-Defensive Tackle Dontay Corleone (Cincinnati) aka “The Godfather”: Movie and book fans will instantly understand the nickname of Cincinnati’s former defensive lineman. The famous book and movie “The Godfather” featured the Corleone family with a strong background for various moves and large-scale decisions. Corleone was the most important part of Cincinnati’s defense in recent seasons mirroring the importance of the Corleone family in “The Godfather”.

-Kicker Kansei Matsuzawa (Hawai?i) aka “The Tokyo Toe”: One of the most unique stories and coolest nicknames, “The Tokyo Toe”, in the 2026 NFL Draft belongs to a kicker, Kansei Matsuzawa. He self-trained himself into becoming a junior college kicker using mostly YouTube videos after being completely foreign to the game of American football after leaving his native Japan to come to the U.S. He eventually transferred to the University of Hawai?i and became the team’s starting kicker and now has a chance of playing in the NFL.

-Defensive Tackle Domonique Orange (Iowa State) aka “Big Citrus”: Defensive lineman who clog up the run are valuable and Domonique Orange has the ability to do that. His nickname is self-explanatory when you see him and his last name. The origin of his nickname is not completely known but Orange’s nutritionist deserves some credit of bringing the nickname to the attention of the large defensive lineman himself. It’s hard not to smile when you realize that Domonique Orange already has one of the best nicknames in sports.

-Offensive Tackle Kadyn Proctor (Alabama) aka “Krispy”: Football fields are full of large men battling against each other for hours but few are ever as enormous as former Alabama star Kadyn Proctor. The 6’7, 359-pound offensive lineman gained the nickname “Krispy” due to his enjoyment of Krispy Kreme donuts. Don’t let his massive frame fool you into thinking he isn’t athletic as Alabama added a couple plays in its offensive playbook called the “Krispy package” for giving Proctor a couple of chances carrying the ball. When a man that size is carrying the football, he will definitely “Kreme” opposing tacklers!

-Wide Receiver Elijah Sarratt (Indiana) aka “Waffle House”: While Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza received a ton of attention during Indiana football’s history making season in 2025, his star wide receiver Elijah Sarratt had Mendoza beat when it comes to nicknames. Sarratt’s “Waffle House” nickname is a great one for any receiver because he describes him being open 24/7, like the famous breakfast restaurant.

Staff Writer; Mark Hines

Financial indicators also demonstrate a significant level of activity. The monthly trading volume exceeds 5 billion US dollars, indicating high liquidity and strong demand for the offered instruments. Clients have access to more than 2,000 trading instruments, including currency pairs, stocks, indices, and commodities. Such a wide selection enables the creation of diversified investment strategies and adaptation to various market conditions.

SMH Markets’ technological infrastructure is focused on speed and stability. The average order execution time is about 0.01 seconds, which is a critically important parameter for active traders, especially when operating in volatile markets. The platform’s uptime reaches 99.9%, minimizing risks associated with technical failures and system downtime. Customer support operates 24/7, ensuring prompt resolution of issues regardless of the user’s time zone.

The presence of more than 15 industry awards complements the overall picture, reflecting recognition from the professional community. Such achievements typically take into account a combination of factors, including service quality, technological solutions, and trading conditions. For potential clients, this serves as an additional reference point when choosing a broker.

Special attention should be given to the set of reasons why traders choose SMH Markets as a partner. First and foremost is the security of trading operations. The company uses banking-level protection standards, reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access to client funds and data. In the digital economy, this aspect becomes a key factor of trust.

Recognition in the form of industry awards strengthens the company’s positioning as a reliable and competitive broker. Awards act as indicators of quality and stability, especially for new users evaluating the company’s reputation before starting cooperation.

Round-the-clock support is another important advantage. A multilingual service format allows effective interaction with clients from different regions, providing prompt assistance with both technical and trading-related issues. This is particularly relevant in a market that operates almost continuously.

Advanced trading tools and analytical capabilities form the basis for a professional approach to trading. The availability of modern indicators and analytical tools enables users to more accurately assess market trends and make informed decisions. This makes the platform attractive to both beginners and experienced traders.

The SMH Markets security system includes multiple layers of protection. One of the key elements is the segregation of client funds, where they are held in separate accounts and are not used in the company’s operational activities. This reduces financial risks and provides additional protection for investments.

SSL encryption technology is used to secure all transactions and data transfers. The use of banking-grade encryption standards minimizes the risk of data interception and ensures the confidentiality of operations. In addition, client data is stored in secure data centers, guaranteeing its safety and resilience against external threats.

Transparency remains an important element of SMH Markets’ operating model. The company declares openness in all aspects of its activities, including trading conditions, fees, and order processing. This approach contributes to building long-term relationships with clients and reduces uncertainty when operating in financial markets.

Taken together, these indicators and characteristics form a comprehensive view of SMH Markets as a broker focused on scale, technological advancement, and a high level of service.

