Category: blaze media

A top candidate vying among a crowded field for New Jersey’s 12th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is facing flak from other Democrats over his alleged terror ties.

Physician Adam Hamawy, who also served as a U.S. Army combat surgeon, downplayed his interactions with the “blind cleric” Omar Abdel-Rahman, the late Islamic leader with ties to the terror bombing at the World Trade Center in 1993.

‘Any Muslim is going to be called a terrorist at some point, and these tropes are outdated and worn. Unfortunately, they continue to be used right now.’

Hamawy did not respond to a separate report indicating he had volunteered with a Chicago-based group in Bosnia that was later discovered to be a front for al-Qaeda and shut down.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, who is also running for the Democratic nomination, called Hamawy a “radical extremist” over his ties to Abdel-Rahman.

“The blind sheikh was not a marginal or misunderstood figure,” Mapp said. “He was a convicted terrorist, convicted of seditious conspiracy. He was connected to one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history.”

Hamawy admitted that he carpooled with the blind sheikh once in 1991 and later testified for Abdel-Rahman out of a sense of “civic duty,” but he called the accusations Islamophobic.

“I was called as a witness, and I gave my testimony under oath, and then I walked out,” he explained. “It was never an issue back then, and they’re trying to make it an issue now.”

He also fired back at fellow Democrat Mapp.

“My patriotism and my record is clear,” he added. “I think he’s desperate, and desperate people say desperate things.”

Hamawy obtained endorsements from high-profile politicians including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).

According to a Jewish Insider report, he also worked for the “Benevolence International Foundation” according to an unearthed interview Hamawy had with the Newark Star Ledger from 1996.

The 911 Commission Report found that the group was part of a complex network of organizations set up to help provide resources for terrorist operations linked to Osama bin Laden.

Hamawy, who was born in Egypt, cited his extensive service in the U.S. military to undermine the accusations.

“Any Muslim is going to be called a terrorist at some point, and these tropes are outdated and worn. Unfortunately, they continue to be used right now,” he said. “These are not serious arguments, and they’re getting old.”

RELATED: WHO director was a leader of political group designated as a terrorist organization by US officials

Mapp responded by saying he was not attacking Hamawy’s faith and accused other Democrats of being too fearful to criticize his past ties to terrorists.

Hamawy and Mapp are running for the nomination to seek the office vacated by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), who is retiring. Whoever wins will run in November against Republican Gregg Mele, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Abdel-Rahman died in 2017 at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

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​Adam hamawy, Islamophobic, Midterm elections, Terror ties, Politics 

So many LGBTQ refugees are fleeing from Republican-controlled states to Seattle that the city’s LGBTQ Commission is calling on the mayor to issue a civil emergency order.

The commission said the throngs of 2SLGBTQIA+ people streaming into Seattle were leading to a strain on community organizations and a lack of resources available to them.

‘We’re seeing families coming to Seattle to protect their trans kids.’

“We are at risk of seeing some of these community-based organizations ceasing to exist in the next three, six, or 12 months,” LGBTQ Commission member Jessa Davis said.

“The downstream costs of letting people slip through the cracks is going to cost the city more,” Davis continued.

She admitted that there were not “busloads of thousands of people coming here” but said that “the numbers are significant.”

On Saturday, members of the Mutual Aid Network for Trans and Intersex Individuals in Seattle and the Gender Equity Movement organized a rally to push for the emergency declaration.

“With the kind of awful stuff that’s going on today, we need to say something,” 76-year-old Maridee Bonadea said.

A report from KIRO-TV verified nine fundraisers through GoFundMe from members of the LGBTQ+ community asking for help to relocate to Seattle.

One fundraiser asked for $2.2K to help three transgender roommates move from North Carolina to Seattle in order to seek “gender affirming care” so they can truly enjoy life. They have only raised $295 from six donations so far.

Mayor Katie Wilson (D) stopped short of issuing the emergency order but said the city would push for greater coordination to provide better access to resources.

She also called for a new city team to “develop community-informed responses that center housing, behavioral health, food, transportation, legal navigation, and survivor-centered violence prevention.”

Davis responded positively to the mayor’s order in an email statement to Blaze News.

“We’re pleased to be working with the Mayor’s Office and City Council as part of the inter-departmental team (IDT) being set up to address this issue,” she wrote. “We’re also preparing to continue engaging with this topic as it relates to the urgent needs our community at this time and will have further comment as we formulate more in-depth policy recommendations in light of the IDT’s objectives.”

RELATED: TPUSA speaker hit with death threats after trans-identifying student is killed — suspect turns himself in

“Trans people are coming, from especially red states, to Seattle, not just for gender-affirming care but for safety,” commission member Andrew Ashiofu said. “We’re seeing families coming to Seattle to protect their trans kids.”

Wilson said she would work with the commission to ensure “Seattle is a place of safety, dignity, and inclusion for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.”

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​Seattle washington, Lgbtq commission, Politics, Emergency declaration, Refugees 

Former President Joe Biden has filed a lawsuit to try to block the release of a recorded interview that critics say may have evidence that the Democrat mishandled classified information.

The Heritage Foundation triggered the lawsuit by filing a Freedom of Information Act request to release the audio recordings and transcripts of a series of conversations between Biden and a writer in 2017.

‘The man was grossly incompetent.’

Biden’s attorneys argue that the release of the recordings would be purely politically motivated.

“The DOJ themselves have said these tapes serve no public interest. What’s happening now isn’t about transparency. It’s about politics,” said Biden spokesperson TJ Ducklo in a statement.

“If this administration were genuinely committed to transparency, they would release Volume 2 of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s own alleged mishandling of classified documents,” Ducklo added.

The documents under question include about 70 hours of audio footage and transcripts.

Biden had been interviewed by Mark Zwonitzer, who was writing a book about the death of Biden’s son Beau. The footage and transcripts had been obtained by then-special counsel Robert Hur in his investigation into alleged illegal retention and dissemination of classified material.

The former president’s memory lapses during interviews with Hur were later used by Republicans, who accused him of being mentally incapable of performing the duties of the Oval Office.

Biden had lashed out at the report in Feb. 2024 but ironically made an embarrassing flub during the live speech that was broadcast nationally.

On his Truth Social account, President Donald Trump issued a denunciation against Biden’s lawsuit.

“A Crooked Politician!!!” Trump said with a post about the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.

RELATED: Reporter hits Morning Joe with reality check on Hur report and Biden’s health issues

He went on to address the lawsuit from the White House after being asked by a reporter to comment.

“The man was grossly incompetent, and the Democrats — I call them the Dumocrats because their policy is so bad — but they came very close to destroying our country. We can never let it happen again, and I hope that you’re able to produce that,” said Trump to the reporter.

