DC arrests surpass 1,000 as Trump-backed crackdown enters 12th homicide-free day

Arrests under President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., have blown past 1,000 as the nation’s capital marked its 12th consecutive day without a homicide, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Monday.

Pirro said that on Sunday alone there were 86 arrests and 10 illegal guns seized, bringing the totals to 1,007 arrests and 111 guns taken off the streets.

“What does that mean? They can’t be used to shoot people, to kill people,” Pirro said Monday on “Fox & Friends,” referring to the weapons seizures. “And on top of all of that, we’ve got a government now where the people in D.C. are feeling safer. They know that there is a president who’s looking to protect them.”

SOME NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ARE NOW ARMED IN WASHINGTON, DC

Pirro credited President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal agencies with reshaping public safety in the capital.

“D.C. was one of the most violent cities in the world, and but for President Trump coming in and bringing in our federal partners … we’ve got a unified force of people and law enforcement who were going into the crime-ridden areas and making a difference,” she said.

“And I’ll tell you why it’s making a difference. Today is the 12th day without a homicide in Washington, D.C. So far this year, we’ve had 101 homicides. But for the last 12 days, nothing. Yep. Policing works.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said 26 of Sunday’s arrests came from FBI operations, including five drug seizures.

“Keep getting after it,” Patel posted on X.

Pirro also took aim at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, who claimed that only nine arrests had been made under the federal crackdown.

Johnson said he would push back against reports that Trump is considering deploying the same type of operation in Chicago, calling the Trump administration’s efforts “uncoordinated, uncalled-for and unsound.”

Pirro, however, said the rollout in Washington was working and serving as a deterrent for criminals.

HUNDREDS ARRESTED AS TRUMP’S WASHINGTON, DC, CRIME CRACKDOWN HITS FULL STRIDE

“The good news is that they’re afraid to commit crimes when you have an increased law enforcement people in the community, especially the crime-ridden community, they’re saying thank you,” Pirro said.  “They’re afraid to commit crimes because they know that being accountable –  Johnson ought to hope that the president comes there to clean up the mess in Chicago.”

Chicago, home to about 2.7 million people, has topped the nation in homicides for 13 straight years, logging 573 in 2024 alone, according to the city’s own figures.

Trump on Monday signed an executive order targeting Washington, D.C. that instructs police to charge suspects with federal crimes and hold them in federal custody to avoid cashless bail.

The president also signed an executive order that seeks to end cashless bail by threatening to revoke federal funding from jurisdictions that use it.

The updated D.C. crime statistics come as National Guard units deployed in Washington, D.C., have been authorized to carry firearms, the D.C. National Guard said— and some troops have already been observed armed on patrol.

Trump activated the National Guard in Washington, D.C., earlier this month as part of an effort to curb violent crime, sweeping up gang members, robbery suspects and immigration violators.

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The operation began quietly Aug. 7 with the launch of the “Making D.C. Safe and Beautiful” task force that Trump created in March through an executive order. 

The president escalated it on Aug. 11 by temporarily seizing federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under emergency powers in the Home Rule Act, the first such move in U.S. history.

Along with the National Guard and FBI, the crackdown has brought in a wide range of federal agencies — including the U.S. Marshals, ATF, DEA, Capitol Police and Park Police — to work alongside local officers in crime-ridden neighborhoods.

Women ‘pressured’ to accept trans teammate may be first to win financial damages

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ findings of an investigation into Roanoke College were released by complainants, Fox News Digital learned on Monday.

Miyares’ investigation was in response to a biological male transgender swimmer that competed on Roanoke’s women’s team in 2023. Miyares concluded that the college denied the female swimmers accommodations, advantages, and privileges on the basis of sex, caused the women emotional, physical, and dignitary harms and violated the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA).

Miyares also suggested the female swimmers who were discriminated against are eligible to seek financial damages because the school’s policy violated the VHRA, as per state code.

