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WWE star dubs New Jersey coastal casino mecca 'saddest' in America
Atlantic City, New Jersey, is far from the shining casino resort capital of the East Coast that it used to be.
Sure, there are still great hotels and casinos left in the city and the beach, unlike most in New Jersey, is still free. But crime and corruption have changed the perception of the city over the years.
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WWE star Grayson Waller took advantage of that.
Atlantic City’s iconic Boardwalk Hall played host to "Monday Night Raw" and a taping of "Friday Night SmackDown." Waller posted a video of himself running on the beach on social media and dubbed the beach town the "saddest city in America."
"I’ve been to a lot in America but Atlantic City, New Jersey, might just be the saddest," the Australian heel said. "It’s like Las Vegas for people who have given up on life. But it’s Monday morning. Technically, I’m at a beach – an American version of a beach.
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"While the rest of the Raw roster is sleeping in, I’m out here getting after it. I don’t want to end up like one of these people who has to vacation in Atlantic City, New Jersey. So sad."
While it might feel like that for some, fellow WWE star Matt Cardona had different memories of Atlantic City.
Cardona performed for Game Changer Wrestling at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City. The promotion would turn the hotel’s ballroom into a wrestling ring and put on some memorable matches on the independent scene.
"Back in Atlantic City tonight for @WWE. Matt Cardona, the man, was born on Long Island. Matt Cardona, the pro wrestler, was born in AC!" he wrote on X.
Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal: Trust him, not his team
Influential evangelical leaders are divided over the Trump administration's memorandum of understanding with Iran, as conflict continues across the Middle East and debate grows over whether the framework strengthens U.S. leverage or risks harming Israel.
President Donald Trump recently threatened to re-escalate U.S. military strikes against Iran after Tehran continued attacks in the Strait of Hormuz after the regime launched strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain over the weekend, drawing condemnations from both Gulf neighbors.
The split is emerging at a delicate moment for Trump, who is trying to turn military pressure on Iran into a diplomatic framework without alienating supporters who helped power his political coalition. Supporters of the MOU say Trump has earned trust because he weakened Tehran first, while critics say any deal that gives Iran relief before its threat to Israel is permanently neutralized risks betraying the alliance his base expects him to protect.
Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital that many people are underestimating the American president.
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"The facts are that Donald Trump was key to ending the Gaza war, he was key to getting hostages out of there and he was key in breaking the back of the Iranian regime, including destroying its navy, air force, missile defense and leadership," Evans said.
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There are 750 million Bible-believing Christians around the world who identify as Zionists, Evans said, adding that while they may disagree on Israeli political issues, they agree that Israel is the biblical homeland given by God to the Jewish people through Abraham.
While running for president, Trump met with Christian groups, including Evans, and asked whether they would support him, Evans said, adding that they agreed on the condition that he support Christian values in the United States and stand by the State of Israel.
"He promised to do both and so far he’s exceeded all of our expectations," Evans said.
"Israel is willing to shed its blood for America in the Middle East. America needs to do everything possible to support the State of Israel. We, as believers, believe that God birthed this nation. We don’t have any fear about Israel’s future," he added.
U.S. Officials worked with the Israel Defense Forces to complete Operation Epic Fury in February, which was a 38-day effort to dismantle the Iranian regime’s military capabilities.
"Following the historic destruction of Iran’s military capabilities through the successful Operation Epic Fury, President Trump and his negotiating team have brokered an excellent, performance-based MOU that advances the interests of the United States by ending the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to significantly lower energy prices, and forcing Iran to commit to abandon its nuclear ambitions," White House Spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.
"President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump...Americans and our allies around the world are already safer for the United States and Israel’s bold actions to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon," a White House official added in comment to Fox News Digital.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital that in 2016, opposition to President Obama's catastrophic Iran deal was one of the top three reasons evangelicals rallied to Donald Trump, helping forge one of the most consequential, enduring and powerful political coalitions in American history — a coalition that stands with him still and knows its power.
"Evangelicals know, and President Trump knows, that words on paper don't change terrorists. Accountability does. Action does. This President has been willing to confront the Iranian regime in ways no predecessor would, and the regime has never been weaker," Moore said.
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"The nuclear threat, at least for now, is gone. What brought Iran to this table was not a memorandum — it was precise and unrelenting military action that shattered their nuclear ambitions and broke their conventional forces," he continued.
"We also know, as the President knows, that the regime will say and do anything to deceive everyone around him — because they understand they cannot deceive the President himself. Evangelicals trust President Trump entirely. That does not mean that we trust many of those now involved in the negotiation," he added.
The risk the president must manage, he said, is that Tehran turns this into a stalling game — as it tried and failed to do with his own team at least twice and did successfully with Presidents Biden and Obama.
"In the end, because of the President, America will win this too — negotiation or not. But it is clear where our community stands. The regime only understands one language: strength. American strength," he said.
