Day: December 16, 2025
DHS arrests ‘worst of the worst’ illegal migrants, including murderers and pedophiles, in weekend operation
ICE arrests 17 illegal migrants convicted of murder, sexual exploitation of minors, and other serious crimes during weekend operations across the U.S.
Whoopi Goldberg eulogizes Rob Reiner as ‘standup guy’ following director’s death
Whoopi Goldberg remembers Rob Reiner, who worked with her on “Ghosts of Mississippi,” as a “wonderful director” and friend during an eulogy on “The View.”
Jets fire defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after giving up 48 points to Jaguars
The Jets fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after allowing 48 points to the Jaguars in a blowout loss in Week 14, as New York now has a 3-11 record.
Police ‘Froze’ As Terrorists Massacred Jews on Bondi Beach, Eyewitness Accounts and Videos Suggest
An eyewitness from Sunday’s massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, stated police officers hesitated as two terrorists sprayed bullets at a group of Jews gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, while video analysis indicates law enforcement waited several minutes after arriving on the scene to engage the shooters.
The post Police ‘Froze’ As Terrorists Massacred Jews on Bondi Beach, Eyewitness Accounts and Videos Suggest appeared first on .
Trump Pulls Page From Iraq War Playbook In Escalation Against ‘Narco-Terrorists’
‘To protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl’
USA Today reporter crushed with backlash after calling ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag ‘Christian nationalist’
A USA Today reporter is facing fierce backlash after reporting that a top education official had hung a “Christian nationalist” symbol at his office — but it turned out to be an “Appeal to Heaven” flag.
Zach Schermele posted an image of the flag hung at the office of Murray Bessette, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. The flag has a long historical tradition in the U.S. going back to the Revolutionary War.
‘Can we get a reporter with room temperature IQ or better?’
“A controversial Christian nationalist flag is hanging outside the D.C. office of a top Education Department official, the agency’s union and an employee who has observed it firsthand told me,” Schermele wrote on social media.
“The flag, which was raised by rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection,” he added, “is adorning the office of Murray Bessette, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.”
His bizarre accusation was widely mocked on social media.
“We’re not doing this again. We’re not letting leftist media ignorance of American history demonize a patriotic flag dating back to the Revolutionary War and the Continental Navy. Proud to have it outside my office!” Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah responded.
“Reminder: this is not a ‘Christian nationalist flag.’ It was commissioned by George Washington himself, was designed by his personal secretary, and has long served in official & unofficial capacities as a flag of Maine & Massachusetts,” Dan McLaughlin of National Review replied.
“Can we get a reporter with room temperature IQ or better?” another detractor said.
“Attacking a revolutionary war flag that celebrates natural rights is a good way to announce you hate America’s founding principles,” Second Amendment activist Kostas Moros said.
Schermele did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
RELATED: Lindsey Graham lectures Alito for flag, Mike Lee hits back: ‘Every right to hang whatever flag’
Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck summarized the historical significance of the flag when Alito was smeared for displaying it.
“That was the symbol of New England since the 16th century. Why? Because New England had big pine trees. Why was that important? Because they could build ships and build them for England or whoever and ship giant masts, which were hard to find because nobody had the giant pine trees that New England had,” Beck said.
The image also referred to a peace tradition among Iroquois Indians to ease tensions between warring nations.
“So, it is also the symbol of the tree of peace,” he added. “It was also on the coinage produced by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and it became the symbol of the colonial iron resistance as well as a multi-tribal support for independence now.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
‘Conflicts of interest’: Democrat-led federal agencies allegedly blocked efforts to investigate Clinton Foundation
Federal agencies under Democratic leadership blocked investigation activities into the Clinton Foundation, according to new records obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
In 2015, Governmental Accountability Institute president Peter Schweizer published his book “Clinton Cash,” in which he accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of a pay-to-play and bribery scheme involving their foundation’s donors. The accusations prompted the Department of Justice and the FBI to open investigations into the Clinton Foundation; however, those efforts were ultimately shut down.
‘That’s a night-and-day departure from how the Biden Justice Department handled the Arctic Frost investigation against President Trump.’
On Monday, Grassley announced that new “behind-the-scenes” records revealed “how top leadership during the Obama-Biden administration repeatedly interfered to prevent DOJ prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents from investigating the Clinton Foundation’s financial dealings.”
Grassley stated that records revealed that FBI leadership “obstructed investigative activities.”
“According to emails obtained by my office, on July 20, 2016 — 111 days before the 2016 election — an agent with the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division (CID) stated that, ‘based on the sensitivities surrounding the Clinton Foundation,’ agents were prohibited from ‘subpoena[ing] additional records related to the Foundation, the Clintons’; ‘conduct[ing] any interviews related to the Foundation or the Clintons’; and ‘shar[ing] any of the Foundation bank account info with any other office.’ Emails also show that the FBI ‘[did] not want to create any impression we were investigating the Clinton Foundation or the Clintons,’” Grassley wrote.
He claimed that the records indicated that in November 2016, the FBI blocked “the Clinton Foundation investigative team from accessing potentially incriminating evidence” on Anthony Weiner’s laptop.
