Amidst reports that the United States is close to a major war with Iran, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said his job is to make sure the military is capable of backing up the president.  “We have enormous capabilities, unlike anyone else in the world, and I think the big difference between this department and others is that we unlock and unleash our war fighters to get the job done should they have to,” Hegseth said in response to a question from The Daily Signal in St. Louis, Missouri.   “But our hope is that we never have to use that,” he added. “The president is a negotiator looking for a deal. It would be wise for Iran to see that deal.” JUST IN: I asked @SecWar about the Axios report saying a massive military operation in Iran is coming soon."We would never reveal what we may or may not do. We have enormous capabilities, unlike anyone else in the world, and I think the big difference between this Department…— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) February 19, 2026 Axios reported Wednesday that President Donald Trump is close to waging a war with Iran, and that a U.S. military operation in Iran would likely be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like full-fledged war than the recent operation in Venezuela.  While Iranian leaders want to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S., they are also rushing to prepare for war if negotiations fail, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. could be ready to launch a “sustained” bombing campaign on Iran in the near future, the New York Post reported. “The world has seen over the last year plus what the president is willing to do,” Hegseth said. “When he speaks, they should listen, and when he says Iran’s not going to have a nuclear weapon, and they should negotiate that. He means it, and our job at the Department of War is to have the capabilities to back him up.”  The Trump administration has one message to Iran: come to the table and make a deal, Hegseth said.  “Two people will make this decision: the Iranians could step up and make a real deal,” Hegseth said, “and ultimately President Trump will decide if it’s a good enough deal for the American people.”  On Tuesday, Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had a three-hour meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland. Hegseth echoed the message of other Trump administration officials that the talks yielded progress.  Vice President Vance told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that the talks “went well” in some ways, but “in other ways it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.” The Daily Signal asked Hegseth about Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggesting Iran could sink a U.S. war ship.  Hegseth also responded to Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying Iran could sink U.S. ships. “I feel very good about the capabilities of our warships,” he told @DailySignal. “Very good.” pic.twitter.com/Qnl5Y4mJEP— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) February 19, 2026 “I feel very good about the capabilities of our warships,” Hegseth said. “Very good.” The war secretary spoke to reporters following a stop on his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour in St. Louis, Missouri, to visit a Boeing facility.  Hegseth addressed some of Boeing’s 18,000 employees in St. Louis and asked them to build more planes at a faster pace. “When we unleash American industry, America wins,” Hegseth said. “When we compete, we win. When we innovate, we win. When we move fast, we win.”  The post Hegseth Responds to Reports War With Iran Is Imminent appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A Berlin court has ordered X to hand over data on Hungarian election activity to researchers, ruling in favor of Democracy Reporting International after the platform refused the group’s access requests in November. The ruling turns on the EU’s censorship law, the Digital Services Act, which requires large platforms to give external researchers access to data for scrutiny of election interference risks. X ignored that obligation. The European Commission fined it €40 ($47) million for that refusal, as part of a broader €120 ($141) million levy, in December. X’s position throughout has been straightforward: don’t share the data. No response to press inquiries, no compliance, no engagement. Hungary votes in April in what amounts to a test of Viktor Orbán’s power as he faces his rival Péter Magyar. Democracy Reporting International says that what it is actually trying to do is understand whether coordinated influence campaigns are running on X ahead of a consequential vote in a country where the information environment is already heavily contested. What the ruling doesn’t resolve is what happens when X simply ignores it, as it has ignored the DSA’s access requirements so far. A court order is only as useful as the enforcement mechanism behind it. Some background worth knowing before treating this as a straightforward transparency victory: The two organizations behind the case, DRI and Society for Civil Rights (GFF), share more than a legal strategy. Both receive funding from billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, directly in GFF’s case and through DRI’s membership in the European Partnership for Democracy network. DRI’s largest single funder is the European Commission itself, which provided €5.7 million in 2023 alone. The same institution that fined X €40 million for DSA non-compliance is also the primary financial backer of the group that just won a court order forcing X to comply with the DSA. GFF’s funding trail has its own texture. The Mozilla Foundation granted money to GFF specifically to support “enforcement of research data access based on the DSA,” the precise legal mechanism at the center of this lawsuit. Mozilla’s revenue comes overwhelmingly from Google, via a search engine deal. DuckDuckGo also appears on GFF’s donor list. The organizations funding DSA enforcement against X include, in other words, some of X’s most direct commercial competitors in search and browsing. None of this proves the lawsuit is wrong on the legal merits. The DSA does demand data access, and X refused. But who funds the groups defining “election disinformation,” who decides which data requests count as legitimate research, and who benefits when X specifically (and not other platforms) faces enforcement pressure are questions that deserve at least as much scrutiny as the platform’s conduct. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Berlin Court Orders X to Hand Over Hungarian Election Data to Researchers appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Another Indiana Semi Crash, Another Fatality, Another ICE Arrest

Can the Gaslighting Get Even More Brazen?

And we even have candidates for which genes were involved.

You just have to fall towards the Sun and miss!