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Other leaders expressed concerns over recent comments on Israel from the administration. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, told Fox News Digital that evangelical Christians were largely responsible for the election of the current administration and said the agreement with Iran is extremely worrying.
"One of our core issues is the Biblical requirement to stand with Israel and G-d's chosen people as described in the Books of Genesis and Obadiah. As the Bible teaches, those who stand with Israel will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed," she said.
"There is a strong feeling that Israel is being betrayed and thrown under the bus in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are particularly concerned about recent harsh and false statements made by Vice President Vance, which could be perceived as cursing Israel," she added.
The office of the vice president declined to comment when approached by Fox News Digital.
Vance has supported Israel but has also said he is willing to criticize the country when he believes its actions warrant it. He condemned antisemitism in February, telling the Daily Mail, "I think Jew hatred is disgusting."
"You shouldn’t hate people because they’re white. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Jewish. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re black," he said.
But Vance has also made clear that support for Israel does not mean automatic agreement with Netanyahu’s government.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we've been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned," Vance said in an interview on "CBS Sunday Morning" June 10.
TRUMP'S IRAN AGREEMENT RAISES A BASIC QUESTION: IS IT ACTUALLY A DEAL?
The Trump administration publicly released details of the memorandum outlining plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development assistance if a final agreement is reached, and a 60-day negotiating period aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that, in its current form, the MOU appears ill-advised at best, as the military gains achieved by Washington and Jerusalem have yet to be fully realized.
"I have yet to hear from anyone who was not surprised by such an about face in signing the MoU. Who would not be concerned with the U.S. effectively agreeing to forever negotiations with a highly militarized radical Islamist regime, flush with cash, in pursuit of nuclear weapons," Hagee said.
Most evangelical Christians, he added, see what everyone else sees: The U.S. negotiating team appears to have fumbled the ball on the one-yard line. Nevertheless, the U.S.-Israel alliance remains a cornerstone of both countries’ security as well as a key pillar of global stability.
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"From a religious perspective, we have a divine mandate to stand with Israel. From a national security perspective, we have no stronger or wiser ally anywhere in the world. And from the Christian pilgrim’s perspective, our holy sites in the Holy Land have never been more open and yet more secure," Hagee said.
"The most "America-first" thing one can do is stand with our only true ally in the region," he continued.
"The Islamic Republic declared war on the West the day it was founded nearly half a century ago. That has not changed. Democracies rarely get to decide who their enemies are. The only conclusion to this conflict is regime change through domestic revolution in Iran," Hagee added.
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After the 60-day timeframe, Evans predicted Trump is likely to extend negotiations for another 90 days, carrying them through the end of the year and beyond the midterm elections. President Trump, Evans said, will then break the economic back of the regime, take Kharg Island and completely bankrupt the regime.
"I am not panicking because I know Donald Trump. I am the strongest supporter in the state of Israel of Donald Trump. I am the one that hosted the embassy gala, put up all the billboards and gave him an award. I am not panicking over this," he added.
Evans said Christians do not believe the battle can be won by bombs alone, and that they view prayer as their most powerful weapon.
"We are hosting the largest prayer in history at the Kotel (Western Wall) with 5 to 10 million Christians on Oct. 7. I now have more than a dozen ambassadors involved and 23 additional ones I am meeting with who want to represent their country," he said.
Dr. Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), said his organization has witnessed up close for decades how the Iranian regime has progressively raised the sword of radical Islam over Israel, as well as over indigenous Christians throughout the Middle East.
"Given the current deal being worked out with Iranian leaders, we share the sense of most Israelis that the war against this intolerable Iranian threat has been stopped short of its needed objective," he told Fox News Digital.
"Israel is a fellow Western democracy that deserves our full support in its fight to defend our shared freedoms and values, and many Christians in this region look to Israel as a light of hope for securing their own freedoms and futures," he added.
Ultimately, Bühler said, the best and most just answer to the Iranian threat is genuine regime change in Tehran.
"We have not given up hope that the Iranian people themselves will be able to rise up and overcome their oppressive rulers and steer their nation away from this self-destructive obsession with destroying Israel," he said.
Heather Johnston, founder and president of the U.S.-Israel Education Association, said in a statement to Fox News Digital in reaction to the MoU that the U.S.-Israel relationship has advanced American interests for decades and should be strengthened — not strained — by U.S. diplomacy with Iran.
"Iran’s long record of supporting terrorism and threatening Israel gives Americans ample reason to assess this agreement carefully and skeptically. Any diplomacy with Iran should be measured against whether it advances or undermines that progress," she said.
Seattle Pride parade pandemonium as nude marchers prance through streets in front of children
WARNING: Graphic Content
Seattle's LGBT Pride parade on Sunday descended into bedlam as attendees stripped off their clothes and marched the streets naked while children looked on.
