Stembridge News Digest

  • Did Beethoven discover the cure for cancer? Wed, 05 Feb 2025 02:00:00 +0000


    About a decade ago, scientists made a startling discovery: Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5 in C minor” kills cancer.

    Naturally this finding made its way through social media, even catching the attention of a few news outlets.

    Beethoven believed in the transformative power of composition, that it could — and ought to — change the world.

    Upon further investigation, the story did seem to have a legitimate origin: an institute of biophysics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    These scientists explored how music might affect biological processes beyond its emotional and psychological impacts. They exposed breast cancer cells to Beethoven, Mozart, and Ligeti. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Ligeti’s "Atmosphères" seemed to have cancer-fighting properties.

    In fact, Beethoven’s broody masterpiece was said to kill 20% of the cancerous cells.

    Mozart’s "Sonata for Two Pianos" didn’t. Neither did silence.

    Mortal beloved

    This is the kind of story that resurfaces every once in a while; it was recently shared by the Beethoven Facebook page.

    Unfortunately, as is often the case with such stories, there's less here than meets the eye.

    While the study did suggest that Beethoven’s music impacted the health of the cells, it didn’t explain how or why this occurred. The team was unable to pinpoint which aspects of the music caused the effect.

    Nor could the researchers determine how healthy tissue might react to the same exposure. It’s one thing to see cancer cells die in a controlled, isolated experiment — it’s another to claim Beethoven can cure an entire population suffering from the disease.

    Worse still, the 20% figure often cited in connection with the study was fabricated, as the researchers admitted their methods didn’t allow them to accurately measure cell death.

    No real data, no conclusive findings. In short, it was pop science dressed up as legitimate research.

    'Fire from the heart of man'

    Beethoven believed in the transformative power of composition, that it could — and ought to — change the world. That as a human endeavor, it ranked higher than philosophy.

    “Music,” he once said, “should strike fire from the heart of man and bring tears from the eyes of woman.” He described it as “the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, and invents,” called it “the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.”

    There’s something undeniably compelling about the notion that music holds the potential to heal.

    In his pursuit of musical perfection, Beethoven sought a deeper truth, one that might transcend human suffering. Whether or not he succeeded in discovering the cure for cancer, there is no doubt that his work continues to inspire, to uplift, and to connect us with something much larger than ourselves.

    Music, as an art form, has always held a magical quality. It operates on a plane that remains barely accessible and beyond comprehension.

    How exactly does an invisible disruption of air launch us into every possible emotion? How can notes on a page vanish into instruments and reappear as a work of art capable of shaping human civilization?

    Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is an enduring testament to this power. We remember it today, two centuries after it was composed, not just because it’s a sublime piece of music but because it resonates with something deeply human.

    Music as 'moral law'

    The power of music has long been a subject of philosophical contemplation. Plato referred to music as the "moral law" — a force that gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, and flight to the imagination.

    He believed that music was more than entertainment, that it was a law unto itself, a force that shaped the good and the beautiful. Aristotle, too, understood music as a direct imitation of the passions, a means of channeling the deepest emotions and truths of the soul.

    For thinkers like Schopenhauer, music stands as the highest form of art, one that speaks directly to the human spirit in ways no other medium can. It transcends the limits of language and logic, speaking instead to a deeper truth that, perhaps, we can only access in fleeting moments of transcendent beauty.

    And, best of all, this animating force is part of us at the most fundamental level. I mean, our DNA literally sings.

    Fear not the Spirit

    What is it about music that elevates it above all other forms of art? It’s not just the way it sounds, but the way it makes us feel. Music is a form of expression — an ancient language, a shared vocabulary that transcends barriers and unites people.

    As the philosopher and poet Walter Pater once wrote, all art aspires to the condition of music. Its power is so vast that it can move us in ways words alone cannot.

    Perhaps best of all, it arguably serves as proof of God, the breeze of the Holy Spirit. It is the unseen captured by the unseen. It exists on a plane we have only partial access to, like a voice from the kingdom of paradise.

    Jesus himself compared the Spirit to the breeze: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

    Music, in a similar way, exists on a plane we can only partially access — an otherworldly force that reaches us even when we don’t fully understand it.

    So does Beethoven hold the cure for cancer? In one sense, perhaps he does. His music, like all great art, has the power to heal — if not the body, then certainly the soul.

    Maybe that’s the true gift the great composer gave us: not a cure for disease, but a reminder that there's omething beyond the material, something that moves us, shapes us, and connects us to the greater mysteries of the universe.

  • ‘It’s not the tariff he wants’: Why Trump’s tariffs are no reason to freak out Wed, 05 Feb 2025 01:30:00 +0000


    It’s no secret that President Donald Trump loves tariffs, nor is it a secret that his detractors — and even many of his voters — are absolutely terrified of them.

