A Republican senator is getting mocked for decrying pilots possibly practicing a “deranged fetish,” but he fired back with disturbing evidence of his claim.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama railed against the transgender agenda in a fiery screed on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, but only one brief clip from his speech against the “woke mind virus” went viral.

‘Ask yourself … would you be comfortable with a MENTALLY ILL FURRY being your pilot?’

Tuberville called for a national debate on the mental health crisis that is causing widespread “gender confusion.”

Then he cited furries in the airline industry.

“Many airline pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft traffic controllers are part of the furry community. Lord help us,” he said. “It’s terrifying when you think about this. When you walk onto a commercial flight, it’s possible that the pilot flying your plane could have a deranged fetish of dressing up like an animal. You can’t make this up.”

That short clip from the 18-minute speech was posted to social media, where many on the left mocked and ridiculed Tuberville.

The vast majority of the criticism completely ignored the cogent argument and Tuberville’s list of numerous examples of deranged people with fetishes who eventually became violent.

“Gender-confused people have one of the HIGHEST suicide rates among people struggling with mental illness. Unfortunately, these gender-confused individuals aren’t just harming themselves — they’re also hurting other people,” he wrote on X Thursday. “GENDER CONFUSION IS A MENTAL ILLNESS.”

To demonstrate his point about violence and “gender confusion,” Tuberville mentioned Charlie Kirk, who argued in good faith against the transgender agenda, and was brutally murdered. The suspect, Tyler Robinson, has been linked to gender confusion and the online furry community.

Tuberville also responded to the ridicule with more evidence for his claims.

“I know the deranged Democrats don’t like the fact that I called out the insane FURRY CULTURE this week,” Tuberville wrote in a post on social media.

“But the truth is, there is an ALARMING number of these DERANGED people working in our airline industry,” he added. “Don’t believe me? Just a few months ago, PILOTS were MEOWING and BARKING at each other over the radio at DCA.”

RELATED: Poll finds transgender agenda has lost ground over last three years

He posted a news video that included a recording of pilots meowing and barking while on the job. One voice scolds them to be more professional.

“Just a few weeks ago at the ‘Furry Migration’ convention in Minneapolis, there was an ‘Aviation Furs Meet-up,'” he added in a second post.

“Ask yourself … would you be comfortable with a MENTALLY ILL FURRY being your pilot?” he added.

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​Mental health crisis, Transgender agenda, Charlie kirk, Tommy tuberville, Politics, Furries 

James Copenhaver became a prominent critic of the security failures at the July 2024 rally where he was shot twice during the attack on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

More than two years after suffering permanent injuries in the failed assassination attempt, the 76-year-old has passed away.

‘Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance.’

Copenhaver was shot twice in Butler, once through his triceps and also in his abdomen. He was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment.

He underwent several surgeries and still had bullet fragments in his body when he died.

Copenhaver’s death was reported Thursday by journalist Ken Silva.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Copenhaver, who was gravely wounded in the horrific shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania,” read a statement on social media from U.S. House Republicans. “Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance. We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.”

Copenhaver publicly criticized the U.S. Secret Service as well as other agencies for security lapses in Butler.

He wrote a foreword for Silva’s book on the assassination attempt in Butler.

“After raising a family and working for over 30 years — playing in a band on the side — I started to wonder: How will I be remembered?” he wrote. “Well, I got my answer to that question on July 13, 2024, though taking a bullet meant for the President wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

RELATED: Trump shooter Thomas Crooks was emotionless from birth, says his father in chilling new details about Butler attacker

A 50-year-old retired fire chief named Corey Comperatore died from his injuries at the rally, and a third man named David Dutch survived being shot.

The president was grazed in the ear during the attack.

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​Butler assassination attempt, Trump rally, Politics, Donald trump 

Comedian Bill Burr made a habit in years past of poking fun of both the left and the right. However, he has increasingly been leaning left in his commentary.

In a Rolling Stone interview published on Tuesday, Burr complained about Immigration and Customs Enforcement, claiming whites are “not nearly upset as we need to be because we don’t see ourselves going into the van.”

‘It’s like, you’re not the president. You’re just the CEO of a business.’

Burr — who is pro-abortion and previously criticized Florida’s anti-mask mandates — also insinuated that the slaying of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which Luigi Mangione admitted to, was Thompson’s fault. Burr then criticized the defensive actions taken by other major corporate executives.

“The response to the Luigi thing was not to be like, ‘Well, hey, maybe we need to look at what we’re doing if what we’re doing makes some crazy person do this.’ [Executives’] response was to take their faces off of the internet and get security.”

“It’s like, you don’t think you need to examine? You know what I mean?” continued Burr. “It’s like, you’re not the president. You’re just the CEO of a business. Why do you need this level of security? Like, what is it that you’re doing?'”

Health care executives and other Americans in the radical left’s crosshairs might want more security because polling shows a troubling number of liberals support their demise.

RELATED: ‘Reign of terror’: One-third of Democrats give thumbs-up to Trump assassination

According to a CloudResearch poll conducted in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Thompson in December 2024, 25% of self-identified liberals were “supportive or very supportive” of the murder, and 68% said they felt at least some sympathy toward Mangione.

A recent Emerson poll found that 12.4% of Democrats said that “the actions of the killer of the United Healthcare CEO” are “completely acceptable,” and 7.5% of Democrats said they were “somewhat acceptable.”

This is hardly the first time that Burr has expressed sympathy with Mangione, not Thompson, who was a father of two.