Staff Writer; George Jackson

But it’s the other malady that in Elkins case also deserves a hard look. That’s the mental health crisis in America. Reports are that Elkins sought help. He spent ten days at a Veterans Affairs hospital for psychiatric evaluation. However, he was discharged. And this is where the horror for him and millions of Americans begins.

There are tens of millions of Americans that fall into the serious mental health challenge category. The numbers tell the tale of the magnitude of the mental health crisis in America. A 2024 poll by the National Alliance on Mental Illness found that nearly sixty million Americans reported a mental health affliction. That was one in five adult Americans.

However, that tells only a small part of the tragedy. Blacks, Native Americans, and LGBTQ persons suffered vastly disproportionate incidents of mental illness. Overall, one in five Black adults, and Native Americans reported one or more mental illness disorders in 2024. They ranged from chronic depression to Reiner’s reported affliction– schizophrenia.

That’s one part of the sordid story of the mental health peril. The other is who receives treatment and who has access to treatment. That inevitably points the finger at racial bias in relation to cost and accessibility. A Department of Health and Human Services survey in 2024 found that only one in three Blacks and Hispanics received treatment. Similar treatment disparities were found for Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Meanwhile, nearly one out of two whites received treatment.

The multiple reasons for the wide gap in treatment have been oft cited. One is the absence of access to treatment centers in minority and lower income neighborhoods. Poverty, lack of health insurance, underinsurance, or part of the economic barrier to treatment for many.

Another is the prevalent stigma of seeking treatment for a mental health issue. For many this is still viewed as a sign of weakness or personal failure. Thankfully, that fear and notion is breaking down as the crisis within minorities communities deepens. Elkins again is an example. At least he had enough presence of mind to seek help.

Still, a 2023 Rand Corporation study found a widespread pattern of deliberate closing of the mental health treatment center door to aid even when Blacks and Hispanics seek help. The impediments included shorter hours, lack of available services, untrained staff, little time, or effort spent on outreach programs and information on services, and lack of Spanish speaking aid workers.

A major university research study in 2000 on the impact of racial bias on mental health diagnosis and treatment, Racism and Mental Health: the African American Experience, noted, “The stigma of racial inferiority may also adversely affect the treatment of black patients in the mental health system. Black clinicians have long argued that popular misconceptions, inaccuracies, and stereotypes of the psychology of African Americans could lead to the misdiagnosis of Black patients.”

The study went further and observed that African Americans are more likely to be misdiagnosed. It specifically cited schizophrenia. Blacks were more likely to be diagnosed with the malady of paranoid schizophrenia. And at the same underdiagnosed with other affective disorders. The researchers chalked this up to “conscious or unconscious acceptance of negative stereotypes of Blacks.” The inaccurate diagnosis clinicians seemingly routinely made over time of many Blacks with a mental health affliction had grave consequences in terms of tailoring the correct and most effective treatment to the patient.

The KFF Policy Research Foundation further underscored the crisis in mental health treatment disparities in a comprehensive report in 2024 Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care: Findings from the KFF Survey of Racism, Discrimination and Health. It checked off the number of areas where the mental health care system failed Blacks, and people of color and the poor.

That includes the absence of treatment facilities in lower income, underserved neighborhoods, the types of treatment and care offered in the paltry number of centers in these neighborhoods. In almost every instance, the report noted widespread differences in how whites reported the level of and accessibility to the treatment they received versus the dismal to non-existent treatment Blacks received.

Whether Elkins would and definitely should have gotten prolonged treatment would have saved the lives of eight babies, we’ll never know. What we do know though is that Elkins is a monster, and a callous system did its part to help create that monster.

Written By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

One can find more info about Mr. Hutchinson over at the following site; TheHutchinson Report.

Also feel free to connect with him through twitter; http://twitter.com/earlhutchins

He is also an associate editor of New America Media. His forthcoming book is From King to Obama: Witness to a Turbulent History (Middle Passage Press).

In addition to both of them serving in the U.S. Senate, Rubio and Vance say they are guided by their Catholic faith. The common denominator running through them is political expediency. Political expediency, in this case, is the central force driving the behavior and actions of two leaders who at times compromise moral and political principles in exchange for immediate power, ambition and influence.

Both Rubio and Vance made the decision that it was in their political best interests and advantage to move away from being harsh critics of Donald Trump to becoming staunch allies in order to remain in Trump’s good graces.  In a 2016 interview while promoting his book “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance called himself “a Never Trump guy” and said of the soon-to-be-president, “I never liked him.” He told NPR the same year, “I can’t stomach Trump.” He wrote an op-ed for The New York Times titled: “Mr. Trump Is Unfit for Our Nation’s Highest Office.” Today, JD Vance is Trump’s vice president.

On the other hand, during the 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination, Rubio called Trump a “con artist” and “the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.” Now, Rubio is the current Secretary of State in the Trump Administration.

