THE NEWS

Far-left podcaster Jennifer Welch declares “fundamental Christianity” the greatest threat facing the United States. (Screenshot: IHIP News/Youtube)
Far-left podcaster Jennifer Welch launched another vicious attack on Christians and Erika Kirk, declaring that “fundamental Christianity,” not radical Islam, represents the greatest threat facing the United States.
Welch, co-host of the left-wing I’ve Had It podcast, made the inflammatory remarks in a video circulating on social media.
“The biggest threat I see to the United States right now is not the religion of Islam. It’s fundamental Christianity and the batshit sect that Erika Kirk belongs in, where you have firework funerals or Grindr crashes, and you dress up like an assassin and do a batshit-crazy video after your husband was violently murdered by an assassin.”
WATCH:

Jennifer Welch: “The biggest threat I see to the United States right now is not the religion of Islam, it’s fundamental Christianity and the batshit sect that Erika Kirk belongs in where you have firework funerals or Grindr crashes and you dress up like an assassin and do a… pic.twitter.com/Z5iTPj3Abm
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) August 20, 2026

So, according to Welch, it is not Islamic terrorism, open-border criminal organizations, Communist China, or America’s foreign adversaries that pose the greatest danger to the country.
It is Christians, and apparently a grieving widow whose husband was assassinated in front of a crowd.
Welch’s “firework funeral” remark appeared to reference the massive September 2025 memorial service for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Tens of thousands of mourners attended the service, which included worship music, speeches, and pyrotechnics.
Her claim about Grindr “crashing” repeated a viral social-media rumor that was never substantiated. Grindr later said its official status page showed no outage on the day of Kirk’s memorial, according to reporting on the controversy.
The “assassin” remark was another grotesque reference to an earlier video in which Erika Kirk wore a black outfit and hat while discussing media attacks against her following her husband’s murder.
Welch previously mocked the widow as “cosplaying as an assassin” and dressed up to imitate her on the podcast.
Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson has been charged with his murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
At Charlie’s memorial, Erika delivered a powerful Christian message and publicly forgave the man accused of murdering her husband.
That is the “batshit sect” Welch apparently considers more dangerous than America’s enemies.
This is not Welch’s first sickening attack on the Kirk family.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Welch claimed Charlie Kirk had “justified” his own assassination because of his support for the Second Amendment.

“The person that I heard that justified his death was him,” Welch said at the time. “He’s the one that said on tape that if school kids die, but it means he gets to have a Second Amendment, then that’s what it’s going to be. He’s the one that justified it.”

The Gateway Pundit also reported that Welch praised a protester who celebrated Kirk’s murder and demanded that Democrat leaders embrace the radical activists cheering his death.
Welch has repeatedly demonstrated the sort of poisonous rhetoric now celebrated by the Democrat Party’s activist and media class.
She previously called White House adviser Stephen Miller a “Nazi Jew” while CNN’s Abby Phillip sat by without forcefully challenging her.
In March, Welch accepted a GLAAD award by screaming, “Fk ICE! Fk Donald Trump! Free Palestine! And save trans kids!” The Gateway Pundit reported that Welch used the awards stage to deliver the profanity-laced political tirade.
Now she is labeling Christians a national-security threat while mocking a woman whose husband was assassinated.
The radical left endlessly lectures Americans about “tolerance,” “compassion,” and dangerous political rhetoric. But when the target is a conservative Christian widow, apparently anything goes.
Absolutely vile.
 

The post VILE: Leftist Podcaster Jennifer Welch Says Fundamental Christianity is America’s “Biggest Threat” – More Than Islam — Launches Obscene Attack on Charlie Kirk’s Grieving Widow (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Teen Drops Social Media Addiction Claims Against Meta, Google, & Snap, Ahead Of October Trial

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

A 15-year-old New Jersey girl whose lawsuit served as a test case in litigation accusing social media companies of designing platforms to addict young users dropped her remaining claims Thursday against Meta Platforms, Google, and Snap Inc.

The plaintiff, identified in California court records only as P. M-Y., had alleged the owners of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat contributed to her social media addiction, depression, and self-harm.

She dismissed the case without any payment from the three companies, according to a court filing and statements from the defendants. TikTok, also named in the suit, had settled earlier.

Emily Jeffcott, an attorney for P. M-Y., said her client chose to end the remaining claims so she could try to resume her life.

She “initiated this process with the goal of holding social media companies accountable and to push for changes to protect young people like herself,” Jeffcott said.

More than 3,300 personal injury cases filed by individuals have been consolidated in California state court in Los Angeles. P. M-Y.’s lawsuit was selected as one of three “bellwether” or test cases set to go to trial in October. Attorneys use such trials to determine how juries may react to similar claims and to help set values for settlement talks.

