A new noninvasive brain stimulation technique that has the potential to help people living with memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease has been developed by scientists from the UK Dementia Research Institute. We spoke to the first author of the new paper‚ Dr Ines Violante‚ Senior Lecturer in Psychological Neuroscience at the University of Surrey‚ to find out more about the study and what’s next for this research.The road from idea to laboratoryThe technique is called temporal interference (TI)‚ and it was first described by a team at Imperial College London led by Dr Nir Grossman. Back in 2017‚ they successfully tested it in mice‚ opening up the possibility of its use in humans. However‚ there’s a very long way between a proof-of-concept in an animal and trying the technique out on human volunteers.“There are a number of challenges‚” Dr Violante explained to IFLScience. “Let’s just start with the anatomy. If we think about the size of the brain – very different‚ right? The size of the brain in a mouse is like the tip of my finger and‚ well‚ in humans that’s not the case!”Not only are you dealing with two animals that have very different-looking brains‚ but the ethical and practical considerations around animal vs. human research are substantially different too. At the end of an experimental period‚ model animals may be sacrificed so that researchers can extract and examine brain tissues – clearly‚ this is not an option for human subjects. Safety concerns around human trials are also paramount‚ so they require careful planning.Fortunately‚ TI is not the only noninvasive brain stimulation method that’s been used in humans. We have many years’ worth of safety data about other methods‚ including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)‚ transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)‚ and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). Some of these methods already have medical uses‚ and scientists have a good understanding of how humans react to them. Using this as a benchmark made designing a trial of TI in 20 healthy participants much easier.But even with all of this careful planning‚ nature could still throw a spanner in the works.“Unfortunately‚ we also had COVID in between [the mouse study and the human trial]‚” Dr Violante told IFLScience. “So we had to stop scanning for a year almost.”Eventually‚ the team was able to accomplish their experiments in all 20 volunteers. But what does a session of TI actually feel like‚ and what is it doing to the brain?How does it feel to have your brain stimulated?The aim of TI is to replicate the targeted brain stimulation that has‚ up to now‚ only been achieved through surgery. Deep brain stimulation (DBS)‚ where electrodes are implanted into the brain in specific areas‚ comes with some risks – but it does have important uses.In Parkinson’s disease‚ it’s the main surgical treatment offered when drugs no longer work to control the symptoms. The electrodes deliver high-frequency stimulation to regions in the brain that help control movement‚ powered by a battery-operated generator that’s usually inserted under the collarbone (a bit like a pacemaker).Although treatment for Parkinson’s may be its best-known application‚ DBS is also approved for use in obsessive-compulsive disorder‚ some forms of epilepsy‚ and other movement disorders. A recent study even suggested it could be transformative for people suffering the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury.But there’s no denying that brain surgery comes with significant risks to the patient.“Not everyone is a good candidate for DBS‚” Dr Violante told IFLScience. “Having brain surgery is not your first port-of-call […] and for many conditions we don’t yet have good targets for DBS.”By contrast‚ TI involves applying electrodes to the surface of the skull‚ in locations that can be carefully mapped and personalized to the individual. The subjects stay awake the whole time and can tell the researcher if something feels off or uncomfortable while the electrodes are delivering overlapping electrical fields over the target region."The idea is quite ingenious‚" Dr Violante said. "The idea is that you have at least two current sources [...] and there is a difference between [the] frequency of those two current sources [...] in the range of something that the brain is going to respond to.""Because we're using two current sources‚ they will meet at some point‚ [where] they generate an interference pattern." It's this overlapping of different frequencies that the research in animals demonstrated had the ability to influence neuronal activity deep within the brain.With other types of brain stimulation‚ such as tACS‚ it’s common for people to experience a tingling sensation‚ or some more unusual side-effects like the perception of flashing lights (called phosphenes) or a metallic taste in the mouth depending on the frequencies used. With TI‚ Dr Violante explained‚ most of the participants hardly felt a thing.