Back on November 16, HBO’s John Oliver used his Last Week Tonight program to combine two liberal favorites: late night comedy shows and public broadcasting when he announced he was holding an auction to benefit public broadcasting because otherwise “people would die” as a result of it being defunded. The auction closed on Monday night and, according to Variety, brought in a total of roughly $1.54 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund. Oliver had hyped the event as the “first-ever auction in aid of public media… to raise some much-needed money.” In the end, most of the money raised came from a 1986 Bob Ross painting from PBS’s The Joy of Painting that brought in $1,044,000, which is a record for a Ross painting.     Other items included actor Russell Crowe’s jockstrap from Cinderella Man that sold for $21,000, Oliver’s on-screen cabbage wife that went for $11,111, a $25,500 gold-plated sculpture supposedly based on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s male parts, and a $6,000 wax statue of President Bill Clinton. On the more personal side, someone paid $100,025 to have their photo appear onscreen during a future episode of Last Week Tonight, a chance to meet Oliver in person went for $51,600, and a signed case of Oliver’s SauvignJohn wine sold for $13,025. The fact that people are willing to pay over $11,000 for a three-year-old vegetable in order to fund public broadcasting, ironically, just confirms what conservatives have said all along. If liberals love public media so much, then they can fund it themselves.

The days of "The Wire," "The Sopranos," "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," and "Better Call Saul" are gone. And they're never coming back.Instead of quality TV, we get a stream of shallow muck that insults our intelligence and wastes our time. Seth Rogen peddling the same stale stoner humor for the thousandth time. Pedro Pascal starring in a dystopian video-game adaptation so obsessed with gay "representation" that it might as well list Grindr as a co-producer.Sheridan shows a country held together by early mornings, long shifts, and people who take pride in work most citizens rarely notice.Then, just as you’re about to suffocate in the hothouse atmosphere of algorithm-driven fake-prestige TV, one show comes stomping in with a pair of steel-toed boots and kicks the door off its hinges. Fresh air floods the place — enough that something real might actually grow again. That show is "Landman."Drill, baby, drillForget "shame"; it's time to drill, baby, drill. Taylor Sheridan's hit is back for season 2, with the TV auteur once again proving that he is one of the few people in Hollywood who actually understands the America he is depicting. Many viewers know him from "Yellowstone," the rare modern hit that refused to treat ranchers the way Hollywood treats anyone who still works with their hands. Where executive elites see deplorables, he sees Americans with stories worth telling.Sheridan brings that same respect to "Landman." He writes ordinary Americans with dignity rather than derision. He shows them as they are: hardworking, flawed, loyal, funny, and strong enough to carry a story on their backs. "Landman" is no cheap cousin of "Yellowstone." It stands tall: lean, mean, focused, and built with the same skill that made Sheridan’s early work impossible to ignore.The show moves effortlessly between blue-collar reality and white-collar brutality, revealing the canyon between those who pull the oil from the ground and those who profit from it. There’s a real honesty to that contrast. Sheridan knows this world, and it shows. You feel it in every shot of the Permian Basin. You hear it in the blunt, believable way his characters speak.Billy Bob at his bestAnd then there’s Billy Bob Thornton. One of America’s finest actors, doing his best work since he stole "Fargo" as a soft-spoken psychopath who could change the temperature of a room with a single line. As Tommy Norris, a ruthless oilman, he brings back that same menace, just a little more restrained. He’s the perfect Sheridan creation: bruised, stubborn, quick to size people up, and capable of cruelty when pushed.Season 1 worked best when it put Norris at the center and let everything else orbit around him. The very first scene of the very first episode sets the tone. Norris, blindfolded in a room with a cartel heavy, cracks a dry line about how they both traffic in addictive products. His just happens to make more money. It’s a joke with teeth. Sheridan doesn’t shy away from the darker corners of the oil world, the places where danger, deceit, and obscene wealth share the same bed.Norris once ran his own outfit. Now he’s a fixer for M-Tex Oil, answering to Monty Miller, a billionaire played by Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" fame. Hamm leans into one of the last great “man’s man” roles on TV. He moves through marble corridors and executive suites with the relaxed confidence of a man who has never had to fight for a parking space or a paycheck. Norris gets the other Texas. The asylum-adjacent McMansion he shares with co-workers. The long, unforgiving drives that eat up whole days. And the