Starmer's Teeny Tiny Decimal 'Oops'

On Monday in the moments after President Trump’s press conference announcing he was taking over the Washington D.C. police department and deploying the D.C. National Guard to bring down crime, CNN’s mostly white, uber-wealthy liberal journalists suffered a collective breakdown blasting this as “deception,” a “major exaggeration,” and not “comport[ing] with a lot of people’s experience” as well as “the actual numbers.” The meltdowns were particularly notable given the fact that, of the seven reporters called on during the Q&A, only three asked about D.C. crime (One America News, Fox News Channel, and Real America’s Voice). The other four used their time to fire off multiple questions about Chinese tariffs and Friday’s scheduled meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The Situation Room had a few minutes left following the press conference, so they made sure to voice their disgust. After correspondent Brian Todd fretted only one city council member had weighed in by that point, he lamented Mayor Muriel Bowser wasn’t out with an immediate response to this “extraordinary move.” Co-host Pamela Brown expressed concern about the future of homeless people: “[W]e should also note that he talked about moving the homeless population in D.C. — thousands of people — far away without offering those specifics.” Senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak put a wrap on the show by voicing the left’s general attitude of dismissiveness to there being any serious crime at all in D.C.: Inside Politics turned up the hysteria, starting with this nonsense from weekday host Dana Bash: Political director David Chalian came off as confused Trump made crime a focus on this day (click “expand”): Well, I — when I see this and I understand the moment that we’re covering here and that Donald Trump is escalating this. My first question as a reporter is, why is this issue? And again, you’re going to get into the fact check of what is wrong about his figures or not. But why is this the top of the President of the United States agenda today? And — and I think that’s an important question for us to think about as we think about everything that’s on his plate. Why is taking over law enforcement in the district of Columbia? Now, he made the argument as to why and that it’s a capital city, and that the way he sees it is that it is crime ridden and needs to be changed. But still, why is the President of the United States putting that front and center. That’s a question I sort of try to think about as we put this into perspective. But then, Dana, as you were noting, yes, this is a dramatic moment, but it also feels to me like dipping into a, well that President Trump has gone to time and time again in the first term and this term. The — the tactics here may be more amped up and dramatic, but the — the going after this city or other cities as sort of crime ridden, this is — this was the heart of many of the campaigns and political agenda — that — that Trump puts before voters. And so to me, I see him dipping back into a well of something he feels is a strong suit and where he thinks he has stronger footing the way he does with immigration or border security. Which to me also then begs the question, well, what is he a little nervous about over here if he needs to dip into this well right now on this topic? After White House correspondent Kristen Holmes went next in the kvetching line and little of substance, it was finally time for CNN’s alleged fact-checker, Daniel Dale: Bash then tried to change her tune and insist she’s not dismissing those who’ve been impacted by crime: White House reporter Alayna Treene replied the squalor in D.C. was something that’s “bothered him for some time...because he’s been whenever he takes his motorcade and he sees a homeless tent or something like that, it infuriates him further.” Politics reporter Eva McKend played the race card with a truly insidious take: Politico’s Eli Stokols made it seven-for-seven on Inside Politics thus far in being opposed to Trump (or anyone, to be honest) wanting to address crime in Washington D.C. and whining no one in the White House tried to talk him out of the steps he took (click “expand”): I mean, there’s a opportunistic aspect to this that, you know, as we said, he sees it every day. But he also — the law allows him to do this. Now. It’s not the first place he did this. He sent the federal troops into Los Angeles to crack down on protesters who were upset over the immigration raids...So, this is not the first time we’re seeing this. And to Alayna’s point, in the second term, he is not just thinking about it and there’s no one there to talk him down, no one there to say, well, we really should think long and hard about doing this. There are a lot of people who are saying, that sounds like a great idea, and they’ll stand up there at the press conference with him and they’ll pat him on the back and say, thanks to you, this is a great idea, and we’re going to get it under control. I mean, you saw the people who are up there, Judge Jeanine, you know, so everybody’s on the same page about this. There’s nobody trying to restrain any of these impulses in the second term and he’s really going for it in a number of different ways. I think, in terms of why now we don’t have concrete information, but I think two things that are obvious. One, he mentioned it himself, the attack on the — the DOJ’s staffer recent days and the — the fact that this there was a carjacking and this — this person who has some notoriety, at least in D.C. or within the administration, was attacked. He cited that as sort of a pretext for doing this broader, more dramatic thing and there was also a question at the end about the Epstein case and the press conference, which went on for a long time. It ended pretty quickly after that subject was brought up. So is this another attempt to change the subject? We don’t know, but that hypothesis certainly has to be thought about as we consider why now. A few minutes of circling the drain later, Bash wrapped the first of two segments grossly casting aside the rampant crime (such as carjackings, which still haven’t recovered from before the pandemic) by invoking the liberal media’s favorite holiday: In the second block, former Jim Comey aide-turned-CNN correspondent Josh Campbell leveled this wild take that Trump restoring law-and-order to the nation’s capital would violate the Constitution and terrorism investigations would fall by the wayside: Reminder: Campbell is the same person who mocked crime concerns in Portland, Oregon back in 2020 by remarking how he had a pleasant morning eating a breakfast burrito without being assaulted. Campbell — who has since regurgitated the same talking points in the hours since on CNN — wrapped his liberal punditry in alleged objectivity by claiming to have deep law enforcement sources (and thus representative of the profession): To see the relevant CNN transcripts from August 11, click here (for The Situation Room) and here (for Inside Politics).