    However, without flinching, the president has imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.

    “The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Until the crisis is alleviated, President Donald J. Trump is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff,” read a statement from the White House.

    Always the voice of reason, Stu Burguiere of “Stu Does America” is thankfully here to explain why it might not be as big a deal as we think.


    “Trump knows — he understands tariffs really well. In fact, this is one of his most consistent beliefs throughout his entire life. If you go back to the '80s, he’s pro-choice and a bunch of other stuff that he doesn’t really agree with now, but he was always pro-tariff,” Stu explains.

    “Anybody that’s against Tariffs, including the Fake News Wall Street Journal, and Hedge Funds, is only against them because these people or entities are controlled by China, or other foreign or domestic companies. Anybody that loves and believes in the United States of America is in favor of Tariffs. They should have never ended, in favor of the Income Tax System, in 1913. The response to Tariffs has been FANTASTIC!” Trump posted to his followers on Truth Social.

    As someone who's against tariffs, Stu disagrees with Trump's statement — though it doesn't scare him.

    “While I don’t like tariffs, it doesn’t freak me out that much,” Stu comments, noting that President Trump has paused the tariffs on Mexico for one month after an agreement on border troops he’s struck with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico.

    “This is why I don’t get freaked out about this stuff. You know what Donald Trump is doing. Everyone knows. We all went through a presidency before. He likes to use these tools to get other things,” he continues. “It’s not the tariff that he wants; he wants something else.”

    Want more from Stu?

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  • Senate confirms Pam Bondi as attorney general Wed, 05 Feb 2025 01:00:48 +0000


    The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General in President Donald Trump's administration.

    Republicans were able to overcome the dissenting votes from Democrats to confirm Bondi 54 to 46.

    'Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.'

    Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois continued to oppose Bondi and Trump's pick for FBI director, Kash Patel.

    "I urge my colleagues to think twice about Pam Bondi and Kash Patel," said Durbin. "This is not what we should expect or want from the FBI and the Department of Justice."

    Bondi had been berated by Democratic senators who asked if she would support a blanket pardon of those arrested over the rioting at the U.S. Capitol.

    "As I said, the pardons are at the direction of the president," Bondi said at the time. "We will look, and we will advise. I will look at every case on a case-by-case basis, and I abhor violence to police officers."

    Bondi served as the first female attorney general for Florida and was well-known to Trump before his second term.

    "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — Not anymore," he said in November when announcing her nomination. "Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again."

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  • Ayanna Pressley says Dems will fight 'Nazi nepo baby' Elon Musk 'in the streets' Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:35:00 +0000


    Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts tossed out insults against tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and called for activists to fight against him "in the streets."

    Pressley was flanked by other Democrats including Rep. Maxine Waters of California at a protest against Musk gaining access to data records at the Treasury Department.

    'This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of!'

    "This is an unprecedented moment and unconstitutional crisis, but we will match their energy!" said Pressley. "With unprecedented organizing, mobilizing, agitating, we will see you in the courts, in Congress, [and] in the streets!"

    Musk was chosen by President Donald Trump to identify government offices and programs that were opposed to the Trump agenda and needed to be shut down. Democrats have been furious at his efforts to severely curtail the United States Agency for International Development.

    "Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless, lawless billionaire who no one elected!" she continued. "Elon! This is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of!"

    Video of Pressley's comments were posted to social media where many criticized her for the insults she lobbed at Musk. Some characterized Pressley's comments as advocating for violence against Musk and others on the right.

    Democrats also protested outside of the USAID building after workers were locked out and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he was taking over as acting director of the organization.

    "This is a constitutional crisis that we are in today. Let's call it what it is," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "The people get to decide how we defend the United States of America. The people get to decide how their taxpayer dollars are spent. Elon Musk does not get to decide."

    Critics claim that Musk does not have the authority to dismantle a government office that was instituted by Congress.

    Pressley posted a video of herself leading a chant with protesters saying, "Hey hey! Ho ho! Elon Musk has got to go!"

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  • ‘I will never see again’: How just two weeks on birth control left a young woman blind Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000


    Chelsea Painter Davis became blind when she was only 19 years old, but it wasn’t the result of an accident. Rather, it happened after she was prescribed birth control pills.

    “I started taking birth control pills because that’s what all the little good Protestant girls do, or so I thought, when you’re about to get married,” Davis tells Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable.”

    “I wanted to have a real conversation with my primary care physician. When I came in, I was like, ‘I want to choose something that’s safe, something that’s effective, and something that’s ethical, and she was not interested in having that conversation with me,” Davis explains, noting that she got the impression her doctor just wanted her to “take the prescription and leave.”