While Evangelist Franklin Graham was never a U.S. Senator having the goal of becoming president, he shows how powerful religious leaders do not have to be politicians to be driven by ethical compromise and political expediency.  Graham serves as President and CEO of the organization, Samaritan’s Purse. According to its website, Samaritan’s Purse has met the needs of poor, sick and suffering people by providing food, medical care and other assistance in more than 170 countries. The expressed mission of Samaritan’s Purse is to follow the example of Christ by helping those in need and proclaiming the hope of the Gospel.

Franklin Graham, the son of the famed evangelist Billy Graham, has always been one of Trump’s most loyal religious allies and defenders. He frequently provides public support by mobilizing evangelical voters during both of Trump’s presidential campaigns. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month, Graham urged MAGA world to end their infighting and rally around the president and the GOP at the next midterm elections. Therefore, should we be surprised when Graham took to social media to defend Trump’s controversial post depicting himself as a Christ-like figure?

“Franklin Graham of all people, who is frequently at the WH (White House) and with Trump should be leading Trump to be a Christian, NOT telling other Christians that Trump did nothing wrong when he committed blasphemy,” wrote former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene. The former congresswoman was right to expose Franklin Graham. He is not the president’s spiritual leader and advisor in the true sense, but rather a political “kingmaker”. When Christian leaders act as “kingmakers”, they leverage their spiritual authority to mobilize voting blocs, endorse candidates, fulfill cultural goals and shape national policy.

Donald Trump would not be occupying the White House a second time without the support from certain Christian leaders fulfilling their role as political kingmakers. The “kingmaker” will address political topics like abortion and religious liberty by framing them as spiritual battles that require voting for specific candidates. The political realty sees evangelicals getting everything they want despite having a president whose actions contradict Christian moral values.

Franklin Graham is in a unique situation when it comes to fighting poverty. Persistent poverty is a form of social oppression. When dealing with the poor, there is a two-track approach: charity and justice. Charity deals with the symptoms by providing direct services such as food, clothing, medicine and shelter. On the other hand, justice is directed at the root causes behind poverty. It deals with confronting the systemic barriers by promoting social changes in institutions and government laws and policies. Poverty persists because entrenched policies and systemic barriers lock people in, and only legislative action can dismantle those root causes.

Why do Christian leaders like Franklin Graham fight for religious liberty and not fight for economic justice and liberty for the poor through effective legislative engagement? Graham excels at charity, but abstains from the political work required to change the underlying systems of poverty despite having direct access and influence with those in high levels of government.

Graham’s organization addresses the immediate needs by providing food and medicine, yet it leaves the machinery of poverty intact. Continuing to treat the symptoms without confronting root causes such as the ever-widening pay gap between the rich and the poor only entrenches social oppression. A Christian leader cannot simultaneously be a “kingmaker” within a certain power structure and be a genuine advocate for justice that requires the dismantling of the very same power structure.

When Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks out against the one percent, it is a path that confronts the Donald Trumps and Elon Musks of the world. It is a path that Franklin Graham and others are unwilling to take. This selective compassion – addressing charity but ignoring justice – is disingenuous in the same manner of being pro-life on abortion and not on gun control.

Trump will eventually go away in time. Therefore, our focus should first be on the new wave of Trump wannabes who will do anything for political expediency, and secondly on the “kingmakers” who would gladly put them in power.

Written by David W. Marshall

Official website; https://davidwmarshallauthor.com/

One may purchase his book, which is titled; God Bless Our Divided America: Unity, Politics and History from a Biblical Perspective.

Life constantly shifts between highs and lows. Joy, frustration, grief, excitement, and boredom all show up whether we invite them or not. Emotional balance means learning how to move with those changes rather than fighting them. It is less about eliminating discomfort and more about staying steady while it passes through. 

This becomes especially important during periods of stress or transition. Financial strain, career uncertainty, or major life changes can throw emotions off center quickly. For veterans adjusting to civilian life or managing long term responsibilities, emotional balance can be tested alongside practical concerns. In those moments, acknowledging the emotional weight while seeking practical support, such as resources related to Veteran debt relief, can help restore both stability and clarity. Balance often begins when emotional needs are recognized instead of minimized. 

Balance Does Not Mean Emotional Neutrality 

A common misconception is that emotional balance equals emotional flatness. People assume that being balanced means staying calm, positive, and unbothered at all times. In reality, emotional balance includes anger, sadness, excitement, and fear. The difference lies in how long those emotions dominate and how they influence behavior. 

Balanced people still feel deeply. They just recover more quickly and respond more intentionally. Instead of reacting automatically, they create space between feeling and action. That pause is where balance lives. Suppressing emotions does not create balance. It creates pressure. 

Why Emotional Balance Feels Harder Than It Sounds 

Modern life encourages emotional extremes. Social media amplifies outrage and comparison. Work culture rewards constant urgency. Personal expectations push productivity over reflection. All of this trains the nervous system to stay activated. 

