As America celebrates 250 years this summer, Ainsley Earhardt is making sure the next generation grows up loving their country by teaching them the history behind the Red, White and Blue through a colorful children’s book titled “America, I’m So Glad You Were Born.” The book is a new spin on Earhardt’s 2022 book, “I’m So Glad You Were Born,” which she said is a phrase her late mother used to tell her on her birthday. The “Fox & Friends” co-host has carried on that tradition with her own children and, now, in her new book for America’s big birthday bash. “This book is a celebration of our fabulous, amazing country,” Earhardt told The Daily Wire. “We have the same illustrator … all the same characters from that other book are in this book. There’s the message that we have freedom of speech, we have freedom of religion, and how we all have rights that were given to us by God.” In the book, children from all backgrounds are shown building patriotic floats, waving the American flag, and painting signs as the young patriots get ready for a grand U.S.A. parade. The light-hearted approach to history tells a story of celebration while also explaining the Constitution. Earhardt said the book is meant to be educational, focusing on what unites the country instead of what divides Americans, all while showing how the founding fathers envisioned this land two-and-a-half centuries ago. “The one thing that we can come together on is how blessed we are to live in the greatest country that God ever created and how blessed we are to be born on American soil or to be able to come to American soil and become a citizen,” Earhardt said. Today is the day! My book, “America, I’m So Glad You Were Born” is on sale now

Nineties icon Vanilla Ice made it clear that he would never join the artists backing out of performances at the “Great American State Fair” — part of the America 250 celebrations — saying that he refused to let anyone tell him he couldn’t be proud of his country. The musician, born Robert Matthew Van Winkle, spoke with CNN anchor Brianna Keilar about his plans to participate in the upcoming events — and artists like Bret Michaels and country superstar Martina McBride, who have already pulled out of planned performances citing “politicization” of the overall celebrations. Keilar asked the rapper why he was planning to go ahead with his appearance even though other artists had backed out of their own performances, and he held nothing back.   “I don’t know, I can only speak for myself, and I’m proud to be an American,” he said. “I was born here and raised here. This is my country and I don’t like anybody telling me I really can’t be proud of it. This is a huge honor to play the birthday, it’s one of the — it’s once in a lifetime, you know, 250.” He went on to say that he respected the decisions of other artists, but that he had no intention of going down that road himself. “I know there’s a lot of tension everywhere,” he continued. “This whole world is like a snow globe, but it shouldn’t be that and music is here to bring people together, man. And, you know, it shouldn’t be that this music is dragged into politics. It’s not fair. I don’t even vote! I’m not a politician, I don’t have the first thing to say about how to run a country or do anything like that.” “I think this is a huge honor, and I’m wanting to celebrate the country I was born and raised in,” he declared. “We didn’t take things so serious back in the ’90s — I feel sorry for these kids today, man, you know? I have kids, so I know!” The rapper went on to suggest that kids would be better off if they were able to go back to the ’80s and ’90s and get off the computer screens for a bit. “Havin’ fun, and Z. Cavariccis, and you just go out and you rip your back seat and put subwoofers in, and you enjoy going to Blockbuster,” he said. “All we’re doing is celebrating the birthday of our country, what’s the big deal here? And as far as entertainers, I don’t think it’s fair to put any of us on a pedestal like that as far as politics goes because, you know, it shouldn’t matter: we’re just here to play.” WATCH:

An adviser to Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner threatened the female former staffer who went public with Platner’s sexually explicit text messaging habits. Morris Katz, a strategist for Platner who also advises New York City’s democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, sent a message through a third party to former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, warning her not to cooperate with The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal on stories that dug into Platner’s explicit texts to multiple women. “Just want to be clear on where we are right now,” Katz wrote in the message McDonald first shared with The Bangor Daily News, warning her that she would face a smear campaign if she assisted with the story. “If the story goes in its current iteration we’ll communicate directly on the record, and by name, that Genevieve violated the personal trust of Amy and Graham and shared explicit falsehoods to sabotage the campaign.”     McDonald was working on another campaign for Jordan Wood, also a Democrat, who is running in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District — but she quit over the weekend in an effort to shield Wood from any negative publicity she might get in the aftermath of the Platner stories going to print. The message from Katz was delivered to McDonald through another of Wood’s advisers. Katz also appeared to lash out at McDonald via an X post, though he did not name her specifically, when the stories were published, saying, “It’s no one’s f*cking business what happened in Graham & Amy’s marriage before he was ever a candidate for office. There should be no place in our politics for incompetent, opportunistic operatives who violate privacy, betray trust, and prioritize vengeance over decency.” Platner has been dogged by a number of scandals throughout his campaign, from the discovery of a Nazi-inspired tattoo that he’s since had covered up to his Reddit posts trashing a wounded veteran and Purple Heart recipient. The sexually explicit texts — to which his campaign has admitted — and his still-active profile on predators’ paradise Kik were only the latest wrinkles in his very bumpy campaign.