One video filmed by Chloe Cole, a de-transitioner activist, and posted by Frontlines Turning Point USA, shows people from a group called "Friends of Denny Blaine" marching in the nude. Some onlookers clapped and cheered, while the video panned to young children watching the spectacle.
Another video shows naked people prancing around an outdoor fountain nearby children who were playing in the water.
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The "Friends of Denny Blaine" website says it is dedicated to protecting Denny Blaine Park, which is known for its "historic nude & queer character." Currently, the park is facing a lawsuit from concerned citizens over its graphic nature, according to the website.
"Nude ≠ Lewd," "Free to be Naked" and "Nude is Nourishing," read signs held by the marchers in the parade.
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Yet another lewd video shows naked men cycling in the parade, again to the applause and appreciation of the crowd, though some spectators can be seen shielding the eyes of children from the nude bodies.
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The Frontlines TPUSA video showing people parading nude around the Seattle Center International Fountain after the gay pride event includes scenes of children splashing in the water that sprays from the fountain just feet from several naked men and one naked woman.
It comes as Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community every June, comes to a close. In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton officially declared June the "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," and in the years after gay marriage was codified in 2015, the parades and celebration have become increasingly crass, often with scenes of nude or nearly nude people parading in public.
The three videos of nake demonstrators caused online fury from viewers shocked by the indecent display.
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"How is this not indecent exposure? Wtf?" one X user said.
"Why the f*ck would you take your children to see and celebrate this vile filthy celebration of perversion and degeneracy?" asked another.
DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
A third said: "Those parents are stupid, both for bringing children to a Pride Parade, and for keeping them there when a bunch of naked pervs exposed themselves. Pride Parades are infamous for crap like this."
Seattle's municipal code mentions nothing about public nudity, and Seattle Police Department (SPD) has reiterated multiple times that being nude in Seattle is not a crime in itself.
"However, public nudity can quickly become a case of indecent exposure if the nudity causes a person to reasonably experience fear, alarm or concern," an SPD press release says.
Instead, the city is governed by Washington's indecent exposure law.
"A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm," Revised Code of Washington 9A.88.010 says.
A subsection of the law says indecent exposure is misdemeanor "on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years."
It is a felony for convicted sex offenders to commit the crime of indecent exposure.
The Seattle Police Department did not return a request for comment when asked whether anyone was arrested during the city's pride festivities.
Mayor Katie Wilson's Office also did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
HOA threatens American flag-flying homeowners as they fight for Old Glory before nation’s 250th birthday
As Americans prepare to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday, homeowners in an upscale Southern California community say they're being threatened with fines for flying Old Glory.
Residents in San Marcos, whose townhome community is governed by the Ambiance Owners Association, are refusing to remove American flags displayed outside their homes despite notices from the homeowners association.
Real estate websites show townhomes in the community are valued at just under $1 million.
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Documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show the dispute dates back at least three years. In May 2023, the HOA notified one homeowner that sports flags were prohibited while stating that "the American flag is the only approved flag to be hung on and within common property."
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By May 2026, however, the HOA issued Amy and Christopher Cooke a violation notice alleging the American flag mounted outside their home violated the association's flag policy and directing them to remove the flag mount within 15 days or face enforcement action.
Neighbor Terri Collins also received a violation notice over the American flag displayed outside her home and said she's prepared to fight the HOA alongside the Cookes.
"The journey has been long and hard, and we are ready to put an end to it once and for all," Collins told Fox News Digital.
Amy Cooke told Fox News Digital the controversy began after another resident attempted to fly a San Diego Padres flag, prompting the HOA to revisit its flag rules.
"Both American flags had been flying around here for decades without issue," Cooke said. "The fact is it's about the American flag, distinctly."
Cooke said she laughed when she first received notice that the HOA considered her American flag to be in violation.
"My first reaction was, 'No,'" she said. "'Wait a minute, this isn't legal.'"
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According to Cooke, the flag has flown from her garage door frame for more than 20 years in honor of her husband's grandfather, who was killed in World War II while rescuing fellow sailors. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart.
Cooke contends the HOA has repeatedly failed to explain why it considers her garage door frame to be common area rather than exclusive-use common area under the association's governing documents.
In a June 19 letter to the HOA obtained by Fox News Digital, the Cookes requested board meeting minutes adopting the flag policy, records supporting the HOA's interpretation of the property's common areas and the authority it relied upon in issuing the violation. They also asked that their disciplinary hearing be postponed until those records were produced, writing that the same questions "remain unanswered."
Cooke said she and her husband have spent nearly two years researching federal and California law, gathering HOA records, corresponding with the HOA and preparing for what they believe could become a lengthy legal battle.
The couple has since launched an online fundraiser to help cover attorney fees, court costs and other legal expenses if the dispute heads to court.
"This isn't about refusing to follow reasonable rules," Cooke wrote on the fundraising page. "We believe this is about preserving the right to display the American flag in our own community and ensuring that HOA rules are enforced fairly and consistently."
