voters, Wisconsin, Lawsuit, Ban, Ohio, Mike dewine, California, 2026 midterms, Constitution 

Digital ads are a commonality across the internet. You see them in Google Search, social media feeds, and even on your favorite websites. If you spend enough time online, you might’ve grown accustomed to ignoring them.

Unfortunately, a new study reveals that what has become a necessary annoyance to the modern web might also have the power to reveal personal and private information about your interests, beliefs, and more. Even worse, these personal details about you can be gathered without clicking on a single ad, thanks to AI.

Websites can’t stop any company from collecting and using this data.

The study

In a study published by UNSW Sydney in early May, researchers revealed an alarming new trend about online ads: These seemingly innocuous bits of marketing materials on sites all around the web can be used to reveal and track a person’s most privately held values and beliefs – including political affiliation, degree of education, and employment status – simply by monitoring the advertisements users see online.

To be clear, it’s not the ads themselves that can gather specific data about you, but it’s the collective presence of the ads displayed that reveal personal traits. Here’s how it works:

Using Facebook as the catalyst for the study, researchers reviewed 435,000 ads distributed to a relatively small subset of 891 users. After monitoring which ads were served to each user, they ran the correlated data through a large language model and discovered four main points about the results:

Researchers could infer users’ personal traits without accessing their browsing history or personal data on their devices. All they needed was a log of their ad history.User profiles could be created after a short browsing session (though they didn’t outline how long a session needed to be to make it work).AI-based personal trait matching rivaled and even exceeded human capabilities.The AI-powered process was both 200 times more affordable and 50 times quicker than relying on human analysis alone.

The thing that makes this study so startling is that users don’t have to actively share any information about themselves, no cybersecurity loopholes or zero-day exploits are required, and platform holders behind today’s operating systems, web browsers, and websites can’t stop any company from collecting and using this data.

RELATED: A secret bot army is phishing, scamming, and sabotaging our lives

gremlin/Getty Images

This isn’t the first time LLMs have been used to reveal extremely private information about online users. Earlier this year, we reported how AI can reveal the real identities of anonymous accounts simply by comparing writing styles.

Should you be worried?

At this point in the story, you might be wondering if you have anything to worry about. The answer is “maybe,” depending on how your smart devices are configured.

The bright spot of the study is that your personal interests can’t be measured if the data is never recorded. UNSW Sydney noted that extensions, like those you’ll find in the Chrome Web Store, Safari Extensions, and Microsoft Edge Add-Ons are the likely avenue for data collection. The more extensions you have installed on your devices, the higher your chances are that your ad history could be abused. If you don’t have any extensions installed, your chances of ad data collection drop precipitously.

That’s not to say that all extensions are bad. However, even the innocent ones have the power to view which webpages you visit and even the content on those pages.

Ironically, another possible method for ad data collection are ad blockers. While blockers can effectively prevent websites from showing you ads, some may still access served ad data and gather it for user profiling. You especially want to watch out for ad blockers that claim to be free. Remember, if you’re not paying for the product, you likely are the product.

Even without extensions in the mix, data brokers can still collect plenty of information about you, and you still don’t have to click on an ad to hand it over. The sites you browse on the internet are filled with cookies — little crumbs of data — that track where you go and which pages you click from site to site. Even if you don’t click on an ad, simply visiting a product page or website is enough to leave a cookie in your browser that tells brokers the things you like and the things you don’t. These can then be used to build profiles on your browsing habits to target you with other ads you might actually click, which you should never do, as evidenced by the stark rise in social media scams.