Two other teen plaintiffs with similar allegations against the same companies remain scheduled for October trials. TikTok has already settled those cases, as well.

Platforms Defend Safeguards

Meta said in a statement that the plaintiff had a significant mental health condition that pre-dated her use of social media and that many of these cases fit the same pattern. The company added it would vigorously defend against the remaining suits.

Google-owned YouTube said the decision to drop the case affirms “our longstanding position that we provide safe, age-appropriate experiences and strong parental controls for young people and families.”

A Snap spokesperson said the company remains focused on strengthening safeguards, tools and educational resources to support users’ safety, privacy, and well-being.

The broader litigation includes claims by individuals, states, and school districts that features such as infinite scroll, algorithmic recommendations, and autoplay promote compulsive use and contribute to youth mental health problems. The companies have denied the allegations and say they take extensive steps to keep teens safe.

A previous case concluded in July when a Florida teen dropped his claims against Meta after the other defendants settled.

In March, a Los Angeles jury awarded $4.2 million against Meta and $1.8 million against Google in a case brought by a woman who said she became addicted to the platforms at a young age, with TikTok and Snap settling that case before trial.

Related litigation continues on other fronts, with 29 states pursuing a federal trial in Oakland, California, that began this week. They accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, fueling anxiety, depression, and even suicide, and of misleading the public about safety. Meta has rejected those claims, arguing that “social media addiction” is not an established psychiatric condition and that it complied with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for $6 million in damages in the first individual social media addiction trial to reach a verdict. Jurors decided the companies’ platforms contributed to the plaintiff’s psychological harms. Snap and TikTok had settled before that trial began.

A New Mexico judge earlier this month ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a child mental health fund after finding the company’s platforms contributed to the state’s youth mental health crisis. Meta faces additional pressure from state attorneys general and school districts in multiple jurisdictions.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 08/21/2026 – 09:25