President Donald Trump last Friday night took to Truth Social to reiterate his support for voter ID and proof of citizenship for voting. His message was simple and direct: Elections should be decided by eligible American citizens.That position aligns with what most Americans say they want.Equal protection under the law means rules apply consistently. A system built on uneven standards invites uneven trust.According to the Pew Research Center, 83% of Americans support “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification.” In a divided country, that level of agreement is rare. It signals a broad desire for clear, consistent standards that bolster confidence in election outcomes.When an eligible American citizen goes to vote, he should feel confident that his ballot counts — and carries equal weight. Confirming who can vote before a ballot is cast helps ensure that elections are decided only by eligible American citizens.If you need ID to board a plane or open a bank account, you can show it at the ballot box. Americans understand that identity verification is not an accusation. It is a safeguard. It protects a system that depends on public trust. When identity is confirmed clearly and consistently, disputes shrink and confidence rises.Recent examples show why verification matters — even when fraud is not the story.In 2020, Illinois election officials acknowledged that a computer error in the state’s automatic voter registration system mistakenly forwarded information from hundreds of people who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens for voter registration processing. Officials later reviewed and corrected the registrations, but a number of ballots were cast before the error was identified.The issue was corrected. But it illustrates a broader point: When eligibility is not verified clearly at registration, mistakes can occur and must be remedied after the fact. Verification after ballots are cast invites confusion and fuels public doubt.Wisconsin offers a different example. Under state law, voters who appear without acceptable identification must cast provisional ballots until their eligibility is confirmed. Provisional ballots are lawful and part of election administration. But they shift verification from prevention to review. In closely contested elections, post-election verification increases administrative burdens and can invite disputes.These examples do not prove widespread fraud. They do show that when verification standards are incomplete or inconsistently applied, administrative strain and public doubt follow. Clear verification before voting reduces disputes after voting.That is the principle behind the SAVE Act. It would strengthen eligibility verification by requiring documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, while promoting clearer standards nationwide.RELATED: Running out the clock won’t save the majority Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty ImagesThe idea is straightforward: Confirm eligibility before ballots are cast. Support election administrators with consistent rules. Help ensure that elections are decided only by eligible American citizens.Most states already require some form of voter identification at the polls, but the rules still vary widely. When eligibility is verified differently from state to state, public confidence varies as well. A system built on uneven standards invites uneven trust.Equal protection under the law means rules apply consistently. At the ballot box, equal protection means every lawful vote carries the same weight. This is not about partisanship. It is about clarity — ensuring that the person casting a ballot is who he says he is.The ballot box deserves the same seriousness Americans expect elsewhere in civic life. Voter ID is one of the simplest and most broadly supported safeguards available. It does not prevent eligible citizens from voting. It affirms that voting is a serious civic act deserving of clear and consistent standards.Only eligible American citizens should decide elections. Requiring voter identification is one of the most practical ways to uphold that principle. The SAVE Act reflects that basic governing commitment.