Just days after Thompson was assassinated, Burr expressed satisfaction on his podcast that “f**king CEOs are f**king afraid right now,” stressing they “should be.”

Just weeks later, in early 2025, the middle-aged comic used his time on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to call for the release of Mangione, stating, “Free Luigi!” Kimmel laughed in response, though whether Burr meant the line as a joke is unclear.

In 2023, Burr’s liberal wife made a lewd gesture to President Donald Trump at UFC 295.

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​Bill burr, Luigi mangione, Rolling stone, Brian thompson, Assassination, Liberal, Leftist, Politics 

Glenn Beck is stunned that a story involving none other than Taylor Swift — the LGBTQ ally, abortion-supporting pop star — is bringing not only a smile to his face but also a little hope for the future.

A video of the newlywed singer cheering as her husband, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, scored his first touchdown of the season, is going viral. In the clip, Swift points to her wedding ring, screaming, “That’s my husband!”

While Glenn “[doesn’t] care” about Swift as a celebrity, he knows that she has an unprecedented ability to shape the culture.

“The countless women who have never been told the power of supporting their husbands’ passions are seeing that video. They have never been told that it’s a good and honorable thing to support their husbands, and they don’t know how much that means to men,” he says.

“Now Taylor Swift is doing that. This is a cultural moment — an important one. It will give more women permission to point to their wedding ring and go, ‘That’s my husband,”’ he adds.

But before Swift made it cool to support one’s husband, Glenn was encouraging women to do just that.

“I said at my speech for Charlie Kirk’s memorial at TPUSA that women have forgotten the influence they hold over men, the power they have to shape the lives of the men that they love and to make sure they’re on God’s path,” he says.

Women, Glenn explains, bring out the best in men when they see and call out potential.

“You look at us as the man that, somewhere in all of us, we want to be. We will be that man. We will. Without nagging, without saying anything, you just see who we want to be and encourage us by … pointing to a ring and saying, ‘That’s my husband,'” he says.

Spouses encouraging each other, he says, is “rocket fuel.”

“You want to change your marriage? You tell your wife every day how proud you are that you’re married to her. You tell your wife every day how amazing she is. It will transform her,” says Glenn.

“Women, you tell your husband how proud you are of him and what he does and what he accomplishes, how hard he works. You’ll transform him.”

The culture, Glenn explains, is framing the latter as “trad” — internet slang for the traditional-wife trend that treats supporting a husband as a 1950s homemaker aesthetic of aprons, from-scratch dinners, and stay-at-home submission.

“It’s not trad. … You don’t have to wear an apron. [Taylor Swift] wasn’t wearing an apron,” he says.

“Taylor Swift just set a massive example for women all over Earth … and millions of young women saw it.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​Glenn beck, Taylor swift, Travis kelce, Blazetv show 

James Talarico has a new message for Texas voters: If billionaires are spending millions to stop him, he must be doing something right.

But BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t buying it.

In Talarico’s latest campaign ad, the Democrat frames a flood of outside spending and attack ads as evidence that powerful interests fear his agenda.

“Billionaires are spending millions attacking me. Here’s why. I don’t take corporate pack money. I’m running to ban dark money so billionaires can’t buy our elections, ban members of Congress from trading stocks and enriching themselves, ban gerrymandering in every state,” Talarico said in the ad.

“And establish term limits so we can show career politicians the door. I’m James Talarico, and I approve this message because if the billionaires are coming after us, we must be doing something right,” he added.

“No, that’s not what that means, James,” Gray comments.

“The reason they’re attacking you is because you’re a confused heretic, a blasphemous psycho who would be too radical for California, let alone Texas,” he continues. “Why don’t you refute the things that they’re saying about you.”

“Because everything they’re saying is true. And that’s why you won’t address anything they’re saying, and you know it, and we have the receipts,” he adds.

Executive producer Keith Malinak points out that Talarico has long been an advocate for transgender minors, which should be one of the first things the Texas Senate hopeful should address.

And he has an idea for opponent Ken Paxton.

“Here’s what I think would be powerful … Paxton does an ad … you kill two birds with one stone. You do it in front of the Cooks Children’s Hospital, that’s in the background. Paxton says, ‘Texas, when it came time to fight for the children of our state, I led the charge as your attorney general,’” Malink says.

“‘I made sure that we stopped, you know, that we enforced the law that said we’re not going to hack up our children. We’re not going to do this trans nonsense. My opponent, however, he’s all about it,’” he continues, “and then just put up quotes.”

“That would go a long way in showing that Paxton was the one leading the legal fight against these butchers in our state,” he adds.

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​Billionaires, Campaign ad, James talarico, Pat gray, Blazetv show 

This story was reported in collaboration with the Maine Wire’s Jon Fetherston.

SCARBOROUGH, MAINE — Geriatric anti-ICE activists gathered at Town Hall on Sept. 14 to discuss doxxing, roadblocks, and Saul Alinsky. Attendees demanded radical action.

A week later, vandals laid spike strips in front of Scarborough’s ICE facility. They were placed near splashes of blood-red paint that activists used to deface the parking lot back in July after an agent-involved fatal shooting in nearby Biddeford.

‘Are we prioritizing our immigrant neighbors and people of color?’

A sign displayed on town property referred to the incident as a “murder.” Maine Democrat Attorney General Aaron Frey is reviewing the incident, according to the state’s deadly force statutes.

