$2B a Year In Food Stamp Trafficking Fraud in U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Foundation for Government Accountability just released a report that says $2 billion a year is lost in food stamp trafficking fraud nationwide.

Trafficking is defined as exchanging cash for food stamp benefits at a discount.

In 2013, authorities in Michigan disrupted a ring of food stamp trafficking that total millions of dollars in transactions in a single year. It involved “runners” who got Bridge cards and sold the benefits at a discount to various Detroit businesses.

In Michigan, Bridge cards must not be used to purchase lottery tickets, alcohol, or tobacco, or for gambling, or illegal activities. There are designated fast food restaurants around Michigan that take Bridge cards. Click here to read more.

 

USDA to Halt Federal Funding to States Not Sharing SNAP Data

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S Department of Agriculture would halt federal funding to states that refuse to share their data on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to root out fraud.

During a cabinet meeting of the Trump administration, Rollins highlighted the accomplishments of the USDA and spoke about the fraud the agency had discovered within SNAP. Rollins also shared that in February, states were asked to “turn over their data to the federal government to let the USDA partner with them to root out” fraud, and that only 29 states had shared their data. Click here to read more.

 

Conservative professor slams 0 grade for Oklahoma student’s biblical essay as punitive: ‘very inappropriate’

A conservative professor in the University of Wisconsin system weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding Samantha Fulnecky, a University of Oklahoma student who received a zero out of 25 on an essay assignment after invoking the Bible.

“To give a zero on an assignment like this, especially the way that the assignment was worded, I think really, unless there’s something I’m missing ... I feel like it has to be punitive,” said UW-River Falls professor Trevor Tomesh.

Tomesh, who made it clear that he speaks for himself, and not on behalf of his university or the University of Wisconsin system, said that in his classroom, to give a student a zero requires outright cheating on behalf of the student, or simply not turning in the assignment. Click here to read more.

 

Lawmaker Seeks to Prevent Colleges From Discriminating Against Homeschoolers

Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., has introduced a bill to ensure homeschoolers aren’t discriminated against in college admissions.

“No student should ever face discrimination or disadvantage during the college admissions process simply because they were homeschooled,” Harris said. “Yet, many universities still treat homeschoolers as second-class applicants by requiring excessive documentation and additional testing.”

The Higher Education Act currently defines an “institution of higher education” as one that admits students with a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent. However, the law refers to homeschoolers as “Students Who Are Not High School Graduates.” Click here to read more.

 

Private companies have raised millions to block the sun. What could go wrong?

For as little as $1, you can dim the sun — just a tiny bit — to save the world from climate change.

At least, that’s the promise sold by a California start-up called Make Sunsets. Your dollar will pay for founder Luke Iseman to drive a Winnebago RV into the hills half an hour outside Saratoga, California, to release a balloon loaded with sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant normally spewed by volcanic eruptions. He and his 1,000 paying customers hope the balloon will burst in the stratosphere, releasing particles that will block sunlight and cool the planet.

Iseman’s sun-blocking activities — which aren’t officially approved by any government on Earth, but aren’t illegal under California law — are an example of a controversial tactic called “solar geoengineering.” It has been the subject of many science fiction stories and conspirach theories and at least one U.S spy report warning that it could spark real-world wars. Click here to read more.

WEXFORD COUNTY, Mich. — The biological mother and stepfather of Rebecca Park were arraigned Tuesday on a series of felony charges tied to Park’s death, which investigators say occurred while she was near full-term pregnancy.

Cortney Bartholomew, 40, and her husband, Brad Bartholomew, 47 each face eight counts, including first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, torture, assault of a pregnant individual, conspiracy, unlawful imprisonment and removing a body without the medical examiner’s permission. Both were ordered held without bond.

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Their initial court appearance was scheduled for Monday in 84th District Court but was postponed. Prosecutors cited the seriousness of the charges and concerns the couple may flee if released.

RELATED LINK: Fiancé of Missing Pregnant Wexford County Woman and Her Sister Are In Custody After Body Found in Manistee National Forest

Authorities launched a search for Park on Nov. 21 after she was reported missing. Four days later, investigators discovered her body in a remote section of the Manistee National Forest in Wexford County. An autopsy later confirmed the remains were Park’s. The baby she was reportedly carrying was not found with her.

