New York Times columnist David Brooks, who is about as close to a conservative as that liberal newspaper publishes, wrote something last week that gets to the heart of why Democrats, especially, but also some Republicans, fear a second Trump administration. After extolling what he believes to be the personal virtues of some Republicans (he mentions Mitt Romney, whose personal virtues are undeniable, but who lost to Barack Obama in 2012), Brooks worries about what he regards as Donald Trump’s lack of virtues and the president-elect’s “department of government efficiency” and its declared goal of reforming, even eliminating, many programs and agencies. Here’s the problem. Government agencies and programs are not called institutions and synonyms such as “the deep state” and “the establishment” for nothing. They continue to exist, regardless of the failure of many to perform well, because they enjoy a political and financial inertia that is difficult to slow down, much less stop or reverse. These entities may not enjoy widespread public support, but they do benefit from lobbyists, interest groups and labor unions who make substantial contributions to the political campaigns of members of Congress. Those in the House of Representatives control the money flow and are reluctant, to the point of resistance, to end or reform the status quo. Anyone who remembers the outcry over the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process more than two decades ago, will recall what I mean. Members of Congress, whose districts were affected by base closings, squealed like stuck pigs. The key to success was the way BRAC was presented to the public: “The commission’s purpose is to downsize the military infrastructure in a way that is efficient and effective, and to increase operational readiness. The commission’s work is intended to be free from partisan politics.” Memo to the incoming Trump administration: This is the way you can eliminate or greatly reduce the size of an under-performing agency or program. You make it sound like it is in the self-interest of a majority of Americans. In the case of government downsizing, it is. Brooks suggests in his column that our institutions should be preserved and possibly reformed from within. That’s been tried over and over again and has failed. It is why Trump’s message about blowing up the status quo and rebuilding those which remain useful on a new foundation resonated with so many voters in last month’s election. They see their tax dollars wasted by irresponsible politicians. Eternal life should be the subject of sermons by preachers and classroom topics in seminary classrooms, not government agencies and programs. If something is “promoting the general welfare” and “providing for the common defense” at reasonable cost and efficiency, it should be kept. If it has exceeded its “sell-by” it should be discarded like spoiled milk. The Founders established a nation based on the philosophy that citizens are the ones who hold ultimate power and they only lend that power to government. Today it is more like a power grab by politicians and bureaucrats telling us how much authority over our lives they will allow us to have while forcing us to pay ever more in taxes to support their careers and favorite programs. That is why so many are fed-up with Washington and want to see real change. We are about to learn who is more powerful – the establishment and its institutions – or “we the people of the United States.”

Wednesday’s PBS News Hour featured a propagandistic, nine-and-a-half minute segment on the important case argued before the Supreme Court involving a Tennessee law banning transgender surgery for minors: “Supreme Court hears arguments in most significant trans rights case to reach bench.” The taxpayer-funded network actually opened its broadcast with emotional blackmail, in the guise of a clip from a sympathetic “transgender” child hypothetically endangered by Tennessee’s responsible move to restrict so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors. Co-anchor Amna Nawaz: On the News Hour tonight, a U.S. Supreme court case pushes transgender rights for minors back into the spotlight. Eli Givens, Transgender Youth: Being transgender is hard enough, and you hear all these things that lawmakers are saying about you. It makes you feel like there is no purpose. From the start, PBS played on fears of suicidal ideation (a false narrative exposed yesterday by Justice Samuel Alito) if impressionable children don’t get to sign on for permanent body modification. The actual segment was no better. Evasive PBS didn’t delve into Eli’s “top surgery” – the act of removing a girl’s breasts ostensibly to make her chest look more “masculine.” Reporter Laura Barron-Lopez, the outlet’s most fervent cheerleader on trans-kid issues, skipped those nauseating details regarding such unnecessary mutilation being performed on minors, leaning on that “top surgery” euphemism. A misnomer term favored by trans-activists, “gender-affirming care,” cropped up nine times, better translated as “cross-sex hormones, castration, and breast removal.” Co-Anchor Geoff Bennett: The Supreme Court heard arguments today in a landmark case on transgender rights. The justices are weighing whether a Tennessee law barring gender-affirming care for minors violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Nawaz: Roughly 300,000 young people identify as transgender in this country, and a decision in this case would have major implications for them, their families, and medical providers. Laura Barron-Lopez reports. Laura Barron-Lopez: Eli Givens has been camping outside the Supreme Court since late last night. Eli Givens, Transgender Youth: Hi, you all. It's Eli reporting in from the Supreme Court. Barron-Lopez: Joined by other activists and advocates, Givens is urging the conservative-dominated court to protect the