When emotions run high for long periods, even small stressors can feel overwhelming. Emotional balance requires slowing down enough to notice internal signals before they escalate. That awareness can feel uncomfortable at first because it brings buried feelings to the surface. Avoidance feels easier, but it weakens emotional resilience over time. 

The Body Plays a Bigger Role Than You Think 

Emotional balance is not just mental. It is physical. Sleep, nutrition, movement, and breathing all influence emotional regulation. A tired or overstimulated body struggles to process emotions smoothly. Learning to notice where emotions show up physically helps restore balance. Tight shoulders, shallow breathing, clenched jaws, or racing hearts often signal emotional overload before the mind catches up. Simple practices like deep breathing, walking, or stretching help regulate the nervous system and create emotional steadiness. 

Emotional Balance Strengthens Relationships 

Unbalanced emotions often spill into relationships. Stress turns into irritability. Anxiety turns into control. Unprocessed feelings turn into withdrawal. When emotional balance improves, communication becomes clearer. You can express frustration without blame. You can set boundaries without guilt. You can listen without becoming defensive. This stability builds trust and safety in relationships, allowing connection to deepen rather than fracture under pressure. 

Balance Is Built Through Emotional Literacy 

Emotional literacy means being able to identify, name, and understand your feelings. Many people default to broad labels like stressed or fine, missing important nuance. Under stress might be fear. Fine might be resignation. Naming emotions accurately reduces their intensity. It also helps you respond appropriately. You cannot address what you cannot identify. The American Psychological Association emphasizes emotional awareness as a foundation for mental health and resilience. Their work on emotional regulation highlights how understanding feelings improves coping and performance.  

Letting Emotions Move Instead of Storing Them 

Emotions are meant to move through you, not settle permanently. When feelings are ignored or suppressed, they often resurface later in stronger or distorted ways. Allowing emotions to be felt without judgment helps them pass naturally. This does not mean indulging every feeling or acting on impulse. It means acknowledging what is present without resistance. Acceptance creates flow. Resistance creates stagnation. 

Balance During Stressful Seasons 

Some seasons of life are heavier than others. During these times, emotional balance may look different. Lower expectations, slower pacing, and increased self-compassion become necessary. Trying to maintain peak performance during emotionally demanding periods often backfires. Balance adapts. It flexes with circumstance rather than forcing consistency. This adaptive approach builds long term resilience instead of burnout. 

Emotional Balance Improves Decision Making 

Strong emotions narrow perspective. Fear focuses attention on threat. Anger seeks control. Excitement can overlook risk. Balanced emotions widen perspective. They allow you to consider options, weigh consequences, and act in alignment with values rather than impulse. Better emotional balance leads to better choices, especially under pressure. Research shared by the Greater Good Science Center shows that emotional regulation improves judgment, empathy, and overall well-being. Their insights into emotional resilience and mindfulness provide practical tools for maintaining balance.  

Practicing Balance Daily 

Emotional balance is built through daily habits, not rare breakthroughs. Small practices make a difference. Pausing before reacting. Checking in with your body. Naming what you feel. Giving yourself permission to rest. Journaling, quiet reflection, or brief moments of mindfulness help recalibrate emotional states. Consistency matters more than intensity. Balance grows through repetition. 

The Stability That Comes From Emotional Balance 

When emotional balance improves, life feels less reactive. Challenges still arise, but they no longer knock you off course as easily. You become steadier, not because life is easier, but because you are better equipped to navigate it. Emotional balance does not eliminate hardship. It reduces chaos. It replaces overwhelm with adaptability and fear with clarity. Ultimately, the emotional side of balance is about learning to ride the waves rather than fighting the ocean. 

Staff Writer; Mark Johnson

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting the “Home of Heroes,” Pueblo, Colorado. The city earned that title by having a record number, four, Medal of Honor recipients: William J. Crawford (Army, WW II), Carl L. Sitter (Marines, Korea), Raymond G. “Jerry” Murphy (Marines, Korea), and Drew D. Dix (Army, Vietnam). MOH recipient Major Drew Dix (USA, Ret) is a dear friend and invited me to speak at the Center for American Values in his hometown of Pueblo. It is a phenomenal facility that is the only location outside of the Pentagon where one can find a breathtaking portrait gallery of American Medal of Honor recipients. The three core values of the Center for American Values, which they promote to our future generations, are Honor, Integrity, and Patriotism.

As I think of Drew Dix’s center, I harkened back to the words of George Washington that he wrote to James Madison. We are in our 250th year of American independence, and the pertinent question has to be, what are American values?

I would ask each of you reading this missive to think back to our 200th celebration of independence, the Bicentennial of 1976. I was just a young fella of 15 years of age. It was the year that my Dad would challenge me to be the first military officer in our family. Yes, the ole Army World War II Corporal would seek to inspire his second son to carry on the legacy of honor and patriotism that he had begun. I look at our America fifty years later, in our 250th year of independence, and I see things that disturb me, and should disturb you, as they are not consistent with our American values.

