There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Two healthcare executives have been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison each after orchestrating a massive $233 million fraud scheme targeting Obamacare subsidies, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The convicted defendants, identified in court documents as Cory Lloyd of Stuart, Florida and Steven Strong of Mansfield, Texas, were found guilty of running a years-long operation that preyed on tens of thousands of vulnerable Americans, including individuals experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health struggles.
Federal prosecutors revealed that Lloyd and Strong:
Improperly enrolled low-income individuals into fully subsidized ACA plans
Submitted false income information to qualify applicants for federal subsidies
Deliberately bypassed federal income-verification systems
Filed thousands of Medicaid applications designed to be denied, allowing year-round enrollment into subsidized ACA plans outside normal enrollment periods
By gaming the system, the pair sought more than $233 million in fraudulent ACA plan subsidies, with the federal government ultimately paying out at least $180 million in taxpayer-funded benefits tied to false enrollments.
Some of the individuals enrolled in these plans reportedly experienced serious disruptions in legitimate medical care, including treatment for opioid use disorder and infectious diseases, after being moved out of Medicaid coverage without their knowledge.
“Preying upon medically compromised consumers to rob hundreds of millions from taxpayer-funded programs is evil and unforgivable,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
“Fraud schemes like this rob citizens and shake faith in our institutions — today’s sentencing is the latest example of this DOJ’s commitment to fighting fraud nationwide.”
“These defendants didn’t just commit fraud; they built a business model around exploiting people at their most vulnerable,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“They targeted vulnerable individuals in the community, manipulated federal health programs for profit, and put victims at risk of losing critical medical care so they could cash in. Stealing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars while endangering lives is as callous as it gets. The FBI and our partners will continue to track down and hold accountable anyone who treats vulnerable Americans as a payday,” Patel added.
Evidence presented at trial showed the defendants weren’t just collecting commissions — they were living large on the proceeds.
DOJ officials confirmed that Lloyd and Strong used money from the fraud scheme to purchase:
A luxury waterfront mansion in the Florida Keys
An 80-foot yacht
Multiple luxury vehicles, including a Tesla
Prosecutors also introduced text messages in which the pair allegedly bragged about exploiting disaster shelters in Florida as recruitment grounds for new enrollees.
Both men have now been sentenced to 20 years behind bars and ordered to pay approximately $180.6 million in restitution to the federal government.
An indictment was unsealed today charging Cory Lloyd of Stuart, Florida, and Steven Strong of Mansfield, Texas, in connection with their alleged participation in a scheme to submit fraudulent enrollments to fully-subsidized Affordable Care Act insurance plans (ACA Plans) in order to obtain millions of dollars in commission payments from insurance companies.
ACA Plans offer tax credits to eligible enrollees. These tax credits, or “subsidies,” could be paid by the federal government directly to insurance plans in the form of a payment toward the applicable monthly premium.
According to court documents, Lloyd and Strong allegedly conspired to enroll consumers in ACA Plans that were fully subsidized by the federal government by submitting false and fraudulent applications for individuals whose income did not meet the minimum requirements to be eligible for the subsidies.
Lloyd received commission and other payments from an insurance company in exchange for enrolling consumers in the ACA plans. In turn, Lloyd paid commissions to Strong in exchange for consumer referrals.
As alleged in the indictment, Lloyd and Strong targeted vulnerable, low-income individuals experiencing homelessness, unemployment, and mental health and substance abuse disorders, and, through “street marketers” working on their behalf, sometimes offered bribes to induce those individuals to enroll in subsidized ACA Plans.
Marketers working for Strong’s company coached consumers on how to respond to application questions to maximize the subsidy amount and provided addresses and social security numbers that did not match the consumers purportedly applying.
As a result of being enrolled in subsidized ACA Plans for which they did not qualify, some of these consumers experienced disruptions in their medical care.
The indictment alleges that Lloyd and Strong used misleading sales scripts and other deceptive sales techniques to convince consumers to state that they would attempt to earn the minimum income necessary to qualify for a subsidized ACA Plan, even when the consumer initially projected having no income. Lloyd and Strong also allegedly conspired to bypass the federal government’s attempts to verify income and other information. Lloyd and Strong allegedly engaged in the scheme to maximize the commission payments they received from insurers, resulting in their companies receiving millions of dollars in commissions.
As alleged in the indictment, Lloyd and Strong’s scheme caused the federal government to pay at least $161,900,000 in subsidies.
Cory Lloyd and Steven Strong are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and money laundering. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States, and 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering.
Dr. Christina Baum is a German politician representing the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. Born in 1956 in East Germany (Thuringia), she trained as a dentist, earned a doctorate in dental medicine, and worked in the profession alongside her husband until March 2024, when they sold their practice. Between 2016 and 2021, she served as a member of the state parliament (Landtag) of Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart. Since 2021, she has served as a Member of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag).
Known for her long-standing involvement in the AfD since 2013—including roles in regional leadership and as a former federal executive board member—she is a prominent figure in the party’s health policy discussions and often advocates positions critical of government policies on issues like the COVID-19 response and immigration.
In this wide-ranging interview, Dr. Baum lays out a sweeping critique of Germany’s COVID-era response, describing the party’s latest Bundestag Corona Symposium as an effort to confront lockdowns, rampant civil-liberty violations, and the prosecution of dissenting doctors—an issue she says shocked even international participants such as Robert Malone and Alejandro Diaz.
She argues that mainstream media deliberately ignored the event, while noting that indirect support from the Trump administration, including a formal intervention by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has helped spotlight the plight of persecuted physicians.
Dr. Baum sharply questions the credibility of Germany’s official pandemic review commission, which she characterizes as performative and hostile to AfD participation, and lays out the party’s proposals for accountability and compensation for victims of COVID policies. She also links rising healthcare costs, violence against medical staff, and declining standards to mass migration, while describing intense personal and institutional backlash she has faced for her positions. Framing these issues as matters of democratic legitimacy and national sovereignty, she presents the AfD’s agenda as a fundamental reorientation of health policy, governance, and Germany’s role in global institutions such as the WHO.
As someone who’s very active in AfD health policy, could you share your assessment of the Corona symposium that took place in the Bundestag at the end of last year? Who attended? What stood out most in the discussion? And was there significant backlash from the mainstream press, establishment-party politicians, and their radical activist foot soldiers because of the event?
The Corona Symposium of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, which has now taken place for the fourth time, focused on coming to terms with the Corona years—particularly once again the massive restrictions on fundamental rights, but also the question of responsibility for wrong decisions made during that time and the lessons to be learned from them.
We were especially pleased by the greetings and contributions from Robert Malone (USA), Robert Roos (Netherlands), and Dr. Alejandro Diaz (Mexico/USA), which gave the symposium an international dimension.
Great shock and disbelief were triggered by a panel that I initiated and moderated, which addressed the harsh legal persecution of critical doctors. These doctors, acting contrary to the instructions (“recommendations”) of the time and under enormous pressure from politicians, the media, medical administrative bodies, and ultimately also from an agitated public, chose to act in the best interests of their patients. They issued mask or vaccination exemption certificates due to medical complaints—and were subsequently prosecuted for it.
Although all members of the press were invited by the AfD parliamentary group, primarily alternative media outlets—also international ones—attended. The mainstream press ignored the entire event and, accordingly, did not report on it.
What support—if any—has the AfD received from the Trump administration in its efforts to review and correct the wrong decisions made in Germany during the pandemic?
Because we knew that the new U.S. Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recognized and publicly named Germany’s missteps during the Corona period very early on—he was a guest at a large anti-Corona demonstration in Berlin in August 2020—I sought to secure a contribution from him for the symposium, as well as from Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Bhattacharya kindly indicated his willingness to participate, but unfortunately his attendance could not ultimately be realized due to other scheduling commitments.
Particularly noteworthy was a formal letter and a video from Secretary Kennedy, addressed a few weeks ago to Germany’s Minister of Health, Ms. Warken, in which he condemned the persecution of critical German doctors in connection with Corona measures. He called on Ms. Warken to immediately end this persecution.
Indirectly, this was also support for the AfD, because we are the only party that has taken up the cause of these doctors and brought it to public attention. We are demanding rehabilitation and compensation for the injustice committed.
We AfD members of the Health Committee are very interested in a future transatlantic dialogue, as we agree on the central question of the need for a fundamental reorientation of the healthcare system.
AfD MP Dr. Bauma at COVID-19 Lockdown Demonstration
During the pandemic, numerous institutions played a role—government officials, mainstream media, medical authorities, courts, pharmaceutical companies, and academia. Given the scale of this institutional entanglement, do you believe real accountability is still possible?
You are right—the entanglements are enormous. Nevertheless, we insist that this period must be fully examined in order to restore social peace and overcome the deep divisions in society.
So many people suffered injustice and harm during this time that reparations are necessary. However, this will only be possible once the AfD assumes governmental responsibility. That could initially happen at the state level before it happens nationwide.
What concrete consequences or corrective measures does the AfD propose for decisions and actions it considers wrong during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Many wrong decisions arose because those politically responsible relied solely on the recommendations of very few advisors, while every critical opinion was immediately discredited, ostracized, and silenced.
Previously respected scientific institutions such as the RKI, the PEI, and the STIKO were pressured from outside, and their staff lacked the backbone to bring findings that conflicted with political interests to the public. This entire development was reinforced by the media, which spread fear and panic among the population stirred up by politics.
For any future medical crises, this means that scientists from all medical fields—and also from social sciences—must be heard, so that a proper assessment of the threat and the proportionality of measures can be made. Experiences from similar past situations must always be taken into account—experiences that were, for example, documented in Germany’s pandemic preparedness plan but were simply ignored.
The scientific institutes mentioned above must be largely independent of political influence and staffed with strong personalities committed only to science and ethical principles, and they must make their findings available to the general public.
The AfD will terminate the Interstate Broadcasting Treaty, thereby depriving public broadcasters—who functioned as mouthpieces of government propaganda—of their revenue from compulsory fees. In the future, we will counter one-sided and uncritical reporting, as well as the spread of hatred and agitation against critics and people who refused vaccination, by withdrawing their guaranteed financial base.
Finally, we want to initiate rehabilitation and compensation for all people affected by Corona-related injustice.
These are just a few of the many important aspects that must be changed.
You are a member of Germany’s Corona Pandemic Commission. Could you explain the commission’s mandate for our readers and share your impressions so far? Do you see it more as a symbolic instrument meant to create the appearance of accountability?
Yes, I am a member of the Bundestag’s Enquete Commission, whose mandate is formulated as follows: “Review of the Corona pandemic and lessons for future pandemic events.”