While many on the left have hoped that the controversy over the Jeffrey Epstein files might have eroded support of President Donald Trump, a CNN analyst says there are zero signs of it happening.Polling analyst Harry Enten went through the numbers to show Kate Bolduan that Americans had lost interest in the Epstein debacle and that the president had not lost any support over the issue.'Donald Trump has some of the best political instincts of any politician I've seen, and in this particular issue you see it full well and clear.'Bolduan appeared to be visibly disappointed as Enten ran through the polling results from the last few weeks."I would say that this is, from at least a political point of view, quickly turning into a dud of a story," Enten said."Which is wild to think where this has been for three weeks now," Bolduan responded.Enten reported that the term "Epstein" was no longer the top term on Google search with the term "Trump," and searches for the two terms together have dropped by 89% from only three weeks ago."At this particular point, the American people's interest in this story, it's quickly becoming something of a nothingburger," Enten said.He went on to point out that although Trump's popularity had dropped by one percentage point from July to August, his current approval rating of 44% is seven percentage points above that of his first term in the same month."So he's seven points higher, very much in a different political universe now, significantly higher in terms of his overall approval rating than he was in his first term," Enten explained.Among Republicans, approval for the president is hovering near 90%, a record high."So yes, there used to be a lot of interest in this story, but the bottom line is that even among those who had high interest in this story, it wasn't something that they thought was all that important. ... The interest in this story has fallen off the table," he continued.RELATED: Americans trust congressional Republicans to run the country far more than Biden, CNN poll finds Bolduan pointed out that the attention congressional Democrats had put on the issue was "incongruous" with Americans' attitudes."I would just say this, Donald Trump has some of the best political instincts of any politician I've seen, and in this particular issue you see it full well and clear because he has been saying, 'This is a non-issue,' and it turns out that a lot of the American public actually seem to agree with him," Enten said."If you dream it, it will become," a defeated Bolduan said. "That's apparently the message."Enten posted video of the segment to his social media account on Monday.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A former substitute teacher in Illinois accepted a plea deal on predatory criminal sexual assault charges, according to authorities. Police said the ex-teacher sexually abused an 11-year-old male student during "play dates" at her home. However, the teacher allegedly attempted to blame the child for making sexual advances toward her.'The accused abused her position as a sixth-grade teacher to exploit our client’s trust and engage in reprehensible acts.'Alley Bardfield, 34, last week pleaded guilty to charges of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under 13 years of age as part of a partial plea deal, according to WICS-TV.Predatory criminal sexual assault is a Class X felony that is punishable by up to 60 years in prison, but the state recommended a sentence cap of 40 years, with eligibility for release after serving 85% of the term.Bardfield is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 25.Bardfield — formerly of Decatur Public Schools — was arrested on April 3, 2024, following an investigation by the Mt. Zion Police Department and the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. The victim was a student in Bardfield's sixth-grade class, and his mother tipped off law enforcement about the child sex crime allegations. Mt. Zion Police said in an April 2024 statement that "the victim’s mother reported noticing her son acting differently after a visit to" Bardfield's residence, after which the mother "checked her son’s phone and social media."The mother reportedly found $700 in payments over a few months on the boy's CashApp account. She also discovered a photo of her son and Bardfield flipping off the camera, according to police. "Mt. Zion Police Department and deputies from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office conducted a joint investigation, which included a thorough review of text messages, social media, and a search warrant executed at the suspect’s residence," the statement read. RELATED: Married ex-teacher escapes jail sentence after accused of sharing explicit videos with student, inviting teen to have sex Photo by halbergman via iStock / Getty ImagesPolice said the 11-year-old boy admitted to a sexual relationship with the teacher, including having unprotected sexual intercourse. Bardfield initially was accused of grooming, WICS reported.Cunningham Lopez LLP, a Chicago-based law firm representing the victim, said in an April 2024 statement: On April 3, 2024, Alley Bardfield was arrested on charges of grooming and predatory criminal sexual assault of our client. The accused abused her position as a sixth-grade teacher to exploit our client’s trust and engage in reprehensible acts. Ms. Bardfield’s actions have had a profound and lasting impact on our client, which will likely