“One advantage of the high frequencies that we’re using with TI is that actually‚ the perception of the stimulation only occurs for higher intensities. If you would compare tACS and TI directly at an intensity where you’re already feeling the pins and needles and tingling sensations you have with tACS‚ you don’t feel them with TI‚ and this is something that we also show in the paper.”The way that individuals experience brain stimulation differs enormously‚ but with TI the most common sensation was a slight pressure or heat. “We had one participant that reported it made them laugh!” Dr Violante recalled. An uncontrollable fit of the giggles certainly sounds preferable to complex brain surgery. But the million-dollar question is: does it work?Does it work‚ and where do we go from here?The recent study aimed to see whether TI had the potential to influence the hippocampus‚ the brain’s memory center‚ and the team first assessed this possibility using post-mortem brain tissues.Then they moved to the healthy volunteers‚ applying the TI stimulation while they were being asked to memorize pairs of faces and names. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was able to show that the stimulation was selectively targeting the hippocampal activity that was being ramped up as the subjects were performing the memory exercise.A later experiment involved a tougher memory test and longer stimulation sessions. Asking the participants to try to recall the names and faces they’d memorized 30 minutes later revealed that the stimulation led to improved memory accuracy – just as the team had hoped.The next step‚ led by Dr Grossman and the team from Imperial College‚ is a clinical trial in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Violante explained to IFLScience that the aim is two-fold – clearly‚ the team needs to understand whether targeting the hippocampus in people who already have impaired memories is possible and beneficial‚ but they also need to learn more about who the treatment might work best for.There’s a lot more work to be done before we could see TI being offered as a treatment in the clinic. But these first steps have been promising‚ and come alongside a separate study from a team in Switzerland who also validated the use of TI to target the human striatum.The road from hypothesis to validated treatment may be long and winding‚ but it’s also peppered with lots of little wins.“You put everything together in the scanner and nothing explodes. You don’t break any equipment‚ it’s great. When you start seeing that you do have some changes in brain activity‚ that’s really great‚” Dr Violante told us. “And then when we see that we could indeed see changes in behavior by following this line from A to B to C‚ that was quite exciting.”The study is published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Do video games make people more violent? It is a persistent belief among some people that they do‚ but the empirical evidence does not seem to support it. In fact‚ a new study has demonstrated that‚ contrary to making people more aggressive‚ playing violent video games can actually lower stress hormone levels in some players. It seems the relationship between video game content and player behavior is more complex than often assumed.The idea that video games make people more violent has been a contentious claim for many years. Within the public sphere‚ random acts of violence have sometimes been blamed on the perpetrator’s use of video games. In fact‚ in 2019‚ after a series of school shootings in the US‚ many commentators blamed video games for inspiring violence.Interestingly‚ previous research has shown that the video game explanation is often offered by people when the shooter is a white male‚ rather than Black. This seems to suggest a kind of cultural blind spot where racial minorities are more stereotypically associated with violence. But while the evidence continues to show that the relationship between video game content and violence is far more complicated‚ the whole “video games did it” argument continues to appear.This belief motivated researchers to take a closer look at the assumed association by examining the physiological and psychological effects of violent video games on players.“I am interested in this topic as I am a gamer myself. Since I was little‚ I was fascinated by video games and the virtual worlds. I played because it was fun‚ because I enjoyed the competition‚ to enjoy good stories‚ but also to relief some stress of my daily life‚” study author Gary L. Wagener‚ a doctoral researcher at the University of Luxembourg‚ told PsyPost.For Wagener‚ the inconsistencies between studies into video games and violence were a point of curiosity. Although there are some that have suggested a potential link between video games and heightened aggression‚ others have shown that this is not the case. But the media depictions of violent games do not reflect the complexity of this ongoing debate. As such‚ he decided to “investigate violent video game effects myself”.Wagener recruited 54 male participants through a mix of university mailing lists‚ social media‚ and advertisement posters. Each participant was randomly assigned to either play a violent or non-violent part of the video game "Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End". Each participant played their assigned passage for 25 minutes.Before and after the participants played the game‚ researchers measured their levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) and testosterone using saliva samples. Participants also completed questionnaires to measure their personality traits. These questionnaires assessed the “Dark Tetrad” or “triad” traits‚ which include levels of narcissism‚ psychopathy‚ sadism‚ and Machiavellianism.Finally‚ the participants took an Implicit Association Test to measure their aggressive tendencies. Contrary to what you might expect‚ the results found no significant changes to levels of testosterone in either group. Moreover‚ participants who played the violent part of the game actually had lower cortisol levels after it. This suggests that‚ rather than increasing stress‚ the violent content may have actually relaxed the players.In addition‚ the Implicit Association Test results showed no significant difference between the two groups of participants.