April 19, 2026

x01c Top Archives

Blurb:

THE BATTLE FOR POKROVSK: For a year and a half, Russia has committed an inordinate number of forces and suffered horrific casualties (over 1,500 dead last month) trying to take the city of Pokrovsk, located on the front lines of Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine.

The latest battlefield reports suggest Ukrainian defenders of the city — which once had 60,000 inhabitants but is now mostly deserted — may soon be overwhelmed by Russian forces who have taken about 90% of Pokrovsk and are slowly advancing in house-to-house battles.

“Russian forces are just a few km away from closing their pincer movement around Pokrovsk and neighbouring Myrnohrad and are also closing in on Ukrainian forces in Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region,” Reuters reported from Moscow.

“Moscow’s forces are now close to cutting off the main roads into Pokrovsk, with its two key supply routes already under fire from Russian drones, making it dangerous and difficult to bring in supplies and also threatening Ukrainian forces ability to withdraw,” ABC news reported.

Dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk” by Russian media, the fall of Pokrovsk would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a psychological victory and buttress his effort to seize more territory before seriously considering ending the war. It would give Putin his biggest win since the fall of Bakhmut in May 2023, and would put the last two major cities in Donetsk, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, in peril.

Blurb:

The former DOJ lawyer who was on trial for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent over the summer was found not guilty by a DC jury on Thursday.

A man in a salmon-colored t-shirt was caught on video throwing a sandwich at a federal officer in DC over the summer after President Trump deployed the National Guard to patrol the streets.

The sandwich thrower was identified as 37-year-old Sean Charles Dunn, a DOJ trial attorney. A DC grand jury previously refused to indict Dunn on felony charges so the DOJ downgraded his charges to a misdemeanor and went to trial.

A DC grand jury previously refused to indict Dunn on felony charges so the DOJ downgraded his charges to a misdemeanor and went to trial.

On Thursday a DC grand jury found Dunn not guilty.

Blurb:

“All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file,” Bowser’s office said.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is reportedly the target of a federal corruption investigation over a trip she took with members of staff that was paid for by Qatar.

People familiar with the matter told the New York Times that the inquiry is based on potential bribery or campaign finance law violations. The investigation has reportedly been underway for months, and is being handled by the US Attorney’s Office in Washington.

Bowser’s office said in a written statement, “This was a business trip. DC representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth.” The office said that those efforts have brought business to the city. “All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file.”

The probe began after a local news report in April 2025 regarding Bowser and four members of her staff traveling to Dubai in 2023 for a United Nations conference. The mayor’s office said when asked about the trip that it had been paid for by the DC Chamber of Commerce, however, the office later claimed that it had been covered by the US Conference of Mayors.

 

Blurb:

A federal appeals court upheld a Florida law on Tuesday that restricts Chinese nationals and entities affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from making land purchases in the state.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the group of Chinese nationals challenging parts of the law (SB 264) lacked standing to bring their suit. The decision comes after the district court denied plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking the statute’s enforcement.

“After careful review, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the denial of the plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion as to the registration and affidavit requirements. But we reverse and remand for the district court to deny the preliminary injunction motion without prejudice as to the purchase restriction because none of the plaintiffs have shown they have standing to challenge that provision of SB 264,” the ruling reads. The majority opinion noted how several of the plaintiffs, although they are Chinese citizens, were not “domiciled” in China, and therefore their efforts to purchase property falls outside the scope of the law.

Blurb:

It cannot be overstated: Zohran Mamdani’s Tuesday night victory in New York City’s mayoral race marked a watershed moment for both Muslim and socialist activists — not only across the five boroughs, but throughout the nation. The displays of hubris began almost immediately after Mamdani was declared the winner — and have shown no sign of slowing since.

One of the most revealing — and frightening — reactions came from an unidentified Muslim man who interpreted Mamdani’s triumph as nothing less than divine approval for Islam’s ultimate conquest of America.

In the video below, he told supporters:

We’re done hiding. We’re done being tortured and hurt and judged. This is the correct religion. This is the religion that all of humanity needs to be a part of Islam [sic], and we will not stop until it enters every home.