We AfD members and our experts were marginalized from the very beginning. We were denied a deputy chairmanship that should have gone to us as the largest opposition party. All our motions have so far been rejected by majority vote. We were constantly interrupted and censored during questioning. Our requests to display tables and graphics in public sessions were denied. Quotations from third parties were dismissed as “crude,” and facts, data, and figures we presented were labeled “fake news.”
Yes, I do indeed see this commission as a sham instrument intended to feign accountability to the public—an accountability in which the other parties are not genuinely interested. After all, they are all complicit in one way or another, having not only supported the measures and vaccination mandates but in some cases enforced them with massive force.
Otherwise, a parliamentary inquiry committee would have been established, which has far broader powers than this commission.
You have taken clear positions on several core issues affecting Germany—demographic change, COVID-19 policy, free speech, and state overreach. Could you describe the institutional backlash and pressure from radical activists you have faced as a result?
When I joined the Alternative for Germany (AfD), I was transformed from a respected member of society into an outsider. At times, I even felt as if I had been marked as an “outcast.”
Negative media coverage and constant stigmatization as a right-wing extremist led not only to the loss of patients at my dental practice, but also to the loss of long-standing friendships. To this day, I am insulted, abused, and demeaned. My parliamentary office has been vandalized three times, and someone even placed a cross bearing my date of death in front of my dental practice.
According to some newspaper reports, I am supposedly the most dangerous woman in the AfD because many of my statements appear in the so-called “Office for the Protection of the Constitution” report. I stand by these statements to this day, because I will not allow my freedom of expression—guaranteed by the Basic Law—to be taken away from me.
Freedom of speech is one of the foundational pillars of a democratic society. I once expressed its importance with the following quote: “The unfreedom of people begins with the loss of freedom of speech.”
Having grown up in the GDR, I experienced a dictatorship. That shaped me, and I will not silently accept a renewed development in that direction.
Because I am firmly convinced that I am doing the right thing—so that my homeland can once again be livable and lovable for future generations—the attacks do not truly reach me. They bounce off. I am not a victim. I am a fighter.
How has mass migration affected the German healthcare system? There has been a documented rise in violence against doctors—particularly female doctors—but what about the system’s overall structure and its ability to absorb the rising costs associated with the sustained and prolonged influx of migrants from the Third World?
Healthcare costs are exploding, and we are facing collapse. A major reason is the mass migration initiated by Angela Merkel in 2015 from all corners of the world, as well as the admission of more than one million Ukrainian refugees. All of them draw benefits from our social systems without ever having paid a single cent into them. No country in the world can sustain that.
We repeatedly hear about attacks on doctors in hospitals and on emergency services. Due to the high number of Muslim immigrants, we are experiencing aggressive behavior from these men toward women—especially women in medical professions, which in Germany are heavily female-dominated.
Another major problem is that many foreigners are now working as “skilled workers” in the healthcare system without possessing the linguistic or medical qualifications that have traditionally been standard in Germany for such responsible professions and must remain so. Complaints are increasing, and this can be life-threatening for patients.
From a societal perspective—especially with regard to healthcare—migration has brought no benefits whatsoever and must therefore be ended as quickly as possible. We must implement a sensible family policy to preserve our own people and ensure the sustainability of our social systems.
In a true democracy, the people would have had to be consulted about such a profound restructuring of society. That never happened—because it was known that the German people would have rejected it. So who is actually deciding for us?
The externally driven mixing of culturally alien peoples and the dissolution of nations is the greatest mistake of our time.
That the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, has recognized this and is now reversing it will, historically speaking, be President Trump’s greatest personal achievement.
When the AfD comes to power, will it withdraw from organizations such as the WHO?
So far, withdrawal from the WHO is not yet anchored in our party platform. However, due to the negative influence this organization exerted during the Corona period, the majority of members now support leaving it.
I therefore assume that we will include withdrawal from the WHO in our next election manifesto.
This interview was conducted by Alexander Junger and originally published by Eagle Eye Explore on February 13th, 2026. It has been edited for clarity and readability, and is republished here at The Gateway Pundit with the kind permission of Eagle Eye Explore.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Wednesday giving $90 million in tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, marking just the latest infusion of cash from the Golden State to the abortion behemoth.
A release from Newsom’s office said the $90 million came in the form of “one-time emergency funds for Planned Parenthood and other clinics providing reproductive health care services.”
The purported emergency was President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” — called the “Big Ugly Bill” in the release — which defunded Planned Parenthood for one year.
“California is taking steps to ensure people don’t lose access to the range of services provided by Planned Parenthood,” Newsom said in a statement.
Gov. @GavinNewsom (D-CA) signed into law on Wednesday a $90 million infusion of funds for Planned Parenthood clinics to make up for federal funding cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“As the Trump administration’s Big Ugly Bill punishes women and community health providers, California continues to stand in support of women’s access to essential health services and reproductive freedom.”
But California has already vowed $145 million for Planned Parenthood since last fall alone.
There are over 100 Planned Parenthood facilities across California — and Newsom’s release said California would assist them as women obtain purported “basic health care needs.”
Newsom, a likely hopeful in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary race, has signed several abortion-related bills in recent years.
In September of last year, he signed a bill allowing abortion pill providers to ship the substances anonymously — a bid to help the providers avoid lawsuits from conservative state governments.
California First Partner Jennifer Seibel Newsom condemns President Trump’s attacks on women’s health care as Gov. Gavin Newsom signs $90 million reproductive care bill. #Epstein#womensrights#Trump#GavinNewsom 🎥 David Caraccio | California Governor pic.twitter.com/ZfjSPrNrle
Many other legislative actions have revolved around abortion pills, which now compose nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States.
Newsom created an “emergency stockpile” of misoprostol, one of the two drugs commonly used in abortion pill regiments, in April 2023.
Newsom also supported Proposition 1 in 2022, which amended the state constitution to enshrine the so-called “right” to murder preborn babies and use contraception.
The newest infusion of funding for Planned Parenthood comes as abortion numbers in the United States climb even after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have been shuttering clinics — in both red states and blue states — as more women turn to abortion pills, which are generally cheaper and more convenient than surgical abortions.
All the regular readers will know that I am often linking to news sites like The Federalist, Daily Signal, Breitbart, etc. And I also watch news shows like the Lotus Eaters (UK), Juno News (Canada), Steven Crowder (USA), Rita Panahi (Australia), and so on, to see what’s going on in other countries. I wanted to write a short blog post with a couple of recent shows, to show you how important it is not to rely on mainstream news media.
So, the first story is about the mass shooting in Canada. For that, I follow the reporting of Juno News managing editor Cosmin Dzsurdsza on X. He was the first reporter in the world to confirm the shooter’s identity and the fact that he was trans and identified as a trans woman. Here’s an interview from Juno News:
The vast majority of the people who live in Canada are watching news sources who receive money from the Canadian government. And of course the Canadian government is very concerned about people being able to look at Twitter and find out the truth about the results of their policies. They don’t want anyone finding out about the results of their immigration policies, their policing policies, their promotion of transgenderism t children, their adoption of euthanasia (MAID) as a substitute for health care, the traffic accidents committed by immigrants who can’t even drive safely, the high costs of their green energy policies, etc. Outside of Canada, we know about all of these things. But inside Canada, most of them have no idea. Almost none of it is covered on the government-funded news. They think they are living in the best country in the world. They literally have no idea.
Remember how in Canada, the courts regularly arrest and imprison parents who try to stop their children from being transed. Everyone is in on this – the government, the judges, the courts, the lawyers, the doctors. And the parents are paying for all of it.
Let’s go on to the UK. On this blog, I’ve covered the activities of Muslim immigrants related to the trafficking of underage girls for the purposes of prostitution. Again, outside of the UK, everyone knows about this – we can name the cities where this happened: Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford, Oldham, Oxford, etc. You can find these cities on this blog. But inside the UK, if you can’t even tweet about these things because the UK police will come to your house and threaten you with prison. You can’t own a firearm, and people who try to defend themselves from criminals are prosecuted. The government and their servants in the UK police don’t want anyone questioning or resisting policies that harm them or their families. Most people in the UK think they are living in the best country in the world. They literally have no idea. The UK police and the Canadian police are nothing like honest law enforcement in red cities and red states in America.
How has the government responded to the surge in crime caused by their policies? Well, the government refused to have a hearing about it. In early 2025, the Labour government (under Keir Starmer) declined a national inquiry into grooming gangs. So, one of the conservative MPs in the UK (Rupert Lowe) did a crowd-funded effort to have his own hearings with the victims.
Here’s a report on that from the Lotus Eaters show:
Again, you aren’t going to see these grooming gangs investigated by the UK government. In January 2026 the Labour government (Starmer and ministers like Liz Kendall) threatened a potential nationwide ban on access to X. They don’t want people finding out about the results of their bad policies – policies that harm the very taxpayers who pay their salaries.
Well, what about in America? It depends where you get your news. This story from the Media Research Center shows you that even relying on Big Tech companies like Apple and Google to find you the news is a big mistake:
Editor’s Note: This study was shared by President Donald Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, X owner Elon Musk, the New York Post, Fox Business and more.
Apple News continued its defiant stance against offering news from right-leaning outlets through the end of January 2026.
Apple News stubbornly refrained from using any right-leaning outlets in the top 20 articles of its morning editions between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, 2026. Of the 620 top stories featured by the news app in the first month of the year, not a single one was from a right-leaning media outlet.
So, I think this is important to say. You can’t turn to the corporate news media or Big Tech news aggregators to get real news. You have to have some other way to find out what’s going on in the world. For me, I read The Federalist and Daily Signal and sometimes Breitbart, and try to check out reporting from reliable independent journalists.
“As riches increase and accumulate in few hands, as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard. This is the real disposition of human nature.” —Alexander Hamilton (1788)
Canadian “gunperson” kills nine: A tragic school attack in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, has claimed nine lives and injured more than two dozen. At midday Tuesday, Canadian police received a report of an ongoing attack. Six people were killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, and another died in transit to the hospital. Two more were found dead in a nearby home — apparently the assailant’s family. As Leftmedia and Canadian officials would have it, that’s all there is to this tragic tale. However, when officials use terms like “gunperson,” it raises questions. Indeed, the alert described a “female in a dress with brown hair.” So, why the neutral pronouns? Well, journalist Andy Ngo appears to have the answer: This attacker wasn’t a female, but rather a trans-identifying male, as confirmed by his uncle. If Ngo’s reporting is true, we can expect Canadian media to sweep this attack under the rug as quickly as possible.
Solid jobs numbers: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January jobs report, which was delayed by a week due to the recent short-lived government shutdown. The report found that 130,000 jobs were added last month, coming in well above the Dow Jones estimate of 55,000. This also represents a significant uptick from December’s number, which was adjusted slightly downward to 48,000. The headline unemployment rate also came in slightly below predictions, hitting 4.3% rather than the estimated 4.4%. Meanwhile, hourly wages rose 0.4% for the month, 0.1% above expectations, but still met the 3.7% annual expectation. Labor force participation also increased slightly to 62.5%.
