The impending release of David Funston, a 64-year-old serial child molester described by a judge as “the monster parents fear the most,” has ignited a firestorm in California. At the center of the conflict is a clash between the administration of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and law enforcement officials, most notably Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper and former District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. In 1999, Funston was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation from crimes committed in 1995 and 1996. Under California’s “Elderly Parole Program,” certain inmates become eligible for parole after reaching age 50 and serving at least 20 years in prison. Before the policy was expanded in 2021, the threshold had been age 60 and 25 years served. Sheriff Cooper, himself 62, argued that the law is “dead wrong,” particularly for a predator who kidnapped and brutalized children as young as three. Funston was originally sentenced to three consecutive life terms — a sentence effectively ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life in prison. In the face of public outcry, Gov. Newsom’s office said the parole board operates as an “independent agency” under state law. It dismissed criticism tying Newsom to the decision as “MAGA MISINFORMATION,” adding that while Newsom requested a re-review of the case and personally disagreed with the outcome, he has “no authority to reverse” the board’s decision.

The era of the “paper of record” is officially dead, and the bank statements at 1301 K Street have the receipts to prove it. The Washington Post, the crown jewel of the billionaire-funded activist press, reportedly hemorrhaged more than $100 million in 2025, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. This staggering deficit follows a $100 million loss the previous year, and a $77 million loss in 2023, highlighting a catastrophic downward spiral for the Jeff Bezos-owned outlet that has failed to find a pulse in the modern media landscape. The financial bloodbath has already triggered a “painful” restructuring, with the Post slashing its staff by a massive 30% earlier this month. In a candid internal meeting held Wednesday, acting CEO Jeff D’Onofrio and Executive Editor Matt Murray laid bare the dysfunction. D’Onofrio revealed that while newsroom costs surged 16% over the last five years, productivity cratered; the number of stories published by the outlet has plummeted by 42% since 2020. “We’re not a paper of record; there’s no such thing anymore in today’s world,” Murray told the shell-shocked newsroom, a stunning admission of defeat for a publication that once lived by the self-important slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The financial ruin comes amid a total collapse of the Post’s internal leadership. Just weeks ago, CEO Will Lewis abruptly stepped down, claiming he wanted to ensure a “sustainable future” for the company. His departure followed a brutal year of buyouts and resignations. The Post has been “bleeding talent,” as veteran liberals—including columnists Jennifer Rubin and Jonathan Capehart—fled the building. Many of these exits were prompted by Bezos’ attempts to steer the paper back toward “timeless American values” and “personal liberties,” a move that reportedly infuriated a newsroom more accustomed to acting as a megaphone for the D.C. establishment than a balanced news source. As the Post struggles to remain solvent, its desperate pivot to technology has only worsened its credibility crisis. The recent launch of “Your Personal Podcast,” a customizable AI-generated audio tool, turned into an unmitigated disaster. The AI began “spitting out fake quotes” and inventing commentary, forcing editors to scramble to fix errors delivered at scale. Internal communications showed editors were “infuriated” by the botched rollout, which occurred just as the Trump administration intensified its criticism of the outlet as a top “media offender.” The Post’s reporting has also faced embarrassing public rebuttals from the Pentagon. Earlier this year, the paper published a widely circulated hit piece on War Secretary Pete Hegseth, alleging he gave a “kill them all” order during a naval operation. The report was swiftly and flatly refuted by Navy Admiral Mitch Bradley, who told Congress the order was never given, exposing the Post’s reliance on “anonymous sources” to push partisan narratives. With sports departments shuttered and international bureaus shrinking, the Post is now attempting to reinvent itself as a lean, national-focused outlet. But as the “exodus” of both readers and writers continues, it remains to be seen if even the deep pockets of the Amazon founder can save a legacy institution that has effectively alienated half of its potential audience.