rights of transgender youth like themselves. Givens performed a shocking amount of the “reporting,” an untouchable stand-in performing the emotional blackmail in front of the Supreme Court: Strike down the Tennessee law or prepare for the deaths of children. Givens: Many kids just like me have had such a difficult time making it to 18. Many of us will not make it to 18. Barron-Lopez: ….The question at the heart of today's arguments, whether a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender people younger than 18, like puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgery, violates the Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment….. After a relevant clip from President-elect Donald Trump, she continued in the same hostile vein. Barron-Lopez: Now, after an election in which Donald Trump and Republicans promised to roll back protections for transgender Americans, the Supreme Court is wading into the issue. The outcome could dramatically alter the lives of youth like Givens, who in 2022, at the age of 17, underwent gender-affirming chest reconstruction, also known as top surgery. PBS avoided the nuttier protests outside the Supreme Court, while awkwardly shoehorning in woke phrasing like “non-transgender males” in reference to actual males. Barron-Lopez: Surgeries among transgender youth are very rare, and breast reduction among minors is actually more frequent among non-transgender males. But if Givens had waited just one more year, they would have been blocked by Tennessee's ban. PBS also skipped how Justice Samuel Alito coaxed major concessions out of those challenging the ban before the Court (one prime example, via X). Instead of facts, the reporter piled on the blackmail from teenaged Givens. Givens: Surgery has saved my life and social transition has saved my life. Being a trans youth member is, like, hard enough, but when you have so much pressure from legislative politics and you're hearing all of these things that lawmakers are saying about you without ever even speaking to you, also refusing to speak to you, it really -- it makes you feel like there is no purpose and that you can't grow older or you're just going to deal with hardship for the rest of your life. "Gender-affirming” euphemisms abounded, both from talking heads and the "balanced" PBS reporter. Barron-Lopez: But Dr. Joshua Safer, who leads the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York, says gender-affirming care is as medically necessary as other forms of health care….Though it's unclear how the justices will ultimately rule in this case, the stakes are higher than ever for transgender youth. This trans-kid propaganda segment was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular. A transcript is available, click “Expand.” PBS News Hour 12/4/24 7:08:52 p.m. (ET) Geoff Bennett: Good evening. I'm Geoff Bennett. Amna Nawaz: I'm Amna Nawaz. On the News Hour tonight, a U.S. Supreme court case pushes transgender rights for minors back into the spotlight. UNID: Being transgender is hard enough, and you hear all these things that lawmakers are saying about you. It makes you feel like there is no purpose. …. Geoff Bennett: The Supreme Court heard arguments today in a landmark case on transgender rights. The justices are weighing whether a Tennessee law barring gender-affirming care for minors violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Amna Nawaz: Roughly 300,000 young people identify as transgender in this country. And a decision in this case would have major implications for them, their families, and medical providers. Laura Barron-Lopez reports. Laura Barron-Lopez: Eli Givens has been camping outside the Supreme Court since late last night. Eli Givens, Transgender Youth: Hi, you all. It's Eli reporting in from the Supreme Court. Laura Barron-Lopez: Joined by other activists and advocates, Givens is urging the conservative-dominated court to protect the rights of transgender youth like themselves. Eli Givens: Many kids just like me have had such a difficult time making it to 18. Many of us will not make it to 18. Laura Barron-Lopez: Inside the court, justices heard arguments in the most significant trans rights case to ever reach the bench. The question at the heart of today's arguments, whether a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender people younger than 18, like puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgery, violates the Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment. The law also allows people to take legal action against medical providers. Since 2021, 26 states, including Tennessee, have banned or restricted access to gender-affirming health care for minors, a wave of laws enacted by Republicans that affect roughly 40 percent of the nation's trans youth. Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: The only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female, and they are assigned at birth. Laura Barron-Lopez: Now, after an election in which Donald Trump and Republicans promised to roll back protections for transgender Americans, the Supreme Court is wading into the issue. The outcome could dramatically alter the lives of youth like Givens, who in 2022, at the age of 17, underwent gender-affirming chest reconstruction, also known as top surgery. Eli Givens: For me, it was a very, like, slow process of making sure that this is what I want to do and this is who I am. Laura Barron-Lopez: Surgeries among transgender youth are very rare, and breast reduction among minors is actually more frequent among non-transgender males. But if Givens had waited just one more year, they would have been blocked by Tennessee's ban. Eli Givens: Surgery has saved my life and social transition has saved my life. Being a trans youth member is, like, hard enough, but when you have so much pressure from legislative politics and you're hearing all of