“What was surprising for us in the end was that playing a violent video game had no effect on aggression whatsoever‚ even taking physiological effects and personality into account but it provided even beneficial physiological effects‚” Wagener added.“The average person should take away from this study that there is no clear picture that violent video games are harmful for players‚” Wagener explained. “They do not necessarily increase aggression in any way but can even have positive relaxing effects for players.”This finding is significant but the study still has its limitations. Firstly‚ the results cannot necessarily be generalized to other games. Wagener and colleagues are continuing to broaden the material they use to gain a greater understanding of these findings.Secondly‚ the study focuses solely on male participants. This was principally done to reduce variability and control factors linked to menstrual cycles and oral contraceptives‚ which could impact hormone levels. This then opens the prospect of studying the influence violent games may have on women.Future research will need to address these limitations. A larger pool of content and larger sample sizes using both male and female participants would add more detail to our understanding of this complex relationship between video games and violence.Wagener and colleagues are viewing this as the first step in ongoing research. Hopefully‚ we will be seeing a sequel to this work in the near future.The paper is published in Physiology &; Behavior.

The secret identity of a curious group of fossils has been revealed after palaeontologists sifted through almost 500 papers and got to watch a world-first microscope observation on YouTube. The fossils look a bit like a fingerprint that’s sloughed off‚ but they are‚ in fact‚ the encysted remains of a group of organisms that are neither plant nor animal.The fossils have been misidentified over the years due to strange lines or “ribs” that mark their surface‚ making them look a bit like a fingerprint. Unsure of what to do with them‚ scientists slapped on the label Pseudoschizaea‚ imagining they were some kind of shell‚ but new research has pointed to an alternative explanation. An international team realized they could be looking at euglenoids‚ a group of single-celled protists that are neither plant nor animal. Like plants‚ euglenoids photosynthesize‚ but like animals‚ they also eat. They’re thought to date back around a billion years to the start of the eukaryotic branch of the tree of life‚ but we haven’t found many of them in the fossil record.To test if they were onto something‚ the team sifted through hundreds of sources on animals resembling Pseudoschizaea‚ covering specimens that dated back almost 500‚000 years in the fossil record. The theory was that the fossils may be encysted euglenoids‚ which is a magic trick they use to survive harsh conditions by buckling down into a little ball. A skill that could explain why they’ve persisted for such a long time on Earth."Perhaps related to their capabilities to encyst‚ these organisms have endured and survived every major extinction on the planet‚" said Bas van de Schootbrugge‚ then at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main‚ in a statement. "Unlike the behemoths that were done in by volcanoes and asteroids‚ these tiny creatures have weathered it all."The only problem was that nobody to date had ever been able to observe a euglenoid encysting in a lab‚ but then along came microscopy enthusiast Fabian Weston from Sydney‚ Australia. His footage of water taken from a nearby pond in New South Wales posted to YouTube ended up capturing the moment the Euglena balled up and formed cysts with little lines similar to those seen in our mystery fossils.     “Unwittingly‚ Fabian provided a key piece of evidence‚” said Paul Strother from Boston College. “He is probably the only person on the planet to have witnessed Euglena encyst under a microscope.”The findings enabled the team to establish a timeline for euglenoids that goes back 400 million years‚ pieced together with the help of 200-million-year-old fossils and pond sediments from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary‚ as well as extant euglenoids living and encysting today. “This opens the door for recognizing even older examples‚ for example from Precambrian records that go back to the very root of the eukaryotic tree of life‚” concluded Strother. “Now that we know which organisms produced those cysts‚ we can also use them for paleo-environmental interpretations. Their abundance around two of the largest mass-extinction events of the past 600 million years is a tell-tale sign of some major upheavals on the continents related to increased precipitation under extreme greenhouse climate conditions.”The study is published in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology.

