Forget Trump. Chicago Mayor Blames City's Violence on... Nixon?

When you think of a lion, what is the first thing that comes to mind? A catchy song from a Disney movie, their majestic roar, or maybe the similarities between these predators and the housecat curled up on your lap? What perhaps doesn't enter your mind is the swimming prowess of these African beasts. Well, new research has revealed that these big cats might be swimming a whole lot more than we thought. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda there is a pair of lion (Panthera leo) brothers named Jacob and Tibu. The pair are already known to researchers because of 10-year-old Jacob’s incredible life of survival; among other things, his various battle scars have left him with only three legs. “I’d bet all my belongings that we are looking at Africa’s most resilient lion: he has been gored by a buffalo, his family was poisoned for lion body part trade, he was caught in a poacher’s snare, and finally lost his leg in another attempted poaching incident where he was caught in a steel trap,” said Dr Alexander Braczkowski, from Griffith University's Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, in a statement. Jacob and Tibu show no sign that their various brushes with death have let that stop them. The latest exploit of the brothers is the subject of new research and shows the pair swimming approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) across a river filled with crocodiles and hippos. The pair actually took three attempts to cross on the night the swim was recorded by drone, each time returning to the banks after being trailed by what the team thought was a hippo or a crocodile. “His swim, across a channel filled with high densities of hippos and crocodiles, is a record-breaker and is a truly amazing show of resilience in the face of such risk,” Dr Braczkwoski said.            Previously, lions were known to swim typically less than 100 meters (328 feet). The team estimates that Jacon and Tibu swam 1.1 kilometers (0.6 miles) in linear distance but more likely closer to 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) accounting for small changes in direction during the swim. Some swims have reportedly ended in death to the lions via crocodile attack. Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) can weigh more than four times that of adult male lions, explain the authors. This begs the question of why would the brothers risk swimming so far, given that the Kazinga Channel is so full of dangers. "It’s likely the brothers were looking for females,” Dr Braczkowski explained. “Competition for lionesses in the park is fierce and they lost a fight for female affection in the hours leading up to the swim, so it’s likely the duo mounted the risky journey to get to the females on the other side of the channel.” There is one other way across the river, but the researchers think that human activity deterred the lions from using the small bridge. Filming the epic feat back in February of this year, it's thought the brothers swam across the river six times. The team concluded that the lack of females, fights over territory with other males, and the human presence on the road bridge were the three main driving forces behind the lions' incredible record-breaking swims. “Jacob and Tibu’s big swim is another important example that some of our most beloved wildlife species are having to make tough decisions just to find homes and mates in a human-dominated world,” Dr Braczkowski said. The paper is published in Ecology and Evolution.

Squirrels, with their innate curiosity and playful demeanor, never fail to entertain. Their interactions, especially when introduced to new environments or objects, can be incredibly amusing and heartwarming. These little creatures bring a touch of charm to any scene they inhabit. This was particularly evident during a unique experiment involving a charcuterie board in a... The post Squirrel that visits woman’s home all the time finds a charcuterie board waiting for it appeared first on Animal Channel.

In a shocking incident caught on camera, a woman dressed in scrubs was seen abandoning a puppy on a Westchester street. The footage reveals the woman exiting her SUV, opening the passenger door, and letting the puppy out before nonchalantly saying goodbye and driving away. The heart-wrenching scene has captured the attention and empathy of... The post Woman pulls over in neighborhood to dump puppy without a second glance back appeared first on Animal Channel.