these things that lawmakers are saying about you without ever even speaking to you, also refusing to speak to you, it really — it makes you feel like there is no purpose and that you can't grow older or you're just going to deal with hardship for the rest of your life. Laura Barron-Lopez: Today at the court, challengers to Tennessee's ban urge the justices to look at the law with heightened scrutiny, arguing that it discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status. Elizabeth Prelogar, U.S. Solicitor General: The problem with Tennessee's law here is not that it's just a little bit overinclusive or a little bit underinclusive, but that it's a sweeping categorical ban, where the legislature didn't even take into account the significant health benefits that can come from providing gender-affirming care, including reduced suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Laura Barron-Lopez: Conservative justices pointed out medical and scientific disputes around gender-affirming care in other countries and asked if the issue is better sent back to the states. John Roberts, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: Doesn't that make a stronger case for us to leave those determinations to the legislative bodies, rather than try to determine them for ourselves? Laura Barron-Lopez: Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, acknowledged that there is some debate, but argued there is a consensus that such care is medically necessary for some minors. Brett Kavanaugh, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice: You say there are benefits from allowing these treatments, but there are also harms, right, from allowing these treatments. At least the state says so, including lost fertility, the physical and psychological effects on those who later change their mind and want to detransition, which I don't think we can ignore. Elizabeth Prelogar: If you're thinking about this from the standpoint of there's no harm in just making them wait until they're adults, what this law is doing is saying, we're going to make all adolescents in the state develop the physical secondary sex characteristics consistent with their gender or with their sex assigned at birth, even though that might significantly worsen gender dysphoria, increase the risk of suicide, and, I think critically, make it much harder to live and be accepted in their gender identity as an adult. Laura Barron-Lopez: Gender-affirming care is endorsed by every major U.S. medical association, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. Prelogar was joined for arguments by ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, the first openly transgender lawyer to present a case before the High Court. For the Republican-controlled state of Tennessee, Solicitor General Matt Rice argued that the ban is based on medical purpose, not a patient's sex. Matthew Rice, Tennessee Solicitor General: Just as using morphine to manage pain differs from using it to assist suicide, using hormones and puberty blockers to address a physical condition is far different from using it to address psychological distress associated with one's body. Laura Barron-Lopez: But liberal justice's questioned Tennessee's premise. Elena Kagan, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice: The whole thing is imbued with sex. It's a dodge to say that this is not based on sex, it's based on medical purpose, when the medical purpose is utterly and entirely about sex. Matthew Rice: We don't think it's actually drawing a line based on sex, and, again, the only way that my friends can point to a sex-based line is to conflate the use of puberty blockers to address precocious puberty with the use of puberty blockers to transition, and those are fundamentally different treatments. Marcia Coyle: Coming out of more than two hours of argument, my sense is that the Tennessee law will be upheld primarily by at least five conservative justices on the Supreme Court. Laura Barron-Lopez: Supreme Court analyst Marcia Coyle says the justices appeared to take partisan lines during questioning. Marcia Coyle: There was sympathy among the liberal justices that this is discrimination on the basis of sex and transgender status, but there are only three on the liberal side of the court. Laura Barron-Lopez: Conservative groups who wrote amicus briefs in support of Tennessee's law claim gender-affirming care bans for minors are about protecting children. Marc Wheat, who is legal counsel for one of those organizations, Advancing American Freedom, says being transgender is a -- quote -- "ideology." J. Marc Wheat, General Counsel, Advancing American Freedom: In the case of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, surgery that mutilates their bodies, what you have is something where the children are not sick with a physical ailment. This is a mental and psychological issue. But on the other side of the balance, what they lose is their ability to procreate. Girls will not be able to breast-feed their babies. They may not be able to conceive. A boy may not be able to found his own family. Laura Barron-Lopez: But Dr. Joshua Safer, who leads the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York, says gender-affirming care is as medically necessary as other forms of health care. Dr. Joshua Safer, the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery: Our approach for youth is already very conservative, with a lower-case C. And the guidelines that we follow are quite conservative already, so, just as you would expect they would be across all of medicine. Part of our conservatism in the health care community is that we don't give medicines to anybody under the age of 18 without their parents' consent. Laura Barron-Lopez: Though it's unclear how the justices will ultimately rule in this case, the stakes are higher than ever for transgender youth.  

