Grizzly bears in the Arctic are becoming an increasingly common occurrence as the planet warms, which means that they are beginning to encroach on polar bear territory more regularly. As a result, scientists have found evidence of polar-grizzly hybrids, but new research has confirmed that these “grolar bears” remain extremely rare.Polar bear and grizzly bear hybrids come in two forms: grolar bears and pizzlies, and the difference comes down to the offspring’s parentage. A grolar bear is the offspring of a grizzly bear male and polar bear female, while a pizzly bear is the offspring of a polar bear male and grizzly female. Male grizzly bears are more aggressive than polar bears, and may win out in situations where males of both species are competing.Dr Ruth RivkinAll wild hybrids between polar bears and grizzlies – that is, all the hybrids we know of that exist outside of zoo care – are grolar bears, defined by having a grizzly father and a mother who is either a polar bear or a hybrid. As for why that is, it largely comes down to logistics.“Although polar bear and grizzly bear ranges do overlap, the overlap typically happens in the summer when polar bears are on the mainland coast waiting for the sea ice to form up again,” said postdoctoral research fellow with Polar Bears International, University of Manitoba, and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Dr Ruth Rivkin to IFLScience. “Mating season for polar bears occurs in the winter while the bears are out on the sea ice hunting seals.”Hybridization is not an adaptive capability for polar bears, as the hybrids are still ill-suited to the changing conditions in the Arctic.Image credit: Corradox via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)“It’s becoming more common to see grizzly males also going out on the sea ice to hunt on the smaller islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. If they run into a polar bear female while they’re on the sea ice, they will (rarely) mate with her," Rivkin continued. "What we don’t see is grizzly females going out that far, which means that male polar bears don’t have the opportunity to mate with female grizzlies. Also, male grizzly bears are more aggressive than polar bears, and may win out in situations where males of both species are competing for a female grizzly or polar bear.”As more grizzlies encounter polar bears, it was anticipated that hybrids would become more common. As such, an international collaboration – supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada – decided to investigate the matter by developing a new monitoring tool to look for "hidden" hybrids between grizzly and polar bears.It was the first-ever large-scale analysis of these hybrids in the wild, made possibly by an innovative SNP genetic sequencing chip that could analyze grizzly and polar bear samples. It analyzed 371 historic polar bear and 440 historic grizzly bear samples from across Canada, Alaska, and Greenland, finding only eight grolar bear hybrids.“We did not discover new hybrids, which suggests that while hybridization does happen, it is so far restricted to a small portion of the western Arctic,” explained study co-author Rivkin. “Nonetheless, our work is a valuable addition to the conservation world because it allows for easy, and relatively inexpensive monitoring for hybrids on an ongoing basis.”The study is published in Conservation Genetics Resources.

Underwater robots have captured a rare glimpse of a female deep-sea squid. Not only was it holding on to a clutch of unexpectedly giant eggs, but it might also be a brand new species.Though thought to be abundant in the depths of the ocean, deep-sea squid are something of a mystery, not helped by the fact that they’re rarely seen alive. Spotting a female squid brooding is rarer still, but that’s exactly what happened back in 2015 when an underwater robot operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) nabbed some footage of a gonatid squid with eggs.Remote-operated vehicles from MBARI had observed deep-sea squid egg brooding on 17 previous occasions, but this one was different – the eggs were 11.6 millimeters (0.5 inches) wide, nearly double the egg size of other known gonatid species.A close-up of the female squid holding on to the eggs.Image credit: © 2015 MBARI“Our unexpected encounter with a squid brooding giant eggs caught the attention of everyone in the ship’s control room,” said MBARI Senior Scientist Steven Haddock, who was chief scientist during the expedition that encountered this brooding squid in the Gulf of California, in a statement.Not only were the squid’s eggs unusually large, but there were also far fewer of them than might be expected. Many egg-producing species in the ocean make lots of small eggs in order to maximize the chances of survival in a pretty unforgiving environment (see: the beginning of Finding Nemo).But things are different down in the depths. “[T]he stable and predictable environmental conditions of the deep water column (1,000–4,000 m [3,280–13,123 feet]) allow high relative investment in fewer offspring and may select for fewer, larger eggs and advanced hatchlings,” the authors of a study documenting the findings explain.From examining specimens of other squid previously seen in the Gulf of California, the team of researchers involved also think that the egg-brooding female belongs to an unknown species within the family Gonatidae. Whether that’s confirmed or not, this mother squid was investing more than many would be willing to give for her babies. “Brooding takes a lot out of a mother squid. She won’t eat while carrying her eggs and ultimately dies after her eggs hatch,” explained Henk-Jan Hoving, the study’s lead author. Those eggs might even take up to four years to hatch, according to the researchers – that’s a long time to go without a meal.“But her sacrifice improves the chances that her offspring will survive,” said Hoving. “It’s just one of the many remarkable adaptations that may help cephalopods to survive in the deep sea.”The study is published in Ecology.

