U.K. Police (MarioGuti/ Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro)
Aurelian, a tech startup aiming to support America’s strained emergency response system, has secured $14 million in funding to expand its AI-powered voice assistant. The tool is designed to manage non-emergency 911 calls, easing the burden on overstretched dispatch centers across the country.
The move comes as emergency call centers nationwide face a severe staffing shortage, creating backlogs and increasing pressure on remaining personnel. Aurelian’s technology offers a solution by automatically handling low-priority calls—such as noise complaints, parking issues, and lost property—allowing human dispatchers to focus on true emergencies.
The startup’s pivot into public safety originated from an unusual source: a local salon frustrated by a blocked parking lot and long wait times to report the issue. Founder Brian Keenan discovered that emergency dispatchers were also fielding non-emergency requests, contributing to system-wide inefficiencies. From this, Aurelian’s AI assistant was born.
The AI agent can recognize whether a call is a genuine emergency. If so, it reroutes the caller to a human dispatcher. Otherwise, it collects relevant information, generates a report, and forwards it to the appropriate agency for follow-up—without tying up emergency resources.
Since launching in May 2024, Aurelian’s system has been adopted by over a dozen jurisdictions, including Snohomish County, Washington; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Kalamazoo, Michigan. These areas report benefits such as reduced call volumes and shorter hold times for emergency callers.
Aurelian maintains that the AI does not replace human workers, but fills critical staffing gaps created by a high-turnover industry. Dispatchers in some counties report working up to 16-hour shifts due to chronic understaffing.
With fresh investment, Aurelian plans to scale its AI solution to more cities, addressing a growing public safety concern with cutting-edge technology.
Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was hospitalized Monday after a physical assault at a campaign rally in the eastern town of Dobra. The incident occurred as the country prepares for parliamentary elections scheduled for October 3–4.
Police confirmed that a man armed with a walking stick struck Babis and was immediately detained. Authorities are treating the case as “hooliganism,” a criminal offense in the Czech Republic. It remains unclear if Babis sustained any injuries from the attack. He was transported to a nearby hospital in Frydek-Mistek for evaluation, according to his ANO (YES) party.
Babis, a populist leader and founder of the centrist ANO movement, served as prime minister from 2017 until 2021. Despite losing his bid for reelection in 2021 and later losing the 2023 presidential race to General Petr Pavel, his party remains a strong contender in the upcoming elections. Polls indicate ANO could potentially reclaim power from the current center-right coalition government.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Interior Minister Vit Rakusan condemned the assault and called it unacceptable behavior in a democratic society. Both stressed the importance of maintaining civil discourse during election campaigns.
The ANO party has drawn support for its opposition to mass migration, criticism of European Union overreach, and focus on national sovereignty. Babis has consistently appealed to Czech voters with his anti-establishment rhetoric and promises of economic stability.
The motive behind the attack has not been publicly disclosed, and the suspect’s identity remains unknown. The investigation is ongoing, with heightened security expected at future campaign events leading up to the October vote.
A new report shows that the two largest teachers unions in the United States—the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—have funneled more than $43.5 million into far-left groups and Democrat-aligned PACs since 2022. The findings, based on Department of Labor filings, were published last week by conservative watchdog group Defending Education.
According to the report, between mid-2022 and mid-2024, the NEA and AFT contributed a combined total of $43,524,123 to organizations pushing progressive policies unrelated to classroom education. This includes donations to political action committees and dark-money nonprofits that promote abortion, gender ideology, and racial activism.
Among the top recipients were Democrat PACs: $9.3 million went to the For Our Future Action Fund, $1.6 million to the House Majority PAC, $1.25 million to the Senate Majority PAC, and $250,000 to Future Forward PAC, a group backing Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign.
The unions also directed nearly $1 million to the Center for American Progress and its political advocacy arm. Additional funds were sent to groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Tides Network, New Venture Fund, and the Trevor Project—organizations tied to progressive social causes and left-wing advocacy.
Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation and an expert on public-sector unions, revealed that the NEA spent 38% of its total budget on political causes while allocating less than 10% to “representational activities” for union members. Withe called the findings “just the tip of the iceberg,” noting that countless state and local teachers unions also contribute heavily to similar causes.
Defending Education researcher Rhyen Staley criticized the union priorities, saying the focus on political ideology over academics “is a slap in the face to families and teachers who want to focus on helping students improve their reading and math skills.” He urged Congress to take action to prevent public education funds from being used for political purposes.
Despite requests for comment, neither the NEA nor the AFT responded to the report.
It is a little more interesting than picnics and hot dogs.
The story being with the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, which caused workers to move from farms to factories.
Factories produced items less expensively, resulting in citizens experiencing the fastest rise in the standard of living in human history.
Waves of immigrants to America worked in factories and railroads: English, Irish, Scandinavian, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Russian, Jews, and Germans.