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As Woody Faircloth found out, sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impact in storm-ravaged Western North Carolina. Faircloth’s charity, EmergencyRV.org, has delivered nearly 60 campers and larger recreational vehicles to shelter families made homeless by the unprecedented flooding and mudslides caused by Hurricane Helene. A curly-fur puppy small enough to curl up in one of Faircloth’s knit winter caps might well have had the biggest emotional impact on the storm victims he helped over the Thanksgiving weekend. The pup, which rode along with Faircloth and his daughter Luna from Colorado, was just the prescription for the Phillips family in Burnsville, N.C. The family lost multiple homes during the floods and mudslides that rocketed down the mountains in late September. 'We’re going to give this to a family who needs some kind of a little light.' Faircloth earlier arranged for an RV to be delivered to Makisha Phillips and her children. In addition to stress from the storm damage, Phillips is mourning the death of her sister, Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy Michelle Quintero, who was swept away in the floods on Sept. 27. “We met her father and cried and prayed with him in the parking lot,” Faircloth said. “Her oldest daughter was in the truck, and I took [the puppy] over and handed it to her and then went and talked to the father. “When I came back, the puppy was sitting on her shoulder like a parrot,” Faircloth said. “She had the biggest smile on her face. And I said, ‘That's your puppy now.’ And she said, ‘My mom told me. I can't believe y’all are doing this.’” Faircloth had not planned to buy a puppy or bring it along on the Thanksgiving mission of mercy. But when he drove by a flea market north of Denver, something made him stop and look at a car full of puppies for sale. “I walked over there, and there was this little puppy, the one we ended up getting, sitting in the back of the crate and had dog poop all over it,” he said. “They were all scrambling. I just picked it up, and I held it up to the lady and I said, ‘Tell me about this puppy.’” Luna Faircloth, 12, cares for a puppy on an EmergencyRV.org trip to deliver donated RVs to Western North Carolina storm victims.Photos courtesy of Woody Faircloth The owner said the dog was born on Sept. 25, the day the pre-hurricane rains began soaking Western North Carolina. “I just looked up at the sky, and I went, ‘Okay, I guess we’ll take it.’ So we fell in love with the puppy on the way there, and we’re really struggling with that,” Faircloth said before gifting the dog. “But we had talked about it that we’re going to give this to a family who needs some kind of a little light.” Tragedy strikes home Deputy Quintero was in the process of leaving her Burnsville home along Brown Creek to head to the Madison County jail to help in any way she could during the storm. “She had had her vest on, and she had her backpack and her gun and everything, and her house had started flooding,” Phillips said in a phone call with Faircloth that was posted on YouTube. “So she grabbed the keys. She wasn’t scared, but she grabbed everybody’s keys so that if anybody needed the keys, she would have them.” When Quintero stepped out the back door, she was struck by a wall of water. It swept her into the raging river. A neighbor threw a rope to her, but then a tree fell, causing them both to submerge. “By the time she had come up — she was about five [foot] four — he said she was already waist-deep in mud,” Phillips said. “So he grabbed her and was pulling and pulling and he said all of a sudden she stopped.” Just as Quintero told the neighbor, “It’s all right,” another tree fell and submerged them both. She never re-emerged. “They found her a little bit ways down the river, and it was too late,” Phillips said. “They couldn’t … there was nothing that they could do. We had to bury her within, I guess, 24 hours of it because we couldn’t embalm her.” Phillips also told Faircloth about her 3-year-old, who is suffering from retinoblastoma that caused the child to lose an eye. Phillips wanted to get an implant that will match her daughter’s other eye, but she said Medicaid would not cover it. Because so many people in Western North Carolina are hurting from the storm, Phillips didn’t want to do an online fundraiser. Faircloth stepped in again to help. “I shared your story with one of our donors,” he told Phillips. “And I said, ‘Hey, I know this is not kind of our normal thing, but we want to help this family.’ We got you covered for that surgery.” Phillips burst into tears. “Oh my God,” Phillips said between sobs. “You have no idea the worry, the worry that you have for your children. Oh, Lord." “You have no idea what you’ve done. You’ll never know the gratitude and the prayers that will go up for y’all,” she said. “You'll never know.” Nan Collins (second from right) and family of Burnsville, N.C., next to the donated RV from Woody Faircloth and daughter Luna (first and third from left) from EmergencyRV.org.Photo courtesy of Woody Faircloth Faircloth and daughter Luna congratulated each other for looking past the love they have for the puppy in order to gift it to a hurting family. Phillips reported back the next day, saying the family decided to name the dog Luna. “I was crying, and I walked back to the truck. I said, ‘Luna, they just named the puppy Luna,’” Faircloth said. “And she started laughing so hard. And I said, ‘Why are you laughing? I’m over here crying.’ She said, ‘Because it’s a boy.’” When Faircloth spoke to Makisha’s father, Cash Phillips, he discovered the family patriarch also lost his home in the floods. “He said, ‘All I want is y’all to pray for us,’” Faircloth said. “‘That's all we need up here.’” The next day, EmergencyRV.org delivered an RV to Cash Phillips. Makisha texted Faircloth the next day. “She said, ‘I can’t believe y’all did that for my dad. He’s my hero. He’s the best man I’ve ever met. And you just blessed him in a way that I can’t even … I can’t ever say thanks.’” Home-state boy helps out Although Faircloth and his charity have been providing free RVs to disaster victims since the huge California wildfires of November 2018, the storm damage in Western North Carolina was especially personal for him. Faircloth grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C. His father coached football at Wake Forest University. “That’s where I went to college and went to high school, in Winston-Salem, which is just a couple hours away from where all this was going on,” he said. “So when this [storm] happened, I just said, ‘Hey, we’re all in on Western North Carolina.’ I know those people. I know their language. I know their customs. These are my people.” 'He said he couldn’t get his tires wet.' Faircloth has learned many lessons over the years of doing disaster relief work. He makes sure the RVs they provide are in good shape so that the recipient families don’t have to contend with repairs, leaks, or non-functioning appliances. Volunteers stock each RV with food and supplies. He also learned that the government is not the answer. Local people end up doing the rebuilding, the supporting, and the grieving along with all of their neighbors, he said. “Amazing that just regular people can do more than the government in this work,” he said. — (@) EmergencyRV.org brought an RV to a veteran in Bat Cave, N.C., whose property was devastated by the floods even though it sits high above the creek that turned into a violent river. The man told Faircloth that FEMA refused to inspect his property because it required agents to drive a truck through the creek that is barely two feet deep. “No, they wouldn’t drive through the creek,” the man told Faircloth in a video posted on social media. “I’ll try not to cuss, but I told the dude, I said, ‘What would he do if it was raining? How would you get here?’ He said he couldn’t get his tires wet.” Faircloth made a video of himself driving a pickup truck across the shallow creek. “Well, FEMA, here’s how we do it. Watch, watch,” Faircloth said as the truck rolled through the water. “You just crossed the river. It’s a veteran, for God’s sake. Look, actually, it’s two rivers, but it’s actually a creek. Come on, people. It’s not that hard.” The veteran said he cares for his daughter who has Down syndrome, so the RV shelter would be especially appreciated. 'It was so unbelievably sad seeing people in tents.' Not far away on the veteran’s property, a farmer from Minnesota and a New York City firefighter worked together to clear debris. Both men said they felt called by God to come to North Carolina and help the storm victims. Faircloth said he gets frustrated because of the huge demand for shelter at a time when FEMA is scaling back its presence in the devastated region. And he knows of large lots in Florida where hundreds of brand-new FEMA campers have been sitting so long that grass grew up around them. Before Hurricane Helene, Faircloth said he offered to buy some of the FEMA campers sitting in a Florida Division of Emergency Management lot. He said he would have staged them around the country. The Florida officials refused, he said. “They had 1,600 up there, and I think they deployed 300 of them during Helene relief, and they denied us,” he said. Denied even when Faircloth asked for a single camper to house a 103-year-old World War II veteran who was living in his truck. “You deny a guy like that? We were trying to help, and we helped him,” Faircloth said. “We were able to get an RV to that guy the next day from another citizen. It’s just, it’s crazy.” Woody Faircloth about to drive across a shallow creek that a storm victim said FEMA officials refused to cross in order to inspect his property. “It’s actually a creek,” he said. “Come on, people.”Photo courtesy of Woody Faircloth Blaze News asked FEMA about the lots full of campers in Florida and why they are not being used to help in North Carolina. A FEMA official said some of the RVs would be going to North Carolina. “FEMA currently has units staging in Florida that are being readied to deploy to survivors in the state,” the official said in a statement. EmergencyRV.org