No indictment for “Seditious Six”: The six members of Congress, including Sen. Mark Kelly, who issued a video urging U.S. service members to refuse illegal orders were not indicted by a grand jury. This is not the first time the second Trump administration has seen its prosecutions stymied by a grand jury — perhaps they’d be better off with the proverbial ham sandwich. The Justice Department’s failure to proceed with this case should probably be a wake-up call. Democrats are really good at using and abusing the law, walking right up to the line of sedition, as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz did in January, without technically crossing it. Tenuous charges that get struck down make this administration look weak and like it is twisting the law to go after political enemies.
Three House Republicans side with Dems to force tariff vote: Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Kevin Kiley, and Don Bacon sided with Democrats on Tuesday, preventing the majority GOP from renewing a moratorium that withholds a vote on Donald Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act until after the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling. Trump has used the Act to impose sweeping tariffs, which many lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have criticized. Speaker Mike Johnson contended, “I think the sentiment is that we allow a bit more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch,” noting that “the president’s trade policies have been a great benefit to the country.” However, Bacon argued that continuing to extend the moratorium was “putting the important work of the House on pause, but Congress needs to be able to debate on tariffs.”
Addressing Iran’s ballistic missile program: The U.S. and the Iranian regime have been engaged in talks over Iran’s nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington, DC, yesterday to discuss a number of issues primarily dealing with Gaza. He weighed in on the negotiations, expressing his desire for peace in the region, which, importantly, from Israel’s perspective, includes not only preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons but also ending its ballistic missile threat. Israel has been the most frequent target of Iran’s ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Iran’s missile program was “never negotiable.” In the midst of these negotiations is the mullahs’ tenuous hold on power, with rumblings of the rising of a second wave of nationwide protests against the Islamic ruling regime, the first of which Tehran brutally put down.
Insane Democrat questioning: The House of Representatives doesn’t command the same respect as the Senate, and on Tuesday, Rep. LaMonica McIver reminded the world why. The House Committee on Homeland Security called in Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to testify on the ongoing deportation efforts, and he obliged voluntarily. Of course, any committee will have both hostile and friendly members, as any witness expects. What Lyons likely didn’t expect was to be asked, “Do you think you’re going to hell?” Rep. McIver also asked Lyons, “How do you think judgment day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?” Eventually, Chairman Andrew Garbarino overrode McIver and reminded her that she is expected to adhere to standards of decorum. McIver used her remaining time to explain why ICE should be entirely abolished.
Colony Ridge settlement: The Left has explained again and again that colonialism is evil — except apparently in cases where it’s a foreign colony on American soil. That is essentially what the Colony Ridge neighborhood north of Houston, Texas, was designed to be. The neighborhood was exposed in 2023 for its marketing scheme aimed at non-English-speaking illegal immigrants. The scheme was successful and became the fastest-growing development in the country, reaching more than 100,000 people. The Biden administration sued the development for targeting “Hispanic consumers with predatory loans.” Now, the Trump administration has reached a settlement. Colony Ridge will pay $68 million in penalties, which will be used to add necessary infrastructure and a law enforcement center inside the community. Future purchasers will be required to present a valid Texas ID or a visa issued after January 1, 2025.
Zuckerberg eyes Florida: Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest billionaire to join the list of wealthy moguls fleeing California over its proposed 5% wealth tax. This list includes Larry Ellison, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks. Zuckerberg and his wife are moving to Miami, Florida, to an exclusive enclave known as the “Billionaire Bunker.” Florida has become one of the most attractive destinations for the uber-wealthy precisely because they can keep more of their hard-earned wealth under the Sunshine State’s kinder tax laws. Florida is now reaping the benefits of local job growth and increased revenue as these industry leaders relocate to the state. Meanwhile, California lawmakers will find it even harder to meet their government’s overspending appetite with fewer tax dollars coming in. The Golden State’s Democrat legislature is effectively killing the golden goose.
Sexual assault by gender-bender in Washington: In another tragic example of why men should not compete in women’s sports, Kallie Keeler, a 16-year-old wrestler from the Puyallup School District in Washington State, was allegedly sexually assaulted in a wrestling match against a “trans-identifying” male. In a wrestling move, Kallie said her male opponent forcefully pushed his fingers into her genitals. She didn’t know what to do in the situation, and she didn’t even find out until afterwards that she was competing against a male, which left her feeling doubly violated. Wrestling experts reviewed the video of the match and ruled out accidental contact for that particular wrestling move. Kallie had immediately reported the incident to the school, but the school did nothing for two months — until media contact — despite being required by law to report suspected sexual assault to law enforcement within 48 hours.
Headlines
Democrats suddenly oppose law enforcement body cameras they demanded (Legal Insurrection)
Oregon teen arrested for plotting assassination of ICE agents (Not the Bee)
Trump says he will block U.S.-Canada bridge unless Canada negotiates on trade (Fox News)
Black judge cuts black man’s rape sentence in half, despite violent outbursts at trial (Not the Bee)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.
So says The New York Times editorial board about legalizing marijuana without proper guardrails. It’s hard to believe the Times published an editorial that makes sense, but here we are. And the title is clear: “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.”
The Times doesn’t entirely recant its advocacy for legalizing weed, but the backtrack is significant. “This editorial board has long supported marijuana legalization,” the editors write. “In 2014, we published a six-part series that compared the federal marijuana ban to alcohol prohibition and argued for repeal. Much of what we wrote then holds up — but not all of it does.”
They acknowledge that they and others made promises of few downsides, and minor ones at that, because marijuana is a supposedly “harmless drug that might even bring net health benefits.” However, they concede, “It is now clear that many of these predictions were wrong.”
The Times lists a number of bad side effects from the drug or its legalization. For example, 18 million Americans use it almost daily, three times as many as in 2012, and about three million more than use alcohol daily. The Times says nearly three million Americans “suffer from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which causes severe vomiting and stomach pain.”
Widespread use leads to far more hospital visits for illnesses and injuries from car accidents. For example, one survey indicated that nearly 12 million Americans had driven while high in 2024.
Addiction is also a more real problem than the Times and other advocates initially promised. Yale Medicine researchers found that “30% of current users meet the criteria for addiction.” Another survey indicated that 20 million Americans say they’re always high.
That can lead to a number of other societal problems.
On the flip side, many companies advertise health benefits that simply aren’t true, but there’s little to no regulation of misleading information. The Times says that should change, and that “the government should crack down on these outlandish claims.”
While users are seeing green, companies are raking in the green. The Times notes, “The legal pot industry grew to more than $30 billion in U.S. sales in 2024, close to the total annual revenue of Starbucks.” Estimates are that it will reach $47 billion this year. More revenue means more lobbying, which is probably one reason why President Donald Trump unwisely signed an order opening the door to reclassifying weed in December — a move that would primarily benefit sellers with tax advantages they did not previously have.
Speaking of taxes, that’s one remedy the Times editorial board recommends:
The federal government taxes alcohol and tobacco, for example, but not marijuana. And increases in tobacco taxes have been a major reason that its use has declined during the 21st century, with profound health benefits.
The first step in a strategy to reduce marijuana abuse should be a federal tax on pot. States should also raise taxes on pot; today, state taxes can be as low as a few additional cents on a joint. Taxes should be high enough to deter excessive use, on the scale of dollars per joint, not cents.
On the other hand, that just makes the federal government as dependent on pot revenue as states are already becoming.
Another problem needing regulation, the Times editors say, is potency: “Today’s cannabis is far more potent than the pot that preceded legalization. In 1995, the marijuana seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration was around 4 percent THC, the primary psychoactive compound in pot. Today, you can buy marijuana products with THC levels of 90 percent or more. As the cliché goes, this is not your parents’ weed.”
THC causes the “high” when smoking. It’s nasty stuff, and it’s arguably the main driver of addiction and illness.
Their conclusion is … eminently reasonable: “The unfortunate truth is that the loosening of marijuana policies — especially the decision to legalize pot without adequately regulating it — has led to worse outcomes than many Americans expected. It is time to acknowledge reality and change course.”
Yet their solutions are hardly satisfying, and many problems go unaddressed by the editors.
Smoking tobacco products is widely prohibited in public spaces, in large part due to the negative health effects of secondhand smoke. The Times never mentions the same thing about marijuana (and THC), or that our city streets increasingly reek of the skunk-like odor of pot.
The words “mental health” never appear in the Times editorial, yet we’ve written about various psychotic and mood disorders, including the correlation between smoking pot and schizophrenia. Cannabis use disorder has been linked to as many as 30% of schizophrenia cases in young men — who happen to use weed more widely than other demographic groups.
Many of those effects eventually lead to other problems, such as job loss, family troubles, and homelessness (read: vagrancy). Again, none of that is mentioned by the Times.
In short, the mea culpa is a welcome one, but it’s too little, too late. The states, the federal government, and American society at large opened Pandora’s box, and closing it again will prove extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Michael Smith: A Civilization Losing Its Moral Compass — From Nietzsche to Kant to MacIntyre, the warning signs were always there. We just chose not to listen.
Linda Moss Mines: America 250: The Proclamation of 1763 — Most historians agree that the Proclamation of 1763 escalated the disunity between the English crown and the English colonists.
Billions Stolen: Why Government Doesn’t Crack Down on Fraud — The federal government loses $500 billion to fraud every year. Welfare programs rush money out the door, without carefully checking who gets it and whether they deserve to get it.
SHORT CUTS
Persona Non Grata
“Erika [Kirk] should be dragged into a police precinct.” —lunatic podcaster Candace Owens
Non Compos Mentis
“Let me ask you some questions that you may be able to answer. … How do you think judgment day will work for you with so much blood on your hands? … Do you think you’re going to hell, Mr. Lyons?” —Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) insulting ICE Director Todd Lyons
Lawfare 2.0
“Mr. Lyons, Mr. Scott, Mr. Edlow: You have weaponized the government. You have supported a fascist enterprise at the expense of our constitutional rights. You have violated the law. But let me remind you, you will not always be in power. One day you will be held accountable for your role in this dark moment in America and our nation’s history. I guarantee it.” —Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) threatening to punish Trump administration officials for enforcing the law
Demagogue
“We’re talking about Sharia law? … There’s so much we could be dealing with concerning the Constitution and protecting America. White Christian nationalist ideology has been put forward.” —Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
The BIG Lie
“The SAVE Act would put 1 in 4 women at risk of losing the right to vote.” —Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT)
Double Standards
“You even need an ID to attend events of most Democrat politicians, and even the Democrat National Convention. So, why would voting be any different than that? They can’t answer that question.” —House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)
For the Record
“[President Trump] is quite possibly the strongest supporter of the SAVE America Act. … He has been very clear he wants House Republicans — and Democrats, too, if they were politically wise — to pass this legislation.” —White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
A Modest Proposal
“President Trump … should launch an investigation into those who violated the requirements for becoming American citizens. If proven they violated the law, they should be stripped of their citizenship, along with their right to vote.” —Cal Thomas
Political Futures
“If these [census] projections hold, the Republican presidential candidate in 2032 could lose Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada and win the presidency. The Democratic candidate would have to win those swing states and either Arizona or Georgia.” —Victor Joecks
“[British PM Keir] Starmer is a globalist at a time when the free world needs leaders who take their nations’ self-responsibilities far more seriously, especially in light of China’s ambitions.” —Daniel McCarthy
Doctors who trans minors found guilty of malpractice. The end of mass market paperbacks. And designer babies via IVF.