Ways to protect yourself from ad data collection

Staying safe and anonymous online is an increasingly difficult task. However, if you want to give yourself the best shot at nullifying this ad data collection “exploit,” try out these tips:

Remove all extensions from your preferred web browser. This is probably the top way to block bad actors from recording your ad data.Install a VPN. Many VPNs come with built-in ad-blocking technology. If you choose to add a VPN to your device, make sure it’s a RAM-based option with a no-log system that actively prevents the VPN provider from recording or saving user data. Some popular RAM-based VPNs include ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and CyberGhost VPN.Block cookies entirely. Some browsers will let you block all third-party cookies. Unfortunately, this may break some websites, so your mileage may vary.Clear out your cookies often. Set a reminder to delete your browser history and cached data every week or month. This can make it harder for sites to monitor your activity over time.Browse in private mode. While “private” or “incognito” mode won’t obscure your web traffic from your ISP, many browsers come with extra tools to reduce or block cookies and other tracking methods that brokers use.

​Tech, Data brokers, Ai, Ads, Security 

Imagine you founded a company with a stop-smoking product that actually works — no nicotine, better than anything on the market. You are the largest investor. You take no salary. You build it into something real, serving 756,000 customers. You are doing exactly what America is supposed to reward.

Then one night, without warning, without a trial, without any finding of wrongdoing, the federal government comes. The government freezes every account you own or are even associated with — personal and business accounts, life insurance, and retirement savings. A court-appointed receiver sells your office furniture. They tell you that you no longer have Fourth Amendment rights. They come for the wedding ring on your wife’s finger.

This attack sounds like some hypothetical scenario. It is my story.

I am writing this so that every American understands just what weaponization by the government really means.

The Federal Trade Commission came for me in 2018 using Section 13(b) of the FTC Act — a provision Congress created for injunctions only, not for seizing assets or freezing accounts. The receiver the agency installed consumed nearly $4 million of my money in fees before anyone proved the FTC did not have legal rights to my assets.

When I went to court and asked for access to my own frozen money just to pay lawyers and keep my home, the government’s response was: You can go live under the freeway for all we care.

While this was happening, inspired by President Trump’s Made in America initiative, I built VPL Medical — the world’s first made-in-USA three-ply surgical face mask manufacturing operation, based in California, where I was born and raised.

This was before COVID. When the pandemic hit, VPL Medical was ready. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded us a $14,500,000 contract to deliver 20,000,000 American-made masks to the Strategic National Stockpile. The factory was going to employ 400 Americans. The country didn’t want masks from China, and we were ready to deliver.

Then the FTC came for VPL Medical, too. The factory went dark for three months while Americans died and hospitals begged for PPE. The FTC’s offer to reopen: Pay the receiver $25,000 per week to run my own company under a law that didn’t authorize the demand. I refused. The receiver’s first act was to cancel the HHS contract. Twenty million American-made masks and 400 American jobs gone.

In April 2021, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in AMG Capital Management v. FTC that the commission had no authority to seek monetary relief. Nine justices. Zero dissents. My civil FTC case collapsed. The district court returned my company to me. Zero dollars — after four years of destruction, a factory closed during a pandemic, a $14.5 million federal contract canceled, and nearly $4 million consumed by a fraudulent receiver.

There is no mechanism to get that back. You win. And you are still destroyed.

My family and I moved to Ireland to take a break. We were through the nightmare and wanted to recover. Or so we thought.

RELATED: Trump’s anti-weaponization fund puts GOP cowards on trial

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

When I flew home to see my dying father, I was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. The Biden DOJ had indicted me for the same conduct the FTC had litigated for four years and won nothing from — conduct the prior Trump administration’s DOJ had already reviewed and declined to charge.

The Trump administration’s own 2018 “No Piling On” directive explicitly prohibits this practice. The alleged consumer harm: approximately $154, across 756,000 customers who all received their product or a refund. My criminal defense costs: in the millions and climbing.

What is happening in my case now has no precedent in American federal prosecution. The supervising AUSA withdrew in April 2025. No replacement has appeared in 14 months. There is no confirmed U.S. attorney supervising the case. The DOJ unit employing the trial attorney was abolished in September 2025. Thirty-one demands for that authorization have gone unanswered. The prosecution continues anyway.