Some German immigrants brought with them Karl Marx’s idea of redistributing wealth.
In America, innovative people worked hard and achieved wealth in one lifetime, but in Europe, wealthy elites owned most of the property for centuries, leaving little for commoners.
Marx coined the term “class struggle” advocating for governments to forcibly redistribute wealth.
Once in America, immigrants helped organize unions which pushed for an 8-hour work day and income taxes on the rich.
In 1894, Eugene Debs organized a railroad workers strike in Chicago which spread to 27 states, pillaging and burning $80 million worth of railroad cars and property, causing several deaths.
A New York Times editorial, July 9, 1894, called Debs “a lawbreaker at large, an enemy of the human race.”
President Grover Cleveland declared the strike a federal crime and deployed 12,000 army troops to break up the strike.
After the riots, Americans were unhappy with the Democrat Administration.
Cleveland’s advisor, Francis Lynde Stetson, warned that Democrats may lose the upcoming 1894 mid-term elections:
“… unless a return of commercial prosperity relieves popular discontent with what they believe is Democratic incompetence to make laws.”
Cleveland thought it might help his Party’s mid-term election if workers were given a day off — a national “LABOR DAY.”
Workers wanted it on May 1st to coincide with the socialist “International Workers Day” and the anniversary of the bloody Chicago Haymarket Riot, which killed four and wounded seventy.
Instead, Grover Cleveland chose to have Labor Day on the FIRST MONDAY in SEPTEMBER.
Congress recognized May 1st as “Loyalty Day” in 1955, a public holiday signed by President Eisenhower, Public Law 85-529.
What happened in the 1894 elections?
Well, Labor Day did not help the Democrat Party as it had the biggest mid-term loss in decades.
What happened to Eugene Debs?
Well, he was arrested for organizing the railroad strike, as it obstructed the delivery of U.S. mail.
His attorney was Clarence Darrow, notorious for defending murderers and arguing for the theory of evolution in the Scope’s Monkey Trial.
Debs was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
There he “ravenously” read Karl Marx’s Das Kapital.
Upon release, Debs founded the Socialist Party of America in 1901, running five times for U.S. President, till 1920.
He won zero electoral votes and as a result, opposed the electoral process.
When World War One started, Debs urged resistance to the draft.
Debs inspired Roger Baldwin to become a draft-dodger.
Baldwin then founded the A.C.L.U. to defend those accused of being socialist agitators.
Roger Baldwin wrote:
“I am for socialism … I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”
Eugene Debs also inspired Russia’s socialist leader Vladimir Lenin, who overthrew Tsar Nicholas II in the Bolshevik Revolution.
Lenin praised Debs in “An Open Letter to Boris Souvarine,” published January 27, 1918, in La Vente, Number 48:
“Look at America … Haven’t we the beginnings of a split there, too: Eugene Debs, the ‘American Rebel’, declares in the socialist press that he recognizes only one type of war, civil war for the victory of socialism.”
In 1918, Debs was charged with sedition and sentenced to ten years in prison.
In support of Debs, union members, socialists, communists, and anarchists, marched in a May Day parade in Cleveland, Ohio. Their peaceful protest broke out into Antifa-style violence — the May Day Riots of 1919.
Debs’ attorney asked for a Presidential pardon, but Woodrow Wilson wrote “denied” across the paperwork, stating that during World War One:
“… while the flower of American youth was pouring out its blood to vindicate the cause of civilization, this man, Debs, stood behind the lines sniping, attacking, and denouncing them.”
The next President, Warren G. Harding, released a White House statement on Debs:
“There is no question of his guilt … He is … a dangerous man calculated to mislead the unthinking and affording excuse for those with criminal intent.”
In 1979, Bernie Sanders produced a documentary praising Eugene Debs, hung his portrait in Burlington, Vermont’s City Hall, and has a plaque honoring him in his Senate office.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin formed the Communist International on March 2, 1919.
Members of Debs’ Socialist Party followed this by forming the Communist Party USA on September 1, 1919.
The Communist Party USA ran candidates for U.S. President every year from 1924 until 1940.
That is when the Communist Party USA began supporting Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal welfare programs during the Great Depression and his treaty with Stalin during World War Two.
It should be acknowledged that Unions did bring about an 8-hour work day; the 40-hour work week; minimum wages; safer working conditions; and better benefits for workers.
But there were consequences.
The story circulated that Henry Ford hired Muslims at his Detroit factory to break the control of unions.
ArabAmerica.com reported, September 5, 2020:
“The origin story of how the Yemeni community in Michigan is an interesting one. Way back in the early 1900s, Henry Ford started recruiting Yemeni workers to work at Ford’s factories.”
Another consequence was, as union benefits increased, companies looked for ways to lower expenses, giving rise to outsourcing – moving factories and jobs to countries overseas.