I wanna hear it in every single district. It should tremble. Brooklyn should hear it. The Bronx should hear it. Queens should hear it. Say it as if the ummah depends on this, my brothers and sisters.

There is no God worthy of worship except Allah — and final prophet, Mohammed.

Blurb:

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer suffered a severe laceration to his mouth and burns to his face after a criminal illegal alien assaulted him with a metal coffee cup during an enforcement operation in Houston, Texas, Monday. The laceration resulted in 13 stitches on and above the officer’s lip.

ICE agents have arrested more than 1,500 criminal aliens, gang members, foreign fugitives and immigration offenders in the Houston area over a ten-day period.

Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, a violent criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, allegedly attacked the Houston ICE officer while he was being apprehended.

Rodriguez, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), had previously been convicted of numerous charges, including sexual assault of a child under 17 –years-old, multiple DUIs, child fondling, and illegally re-entering the United States.

Blurb:

Oregon Right to Life (ORTL) scored a victory for the unborn last Friday when a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in its favor.

In June, ORTL filed a complaint arguing that the Appeals Court should throw out a Clinton-appointed district judge’s ruling last year that denied its request to be exempt from a 2017 Oregon state law that would have forced it to pay for abortions and contraception. Lois Anderson, ORTL’s executive director, argued that covering abortions via health insurance was an attack on their religious liberty.

“The attempt by the state to force Oregon Right to Life to finance abortion — the precise human rights violation we are dedicated to opposing — is blatantly unconstitutional and obviously unjust,” she said this past summer.

Trump-appointed Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote the 2-1 majority opinion for the Appeals Court. Obama-appointee Circuit Judge John Owens agreed with him that the case should be sent back to the lower court for further investigation. Senior Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder, an 84-year-old Jimmy Carter appointee, dissented, claiming that the group was not inherently a religious organization.

Blurb:

Key Takeaways

  • A Monroe County Community College administrator approved a Turning Point USA chapter despite the student government voting against it, citing free expression.
  • Vice President Scott Behrens emphasized that his decision was made after discussions with student government members and the prospective club president, who assured adherence to college policies and respect for all students.

A Michigan community college has approved a Turning Point USA chapter after the student government voted to reject it, with an administrator overriding the decision in the name of free expression.

Last week, the Monroe County Community College student government association voted 8-3 against approving the chapter, according to a news release from the school.

Despite the vote, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Success Scott Behrens used his final authority under school policy to approve the group and emailed the student government president and the club’s prospective advisor, Barry Kinsey, to confirm.

Blurb:

Memory problems may not be an unavoidable part of getting older. New findings from Virginia Tech reveal that age-related memory loss stems from specific molecular changes in the brain, and that fine-tuning these processes can help restore memory function.

In two complementary studies, Timothy Jarome, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Animal Sciences, and his graduate students used advanced gene-editing tools to target these molecular changes and improve memory performance in older rats. Rats are commonly used as models for understanding how memory declines with age.

“Memory loss affects more than a third of people over 70, and it’s a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jarome, who also serves in the School of Neuroscience. “This work shows that memory decline is linked to specific molecular changes that can be targeted and studied. If we can understand what’s driving it at the molecular level, we can start to understand what goes wrong in dementia and eventually use that knowledge to guide new approaches to treatment.”

Blurb:

It has been a rough couple of weeks for those claiming that Trump is abandoning Taiwan. The administration continues to show its commitment to the self-governed island. Recent examples include President Trump’s “Taiwan is Taiwan” remark, his warning regarding the “consequences” of attempting to take Taiwan, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth raising concerns about China’s actions around the island to China’s Minister of National Defense, and meetings between Taiwanese and U.S. officials at the APEC summit.

🇹🇼 “Taiwan is Taiwan” says President Trump.

I agree with him completely. Taiwan will never be a part of Communist China. pic.twitter.com/EBYuzYR4cP

— 鈴森はるか 『haruka suzumori』 🇯🇵 (@harukaawake) October 31, 2025

Before the Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea, Taiwanese officials expressed strong confidence in the ties between Taipei and Washington.