“It would be very interesting reading for people,” he concluded.

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​Classified information, Freedom of information, Heritage foundation, Politics, Robert hur, Special counsel, Donald trump, Joe biden 

Is the mask literally slipping for mainstream media — or is it just another conspiracy theory? BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is struggling to figure this out after a guest on Fox News has gone viral for wearing what appeared to be a mask.

“Obviously, during the Biden era, there were a lot of fun conspiracy theories and speculation that there were body doubles. He went through several different ones,” Gonzales recalls, before playing the clip of Vice Admiral Robert Harward, a retired United States Navy SEAL and former deputy commander of the United States Central Command.

In the clip, there appears to be a flap at the bottom of his neck with an opening underneath that moves when he speaks.

“You can’t tell me that doesn’t look like a flap where the mask is supposed to be glued or whatever the hell they do,” Gonzales comments.

“And nobody at Fox News, I guess, bothered to tell him before he went on air,” she adds.

However, John Doyle doesn’t share Gonzales’ concern.

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s probably the same person. Do you know who that guy is?” Doyle asks.

“No,” Gonzales responds.

“Exactly. I have no idea who he is either. So, it’s like, why are we swapping him out?” Doyle says, noting that “the most interesting thing about him” to those who have seen the clip is simply that it appears he’s wearing a mask.

However, in a clip of Harward from just days before, his face appears to be normal.

“What is it with you guys?” Gonzales asks Doyle.

“It’s people like you who make us look bad. I am very discerning and careful when I accuse people of being reptilian overlords,” Doyle jokes. “You just want to fire from the hip, and it makes all of us look dumb when you do that.”

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​Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, Fox news, John doyle, Robert harward 

During Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, Vice President JD Vance highlighted a horrific case of Minnesota health care fraud that allegedly resulted in the death of one elderly individual who was not receiving adequate care from his fraudster provider.

President Donald Trump stated that he is proud of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vance, noting that the task force has found billions of dollars in fraud.

‘We expect that there are tens of thousands of people who are collecting fraudulent money to take care of people, and they’re not actually taking care of them.’

“In two months, we’ve exposed tens of billions of dollars of defrauded taxpayer money, prosecuted numerous fraudsters, and stopped billions of suspicious payments,” Trump stated. “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Trump stated that reports from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Vance revealed massive sums of stolen taxpayer dollars.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump continued. “Just hundreds of billions of dollars were stolen. And no other administration would do what we’re doing. They let it go. Everybody was getting rich. And I think we have a chance to save Social Security without doing anything to it.”

RELATED: The Trump administration is cracking down on fraud

Kent NISHIMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Vance thanked Trump for his leadership and promised that the task force would “find a lot more” fraud.

“I always try to remind the American people that fraud is fundamentally a crime with two victims,” Vance said, referring to the American taxpayers and those with legitimate needs who should be receiving government benefits but do not because of fraudsters.

Vance highlighted a recent alleged case in which an elderly individual died “because he wasn’t getting adequate care.” Yet the individual who was supposed to be taking care of him was still collecting taxpayer-funded benefits.

RELATED: ‘Complete disgrace’: JD Vance issues ultimatum to states to crack down on Medicaid fraud

Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Department of Justice announced last week that a suspect was charged with participating in a $1.4 million fraud scheme, allegedly billing for services that were not provided.

“The defendant in the prosecution announced today submitted claims for vulnerable recipients who required 24-hour care, one of whom was found deceased a day after being billed for services he did not receive,” a DOJ press release read.

“We think that exact type of fraud has been replayed all over our country,” Vance told Trump during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

“We expect that there are tens of thousands of people who are collecting fraudulent money to take care of people, and they’re not actually taking care of them.”

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​News, Donald trump, Jd vance, Fraud, Task force to eliminate fraud, Minnesota, Health care, Politics 

A Fox News reporter caught the crazed reaction from an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protester live as she broadcasted from a demonstration at an immigrant detention center in New Jersey.

Protesters have declaimed against the conditions inside of the ICE detainment center at Delaney Hall in Newark as detainees have reportedly been participating in hunger strikes since Friday.

‘It’s constant with this. This is what these people do. They want people who are in this country illegally to be released out onto the streets.’

On Tuesday, the outrage led to an outburst captured on air on Fox News.

“I’m not the most popular reporter, right, at these ICE protests. So just prepare yourself to see some of that,” said Fox reporter Alexis McAdams.

“The other situation is there’s people like this. You are a protester who’s been out here — and you have a dirty mouth.”

The woman appears to say, “You’re a b***h!” at McAdams.

“OK! So that’s just what we deal with,” McAdams responded.

“It’s constant with this. This is what these people do. They want people who are in this country illegally to be released out onto the streets.”

“F**king Nazi b***h! That’s what you are!” screams the protester.

“That is an eloquent argument,” replied Fox host Will Cain back at the studio.

Video of the interaction was posted to social media, where it quickly went viral.

Protesters claim that federal officials are ignoring medical care requests and needs from the detainees, who also claim they are being held under poor conditions and fed bad food that is causing illness. On Monday, protesters tried to block vehicles from leaving the center and were pepper-sprayed by agents.

The Department of Homeland Security denies the allegations about the conditions at the facility.

RELATED: Pro-ICE student suspended for posters at California high school after anti-ICE student walkout

“They’re given rotten frozen food, or in the case of last week, they found live worms in their food, we’re also hearing of people being denied toilet paper,” said activist Catalina Adorno to WABC-TV.

There are about 300 detainees being held at the privately run facility at Delaney Hall, which includes about 1,000 beds. Detainees have tablets to communicate with the outside.

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​Anti-ice protest, Hunger strike, Politics, Department of homeland security 

A hospice fraud problem is spiraling out of control in California.

There have already been several investigations into the problem, both from federal agencies and independent journalists who have exposed sprawling complexes and buildings all focused on the same thing.

‘Nobody there in person. Nobody answering the phones.’

Diagnosis: Fraud

An April, a Los Angeles Times report identified a “well-known” building housing 89 licensed hospices. This reportedly included a hospice operator charged with six felony counts who allegedly illegally took $2.5 million from the federal government by using collective signatures of retirees to enroll them in hospice.

The two-story building in the Van Nuys area of L.A. billed more than $38 million to Medicare in 2023 in total, the report stated, and the same building was the basis for YouTuber Danny Mullen’s recent video.

Mullen, along with podcast co-host and fellow comedian Leo Dottavio, visited the building to find it nearly vacant, save for people operating unrelated businesses.

“A lot of these hospice businesses had numbers on the door promising 24-hour on-call customer service. So, we rang them up,” Mullen said in the video. “Nobody there in person. Nobody answering the phones.”