    Davis felt so uncomfortable, that despite her unanswered questions, she decided to just get the prescription and leave.


    “I just started taking the medication, and I did not really feel OK with that, but I was a virgin at the time, I wasn’t having sex, I was like, ‘OK, well, it’s not that big of a deal, it’s not like I’m causing any problems with the baby right now, it’s not even possible for me to be pregnant right now,’” she tells Stuckey.

    After taking the medication for only two weeks, Davis ended up in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism.

    “I almost died,” she says, adding that her friend had also died from a blood clot that was due to taking hormonal birth control.

    “But for some reason, you still think, ‘Oh, that’s a fluke, that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with birth control,’ that just means, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong in her body, that would never happen to me,’” she says.

    After suffering the pulmonary embolism, Davis began getting headaches.

    “I recovered from my pulmonary embolism. They realized that I had blood clotting disorders, and combined with the birth control, that’s what threw the clot. But I started getting headaches after, and I went to see that same PCP, and I said, ‘Hey, my head hurts really bad, I’m trying to take my college classes, I just had my wedding, and Tylenol won’t cut it,’” she explains.

    While Davis had stopped taking the birth control at that point, her primary care physician told her to “calm down” and that she was “just really stressed out.”

    The headaches continued, and finally she was forced to realize that her vision was also failing.

    “It wasn’t until my mom came to visit for Thanksgiving, and we were setting up the Christmas tree,” Davis says. “She asked me to hand her the purple Christmas ornament, and I was holding two of them, and I couldn’t tell which one it was.”

    “I ended up having a pseudotumor cerebri, which is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid that squished my optic nerves to death. And because I was so delayed in coming to get a proper diagnosis, there was nothing they could do,” she explains, adding, “I will never see again. There’s nothing they can do for me.”

    Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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  • Trump warns about what would happen if Iran assassinates him or his team: 'I've left instructions' Tue, 04 Feb 2025 22:45:00 +0000


    President Donald Trump said that he has left instructions on how the U.S. would respond if he were to be assassinated by the Iranian regime.

    Trump made the comments while speaking Tuesday at a White House media briefing when a reporter asked him about the possibility of Iran assassinating him or members of his team.

    'If they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left.'

    "Well, they haven't done that, and that would be a terrible thing for them to do, not because of me. If they did that, they would be obliterated," he responded.

    "That would be the end. I've left instructions," he added.

    Trump has been criticized for ordering the removal of security protection for previous members of his administration that no longer support him, including former national security adviser John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state.

    "If they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left," Trump continued.

    "And they shouldn't be able to do it. And Biden should have said that but he didn't, I don't know why. Lack of intelligence, perhaps. But he never said it," he added. "If that happens to a leader, or close to a leader, frankly, if you had other people involved also, you would call for total obliteration of the state that did it, that would include Iran."

    Trump signed an executive order meant to put pressure on Iran and prevent the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.

    "So this is one that I'm torn about, everybody wants me to sign it, I'll do that. But it's very tough on Iran," he explained.

    "I'm signing this, and I'm unhappy to do it," he continued. "But I really have not so much choice because we have to be strong and firm. I hope it's not going to have to be used in a great measure, at all. It would be great if we could have a Middle East, maybe a world at total peace."

    He went on to say he wanted to have a good relationship with the Iranian regime but that it could not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.

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  • New evidence indicates Shroud of Turin shows EXACT moment of resurrection Tue, 04 Feb 2025 22:30:00 +0000


    For centuries, the Shroud of Turin has been a major controversy. Imprinted by the body of a crucified man, the linen cloth is believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Others, however, claim it is a forgery from medieval times.

    How is such a mystery solved?

    Experts have long gone back and forth on the garment’s authenticity, but today, thanks to scientific advancements and artificial intelligence, many researchers now believe that the garment’s authenticity can no longer be denied. They’ve even discovered evidence showing the exact moment Jesus was resurrected.

    In his latest podcast episode, Glenn Beck met with one of the leading experts on the Shroud of Turin — New Testament scholar, pastor, and president of Christian Thinkers Society Dr. Jeremiah J. Johnston.

    In this groundbreaking episode, Dr. Johnston covers the scientific, historic, and theological background of the Shroud of Turin and presents the latest research that likely proves the authenticity of one of the world’s most precious yet controversial artifacts.

    While the name “Shroud of Turin” wasn’t used until the mid-16th century, the Gospels, other historical records, art, and metal coins predating the nomenclature all corroborate the authenticity of the garment.

    “We see the exact same image of the face of Jesus in coins that corresponds with the face of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin,” says Dr. Johnston, adding that the same can be said of the earliest Jesus icons, including the one from Sinai.

