Pope Leo XIV urged European leaders on Monday to get in gear and address the continent’s demographic crisis by reinforcing the family and affirming the dignity of human life.

The pope’s call to action comes amid a severe demographic collapse that threatens not only Europe’s social and economic stability but the cultural identities and destinies of various nations.

‘A rejection of the Christian inspiration of the founding fathers of the EU institutions has led to a time of drastic sterility.’

The number of live births in Europe per 1,000 persons in 1970 was 16.4. By 2024, the crude birth rate had fallen to 7.9.

According to Eurostat, the European Union’s total fertility rate — the average number of kids born to a woman over her lifetime — stood at 1.34 live births in 2024. Of the children born that year, nearly one in four have a foreign-born mother.

The fertility rate necessary for a population to maintain stability and replenish itself without requiring replacement by foreign nationals — what is referred to as replacement-level fertility — is 2.1.

Even when factoring in Europeans’ replacement by foreigners, statisticians project the EU’s population will fall by 11.7% between now and 2100 — from roughly 452 million to 399 million. Among the countries expected to thin out are Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Poland, projected to suffer population declines of 19.3%, 24%, 30.1%, and 31.6%, respectively.

RELATED: Conservatives are afraid to talk about the real marriage problem

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

In his address this week to European officials, including members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Demography, Pope Leo stressed that the continent’s demographic crisis “stands as a crucial juncture for the anthropological, social, and economic future of Europe.”

Echoing his predecessor, Pope Francis, Pope Leo said that Europe is not becoming the “old continent” because “of its glorious history, but because of its advancing age.”

After emphasizing that “children are the future,” Pope Leo noted that “a rejection of the Christian inspiration of the founding fathers of the EU institutions has led to a time of drastic sterility, not only because too many have been deprived of the right to be born, but also because there has been a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future.”

In addition to faulting the Europeans for increasingly abandoning their Christian roots, the pope reprimanded them for Trojan-horsing the means of their demographic demise into policies advertised as “family-friendly” — policies that he said “simultaneously promote discrimination against motherhood, exalt abortion as a right, and undermine the very foundation of the desire to start a family.”

To both address the demographic challenge at hand and counter the “two extremes of excessive state intervention and individualism,” the Roman pontiff noted that Europeans must respect and promote the central place of the family — which “is founded on marriage between a man and a woman” — and apply the principle of subsidiarity.

“Only a fresh springtide for the family can transform the winter chill of our aging populations,” said the pope.

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​Abortion, Birth rate, Demographics, Europe, European union, Family, Fertility, Policy, Pope leo, Replacement, Vatican, West, Politics 

I’ve been thinking about how often we encounter the word “premium.”

It used to mean something materially better: better leather, better denim, better craftsmanship, richer ingredients, more care. Now it usually means smoother software, cleaner interfaces, fewer inconveniences, more optimization.

I’m not particularly worried about AI replacing meaningful creative work because I suspect it may end up clarifying what creativity actually is.

But in the AI era, the meaning of the word may flip again. When flawless synthetic output becomes infinite and nearly free, reality itself starts becoming premium.

Man vs. machine

I was having lunch with a group of conservative thinkers the other day when the topic of AI came up. After a brief discussion about the impact on the workforce and the broad and possibly revolutionary effects it may bring, someone turned to me and asked how I thought it might impact my work as a writer and photographer.

I said something to the effect of the following.

I am not particularly worried about AI — at least not for myself. For others, definitely. For the world as a whole, yep. But for myself and my work? No.

Why? Because I think AI will have a strangely asymmetrical impact. The more something already resembled machine output — efficient, predictable, frictionless, synthetic — the more vulnerable it is now that actual machines can produce it at scale. But anything trying as hard as possible not to seem machine-made will become more valuable than ever.

For all the photos and videos that were overly surreal or trying to be as smooth and perfect as possible, the jig is up. AI will do it better and easier. There will be no need for glossed-up photos or videos that look unreal and appear like cheap visual candy. Eventually — and we are already seeing it — this style and whole aesthetic will be completely unwanted and thought of as one of the most egregious examples of what is now known as AI slop.