RELATED: How a California crook committed $178 million worth of health care fraud — in just one year

– YouTube

‘Relyable’ sources

Most of their calls went to voicemail, some of the numbers had no inbox set up, and some were no longer in service, but one business that misspelled “reliable” as “relyable” did answer the phone.

The man who answered, whose number was allegedly listed on the business’ door, told Mullen and Dottavio, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and also that he was “not interested” in taking on a hospice patient.

“Whose hospice, man?” he added, before later calling back to tell the content creators, “I think you called the wrong number.”

The man later called back a second time, asking who gave them his number.

“F**k you, man,” the voice is heard telling Dottavio, despite Dottavio informing him the number was listed in public.

RELATED: The Trump administration is cracking down on fraud

Nobody home

In January, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz reported that California could be worse than Minnesota when it comes to fraud. Oz said that hospice fraud in the state is not only related to mafia and gang activity, but also involves human trafficking.

In March, YouTuber Nick Shirley investigated a plethora of businesses, including an entire complex, relating to possible hospice fraud. Shirley knocked on the doors of multiple businesses that appeared to be vacant. The same goes for Mullen and Dottavio; none of the alleged hospice businesses they visited at the aforementioned building were occupied at the time.

One man told the duo, “No one is here today,” but did not seem to provide a reason as to why the vast majority of the building was empty.

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​Align, Fraud, California, Dr. oz, Danny mullen, Los angeles, Entertainment 

The police chief who oversaw the reforms made by Minneapolis in the wake of the controversial death of George Floyd has resigned rather than face allegations of interfering with an investigation, according to the mayor.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Mayor Jacob Frey announced Tuesday that Brian O’Hara had resigned rather than face the consequences from allegedly deleting evidence.

‘When trust is broken, it becomes extremely difficult to continue leading effectively.’

Investigators are looking into allegations that O’Hara had intimate relations with several city staff members, Frey said. When Frey told O’Hara he would face discipline over the alleged interference, O’Hara chose to resign instead.

“I accepted the resignation. It was an extremely painful decision, obviously, but I concluded that that was necessary to maintain public trust, and this was the right way to move forward as a city,” the mayor said.

“When you serve as chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, trust is not secondary to the job, it is the job,” he added. “When trust is broken, it becomes extremely difficult to continue leading effectively.”

According to the allegations, O’Hara deleted a contact from his city-issued phone in order to “shield” himself, and he also warned a colleague about the investigation after he was specifically instructed not to do so.

The independent law firm investigating the sex claims did not find enough evidence to substantiate the allegations.

Frey said that Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell would take up the mantle as acting police chief while the city conducted a search for an interim police chief.

“This is not about being intolerant of mistakes,” he added. “Everyone makes mistakes including me. But what I can’t allow is a breach of trust.”

RELATED: ‘ICE, get the f**k out of Minneapolis!’ Dem mayor calls ICE’s claim in deadly shooting ‘bulls**t’

O’Hara had been criticized for not doing enough to combat federal operations in Minneapolis as well as the police response to the shooting of Davis Moturi. He also oversaw the police response to the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in Aug. 2025.

Despite the criticism against the police chief, Frey had nominated O’Hara to another four-year term earlier this month. The mayor said Wednesday that he would not have done so if he knew about the allegations.

City council members, including the president, criticized Frey heavily over the O’Hara affair.

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​Brian ohara, George floyd, Minneapolis, Politics, Jacob frey, Police 

After graduating from Princeton, Jacob Savage moved out to Hollywood to chase his dream of becoming a screenwriter. To make ends meet while pursuing this career, he became a ticket scalper and an SAT tutor. For years he worked diligently, believing that a breakthrough in screenwriting was just around the corner.

After numerous opportunities fell through at the last moment, Savage finally came to a sobering conclusion: He had the wrong skin color.

“A couple of times in my career, I was brought into various spaces and told ‘we were about to give you this staff writing job, and we can’t because you’re a white guy, and we already have too many white guys on staff,’” he tells Glenn Beck.

In 2025, Savage gained significant attention for his essay in Compact magazine, “The Lost Generation,” in which he argued that aggressive diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in media, academia, publishing, and Hollywood have disproportionately harmed Millennial white men by sidelining them in hiring and career advancement despite qualifications.

Savage tells Glenn that in 2011 when he first moved to Los Angeles, 48% of lower-level TV writers were white men.

“By 2024, that was 11%,” he says, noting that this number doesn’t even account for the “nepo hires.”

“It was not a slow change. It was not ‘we’re going to hire 1% less white guys every year.’ It was ‘we’re just going to stop.”’

Glenn emphasizes the importance of hiring based on merit: “Funny is funny; talent is talent.”

Savage agrees and suggests forsaking merit is largely why Hollywood’s industry health is rapidly declining.

“I think there are plenty of people who would have been releasing shows around now and been at that stage in their career who never got off the ground, and I think that is no small part of why Hollywood is struggling so much at the moment. They just sort of cut off a generation of talent,” he explains.

He speculates, however, that many Hollywood executives and showrunners didn’t actually believe DEI was good for show business but were essentially pressured and even forced through mandates into implementing it anyway.

“I don’t think that most showrunners really thought, ‘I really just don’t want to hire the best person for this job.’ I think a lot of people were frustrated,” he says.

That frustration has mounted over time, and now the tides are apparently turning.

“I spoke to this showrunner recently who was basically like, ‘We’re back to 2012 rules, which is don’t embarrass us with an all-white-male writers’ room, but other than that, you can hire whoever you want,”’ says Savage.

“They’re not going back to sort of ‘we don’t care at all,’ but they’re going back to ‘I think we can all acknowledge we went too far with this and we just want to make some money again.”’

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Hollywood, Dei 

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin has sent liberals and travel industry proponents into a tailspin after revealing a strategy that may prevent illegal immigrants from ever entering U.S. sanctuary jurisdictions in the first place.

During an appearance with Sean Hannity on Fox News Tuesday night, Mullin stated that he and others are “currently drawing up plans” to halt international passenger and cargo processing at airports near sanctuary cities since Democrats have attempted to interfere with DHS officers at immigration detention facilities, most recently in Newark, New Jersey.

‘They don’t want us to enforce immigration, but they want us to process immigration at their facilities?’

“Local, radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws,” Mullin claimed, so “we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities.”

“They don’t want us to enforce immigration, but they want us to process immigration at their facilities?” he continued. “Nothing about that makes sense to me.”

Mullin did not elaborate on which cities or airports he had in mind, though last year the Justice Department issued a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that includes states like California and Connecticut; counties like Cook County, Illinois; and cities such as Boston, Denver, and San Francisco.