    Further, the majority of pollen samples found on the shroud originated in Jerusalem, specifically the varieties that bloom in the springtime, when Passover takes place.

    “There are pints and pints and pints of blood all over the shroud” from “50 abrasions on the forehead” where the crown of thorns was placed, “372 lacerations from a Roman whip,” and the “lance wound in the side.”

    When researchers tested the blood and the chromosomes, they found that it was human blood from a male. The blood type was AB, which is significant because “less than 3% of the world's population has type AB blood, and it is found primarily in the land of Israel.”

    The blood from the lance wound in Jesus’ side was found to be "postmortem blood,” which lines up with the scriptural account of his death.

    All of this research debunks the idea that the shroud was forged in medieval days, Dr. Johnston argues.

    “If you're going to fake the shroud, you've got to kill a guy, his blood needs to be postmortem blood, and then you need to slap that on the spear wound,” he tells Glenn.

    As for the moment of resurrection, Dr. Johnston explains that the shroud is a negative, meaning that light and dark values are reversed.

    According to the research, a flash of light created the image on the linen.

    “It took 34,000 trillion watts of energy emanating from the body in a flash of 1/40th of a billionth of a second to produce that image, so in other words God took the first selfie,” says Dr. Johnston.

    What we see when we look at the image imprinted on the linen is “the moment of Jesus’ physical bodily resurrection Sunday morning, April 5, AD 33.”

    To hear more about the Shroud of Turin and why Dr. Johnston says it’s “the most lied about artifact from antiquity,” watch the episode above.

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  • Kash Patel won’t be lectured by Democrats about ‘election denial’ Tue, 04 Feb 2025 22:30:00 +0000


    The Associated Press, which has given up its role as a dispassionate news source to become a handmaiden of the Democratic Party, recently savaged "MAGA favorite" Kash Patel, whom we are warned would politicize the presumably nonpartisan FBI if he were put in charge of it. As proof that Patel could never equal the political impartiality of a Merrick Garland or perhaps James Comey, the legacy media have pointed to his unwillingness to say unequivocally that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

    Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) almost twisted himself into a pretzel during Patel’s confirmation hearing on Thursday, trying to get the nominee to recognize Biden as the victor in the 2020 presidential election. Patel kept responding to Welch’s query with the statement that Biden was declared the certified winner. When Welch in exasperation asked if Biden won that contest just as Trump did in 2024, Patel calmly replied: “Both were certified as winners.”

    The reality is that Patel had no intention of vouching for the integrity of an election he may still view askance.

    Allow me to confess that I love how Patel responded to Welch’s grilling for several reasons. One, the nominee had no reason to let a hostile opposition party push him into distancing himself from his presidential benefactor. Patel took the proper, indeed obligatory, position by stating the obvious about both presidential victors being certified and leaving the matter at that.

    Two, Welch and just about every other Democratic senator is Patel’s enemy and will undoubtedly vote against him. You should never try to accommodate your adversaries by letting them drive a wedge between you and the president you intend to serve. I can’t imagine why Patel, unless he were an utter fool (which he obviously is not), would fall into that trap.

    Three, Congress is full of Democratic election deniers, starting with Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), and, of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). If Welch is so concerned about election deniers in government, then perhaps he could show his sincerity by going after the offenders in his own party.

    In fact, Welch’s party has a long history of election denying, going back well before 2020; one can easily find statements by Hillary Clinton and even Joe Biden questioning Republican presidential victories. As early as 2005, 31 Democratic members of Congress denied that George W. Bush won the state of Ohio in the 2004 presidential election. As Karl Rove shows, Bush won Ohio easily, and Clyburn, the black activist Democratic congressman to whom Biden owed his nomination in 2020, engineered the attempt to remove the Buckeye State from W’s column. Why should Patel submit to being questioned about election denial by members of a party that has regularly indulged in that practice?

    Although I don’t know for sure whether Democratic cheating determined the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, it wouldn’t surprise me if it did. Everything the Democrats have done suggests they will employ any trick to win elections. Blocking voter identification laws, trying to register those illegal aliens they’ve obviously brought into the country as future Democratic voters, working to move elections from more to less supervised settings, and trying to throw a powerful presidential opponent into jail or having him removed from state ballots to keep him from running were all actions that Democrats have taken against Trump. Let’s also remember those Democratic Party officials who tried to keep social media from sharing anything that might hurt the Democrats’ chances of winning the 2020 election.

    The Democrats belabor Republicans with the charge that they don’t really recognize Biden’s victory in 2020, and they expect Republican candidates and nominees to answer this charge by loudly affirming the indisputable character of Biden’s election. But the Republicans will be given no brownie points even if they provide the desired answer.