RELATED: ‘Shut it down’: Newly released FBI doc reveals who apparently killed probes into Clinton Foundation
Photo by SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
When President Donald Trump’s first administration reopened the investigation in 2017, DOJ holdovers from the prior administration allegedly provided the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas with documents that omitted key information about the prior alleged interference from DOJ and FBI officials. When the attorney’s office requested additional information, it did not receive a response.
The court reportedly concluded that “there appear[ed] to be conflicts of interest” within the DOJ’s leadership that undermined the investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
RELATED: Declassified report: Obama’s FBI failed to search key evidence in Clinton email probe
Charles Grassley. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“The mainstream media smeared any investigation into Hillary Clinton as unfounded nonsense, but in reality, line agents and federal prosecutors seeking to follow up on legitimate leads were sidelined by partisan leadership looking to save Clinton’s reputation. That’s a night-and-day departure from how the Biden Justice Department handled the Arctic Frost investigation against President Trump,” Grassley said.
“For too long, our Justice Department has chosen winners and losers instead of enforcing the law without regard to power, party, or privilege. That must never happen again. I thank Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel for turning over these records, so the American people finally know how their Justice Department failed in the Clinton investigations,” he added, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Kamala Harris wants to run for president again? Some see signs despite donors and party leaders worrying she cannot win.
Failed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is reportedly taking some steps toward running for president again, even though donors believe she cannot win.
An Axios report said Harris was signaling to possible competitors for the Democratic nomination that she may run again. Axios cited comments made about her and recent appearances she’s made to maintain her position atop the party.
‘People are done with the status quo, and they’re ready to break things to force change.’
Axios reported that many Democratic donors and party leaders are worried Harris will lose if she runs again.
Harris has extended her book tour with more stops in 2026, including some in the important primary state of South Carolina, as well as cities with a large population of black voters.
She also appeared with her husband, Doug Emhoff, at the winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Los Angeles, California.
DNC chair Ken Martin reportedly suggested at the meeting that Harris might run again.
On Wednesday, Martin referred to Emhoff as the former second gentleman, then reportedly joked that he might become the future first gentleman.
Harris is also employing new rhetoric that some find to be far different from the communications strategy she used during the campaign.
“Both parties have failed to hold the public’s trust,” the former vice president said at the DNC meeting. “Government is viewed as fundamentally unable to meet the needs of its people. … People are done with the status quo, and they’re ready to break things to force change.”
Polling also showed Harris to be one of the top contenders for the nomination.
RELATED: Kamala Harris cackles uncontrollably while claiming she defeated Trump’s strategy to bait her
A Harris spokesperson said in a statement to Axios that Harris “will approach 2026 with the same commitment that anchored 2025 — listening to the American people, reflecting where leadership has fallen short, and helping shape the path forward beyond this political moment.”
In May, a top Harris-Walz campaign advisor blamed the election loss on former President Joe Biden for staying in his doomed re-election campaign far too long.
“It’s all Biden. … He totally f**ked us,” David Plouffe said.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
American muscle-car culture is alive and well … in Dubai
One of the first things I did when I moved to Dubai was buy a Dodge Challenger. Not the volcanic Hellcat or the feral Scat Pack — the SXT, the V6 base model.
Nevertheless, for those nine months in 2023, the car carried itself like it had seen things it couldn’t legally discuss. I miss it the way a grounded teenager misses his phone — painfully and often. The car was, in many ways, gloriously pointless. But to me, it was absolutely perfect. Nobody buys a Dodge for practicality. You buy one because fun is a dying art and driving is supposed to feel alive.
America insists this is why we can’t have nice things. The UAE shrugs, inhales some shisha, and says, ‘Great, we’ll have them instead.’
What fascinated me then, and still does now, is how the Middle East has quietly become the last stronghold for real American muscle.
Dubai drift
While America agonizes over emissions charts and frets about carbon neutrality, Dubai is out there treating a supercharged V8 like a household appliance. You hear them everywhere — echoing off glass towers, screaming down Sheikh Zayed Road, prowling through parking lots like metal predators looking for prey. It’s the sound of a culture still in love with combustion, unashamed of horsepower, and utterly allergic to guilt.
The region adores these cars. Worships them, even. In the West, muscle cars are increasingly treated like contraband with headlights, monitored by regulators the way principals monitor school corridors. But in the UAE, they’re symbols of power, freedom, excess, and the simple joy of pressing a pedal and feeling physics panic.
The numbers back it up. The UAE’s classic-car market is projected to grow from roughly $1.23 billion in 2023 to nearly $1.83 billion by 2032, with collectors routinely paying well above American estimates. This is particularly true for rare models, such as the 1971 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda convertible that sold for about $4.2 million in Dubai, roughly 35% above its American estimate.
Men in flowing robes and sandals race around industrial estates with the confidence of emperors and the cornering ability of a wardrobe on wheels. Somehow, by the grace of God (not Allah), it all works. There’s something delightfully surreal about watching a man dressed like he stepped out of the book of Exodus drift a Challenger with monk-like serenity.