RELATED: ‘If they want to come, they’re coming’: Democrats whine in viral video that sanctuary city policies won’t stop ICE

Companies and organizations associated with the travel industry have strongly opposed cutting off immigration processing at major U.S. airports.

According to DW, the U.S. Travel Association and several major airlines issued a joint statement on Friday, predicting that “such a move would have devastating consequences for the travel industry and communities that depend on international visitation.”

Airlines for America, another trade organization, insisted that reducing the presence of Customs and Border Protection at airports would cause “significant operational disruption to carriers, travelers, and the flow of international cargo.”

However, even other members of Trump’s Cabinet have responded to Mullin’s idea with ambivalence. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted during a congressional hearing Thursday that he has misgivings about restricting air travel based on “politics.”

“We have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places,” Duffy told Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.). “We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics.”

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​Customs and border protection, Illegal immigrants, Markwayne mullin, Sanctuary jurisdictions, Sean duffy, Politics 

The NAACP has called for young black athletes to boycott Southern sports programs in light of redistricting, and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is tired of the organization’s victim mindset poisoning the youth.

“The NAACP has been set up as an institutional leader for black people, and they continue to promote the message that we’re owed something, we’re victims, and that young black people, you need to make these incredible sacrifices,” Whitlock tells Virgil Walker.

“The idea that blacks are being marginalized … is absolutely inaccurate and false,” Walker agrees.

“No black person is now not able to vote that was voting. No black person is marginalized. There are no tests that are going to be in place at voting booths. … Nothing is going to change. But they’ve leveraged that to an audience for whom they’ve preached victimology,” he says.

“They want to leverage young black players at the very moment in their lives when they’re actually coming into opportunity, education, and money,” Walker says, pointing out that the organization is “nowhere to be found” when those kids are struggling during their youth.

“And the moment at which these kids are about to walk through a door of opportunity, the NAACP says, ‘Oh, hold up, hold up. Before you go there, we need to take all of that opportunity away from you, because you need to spend that equity, that sweat equity, with us,” he continues.

“That kind of messaging should scream so loud in the ears of parents that they begin to see organizations like the NAACP for the fraudulent organizations that they are,” he adds.

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​Fearless, Jason whitlock, Naacp, Redistricting, Virgil walker, Boycott, Racism, Fearless with jason whitlock 

Television host Chelsea Handler said she knows exactly what comedians Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe are like behind closed doors after allegedly talking to their ex-girlfriends.

In addition to throwing insults at the two stars in a recent interview, Handler also talked about how her promiscuity is justifiable so long as she is “hot.”

‘I’m rich, I’m famous, and I’m hot.’

‘Gross vibe’

The 51-year-old said she knew there was going to be a “gross vibe” at the Kevin Hart roast, and she blamed Gillis and Hinchcliffe for setting the mood.

Handler told podcast host Deon Cole that she had Gillis’ and Hinchcliffe’s ex-girlfriends “blowing up” her inbox to tell her about them, which led her to the conclusion, “Oh, these guys are pretty bad.”

Handler followed her game of telephone by stating that what she was told confirmed “everything we know” about the two comedians.

“That they’re racist, that they’re bigots, that they’re sexist, you know, that they think they’re, like, invincible,” Handler claimed.

Gillis “believes — this is per one of his exes — that he’s invincible. He’s like, ‘Doesn’t matter. I can say anything I want,'” Handler said.

Despite claiming the duo’s jokes at the Netflix roast were “gross” and filled with “disgustingness,” Handler described herself as the same as the two comedians, but a female version.

“I don’t care if these guys say that I’m a whore. Like, I’m doing exactly what they’re doing, except I’m a woman and I’m allowed to. … I’m rich, I’m famous, and I’m hot. So I’m f**king people.”

RELATED: Chelsea Handler learned a valuable lesson — if you’re going to attack Tony Hinchcliffe, don’t go first

Sex machine

After receiving confirmation of her empowerment from the host, Handler reaffirmed that her age would not stop her from having a lot of sexual partners.

“That’s what I’m going to do. And I’m going to continue to keep doing that as long as, you know, I remain as f**kable as I am,” she claimed.

Handler took a hard stance against roast jokes Gillis and Hinchcliffe made about race, “lynching,” and black comedian Sheryl Underwood’s deceased husband. At the same time, though, she admitted that even though many black people — including Underwood herself — did not get offended by the jokes, she still found it “gross.”

“I’m not here to tell black people what’s funny about black jokes,” Handler told Cole.

“That’s my opinion. I don’t like that. I also don’t like the N-word, but I have plenty of black friends who toss that around all the time. It’s not my place to say, ‘Oh, that word makes me feel uncomfortable.’ You know, black people are allowed to do whatever they want.”

RELATED: ‘SNL’ star Che blasts Kevin Hart roast’s white writers — after he turned down job

Offensive line

Handler’s interview was posted on Wednesday, but so was an appearance by Underwood on Gillis’ podcast. Not only had Gillis previously revealed that Underwood immediately approved his jokes when he called her ahead of the roast, but she told Gillis to his face that she did not want anyone to be offended on her behalf.

“Don’t be offended for me if I’m not offended. But be offended for your point of view,” she told Gillis and co-host Matt McCusker. “You can have your point of view; we’re not saying you can’t have it.”

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​Align, Chelsea handler, Tony hinchcliffe, Shane gillis, Comedy, Entertainment 

A 75-year-old American citizen was arrested while trying to cross the border into the U.S. after Customs and Border Protection officers discovered numerous packages of alleged illegal narcotics in his vehicle, according to a CBP press release obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

Federal authorities apprehended the suspect, who was driving a 2011 Volvo XC60, on Friday while crossing the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge at the Laredo Port of Entry in Texas.

‘Our officers’ vigilance and dedication continue to play a critical role in safeguarding the border and preventing narcotics from reaching our streets.’

A CBP officer referred the suspect to a secondary inspection, which involved a canine and nonintrusive inspection system examination. Officers reportedly uncovered 14 packages containing nearly 33 pounds of alleged cocaine and 288 grams of alleged ketamine within the vehicle.

According to CBP, the illegal narcotics have a $455,822 street value.

The suspect was placed in custody, and CBP seized the alleged narcotics and vehicle. Homeland Security Investigations special agents are investigating the seizure.

RELATED: Exclusive: Border Patrol discovers 19 people hiding in drainage system trying to illegally enter US

Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Getty Images

“This seizure of cocaine and ketamine at the Laredo Port of Entry demonstrates our ongoing commitment to protecting our communities from dangerous drugs and illicit activity,” stated Alberto Flores, the port director for the Laredo Port of Entry.