Doctors Who Trans Minors Found Guilty of Malpractice
Last summer, I said this in a blog post about physicians who do sex-change treatments on minors: “Some malpractice suits against doctors who sterilized and mutilated children would go a long way to ending these practices once and for all.” That has started to happen.
A jury in New York state has awarded a 22-year-old girl $2 million in a malpractice judgment against her psychologist who recommended “gender transition” and a plastic surgeon who gave her a double mastectomy when she was 16.
Her mother resisted giving consent, but the two doctors manipulated her by saying that if she didn’t, her daughter would likely commit suicide (“Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?”), an emotional blackmail that has been thoroughly discredited.
Later, when the gender dysphoria faded, as it does 80% of the time, the girl no longer wanted to be a boy, but the doctors had permanently mutilated her. The court agreed that the doctors rushed the girl into this treatment, without considering the other psychological factors in her distress.
This is the first malpractice finding against doctors for their “gender re-assignment” treatments for minors. It will not be the last. Some 27 similar lawsuits have already been filed. The monetary win for “de-transitioners” will encourage many more. Some 1,000 children have been “transitioned” every year
Another promising sign is that United States medical associations, which used to be all-in for gender reassignment for children and were cited as authorities to justify the practice, are changing their tune. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has just come out with a statement urging its members not to perform gender-reassignment surgery on minors.
And the biggest offender, the American Medical Association (AMA), has toned down its previously positive advice. “The evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement,” says the new the AMA statement, while also saying that it “agrees” with the ASPS “that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.” Actually, there is lots of evidence–including massive European studies that the plastic surgeons drew on–that these “interventions” are bad medicine.
Once malpractice insurance premiums shoot up–or are denied altogether–for doctors who sterilize and mutilate children, the treatments will come to a quick stop. They will fade into medical history like bloodletting, lobotomies, eugenic hysterectomies, opium tonics for children, medical experimentation on black people, and other “how-could-they-have-thought-that-was- right” practices.
The End of Mass Market Paperbacks
The publishing industry is phasing out mass market paperbacks, those small, cheaply printed editions with the attention-grabbing covers sold at newsstands, drug stores, and other retailers that weren’t bookstores.
“Trade paperbacks,” the size of hard-bound books but with a paper cover, will still be available. But not the inexpensive 4.25” × 6.87” titles, some of which sold in the millions.
From the late 1960s through the mid 1990s, the mass market paperback was the leading format in the publishing industry. According to Publishers Weekly, in 1979, mass market paperbacks sold 387 million copies, with hardcovers selling 82 million and trade paperbacks selling 59 million. But by 2004, that number dropped to 131 million, and by 2024, it was only 21 million.
Now Readerlink, the nation’s largest book distributor, has announced that it will no longer carry mass market paperbacks, dooming the format. E-books and audio books have mostly taken their place. According to 2024 data from the Association of American Publishers, the market share of books sold was 37.2% for hardcovers, 33.8% for trade paperbacks, 1.3% for mass market paperbacks, 10.3% for e-books, and 11.3% for digital audio books.
The demise of the mass market paperback saddens me. Yes, lots of these were “trashy paperbacks,” as they were affectionally called. They were mostly “genre” books: science fiction, crime novels, romances, thrillers, westerns. Many of these were formulaic and predictable, simply ringing the changes on the genre’s conventions. But some of them were really good: Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, were only a few of the great Sci-Fi authors who made their careers with mass-market paperbacks. Some writers who ascended into the literary pantheon of hard-cover and trade books–Elmore Leonard, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler–got their start with novels with lurid covers sold in drug stores.
I read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in its mass paperback edition. Actually, most of the books I read were in this format, since the small town I grew up in had no bookstores, but lots of paperback racks with titles I could afford with my Dairy Queen salary. By the time I grew up, publishers like Bantam and Penguin were selling mass market editions of classic literature, which became staples of my student and teaching years.
I wonder now what impact the end of paperbacks will have, not only on Sci-Fi and other genre fiction, but on the habit of reading. The Publishers Weekly article quotes former Bantam executive Esther Margolis: “I believe that mass market paperbacks democratized America. . . .Books and reading became popular in a way never before seen. I think how lucky I was to be part of its explosive growth.”
Designer Babies via IVF
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) has crossed the line into eugenics. Already, IVF companies use genetic screening to test embryos for the likelihood of various diseases. Now a company has expanded that screening to allow customers to select an embryo on the basis of his or her future appearance, IQ, proclivity for sports, and other qualities of a “designer baby.” The embryos that don’t measure up to those consumer standards are “discarded” as medical waste.
Couples who sign up with Nucleus IVF+ are presented with an electronic “menu” of up to 20 embryos they have conceived, allowing them to view the sex of each baby, their anticipated hair and eye color, and predictions about the height and IQ of each as well as their risk for various diseases. The company notes that all these characteristics are only framed in terms of probabilities — they cannot make any guarantees. . . .
To shed light on the “why” behind the tool, company founder Kian Sadeghi described parents’ desires for their children: “They want us to, you know, play sports and they want us to go to the best school. They want us to be well educated. They want us to thrive. Life, I think, as a parent doesn’t just stop at ‘I want my child to be healthy,’” Sadeghi told CBS News in December. . . .
Once you pick your “best baby” (Nucleus’ own marketing phrase), the rest of your embryonic-stage babies are discarded like trash, as is standard in IVF practice. This itself is objectively evil and dystopian. “Pick your baby” then is an Orwellian euphemism for selecting the genetically “fit” and killing the rest of your offspring.
An article on the subject in Futurism points out the lack of evidence that genetic tests can predict traits such as height, much less complicated characteristics such as intelligence. So parents swept up by the hype of Nucleus IVF+ are basically picking their “best baby” and killing the rest of their offspring for nothing.
Obamacare abused by brokers to sign up millions for healthcare without their consent or knowledge. As a result, insurance companies reaped windfall profits, at the expense of taxpayers.
In exchange for gift cards, millions of Americans were unwittingly signed up for Obamacare by brokers who scalped their vital information and enrolled them in plans where premiums were paid by the American people, a research group says.
“The government was sending massive checks to insurance companies who were making windfall profits on behalf of people who didn’t use any health care,” Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, a healthcare policy group told Just The News.
A 2021-2022 expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies, passed through budget reconciliation, made coverage fully subsidized for individuals claiming incomes in a specific range. Paragon Health Institute investigated and estimated that by 2025, at least 6.4 million more people were enrolled in these zero-premium plans than were actually eligible.
Zero premium means the enrollee did not pay for the plan — it was paid via subsidies funded by taxpayers.
In 2024 40% of people in fully subsidized plans used no healthcare services at all
According to Blase, unscrupulous brokers and enrollment agents exploited the system by advertising cash gift cards and free coverage, collecting personal information from callers, and enrolling them — often without their knowledge or consent, including fictitious individuals.
Many of the enrollees never realized they had coverage because the government paid the full premium directly to insurers, which in turn paid substantial commissions to the enrolling entities. In 2024, 40% of people in fully subsidized plans used no healthcare services at all—2.5 times higher than typical rates—resulting in significant government payments to insurers for largely unused coverage.
Making matters worse, the insurance companies aren’t even providing value, says Blase. “85% of all the [insurance company] revenue now comes from the taxpayer, so they don’t have incentives to offer products that are low-priced, that appeal to patients.”
“Their primary client now is the United States Treasury, and they’re so dependent on the federal government for their revenue source, that’s why insurance companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying Congress to continue this gravy train of these enhanced Obamacare subsidies.”
Who pays for Minnesota fraud?
As the rest of the country learns of what appears to be historic levels of fraud and waste in the state of Minnesota, the policy group says that it’s not just Minnesotans who are footing the bill: it’s the rest of the country too. And it all ties back to federal-state entitlement partnerships that weigh lightly on the state and heavily on the nation.
“When states spend $1 of their own money, they’re able to get $9 from the federal government. So, all of this waste in Minnesota, the vast majority is paid by taxpayers outside the state of Minnesota, and the fraud is not dissimilar,” according to Blase.
Blase, who has been addressing fraud in entitlement programs for nearly a decade in numerous capacities, is sounding the alarm on the lopsided responsibility and the outsized fraud that has become an unsustainable burden on the American people, particularly in Medicaid.
“The federal government is bankrolling the fraud”
One remedy for Medicaid, as well as other programs, is to shut off the federal spigot. According to Blase, “It’s the essential step. The federal government is bankrolling the fraud, waste and abuse in the states, and as long as states can draw on an open checkbook from Washington, they don’t have incentives to make sure that dollars are appropriately spent.”
Referencing the daycare fraud unfolding in Minnesota, Blase criticized the federal government’s lack of oversight. “We shouldn’t have to rely on amateur investigators going into daycare finding out that there’s no children there. The government has access to this data, they know where there are areas that have seen explosive spending.”
Blase also sounded the alarm on states like New York and California. In New York, there has been an unprecedented spike in Medicaid-funded home health aides, who are often family members taking care of relatives, which, Blase says, also creates fertile ground for fraud. In California, fraud has found a home within the hospice care industry.
Amanda Head is the White House Correspondent at Just The News. Follow her on X.
The Trump administration has dropped the hammer on California and a coalition of deep-blue states after a sweeping federal audit uncovered more than $1.3 billion in misused federal healthcare funds spent on non-emergency medical care for illegal immigrants, a clear violation of federal law.
According to a bombshell report highlighted on Fox News, the administration’s aggressive audits, led by Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, found that seven states and Washington, D.C., improperly billed the federal government for healthcare services that go far beyond what is legally permitted.
Under federal law, states may only use federal Medicaid funds to cover emergency medical services for illegal immigrants. Routine care, elective procedures, and non-emergency treatments must be paid for by the states themselves.
