U.S. forces conducted additional strikes Saturday
against Iranian targets after Iran launched a one-way attack drone that
hit a commercial tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command
said.
"CENTCOM forces launched strikes today in direct response to
continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping," CENTCOM said
in a statement. "After yesterday's U.S. strikes in response to the
Iranian attack on M/V Ever Lovely, Iran was given a chance to honor the
ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a
one-way attack drone that hit M/T Kiku this morning."
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported explosions near the southern
Iranian city of Sirik. Citing a military source, the broadcaster said
several projectiles struck a telecommunications tower in the area.
IRIB also reported, citing a military source, that several
projectiles targeted a village on Qeshm Island, which sits in the Strait
of Hormuz. The reports could not immediately be independently verified.
The latest exchange further escalated tensions despite the interim
U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding reached last week, which
established a 60-day negotiating period while the sides work toward a
broader agreement.
Vice President JD Vance warned Friday that disputes over the framework should be resolved diplomatically.
"Iran should pick up the phone" if disagreements arise over the
agreement, Vance wrote on social media, adding that "violence will be
met with violence."
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of the world's
seaborne oil, making it one of the world's most important maritime
chokepoints.
Unlike his other soon-to-be departing colleagues who have chosen rage
and burning the house down over cooperation with President Donald
Trump's agenda, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
is making a pretense at statesmanship, using his X account to wax
philosophic and pontificate about matters before the United States
Senate and the nation.
But Cornyn can't hide his bitterness over being primaried after 24
years of holding the Senate seat. Cornyn's posts and reposts on X reveal
the festering well burbling underneath. Like this clear shot at Early
Vote Action founder and election integrity activist Scott Presler,
who
was instrumental in helping to primary Cornyn.
Back in March, when
Cornyn thought he had a chance at Trump's endorsement, he was singing a
different tune about the talking filibuster and the SAVE (Safeguard
American Voter Eligibility) America Act.
Once Cornyn lost the
endorsement and then the Texas primary runoff, he went back to his old
tricks. Not only has he regularly dissed his colleague Sen. Mike Lee
(R-UT) for keeping the SAVE America Act in the forefront and insisting
the Senate use the talking filibuster to get it passed, but he is now
ranting at the "keyboard warrior-geniuses and grifters" who he deems too
ignorant of Senate rules and precedents to weigh in on the discussion.
Thune's recalcitrant refusal to bring the SAVE America Act to
the floor, not to mention his blocking President Trump from doing recess
appointments, is obstruction poorly wrapped in parliamentary rules.
Thune is no "Cocaine" Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Presler knows this.
On Thursday, Presler was barred from a South Dakota Republican Party
dinner in the Leader's home state, and he revealed that Thune was the
one who directed he be barred. Presler showed video of his photo being
distributed to alert those managing the entrance that Presler was not
welcome. What made it worse is that they tried to lie and cover it up.
As usual, Presler had the receipts, as our sister site PJ Media noted.
This
latest successful move by Presler to keep attention focused on the SAVE
America Act only deepened Cornyn's intense anger, and his extreme
bitterness oozed out of this thinly veiled X screed:
I
marvel at the keyboard warrior-geniuses and grifters who are ignorant
of Senate rules and precedents who have miraculously become experts in
its arcane rules. Promising the moon and stars and yet destining
Republicans for failure is a very effective way to demoralize our base
and elect more Democrats in the midterms.
If this is
not thumbing your nose at the Republican base and the activists like
Presler who do the hard work of getting these Republicans elected, while
getting none of the credit, I don't know what is. Those "keyboard
warrior-geniuses and grifters" as he refers to them, filled up his
mentions and rightly let him have it.
You
do realize the “keyboard warrior-geniuses and grifters who are
ignorant…” you so snidely refer to here Sen. Cornyn are voters? The same
voters who elected Trump in 2016 and gave him a majority in Congress
just like 2024.
Voters expect the President they elect w/ a majority…
You
do realize the “keyboard warrior-geniuses and grifters who are
ignorant…” you so snidely refer to here Sen. Cornyn are voters? The same
voters who elected Trump in 2016 and gave him a majority in Congress
just like 2024.
Voters expect the President they elect w/ a
majority GOP Congress they elected to implement the agenda they
supported when they voted all of this in.
Instead? You RINO
globalist puppet shills are blocking President Trump’s appointments and
agenda. We see it and despise every single one of you who are in on it!
Even more so than Democrats.