It’s Friday, we’ve all made it to the end of another week of life and I’ve made it to my 12th consecutive day of pumping out a fresh edition of Screencaps. The normal Substack guys will write like twice a week and act like they’re overworked.Meanwhile, this column just keeps humming along day after day. For those of you who are new here, I want you to give Screencaps a chance for at least an entire week. After a week, if you hate it, then by all means, move along. I’m betting after seven straight days, you’ll find a new home.Let’s get into it.RAIDERS’ FERNANDO MENDOZA FACES CRITICISM FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH OVER NFL READINESS• How long can Fernando Mendoza go with the Leave It To Beaver persona before it wears out its welcome? This season is a hall pass. He just won a national title and is still relatively unknown to NFL fans. I predict by November 2027, Mendoza will either show he’s ready to be a star or he’ll be headed to the scrap heap like so many other No. 1 picks.That said, if Mendoza wins, you are looking at an advertising & media machine. He’s going to make billions if he can put together 10-11 win seasons. And if he ends up in some sort of wholesome, Tebow-like marriage, while putting together an AFC title game run, watch out.• What a night it was in the WNBA. Watch how Angel Reese reacts to the sex toy thrown on the court in Los Angeles. I can’t read lips. You guys tell me what she said.Was this the guy who threw the green sex toy? I have no idea. All I can go off of is what the woke WNBA reporters who can actually get a press pass are reporting.AMERICANS CLASH OVER TRANSGENDER ATHLETES AS DEBATE HEATS UP: ‘JUST GETTING OUTRAGEOUS’• Eric P. in the PnW wants to know if I’m aware of the guy who quit his Seattle Times job over the woke newsroom (allegedly) refusing to run his work on trans in sports: I read this guys column every day. He’s fair and enjoys going against the grain. Even when I disagree with him, I can see his points , which makes a good writer.   He would fit at OK in my opinion. Matt Calkins claims the Seattle Times refused to publish his column on two student-athletes who oppose transgender athletes in women’s sports.Kinsey: I have some good news, Eric. We let Calkins have his say on the matter. I don’t know if there’s a conversation on working more closely with Calkins, but I can say that you’re not going to find a site more dedicated to this topic of keeping biological males out of female sports.INSIDE THE SUPREME COURT BATTLE TO ‘SAVE WOMEN’S SPORTS’Search Fox News for the OutKick Sports story on why the Seattle Times sports columnist resigned after 11 years:Seattle Times columnist resigns after paper allegedly refused to run ‘Save Women’s Sports’ columnOur track record speaks for itself. In December, it will be five years since I became the first writer to talk to a Lia Thomas teammate, who turned out to be Paula Scanlan. For at least 2-3 years, before she revealed herself, the only people who knew the source to my story was my wife and Clay Travis.SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SPEAKS OUT ON PROTECTING GIRLS FROM COMPETING AGAINST ‘BIOLOGICAL MEN’OutKick has been on the right side of history on this topic since day one. I can tell you that Fox News Digital is incredibly committed to this subject. Just take a look at where our reporters have been around the country. Dan Zaksheske and Jackson Thompson have literally criss-crossed the U.S. covering this topic.We’ll see if Calkins fits into the coverage. I was at a junior high open house last night. I’m not sure where we stand as of this morning.📩 Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com.Send photos, stories, tips, rants—whatever you’ve got.📰 Screencaps Page: 👉 Read the latest Screencaps▶️ YouTube: Screencaps with Joe Kinsey Subscribe for videos, rants, and behind-the-scenes.🐦 Twitter/X: @JoeKinseyexp Tag me or drop a DM.PIZZA HUT BRINGS BACK VINTAGE VIBES AS FRANCHISEES EMBRACE NOSTALGIC MAKEOVERS📸 Instagram: @OutKickScreencaps You guys need to start tagging me on content you’re seeing.📘 Facebook Page: Screencaps on Facebook👥 Facebook Group: Join the Screencaps Community📬 Mail (Thursday Night Mowing League): 27072 Carronade Dr, Unit A 155 Perrysburg, OH 43551🗞️ Newsletter: 👉 Subscribe hereTalk about a Screencaps and Nightcaps legend. Between Paige Spiranac, Mikayla Demaiter and Milana Vayntrub, you have three Mount Rushmores of this website. Do you know how many millions of people have clicked on headlines associated with these three?We have scientific data from AI researchers that tell us these three are the most-clicked on personalities in OutKick history.Milana, 39, surfaced this week –– she rarely posts on Instagram these days –– at a Mets game where she threw out the first pitch. It was news to me that she even cared about sports.And I love it every single time. Every email. Every tweet where you praise me for being early on Pizza Hut Classics.– Bill C. emails: I bet this wasn’t on your bingo card today.https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/retro-pizza-hut-draws-customers-from-hours-away-1980s-nostalgia-sends-sales-soaringKinsey: Bill, it never shocks me when I see Hut Classic headlines. These posts do millions of pageviews. The nostalgia associated with Pizza Hut as we all remember is one of the strongest nostalgia plays on the Internet right now. Go on TikTok or Instagram. Hut content is undefeated. It’s like Screencaps posting AT&T Lily or Pageviews Spiranac. Part of this job is to just play the classics.– Drew in Katy, TX emails: In a prior email to you on August 12th I had stated. “If they will put dine-in restaurants with all of the Pizza Hut nostalgia in towns where boomers live, they will thrive again.”   Well, the nostalgia is not just attracting the boomers according to the article which states, “Sparks said he encountered skepticism early on from those who believed the concept would primarily cater to Baby Boomers.”  “That’s where they were dramatically wrong,” he said. “When we started to get a lot of traction with social media, these weren’t 50- and 60-year-olds coming in and doing TikToks, right? These were [people in their] teens and 20s coming in and doing them.”  Interestingly, Pizza Hut started this process back in 2017, but apparently never got fully behind it.  Yum Brands sold off Pizza Hut recently.  If the new owners of Pizza Hut will invest in this business model, I predict success. Kinsey: Pizza Hut is No. 2 behind Domino’s as America’s top pizza chain in terms of sales. One thing to keep an eye on is this “Total Change in Units from 2024” stat. Pizza Hut has had to clear out stores.Can Pizza Hut get Americans to sit inside and eat a pizza again? I have my doubts, but if there’s a Classic nearby, you need to give it a shot. Trust me. You’ll feel like you were transported back to simpler times.The grandson is tough, but fair.#################That’s it this morning. You’re not going to get many more summer weekends. Get out there and go nuts this weekend. I’ll see some of you tonight at the National Tractor Pull Championships in Bowling Green, OH for some FULLLLLLLL PULLLLLLLL action.Let’s go get after it.