“A private complainant who has received a notice of right to file a civil action may file a civil action under the Act for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief,” the report said.

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There is currently no recorded instance of a college or university in the U.S. having to pay financial damages to women’s athletes for putting a male on their sports team. There are lawsuits over similar situations in progress that are seeking financial damages, but none have advanced to the point of any damages being paid out. 

Documents obtained by Fox News Digital stated that six female swimmers on the Roanoke College team applied for May Term Travel Courses run by the school three days before a press conference took place in which some expressed their displeasure with having a transgender swimmer on their team.

“Two weeks after the press conference, the Roanoke professors in charge of the Japan and Greece travel terms rejected the female swimmers’ applications,” Miyares’ findings said.

The documents noted that the VHRA barred “unlawful discrimination and retaliation by educational institutions on the basis of sex” and that “No educational institution may “refuse, withhold from, or deny” any accommodations, advantages, or privileges on the basis of sex.” Any implementation of a discriminatory policy would be considered discrimination under the law.

The Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, therefore, said that Roanoke College’s policy “that forces women participating in sex-separated collegiate sports to compete against individuals with the biological advantages of male puberty deprives those women of accommodations, advantages, and privileges made available to others on the basis of sex and violates the VHRA.” Additionally, allowing biological males to compete against females discriminates against females and that the VHRA would prevent biological males from competing against females at the collegiate level.

Fox News Digital reached out to Roanoke College for comment.

The 2023 Roanoke women’s swimming season was rocked by a months-long conflict between the players and administration over the presence of the trans athlete. The controversy culminated in a news conference in October of that year, when multiple women’s swimmers on the team spoke out about their experience publicly.

The athletes who spoke out originally alleged they felt pressured by the school to support the transgender swimmer because the trans athlete expressed potential suicidal tendencies in response to opposition. The female swimmers alleged that team coaches held a meeting where the athletes voted in an online poll about whether to allow the athlete, who was in the same room, to stay on the team. The vote passed, but the women allege some of them voted “yes” out of pressure to do so.

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The college released a statement that same week, in which President Frank Shushok Jr. expressed support for the school’s LGBT community.

“In making this decision, the focus of senior administration and the board of trustees was on maintaining fairness in competition and protecting the integrity of all athletics at Roanoke College,” Shushok said in the Oct. 5, 2023 statement. “We remain committed to supporting our LGBTQ+ community and our student-athletes, all of whom are valued members of our vibrant community.”  

The incident came just more that one year after Lia Thomas competed in the NCAA championships for the University of Pennsylvania, and was compared to the Thomas controversy. Seven of the Roanake women’s swimmers joined the current lawsuit against the NCAA led by Riley Gaines, citing their experience in 2023.

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In the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s election victory last October, multiple Roanoke swimmers joined him at a rally in Salem, Virginia, to share their story and advocate for laws protecting women and girls from trans athlete inclusion in sports. 

Now, Miyares’ findings could be consequential in that lawsuit and the larger overall political and legal conflict in the U.S. over trans athletes in women’s sports.

Teen drowns while swimming with family as strong currents plague popular beach

A teenager drowned while swimming with his family at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, officials said. The 17-year-old died after he and his father, 61, were pulled from the water when they were swept away Sunday evening by a powerful ocean current, according to authorities.

According to New Hampshire State Police Marine Patrol, authorities received a report of a possible drowning around 6:45 p.m. Witnesses said the teen had been swimming with his family when a strong current carried him away from shore.

The father reportedly entered the water in an attempt to rescue his son but also found himself in distress.

BEACH VISITORS RISK ‘ARREST’ FOR SWIMMING WITHOUT LIFEGUARD FOLLOWING TRAGIC INCIDENT

Although lifeguards were off-duty at the time, they were called back and quickly responded. They managed to bring both individuals to shore and immediately began lifesaving measures on the teen.

The father and son were transported to a local hospital, where the teen was later pronounced dead. His father was treated and is in stable condition. Authorities have not yet released the teen’s name.