Who have been the ones
doing the work to "demoralize our base?" It certainly isn't the
activists or advocates for election integrity. Cornyn, Thune, and the
rest of the GOP-e ilk do this very well by just being themselves.
I marvel at RINO members who get
crushed in their primaries and think they have anything of value left to
offer the Republican Party.
The base isn’t demoralized by high
expectations. It’s demoralized by careerists who treat conservative
victories as optional, then act shocked when the base demands results
instead of more process theater.
You’ve been in the Senate since
2002…long enough to master every arcane rule and precedent, yet somehow
never quite enough to deliver on the big promises when it actually
mattered.
Voters aren’t “keyboard warriors” for noticing that the
same club that blocked Trump’s agenda, slow-walked judges, and folded
on spending and border security now lectures everyone else about “Senate
rules” as an excuse for yet another round of nothing-burger outcomes.
That
one's gonna leave a mark. Commenter Jim Verdi calls it like it is:
Cornyn's butthurt, and continues to act out of that instead of his
obligation to the people of Texas.
I
marvel at feckless Senators such as yourself who refuse to do whatever
you can to pass common sense legislation that 90 percent of the country
wants done just because you had your feelings hurt.
Who's the adult in the room? Apparently it isn't John Cornyn. Somebody give him his binky and pat his back.
I
marvel at a bitter, washed-up has-been who got crushed by nearly 30
points in his own primary and still has the gall to lecture everyone
else about ‘demoralizing the base.’
You’ve been cashing a Senate paycheck since 2002. You know every arcane rule and precedent because you…
I marvel at a bitter, washed-up
has-been who got crushed by nearly 30 points in his own primary and
still has the gall to lecture everyone else about ‘demoralizing the
base.’
You’ve been cashing a Senate paycheck since 2002. You know
every arcane rule and precedent because you helped build the swamp that
hides behind them.
The SAVE America Act is popular and the base
wants it passed by any means: reconciliation, override the
parliamentarian with JD Vance in the chair, or a 24/7 talking
filibuster.
But you’d rather whine about ‘keyboard warriors’ and ‘grifters’ while doing exactly nothing.
The focus of Cornyn's ire, Scott Presler himself, also responded to Cornyn's craptastic take.
Wouldn’t it have been better to spend $150 million building voter registration operations in each of the swing states?
Exactly.
Instead, the Republican elites spent it on Cornyn's race to prop up
this ineffectual and unresponsive incumbent. Americans expect their
representatives to fight for conservative aims and get results when it
truly matters, and not make excuses. This post shows clearly why TX
Attorney General Ken Paxton is the Republican Senate nominee for Texas, and Cornyn is relegated to temper tantrums on X.
As we reported, the victory of socialists in their primaries in New
York City to be the Democratic nominees for Congress has sparked a lot
of discussion.
Their supporters were feeling their oats so much
that they were even chanting, "You're next!" at House Minority Leader
Hakeem Jeffries when he appeared on a TV screen at one of their watch
parties.
When Jeffries was asked about that and some of the terrible
positions/statements made by one of the candidates, Jeffries couldn't
even give a credible response, and just immediately deflected to Donald
Trump.
But
in case you had any doubt after that, Jeffries posted something from
his campaign account that removed any question. He's going to bend the
knee. He actually put out a post that congratulated them. I would note
that while Micah Lasher is listed there, he is not one of the
socialists. Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez are socialists,
and Brad Lander is a progressive. Those last three were the ones
supported by democtratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the
primaries.
Congratulations to our newest members of the NYC
congressional delegation. From public servants to union organizers to
community activists, the path is different but the work is the same. We
must decisively address the affordability crisis and crush far-right
extremism!
Jeffries is also presuming they've already
won the general election. They probably will because it's NYC, but
we're not there yet. He talks about "far-right extremism," but not
about the real threat from far-left extremism that is gaining in power.
And it's the Democrats who caused an "affordability" issue.
Jeffries
doesn't talk about or seem to care about the things that the socialists
have said here - he's trying to normalize them instead, even after the
threat against his seat. It's a problem with the Dems that President
Trump also brought up in a speech on Friday in front of the Faith &
Freedom Coalition conference.
Then there was this response from progressive Brad Lander, who was supported by the socialists.
So that looks like Jeffries is welcoming them in, and at least Lander
will be voting for him. We'll have to see about Chevalier and Valdez.
So much for any thought that Jeffries might stand up against them.
But if Jeffries thinks that's going to save him from a future move against his seat, he's kidding himself.