That did not happen.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli wrote on X, “California must return more than $1 billion to the federal government after an audit by Dr. Oz and his team uncovered federal dollars being spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants. We are teaming up to combat healthcare fraud so the money can be used for American citizens who need it!”
Federal auditors identified nearly $1.4 billion owed back to U.S. taxpayers, with California alone accounting for the overwhelming majority:
California: ~$1.3 billion
New York: ~$30.7 million
Illinois: ~$29.8 million
Minnesota: ~$12.7 million
Oregon: ~$5.4 million
Washington: ~$2.3 million
Washington, D.C.: ~$2.1 million
Colorado: ~$1.5 million
TOTAL: ~$1.394 billion
These funds were billed to the federal government for routine medical care, not emergencies, an explicit violation of Medicaid rules.
California officials predictably denied wrongdoing, claiming the state “routinely reimburses” the federal government. But the audit findings directly contradict those claims—and the financial damage is already done.
Governor Gavin Newsom has long championed “universal healthcare regardless of immigration status,” proudly expanding taxpayer-funded care to the state’s entire undocumented population.
WATCH:
California must return more than $1 billion to the federal government after an audit by @DrOzCMS and his team uncovered federal dollars being spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants. We are teaming up to combat healthcare fraud so the money can be used for American citizens… pic.twitter.com/YWgwQg7XBZ
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) January 19, 2026
For decades, we’ve heard that so-called “junk DNA” is proof of evolution. After all, what kind of Creator would fill our genome with large areas of DNA that don’t do anything? Clearly, those regions are just leftovers from millions of years of evolutionary processes . . . except the latest in DNA research doesn’t confirm this decades-old “proof” of evolution!
For a long time, scientists virtually ignored the “junk” portions of our DNA—after all, if they’re just evolutionary leftovers, there isn’t much point in studying them. But once they began to look into these regions, researchers realized the “junk” is anything but junk! These regions of our DNA don’t code for proteins, but they are regulatory switches that are extremely important to organisms. And that’s what we would expect from a biblical worldview.
These regions of our DNA don’t code for proteins, but they are regulatory switches that are extremely important to organisms.
This new DNA research is fascinating, and it destroys this long-cherished “proof” of evolutionary ideas. On a recent episode of Answers News, geneticist Dr. Georgia Purdom shared about the latest in DNA research and how its incredible complexity confirms it was designed by the all-knowing Creator. I encourage you to watch and share this with others:
Be sure to subscribe to our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel so you don’t miss another episode of Answers News or any of the other video content our social media team produces.
When we launched this ministry in 1993, I could never have imagined YouTube and other social media platforms giving us the opportunity to reach millions of people. But praise the Lord, God has allowed us to use social media to promote the message of biblical authority and the gospel to people across the nation and in many different countries. What an incredible opportunity!
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying, Ken
This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.
Liberal Europeans are protesting for the right to euthanasia, even for minors and babies in some countries. Composite illustration from Xinhua and screen grab.
Since World War II, Europeans have consistently turned away from the Church, and public policy has become more secular and more liberal, with same-sex marriage, gender identity policies, and abortion becoming widespread.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide have become legal in several European countries. The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2002, followed by Belgium the same year, Luxembourg in 2009, and Spain in 2021. Portugal passed a euthanasia law in May 2023, though it remains unimplemented pending government regulation.
In November 2024, the United Kingdom voted to advance assisted dying legislation for England and Wales that would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to request assistance to end their lives. France’s parliament is debating assisted dying legislation as of 2025. Switzerland has permitted assisted suicide since 1942, though active euthanasia remains illegal. Germany, Austria, and Italy allow assisted suicide under certain conditions based on constitutional court rulings, though comprehensive legislation is still being developed in these countries.
Belgium is the most permissive country, having removed all age restrictions on euthanasia in 2014. Children of any age can request euthanasia if they are terminally ill, demonstrate understanding of their choice, and have parental consent.
The Netherlands allows euthanasia for minors aged 12-15 with parental consent, and ages 16-17 with parental consultation. Netherlands also permits euthanasia for infants under one year through the Groningen Protocol, and in 2024 extended this to children aged 1-12 who cannot consent themselves but are suffering from incurable terminal illnesses.
Twelve European countries allow legal gender recognition based on self-determination, permitting individuals to change their official gender marker on identity documents without medical requirements. In some countries, this extends to children and adolescents under 18. Policies vary, with requirements ranging from parental consent or court approval to minimum age thresholds, while some allow self-declaration and others require medical diagnosis.
All EU member states except Hungary, Latvia, and Romania provide access to hormone therapy (testosterone and estrogen) for gender transition purposes. Public health funding for gender transition varies across countries.
The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Denmark provide full coverage through national health insurance for gender transition hormone therapy and surgeries, though Denmark has some limitations on estrogen coverage.
Most other EU countries provide some level of public health coverage for gender transition procedures. Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Poland, Czech Republic, and Romania provide limited or no coverage for various gender transition procedures.
Croatia does not cover gender-affirming surgeries through national insurance at all. The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Malta have the most comprehensive coverage for gender transition healthcare.
Eighteen EU member states permit puberty blockers for minors. Fourteen member states provide over 70 percent public health funding for puberty blockers. Almost all member states that allow puberty blockers also permit hormone therapy for minors, except Estonia and Slovenia. Two-thirds of EU countries still allow transgender youth at least some access to puberty blockers as of 2025.
Several European countries have recently restricted access to puberty blockers for minors. The United Kingdom banned puberty blockers for under-18s in December 2024, though patients already receiving them can continue and clinical trials are exempted. Sweden allows treatments for minors only within a research context and for exceptional cases since 2022.
Finland recommended in 2020 that minors first receive psychological support, with medical treatment only after being made aware of risks. France’s National Academy of Medicine recommended in 2022 the greatest reserve regarding puberty blockers for minors.
Norway’s Healthcare Investigation Board recommended in 2023 that puberty blockers be defined as experimental treatment. Germany’s 2025 guidelines discourage puberty blockers and reject surgeries for nonbinary adolescents, though the position on hormones is less clear.
Most European countries allow abortion on request, typically between 10 and 14 weeks. Fifteen countries have expanded abortion access since 2021. Sweden ranks highest for abortion access, scoring 94.6 percent on the European Abortion Policies Atlas, followed by France at 85.2 percent and the Netherlands at 80.3 percent. Public support for legal abortion reaches 95 percent in Sweden and at least 75 percent in nearly every European country, with Poland as an exception at 56 percent support.
France enshrined abortion as a right in its Constitution in 2024. Ireland, which until the 1970s was one of the most Catholic countries in the world, voted to repeal its abortion ban in a 2018 referendum.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Andorra maintains a total ban with only one exception for life-saving necessity under general criminal law. Criminal penalties can reach up to 10 years imprisonment. Malta has nearly completely banned abortion with a 3.7 percent score, permitting the procedure only when a woman’s life is in grave jeopardy from medical complication or immediate risk of death.
Malta imposes criminal penalties of 18 months to three years for women and 18 months to four years for providers who perform abortions, including lifetime medical license bans.
Poland maintains highly restrictive laws with an 18.6 percent score. Abortion is legal only for rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life or health. A 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling eliminated the fetal abnormality exception, creating a de facto ban. The ruling sparked the largest protests in Poland since the fall of communism.
Liechtenstein permits abortion only when there is a life or health risk or in cases of rape. Monaco allows abortion for life or health risk, rape, or severe fetal impairment. Monaco recently liberalized from a total ban, with around 5 to 10 cases per year expected.
The Faroe Islands currently restrict abortion to cases involving life risk, health risk, fetal defect, or rape. However, legislation passed in December 2025 will allow abortion on request up to 12 weeks beginning July 1, 2026.
Slovakia faces new constitutional amendments from September 2025 that will restrict abortion. Croatia has ongoing attempts to impose barriers on abortion access.
Hungary presents a complex situation. Abortion remains technically legal until 12 weeks of pregnancy for socioeconomic reasons, but the Orbán government has erected barriers. Hungary’s 2012 constitution states that fetal life must be protected from conception. A 2022 law requires women to listen to fetal vital signs or heartbeat before abortion.
The law mandates counseling sessions at least twice with the Family Protection Service and a 72-hour waiting period. Hungary banned medical abortion in 2012, allowing only surgical abortions. Mandatory documentation and referrals create administrative obstacles. High rates of conscientious objection among doctors and public hospitals increasingly refusing to provide abortions create long waiting lists, often over a month.
Italy passed a new law allowing anti-abortion groups into counseling centers, creating additional barriers to access.
Across Europe and across the world, while there are exceptions, Slovakia and Croatia are the only notable cases moving in a more restrictive direction. France constitutionalized abortion in 2024, Ireland shifted from deeply Catholic to repealing its abortion ban, and the Faroe Islands will liberalize abortion in 2026. Overall, the trend moves in one direction: greater liberalization and normalization of abortion and transgender ideology.
A total of nineteen blue states are suing the Trump administration in a bid to protect the right to perform child sex changes.
Last week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding to any provider that offers so-called gender-affirming treatment to minors.
“Under my leadership, and answering President Trump’s call to action, the federal government will do everything in its power to stop unsafe, irreversible practices that put our children at risk,” Kennedy said at the time.
The Oregon-led lawsuit claims that the decision “exceeds the Secretary’s authority and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Medicare and Medicaid statutes.”
Oregon Attorney General Dayfield argued that child sex changes are an essential form of healthcare.
Attorney General Dan Rayfield today led a coalition of 18 other states and the District of Columbia in suing to ensure the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot threaten providers with a so-called declaration that baselessly and unlawfully attempts to limit a family’s ability to work with their providers to make the healthcare decisions without interference from the federal government.
The declaration falsely claims that certain forms of gender-affirming care are “unsafe and ineffective” and threatens to punish any doctors, hospitals, and clinics that continue to provide it with exclusion from the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.
“By targeting Oregon providers, HHS is putting care at risk and forcing families to choose between their personal health care choices and their doctor’s ability to practice,” said Attorney General Rayfield.
“Healthcare decisions belong with families and their healthcare providers, not the government.”
Among the states signed up to the lawsuit are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington, and D.C.
During a press conference last week, Kennedy ripped into the so-called medical experts who continue to advocate for young people making decisions that are dangerous and irreversible:
Doctors across the country now provide needless and irreversible sex rejecting procedures that violate their sacred Hippocratic Oath, endangering the very lives they’re sworn to safeguard.”
The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, peddled the lie that chemical and surgical sex rejecting procedures could be good for children who suffer from gender dysphoria.”
They betrayed the estimated 300,000 American youth ages 13 to 17, conditioned to believe that sex can be changed.
They betrayed their Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. So-called gender affirming care has done psychological and physical damage to vulnerable young people.”
This is not medicine, it is malpractice.