For the cheap writing with no meaning and no purpose, the words that exist only to fill the page, it’s over. It’s the same story for anyone who has spent recent years trying to perfect the art of being a human Wikipedia page without any heart or humanity. All of this stuff will be replaced by AI.

Essentially the skills that are basically humans just attempting to act like, or perform the functions of, computers will be less valuable than ever.

RELATED: Going to Europe on my own at 14 was an adventure. Can today’s kids ever feel as far away from home?

PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images

Great divide

Certainly, there will be a great divide, and surely many people will continue to enjoy the AI slop. They will watch the videos on Facebook not knowing or even caring if they’re computer-generated. They will listen to AI music and be content, like the driver of the cab I recently took in Italy. There will be people who actually prefer the machine-made over anything human.

But for those of us who value personality, judgment, taste, eccentricity, and genuine presence, all things human will become more valuable than ever.

In a world of infinite fake perfection, the real will become more valuable. The unedited image will become premium. A film photograph is not just an image file floating around a server farm somewhere; it is the physical residue of a real moment. Light literally struck a strip of chemical-coated film and permanently altered it. Someone had to choose the frame, press the shutter, and live with the result.

Proof of life

The faceless information-spewer is finished. Once machines can produce infinite competent text, competence itself becomes cheap. What those who care will seek out instead is the evidence of a particular consciousness. In the age of AI, the most valuable thing a creator can offer is proof that a real human being was here.

I’m not particularly worried about AI replacing meaningful creative work because I suspect it may end up clarifying what creativity actually is. It’s not just the domain of painters or novelists but of anyone with the courage to put something of themselves into their work, something that resists the eerie, frictionless perfection of the AI age.

The more we are immersed in that perfection — the more inescapable it becomes — the more people will hunger for signs of actual life — that “handmade” quality of something one human creates for another.

That will be premium.

​Men’s style, Books, Lifestyle, Culture, Family life, The root of the matter, Ai, Art 

Robots and artificial intelligence may not be as popular as some think, and a new viral video proves it.

An X user is hoping robots do not revolt against him after he posted a video with the caption, “The greatest video I’ve ever seen.”

‘The lifeless clanker carcass just laying there.’

The clip stems from an event at an alleged customizable robot store in China, called Future Era.

The Shenzhen, China, event showed a robot wearing a white outfit, grooving on stage in an attempt to mimic Michael Jackson. As one of Jackson’s biggest hits — “Billie Jean” — played, the robot glided around, copying the late pop star’s dance moves.

About five seconds into the footage, the robot already found itself stumbling over a pair of steps, but it eventually recovered. After struggling with the moonwalk, the humanoid bot attempted to walk up the stairs again, but this time it fell, permanently.

The bot’s corpse laid motionless for about 10 seconds as the upbeat music continued to play. The crowd remained completely silent in the dystopian moment until a stagehand approached the bot’s lifeless body, grabbed it by the collar, and ceremoniously dragged it off stage.

The video has been viewed over 5.3 million times at the time of this writing.

RELATED: ‘Yes, I will devote myself’: Korean monks initiate Chinese robot that could actually spy on them

“This is the greatest video I’ve ever seen,” the caption read. “No notes. The lifeless clanker carcass just laying there. No crowd reaction, anything. Just Billie Jean. Until its lifeless shell is shamefully dragged off. Purely amazing.”

Despite the joy the video seemed to bring viewers, at least one person was offended by it, writing on X, “imagine feeling so threatened by a robot you start using newly made slurs against it.”

However, the overwhelming sentiment showcased a growing level of robot fatigue, as the fumbling bots are being pushed out into society at a rapid pace around the world. The rising “anti-clanker” movement is showing a greater appetite for violence against machines seemingly designed to replace human beings. Readers have already seen the bots chase wild boars and be welcomed into monk orders, among other bizarre situations.