When Massachusetts administered the federal SUN Bucks program on June 1 to give eligible families $120 per kid for the summer, criminals stole about $855,000 in over 10,000 fraudulent transactions.
Every year, states administer the SUN Bucks program that
provides eligible families with $120 per child for the summer, loaded
onto an electronic benefit transfer card.
The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance said that it found a large-scale skimming fraud scheme in the federal SUN Bucks
program. Criminals install fake point-of-sale machines in high-traffic
places such as grocery stores, gas stations, and liquor stores. Those
criminals clone EBT cards and then deplete the card balance before the
person can spend it.
DTA reported it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“We
know that families struggle during the summer when they lose access to
the school breakfast and lunch that their kids depend on. The SUN Bucks
program is a crucial lifeline for those families to make sure that no
child goes hungry just because school is closed,” said DTA Commissioner
Michael Cole. “I’m proud that DTA’s strong fraud detection system
worked as intended, discovered this fraud and put a stop to it before
it could get worse. There must be a full investigation into this, and
anyone found responsible must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law. In Massachusetts, we have always worked hard to prevent fraud and
theft and make sure that our most vulnerable families receive the
benefits they deserve from this federal program. We need the federal
government to be a partner in that work as well.”
SUN Bucks is a federally authorized program that provides
grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children
during the summer months.
Children are eligible if
they were enrolled in a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School
Breakfast Program (SBP) school during the 2025-2026 school year and
received SNAP, DTA cash benefits, certain MassHealth coverage, SSI with a
relative caregiver, or were in foster care. Benefits are issued on a
separate SUN Bucks EBT card and cannot be loaded onto an existing SNAP
EBT card. Families are reminded to regularly change their PINs and lock
and unlock their cards to protect their benefits from unauthorized use.
DTA has previously taken significant action to detect and prevent benefit theft and safeguard client benefits, including:
Implementing card lock/unlock technology using the DTA Connect mobile application and the Cardholder Customer Service Line.
Providing
an EBT card safety flyer with every EBT card issued that contains
information on how to lock/unlock cards, as well as how to change the
PIN frequently.
Educating clients on card safety and
encouraging regular changing of their EBT card PIN to enhance security,
and forcing re-pinning when there is a known high-risk for stolen PINs.
Producing
educational materials on protecting your EBT card and identifying scams
(informational videos, flyers, and more) in multiple languages,
available on mass.gov/ProtectYourEBT
Engaging retailers and retail associations through outreach and education on benefit theft schemes and patterns, and partnering with law enforcement on information sharing.
Fraud prevention is a critical responsibility for all DTA
staff. DTA uses eligibility interviews and verification to ensure
accurate initial determinations. DTA constantly leverages advanced data
analytics and tools to detect and resolve potential program integrity risks. When issues are identified, DTA conducts non-criminal fraud investigations,
disqualifies individuals for program violations, refers cases for
prosecution, calculates overpayments and establishes claims for
repayment.
Large-scale skimming schemes
underscore the importance of swift federal action to secure systems
nationwide for administering critical food assistance. Recent
communications from USDA to states underscore the vulnerabilities of
federal systems.
Anyone is able to report fraud to DTA online using this form, by emailing DTA.ReportFraud@MassMail.State.MA.US, or by phone using DTA’s Fraud Hotline at 800-372-8399.
Residents who have been targeted by skimming can find out how to report theft to DTA here. Families needing assistance with food resources should call the Project Bread Food Source Hotline at 1-800-645-8333.
The Louisiana Senate run-off election
saw a battle between two America First candidates after incumbent Sen.
Bill Cassidy was soundly rejected in the first round of voting earlier
this year, with Rep. Julia Letlow advancing to the General Election.
Rep. Julia Letlow had received a large slate of
endorsements from state leaders and national figures, as well as having
secured the ever-coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump. John
Flemming, Louisiana State Treasurer and a former congressman, ran a
MAGA-aligned campaign but received very little support from any
nationally recognized political allies.
Letlow’s victory has marked another significant win for a Trump-endorsed candidate in the emerging U.S. Senate electoral field.
Cassidy
had marked the first of the GOP Trump critics to be defeated as the
primary season began to take hold, quickly followed by the end of Thomas
Massie and John Cornyn’s political careers in similarly disastrous
electoral performances.
On the Democrat side of the run-off, Gary Crockett and
Jamie Davis
faced off against one another. Davis had worked inside of
the Louisiana Democrat Party apparatus before running for Senate. He
likewise mounted a failed campaign for the State House in 2023. He
managed to win the race handedly, with outlets calling the race for
Davis within 15 minutes of polls closing.