Clad in red-and-white “STOP ICE” shirts and touting a video endorsement from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the Indivisible Team of Southern Maine at the Town Hall set about building “working groups,” which were, in practice, a Byzantine bureaucracy of Baby Boomers.

At every new idea presented, one of the organizers promptly suggested another working group or committee be formed. This went on until the committee count rivaled the number of actual participants.

Town Councilor Jonathan Anderson (D) and state Rep. Sophia Warren (D) both delivered remarks. Anderson conjured up various hypothetical technicalities by which the ICE facility could be kicked out of town, and Warren praised the crowd for their daily protests. Both eventually ended up stumping for Troy Jackson’s U.S. Senate campaign, despite a vocal minority of the gathered protest-hobbyists slamming electoral politics throughout the night.

“Are we prioritizing our immigrant neighbors and people of color?” Warren asked the crowd to approving murmurs.

RELATED: Surprise! The midterms are already happening

Benjamin Roberts/Blaze Media

After the speeches, a masked organizer donning an “86 47” hat — a message that some have interpreted as a call to violence against President Donald Trump — addressed the room. Introducing himself as Rich Nowak, he launched into an impassioned appeal for volunteers to gather information on individual agents.

“We get pictures of who’s working down there, we get license plate pictures, we get pictures of the people themselves,” said Nowak. “We want to know all that information.”

“Why do I wear a mask all the time?” Nowak asked rhetorically. “They knew my name, and they knew where I lived. So I thought it best that I at least keep my face covered.”

Another attendee interjected to suggest blockading ICE vehicles in the road in order to forcibly search them. The organizers nodded solemnly but offered neither condemnation nor approval.

Nowak later told Blaze News and the Maine Wire that there was no contradiction between doxxing ICE agents and protecting his own identity. He told attendees the full name and contact information of the ICE facility’s landlord shortly before the meeting ended.

At a protest just days later, Nowak’s masked companion assiduously and seemingly illegally taped over his front and rear license plates before pulling into traffic with both still covered.

RELATED: Hidden camera footage captures Talarico’s pastor saying evangelical Christians are ‘not smart’ and comparing Trump to Hitler

Benjamin Roberts/Blaze Media

Nowak isn’t just some lone loon. He is part of the Indivisible Team of Southern Maine, itself a branch of the national nonprofit Indivisible. Maine is home to 29 chapters, including Indivisible Scarborough, which organizes the daily “Quiet Resistance” watch outside the ICE facility alongside ITSME.

Indivisible uses ICE-leased buildings as pressure points, inundating them with doxxing efforts, loudspeaker harassment, and veiled threats.

Unfortunately for ITSME, the federal government has already signed a 15-year lease with the property owner. The township may amend zoning laws to prevent lease renewal, but many activists are calling for spot zoning — whereby the law applies selectively to certain parcels of land and not others — which may be illegal.

Anderson previously told the Portland Press Herald that the municipality had “no mechanism” by which it could evict a federal tenant.

All activists can do is make themselves “enough of a pain in the neck that they [ICE] move somewhere else,” according to one protester.

It’s not just the agency that ITSME regulars want to run out of town, but the agents themselves. Many believe ICE agents live in the facility.

Blaze News was invited to enter the building and speak with ICE agents to investigate this rumor.

An agent greeted Blaze News at the door on Friday in a “No Kings, No Tyrants, No Fascists, No Nazis” hat.

RELATED: Ex-USPS charged for allegedly tossing hundreds of mail-in ballots in the trash

Benjamin Roberts/Blaze Media

The agent explained that he wore it to bother the protesters across the street. He later threw on a “Hope Not Hate” hoodie to return the lawn chairs that ICE previously allowed protesters to store at the building.

That arrangement came to an end the day of Blaze News’ visit. Spike strips had been laid around the property that morning, jeopardizing the safety of agents and detainees alike, according to both ICE and the protesters.

Some protesters had also tried their luck at the blockade-and-search operation previously floated at the town hall meeting.

Activists continued photographing agents’ and contractors’ license plates while speaking to Blaze News. Eventually, the younger among them said they did not support deportation under any circumstances, including for migrants involved in violent crimes and “child rape,” because they would hurt people in their countries of origin.

A woman in a “Retired: The ability to do what I want, when I want” shirt looked on.

Another group was camped out in front of a local donut shop. Nowak and his masked companion were leading this crew.

Jon Fetherston of the Maine Wire stepped away from his car to interview rally-goers, some of whom promptly cursed at him. He returned to find his rear tire slashed. A local Firestone auto store confirmed that the tire was sliced by a knife or comparable implement.

The vandalism was nothing new for the Maine Wire’s senior reporter.

While covering the same anti-ICE groups after the Biddeford shooting, Fetherston was struck in the head with a skateboard by a rally-goer. Another protester punctured all four of his tires with a screwdriver.

Scarborough’s anti-ICE movement is aged. It’s beset by the distinctly leftist tendency to bureaucratization. But despite its comic exterior, it does have teeth.

Self-described “children of the ’60s” are willing to assault journalists, destroy property, and menace law enforcement officers to get their way. Picturesque New England towns may not last long if they do.

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​Activists, Doxxing, Elderly, Ice facility, Maine, Politics 

An 18-year-old male and a 19-year-old female have been charged with murder after a man was shoved off a moving train to his death in Chicago earlier this month; a 15-year-old girl initially was charged with the victim’s murder, but authorities were looking for more suspects.