The Michigan State Police and the Wexford County Sheriff’s Office continue to investigate the circumstances of Park’s death. The cause of death has not yet been released, and the search for the infant is ongoing.

 

 

‘No Critical Thinking’: Parents Sound Alarm as Tech Begins to ‘Replace the Teacher’

Parents are growing increasingly concerned about the prevalence of technology in classrooms, and the negative side effects that change is fueling among children nationwide.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed schools to remote learning, many have only grown increasingly reliant on technology, shifting assignments into digital forms and handing every student a computer or tablet to aid their education in the classroom. But after seeing their kids become angrier, less sociable, and less educated, parents are asking where the teachers have gone.

“What are we doing with an iPad all day, for eight hours a day in our kids’ hands?” Patricia McCoy, a mother of four in Wyoming, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Honestly, it’s disturbing. They give your kids worksheets on the iPad. There’s no actual critical thinking happening because they’re given apps to replace the teachers.” Click here to read more.

 

What Brought the Trump Administration to the Brink with the Venezuelan Regime

At this writing, the United States appears to be on the verge of military action against Venezuelan regime. The president of the United States has de facto closed Venezuelan airspace — via Truth Social, of course — and the largest concentration of American military power in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility since the 1989 Christmas season is gathered across the Caribbean basin. Naval assets are afloat to the north of the Venezuelan littoral, and American bases and facilities have emerged (or been reactivated) not just in U.S.-controlled territories like Puerto Rico and Guantanamo Bay, but in sovereign allies such as Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic. All this raises obvious questions, foremost among them: Why now, and why Venezuela?

Anyone outside of the administration who offers definitive answers to either is misleading at worst and incomplete at best. The decision-makers know their full rationales and will share them when they wish. For now, even the legal memorandum justifying the strikes on maritime traffickers remains undisclosed. Click here to read more.

Mich. officer rushes to perform CPR, save choking baby

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — A Sterling Heights police officer is being celebrated for his life-saving actions on a baby boy who had stopped breathing after choking in a Walmart store.

Officer Edwar Talia responded to the Walmart on Van Dyke Avenue Nov. 1 at around 8:30 p.m. for a report of a 5-month-old infant who was having trouble breathing.

Newly-released bodycam video showed Talia rushing into the Walmart to find the distraught mother with her child, who appeared not to be breathing. He began giving continuous back blows to the infant, which cleared the airway and allowed the child to breathe on his own again.

“I rushed in there — the doors could not open fast enough,” Talia told WXYZ-TV ( Channel 7 ) Click here to watch video.

 

America First Legal Demands Repeal of Biden-Era Rule That Uses Race to Determine Kidney Transplant Recipients

America First Legal (AFL) has filed a Rulemaking Petition urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to repeal a Biden-era regulation that embeds race-conscious policies into America’s organ transplant system.”

The Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model, which took effect on July 1, 2025, alters how transplant hospitals determine who receives a kidney during the transplant process. Instead of relying solely on clinical urgency and established medical criteria, the Biden Administration directed hospitals to factor race, ethnicity, and “equity” into allocation decisions—an outgrowth of the administration’s sweeping equity agenda aimed at confronting the “unbearable human costs of systemic racism.”

Under this model, select hospitals must operate within an equity-driven framework that pressures them to adopt race-conscious transplant policies. As part of the model, hospitals are encouraged to submit “ Health Equity Plans” to CMS that:

• Identify target “health disparities” based on race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

• Develop “targeted strategies to close those gaps.”

• Conduct a “resource gap analysis” to reorient staffing, funding, and operational needs around equity goals.

• Establish performance measures designed to achieve predetermined racial and ethnic outcomes in transplant access. Click here to read more.

 

FDA commissioner says data showed 10 child deaths due to COVID shots

The US Food and Drug Administration said that at least 10 children had likely died “because of” COVID-19 vaccinations, citing myocarditis, or heart inflammation, as a possible cause, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report outside business hours. But FDA Commissioner Marty Makary on Saturday confirmed the report during a TV interview.

“There were, it appears, 10 deaths of children from the COVID shots,” he told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” weekend show, citing data gathered during the Biden administration. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sharply changed government policy on COVID vaccines, limiting access to them to people 65 and older, as well as those with underlying conditions.

Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine crusader before taking on the nation’s top health post under President Donald Trump, has also linked vaccines to autism and sought to rewrite the country’s immunization policies. Click here to read more.