Hoft Family 1966: Lynne, Tim, Bud, Sue, Becky, Dad, Mike, Mom, Chris, Joe and Jim
One of the great joys of my life was being born into a large, Catholic family from Iowa.
I grew up with my twin brother, Joe, my little brother, Mike, my older brother, Chris, and FIVE older siblings, including four who were in high school the year we were born.
Back then my father ran a meager business, and my mother stayed home and cooked, cleaned, read books, prayed, laughed, taught us the most interesting things about our ancestors, our amazing country, how to be gracious and how to honor God. This was back when everyone loved their country.
My eldest sister Lynne left home for college when I was very young. I didn’t know her well then, but I loved seeing her. Like all of my older brothers and sisters she was fun, funny, loving to her younger brothers and full of life.
Later in life, when I was home for a summer from college, I had a ‘disagreement’ with my father. My sister Lynne surprisingly called home that afternoon and asked me when I was coming down to see her. I told her I could leave that day. So, for several days, I hitchhiked from northern Iowa to Tuba City, Arizona, to live with my sister and her husband that summer. I found a job at the Grand Canyon, and she let me use her car to get back and forth from my job to her home. She supported me when I was lost and needed someone to help lift me up.
Later on in life, I drifted some from my sister. She was a huge liberal and liked to lecture on leftist politics. In the early 2000’s I took care of my mother in her final years. Lynne would come home for a visit and rock my world for days while she was in town. My mother passed in 2008 and we all missed this wonderful, courageous woman.
Then a small miracle happened. Around 2015, Lynne and my sister Becky, lifelong Democrats, took a liking to Donald Trump. The more they learned the more they agreed. Lynne was suddenly a Trump supporter. It was fantastic! She was also a help in advising me and my brothers. I became close with Lynne again. It was not just because of Trump but she became more supportive and loving to me. And I was more open. Thank God.
This week, my sister Lynne passed away in southern Iowa. She moved there from Minnesota, and my sister set her up in a nursing home and would visit her often. She passed away in the night.
I wanted to share this today.
I hope and pray you have someone in your life who was as supportive, open, and loving as my sister Lynne was to me.
I now have six siblings left – five brothers and one sister. Thank you God for gifting me with a large, Catholic family from Iowa.
Conservative Lawyer Nukes Leftist Harvard Fellow with One Question After He Invokes Trump’s Name to Defend Abdul El-Sayed’s Alleged Ties to Terrorists (VIDEO)
October 17, 2026
Conservative Attorney May Mailman humiliates Harvard University fellow Charles Blow when he tries to defend Abdul El-Sayed on CNN. Credit: CNN screenshot
An infamous former New York Times columnist and current Harvard University fellow was left red-faced earlier this week after trying to defend Muslim Marxist Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s alleged ties to terrorists.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, El-Sayed recently appeared on Meet the Press and was asked if he or anyone in his family has connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. His answer was a flat no.
But NBC News later engaged in actual journalism and confronted El-Sayed about tweets from his sister and other family members that appear to suggest a family connection to the organization.
El-Sayed did not appreciate the line of questions.
On Thursday’s edition of CNN Newsnight, Charles Blow, a Langston Hughes Fellow at Harvard University and former opinion columnist for The New York Times, got into a spat with conservative attorney May Mailman while trying to defend El-Sayed over the reported terror ties.
But he quickly made a major mistake when he demanded that Mailman disown President Trump while trying to defend El-Sayed’s comments on NBC.
Mailman responded by easily swatting the effort aside with just one simple question: Is Trump’s parent a terrorist?
This caused some of the panelists to erupt in laughter, which annoyed Blow.
WATCH:
Insane: Charles Blow on CNN NewsNight defends Abdul El-Sayed’s ties to terrorists and terrorism. https://t.co/sELtuH646A
President Trump holds midterm rally in Syracuse, New York – October 9, 2026
Guest Post by Pro-life Leader Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
One key dynamic that the polls are missing in these midterm elections is what they’ve missed several times before: the campaigning magic of President Donald J. Trump.
Which is why a new effort is underway to keep that magic from the voters.