The top Democrat in the House is making it clear that he doesn’t support the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) agenda.But even though House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York doesn’t back the DSA’s far-left policy proposals, a majority of Democrats hold favorable views of socialism, according to two national polls released in recent weeks.That’s not the case for most Americans, and especially Republicans, who hold negative views of socialism, according to the surveys.”I don’t support the DSA agenda, as has been articulated by the DSA itself,” Jeffries said during an interview this past weekend on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE MIDTERM RACESJeffries wasn’t the only major Democrat taking aim at the socialist agenda on the Sunday talk shows.Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, called socialism a “failed experiment” during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”Longtime Democratic strategist and pundit James Carville was less diplomatic.”They’re a bunch of silly people… a pack of fools,” Carville said as he referred to DSA members, during a Monday appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.”DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUBThe DSA’s agenda includes defunding and abolishing police and prison systems, ending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations and detentions, abolishing borders, granting voting rights to noncitizens and implementing a single-payer “Medicare for All” health system. The DSA’s new platform also calls for abolishing the Senate, and replacing the presidency and Supreme Court with leadership chosen by and subordinate to Congress.Candidates backed by or aligned with the DSA, as well as other left-wing progressives, have won a series of victories over more moderate incumbents and candidates supported by the party establishment in primary showdowns this spring and summer, including high-profile wins this month in crucial Democratic Senate primaries in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida.SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTERAhead of those victories, a Fox News national poll conducted last month indicated 52% of Democrats but just 11% of Republicans held positive views of socialism. According to the poll, Democrats had more favorable opinions of socialism that capitalism. A CBS News survey in the field earlier this month had similar findings.The poll results come in the wake of years of pessimistic views of the nation’s economy, as Americans have struggled with persistent inflation for most of this decade.”Health insurers have acted irresponsibly making access to affordable and quality care beyond challenging for Americans, wages aren’t keeping up with soaring inflation and there is no plan to reconcile any of these issues. Voters are looking for a solution to the affordability crisis,” longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital.Caiazzo, a veteran of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, emphasized that “progressives are winning primaries around the country because the electorate is desperate for leaders that will address the affordability crisis that has swept the country.”Sanders’ marathon battle with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination has had a lasting impact on the party.”Since 2016 and the Bernie Sanders campaign, there are lots of Democrats, particularly younger ones, who don’t think socialism is scary and wouldn’t mind seeing more of it in U.S. policy-making,” political scientist Chris Galdieri told Fox News Digital.SOCIALISTS ACCUSED OF ‘MOTOR MOUTH’ RHETORIC AS LONGTIME DEM STRATEGIST UNLOADS ON FAR-LEFT CANDIDATEIt’s a different story for Republicans.”For Republicans, ‘socialism’ has been a boogeyman for almost a hundred years, and it was used as a criticism of everything from the New Deal to Obamacare,” Galdieri, a politics professor at Saint Anselm College, said. “Republicans take it as a matter of fact that socialism is a bad thing and polls reflect that.”Polling from Gallup conducted late last year also highlighted that “socialism starts from a much less favorable position in Americans’ minds” compared to capitalism or free enterprise.”Republicans are far more likely than Democrats or independents to say there is nothing good about socialism,” a release from Gallup noted. It also pointed out that a majority of Democrats “praise socialism either for providing access to basic services and strengthening the social safety net or for promoting greater economic equality.”New England College President Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist, points to a different reason for the ongoing socialist surge.”Most Americans do not know what socialism means in theory or in practice,” Lesperance argued. “I’d wager that the votes for democratic candidates identifying as socialists has much more to do with being young and new, and not the same as establishment candidates that have dominated elections for years.””That is the bigger story here — voters participating in democratic primaries want new options, and they will even vote for self-described socialists to force the change they want to see,” Lesperance told Fox News Digital.Regardless of the contributing factors, Republicans see the leftward lurch in the Democratic primaries as ammunition they can use to try and save their congressional majorities in the upcoming midterm elections as they face a rough political climate.”I’m absolutely convinced we’re going to defy the historic trend and keep and grow the House majority for Republicans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday in an exclusive campaign trail interview with Fox News Digital.Referring to Republicans, Johnson said, “I’m so grateful we have common sense on the ballot. This really is a contrast election between commonsense candidates… and crazy, and that’s what the other side represents.”President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to Democrats as “communists.” And this week, referring to socialist politicians, the president charged, “They’re driving out the middle class. You’re not going to have anybody left to pay any taxes. And if you don’t pay taxes, you know what happens. Squalor, squalor, filth.”But Democrats discount the GOP attacks.”It’s an attempt by Republicans to try to frame the debate around labels rather than the failed policies of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans,” Caiazzo argued.