A United Airlines Boeing 767 was forced to turn around Saturday evening when a teenager’s “joke” turned into a security threat. Flight UA236 departed from Newark Liberty International Airport at approximately 5:58 p.m. on May 30 destined for Palma de Mallorca, Spain. After an hour and a half, however, crew members and passengers were sent into a frenzy after a Bluetooth device appeared on devices under the name “BOMB,” forcing the pilots to signal an emergency landing. United stated that a passenger, reportedly a 16-year-old boy, named his Bluetooth device “BOMB” as a “prank” and turned it on while on board, prompting the emergency landing. “We have one passenger that seems to be making a funny joke that isn’t so funny,” a flight attendant announced as shown by a recording from a passenger. “It’s going to be compromising the safety of this flight.” Passengers explained that they discovered the Bluetooth connection on their devices across numerous social media posts. After flight attendants were informed, they demanded all passengers turn off Bluetooth or the plane would be turned around, as posted by a passenger on Reddit. After the one-minute warning, Bluetooth devices remained on, and the plane turned around, according to passengers.  Individuals on board the aircraft were evacuated as soon as the plane landed back at Newark Liberty International Airport, where they were met with local police and federal agents. Passengers on the flight were forced to go through TSA a second time while their baggage was examined. “Now we all have to go back through airport security for some reason. Even though all of our bags are still on the plane,” a passenger stated on the Reddit thread created for the incident, along with a picture of everyone in security. “The captain and flight attendants implied multiple times that someone was ‘playing a joke’ as if it was someone doing something blatantly stupid/silly with Bluetooth or airdrop.” Passengers eventually arrived at their final destination nine-and-a-half hours behind schedule. United Airlines has yet to release an official statement on the event as of Monday evening regarding what occurred or any punishments for the passenger who believed they would make people laugh.

The creator of the popular HBO drama series “Entourage” says he supports Spencer Pratt for mayor of Los Angeles because it makes logical sense. Doug Ellin said he was radicalized after having his Beverly Hills home burglarized by masked intruders, as he shared on Instagram last week. The 58-year-old screenwriter and director mentioned that five years ago he didn’t even lock his door, but now says he has 15 cameras, two German Shepherds, and guns. He said “two animals” invaded his house.    “I know they were animals because they invaded my house. I know I don’t care what their excuses are, like a lot of you f*cking care. I know invaders of homes should get 20 years,” Ellin said in the video, which was shared across multiple social media platforms.  He continued, “Everyone in my neighborhood has got the same problem: they’re f*cking all putting cameras and high-end security guards because we’re all getting broken into. It’s not made up, it’s not false, and this city has collapsed in the last five years. There is no f*cking denying it unless you have an agenda, and I don’t know what that is.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Doug Ellin (@mrdougellin) The “Entourage” creator went on to shoot down some of the criticisms that have been voiced against Pratt, a former reality star with no political experience, running for mayor. “But, you say, ‘Oh, Spencer Pratt has no experience!’ … What experience did Karen Bass have? …We want to fix this place because we don’t want to be forced out. I’m one of the people who made this city look great! I did it for years. I glorified it. I meet people all the time that moved here because of the show that I f*cking created, and they hate it here now. HATE!” Ellin’s video is suspected to be a response to a recently published Los Angeles Times article titled, “L.A. is safer than it’s been in decades, but crime is an issue dominating the mayor’s race.” He addressed the Instagram rant to “LA Times gaslighters.”  Pratt also shared the video last week to social media. The former “Hills” star is polling second behind Bass ahead of the June 2 primary. While Pratt’s odds of winning have increased dramatically in recent months, he still faces an uphill battle in the Democrat stronghold. The last time a Republican won a mayoral race in Los Angeles was in 1997.