RELATED: The FCC just banned foreign-made routers — here’s which ones might be stealing your data

CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images

However, this bot — which is likely a Unitree G-1 — is not exactly the technological advancement that China promoted in February. At the time, bots showed advanced martial arts capabilities and choreography in a video that was allegedly free from special effects and was meant to show off new capabilities regarding coordination and fault recovery.

It seems there may be more work to be done, however, after one of the $13,500 robots was defeated by exactly two steps in the viral video.

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​Artificial intelligence, Return, Robots, Unitree, Viral video, China, Tech 

Several teammates of New York Giants star quarterback Jaxson Dart came to his defense over the long weekend.

Dart sparked headlines when he introduced President Donald Trump at a rally in New York on Friday, and even though his comments lasted less than a minute, his appearance was enough to set the internet ablaze with reactions.

‘Locker Room is fine.’

Giants linebacker Abdul Carter was among the first in the league to react early Saturday morning, initially saying that he thought the video of his teammate at the Trump rally was created by AI.

“Thought this s**t was AI, what we doing man,” Carter asked. However, by the evening, Carter wrote on X that he and Dart were “good” after having a discussion.

“We spoke earlier as Men. Yall can keep yall narratives,” Carter explained.

However by that time, Boston Globe reporter Ben Volin had already taken Carter’s words and come to the conclusion that Dart had “divided his locker room.”

That comment did not sit well with Giants offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor.

RELATED: Actress Ilana Glazer attacks women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines: ‘You’re just stealing money’

“Locker Room is fine,” the 6’4″ guard wrote on X. He then told the Globe reporter he should keep his attention on his local NFL team.

“Focus on New England,” Eluemunor added.

Four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens voiced his point of view on Sunday evening, calling the online hate toward President Trump fabricated.

“The fake Trump hate funny to me,” he wrote. “Majority voted for him but everybody seem to hate him lol … Somebody lying.”

These remarks mirror similar comments Humphrey made in February 2025, when he wrote on X, “I’m confused how everyone appears to ‘hate’ Trump but he won the presidency … Some of yall lying.”

Humphrey also remarked in 2024 that Trump “took a bullet for America.”

RELATED: FIFA president reveals why World Cup tickets are so expensive — because they can be

Meanwhile, another of Dart’s teammates came to his defense over wild claims that have circulated online for a year. Wide receiver Darius Slayton responded to a claim made by former NFL player Aqib Talib, who said on a podcast that Dart uses the N-word. Talib was referring to a viral video from 2025 where Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. prank calls his teammates to jokingly tell them “good night.”

One response in the video has been rumored to be Dart and has been used in countless compilation videos asserting he said the N-word. However, Slayton rejected the assertion, saying it was not the young quarterback on the other side of the phone.

“The video talib referring to ain’t even Jax talking. This tweet pure cap,” Slayton said. Some Giants fans have claimed it was teammate Tyler Nubin on the phone, but the identity of the speaker is unclear.

It should be noted that in the same clip of Talib referencing the prank call, the former player said that he has white friends who use the N-word, which he is “cool” with.

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​Fearless, Politics, Football, Nfl, Donald trump, Jaxson dart, Sports 

A male teenager was arrested in connection with a stabbing that occurred on campus after a high school graduation Friday in Daly City, California. Daly City is just minutes south of San Francisco.

The teen was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, police told KTVU-TV.

‘We understand this news is deeply upsetting for our students, families, staff, and community.’

The Daly City Police Department told the station that officers responded at 4:30 p.m. for a report of an active fight involving multiple individuals. The stabbing occurred at Westmoor High School, the station added.

Arriving officers found a 21-year-old victim suffering from non-life-threatening stab wounds, KTVU said, adding that the victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.

A 15-year-old boy was identified as the stabbing suspect and was arrested, the station added.

Police said no other injuries were reported in connection with the fight, KTVU said, adding that officers recovered at the scene the weapon used in the stabbing but did not describe the weapon in detail.

The violence was captured on cellphone video.