When the new NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani asserts that “we will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” there is no greater betrayal of American values. America was founded on the principle of individual sovereignty, because our unalienable rights are endowed to us by the sovereign Judeo-Christian faith heritage God, Creator. It is an affirmation of John Locke’s Natural Rights Theory, which Jefferson invokes in our Declaration of Independence, ”the laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” Here in America, we do not elevate the collective, nor do we welcome the overarching and oftentimes tyrannical government. As a matter of fact, it was Thomas Paine who wrote, “the duty of a true Patriot is to protect his Country from its government.”

Now, of course, today’s Marxist leftists, who embrace the power of government over the individual, would call such words extremist. It was just last fall that Virginia Senator Tim Kaine stated, in a Senate hearing, that our rights do not come from God, but rather from government. He went so far as to compare such a belief as on par with the totalitarian theocracy of Iran.

Marxist leftists do not see us as individuals and reject our ability to work, attain, and have our property, the last unalienable right of natural rights theory. They prefer to embrace the Marxist ideology of eliminating private property ownership, one of the planks in Marx’s Communist Manifesto. I mean, seriously, when did owning your own home become a tool of white supremacy? Who would have ever thought that in these United States we would have such an absurd thing as “property taxes,” meaning that in America, does one truly ever own their home? Or how about estate taxes, which are levied against that which we seek to pass on to future generations as our legacy.

And all this ranting about “tax the rich.” Well, when did it become a sin to work hard and acquire wealth? Oh yeah, Karl Marx said it was, and another of his planks in the Communist Manifesto is a progressive income tax, first introduced in the first progressive American presidency, that of Woodrow Wilson.

The first tenet of a socialist economic system is wealth redistribution, which is what French economist Frederic Bastiat, in his essay The Law, referred to as government legal plunder. Let us never forget the infamous words of one Marxist-Islamist, Barack Obama, when he quipped in Roanoke, Virginia, in 2012, that “if you own a business, you didn’t build that.” What could be more disingenuous and disrespectful to that foundational American value of individual entrepreneurship? Then again, Marx advanced the idea of government control of the means of production, which is also a tenet of a socialist economic model.

See, last week, as I stood there before the gathered audience, I told them about this kid who was born in a Black-only hospital in 1961. I had a Dad who served in combat in a segregated Army. Somehow, I grew up in this exceptional Nation to also serve in combat, and as a Lieutenant Colonel, commanding an Artillery battalion. I represented a congressional district in Congress that included areas that I could not have gone to when I was born. That is all because the greatest American value that we have is the equality of opportunity. Instead, the Marxist left wants us to surrender to “equity,” which is the equality of outcomes, their collective determination of where and what we can become. In essence, a return to the divine rights theory, which John Locke refuted.

Let’s endeavor in 2026, the 250th anniversary of American independence, and the 190th anniversary of Texas independence, to reconnect our Constitutional Republic to its fundamental principles and values. It is not just about fireworks, hot dogs, and parades. It is truly about honoring what we have been endowed with, and to protect it, just the same as all those distinguished Medal of Honor recipients have done.

And let us remember these words, a quote that is 250 years old this year.

“These are the times which try Men’s souls: the summer Soldier and the sunshine Patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his Country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Marxism and Islamism are indeed tyranny, and it is like hell but, united as Americans, armed with our Faith and our values, it can be conquered, and the triumph will be glorious!

Written by Allen West

Official website; https://x.com/AllenWest

Now let me say this plain and honest. This is not about denying her success. The young woman has hits streams tours and a fanbase that shows up loud. But success and substance do not always ride in the same car. Sometimes one is driving while the other is in the trunk and people are starting to ask which seat her music is sitting in. That is where the overrated label starts creeping in not from nowhere but from repeated listens that leave some folks feeling like they have heard more marketing than music.

Coming from an old school ear the kind raised on records that had to carry weight there is a difference you cannot ignore. Back then you could hear life in a voice. You could hear church pain joy struggle late nights and early mornings all wrapped into a verse. These days a lot of songs feel clean and catchy but missing that grit that makes you rewind just to feel it again. And for some listeners Sabrina Carpenter falls into that lane more often than not.

Another angle people bring up is image versus artistry. In this era presentation can carry an artist far. Looks personality social media presence all of that matters maybe more than it should. Sabrina fits that modern pop blueprint well. She is stylish relatable quick with a clever line and easy to market. But when the conversation shifts to music alone that is when some folks start feeling like the praise might be louder than the sound itself.

You also have to talk about industry backing. The machine behind an artist can shape how the world sees them. When labels streaming platforms and media all line up behind one name it creates momentum that is hard to ignore. Songs get pushed playlists get filled interviews get placed in front of millions and suddenly it feels like everybody is tuned in. But popularity does not always mean depth. That is something old heads have been saying for years and it still holds true.