Never have we seen the kind of passionate, tireless and effective campaigning the President does – not only when he ran three times for the office, but now to support his Party in the midterms.
And it’s likely to be precisely the factor that proves so much of the polling wrong again.
I’ve been at countless of these Trump rallies and watched countless others – and they are electrifying. Not only do they allow people to hear directly from the leader of the MAGA movement that has reshaped America and the world, but they allow people to experience the depth of passionate support there is for this man and, more importantly, for the agenda of freedom he represents.
After the President’s first term, a change occurred in the chants during these rallies, introducing something new in American presidential politics. The familiar “Four more years!” was accompanied increasingly by “We love you!”
It shows the X factor in these elections. President Trump connects with the people like nobody else. He thinks like them, talks like them, is fully transparent to them, fights for them in a totally selfless way, and they know it.
One of the key ways to motivate and educate ourselves and others this election season is to watch and share these rallies and speeches of President Trump.
He reminds us of the amazing accomplishments of his administration and of the plans for even more progress. And he does what is more important and effective in the 2026 midterms than ever: he paints the contrast between this historic record of Republican accomplishments and the destructive, downright crazy positions of today’s Democrat Party.
He does it with plain speech, humor, a dose of well-deserved sarcasm, and heartfelt love for America. And he leaves us with hope, urging us to take our country back via this year’s elections.
One of the reasons this can create a Republican victory in 2026 that defies the pattern of midterm elections is that the low propensity, Presidential-race-only voters can be brought out precisely by their love for President Trump urging them to vote again now.
It’s no secret that the Fake News media suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome and it shows in their coverage of our president – and their unwillingness to broadcast his rallies or even report fairly about them.
This bias is counteracted by outlets like Newsmax, One America News, Real America’s Voice, Right Side Broadcasting, and many others.
Then there’s the FOX News Channel. It has obviously been changing, and many viewers have moved away from it in frustration.
And in the latest turn of events, last week rival CNN noted that FOX News has not broadcast the president’s recent campaign rallies.
As CNN noted, “This programming decision has huge political and cultural significance. FOX News, America’s most-watched cable channel, has been one of Trump’s top ways to reach voters for more than a decade.”
The president is not on the ballot but his policies are. It’s outrageous that his rallies are not being broadcast. These are major events for which he has to set aside considerable blocks of time and energy and which represent the core convictions of countless Americans, led by their President.
We have decided to challenge FOX News to reverse course and give the President’s rallies the robust coverage they deserve.
Priests for Life has launched a petition drive to let the decision makers at FOX News know how many Americans are unhappy with the decision they made. You can find the petition at ProLifePetition.com.
For an outlet as large as FOX News, and with so many viewers who agree with the President, to stop airing these rallies is simply media malpractice. It’s time for us to say so.
WA School District That Forced Kids to Hide Bibles in “Concealed Envelopes” Must Now Apologize, Undergo Religious Liberty Training, and Fork Over $275K
October 17, 2026
A school district in Washington state is being forced to apologize, fork over $275,000, and attend religious liberty training after forcing students to hide Bibles in concealed envelopes.
School officials in the Everett School District were accused of trying to make it difficult for children to participate in a release-time program on Christianity. The elementary students were forced to hide Bibles in “concealed envelopes,” and parents were forced to repeatedly submit permission slips.
LifeWise Academy provides optional, privately funded Bible education to public school students during school hours. Classes take place off school property and require parental permission.
Following complaints, First Liberty Institute and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of a LifeWise parent and staff member after the district imposed restrictions that singled out the program.
According to the lawsuit, the restrictions included excluding LifeWise from community events and flyer displays, requiring burdensome weekly parental reauthorization, and requiring students to keep materials received at LifeWise, including Bibles, sealed in envelopes in their backpacks.
Additionally, a school board member was openly hostile about the program and “publicly declared animus toward LifeWise Academy” while grossly mischaracterizing the program during a school board meeting.
School board member Charles Adkins accused LifeWise of engaging in an “effort to turn our nation into a fascist theocracy,” and publicly declared at a board meeting, “I want to make it very, extremely, abundantly clear, that yes, I do in fact hold animus toward LifeWise Academy.”
