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Anti-ICE protester blinded by federal agent during demonstration in Santa Ana, family says

A young protester narrowly avoided being killed but was left permanently blind after a Department of Homeland Security agent fired a nonlethal round at close range during a Santa Ana protest last week, according to family of the victim.

Jeri Rees said her 21-year-old nephew, Kaden Rummler, underwent six hours of surgery and that doctors found shards of plastic, glass and metal embedded in his eyes and around his face, including a metal piece lodged 7 millimeters from a carotid artery.

“That could have cost him his life,” Rees said.

“But now, for the next six weeks, he can’t sneeze or cough because it could do a lot of damage.”

She said doctors did not want to remove the shrapnel near the artery out of fear that it could kill him. She said her nephew also suffered a fractured skull around his eyes and nose and that doctors said he had permanently lost the vision in his left eye. She said the Homeland Security agent was a few feet from her nephew when he fired the weapon.

Several videos of Friday’s incident were shared on social media. One video shows demonstrators, who were protesting the fatal shooting in Minnesota of Renee Good, throwing orange safety cones at the agents, who were standing guard outside the Santa Ana federal building.

The video cuts to three agents approaching the group before one agent tries to take a young person into custody, prompting at least three demonstrators to try to intervene. The person taken into custody was identified by friends as Skye Jones.

In the video, at least one agent appears to fire nonlethal rounds at the crowd, hitting one woman in the leg before aiming and striking Rummler’s face.

The video shows Rummler dropping to the ground after being shot, holding his face as the crowd retreats. The same agent then drags him by the hood of their jacket; they appear to be choking, grasping at the jacket binding their neck as blood pours from their left eye.

Another video shows Rummler inside the building, lying on the ground bleeding while agents fire what appear to be pepper balls at the back of the head and neck of a man trying to record the incident with his cellphone.

Rees said her nephew told her that the agents pressed his face against the pool of blood and did not immediately call paramedics.

“The other officers were mocking him, saying, ‘You’re going to lose your eye,’” she said, recalling what her nephew told her.

Friday’s violent clash occurred just two days after a federal immigration agent fatally shot Good, a Minnesota mother of three. The slaying sparked public outcry, nationwide protests and scrutiny of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the agent was acting in self-defense.

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Rand Paul to Joe Rogan: DOJ Won’t Prosecute Anthony Fauci for Lying

Making an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) expressed his frustration that the Trump administration has failed to refer Anthony Fauci for criminal prosecution for lying to Congress.

Paul told Rogan that he believes Fauci’s blanket pardon—issued by former President Joe Biden during the waning hours of his presidency—should be challenged in court. Paul said he has provided Attorney General Pam Bondi with evidence that Fauci misled Congress about gain-of-function research and also instructed his deputies to destroy public records in order to stymie scrutiny.

“I’ve summarized it again in a criminal referral to Trump’s attorney general, and I still haven’t gotten action,” said Paul. “They ought to take it to court.”

Paul insisted that he couldn’t guarantee victory in court, given the sweeping nature of the pardon issued to Fauci. But he thought it was worth doing in order to see if the Supreme Court might narrow the pardon.

Reason‘s Christian Britschgi has argued that Fauci’s statements to Congress about whether the agency he oversaw funded high-risk gain-of-function research that could have caused the COVID-19 pandemic were certainly misleading. Moreover, the timeline of the Fauci pardon is quite suspicious, since it covers the period of time during which Fauci plausibly signed off on gain-of-function research despite a presidential executive order mandating a pause on such funding. The pardon window does not cover just his time as the nation’s top coronavirus adviser, nor does it extend to his entire career in government service: It dates to 2014, when President Barack Obama halted gain-of-function research.

Paul and Rogan also recapped many of the erroneous policies recommended by Fauci during the pandemic: made-up social distancing guidelines, mask mandate flip-flops, and vaccine requirements.

It’s always refreshing to see libertarian views being represented on such an important platform. And given President Donald Trump’s misguided zeal to enlist his Justice Department to investigate various political enemies for dubious reasons—James Comey, Letitia James, Jerome Powell, and others—it’s disappointing that the DOJ isn’t contemplating action against Fauci, who is a much more deserving target.

Maybe Bondi just has her hands full drawing black lines all over the Epstein files.

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Is Our Understanding of the Fossil Record Flawed? New Research Reveals a “Flood” of New Insights that Challenge Old Ideas

How paleontologists interpret the fossil record could be set to change, as new research demonstrates that floodwaters alter the disposition of bones in ways that run counter to decades of understanding.