Marine Patrol is continuing its investigation and is asking anyone with information to contact Sgt. Nicholas Haroutunian at Nicholas.M.Haroutunian@DOS.NH.GOV or call (603) 227-2112.

DEADLY RIP CURRENT FATALITIES REPORTED AMID SUMMER BEACH SEASON AS EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Due to the hazardous water conditions and the recent rescue, Murphy told Fox News Digital that the NH State Beach Patrol is currently still flying red flags with restricted swimming to waist depth.  

“The public is asked to swim only when lifeguards are on duty and at the beaches that have coverage,” Murphy added.

The tragedy comes during a particularly dangerous stretch at Hampton Beach. Last week alone, lifeguards rescued more than 140 people from rip currents fueled by Tropical Depression Dexter, according to WMUR. With Hurricane Erin approaching, officials warn that more hazardous surf is likely.

RIP CURRENT BEACH RESCUES SHOW SWIMMERS FACE DEADLY RISKS: WHAT TO KNOW TO STAY SAFE

“A lot of the sand in those flash rip currents really kicked out, especially around high tide, which we normally don’t see here,” Patrick Murphy, chief of the New Hampshire State Beach Patrol, told the outlet. “On some days, we’ve had 40 to 60 rescues, but more than 140 in a week is unusual.”

Officials added that the number of rescues that can occur in a day when there are rip currents can be unpredictable, noting they’ve had 40, 50, 60 in one day before, but more than 140 isn’t that typical.

According to the United States Lifesaving Association, over 100 deaths occur every year stemming from rip currents, making it a water safety hazard for beachgoers. Tens of thousands of people are rescued from rip currents annually, according to NOAA.

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The beachgoers were rescued from rip currents from Tropical Depression Dexter, and more rip currents are expected from Hurricane Erin.

Lifeguards emphasized that the best way to survive a rip current is to remain calm and avoid fighting against it.

“The best bet is to swim parallel to shore,” Murphy said. “Do not try to go directly back to shore. You’re going to be fighting the current. You’re going to get tired.”

Trump admin moves to deport migrant as Homan warns ‘he’s absolutely leaving’

BALTIMORE, Md. – Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Monday morning after he arrived for check-in at the agency’s field office in Baltimore, Maryland, where officials plan to begin removal proceedings to deport him again to a third country, such as Uganda.

Speaking to reporters outside the ICE Field Office in Baltimore after Abrego Garcia was detained, his lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said ICE officials had declined to tell them where they were detaining Abrego Garcia prior to his removal, or tell them why they were arresting him. They also did not give his lawyers any paperwork detailing his removal.

“As of the last five minutes, Mr. Abrego Garcia has filed a new lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Maryland challenging his confinement and challenging his deportation to Uganda, or to any other country, unless and until he’s had a fair trial — as in, an immigration court, as well as his full appeal rights,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

His attorneys filed the habeas petition in the U.S. District Court of Maryland. It was assigned to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who since March has presided over a civil case challenging his deportation to El Salvador.

ABREGO GARCIA TO APPEAR AT ICE OFFICE IN BALTIMORE AMID TALK OF UGANDA DEPORTATION

Xinis issued an order last month that sought to block ICE from immediately arresting Abrego Garcia.  

News of his detention is likely to be scrutinized closely by the judge, who has spent months grilling Trump officials for details over his removal and his current legal status.

Shortly before his arrival at the ICE Field Office in Baltimore on Monday morning, immigration advocates, faith leaders, and other community members massed outside, some before sunrise, for a candlelight vigil to show their support for Abrego Garcia and his family.

The morning was an emotional one, as faith leaders and family members surrounded Abrego Garcia and his wife. Many, including Abrego Garcia, were visibly emotional as they addressed the roughly 200 attendees who massed outside the office beginning around 6 a.m. 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, meanwhile, took to social media to praise news of his arrest into immigration custody. 