late-night waffle joints where truckers, rig hands, and the down-and-outs swallow bad coffee and brood over worse decisions.Recognizably realSheridan shows a country held together by early mornings, long shifts, and people who take pride in work most citizens rarely notice. He zooms in on communities where faith still shapes daily life, where people curse when they have to, where men bow their heads before a meal and chew tobacco like there’s no tomorrow.For conservatives, and especially for Christians who are tired of being reduced to stereotypes, "Landman" feels recognizably real. Season 1 had its flaws, including a few moments that leaned too hard into climate panic, but it never lost sight of what matters: good storytelling built on real characters and real consequences.RELATED: 'Yellowstone' actor Forrie J. Smith on why America needs to rediscover its cowboy culture Blaze MediaMen at workAnd yes, the progressive pearl-clutchers will claim "Landman" has a “woman problem,” the same complaint they threw at "Yellowstone." They insist that Sheridan sidelines women or turns them into cardboard cutouts.The truth is far less dramatic. Both ranching and the oil fields are worlds dominated by men, and Sheridan writes them as they actually are, not as activists wish them to be. That’s not misogyny, but an accurate reflection of the reality millions of Americans live every day. Sure, some female characters could use more lines, but that hardly damages the show. It simply acknowledges that in these worlds, the danger, the decisions, and the dirty work fall mostly on men."Landman" also has something most modern shows forget: a genuine sense of place. Not the packaged Americana you see on postcards, but the West Texas that actually exists, where the heat melts your mind and vacation time is something you hear about, not something you get.Season 2 promises to go deeper — underground for the oil and under the skin of the people who pull it out. More tension between the barons and the boys in the mud. More of Thornton’s world-weary wit. And more of what Sheridan does better than anyone around: crafting TV that wouldn’t look out of place beside the giants of the late 1990s and early 2000s.If "Yellowstone" was Sheridan’s hymn to the American ranch, "Landman" is his sermon on the American worker. In an age of narrative nothingness, something on TV finally feels worth watching.

The Biden administration expanded so-called lawful pathways, allowing millions of foreign nationals to flood into the United States. One of those pathways included the controversial use of Temporary Protected Status.TPS was created to provide a deportation shield to foreign nationals in the U.S. based on temporarily unstable conditions in their home countries.'This decision restores TPS to its original status as temporary.'Since retaking office in January, President Donald Trump has moved to roll back TPS, which was provided to numerous countries under the prior administration. Trump's Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday the termination of TPS for Burma, effective January 26. "At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the Secretary, after consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies, is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met, and, if so, how long to extend the designation," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated. "If the Secretary determines that the conditions in the foreign state continue to meet the specific statutory criteria for Temporary Protected Status designation, Temporary Protected Status will be extended for an additional period of 6 months or, in the Secretary's discretion, 12 or 18 months," USCIS continued. "If the Secretary determines that the foreign state no longer meets the conditions for Temporary Protected Status designation, the Secretary must terminate the designation."Burma was designated for TPS in May 2021, citing the Burmese military's involvement in "a coup" that "depos[ed] the democratically elected government and declar[ed] a temporary one-year state of emergency," which paused elections.RELATED: Noem prepares to deport 500,000 immigrants from one long-troubled island Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images"The military is responding with increasing oppression and violence to demonstrations and protests, resulting in large-scale human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions and deadly force against unarmed individuals," the Biden administration claimed at the time.DHS Secretary Kristi Noem concluded that the situation in Burma has improved and that its citizens are safe to return home."This decision restores TPS to its original status as temporary," Noem declared. "Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability, including the end of its state of emergency, plans for free and fair elections, successful ceasefire agreements, and improved local governance contributing to enhanced public service delivery and national reconciliation."Noem also concluded that allowing Burmese nationals to remain in the country would be "contrary to the national interest of the United States."RELATED: Trump admin revokes protected status extension for Venezuelan nationals Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesRep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) called the move "cruel," claiming that revoking TPS would endanger lives."Ending TPS for Burma, in the middle of the conflict there, endangers the lives of many Burmese, including human rights and democracy activists. It's cruel and will undermine the fight for democracy in Burma. The admin must reconsider this terrible decision," Meeks said.There are nearly 4,000 approved TPS beneficiaries from Burma, according to DHS. Over 200 individuals reportedly have pending applications.TPS is set to expire for several other nations, including Ethiopia in December, South Sudan in January, and Haiti in February.