Stembridge News Digest

  • At least 2 killed, more wounded in shooting at Brown University Sun, 14 Dec 2025 03:19:31 +0000


    At least two are dead and others were wounded after a shooting Saturday at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the New York Times reported.

    An active shooter was reported just after 4:30 p.m. near the Barus and Holley engineering building on Hope Street, officials at the Ivy League college said, according to Fox News. Police were still searching for the shooter, who was described as a man dressed in black, the Times said.

    'It is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place.'

    Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told CNN that the doors of the engineering building where the shooting took place were unlocked since numerous final exams were being held there, according to the Times: "Based on what we heard from officials at Brown, anybody could have accessed the building at that time."

    Providence Fire Chief Derek Silva told the Times that two of the shooting victims were found dead at the scene.

    Eight other shooting victims were being treated at Rhode Island Hospital, a spokeswoman told the Times, adding that six were in critical but stable condition, one was in critical condition, and another was in stable condition.

    However, Smiley later announced that a ninth injured victim was identified, the Times said in a subsequent update, and that victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries from “fragments” related to the gunfire.

    RELATED: VIDEO: 3 dead, multiple victims injured in North Carolina mass shooting; suspect reportedly flees by boat

    Smiley declined to provide any information about the victims, including whether they were Brown students, the Times said.

    Brown University officials said just before 8:30 p.m. that the “campus continues to be in lockdown, and it is imperative that all members of our community remain sheltered in place," the Times added.

    Providence Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said police believe they are looking for a single gunman, the Times also said, adding that no weapon had been recovered and officials did not know what type of gun was used.

    Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) said he spoke to FBI Director Kash Patel and that local, state, and federal officers were all searching for the gunman, the Times reported: “Everyone is working under the same goal right now — to keep everybody in that area safe and also to pursue” the attacker, McKee added to the paper.

    This is a developing story; updates may be added.

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  • Parents, think twice: The dark side of Christmas tech gifts for children Sat, 13 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0000


    While the children may be nestled all snug in their beds, with visions of iPhones dancing in their heads, I hope, dear parents, that you will think twice about the gift of technology this Christmas.

    No doubt a shiny new smartphone, Nintendo Switch, Meta Virtual Reality headset, or cool AI toy will be at the top of many children’s and teens’ Christmas lists this year. However, these “gifts” can arrive with hidden costs: anxiety, sleep loss, social pressures, addictive algorithms, exposure to pornography, a connection to predators, and development of a gaming addiction.

    Many parents buy the myth that their child is immune from online risks or think that relying solely on parental controls will be enough.

    To that end, Enough Is Enough just released its Naughty and Nice List of Holiday Gifts for Children and Teens that provides a much-needed guide of gifts to buy and to avoid. Perhaps it’s no surprise, but AI toys, smartphones, and Roblox gift cards are on the “naughty" list.

    Even in my own family, I know that resisting the pressure to give tech products is strong. My grandsons want Roblox gift cards, so they can continue to play the online games they have enjoyed for years.

    But the so-called “reward” of tech does not always outweigh the risks. The reality is that the online exploitation of minor children is a global pandemic, and it's growing exponentially worse, year after year.

    At the very foundation, an internet-connected device is literally handing a child both the good, bad, and dangerous digital world — no guardrails, no safety net, no filters. A gaming platform will inevitably lead to increased screen time, possibly even leading to an online gaming disorder — now a DSM-5 mental disorder. Virtual reality is designed to feel real and may even become preferable to a teen.

    Digging deeper, the risks are even greater than parents might realize. Many parents buy the myth that their child is immune from online risks or think that relying solely on parental controls will be enough.

    But consider these sobering facts:

    • Younger and younger children are being targeted “on an industrial scale” by internet groomers, with a three-fold increase in imagery showing 7- to 10-year-olds.
    • Global financial sextortion is one of the fastest growing crimes targeting children, in particular minor-aged boys.
    • The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health indicated social media could pose a “profound risk of harm” to the mental health and well-being of children, stating it’s a “defining public health challenge of our times.”

    Predators use social media and even online gaming sites to groom children. A California man was recently sentenced for luring minors through Snapchat before sexually assaulting them. The FBI reported that a 22-year-old man used Discord to groom minors and sexually extort them.

    The aforementioned Roblox — a gaming platform extremely popular with children — enables predators to contact children and is facing over 35 lawsuits as a result. The platform was described by Hindenburg Research as an “X-rated pedophile’s hellscape.”