Like other Trump officials, she has long argued Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member. She said on social media Monday that President Donald Trump, she said, will not allow him “to terrorize American citizens any longer.”

Abrego Garcia’s legal fight for months has dominated U.S. headlines, after he was deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order. He faces a possible second deportation, this time to Uganda.

The Trump administration returned him to the U.S. months after sending him to El Salvador, under orders from a federal judge and from the Supreme Court.

He was arrested upon return to the U.S. on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennesee. He remained in federal detention until Friday, when he was released from U.S. custody and ordered to return to Maryland, where a judge said he could remain under electronic surveillance and under ICE supervision while awaiting trial.

ICE officials notified Abrego Garcia’s attorneys shortly after his release on Friday that they planned to deport him to Uganda, an East African nation that reached a deal with the U.S. last week to accept migrants deported by the Trump administration.

FEDERAL JUDGE DELIVERS ONE-TWO PUNCH TO TRUMP IN ABREGO GARCIA CASE

The notice, sent by ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Adviser, said it was intended to “serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends).”

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told Fox News in an interview Sunday night that Abrego Garcia was “absolutely” going to be deported from the U.S,, and said Uganda is “on the table” as the third country of removal. 

“We have an agreement with them. It’s on a table, absolutely,” Homan said in an interview on “The Big Weekend Show” Sunday evening.

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“He is absolutely going to be deported,” Homan reiterated. 

For now, he said, Abrego Garcia “can enjoy the little time he has with his family. And for the person who says we’re not going to separate family, his family can go with him, because he’s leaving.”

Rapper caught off guard by kids movie’s LGBT scene: ‘I just came to watch the movie’

Rapper Snoop Dogg criticized LGBTQ+ representation in children’s films during a podcast last week, specifically citing the 2022 bmovie “Lightyear” as an example. 

Snoop Dogg explained during an appearance on Sarah Fontenot’s “It’s Giving” podcast that he took his grandson to see “Lightyear,”  which features a same-sex couple.

Snoop recalled his grandson quizzing him during the movie about how the couple had a child together.

“Why my grandson in the middle of the movie like ‘Papa Snoop, how she have a baby with a woman? She a woman.’ Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie. Hey man, watch the movie. They just said she and she had a baby. They both women. How does she have a baby? S—. The movie ain’t over with… I’m scared to go to the movies. Like y’all throwing me in the middle of s— that I don’t have an answer for,” Snoop said. 

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The film was criticized by some conservatives over a same-sex kiss, which was initially removed from the movie but later restored.

“It threw me for a loop. I’m like what part of the movie was this? These are kids that we have to show that at this age like, they’re going to ask questions. They are going to ask. I don’t have an answer,” Snoop said. “And I was just there to go to sleep and watch the movie. That s— woke me up.”

The remarks angered progressives on social media, as Snoop is set to perform at the Australian Football League’s (AFL) Grand Final. PinkNews reported that the AFL’s chief executive defended the rapper’s scheduled appearance before his latest remarks. 

The 2022 film was a spinoff of Pixar’s popular “Toy Story” film series, which revolved around the friendship between a toy space ranger named Buzz Lightyear and a toy cowboy named Woody. The premise of the new film was about the space-age science-fiction protagonist that the Buzz Lightyear toy was theoretically based on in the “Toy Story” universe.

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Actor Chris Evans, who voices Buzz Lightyear in the movie, hit back at critics of the film at the time.

“The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said during a June 2022 interview with Reuters Television. “There’s always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before. But those people die off like dinosaurs. I think the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward, and embrace the growth that makes us human.”

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Risk of colon cancer slashed by eating specific types of vegetables, study finds

Including more broccoli in your diet could reduce the risk of colon cancer, new research suggests.

Diet is known to be a key modifiable risk factor for colon cancer — particularly a lack of vegetables and dietary fiber, as well as excessive alcohol and caffeine consumption, according to researchers. 