Watch the clip below:
This is a watershed moment.
The medical establishment just lost its grip — and there’s no pretending anymore.
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. detonated the entire “gender-affirming care” narrative today, announcing that HHS will now restrict and reject the very framework that… pic.twitter.com/GO0mexELnh
So many seniors that were once so full of life are now just shadows of their former selves. It can be really easy to assume that they are “just getting old” and that nothing unusual is happening to them. But the truth is that in so many cases the reason why America’s seniors are shutting down is because they are simply being overmedicated. Our entire medical system has been designed to push pills, and so when our seniors seek medical help that is usually the solution that they are offered. As you will see below, the proportion of our seniors that are on at least 8 pharmaceutical drugs is truly alarming. Of course those that consume pharmaceutical drug cocktails on a daily basis for an extended period of time are quite likely to experience very serious consequences.
Most people don’t realize that modern terms such as “pharmacy” and “pharmaceutical” originally come from the Greek word “pharmakeia”…
The word “pharmacy” has a fascinating origin story that’s as complex as the practice itself.
It comes from the Greek word “pharmakeia”, which referred to “the practice of the druggist”. But here is the twist: “phármakon”, the root of the term, was a double-edged sword – it meant a plant or herb that could be used for either healing or harmful purposes, blurring the line between medicine and poison.
No society in the entire history of the planet has taken “pharmakeia” to the extremes that we have.
We are the most drugged nation that the world has ever seen, and this is particularly true for our seniors.
For years, Barbara Schmidt’s family feared an illness was behind a pattern of terrifying falls that repeatedly landed the 83-year-old great-grandmother in surgery with broken bones. Instead, Schmidt’s frequent tumbles might have been tied to something else: medications intended to make her better.
Schmidt, who lives with her husband of 65 years in Lewes, Del., filled prescriptions for more than a dozen different drugs in the past year, according to pharmacy and medical records.
After taking so many medications in such a short period of time, it really is a miracle that she is still alive today.
But she is far from alone.
The Wall Street Journal discovered that one out of every six seniors that is enrolled in Medicare’s drug benefit has been prescribed at least 8 different pharmaceutical drugs…
That isn’t unusual for America’s seniors, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare data. One in six of the 46 million seniors enrolled in Medicare’s drug benefit, which pays for most drugs taken by older Americans, were prescribed eight or more medications.
Millions upon millions of our seniors are literally being drugged into oblivion.
One of the problems is that seniors often visit multiple physicians, and that can result in a lot of confusion…
Pharmacists who work with seniors say doctors might not be aware of their patients’ full medication list. Patients don’t always mention what their other doctors have prescribed when a history is taken, and specialists might not have access to a shared medical record.
The Journal analysis found that, among seniors taking eight or more drugs, it was common for the prescriptions to come from a large number of doctors.
Of course it isn’t just seniors that are being overmedicated.
One recent survey found that 70 percent of U.S. adults are currently taking at least one pharmaceutical drug, and nearly a quarter of U.S. adults are currently taking at least four pharmaceutical drugs…
Recent CivicScience poll results reveal the picture of maintenance prescription drug use in the U.S. has shifted dramatically. The number of U.S. adults who report taking at least one prescription medication per day is now 70%, a 14 percentage-point increase from 2019 data.
Additionally, the percentage of people taking four or more prescription medications daily in the US has increased by six percentage points, from 18% to 24%. An increasing number of prescriptions equals less and less wiggle room in budgets already tightened due to inflationary prices.
It is an insanely profitable industry, and that is why we constantly see ads for pharmaceutical drugs on television.
They desperately want more “customers”, and seniors are the easiest target.
According to the official CDC website, 89 percent of Americans that are 65 years or older are currently taking at least one pharmaceutical drug…
Among adults aged ≥65 years, men (89.0%) and women (89.3%) were equally likely to take prescription medication. Prescription medication use increased with age, from 48.4% for those aged 18–44 years to 89.2% for those aged ≥65 years, and this pattern of increasing use with age was observed for both men and women.
We take more pharmaceutical drugs than anyone else in the world.
So why is our life expectancy below average compared to other industrialized nations?
I think that is a really important question.
When our seniors go to see their doctors, they are often not properly informed about the potential side effects of the drugs that they are being prescribed.
Let me give you an example.
Zoloft is the number one antidepressant in the United States, but most of those that are taking it do not realize that it has an extremely long list of side effects.
ZOLOFT may cause serious side effects. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms, or call 911 if there is an emergency.
1. Suicidal thoughts or actions:
ZOLOFT and other antidepressant medicines may increase suicidal thoughts or actions in some people 24 years of age and younger, especially within the first few months of treatment or when the dose is changed.
Depression or other serious mental illnesses are the most important causes of suicidal thoughts or actions.
Watch for these changes and call your healthcare provider right away if you notice new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, actions, thoughts, or feelings, especially if severe.
Pay particular attention to such changes when ZOLOFT is started or when the dose is changed.
Keep all follow-up visits with your healthcare provider and call between visits if you are worried about symptoms.
2. Call a doctor right away if you or a person you know who is taking ZOLOFT has any of the following symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you:
-thoughts about suicide or dying -attempts to commit suicide -new or worse depression -new or worse anxiety -feeling very agitated or restless -panic attacks -trouble sleeping (insomnia) -new or worse irritability -acting aggressive, being angry, or violent -acting on dangerous impulses -an extreme increase in activity and talking (mania) -other unusual changes in behavior or mood
3. Serotonin Syndrome. This condition can be life-threatening and symptoms may include:
-agitation, hallucinations, coma, or other changes in mental status -racing heartbeat, high or low blood pressure -coordination problems or muscle twitching (overactive reflexes) -nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea -sweating or fever -muscle rigidity
4. Increased chance of bleeding: ZOLOFT and other antidepressant medicines may increase your risk of bleeding or bruising, especially if you take the blood thinner warfarin (COUMADIN®, JANTOVEN®), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs, like ibuprofen or naproxen), or aspirin.
5. Manic episodes. Symptoms may include:
-greatly increased energy -racing thoughts -unusually grand ideas -severe trouble sleeping -reckless behavior -excessive happiness or irritability -talking more or faster than usual
6. Seizures or convulsions.
7. Glaucoma (angle-closure glaucoma). ZOLOFT may cause a certain type of eye problem called angle-closure glaucoma. Call your healthcare provider if you have eye pain, changes in your vision, or swelling or redness in or around the eye. Only some people are at risk for these problems. You may want to undergo an eye examination to see if you are at risk and receive preventative treatment if you are.
8. Changes in appetite or weight.
9. Low salt (sodium) levels in the blood. Elderly people may be at greater risk for this. Symptoms may include headache, weakness or feeling unsteady, confusion, problems concentrating or thinking, or memory problems.
10. Sexual problems (dysfunction). Taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including ZOLOFT, may cause sexual problems.
There are many other drugs that literally list “death” as one of the potential side effects.
And earlier this year it was being reported that adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs have now become the third leading cause of death in the United States…
In 2021, the American Society of Pharmacovigilance (ASP) launched the Fourth Cause Campaign to raise awareness that adverse drug events (ADEs) were the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Today, new data confirm a troubling and unacceptable reality—ADEs have now surged to become the third leading cause of death. An internal analysis conducted by ASP projects that adverse drug events now account for over 250,000 deaths annually, surpassing stroke and respiratory disease, making it the third leading cause of death in the United States.
What we are witnessing is truly a national tragedy.
But the big news networks aren’t going to talk much about it, because the pharmaceutical companies are their biggest advertisers.
And our politicians are unlikely to push for major reform, because the pharmaceutical companies pour vast amounts of money into their campaigns.
Money is power, and the pharmaceutical industry is absolutely swimming in cash.
If you are waiting for major change to happen, you may find yourself waiting for quite a while.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced groundbreaking measures that will effectively halt the dangerous practice of so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors across the United States.
Kennedy laid out a series of executive actions and proposed rules designed to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of vulnerable young people confused about their gender identity.
RFK Jr. announced at the HHS press conference:
“Doctors assume a solemn obligation to protect children. Yet doctors across the country now provide needless and irreversible sex-rejecting procedures that violate their sacred Hippocratic oaths by endangering the very lives they are sworn to safeguard.
The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics peddled the lie that chemical and surgical sex-rejecting procedures could be good for children who suffer from gender dysphoria.
They betrayed the estimated 300,000 American youth, ages 13 to 17, conditioned to believe that sex can be changed. They betrayed their Hippocratic oath to do no harm.
So-called “gender-affirming care” has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. This is not medicine; it is malpractice. We’re done with junk science driven by ideological pursuits, not the well-being of children.
A peer-reviewed report published by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health last month confirms that sex-rejecting procedures impose medical dangers and lasting harm on children who receive these interventions.
So today, we are taking six decisive actions, guided by gold-standard science and the week-one executive order from President Trump, to protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation.
This morning, I signed a declaration: Sex-rejecting procedures are neither safe nor effective treatments for children with gender dysphoria.”
WATCH:
🚨 BREAKING: RFK Jr announced he’s signed a directive BANNING transgender surgeries for minors nationwide
“So-called gender-affirming care has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. This is not medicine—it is MALPRACTICE”
The cornerstone of the announcement includes two powerful proposed rules:
Prohibiting federal Medicaid reimbursement for any gender-affirming procedures—such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgeries—provided to individuals under 18.
Barring all Medicare and Medicaid funding to any hospital that offers pediatric gender-affirming care, ensuring that facilities reliant on federal dollars prioritize healing over harm.
These measures build on President Trump’s Day One executive order rejecting federal support for child “transitions” and come on the heels of strong congressional action, including the House passage of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill criminalizing such procedures for minors and Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s legislation blocking Medicaid coverage.
Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
For years, conservatives, independent doctors, and outlets like The Gateway Pundit were smeared as “conspiracy theorists” for warning that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines carried real risks, especially for young men. Big Tech censored. Corporate media mocked. “Fake-checkers” silenced dissent.
Now, five years too late, Stanford University researchers, funded by the National Institutes of Health, have finally published a study confirming what we’ve been saying all along: mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can trigger myocarditis through a specific, identifiable biological mechanism.
In a study published December 10 in Science Translational Medicine, scientists from Stanford Medicine detail how mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can cause inflammatory heart damage in some recipients, particularly young men and adolescent males.
The research identifies a two-step immune cascade triggered by the vaccines:
Macrophages, first-responder immune cells, are activated by the mRNA shots and release high levels of a cytokine called CXCL10.
This, in turn, stimulates T cells to release IFN-gamma, another inflammatory cytokine.
Together, these two immune signals ignite inflammation that directly injures heart muscle cells, elevates cardiac troponin levels (a clinical marker of heart damage), and leads to myocarditis.