    Parents should rethink buying Roblox gift cards this holiday season.

    Moreover a congressional hearing where two Meta whistleblowers testified confirmed every parent’s worst nightmare: If their children have used Meta’s virtual reality devices, their children have likely been sexually exploited.

    RELATED: How smartphones expose your kids to predators — and why Congress must step in

    Matt Cardy/Getty Images

    Parents need to be aware of the growing trend of AI toys, falsely marketed as safe and educational for kids as young as 2. Most AI toys are powered by the same AI technology that has already harmed children, and the embedded chatbots are programmed to listen and speak with the child like a trusted friend and mimic human emotions. Examples include: Loona Robot Dog and Smart Teddy.

    Recently, an AI teddy bear marketed to children told a tester “where to find knives, pills, and matches when asked ... spoke graphically about sex positions, sexual kinks, and ‘teacher-student role-play.’”

    As our society becomes increasingly tech-focused, parents are becoming more aware of the negative impact tech can have on their children. But can they win the battle with their kids over the latest tech and more tech time?

    Schools nationwide are rapidly embracing smartphone-free schools because they are distracting to students. Many schools are reporting success, and even students themselves have seen the benefits of not having their phones on them during school hours.

    Some parents are wisely rethinking handing their phones to their children as a way to calm or distract them. One couple used a smartphone to pacify their 6-month-old daughter, saying they’d hand it to her frequently. Despite that the phone worked to calm the little girl down, the parents eventually realized it wasn’t what they intended, saying their daughter was “zoned in” on the phone.

    They may think you’re the Grinch, but the rewards of a tech-free holiday are great.

    You may be asking: If not an internet-connected tech gift, what do you suggest?

    I realize that deciding on something else to give will take a little creativity.

    Many children — especially older ones — enjoy experiences. Teens may relish time spent with their families taking a cooking class, going bowling, going to sporting events, or trying out an axe-throwing venue. Children of any age could appreciate an outing to a retro arcade, new board games, books, or art kits.

    Even an outing to their favorite restaurant — where quality time can be spent with mom or dad — is a great option. In lieu of a material present, some families have successfully planned a place to visit or vacation together.

    Instead of using the holidays to reinforce potentially unhealthy tech habits or introduce new tech gifts, consider delaying tech by not giving in to the notion that children need tech to be happy and productive. Grandparents my age remember fondly a merry childhood well before the computer and internet technologies were invented.

    They may think you’re the Grinch, but the rewards of a tech-free holiday are great. And maybe, just maybe, your children will have sugarplums instead of iPhones dancing in their heads.

  • An ‘ankle bracelet’ for your car? AZ pushes new tech for serial speeders Sat, 13 Dec 2025 22:00:00 +0000


    Watch out, speed demons — the open road might be getting a little less free.

    Arizona, known for its sun-soaked, sprawling highways, may soon become the first state to offer a high-tech alternative for habitual speeders: a “digital ankle bracelet” for your car.

  • We all want healthy lunches for our kids — so why the partisan food fight? Sat, 13 Dec 2025 21:00:00 +0000


    The government shouldn’t be in the business of buying junk food for school children.

    Of all the positions splitting Americans today, you wouldn’t expect this one to be controversial. And yet this is the plate we've been served.

  • Trump promises 'very serious retaliation' after 'ISIS attack' that killed 2 US Army soldiers, 1 US interpreter in Syria Sat, 13 Dec 2025 20:53:55 +0000


    President Donald Trump promised "very serious retaliation" after an "ISIS attack" that killed two U.S. Army soldiers and one U.S. interpreter interpreter Saturday in Syria.

    Fox News reported that a lone Islamic State gunman carried out the ambush, which also left three others wounded. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that "the savage who perpetrated this attack was killed by partner forces."

    'Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.'

    "We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one Civilian Interpreter," Trump wrote on Truth Social, according to the cable news network. "Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well. This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them."

    Trump added that "the President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation," Fox News noted.

    Trump also said Saturday to reporters outside the White House that "this was an ISIS attack on us and Syria. And again, we mourn the loss, and we pray for them and their parents and their loved ones," the cable news network reported.

    Hegseth added on X: "Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you."

    Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on X that the attack in the town of Palmyra "occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of ongoing counter-ISIS/counter-terrorism operations in the region. The soldiers’ names, as well as identifying information about their units, are being withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin notification. This attack is currently under active investigation."