“Our officers’ vigilance and dedication continue to play a critical role in safeguarding the border and preventing narcotics from reaching our streets,” Flores added.

RELATED: 6 people found dead in boxcar in Texas border town, police say

Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Getty Images

CBP credited President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and CBP officers for stopping illegal activity and facilitating the lawful entry of legitimate travelers across the southern border.

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​News, Southern border, Customs and border protection, Cbp, Narcotics, Drug smuggling, Homeland security investigations, Hsi, Donald trump, Markwayne mullin, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Politics 

A star running back for the Green Bay Packers has been arrested on five charges that include a felony surrounding domestic abuse allegations.

Hobart-Lawrence police in Wisconsin responded to a disturbance complaint on Saturday morning involving Packers running back and three-time Pro Bowl player Josh Jacobs.

‘We ask for fairness and restraint.’

Police arrived after 8:30 a.m. to investigate the domestic issue, according to NBC26, which resulted in Jacobs’ arrest and subsequent booking into the Brown County Jail. Jacobs’ charges include battery, disorderly conduct, and criminal damage to property, all of which fall under the category of “domestic abuse.”

Other charges include intimidation of a victim and the more disturbing felony charge of “strangulation and suffocation.”

According to the NFL, which cited jail records, Jacobs was charged with one felony and four misdemeanor counts of assault with a bond set at $1,350.

Jail records reviewed by Blaze News made no mention of any charges and said Jacobs had been issued a “mandatory court appearrance [sic]” but “no bond.”

RELATED: NFL players defend NY Giants QB Jaxson Dart after he introduces Trump: ‘Fake Trump hate’

John Fisher/Getty Images

Jacobs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, released a statement saying, “Josh vehemently denies the allegations, and this matter is in the early stages of investigation with important evidence that has not yet been made public.”

The attorneys added, “We ask for fairness and restraint while the judicial process takes its course.”

The Packers told NFL reporter Tom Pelissero that they are “aware of the matter involving Josh Jacobs.”

“As it is an ongoing legal situation, we will withhold further comment,” the Packers’ statement concluded.

On Wednesday, the Packers canceled their scheduled player media availability after their open practice. Coach Matt LaFleur will still hold his scheduled press conference, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The team will still have a chance to make players available to the press though. NFL teams must make head coaches and players available at least once for every three days of official team activities during training camp.

RELATED: Judge scolds accuser of ex-Patriots player who said he smacked and choked her, then offered her $100K

Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images

Jacobs has had an outstanding career so far. He surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in four of his first seven seasons, with 929 rushing yards in 2025.

He led the league in rushing yards in 2022 with 1,653 yards and was named first-team All-Pro that same season.

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​Fearless, Green bay packers, Nfl, Football, Crime, Domestic abuse, Sports, Josh jacobs 

If you think car prices are already out of control, brace yourself. The next spike is coming, and it has nothing to do with supply-chain excuses, dealer markups, or government mandates.

In fact, it has nothing to do with the car industry at all.

Automakers have limited options here. They can delay production, strip out features, or pass the cost directly to buyers.

It is being driven by Big Tech’s race to dominate artificial intelligence, and no matter who wins, the American car buyer will pay the price.

Bidding war

Behind the scenes, a quiet bidding war is underway for one of the most critical components in modern vehicles: memory chips. These are not exotic, cutting-edge parts reserved for luxury cars. They are the backbone of everything from your backup camera to center screens to your safety systems. And right now, they are getting sucked up by massive AI data centers at a pace the auto industry simply cannot match.

Companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are spending billions building out AI infrastructure. These operations require enormous volumes of high-performance memory, the same category of chips used throughout today’s vehicles. The difference is they are willing to pay more, lock in longer contracts, and move faster than any automaker.

Chip manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, are shifting production toward AI demand because that is where the profits are strongest. That leaves fewer chips available for automakers, and the ones that are available are getting more expensive by the day.

Winter is coming

Automakers are already feeling it. Executives at Ford Motor Company have acknowledged rising costs tied to memory chips, even as they try to reassure investors that supply remains stable for now. But that stability is fragile, and industry analysts are warning that shortages could begin to impact production as soon as late 2026.

Some companies are more exposed than others. EV-focused brands like Tesla and Rivian face added risk because their vehicles rely even more heavily on advanced computing systems. Traditional automakers like General Motors and Ford Motor Company may have slightly more flexibility, but they are still tied to the same supply chain realities.

What does that mean for you?

It means the car you want may cost more, take longer to arrive, or come with fewer features than expected. We’ve seen this before.

RELATED: Why the Pentagon just called Detroit’s Big 3 automakers

Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Computers on wheels

Modern vehicles are essentially computers on wheels. A typical car today uses large amounts of memory to manage safety systems, navigation, infotainment, and driver-assistance technology. In higher-end or electric models, that number climbs even further. Remove or limit those chips, and something has to give. Which means fewer features.

Automakers have limited options here. They can delay production, strip out features, or pass the cost directly to buyers. If history is any guide, they will do some combination of all three.

We saw it during the last chip shortage, due to COVID-related supply-chain disruption. Vehicles were shipped without features that customers had already paid for, with vague promises they might be added later. In many cases, those features never came back.

Now imagine that scenario again, only this time driven by a long-term shift in how chips are allocated globally. In other words, no end in sight.

Back to basics?

Some automakers are trying to get ahead of the problem. Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company are working more closely with semiconductor suppliers to secure long-term agreements. It is a smart strategy, but it also highlights a bigger issue: The auto industry is no longer in control of its own destiny when it comes to critical technology.

It is competing with Silicon Valley, and Silicon Valley has deeper pockets.

There is also a lesson here that automakers would rather not admit. For years, they pushed more screens, more software, and more complexity into vehicles, selling it as innovation. But that strategy came with a cost, and now that cost is showing up in the form of supply vulnerability.

Many drivers today are asking for less tech and just the basics. But with added technology that collects your data, car brands are going to be forced to cut corners somewhere. And we know they will give up features and still collect data and track your every move. All of this takes chips that are getting more expensive.

The more technology you pack into a car, the more exposed you are when those components become scarce.

New approach

For consumers, this may force a shift in thinking. Simpler vehicles could become more attractive, not just because they are easier to use, but because they are less dependent on volatile supply chains. At the same time, the used car market could see renewed demand as buyers look for alternatives to increasingly expensive new models. This happened during the last chip shortage where used cars ballooned in price. That makes it a good time to sell and a bad time to buy.

The push for AI is not slowing down. If anything, it is accelerating. That means the competition for memory chips is only going to intensify, and the auto industry will continue to be caught in the middle.