has delivered 57 RVs to survivors in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. The charity averages about one new placement per day. Anyone wishing to donate an RV in good condition, support the work financially, or volunteer to drive donated RVs to North Carolina can do so on the EmergencyRV fundraising page. Faircloth said the work is hard and takes its toll. When he asked Luna if she wanted to take a break from the traveling, there was no hesitation. “She snapped right up. She said, ‘Dad, don’t you ever say that again. That’s not what this is about. We’re going to keep helping people.’” So the dynamic duo will again head for Western North Carolina at Christmas. Because the need is only growing. “We’re going to be there the week of Christmas to New Year’s delivering RVs again,” he said. “I told the people who stepped up and said they would help us that are boots on the ground there early on. I said, ‘Look, guys, I hope you know that this is going to get worse before it gets better, and this is going to be a long, long haul of work that needs to be done. These people are going to need help for a long time.’” Hurricane Helene flooding devastated the property of Nan Collins in Burnsville, N.C. She lost five living spaces, a bus, RVs, a barn, and a garden.Photo courtesy of Woody Faircloth Among the victims assisted by EmergencyRV was a homeless U.S. Navy veteran who was displaced when the Asheville shelter where he lived was destroyed. He and some 200 other vets suddenly needed a place to live. Faircloth delivered as many RVs as he could to the Statesville RV Park in Statesville, N.C. “I’ve never had nothing like this,” the veteran told Faircloth in a video posted online. “I lived in motels most of my life.” The man knows all about storms. He worked many of them over the years doing “tree work.” The rescue shelter of an RV was deeply appreciated, he said. “This is really nice,” he said. “I mean, it’s more than I expect.” Faircloth and Luna are fueled by the good work they do, but it sometimes exacts an emotional toll. “We had a big cry together in Swannanoa the other day,” he said. “It was so unbelievably sad seeing people in tents. Seeing some people weren’t in tents but were in substandard shelter and standing around fires, eating the hot dogs off sticks. “She just started weeping,” Faircloth said. “I was like, ‘Honey, it’s okay. We’re going to help a lot of these people down here.’ She said, ‘Dad, we can’t help them all.’” Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

UFC veteran Jim Miller said he doesn't believe fighters should be taking time off to use testosterone before returning to the Octagon.Speaking specifically about former opponent Donald Cerrone, Miller said that while Cerrone has been "very, very open" about his use of testosterone replacement, it will not heal his brain from previous knockouts."He got knocked out quite a few times, and that's not healing from going on a little [testosterone replacement therapy] or whatever. I'm not super into it, to be 100% honest."Cerrone initially ended his career in July 2022 when he lost his sixth straight fight with a guillotine choke from Miller. Miller was avenging a 2014 loss to Cerrone that ended in a head-kick KO.Cerrone announced in October, however, that he wanted to return to the UFC and complete the two remaining fights on his contract."When I retired, I told you I was getting my hair done and getting on steroids," Cerrone said at the time. "The last two years, taking TRT and a bunch of peptides. Now we've got a protocol. For all you people that [said], 'Oh, what if you get on it and you can't ever come off?'" he said rhetorically. "Well, now I have to come off and piss clean. Fight in a few months. So watch this."According to MMA Fighting, Cerrone is planning his comeback around his 42nd birthday in March 2025.'I'm not a very big fan of the whole steroid vacation thing. What are we doing?'Miller told the outlet that while he has a tough time "telling other grown men what to do," it's up to Cerrone and his team to decide "if they want him to get punched in the head again."The 41-year-old then explained that he doesn't approve of the steroid usage before a comeback."I'm not a very big fan of the whole steroid vacation thing. What are we doing? But he's going to do what he wants to do."Miller said that for himself, he would never want to retire and then feel compelled to return. "When I make that choice that it's done for me, it's done."Miller's disapproval seemed rooted in a concern for fighters not properly taking care of themselves. He directly referred to his brother Dan, a former UFC fighter who last fought in 2015 but retired due to what Miller described as an attempted return from injury that ultimately ended his career."It's a tough spot [for Cerrone]. I don't like making decisions for other grown men. They get to do their own thing. Whatever he decides to do, do it and do it to the fullest."Cerrone seemingly already has plans beyond his two remaining fights with the UFC. He recently appeared on the comedy podcast "Kill Tony" and declared that he wanted to fight boxer Jake Paul in mixed martial arts.