RELATED: Mugger slashes teen in face, steals his phone — but victim grabs knife from mugger and fights back in brutal fashion: Report

Westmoor High School Principal Victor Zou issued a statement saying school officials “are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We understand this news is deeply upsetting for our students, families, staff, and community. Our thoughts are with all those impacted by this incident,” KTVU said.

Zou’s statement didn’t indicate whether the suspect is a student but did say the victim has no relationship with the school district, the station added.

More from KTVU:

KTVU has received videos of violence on campus from separate sources. The chaotic moments of a fight breaking out on an outdoor basketball court are captured. One video shows a person on the ground being attacked by a group and someone coming to their defense. The person who came to the defense is also attacked.

Later in the video, two people who are fighting are pulled apart. One of them appears to be bleeding profusely from their face and torso. By the end of this video, police arrive on the scene and chase people involved in the fight on foot.

Someone can be seen trying to intervene to break up the fight. There are plenty of bystanders, some are wearing their caps and gowns.

Other videos show different angles. One person in the background can be heard saying, “Get these punks out of our school.” Others can be heard calling for some type of security intervention.

Police are asking those with more information about the incident to contact them at 650-991-8169, the station said.

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​Stabbing, California, High school graduation, Daly city, Arrest, Police, Crime 

The overturning of Roe v. Wade was supposed to mark a turning point for the pro-life movement — but according to Seth Gruber, it exposed just how compromised many pro-life leaders really are.

And BlazeTV host Steve Deace could not be more disappointed.

“How is it possible after its greatest victory — the overturning of Roe — that the pro-life movement has lost so much substantial ground? How is this possible?” Deace asks Seth Gruber on the “Steve Deace Show.”

“I mean, brother, it’s so heartbreaking,” Gruber responds, explaining that the reason the pro-life movement isn’t more successful is because it has been “compromised.”

“Many RINO Republicans and … tragically, many pro-life organizations who take donor dollars from sweet little Christian grandmas who want to end abortion … are actively working against the aims of ending abortion — of criminalizing abortion,” he tells Deace.

“It’s just many pro-life establishment leaders and organizations who are too dumb or compromised to grasp what the lay Christian absolutely understands without having to think about it,” he continues.

Like Deace, Gruber had high hopes after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but it unfortunately did not “awaken the spiritual energy and motivation of Christians and pro-life organizations in purple and red states to just go out there and criminalize it.”

And not only is abortion not criminalized, it’s getting worse.

“There are more babies getting murdered on an annualized basis every 12 months in the land of the free and the home of the brave, Steve, than there were being killed at an annual rate in the 10 years leading up to the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” he says.

However, those numbers are “just based off of what’s being reported,” as “states are not required to report their abortion data.”

“Thanks to Clinton, it’s nearly impossible to track real abortion data when it comes to the RU-486 abortion pill, which, according to Planned Parenthood’s own numbers, accounts for 70-plus percent of the total abortions,” he explains.

“700,000-plus babies every 12 months being murdered, and their bodies are flushed down toilets,” he says.

“Those abortion pill numbers are not being reported,” he adds.

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​Abortion, Planned parenthood, Pro-life, Roe v. wade, Seth gruber, Steve deace, Steve deace show 

U.S. Central Command, which has been blockading the Strait of Hormuz since April 13 with the support of multiple carrier strike groups and guided-missile destroyers, conducted “self-defense strikes” on Monday in southern Iran.

According to CENTCOM spokesman Cpt. Tim Hawkins, the strikes targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines and were executed with the aim of protecting American troops from “threats posed by Iranian forces.”

‘I laugh at all of the Dumocrats, RINOS, and Fools.’

Explosions were reported along the coast hemming the Strait of Hormuz and in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, reported Reuters.

Hawkins said that CENTCOM nevertheless continues to use restraint during the ongoing ceasefire with Iran that was brokered on April 8.

America’s latest kinetic action against Iranian targets took place nearly 90 days into the war and amid peace talks, which President Donald Trump hinted in recent days are progressing.

Trump announced on Saturday that he had a “very good call” with the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates regarding Iran and a memorandum of understanding pertaining to peace.