During flood events, dinosaur and mammal bones are transported from their original locations by raging waters and buried elsewhere before becoming fossils. Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities reported their discovery of flood-based fossil transport in a recent paper published in Paleobiology.

An Unpredictable Environment

Decades ago, scientists conducted foundational research that is still used to understand how water flow affects bone transport prior to fossilization. Unfortunately, that work was limited in scope, focusing solely on typical river-flow conditions and not accounting for periodic disruptions. Despite a lack of technical understanding of how flooding affects bone placement, researchers have repeatedly invoked flooding to explain animal burials.

The new work focuses on the types of singular flooding events that can greatly alter the disposition of materials in sediment. To better understand this, they tested how bones move under the unsteady flow dynamics common in natural sheet floods.

“Paleontologists try to piece together the stories of how fossil sites actually came to be, sort of CSI style,” said lead author Michael Chiappone, a University of Minnesota Ph.D. candidate. “So we asked ourselves: ‘Are fossil organisms preserved in the places where they died? Or are we finding them after they’ve been moved some distance after death by scavengers or water flow?’”

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Australia’s New Hate Speech Bill Is Reckless, Contradictory, and Repressive

On January 12, Australia’s Attorney-General Michelle Rowland stepped to the podium and announced what she called “the toughest hate laws Australia has ever seen.”

The government plans to push its Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 through Parliament on January 20, turning Australia’s speech laws into something that reads more like a psychological test than a criminal code.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here (and the memorandum here.)

The same week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was praising Iranians “standing up for their human rights,” his government was preparing to criminalize speech at home even when no one’s rights or feelings had actually been touched.

The bill’s centerpiece is a new racial vilification offense. It bans “publicly promoting or inciting hatred” based on race, color, or national or ethnic origin, with penalties of up to five years in prison.

The measure’s core novelty is what it removes: proof of harm.

It’s “immaterial,” the draft says, whether “the conduct actually results in hatred” or whether anyone “actually” feels intimidated or fears harassment.

The courts will instead consider what a hypothetical “reasonable” member of the targeted group would feel, even if no such person exists in the case.

Prosecutors, the explanatory note clarifies, “would not be required to prove” any real fear at all.

The message: you can go to prison for causing theoretical discomfort in a theoretical person.

Rowland’s bill doesn’t stop at the town square or the street corner. It explicitly defines a “public place” to include any form of electronic communication, including social media, blogs, livestreams, recordings, and content posted from private property if the public can see it.

In other words, the living room webcam and the backyard podcast are now public arenas. A joke, a meme, or an overheard rant could be weighed for its impact on an imaginary “reasonable person” who never existed.

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Spain Punishes Homeowners: Selling Your Home Can Cost You Up to 40 % in Taxes

For years, Spain has promoted the idea that homeownership is the ultimate safe haven for family savings. What is rarely mentioned is that, when the time comes to sell, the State shows up with a bill that can swallow up to 40 % of the profit.

The hit begins with personal income tax. Capital gains are currently taxed at rates of up to 28 %, among the highest in Europe. But the blow doesn’t end there. Local governments impose the so-called municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía municipal), which taxes the supposed increase in the value of the land—even when the real profit is minimal or highly questionable.

Added to this is a crucial factor that the tax authorities deliberately ignore: inflation. In Spain, the original purchase price is not adjusted to reflect the loss of purchasing power over time. As a result, the State taxes as “profit” what, in many cases, is merely a nominal price increase.

Spain’s approach stands in sharp contrast to that of other countries. In the United States, for example, homeowners can exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains ($500,000 for married couples) on the sale of their primary residence, provided certain conditions are met. In many cases, middle-class families pay nothing at all when selling their homes.

In countries like Germany, capital gains on residential property can be entirely tax-free if the property is held for more than ten years. France offers significant reductions over time, eventually eliminating capital gains tax altogether after long-term ownership. Even Portugal provides rollover relief when proceeds are reinvested in another primary residence.

Spain, by contrast, offers limited and restrictive exemptions, while maintaining high marginal rates and local taxes that stack on top of national ones. The result is a system that discourages mobility, locks families into their homes, and penalizes long-term saving.

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Former South Korean President Faces Death Penalty by Current Pro-China Administration – They Already Have Him and His Wife in Prison

A special prosecutor has formally sought the death penalty against former President Yoon Suk Yeol, and life imprisonment against former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
The sole basis for this unprecedented move is the declaration of a state of emergency — an authority explicitly granted to the presidency under South Korea’s Constitution.