lead to significant physical, emotional, and psychological challenges.The perpetrator’s predatory actions have left our client with permanent injuries that have greatly disrupted his and his family’s daily life. As a result, we will be pursuing justice not only against Ms. Bardfield but also the school district as a whole, which failed to properly train and supervise in order to ensure the safety and well-being of its students. We are determined to hold both the perpetrator and the school fully accountable under the law.A sworn police statement obtained by WCIA-TV stated that the sexual abuse occurred during "play dates" at her home in Mt. Zion.Detective Corey James stated that the boy spent 25 hours from March 29 to March 30 at Bardfield’s home. During an interview with detectives, the 11-year-old said he and Bardfield had sex in her bedroom. WCIA reported in April 2024 that police had the boy communicate with Bardfield through text messages, a phone call, and FaceTime while detectives monitored the communication between the two. "During this time, Bardfield and the boy discussed birth control and pregnancy via text message," the outlet previously reported. "Bardfield then advised the boy to delete the message and asked to talk to him on the phone."Bardfield reportedly told the boy during the phone call that she couldn't get pregnant and that she missed the boy "a whole lot." Detective James stated that Bardfield confessed to having sexual intercourse with the 11-year-old and exchanging nude photos with him on the SnapChat messaging app during an interview with police. However, she allegedly blamed the sexual relationship on the boy, claiming that he made sexual advances toward her. Shortly after her arrest, Decatur Public Schools fired Bardfield. RELATED: Ex-Christian school teacher accused of sexually assaulting female student, rearrested after allegedly contacting another teenLike Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Donald Trump reportedly told attendees at a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser in New Jersey earlier this month that he was contemplating reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. He has since confirmed that the reclassification is on the table.One of Trump's most outspoken supporters has expressed hope that the president will ultimately decide against easing restrictions on cannabis.ProSince 1970, cannabis has been listed as a Schedule I drug, a category of drugs the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration claims "have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence" as well as "no currently accepted medical use."The Wall Street Journal indicated that the fundraiser conversation earlier this month was "part of a campaign by cannabis companies to persuade Trump to pick up where the Biden team left off and reclassify the drug" to a Schedule III substance, which would mean not only fewer federal restrictions but also big tax breaks for marijuana companies.Among those reportedly in attendance at the fundraiser were Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla; cryptocurrency executives; political advisers close to the president; and Kim Rivers, the CEO of the marijuana giant Trulieve, which donated $750,000 to Trump's inauguration.Unnamed individuals who attended the fundraiser told the Journal that when Rivers personally encouraged Trump to reclassify the drug, the president flagged the matter for those staff members present.RELATED: Marijuana can stunt or even kill babies in the womb: Study LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images The matter of reclassification has evidently been on Trump's radar for some time.ScottsMiracle-Gro CEO James Hagedorn told Fox Business last week that Trump has told him and others "multiple times" that he will reclassify marijuana.When Trump threw his support last year behind an unsuccessful Florida constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, the then-candidate vowed that if re-elected, he would "continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug."After he announced the federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Trump was asked to square his crackdown on crime and drugs with the reports that he might soon reclassify marijuana.'Any cannabis use is associated with a 40% increased risk of psychosis.'Trump said, "We're looking at it. Some people like it. Some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because ... it does bad for the children, it does bad for people that are older than children. But we're looking at reclassification, and we'll make a determination over the ... next few weeks."The president noted that it is a "very complicated subject" and that he has heard "great things having to do with medical" and "bad things having to do with just about everything else."ConTrump ally and Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk wrote in response to the Journal's report, "I hope this doesn't happen.""We need to protect public spaces for kids. Everything already smells like weed, which is ridiculous," continued Kirk, who questioned the value of legalizing marijuana and raised concern over the drug's significant increase in potency during his April interview with liberal polemicist Bill Maher."Let's make it harder to ruin public spaces, not easier," added Kirk.RELATED: Stop blaming dopamine — kids aren’t addicts; they’re bored Nordin Catic/Getty ImagesKirk is not alone in hoping