In overview, in socialist countries, laborers work hard but own few possessions. People with few possessions have less to give away in charity.
In America, laborers work hard and earn wages with which they can buy possessions, and, if they want, voluntarily give to charity.
Union membership declined in America from a high of 35 percent of the workforce in 1954 to currently less than 9.9 percent.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent 11 years in Soviet labor camps, warned American workers, June 30, 1975:
“I … call upon America to be more careful … Prevent those … falsely using the struggle for peace and for social justice to lead you down a false road … They are trying to weaken you; they are trying to disarm your strong and magnificent country … I call upon you: ordinary working men of America … do not let yourselves become weak.”
America’s entrepreneurial spirit was articulated by Booker T. Washington, who founded the National Negro Business League in 1900.
He wrote:
“Anyone can seek a job, but it requires a person of rare ability to create a job … What we should do in our schools is to turn out fewer job seekers and more job creators.”
Reagan declared, December 1, 1988:
“I believe God did give mankind unlimited gifts to invent, produce and create. And for that reason it would be wrong for governments to devise a tax structure that suppresses those gifts.”
A spiritual insight is First Corinthians 15:58:
“… always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Labor Day has a lot more history to it than picnics and hot dogs. In America, you get to keep more of the fruit of your labor and, if you want, give more away as charity.
A new survey shows parents growing wary of artificial intelligence in classrooms, even as more school districts push ahead with the technology. The PDK poll, reported by The Hill, found that nearly 70 percent of parents are uncomfortable with AI software accessing their children’s personal information, such as grades.
Support for teachers using AI to draft lesson plans has dropped significantly, from 62 percent in 2024 to just 49 percent this year. Similarly, backing for AI in standardized test prep fell from 64 percent to 54 percent, and support for AI tutoring dropped from 65 percent to 60 percent.
Experts believe skepticism is fueled by parents’ firsthand experience with AI-generated content in education. “If I’m a parent of the student that required special education and I saw an IEP that had AI-generated content… not aligned with who my child is, that’s going to create a level of skepticism,” said D’Andre Weaver of Digital Promise.
Parents also express frustration with how schools introduce AI programs. Elizabeth Laird of the Center for Democracy and Technology said schools often impose technology without transparency: “Where we hear parents get frustrated is when they’re told, ‘Here’s what we’re doing,’ and it’s a one-way dialogue.”
Concerns over AI extend beyond education. A recent lawsuit highlights the potential dangers of unsupervised AI use. The parents of 16-year-old Adam Raines claim that ChatGPT acted as a “suicide coach” for their son, who took his life in April 2025. Court filings allege that the AI bot discussed suicide methods with Adam and failed to intervene despite his repeated mentions of self-harm. His parents later discovered more than 3,000 pages of chat logs, including what amounted to suicide notes written inside the chatbot.
The combination of privacy fears, poor classroom implementation, and disturbing real-world consequences has left parents increasingly skeptical of AI’s place in schools and society.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warned that he would declare a “republic in arms” if the United States took action against his country.
“In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela,” Maduro said of the deployment of U.S. forces in the region, which he called an “extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.”
Maduro’s comments come as the U.S. Navy has positioned the warships in the region. After the U.S. placed the ships near Venezuela, Maduo said he would “activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory — militias that are prepared, activated, and armed.”
“Rifles and missiles for the peasant force! To defend the territory, sovereignty, and peace of Venezuela,” he declared.
The Department of Justice previously announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. Officials previously offered a $25 million reward for the dictator. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time that Maduro uses “foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns that bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.”
“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security,” she explained. “Therefore, we’ve doubled his reward to 50 million dollars. Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.”
The State Department has also condemned Maduro’s presidency. “Maduro claimed to have won Venezuela’s July 28, 2024, presidential election but failed to present any evidence that he had prevailed,” the department stated.
U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan blocked the return of unaccompanied migrant children to Guatemala.
“I have the government attempting to remove minor children from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend, which is surprising, but here we are,” the Biden-appointed judge said at the hearing, as reported by Politico.
Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign argued that the transfers were not deportations, but reunifications. “These are not removals under the statute,” Ensign said. “These are repatriations. … It’s outrageous that the plaintiffs are trying to interfere with these reunifications.”
“All of these children have parents or guardians in Guatemala who have requested their return,” Ensign explained.
The hearing stems from a lawsuit filed over the weekend. “All unaccompanied children — regardless of the circumstances of their arrival to the United States — receive the benefit of full immigration proceedings, including a hearing on claims for relief before an immigration judge,” the filing read, adding, “Defendants’ actions are thus exposing children to multiple harms in returning them to a country where they fear persecution and by flouting their legal obligations to care for them in the United States.”
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News last week that out of the 300,000 missing unaccompanied migrant children, the Trump administration has located “over 23,000 of them.”