So the next time you see a higher price tag on a new vehicle, do not assume it is just inflation or dealer markup. There’s a good chance it’s tied to a data center somewhere, running thousands of servers, training the next generation of AI models.

There may be a big opportunity here: a growing market for affordable cars not encumbered with expensive, invasive, and bug-prone tech. But first, car makers will have to ditch the endless tech arms race and listen to their customers.

​Ai, Ai data centers, Artificial intelligence, Big tech, Car prices, Lifestyle, Silicon valley, Supply chain, Align cars 

An Israeli national linked to a Chinese fraudster’s illegal biolab in Nevada managed to skate on a felony charge this month after the Justice Department mysteriously moved to dismiss the criminal complaint against him.

Police raided a house in northeast Las Vegas on Jan. 31 managed by 55-year-old Ori Salomon, an Israeli national currently in the U.S. on an E-2 visa, and owned by Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese national convicted of fraud earlier this month and linked to the secret biolab discovered in Reedley, California, in late 2022.

Inside Zhu’s Vegas property on Sugar Springs Drive, law enforcement agents found a “possible biological laboratory” complete with a “bio-safety hood, a bio-safety sticker, a centrifuge, multiple refrigerators, red-brown unknown liquids in gallon-sized containers, and refrigerated vials with unknown liquids,” according to Christopher Delzotto, FBI special agent in charge at the bureau’s Las Vegas office.

‘The Government has concluded that the interests of justice require dismissal of the complaint.’

That same day, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department also executed a search warrant at the residence where Salomon lives and allegedly found a French passport bearing the name “Ori Salomon,” an Israeli passport with the name “Ori Solomon,” and a black semi-automatic pistol.

While Salomon — accused of being a primary “agent and conspirator” with Zhu, who contacted him 467 times in the weeks leading up to the raid — was arrested on a state charge of disposing and discharging hazardous waste, the discovery of a firearm at his residence evidently piqued the interest of federal law enforcement.

After all, Salomon is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm as a non-immigrant visa holder.

According to the original criminal complaint, Salomon made a recorded call to his daughter while in jail where he discussed the presence of additional firearms at his residence.

RELATED: Hasan Piker tests the line between dissent and enemy aid

Las Vegas Metro Police Department footage screenshots

A federal search warrant was executed at Salomon’s residence on Feb. 2, during which law enforcement reportedly seized multiple guns, including a Springfield Armory XD-9 9mm handgun; a Savage Mark II .22 caliber rifle; an IWI US Tavor-x95 5.56 rifle; a Glock 19 9mm handgun; and a Springfield Armory SA-XD ACP .45 caliber handgun.

Salomon’s adult daughter confirmed that the firearms in the house belonged to her father, the complaint claimed.

Salomon was charged with one count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

However, on May 11, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada — helmed by Israeli-born U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah — filed a motion to dismiss the complaint without prejudice.

Prosecutors neglected to detail in the motion why they wanted to dismiss the complaint other than noting, “After a careful review of the evidence and additional information provided by defendant, the Government has concluded that the interests of justice require dismissal of the complaint at this time.”

The Justice Department and Salomon’s attorney did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elayna Youchah, who released Salomon in February on a personal recognizance bond, ultimately agreed to dismiss the federal complaint. However, Salomon is still scheduled to appear in court on June 4 in connection with the hazardous waste charge.

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​Biolab, China, Criminal complaint, Firearms, Fraud, Israel, Israeli, Jia bei zhu, Search warrant, Sigal chattah, Las vegas, Nevada, Justice department, Politics 

A Georgia teacher has been accused of committing child sex crimes against six teenagers, according to multiple reports.

Maris Nichols — a 25-year-old biology teacher at Alexander High School in Douglas County — was arrested May 8.

‘The alleged behavior is unacceptable and violates the professional standards all employees are required to uphold.’

WSB-TV reported that Nichols was charged last week with multiple counts of child molestation, improper sexual contact by an employee, grooming of a minor for sexual offense, and one count of tampering with evidence.

A judge set Nichols’ bond at $74,000.

The judge ordered Nichols to remain under house arrest except for medical appointments, religious services, and legal consultations. The Times-Georgian reported that Nichols also must wear an ankle monitor, undergo a mental evaluation, avoid contact with minors not related to her, and stay away from the school.

The Times-Georgian obtained arrest warrants saying Nichols had sex with a student in a closet next to her classroom between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on April 23.

According to court documents obtained by WAGA-TV, Nichols also had sex with the same student inside a Hummer off campus in Douglasville.

Investigators added that Nichols allegedly sent nude photos and videos of herself to multiple students, including videos of herself masturbating with a sex toy during live video chats with at least two teens under 16, WAGA reported.

The arrest warrant said Nichols had sex with another student in the back seat of his truck at a golf club.

Nichols also sent explicit messages to two male students that detailed sexual acts she wanted performed on her, according to the arrest warrant.

The warrant added that a female student received videos containing nudity from the teacher, who also urged the student to watch the “Fifty Shades of Grey” movies before asking to discuss the salacious films.

The New York Post reported that Nichols instructed one of the teens to whom she sent sexual messages to delete their communications.

RELATED: Female elementary teacher, 25, turned in by husband for alleged sexual misconduct against underage student: Court docs

In a letter sent to parents that Fox News obtained, the Douglas County School System noted that it’s “deeply troubled” by the accusations.

The school system launched an internal investigation “upon learning of the alleged misconduct” and has cooperated with state and local law enforcement in their investigations.

“The alleged behavior is unacceptable and violates the professional standards all employees are required to uphold,” the letter stated, adding that it can’t provide additional information regarding the allegations.

School officials did not reveal if any disciplinary action had been taken against Nichols or if she had been terminated. But she was not listed Wednesday among the staff on the high school’s website.

During Nichols’ bond hearing earlier this month, her attorney Christy Draper said the case was an “unfortunate situation.”

“She is a solid member of this community. She’s never even had a speeding ticket before,” Draper said, according to the Times-Georgian. “This is not your typical person that you see in these kinds of situations.”

“The truth is eventually going to come out,” Draper added. “It’s going to show that this alleged victim is more the perpetrator of this situation. This is a lot more technical and a lot more complex than what meets the eye.”

However, a prosecuting attorney called the defense attorney’s allegations “egregious,” the Times-Georgian reported.

Draper gave a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that read:

As this matter is currently under active investigation, we will not provide a detailed comment at this time. We are fully committed to getting to the bottom of these allegations and ensuring that every relevant fact is brought forward.

The arrest warrant did not specify the ages of the alleged victims but did note they all were teenagers.

Nichols was hired as a teacher at Alexander High School in May 2023.