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

As the debate over immigration continues, the New York Times tried to put a sympathetic light on an illegal alien who committed identity theft and instead radicalized many on the right.The article contrasts the lives of Romeo Perez-Bravo from Guatemala and Dan Kluver, the man whose identification records were stolen to secure employment for Perez-Bravo in the Midwest.'The disgusting New York Times writes this story ... as if they are BOTH victims.' Kluver was forced to pay thousands of dollars to resolve the tax debts that had been racked up by Perez-Bravo under his credentials.The Times portrays the identify theft as an unfortunate feature of the employment system and frames it as a "survival tactic" of illegal immigrants.His case was one version of a problem that's been spreading across the country for years. The government estimates that as many as one million undocumented workers are using fraudulent or stolen Social Security numbers — a survival tactic used to pass background checks and get jobs. The numbers are skimmed from data breaches, sold in black markets online for as little as $150, or handed out in border towns by human smugglers. Many numbers connect back to US citizen children, dead people, or Puerto Ricans whose numbers circulate easily across the mainland.The article was immediately assailed by many online, and the Department of Homeland Security responded by setting the record straight about the extent of the criminal convictions against Perez-Bravo."The violent criminal illegal alien who stole Daniel Kulver’s identity is Guatemalan National Romeo Perez Bravo," replied DHS Assistant Sec. Tricia McLaughlin.She added that he had a rap sheet including convictions for terroristic threats and assault and four convictions for driving under the influence."He reentered the U.S. a third time after being removed, which is a felony," she added. "Behind every stolen Social Security number is a real American: mothers, fathers, students, and workers facing devastating financial, personal and legal fallout."He was also involved in a traffic accident that resulted in the death of a 68-year-old grandfather, according to the Times.The Times, meanwhile, is getting decimated."An illegal alien was using the stolen identity of an American citizen — and the disgusting New York Times writes this story ... as if they are BOTH victims," replied political consultant Steve Cortes."This is just a completely infuriating story," responded Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams (R). "When you see Democrats fight back against mass deportations to the extent they have, think about men like Daniel Kluver, who have had their shot at the American Dream turned upside down because of the left's desire to protect illegals over Americans."RELATED: NYT hit with backlash over op-ed calling for radical gov't change so the left can compete "One selfish man destroyed another man's life, killed a grandpa, and sent a young girl to the hospital. It's incredible to see how hard you strain to varnish over this ugly story," read another response."The worst part of this article is how the @nytimes tries to paint a sympathetic story about the illegal alien. He was involved in a fatal crash and handed over the identity of the American whose name he’d stolen. The actual victim of the ID theft ended up getting sued for it," replied the account for the Project for Immigration Reform.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

As the AI arms race continues at breakneck pace, the United States is stepping up its game to stay on the cutting edge of information technology. To that end, the Trump administration is launching a new initiative: the Genesis Mission. On Monday, the White House announced the creation of the Genesis Mission under the purview of the Department of Energy. 