    RELATED: Trump warns Israel about interference in Syria after deadly raid, airstrikes

    The cable news network added that there are about 900 U.S. troops in Syria.

    More from Fox News:

    The U.S. had eight bases in Syria to keep an eye on ISIS since the U.S. military went in to prevent the terrorist group from setting up a caliphate in 2014, although three of those bases have since been closed down or turned over to the Syrian Democratic Forces.

    On Monday, tens of thousands of Syrians flooded the streets of Damascus to mark the first anniversary of the Assad regime’s collapse.

    Those celebrations came a year after former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the capital as rebel forces swept through the country in a lightning offensive that ended five decades of Assad family rule and opened a new chapter in Syrian history.

    The Associated Press reported that Saturday's attack on U.S. troops was the first to cause fatalities since Assad's fall.

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  • At Three Mile Island, the lights flip on — and a generation sees its destiny Sat, 13 Dec 2025 20:00:00 +0000


    Just over a year ago, the headlines were everywhere: Three Mile Island Unit 1 was coming back online as the Crane Clean Energy Center. A site that once defined an entire industry’s future has done it again, this time as a symbol of hope, optimism, and unity as we move toward a reliable and clean energy future.

    For us, young professionals in the nuclear industry, this moment showed what’s possible when communities come together. From union members and business leaders to viral social media posts and major media outlets, everyone celebrated the announcement of the restart. In a society often defined by polarization, this was a rare moment of shared pride and common purpose.

    We know that America’s ability to deliver reliable, emissions-free energy will define the nation that Gen Z will lead tomorrow — politically, economically, and environmentally.

    As 2025 draws to a close, nuclear energy sits at the center of a new national conversation — one driven by optimism, innovation, and a shared commitment to a cleaner future. Public support for nuclear energy is at historic highs, with six in 10 Americans in favor of its expansion. Companies that defined Gen Z’s childhood, like Meta, Google, and Amazon, are partnering with nuclear producers to power the data centers that keep our digital lives running. For Gen Z, this isn’t just about keeping the lights on: It’s about building a future where clean energy powers our ambitions, our communities, and our planet.

    Growing up, many of us felt politics was a binary choice — two parties, two options, and endless division. But today, nuclear energy stands out as something different: a safe haven for young people across the political spectrum. It’s one of the few issues drawing support from both sides, with the Biden and Trump administrations both advancing policies that strengthen nuclear energy’s role in America’s energy mix.

    For Gen Z, that bipartisanship represents progress, not politics. We know that America’s ability to deliver reliable, emissions-free energy will define the nation that Gen Z will lead tomorrow — politically, economically, and environmentally.

    Now it’s up to all of us to seize this unique opportunity and recognize nuclear power’s potential to redefine America’s energy conversation. Nuclear energy is more than a technology — it’s a catalyst for unity, resilience, and innovation. It can deliver on our generation’s hopes for a cleaner, fairer, and more sustainable world.

    Nuclear power doesn’t just create reliable, emissions-free energy: It offers countless societal benefits. Generating stations do more than generate electricity. They can also support system add-ons that produce clean water through desalination and help yield valuable medical materials for diagnosing heart disease and providing crucial cancer care.

    When we think back to history class, we learned about iconic generational causes like the space race and the wonders that could be unlocked in the internet age. Each generation had something tangible to rally around, something that brought people together to move the world forward. For Gen Z, that unifying cause can be nuclear energy: a reliable, emissions-free solution that defines progress for our time.

    RELATED: 5 truths the climate cult can’t bury any more

    5 truths the climate cult can't bury any more Photo by Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    We’ve seen it firsthand. We both took the leap to work in the nuclear industry, and more specifically, on a historic nuclear restart. Three Mile Island Unit 1 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, closed for economic reasons in 2019, hurting hundreds of families whose livelihoods depended on it.

    Yet as energy demands surged, the world rediscovered nuclear energy’s critical role. This momentum led to the announcement of the unit’s restart exactly five years after being shut down.

    We are both at the beginning of our careers and hope the momentum we’re seeing now will carry forward for future generations. Being part of the nuclear renaissance, which is turning into a national movement, has filled our young careers with pride and purpose.

    Whether you are Gen Z or not, clean nuclear energy can be a uniting force in a divided world. The bipartisan support, private investment, and widespread public acceptance happening today didn’t happen by coincidence — it happened because people came together to focus on what works. We can’t afford to lose that momentum. Let’s build on it to create the next-generation cause: a nuclear energy-powered future.