Screencap of YouTube video.
A group of parents in Palo Alto, California is suing the high school principal and the school district over a field trip to a mosque that they claim crossed the line into religious indoctrination.
While this is not difficult to believe, one does have to wonder what the parents thought was going to happen. Why did they even sign the permission slips for this trip in the first place?
Once again, we see another good argument for home schooling.
The Daily Wire reports:
Parents Sue School District Over Mosque Field Trip, Claim Religious Indoctrination
A group of parents is suing the Palo Alto Unified School District and Brent Kline, principal of Palo Alto High School, in federal court, alleging the school’s “Social Justice Pathway” turned a class field trip to a Santa Clara mosque into taxpayer-funded religious indoctrination.
The suit, filed August 7 in the Northern District of California, centers on a fall 2025 visit to the Muslim Community Association mosque in Santa Clara. According to the complaint, students were encouraged to don Islamic religious attire, given Qurans to take home, and observed a midday prayer service.
Ten individual plaintiffs and an advocacy group, Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools — San Francisco Bay Area, brought the case. Eight are Jewish; the Hindu and Zoroastrian plaintiffs live in neighboring communities and do not have children enrolled at Palo Alto. The complaint alleges that the mosque is the only house of worship the program visits, and alleges its website has promoted both the school visits and local religious conversions.
“[T]he District failed to maintain religious neutrality, failed to ensure equal treatment among faiths, failed to protect student privacy, and failed to vet, supervise, and monitor religiously divisive outside speakers during the school-sponsored event,” the filing claims.
The Pathway is a three-year course track open to Palo Alto High students beginning sophomore year. The complaint alleges that during the mosque visit, students were exposed to Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whom the filing describes as a “controversial outside speaker with publicly documented hostile statements concerning Jews.” Billoo, the suit says, “was allowed unfettered access to students to advocate personal religious and political views without balancing perspective or adequate supervision.”
Watch a video report below:

Maybe these parents will think twice the next time the school wants to take their children on a trip somewhere.

The post Parents Sue California School District Over Field Trip to Mosque, Claim it Was ‘Religious Indoctrination’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

I’ve got good news and bad news for the WNBA …The good news? The trans drama has subsided, at least for now. All has been quiet on that front for a few days. A nice little summer break, I guess.The bad news? The sex toy drama has returned. That’s right. Remember the drama from last summer, when there was a serial sex toy thrower on the loose? Man, those were the days. Simpler days. Simpler times.Everything is so serious now. We’ve spent all summer fighting about very serious issues (despite the left swearing it’s not), and, while important, it’s also been exhausting.Sometimes, you just need a break from the real stuff, and you need to get back to basics.And that’s what happened last night in Los Angeles (shocker), where a sex toy appeared to make its way to the court in the third quarter of the Dream-Sparks game.Guess who was QUICK to point out the perpetrator, too? Angel Reese!What a night:My goodness. Sometimes, you think the perfect video(s) doesn’t exist, and then the content Gods throw you a softball right down the middle of the plate. Amazing sequence here.The green sex toy that we all grew very familiar with last summer returning to the court. Angel Reese’s reaction. The video of the alleged man fleeing the scene.It was all perfect. It certainly brought me back to last summer.For those who forget — or blocked it from their minds — the WNBA had a serious sex toy problem for about three weeks last year. Purple and green … sex toys … were being tossed onto the court at various WNBA games on random nights, and it was all anyone could talk about.We were all on high alert. All on edge. At one point, betting markets were allowing you to wager on the next color sex toy to hit the floor. It was the Wild Wild West.There were two (!!!) arrests eventually made by August, and Sophie Cunningham was even hit by one back before she became a household name.SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM TAKES VICIOUS ELBOW TO FACE, AND FANS FUME AT WHAT REFS DID NEXTTake a look:”Stop throwing dildos on the court… you’re going to hurt one of us,” Cunningham jokingly posted just days before getting hit by the projectile.STAY “FEARLESS” ON THE GO! TAKE TOMI LAHREN WITH YOU. DOWNLOAD THE TLIF PODCAST NOW!”This did NOT age well,” she added in the aftermath.See? She was even likable last summer when nobody really knew who she was!Doesn’t seem like Angel Reese had the same sense of humor last night.