    Conceding that the 2020 election was fraud-free also provides at least indirectly a justification for the incarceration of hundreds of January 6 demonstrators, only a small number of whom were involved in physical violence. If the 2020 election was as clean as Democrats and their media friends want us to believe, then should we assume that many of those who have been complaining about electoral fraud have been lying to us?

    Perhaps the protesters on January 6 were just looking for an excuse to devastate our Capitol and commit insurrectionary acts. If we believe on the other hand that the 2020 election raised justifiable suspicions, that it looked “rigged” — to borrow the title of Mollie Hemingway’s book — then we are recognizing that there were extenuating circumstances for those who were upset enough to demonstrate unlawfully.

    The reality is that Patel had no intention of vouching for the integrity of an election he may still view askance. The election understandably looked fishy to him even if neither he nor I can prove incontestably that massive fraud determined that election’s outcome.

  • Albany Dems plot to undermine democracy by delaying election for Stefanik's seat Tue, 04 Feb 2025 21:36:15 +0000


    Democratic lawmakers in Albany, New York, appear to be scheming to undermine democracy by delaying a special election for the soon-to-be-vacant seat of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R).

    The Democrat-controlled state Assembly and Senate met virtually on Friday to discuss a bill that would amend election laws, allowing New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) to keep Stefanik's seat empty until June or later.

    'Expose[s] Democrats' hypocrisy when it comes to "protecting democracy."'

    The discussion was held under the guise of consolidating elections into a single day to save taxpayers time and money. Nevertheless, the proposed election changes would likely be used to delay appointing a new representative.

    President Donald Trump nominated Stefanik to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations. She is expected to resign in the coming days, although her confirmation vote has not yet been scheduled.

    A special election for the red district's vacancy is likely to favor another Republican to replace Stefanik.

    However, House Republicans currently hold a narrow 218-215 majority, and keeping the seat vacant for an extended period could present challenges in pushing through Trump's agenda.

    Current law requires Hochul to declare a special election within 10 days of Stefanik's official resignation, and the election must be held 80 to 90 days after her resignation.

    Democratic lawmakers could introduce the bill as early as Friday and hold a vote on Monday, sources told Gothamist.

    Stefanik is expected to be the third Republican member of Congress to resign from her seat to take a position in Trump's Cabinet. Special elections in Florida, scheduled for April, will replace the two lawmakers who resigned previously.

    New York state Rep. Latrice Walker (D) stated, "We're always looking for cost-effective measures by which to exact democracy."

    "And as a voting rights advocate, I'm always looking for fairness, justice, and equity," she added.

    If the bill is adopted, it remains unclear exactly how much additional time it will allow the governor to schedule a special election. However, one option being considered is combining special elections with regularly scheduled primary or general elections. If this option is enacted, Stefanik's seat could remain vacant until late June.

    A spokesperson for Hochul told Gothamist that the governor "believes it's critical to increase voter turnout and reduce the cost of election administration and she would support legislation that achieves that goal."

    New York Rep. Nick Langworthy (R) told the New York Post, "This is corruption, the corruption of absolute power."

    Rep. Mike Lawler (R) called the bill "an outrageous abuse of power," noting that it "expose[s] Democrats' hypocrisy when it comes to 'protecting democracy.'"

    "Kathy Hochul should make clear this will not happen," Lawler declared.

    Stefanik did not respond to requests for comment from Gothamist or the Post.

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  • Director of 'Terrifier' horror movie defends actor from backlash after anti-Trump posts Tue, 04 Feb 2025 21:15:18 +0000


    The director of the popular "Terrifier" horror movie franchise released a statement defending the main actor of the movie after he posted some anti-Trump messages on social media.

    David Thornton Howard, who portrays the serial killer Art the Clown, criticized supporters of President Donald Trump and faced some backlash online. Director Damien Leone then posted a long statement trying to stay out of the debate.

    'I'm all for freedom of speech and expression. ... 'Terrifier' is NOT in any way shape or form a political franchise.'

    "Hopefully I never have to bring up politics publicly ever again but this desperately needed to be said on behalf of the 'Terrifier' franchise," he wrote on Monday.

    "As most of you know, some of my cast and crew members have a very passionate political presence on social media with extreme and sometimes harsh opinions which is their right. I'm all for freedom of speech and expression. That being said, 'Terrifier' is NOT in any way shape or form a political franchise. I did not get into filmmaking to become a politician or promote any politcal [sic] agendas or ideologies, especially through a killer clown movie," he continued.

    Leone went on to say that he welcomed Democrats and Republicans to be a fan of his movies while rejecting "toxic rhetoric" in politics.