Christian McBounds, 18, was charged with one count of first-degree murder, two additional murder counts, one count of aggravated battery of a transit employee, and one count of mob action, WMAQ-TV reported, citing Chicago police.

‘He shouldn’t have bothered us.’

A detention-hearing judge on Wednesday denied pretrial release for McBounds; he’s due back in court Oct. 7 on the charges, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Katlar Parchman, 19, also was charged with the victim’s murder, WMAQ said, citing police. Parchman was booked Saturday into Cook County Jail with no bond, according to jail records; her next court date is Oct. 7.

The 15-year-old girl was arrested Sept. 11 and charged with felony counts of first-degree murder, mob action, murder by other forcible felony, and aggravated battery to a transit employee, WBBM-TV reported, adding that a judge ordered the girl detained until her next hearing in October.

The victim, 29-year-old Kyle Bickham, was riding home from work Sept. 7 on the Red Line train when McBounds, Parchman, the 15-year-old girl, and another male boarded the train at the 95th Street stop, WFLD-TV reported.

Surveillance cameras inside the train car captured what happened next, WFLD said, adding that multiple witnesses described what they saw.

Prosecutors said Bickham sat across from Parchman and started talking to her while the 15-year-old girl was walking back and forth through the car, WFLD noted. Soon Bickham got up and approached another passenger, and that passenger told Bickham to back off, the station said.

Bickham briefly got off the train at one stop, then boarded again, WFLD said, adding that he and the 15-year-old girl began arguing and moving around the car while yelling at each other.

With that, Bickham spit on the girl — but the spit also hit Parchman, the station said, citing prosecutors.

Then it was on.

RELATED: 15-year-old girl accused of shoving man off moving Chicago train to his death after fight — but she’s not the only suspect

One of the men grabbed Bickham’s arm while the girl punched him in the face, WFLD said, citing prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the four people involved — McBounds, Parchman, the 15-year-old girl, and the other male — surrounded Bickham and began punching him as they moved toward the back of the train car, WFLD reported. Police initially said there were three attackers.

One of the men began choking Bickham while the others, including Parchman, continued punching him and pulling at his head, the station said.

More from WFLD:

According to prosecutors, there was a brief pause in the fight near the sliding train doors, during which Bickham reached down to pick up his headphones from the floor.

The two men then forced Bickham into the corner near the train car’s sliding doors, while Parchman and the teenager closed in around him. […]

One of the men fighting Bickham pulled the emergency lever on the sliding door while the train was still moving, forcing it open.

WMAQ, citing prosecutors, said the 15-year-old girl grabbed Bickham by his head and shoulders and — with the help of one of the males — threw him out of the moving train; Bickham was hit by a train traveling in the other direction.

Witnesses allegedly heard Parchman say, “He shouldn’t have bothered us,” WMAQ reported.

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​Chicago, Train, Physical attack, Murder charges, Fight, Crime 

In Tom Cruise’s most recent “Mission Impossible” movie, the bad guy was artificial intelligence, in the form of a menace simply called the Entity.

The filming predated a significant number of rogue AI events that point toward oncoming disaster. In his version though, humans are too clever and unpredictable for the machines to comprehend. Put shortly: Humanity will win.

‘I always believe in humanity.’

This made Cruise the perfect person to ask about AI’s intrusion on the entertainment industry, and his answers give a glimpse into how he sees the future of film.

On Monday night, Cruise was in London for an in-depth discussion on film, where he overwhelmingly supported the notion that people “want to see real things” in movies.

Cruise told the British Academy of Film and Television Arts he is keen on keeping movie theaters alive and will continue to have people coming together in person to see other real people.

“Here’s the thing: There is nothing like human,” Cruise began, per Variety. “I have nothing against streaming or anything like that,” but seeing a film in theaters is simply “a different art form.”

Cruise has remained confident in the box-office experience, which is why he pushed so hard to have his films storm through COVID-19 protocols and continue production.

The movie star was famously heard yelling at crew members on set for breaking COVID-19 restrictions, telling them the entire industry was hinging on the idea that they could make a movie without incident.

“We are not shutting this f**king movie down!” Cruise yelled.

The industry may now have Cruise to thank as he pointed toward record-setting box-office numbers for the summer of 2026.

RELATED: DEI is trying to take over AI. These universities are leading the charge.

Henry NICHOLLS/AFP/Getty Images

A reported $4.76 billion between May 1 and Labor Day had Cruise boasting that “people want that experience.”

“They’re going to movie theaters,” Cruise said, before he put his faith in man over machine.

“I always believe in humanity.”

Cruise fought for more actors’ and stunt performers’ rights in recent years when it comes to AI. The 64-year-old dove into SAG-AFTRA labor negotiations with movie studios in 2023 to hit on certain proposals that would protect “human-created work.”

He reportedly argued for compensation for actors, as well as their consent, before a studio can use AI to replicate their voice or likeness, or if they wish to create a “digital replica” of them.

RELATED: Hackers are trying to steal money from X users — don’t be one of them

1996. Murray Close/Getty Images

Creatives must “keep creating,” Cruise concluded. “You know, [AI] is coming and it’s going to happen. … But people want to see real things.”

Cruise is not one of the growing number of public personalities who are tossing their likeness around for profit, even as AI studios try to force their hand in the industry.

Interestingly though, Val Kilmer expressed gratitude in 2022 that he was able to have his voice recreated for Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” despite being sick with throat cancer.