A 1972 Olympian who revolutionized running by making it accessible to everyday Americans, not just elite athletes, has passed away at 80, leaving a legacy that empowers over a million people to pursue physical fitness without being crushed by government-promoted sedentary lifestyles and corporate wellness fads. Olympian Who Championed American Perseverance Jeff Galloway died February 25, 2026, in a Pensacola, Florida, hospital following complications from a hemorrhagic stroke, his daughter-in-law Carissa Galloway confirmed. The 1972 Munich Olympics 10,000-meter competitor became far more influential as a coach than as an elite runner, embodying the American ideal that dedication trumps natural talent. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, to a naval officer father, Galloway spent four years training just to qualify for Georgia State High School championships. His slow-but-steady approach to self-improvement would later define his coaching philosophy, rejecting the elitist notion that only gifted athletes deserve to run. Revolutionary Method Born From Practical Necessity Galloway developed his run-walk-run method in 1974 while teaching a Florida State University class for non-runners, a demographic typically ignored by the running establishment. The strategy emerged from his need to attract customers to his Phidippides running store during the 1960s-1970s running boom, when rigid amateurism forced athletes into part-time jobs like sandwich shops. His science-based approach incorporated strategic walk breaks tuned to individual pace, preventing exhaustion and injury while maintaining endurance. Galloway proved the method’s elite viability by running a 2:16:35 personal record at the 1980 Houston Marathon using walk intervals, demolishing critics who dismissed breaks as weakness rather than smart training. Empowering Ordinary Americans Against Elite Gatekeeping Endurance sports consultant Jim Vance called Galloway a “pioneer” for removing mental barriers that kept everyday Americans from enjoying running, transforming it from suffering into peaceful enjoyment. Over 350,000 runners completed training programs under Galloway’s guidance, with his methodology nicknamed “Gallowalking” or “Jeffing” becoming standard for injury prevention. Seventy-year-old Karen Bock-Losee exemplifies his impact, running half-marathons after age 60 thanks to his accessible approach. This stands in stark contrast to government-subsidized wellness initiatives that funnel taxpayer money into bureaucratic programs while ignoring grassroots innovators like Galloway who actually delivered results through free-market entrepreneurship and personal responsibility. Legacy of Individual Achievement Over Institutional Control Galloway’s collaboration with runDisney as official training consultant brought his philosophy to mass-participation events, proving that corporate partnerships can amplify individual innovation without government interference. He authored numerous training books, hosted retreats, and coached over 1 million runners throughout his career, demonstrating how private-sector solutions outperform bloated public health campaigns. His mission to show safe athletic achievements at 80-plus years old challenged ageist assumptions perpetuated by risk-averse bureaucrats. Despite suffering heart attacks and heart failure in 2021, plus breaking his kneecap days before the 2024 Honolulu Marathon, Galloway aimed for another marathon among his 230-plus lifetime completions, embodying the American spirit of perseverance that frustrates those who prefer dependency over self-reliance. Jeff Galloway, Olympian who inspired people with his run-walk method, dies at 80 https://t.co/A8IYmlNUgK — Brian O'Shea (@bposhea) February 26, 2026 Tributes emphasized that Galloway “did not just make runners” but “empowered people to believe in themselves,” a philosophy rooted in conservative values of individual capability rather than collective helplessness. His February 20 emergency neurosurgery announcement triggered an immediate outpouring of gratitude via social media videos, with runners crediting him for personal breakthroughs that nanny-state fitness mandates never achieved. Galloway’s death marks the loss of a true American original who proved that ordinary citizens with limitless dedication can achieve extraordinary impact without government grants, academic credentials, or elite approval—just hard work, innovation, and respect for individual potential. Sources: Jeff Galloway, Olympic runner, developer of run-walk method dies Jeff Galloway, Olympic runner and pioneer of run-walk-run strategy, dies at 80 runDisney – Running Expert Jeff Galloway Jeff Galloway Dies at 80

'look forward to the Forum's future successes'

'Mr. Glover denies these baseless allegations'

'I am not going to resign'

'It was authorized'

Movies & TV Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Theatre Kids — Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s “The Life of the Stars” Tilly arrives at the Academy to lead a drama workshop, while Sam’s holographic glitches continue… By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on February 26, 2026 Credit: Paramount+ Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Paramount+ One of the things I really like about how television in general has evolved over the past couple of decades is that the folks writing them and acting in them have finally started to admit that trauma is a thing and that actions have actual consequences. Part of this is a natural byproduct of the trend toward serialization and, even in shows that aren’t serialized, stronger continuity between episodes. And it’s all for the better, because I have always found it frustrating that shows haven’t dealt with those consequences. I think it was one of the reasons why I loved, for example, Hill Street Blues so much, because that show, unlike most, dealt with consequences and trauma on a regular basis. To keep this to Star Trek, it has always