Cooke said any money remaining after legal expenses would be donated to patriotic organizations or causes supporting Gold Star military families.
The homeowners' fight has also attracted attention from legal advocates.
"California law is clear. While homeowners associations may adopt reasonable rules governing the manner, placement, or safety of flag displays, they cannot prohibit homeowners from flying the American flag on their own property," Courtney Corbello, counsel at the Center for American Liberty, told Fox News Digital.
"No homeowner should be threatened with fines for respectfully displaying the flag of the country they love, especially on the eve of America's 250th birthday. A blanket policy that sweeps in longstanding flag displays and punishes residents instead of pursuing reasonable solutions is likely to face serious legal scrutiny. HOAs cannot bully homeowners into taking down the Stars and Stripes."
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The controversy has also reached the political arena.
"What is wrong with these people? We are just about to celebrate the 250th birthday of our country," California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton told the California Post.
"One of the most beautiful and magnificent things about America is the way we show our love of our country together all the time. ... And now these tin-pot bureaucrats at some ridiculous HOA want to trample on our flag and stifle national pride at this of all moments? What a bunch of anti-American losers."
Hilton urged residents to ignore the HOA's demands and respond by displaying even more American flags in celebration of America's 250th birthday.
Cooke said the dispute has already had a ripple effect throughout the neighborhood.
"We have flags going up and down emotionally, which is really sad," she said. "Just fly the flag. It shouldn't be an emotional decision."
She said she hopes the case encourages other homeowners not to be intimidated by their HOAs.
"Stand up for what you believe in. Show some pride in your country and appreciate what America gives you," Cooke said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Ambiance Owners Association and the San Marcos mayor's office for comment.
Iran fights to keep grip on Hormuz as US, Gulf allies carve new shipping route
Iran's latest attacks on commercial shipping came just as the United States and Oman were beginning to steer more vessels through a new southern shipping corridor hugging Oman's coastline — an alternative route designed to move traffic farther from Iran's immediate reach.
Former U.S. military commanders and regional analysts told Fox News Digital the timing was no coincidence. They said Iran was trying to preserve one of its greatest strategic advantages as new shipping routes and regional infrastructure begin chipping away at Tehran's leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
"The southern route creates a route they can't toll or control," retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told Fox News Digital. "They felt it necessary to attack it."
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For decades, Iran's ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has given it influence well beyond its borders. But that advantage is increasingly under pressure as Gulf states invest in pipelines that bypass Hormuz and the United States and Oman expand use of the southern corridor.
Nearly half of inbound commercial traffic through the strait is already using that route, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.
After Iran attacked vessels using the corridor, the U.S. responded with strikes on Iranian military targets tied to maritime operations. Iran retaliated in recent days with attacks on U.S. facilities and regional partners before Trump announced both sides had agreed to halt further strikes and return to negotiations in Doha.
Iran has denied that its negotiators would be meeting with U.S. officials in Qatar on Tuesday.
Former Navy Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan said Iran's objective isn't necessarily to halt shipping altogether.
"The IRGC has been trying to make it commercially unworkable," Donegan told Fox News Digital, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "These attacks on shipping to me aren't random. They're strategy."
Rather than closing the strait outright, Donegan said, Iran only needs to keep insurance premiums high enough that commercial shipping companies remain reluctant to return.
"Their strategy is to enforce their control of the straits," he said, by driving up insurance costs while continuing to "test the U.S. resolve."
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The question now is whether Iran can translate that military pressure into lasting influence over the strait.
Under the memorandum of understanding negotiated after the ceasefire, Iran, Oman and the Gulf littoral states are expected to negotiate the strait's "future administration and maritime services" while commercial traffic moves toll-free for 60 days.
President Donald Trump has insisted on social media that there will be "NO TOLLS" after the negotiating period expires, even though the memorandum itself does not explicitly guarantee that outcome. Asked about the discrepancy, Trump argued that "common sense" and the threat of renewed U.S. military action would keep Iran from interfering with commercial traffic.
Iran, however, has signaled a different vision. An IRGC-linked news outlet portrayed last-minute revisions to the agreement — including language governing the strait's future administration and the temporary toll provision — as negotiating victories for Tehran.
The White House could not immediately be reached for comment ahead of Tuesday's negotiations.
America's Gulf partners have made equally clear they are not interested in rewriting the status quo.
"The management of the strait was working fine before the conflict," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said. "Why should we now, as a result of a conflict, accept some novel arrangement?"
The disagreement reflects competing visions for what Iran's role in the strait looks like once the fighting ends.
Former Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the negotiations reflect Iran's effort to emerge from the conflict with "a new status quo in the Persian Gulf."
But preserving leverage over the Strait is about more than commercial shipping.
"Iran is trying to basically step into that void," said Clionadh Raleigh, executive director of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.