Blurb:

US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday said during the Arctic Frost investigation, investigators found that Special Counsel Jack Smith seized President Trump’s government-issued phone.

Jack Smith also subpoenaed President Trump’s personal records.

Full statement from Pam Bondi:

During the Arctic Frost Investigation, we found that Special Counsel seized President Trump’s government-issued phone.

This means the Biden Administration turned over President Trump’s phone to Special Counsel—an UNPRECEDENTED action.

In addition, Special Counsel subpoenaed all of President Trump’s PERSONAL phone records.

We can never again allow this kind of government weaponization in America.

I submitted these new documents to our partners on Capitol Hill. I commend our team at the FBI for working diligently to expose this.

Blurb:

Tuesday marked the first major election night since November 2024, and to put it frankly, it was a bloodbath for Republicans. This was a 2018-level obliteration in races across the country. The only saving grace was that off-year elections only offer so much meat on the bone for the winning party.

I don’t say that to be alarmist, but I also don’t want Republicans to lull themselves to sleep. These results were a troubling indication of real angst within the electorate, and with the 2026 midterms now under a year away, the clock is ticking for Republicans to turn things around. And while I want to discuss some fundamental issues that I believe are spoiling the environment for the GOP right now, the first step is understanding what happened.

Blurb:

In the fall of 2010, the Heritage Foundation was invited to send a speaker to a charter school class in the District of Columbia to discuss abortion. I was nominated for the task and arrived that morning at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for a back-and-forth with a representative from the D.C.-area Planned Parenthood.

The classroom had approximately 30 students, nearly all female and mostly freshmen and sophomores. It proved to be a good, low-key exchange, during which I learned the young women had been given a tour of a local Planned Parenthood facility. The classroom was not set up for audio visuals, and I had planned to dwell primarily on talking points about the value of life and setting behavioral standards necessary for personal success and happiness. But I did bring with me a set of visuals depicting the development of the child in the womb — straightforward prenatal biology and not violent images. The pictures were accurate and beautiful.

Blurb:

Last weekend 460 patients and their associates were massacred at Saudi Maternity Hospital in el-Fasher, Sudan.  This was acknowledged by the World Health Organization last Wednesday, when they reported that the RSF, the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese paramilitary force, in other words, terrorists, had committed the heinous act, as well as other slaughters in and around Darfur. One would think that this kind of horror would be widely reported on. When it comes to the nightly newscasts on CBS and ABC, one would be wrong.

Let’s start with the CBS Evening News. They did not mention the attack even once all week — that’s zero seconds — but they did have time for plenty of Halloween stories. On Friday evening, which was Halloween, the broadcast spent one minute on Halloween weather around the country. They ran a two minute package on “spooky” Halloween decorations, and the debate over whether or not they are too scary for children. And the best for last, a three minute segment on toilet paper being used by mischievous trick or treaters using toilet paper to ‘decorate’ homes and businesses in Heflin, Alabama, something the police are understandably not happy about. Bari Weiss, are you watching?

Blurb:

A Mexican mayor known for his outspoken stance against drug cartels and his push for tougher anti-trafficking laws was shot and killed during a Day of the Dead celebration over the weekend.

Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán State, was gunned down Saturday night during a public vigil, according to state officials.

Authorities said Manzo was struck seven times.

He later died from his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Before his death, Manzo had repeatedly warned that local officials were being targeted by cartels.

He had criticized Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for failing to take stronger action against organized crime.

Blurb:

In the span of less than 10 minutes after a huge crowd of protesters filled the U.S. Capitol West Plaza beneath the inauguration stage on Jan. 6, Capitol Police repeatedly used lethal force on the crowd, targeting people in the head, neck, face, and upper body — actions one use-of-force expert called “criminally negligent.”

During that brief span, at least 16 people were shot with kinetic-impact projectiles, including nine who took shots to the top of the head, face, and base of the neck, according to Capitol Police surveillance video obtained by Blaze News.

‘We need munitions! Unload! Unload it all! Take ’em out!’