In April 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a preliminary injunction against the district.
Joel Penton, CEO of LifeWise Academy, shared, “This settlement is a welcome victory for Everett families who simply want the freedom to choose Bible education for their children.”
“Parents and students deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of their religious beliefs. We appreciate the district’s commitment to equal treatment and its agreement to issue a public apology. We look forward to moving ahead and continuing to serve the Everett community with Bible-based character education during school hours.”
First Liberty notes, “An apology will be posted on the District’s website, which reads in part: ‘The District recognizes that comments made at various Board meetings that concerned LifeWise, including by Directors, were offensive and hurtful to the families participating in LifeWise programming. For that, the District and its Board of Directors offer a sincere apology.’”
“‘We recognize that these statements negatively affected the exercise of your faith. The District values the rights of all families to raise their children according to their own religious beliefs. We further apologize to any students or families that were made to feel by these comments that your religious beliefs are unworthy of respect.’”
Following the settlement, Penton added, “We are grateful to the Everett parents who courageously stood up for their children and defended their rights throughout the legal process.”
“Our focus remains on providing Bible education to families who want it and helping students develop character that serves them throughout their lives.”
Iranian Design, Chinese Parts, North Korean Labor: How Russia Builds Its Drones
October 17, 2026
Russia’s Garpiya drone series includes long-range attack and export variants. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army’s ODIN.
Russia builds the Iranian-designed Geran drones it launches nightly at Ukrainian cities using Chinese engines, chips, and raw materials, along with North Korean labor. The supply chain now runs both ways. Russia also ships components and upgraded designs back to Iran for use against U.S. forces.
The attacks also exploit a cost imbalance. Open-source estimates put a Geran-2 at $20,000 to $50,000, compared with a historical average of about $4 million for a Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor. In May, the U.S. Army sought proposals for a Patriot interceptor costing less than $1 million to improve the economics of defending against drones and other threats. twz.com
Iran initially supplied Russia with complete Shahed drones and components, then helped establish domestic production through Sahara Thunder’s procurement network. In late 2022, Russian executives agreed to pay Iran $1.7 billion, partly in gold bars, to establish the Alabuga drone plant in Tatarstan. Russia’s push to produce 1,000 drones daily relies heavily on Iranian technical assistance. Annual capacity is estimated at more than 36,000 Gerans, while a planned carbon-fiber expansion at Alabuga could add about 28,000 airframes annually.
Chinese companies supply engines, microchips, and other Shahed components to Iran and Russia in disregard of U.S. sanctions. Xiamen Victory Technology sells Limbach L550 engines used in the Shahed-136. Conflict Armament Research documented a “discernible increase” in Chinese-made Shahed components, while Chinese customs data show hundreds of containers of dual-use goods, including engines, chips, fiber-optic cable and gyroscopes, shipped to Russia and Iran.
Chinese technology also powers Russia’s newest models. The Geran-4 jet drone, used in combat since May 2026, runs on a Chinese Telefly TF-TJ2000A turbojet. A Chinese state company also supplied Rosatom with raw materials for Geran airframes.
Western components reach these factories through China. A Treasury investigation found that nearly all American and European parts in these drones passed through authorized distributors to retailers in mainland China or Hong Kong, then to Iran or Russia. Payments typically went through Hong Kong shell companies.
On May 8, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 individuals and companies across the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe for helping Iran’s military obtain weapons and materials for Shahed drones and ballistic missiles. Targets included China-based Yushita Shanghai International Trade Co., which facilitated purchases for Iran’s technology acquisition center, and Iran-based Pishgam Electronic Safeh Company, which procured thousands of servomotors of the type recovered in downed Shahed-136 drones, according to Treasury.
Alabuga also relies on foreign recruits to staff its assembly lines. The Alabuga Start program recruited women aged 18 to 22 from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and other countries with promises of work-study opportunities, a 2024 AP investigation found. About 90 percent of the foreign women recruited through the program worked on drones, according to David Albright, an expert cited by AP. Workers described long hours, surveillance, lower pay than promised and exposure to harmful chemicals.