Raleigh argued the conflict has left Gulf governments questioning whether "the U.S. is a partner that's unreliable," creating an opportunity for Tehran to argue that Gulf security should increasingly be managed by countries in the region rather than by Washington.
Those doubts are already reshaping regional strategy.
"They're seeking to really develop their own defense posture," Raleigh said. "And they're also seeking alternative means for them to continue trade."
Those efforts have been underway for years, but the latest conflict has accelerated them.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in the East-West Pipeline linking Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea, while the United Arab Emirates has expanded export capacity through Fujairah, allowing crude exports to bypass Hormuz altogether.
Every barrel that leaves the Gulf without transiting the strait — and every ship that safely uses the southern corridor — chips away at the leverage Iran has historically derived from one of the world's most important maritime choke points.
If those alternatives continue to expand, Iran's ability to wield the strait as a strategic pressure point could gradually diminish even if Hormuz itself remains one of the world's most vital energy corridors.
One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed by historian
When Americans think of the beverage that fueled the American Revolution, they usually picture black tea — but it turns out that green tea was just as popular.
The Founding Fathers and their contemporaries drank both types of tea, Bruce Richardson, the Kentucky-based founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, told Fox News Digital.
British subjects "were as likely to be drinking green tea as black tea, whether you were in Jane Austen [era] England ... or you were in colonial Boston," he added.
"There were five teas, all from China, because that was the only country that was exporting tea," Richardson said. "And of those five different teas, two of them were green and three of them were black."
Richardson, a tea historian who works as the tea master at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, said the five types of tea dumped into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act of 1773 included three black varieties — Bohea, Souchong and Congou — as well as the green teas Hyson and Singlo.
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Bohea, the most common and least expensive black tea of the era, was often made from older tea leaves harvested after the highest-quality leaves of the season had already been picked.
Most of the tea dumped into Boston Harbor was Bohea, Richardson said — and it was so ubiquitous that he compared it to the way Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues today.
"It was so common that often teapots at the time, or some that I've seen, would say Bohea on the side of the teapot," he said. "If they wanted tea, they'd say, 'I'll have a cup of Bohea.' It was that common."
Not only did colonial Americans distinguish between green and black tea, they even stored them differently.
"The well-to-do people would have a tea caddy – a wooden, beautifully made tea caddy to store their tea in," he said.
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"It was kept under lock and key. And in that tea caddy, [there] would be two compartments, one for green tea and one for black tea."
Merchants often favored black tea because it held up better during the long voyage from China to Europe and onward to the American colonies, Richardson said.
"The green tea was what China had always drunk," he said.
"And so they were exporting that as well, but they found that the black tea actually made the voyage better than the green teas."
Even after many colonists swore off British tea, they kept the ritual of drinking it — or at least a close substitute.
Many patriots brewed so-called "Liberty Teas" made from ingredients such as dried apples, blueberries, chamomile and herbs grown in their gardens.
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"They still wanted their tea time, but they didn't want to support the British government," Richardson said.
Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties
Former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band is set to face a grilling by congressional investigators after his name was referenced dozens of times in the Epstein files.
Band will testify voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday in a transcribed interview as part of the bipartisan panel’s probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted on federal sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited Band to testify about his interactions with Epstein and Maxwell while serving as a top aide to Clinton during the early years of his post-presidency.
Band attended a 2003 dinner at Epstein’s Manhattan town house and corresponded with Maxwell between 2002 and 2006, according to files released by the Justice Department.
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In a 2006 email, Band, who is a University of Florida alumnus, asked to use Maxwell’s plane to attend the NCAA men’s basketball finals to watch the Florida Gators play. In other correspondence published by the DOJ, he called Maxwell his "lover" and "social matchmaker," among other flirtatious messages.
The pair were photographed together at a Valentine's Day tea party at a members-only club in New York City in 2007.
Band has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and his interactions with the couple appeared to largely predate Epstein’s conviction of soliciting a minor in 2008.
The ex-Clinton advisor is likely to be peppered with questions about the former president’s ties to the disgraced financier.
Band, who initially served as Clinton’s personal aide and ultimately became a member of his inner circle, helped establish the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative during Clinton’s post-presidency. He later cut ties with the Clintons during a public falling out in the early 2010s.
In a 2020 tell-all interview with Vanity Fair, Band said he grew to dislike Epstein during a 2002 trip aboard Epstein’s private jet with Clinton to Africa and advised the former president to end his relationship with him.
Also in the interview, Band said Clinton in 2003 traveled to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James. Band said he declined to attend over his objections to Epstein.
Band’s account conflicts with Clinton’s repeated assertion that he never visited. Clinton, who has denied any wrongdoing, has pointed to travel logs that do not show such a trip.
Band told Vanity Fair he sought to bar Maxwell from Clinton-related events amid his broader rupture with the Clinton family. Maxwell was notably close to Chelsea Clinton and was invited to her wedding in 2010.
