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

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

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

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

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

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

Liudmila Chernetska/Getty Images

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Mason of Virginia would not sign the Constitution.

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

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

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

A new power is emerging

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where are the safeguards for freedom?

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

Artificial intelligence deserves the same scrutiny.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Mason’s warning for the AI age

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

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

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

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

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

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

Former Capitol Police Officer Shauni Kerkhoff filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday against Blaze Media, former employees Steve Baker and Joseph Hanneman, and Baker and Hanneman’s new online publication, Veritas Regnat, for their reporting on the Jan. 5 to Jan. 6, 2021, pipe-bomb incident in Washington, D.C.

For nearly five years, federal authorities had been unable to identify the masked individual who placed one pipe bomb outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters and another outside the Republican National Committee headquarters the evening before the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol. The devices did not detonate, and there were no injuries reported.

The lawsuit cites a November 8, 2025, Blaze News article that named Kerkhoff as a “forensic match,” based on gait analysis, to the bombing suspect. In December, the Department of Justice announced that the suspect had been identified as another person, Brian Cole Jr., from Woodbridge, Virginia. Blaze News retracted the article shortly after Cole’s arrest.

The complaint alleges that Kerkhoff, represented by the Alexandria-based defamation law firm Clare Locke, was “ultimately exonerated” and that the defendants’ “false and defamatory accusations have irreparably changed her life.” It further alleges that Blaze News’ investigation “induced the FBI to open an investigation of Ms. Kerkhoff.”

“They then cited that investigation — which their own actions had caused — as independent corroboration of their accusation,” according to the complaint.

An April 1 motion filed by Cole’s attorneys claimed that Kerkhoff was “interviewed by the FBI and took a polygraph examination” on Nov. 6, 2025, two days before Blaze News published the article naming Kerkhoff in connection to the pipe-bomb incident.

In her lawsuit, Kerkhoff confirmed that two FBI agents confronted her on Nov. 6, claiming they were “investigating ‘online chatter’ that she was the pipe bomber.” Kerkhoff’s complaint also alleges that her home was subjected to a search, and she participated in a polygraph interview that evening.

While Kerkhoff’s complaint does not mention the results of her polygraph, Cole’s motion — which stated that she was asked two relevant questions, “Did you place those pipe bombs?” and “Did you place those pipe bombs that evening?” — asserted that she failed the examination. It also claimed that the polygraph examiner “noted” that Kerkhoff’s answers seemed “rehearsed.” Cole’s attorneys stated that the FBI named Kerkhoff “as a person of interest” on Nov. 7, a day before Blaze News’ article was released.

“Blaze News initially reported, as confirmed by official intelligence sources, that based on a forensic gait analysis, Ms. Kerkhoff was a 94% match to the suspected pipe bomber. That report was retracted when the FBI arrested and DOJ charged another individual, who had reportedly confessed to the crime. According to recent court filings by that individual’s legal counsel, Ms. Kerkhoff was a person of interest under surveillance by the FBI and failed a polygraph test administered two days before Blaze Media’s article was published,” Michael Grygiel, attorney for Blaze Media, told Blaze News in a statement.

“Blaze Media will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit challenging its valid news reporting on a matter of legitimate public concern, which is protected under the First Amendment and Virginia’s anti-SLAPP law.”

Kerkhoff’s complaint alleges six counts of defamation against the defendants, including four against Blaze Media. She is seeking an unspecified amount in damages to be determined at trial.

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​News, Blaze media, Blaze news, Shauni kerkhoff, January 6, Jan 6, Jan. 6, Pipe bomb, January 6 pipe bomb, J6, Brian cole, Brian cole jr, Politics 

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center for allegedly funneling money to extremist groups.

The SPLC said earlier on Tuesday that the organization was being “targeted” by the Trump administration and speculated that the action was related to money paid to informants to gather information from hate groups.

‘We will not be intimidated into silence or contrition, and we will not abandon our mission or the communities we serve.’

In a post on social media, the Department of Justice accused the SPLC of paying $1 million to a National Alliance affiliate, $300K to an Aryan Nations affiliate, and $73K to former members of the Ku Klux Klan, among others.

“As the indictment describes, the SPLC was not dismantling these groups; it was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a media briefing.

The indictment includes six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“As the indictment lays out, after SPLC paid members of these extremist groups, it created work product that reported on these activities that the members participated in or contributed to,” Blanche added. “And to that end, it was doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing.”

SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan Fair pre-empted the announcement in a video posted to social media.

“The focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups,” he explained. “This use of informants was necessary because we are no stranger to threats of violence.”

He said that the SPLC shared the information gained through informants with law enforcement agencies but protected the identities of the informants.

RELATED: Southern Poverty Law Center attorney among 23 arrested for domestic terrorism

“Today the federal government has been weaponized to dismantle the rights of our nation’s most vulnerable people,” Fair added.

“We will not be intimidated into silence or contrition, and we will not abandon our mission or the communities we serve,” Fair concluded.

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​Doj vs splc, Southern poverty law center, Splc funds extremism, Splc indictment, Politics 

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has reportedly been tapped to participate in the next round of talks with Lebanon.

The ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. appears to be on shaky ground after both sides accused each other of violating the terms they agreed to.

The Times reported that Iran failed to respond to the latest negotiation positions from the US.

Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to travel to Pakistan in order to further negotiate the peace deal with Iran, but that has been put on hold according to the New York Times.

Also on Tuesday, the president said he would withhold resuming attacks on Iran to give the country’s leaders time to come up with a “unified proposal” for a ceasefire to continue.

“I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The Times reported that Iran failed to respond to the latest negotiation positions from the U.S.

Iranian leaders also said they had no plans to attend the talks in Pakistan with the U.S. negotiators.

CNN reported spotting Vance’s motorcade at the White House early Tuesday afternoon.

RELATED: Iran is plotting drone strike against the West Coast, FBI warns

On a radio show Monday, the president warned Iran that the country was going to see “problems like they’ve never seen before” unless it agreed to a peace deal.

He added that he believed the war on Iran was “very close to being over.”

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​Mike huckabee, Lebanon talks with us, Ceasefire deadline extended, Us-israeli strikes on iran, Politics