In an extraordinary display of interspecies interaction‚ a video from The Dodo captures the heartwarming tale of a coyote‚ named Carmine‚ who found an unusual way to interact with the world around him. Unlike most of his wild counterparts‚ Carmine was spotted playing with neighborhood dogs‚ a behavior that intrigued and concerned local residents. This... The post Friendly coyote melts hearts with his ‘sweet’ interaction with neighborhood dogs appeared first on Animal Channel.

The New York Times’ bumbling economics writer Paul Krugman continues to beclown himself the more he tries to defend the Bidenomics monstrosity. Krugman took to X (formerly Twitter) to once again downplay the inflation crisis brought on by President Joe Biden’s off-the-rails spending and stimulus policies that helped send price hikes into overdrive. His new excuse? Biden’s inflation battle is similar to President Ronald Reagan’s. “For people who say that Americans care about the level of prices‚ not the inflation rate‚ note that cumulative inflation under Biden so far is close to the number under Reagan. Which is why Reagan lost the 84 election in a landslide. Oh‚ wait.” No‚ you didn’t misread that. But as usual with Krugman’s takes‚ he left out crucial context that ended up obliterating his argument. Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Brian Riedl pointed out to Krugman that the “obvious difference [was] that Reagan inherited a 13.5% inflation rate‚ so voters gave him more slack to gradually bring it down to 3.2%.” Krugman didn’t bother mentioning that at all. “Biden inherited a 1.2% inflation rate and low inflation expectations‚ so the subsequent inflation spike to 8.0% was seen as his creation‚” Riedl continued. Effectively‚ Krugman just set himself up to take another massive “L” like the glutton for punishment that he is. The obvious difference is that Reagan inherited a 13.5% inflation rate‚ so voters gave him more slack to gradually bring it down to 3.2%. Biden inherited a 1.2% inflation rate and low inflation expectations‚ so the subsequent inflation spike to 8.0% was seen as his creation. https://t.co/GwwtIU7Rn8 — Brian Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 (@Brian_Riedl) January 21‚ 2024 Krugman’s ridiculous hot takes have certainly kicked into high gear lately.  During a recent interview‚ for example‚ Krugman had the nerve to characterize Americans’ panning Bidenomics despite all the media gaslighting as simple Biden hatred. “A lot of it is simply —a lot of people who say the economy is lousy —what they’re really saying is‚ ‘I hate the idea that a Democrat is president.’” So Americans shouldn’t be upset that they’re having to dish out an extra $11‚000 a year just to maintain a standard of living they had in January 2021?  Krugman even comically blamed “MAGA” for disgruntled Americans struggling with high prices brought on in large part by Biden’s inflation-stimulating policies in a Jan. 9 column. “The more I look into it‚ the more I’m convinced that much of what looks like poor public perception about the economy is actually just Republicans angry that Donald Trump isn’t still president‚” Krugman grumbled. It couldn’t possibly be that Americans are actually struggling to make ends meet in Biden’s economy‚ right Krugman? As X owner Elon Musk concluded in a recent post rebuking Krugman: "You give economics a bad name." No kidding. Krugman is displaying the symptoms of the now-common syndrome that gripped the left-wing punditry during Biden’s economy as the New York Post editorial board analyzed: “[E]litist ignorance.” In other words‚ if elitist hacks like Krugman had “been shopping to feed their families these last few years‚ they would have noticed the average grocery bill has shot up 25%‚” said the Post. Krugman is currently estimated to be worth $5 million. The newspaper concluded: “Bottom line: The pundit class’ confusion over Biden’s unpopularity is just one more proof of George Orwell’s maxim: ‘There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.’” Making a career out of peddling “absurd” ideas seems to have proven very lucrative for the delusional Krugman. Conservatives are under attack. Contact The New York Times at 800-698-4637 and demand it distance itself from Krugman’s nonsensical Bidenomics propaganda.