frustrated me that the conventions of TV at the time prevented them from truly dealing with the traumas that the characters went through. I mean, look at the end of the first season of the original series: first Kirk has to allow the great love of his life to die in order to save history, then in the very next episode he has to listen to his sister-in-law die shortly before finding the dead body of his older brother. That’s the kind of thing that would take months for him to work through, but 1960s TV didn’t do that sort of thing. Hell, they barely had the consequences make it to the end of the episode. This didn’t get much better with the first wave of spinoffs. The example that stands out the most for me is La Forge being brainwashed in “The Mind’s Eye,” which acknowledged the trauma at the very end of the episode, with LeVar Burton plaintively crying to Troi, “But I remember everything!” about his trip to Risa that never happened. But over the course of the character’s remaining appearances on three seasons of TNG, four movies, and one season of Picard, this trauma is never even mentioned. Not to mention things like Kim on Voyager doing the same coming-of-age story over and over and over and over again. The current crop of shows, however, have embraced the notion of consequences and especially of how characters deal with trauma, whether it’s small—Detmer’s difficulties handling the leap forward in time in Discovery’s third season—or large—Picard’s visceral reaction to being back at a Borg Cube in Picard’s first season. TNG had the good sense to put a shrink on the ship, but it wasn’t until Picard’s “Nepenthe” that Troi truly felt like a therapist rather than a plot device. All this is a long way toward saying that “The Life of the Stars” is a superlative example of showing the characters dealing with trauma. There’s a lot that’s impressive about this episode—which finally brings in Mary Wiseman’s Tilly, who was originally promised to be a recurring character, but who is apparently only in this one episode this season—but perhaps the thing that impressed me most was that it used the Thorton Wilder play Our Town, a play I have always despised with every fibre of my being, and in the end I actually liked the use of it. The thing that impressed me the second-most was that it wasn’t just the trauma of the events of “Come, Let’s Away” being dealt with here, as the EMH gets himself a story arc that deals with the Doctor’s own centuries-old trauma. Let’s start with Our Town. Tilly arrives from the original off-Earth Academy campus she was seen transferring to in Discovery’s “All is Possible” in order to help the cadets who went through the Miyazaki mission. The class she offers that our main characters participate in? A theatre class! The cadets all think this is stupid. Darem goes so far as to say that it’s stupid, and Tilly says that the ones who say that are the ones who don’t become captains. Stagecraft is a big part of being an officer in so many ways. The students are asked to suggest plays that can be performed and discussed. Jay-Den suggests a Klingon opera, while SAM—who has, of course, studied every play she can get her photonic hands on—suggests Our Town. Unfortunately, SAM is unable to stick around, because she’s still glitching. The patches applied at the holographic spa she went to in “Ko’Zeine” aren’t taking. (The EMH is a bit peeved that SAM kept this from him until she collapses in class.) The solution is to return to the Kasq homeworld, which Ake, the EMH, and SAM do. The Kasq live in a place where time moves more quickly than it does elsewhere, prompting the EMH to recall a similar planet Voyager encountered in “Blink of an Eye,” including the Doctor living there for three years and having a family. Because the EMH and Ake don’t hardly age, they are the only ones who can go. The EMH continues to resist SAM’s attempts to have him as a mentor, which we saw from the moment they met in “Kids These Days,” and extends here to the EMH refusing to hold SAM’s hand when the Kasq supervisor—again voiced by the great Chiwetel Ejiofor—examines her. This seems unimaginably cruel, but eventually it all comes out when the EMH explains about the events of Voyager’s “Real Life,” when he created a family for himself on the holodeck and had to watch his daughter die. Since then, he has lived for centuries, and everyone he was close to when we saw him in the twenty-fourth century on both Voyager and Prodigy is now long dead. He’s resisted SAM’s overtures because he resists everyone’s overtures. He doesn’t want to go through the trauma of losing someone he loves all over again, as he’s done that plenty of times, and it’s awful, and he is a self-described coward. But then SAM’s problem is diagnosed. The reason why she continues to have cascading failures is that she’s not equipped to deal with trauma. Sentient beings build their ability to suffer through childhood. That’s part of what growing up is: learning how to deal with life. SAM, though, didn’t have a childhood. She was created as a seventeen-year-old, but she didn’t actually have those seventeen years of infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Therefore the EMH recommends that SAM be re-created as an infant, have her grow to seventeen years of age. She’ll still have the memories of the previous iteration of SAM, but that will be integrated with the new SAM that has lived seventeen years, with the EMH as her parent (and Ake presumably as her eccentric aunt, as she’s still around for all of this). Because time passes more quickly on Kasq, the seventeen years is only a few weeks back at the Academy, during which Tilly is trying to get the kids to process their trauma—especially Tarima. Yes, Tarima is back, and she has transferred to the Academy from the War College, having been given an implant that is better, faster, stronger at regulating her empathy-gone-wild. Zoë Steiner does superlative work, as Tarima is so very brittle here, as she may have recovered