'The Genesis Mission marks a defining moment for the next era of American science.'The Genesis Mission is described as a "national effort to accelerate the application of AI for transformative scientific discovery focused on pressing challenges."RELATED: Trump’s AI plan prioritizes innovation over regulation Photo by Win McNamee/Getty ImagesMore concretely, the Department of Energy has been ordered to "build an integrated AI platform to harness federal scientific datasets."In its announcement on X, the Department of Energy said the Genesis Mission will be "reminiscent of the Manhattan Project and Apollo programs."In the promotional video, the DOE suggested that this initiative is not unlike what visionaries such as G.W. Liebniz, Claude Shannon, and Alan Turing could have only dreamed of in their scientific endeavors to understand the world. Dr. Dario Gil, undersecretary for science and Genesis Mission director, said in a press release: "The Genesis Mission marks a defining moment for the next era of American science. We are linking the nation's most advanced facilities, data, and computing into one closed-loop system to create a scientific instrument for the ages, an engine for discovery that doubles R&D productivity and solves challenges once thought impossible."Energy Secretary Chris Wright explained the scope and goal of the project: "This Genesis Mission is going to bring together industry, the national labs, data sets all tied together in a closed-loop system to just rapidly advance the pace of scientific and engineering progress.""It will be transformative," Wright added. This announcement comes just months after the Trump administration's AI Action Plan, a comprehensive plan to win the global AI race. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies have resulted in yet another attack on an innocent woman. On November 17, 26-year old Bethany MaGee was riding Chicago's Blue Line L train when 50-year-old Lawrence Reed — a serial offender with 72 prior arrests — allegedly doused her in gasoline and lit her on fire, reportedly shouting, “Burn alive, bitch.”Although MaGee escaped from the train, she now remains in critical condition, hospitalized in a burn unit with severe injuries covering approximately 60% of her body.Reed was arrested the following day and charged with a federal terrorism offense.“So, he could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted, which, like, let’s do that, okay? Let’s just do that,” says BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales, who’s nauseated at the extensive leniency Reed was shown by Chicago’s justice system over decades, despite his staggering criminal record, which includes multiple felony convictions for violent crimes. Back in August this year, Reed was hit with an aggravated battery charge for assaulting a social worker in a hospital, but Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez overruled prosecutors’ pleas for detention and freed him on electronic monitoring, ignoring the fact that he had a history of felony aggravated arson convictions for setting occupied buildings on fire, plus scores of violent battery and assault cases.According to court transcripts, Molina-Gonzalez stated, “I can’t keep everybody in jail because the state’s attorney wants me to.”Further, a resurfaced video clip from a Hispanic Heritage Month interview shows Molina-Gonzalez stating: “You know, being a Latina in the office, people would tell me, like, ‘Don’t you feel like you’re prosecuting your own people?’ But it’s true, there are a lot of defendants that look like me. However, I had a chance as a prosecutor to make a difference as to what cases come in. I had a chance as a prosecutor to decide what offers were appropriate.”In the same video, Molina-Gonzalez also admits that she “always [offers] them the opportunity to do community service.”In other words, Sara explains, Judge Molina-Gonzalez isn’t committed to justice; she’s committed to DEI. “The problem is that these law schools are producing people like Kamala Harris and Ketanji Brown Jackson and Fani Willis and this dumbass judge.”“The fact that [Molina-Gonzalez] was able to go through law school, was able to pass all the tests, was able to get to her position, and still think that it is her place to be offering up what she thinks the offender will like best is insane,” Sara adds.When blue-city judges prioritize perpetrators above victims, they think they’re exercising restorative justice, but all they’re doing is creating career criminals that wreak havoc on innocent civilians — people like Iryna Zarutska, Logan Federico, and now Bethany MaGee.Judge Molina-Gonzales, Sara says, is exactly “why President Trump is bringing in the National Guard into these s***hole cities.”To hear more of Sara’s scathing commentary, watch the episode above.Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Jaret McComas told KCBS-TV last week that he found a Christmas card left on his doorstep in Yucaipa, California, and was taken aback by what was written inside."I pick it up, open it, and it reads, 'Santa, I want the head of a Nazi under my tree,'" McComas told the station.'When you have people roaming your neighborhood in black face masks, leaving violent notes and warnings, it's kind of disturbing.'But he wasn't the only resident in his neighborhood to receive such a card.Another card read, "Merry Christmas and f**k you Nazi," KCBS said.Neighborhood resident Scott Ungar told KABC-TV that each card contained a different message: "The one over there said a date, and they said, 'You've been warned,' like they were warning something is going to happen on a specific date."Ungar added to KABC that "all of the stuff that they were putting in [the cards was] stuff you have been