Songwriting is another piece of this conversation. Sabrina has moments where her personality comes through and you can hear flashes of wit and charm. But some listeners argue that a lot of her work leans on trends instead of carving out something distinct. It is not that the songs are bad they just feel familiar. Too familiar at times like pieces of other records stitched together into something that sounds current but not lasting.

When you get to vocals the discussion gets even deeper. She has a pleasant tone no doubt about that. Smooth controlled easy to listen to. But there is a difference between sounding good and sounding unforgettable. The great voices in music carry something that sticks with you long after the record stops. Critics argue that Sabrina voice while solid does not always reach that level where it leaves a mark on your spirit.

Live performance also plays a role. In earlier days artists proved themselves on stage with nothing but a mic and presence. Today shows are built around visuals movement and crowd energy. Sabrina performs well keeps things lively and connects with her audience. But again the question comes up is it the performance or the music that people hold onto when the lights go down.

Social media has changed everything. A short clip a catchy hook a viral moment can turn a decent track into a massive hit overnight. Sabrina has benefited from that environment. But the flip side is that it can raise expectations beyond what a full album delivers. When listeners move past those quick moments and sit with entire projects some walk away feeling like something is missing.

Timing matters too. She is operating in a pop era where there is plenty of competition but not always a lot of separation. Being consistently good can sometimes be mistaken for being great. And that is where the overrated talk finds its footing. Not because she lacks ability but because she is being placed in conversations where some feel she has not fully earned her seat.

Cultural weight is another factor people bring up. Music often reflects deeper experiences stories that connect beyond surface level feelings. Some critics feel her catalog while enjoyable does not always tap into those deeper layers. It is fun it is catchy but it does not always feel necessary in the grand conversation of music and culture.

Comparison is unavoidable in this business. When you place Sabrina next to other artists both past and present the differences stand out. Some bring powerhouse vocals others bring fearless writing others bring innovation that shifts the sound of a generation. Sabrina sits in a middle space and depending on who you ask that middle can feel like a limitation instead of a strength.

Still there is another side that needs to be respected. For every critic calling her overrated there is a fan who genuinely connects with her music. That connection is real. Music does not have to be complex to matter. Sometimes it is about timing and relatability. Sabrina has tapped into that for many listeners and that should not be dismissed.

But expectations play a big role here. When an artist is constantly praised promoted and positioned as a leading voice people expect more. More depth more originality more impact. When those expectations are not fully met the backlash can be just as loud as the hype.

There is also a generational divide. Younger listeners who grew up with streaming may experience music differently than those who came up buying albums and living with them for months. For them Sabrina style fits perfectly into a fast moving world. For others it may feel fleeting lacking the staying power they associate with true greatness.

Authenticity is another piece of the puzzle. In an era where everything is curated it can be hard to tell what is real. Sabrina comes across as likable and genuine but some question how much of that is shaped by the industry. When everything feels polished it can create distance instead of connection.

Production quality is rarely an issue in her work. The sound is clean mixes are sharp everything feels radio ready. But strong production can sometimes cover for a lack of depth. A great song should hold up even when stripped down. That is a test some listeners feel her music does not always pass.

Longevity is the real judge. Time will tell which songs last and which fade. It is still early in her career so there is room for growth. But the overrated conversation suggests that some people are not convinced her music will stand strong years from now.

At the end of the day calling an artist overrated says as much about the listener as it does about the music. It reflects expectations taste and experience. Sabrina Carpenter has built a career that many would admire. But for a segment of listeners the praise surrounding her does not fully match what they hear when the music plays.

And that is where the tension lives. Some hear a rising star others hear potential that has not fully arrived. In a world where image marketing and momentum can lift an artist quickly it becomes up to the listener to decide what truly resonates.

That conversation is not going anywhere. As long as people keep listening debating and sharing their thoughts the question will stay alive. Is she overrated or simply a product of her time. That answer will keep echoing through speakers playlists and late night discussions for years to come.

Staff Writer; Jamar Jackson

This brother has a passion for poetry and music. One may contact him at; JJackson@ThyBlackMan.com.

Donald Trump is doing everything possible to prevent people from voting by mail and in any way.  Donald Trump started an unnecessary war, and can’t seem to decide what he wants out of the war and when it will end.

Donald Trump wants to ignore the Epstein issue and the women injured by Epstein and others when it’s obvious he knows a lot about it. Donald Trump has sent his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to run around the world trying to extract money for his personal use from everybody who will give it to him–like the Saudis who gave him two billion dollars that did not go into the U.S. Treasury, but into his pocket.

Donald Trump has assigned Jared Kushner, with no known skills in negotiating anything for the American people, but we are told he is now asking for five billion dollars from the Iranians. Don’t you even wonder where it’s going if he gets it?  Donald Trump has caused an increase in all prices like gasoline, food, utilities and all the essentials we need just to make ends meet daily.