physically, but the psychological recovery still has a long way to go. When she first arrives, she makes almost no eye contact with anyone, and is holding herself so tightly you fear she’s going to break in half. Tellingly, she doesn’t loosen up until she gets drunk, at which point she summons Caleb—which is the first time she truly acknowledges Caleb, despite his best efforts. She tries to seduce him, but to his credit, Caleb refuses to give in to that while she’s inebriated. She then opens up to Genesis in their shared quarters (shared with SAM, but she’s off on Kasq at this point) about how she doesn’t know who she is anymore. She wanted to go to the War College to learn discipline, but now she’s been forced to focus on the sciences to keep her out of trouble. Genesis reminds her that they’re all doing that: trying to figure out who they’re turning into. Credit: Paramount+ In class, though, Tarima keeps refusing delivery of what Tilly is trying to provide. She’s so stubborn about not wanting to address her issues that even her brother tells her to quit it, as tiptoeing around her has become exhausting. Tilly, of course, doesn’t give up, and continues to do what she’s there to do: educate. I love how first SAM, then Tilly, then all the students—though it takes them a while to get there—use Our Town to help process what they’ve been through. Like I said, I have never liked that particular play (it’s entirely populated with characters about whom I don’t give even the tiniest shit), but I can see why writers Gaia Violo and Jane Maggs used it. The relationship between George and Emily is a bog-obvious comp for Caleb and Tarima, with Tilly going so far as to cast them both in those roles. And the play is inherently about change and the cycle of life. This is a beautifully put together episode, and a complex one that incorporates many different characterizations and elements. I came out of it wanting more, truly, but I think it addressed what it came to address very skillfully. I loved Ake and the EMH talking about the effects of immortality on their ability to love people, I loved Reno and Tilly having their reunion, I loved Ake, Reno, and Tilly sharing a drink and passing the Bechdel Test with flying colors, I loved the sheer joy on everyone’s face when SAM returned to the Academy, I loved how absolutely goddamned brilliantly Robert Picardo played the EMH’s emotional struggles, I loved Ake returning to the Academy after seventeen subjective years and just sitting alone on the bridge. Most of all, I loved seeing how Tilly has matured and thrived in her role as teacher. Watching Tilly’s progress from motor-mouthed bundle of anxious energy cadet in Discovery’s first season to the mature, superlative educator has been an absolute joy. I really hope they use her more in season two.[end-mark] The post Theatre Kids — <i>Star Trek: Starfleet Academy</i>’s “The Life of the Stars” appeared first on Reactor.

A fundamental principle of international law is comity—the mutual respect sovereign nations afford one another in enforcing their laws. For the United States, comity is not an abstraction. It is the predicate for stable trade relationships and predictable cross-border enforcement. When that principle erodes, diplomacy becomes nearly impossible. Comity is central to the U.S. dispute with the European Union over the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. It is also the basis for the Trump administration’s Section 301 investigation. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 authorizes the United States Trade Representative to investigate foreign government actions that are “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable,” or “discriminatory” and that burden U.S. commerce. If such findings are made, the U.S. Trade Representative may respond with tariffs, import restrictions, or the suspension of trade concessions. This authority is not novel. Presidents of both parties have invoked it—President Joe Biden in increasing tariffs on certain Chinese technology imports, and Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton in resolving disputes with countries such as Japan. The question, then, is whether the EU’s digital regulations fall within Section 301’s ambit. The Digital Services Act raises serious concerns. Like the General Data Protection Regulation before it, the Digital Services Act projects regulatory authority beyond Europe’s borders. It exposes companies—overwhelmingly American—to fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue, subjects them to open-ended “systemic risk” investigations, and prescribes detailed obligations governing content moderation. When a regulatory framework disproportionately burdens foreign firms and carries penalties tied to global revenue, it strains credulity to describe it as neutral. That is leverage. To be frank, the Digital Markets Act presents an even clearer case. Marketed as a tool to promote “fairness” and “contestability,” it relies on quantitative thresholds that initially captured just seven companies. Six are American: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Booking.com. Only one non-Western company, ByteDance (TikTok), was designated. This outcome was not accidental—it was by design. In 2021, Andreas Schwab, the Digital Markets Act’s lead rapporteur, proposed raising the thresholds even further—an amendment analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies observed would have kept European-headquartered firms out of the law’s ambit while leaving American companies squarely in scope. That is not conjecture; it is legislative history. Other jurisdictions have addressed competition concerns in targeted ways—particularly in app store governance—without erecting sweeping structural obligations that conveniently spare domestic champions. By contrast, the Digital Markets Act’s architecture all but guarantees asymmetric impact. To be frank, this asymmetric lawfare is precisely what is driving U.S. concern. None of