    "Since 'Terrifier 1,' our cast and crew has and still consists of both republicans and democrats and anyone is welcome to be a part of it regardless of their political affiliations as long as they're a decent human being," he added.

    Howard had said on his Threads account that Trump was going to push the U.S. into World War III and then criticized his ally Elon Musk.

    "The same people that scream 'They took our jerbs!' have no problem with an unelected illegal immigrant Nazi oligarch taking their social security information and taking over the Treasury by force. Make it make sense," he posted.

    He also compared the situation in the U.S. to that of 1930s Germany.

    The people behind the "Terrifier" movie series announced a fourth iteration in the series despite it being banned in some countries over graphic depictions of violence.

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  • New information on the Black Hawk-airliner collision only fuels new questions Tue, 04 Feb 2025 21:00:00 +0000


    More time has passed since the plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that resulted in the tragic loss of 67 lives — but there are still more questions than answers.

    “The more that we see, the more information that we get, it just leaves you scratching your head going, ‘What the hell is going on?’” Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” comments.

    In a video released of the collision, the Black Hawk helicopter flies through the clear skies and straight into the American Airlines flight.

    “It just boggles the mind how this could happen on a clear night,” Gonzales says, noting that the helicopter “seemed to be barreling full speed ahead into the plane” and was flying “outside of its approved flight path.”


    President Donald Trump also commented on the devastating crash, writing in a post on Truth Social that “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot.”

    “It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” He continued.

    “I very much appreciate president Trump’s transparency here, because that is what the American people need, and he has been very transparent since the moment it happened in blasting this and saying ‘we have to get to the bottom of this,’” Gonzales comments.

    “There’s human error, but half a mile on a clear night. I’m just saying, it’s not completely out of reach that some of the comments online are ‘Was this intentional?’” BlazeTV contributor Jaco Booyens chimes in.

    “It doesn’t make any sense,” Eric July adds.

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  • Gov. Abbott says Texas National Guard now has authority to arrest illegal aliens Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:57:24 +0000


    The Texas National Guard will be granted authority to arrest illegal immigrants, according to a report from Breitbart News.

    The report cited a memorandum of understanding between the state of Texas and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Under the terms of the agreement, National Guard members can arrest illegal immigrants as long as the officers are in contact with immigration officials at all times.

    'Effective immediately. This boosts man power for border security.'

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) confirmed the Breitbart report on his official social media account.

    "In an agreement I signed between Texas and Trump's Customs and Border Protection, the Texas National Guard is granted the power of immigration officials to make immigration arrests," wrote Abbott. "Effective immediately. This boosts man power for border security."

    The MOU said that the preliminary ratio of National Guard soldiers to immigration officials was four to one. The report said 3,000 Texas Army National Guard soldiers would be added to the coalition enforcing immigration law.

    A spokesperson for the American Immigration Council told the Texas Tribune that the policy would likely face challenges in court.

    "It's written in a way to encompass a very broad set of immigration authorities, which means you could imagine the Texas National Guard trying itself not just to make immigration arrests or put people into immigration proceedings but to actually effectuate the full removal from the country," said police director Nayna Gupta. "This is absolutely an unprecedented invocation of authority."

    Abbott was one of the governors who bused illegal aliens from his state to self-declared "sanctuary cities" like New York City. The effort forced many Democratic governors and mayors to reverse course on their opposition to deportation efforts by federal immigration officials.

    More about the policy can be viewed on the news video report from Newsmax on YouTube.

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  • Photo of girl with Down syndrome and 'most pro-life president' goes viral: 'The Trump the corporate press doesn't want you to see' Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:20:00 +0000


    A photo of President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's young daughter — who has Down syndrome — has gone viral. The mother of the adorable girl declared that Trump is the "most pro-life president in U.S. history."

    Duffy and his family recently visited the White House and met with President Trump before Duffy was sworn in as the United States secretary of transportation.

    'What an honor to visit the most pro-life president in US history.'

    Duffy's wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, shared a photo of her daughter Valentina with Trump at the White House on Monday.

    Campos-Duffy — host of "Fox Noticias" and co-host of "FOX & Friends Weekend" — proclaimed that Trump is the "most pro-life president in history."

    The photo shows the 5-year-old girl in a blue dress and Trump with big smiles as they pose in front of the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.

    "Valentina in the Oval Office before her daddy’s ceremonial swearing in," Campos-Duffy wrote in an Instagram post. "What an honor to visit the most pro-life president in U.S. history."

    Campos-Duffy continued, "90% of children diagnosed with #DownSyndrome are aborted. Thank you President Trump for being so warm & loving with our little Valentina & for protecting all the baby humans in the womb."