Donald Trump has alienated so many of our friends around the world that they no longer trust America. Donald Trump has disgraced himself before many religious leaders, and most Catholics, with his efforts to vilify Pope Leo. Donald Trump has caused thousands of highly educated, productive and capable Black women to lose their jobs.

Donald Trump has gone overboard to find something wrong (as in illegal) with the brilliant New York Attorney General Tish James without cause. Donald Trump acts like he barely knew the late Jeffrey Epstein when the evidence shows the contrary. Donald Trump has hired to high places the most incompetent people of any President of record.

Donald Trump has released from prison so many January 6th criminals who wrecked our Capitol Building and caused the death of several people who were trying to protect it. Donald Trump has told criminals he loves them immediately after they tried to destroy our Capitol. Donald Trump has shown he cares nothing for people like you and me.

Donald Trump is a convicted felon, and has shown no remorse for his behavior. Donald Trump is still trying to take Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from people who need it. Donald Trump has thrown the Ukrainian people to the dogs, and allowed so many to die unnecessarily. Donald Trump just wasted your tax dollars to send Vice-President J.D. Vance to Hungary to try without success to bring his dictator friend, Orban, across the victory line against the strong will of the Hungarian people.

Donald Trump has supported Vladimir Putin while he was killing so many of his own people. He supported Benjamin Netanyahu in every way he could–even while his own people disagreed with what he was doing when he was killing nearly 100,000 Palestinians–many of whom were innocent little babies. I used Trump’s name at the beginning of every statement so you would not miss who is to blame for all of the above.

Now that you know all of this, and this is not a complete list of Trump’s wrongdoing, are you aware that your vote during the midterm elections puts you in charge of what you can do when you vote? Trump has so many people in the House and the Senate who are actually defending him daily, so knowing these things about him–and there are far more I could include, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? Why not vote to change things? Why not do that to honor people who died to give us the right to vote!

Written By Dr. E. Faye Williams

Official website; https://x.com/DrEFayeWilliams

Chief Justice Roberts pushed back sharply when Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that a new era of global mobility justified departing from 125 years of settled constitutional interpretation. “It’s a new world,” Sauer contended. Roberts’ reply was brief and pointed: “It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.” Justice Neil Gorsuch noted the executive order targets parents while the Fourteenth Amendment’s text is trained on the child. Justice Elena Kagan told Sauer his reading was “revisionist” with respect to a substantial portion of American legal history. Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned the practical mechanics—how hospitals would verify parental immigration status at birth and what adjudicatory process would follow. Justices Alito and Thomas appeared more open to the administration’s theory. Legal analysts who had anticipated a 7-2 ruling against the order came away less certain. A ruling is expected before the Court’s term ends in late June or early July.

The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, establishes citizenship for all persons born in the United States “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Senator Jacob Howard, who introduced the clause, stated plainly in floor debate that the jurisdiction language excludes “persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens.” I have argued as a designated expert witness in federal and state courts for over a decade. United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) presents a high bar for the administration—Justice Horace Gray’s majority opinion held that a child born in San Francisco to Chinese parents domiciled in the United States acquired citizenship at birth, and that holding has anchored the doctrine for 128 years. The administration’s theory is that “subject to the jurisdiction” requires a substantive allegiance condition, not merely physical presence within the nation’s borders—and that Wong Kim Ark’s reasoning, applied to a population that entered illegally or on temporary visas, stretches the original holding beyond its logic. The constitutionally sound path runs through a formal Article V amendment. But the policy question Trump has forced onto the national stage—whether a doctrine originating in Reconstruction-era politics was ever designed to extend to children born to people who violated immigration law or paid a cartel for crossing services—deserves a direct answer, irrespective of how this case resolves.

During the Biden administration, an estimated 14 million illegal aliens entered or remained in the United States, including 10.8 million border encounters and at least 2 million known gotaways. ICE’s fiscal year 2022 enforcement data documents 46,396 noncitizens arrested with criminal histories—carrying 198,498 collective convictions, including 3,445 homicides, 9,185 sex offenses, and 3,737 kidnappings. The 2024 murder of Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia, by a Venezuelan national who had entered illegally and been released without detention gave that data a name and a face. Her death was preventable at every point in the processing chain; it was not prevented because the policy priority was release, not detention. The DEA’s 2023 National Drug Threat Assessment confirms that the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartels control the majority of cross-border drug trafficking. CBP seized over 11,200 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2022. The CDC reported over 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023, with synthetic opioids—primarily fentanyl—accounting for the majority. In 2022, Border Patrol encountered over 22,000 unaccompanied minors, thousands placed with sponsors who were never properly vetted, per DHS Inspector General findings.