Lucifer-loving musical cartoon Hazbin Hotel premiered on Amazon Prime on Friday‚ January 19th‚ and the devil himself could not have created a more despicable show. Overturning the creation story from Genesis‚ the first episode‚ "Overture‚" begins with an introduction that describes Satan as a "rebellious dreamer" who just wanted to give human beings free will. Heaven‚ in contrast‚ is heartless and cruel. The intro combines radical feminism and demon-worship in a two-minute clip. You may have already heard of this cartoon if you are a teacher or parent who interacts with middle schoolers. Hazbin Hotel is based off a popular independent pilot that premiered on YouTube in 2019. The pilot has received 93 million views and spawned a devoted young fan base. Its proudly bisexual creator‚ Vivienne Medrano‚ known as VivziePop online‚ has a large following. Pre-teen girls walk around with Hazbin Hotel backpacks and stickers on their laptops while sharing the show's fan art. After the pilot's success‚ studio A24 signed-on to produce a full 8-part series‚ the first four episodes of which were released on Friday. The show is rated 18+ so hopefully alert parents prevent their eager kids from streaming it. The episodes contain graphic sexual lingo‚ references to BDSM‚ and a disturbing musical number in which a porn star is gang raped‚ chained and choked‚ among other things. That musical number caps off four episodes of relentless vulgar sexual references and language. The main character's lesbian girlfriend is even named "Vaggie." Not exactly subtle. The first episode‚ "Overture‚" introduces Charlie Morningstar‚ the daughter of Lucifer and Lillith. Charlie wants to create a hotel where sinners and demons can redeem themselves and go to heaven. The brutal rulers of Heaven exterminate residents of Hell every year‚ but Charlie hopes to save them instead. In this occult universe‚ redemption comes from the perky spawn of Satan.  Charlie goes to a special meeting with heaven's Adam to tell him her idea. On her way there‚ she walks down the street singing "A Happy Day in Hell" and casually passes by two creatures having anal sex. Adam mocks her plan and announces Heaven will now be slaughtering the inhabitants of Hell every six months instead of just once a year. The rest of the plot is just an incoherent mess‚ with dialogue punctuated constantly by words like "c*nt‚" "f*ck" or "suck." The worst moment comes at the end of episode four‚ "Masquerade." A gay porn star named Angel Dust‚ who has been staying at Charlie's hotel‚ is beaten and forced back to "work" by his boss. In a musical number titled "Poison‚" Angel Dust looks up in fear as he is about to be raped by multiple creatures. He is also shown going down a stripper poll‚ being choked and chained. [If you want video‚ it begins around the 10:56 mark on Snapmaster.] If any tween fans of Hazbin Hotel view this scene without their parent's knowledge‚ it could be deeply unsettling. Parents must be vigilant. The problem is that so much of Hazbin Hotel's fan marketing feels like it is geared towards younger audiences. This may be because the creator herself‚ who often comes across as immature‚ is fine with kids viewing adult animation. "I’ve always been really‚ really influenced by adult comedy. I saw South Park at very young age and I was like‚ 'Oh my gosh‚ swearing is so fun.' It really just changed the entire trajectory of my career‚" she told Gizmodo. A second season has already been ordered for this toxic cartoon. It's hard to imagine how much worse future episodes could get.

The Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro let Biden Climate Czar John Kerry have it for his manipulative language at the World Economic Forum.  Shapiro blasted Kerry for using “war” rhetoric to advance his climate agenda. During the Jan. 18 edition of The Ben Shapiro Show‚ Shapiro went after Kerry and the entire left: “There’s language that people on the left love to use when they are talking about controlling you and that is the language of war. The war on poverty is about controlling income. It is about controlling redistribution of wealth. The war on climate change is similarly about controlling exactly how you live your life.”  Shapiro explained‚ “This is why people in politics are constantly eager to use war language because in a war‚ you have to put your entire population on rations. In a war‚ you get to draft people and put them in barracks. In a war‚ you get to take control of literally everybody at all times‚ day and night. This is why John Kerry is eager to talk about war. He compares climate change to fighting Hitler.” During a brief portion of his speech at the globalist World Economic Forum (WEF)‚ Kerry told the audience: “I’m here again today because I’m convinced that the only way we win this battle is by stepping up exponentially from where we are today and begin to treat this fight almost as if we were at war" [Emphasis added]. Kerry clumsily claimed to hate war analogies‚ before telling listeners that the analogy between war and his climate change agenda was “apt.” Kerry went on to ridiculously bring World War II into his war analogy‚ “In WWII‚ when we needed to gain control over the skies‚ of the ocean and learn how to penetrate Hitler’s defenses in order to win the battle of freedom‚ it was mid-level techs who made a lot of decisions that actually helped win the war.” What sort of actions does this war imagery provide cover for? In war‚ as Shapiro pointed out‚ the government can and often does ration food. Kerry has also spoken against emissions produced in the agricultural industry‚ suggesting that the people feeding the world are a serious part of a climate problem that needs to be solved.   Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News at 818-460-7477‚ CBS News at 212-975-3247 and NBC News at 212-664-6192 and demand they hold the Biden Administration accountable for its radical climate agenda. 