hearing for Antifa."More from KCBS:Doorbell camera footage from some of the homes shows masked men placing the cards in various locations, such as planter boxes and on doormats, and then blowing a kiss to the camera. Another home's surveillance camera captured the suspects spitting on a Tesla belonging to their neighbor.Simona Stacks, another neighbor who got one of the cards, told KCBS that "it's really terrifying, to be honest with you, because we're home. I have my 14-year-old daughter — what if she was outside? What if you see four men with masks on?"Ungar added to KABC that "when you have people roaming your neighborhood in black face masks, leaving violent notes and warnings, it's kind of disturbing."Stacks wondered to KCBS why her home and others were targeted — and she has one theory: "Maybe it's all the American flags, Trump flags. ... It really does feel like a bit of a hate crime."RELATED: Blaze News original: Tesla in the crosshairs: Leftist attacks against Elon Musk's car brand are massive and widespread San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Jenny Smith told KCBS that officials there are "investigating to see what that crime could lead to, or what was the purpose of those letters. We don't have a specific crime indicated as of yet."Deputies told KCBS that at least two suspects were involved in last Monday's incident and that they ran away on foot when one of the homeowners approached them.McComas noted to KABC that neither he nor his neighbors who received the cards display political signs or affiliations."I am not a heavy conservative," he added to KABC. "I'm gay, engaged to my fiancé, Roger. So it's just kind of concerning for me because I am like, 'What did I do?'"McComas told KABC he also wondered if the American flag outside his home might have been what attracted the culprits' attention, but he said that not every targeted house had an American flag.RELATED: Blaze News original: 12 times leftists have sought to twist, hijack, and stomp on Christmas Either way, the sheriff's department told KCBS that patrols in the area would increase while the investigation continues.What's more, the neighbors added to KCBS that they are not letting the disturbing cards dampen their holiday activities."Gonna bring the Christmas spirit back to the street, and hopefully that cheers everybody else up," McComas told KCBS.Investigators believe there may be other unidentified victims and are asking those who have more information to contact them at 909-918-2330, KCBS said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Center for PaleogeneticsThe gritted teeth of a 14,000-year-old dog discovered in Tumat, Siberia in 2011. In 2011, Russian researchers unearthed a perfectly preserved Ice Age puppy in Siberia. Recently, while examining the 14,000-year-old wolf-dog’s stomach contents, researchers were stunned to find evidence of what could be one of the last woolly rhinos on Earth still in its prehistoric bowels. “It’s completely unheard of,” professor of evolutionary genetics Love Dalen said. “I’m not aware of any frozen Ice Age carnivore where they have found pieces of tissue inside.” Scientists originally found the furry canine at a dig site in Tumat, Siberia and shortly afterward found a piece of yellow-haired tissue inside its stomach. Experts initially believed that the tissue belonged to a cave lion, but after sharing the evidence with a resourceful team in Sweden, learned otherwise. “We have a reference database and mitochondrial DNA from all mammals, so we checked the sequence data against that and the results that came back — it was an almost perfect match for woolly rhinoceros,” Dalen explained. Centre for Palaeogenetics/TwitterThe 14,000-year-old wolf-dog is just one of a few perfectly preserved canine specimens found in the Siberian permafrost over the last decade. Dalen works at the Centre for Paleogenetics, which is a joint venture between Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History, so his team had access to both highly-detailed DNA databases and radiocarbon dating. After Dalen and his colleagues were able to assess with overwhelming likelihood that this half-digested tissue belonged to a woolly rhinoceros, they then radiocarbon dated it at around 14,400 years old. “This puppy, we know already, has been dated to roughly 14,000 years ago,” said Dalen. “We also know that the woolly rhinoceros goes extinct 14,000 years ago. So, potentially, this puppy has eaten one of the last remaining woolly rhinos.” Centre for Palaeogenetics/TwitterThe tissue of the woolly rhino. Modern research has shown that the woolly mammoth’s extinction was partly due to severe climate change. As for how this lucky puppy got its paws on such a specimen, which is the same size as a modern-day white rhino that weighs nearly 8,000 pounds and stands six feet tall, remains largely unclear. Indeed, Edana Lord, a PhD student who co-authored a research paper studying the woolly rhino’s road to extinction, asserted that due to the rhino’s size it is impossible that the puppy killed the animal itself. Additionally, experts were surprised to see that the rhino was left mostly undigested in the puppy’s stomach, leading