California is projected to spend over $8.4 billion in fiscal year 2024–2025 on healthcare for unauthorized immigrants. New York City is housing over 65,000 asylum seekers in emergency shelters at a projected annual cost exceeding $4 billion. World Bank data shows remittances from the U.S. to Mexico alone totaled $61.7 billion in 2022, capital that exits the domestic economy without tax contribution. The National Academy of Sciences’ 2017 analysis found that first-generation immigrants use welfare at higher rates than native-born Americans, with costs loading onto state and local governments while long-range fiscal benefits accrue primarily to federal coffers decades later. The SAVE Act (H.R. 22), which requires proof of citizenship for voter registration, passed the House in April 2025 and sits stalled in the Senate. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated in 2020 that states with large, unauthorized populations gain roughly 26 additional House seats through census-based apportionment compared to citizen-only counts—a structural reward for tolerating unauthorized populations that is not accidental and is not without political beneficiaries. The political incentive to maintain the status quo is baked into the constitutional architecture of congressional representation itself.

Comprehensive reform has failed every time it has been attempted—most recently with the 2013 Senate Gang of Eight bill—for one reason: Democrats demand legalization first; Republicans demand enforcement first. The American public wants both, and in consistent polling has never viewed those goals as contradictions, because they are not. Enforcement without a legal pathway creates a permanent shadow population that cannot be taxed, regulated, or integrated. A pathway without enforcement is an open invitation with no expiration date, a signal to every prospective migrant worldwide that the statutory process is optional and the consequence is eventual amnesty. The deal has always been structurally available. The resolve to execute it, on both sides, has not. Complete the border barriers. Mandate E-Verify universally. End sanctuary policies. Restrict asylum to statutory qualifying cases. Restore interior enforcement. Trump v. Barbara will produce a ruling this summer. Whatever it says, the broader crisis requires elected officials, not lawyers, to provide the answer.

Written by Jay Rogers 

Thus wrote Kyle Smith in a Wall Street Journal column titled “EVs Can’t Compete Without Subsidies.” Smith deserves the Pulitzer for Clueless Commentary, a competitive category. About six weeks earlier, Trump launched a war on Iran paid for — subsidized! — by the American taxpayers. Some of it was to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program, a worthy goal. But it was also about oil, hence, the ongoing struggle to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for tankers.

Let’s talk about carmakers and subsidies. In 1908, when Henry Ford’s Model T first rolled off the assembly line, 93% of America’s rural public roads lacked any kind of surfacing. Until decent roads could permit town-to-town car travel, the market for Ford’s new product would be largely limited to well-to-do city folk seeking a new plaything.

The fledgling car industry clearly needed good roads to prosper. Several industry leaders proposed pooling their resources to privately build some kind of national highway system. Not Henry Ford. Government should pay for it, he said. And Ford became a major force in the Good Roads Movement, which pushed for greater government involvement. It achieved ultimate victory with the Federal Highway Act of 1921.

This was classic “rent-seeking,” to use Smith’s dismissive term, that is, getting the government rather than the marketplace to advance an industry’s interests. In 2023 alone, U.S. taxpayers spent about $285 billion building, maintaining and policing roads. But rent-seeking can also lead to good results for the nation at large. The modern road system helped America prosper into the 20th century and beyond.

And what do electric vehicle makers need from government? Not roads. The existing roads do just fine. They need something that costs considerably less than a network of interstates.

Many would-be customers for EVs worry that they’d be on a long trip with nowhere to charge their vehicles. The Biden administration tried to address that concern by budgeting a mere $8 billion to build a coast-to-coast system of charging stations along said interstates.

Trump tried to kill it. He froze the charger-station plan, miring much of it in litigation. He launched a smear campaign against EVs. Many MAGA devotees followed him in mocking them. Candidates campaigned against EVs as a “hoax.”

Governmental sabotage and a drop in gasoline prices devastated U.S. efforts to adopt the technology the rest of the world was running toward. Ford stopped making its all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning last year.

Consider this: The owner of an electric Tesla Model Y can drive 100 miles for less than $5. With pump prices of $4 a gallon (they’re $6 in California), a comparable compact SUV, the 2025 Toyota RAV4, costs more than twice as much, $10.40, to go that distance. And it’s a hybrid.

Meanwhile, at today’s gas prices, the driver of Ford’s gas-powered F-150 may have to shell out $20 to travel the same 100 miles.

Where’s China in all this? Mostly watching as high gas prices strain the U.S. economy — and not minding it one bit. For over a decade, China has devoted massive resources to reducing its need for imported oil, while becoming the world’s biggest maker of EVs. (China now has charging stations that can “refill” a car in five minutes.)

With gas prices spiking, Americans are again looking at EVs — just as discouraged American carmakers had largely given up on them. We’re losing.

What were EV subsidies subsidizing? They were subsidizing our economy, our national security and our future.

Written by Froma Harrop

Official website; https://twitter.com/FromaHarrop