Since his passing, the estate of Kilmer announced earlier this year that the deceased actor would be resurrected on film using AI.

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​Artificial intelligence, Tom cruise, Tech, Movies, Hollywood, Ai 

Apple has made iPhones for nearly 20 years, and the latest iPhone 18 Pro Max puts that expertise on full display. This new phone is a mature device, crafted to spec with precision, while packing some truly powerful features that make the category feel new and exciting. It’s basically everything you know and love about iPhone, all kicked up to the max.

Visually, the iPhone 18 Pro Max looks very familiar beside its predecessor. As with most tick-tock cycles in Apple’s product history, last year’s phone introduced a new design language, and this year refines it with several meaningful upgrades.

It’s fast. Very fast.

The first big change is the paint job. Four colorways are available, up from the three offered last year. Black is back after a brief hiatus, joined again by a clean silver, a new bluish glacier, and a warm burgundy. That last one is sure to be a fan favorite this cycle.

iPhone 18 Pro Max Colors/Apple

Camera system upgrades

Also new this year, Apple introduced a mechanical variable aperture to the iPhone’s main camera. Built for photographers, the aperture has four preset options:

ƒ/1.8 is the default setting for equal parts low light and depth.ƒ/1.48 claims to pull in 50% more light in low-light conditions, a great option for dark rooms and night photos.ƒ/2.8 is a narrow setting that captures details far back in a scene that you otherwise might’ve missed.ƒ/4.0 for maximum depth puts the full scene into focus to create artistic shots.

For non-photographers who just want a good point-and-shoot camera, iPhone’s default setting will determine which aperture is best for every image, still giving you better photos than a typical smartphone camera.

iPhone 18 Pro Variable Aperture/Apple

Under the hood

The next set of changes happened underneath the glass, and although you can’t see them, you’ll certainly know they’re there.

The new A20 Pro chip is the first of its kind built on a 2-nanometer (2nm) architecture. It has more transistors for both higher performance and reduced power consumption, letting the new iPhone 18 Pro Max perform faster while achieving higher battery life at the same time.

In short, it’s fast. Very fast.

The GPU is reportedly 40% faster too, a huge leap forward for a single year. Apple specifically called out high-end gaming performance as a key target for the new GPU, while included neural accelerators are designed to improve on-device AI performance. Further leaning into AI, A20 comes with dual Neural Engines — another first for iPhone — built to run advanced models.

Although A20 is thinner and more efficient, high-end gaming and powerful AI create a lot of heat. To mitigate, Apple gave iPhone 18 Pro Max a new vapor chamber that’s three times larger and reportedly covers most of the interior of the device to keep components cool.

And for the cherry on top, Apple packed a truly massive 5,391 mAh battery into iPhone 18 Pro Max, capable of 30 to 45 hours of use between charges. The battery is so big that Apple has to temporarily lower the wattage through software to meet international shipping regulations when sending new iPhones to and around the United States.

RELATED: It’s tantalizing. It’s tempting. It’s $2,000. Here’s the verdict on the new foldable iPhone.

Apple/iPhone Duo

My impressions so far

I’ve had my iPhone 18 Pro Max for nearly a week, and so far, the experience has been mostly positive. As expected, the A20 chip is a serious piece of hardware. I play a lot of games on my phone — most of them graphically intensive — and the new chip is very smooth. Aside from the initial setup, I also haven’t had any heat issues that would cause me to throw my phone, lest I burn my palms.

Battery life is equally impressive. I use my phone a lot — playing games during my downtime, scrolling through social media to stay on top of current events, listening to BlazeTV while writing for Blaze News. With my iPhone 17 Pro Max, I would lose about 60% of my battery by the end of the day. So far, with iPhone 18 Pro Max, I usually only drop about 40%. I could easily see this phone lasting a couple of days on a single charge, even with medium-to-heavy usage.

I’m not a photographer, so the new variable aperture settings are Greek to me. That said, I have taken a few point-and-shoot photos, and they look great. The low-light performance is especially impressive. If there’s any complaint from me, it’s that Apple didn’t update the zoom length this year. While both Samsung and Google have flagship phones that zoom in 100x-120x the original focal length, Apple’s iPhone still maxes out at 40x. This means you can’t zoom into scenes from as far away as the competition, but 40x is better than most.

I haven’t had a chance to test local AI on iPhone 18 Pro Max either, so I can’t speak to its neural accelerator and dual engines. These will have to wait for another time.

Now for the negatives. Yes, nobody’s perfect.

Due to the massive battery and other components, iPhone 18 Pro Max is the heaviest iPhone to date. It weighs 8.78 ounces (249 grams), up from the next heaviest iPhones 13 and 14 Pro Max at 8.47 ounces (240 grams). Only the upcoming iPhone Duo foldable will be heavier at 8.96 ounces (254 grams), and it has a good excuse, thanks to its multiple displays.

For this reason, I wouldn’t call iPhone 18 Pro Max a two-handed device per se. You can still use it comfortably in one hand, but I’ve found myself holding on with both more often than not, just to make sure I don’t drop this brick of a device on my foot. I did that once with the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and ouch: It left a gnarly, days-long bruise.

RELATED: New spyware targets iPhones. Are you at risk?

rawat yapathanasap/Getty Images

There’s also a nasty bug going around that’s causing some early iPhone 18 Pro Max phones to freeze or crash entirely. I haven’t had any freezes, but I had one major kernel panic that resulted in a forced restart shortly after the initial setup. Apple has yet to determine if this problem is a software glitch or a hardware defect. Sometimes, kernel panics indicate a failed hardware component, but other times it can be the former, so I’m holding out hope.