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The House Oversight interview will take place behind closed doors, but a transcript is expected to be published at a later date.
Tuesday’s testimony comes after Bill and Hillary Clinton testified to congressional investigators in March about their interactions with Epstein under the threat of civil contempt charges. Lawmakers threatened to criminally refer the couple to the Justice Department for contempt charges if they refused.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has also interviewed former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as part of the committee’s probe.
Comer’s panel in July is expected to interview former Goldman Sachs attorney and Obama counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former JPMorgan Chase executive and ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley.
All three knew Epstein personally and were among the high-profile figures whose names appear in recently released Epstein-related files, though none has been charged with wrongdoing.
FIRST ON FOX: Former Treasury advisor says probe into 'subversive' anti-AI Singham network is 'enormous'
FIRST ON FOX: Former Treasury senior advisor and chief speechwriter Sam Lyman says the Southern District of New York's investigation into the finances behind the activist network tied to American Marxist businessman Neville Roy Singham marks one of the most significant developments yet in the federal government's scrutiny of the organization and far-left protests in the U.S.
"It's an enormous development because it's one of the first legal actions that's taking a deeper look into this network, which is among the most subversive political networks here in the United States, period," Lyman told Fox News Digital.
Lyman was reacting to Fox News Digital's exclusive report that U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton from the Southern District of New York has opened a grand jury investigation into the finances behind Singham's sprawling activist network.
The former Treasury official, who now serves as head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, released a new report on Monday, first obtained by Fox News Digital, examining the Singham network's role in organizing opposition to artificial intelligence infrastructure and data center development across the country.
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Researchers conclude that about $23.6 billion in proposed AI and data center investment has been delayed, scaled back or blocked in campaigns where Party for Socialism and Liberation served as "a critical mobilizer in efforts that delayed, scaled back, or blocked the proposed AI infrastructure investment."
"What we've uncovered is that Neville Singham's network, in particular the Party for Socialism and Liberation, has been boots on the ground in dozens of protests across the country targeting data centers," Lyman said.
According to the report, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which has emerged in the past decade as a key political and activist arm of the Singham network, has developed a nationwide organizing operation that has participated in 21 campaigns across 14 states opposing AI infrastructure projects.
The report documents 19 case studies involving cities and counties including: Charlotte, N.C.; Prince George's County, Md. DeForest, Wisc.; Monterey Park, Calif.; Denver, Co.; Tucson, Ariz.; Athens, Ga.; Durham, N.C.; Madison, Wisc.; New Orleans; Cleveland and other locations.
According to the report, those campaigns resulted in 10 local data center moratoria, one permanent data center ban and four rejected or withdrawn projects. The authors note that the figure likely understates the total impact because several additional campaigns involved projects whose investment values were never publicly disclosed.
The report argues that while many residents have legitimate concerns over water use, electricity demand and land use, activists linked to the Singham network have built a sophisticated nationwide operation that amplifies those concerns through coordinated organizing, demonstrations and political pressure.
"The American opposition to data centers is real and mostly homegrown," the report states. "But an organized, foreign-aligned party has worked to amplify and convert genuine grievances into actions that slow or degrade America's buildout of data centers."
One of the report's featured examples is Charlotte, N.C., where it says Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers canvassed neighborhoods, circulated petitions and helped organize demonstrations before the City Council unanimously approved a 150-day moratorium on new data centers. According to the report, organizers are now pushing for a permanent ban.
In Prince George's County, Md., researchers say the Party for Socialism and Liberation chapter in Washington, D.C., helped organize town halls, canvass neighborhoods and gather more than 20,000 petition signatures opposing Lerner Enterprises' proposed $5 billion Brightseat Tech Park. County officials later paused data center approvals while reviewing local policy.
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The report also highlights DeForest, Wisc., where it says Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers joined local residents opposing Blackstone-backed QTS' proposed $12 billion hyperscale data center campus. Following months of public opposition, village officials declared the proposal "not feasible," leading the developer to withdraw the project.
In Southern California, the report says the Los Angeles chapter of Party for Socialism and Liberation participated in the "No Data Centers SGV" coalition, which organized petitions, public meetings and a ballot initiative culminating in California's first permanent municipal ban on new data centers in Monterey Park. According to the report, the coalition also influenced neighboring cities to adopt additional restrictions or temporary moratoria.
Researchers further cite campaigns in Arizona opposing Amazon's proposed $3.6 billion Project Blue near Tucson and a separate $2 billion AI data center proposal in Chandler, both of which encountered significant setbacks following organized opposition.
The report argues that the campaign against AI infrastructure is only one part of a broader effort by organizations linked to Singham.
"The common thread in all of these nonprofit organizations is that they agitate against American causes—what they call American empire," Lyman said.