Cruciferous vegetables — including broccoli as well as cauliflower, kale, cabbage and Brussels sprouts — have previously been identified as risk-reducers, but it was unclear what volume of consumption had this benefit.

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These types of vegetables contain special natural compounds called glucosinolates, which break down into powerful substances called isothiocyanates, the researchers revealed.

Isothiocyanates can help to keep cancer at bay by detoxifying the body, killing damaged cells and slowing or stopping the growth of unhealthy cells.

Chinese researchers analyzed 17 studies that included a total of 639,539 participants, 97,595 of whom were ultimately diagnosed with colon cancer. The studies were pulled from the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases.

Based on the participants’ food questionnaires and cancer status, the study found that consuming cruciferous vegetables was linked to a reduced risk of colon cancer.

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Compared to participants who ate the least amount of the veggies, the group that ate the most had a 17% lower risk of colon cancer.

Eating approximately 20 grams per day was linked to a “significant decrease” in risk, with the decline leveling off at around 40 grams per day.

The findings were published in the journal BMC Gastroenterology.

The researchers noted that the study had some limitations.

“These findings should be interpreted cautiously due to methodological limitations, including heterogeneity in study designs, dietary assessment methods and potential residual confounding,” they wrote.

“Not only do ultraprocessed foods increase your risk of colon cancer, but healthier diets high in vegetables — especially cruciferous vegetables — decrease that risk.”

Another limitation is that most studies focused on participants from North America and Asia, where colon cancer rates are higher.

This “limits generalizability to populations with distinct dietary patterns or lower colon cancer prevalence,” the researchers wrote.

“Future high-quality prospective cohorts in underrepresented regions (e.g., Africa, South America) are essential for validation.”

With nearly 2 million diagnoses and 903,859 deaths each year, colon cancer is the third most common and the second-leading cause of cancer deaths globally, statistics show.

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Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but shared his input on the findings.

“This is an extensive meta-analysis of close to 100,000 patients, which shows a marked decreased colon cancer risk with a diet high in cruciferous vegetables,” he told Fox News Digital.

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“These vegetables are high in fiber, antioxidants and especially glucosinolates, which are converted in the body to bioactive isothiocynates, which are known anti-carcinogens that decrease tumor formation.”

Siegel also reiterated the limitations, including the variance in how the diet was determined and the fact that it is mainly based on observational data.

“Still, this is very convincing — and adds to the growing literature showing that not only do ultraprocessed foods increase your risk of colon cancer, but healthier diets high in vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, decrease that risk.”

The doctor added that he also recommends the Mediterranean diet, which includes these vegetables as a staple.

Xi’s war machine threatens to overwhelm US forces as Pentagon faces tough choices

“Fiddle while Rome burns.” That ancient idiom captures America’s peril today. 

While Washington obsesses over Ukraine and the Middle East, the Chinese Communist Party is building the most formidable military challenge the United States has faced in generations. Beijing is adding mass, reach and persistence across sea, air, missile, space, cyber and AI – while our armed forces are stretched thin, underfunded and mismatched for the threat.

The result? China is preparing simultaneous dilemmas for the United States and its allies, exploiting economic and military gaps we have failed to close. If we don’t act, we may wake up to a world where freedom is in retreat and Beijing calls the shots. 

America’s Overstretched Posture

The National Security Strategy rightly identifies China as the “pacing challenge.” Yet our force structure still reflects a Cold War-era dispersion of commitments. U.S. troops are tied down in NATO, deterring Russia. In the Middle East, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and proxy militias demand a constant American presence.

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This multifront posture leaves our Indo-Pacific deterrent dangerously underpowered. While we talk about “pivoting” to Asia, the pivot never happened. We face an adversary with the world’s largest navy, a rapidly expanding missile force and new footholds from the South China Sea to the Arctic – and we still rely on overstretched carrier strike groups and underfunded shipbuilding to deter them.

China’s Expanding Military Power

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to be ready by 2027 to take Taiwan. History suggests Beijing won’t wait for perfect readiness before acting. From Korea in 1950 to Vietnam in 1979, Chinese leaders launched wars despite glaring military gaps – because political calculation outweighed caution.

