Day: January 29, 2026
Hall of Fame coach says he feels ‘guilty’ being in Canton without Bill Belichick
Dick Vermeil defended Bill Belichick after Hall of Fame voters denied him entry, saying it was “baloney” to punish one of football’s greatest coaches.
FBI’s Fulton County warrant sought election records, voter rolls from 2020 election
FBI agents executed a search warrant at a Fulton County, Georgia, election hub, seizing ballots, voting rolls and records tied to the 2020 election.
Officer clings to life after homicide suspect allegedly unloads gun on police during high-risk arrest
Texas police officer Alexandria Cano-Castro is in critical condition after allegedly being shot by a homicide suspect during an incident in Corpus Christi.
Champion boxer finally arrested on battery charges after two-week manhunt
Boxing champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis was arrested in Miami after a two-week manhunt following assault allegations from his ex-girlfriend at a Miami Gardens business.
Harvard Lecturer on ‘Women Leaders’ To Appear at Al Jazeera Conference With Hamas Chief, Iranian Foreign Minister
A Harvard lecturer who writes a column for Zeteo, the anti-Israel blog of former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, is slated to speak at a conference in Qatar next month with a top Hamas official and Iran’s foreign minister, who has denied the regime’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
The post Harvard Lecturer on ‘Women Leaders’ To Appear at Al Jazeera Conference With Hamas Chief, Iranian Foreign Minister appeared first on .
The Minneapolis Toxin
The situation has grown completely out-of-hand. Social media is, in some circles, full of memes that amount to death threats aimed at anyone involved in the unfortunate deaths in Minneapolis in recent days – up to and including the POTUS. In a different age, the things I have read would lead to a knock on the door from the Secret Service. Ilan Omar was attacked yesterday – some wonder if it was a set-up. Regardless, it is symbolic of a situation that has left the boundaries of reason and civil discourse. The former Vice President and the host have issued clarion calls for reason and sobriety – both in severe short supply.
The post The Minneapolis Toxin appeared first on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
Ken Paxton launches crackdown on H-1B fraud in Texas after exposé by BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton credited BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales on Wednesday with getting the ball rolling on a new and “wide-sweeping investigation into abuse of the H-1B visa program by Texas businesses.”
Standing outside a seemingly vacant single-family home in Irving — the supposed office of 3Bees Technologies Inc., one of the companies Gonzales scrutinized in a damning report on possible H-1B fraud earlier this month — Paxton told the BlazeTV host, “Thanks to you, we’re here today.”
‘It’s not our first rodeo, and we’ll definitely find out what’s going on.’
“We’ve started an investigation into three different companies that we think might be scamming people with these H-1B visas,” said Paxton.
“Thanks to you, we’ve sent them questionnaires,” continued Paxton. “They’re called Civil Investigative Demands, and they’re designed to find out what the truth is, what is actually happening, what are their actual practices. Are they defrauding consumers? Are they misguiding people as to what they’re actually doing?”
Paxton has ordered the companies to provide documents identifying all of their employees, records detailing the specific products or services they provide, financial statements, and communications pertaining to company operations.
Although the Texas Attorney General’s Office is currently looking at three businesses in North Texas, Paxton indicated that is the start of a much larger investigation.
‘Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans.’
The Texas attorney general expressed confidence that potential fraudsters will be flushed out, telling Gonzales, “It’s not our first rodeo, and we will definitely find out what’s going on.”
“Any criminal who attempts to scam the H-1B visa program and use ‘ghost offices’ or other fraudulent ploys should be prepared to face the full force of the law,” Paxton said in a statement.
RELATED: ‘Where are all the workers?’ BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales exposes potential H-1B visa fraud in Texas
Photo (left): BlazeTV; Photo (right): Brandon Bell/Getty Images
“Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans. I will use every tool available to uproot and hold accountable any individual or company engaged in these fraudulent schemes,” added the Texas attorney general.
Gonzales’ exposé evidently also captured the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
Citing “recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program” and the “federal government’s ongoing review of that program to ensure American jobs are going to American workers,” Abbott directed all state agencies on Tuesday to “immediately freeze” new H-1B visa petitions.
In addition to pumping the brakes on new H-1B visas, Abbott demanded that public universities and various state agencies provide an account of how many H-1B visa holders they are currently sponsoring; the countries of origin of their sponsored H-1B visa holders; the expected expiration date for each sponsored visa; and the efforts taken to ensure that Texan candidates were afforded a reasonable opportunity to apply for each position filled by an H-1B visa holder.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ H-1B Employer Data Hub indicates that over 41,500 H-1B visa beneficiaries were approved for fiscal year 2025 in Texas.
Qubitz Tech Systems, one of the companies Gonzales scrutinized in her report, had 12 H-1B beneficiaries approved last year. The company, whose visa job contact is Hari Madiraju, has apparently been hiring “software developers” from abroad for years.