An Australian bikini brand has faced criticism after it used a male model to promote a women's swimwear garment.Moana Bikini‚ a brand owned by an alleged body-positive influencer named Karina Irby‚ shared a video of a man modeling one of the company's one-piece swimsuits‚ which was clearly designed for a woman's body."Obsessed with this look‚" the account wrote in all caps‚ as it noted that the man was wearing a size small.The post was flooded with comments from viewers who were shocked that the brand‚ which they believed was meant to promote body positivity for women‚ had used a man in its advertisement.A spokesperson from the brand gave a lengthy comment and stood by the decision to use a male for their promotion."We find it quite absurd that people would cherry-pick this one‚ individual post from our 12 years of business to make a wild statement about us not being empowering to women‚" the spokesperson said. "Moana Bikini are - and have always been - one of the most inclusive and empowering brands in existence. This is not only in terms of our size and style range for women but - most importantly - in our love and acceptance of all races‚ ethnicities‚ body shapes and sizes‚ genders and sexual orientations. This hasn't changed and never will change‚" the representative told the Daily Mail. See on Instagram The $130 bathing suit was worn by a man named Jake Young; he gave his thoughts on the controversy directly on the brand's post."There are many different types of women. Women with different anatomy to what you consider 'normal.' I am not a woman nor have I ever claimed to be‚" Young wrote."This post is simply empowering a minority &; I'm forever grateful for that. Your hate is a reflection of your own insecurities‚ not mine."The bikini brand also gave a snide response to criticism on the post after one viewer asked "is that a man? I thought you were about empowering women?""We're sorry you feel like that. If Jake in our bikini upsets you that much we feel as though this may be a you problem‚" the account replied.The brand's spokesperson when on to attribute backlash to viewers being "homophobic" and said they were using the idea of the post being "insulting to women" as an "excuse."Despite saying they were "happy to receive" both positive and negative feedback‚ the brand also insisted that it was the consumer who was the problem."If people aren't happy with this individual post of a proud‚ gay man wearing a piece of clothing he feels confident in‚ they can just keep scrolling or unfollow‚ can't they?""Imagine living a life where you choose to be offended by something and stick around‚ comment and engage‚ only to make yourself more and more angry. This sounds like a them problem‚ not an us problem‚ to be honest‚" they concluded.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Having listened to multiple reports from Republican commentators about how Joe Biden and his handlers are pursuing a disastrous border policy‚ I’m still not sure the Democrats have shot themselves in the foot. They may‚ in fact‚ benefit from allowing our southern border to be flooded by millions of illegal aliens. Above all‚ the border crisis helps them advance their obvious goal of creating a one-party state‚ providing the illegal immigrants can be registered expeditiously as voting citizens — something that blue-state governments will no doubt hasten to do. Just because polls show more than 60% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s management of the border does not pose for Democrats an insurmountable obstacle. Those who don’t mind a broken southern border‚ including the 18% of those polled who actually approve of this situation‚ are core Democratic voters. Biden certainly hasn’t lost them by flooding the country with illegal aliens‚ including drug traffickers and terrorists. He and his handlers have also noticed they did fantastically well in the last two elections. Even with an already broken border‚ they were able to mobilize their now-customary base of unmarried and usually college-educated women‚ urban black voters‚ and government