A new antivenom for European black widow bites has been developed using engineered human antibodies.The European black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus), a relative of the North American black widow, is typically found in the balmy Mediterranean region. However, rising temperatures are helping the species expand its range across other parts of Europe. Their growing frontier has sparked renewed interest in developing a better antivenom to treat their painful bites. Although rarely deadly, it's a deeply unpleasant experience to receive a nibble from this eight-legged nuisance. The venom of a black widow contains a neurotoxin known as alpha-latrotoxin, which attacks the nervous system and causes symptoms like severe pain, hypertension, headache, and nausea. There already is an antivenom to treat black widow bites, but it uses antibodies derived from horses, which are tricky to source and some patients can have a nasty reaction to them. To overcome this problem, scientists in Germany have crafted a new form of antivenom that uses human antibodies – and it’s looking very promising.“For the first time, we present human antibodies which show neutralization of black widow spider venom in a cell-based assay,” Professor Michael Hust, a biologist at the Technical University of Braunschweig and senior author of the study, said in a statement. “This is the first step to replace the horse sera that are still used to treat the severe symptoms after a black widow spider bite,” explained Professor Hust. The antivenom was developed using antibody phage display, a lab technique to identity antibodies using bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. In this method, antibody genes are inserted into the DNA of phages, causing them to display the relevant protein on their surfaces. These phages are then exposed to a target antigen (in this case, the alpha-latrotoxin molecules in the venom). Those found to have a high affinity for the antigen can then be isolated and amplified.The researchers' experiments found that 45 of 75 generated antibodies were able to neutralize alpha-latrotoxin in a petri dish. One antibody, called MRU44-4-A1, was even found to have “outstandingly high neutralization”.Riding on the success of the study, the team are hoping use similar techniques to develop antibodies to treat other ailments, including diphtheria, a serious bacterial infection that affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat.“In another project, we have shown that we can develop human antibodies to treat diphtheria which are effective in in vivo studies. We intend to take the same steps for the black widow antivenom antibodies. This is especially important because with the invasion of the spiders into new habitats, the incidence of latrodectism and the need for therapeutic alternatives might increase over the next years,” said Professor Hust. The new study is published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

In 1912, philosophers Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead did something they believed nobody had ever done before: they proved that 1 + 1 = 2.It took them an entire book’s worth of setup, plus more than 80 pages of a second volume, to do it. It was, a reasonable person might conclude, slight overkill. And yet, in all that work, there’s one thing the pair were surprisingly sloppy about: they never defined what “=” means. But of course, why would they? Everyone knows what “equals” means; it’s like, the first thing you learn in preschool math! Except that, just like 1 + 1, the concept of mathematical equality is one that is far from simple or universal – and that’s becoming a big problem.What does “equals” mean?Now, don’t get us wrong: your average mathematician understands “=” pretty much the same way you do – albeit with a bit more jargon thrown in.“The meaning of x = y [is] that x and y are two names of the same identical object,” wrote logician and number theorist John Barkley Rosser in his 1953 textbook Logic for Mathematicians. “We place no restrictions on the nature of the object, so that we shall have equality not only between numbers […] as is common in mathematics, but between sets, or between functions, or indeed between the names of any logical object.”It’s vague, but workable. The problem comes when we try to explain this to computer scientists – or, even worse, the computers themselves.