    Pro-life advocate Anna Lulis wrote on social media, "Pro-life secretary of transportation’s baby with Down syndrome, Valentina, visits Trump in the Oval Office. 67–90% of babies with the condition are aborted in the U.S. This child, with an extra chromosome, is valuable and worthy of life."

    Evita Duffy-Alfonso — one of Duffy's daughters and a conservative podcast host — shared a video of President Trump interacting with Valentina.

    "The Trump the corporate press doesn't want you to see," Duffy-Alfonso captioned the video on social media.

    The photo and video of the little girl with Down syndrome and President Trump went viral — racking up more than five million views just on the X social media platform alone.

    Duffy and Campos-Duffy have been married for 26 years and have nine children together. Duffy and Campos-Duffy were both reality TV stars in the late 1990s and first met on the "Road Rules: All Stars" TV series in 1998. Duffy would become a district attorney, a U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district, a Fox News host, and most recently the U.S. transportation secretary.

    Duffy has not been granted a honeymoon period after becoming the newest U.S. secretary of transportation as a rash of air travel emergencies and disasters have unfolded in his first days on the job.

    A day after Duffy was sworn into office, a Black Hawk military helicopter collided with a passenger jet, American Eagle Flight 5342. All 62 passengers and two crew members of the doomed plane as well as the three soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter are presumed dead.

    As Blaze News previously reported, a small medical plane crashed into a popular shopping center in Philadelphia on Friday.

    A United Airlines plane caught on fire during a high-speed takeoff and was forced to abort the flight in Texas on Sunday.

    Duffy was officially sworn in as the 20th secretary of the United States Department of Transportation on Jan. 28 by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

    Campos-Duffy revealed that Justice Thomas gave her husband "invaluable" advice: "Go to daily Mass and pray this prayer every day: 'Lord, give me the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.'"

    Duffy said of his new endeavor, "I am deeply honored by the trust placed in me by President Trump to lead this important department and for the Senate in swiftly confirming my nomination. We are already hard at work executing the president's vision to usher in a golden age of transportation by taking immediate action to remove government overreach and lower costs for hardworking Americans. The memorandum signed today specifically reduces the burdensome and overly restrictive fuel standards that have needlessly driven up the cost of a car in order to push a radical Green New Deal agenda. The American people should not be forced to sacrifice choice and affordability when purchasing a new car.”

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  • Democrats get demolished on social media after electing David Hogg as vice chair Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:05:00 +0000


    The Democratic National Committee is getting demolished on social media after it elected David Hogg as vice chairman.

    Hogg has been a histrionic voice of gun control since the horrific school shooting at a high school in Parkland. He has opposed gun rights in America and has been frequently ridiculed online for his extremist views.

    'Enjoy losing elections Democrats. America wins when you lose.'

    On Saturday, Hogg celebrated being elected one of the vice chairs of the DNC.

    "We need to build a Democratic Party that is authentic, relatable, earns people's trust, and wins again — and that stops apologizing for being who we are," he wrote on social media.

    "We’re going to show people that the reason people should vote for us isn’t just because we’re not Republicans — it’s because we’re damn Democrats," he added. "We give a s***. And we deliver. Now it’s time to rebuild the party and to rethink the way we’ve been doing things."

    Hogg's elevation was celebrated by some on the left but mercilessly mocked by many on the right.

    "Democrats just gave us a huge gift by electing anti-gun David Hogg as DNC Vice Chair," replied activist Scott Presler. "There are so many quotes. There is so much content to work with."

    "David Hogg as DNC vice chair is the gift that keeps on giving. Enjoy losing elections Democrats. America wins when you lose," responded New York attorney David Kolken.

    "Makes sense. The party of incompetence just promoted their mascot for whining," replied a pro-MAGA account.

    "Hogg is the PERFECT poster boy for the new Democrat party; a frothy-mouthed socialist beta victim with absolutely no social skills or value, who must depend on exploited workers for even the most basic survival," read another critical tweet.

    Others focused on the time Hogg failed to start a progressive pillow company in order to rival the success of My Pillow by Mike Lindell, a passionate supporter of President Donald Trump.

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  • Wikipedia blacklists Blaze News and other right-leaning sources, ensuring it's a one-stop liberal propaganda shop Tue, 04 Feb 2025 19:50:00 +0000


    Wikipedia maintains that articles on its site "should be based on reliable, published sources, making sure that all majority and significant minority views that have appeared in those sources are covered."

    A new study by Media Research Center Free Speech America highlighted that Wikipedia has discounted right-leaning sources as reliable and prohibited their citation in articles, all but guaranteeing that the site is little more than a repository for liberal propaganda.

    It's no secret that Wikipedia's volunteer editors are predominantly ideological myopes favorable to leftist causes, ideas, and personalities and antipathetic to conservatives of various stripes.