Federal government whistleblowers told senators on Tuesday that the Biden administration's Office of Refugee Resettlement, within the Department of Health and Human Services, likely placed unaccompanied minors with child traffickers, neglecting to properly vet sponsors.Deborah White and Tara Rodas, federal employees, stated that they first discovered that the ORR was placing children in "dangerous" situations in June 2021. 'The most horrific injustice.'After minors cross the border, Customs and Border Protection places unaccompanied children in the custody of HHS' ORR. It is the department's responsibility to find and vet sponsors to look after the minors. Its order of preference is first to try to turn the children over to parents or a legal guardian; however, according to Tuesday's testimony to the panel of senators, this rarely occurs."What I discovered was horrifying: children were being trafficked with billions of taxpayer dollars by a contractor failing to vet sponsors and process children safely, with government officials complicit in it," White stated. "Children were sent to addresses that were abandoned houses or nonexistent in some cases.""In Michigan, a child was sent to an open field, even after we reported making an [sic] 911 call after hearing someone screaming for help, yet the child was still sent," White continued. "When I raised concerns about contractor failures and asked to see the contract I was told, 'You're not gonna get the contract and don't ask for it again.' So I took it upon myself to create trainings for significant incident reports of sexual abuse and for flagging trafficking, in order to equip case managers."According to White, despite reporting her concerns, the children continued to be sent to "dangerous places.""When we questioned documents, HHS ORR leadership said, 'You're not fake ID experts, and your job is not to investigate the sponsor. Your job is to reunify the child with the sponsor,'" White said.Rodas told senators that the ORR did not meet with sponsors in person and noted that children were being placed with "random people."She explained that a 16-year-old girl from Guatemala was placed with a man who claimed to be the child's brother, but it was "clear" that he was not. The female "looked drugged" and like "she was for sale" in pictures posted to the male's social media. She added that the male was "touching her inappropriately" and possessed other accounts on social media that contained child pornography.Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris claimed that only 10% of unaccompanied minors are placed with their parents."It defies logic and is inhumane," Harris remarked.Both White and Rodas claimed that the ORR and Cherokee Federal, a taxpayer-funded contractor tasked with resettling the unaccompanied children, ignored warning signs of potential trafficking operations.White stated that Cherokee Federal staffed "several unqualified unvetted and quite frankly dangerous contractors with access to vulnerable children that did not get the appropriate support, services, or humanity they deserved after a most treacherous journey."She added that the stories she has heard from some of the children "will haunt me for the rest of my life.""HHS ORR leadership and the contractor allowed children to be trafficked on their watch and the taxpayers continue to fund it," White said, calling the department's program "the biggest failure in government history.""This is the most horrific injustice against children that I have witnessed in my entire federal career," Rodas declared.Neither HHS nor Cherokee Federal responded to a request for comment from the Post.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Four people of Indian origin have been arrested and charged after allegedly forcing perhaps more than 100 people to live in confined quarters in Texas and perform computer-related labor.In March, a pest control company became concerned after providing services for bed bugs at a residence in Princeton, Texas, about 40 miles northeast of Dallas. When company staff members arrived at the home, they reportedly discovered between three and five women crammed into each room, suitcases strewn everywhere.Further investigation revealed that the alleged forced-labor scheme involved perhaps more than 100 victims, both male and female, and several locations, including in nearby cities Melissa and McKinney.The company called Princeton police, asking for a welfare check at the home. Detectives eventually obtained a search warrant for the residence, and what they found there was shocking.According to reports, at least 15 women had been living at the home, working as programmers for shell companies owned by the homeowner, Santhosh Katkoori, and his wife, Dwaraka Gunda, both of whom are 31 years old.At the home, investigators discovered "multiple" electronic devices, including laptops, cellphones, and printers, a police press release said. They also found allegedly forged documents.Further investigation revealed that the alleged forced-labor scheme involved perhaps more than 100 victims, both male and female, and several locations, including in nearby cities Melissa and McKinney. Electronic devices and "documents" were confiscated from those sites as well, the press release said.On Monday, four individuals — Katkoori and Gunda as well as 24-year-old Chandan Dasireddy and 37-year-old Anil Male — were arrested and charged with trafficking of persons, a second-degree felony that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The press release states that the four suspects currently live in Texas, but other reports indicate that they may originally come from southeastern India. "Four persons from the Telugu States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were arrested in Collin County, Texas, United States, on Monday on charges of alleged trafficking of people," read an article from the Hindu, an India-based outlet.The Times of India used similar language, describing the suspects as "four individuals of Telugu origin."Blaze News left a message for the Princeton detective assigned to the case, asking for further clarification on the suspects' citizenship but did not receive a return call.Police did hint that further arrests will be made in the case and other charges may be forthcoming.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

