PHOENIX (AP) -- When Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest convention reached its halfway point, Erika Kirk tried to put a smiling face on things. "Say what you want about AmFest, but it's definitely not boring," said Kirk, who has led the influential conservative organization since her husband Charlie was assassinated in September. "Feels like a Thanksgiving dinner where your family's hashing out the family business." That's one way to put it. Some of the biggest names in conservative media took turns torching each other on the main stage, spending more time targeting right-wing rivals than their left-wing opponents. The feuds could ultimately define the boundaries of the Republican Party and determine the future of President Donald Trump's fractious coalition, which appears primed for more schisms in the months and years ahead. Here are some of the most notable moments from the four-day conference.
Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, has been fired from his position as a ranger with the Snowshoe Resort Community District in West Virginia. The district's board of directors released the below statement on Friday: "Ranger Tim Loehmann is no longer employed by the SRCD. The Board of the SRCD met on December 19, 2025, to discuss personnel matters, and then voted unanimously to terminate the employment of Tim Loehmann effective immediately. Tamir Rice was playing with an airsoft pellet gun outside the Cudell Recreation Center in November 2014 when Loehmann shot him. The boy died the next day. The Cleveland Division of Police fired Loehmann in 2017 " not for the shooting, but for lying on his job application and failing to disclose that Independence police had previously deemed him unfit for duty.
Erika Kirk stunned the internet with an apparent slip of the tongue in which she implied her deceased husband Charlie was a "grifter." Honoring a student at a Turning Point USA event, Erika Kirk said, "Despite the devastating loss of Charlie Kirk, my incredible husband... Caleb has persisted with the same grift - gift - grit... it has been a long day." "Trust me you're not a grifter, honey," she said to the student. "It's all good."
Picnics are a fun way to catch up with your favourite people, but did you know there is a picnic table where folks from three different countries can have lunch together -- without crossing any borders?
What a Prescription in the Epstein Files Reveals About Sex Trafficking Read more
Anything goes on this thread. So post whatever y'all want. But I'll try to stay with media theme songs (emphasis on "try"). The cited link is A Swingin' Safari by Bert Kaempfert (1962). A theme of the TV show, The Match Game back in the day. Read more
In Buffalo NY, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and NYS Governor Kathy Hochul (D) jointly announced a deal to cooperate on sharing nuclear power across their border; concomitantly the Ontario Premier publicly shunned Florida, encouraging Canadians to join his boycott of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' state.
A Namibian politician named after German dictator Adolf Hitler was declared the winner by a landslide in a local government election, according to official results published late Thursday. Read more
Seasons greetings, from your old friend Santa! Santa has been hard at work up at the North Pole preparing to deliver toys to all you wonderful girls and boys.
But lately, it hasn't been all candy canes and rainbows for old St. Nick, because some people don't like the fact that Santa started dating Mrs. Claus when she was just 14. Read more
Samuel "Anglo" Saxon (47), the Cincinnati Ohio-based ICE leader accused of strangling and beating a woman he lived with, is being incarcerated in the Butler County Jail along with ICE detainees.
The British House of Commons reports:
Finland's government is facing heavy pressure and accusations of racism from several Asian countries after its representative to the 2025 Miss Universe pageant was seen pulling the corners of her eyes in a photo -- and some Finnish politicians posted their own photos repeating the gesture.
Kids, and kids at heart, race out to make a snowman after a winter storm blankets the ground. Just as every snowflake is unique, each snowman's size and accessories are limited only by its creator's imagination. Indeed, snowmen of all sorts have dotted front yards and public spaces for centuries. Yet they were not always the "jolly happy" figures immortalized in the song and animated television special "Frosty the Snowman."
Craig Austin Lang (35, Kiev, Ukraine) was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in federal prison for killing a Floridian couple in 2018 in his effort to raise funds to fight the Nicolas Maduro government of Venezuela.
The problems include "leaking raw sewage, non-functional toilets, and general disrepair of facilities," according to the report
Authorities in Massachusetts charged two Haitian men with SNAP program fraud amounting to over $7 million on Wednesday. The suspects, 74-year-old Antonio Bonheur and 21-year-old Saul Alisme, each face one charge of food stamp fraud. District of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said the two men used small storefronts, the Jesula Variety Store and Saul Mache Mixe Store, to redeem the SNAP benefits sometimes amounting to $500,000 per month.