"After Oct. 7, these nonprofit networks and their political affiliates were boots on the ground protesting Israel and any action Israel took in Gaza. They did the exact same thing when President Trump took office and started enforcing immigration laws. Now we're seeing the exact same thing take place against the technology industry here in the United States."
As reported by Fox News Digital, nonprofits funded by Singham — including CodePink, Tricontinental, People's Dispatch and Liberation News — have spent years publishing material opposing American AI development and criticizing leading technology companies including Palantir, Google, Amazon and Meta.
Lyman said the network's organizing capacity has made it an increasingly influential political force.
"This network is incredibly good at organizing," he said. "Self-identified socialists in America are incredibly good at getting out the vote, getting their people to protest and getting them to sign petitions."
He argued that the federal investigation by the Justice Department's Southern District of New York reflects growing recognition in Washington, D.C., of Singham's influence.
"Singham essentially is the figurehead who's funding all of this," Lyman said. "It makes sense both from a legal perspective and from a policymaking perspective that the American people are starting to take notice of his subversive activities because they are truly prolific."
The report concludes by calling for greater transparency into the funding behind the Party for Socialism and Liberation and other organizations tied to Singham, arguing that Americans should know who is financing organized campaigns that seek to shape the future of the country's AI infrastructure.
Fox News Digital's Mitch Picasso contributed to this report.
How capitalism missed out and failed to capitalize on America’s 250th anniversary
I love a good celebration, and Americans know how to go all-out to celebrate. Whether it’s Halloween, Christmas or even a major sporting event, we decorate, we costume, we have themed and branded food, and we fête the specific holiday or milestone. And, as Americans, we go hard.
As such, I was looking forward to an all-out barrage of red, white and blue patriotism coming from every direction as we headed into 2026, the 250th anniversary of our declaration of independence from England and the milestone celebrating the founding of our great country.
Now, as we are just a week away from July 4th, I find myself still looking.
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Capitalism, it seems, has failed America’s 250th anniversary.
In a land of clever people who look to lean into every possible opportunity, it seems like our 250th has been a wasted one. Sure, you can find some merchandise here and there, or your normal July 4th fare, but the economic response to this huge milestone event has been utterly milquetoast at best.
I expected to see T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and more in red, white and blue, emblazoned with oversized "America 250" and "America: Established 1776." I expected to see accessories proudly featuring the Stars and Stripes and "250." I expected every grocery store product, from condiments to candy, to feature not only limited-edition red, white and blue variations, but branding about celebrating 250 years of America.
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Where are the crazy themed decorations, the 250th balloons and the commemorative knick-knacks? Where are the blow-up Uncle Sams on the suburban lawns? Where are the special festivals and events? The big apple pie baking contests?
Why, when I walk down the street, is it not covered in red, white and blue from top to bottom and oversized "America’s 250th" banners, not just for the 4th of July, but all year long?
It seems like we have witnessed more American patriotism from foreigners visiting America for the FIFA World Cup than we have seen from American industry.
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Corporate America is usually first to jump on any theme, event or milestone. The fact that they have largely ignored America’s 250th is incredibly disappointing. For those who might say that they don’t want to get too "political," not only has it never stopped them in the past, but, moreover, the founding of our country isn’t about a political party.
In fact, America’s 250th is about all of us as individuals. America was founded on a unique idea, to uphold and protect the rights of each of us as individuals. It’s a celebration of independence and a celebration of people over government. It’s a celebration of defying odds through smarts, grit and strategy and being willing to put ideas into action.
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The country belongs to us as Americans, regardless of what you think of anyone or everyone in government at any point in time.
That is something worth celebrating, loudly, proudly and with an obscene amount of themed merchandise.
With half of the year gone, it’s a little late in the game, but it’s never too late for capitalism. I hope that July 4th will mark the beginning of a wave of in-your-face patriotism. We have the greatest country in the world and that deserves appropriate celebration.
MORNING GLORY: Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense
Extraordinarily gifted legislators in the United States Senate are rare. As preconditions to their effectiveness, they must accumulate both significant seniority in the body of 100, and the respect of their ever-changing 99 colleagues. It’s a small club — the United States Senate — and everyone knows who has got the ability and the respect to guide big lifts through the (intentionally) complicated process.
Maine Senator Susan Collins is one of the handful of senators who command the respect of her Republican Conference colleagues and most of the Democratic senators who actually care about making the country run well. That is why Collins is the chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and is also one of the 17 senators on the critical Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. (Collins is also a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.)
As chair of the Appropriations Committee, Collins has a unique power to guide the country’s spending. In partnership with the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Collins’ greatest responsibility as a legislator is to ensure the American military is fully funded to the level necessary to "provide for the common defense," as the Preamble of the Constitution succinctly puts it.