There were:

– No civilian deaths
– No armed clashes
– No ideological purges or mass repression

Yet prosecutors are now pursuing the maximum possible punishment.

This is not normal law enforcement. It is the retroactive criminalization of constitutional authority. If exercising emergency powers can later be reframed as a capital crime, no future leader will ever act decisively in a real national crisis. Political survival will replace national security judgment.

South Korea is a key U.S. ally. What happens here matters far beyond its borders. If a former president in an allied nation can face execution over a constitutional dispute with zero civilian casualties, it sets a precedent that should alarm every free society.

This is precisely the kind of story that deserves international scrutiny. Silence from the United States only emboldens the use of prosecutorial power as a political weapon.

The former President Yoon Suk Yeol is currently being held in prison by the pro-China regime that took power away from Yoon Suk Yeol and his party. A radical prosecutor has charged Yoon Suk Yeol with rebellion charges in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.

Yoon Suk Yeol has been persecuted since the new leaders took control of the country.

This is a very serious situation that is not making headlines in the US.

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Another Victory for Tom Fitton and Judicial Watch – Oregon Agrees to Clean 800,000 Names of Inactive Voters from Voter Rolls

Last June, Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, announced that his organization was suing Oregon to remove the names of inactive voters from the state’s voter rolls.

Here is what Tom said, “Hey, everyone. Huge news. Judicial Watch lawsuits led to the cleanup of 4 million dirty names from the voting rolls in just the last two years or so. But there’s more heavy lifting to be done for cleaner elections. That’s why Judicial Watch just sued the state of Oregon to force it to finally clean up its voting rolls, which are a mess. Federal law requires states to take reasonable steps to clean up their voting rolls, and Oregon hasn’t been doing that.

In fact, our new lawsuit, Just Filed For and With the Constitution Party of Oregon and Oregon Voters, details how 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties removed few or no registrations as required by federal election law.

Oregon and 35 of its counties had overall registration rates exceeding 100%. Frankly, Oregon has the highest known inactive registration rate of any state in the nation. Dirty voting rolls can mean dirty elections.

Oregon, as I said, has some of the worst voting rolls in America and needs to clean them up as soon as possible. In the meantime, Judicial Watch has lawsuits to clean up voting rolls in California and in Illinois. Simply put, millions of ineligible names need to be removed from the voting rolls under federal law, and Judicial Watch has been, is, and will be in federal court making it happen.
On Monday Tom Fitton announced that the Oregon Secretary of State announced removal of 800,000 dirty names from the state’s voter rolls.

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UK drops plans for mandatory digital ID for workers in latest U-turn, media reports

Britain is set to drop plans to make it mandatory for workers to hold a digital identity document, The Times newspaper, the BBC and other media reported on Tuesday, potentially marking another policy U-turn for the Labour government.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in September last year that his government would require every employee to hold a digital ID in an attempt to tackle illegal migration and reduce the threat from the populist Reform UK party.

The government said the digital ID would be held on people’s mobile phones and become a mandatory part of checks employers must make when hiring staff.

The plan drew criticism from political opponents, with some arguing it would not deter illegal migration and others warning it could infringe on civil liberties.

The Times said the government abandoned the plan amid concerns it could undermine public trust in the scheme, noting that when introduced in 2029, digital IDs would be optional rather than mandatory.

Other forms of documentation, such as an electronic visa or passport, would still be valid, The Times said.

“We are committed to mandatory digital right to work checks,” a government spokesperson said. “We have always been clear that details on the digital ID scheme will be set out following a full public consultation which will launch shortly.”

The spokesperson said current checks rely on a “hodgepodge” of paper-based systems, with no record of whether they were ever carried out, leaving the process open to fraud and abuse.

If plans for a mandatory digital ID are dropped, it would mark another policy climbdown for Starmer.

In December, the government scaled back a plan to raise more tax from farmers, months after it backed down on cuts to welfare spending and scaled back a proposal to reduce subsidies on energy bills for the elderly.

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Trump to antisemites: You’re not welcome in MAGA

President Trump had a resounding no for any antisemites claiming to be part of the Republican Party or his MAGA movement.

“I think we don’t need them,” he told The New York Times in an interview. “I think we don’t like them.”

His comments, made in a Wednesday interview but published on Sunday, came after a series of high profile ultra-conservative figures have made controversial comments about the Jewish people and antisemitic speech has split Republicans.

Trump said: “I condemn” antisemitism.

He said he’s an ally of Israel and was awarded its Israel Prize, considered the country’s highest honor.

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