this is a defense of large technology companies. The U.S. brought its own competition and consumer protection cases against many of these firms. But those actions are grounded in neutral statutes and due process protections. We do not draft alleged consumer-protection statutes that just happen to neatly capture foreign competitors while shielding domestic firms. Indeed, U.S. policy has tended in the opposite direction. The SAFE Web Act encourages cooperation with foreign enforcement authorities. The CLOUD Act formalizes mechanisms for cross-border data access consistent with comity principles. These statutes reflect a commitment to reciprocity and rule-of-law norms. Reciprocity is not protectionism. When a trading partner imposes measures that distort trade and impose disproportionate burdens on foreign companies, the affected nation is entitled to examine whether those measures are discriminatory and to respond accordingly. That is precisely what Section 301 contemplates. The U.S. has allowed European firms to compete freely within our market. It is reasonable to expect comparable treatment. If that expectation is unmet, a Section 301 investigation is not escalation—it is the enforcement of fair dealing.  We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Why Trump’s Tech Defense in the EU Is an America First Policy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Jennie DeSerio lost her 16-year-old son to suicide after she says he was inundated with self-harm videos on TikTok. Now, she is leading a group of parents fighting for Utah to pass a law protecting kids online. The Trump administration, however, has taken a firm stance against the bill. Ten parents who say they lost their children to online harms such as fentanyl sales, cyberbullying, sextortion, and self-harm pushed by social media algorithms and AI chatbots, wrote a letter to Utah’s governor and congressional leadership asking them to pass House Bill 286. The legislation would require tech companies to publish safety and child-protection plans. The parents asked Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz, Senate President Stuart Adams, and Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, all Republicans, to “stand up to David Sacks” and “his idea that the American people are less valuable than AI companies” by moving the bill forward. The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs sent a letter to the bill sponsor saying the Trump administration is “categorically opposed” to the legislation and views it as an “unfixable bill that goes against the Administration’s AI Agenda.” That prompted the parents to petition Utah’s leadership. The Office of Science and Technology Policy has not taken an official stance against the bill. “The choice being made at the federal level is to choose the AI industry over the rights of states like Utah and the safety of everyday Americans,” the letter says. “You have never made that choice, and your residents and their children are counting on you not to back down.” “His agenda is the fastest possible growth of the AI industry,” the letter says of Sacks. “Our children’s safety is an obstacle to that agenda, not a priority within it. Unelected officials in D.C. who are unwilling to engage with this bill on its merits, unwilling to sit with the families paying the price for the status quo, have not earned the authority to kill it.” A White House official previously told The Daily Signal the president supports AI regulation protecting minors, as outlined in Trump’s Dec. 11 executive order, “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence.” “To give the American people confidence in AI, President Trump has called for an AI policy framework that protects children, prevents censorship, respects intellectual property, and safeguards communities,” a White House spokesperson told The Daily Signal in response to the letter. “We continue to have productive conversations with state and local leaders as we work with Congress towards national AI legislation, as directed in the president’s Executive Order.” The Utah parents argue that now the dangers of social media are clear, the state must stop history from repeating itself with the growth of AI. “We know exactly what it looks like when a powerful industry moves fast and dismisses concern because they are counting on no one being held responsible,” the letter continues. “We know where that road ends for families. And when we look at what is happening with AI, and at who is trying to stop HB 286, we are watching the same deadly cycle begin again.” The parents say AI is already creeping into the lives of children, just like social media. “The social media companies now facing trial for harms against our children never had to disclose what they knew about the risks to our children using their platforms,” the letter says. “Now those same companies are fighting us in legislatures to get away with it again on AI.” DeSerio’s son Mason developed a social media addiction after going through a breakup in high school. One night after DeSerio took Mason’s phone away, he had a mental break and came downstairs acting out of character. He punched his mother and then went into his room took his life, according to DeSerio. A few weeks later, she looked at his TikTok history and saw that over the course of 13 days, he became inundated with videos glorifying suicide. “The algorithm got to him,” she said. “Social media murdered my son.” Though DeSerio cannot get her son back, she is fighting to prevent other families from losing their children. But without transparency and accountability laws, nothing is going to change, she says. “This isn’t a First Amendment issue,” DeSerio said. “This is just, before we release a product, we’re going to let you know every safety testing result, and when something is missed and it harms kids, reporting that.” The post EXCLUSIVE: Victims of AI Fight for Utah Bill Opposed by Trump Administration appeared first on The Daily Signal.