The fact that it hasn’t happened again is a good sign that nothing is critically wrong. Still, it’s not good when brand-new phones fail en masse.

On the bright side, Apple will fix the problem one way or another, either through a software update or through warranty replacements. So I’m not concerned about the issue — yet.

Should you buy the iPhone 18 Pro Max?

Although the iPhone 18 Pro Max shares the same general design as last year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max, it’s new enough to make it a decent upgrade for anyone, regardless of when you had your last upgrade. For the sake of making it easy though:

Get the iPhone 18 Pro Max if you are a photographer who wants to take the best photos on an iPhone, you’re a gamer who prioritizes higher performance on the go, or you use your phone a lot and need the best battery money can buy.

If you don’t fit into any of these categories and there’s still a little life left in your current phone, go ahead and skip. The phone you’ll really want is either coming in October with the iPhone Duo, or perhaps an even bigger upgrade is coming in 2027.

Next year marks iPhone’s 20th anniversary, and according to the rumor mill, Apple has big plans for its next major iPhone release. Now we’ll just have to wait and see.

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​Apple, Iphone, Tech, 18 pro max 

Former tribal court judge Mary Peltola was voted out of Congress in 2024. Now, in an attempt to revive her political career, she is trying to unseat incumbent Sen. Daniel Sullivan (R) to represent Alaska in the U.S. Senate.

Although Peltola has long enjoyed an edge over Sullivan in the polls, her campaign now appears to be spiraling.

‘Mary Peltola’s closest aides describe a routine history of physical violence, explosive anger, and utter disdain for Alaskans.’

Weeks after senior campaign staffer Anton McParland abruptly left Peltola’s team, the New York Times shed an unflattering light on some of the skeletons in the Democrat candidate’s closet.

According to allegations from multiple former aides and text messages viewed by the Times, Peltola was allegedly a fan of using the words “faggot” and “retarded” in communications with her staff. In a text message earlier this year, she allegedly said of a commercial fisheries executive who posted a selfie with her, “F**k that retard.”

While the Democrat’s campaign denied that she used the word “faggot,” it acknowledged that Peltola used the word “retarded” and said that she regretted doing so.

Given that both terms have re-entered the popular vernacular — even on the left — Peltola’s alleged word choice is the least scandalous revelation in the report.

Former aides have characterized Peltola as something of an ill-tempered tyrant, accusing the Democrat candidate — who had the second-highest staff turnover rate in the U.S. House during her final year in office — of “angry and profane outbursts”; a tendency to jump up and down and stomp her feet when dissatisfied; allegedly shoving an aide; and supposedly cultivating a workplace so toxic that some staffers found themselves losing weight or in therapy.

RELATED: Iowa is flashing a giant red warning light for November

Jabin Botsford/Washington Post/Getty Images

Far more damning than the accounts of Peltola having her staffers feed her daughter’s pet chameleon is the 2024 text message viewed by the Times in which the Democrat apparently said of a woman on the board of a Planned Parenthood chapter, “I hope she dies of a botched abortion.”

Although Peltola is a pro-abortion Democrat, the 53-year-old was reportedly critical of Planned Parenthood in her final year in Congress in light of strategy differences regarding a defense bill that included pro-life policies.

The Peltola campaign has gone into damage control after the New York Times’ report, painting her as a victim and insinuating that her allegedly abusive behavior was the result of grief.

Alaskans for Mary campaign spokesperson Harry Child said in a statement, “Mary suddenly and tragically lost both her mother and her husband in the span of a few months in 2023. At the time of their passing, Mary was parenting kids through their own grief, serving full-time in the U.S. House of Representatives thousands of miles from home, and running a competitive re-election campaign — all while shouldering the enormous burden of grief.”

“Like any person who has gone through multiple personal tragedies in the span of a few months, Mary sometimes struggled to deal with her grief,” continued Child. “But she treats her staff with respect and care, and she maintains close positive relationships with her staff spanning her nearly 30 years in public service. Exaggerating and outright lying about moments from the hardest period of her life, and falsely presenting them as a pattern of behavior, is wrong.”

Peltola’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Alex Latcham, the executive director of the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News, “Mary Peltola’s closest aides describe a routine history of physical violence, explosive anger, and utter disdain for Alaskans, which makes her entirely unfit for the U.S. Senate.”

“Peltola’s deeply offensive and disturbing comments do not represent the Alaska way, and she must publicly apologize to her staff and the people of Alaska.”

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​Mary peltola, Democrat, Alaska, Senate, Daniel sullivan, Abuse, Midterm election, Politics 

Imagine being accused of a crime because a camera spotted your car near the scene. The camera wasn’t wrong. Your car really was there. But you didn’t commit the crime.

The police, however, are so confident in their technology that they seem to be treating your guilt as an open-and-shut case.

Isaacs said she was home asleep when troopers arrived at 4:45 in the morning and told her she had killed three people.

Chrisanna Elser doesn’t have to imagine it.

Camera shy

Elser was accused of stealing a package after doorbell footage captured a woman taking it from a home. Police then searched Flock camera records for vehicles in the area around the time of the theft. They found Elser’s Rivian and concluded that she was the woman in the doorbell video.

They had the wrong woman. Elser really had driven through the area that day, but she was there for a noon appointment with her tailor, more than a quarter-mile from the house where the package was stolen. Her Rivian’s cameras showed her driving through without stopping.

