'Untreated mental illness or addiction'

Not all heroes wear capes, some, well, blink confusedly. That’s been the story to some degree of the last 12 years of Drew Scanlon, a man who would come to be known as “Blinking Guy,” but who used that fame to raise money for charitable causes. Scanlon’s life would change forever by a face he […] The post Man Who Made History in ‘Blinking Guy’ Meme Using His Fame to ‘Pay it Forward’ appeared first on Good News Network.

On Oct. 13, the Navy is set to celebrate its 250th anniversary. Every Oct. 13th is a day to celebrate and reflect on the founding of the nation’s Navy. From inauspicious origins, what was a meager fleet of two ships in 1775 grew into a force that helped deliver our nation’s independence and unleash human liberty. Today, that fleet is needed more than ever to safeguard that hard-won freedom and prosperity. This cannot be done without sailors, modern warships, and lethal munitions at numbers that matter. Over the last year, our political and military leaders relearned that technical competency and service to the nation are the qualities that attract people to the Navy. Under the last administration, which prioritized individual identity and feelings as a priority, recruitment tanked. Now, those numbers have only slowly improved as prior leadership grudgingly reversed course. Today, the Navy’s recruitment is rebounding, buoyed by a renewed emphasis on lethality and commonsense standards—as championed by our secretary of war. But this must continue for the next few years so we can recover our losses and grow to meet the needs of the larger fleet demanded to confront today’s dangers, the foremost of which is Communist China. At-sea death is always near navigating an unforgiving ocean. Consider 1944, when a typhoon caused three destroyers to lose nearly all hands and wreaked serious damage on nine other warships. In naval combat, survival is a function of tenaciously competent leadership, the technical acumen of the crew, and a capability edge over the adversary. Today, China is eroding these margins. Fortunately, our sailors know this, and they’re unrelenting in making American naval tonnage count and ensuring each advanced munition hits its mark. But this cannot be sustained without a shipbuilding revival, new fleet level operations, and a continual growth in warship numbers. Our sailors deserve better than what they have today—especially if they’re to prevail in a long war with China. In naval warfare you are either victorious or you are sunk. Our Navy is steeped in many lessons written in blood—lessons that teach undeniably, for example, that there are no cheap solutions to building survivable and lethal warships. At the same time, though, cost overruns and delays aren’t sustainable as the fleet’s service life is quickly running out. At over 20 years old, over a third of our fleet faces a midlife crisis. Resources aren’t unlimited, and time is a commodity we don’t have with a foe like Communist China, whose leaders are making every preparation to wage a successful war with the U.S. by 2027. Today, there are no wonder weapons that can assure victory. But the rapid embrace of unmanned warships armed with long range strike and missile defense weapons can fill an urgent need to get firepower to sea before the end of 2027. Simply put – the Navy needs more ships at sea armed and within weapons range, and a forthcoming plan for its fleet design must address this necessity. This past week, our nation has celebrated and reflected on our Navy. The president and the first lady began the celebrations at Naval Station Norfolk on Oct. 5 that included live fire weapons demonstrations off the Virginia coast. Such celebrations underscore that our Navy has much to be proud of.  But storm clouds are building in Asia, and the mettle of our sailors and ships could soon be tested in a manner not seen since 1945. China is on the march, and though some wars are being ended, vigilance and strength are the surest remedy against an adversary’s adventurism. So, while we celebrate our Navy on its 250th birthday, we must remember the risks our sailors take for our liberty—and start preparing for the Navy’s next 250 years. The post The U.S. Navy is 250 Years Young—But the Next Few Years Will Not Be Smooth Sailing appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Afghan Migrant Found Guilty of Threatening to Kill Nigel Farage