that Trump will decide against reclassification.Luke Niforatos, executive vice president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told Blaze News, "President Trump said today that he has heard a lot of bad things about marijuana. And for good reason.""Rescheduling marijuana will mean more crime, more homelessness, and more destruction of mental health," continued Niforatos. "We need a strong generation of Americans. Rescheduling marijuana gives the Big Weed oligarchy a multibillion-dollar tax break so they can peddle more high-octane THC products that give our kids and our young adults schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness."According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly three in 10 people who consume cannabis have cannabis use disorder, which manifests in part as craving cannabis; trying but proving unable to quit using cannabis; using cannabis even though it causes problems at home, work, or school; using cannabis in high-risk situations; and using increasing amounts of the drug to achieve the same high.The Canadian government, which legalized marijuana nationwide in 2018, claims that "any cannabis use is associated with a 40% increased risk of psychosis" and "earlier-onset cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of earlier-onset psychosis, with cannabis users under the age of 16 at greater risk of developing psychosis or schizophrenia."Cannabis use has been linked to other health conditions besides dependency and psychosis.'States that have legalized the drug have launched a panoply of cartel violence.'For instance, a systematic review published on May 5 in JAMA concluded with moderate confidence on the basis of 51 studies with over 21.1 million participants that cannabis use during pregnancy can result in early births, low birth weights, and unusually small babies.Blaze News previously reported that the review also indicated significantly increased odds of miscarriages.Paul Larkin, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, recently argued in JAMA Psychiatry against the Biden Department of Health and Human Services' 2023 recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration that it reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug.Larkin and Dr. Bertha Madras noted that HHS failed to properly address the adverse effects of cannabis use such as the high prevalence of cannabis use disorder among users and the mounting evidence linking marijuana use to psychosis.They also noted that "there is no medical consensus that cannabis is a legitimate medical treatment" and that "the evidence supporting generic 'cannabis' as a treatment for medical conditions remains either low quality or nonexistent."When pressed for comment, HHS told Blaze News, "HHS continues to follow gold-standard science when determining the safety and efficacy of drugs.""The president should consider that no major law enforcement or medical association supports scheduling marijuana down to III, because it is a public safety and public health nightmare," Niforatos told Blaze News."States that have legalized the drug have launched a panoply of cartel violence, Chinese CCP influence, and mental health carnage. Rescheduling marijuana gives a gigantic financial reward in the form of a tax break to cartels and the giant marijuana operators, like Glass House, the marijuana company ICE recently raided," added Niforatos.Marijuana has been legalized for medical use in 48 states plus the District of Columbia and legalized for recreational purposes in at least 24 states — a push aided by the drug's normalization in and by the media.Gallup revealed in November that the number of Americans who reported smoking marijuana had more than doubled since 2013, up to 15% from 7%. Whereas only 4% of respondents polled in 1969 reported trying marijuana, 47% of respondents reported trying the drug when asked last year.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Today, Lucy Biggers is a wife, a mother, and the social media editor for the conservative leaning outlet the Free Press.But a few years ago, she was an entirely different person. Before COVID-19 and motherhood spurred an ideological transformation, Lucy was a prominent climate activist and an influencer for the progressive media outlet NowThis News. In 2018, she even helped produce a viral video that helped AOC win her first election.On a recent episode of “Relatable,” Allie Beth Stuckey invited Lucy on the show to share her remarkable transformation from a “climate influencer” and “lefty social justice warrior” to an outspoken opponent of New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. After years of being a climate activist and influencer, Lucy began to realize the entire environmental movement was rife with hypocrisy and lies and was irrevocably linked to other left-wing ideologies.“The climate movement doesn't really care about the environment. They like to protest, and they really hate human industry, you know, civilization. They hate the West. They hate America. And it's really a protesting movement more than an environmental movement,” she tells Allie.This realization led her to question the broader progressive agenda, including the socialist policies championed by figures like Mamdani, which she now sees as misguided and harmful despite the well-intentioned veneer.Mamdani is an outspoken socialist, who proposes defunding police, opening city-owned grocery stores, and offering free buses and childcare — all in the name of helping New Yorkers.When Lucy, who has worked in NYC for years, heard about Mamdani’s victory over Andrew Cuomo, she posted a video warning her followers.