Six fully briefed motions to dismiss — covering fraud on the court, due process, double jeopardy, evidence suppression, and the “No Piling On” violation — have all been denied by District Court Judge Jesus Bernal, an Obama appointee.

Every player in this case, with the exception of myself, is a Biden or Obama appointee. This is what Biden-Obama weaponization looks like — a rogue agency, an unauthorized prosecution, and politically appointed judges, all targeting an American entrepreneur who built American manufacturing and supported President Trump.

I have filed a restitution claim with the DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund. I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for what the rule of law promises: that the government must prove its case before it destroys you. Right now, for me, that promise has not been kept. I am writing this so that every American understands just what weaponization by the government really means.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.

​Trump, Biden doj, Federal trade commission, Vpl medical, No piling on directive, Federal prosecution, Covid, Anti-weaponization fund, Obama, Opinion & analysis 

Immigration is a key issue affecting Americans, but not just in terms of border security.

While border crossings have been going down, one glaring issue with American immigration is whether or not these immigrants are assimilating into American civic life — which in many cases, they are not.

Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey that the president needs to “really double down on the importance of assimilation, the importance of wanting to be an American beyond getting the certificate that you’re an American citizen.”

“The best way to be a pro-immigration country is to have laws that require immigrants to assimilate,” he says.

“Americans want their country back. And I can think of no president, certainly in modern history, who better embodies the desire to do that than Donald Trump,” he adds.

And as a “suburban mom,” Stuckey wholeheartedly agrees.

“Those are the things I really see affecting my community. And it’s not only illegal immigration. And this is where I think the conversation has shifted on the right in a good way. I just don’t know the solution for it,” she says.

“People are saying yes, illegal immigration number one, but also it doesn’t seem like our legal immigration is really prioritizing American interests,” she continues.

“And when people see their communities, the neighborhoods that they grew up in completely shift, and when people see churches turning into mosques, I think most Americans are uncomfortable saying it, but there’s something unsettling about it,” she adds.

“I’m not uncomfortable saying it,” Roberts responds.

“We have to understand that this country was based on principles that came from Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and Philadelphia,” he explains. “We are both Judeo and Christian in our founding. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for other people, but it does mean that it’s possible in a country that is so generous toward immigrants that we might have too many people from the wrong places.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Kevin roberts, The heritage foundation, Donald trump, Illegal immigration, Assimilation, Immigrant, Relatable with allie beth stuckey 

Just days after concert details were released as part of the Great American State Fair celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday, most of the musical artists have publicly expressed their intention not to perform.

Freedom 250, the Trump-launched organization leading the celebration, released an outline on Wednesday detailing the “first round of star-studded entertainment & activations” [sic]. Beginning June 25, the 16-day national exposition on the National Mall is set to consist of “live entertainment, immersive exhibits, patriotic tributes, innovation showcases, cultural programming, and family-friendly attractions.”

‘It is inherently nonpolitical. It is a celebration of our country.’

Nine artists appeared on the list shared by Freedom 250: Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory, Young MC, Flo Rida, Morris Day and the Time, Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, and the Commodores.

But just as quickly as Freedom 250 announced the lineup, it started to crumble.

Morris Day and the Time was the first act to disclose intentions to step away. The band’s official Facebook page posted, “Contrary To Rumor, Morris Day & The Time Will Not Be Performing At The ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR,’” captioning the post with a simple “It’s A No For Me.”

Only a few hours later, Young MC posted on his Facebook profile, saying, “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT. The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is nonpartisan, SPIN magazine describes it as Trump-backed.”

The Commodores and Martina McBride followed suit by announcing similarly on their Instagram and X accounts respectively that they “will not be performing at the Great American State Fair.”

“[The Commodores] choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party.”

McBride went on to claim that she “was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”

Bret Michaels posted on his Instagram profile that “what was presented to us as a celebration of our country has evolved into something much more divisive.” Michaels also cited concerns over the safety of his “fans, band, crew, family, and myself.”

“Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.”

RELATED: America at 250

Construction ahead of the Rededicate 250 and Great American State Fair events on the National Mall.Al Drago/Washington Post/Getty Images

Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory uploaded a lengthy video to his Instagram account during which he ranted about the heavy public backlash he received after his involvement in the event was announced. He initially claimed his booking agent “didn’t mention Trump” and therefore he planned to back out: “So I told my agent, yeah, nah, I ain’t gonna be able to do that.”

Yet Williams spent most of the seven-minute, 13-second recording brazenly criticizing those who threatened to “cancel” him: “The day I let you motherf**kers tell me what to do is the day I die.”

He added, “F**k Trump and f**k you too, but I just might do it,” leaving his attendance up for debate.

Founding member of C+C Music Factory Robert Clivilles clarified his own position on X: “I was neither involved in, consulted regarding, nor have I endorsed the event. Any political, ideological, religious, or personal viewpoints expressed by Freedom Williams are his own and should not be interpreted as reflecting my views.”

As for Milli Vanilli, the “real vocalists” announced through a Facebook press release that they too will not be performing, stating, “Others using the name ‘Milli Vanilli’ that appear on the advertisement should be considered a tribute band.”

However, Fab Morvan, one side of the original duo group, said in a statement sent to Consequence that he “feel[s] honored to be a part of the Great American State Fair.”

Also still confirmed to appear is Vanilla Ice, with his management agency telling NBC News that the artist “is contracted and will perform at the Great American Fair.”

“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!”

A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 hit back at these recent developments in an interview with The Hill columnist Judy Kurtz on Friday morning: “It is inherently nonpolitical. It is a celebration of our country.”

She added, “We have a president that wants to celebrate 250 years of America … and that’s how it was sold to performers.”

Flo Rida did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Bret michaels, Freedom 250, Politics, United states 

California is being ripped off. The state is losing billions of dollars to fraudsters every year, and the state’s leaders have done too little to stop them.

While California’s population has dropped since 2020, Medi-Cal spending has doubled over the same time frame. How is this even possible? One reason is that per initial federal estimates, one out of every four Medi-Cal dollars is lost to fraud, for a whopping $50 billion in losses per year. This is an amount larger than the entire economy of some states.

If federal estimates are correct, the state has lost some $200 billion to Medi-Cal fraud under Governor Newsom, not to mention other kinds of fraud using taxpayer dollars.

The federal government must ensure that federal funding will be spent wisely by the states, not lost to fraudsters.

In California alone, federal auditors have found 1.2 million ineligible individuals on Medicaid, with another 3.2 million enrollees found to be potentially ineligible.

Auditors have flagged hundreds of thousands of individuals who were enrolled in Medicaid in multiple states at the same time — many of whom were flagged for fake or stolen Social Security numbers. Even worse, hundreds of millions of Medicaid dollars have funded benefits for the deceased.

Fortunately, the Trump administration is taking on fraudsters like no administration in American history and holding California’s leaders accountable. Earlier this year, the White House announced it would withhold roughly $10 billion in federal funding from five states, including California, until they make reasonable plans for reducing fraud.

This step is absolutely necessary: The federal government must ensure that federal funding will be spent wisely by the states, not lost to fraudsters.

Remarkably, Governor Newsom’s response has been to attack the Trump administration for its anti-fraud efforts and even blame President Trump for California’s carelessness and laxity toward criminals, all while casting himself as an anti-fraud champion.

This tactic might play well on Bluesky, but it is completely divorced from the facts and does nothing to solve the very real problem of taxpayer dollars being stolen.

Unless the governor gets serious, California taxpayers could end up paying an even higher price as soon as President Trump’s new welfare reform law goes into effect. The president’s new law requires states to clean up their rolls and reduce improper payments or risk losing the share of the federal dollars that support Medicaid.