    Editor’s note: This article was originally published at RealClearWire.

  • ‘Let me help you out, dingbat!’ — Mark Levin savagely torches Rachel Maddow for accusing Trump of starting war with Venezuela Sat, 13 Dec 2025 19:00:00 +0000


    President Donald Trump obliterates Venezuelan drug boats smuggling loads of fentanyl into the United States, and the left accuses him of starting a war.

    But it’s Venezuela’s narco‑terrorist regime that’s declared war on the United States, Mark Levin says, and President Trump has every right to respond as he sees fit.

    Levin condemns radical left-wing pundits, like MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow, for accusing the Trump administration of starting a war with Venezuela.

    “I don’t understand why we’re going to war with Venezuela, and I’m not sure the administration is even bothered to try to come up with anything even internally coherent,” she whined on the December 2 episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

    “Let me help you out, dingbat. Let me help you out,” Mark Levin fires back. “They are smuggling more drugs in the United States directly and through Mexico and with communist China than any other country on the face of the earth.”

    For the first time in decades, he says, we have a president who actually takes seriously the Monroe Doctrine — an 1823 policy long abandoned or rejected by weak prior administrations that essentially says, “If something goes on in our hemisphere that affects our country, it’s our business, and we’re going to do something about it,” even if that means military action.

    The accusation that Trump committed a war crime by striking a Venezuelan drug boat twice is just “sick” Democrat nonsense, Levin says.

    “If another government ... headed by a narco-terrorist is using the power of that government and the resources of that government, of that country, to kill American citizens — it doesn’t matter if they do it with fentanyl drugs; it doesn’t matter if they do it with biochemicals; it doesn’t matter if they poison our water or whatever — these are acts of war,” he asserts.

    He then mocks the pearl-clutching Democrats shedding fake tears because narco-terrorists aren’t being politely handcuffed and read Miranda rights.

    It’s really simple, he says. “Look at that, a drug boat’s coming. I think we’re going to blow it out of the water. Yes.”

    The Constitution, Levin says, gives the president, as the commander in chief, the right to order military actions (like blowing up Venezuelan drug boats) without a formal declaration of war.

    He explains that throughout American history, the majority of military actions issued by presidents occurred without Congress declaring war first.

    Back in 1801, President Jefferson launched a full overseas naval war against the Barbary pirate states, which were attacking and kidnapping American merchant ships and sailors, without any formal declaration of war.

    Calling Trump a war criminal is just proof that it’s not about democracy or the Constitution for Democrats. It’s about ideology.

    “They’re on the side of the enemy,” Levin says.

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  • 'You done f**ked up, son!' Cop rubs it in after capturing homicide suspect armed with handgun modified as fully automatic Sat, 13 Dec 2025 17:30:00 +0000


    Atlanta police officers from a special unit were seen on dashcam and bodycam videos converging upon and tackling a homicide suspect who was armed with a handgun modified as fully automatic, police said in a video released earlier this month.

    Police said officers with the Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit were alerted to a homicide suspect driving in the area of Pickfair Way SW near Ashwood Avenue NW on Oct. 28.

    'Ram our f**kin' car?'

    The officers located the suspect's vehicle and then used their patrol vehicles to box in the suspect's vehicle, police said.

    However, the suspect rammed patrol vehicles in front of him and behind him in an attempt to escape before fleeing from his vehicle while armed with a handgun that had been modified to be a fully automatic weapon, police said.

    RELATED: 15-year-old Florida female caught on police bodycam video bashing cop car — with a shovel: 'You kidding me?'

    Image source: Atlanta Police Department video screenshot

    While running from his car, the suspect threw the gun into an adjacent wooded area, after which officers took him down to the street.

    RELATED: Cop driving patrol car doesn't mess around when he spots alleged gunman on the run — and reaching for his waistband

    Image source: Atlanta Police Department

    "Get your ass on the ground!" one officer yelled at the suspect.

    Once lying upon the street, the suspect quickly gave himself up, telling the arresting officer, "You got me!'

    But the officer rubbed in the arrest just a bit, telling the suspect as he handcuffed him, "You done f**ked up, son! ... Ram our f**kin' car? We ain't the normal police, pimp!"

    RELATED: Motorist in jaw-dropping video actually admits to officer why he crashed 'on purpose' into back of his parked police vehicle

    Content warning: Language:

    Police said the suspect was identified as 37-year-old Keith Hawkins, who was wanted for his involvement in a homicide that occurred at 700 Eloise Street SE on April 9.