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Collins long ago earned a reputation as a Senate "workhorse," and her 10,000th consecutive Senate roll call vote — extending the unbroken voting streak she began in 1997 — made her the first senator in U.S. history to have cast this many votes without ever missing one. Even as Joe DiMaggio’s 1941 run of hits in 56 consecutive games is regarded as untouchable, so is Collins’ remarkable milestone (which towers higher with every roll call vote she makes.)
All of that experience and all of that earned respect will be needed in the weeks and months immediately ahead as Collins, along with Wicker and the Senate GOP leadership, tackle perhaps the most difficult challenge of her already distinguished and widely admired career: Allocating the funds needed to modernize the Pentagon in an era of rapidly changing technology when it comes to war and intelligence gathering, both the visible markers of American power like ships, submarines and the new B-21 bombers which provide the nation with deterrence and the secret and extraordinarily sensitive virtual stockpiles of cyber strength. Collins must do this even as hyper-partisanship engulfs the country’s politics.
Collins faces the urgent need to thread this extremely partisan era which is defined by negative polarization and rhetorical extremism of both the far left and far right. The nation requires a steady and effective set of military appropriation bills that will keep the nation’s defenses funded for the immediate demands of the conflict with Iran, even as the United States must continue to define and meet the challenge posed by the aggressive plans of China’s iron-fisted Leninist dictator Xi Jinping.
That Collins is leading in this moment of peril is very fortunate for the country. That she has to do so in what is for her an election year against a self-described "communist" and wildly extremist radical from the fringe of the Democrat’s far left edge is a new challenge.
Graham Platner was nominated by the Democrats because he is a human wrecking ball. By nominating the very opposite of Collins when it comes to achievement and temperament, the radical wing of the Democrats hope to cripple the Senate by denying it one of its most effective members. They are asking Mainers to destroy their own state’s vast advantage in the Congress in the service of their anti-West, anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic agenda.
They are also aiming to deeply injure the process that defends America at this crucial moment.
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The House and Senate must soon decide how to proceed on the Pentagon’s budget for 2027 and beyond. Both the SASC and the Senate Appropriations Committee must act. SASC provides the defense spending architecture via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but as The Wall Street Journal noted this past weekend, the NDAA "is a policy guide not a check, and the big question is whether the President’s $1.5 trillion defense budget" will actually pass and in what form and via what process.
Genuine legislators like Collins would prefer to use "regular order" to hold hearings, conduct mark-ups and send proposed bills to House-Senate conference committees. That is the ideal. That ideal is doomed to fail this year as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, assailed by his party’s radicals, is intent on creating a government shutdown before the midterms.
That shutdown isn’t a prophecy or a dart thrown with a blindfold. It’s the inevitable result of how the Democrats have framed the midterm elections this fall. Schumer cannot stop the House from enacting a defense budget but he can and will make the Senate’s regular order grind to a halt in order to satisfy his party’s whacko left-wing with a shutdown.
Which puts Collins and every Republican who is serious about keeping our military strong in a bind. The military must be as equipped and prepared in an era of rapidly evolving threats and technology. It cannot lurch from "Continuing Resolution" to "Continuing Resolution" (CR) which is the best result of "shutdown politics."
Democrats intend that very result. And if the Democrats win either or both Houses back from the Republicans in the fall, they will go much farther than a long string of CRs. They will savage defense spending in favor of their socialist pipe dreams.
This isn’t a secret and it’s not doom-casting. Believe what Democrats tell you. The party has launched off the left cliff in American politics, heading to places no American party has ever proposed to go before, much less actually traveled towards.
The left is now opposed to American power and stature in the world. It would strip us of our defenses. Even the handful of crazed leftists nominated for the House by Democrats in New Jersey and New York in recent weeks would combine with the existing fringe — the "Squad" — to eviscerate American military strength. Even five radical House members will be enough to control defense spending in a closely divided House and only one or two senators can do so in an even or one-vote majority Senate. The Congress ahead is very likely to be the most radical in America’s 250 years.
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Which is why Collins and Wicker, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senate Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) must make the anti-institutionalist choice to fund the Pentagon via the "budget reconciliation process," a complicated and controversial means to the end of tackling major tax and spending bills like the Working Families Tax Cut of 2025 and various COVID relief bills of both Republican and Democratic presidents. (Collins and then Senator Marco Rubio led the crafting of the Paycheck Protection Program which was the critical part of the economy-saving CARES Act of March 2020.)
Because Democrats are going to hold the federal government hostage in the fall as a giant campaign stunt, it falls to the serious and sober-minded Republican senators to advance national security spending through reconciliation. The harder question is whether to do so for two or three years instead of just one. That’s a difficult choice to make because it would recognize the yawning chasm between the mainstream American consensus about the country’s defenses and the hard left’s "defund defense" corollary to its "defund the police" and "defund ICE" platform planks.
Using reconciliation to forward funds up to $5 trillion is nobody’s ideal. But it is a necessity to provide time for our troops until the Democrats’ collective fever breaks.
Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.