As U.S. Attorney, I have a lot of heavy days. There is no joy in sending people to prison, no matter how much they deserve it. But the greatest weight comes from meeting families who have lost someone they love. More often than not, the killer is not a person. It’s fentanyl.Fentanyl is a ruthless killer, targeting the very young. It is now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Think about that: if you have reached age 18, but are not yet 45, you are more likely to die of fentanyl than anything else. Every day, fentanyl claims the lives of more than 100 Americans with only a tiny amount — a lethal dose fits on the tip of a sharpened pencil.In my office, fentanyl has become a daily reality in all types of cases. Other drugs are laced with fentanyl — making it more potent and addictive, driving more business to drug dealers — and counterfeit pills marketed as prescriptions for sleep or focus are nothing more than fentanyl in disguise. Fentanyl has been found in fake candy and baby bottles. I even met a mother who lost her daughter after taking a sip from a water bottle that had been contaminated with fentanyl. It is an epidemic.TRUMP ‘DRUG CZAR’ WARNS OF DEADLY ‘RHINO TRANQUILIZER’ KILLING AMERICANS AS CARTEL CRACKDOWN ESCALATESPresident Trump has recognized the problem and taken extensive executive action — five executive orders in addition to other proclamations and determinations. Those efforts, along with stronger border security, have produced measurable results. Less fentanyl is making it to the streets and drug dealers are using less of it in their products, resulting in lives saved. The number of fentanyl pills containing a lethal dose has dropped dramatically, from 76% in 2023 to just 29% now. The same is true in powder form, where purity dropped from 19.5% to 10.3%.But to truly dismantle drug trafficking organizations, prosecutors must have the tools to remove the most dangerous dealers from the streets and deter others from entering the trade. The best way to do that is lengthier mandatory minimum sentences.Currently, there is no federal mandatory minimum sentence for trafficking up to 40 grams of fentanyl — enough to kill 20,000 people. After that, the minimums are low — just five years. The minimum only rises to 10 years for 400 grams, which could kill 200,000 people.Despite the death rate associated with fentanyl, those minimum sentences pale in comparison to other drugs. Federal prosecutors often prioritize methamphetamine charges because the mandatory minimum for selling just 50 grams is 10 years. It would take eight times as much fentanyl to trigger the same mandatory sentence, but fentanyl kills twice as many people.We know that higher mandatory minimums produce results because states have already conducted the experiment. In my state of North Carolina, mandatory minimums begin at just 4 grams. Traffic 28 grams of fentanyl, and you face a mandatory 19 years in prison. Alabama has gone even further: trafficking just 4 grams there carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, while anything over 8 grams requires life imprisonment. In other words, what requires a life sentence in Alabama carries no minimum in the federal system; five times that would require just a 10-year federal sentence.States with strict minimum sentences have shown results. In both Alabama and North Carolina, drug overdose deaths are down 25% over the last year.FEDS SEIZE MOUNTAIN OF FENTANYL FROM ‘OPEN-AIR DRUG MARKET’ IN MASSIVE CRACKDOWN TARGETING GANG CREWSWest Virginia has taken a different approach. Although its mandatory minimum sentences are less severe than those in North Carolina or Alabama, they apply at even smaller quantities — less than one gram, the lowest threshold in the nation. There, fentanyl deaths fell by nearly 20% in a year.In early 2025, Senator Kennedy and five colleagues introduced a bill to lower the fentanyl thresholds for federal mandatory minimums, but the bill has not gained meaningful traction.Meanwhile, more than 38,000 Americans died from fentanyl in 2025. Their graves would stretch across nearly 30 football fields. Imagine standing at one goal line and looking across row after row of headstones until they disappeared into the distance. It is difficult to comprehend how anyone can look at that devastation and conclude there are more pressing priorities.