    Hawkins was charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (two counts), possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a machine gun, willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, and operating a vehicle without insurance, police said.

    RELATED: Florida female going wrong way on interstate claims husband was driving. Then cops find rather large hole in her story.

    Image source: Atlanta Police Department

    Hawkins was taken to the Fulton County Jail for processing, police added.

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  • Trump official pins DC National Guard attack on Biden's open border crisis Sat, 13 Dec 2025 17:30:00 +0000


    The Trump administration’s National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent exposed a terrifying reality about the fallout from former President Joe Biden’s open border crisis.

    'That number, alarmingly, remains unknown at this time.'

    During a Thursday Committee on Homeland Security hearing, Kent testified that, under the Biden administration, thousands of foreign nationals with known or suspected terrorist ties were allowed into the country.

    “Despite the progress that we’ve made so far in the Trump administration, the threat posed by terrorists of all brands remains very high right now,” Kent said in his opening statement before lawmakers.

    He explained that the country is facing “a persistent threat from the individuals that were allowed into this country by the previous administration.”

    Kent noted that the most significant threat “is the fact that we don’t know who came into our country in the last four years of Biden’s open borders.”

    “What we have identified is alarming,” he stated, adding that the federal government recently issued a warning about the heightened risk of terrorist attacks, particularly posed by ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

    RELATED: White House makes touching gesture to honor assassinated National Guard member, allegedly by CIA-linked Afghan

    Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

    “So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country,” Kent revealed.

    He accused the prior administration of having “facilitated” the entry of individuals with ties to jihadi groups, including the Afghan suspected of attacking National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., on November 26. The attack resulted in the death of 20-year-old National Guard member Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was wounded.

    “That Afghan was brought into the country as a group of over 100,000 Afghans who were brought here during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. These individuals, despite what has been reported, were not vetted properly to come into the United States,” Kent said.

    RELATED: Wajahat Ali says quiet part out loud in attack on Trump's re-migration plan: 'Mistake that you made is you let us in'

    Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images

    He stated that the NCTC is working with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to track down individuals with ties to terrorist organizations. However, he noted that the 18,000 figure does not include foreign nationals who came into the U.S. illegally through the open border.

    “That number, alarmingly, remains unknown at this time,” Kent remarked. “We’re trying to figure out who those individuals are as well.”

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  • Islamic takeover: America's growing problem with political Islam Sat, 13 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000


    Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is tired of hearing the term “radical Islam” — as he doesn’t believe it accurately describes the threat we’re facing.

    “This is a political philosophy. Political Islam. It’s not radical. It’s just a political philosophy. And that political philosophy, just like communism, wants to dominate the world,” Glenn explains on “The Glenn Beck Program.”

    “Unlike communism, political Islam is so incredibly arrogant,” he says. “It’s inevitable to them. Why? Birth rates ... and they think we’re stupid,” he continues.


    In an interview on the “Righteous & Rich” podcast, one Muslim explains how the religious group is building an Islamic community in Texas — and what he says only proves Glenn right.

    “You cannot make it exclusive, like, non-Muslim is not allowed. ... What we’re doing, there’s something called association fee. I don’t know what it’s called in Dubai, like your maintenance fee that you pay yearly,” the man explains.

    “The service fee to cut the grass, to remove the snow, and whatnot. So that service fee — we’ll put there, 75% of the service fee you’re paying goes to the masjid. Automatically, if you are a practicing Christian, I would advise you, why help the Muslims?” he continues.

    “So, this is the way they manipulate the Kafirs,” Glenn explains. “The Kafirs are you, the non-Muslim people, the infidels. ... That’s how they make it an exclusive Muslim community.”

    However, this isn’t surprising, because Islam teaches that Muslims can lie to “infidels.”

    “You can lie,” Glenn says, “if it helps Islam.”

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  • Netflix wants a monopoly on your mind Sat, 13 Dec 2025 14:30:00 +0000

  • Kids have already found a way around Australia's new social media ban: Making faces Sat, 13 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000

  • Your lawmakers’ big drug-price stunt could strand millions without meds Sat, 13 Dec 2025 11:30:00 +0000


    State lawmakers, desperate to address America’s sky-high drug prices, have turned their fire on pharmacy benefit managers. Their chosen tools — outright bans in Arkansas and suffocating regulations in Indiana — will not rein in drug costs. They will close pharmacies, however. And disabled Americans will feel the pain first and worst.