“Computer scientists [...], many years ago, isolated several different concepts of equality, and [have] a profound understanding of the subject,” wrote Kevin Buzzard, an algebraic number theorist and professor of pure math at Imperial College London, in a recent discussion paper on the concept posted to preprint server arXiv. “The three-character string “2 + 2”, typed into a computer algebra system, is not equal to the one-character string “4” output by the system, for example; some sort of “processing” has taken place. A computer scientist might say that whilst the numbers 2 + 2 and 4 are equal, the terms are not.”“Mathematicians on the other hand are extremely good at internalizing the processing and, after a while, ignoring it,” Buzzard continued. “In practice we use the concept of equality rather loosely, relying on some kind of profound intuition rather than the logical framework which some of us believe that we are actually working within.”Equality as an isomorphismThe basic concept of equality goes back… well, probably as far as math itself – but if you ask a modern mathematician to delve a little deeper into what they mean by the word, there’s a decent chance they’ll try to explain it using something called “isomorphisms.”Coming from the ancient Greek for “equal form”, an isomorphism is, basically, just a way to get from one mathematical structure to another of the same type. There are some stipulations to it – it has to be reversible and bijective, for example – but other than that, they can be surprisingly vibes-based. Not for nothing is this the concept behind the old joke that mathematicians can’t tell the difference between a donut and a coffee cup: the two shapes are topologically isomorphic, and therefore, in a way, the same thing.“Isomorphism is equality,” Thorsten Altenkirch, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, told New Scientist earlier this month. “I mean, what else? If you cannot distinguish two isomorphic objects, what else would it be? What else would you call this relationship?”Other uses of “equals” in math are equally fuzzy. Buzzard’s paper, based on a talk he gave at a Mathematical Logic and Philosophy conference in 2022, covers some of the most egregious offenders: for example, in “[Alexander] Grothendieck’s seminal work […] where he and Dieudonne develop the foundations of modern algebraic geometry,” he points out, “the word “canonique” appears hundreds of times […] with no definition ever supplied.”“Of course we certainly know what Grothendieck means,” he added. But “[interactive theorem prover] Lean would tell Grothendieck that this equality simply isn’t true and would stubbornly point out any place where it was used.”It’s a dichotomy that exemplifies the state of modern math. As ever purer fields are finding applications in the real world, mathematicians and computer scientists are leaning more than ever on AI and computers to inform their work. But these machines can’t rely on the appeal to intuition that human mathematicians have grown to accept: “As a mathematician, you somehow know well enough what you’re doing that you don’t worry too much about it,” Chris Birkbeck, a Lecturer in Number Theory at the University of East Anglia, told New Scientist. “Once you have a computer checking everything you say, you can’t really be vague at all, you really have to be very precise.”The problem of equalitySo, what are mathematicians to do? After all, it’s hard to think of a more fundamental problem than not having a definition of “=” in mathematical statements.Well, there are two potential options. One solution may be to overhaul math itself, perhaps by redefining equality to be the same thing – one might say “equal to” – canonical isomorphisms. But that may be just shunting the problem down the line, Buzzard cautioned: “[mathematician] Gordon James told me that he once asked John Conway what the word [canonical] meant, and Conway’s reply was that if you and the person in the office next to yours both write down a map from A to B, and it’s the same map, then this map is canonical,” he wrote. “This might be a good joke, but it is not a good definition.”Alternatively, a new class of mathematician may need to be brought up, Buzzard suggests – ones who can “fill in [the] holes” that currently plague the discipline. The advantages of this approach are practical, at least, he argues: “It’s very difficult to change mathematicians,” he told New Scientist. “You have to make the computer systems better.”Either way, it seems math is due for a rethink – and for those interested in the frontiers of computer-aided proofs, the sooner the better. Pinning down a definition of “equals” may seem like a basic problem, but it may end up having profound consequences for our future world – after all, as Russell and Whitehead pointed out after that seminal proof more than 100 years ago, the “proposition [that 1 + 1 = 2] is occasionally useful.”