She spent days assembling her own evidence — including location information and video from her vehicle — to show what she had actually been doing. The summons was eventually voided.

In Elser’s case, the Flock camera hadn’t failed. It had identified her vehicle in the area. The technology supplied one piece of the puzzle. The mistake was treating that piece, along with the doorbell video, as enough to identify the person who committed the crime.

That’s an important limitation of license plate readers. They can tell police that a particular vehicle was photographed in a particular place. They can’t tell them who was driving it, why it was there, or what the person inside was doing.

But what happens when the information going into the system is wrong?

False flagged

Automotive journalist Tim Esterdahl found out while driving a Range Rover Sport press vehicle in Nebraska. A Flock alert identified the vehicle as stolen, and police pulled him over. Esterdahl doesn’t fault the officer, who was responding exactly as he should have to an alert for a potentially stolen vehicle.

It apparently started with a Jaguar Land Rover manufacturer license plate that had gone missing during a film production in California. Only one specific New Jersey fleet plate had been reported missing. But somewhere between that report and the Flock system, Esterdahl wrote, the information appears to have been broadened to include multiple manufacturer plates sharing the same beginning and ending characters.

Esterdahl’s Range Rover had a different plate. It was flagged anyway.

Things got worse from there. Because the Range Rover was a manufacturer-owned press vehicle that had never been sold or titled through a state DMV, its VIN didn’t appear in the law-enforcement database the officer was using. Esterdahl had insurance paperwork, ownership documents and authorization to drive the SUV, but sorting everything out still took about 90 minutes.

Esterdahl wasn’t even the first automotive journalist stopped over the same Jaguar Land Rover fleet-plate issue.

Whether the data is accurate and someone draws the wrong conclusion from it, or bad information makes its way into the system in the first place, the result can be the same: An innocent person has to untangle the mistake.

TATTLETALE EXPRESS: School buses may soon become America’s largest mobile surveillance network

VIEW Press/Getty Images

Behind bars

And it doesn’t stop at inconvenience. Just ask Lindsey Isaacs.

In October 2025, a hit-and-run crash on I-4 in Florida killed three people. A Flock camera three miles away had recorded Isaacs’ black Dodge Durango just two minutes before the crash.

But other evidence pointed elsewhere. Witnesses had given conflicting descriptions of the Durango, including a maroon one with a partial plate that didn’t match Isaacs’ plate. Investigators later found maroon paint transfer on one of the vehicles struck in the crash. Isaacs’ Durango was black, only two months old, and showed none of the significant damage investigators said the vehicle involved in the crash should have sustained.

Isaacs said she was home asleep when troopers arrived at 4:45 in the morning and told her she had killed three people. Her Durango was impounded. Months later, she was arrested on eight felony charges and spent 13 days in jail.

Her attorney eventually showed prosecutors photographs of the undamaged SUV, and an inspection found it in essentially showroom condition. The charges were dropped in May. Authorities later arrested another woman driving a maroon Durango.

Think about the chain of events. A Flock camera accurately recorded Isaacs’ vehicle three miles from the scene two minutes before the crash. Investigators took that data point and built a case around it despite evidence pointing to a different vehicle. Months later, Isaacs was in jail.

A license-plate reader doesn’t know who committed a crime. It knows that a vehicle passed a camera. The danger comes when the certainty of the technology gets transferred to conclusions the technology itself can’t support.

Fooled by tools

I’m not arguing that police shouldn’t use license plate readers. They can be useful investigative tools. But there is an enormous difference between using a camera hit as a lead and treating it as proof that the registered owner committed a crime.

On August 26, Sen. Josh Hawley launched a Senate investigation into Flock Safety, seeking information about its data collection, retention, access, accuracy, and sharing practices. The investigation cited a network of more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states processing more than 20 billion vehicle scans every month.

That’s a lot of information about where Americans’ cars are going.

Most of the drivers of these cars aren’t involved in crimes. They’re going to work, taking kids to school, stopping at stores, and coming home. If government agencies are going to have access to a network this large, the public should know how the information is being used.

How long is it kept? Who can search it? Which agencies can see it? What safeguards are in place when a plate is misread, a database contains bad information, or investigators draw the wrong conclusion from an accurate camera hit?

And don’t make this solely about Flock. Replace Flock with another vendor tomorrow, and the questions remain the same.

Follow the money

If taxpayers are told these systems make communities safer, show them the contracts. Show them the pricing, retention policies, access rules, and accountability provisions. If a private company provides technology that becomes part of government enforcement, there needs to be a clear answer about who is responsible when its information contributes to a false accusation.

I’m not against police using technology. I’m against treating technology as infallible.

A camera is a tool, not a judge. A database is a tool, not a verdict. And a license plate identifies a vehicle, not necessarily the person behind the wheel.

Sometimes bad information makes its way into the system. Sometimes the camera gets everything right but investigators draw the wrong conclusion from what it shows.

When that happens, the person on the receiving end can spend 90 minutes on the side of the road, days trying to clear her name or, in the worst case, nearly two weeks in jail.

Show me the evidence. Show me the accountability. And if the system gets it wrong, show me who pays.

​License plate readers, Surveillance, Flock safety, Auto industry, Lifestyle, Law, Traffic stop, Ai, Automotive 

James Talarico, the Democrat nominee hoping to succeed Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate, is a part-time Presbyterian seminarian who has emphasized, “My politics grows out of my faith.”