The rounds are designed to be shot at or below the waist or skipped off pavement to strike the legs and cause trauma and “pain compliance.” None of the rounds observable on the surveillance footage struck below the belt, putting all of the observable rounds in dangerous and potentially lethal territory.

Blurb:

China will begin easing an export ban on automotive computer chips vital to production of cars across the world as part of a trade deal struck between the US and China, the White House has said.

The White House confirmed details of the deal in a new fact sheet after Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met in South Korea this week.

The nations also reached agreements on US soybean exports, the supply of rare earth minerals, and the materials used in production of the drug fentanyl.

The deal de-escalates a trade war between the world’s two largest economies after Trump hit China with tariffs after he entered office this year, leading to rounds of retaliatory tariffs and global business uncertainty.

Blurb:

The Scottish Parliament has passed a financial resolution to the Scottish assisted suicide Bill that would hand a “blank cheque” to implement assisted suicide, with funding likely to have to be diverted from other services to pay for this.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, at Stage 2 in Holyrood, would legalise assisted suicide for someone who is aged 16 or over, deemed mentally capable, ordinarily resident in Scotland, and terminally ill. There is no prognosis requirement specified.

Due to the likely large expenditure required by the implementation of assisted suicide, the Bill was required to be subject to a financial resolution before it could progress to the next Parliamentary stage.

Blurb:

A troubling new medical study has found that stillbirth rates in the United States are continuing to surge to alarmingly high levels and show no sign of improvement.

The peer-reviewed study examined more than 2.7 million pregnancies between 2016 and 2022.

Researchers found that roughly one in 150 pregnancies (6.8 per 1,000) ended in stillbirth.

The rate is significantly higher than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) previous estimate of one in 175 (5.7 per 1,000).

The findings underscore what public health experts are calling a persistent and preventable national tragedy that is being massively underreported by the corporate media.

The results of the study were published in the medical journal JAMA.

Blurb:

The state of Texas has secured an “historic” $1.375 billion settlement agreement with Google

The October 31 announcement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office marked the conclusion of two of the largest data privacy enforcement actions ever brought by a single state against the tech giant. Paxton sued Google for unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data regarding geolocation, incognito searches, and biometric data in 2022.

“This historic $1.375 billion price tag for Google’s misconduct sends a clear warning to all of Big Tech that I will take aggressive action against any company that misuses Texans’ data and violates their privacy,” said Paxton in a press release. “If Big Tech thinks they can get away with abusing user data and illegally spying on Texans without consequences, I will make sure they are proven wrong. This monumental settlement is a testament to my office’s commitment to taking on the biggest companies in the world and securing victory on behalf of Texans.”

“The settlement obtained by Attorney General Paxton for these combined abuses far eclipses that of any other one state’s settlement against Google for similar claims, with the largest single-state settlement to date outside of Texas being $93 million,” declared the AG office.  “Additionally, a forty-state coalition secured $391 million in its privacy case against Google, which is almost one billion dollars less than what Attorney General Paxton secured for Texas alone.”

Blurb:

A 75-year-old pro-life activist, left with permanent vision and hearing loss after a vicious beating outside a Baltimore abortion clinic, is pleading with the Trump administration’s Justice Department to step in and deliver the justice a local court denied him.

Mark Crosby, a lifelong Catholic sidewalk counselor who has spent decades praying for unborn children and offering support to women facing crisis pregnancies, sent a desperate letter Thursday to the DOJ, accusing the Maryland judiciary of a “gross miscarriage of justice” in the sentencing of his attacker.

The appeal comes nearly two years after the May 26, 2023, assault that left Crosby and his 84-year-old friend Richard “Dick” Schaefer, battered and bloodied in broad daylight.

Blurb:

Acclaimed artist and sculptor Jackie Ferrara has been euthanized despite reportedly being in “good health.”

Ferrara is the latest celebrity to be killed by “assisted suicide,” continuing the disturbing trend of liberal media outlets glamorizing what should be treated as a tragedy, not a fashionable lifestyle choice.

Ferrara was killed via lethal injection on October 22 at age 95.