WAGA reported that Nichols also has been a “player personnel director” for the high school football program.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

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​Teacher arrested, Teacher sex scandal, Child sex crimes, Georgia, Maris nichols, Crime 

Newly released Department of War documents shed light on possible aerial capabilities of UFOs.

On Friday morning, the Pentagon announced a document dump of more Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena files, revealing the findings of a current U.S. intelligence official.

‘The object then split into two and changed direction.’

The official said that in 2025, he was part of a team sent to investigate unusual noises and sightings of “orb-like” objects near a sensitive U.S. military facility.

“Our mission was to investigate loud thuds heard in the mountains on the test range, which coincided with … sightings reported over the previous several nights,” the government official wrote.

While flying at low altitude in a helicopter, the intelligence officer discovered “a large cave entrance with no visible end in sight,” but saw no safe landing spot.

Realizing they were low on fuel, the pilots took him to a prearranged rendezvous point and dropped off one unknown official before heading to a tanker for refueling. Before long, their Joint Operations Center had detected hits on radar, in the same area sightings were made on previous nights.

Using infrared goggles, ground teams soon reported seeing a UAP and described it as “super hot,” low to the ground, and moving at high speed.

“The object then split into two and changed direction,” the officer said of the ground team’s description, but this wouldn’t be the only time the unidentified object seemingly performed the unbelievable maneuver.

RELATED: Vast image ‘reminiscent of the grim reaper’ appears over Los Angeles

Luis Gutierrez/Norte Photo/Getty Images

The officer and the two pilots soon arrived and scanned the area with night-vision goggles, infrared, and the naked eye. The ground team then informed them that the foreign object had risen from the ground and moved within 10 feet of the helicopter before dropping below it and speeding off.

“The pilots observed it through NVGs and saw it split into two as a smaller object emerged before it accelerated out of sight,” the officer recalled.

The helicopter allegedly pursued the object, but was unable to match its speed. The officer was later told that several fighter jets in the area were asked to help identify the UAP.

The “close UAP encounters” allegedly lasted over an hour and took place when the helicopter was asked to search a nearby mountain.

RELATED: Why Big Tech’s biggest just signed on to build the Pentagon’s AI army

Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

The report’s summary said the incident occurred sometime in 2025 and referred to the official encountering unidentified “glowing orbs” both at close range and at a distance.

It further described the object as accelerating away in two different directions. Numerous “higher-altitude” orbs were described as the objects that came close to the helicopter.

Photos are featured along with the report, including ones that allegedly show the object after splitting in two. However, the bulk of the photos are dated as being captured in 1999.

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​Return, Ufo, Uap, Pentagon, Department of war, Tech 

Pope Leo XIII issued a papal encyclical in 1891 titled “Rerum Novarum,” which the Vatican notes “became the document inspiring Christian activity in the social sphere and the point of reference for this activity.”

In that groundbreaking document about the just ordering of society, Leo XIII applied Catholic doctrines to the modern conditions that manifested as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

Besides rejecting socialism as a means of remedying social ills and setting the stage for localism, the late pope expounded on the Church’s doctrine on work, private property, the rights of workers, the obligations of the rich, the dignity of the poor, and other timely terms and issues.

‘It can only bring about conflict more quickly and render it more impersonal.’

The current pope, Leo XIV, has set out in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” to do for his era what his predecessor did 135 years ago.

The Roman pontiff has, accordingly, scrutinized “the great trends of our time, particularly technological advances,” through the lens of the Church’s Scripture- and tradition-based social doctrine — that living “legacy of wisdom, where we find principles for thought, criteria for discernment and judgment, and concrete guidelines for action.”

While the pope covers a great deal of ground in his encyclical, five remarks stand out as especially provocative and/or memorable.

1. The two cities

At the outset, Pope Leo XIV raises the questions of where man is going and toward which goal does he wish to orient himself.

Leo XIV notes that in the era of AI, mankind is faced with a choice — not whether or not to embrace technology, which he does not regard as a force intrinsically antagonistic to humanity — but of whether to “construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together.”

RELATED: It’s not easy being pope — Leo’s big new tech encyclical proves it

Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis/Getty Images

The American pope suggested that the choice will inevitably dictate how the transformative technology of the age is employed, given that this technology takes on the “characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate, and use it.”

Following in the footsteps of Nimrod and choosing the first option would mean giving way to an ancient temptation and pursuing “a single language, a single technology, a single direction”; building a society “on pride and the claim to self-sufficiency”; and working toward a “future that excludes God and reduces the other to a means.”

The second option would similarly mean dominating the heavens but rather patiently cultivating a “space in which humanity rediscovers its solid foundations and its final end” — a place “less visible and less spectacular” that is founded on the common good and has for its bedrock a firm relationship with the Almighty.

Building for the common good necessitates resisting the “Babel syndrome” that animates transhumanism and other vainglorious efforts to correct what God has created and instead “accepting the limits and weakness of humanity without considering them an error to be corrected,” said the pope.

2. Falling victim to achievement

Leo XIV observed that within the ascendant technocratic paradigm previously denounced by Pope Francis, there is a “tendency to let the logic of efficiency, control, and profit alone shape personal, social, and economic decisions.”

‘Speed and efficiency should never be the supreme motivating force for the irreversible decisions.’

This contagious way of looking at the world — which threatens to reduce “creation to an object of exploitation and human beings to mere cogs in a system driven toward ever greater efficiency” — has spread in concert with “the expansion of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, nanotechnology, robotics, and biotechnology,” said the pope.

Pope Leo XIV warns that unless technological progress advances with corresponding ethical and social progress, “the result may be an increase in means without a growth in humanity: ‘having more’ without ‘being more.'”

3. More dehumanization on the battlefield

Sensitive to the increasing ease of war-making, “tragically marginal” efforts to prevent conflicts, and the “perpetuation of conflict as a source of power and income,” the pope discussed the need to rein in and regulate the use of AI where the battlefield is concerned.

Leo XIV noted that moral judgments of a lethal or irreversible nature cannot be reduced to calculation and should not be entrusted to artificial systems.

RELATED: Killer drones have conquered the skies. Can we ever be safe again?

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

Leaving the work of killing and ruination to machines neither makes war more morally acceptable nor removes the intrinsic inhumanity of conflict, said the pope; rather “it can only bring about conflict more quickly and render it more impersonal, lowering the threshold for resorting to violence, transforming defense into threat prediction and thus reducing victims to data.”

‘Decisions now seem to be driven almost exclusively by economic calculations, justified through media distortions.’