    For millions of people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses, the neighborhood pharmacy isn’t just a place to pick up a prescription. It is a medical anchor — often the only dependable access point in a fragmented health care system.

    Policy leaders must hold three truths at once: Drug prices are too high, access is too fragile, and for disabled Americans, both problems collide.

    When states make it harder for pharmacies to operate, they aren’t tightening consumer protections. They are tightening a noose around the patients they claim to protect.

    Proximity is key

    Healthy, mobile adults can switch pharmacies with mild frustration. Disabled Americans can’t. They rely on stable, nearby pharmacy relationships to manage complex regimens, limited transportation, and conditions that make in-person care indispensable.

    A person with epilepsy juggling multiple medications cannot suddenly travel to a pharmacy two towns over. A disabled veteran with hearing loss cannot sit on hold for an hour to fix a refill problem. A parent caring for a child with developmental disabilities needs a pharmacist who knows her family and can explain changes — especially potential interactions — face to face.

    For disabled patients, proximity isn’t convenience. It is continuity, safety, and sometimes survival.

    Long before I served as commissioner for the Administration on Disability at Health and Human Services, I was a teacher who learned that real service depends on presence. You must know the person in front of you. The same holds true in every field: the banker who helps you fix a missed payment, the pastor who walks beside his congregation. Their influence comes from relationship.

    Pharmacists are no different. They cannot be replaced with apps, compliance checklists, or centralized call centers. Their work depends on knowing their patients — and being close enough to serve them.

    What happens when pharmacies disappear?

    Imagine telling a cancer patient he now needs to drive 20 miles for treatment because a state ban forced his local pharmacy to close.

    Imagine telling a parent managing her child’s seizure medications that she must start over with a new pharmacy because the compliance burden became too much to stay open.

    Imagine telling a stroke survivor who no longer drives that “it’s only a few minutes farther.” For many disabled Americans, a few minutes farther means losing independence — or tipping into crisis.

    Pharmacies provide far more than prescriptions. They monitor complex drug regimens and catch dangerous interactions. They manage refills when cognitive disabilities make self-management difficult. They offer immediate, walk-in guidance when something feels wrong. They coordinate with doctors on sudden changes. And maybe most importantly, they provide calm, in-person clarity that no software platform can match.

    Lawmakers say they want to help, but they are ignoring what disabled Americans need most: stable, nearby pharmacies that can remain open.

    RELATED: The maligned and misunderstood player that Big Pharma wants gone

    Oleg Elkov via iStock/Getty Images

    Access is a crisis

    Drug prices in America are too high. Disabled Americans feel that burden more than anyone because they use more medications, more often, and for longer durations. Many rely on mail-order programs and already face delays and shortages.

    So yes, policymakers should push for lower prices. They should demand transparency from pharmacy benefit managers so patients know what they are paying. They should pressure pharmaceutical companies to create pricing structures that serve consumers instead of shareholders.

    But none of that will matter if the pharmacies disabled Americans depend on are regulated out of business.

    Policy leaders must hold three truths at once: Drug prices are too high, access is too fragile, and for disabled Americans, both problems collide.

    You cannot help vulnerable people by making their closest health care providers harder to reach. If states want to protect patients, they should create a regulatory environment where pharmacies can survive — and where the communities that depend on them can too.

  • Portland man allegedly lured 15-year-old girl from public library and raped her for days, police say Sat, 13 Dec 2025 10:30:00 +0000


    A 15-year-old girl told police that a man lured her from the Multnomah County Central Library in downtown Portland to a hotel, where he repeatedly raped her, according to court records.

    On Saturday, a witness called police after seeing the girl appearing to be distraught in the downtown area, and when police questioned her, she said she had escaped her captor.

    Court records state that she told him she was 15, and he replied, 'No one has to know.'

    She said the man had returned her to the library that day, and she was able to escape after saying she had to go to the bathroom.

    Police went to the library and identified a suspect as 23-year-old Nicholas Matthew Tull.

    The girl was a runaway and said she met Tull at the library three days earlier, where he offered to give her shelter in exchange for sex. When they went to a nearby hotel, he allegedly kept her against her will and sexually assaulted her for three days.

    Tull was arrested, and the girl was treated at a medical center. She also underwent sexual-assault testing.

