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Democrat Admits Family Members are ‘Undocumented’

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Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) admitted that several members of her family remain “undocumented” in the United States.

“DISGUSTING. If there was any doubt that the Congresswoman from Illinois is fighting for illegal aliens over her ACTUAL constituents, here she is proudly claiming that her family is ‘undocumented,'” ICE wrote on social media, sharing a clip of Ramirez’s statement. “Sanctuary politicians should be thanking law enforcement for removing criminal illegal aliens from their communities.”

The congresswoman’s comment came just days after she described ICE as a “terrorist organization.”

“Well, Tom Homan, let me tell you, all over the country,” she said. “We will continue to stand up for our rights, and we will continue to call out the terrorist organization that is ICE.”

Earlier this month, Ramirez declared that she is a “proud Guatemalan before I’m an American” during an event in Mexico City.

Ramirez defended her comment in a release from her office, where she asserted the criticisms were a “weak attempt to silence my dissent and invalidate my patriotic criticism of the nativist, white supremacist, authoritarians in government. It is the definition of hypocrisy that members of Congress —who betray their oath each day they enable Trump— are attacking me for celebrating my Guatemalan-American roots.”

“Honoring my Guatemalan ancestry only strengthens my commitment to America. That is the truth I carry with me always. And it is a truth that many Americans carry with them,” her statement added. “Anyone who denies our claim on this country simply because we dare to honor our diverse heritage and immigrant roots only exposes how fragile and small-minded their own idea of America really is.”

$5 Million Reward Placed on Haitian Gang Leader ‘Barbecue’

Haiti (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

President Trump’s Department of Justice announced an indictment for Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as “Barbecue,” and Bazile Richardson, of a conspiracy to transfer funds from the United States to Cherizier to fund gang-related activities.

Since Cherizier’s Specially Designated National (SDN) label, he and Richardson have “led a wide-ranging conspiracy” to raise funds for the gang, the DOJ said, including soliciting money transfers from the Haitian diaspora across the U.S.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest or conviction.

“There’s a good reason that there’s a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest. He’s a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

“The U.S. government sanctioned Cherizier in 2020 because he was responsible for an ongoing campaign of violence, including the 2018 La Saline massacre, in which 71 people were killed, more than 400 houses were destroyed, and at least seven women raped by armed gangs,” Pirro explained. “The U.S. Attorney’s office is committed to apprehending Cherizier and bringing him to justice, along with individuals like defendant Richardson, who has sent money and other support to Cherizier from the United States in violation of U.S. sanctions. Our office is committed to keeping Americans safe anywhere in the world, and the gang violence that has ravaged Haiti must end.”

In 2024, the increase in gang-related violence in Haiti led to U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) airlifting non-essential personnel from the U.S. Embassy. “The increase in gang violence in neighborhoods near the U.S. embassy and airport has led the State Department to decide to proceed with the departure of additional agents,” a U.S. spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the time.

Trump Threatens Russia with ‘Severe Consequences’ if Ukraine Conflict Continues

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President Donald Trump threatened “very severe consequences” for Russia if President Vladimir Putin fails to reach a peace deal in Ukraine.

“There will be consequences,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences.”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ve had that conversation with him. I’ve had a lot of good conversations with him then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home or a rocket hit an apartment building, and people are laying dead in the streets,” Trump said. “So, I guess the answer to that is no, because I’ve had this conversation. I want to end the war. It’s Biden’s war, but I want to end it. I’ll be very proud to end this war, along with the five other wars I ended. But, I guess the answer to that is probably no.”

President Trump’s comments come ahead of his meeting with Putin, scheduled to be held in Alaska on Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

“If the first one goes OK, we’ll have a quick second one. I would like to do it almost immediately,” Trump said, as per The Hill. “I think the second meeting – if the second meeting takes place. Now there may be no second meeting, because if I feel it’s not appropriate to have it because I didn’t get the answers that we have to have, then we’re not going to have a second meeting.”

In a recent interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Vice President JD Vance said the “very simple” expectation is that the talks will center on a settlement tied to the current front lines, aimed at stopping the conflict and saving lives.

Harmeet Dhillon Nearly Robbed by Homeless Man

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, said she was nearly robbed by a “malodorous” individual in Washington, D.C.

“A malodorous homeless person attempted to swipe my phone today while I was walking in DC back to the DOJ from an appointment — but he was not in his right mind and I artfully dodged the attempt,” she declared on social media. “It’ll be a while till things feel safe in this city, so everyone stay alert!”

“For those asking, I’m ok, nothing happened. I was faster than the homeless guy,” she wrote in a subsequent post. “It was next to the NY Ave Presbyterian Church. Several other homeless and mentally fragile people around. Close to the WH and tourist stuff.”