“Hollywood has the best moral compass.” —Harvey Weinstein.“I ain’t raising my kids in this town.” —George Clooney.OK, the second one isn’t a direct quote, but it’s close enough. The Oscar winner recently admitted a key reason he left La-La Land after marrying his legal eagle bride Amal.The All-American Halftime Show will bring something that hasn't been part of football’s biggest day for a long time: patriotism.The actor told Esquire about his bucolic life on a farm in France and why it’s a better fit for his young family.“They have a much better life [in France]. I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life.”What, no nepo baby plans?Crime. Homelessness. Drugs. Lack of opportunity. Yes, the greater Hollywood area is no place to raise a family, and Clooney almost says it verbatim. Better yet, maybe if California stopped voting in hapless Democrats, its big cities might be more family-friendly?Less than zero (stars)Somebody had to say it.Author and raconteur Bret Easton Ellis is sharing what no one in Hollywood will. The critical devotion to “One Battle After Another,” a cinematic love letter to violent radicals, is all about the film’s hard-Left, anti-ICE politics.It’s kind of shocking to see these kind of accolades for — I’m sorry, it’s not a very good movie — because of its political ideology, and it’s so obvious that’s what they’re responding to, why it’s considered a masterpiece, the greatest film of the decade, the greatest film ever made. Because it really aligns with this kind of leftist sensibility.He makes a solid point. The film features silly, cartoonish characters, gaping plot holes, and endless sympathy for terrorists. But it’s anti-ICE (without ever mentioning the acronym). Thus the raves.And, Elllis predicts, the film will age badly. And soon. We’ll see. The only chance it doesn’t win Best Picture is if its momentum peaks too soon or enough anti-ICE attacks occur so that even woke Hollywood wakes up at last …Pot, meet kettleJimmy Kimmel is probably sore he didn’t get an invite.Some big-name comedians, including Bill Burr, Louis C.K., and Aziz Ansari, are taking heat for performing at a Saudi Arabian comedy festival. The regime is hardly immune to human rights abuse, and good luck roasting the royal family from any given stage.So when Ansari showed up on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the host decided to grill him like Woodward and/or Bernstein.“People are questioning why you would go over there and take their money to perform in front of these people,” Kimmel began. “They murdered a journalist [Jamal Khashoggi]. These are not good people over there.”Ansari defended himself, saying he was speaking to a repressed gathering and it “could push things in a positive direction.”What the “Parks and Recreation” alum should have said after that was, “Hey, why did you malign MAGA unfairly and never come close to apologizing?”That would have shut Kimmel up …RELATED: Bad Bunny: Learn Spanish if you want to understand my Super Bowl performance Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty ImagesPatriots winI guess we don’t have to learn Spanish in four months after all.Turning Point USA is planning an alternative Super Bowl halftime show so that viewers don’t have to settle for Bad Bunny’s anti-Trump, anti-border-control shctick during the big game.Now gridiron fans have a plan B for the game. The All-American Halftime Show will bring something that hasn't been part of football’s biggest day for a long time: patriotism.Details are scarce regarding the talent, but it’s another sign that right-leaning Americans are fed up with the nonstop messaging coming out of the left (and the institutions the left has captured) …Noah's no-noGive Trevor Noah some credit. He’s consistent. Consistently unfunny, to be exact.The far-left comedian is always up for a challenge. They said "The Daily Show" was unsinkable. To which new host Noah said "hold my beer" — and promptly drove off 1 million viewers.Noah's latest trick? Find the funny in the gruesome public assassination of Charlie Kirk.Now, gallows humor is a legitimate form of comedy, and sometimes dark humor can be a way to process grief. (See the Onion's 9/11 issue, for example.)But Noah’s attempt at comedy failed on two basic levels.“You have to admit, that is an incongruous, funny thing that happened," quipped the oh-so-clever comic. "You are there, on stage, and you’re like, ‘Let me tell you why people should have guns,’ wa-pahhh.”First of all, supporting the Second Amendment is hardly equivalent to condoning wanton gun violence. If Kirk's brutal murder "proves" anything, it's that there will always be deranged souls willing to resort to violence.And the comment itself — which hundreds of witless online wags made before Noah — barely qualifies as a joke. Which is on brand, we’ll give him that …