Davis and Letlow will face off against one another in the General Election in November.
For the first time, the Texas Board of Education has approved a
statewide mandatory reading list that includes Bible stories, affecting
about 5.5 million public school students.
After the board’s vote on Friday, roughly 11% of the total U.S.
public school population will be required to read at least 200 passages
from the Bible as part of their curriculum.
10 of the school board’s 15 members are Republican.
In 2025, Texas also passed a bill requiring public schools to display
the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Despite legal pushback, the measure
was ultimately upheld by a Fifth Circuit court.
Some argue that the new list is unconstitutional, citing the landmark
1962 Supreme Court Case Engel v. Vitale and the general notion of the
separation of church and state.
In Engel v. Vitale, the court ruled that mandatory, school-sponsored
prayer violated the government’s prohibition of establishing an official
state religion outlined in the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
Meanwhile, the separation of church and state, though derived from
the Establishment Clause, does not appear in the U.S. Constitution.
Instead, President Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter that the First
Amendment built “a wall of separation between church & state,”
though he advocated for the Christian faith throughout his life in
public service, even attending worship services at the Capitol building
as Vice President and President.
However, Texas has legal precedent behind the changes made to its
curriculum. The 1963 Supreme Court case of Abington School District v.
Schempp allows for teaching biblical or religious texts from a
nonreligious standpoint.
“It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its
literary and historic qualities,” the majority decision reads. “Nothing
we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion,
when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education,
may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”
Kindergarteners will still be reading classics such as “Anansi the
Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti” by Gerald McDermott, “Blueberries for
Sal” by Robert McCloskey and “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss, and are
not required to read Biblical texts, according to the Texas Education
Agency (TEA)’s newly approved literary works list.
Second-, fourth-, and fifth-graders also do not have required Bible
passages. They will still read stories such as “Johnny Appleseed” by
Steven Kellogg, “Robinhood and the Golden Arrow” by William J. Bennett
and “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster.
The new reading list features a variety of materials for other grade levels, including, but not limited to:
First Grade
“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Third Grade
“Charlotte’s Web” by E. B. White
The Road to Damascus
Sixth Grade
The Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln
Matthew 6:25-34 English Standard Version (ESV)
Seventh Grade
“A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle
Jonah New International Reader’s Version (NIRV)
Psalm 23 King James Version (KJV)
1 Corinthians 13 ESV
Eighth Grade
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass
Matthew 5:1-12 KJV
Ninth Grade
“Animal Farm” by George Orwell
1 Samuel 17 NIRV
Tenth Grade
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
Genesis 11:1-9 NIRV
Eleventh Grade
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ecclesiastes 3 KJV
Twelfth Grade
“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare
Job chapters 1-7, 11, 14, 19, 18, 38-42
The
Texas Board of Education has approved a new required K–12 reading list
that includes Bible stories alongside literary classics such as Great
Expectations.
New York delivered a political earthquake on June 23, 2026, when
three candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a self-identified
democratic socialist — won their Democratic congressional primaries,
signaling a serious leftward lurch in the party that should concern
every American who loves liberty and prosperity. What happened in those
primaries wasn’t a harmless intra-party debate; it was a takeover
attempt led by radicals who want to reshape cities and the country with
policies that punish success and reward dependency.
The
winners — Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier —
toppled establishment picks and incumbents in high-profile contests,
with Avila Chevalier famously defeating five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat
and Lander overtaking Rep. Dan Goldman in a stunning upset. These
weren’t marginal victories; they were coordinated, high-stakes gambles
that paid off for Mamdani’s slate and the democratic-socialist movement.
This
sweep is more than local theater: it proves that Mamdani’s brand of
progressive politics has real muscle in the Democratic base, and in many
of these deep-blue districts the primary is effectively the election —
meaning these radicals are likely headed to Congress this November.
Americans should not be comfortable with a Congress that tilts toward
policies like confiscatory taxes, expanded welfare state schemes, and
soft-on-crime approaches that have already hollowed out cities like New
York.
Conservative media and grassroots voices have rightly
sounded the alarm and called on President Trump and the Republican
movement to respond forcefully, not politely, to prevent this experiment
from spreading nationwide. The right needs a strategy that goes beyond
finger-wagging and into tangible political action: exposing the
consequences of socialist governance, nationalizing vulnerable races,
and offering clear, competing visions that put working Americans first.