After 35 years, the future of Disney’s “Gay Days” looks grim. The group that organizes the event announced that shifting hotel agreements and the loss of key sponsors forced it to cancel the celebration in 2026. Organizers still urge gay fans to visit the parks on the usual dates and wear themed attire, but the coordinated celebration appears headed for a quiet end.Whatever happens next, one point matters: Evangelical Christians tried to cancel Gay Days with on-again, off-again boycotts for decades. What finally wounded the LGBTQ leviathan was not conservative activism, but cultural apathy.Apathy does not mean Americans suddenly disapproved of Disney’s agenda. It means normal people stopped granting it the honor of a fight.I remember the first wave of evangelical pushback as Disney began signaling support for homosexual lifestyles in the 1990s. Conservatives already watched pop culture coarsen through music, movies, and video games, yet they still treated Disney as a family-friendly institution aimed at children. That is why it shocked them to see the company behind “Snow White” and “Cinderella” host celebrations of homosexuality and extend benefits to same-sex partners long before the Supreme Court imposed gay marriage on the country.Evangelical denominations answered with a strangely inconsistent boycott. One year, the Southern Baptist Convention urged members to avoid Disney; the next year, churches showed up for Night of Joy, Disney’s Christian music festival.When Gay Days began in 1991, gay marriage remained deeply unpopular. “Will & Grace” had not worked its magic on the popular imagination, and politicians such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton still felt compelled to posture as defenders of traditional marriage as late as 2008. If any moment favored a decisive cultural rebuke, that was it. Christians offered sloppy, intermittent resistance, while Disney only leaned harder.From park to propagandaDisney’s support for homosexuality moved from park celebrations and employee benefits into its entertainment. Progressive messaging crept into television shows and movies until the woke revolution turned it into a flood. “The Little Mermaid” became black, gay couples kissed in “Star Wars,” and diverse girlbosses dominated Marvel. As acceptance of gay marriage shifted from taboo to required corporate orthodoxy, Disney replaced entertainment with propaganda.The company then collided with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after Florida moved to restrict the mutilation of children and limit the amount of LGBTQ messaging pumped into public schools. Legislation that the press laughably branded “don’t say gay” sent leftists into a panic. Executives called emergency meetings. Rumors flew that Disney would pull up stakes and flee the Sunshine State.BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo helped surface video of a corporate meeting where Disney executive Latoya Raveneau announced her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” to inject LGBTQ themes into kids’ shows. Disney embraced the agenda early, worked to make it dominant — especially among children — and refused to slow down once the woke revolution reached full speed.Why Gay Days collapsedSo why did Gay Days suddenly fall apart now? Apathy.Apathy does not mean Americans suddenly disapproved of Disney’s agenda. It means normal people stopped granting it the honor of a fight.Many families quit watching new releases, not as part of a coordinated boycott, but because the product became preachy, weird, and dull. Others kept their subscriptions but tuned out the messaging and rolled their eyes. Either way, the ritualized drama lost its electricity.Corporate sponsors follow attention, and attention followed the next outrage. A movement built on being shocking cannot survive once it becomes background noise. When every kids’ show feels like a lecture, even sympathetic viewers start craving something else.Gay Days did not collapse because Christians perfected a strategy. It collapsed because the culture stopped caring enough to show up, even to cheer. Apathy is not victory, but it can starve a cause faster than protest.Progressivism needs an enemyPopular political movements need cultural momentum, and progressive movements feed on transgression. Leftists want to feel like they are fighting the stuffy pastor in “Footloose.” They want to feel cool, rebellious, and righteous. Without dialectical tension, progressivism loses velocity.When activists fought the religious right, they enjoyed the perfect enemy: just enough moralizing to spark rebellion, but little chance of sustained, effective opposition.Conservatives could work up outrage on television and even skip a holiday trip, but they rarely sustained a boycott. Republicans generally worship business and profits, so GOP politicians avoided pressure on true pain points such as corporate sponsors and boardrooms. Conservatives served as a political battery, supplying just enough resistance to keep LGBTQ activists energized while imposing few costs. Democrat operatives could not have engineered a better environment.RELATED: The West’s forbidden truth: Ethnic cleansing is now official policy Blaze Media IllustrationMachiavelli’s warningIn “The Prince,” Niccolo Machiavelli advises rulers to leave opponents alone or crush them entirely. A complacent enemy grumbles but avoids risk. A crushed enemy cannot retaliate. The most dangerous enemy suffers a minor bloodying: he gains the motivation to fight and keeps the means to harm. Conservatives gave the LGBTQ movement exactly that minor bloodying — outraged finger-wagging with no consequences.No one lost a job for pushing a gay agenda in Disney parks, shows, or movies. Corporate sponsors rarely withdrew. Disney kept making money. Republicans played the role of cartoonish but harmless foe, delivering speeches about family values while imposing no penalties.The movement did not lose because the right defeated it. It lost because it exhausted its cultural energy.Even a strong boxer collapses after he punches himself out. Gay marriage won so quickly and so thoroughly that activists carried the momentum into harder causes such as the trans movement. Support, attention, and funding shifted to the new battlegrounds, and older, boring causes like Gay Days slid into irrelevance.The lesson is simple. If the right fights, it must pick battles carefully and commit fully to winning them. Secure decisive victory in one arena instead of scattering resources across dozens of losses. Choose targets because they anchor your enemy’s strength, not because they offer an easy headline. If you fight, you must crush the enemy’s capacity to operate; otherwise, you invigorate his cause while draining your own.Clumsy half measures feed your foe, and you end up hoping he defeats himself. That is not a plan for a protracted culture war.

President Donald Trump hosted the first Board of Peace meeting in the nation's capital as the world waits to see America's next move against Iran. Trump opened the inaugural diplomatic meeting Thursday flanked by members of his administration, like Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as world leaders gathered to address peace in the Middle East. In true Trump fashion, Guns N' Roses blared over the speakers as attendees gathered for a photo.'They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region.'This is the first official gathering of the board since Trump announced its formation as part of the ceasefire brokered between Israel and Hamas. During his address, Trump announced new investments to relieve the devastation in Gaza, while also warning Israel's adversaries like Iran. But while world leaders are meeting to discuss peace, many Americans are bracing themselves for the opposite. RELATED: Online sleuths spot numerous signs that a US strike on Iran is imminent Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty ImagesTrump first struck Iran in June when the United States "completely and totally obliterated" its nuclear capabilities. Since then, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Israel is "not yet finished" with Iran, urging further American involvement as tensions escalate. The United States has now sent a flurry of fighter planes, aerial regulars, and surveillance planes in recent days toward the Middle East, with some reports indicating a strike could come as soon as this weekend. Even still, Trump issued Iran what could be a final warning. "Now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we're doing," Trump said Thursday. "And if they join us, that'll be great. If they don't join us, that'll be great too, but it'll be a very different path. They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region."RELATED: Trump's unusual Cabinet meeting may reveal which officials are on thin ice Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images"They must make a deal, or if that doesn't happen ... bad things will happen." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

"The vitality of the voices and the vivid memories reconnected me with feelings and emotions that had been long stored in my mental attic," said the author. The post New Book Profiles Soul Music Greats of the ’60s-’80s appeared first on Best Classic Bands.