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter despite numerous pledges not to do so while some January 6 protesters whose crimes don’t even hold a candle to Hunter’s are still sitting in jail. Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters numerous times that this wouldn’t happen, even going so far as to act exasperated when she was asked. “It’s still a no, it will be a no. It is a no, and I don’t have anything else to add,” she said in one of many press conferences, and in another, she said, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” Eric Eggers, vice president of the Government Accountability Institute, believes this “decades worth of grace for Hunter” has created “grace and space” for Joe Biden himself. “These are business dealings in which Joe Biden wouldn’t have just been adjacent,” he tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight.” “Joe Biden was considered an employee of some of Hunter Biden’s businesses when he wasn’t the vice president. So I think by pardoning Hunter, Joe Biden essentially has pardoned himself.” “We all knew this was going to happen, it’s not a surprise. If it is a surprise, you kind of need to check yourself,” Peterson comments. “But at the same time, actually watching it happen is interesting because there’s fallout politically.” “And I would love to see actual justice occur in some way,” he adds. Savage agrees, noting that a large part of the conservative response on social media platforms like X was focused on January 6. “If they’re going to do that, then Donald Trump should push for the pardons for J6ers immediately,” Savage says. “Yeah, and I mean, I don’t think they’re comparable. One is terrible injustice and the other is the government acting in a way that’s not compatible with the Constitution. If it helps, great. Like, if it helps people make the case, yeah, let’s do it,” Peterson adds. Want more from 'Blaze News Tonight'?To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

In Episode 375 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger investigate a haunted home in Dixmont, Maine, that made the news back in 1905 because a ghost—believed to be the spirit of a murdered peddler from decades earlier—was stirring up activity throughout the house. Dozens of locals witnessed the unexplained phenomena that attracted the attention of the press. BECOME A LEGENDARY PATRON: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends CREDITS: Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger Edited by: Ray Auger Theme Music by: John Judd SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST FOR FREE: Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Podcasts | TuneIn | iHeartRadio JOIN OUR SUPER-SECRET: New England Legends Facebook Group

The CEO of PC case maker NZXT has come out with a response after the company was the center of an expose regarding its Flex program. Johnny Hou, the CEO of NZXT, hosted a video where he admitted that the company had “messed up”. The NZXT Flex program has been the subject of much criticism. It allows customers to rent a specific PC build from the company, but business practices around it - and price - have made it the subject of a blasting. NZXT might make some of the best PC case designs around, as you can see in our NZXT H7 Flow review, but its Flex program's offerings have been hard to defend. Continue reading NZXT scrambles to fix controversial gaming PC rental scheme, as anger mounts MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming

PC cooling specialist Arctic has come out with a new mini gaming PC from the left field. Dubbed the Senza, the company describes it as an “under desk PC,” and it comes packed with a Ryzen 5000 APU to turn your entire desk into a PC. The Senza has a lot in common with the slew of mini PCs that are currently popping up everywhere. However, rather than using the hardware inside the best mini gaming PC designs, it instead falls back on a two-generation old processor. Arctic has specced up the base model with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500GT, while more powerful versions use the Ryzen 7 5700G and 5700G Pro. Continue reading This really cool mini PC hides under your desk, and now we want a gaming version MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming

We all know how city-builders work at this point. You hover around the map to meticulously place each building and construct infrastructure. Well, what if I told you it could be more hands-on than that? The new co-op builder Overthrown turns all that on its head by having you literally haul your kingdom with your own two hands. From carrying whole buildings to tossing trees right into the lumber mill, Overthrown is all about adding some fun to everything you think you know about the genre - and you can play it right now. Continue reading Chaotic building-throwing construction sim Overthrown releases into early access MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best building games, Best indie games, Best sandbox games