President
Trump has a real opportunity here to act as the defender of the
American mainstream. He should prioritize five things immediately:
amplify the record and real-world costs of socialist policies in New
York to voters nationwide; flood targeted ad buys into vulnerable House
seats to nationalize the threat; deploy high-profile surrogates to
campaign against radical candidates; cut fundraising ties and
endorsements where Republican allies underperform; and make clear,
concrete promises to protect homeowners, small businesses, and
law-and-order — the pillars that socialists attack. These are not timid
suggestions; they are common-sense political warfare.
Republicans
must also mobilize at the grassroots level — register disappointed
Democrats and independents, recruit strong local candidates who can
contrast competence with chaos, and make November a referendum on
whether America will choose prosperity or the failed experiments of
radical ideology. If conservatives sit back and let the left reforge the
Democratic Party into a socialist vehicle unchecked, we will pay the
price for generations in higher taxes, fewer opportunities, and less
freedom.
This moment calls for clarity and courage from every
patriot who believes in American exceptionalism. Fight these nominees on
the policy record, remind voters what made this country great, and
refuse to concede ground to radicals who promise utopia but deliver
decline. The stakes are simple: protect the American dream or watch it
be dismantled one “sweep” at a time.
The Supreme Court’s clear decision to allow the Trump administration
to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians is a welcome
restoration of legal order after years of bureaucratic overreach. For
too long “temporary” protections morphed into de facto amnesty, eroding
the separation of powers and rewarding lawlessness. The justices did the
hard work of enforcing the statute as written and reasserting that
immigration policy belongs to the people’s representatives and the
executive, not indefinite administrative fiat.
This
ruling affects hundreds of thousands of people who have benefitted from
TPS for years, and it signals that the era of endless extensions is
over; roughly 350,000 Haitians and several thousand Syrians are directly
implicated, with broader consequences for some 1.3 million
beneficiaries across multiple countries. Conservatives should recognize
this as a necessary reset: temporary programs are not meant to become
permanent immigration pathways. The decision prevents federal courts
from endlessly substituting their judgment for the Secretary of Homeland
Security’s determinations.
Instead of accepting the rule of law,
New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly vowed to defy the Court
and welcomed former TPS holders into municipal protection, even
directing frightened immigrants to the city’s hotline for legal
assistance. That stunt is not courage — it is political grandstanding by
a mayor more interested in headlines than governing within the
Constitution. Promises to “never accept” a Supreme Court ruling are
blank checks that invite legal conflict and waste taxpayer resources.
Patriotic
Americans should be alarmed by sanctuary-style posturing that invites
cities to nullify federal authority; history shows that when local
officials refuse to cooperate with national law, ordinary citizens pay
the price through higher taxes and strained services. Conservative
watchdogs and former federal officers rightly warned that local
resistance cannot stop federal enforcement and may expose city leaders
to legal and fiscal consequences. There is no liberty in selective
obedience to law — it is chaos disguised as compassion.
Legally,
the Court’s 6-3 ruling reaffirmed that courts have limited ability to
second-guess Homeland Security’s country designations under the TPS
statute, a technical but important guardrail against judicial overreach.
This isn’t cruelty; it’s the rule of law — a rule that prevents
administrative actors from converting temporary relief into permanent
residency without congressional action. If policy objections exist, they
belong in Congress, where the people can hold representatives
accountable next election.
Now
is the moment for conservatives to stand firm for lawful immigration
and for accountable local governance. We must demand that mayors respect
federal prerogatives, that taxpayers not be saddled with open-ended
liabilities, and that candidates who promise to uphold the Constitution
are rewarded at the ballot box. The rule of law matters to every
hardworking American who expects their leaders to protect the nation,
its borders, and the principles that made this country great.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla. told Newsmax Friday the three democratic
socialists who won Tuesday’s congressional primaries in New York City
are part of a war for the future of the country.
Appearing on “Finnerty,” Fine said footage of former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who won the Democrat primary for the 10th Congressional District and is Jewish, praying at a mosque made him sick.
“We can no longer say the barbarians are at the gates,” Fine said. “They're well inside, and they want to serve in Congress.”
“The people that are coming from New York are a threat to this
country,” Fine added. “They come to Congress not to build America, but
to destroy it. “
“We have to accept that, in many cases, the Democrats are no longer
the loyal opposition,” Fine continued. “They truly are the enemy of the
United States. And I think it is a very, very sad place that we find
ourselves in.”
Fine said the Democrats elected in the primaries, Lander, Darializa
Avila Chevalier and Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, all endorsed by
socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, seek the destruction of
America.