Combustion cosplay
Back home, Dodge now calls its new EVs “muscle.” But that’s like a woman getting very expensive surgery in a very private place and calling herself a man. Without the roar, the vibration, the combustion, it’s cosplay — an impersonation that fools no one except the marketing department. You can’t call something a muscle car if it sounds like a dentist’s drill.
Real muscle needs rumble. It needs that primal, throat-deep growl that shakes your sternum and announces your arrival three zip codes away. Take that away, and you’re just a sad sack who should have bought a Tesla and called it a day.
When muscle cars disappear, the loss isn’t just mechanical but cultural. For decades, when the world pictured America, it didn’t picture Washington or Wall Street. It pictured steel, cylinders, and a V8 rumble rolling across a desert highway.
Hollywood hardwired that association into the global imagination. “Bullitt,” “Vanishing Point,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” even the “Fast & Furious” franchise, for all its awful acting and cheese thick enough to insulate a house. I still remember being 8 years old, watching “Gone in 60 Seconds,” and thinking, Yes, this is what adulthood should look like.
You could grow up thousands of miles away, never having set foot on American soil, and still recognize the sound of a Mustang firing up. It was the unofficial anthem of the greatest nation on Earth, a national ringtone encoded in exhaust fumes. It symbolized everything the country loved about itself: rebellion, possibility, the belief that any man with a heavy foot and enough premium gasoline could outrun his problems. It was an identity as much as a mode of transport.
RELATED: ‘Leno’s Law’ could be big win for California’s classic car culture
CNBC/Getty Images
Revvers’ refuge
And that’s the tragedy. A silent America isn’t an America anyone recognizes. The muscle car was more than a vehicle. It was a character, a co-star, an accomplice. Kill it off, and the whole story changes — and not for the better.
And oddly, it’s the Middle East that seems most intent on preserving that myth. It’s as if the region has been appointed the accidental curator of America’s automotive soul. The UAE, in particular, feels like the final refuge where these cars can run wild. Environmental regulations exist there, but only in the same way that scarecrows exist — present, decorative, and cheerfully ignored. The country is spotless, the air somehow clearer than cities that run entire marketing campaigns screaming “sustainability!” And yet it’s bursting with Challengers and Chargers. America insists this is why we can’t have nice things. The UAE shrugs, inhales some shisha, and says, “Great, we’ll have them instead.”
It makes you re-think the demonization of muscle cars. We were told they were barbaric, dirty, irresponsible — rolling catastrophes portrayed as personal hand grenades lobbed at the atmosphere. Meanwhile, Dubai keeps its streets cleaner than half of California while simultaneously hosting enough horsepower to make a U.N. peacekeeper reach for the radio. The contradiction is almost poetic. The place accused of excess manages to be pristine, while the places preaching virtue can’t manage basic cleanliness without a committee and a grant.
Selling sand to a camel
A quick disclaimer for anyone feeling inspired to follow my lead. Dubai might be paradise for muscle cars, but it’s also the Wild West of used-car dealing. A shocking number of “mint condition” imports arrive after being wrapped around a tree somewhere in North America, are given a light cosmetic baptism, and are relaunched onto the market as if they had spent their lives humming gently down suburban streets.
Half the salesmen — greasy, fast-talking veterans from Lebanon, Palestine, and everywhere in between — could sell sand to a camel. You need your eyes open. Fortunately, I knew the sites where you can run a chassis number and see the car’s real history, dents, disasters, and all. It saved me from driving home in a beautifully repainted coffin.
Even with this dark underbelly, Dubai’s affection for American muscle is entirely authentic. You see it on weekend nights at the gas stations, which double as unofficial car shows. Dozens gather, engines idling like caged animals, while men compare exhaust notes with the seriousness of diplomats negotiating borders. Teenagers film everything, because why wouldn’t you document a species this endangered? The entire scene feels like a sanctuary, a place where mechanical masculinity hasn’t been entirely euthanized.
Muscle migration
Some of the funniest moments came from watching Emirati drivers — men dressed in immaculate white garments — exit their cars with Hollywood swagger, as if the Challenger were simply an extension of their personality. And in many ways, it was. It was part “Need for Speed,” part Moses at the Marina. And somehow, without irony, they pulled it off.
Living there made me realize that muscle cars aren’t dying everywhere. Rather, they’re migrating. Fleeing the jurisdictions that shame them and settling in regions that still celebrate joy. The Middle East has become the last refuge for these beasts. Not because it rejects the future, but because it refuses to surrender the past for a machine that feels clinically dead on delivery.
And that’s the real tragedy. America built the muscle car, mythologized it, exported it, then surrendered it to paper-pushers in Priuses, armed with clipboards and calculators. The UAE bought the export and kept the myth alive. My Challenger is gone now, sold to a man who claimed he needed it for “family errands.” But the fond memories of tearing around the city have never faded. America may have abandoned its automotive adolescence, but Dubai, thankfully, hasn’t.
Someone has to keep the engines roaring. And right now, it’s the men in sandals.