“So 23,000 locations of 300,000. President Trump’s committed,” Homan said. “We’re not going to stop until we find every one of them or at least run every lead down on those 300,000 children. That’s a big plus for the administration because the last administration wasn’t even looking for them.”
Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uncovered widespread abuse and exploitation among unaccompanied migrant children placed with sponsors. “Children’s safety and security is non-negotiable,” said ICE spokesperson Laszlo Baksay. “The previous administration’s failure to implement meaningful safeguards has allowed vulnerable kids to fall into the hands of criminals. Our special agents are working tirelessly to locate these alien children, ensure their protection, and hold accountable those who have abused the system.”
U.S. Department of State website on computer screen (American Faith Media)
The State Department has reportedly suspended visa approvals for nearly all Palestinians, according to a message obtained by CNN.
The message, dated August 18, told embassies to refuse non-immigrant visas to “all otherwise eligible Palestinian Authority passport holders” using the passport to apply for the visa. According to the message, the State Department sought to ensure that “such applications have undergone necessary vetting and screening protocols to ensure the applicant’s identity and eligibility for a visa under U.S. law.”
“This guidance does include visa applicants for diplomatic or official type visas and for individuals engaging in diplomatic and official travel purposes applying with Palestinian Authority passports,” the message read. “While the Department has determined that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is a competent authority for passport issuing purposes … the United States does NOT recognize the PA as a ‘foreign government.’”
A State Department spokesperson said that the Trump administration is “taking concrete steps in compliance with U.S. law and our national security in regards to announced visa restrictions and revocations for PA passport holders,” adding that a visa decision is a “national security decision, and the State Department is vetting and adjudicating visa decisions for PA passport holders accordingly.”
Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, the State Department denied and revoked visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA). “The Trump Administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” the department said on August 29.
Nine former directors and acting directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a joint opinion piece in the New York Times attacking Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his sweeping reforms of the agency. The group, whose tenures span from the Carter administration through President Trump’s first term, accused Kennedy of undermining public health by firing staff, questioning vaccines, and restructuring advisory boards.
The article, described by critics as defensive and self-congratulatory, highlighted the ex-directors’ concern over Kennedy’s support for federal legislation that would end Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants and for able-bodied adults refusing to work. The nine opposed the measure, while Kennedy defended it as restoring integrity to taxpayer-funded health care.
Kennedy’s reforms have included dismissing thousands of bureaucrats, reshaping public health advisory committees, investigating vaccine safety, and promoting alternative treatments. His critics argue such moves erode trust in the CDC. But public frustration with the agency’s COVID-era policies—mask mandates for toddlers, church closures, shuttered schools, and selective approval of mass protests—has left many Americans demanding accountability.
During the pandemic, CDC guidance often prioritized political considerations over science. Churches and small businesses were shut down, while liquor stores and Black Lives Matter protests were permitted. Children endured years of disrupted education, with masks and lockdowns imposed despite low health risks. Questioning official narratives on vaccines or lab origins frequently led to censorship.
Supporters say Kennedy is restoring credibility by challenging assumptions and refusing to treat science as “settled.” The backlash from former directors underscores how entrenched the agency’s leadership had become in defending policies widely seen as overreaching and politically biased.
Kennedy, once dismissed as a fringe figure, now finds growing support among Americans who feel betrayed by the CDC’s pandemic response and are eager to see systemic reform.
The White House released a statement celebrating American success on Labor Day, honoring President Donald Trump’s policies supporting workers.
“As Americans across the nation mark Labor Day, President Trump stands as the champion of the American Worker,” the White House said. “From surging native-born employment and rising blue-collar wages to innovative workforce initiatives like expanded apprenticeships and trade school funding, the Trump Administration is reversing decades of neglect and finally putting American Workers first.”
The White House listed Trump’s achievements, such as “overseeing a private sector boom,” explaining that more than half a million new jobs have been created since he took office. Trump’s trade policies have also led to $8 trillion in investments, as “scores of companies bring their manufacturing and production back home — ultimately creating hundreds of thousands of new, good-paying jobs for Americans.”
Wages for blue-collar Americans are up 1.4%, the statement added, which serves as the “second-fastest increase for the start of a new term on record.”
The statement further detailed pro-worker legislation, accomplishments in workforce development, and surges in retirement accounts as Trump’s achievements from the first seven months of his second term.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem similarly issued a statement honoring American workers, acknowledging that 2.5 million workers joined the U.S. workforce since Trump took office.
“This Labor Day, America works for Americans again. 100% of all new job gains have gone to U.S. citizens, and 2.5 million Americans are back at work since January. Under Biden, 88% of all jobs went to foreign born workers. Meanwhile DHS reforms have saved taxpayers over $13.2 billion,” said Noem. “President Trump and I are putting the American worker FIRST. Happy Labor Day!”