RELATED: Thousands more American troops stationed in Middle East this Memorial Day as peace with Iran looms on the horizon

Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Dan Snow/US Navy/Getty Images

“An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed,” said Trump, adding that the agreement, if ratified, would result in the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

This announcement of a possible forthcoming agreement — which reportedly involves a 60-day ceasefire extension, a reopening of the strait, and a plan for future negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program — greatly distressed hawks as well as some Israelis.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for instance, said he was “deeply concerned” about the alleged deal with Iran, noting that a result favoring the Iranians “would be a disastrous mistake.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) concern-mongered about “a deal that is perceived to allow Iran to survive.” He also added that “Iran being perceived as having the ability to terrorize the Strait in perpetuity and the ability the inflict massive damage to Gulf oil infrastructure is a major shift of the balance of power in the region and over time will be a nightmare for Israel.”

After other prominent voices expressed their concerns stateside and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered them some reassurances, Trump stated early on Monday, “I laugh at all of the Dumocrats, RINOS, and Fools who know nothing about the potential deal I am making with Iran, things that haven’t even been negotiated yet.”

The president clarified that “it will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!”

In addition to emphasizing that the peace process was a “very complex puzzle,” Trump said that the Middle Eastern leaders on his Saturday call should sign onto the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.

Later on Monday, the president noted that “the Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event.”

Iranian officials were similarly evasive about a possible deal.

“It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai said on Monday. “But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent — no one can make such a claim.”

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​Donald trump, Iran, Us central command, Military, War, Strait of hormuz, Tehran, Israel, Ted cruz, Lindsey graham, Conflict, Peace, Politics, Benjamin netanyahu 

Florida just became the first state to seriously challenge the surrogacy industry after a gay couple living in France contracted with a woman in Florida to be their surrogate.

The couple petitioned the Broward County court for early parental rights.

While Judge Marlon Weiss granted their petition, he questioned whether surrogacy is constitutional, claiming it violates the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

“Judge Marlon Weiss argued that if unborn children are legally entitled to personhood, then they cannot legally be part of a contractual arrangement that treats them as property,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey explains on “Relatable.”

In November, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier moved to intervene after the child was born, also calling the practice unconstitutional.

“Today, registered sex offenders and foreigners — including Chinese nationals — buy thousands of babies from U.S. surrogacy companies. This modern day slavery is morally wrong, endangers children, and threatens national security. It must be stopped,” Uthmeier wrote in a post on X.

“It is akin to slavery,” Stuckey agrees. “Like, if we genuinely believe that the unborn are human beings, it follows that buying and selling them is slavery.”

“And that is what is happening during surrogacy, especially when it is the surrogacy that is by two men, because you have to purchase the eggs of one woman and rent the womb of another woman. And so, you are purchasing half of the DNA of that child from the genetic mother,” she says.

And this is why Stuckey believes it’s “a form of trafficking.”

“I’m not saying all of those children will literally after birth be harmed or be trafficked or be abused in some way, but it is a way of commodifying women’s bodies and children. It is. It is a way of saying, ‘I don’t care what you have to go through. I want this child,’” she says.

Stuckey recalls an interview she once did with a woman named Brittney, who had previously carried a baby for a gay couple.

“She was then diagnosed with cancer when she was about 20 or so weeks pregnant, and the couple urged her to abort her child, and she didn’t want to have an abortion,” Stuckey explains, noting that the couple wanted her to get an abortion because the child was going to be born premature.

“She did end up giving birth, and the child died. She did end up, you know, having chemotherapy. But the dads, one of whom was biologically related to this baby, didn’t even show up at the hospital — not to check on her, not to hold the baby,” she says.

“I’m telling you, that kind of story is so common. Many times in these surrogacy contracts, these women are obligated to say they will get an abortion if the intended parents want an abortion,” she continues.

“I think that happens far more often than we realize,” she says. “These babies have no rights.”

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​Allie beth stuckey, Child trafficking, Surrogacy, Ethics, Reproductive rights, Pregnancy, James uthmeier, Slavery, Relatable