Hayden Panettiere was remembered as more than just an actress in her final campaign with PETA, a project that was captured in Los Angeles weeks before her sudden death at 36.In an image shared earlier this week, Panettiere posed from a bathtub to protest marine parks like SeaWorld, “who sentence dolphins to a lifetime of suffering and loneliness in captivity,” the organization said.Panettiere’s quest for marine life conservation was a life-long pursuit, beginning when she was just a teenager advocating for animals with the Whaleman Foundation.HAYDEN PANETTIERE’S MOTHER POINTS FINGER AT BRIAN HICKERSON AFTER ‘NASHVILLE’ STAR’S DEATH AT 36Her advocacy work involved protesting, lobbying and fundraising for animal welfare efforts. Most recently, the “Heroes” actress begged for an end to marine life captivity.”Can you imagine their frustration, their trauma, their depression? All that is important and crucial for their well-being is ripped away. … We can end this. You and me,” Panettiere pleaded in her last PETA campaign.”In their ocean homes they can be with their families, dive deep to escape the hot sun and enjoy the rain on their backs… all of that is taken from them when they are confined to small tanks.”The “Remember the Titans” star became a prominent spokesperson at a young age for the Whaleman Foundation and the Save the Whales Again! campaign.HAYDEN PANETTIERE DEAD AT 36In 2007, Panettiere, along with actress Isabel Lucas and a number of activists, traveled to Taiji, Japan, to protest the slaughter of dolphins by Japanese fishermen.Panettiere donned a wetsuit and entered the water on a surfboard to help form a memorial circle for dolphins that had already been killed that morning.The peaceful demonstration turned violent when the fishermen attacked the floating protesters with poles and spinning propellers, the foundation reported.Footage from the protest appeared in “The Cove,” a documentary about the Taiji dolphin hunts, which later won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.She later returned to Japan with Whaleman Foundation founder Jeff Pantukhoff and attempted to meet with local leaders to discuss alternatives to dolphin hunting, but was prevented from entering town hall.HAYDEN PANETTIERE AND THE CHILD STARS WHOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR MOMAGERS TURNED COMPLICATED”I wasn’t sure what to expect on my trip back to Japan,” Panettiere said after returning. “I think a lot of people assume that I hate Japan, or would want to boycott Japanese products because of my issues with their dolphin hunting policies. But really, nothing could be further from the truth.”It’s a beautiful place — the people there have such an intense appreciation for nature. I absolutely love it. I think the media likes to paint a picture of West vs. East — Us vs. Them. But I think we all have more in common than that.”She added, “I wanted to take this trip to reach out to people in Japan that feel the same way. You see, the majority of people living there don’t know about the dolphin hunts, and would never condone them if they did. And for the few who do eat dolphin meat, there is a serious human health concern. Dolphin meat is highly toxic and isn’t safe for people to eat.”Panettiere was able to meet with officials and political leaders in the area, and despite tense times, she had “never been more hopeful” for the future.”The word is getting out in Japan, and I have faith that the people there will ultimately be the ones to shut down the cove for good,” Panettiere said at the time.HAYDEN PANETTIERE: A LIFE IN PICTURESHer advocacy work helped land her a spot on the TIME’s celebrity “do-gooders” list, and in 2008, Panettiere earned The Humane Society’s Wyler Award for her efforts against the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Past recipients of the award include Paul McCartney, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Ian Somerhalder and Kesha.That same year, Panettiere stood alongside Senator John Kerry for a joint press conference on Capitol Hill to urge the government for strong leadership in opposing commercial whaling and protecting marine life.GET ENTERTAINMENT SCOOP DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BY CLICKING HERE”Dolphins and whales are some of the most contaminated animals on the planet and like canaries in a coal mine they are telling us that something is seriously wrong with our oceans,” Panettiere said.”We are poisoning the oceans’ food chain and ultimately poisoning ourselves and I think that is it vitally important to get this truth out to the younger generations who, after all, will be the ones to face up to the problems that are occurring today.”LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSThe “Nashville” actress died Sunday in Greenville, South Carolina. Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were with Panettiere at the time of her death, according to a police report.Hickerson was among those at the Greenville apartment when Panettiere was found, and authorities executed a search warrant at the residence, according to the report. Police also conducted a welfare check Wednesday at a South Carolina home linked to the Hickerson brothers, but no one answered the door.Preliminary autopsy results found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death, Fox News Digital confirmed.”First responders and Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and located a female in cardiac arrest,” the Greenville County Coroner’s Office said in a statement. “EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 PM.”PUT YOUR ENTERTAINMENT KNOWLEDGE TO THE TEST AND SEE HOW YOU SCOREThe Greenville County Coroner’s Office and Greenville City Police Department launched parallel investigations into her death.”At autopsy no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death,” the coroner’s statement continued. “The cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.”This investigation remains active and ongoing. No further details are available for release at this time.”On Wednesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was contacted and is assisting in the investigation.Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya, who was born in 2014, with her ex-fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

