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Dem Candidate, Music Superstar With Sick Sexual History Defended Fellow Musician’s Video In Which He Gropes and Kills Woman

Do Democrats even bother to vet their candidates for sexual depravity in their past, or do they just wing it?

This has been an open question since the Graham Platner disaster, but at least the man who won the Maine Democratic senatorial nomination and then was forced to give it up after a rape allegation topped off a long, sordid, and documented history of perversion gave it up. Bobby Pulido is still running, and while he’s never been accused of rape, the Texas U.S. House candidate’s past is so deeply troubling that he should have bowed out long ago.

In the latest resurfaced problem for the congressional hopeful and Tejano music star, Pulido defended the artist behind a controversial 2016 music video in which the musician tortures, gropes, and then kills an unfaithful girlfriend.

Pulido called it “the decision of the artist and their team” — which, considering the decisions Pulido has made in the past, is probably not the statement he wanted resurfacing.

According to Fox News, the controversy involved Mexican folk singer Gerardo Ortíz and the video for his song “Fuiste Mía,” or “You Were Mine.”

The video initially shows pictures of a happy couple — the singer and another woman. Then, Ortíz discovers her being romantic with another man.

Ortíz pulls a gun out of a cabinet and shoots the man dead. He then corners the cheating girlfriend, handcuffs her, gropes her, and shoves her into a car trunk while choking her.

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Letitia James: Postal Service and POTUS Don’t Have Jurisdiction Over Elections

Wednesday on MS NOW’s “On the Line,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said the U.S. Postal Service and the president do not “have jurisdiction over the elections.”

James said, “I and my Democratic attorneys general will continue to challenge this rule, because this rule will create nothing but chaos and confusion in the state of North Carolina. In less than 11 days, they will mail out ballots to individuals who are in the armed forces, as well as to citizens in these United States. And it’s critically important that individuals understand that the only reason why this rule was created is because individuals, particularly those in the White House, believe that they cannot run on their record and therefore they have to steal this election. This is nothing more than an attempt to suppress the right to vote. And I and my Democratic colleagues will fight this all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”

She added, “Let’s be clear, the United States Postal Service and the president of these United States does not have jurisdiction over the elections, it is states and it’s in the Constitution. And that’s why it’s critically important that individuals understand that states have the power and the duty and the responsibility to administer elections, not the president and definitely not the postal system.”

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Iran Says Persian-Language Media Outlets ‘Funded By CIA’ Are Military Targets

One key tool Washington has long utilized for influence operations and covert regime change plotting abroad has long been the establishment of foreign media for political messaging.

The idea is that a foreign language satellite news channel gets presented as ‘independent’ while in reality it beams propaganda onto a unsuspecting population within a so-called ‘rogue’ state being targeted by the US.

For example, WikiLeaks previously revealed that US intelligence invested heavily in such projects to bolster anti-Assad forces and sentiment in the context of last decade’s proxy war in Syria.

Currently, Iran says it is fully aware of several Persian-language media outlets which are subversive, given they have the backing of the US, UK, or Israeli governments, or others like Saudi Arabia.

The AFP in a Wednesday report has said Iranian state media has newly called out the following as hostile propaganda media fronts:

  • BBC Persian
  • Iran International
  • Radio Farda

An Iranian military spokesman has said these have been added to the armed forces’ “military target bank” – putting the outlets on notice that their offices and infrastructure could come under attack.

“These hostile media outlets are the soldiers of Zionism and America and are included in our military target bank,” military spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi announced.

He charged that they are “directly connected to Mossad, CIA and enemy intelligence organizations.” He emphasized: “The Iranian Armed Forces do not view these news outlets as media.”

And interestingly, per AFP: “Iran has designated Iran International as a terrorist organization since 2022 and has warned that cooperation with the channel is punishable under Iranian law.”