When Gonzales went to the address listed for Qubitz in Frisco, Texas — a four-bedroom house in a residential neighborhood — she was greeted by a man responding to “Hari” who was clearly not happy to see her.
At the mention of Qubitz and its supposed employees, Hari called the police, which Gonzales welcomed.
Gonzales later paid a visit to Qubitz’s supposed worksite. Instead of finding a dozen or more workers engaged in the kind of software development that supposedly requires foreign talent, she found a vacant prison-cell-sized room with a single chair and some folding tables.
“Pretty cramped working quarters for 12 H-1B workers,” said Gonzales. “I’m not buying it.”
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The left is at war in Minnesota. America is watching football.
Gunfire, smoke grenades, vehicles charging law enforcement: The scene in Minnesota looks like a war zone. Leftists are assaulting ICE agents, storming churches, threatening journalists, and ripping conservatives out of cars, all in one of the most frigid winters imaginable.
While CNN and MSNBC are treating ICE’s presence as a fascist takeover that every progressive foot soldier should travel to fight, they are increasingly frustrated that no one seems to really care. The left might be engaged in its own miniature insurrection, but the rest of America isn’t at war. The rest of America is watching football.
The average guy might catch an online video or headline and shake his head, but he goes right back to wondering if the Patriots are going to win another Super Bowl.
The summer of 2020 was truly a wonder to behold. After the entire country was locked down for months on end, tensions were boiling. The media had been steadily bombarding their captive viewers with different stories of police brutality against black people, the most sacred of all victims, hoping that one spark would eventually trigger a wildfire. It took a while, but once riots started, they spread to different cities quickly. Teachers had their students write essays about George Floyd, while churches baptized in his name. Statues were built, murals were painted, and companies donated millions to Black Lives Matter, even as rioters looted and burned down their stores.
It was a truly religious movement, supported by every major power center in the nation, justifying outrageous violence and property damage, while news organizations glorified the entire spectacle. Not since the 1960s has America been gripped by such a fervently spiritual devotion to revolutionary politics.
Now, Trump is back in office and the left is desperately trying to recreate the magic, but leftists can’t seem to get it done. ICE has started its deportations of the worst illegal-alien criminals. In most states, the operation has gone smoothly. Some blue states have decided not to work with ICE, forcing the agents to retrieve the illegal aliens themselves, often in very hostile environments, without the aid of local law enforcement. Minnesota has been a hotbed of domestic unrest, so it is no surprise that the state has also seen the most conflict during these ICE raids.
It isn’t just that Minnesota refuses to cooperate with federal immigration officials. The entire state political apparatus is involved in a conspiracy to foment violence. Government officials, including the lieutenant governor, have been caught in a group chat working to coordinate the revolution. Teachers’ unions and school boards collaborate to suspend school so that educators and students can join in the street protests and riots. Judges refuse to sign arrest warrants for obvious crimes because they agree with the perpetrators. Minnesota is in open insurrection. There really is no other word for it.
Despite the incredible level of subversive coordination occurring in Minnesota, events have failed to capture the popular imagination like they did during the summer of love. Some have blamed the winter, claiming that it is simply too cold for the leftists to maintain an overwhelming presence in the streets. Others have pointed to the lack of lockdowns or some other simmering psychological factor increasing political tensions.
The most likely explanation centers around the cause itself. Black criminals have gained an almost sacred status on the left, making them a far more animating cause, especially for the black community at large. No black activist is showing up to die for white lesbians who get themselves shot standing up for child-molesting illegal aliens from Venezuela. Without the sacred victims, it is difficult for leftists to get their most violent foot soldiers in the streets or to get corporations to sign on and push the agenda. Whatever the true explanation, the consequences are obvious. The revolution is not spreading, and most of America does not care.
If you are someone who follows the news obsessively, it is easy to overestimate the impact that events in Minnesota are having on the country. It’s not that what is happening between ICE and violent leftists isn’t serious. It is, but most Americans are barely paying attention. Most states are cooperating with ICE, and deportations are entirely positive, making very little noise. The average guy might catch an online video or headline and shake his head, but he goes right back to wondering if the Patriots are going to win another Super Bowl.
Progressive activists are posting on social media complaining about how most of the country just does not care about what they are doing. The revolution is contained, and the leftist insurgency is becoming demoralized.
Tim Walz has now agreed to involve local law enforcement if ICE reduces its direct presence in operations. Some disgruntled right-wingers have described this as capitulation by the Trump administration, but that simply is not the case. The goal was always to use ICE as a supplementary force in conjunction with local agencies. Anything else invites chaos.
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Blaze Media Illustration
The refusal of local law enforcement to cooperate created a “city under siege” mentality, where progressives could sell the image of faceless authoritarians surging into their hometown, justifying all kinds of ruthless tactics. Now that local police are handling the riot control, they own the situation. It’s a lot easier to demonize and attack a faceless federal agent. Now the protesters are assaulting their friends, family members, and neighbors. Activists have even started to surround Tim Walz’s residence due to their outrage. Once revolutionary energy is redirected toward their own leaders, the movement is not long for this world.