Dalen to conclude that “this puppy must have died very shortly after eating the rhino.” “We don’t know if it was a wolf, but if it was a wolf cub, maybe it came across a baby rhino that was dead,” Dalen hypothesized. “Or the (adult) wolf ate the baby rhino. Maybe as they were eating it, the mother rhino had her revenge.” Albert Protopopov/TwitterA reconstruction of a woolly rhino using the remains of one found in the Siberian permafrost. This wolf-pup is just one of a few amazing prehistoric canines specimens to be found in the last decade. In 2016, a miner in the Yukon region of Canada found a mummified 50,000-year-old wolf pup alongside a prehistoric caribou. Then, in 2019, researchers found an 18,000-year-old wolf-dog hybrid perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. They have since named that specimen “Dogor.” Ultimately, researchers hope that this latest find can shed some more light on the last days of the woolly rhino — which are still being debated millennia later. After learning about the stomach contents of an Ice Age puppy, read about the Russian lab that is seeking funds to bring back the woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros. Then, meet Stuckie, the mummified dog that’s been lodged in a tree for the last 50 years. The post Researchers In Russia Find The Remains Of What Could Be One Of The World’s Last Woolly Rhinos In The Stomach Of An Ice Age Puppy appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Missing PagesJohn Edward Robinson in his earlier years, presenting the façade of a professional and family man. On the surface, John Edward Robinson was a typical Midwestern family man. He was married, had four children, and was active in his community. But beneath that respectable image, Robinson lived a secret double life that would later expose him as one of America’s most manipulative and calculating serial killers. For nearly two decades, Robinson targeted women who were vulnerable, financially desperate, or simply looking for connection. Some were promised jobs and stability, while others believed they had found love. Instead, they disappeared — and their bodies were later found on Robinson’s property. By the time authorities uncovered his crimes in 2000, Robinson had started using online forums to find and control his victims, earning him the chilling title of “the Internet’s first serial killer.” John Edward Robinson was ultimately sentenced to death for killing eight women and teenage girls between 1985 and 2000 — but investigators believe he may have murdered even more victims who haven’t been discovered yet. The Early Life And Crimes Of John Edward Robinson John Edward Robinson was born in the suburbs of Chicago in 1943. He had a promising childhood, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout and traveling to London with fellow Scouts to sing for Queen Elizabeth II at the Palladium theater. He even met Judy Garland backstage. However, Robinson frequently got into trouble at school, fought with other boys his age, and didn’t excel academically. He dropped out of a radiography program after high school and ultimately moved to Kansas City, got married, and started a family. Missing PagesYoung John Edward Robinson, years before anyone suspected what he was capable of. To outsiders, Robinson’s relationship with his wife and four children seemed stable and loving. He worked various jobs in healthcare and business to support the family, but behind the scenes, he was forging checks and falsifying documents. In 1969, he was arrested for embezzling $33,000 from a medical practice using fake credentials and was sentenced to three years of probation. But this brush with the law didn’t slow John Edward Robinson down. In fact, it just taught him how to be more careful. John Edward Robinson’s First Victims In the 1980s, Robinson’s crimes took a dark turn. He began preying on women who were seeking employment or housing, often under the guise of legitimate business opportunities. In 1984, 19-year-old Paula Godfrey vanished after Robinson offered her a sales position at his fictional consulting firm. Her loved ones later received letters — allegedly from Paula — claiming that she was fine but didn’t want to see her family. Investigators suspected the letters were forged by Robinson, but without physical evidence to back up their suspicions, they couldn’t prove it. The following year, Robinson met a 19-year-old single mother named Lisa Stasi at a Kansas City homeless shelter. He fabricated a program that he claimed helped struggling young women and promised Stasi job training and a place to stay. He put her up in a motel with her infant daughter, Tiffany, but a few days later, Stasi called her mother-in-law in a panic, saying that a man named “Mr. Osborne” wanted her to sign four blank pieces of paper. That was the last time her family ever heard from her. After murdering Lisa and kidnapping four-month-old Tiffany, Robinson forged adoption papers and gave the infant to his brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Helen Robinson. He convinced them that the child’s mother had taken her own life and that baby Tiffany needed a home. He also charged