workers. They also succeeded in making those elections about Trump‚ January 6‚ and “reproductive rights.” The Democrats also easily outspent the Republicans‚ thanks to massive funding that the Democrats received from corporate capitalists‚ investment bankers‚ teachers’ unions‚ and Hollywood moguls. Lots of Republicans‚ cheered on by their news sources‚ are prematurely celebrating what may still be an elusive victory. Why should this year‚ Democrats may be reasoning‚ be any different from the recent past? Aren’t they already awash in big donations? They might be on to something. In my state of Pennsylvania‚ incumbent Democratic Senator Robert Casey Jr.‚ who is up for re-election in November‚ is ahead of his likely Republican rival‚ David McCormick‚ by 10 points‚ according to a recent Quinnipiac poll. Although McCormick stresses an issue that should help him — broken borders — his campaign is floundering. Casey and his advisers have discovered they can avoid mischief by pretending the “border crisis” does not exist. And even if one does exist‚ the Republicans can be made the heavies since they won’t support “reform‚” meaning a blanket amnesty for all illegal aliens who have already broken the law to get here. Finally‚ it’s highly unlikely that those blue areas that are complaining loudly about having illegal immigrants dumped on them will change their party loyalties in record numbers by November. Does anyone believe that all those Democrats who voted for Kathy Hochul in New York‚ Gavin Newsom in California‚ and J.B. Pritzker in Illinois will now start voting Republican? Will the denizens of Philadelphia‚ Atlanta‚ Chicago‚ Washington‚ or Los Angeles undergo a mass political conversion because they are upset about high crime and having their “sanctuary cities” invaded by illegal aliens? Dream on! Trump in the presidential race may peel off a somewhat higher percentage of the black vote than he obtained in 2020. But the idea that inner-city voters will move en masse toward the other national party in the next few months seems highly implausible. Many such voters may end up agreeing with Biden’s deputy campaign manager‚ Quentin Fulks‚ a black political activist from Atlanta‚ who blames the Republicans and Trump for the “border confusion.” According to Fulks‚ the Democrats are being unfairly castigated for the policies of “MAGA extremists” who refuse to vote for “border reform.” Trump hates immigrants and locks up their children in cages‚ or so Fulks explained to Bret Baier on Fox News last week. It makes no difference that this narrative is nonsense. What may matter is that minority voters will likely believe this fabrication because it justifies continued loyalty to the party for which their families have always voted. If urban populations do become disturbed enough about the influx of illegal aliens to think twice about voting for Biden‚ then the Democrats will blame red-state governors who send migrants to northern cities. Of course‚ they will also tell their voters that any attempt to stop the flow of illegal immigration is based on “racism‚” a charge that the corporate press has been pushing vigorously. Moreover‚ if Trump or any other Republican wrests an electoral victory from our authorized state party‚ then the Democrats will never allow the incoming president to deport future voters. Party operatives and their media handmaidens will incite riots to prevent Hitler’s ghost from returning. For those of my readers who think that I make such dire predictions out of schadenfreude‚ let me assure them that I don’t. Like them‚ I believe the Democrats want total control over us and are peddling social policies that will ruin future generations. But the fact that we find our opponents profoundly despicable does not mean they are destined to lose. They are where they are because they are clever — and many in the other party would rather not fight and‚ therefore‚ keep mumbling nonsense about “common ground.” Equally unhelpful‚ lots of Republicans‚ cheered on by their news sources‚ are prematurely celebrating what may still be an elusive victory.