Stanford now confirms:
Myocarditis can occur within 1–3 days of vaccination
Elevated cardiac troponin levels confirm real heart muscle injury
Risk increases after the second dose
Incidence peaks in males under 30
According to the study:
About 1 in 140,000 develop myocarditis after the first dose
About 1 in 32,000 after the second dose
Among young males, the rate rises to 1 in 16,750
Stanford researchers didn’t stop at data analysis. They:
Vaccinated young male mice and observed elevated troponin levels
Found macrophage and neutrophil infiltration into heart tissue
Replicated the damage using human cardiac spheroids—lab-grown heart-like tissue that beats rhythmically
When exposed to vaccine-stimulated immune signals, the cardiac tissue showed:
Reduced beating strength
Impaired heart function
Elevated markers of cellular stress
Blocking CXCL10 and IFN-gamma dramatically reduced the damage — proving causation, not coincidence.
Despite the findings, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Director Dr. Joseph Wu still dutifully recited the official talking points, insisting the vaccines were “extremely safe” and did a “tremendous job” mitigating COVID.
“Without these vaccines, more people would have gotten sick, more people would have had severe effects and more people would have died,” he said.
But even Wu conceded:
Severe cases can lead to hospitalization
Some require ICU care
Deaths, while rare, do occur
Those are facts that were aggressively downplayed, if not outright denied, while millions were coerced into vaccination under threat of job loss, school exclusion, or social ostracization.
Wu’s team identified genistein, a soy-derived compound with estrogen-like anti-inflammatory properties, as a potential protective agent.
Pre-treating cells and animals with genistein significantly reduced vaccine-induced cardiac damage.
Wu and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments closely paralleling those described above, pre-treating cells, cardiac spheres and mice (the latter by oral administration of large quantities) with genistein. Doing this prevented much of the deleterious effects of mRNA vaccines or the CXCL10/IFN-gamma combo to heart cells and tissue.
The genistein Wu and his associates used was purer and more concentrated than the dietary supplement found in health food stores.
“It’s reasonable to believe that the mRNA-vaccine-induced inflammatory response may extend to other organs,” Wu said. “We and others have seen some evidence of this in lung, liver and kidney. It’s possible that genistein may also reverse these changes.”
Elevated inflammatory cytokine signaling could be a class effect of mRNA vaccines. Notably, IFN-gamma signaling is a fundamental defense mechanism against foreign DNA and RNA molecules, including viral nucleic acids, Wu said.
“Your body needs these cytokines to ward off viruses. It’s essential to immune response but can become toxic in large amounts,” he said. IFN-gamma secreted in large amounts, however lofty its purpose, can trigger myocarditis-like symptoms and degradation of structural heart muscle proteins.
That risk probably extends beyond mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.
“Other vaccines can cause myocarditis and inflammatory problems, but the symptoms tend to be more diffuse,” Wu said. “Plus, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines’ risks have received intense public scrutiny and media coverage. If you get chest pains from a COVID vaccine you go to the hospital to get checked out, and if the serum troponin is positive, then you get diagnosed with myocarditis. If you get achy muscles or joints from a flu vaccine, you just blow it off.”
We possess technology that would have been unimaginable to people living 100 years ago, we have access to more entertainment than any other generation in human history, and we have been enjoying an artificially-inflated standard of living that has been fueled by an unprecedented debt binge for decades. So why are so many of us so miserable? One out of every eight Americans is taking an antidepressant, more than 48 million Americans have a substance use disorder, the suicide rate has been trending in the wrong direction for years, and according to Gallup the percentage of U.S. adults that are currently dealing with depression has nearly doubled since 2015…
The percentage of U.S. adults who report currently having or being treated for depression has exceeded 18% in both 2024 and 2025, up about eight percentage points since the initial measurement in 2015. The current rate of 18.3% measured so far in 2025 projects to an estimated 47.8 million Americans suffering from depression.
We like to think that we are smarter than all of the generations that have come before us.
If that is true, then why can’t we figure out how to be happy?
What we are doing now is clearly not working, and this is particularly true for our young people.
One study found that approximately 42 percent of Americans that belong to Generation Z have been diagnosed with “anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD” or some other mental health condition…
In fact, an estimated 42% of Gen Zers have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD or other mental health condition, with a staggering 60% reportedly taking medication to manage their mental health, according to a study on the respected Psychiatrist.com website.
Nobody can deny that we have failed our young people, and now we have a colossal mess on our hands.
We have never seen a group of young adults that is as unhappy as Generation Z is, and without a doubt they are feeling an enormous amount of pressure from many different directions…
Analysts point to a host of difficult, anxiety-producing issues facing Gen Z, including widespread financial worries – with college costs in the stratosphere, food more expensive than ever, home ownership out of reach for most, and two jobs often needed just to pay the rent.
Then there’s the disconcerting reality that many Gen Zers are not dating or getting married and having families – partly due to economic pressures, high anxiety and insecurity about the future, disillusionment with marriage due to the high level of divorce in their parents’ generation, and widespread reliance on dating apps. But also because they are spending so much time living in a virtual world where they can plug into and commune with every imaginable – and unimaginable – type of individual, cause, “influencer” and community on earth, all recruiting 24/7.
I think that all of the reasons mentioned in the quote above are valid.
But I think that there is another that is more important than any of them.
Over the years, Gallup has found that there is a very close link between loneliness and depression…
Gallup research has shown a strong link between depression and loneliness, as one-third of those who had experienced loneliness the day before were also currently suffering from depression, compared with 13% among those who had not.
After declining from pandemic-era highs of 25% to a range of 17% to 18% through much of 2022 and 2023, reports of individuals experiencing significant loneliness “a lot of the day yesterday” have inched upward again since the latter half of 2024 to 21%.
Even though we are more “connected” to one another through the Internet in this day and age, the truth is that we are more isolated than ever.
As a result, much of the population is desperately lonely.
We were designed to love others and to be loved by others, and if we want to turn our mental health crisis around we need to rediscover the importance of making real human connections.
But instead, many Americans are turning to drugs and alcohol to ease the emotional pain that they are feeling.
A report that was put out two years ago by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration revealed that 48.5 million Americans have a substance abuse disorder…
According to a 2023 report by the federal agency Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 48.5 million Americans aged 12 and above have a substance use disorder.
This is a national epidemic that is getting worse every single year.
A new study has found that substance use disorders (SUD) cost the U.S. economy just under $93 billion in 2023 from a combination of missed work, reduced work productivity and lost household productivity.
The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on December 8, was conducted by a team at the Division of Injury Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Needless to say, drugs and alcohol are not the answer.
So a lot of people that go down that road end up giving up completely.
Since the 1950s, the suicide rate in the United States has been significantly higher among men than women. In 2022, the suicide rate among men was almost four times higher than that of women. However, the rate of suicide for both men and women has increased gradually over the past couple of decades.
This breaks my heart.
So many people are needlessly ending their own lives.
According to the CDC, an American now dies by suicide every 11 minutes…
The level of suicides among our young adults is particularly alarming.
It is being reported that the suicide rate for young adults in the 18 to 27-year-old age bracket jumped by almost 20 percent from 2014 to 2024…
The suicide rate for U.S. adults aged 18-27 increased nearly 20% between 2014 and 2024, rising from 13.8 per 100,000 people to 16.4, per a new analysis of CDC data from Stateline, a nonprofit newsroom.
We have failed our young people.
Here we are at what many believe to be “the happiest time of the year”, and yet much of the population is soul-crushingly miserable.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Previous generations of Americans were much happier, and today there are lots of people that are living lives that are absolutely teeming with joy.
So if you are feeling depressed right now, I want you to know that there is hope.
You may not realize it yet, but you are greatly loved.
Once you learn how to respond to God’s love and the love that others have for you, everything will start to change.
Pfizer is back in the spotlight, rolling out trial results that claim its new mRNA influenza vaccine outperforms the standard flu shot. The headlines trumpet “better efficacy,” as if we’ve all forgotten the last three years. But FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary says it’s a non-starter, “The trial showed zero benefit” for seniors.” Approval denied.
Pfizer rolled out a press release highlighting very carefully framed numbers. They say this new shot reduced flu cases more than the conventional vaccine. What they don’t discuss with the same enthusiasm is that they’re using the exact same COVID-19 mRNA platform that triggered adverse-event warnings that are still being debated today. Who would believe a word they say? Not the new FDA.
We learned a lot during COVID, and most of it didn’t come from official talking points. Pfizer’s own early submissions showed declining protection within months and a spike in myocarditis and pericarditis—especially in young males. People who never had cardiac issues before suddenly found themselves navigating symptoms they didn’t expect. Even the FDA eventually added warnings to the label. And yet here we are again, being told that the same mRNA delivery system has now produced a superior flu shot.
They want you to focus on the percentage improvements, not the risks. They want you to forget that “safe and effective” turned into “waning efficacy and unforeseen complications.” They want you to act like none of it happened. But facts are stubborn things, and memories—especially painful ones—tend to stick.
Pfizer insists side effects from this new flu shot are “consistent” with its prior mRNA vaccines. That alone should set off alarms. Consistent with what? The platform associated with heart inflammation, blood clots, miscarriages, infertility? The protection that collapses over time? The trial data that treated serious adverse events as unfortunate footnotes?
Americans aren’t anti-science. They’re anti-being-sold-something-twice. After COVID, who in their right mind takes Pfizer’s self-reported success at face value?
If the company wants credibility, it should lead with long-term safety data, transparent adverse-event reporting, and real-world durability. What we’re getting instead is selective storytelling wrapped in marketing optimism, hoping you don’t notice the fine print repeating itself. Hats off to the FDA for not buying it this time. This is exactly how these drug companies bamboozle people into really bad health decisions with irreputable side effects.
We all need discernment. You don’t have to be a scientist to apply common sense. If a company’s last blockbuster vaccine came with unresolved questions, diminishing returns, and documented risks, then any product built on that same blueprint deserves serious scrutiny.
The moral here is simple: don’t let déjà vu turn into deception.
Ephesians 5:6 first says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.”
Pfizer may believe the public has a short memory, but a whole lot of people are living with reminders that say otherwise.
Demand honesty. Demand full data. Demand accountability from corporations that expect blind trust after earning the opposite because being fooled again is, say it with me…Stupidocrisy.
A massive Somali-run welfare fraud scam has drawn nationwide scrutiny toward the ways in which immigrants from the African Muslim nation abuse public benefits in Minnesota.
The community of 80,000 Somalis, largely concentrated in Minneapolis and St. Paul, is infamous for defrauding state programs at disproportionate levels, but even their high overall reliance on welfare is calling their behavior — and their very presence in America — into question.
A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies revealed that 81 percent of Somali immigrant households are using welfare of some kind.