FIRST ON FOX: An American traveler’s vacation in Sicily turned into a travel nightmare after volcanic activity from Mount Etna disrupted flights and left her scrambling to find another route back to New York.Julie Sagoskin, editor-in-chief of Park Magazine in New York City, told Fox News Digital that she arrived in Sicily through Catania International Airport on Aug. 1 and spent more than a week traveling around the Italian island.The trouble began when it was time to return home Aug. 10. Sagoskin said her flight from Catania was canceled amid ongoing volcanic activity.CARIBBEAN HOT SPOT GRIPPED BY WATER CRISIS, AND TOURISTS SCRAMBLE TO RESCHEDULE PLANS”Right when we arrived at the airport, we did get a notice that our flight was canceled,” Sagoskin said.She said another traveler in her group who had reached the airport earlier described the scene as “total chaos.”Sagoskin’s group knew volcanic activity was affecting travel. Friends who had planned to fly out two days earlier had their flight canceled and returned to stay with the group, she said.Sagoskin hoped conditions would improve by her scheduled departure.VACATION NIGHTMARE UNFOLDS AS FERRY PASSENGERS BATTLE SEASICKNESS AT ISLAND HOT SPOTInstead, she found herself weighing whether to wait for flights to resume or find another way off the island.”You’re in a foreign country, first of all,” Sagoskin said. “It’s obviously a big … natural disaster. So there’s nothing anybody can do about this.”The cancellation came amid widespread disruption at Catania’s airport. Between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12, more than a third of the 1,974 scheduled flights were canceled, Reuters reported.The disruption affected thousands of travelers during the busy summer season, with some passengers spending days waiting for a way out, according to Reuters.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERSagoskin and others gathered at a hotel near the airport. Some discussed waiting another couple of days, while others began looking for flights from different cities.Sagoskin decided to head to Rome hoping there would be more flights there.She quickly booked a ticket for an approximately 11-hour overnight train ride from Catania to Rome as seats began filling up.The journey brought another unexpected twist when the train was transported across the water by ferry.”The trip really turned into a trip upon a trip,” Sagoskin said.The journey was made more challenging by stretches without air conditioning, she said.CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIESAfter days of uncertainty, Sagoskin said seeing that her flight from Rome wasn’t delayed brought a sense of relief.She finally flew home from Rome on Aug. 11, one day after her original return date.Other members of her group took different approaches. Some traveled through Palermo, while others dealt with additional flight cancellations, overnight stays and lost luggage, Sagoskin said.”I think you have to come up with one plan and stick to it,” Sagoskin said, noting that it would be easy to second-guess her decisions afterward.TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZMount Etna’s activity was visible during the ordeal, Sagoskin said. She recalled seeing the volcano while traveling toward the airport.She saw ash around the hotel near the airport, including near the pool area, where guests were temporarily told to leave.Despite the difficult journey, Sagoskin said the ordeal did not overshadow her positive experience in Sicily.”It was memorable,” she said. “We will remember this for a lifetime.”She said the experience reinforced the importance of staying flexible.”We got out safely,” Sagoskin said. “Things can happen in life at any time. You just have to … make decisions, be prepared and move on.”

Credit: San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office
Another election-fraud scandal has erupted in deep-blue California.
Desiree Lynch, a Democrat-aligned candidate for the Stockton City Council, was arrested Wednesday following a public-corruption investigation and charged with five felonies involving alleged perjury, false voter registration, and fraudulent candidate paperwork.
Although Stockton’s municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, Lynch’s campaign has leaned unmistakably to the left.
Her campaign website warns that “fairness, decency, freedom, and justice” are supposedly “under attack at the federal level” — an apparent swipe at President Donald Trump and his administration. Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee also publicly endorsed her campaign.
According to the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office, Lynch allegedly registered to vote and filed to run for the District 5 council seat using addresses where she did not live.
And one of the alleged “home” addresses was a cocktail lounge.
Prosecutors say Lynch used two Stockton addresses to manufacture residency inside District 5:

Harry’s Cocktail Lounge at 407 E. Charter Way, also known as East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard; and
Doyle Garden Apartments at 625 E. Oak Street.

Investigators determined that Lynch was actually living in Lodi and North Stockton, including an area located in Stockton City Council District 1, not District 5, according to the DA’s office.
The criminal complaint contains three perjury counts under California Penal Code Section 118(a), one count of causing, procuring, or allowing false voter registration under Elections Code Section 18100(a), and one count of filing a false nomination or declaration of candidacy under Elections Code Section 18203.
The alleged offenses span from November 10, 2025, through August 17, 2026.
The charges are:

Count 1: Perjury on or about November 10, 2025;
Count 2: Perjury on or about February 5, 2026;
Count 3: Perjury on or about March 2, 2026;
Count 4: Causing, procuring, or allowing false voter registration from approximately November 10, 2025, through August 17, 2026; and
Count 5: Filing a false nomination or declaration of candidacy during that same period.

The arrest followed a six-week investigation by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations. The probe began after the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office referred the matter following the June primary election.
Lynch finished second in that primary, receiving 1,054 votes, or 30.59 percent, and advanced to the November runoff against incumbent Councilman Brando Villapudua, who received 1,173 votes, or 34.04 percent.
In other words, more than 1,000 Stockton residents voted to put Lynch in the general election before prosecutors alleged that she never lived in the district she sought to represent.
Lynch briefly announced that she was ending her campaign amid mounting questions about her residency. Four days later, she reversed course and declared that she would remain in the race. She was arrested roughly 24 hours after announcing her return, according to Stocktonia.
Her name remains on the November 3 ballot.
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas did not mince words, accusing Lynch of being “an opportunist manufacturing a fake address to cheat the system.”
Freitas said election integrity is fundamental to the democratic process and that Stockton voters deserve a representative who actually lives in their community.
Lynch was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail with bail set at $100,000 and was later released after processing. If convicted on every count, she faces a maximum sentence of six years and eight months in state prison. Her next court date is scheduled for September 2, 2026.

The post California City Council Candidate ARRESTED on Five Felony Counts — Prosecutors Say She Listed a Cocktail Lounge as Her Home appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.