Today, the PLA’s arsenal is staggering: precision-strike rocket forces with 300 new missile silos, a navy of more than 370 warships, stealth fighters, artificial islands fortified with missile batteries and a growing space and cyber force. 

Beijing now calls itself a “near-Arctic state,” deploying “research” icebreakers near Alaska while investing in ports across the high north. These are not science projects but scaffolding for future power projection.

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Salvo Economics: A Mismatch We Haven’t Fixed

The greatest danger is not just China’s size – it’s the asymmetry. Beijing has designed its forces to exploit “salvo and attrition economics.” A U.S. aircraft carrier costs $13 billion; China can build hundreds of long-range anti-ship missiles for a fraction of that. 

Our missile defenses are exquisite but limited in number; China’s barrages are designed to overwhelm them. While America spends decades producing a handful of fighters, Beijing churns out missiles, drones and frigates at scale.

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments warns this mismatch is unsustainable. Unless we dramatically expand munitions stockpiles, harden bases and disperse forces, we risk running out of weapons in the opening weeks of a conflict.

America’s Capability Gaps

The gaps are glaring. Our shipbuilding industrial base is years behind schedule. We cannot produce ships, submarines or missiles at the scale required to match Chinese output. 

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Our missile defenses in the Indo-Pacific are limited – Patriot and THAAD batteries that could be overwhelmed within hours of a Chinese barrage. Logistics stockpiles and resilient supply chains are insufficient to sustain prolonged, high-intensity conflict in the Pacific. 

And U.S. forces remain dangerously concentrated on vulnerable bases like Okinawa and Guam.

In 2024, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned: “Our military leaders are being forced to make impossible choices. The Navy is struggling to adequately fund new ships, routine maintenance, and munition procurement… leaving an aging fleet unprepared to respond to threats.” 

That stark assessment isn’t political theater – it’s reality, and our adversaries know it.

Xi’s Strategic Playbook

Some claim Xi’s grip is weakening. Yet despite economic troubles, he remains firmly in control – with no successor, no term limits and no rivals. When Xi calls reunification with Taiwan a “historical mission,” we should believe him.

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And he may not need to invade to succeed. The PLA already practices coercion below the threshold of war: daily air incursions around Taiwan, fishing militias that harass neighbors, cyberattacks, and relentless political influence campaigns. Each tactic erodes deterrence while avoiding open confrontation.

Meanwhile, Beijing plays a duplicitous global game – posing as a peace-broker in Ukraine while supplying Russia, deepening ties with Iran, and whispering in Washington about a “grand bargain” that would effectively concede East Asia to Chinese control. That would be a Faustian bargain indeed.

Time to Stop Fiddling

Rome is burning. China is not a distant, future threat – it is here and growing. We cannot afford to be distracted into thinking Ukraine or Iran is the main event. They matter, but they are sideshows compared to the pacing challenge of China.

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We must stop fiddling and start acting: surge investment into shipbuilding and munitions, harden and disperse bases, expand Arctic presence, and deepen alliances with Japan, Australia, India and beyond. We need to treat the Indo-Pacific as the central theater of our time – not an afterthought.

History will not forgive a United States that squandered its advantage while Beijing prepared to overturn the global order. The time is late, but not yet too late. America must stop fiddling and face the fire before the flames consume us all.

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UFO frenzy grips small town after mysterious glowing orbs spotted in night sky

It started like something out of a sci-fi thriller: a glowing, pill-shaped object hovering over the skies of upstate New York. 

Photos captured near the Finger Lakes on Aug. 12 showed a slow-moving orb shrouded in a glowing mist, sparking a surge of UFO speculation in a community’s Facebook group.

Some residents described it as “otherworldly,” as others commented, asking what it was.

“They’re here,” one person joked. 

“Truly an amazing thing to witness!” another said.