RELATED: The Trump administration is cracking down on fraud

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

With these shocking rates of waste, fraud, and abuse, California could lose a large amount of federal funding while it continues to bleed billions of dollars to fraudsters. California has wisely had a balanced budget amendment to the state constitution for more than a century, but this means that every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar taken away from other priorities.

California can’t just print money. Fraudsters are stealing directly out of taxpayers’ pockets, and right now they are doing so on a massive scale.

The good news is that there is a common-sense solution on the table right now in the State Assembly. Republican Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo has introduced the Protect the Promise Act to help California reduce Medicaid fraud and lower the state’s improper payment rate.

The bill would simply require more eligibility checks using more data. For example, it would require officials to cross-check Medi-Cal enrollment data with federal Medicaid enrollment data to ensure that people aren’t enrolling in multiple states, which is illegal. It would require the state to take immediate action when discrepancies are found.

The bill wouldn’t affect Medi-Cal benefits in the slightest. But by dramatically slashing payments to ineligible people, it could save Californians billions of dollars by reducing fraud and preventing a loss of federal funds. In a balanced-budget state like California, this would free up more resources for other priorities.

Medi-Cal was started to help Californians in need — not to enrich fraudsters with Californians’ hard-earned tax dollars. It is time for the state’s leaders to end the fraud crisis and finally protect the promise for the truly needy. Otherwise, Californians will pay a high price — one that is only getting higher.

​Gavin newsom, California, Medi-cal, Fraud, Medicare, Trump administration, White house, Balanced budget, Federal funding, Opinion & analysis, Democrats 

An attentive Lyft driver called Philadelphia police after seeing a gray suitcase on the news that belonged to a woman rider who apologized for the smell of the dirty wet clothing inside.

Investigators now say 53-year-old Liza Ridley was transporting the remains of Vincent Good in order to dump them off so she could cash in on his Social Security checks.

He said she carried a gray suitcase and left a fluid stain on the floor of his car.

Good’s family said he was funny and kind and would give nicknames to everyone he met.

Prosecutors say that Ridley admitted to shooting Good in the head after the Lyft driver’s tip led them to her door.

Good’s remains were found in the suitcase dumped at East Hilton Street in Kensington on May 22.

A person searching for scrap metal first noticed the smell emitting from the suitcase, according to a statement from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. Police also found remains in two industrial-size trash bags after investigating.

Police sought help from the public and released a photo of the gray suitcase.

A Lyft driver then contacted the police to tell them about the strange interaction she had with a woman transporting a suitcase with a strong foul odor on May 21. She said the woman carried a gray suitcase and left a fluid stain on the floor of her car.

She also said that she believed she had driven the woman to Kensington.

Astonishingly, she gave police a photograph of the woman.

“That Lyft driver had the wisdom to take a photograph of that passenger based on the suspicious indications that the Lyft driver was observing,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Police were able to identify the woman as Liza Ridley, a registered home health aide for Exceptional Heart Home Care Services. She had been hired to care for Good and was also his girlfriend.

Investigators say Ridley had her 55-year-old sister Bernadette Ridley, her 32-year-old daughter Liza Robinson, and Liza’s 33-year-old boyfriend Gnaeus Daniels helped clean up the crime scene and disposed of evidence. Bernadette Ridley is also accused of helping dismember Good’s body.

The group is charged with a slew of crimes.

Liza Ridley is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse, and her sister is charged with abuse of a corpse. All four suspects are charged with tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice, as well as conspiracy charges related to both crimes.

RELATED: Illegal alien dismembered man who overdosed and flushed his organs in order to avoid deportation, police say

Police said a forensic anthropologist will determine what date Good was killed and how he was dismembered. They believe the motivation for the alleged murder was the theft of Good’s Social Security checks.

“This case was quickly solved largely thanks to two Good Samaritan Philadelphians who came forward as crucial witnesses and shared vital information with law enforcement,” Krasner said.

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​Double amputee, Abuse of a corpse, Dismembered body, Philadelphia, Crime