Dominion Voting Systems, the Canada-based company that was accused of helping throw the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, has been sold to Scott Leiendecker, the founder and chairman of the Missouri-based company Liberty Vote.Leiendecker, a former Republican election director of the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissions who also serves as CEO of the election technology company KnowInk, said in a statement that Liberty Vote's "mission is rooted in American values and committed to transparency, independent audits, and verifiable paper records."Liberty Vote has acquired Dominion, which will move all of its operations to the United States. The website for Dominion now also redirects to the Liberty Vote site.Nevada's Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar has given him the stamp of approval.In the spirit of President Donald Trump's March 25 executive order titled "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections" — which insists upon a voter-verifiable paper record — Liberty Vote will apparently also prioritize the use of hand-marked paper ballots and third-party auditing to bolster election security.According to the Daily Caller, Leiendecker conditioned the deal on dropping a number of outstanding defamation lawsuits against prominent conservatives as well as the One America News Network.Although Dominion machines have had issues in the past — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson admitted last year, for instance, that there was a nationwide "programming" issue with those Dominion voting machines that allowed access for people with disabilities — critics alleged in the wake of the 2020 election that Dominion manipulated votes in its electric terminals to help elect Joe Biden.RELATED: Honor system? More like fraud system Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesFor instance, former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell suggested, without providing evidence, on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that Dominion software was "where the fraud took place, where they were flipping votes in the computer system or adding votes that did not exist."The platforming of such claims proved costly for Fox News, which agreed to pay $787.5 million in April 2023 to settle its defamation lawsuit with Dominion. In August, Newsmax reached a $67 million settlement with the company but maintained that its coverage was "fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism."Dominion has in recent months reached settlements with other outfits and individuals who raised concerns about the 2020 election, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in late September and Powell in June.Leiendecker told the Daily Caller that remaining litigation with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell will be dropped per the terms of the acquisition agreement.While Leiendecker is a Republican and has made a goodwill gesture to the conservatives targeted by his new acquisition, Liberty Vote officials signaled to Axios that he is ultimately a neutral actor, noting that Nevada's Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar has given him the stamp of approval, characterizing Leiendecker as "open, honest, and transparent."Blaze News has reached out to Aguilar to confirm his support for Leiendecker.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Many football fans complain that Shedeur Sanders is a nepo baby — someone who has achieved prominence due to family connections (nepotism) rather than merit. They argue that his famous father, Deion Sanders, has laid a golden path for him, leading Shedeur to undeserved success.Whether it was installing him as the starting quarterback at Jackson State University and later at the University of Colorado Boulder, where Deion ensured Shedeur was named the team’s quarterback without competition, or leveraging his own fame to secure high-profile NIL deals and public endorsements for Shedeur, Deion has consistently paved the way for his son’s success in football and beyond.Maybe it worked for a while, but now that Shedeur is in the NFL playing for the Cleveland Browns, it seems Daddy’s influence is beginning to backfire, as it becomes clear that Shedeur isn’t the superstar Deion has made him out to be.On October 7, the Browns traded first-string quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, pushing rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel to first string and Shedeur to second string. But during a press conference, head coach Kevin Stefanski avoided directly naming Shedeur as the clear QB2 behind Gabriel.When asked by a reporter if Shedeur would now be the backup quarterback, he said, “I’ll let the week play out, make a decision later on that.”For a few days, there was speculation that Bailey Zappe, who plays on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad, could be promoted to the QB2 spot over Shedeur, but earlier today, Stefanski officially named Sanders as the backup quarterback behind Gabriel.Even still, his hesitancy speaks volumes.Jason Whitlock, BlazeTV host of “Fearless,” reads between the lines: The Browns don’t have a ton of faith in Shedeur Sanders. “This is a no-win situation. If [Shedeur] succeeds, everyone’s gonna say, ‘Why didn’t he play to begin with?’ But if he fails, it’s like, ‘Well, they put him in a position to fail,”’ contributor Steve Kim says. “I think Stefanski’s in a real catch-22 here.”Jason sees Stefanski’s reluctance to immediately confirm Shedeur as the number two quarterback as “an indictment of Shedeur Sanders and an indictment of the Browns organization.”“What it really says is, ‘We shouldn’t have kept this guy,”’ he says.“They’re keeping Shedeur out of some sort of political or fear factor or some other agenda other than what’s best for [the Browns’] roster.”To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.Want more from Jason Whitlock?To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

To the Horror of the Left, Nobel Prize Winner Machado Dedicates Her Award to Trump

Here We Go: Russ Vought's Big Announcement About Gov't Jobs Being Cut Because of Shutdown

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent letters to three major telecom companies to ask why they cooperated with former President Joe Biden's FBI to allegedly track the private communications and phone calls of her and seven Republican colleagues.