Earlier in the Iran war, we featured analysis which pointed out that Iran International calls itself the “most popular Persian speaking foreign based news channel in Iran”.It employs 700 people and broadcasts into Iran from London via satellite, radio and social media outlets.

Iran International has been accused by critics of promoting “regime change” in Iran and advancing the position of the former shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, for a return to power. The outlet has long denied links to Israel or Saudi Arabia. The outlet reported heavily on protests that struck Iran at the beginning of this year, sparked by a cost-of-living crisis brought on, in part, by US sanctions.

In January 2025, the news site reported that more than 36,500 people were killed in a crackdown on protests. Those numbers were significantly higher than those estimated by the US and other western-based human rights groups.

US President Donald Trump cited casualty numbers similar to those reported by Iran International days before launching a war on Iran on February 28, but did not disclose where he had gotten the death toll number.

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The Media Made the Midterms About Trump. He’s Taking Them Up on It.

President Donald Trump knows exactly what Democrats plan to run against this November: Orange Man Bad.

So President Trump made a decision that has some political professionals reaching for the smelling salts. MAGA Inc. has roughly $400 million in its political war chest, and Trump wants part of it used for national advertising that tells voters what his administration has actually accomplished.

The strategy is almost embarrassingly logical. Democrats plan to make congressional races a referendum on Trump.

He’s accepting the invitation.

From The Atlantic:

President Trump gathered his top political advisers in the Oval Office early this month to solve a problem of riches: how to spend his super PAC’s $400 million political war chest with fewer than 100 days to go before the midterm elections.

Republican strategists are concerned about Trump’s low approval ratings and voter anxiety about the economy. One person familiar with the Oval Office strategy meeting put it this way: “When the issues that you typically campaign on don’t move voters—or voters are pissed off at you about those issues—the question becomes: What do you campaign on?” Some GOP strategists favor focusing entirely on specific races in an effort to convince voters of the merits of individual candidates and local issues.

But Trump himself has rejected that approach. House and Senate Democrats, the president noted during the meeting, will make their fall campaigns a referendum on him. His advisers told him that the poor polling reflects the fact that the voting public still does not know about many of his accomplishments—the dozens of new stock-market highs, a decline in fentanyl deaths, the “sealed” southern border, the increase in domestic-manufacturing production.

The solution Trump settled on, according to three people familiar with the meeting, was to lean into the Democratic strategy of focusing on himself. The president ordered a series of television advertisements about his own record that will serve as a backdrop to the hundreds of individual House and Senate contests. Trump wanted what one person described to us as “environmental lift” ads—commercials that would focus on nationalizing the midterms broadly around his victories—and he suggested that the ad makers mine his own on-camera statements as building blocks. “Go look at the clips,” the president told his team, according to this person. “I cite accomplishments all the time.”

Critics scream danger! Trump’s approval numbers are weak, voters remain worried about prices, and the president isn’t personally on the November ballot.

Some Republican strategists would rather spend the money entirely on individual House and Senate candidates.

Trump sees a larger problem: voters can’t judge accomplishments they rarely hear about.

Consider the record. His tax law created deductions for qualified tips and overtime, increased the deduction for seniors, and created a deduction for interest on qualifying American-made vehicle loans.

Those are no longer campaign promises: they’re in the tax code.

Then there’s the border. Southwest Border Patrol encounters fell 93% in May 2025 compared with May 2024, while releases of illegals by Border Patrol dropped from more than 62,000 to zero for the month.

Trump also ordered the operation that captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 3, 2026. U.S. forces apprehended Maduro and his wife, ending years in which an indicted Venezuelan strongman operated comfortably in America’s hemisphere while Washington mostly issued statements about him.

Iran’s nuclear infrastructure took another beating under Trump. U.S. strikes against Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan severely damaged key nuclear facilities, with intelligence assessments concluding that several would require years to rebuild.

Somehow, a president who delivered tax relief, shut down much of the border chaos, captured Maduro, and smashed critical Iranian nuclear infrastructure is supposed to quietly sit while Democrats define his presidency for him.