That includes 54 percent of households on food stamps and 73 percent on Medicaid.
81% of Somali families in Minnesota are on welfare vs 21% of American families pic.twitter.com/fzLOSumE8d
The rates for Somali immigrant households that have been in the United States for 10 years or more — in other words, households that have had time to secure employment and build some degree of wealth — do not fare much better.
While 78 percent are on welfare of any kind, 48 percent are on food stamps and 68 percent are on Medicaid.
By way of comparison, 21 percent of native households are on any type of welfare, while 7 percent are on food stamps and 18 percent are on Medicaid.
Somali immigrant households with children are even more likely to be using welfare — the rate of “any welfare” use increases to 89 percent for such households.
“Any population with poverty rates as high as theirs will legally qualify for extensive means-tested aid, either directly for themselves or indirectly through their U.S.-born dependents,” the Center for Immigration Studies said of the Somali community in Minnesota.
“The way to reduce immigrant consumption of welfare is not simply to crack down on fraud, but to reduce the number of new arrivals who have the low earnings power characteristic of Somalis.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller offered remarks about the statistics on social media, noting that the problem is even worse than the figures would indicate.
“And even this fails to capture the magnitude of the problem because ‘American families’ in this context includes the descendants of Somali migrants and other migrant groups,” Miller wrote.
And even this fails to capture the magnitude of the problem because “American families” in this context includes the descendants of Somali migrants and other migrant groups. https://t.co/GabUqsDHhd
Miller has been a leading critic of the Somali community and their mass immigration into the United States.
“The entire Somali refugee program is predicated on a lie,” he recently wrote. “Destroying your own country does not give you the right to become a citizen in ours.”
Miller also said that “the central plank of the Democrat Party is to import every dysfunctional society into your town until you are completely cut off from everything you have ever known.”
President Donald Trump has signed a presidential memorandum ordering a sweeping review of the U.S. childhood immunization schedule.
The directive, issued late Friday night, mandates that top health officials evaluate vaccine guidelines against those of peer developed nations, with a view to align American policy with the “best available science and common sense.”
In his announcement, Trump decried the current U.S. schedule as a national outlier, with “far more than is necessary” required for healthy children.
“Today, the CDC Vaccine Committee made a very good decision to END their Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation for babies, the vast majority of whom are at NO RISK of Hepatitis B, a disease that is mostly transmitted sexually, or through dirty needles.
The American Childhood Vaccine Schedule long required 72 “jabs,” for perfectly healthy babies, far more than any other Country in the World, and far more than is necessary.
In fact, it is ridiculous! Many parents and scientists have been questioning the efficacy of this “schedule,” as have I!
That is why I have just signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to “FAST TRACK” a comprehensive evaluation of Vaccine Schedules from other Countries around the World, and better align the U.S. Vaccine Schedule, so it is finally rooted in the Gold Standard of Science and COMMON SENSE!
I am fully confident Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the CDC, will get this done, quickly and correctly, for our Nation’s Children. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAHA!”
According to the memo, the number of vaccines recommended for all children in 2025 stands at 18 diseases, including COVID-19, a total unmatched by comparable countries.
“Peer, developed countries recommend fewer childhood vaccinations — Denmark recommends vaccinations for just 10 diseases with serious morbidity or mortality risks; Japan recommends vaccinations for 14 diseases; and Germany recommends vaccinations for 15 diseases.
Other current United States childhood vaccine recommendations also depart from policies in the majority of developed countries. Study is warranted to ensure that Americans are receiving the best, scientifically-supported medical advice in the world.
I hereby direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices, and, if they determine that those best practices are superior to current domestic recommendations, update the United States core childhood vaccine schedule to align with such scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans.”
The move comes on the heels of a decision by a newly re-constituted vaccine advisory panel to rescind universal newborn vaccination for Hepatitis B.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approved a measure removing the universal hepatitis B vaccination guideline for infants under two months old.
Today, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted in favor of removing the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for infants under 2 months old. pic.twitter.com/xWGH4EQ7go
According to Nicolas Hulscher, Epidemiologist and Administrator at the McCullough Foundation, “‘If adults won’t go for the shots, then give them to babies.’ This was the real reason behind the pharma-captured ACIP adding the Hepatitis B shot to the newborn schedule — as revealed by The New York Times in 1991. Big Pharma targets the babies when consenting adults refuse.”
“If adults won’t go for the shots, then give them to babies.”
This was the real reason behind the pharma-captured ACIP adding the Hepatitis B shot to the newborn schedule — as revealed by The New York Times in 1991.
In a bid to cut waste and restore transparency, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that her department is examining all government-assistance programs to ensure only legal citizens are receiving help.
“At @POTUS’ direction we will be reviewing ALL @USDA PROGRAMS to ensure only legal citizens are receiving benefits,“ USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said.
“Earlier this year, USDA put states on notice reminding them illegal immigrants and certain non-citizens CAN NOT receive SNAP benefits.
“Right now, we are requiring states turn over recipient data to fight waste, fraud, and abuse. Even though 22 blue states have refused to provide the data, we are using every tool to compel their compliance. WHAT are they hiding? WHO are they hiding? Thank you, President Trump, for putting Americans first!”
Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order ordering the USDA to ensure “taxpayer-funded benefits exclude any ineligible alien who entered the United States illegally.” In April, the USDA asked states to verify SNAP applicants’ identities in order to ensure that all enrolled in the program are legal American citizens.
Additionally, on October 31, the USDA instructed all SNAP state agencies to no longer provide benefits to certain immigrant groups, including “refugees, parolees, individuals granted asylum, and individuals whose deportation has been withheld.” Democrats didn’t like this and, on November 26, 21 blue states and D.C. sued the USDA over its new guidance.
There is definitely a need to address this. The Times notes that, last month, “[Secretary] Rollins revealed that a USDA audit showed SNAP funding was being provided to almost 186,000 dead people, and that around half a million SNAP recipients were getting benefits twice.” Clearly, SNAP, just like any other government program, has its fair share of fraud. We even covered some of this fraud in an article published yesterday.
As the USDA examines programs like SNAP, let’s pray for transparency and for an end to government waste!
How are you praying about waste and fraud in our government? Share your prayers and scriptures below.
(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)
(DCNF)—Salem Radio Network host Scott Jennings has been making liberals look foolish again in 2025.
Jennings, a former George W. Bush administration official, has been a supporter of President Donald Trump, particularly during the 2024 election and through his second term in office. Often he has moments where, despite being outnumbered on CNN panels, he’s made liberals and Democrats look like turkeys.
June 5: Jennings Stumps Abby Phillip With One Question
In the wake of a June 1 attack on a weekly demonstration supporting hostages taken by the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas, a “CNN NewsNight” panel discussed the Trump administration’s efforts to deport the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who had allegedly overstayed a visa.
“Is this family in the country legally or not?” Jennings asked Phillip, who responded, “Actually, I’m not sure.”
“I think they may not be,” Jennings said, with Phillip replying, “Yeah, I’m not sure. No.”
After some back and forth, Jennings discussed how the Trump administration has also revoked some student visas and at least one green card over involvement in pro-Hamas demonstrations.
“If you’re on a visa, you don’t have a right to be here. You’re a guest in this country, and we’ve seen a number of our guests turn on actual Americans and it needs to stop,” Jennings said.
July 16: Jennings Torches Tiffany Cross’ Concentration Camp Claim
The Trump administration has blamed anti-ICE rhetoric for riots at ICE facilities across the country, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon, which have been the scene of multiple riots as opposition to the agency’s operations targeting illegal immigrants has intensified. So, when former MS Now host Tiffany Cross compared ICE facilities to concentration camps, Jennings didn’t let it slide.
“People want — people who are suffering right now, people who cannot pay their mortgage, people who have been separated from their families, people who are sitting in deportation camps, concentration camps, foreign and domestic, those people do not want to see people —” Cross claimed before Jennings interjected with, “That’s offensive to Jewish people.”
After a back and forth with the panel, including Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky, Jennings set Cross off with four words.
“You’ll never get it,” he said, prompting Cross to make an unfounded claim that ICE was “disappearing” people.
July 17: Jennings Debunks Toure’s Totally Wild Claim
During a “CNN NewsNight” panel about a year after Trump was shot and slightly wounded in the right ear during an assassination attempt while giving a speech at a July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, former MSNBC host Toure questioned if Trump had actually been hit.
“Did he get shot or not? You’re saying you think he didn’t get shot?” Jennings asked. “I think it’s an important question. Are there still people who are truthers on this?”
“I wasn’t there, I don’t know! I don’t know. I’d like to hear from his doctor,” Toure fired back.
Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, Trump’s former White House physician who treated Trump’s wound, released a July 26, 2024, statement after then-FBI Director Christopher Wray speculated Trump may have been hit by shrapnel.
“During the Congressional Hearing two days ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray suggested that it could be a bullet, shrapnel, or glass,” Jackson wrote. “There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet. Congress should correct the record as confirmed by both the hospital and myself.”
Aug. 6: Jennings Doesn’t Hold Back When Liberal Argues DOGE Shut Down Diners
To date, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has identified $214 billion in savings since Trump established it, an average of $1,329.19 per taxpayer, according to the organization’s website. After Seneca Project CEO Tara Setmayer claimed that DOGE was responsible for the closure of diners and nail salons, Jennings cracked up.
“If you are a working-class American where manufacturing jobs are getting — are being lost by the tens of thousands, where small businesses are closing because of Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policy, where, you know, the diner waitress can’t — her diner is closed because Donald Trump and DOGE came in and cut tens of thousands of jobs in their hometown —” Setmayer claimed, with Jennings asking, “You’re saying DOGE cut diners?”
“I’m saying that DOGE cut the jobs, the federal jobs in areas where it trickles down — and you know this. So when you lose tens of thousands of jobs in an area, then that trickles down because then you don’t have those workers going to the nail salons and to the diners,” Setmayer said, with an apparently bemused Jennings responding, “This is a new one. I’ve never heard that DOGE cut the diners.”
Jennings later couldn’t contain laughter as Setmayer continued to blame DOGE for diners shutting down.
Nov. 10: Jennings Makes Clyburn Confess
After federal district judges ordered Trump to provide funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Jennings faced off with Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.
“Do you believe a judge — do you believe, as a member of Congress, a judge can compel the executive to spend money that you haven’t appropriated?” Jennings asked during a “CNN NewsNight” panel, with Clyburn responding, “Yes, I do. Yes, I do.”
Following a back-and-forth with Clyburn, Jennings fired back, citing the “No Kings” protests many Democrats supported.
“Look, you guys have been railing against Trump being authoritarian, having too much power, too much executive power,” Jennings said. “And at the same time, Democrats have been arguing that he should go out and spend money that has not been appropriated this year by Congress.”
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