them $5,500 in “legal fees.” YouTubeJohn Edward Robinson holding Tiffany Stasi just after murdering her mother. For years, the family raised Tiffany, renaming her Heather Robinson, but they were unaware of her true identity and of the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death. It wasn’t until Heather reached adulthood that she learned that her biological mother had been murdered by the man she knew as her uncle. In 1987, 27-year-old Catherine Clampitt disappeared after responding to an advertisement for a position at Robinson’s consulting firm. Like the women before her, she had been promised financial stability and travel opportunities. She hasn’t been seen since she left her house for a meeting with Robinson that June. That same year, John Edward Robinson was imprisoned for fraud. He remained behind bars until 1994 — but while he was incarcerated, he met Beverly Bonner, the prison librarian. After Robinson was released, Bonner left her husband to be with him, even though he was still married. She was never heard from again. Around the same time, Robinson discovered a new method of luring in unwitting victims. Becoming The ‘Internet’s First Serial Killer’ In the 1990s, the rise of the internet offered Robinson a fresh way to deceive women. He joined online BDSM chat rooms, where he used the name “Slavemaster” and presented himself as a dominant man seeking submissive partners. Through these chats, Robinson lured women into trusting him to provide companionship and financial support. His first known online victims were Sheila Faith and her 15-year-old daughter, Debbie, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair. Robinson claimed he was a philanthropist and businessman and offered Sheila a job and financial aid if she would move to Kansas City from California. In 1994, Sheila agreed — and she and Debbie immediately vanished. Johnson County Sheriff’s DepartmentJohn Edward Robinson in a 1986 mugshot, years before investigators uncovered his murders across Kansas and Missouri. Another victim was 21-year-old Polish immigrant Izabela Lewicka, who later moved to Kansas City from Indiana to be with Robinson. She told friends she was in a consensual BDSM relationship and that Robinson had promised her a future together. In reality, John Edward Robinson had Lewicka sign a “slave contract” with 115 rules that gave him complete control over every aspect of her life, from her finances to her daily activities. Not long after their 1999 meeting, Lewicka vanished without a trace. Then, a 27-year-old nurse named Suzette Trouten agreed to become Robinson’s sex slave. As reported by Vanity Fair in 2013, she called her mother not long after moving to Kansas City and told her, “Everything’s fine. John is nice. I’m not as lonesome as I thought I’d be.” Trouten vanished shortly after. Behind the scenes, Robinson meticulously maintained the illusion that his missing victims were alive and well. According to court documents, he would forge letters, emails, and even phone calls in their names, often using information he had learned from online conversations or personal documents. These deceptions allowed John Edward Robinson more time to continue his crimes undetected. By 2000, however, investigators realized that his name was connected to multiple missing persons reports. And after a woman filed a sexual battery complaint against him that spring, the police had what they needed to search his property. What they uncovered was far worse than anyone could have imagined. John Edward Robinson’s Trial And Conviction On Robinson’s rural property in Linn County, Kansas, authorities opened two metal barrels and found the decomposed bodies of Izabela Lewicka and Suzette Trouten. Their remains had been sealed inside for months. ABC/20/20/FacebookThe victims of serial killer John Edward Robinson. A subsequent search of a storage unit in Missouri led to three more barrels containing the bodies of Beverly Bonner and Sheila and Debbie Faith. This discovery linked Robinson to at least five murders. As investigators pieced together the evidence, they connected Robinson to even more disappearances, including those of Paula Godfrey, Lisa Stasi, and Catherine Clampitt. While the remains of these women were never found, the pattern of manipulation surrounding their cases was eerily similar. Kansas Department of CorrectionsJohn Edward Robinson is on death row for his heinous crimes. John Edward Robinson was ultimately found guilty of the murders of Trouten, Lewicka, and Stasi and sentenced to death. He later pleaded guilty to killing his other five victims in order to avoid an additional death sentence. He remains on death row to this day, and he has never expressed remorse for his unfathomable crimes. After learning about the crimes of John Edward Robinson, read about notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. Then, check out this article on 33 of the worst serial killers in history. The post Chat Rooms, Sex Slaves, And Fraud: The Chilling Story Of Serial Killer John Edward Robinson appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Harmeet Dhillon Notes the Comey and James Indictments Were Dismissed ‘WITHOUT PREJUDICE’