Why?

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Top Iowa Democrats Urge Kamala Harris to Stay Away From Their State Ahead of Midterms

Two of Iowa’s most prominent Democratic candidates have urged former Vice-President Kamala Harris to stay away from their state ahead of the midterms.

Iowa gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand was asked by POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin whether he wanted Harris to come and campaign for him.

“No thanks,” he responded: Let’s move on. We need some new leadership.”

Asked whether Harris should run again in 2028, his answer was similarly emphatic.

”No,” he said.

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Iowa Dem Josh Turek Advised Illegal Immigrants How to Avoid ICE Detainment in Official Newsletter

Obama-endorsed Iowa Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Josh Turek has portrayed himself as a “common-sense” moderate, even as his official legislative newsletter advised illegal immigrants on avoiding ICE detainment and as he called for an “easier pathway to citizenship.”

Turek, who has been an Iowa state representative since 2023, is running against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). He has described himself as a “prairie populist” and a “common-sense” lawmaker capable of appealing to “Iowans of all political stripes.”

But Turek’s immigration record complicates that moderate pitch.

Turek’s official legislative newsletter included guidance for illegal immigrants on avoiding detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A section of Turek’s newsletter titled “Know Your Rights as an Immigrant,” which includes a link to the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) “Immigrants’ Rights” page, stated:

Given the recent policy changes enacted by the Trump administration on both legal and illegal immigrants, I wanted to provide a thorough list of your rights and how they apply in different scenarios. The ACLU is a great resource that provides tips on what to do in various situations. Please click here to read more.

Turek first called for “an easier pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigrants in April and used the same phrase again this month in an interview with the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

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16 Facts About The Shocking Decline Of Public Education In The U.S. That Every American Should Know

Virtually everyone agrees that our public schools are in a state of decline. Needless to say, it isn’t because we aren’t spending enough money. The federal government, our state governments and our local governments are collectively spending nearly a trillion dollars a year on public education. That is a colossal pile of money. Since 1960, spending per student has increased by 350 percent. That is even after adjusting for inflation. At this stage, we spend more money per student than any other nation on the entire planet other than Luxembourg. Anyone that believes that we can solve our education crisis by spending even more money is simply being delusional.

For nearly a trillion dollars a year, we should be getting a world class education system.

But we aren’t.

In fact, students in the U.S. just keep dropping down the global rankings.

Urgent action is required if we are going to turn this around.

Gallup conducted a survey that discovered that an all-time low 35 percent of U.S. adults are satisfied with the quality of public education in the United States.

There appears to be a growing consensus that we have a major national crisis on our hands, and those that are responsible for this crisis need to be held accountable. The following are 16 facts about the shocking decline of public education in the U.S. that every American should know…

#1 Nearly one-fifth of all high school graduates in the United States cannot even read at a functional level…

National statistics indicate that close to one-fifth of high school graduates are unable to read at a functional level. This means they cannot effectively comprehend and use written information in daily life or work settings.

#2 Only 35 percent of high school seniors are proficient at reading, and only 22 percent of high school seniors are proficient at math…

The scale of the crisis is staggering. Only 35% of high school seniors read at a proficient level. One-third lack basic reading comprehension skills. In mathematics, the picture is even bleaker. Only 22% achieved proficiency. Alarmingly, 45% can’t even manage basic math. Around 2/3 are academically unprepared for college in math and reading. Even prestigious universities like Harvard must offer remedial courses for incoming freshmen lacking foundational skills.

#3 For high school seniors in the United States, math scores have fallen to the lowest level since 2005 and reading scores have fallen to the lowest level since 1992…

The latest report card on American education is in, and it’s devastating. The 2025 National Assessment of Educational Progress, released last month, revealed that the nation’s 12th-graders hit a historic performance low. Math scores cratered to levels not seen since 2005. Reading scores plummeted to their lowest level since testing began in 1992.