That faith was apparently greatly shaped by Jim Rigby, the pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. Talarico previously cited Rigby as one of “the biggest influences on [him] as a Christian, as a human being.”

‘It’s mixed with myth.’

Hidden-camera footage exclusively obtained by Blaze News appears to show Talarico’s pastor rejecting one of the fundamental precepts of Christianity: the virgin birth.

In the video, Rigby is asked by a person off-camera, “Do you really believe, like, a virgin had a child?”

“I don’t,” the pastor responds, according to the video.

RELATED: Exclusive: Hidden-camera footage captures Talarico’s pastor saying evangelical Christians are ‘not smart’ and comparing Trump to Hitler

“The virgin birth stuff, you see it like in Hinduism … and it’s more like, it’s more like all human beings were born out of the transcendent,” Rigby claims in the video.

“There’s a cosmic process, there’s animals and stuff, so when the Christmas story is told, all of that’s in there.”

“I think the virgin birth came off of Plato,” Rigby continues, according to the video. “‘Only begotten one’ and kind of stuff like that — that’s in the writings of Plato. It’s about humanity and the cosmos.”

After the person off-camera poses the question of whether Jesus is reducible to an “allegory,” Rigby appears to state, “I think there probably was a Jesus, but I don’t think we can get back to that. I mean, I don’t think there’s — ‘cause the stuff is so legendary, and it’s mixed with myth and stuff.”

Rigby both claimed that “there’s no way you can know what happened with Jesus or any of the people from a long time ago” and appeared to suggest that Christ or Christianity was simply trying to convey that “you’re a child of the stars,” according to the video.

In a separate undercover video obtained and published by Blaze Media, Rigby was asked whether a newcomer to St. Andrew’s has to profess belief “that God became a baby and that a virgin had a baby.” Rigby responds, according to the video, “We all got in by lying.”

RELATED: Talarico’s pivot from ‘God is nonbinary’ is all just an act, admits minister at his church

Blaze News did not receive responses from the Talarico campaign or Rigby.

In addition to rejecting the virgin birth, Rigby has expressed disbelief in Christ’s Resurrection. He also has expressed contempt for belief in the supernatural and belittled evangelical Christians.

Rigby previously expressed hope that Talarico would one day succeed him as pastor, and Talarico has delivered various woke sermons at St. Andrew’s church.

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​Christianity, James talarico, Jesus, Us senate, Politics, Texas 

Calls at 9 p.m. from an unknown number annoy everyone, even government officials.

In fact, the massive fraud being perpetuated against Americans daily is enough to pay for their commute, groceries, or even the very cell phone bill they are being scammed through.

‘Twenty-five percent of the younger age group said they have been scammed more than once.’

In response to the billions being stolen every year, the Federal Communications Commission is issuing guidance.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been a divisive figure over the past year, but in a move that is likely to garner bipartisan appeal, he has directed his federal agency to produce guidelines on how to fight spam calls and texts.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal robocalls and text, the FCC has published step-by-step guides that enable consumers to turn on blocking and filtering tools,” Carr wrote on X.

What followed was a set of government guides for learning how to block numbers, filter spam, and control who can contact a person’s iPhone or Android. The guidance is also broken down into providers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

While these instructions may seem simple and targeted toward elderly folk, it’s actually younger adults who are more susceptible to fraud campaigns.

According to the Public Interest Network’s 2024 report on spam and scam, young adults ages 18 to 44 are three times as likely to be successfully targeted than those over 55 years old. Moreover, 25% of the younger age group said they have been scammed more than once.

The report stated that the reason older Americans are less likely to be victims of phone scams is because they simply aren’t picking up the phone or answering a text if they don’t recognize the sender.

“Fifty-seven percent have signed up for services like ‘Do No Call’ registry versus 30% in younger age groups (18-64 yrs),” the study explained. “Twenty-one percent of older adults have also downloaded a caller ID app or have caller ID on their landline compared to 14% in younger age groups.”

RELATED: Hackers are trying to steal money from X users — don’t be one of them

Notably, males are more likely to be victims of scam calls with 79% of men admitting to such over a 12-month period versus 68% of women. Women were also more likely to ignore spam calls/texts (65%) than men are (54%), despite women receiving about 5% more spam calls than men overall and per month.

These scams reportedly effect 21% of the adult population of the United States, with an annual average loss of $450 per person and $25 billion in losses nationwide.

Location matters too. A robocall study by outlet WhistleOut revealed that robocalling frequency changes depending on the state.

Since 2020, Louisiana has seen the biggest increase in robocalls by far at 792%, which is more than a skip and a jump ahead of Mississippi’s 117% increase.

Alaska, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas have all seen a 50%+ increase since 2020.

Utah has seen the biggest drop at -34%, while Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, New Jersey, Wyoming, Rhode Island, California, Colorado, and Connecticut saw decreases as well.

RELATED: Gmail is about to fill your inbox with political spam. Here’s how to skip it.

ROMAIN COSTASECA/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images

The FCC publishes guidance that warns of over a dozen types of scams, including collect call scams, cell phone fraud, and something called “The One Ring” scam.

The FCC also provides resources to tell Americans the laws around spam and solicitation.

The calls do not appear to be stopping either. There were about 52 billion robocalls in the United States in 2025, with that number estimated to increase to 58 billion in 2028 if current trajectories hold up.

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​Spam, Robocall, Fcc, Brendan carr, Tech