On Wednesday, MRCTV’s Tierin-Rose Mandelburg joined One America News Network’s In Focus with Alison Steinberg, where the two discussed how lazy Generation Z is - especially when it comes to their careers.  A new survey of employers conducted by Resume Templates found that 26 percent of Generation Z brought their parents along with them to job interviews - and not just so their parents could sit in the car or lobby, but literally into the interview room. Some parents even introduced themselves to the interviewer and answered questions on behalf of their children. Keep in mind, these aren’t 11-year-olds applying to work at a lemonade stand. They’re full-grown adults who want corporate jobs but are too weak to get them without literally holding their mommy’s hand. Related: Viral TikToker Fired for Using Slang Version of 'N-Word' Trolls Outrage Mob: 'Couldn't Find a Care' Similarly, a girl on TikTok ranted about how a job she applied for wouldn’t respect what she called “time blindness.” Essentially, the girl struggled to be on time for things and wanted free passes from her job. When the protective employer told her how absolutely absurd that was, the woman posted a video weeping about the situation. Steinberg and Mandelburg noted that parents are raising a generation of weak kids, and our hyper-sensitive society is fueling it. Check out the segment!   Follow us on Twitter/X: Things That Need To Be Said: It's Time to End the Pro-Hamasholes Leftists hate America, and it's time to stop letting them promote their hate without repercussions. pic.twitter.com/wKXTL9628v — MRCTV (@mrctv) June 10, 2024

Good-hearted Americans were horrified on Wednesday after new video surfaced of an antisemitic mob threatening Jews on a New York City subway, the same mob that had just held a rally where they flew a banner glorifying the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel. The story went untold during the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning newscasts of CBS and NBC. Only ABC called out the hate being directed at Jews in the liberal media’s backyard. Instead of pointing out the far-left liberals behaving badly, CBS Evening News hyped President Biden signing a 10-year commitment to Ukraine and CBS Mornings questioned: “Aliens living among us?” Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News liked that the liberal ACLU was suing the Biden administration over his asylum executive order while NBC’s Today went to China to gush about Pandas. Contrast that with ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir who led into the segment by announcing: “Here in New York City, authorities are describing that chilling anti-Semitic scene on the subway. Protesters asking, ‘Zionists to raise their hands and get off the train.’ Authorities say others defacing the home of a museum director who is Jewish.” Senior investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky highlighted “this video shows a frightening moment on a New York City subway car, when protesters demanded riders raise their hands if they're Zionists.” And it was clear the mob was looking to hurt people: ANTISEMITE 1: Raise your hand if you're a Zionist! ANTISEMITIC MOB: Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist! ANTISEMITE 1: This is your chance to get out! ANTISEMITIC MOB: This is your chance to get out! ANTISEMITE 1: Okay. No Zionists. We're good.     CBS and NBC were once aghast at flags being flown when they were innocuous and uncontroversial symbols being hoisted outside the homes of a U.S. Supreme Court justice. But they had no interest in covering what Katersky did. “[The mob] had just come from a rally where the flags of terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah were waved. Another saying, ‘Long live October 7th,’” he reported. Come Thursday morning, those networks were still uninterested in the story even after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) condemned the antisemitism on the floor of the Senate: KATERSKY: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer showed pictures on the Senate floor. SCHUMER: This is not even close to free speech. It is intimidation, invasive attacks loaded with the threat of looming violence. Katersky also noted that the anti-Semites were also responsible for “Red paint and a threatening sign defaced the home of the director of the Brooklyn museum, who is Jewish. On the door they painted an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by Hamas.” “[W]hat you heard on that subway car is no longer a matter of free speech, asking Zionists to identify themselves; the NYPD is now considering an implicit threat. They’re looking to charge the leader of the call-and-response with attempted coercion,” he concluded. The transcripts are below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s World News Tonight June 12, 2024 06:42:14 PM EST [NEWS HEADLINE: NYC Protests Trigger Backlash] DAVID MUIR: Meantime as I mentioned, back in the U.S. tonight, here in New York City, authorities are describing that chilling anti-Semitic scene on the subway. Protesters asking, “Zionists to raise their hands and get off the train.” Authorities say others defacing the home of a museum director who is Jewish. And tonight, the New York City mayor's warning about this hate. Here's Aaron Katersky. [Cuts to video] AARON KATERSKY: Tonight, this video shows a frightening moment on a New York City subway car, when protesters demanded riders raise their hands if they're Zionists. ANTISEMITE 1: Raise your hand if you're a Zionist! ANTISEMITIC MOB: Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist! ANTISEMITE 1: This is your chance to get out! ANTISEMITIC MOB: This is your chance to get out! ANTISEMITE 1: Okay. No Zionists. We're good. KATERSKY: The train held at Union Square for a police inspection. Officers in riot gear seen on the crowded platform. Protesters clashing with police. They had just come from a rally where the flags of terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah were waved. Another saying, "Long live October 7th." Protesters breaking through barriers, setting off smoke