    For instance, editors at Wikipedia, whose parent company blew 29.2% of its 2023-2024 budget on race-obsessive DEI programs, tried to hide Vice President JD Vance's military accomplishments in the lead-up to the 2024 election; strategically eliminated any mention of Kamala Harris' appointment as border czar on the list of executive branch czars; advocated deleting the entry detailing the mass killings executed by communist regimes, citing an anti-communist bias; labeled Elon Musk's temporary suspension of journalists who allegedly violated his platform's terms of service as the "Thursday Night Massacre"; and gaslighted readers about the history, existence, and nature of cultural Marxism, characterizing the well-defined and well-chronicled offshoot of Marxism as a a "conspiracy theory."

    'Even in cases where the source may be valid, it is usually better to find a more reliable source instead.'

    A 2024 study published in Online Information Review found that Wikipedia — now run by the former chief operating officer for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and previously run by a censorious alumna of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader program who stated that "our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that is getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done" — suffers a "significant liberal bias in the choice of news media sources."

    The Dutch researchers noted further that "this effect persists when accounting for the factual reliability of the news media."

    Wikipedia, which now deals primarily in "propaganda" and exists only to "give an establishment point of view" according to co-founder Larry Sanger, has apparently leaned harder into its bias.

    The new MRC study noted that Wikipedia editors are permitted to cite a variety of leftist publications that have a reputation for pushing false narratives and fake news, including Jacobin, Mother Jones, NPR, and Rolling Stone, but are precluded from citing publications not similarly staffed by liberal activists.

    Citing the Wikipedia page on reliable and perennial sources, the study highlighted that numerous reputable right-leaning publications have been blacklisted.

    Wikipedia states, for instance, that Blaze News, the Daily Wire, the Daily Caller, the Epoch Times, Fox News, ZeroHedge, the Washington Free Beacon, the Federalist, RedState, the Media Research Center, and the Alexander Hamilton-founded New York Post "should normally not be used" as sources and "should never be used for information about a living person."

    "Even in cases where the source may be valid, it is usually better to find a more reliable source instead. If no such source exists, that may suggest that the information is inaccurate," added the Wikipedia entry on reliable sources.

    'It is now only reliable for pushing a radical narrative.'

    Whereas most right-leaning publications were flagged as "generally unreliable," Breitbart News appears to have been among the few singled out for a formal blacklisting. Wikipedia alleged that the "site has published a number of falsehoods, conspiracy theories, and intentionally misleading stories as fact" and complained that the publication had revealed the identity of multiple Wikipedia editors.

    The New York Times qualifies as reliable despite falsely accusing President Donald Trump of lying about Democrats' abortion ambitions; characterizing the suggestion that COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan lab that conducted dangerous experiments on coronaviruses as a "fringe" "conspiracy theory lack[ing] evidence"; printing false Hamas propaganda; pushing the Russian collusion narrative; and misleading readers on various other issues.

    Rolling Stone, which has paid out millions in the past for false and defamatory reporting, appears not to have learned its lesson, lying, for instance, in recent years about an imagined Florida book ban and smearing Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire. It was also characterized as "generally reliable."

    Politico similarly received a reliable rating despite — or perhaps as a result of — its willingness to help a cabal of former intelligence officials interfere with the 2020 election by mischaracterizing the New York Post's reliable Hunter Biden laptop story as "Russian disinfo," and to mislead Americans about the working relationship between former President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the benefit of the former vice president's campaign.

    According to the MRC study, only 16% of left-wing media sources were unable to secure Wikipedia's stamp of approval. Meanwhile, 100% of right-leaning sources were effectively blacklisted.

    The MRC study noted further that the predicable result is that "conservatives, Republicans, and Trump appointees are smeared, maligned, and slandered by the most popular online source for information about people."

    Christopher Bedford, senior editor for politics and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media, noted, "You've got to remember, none of this — none of it — is based in fact. We were right about COVID, right about Biden, right about immigration, right about trans. We were right about virtually every major contested issue impacting this country for the past 10 years, while over and over again outlets from the New York Times to PolitiFact were embarrassingly wrong."

    "They can't handle that, and so the ideologues ban us," continued Bedford. "It's pathetic, but it's also dangerous, and every penny you give to support this project is a penny given against speech and truth."

    Dan Schneider, MRC vice president, noted, "There used to be a joke about how Wikipedia could not be relied on by historians and academics. Wikipedia has now become the joke."

    "Its radical editors and staff reveal their contempt for conservatives in almost everything they inject into descriptions," continued Schneider. "It was never something people could rely on for accurate information. It is now only reliable for pushing a radical narrative."

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