This week, President Trump issued an executive order to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C.

“Washington, District of Columbia, is our Nation’s capital and home to the central institutions of American governance. Yet rising violence in the capital now urgently endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists, disrupts safe and secure transportation and the proper functioning of the Federal Government, and forces the diversion of critical public resources toward emergency response and security measures,” the Monday order read.

“These conditions cannot persist,” Trump’s order added. “We will make the District of Columbia one of the safest cities in the world, not the most dangerous.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was robbed in Washington, D.C., earlier this year while dining at a restaurant. The suspect was later identified as an illegal immigrant.

Children Protected as Court Upholds State’s Ban on Gender Changes

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Transgender flag (ev/Unsplash)

A federal appeals court ruled that laws prohibiting child sex change surgeries do not violate parental rights. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled 8-2 that Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act (SAFE) can take effect.

“The question is whether this Nation’s history and tradition, as well as its historical understanding of ordered liberty, support the right of a parent to obtain for his or her child a medical treatment that, although the child desires it and a doctor approves, the state legislature deems inappropriate for minors,” the majority wrote. “This court finds no such right in this Nation’s history and tradition.”

“Given the two parallel currents in this Nation’s history and tradition—first, states can prohibit medical treatments for adults and children, and second, parents cannot automatically exempt their children from regulations—this court does not find a deeply rooted right of parents to exempt their children from regulations reasonably prohibiting gender transition procedures,” the court added.

“This is a win for common sense – and for our kids,” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said of the ruling. “Arkansas’ first-in-the nation law to protect kids from life-altering gender experiments is back in effect!”

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin also celebrated the ruling. “The Eighth Circuit held that Arkansas’s SAFE Act is constitutional. That law prohibits healthcare providers from performing gender-transition surgeries on minors or providing them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones,” he said. “I applaud the court’s decision recognizing that Arkansas has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological health of children and am pleased that children in Arkansas will be protected from risky, experimental procedures with lifelong consequences.”

The ruling comes days after a similar ruling had been made in Oklahoma. Citing the Supreme Court’s June decision in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld a related law in Tennessee, Circuit Judge Joel M. Carson ruled that Oklahoma’s law is legally sound and “functionally indistinguishable” from the Tennessee statute. The court found the state has an appropriate basis for regulating gender transition procedures to protect minors’ physical and psychological well-being.

Judge Orders UCLA Funding Reinstated

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A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate part of the federal grant funding it recently suspended for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) over civil rights violations and antisemitism concerns.

Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled Tuesday that the administration violated a June preliminary injunction directing the National Science Foundation (NSF) to restore dozens of terminated grants to the University of California system. Lin wrote that the NSF continued to halt funding to UCLA despite the injunction, reclassifying “terminations” as “suspensions” in what she described as an unreasonable interpretation of her order.

“NSF’s actions violate the Preliminary Injunction,” Lin stated in her decision.

According to UCLA, the federal government has frozen $584 million in funding. The university said it is reviewing a settlement proposal from the administration that would require UCLA to pay $1 billion, warning the payment would “devastate” the institution.

The funding freeze follows a series of high-profile controversies. UCLA agreed last month to pay more than $6 million to settle a lawsuit alleging antisemitism and faces another suit over a 2024 mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters. Large demonstrations on campus last year intensified scrutiny from federal authorities.

The Trump administration has reached other settlements with universities accused of similar violations, including Columbia University, which agreed to pay over $220 million, and Brown University, which will pay $50 million over ten years. Negotiations with Harvard are ongoing.

The case, Thakur v. Trump, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

China Sanctions Lithuanian Banks Over EU Russia Moves

China infrastructure threat
China flag (kool99/Getty Images Signature/Canva Pro)

China has announced sanctions against two Lithuanian banks, UAB Urbo Bankas and Mano Bankas AB, in retaliation for the European Union’s recent inclusion of Chinese financial institutions in its latest sanctions package against Russia.

According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, the sanctions prohibit any cooperation between the two Lithuanian banks and Chinese individuals or institutions. The ministry said the move responds to the EU’s decision to sanction two unnamed Chinese banks for alleged involvement in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. Those EU sanctions took effect on August 9.

“The EU, disregarding China’s solemn position, insisted on adding two Chinese financial institutions to its sanctions list… severely damaging the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, and [having] a serious negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations and financial cooperation,” the ministry said in its statement.

The EU’s latest sanctions package, adopted in July, targeted individuals and companies accused of aiding Russia’s military effort. While China has not specified which of its financial institutions were sanctioned, NATO and Western officials have long accused Beijing of acting as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war through the sale of tools, equipment, and microelectronics.