North Korea supplies additional labor. As many as 25,000 North Koreans work at the Alabuga drone plant, according to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team’s September 16 report. Pyongyang has promoted sending workers to Alabuga’s Geran-2 production lines since 2025. Released with a joint statement by the team’s 11 member states, the report estimates that 35,600 to 101,280 North Koreans work abroad, nearly all in China and Russia, including 15,000 to 30,000 in Russia at the end of 2025.
Russia disguises the workers as students to circumvent the UN ban on North Korean labor abroad. Of more than 36,400 visas it issued to North Koreans in 2025, 35,800, or about 98 percent, were student visas. Each worker in Russia earns an average of about $7,500 annually, with wages up to five times higher than in China. Pyongyang confiscates 80 to 90 percent of those wages. The overseas labor program generated an estimated $450 million to $800 million in 2025, helping fund North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The arrangement could also strengthen North Korea’s drone program. A separate Ukrainian military intelligence estimate cited by Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Joseph Kim of the Bush Institute put the number assigned to Alabuga at up to 12,000. The authors warned that returning technicians could bring valuable mass-production experience.
During the Iran war, Russia has shipped drone components, ammunition, and TNT to Iran across the Caspian Sea. Iran has used Russian-enhanced Shaheds and Russian targeting intelligence against U.S. forces, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
Internet Goes Wild with Memes After Texas GOP Cong. Candidate Brandon Herrera Catches His Dem Opponent Making This HILARIOUS Blunder While Trying to Shame Him During Debate (VIDEO)
October 17, 2026
Texas GOP congressional candidate Brandon Herrera caught his democrat opponent, Katy Padilla Stout, in an embarrassing misspeak during their debate this week. Credit: News 4 (WOAI) San Antonio YouTube Screenshot
The Internet went into frenzy earlier this week after a portly Texas Democrat congressional candidate faceplanted embarrassingly during a debate while trying to attack her GOP opponent.
As Texas Public Radio reported, Republican Brandon Herrera and Democrat Katy Padilla Stout faced off Tuesday night in a nasty debate for the Texas 23rd Congressional District.
They clashed over several important issues, including the Uvalde school shooting, border security, and rural health care. The most important moment, however, came when Stout decided to attack Herrera, a prominent gun rights activist and YouTuber, over what she viewed as sexist and cruel content in his videos.
This backfired spectacularly when Stout inadvertently slammed Herrera for making fun of Nazis, which the Republican was quick to pounce on.
“And here I thought making fun of Nazis was a good thing,” he quipped.
LOL!
WATCH:
Brandon Herrera caught Katy Stout in a humorous misspeak during their debate
“After he made millions of dollars after making jokes online, making fun of n*zis, and making fun of veteran su*cide”
“And here I thought making fun of n*zis was a good thing” – Herrera
“I apologize, I did misspeak. He chooses to goose step on YouTube for clicks and bait and money so that he can promote that type of ideology. He chooses to shame women, call children s-explicit comments”
STOUT: He made millions of dollars after making jokes online, making fun of nazis, and making fun of veteran suicide…Making fun of all these things we know he does not need to be doing.
HERRERA: And here I thought making fun of Nazis was a good thing. My grandfather was a Silver Star recipient from the Korean War…I watched him wither in the VA system before he died.
And I got to see how badly we were failing the veterans of this country. I have family with a proud history of military service.
Me and my business partners have raised over a million dollars for veterans’ charities…That is something we deeply, deeply care about.
STOUT: I apologize, I did misspeak. He chooses to goose step on YouTube for clicks and bait and money so that he can promote that type of ideology.
He chooses to shame women, call children sexually explicit comments, and he wants to represent us in office.
Herrera later posted his thoughts on the debate.
“The debate tonight was great,” Herrera wrote. “It was fun to watch my opponent realize on live television that lying and slandering me isn’t a substitution for a platform.”
The debate tonight was great.
It was fun to watch my opponent realize on live television that lying and slandering me isn’t a substitution for a platform. https://t.co/swDqtyJeOi
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