bombs and flares outside an exhibit remembering the victims of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. The Monday incident part of an escalating series of provocations that go beyond protest and into what Mayor Eric Adams has called "Overt, unacceptable anti-Semitism." MAYOR ERIC ADMAS (D): I thought it was despicable. It was disgusting what we saw. And you cannot call for peace while you’re celebrating what happened on October 7th. KATERSKY: And this morning, vandals threw red paint and posted a threatening sign at the home of the director of the Brooklyn Museum, who is Jewish. On the door, they painted an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by Hamas. [Cuts back to Live] KATERSKY: David, this vandalism police say may be the work of the same people who splashed red paint on the ground outside a Palestinian office here in Manhattan, and scattered leaflets that called for more violence against Israel. David? MUIR: Aaron Katersky, here in New York. Thank you, Aaron. ABC’s Good Morning America June 13, 2024 7:08:45 a.m. Eastern WHIT JOHNSON: Now a series of anti-Israel incidents around New York City, raising concerns and condemnation from top officials, including a disturbing scene caught on camera on the subway. Senior investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky joins us with more. Aaron, good morning. AARON KATERSKY: And good morning to you, Whit. This escalating series of provocations in the city has moved beyond protest and toward what the mayor here has called overt, unacceptable anti-Semitism. [Cuts to video] Mass protests took over this New York City subway car and demanded riders identify themselves if they're Zionist. ANTISEMITE 1: Raise your hand if you're a Zionist! ANTISEMITIC MOB: Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist! ANTISEMITE 1: This is your chance to get out! ANTISEMITIC MOB: This is your chance to get out! ANTISEMITE 1: Okay. No Zionists. We're good. KATERSKY: The train was held in the station. Officers in riot gear descend onto the platform as some protesters clashed with police. They were part of a rally that included a large banner “Long Live October 7th” and the flags of terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Protesters chanted “long live the intifada,” a reference to Palestinian uprisings and set off flares outside an exhibit remembering the victims of the October Hamas attack on Israel. Mayor Eric Adams called it reprehensible and vile. MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D): I thought the actions we saw in front of the exhibit was just despicable. KATERSKY: This surveillance video shows people getting out of a truck spilling red paint on the street outside the Manhattan office of the Palestinian Authority and scattering leaflets that called for more violence against Israel. Red paint and a threatening sign defaced the home of the director of the Brooklyn museum, who is Jewish. On the door they painted an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by Hamas.  [Cuts back to live] KATERSKY: Police are now investigating whether this hateful vandalism is the work of the same people. And Michael, what you heard on that subway car is no longer a matter of free speech, asking Zionists to identify themselves; the NYPD is now considering an implicit threat. They’re looking to charge the leader of the call-and-response with attempted coercion. Michael. MICHAEL STRAHAN: All right, Aaron. Thank you so much for that.

Florida passed legislation in 2023 to protect children from the ravages of the sex-change regime. In addition to banning the execution of genital mutilations on minors and the prescription of sterilizing puberty blockers to children, the Sunshine State also made the provision of such transmogrifying procedures or drugs a felony. The work by Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis to protect children was temporarily undone Tuesday by Robert Hinkle, a Clinton-nominated federal judge. Hinkle claimed in his ruling that "gender identity is real" and argued that the provision of drugs long been used to chemically castrate sex offenders amounted to "proper treatment" — despite the growing understanding among medical professionals in the West that so-called gender-affirming care is a barbaric and unscientific practice whose victims rarely if ever can provide proper consent. Hinkle's arguments were reminiscent of those made by fellow Clinton Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who in December prevented Idaho's ban on child sex changes from going into effect. Winmill, whose decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, cited as legitimate the guidelines provided by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which was exposed earlier this year in leaked internal documents as a purveyor of destructive pseudoscience. Hinkle concluded that Florida's protections for children were "unconstitutional." When Gov. DeSantis made clear that Florida would appeal the decision, a reporter concern-mongered about the potential cost of the appeal. The reporter said, "Your office told us that you plan to appeal the gender-affirming ruling from yesterday. So my question ... since we're talking about the budget of taxpayer dollars, why should taxpayer dollars go to this case for the appeal?" DeSantis did not mince words in his reply. 