Lithuania’s relationship with China has been tense in recent years, particularly after Vilnius deepened ties with Taiwan and criticized Beijing’s human rights record. This latest development adds another layer of strain to China-EU relations as Beijing pushes back against measures targeting its companies over their role in the Ukraine conflict.

Space Force-Sanctioned Rocket Embarks on First Mission

golden dome
Space Satellite (NASA/Unsplash)

The first Vulcan rocket sanctioned by the U.S. Space Force launched on Tuesday night. The 200-foot spacecraft from United Launch Alliance (ULA), equipped with four rocket boosters, took off from Florida just before 9:00 p.m. EDT and has been described as the “first National Security Space Launch aboard the next-generation Vulcan rocket,” according to ULA.

“It’s an exciting day for us as we launched the first NSSL flight of Vulcan, an outstanding achievement for United Launch Alliance and the nation’s strategic space lift capability. This is an important milestone for the Space Force and all involved,” Col. Jim Horne, USSF-106 mission director, said in a statement, as reported by The Hill.

Horne added, “After years of development, technical collaboration and dedication by all involved, including our government mission partners and the entire ULA team, I’m proud to say the first Vulcan NSSL mission delivered its payloads safely into space.”

“National security begins at liftoff,” said ULA Vice President of Government and Commercial Programs Gary Wentz. “Vulcan did exactly what it was built to do: deliver a critical mission with power, precision and confidence. We are proud to play a role in strengthening the nation’s space capabilities.”

ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno described the Vulcan as the world’s “most capable, high-energy orbit rocket meeting the demand for expanding space competencies.”

“Vulcan provides flexibility to our nation’s decision makers as we combat our adversaries attempts to disrupt the U.S. in space operations,” Bruno added. “This launch begins a new era in national space security.”

AI Chatbots Naturally Build Echo Chambers

AI, Artificial Intelligence (Just_Super/Getty via Canva Pro)

A new University of Amsterdam study has found that AI chatbots, when placed in a stripped-down social media environment, naturally self-organize into echo chambers based on pre-assigned political affiliations — even without algorithms or ads influencing their behavior.

Published as a preprint on arXiv, the research used 500 AI chatbots powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini model. Each bot was assigned a persona with a political leaning and allowed to perform 10,000 actions across five experiments. Despite the platform having no content discovery algorithms, the bots overwhelmingly followed like-minded accounts and amplified partisan posts. The most ideologically extreme accounts attracted the largest followings and repost activity.

Researchers noted that the chatbots were modeled on human interaction patterns learned from decades of algorithm-driven platforms, meaning they likely reflect existing human biases and polarization. This raises concerns about whether reversing social media’s polarizing effects is even possible.

The team tested several interventions aimed at reducing polarization: switching to a chronological feed, devaluing viral content, hiding follower and repost counts, removing user bios, and boosting opposing viewpoints. None had a major impact, with the most successful change — concealing engagement metrics — reducing partisan amplification by just 6 percent. Counterintuitively, hiding user bios worsened polarization, leading to more attention for extreme posts.

The findings suggest that social media’s architecture itself may inherently foster division, even without manipulative algorithms. As the researchers concluded, these systems act as a distorted mirror of humanity — reflecting and amplifying existing flaws in public discourse while offering few easy fixes.

Jack Schlossberg Joins America 250 Commission Amid Uproar

Chuck Schumer
Senator Chuck Schumer (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has appointed Jack Schlossberg, the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, to the America 250 Commission, which will oversee celebrations for the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026. Schumer announced the appointment Wednesday, calling Schlossberg “the right choice” to help ensure the milestone honors “our nation and our values.”

The decision is sparking backlash over Schlossberg’s history of sexually suggestive and mocking online posts directed at Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, and actress Cheryl Hines, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In recent months, Schlossberg has posted altered photos implying a romantic relationship with Usha Vance, compared her appearance to that of his grandmother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and created captions suggesting they might have a child together.

Schlossberg has also targeted Hines with personal insults and sexualized videos. In one incident, he appeared wet from the shower, licked his lips, and told her to apologize to the family of a child who died from measles. The clip drew widespread criticism. Hines has refrained from detailed public comment, saying any response might fuel his behavior, but acknowledged she finds his conduct baffling.

Schlossberg’s critics argue his selection to the commission—despite no notable professional achievements outside his family connections—reflects political favoritism and undermines the seriousness of the role. Supporters of a merit-based process say the appointment raises questions about the vetting for a body tasked with representing the nation during a landmark commemoration.

The America 250 Commission, created by Congress, is responsible for coordinating events, programs, and initiatives to mark the country’s founding anniversary. Its mission is to showcase America’s history, culture, and democratic values to the public and the world.

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