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But what many believed could be an alien visitation turned out to be something less supernatural: a rocket launch. 

According to Space.com, the mysterious orb was later confirmed to be the planned launch of the Vulcan Centaur by the United Launch Alliance from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

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“My first instinct from my scientific and military training is to look for a conventional explanation, such as a meteorological or human-made aerospace explanation, because that’s what many objects in the sky are,” retired Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., U.S. Navy, told Fox News Digital. “In this case, it was both.”

He emphasized the critical nature of data verification when distinguishing between civilian misidentifications and genuinely Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

“The primary protocols are to cross-check the visual sighting with other data: higher-resolution optical or infrared, radar, lidar, listen for a radio or acoustic signature, and if it looks to be under intelligent control, interrogate it via VHF radio. That will allow for a better characterization of the object, e.g. size, speed, altitude, range, material composition, and intentions.”

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As UAP sightings continue to rise, Gallaudet said that more scientific transparency and investigation could help reduce both stigma and fear.

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“We tend to fear the unknown, and so more UAP research can not only reduce the stigma associated with the phenomena, but also transform their enigma status to accepted science,” he said.

Cracker Barrel board member under fire for work background after restaurant ditches logo

One member of Cracker Barrel’s board of directors is catching heat over his DEI-heavy background following negative reaction to the company’s new logo and redesigned interior and revelations about its embrace of far-Left values.

Gilbert Davila, 61, joined the restaurant chain’s board in July 2020 and is also among its top individual shareholders. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck called out Davila in a video criticizing the company’s leadership, calling the recent changes the culmination of a years-long campaign to cater to the far Left and abandon the values of its middle-America customer base.

“What qualified him for this board seat?” Starbuck asks in the video. “Well, you see, he’s owned a DEI consulting and strategy firm for 15 years that focuses on pushing DEI and DEI advertising.”

CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST SLAMS CRACKER BARREL; COMPANY LEFT REELING AFTER LOGO REDESIGN

Starbuck was referring to DMI Consulting, a firm where Davila has served as president and CEO since 2010. Davila’s biography page on Cracker Barrel’s website describes the firm as “a leading multicultural marketing, diversity & inclusion and strategy firm in the United States.” 

FOX Business reached out to Cracker Barrel and Davila’s company for comment but did not hear back at the time of publication.

Consumers have criticized Cracker Barrel after it unveiled a new logo that replaced the image of a man leaning on a barrel with just the restaurant’s name in black text over a yellow barrel-shaped backdrop. The chain also redesigned the interior of its restaurants, ditching the kitschy American aesthetic and replacing it with a slick modernist motif. 

But Starbuck said those cosmetic changes are just part of a lurch away from American values. In his 15-minute video, he notes the company has been active in LGBTQ pride events, and aggressively employed diversity, equity and inclusion policies in hiring.

Davila’s LinkedIn page states that he “is widely recognized… for his multicultural market knowledge and his proven track record on how to best embed a multicultural perspective into a corporation’s entire operation.”

“People like him are behind the woke advertising push that we’ve seen in recent years,” Starbuck said of Davila in the video. “And he was also one of the people responsible for DEI at Disney.”

CRACKER BARREL FACES CUSTOMER CRITICISM AFTER DITCHING ICONIC 48-YEAR-OLD LOGO FOR NEW DESIGN

Prior to his work at DMI, Davila worked at The Walt Disney Company, where he served as the vice president of global diversity and multicultural market development from 2003 to 2010.

Davila earlier held the role of vice president of multicultural management for Sears & Roebuck Company and was a marketing director for Coca-Cola USA.

Davila’s biography page also notes that he is a member of the Association of National Advertisers, co-founding and serving as a director of the group’s Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing.

Starbuck said he believes the controversy around Cracker Barrel’s logo change is about more than the removal of a man in his chair leaning on a barrel.

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“The American people are sick of having our culture and heritage stripped from us,” Starbuck told Fox News Digital last week.