Many GOP commentators and politicians have decided that now is the time to defect, calling for ICE to withdraw and abandon operations in Minnesota — a huge mistake. The progressives are outraged that their government allies have wavered and demoralized becuase their revolution has been contained. The worst possible move would be to rip defeat from the jaws of victory because a few MSNBC segments started to make the donor class squeamish.
Now is the time to break the insurgency and continue nationwide operations without hesitation. Americans are more interested in whether the Seahawks can pull this one off than they are in spreading the Marxist open-borders gospel. If conservative politicians and commentators can control their impulse to surrender like spineless cowards for a few weeks, the moment will pass and immigration law will be enforced.
Hard times create strong men — at any age
I know this guy, Richard. He’s friends with a couple of different friends of mine. He’s in his late 40s. He’s had a successful microbrewery business going for many years.
Last year, I heard that his business was in trouble. And then, more recently, his wife filed for divorce. He is apparently having problems seeing his kids.
Maybe this is our new male initiation ritual. Getting crushed by family court. Losing your business to far-left politics. Being abandoned in your moment of need.
I saw him recently at a large gathering. He was in pretty bad shape. He was getting screwed at family court. He was blaming Trump for his business problems.
His blaming Trump was no surprise. Many otherwise intelligent people do that automatically here in Portland. Everything is Trump’s fault. I don’t really hold it against them. The propaganda is so thick here. And if you own a public-facing business, you probably have to go with the flow.
More likely, the true cause of his business problems is the economics of Portland. Taxes are up. Insurance is skyrocketing. Homeless people have invaded your neighborhood. Drug addicts are lighting your dumpster on fire.
Hitting bottom
So I was at this event, and I ended up in a small group with Richard and a couple of other guys. I could see that he was upset. He looked terrible.
I could relate to his situation. I had gone through a similar compound disaster when my father died, right in the middle of my own divorce.
So I had felt that pain. But I didn’t have kids. Which probably makes Richard’s situation much worse.
Eventually, the other guys wandered off, and I found myself giving Richard a little pep talk. I told him what happened to me and explained how at the time, I tried to think of it as a test.
I thought to myself: How often in life will I have to face two life-changing crises, coming from two different directions, at the same time?
I tried to think of my situation as a challenge, a rare opportunity to test my mettle, as I faced a mountain of emotional stressors and practical problems.
I couldn’t tell if he was buying it. And I didn’t know him that well. So I left it at that.
The soft life
But in the days after, I thought more about Richard’s situation.
He was a solidly upper-middle-class guy. His parents were well off. He went to a good college. He was a successful businessman and a respected member of the local microbrew scene. His brewery had prospered for years, before Portland took its current downturn.
He had really had an easy time of it, all things considered. So really, my idea that this was a “rare opportunity” was not far off. His current problems were easily the worst thing that ever happened to him. And they were all happening at once!
This also might have been a good time to try to red-pill him on local politics. Bro, Trump isn’t the reason you can’t run a business in Portland. But he wasn’t going to change on that.
But the “test” thing. That was still a valid point. Richard had never been hit this hard. And like a lot of men, he wasn’t ready for it. He had lived a relatively soft life.
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CS0523183 via iStock/Getty Images
Into the wilderness
People have been saying for years that part of the problem with American men is they don’t have any form of initiation ritual.
There’s no rigorous coming-of-age process. We have no “rites of passage.”
You can live your whole life and never have to endure any true hardship or serious deprivation.
Other cultures make a point of creating those “rites of passage.” Growing up in the West, I heard about young Native American men going on “vision quests.” They ventured into the wilderness by themselves, with no food and no protection from the elements or predatory animals.
In this way, they proved themselves worthy of their people, both physically and mentally. They were pushed to the limits of their endurance.
This was not only a physical ordeal, but a chance for spiritual growth as well. Becoming a man was not just about strength and skill; it was about humility and understanding your responsibilities within your tribe.
Once you had experienced the difficulties of fending for yourself, you would forever appreciate the security of life within a stable and healthy community.
The new vision quest
I thought about Richard’s predicament, which is now fairly common in America. What was happening to him was happening to men all the time.
Maybe this is our new male initiation ritual. Getting crushed by family court. Losing your business to far-left politics. Being abandoned in your moment of need by your own social class, because they’re progressive Democrats as well.
That’s how I would think of it if I were him. What else are you going to do? Cry to your lawyer? Complain about Trump? Whine to your Kamala-voting buddies?
Or are you going to grieve your losses, accept your situation, and then respond with a new resolve, a new clarity of mind, and perhaps a stiffer spine?
I mean, I feel for the guy. He’s going through hell. But these kinds of men have got to stop crying and focus on what is really going on around them.
Think of your present difficulties as the rite of passage you should have experienced when you were 14. Think of them as your overdue vision quest. You’re in the wilderness now. You have only yourself to depend on.