#4 According to the most recent NAEP assessment, only 28 percent of 8th grade students in the United States are proficient at math…

Only 28% of 8th graders scored proficient in math on the latest NAEP assessment. The effects are most severe in low-income districts, where school closures, chronic absenteeism, and staffing instability have compounded over time.

#5 In just one decade, the percentage of 13-year-olds enrolled in algebra dropped from 34 percent to 24 percent…

According to the OECD, our average student is almost a full year behind the average student from other countries. Singapore’s students are three years ahead of ours. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), our students are also developing slower than in previous years. In 2023, only 24% of America’s 13-year-olds were enrolled in algebra. A decade earlier, that number was 34%.

#6 It appears that the pandemic had a substantial negative impact on both the reading skills and the math skills of our fourth-grade students…

In spring 2023, just 56 percent of American fourth-graders were performing on grade level in math, down from 69 percent in 2019, according to just one example of test score data cited in the report.

Declines in reading were less stark but still concerning, and concentrated in earlier grades, with 65 percent of third-graders performing on grade level, compared with 72 percent in 2019. Recovery in reading has also been slower, with some researchers finding essentially no rebound since students returned to the classroom.

#7 At this point, only 26 percent of U.S. adults can name all three branches of government…

Only 26% of American adults can name the three branches of government. Less than one-quarter of college graduates knew that the First Amendment prohibits Congress from establishing a national religion. Most adults have no idea how many Justices serve on the Supreme Court. Tragically, Princeton University found that barely one-third (36%) of adults could pass a multiple-choice test consisting of questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship Test.

#8 Almost two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are not able to identify the United Kingdom on a map of the world…

Sixty percent of students could not identify the countries the United States fought in World War II. Only 24% knew why the colonists fought against the British. Only 24% could identify Benjamin Franklin as a Founder with more students (37%) believing that he invented the light bulb. Our students fared no better in basic geography. A National Geographic study found that nearly two-thirds of Americans (ages 18-24) were unable to identify the United Kingdom (one of our most dependable foreign allies) on a world map. Closer to home, most young Americans were unable to identify the state of Ohio on a map.

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Tech Evangelist Bill Gates Suddenly Argues AI Needs to Slow Down to Protect Humanity

Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and leftist billionaire who has spent years predicting that AI would free people from drudgery and speed cures for disease and climate change, published an essay Wednesday warning that without urgent government intervention, AI could cause more harm than good.

Bill Gates, who transformed himself from a software tycoon into a leftist icon of environmentalism and health philanthropy,  has now published an essay calling for an AI slowdown. This is a massive shift is a shift for a tech evangelist who has built his post-Microsoft career on faith in AI’s ability to fix hard problems. Gates said this is the first time in his life he wishes a new technology would advance more slowly.

“I’m surprised to feel this way,” Gates said. “I’ve never seen a problem that innovation can’t solve.”

Gates grouped his worries into three categories: safety threats such as AI-enabled hacking, biological weapons and fraud; job losses driven by AI and AI-powered robots; and risks to children, including stunted learning and damaged human relationships. Writing software code and enabling new kinds of cyberattacks are the two areas where he says AI has recently outpaced his own expectations. Asked about the latter, he used one word: “mind-blowing.”

Gates argued the AI industry cannot police itself and called on the U.S. government to take the lead in regulating it. He wants broad national and international frameworks to address AI’s risks to security, safety, jobs and other areas, built around collaboration between elected officials, subject-matter experts and ordinary citizens. The idea echoes a proposal from AI leader Demis Hassabis, who has called for international AI safety standards overseen by an expert body.

“My basic view is nobody’s shown up,” Gates said of the lack of government action so far. “So this is a shrill call, and I want this to be bipartisan.”