By all accounts, Ferrara was in “good health.”

She simply decided that she was “ready to go,” and didn’t want to “depend on anybody.”

“I don’t want a housekeeper,” she told The New York Times shortly before her death.

“I never wanted anybody.

“I was married three times.

“That’s enough,” she added.

Blurb:

A charity supporting victims of Muslim child rape grooming gangs has revealed that family members of predators have attempted to infiltrate their ranks to threaten women and girls seeking help.

While much of the focus of the grooming gang scandal has focused on the failures of local authorities and the gangs of mostly Pakistani Muslim men, which were given free rein to sexually exploit often young working-class white girls, a victims’ charity has claimed that there is a broader familial, tribal support network operating in the shadows behind the criminal operations.

Managing director of the Next Stage Youth Development charity, Paul O’Rourke told The Times of London that it is “really common” for family members of grooming gangs to worm their way into the charity to “threaten and intimidate” victims.

“Once the gang in Rochdale found out where those young people were, they tried to infiltrate — to get access to them, to interfere with them as witnesses, to threaten them,” he said. “They also tried to recruit them back into the grooming gang because they were still very vulnerable.”

Blurb:

New Arctic Frost whistleblower documents confirm a seditious conspiracy of unimaginable proportions. The newly uncovered Arctic Frost whistleblower files have blown Washington wide open. They suggest a breathtaking expansion of federal power—an operation so sweeping it blurred every line between oversight and intrusion. What began as an investigation now looks, to many, like surveillance without boundaries. These revelations demand answers: who authorized it, who benefited, and why Congress was kept in the dark. At stake is not just transparency, but the integrity of the institutions Americans are told to trust.

Trump is demanding prison for Jack Smith.

Trump is demanding prison for Jack Smith. New Arctic Frost whistleblower documents show that the corrupt Biden FBI subpoenaed the bank records, donor lists, and emails of nearly every major conservative organization and leader in the country, including Donald Trump’s campaign, the RNC, Conservative Partnership Institute, Save America PAC, America First Policy Institute, and even MyPillow.

Blurb:

A new advertisement from Denmark’s state broadcaster is drawing attention for its messaging about genetics and diversity, reigniting discussion about political themes in Western advertising.

The commercial, which promotes a science program titled “Evolution,” features an on-screen “expert” interrupting a white Danish couple as they flirt.

The expert explains that Denmark’s history of war introduced foreign DNA into the national gene pool, which he says “protected them from disease.”

He then compares their relationship to inbreeding because they are both white and suggests they seek partners with more “exotic” genetics.

The woman then smiles as if intrigued by the idea.

The series first aired in 2020 but is now being re-released with the same “inbreeding” advertisements in 2025.

Blurb:

Over the weekend, unidentified drones were detected hovering above Belgium’s Kleine Brogel air base, which his the location of a U.S. nuclear weapons storage facility, prompting investigations into a possible espionage operation.

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said Sunday that a jammer was unsuccessfully used during the overnight drone sightings over Belgium’s Kleine Brogel airbase, which is used by NATO forces.

“Last night, we received 3 reports of drones above Kleine Brogel, of a larger type and flying at higher altitude,” Francken wrote on X. “It was not a simple overflight, but a clear command targeting Kleine Brogel. A drone jammer was used, but without success.

“A helicopter and police vehicles pursued the drone, but lost it after several kilometers,” he added.

…Francken said on Saturday that he would meet police next week to assess the threat and take the necessary steps to find and arrest the drone pilots.

A spokesperson for Francken’s office told Reuters news agency police were investigating the incident. Government ministers will discuss the sightings this week.

Blurb:

Shares of Europe’s biggest carmakers rose Monday as fears over an industry shortage of semiconductors appeared to recede.

China on Saturday said it would consider some exemptions for Nexperia chip exports. It had previously blocked Nexperia semiconductors from leaving the country after the Dutch government seized control of Nexperia, owned by the Chinese company Wingtech.

The standoff between the Netherlands and China had prompted automotive groups to raise the alarm over a worsening chip shortage.