“I just said, ‘Guys, I'm telling you, if I were 25, I would have loved Zohran Mamdani. When I was 26, I loved AOC,”’ but “these well-meaning leftist policies really are [the embodiment of the phrase] ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ and end up creating the problem that they're trying to avoid,” she says.As an example, she points to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 signed by then governor Andrew Cuomo. The law capped rent increases for rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments in New York City with the intention of protecting tenants from big rent hikes.However, what it actually did was create a housing shortage. It’s common for New Yorkers to occupy the same rental unit for decades. If tenants leased an apartment starting in 1970, their original rent of $400 a month has largely stayed the same due to rent caps. However, if they vacate in 2020 – 50 years later – the renovations and updates their unit would require to be up to current code would cost landlords an astronomical amount of money, which they cannot afford to spend because rent caps keep their profits low.“There are tens of thousands of empty rent-controlled apartments in New York City right now because the landlords cannot put $100,000 ... into an apartment to bring it up to code and only charge $400 a month, right? So now we have this huge housing shortage in New York City,” says Lucy.The left blames the problem on “capitalists” and “greedy landlords,” but the truth is when landlords are crushed by overregulation, the “capitalist bad guys,” like BlackRock, swoop in and buy up all the real estate.“So I'm trying to explain to people, ‘Like, you guys, these leftist policies that are really regulatory end up creating the monster that you don't want to have,”’ says Lucy.And yet, she predicts that Mamdani is still going to win. Even though he’s a “nepo baby,” “a hypocrite,” and “a snake oil salesman,” he’s convinced New Yorkers that socialism is the golden ticket, says Lucy.“Everywhere socialism has tried, it is a civilization-ruining practice, and talk to the people who are children of immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, USSR. This experiment goes all over the world and never ends well,” she warns.To hear the full story of Lucy’s transformation, watch the episode above.Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

CNN host Dana Bash had to "note" during her segment about President Donald Trump's plan to deploy the National Guard into Washington, D.C., to address crime that January 6, 2021, was the "most violent" day there in recent history.Trump made the announcement of the deployment at the White House on Monday. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department will also temporarily be brought under federal control."This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back. Under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States, I'm officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act," Trump said.In addition to looting, the White House came under attack by a large mob intent on storming the White House grounds.The Trump administration said the drastic measure is needed considering the United States capital's violent crime rate is higher than the capitals of Mexico and Colombia. While D.C.'s crime rate is starting to go down, certain serious crimes are still double what they were before 2020.RELATED: 'Knock the hell out of them': Trump federalizes DC police, readies National Guard to crack down on crime Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images While discussing the topic with her panel, Bash said this news will affect them because they live and work in D.C.National politics correspondent Eva McKend said the reason why Trump believes D.C. has a lot of crime is because it's one of many cities "with large black populations" and warned that federalizing the police "has led ... to extreme acts of violence."As the segment was concluding, Bash got the final word in."I should note that the most violent moment in recent history in D.C. was January 6, and it was an attack on the United States Capitol by a lot of people who were doing it in the name of Donald Trump. It included people who were hurt, included members of law enforcement," Bash said.It is not true that the most recent "violent moment" in Washington was January 6, due to the fact that the Black Lives Matter protests and riots in 2020 lasted longer than one day. In addition to looting, the White House came under attack by a large mob intent on storming the White House grounds, which was stopped by the U.S. Park Police and Secret Service. Many officers were injured that night.That moment was nearly repeated when rioters attempted to tear down the statue of President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square, a park next to the White House, a few days later. The crowd had to be stopped once again by law enforcement.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The 1977 concept album draws on author Isaac Asimov’s science fiction Robot stories. The post Alan Parsons Project’s ‘I Robot’ Gets Super Deluxe Edition appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

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