Where AI and automated systems are involved, the pope advocates for:

holding those who design, train, authorize, and employ the technology used in strikes accountable;ensuring that “speed and efficiency should never be the supreme motivating force for the irreversible decisions made in the context of war”;requiring technology that facilitates attacks to distinguish between combatants and noncombatants and factor in the impact on defenseless populations;requiring weapons systems to retrace and reconstruct their decision-making processes “so that accountability and blame are not collapsed into ‘the machine'”;keeping decisions to use lethal force under human control; andavoiding an international AI arms race.

Leo XIV notes, “While AI can enhance the defense and protection of civilians, it can also lower the threshold for the use of force, shield people from responsibility, and foster a culture in which the enemy is reduced to a statistic and the victim to ‘collateral damage.'”

4. The new colonialism

After noting that the “Church renews her firm condemnation of all forms of slavery, trafficking, and the commodification of persons,” Leo XIV discussed a novel form of colonialism incubated in the digital economy that “appropriates data, transforming personal lives into exploitable information.”

The pope railed against the mining, aggregation, and analysis of individuals’ data — especially information about their health and genetics — noting that such information affords the powers that be “structural leverage over the future, for they can shape needs and markets. They can also decide, before others, to whom medicines, investments, and protections will be allocated.”

The remedy, according to the pope: restore “to individuals not only the data that describes them, but also the ability to decide how it is used, by whom, and for whose benefit.”

5. A false realism

The pope rails in his encyclical against realpolitik — politics based on doing what is regarded as expedient rather than what is understood as morally or ethically right — particularly as it relates to war.

Leo XIV, certain that “we live at a time of significant spiritual and cultural blindness,” characterized realpolitik as a “truly irresponsible” form of false realism that “sows in consciences and in society an attitude of resignation to the inevitability of war and dismisses peace and dialogue as utopian or irrational positions that ignore the risks at stake.”

While stressing that “peace is neither a naïve hope nor merely the absence of war” and is “always possible as the fruit of justice and charity,” the pope recognized that the prevailing climate of pragmatism and nihilism has nevertheless set the stage for “new wars that are perhaps even more dangerous than those of the past, since they tend to disregard all ethical limits.”

“Decisions now seem to be driven almost exclusively by economic calculations, justified through media distortions, manufactured enthusiasm, and ‘dreams’ that inevitably shatter, generating frustration and further violence,” wrote the pope. “When people come to believe that nothing is genuinely true and that principles are hollow words, then the fuse in their hearts is lit for new eruptions of intolerance and aggression.”

Just as he rejects this “false realism,” the pope rejects the encompassing “culture of power,” highlighting an alternative: the “civilization of love.”

“Christians see the darkness and acknowledge it for what it is, yet they do not merely gaze upon it passively, for they know the light and understand that the darkness has not overcome it and cannot defeat it (cf. Jn 1:5),” wrote the pope. “For this reason, even when suffering seems to have the last word, Christians serve the good and are sustained by a theological hope that gives reality both meaning and direction.”

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​Artificial intelligence, Industrial revolution, Leo xiv, Politics, Pope, Transhumanism, Technology, War, Data, Big tech, Tech 

This situation has happened to me twice in recent months. I meet a guy around my age (50s, 60s). We talk and find we have things in common. I’m excited to possibly make a new friend.

In both cases, there was no political discussion. I didn’t say anything about politics. And they didn’t either, which was a welcome relief.

These guys should be playing golf and awaiting grandchildren, not defending trans activism or walking in Pride parades.

In both situations, the subject of children eventually came up. I don’t have any. They both did.

That’s when things got tricky. One of them announced he had a gay daughter. And the other informed me that he had a trans son.

Supporting the supporters

In both cases, I nodded my head when they told me this, as if their children’s sexuality were a normal thing to bring up, which it is, in my progressive coastal city.

I also saw, in both cases, that these fathers were genuinely supportive of their gay or trans kid. Of course they were. It’s their kids!

I nodded along with them, showing that I was supportive of their kids, too, and that I supported them for supporting their kids.

At the same time, I know from experience that these situations are often more complicated than they appear. Like, are their kids actually gay or trans? Or are they just thinking about it? Or talking about it? Or experimenting with it?

Whenever I hear a parent say his high school or college-age kid is gay or trans, I think to myself: Let’s see what the kid tells you in a year or two.

The truth is that it has become almost mandatory for even the most well-adjusted young people to question their sexual preference and gender identity.

They’ve been receiving this messaging for decades now. Their schools, their teachers, and the entire society have told them: “Being gay is great. Being trans is awesome. Why not consider becoming one of those yourself? You might like it. You might discover it’s your true nature.”

But is that accurate? Most people turn out to be heterosexual. So why are our schools and educators so eager to get young people going off in all these different directions?

Why are these people involved in any aspect of a young person’s sexuality?

Forced participation

Another thing I notice: Nobody talks about the toll these situations take on the parents. Having a trans or gay child can be quite a lot to deal with.

It forces parents to concede — at least implicitly — that all this sexual identity talk is a good idea. In effect, it turns them into progressive Democrats.

Also, it’s a lot of stress. Older people didn’t have to navigate sexual identity when they were young. They don’t have any experience with these situations. Most of them just got married and had kids. And some of them didn’t.

But there wasn’t an entire culture war built up around what choices people made. You were free to do whatever. This was America.

RELATED: The return of Drag Queen Story Hour?

Irfan Khan/Getty Images

Gay until graduation

All of this reminds me of a close friend whose only child (a son) came out to her as gay while he was in high school.

Naturally, she supported him. Though at one point she privately said to me, with a sigh, “I guess I’ll never hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet.”

But then, two years later, the son decided he wasn’t gay after all. So all that anguish was in vain.

But then, another year later, the son started dating a trans person!

All of this was quite confusing and difficult for my friend. But of course, she couldn’t say anything or even commiserate with her friends, lest she be labeled a bigot.

Let’s just (not) be friends

It seems unlikely that I’ll ever hang out with either of these two guys I met. They have too much on their plates. And because of their children, they now have a stake in the sexual identity debates.

And this during a time when they were supposed to be letting go of their children. These were supposed to be their “empty nest” years.

They did their duty. They raised good kids. In both of these cases, the parents had put them through college.

These guys should be playing golf and awaiting grandchildren, not defending trans activism or walking in Pride parades.

But fathers love their children. So naturally, they want to help. They’ll do anything they can for their kids.

Grumpier old men

It used to be that older men were expected to become grouchy and conservative in their old age. But even that natural evolution has been subverted.

Now their lives are affected by LGBTQ politics almost as much as their children’s — which, I suspect, is exactly how the LGBTQ crowds like it. Anything that disrupts traditional families is all right by them.

​Culture, Gay children, Lgbt, Lifestyle, Parenthood, Traditional families, Blake’s progress