U.S. senators from both parties announced on Wednesday that they had created a bill that would ban congressional stock trading, an issue so important that Blaze Media created a Blaze Originals documentary — entitled "Bought and Paid For: How Politicians Get Filthy Rich" — about it earlier this year to put pressure on federal lawmakers and keep our audience in the know.While the STOCK Act, passed in 2012, technically requires members of Congress to be more transparent about their stock trades as well as those of their spouse, it has done little to curtail the seemingly rampant shady stock trades from members of both parties that "Bought and Paid For" exposed.According to a University of Maryland poll, fully 85% of Americans want to ban stock trades for members of Congress.Now, four senators — Democrats Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, and Gary Peters of Michigan and Republican Josh Hawley of Missouri — have developed new legislation with heftier penalties that may finally resolve the problem once and for all.Their plan is called the ETHICS Act, and if passed, it would prevent members of Congress from buying or selling stock or similar investments beginning 90 days after the bill is signed into law. It would further prohibit congressional spouses and other members of their immediate family from purchasing stocks as of March 2027.Violations of the law would result in a fine of either a month's salary or 10% of each asset's value, whichever is greater.According to a University of Maryland poll, fully 85% of Americans want to ban stock trades for members of Congress. Between the countrywide consensus regarding the issue and the bipartisan nature of the legislation, supporters of the ETHICS Act are hopeful that it may in fact pass, despite the contentious election season and the failure of similar legislative efforts in the past.The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is already scheduled to begin considering the bill on July 24.Meanwhile, members of Blaze Media are already celebrating the bill as a major victory following the release of "Bought and Paid For" in April. James Poulos, host of "Bought and Paid For" as well as the editor at large of Blaze Media and the editorial director of its RETURN division, is particularly encouraged by this turn of events."Members of Congress can get rich on stock trades thanks to their special access to information ordinary Americans don’t have — and many do just that, because wrongdoing is so hard to prove in court and current congressional rules are so lax," he told Blaze News."Americans across party lines agree this practice should be brought to an end, and cracking down boasts bipartisan support on the Hill. It’s heartening to see a new group of senators take a fresh swing at a solution that’s long overdue."The trailer for "Bought and Paid For" can be seen below. To view the entire 30-minute program and other Blaze Originals documentaries like it, click here to become a BlazeTV subscriber. TRAILER: Bought And Paid For: How Politicians Get Filthy Rich | Blaze Originals youtu.be Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

You might have heard the phrase Project 2025, also referred to as the Presidential Transition Project, being thrown around lately – especially by Biden and fellow Democrats who are using the initiative as a way to scare the nation about a second Trump term. But what exactly is Project 2025, and does it bode well for America’s future? Sara Gonzales and Chad Prather discuss the implications – both good and bad – of Project 2025. "Project 2025" - What is it, and Why are Liberals SO TERRIFIED? youtu.be “Project 2025 is initiated by the Heritage Foundation, and it aims to prepare for a future conservative administration by focusing on four pillars,” which are “restore family values, dismantle the administrative state … defend national sovereignty, [and] secure individual rights,” says Sara. So far, so good. Some of the key policies within those pillars will target abortion, the executive branch, economic policies, taxes, deregulation, free market principles, health care, energy and environmental policies, education, immigration, and national security and defense, among other categories. Liberals, of course, are calling Project 25 “far-right extremism,” but Sara thinks the initiative is rooted in “common sense.” Chad Prather, however, sees some areas in Project 2025 that could be considered genuinely radical. Overall, he’s optimistic about the initiative, especially considering that it centers around the concept of “[making] the government smaller,” but he does think “it has some radical points.” When he looked at the finer details of the initiative, he found mentions of “eradicating choice in marriage” and the elimination of “no-fault divorce.” “It’s a little strong,” he tells Sara. To hear more about Project 2025 and Trump’s potential involvement in it, watch the clip above. Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The influential caucus is helping Biden keep congressional Democrats on side — for now.

Sci-Fi Author Patrick Tomlinson Pens Biggest Piece of Fiction EVER, Blaming Media for Biden's Problems