'You're basically saying the people of Florida shouldn't govern themselves.' "Because it's wrong to mutilate minors! It is wrong," said Gov. DeSantis. "It is wrong to perform a sex change on a 16-year-old. You're not allowed to get a tattoo but somehow you can have your privates cut off?" "Give me a break," continued DeSantis. "This is wrong. And I would also say this has already been decided by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. They upheld Alabama's law, which was almost identical to Florida's law." The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Jan. 11 that Alabama's ban on adolescent sex change mutilations could remain in effect. The state's Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall said at the time, "This is a significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense." DeSantis stressed, "This will be reversed. There's no question it'll be reversed." The governor then invited the concern-mongering reporter to think on the mindset of the Constitution's authors: When the Founding Fathers were creating the Constitution and when the first Congress passed the Bill of Rights, or even when they passed the Reconstruction Amendments in the 1860s, do you think a single person involved in that thought that there was a constitutional right to do this genital mutilation? It's ridiculous. After indicating there is no question of whether states are within their rights to protect children from losing their genitals in unscientific rituals, DeSantis took the reporter to task for his suggestion that Florida shouldn't fight back against activist judges. DeSantis said that by suggesting the Sunshine State should not spend money on appeal, the reporter was effectively saying that "any liberal judge should be able to veto the policy of the State of Florida because they go to the same judges every time, we lose almost every time, and then we win on appeal almost every time." "So if you're not willing to defend Florida's duly enacted statutes against liberal jurisprudence, then you're basically saying the people of Florida shouldn't govern themselves and that we should just turn over our destiny to some trial judge somewhere," said DeSantis. "That I refuse to do." According to the governor, appealing the decision of the Clinton judge is not simply a matter of protecting innocents and taking the fight to those who would profit from their misery, but signaling that Florida refuses to embrace ideological fads over timeless truths. "Are we going to be rooted in truth as a society or not?" said DeSantis. "If we're rooted in truth, then you would say, 'Of course you can't do these surgeries because it's not going to take and transform somebody that's a male into a female.'" DeSantis reiterated for the reporter's benefit, "I am not going to turn over the destiny of this state to liberal judges." — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been tied to more than 100 criminal investigations in the United States, according to a Wednesday NBC News report.The news outlet stated that U.S. law enforcement and immigration officials have initiated investigations involving shootings and sex trafficking crimes that are linked to the criminal organization.New York Police Department officials have referred to Tren de Aragua members as "ghost criminals" because there is little information available to identify them other than their gang-affiliated tattoos. Jason Savino, the NYPD's assistant chief of detectives, told NBC News, "Their identity may be misrepresented; their date of birth may be misrepresented.""Everything about that individual could potentially be misrepresented," he added.Before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, many illegal aliens toss their identification cards and passports to prevent law enforcement agents from identifying them. Venezuela does not cooperate with the U.S. to provide criminal background information about its citizens. Therefore, Customs and Border Protection agents have limited information about the potential criminal history of Venezuelan citizens crossing the border. Additionally, Venezuela largely refuses to accept deportation flights.Former Border Patrol agent Ammon Blair told NBC News that U.S. border officials will only have access to a Venezuelan national's criminal history if they obtain the information from Interpol or that individual already has a criminal record in the U.S.DHS' Homeland Security Investigation told the news outlet that it has over 100 open investigations involving members of the gang. Last month, HSI arrested three Tren de Aragua members who were accused of running a sex trafficking operation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The gang members allegedly forced Venezuelan women into sex work to pay off smuggler debt for bringing them into the U.S. The individuals were reportedly apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Texas after illegally crossing into the country but later released.Law enforcement agents in Indiana are investigating another suspected sex trafficking operation involving Tren de Aragua members.On June 3, two NYPD officers were shot by a Venezuelan national illegally in the U.S. and believed to be a member of the gang. NBC News reported that it is unclear whether the suspect's involvement with the gang was known to Venezuelan authorities."While the group is well established in many South American countries," an Interpol spokesperson stated, "there is evidence that it is now expanding North, into Mexico and the United States, where key Tren de Aragua members have already been identified."A DHS spokesperson told NBC News, "DHS screens and vets individuals prior to their entry to the United States. If an individual poses a threat to national security or public safety, we deny admission, detain, remove, or refer them to other federal agencies for further vetting, investigation and/or prosecution as appropriate."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Congressional Republicans are fighting back after an NGO with ties to Ukraine and the U.S. State Department created a watch list of American individuals and media outlets — including Blaze Media — supposedly known to have promulgated "Russian disinformation" or otherwise made "anti-Ukrainian statements."Last week, an NGO best known as Texty.org but that is sometimes referred to as the Data Journalism Agency created a list of some 380 politicians and activists on the left and right as well as more than 75 entities that are supposedly "opponents of Ukraine."According to Texty.org's article about the watch list, these people and organizations established themselves as Ukrainian opponents by taking steps such as delaying further Ukraine funding by a few months or calling for "a stronger audit" of how such funds have been allocated, as Blaze News previously reported.The Texty.org article even called out the Democrat congressional group known as "the Squad" for daring to utter "anti-war speeches."'All Americans can agree that our tax dollars should not be supporting direct attacks on U.S. persons based upon reasonable political disagreement, and especially not direct attacks on U.S. legislators based solely upon their vote.'Blaze Media managed to secure a spot on the list by supposedly sharing "false and manipulative" information about the origins of the Ukraine/Russia war and otherwise disseminating "common narratives of Russian propaganda," according to an email from Texty.org's deputy editor in chief, Inna Gadzynska.Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) also found himself on that list, as did 115 other Republicans in the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, Banks sent a letter to his Republican colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee, calling on them to defund Texty.org.Then, during a full committee markup of the fiscal year 2025 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs funding bill, those Republicans banded together to include a provision that would prohibit Texty.org from receiving federal funding."I was just designated an ‘opponent of Ukraine,’ after being sanctioned by the Russian regime," Banks said in a statement. "I’m not bothered by what foreign nations think of me. But it’s shameful for our agencies to be using Hoosiers’ tax dollars to collaborate with foreign groups that attempt to intimidate U.S. citizens and lawmakers. I’d like to thank the Republicans on the Appropriations Committee for defunding any such work with the Data Journalism Agency."Banks was not the only Republican on the watch list to take decisive action against Texty.org. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio also reached out to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, requesting to learn more information about the connection between the State Department and Texty.org co-founder Anatoly Bondarenko, who participated in TechCamp, "a public diplomacy program" established by the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, a subdivision of the State Department."Needless to say, whatever one thinks of American foreign aid or support for Ukraine, all Americans can agree that our tax dollars should not be supporting direct attacks on U.S. persons based upon reasonable political disagreement, and especially not direct attacks on U.S. legislators based solely upon their vote," the letter to Blinken said.Blaze Media cofounder Glenn Beck suggests Bondarenko may even be involved in inciting a color revolution in the United States. "[Bondarenko] is a guy who has deep ties to the State Department and to color revolutions by hosting a TechCamp in one of those countries," he recently told Peter Gietl, managing editor of Return, a tech division of Blaze Media.Beck believes that people such as Bondarenko and George Soros have "perfected" conducting color revolutions elsewhere and are now attempting to implement one here. "[They want] to topple her and maker her into a democracy instead of a republic," he explained.Gietl agrees. "Unfortunately these color revolution organizations that have been used to attack foreign enemies are being directed to set their sights on the American people," Gietl said in a statement to Blaze News. "These groups and the U.S. State Department that funds them aren’t loyal to the Constitution or even the American people. They’ve sworn allegiance to the oligarchical bureaucracy that rules us." Gietl also celebrates the move by congressional Republicans to push back against this globalist aggression, calling it "an important first step.""Every American should be enraged our tax dollars are being spent funding foreign NGOs who then attack elected members of Congress and journalists who question U.S. involvement in this war. It has become a tactic to smear anyone on the right or anti-war as being Russian disinformation shills. We’re not going to stand for it. "Blaze Media is going to keep the pressure on until every American taxpayer dollar is stripped from them."Texty.org denies creating an "enemies list" or a "kill list." "The editorial team of Texty.org.ua does not deny, condemn, or dispute the right of American citizens, media, and institutions to express any opinions or hold any political beliefs. We value and respect freedom of speech, which is essential for a democratic society," a statement from Texty.org read in part.Like Blaze News? 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Every society has a ruling class, and the ruling class of the United States hates this country. Its members hate the history, the heritage, the religion, and the people that define this nation.Barack Obama announced his intention to “fundamentally transform” the United States, and the Democrats have joined forces with a larger percentage of Republicans to do exactly that. Both parties either actively encourage or fail to prevent mass immigration, the tearing down of our public monuments, and the destruction of traditional families. The future of the United States depends on the creation and instillation of a ruling class that respects and loves the nation it oversees and is deeply invested in the welfare of her people.There will always be a ruling class, but America deserves to be led by elites who earned their positions through right action and loyalty to their community.The American project began as a rejection of the stiff class distinctions rooted in European nobility and an embrace of republican government. It is, perhaps, this inherent distaste for a formalized ruling class that caused modern Americans to become apathetic about the character of those who held elected office.Without a distinctive marker to identify the unified interests of those who held power, many voters came to believe that the democratic process itself would be sufficient to limit the avarice of politicians. Elected officials who felt no duty to, or connection with, those they represented quickly discovered how to conspire with other politicians to enrich themselves and avoid accountability. Although America’s