    Court records state that she told him she was 15, and he replied, "No one has to know."

    Police said they were able to recover her purse from his property.

    RELATED: Transient illegal alien equipped a 'rape dungeon on wheels' to attack women in mountains of California, police say

    Court records show that Tull has been charged with three counts of first-degree rape, first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, coercion, and luring a minor.

    A local resident told KPTV-TV that there were a lot of problems at the library.

    "I've noticed a lot of people on drugs, maybe houseless," Lorenzo Stroud said. "I see a lot of problems, but I see the library people and the security doing a good job of de-escalating rather than being overly aggressive."

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  • Santa Claus: Innocent Christmas fun or counterfeit Jesus? Sat, 13 Dec 2025 10:00:00 +0000


    Jesus is the reason for the season, but more often than not, it’s Santa who takes front and center stage. A 2,000-year-old baby offering an intangible gift just can’t compete with the big, red-suited, jolly man and his sleigh full of toys in the mind of a child.

    That’s one of several reasons Allie Beth Stuckey doesn’t do Santa with her three kids.

    On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie presents a compelling case for ditching the man in the red hat and putting Jesus back on the throne of Christmas where He belongs.

    Santa invites confusion

    While Allie acknowledges that Santa is a “Christian liberty issue,” meaning “we have freedom as Christians to disagree,” she feels personally convicted to forgo the tradition to avoid confusing her children.

    Santa “is a form of deceit,” she says.

    “We want our kids to trust us ... and it can cause this kind of dissonance or confusion in a child when we tell them that someone is real, is giving them gifts, is watching them ... is taking a tally of the good deeds they do, the bad deeds they do ... and then allocating gifts in accordance to their behavior — and then to tell them one day that that system of morality around Christmastime doesn't exist,” she argues.

    “I do believe that that causes, even if just for a moment, mistrust between the parent and child” and “confusion about what is actually true ... about the mysterious and supernatural realm.”

    But “causing mistrust through deceit” isn’t even the biggest issue, she says. Santa can also cause “theological confusion” in developing children.

    Santa and God have a lot in common, Allie explains. Both see us when we’re sleeping, know when we’re awake, and know if we’ve been bad or good, but the key difference is Santa takes his gifts away when we fail to be good, whereas God, infinite in grace and mercy, does not dangle salvation as a carrot in front of us to keep us behaving.

    Santa “is a legalistic form of Christ” and a “counterfeit form of God,” says Allie.

    And then there’s the flip side of this pitfall. Children might view God as a kind of Santa Claus, who gives them material gifts in exchange for obedience or good deeds, turning Him from the perfect and holy king of kings and the savior of humanity into a “feel-good” bringer of happiness.

    In either case, the similarities between the two figures can deeply confuse malleable children who are still learning to distinguish between fact and fiction, while simultaneously sowing distrust between them and their parents.

    Santa distracts from Jesus

    Allie’s second reason for ditching St. Nick is that he draws the focus away from Christ.

    “Santa Claus is the one who will give you all of your immediate desires and will fulfill all of the temporary pleasure that you long for because he is giving you something in the form of a tangible gift. ... It's no wonder that we as people, but especially children, have such a hard time actually focusing on Christ — the real gift-giver,” she says.

    To Santa sympathizers who argue that his mysterious nature “makes Christmas really magical” and stimulates children’s imaginations, Allie says that we can still foster imagination in our kids without lying to them.

    And further, “The reality is that there is already a beautiful mystery of Christmas that no one truly understands,” she says. “We are natural people who were intersected by the supernatural when Jesus became Emmanuel, God with us, made flesh. That is the mystery of Christmas.”

    “And so why would we create a counternarrative to that? A cheapened narrative, a legalistic narrative that gives all of the wrong lessons about morality and about what saves you and about what satisfies you and about what fulfills you?” she asks.

    But Santa doesn’t just distract kids from the true Christmas story; he also distracts parents, who are stressed and spread thin trying to maintain the Santa narrative through elaborate gift displays, Elf on the Shelf, staging half-eaten cookies, and dodging pesky questions from their kids.

    “It seems like when that starts to be the taker of our joy or the source of our stress and our energy and not discipling our kids and telling them what the advent, the coming of the Lord, actually means in their lives, well, then we have veered into idolatry,” Allie warns.

    To hear the rest of her argument, as well as ways Christians can still incorporate Santa into their Christmas season without losing focus on what matters, watch the full episode above.

    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.

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