Kayla Hamilton‚ an autistic girl from Virginia‚ was savagely raped and murdered in Maryland one year into the Biden presidency. The suspect charged for the 20-year-old American's murder is not only an illegal alien but a member of the terroristic gang Mara Salvatrucha 13. While justice may ultimately be meted out to the suspect later this year‚ Kayla Hamilton's grieving mother wants those who allowed him and innumerable other foreign criminals into the country to similarly be held accountable. Tammy Nobles has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Biden Department of Homeland Security as well as against the Department of Health and Human Services for allegedly violating their own policies and setting the stage for Hamilton's gruesome demise. What's the background? Blaze News previously reported that Hamilton's body was found in a mobile home at the Rancho Estates on E. Inca Street in Aberdeen on July 27‚ 2022‚ just days after her birthday. She had recently moved to the area from Norfolk‚ Virginia‚ with her 22-year-old boyfriend‚ who police have indicated had nothing to do with the crime. The Maryland chief medical examiner determined that Hamilton's cause of death was strangulation. The Aberdeen Police Department of Maryland announced on Jan. 19‚ 2023‚ that they had arrested a 17-year-old suspect in Edgewood‚ Maryland. The suspected killer‚ identified as a person of interest early in the investigation‚ is a criminal noncitizen from El Salvador who has been living in the U.S. illegally since March 2022. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were able to verify that he was listed in his native country as a member of MS-13‚ according to the APD. The Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division compared the MS-13 member's DNA with evidence recovered at the crime scene‚ delivering damning results. The suspect was ultimately indicted on 11 charges‚ including first- and second-degree murder‚ rape‚ robbery‚ assault and theft. Hamilton's case is expected to begin in June. A mother's grief Tammy Nobles testified Thursday before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing entitled‚ "Voices for the Victims: The Heartbreaking Reality of the Mayorkas Border Crisis." Holding back tears‚ the distraught mother underscored that if the U.S. had "stricter border policies‚ [her] daughter would still be alive today." Nobles contrasted the joys of bringing her daughter into the world and raising her with the gut-punch of learning in 2022 that "Kayla Hamilton was murdered in her own room and left on the floor like trash." "The illegal MS-13 known gang member brutally raped and murdered my daughter by strangling her with a cord and robbed her of $6.00‚" said Nobles. "During the attack Kayla called her boyfriend for help but went to voicemail. The voicemail of the murderer strangling Kayla was 2 minutes and 30 seconds long." Nobles claimed that DHS employees failed to inspect the suspect by checking for gang-related tattoos when allowing him into the United States. "Had DHS employees performed a visual inspection of the assailant's body‚ they would have seen MS-13 gang-related tattoos on his body‚ disqualifying him from entering the U.S.‚" said the grieving mother. "DHS employees failed to make a simple phone call to the El Salvador government to verify if assailant was on an MS-13 gang affiliation list. Had they done so‚ El Salvador government officials would have confirmed that the assailant was a known MS-13 gang member with a prior criminal history." Nobles also blasted the DHHS‚ claiming its "operational neglect further sealed my daughter's fate." According to Nobles‚ the DHHS bears some of the blame because it allegedly failed to place the suspect with a verified relative before allowing him into the country. "DHHS' failures allowed the MS-13 gang member‚ as a minor‚ to rent a room in a trailer park from another individual who was also an illegal immigrant‚" said Nobles. Nobles later noted that while she shared her pain and the story of Kayla's brutal murder during her testimony‚ "the Democrats were on their phones." — (@) Accountability Attorney Brian Claypool of the California-based Claypool Law Firm recently filed the case against the DHS and DHHS on Nobles' behalf‚ repeating the allegations the grieving mother made during her congressional testimony. "This is a clear liability case. The U.S. Government owed Ms. Hamilton a special duty in light of her murderer having a criminal propensity shown by his arrest in his native El Salvador‚ and being a known MS-13 gang member in El Salvador‚" says the wrongful death complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner. "Had DHS vetted the assailant according to policy‚ he would have been placed in a secure facility for criminal unaccompanied minors rather than being placed with an alleged first cousin whom he escaped from‚" continues the complaint. "At no time should assailant have been roaming free in Aberdeen." Claypool told NewsNation‚ "We're bringing this lawsuit because we're tired of being held hostage in our own country. We're tired of DHS playing Russian roulette with our lives." The Examiner indicated the DHS did not respond to a request for comment. Over 300‚000 foreign nationals reportedly entered the country illegally last month. 2.47 million‚ 2.37 million‚ and 1.73 million illegal aliens entered the U.S. in fiscal years 2023‚ 2022‚ and 2021‚ respectively. Over the course of those three years‚ 436‚257 unaccompanied minors reportedly came over the border. There is no knowing what crimes foreign nationals who have successfully stolen past border officials may previously have committed. However‚ U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicated that there were 284 sexual offense convictions among those they managed to apprehend in fiscal year 2023. There were also 29 previous convictions among the arrestees for murder; 1‚254 for assault or battery; 2‚493 for drunk driving; 2‚055 for drug charges; and 864 for burglary‚ robbery‚ theft or fraud. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!