founders rejected the formalization of a ruling class, they understood that natural aristocracy was an inevitable and desirable aspect of human organization. Great families became pillars of colonial life and helped to build the churches, schools, community associations, and fraternal orders that were central to the functioning of the early states. Alexis de Tocqueville in “Democracy in America” identified vigorous participation in these voluntary associations as a uniquely American trait that allowed the young nation to flourish. American citizens could not rely on the inherited architecture of the Old World, so leadership arose through organizations that built a robust social fabric outside the direct influence of the state. This natural aristocracy emerged across every discipline. Politics, military command, economic production, and religious leadership were guided by great families passing their knowledge, training, and station from father to son. While this continuity was often familial, it was not titles of nobility conferred by birth that granted authority. The natural aristocracy had to justify itself through action, each generation proving itself worthy of leadership or stepping aside to make room for those with the vision necessary to guide the community. The modern ruling elite has forgotten these obligations to the common man over which it presides. The American billionaire class thinks nothing of buying a company, dismantling its assets, devastating the community it once employed, and shipping the jobs and profit off to another country. Leaders no longer emerge from improving their communities but instead gain wealth or power without any obligation to those who helped them.Even the titans of industry during the Gilded Age still felt a duty to build libraries, churches, universities, monuments, and other public works that enriched the life of the average citizen. Most philanthropy practiced by modern tycoons operates on a global scale, often with the intension of undermining the well-being of those currently residing in the United States. While the ruling elite has largely abandoned the people its members were meant to serve, the average American has facilitated this alienation in his own way. The organic aristocracy of the United States felt a duty to the community because its members hailed from the institutions that defined that particular people. Political, religious, and economic leadership were primarily a local phenomenon that had to appeal to a specific region and the needs of its residence. Scale is the enemy of particularity, and as the organizations that managed social foundations consolidated across multiple regions, the leadership of those organizations became less grounded in community and more interested in the interests of their shared ruling class. Americans have been willing to hand over many responsibilities that once defined these local and regional organizations to larger central bureaucracies in the name of efficiency and expertise. Educating children, caring for the elderly, feeding the hungry, and providing mutual aid in a time of need were all duties that once fell to the family, church, or local civic organization.Local leadership earned authority by organizing essential community functions, and the power of those organic aristocrats was tied directly to the people they served. By handing these duties over to the central government or national organizations, a large amount of personal freedom was temporarily created as the average person no longer felt the constant need to participate in local organizations to maintain his well-being.But this freedom was only a temporary illusion as elites operating distant organizations demanded increasing ideological conformity while treating their charges as interchangeable cogs. This process has created a learned helplessness, teaching people they can no longer manage basic social functions without the massive bureaucracies operated by credentialed experts. Most people cannot imagine educating their own children or pooling together to fund the medical treatment of their friends, if they even have children or friends to speak of. This also deprives citizens of the local and regional structures necessary to develop leadership skills and prove themselves to their communities.Organic opportunities for social elevation are stripped away and the only opportunity for advancement is centralized into massive and distant institutions like elite universities. Members of the ruling elite cultivated there have no loyalty to the far-flung regions they manage and develop a unified class culture and interest that deviates radically from the good of their subjects. To rebuild a natural aristocracy that bases its power on community well-being, we must create alternative institutions outside the centralized state apparatus. As an example, in Florida the state legislature has decoupled educational funding from public schools, allowing parents to more easily homeschool their children or send them to a religious school that shares their beliefs. This empowers parents and encourages them to once again embrace their responsibility as the primary educator in their child’s life.As federal programs become less reliable and more hostile to the people they ostensibly serve, fraternal orders, churches, and other civic organizations must fill the gap. This transfer of responsibility will not just help those in need but will also create opportunities for young leaders invested in their community to secure real influence. The process of reweaving America’s social fabric will be slow, but with diligent and committed leadership, a new class of aristocrats can arise. One which is dedicated not to the interests of a global neoliberal project but instead to the well-being of a particular people and way of life.There will always be a ruling class, but the United States deserves to be led by elites who earned their positions through right action and loyalty to their community. The American form of self-government has always required the vigorous participation in local institutions, and the time to build is now.