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Accused Murderer Out on $600K Bond Recruited USPS Carriers to Steal Nearly $24 MILLION in Checks — Then Sold Them on Telegram

A 28-year-old Houston man already free on a $600,000 bond in a murder case is now accused of running a nearly $24 million check-theft ring, by recruiting U.S. Postal Service mail carriers to steal checks off their own routes and selling the loot on Telegram.

Tryston Tremaine Vaughn, 28, is alleged to have recruited USPS mail carriers to steal checks on their delivery routes, the DOJ said in an August 25 statement.

Those checks were then allegedly bought from the postal workers by Vaughn and others, advertised on a Telegram channel called “slipsandchips,” and shipped to buyers across the country via FedEx.

Prosecutors say the haul totaled approximately $23,973,338.15. One stolen check was for $1.5 million.

And the man accused of running the operation was not locked in a cell while this was happening. He was walking around on bond after a fatal shooting.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas returned a nine-count indictment charging five people:

  • Tryston Tremaine Vaughn, 28 — alleged recruiter and ringleader
  • Alyssa Nadine Bryant, 27 — accused of helping buy, sell, and ship the stolen checks
  • Catherine Clauzelle Kilpatrick, 29 — USPS mail carrier (Greens North Station)
  • Drakkor Jamar Alexander, 34 — USPS mail carrier (Spring Main Post Office)
  • Malcolm Tiree Joubert, 35 — USPS mail carrier (Windmill Station)

All five face conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. The three carriers also face theft of mail matter by a postal employee.

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Stars and Stripes, Perhaps Not Forever

In late 1861, Union soldiers in Bloomfield, Missouri, found the local newspaper’s office empty and decided to put it to good use. Stars and Stripes covered the activities of the three Illinois regiments. Their commander in chief, of course, was US president Abraham Lincoln.

Over time, the paper gained direct funding from the military, but with supposed “editorial independence,” and a mission “to provide first-hand reporting from bases around the world and unbiased, credible news to America’s military.” Those who worked in uniform abroad through two world wars and after, often not in a position to visit a newspaper stand or receive news via TV or radio, could read Stars and Stripes (I read it in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm).

On August 21, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth fired the paper’s publisher, editor-in-chief, and a top reporter after they publicly commented on Department of Defense “interference” with the newspaper’s “independence.”

Once again, Abraham Lincoln — or at least the aircraft carrier named for him — played a central role as Hegseth whined over the paper’s coverage of complaints from deployed sailors’ families concerning the material and mental health situation aboard that vessel.

The firings aren’t really as sudden as they might seem to those not following closely over time.

The first Trump administration floated a plan to shutter Stars and Stripes, but backed down after a “bipartisan” backlash. With Hegseth at the helm in Trump’s second time around, DoD rages frequently against “woke distractions” in its reportage, firing its ombudsman in May for noticing that attempts to change it into a “morale booster” instead of a news outlet are “contrary to the news organization’s mission.”

So, here’s the thing: Who pays the piper, calls the tune.

Stars and Stripes is largely funded by, and its operations and distribution are almost completely enabled by, the US government. “Editorial independence” may sound like a wonderful idea, but there’s always been a leash. We’re just watching the leash get shorter.

Thankfully, the collar at the end of that leash only strangles Stars and Stripes.

These days, even troops aboard ships at sea and at remote firebases in hostile territory have far greater contact with the outside world, most of the time, than even civilians at home enjoyed 50, let alone 150, years ago.

Cell phones. Email. Web access. Zoom. It’s not 100% there, 100% of the time, but neither was Stars and Stripes.

Pete Hegseth can cry if he wants to. He can throw himself on the floor and threaten to hold his breath until he turns blue. The troops will get still their news, whether he likes it or not. They’ll get the kind of coverage they want to get, not just the kind he wants them to get.

And because all that technology runs two-way, they can also REPORT the news they want covered without consulting him first as he obviously expects Stars and Stripes to.

The military news coverage, and consumption, of the future will look a lot more like WikiLeaks than like Stars and Stripes.

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