Category: blaze media

Audiences rave and critics sneer as the documentary “Melania” exceeds industry expectations in its opening weekend.

The opening gross domestic ticket sales reached $7 million, placing the film third overall at the domestic box office behind two major studio releases.

‘To say that “Melania” is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies.’

The film, which chronicles first lady Melania Trump in the weeks leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, debuted in 1,778 theaters nationwide, an unusually wide release for a documentary.

Prerelease projections published by entertainment outlets such as People magazine estimated the film would earn between $3 million and $5 million.

RELATED: New ‘Melania’ documentary blends unprecedented access with subtle, profound message

Brooks Kraft/Getty Images

While the film did not screen in advance for critics, reviews published after release were largely unfavorable.

Critics from the Guardian, Variety, and the Hollywood Reporter described the documentary as politically one-sided and overly sympathetic.

Xan Brooks of the Guardian compared the film to a “medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety described it as a “cheese ball infomercial of staggering inertia.” Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, “To say that ‘Melania’ is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies.”

Audiences reacted differently.

Opening-night viewers awarded the film an “A” at CinemaScore, a metric based on verified exit polling conducted at theaters nationwide.

RELATED: Melania’s bold AI message to America’s youth: ‘Use AI as a tool, but do not let it replace your personal intelligence’

Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images

The film was distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, which reportedly paid $40 million for distribution rights and spent an additional $35 million on marketing.

The total investment made the project the most expensive documentary release to date.

Despite the high cost, box-office analysts interviewed by AP noted that political documentaries are often evaluated based on visibility and audience engagement rather than traditional profitability.

The film premiered at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with attendance from members of Congress, Cabinet officials, and business executives.

Following its theatrical run, “Melania” is scheduled to stream on Prime Video. International theatrical distribution is expected to be limited.

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​Politics, Melania trump, Donald trump, Movies, Theater, Critics 

A recent article from Life News centers on Becca Rea-Tucker, radical feminist and author of the pro-abortion book “The Abortion Companion: An Affirming Handbook for Your Choice and Your Journey,” openly celebrating her abortion — and BlazeTV host Steve Deace warns this is becoming a trend.

“And you can see she’s wearing a T-shirt there. ‘Thank God for abortion,’” he says, reading her shirt. “That’s blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, I would argue, right there, the unforgivable sin with a middle finger up in the air. She wants you to know. She can’t wait to brag about it. She wants to shout her abortion,” Deace says.

“Now I don’t know how many of the women that are killing their babies these days feel the way that Becca Rea-Tucker does. I just know I’m seeing more of Becca Rea-Tuckers than I’ve ever seen before,” he continues.

Which is why Deace believes pro-lifers desperately need to work on their argument.

“Let me walk you through an exercise. Wait a minute. So you think this thing inside of me that I just got pregnant with seven weeks ago, you think that’s a life?” Deace asks.

“Should fully and completely and totally have all the benefits and accouterments and rights of a fully aged man in his prime?” he continues, using his 33-year-old executive producer Aaron McIntire as an example.

“A child at 7 weeks, a zygote, a fetus at 7 weeks of development ought to have the full rights therein of a 33-year-old man in his prime, married with a couple of kids and a mortgage, paying the bills. They’re the exact same being. That’s what you guys think,” he says.

“So if I pull out a gun right now and shoot Aaron, I should be punished. Maybe even given the death penalty. … All right, I go across the street to Planned Parenthood to kill my kid. Nothing,” he adds.

“You’re using that retarded messaging, and Becca Rea-Tucker is just laughing at you right in your face. And by the way, thumbing her nose at God and shaking her fist at God and everything else, right?” he asks.

Deace notes that Tucker is also quite literally “flipping the bird at Christ,” while conservatives argue over whether or not she’s a victim of circumstance.

“And you’re like, ‘Listen lady, were you abused?’ … That looks like a criminal to me. Doesn’t look like much of a victim to me. If she’s a victim, then every criminal is. Marinate on that one. If she’s a victim, every criminal is,” Deace says.

While he doesn’t have a solution to this issue because the right is “completely and totally politically asinine,” he does ask that conservatives ask themselves a question in response to the “shout your abortion” trend.

“Why Becca Rea-Tucker is not the very definition of a murderess by your own admission. What’s the theological case for that?” he asks, adding, “Does one exist?”

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Don Lemon made it clear when he was an anchor on CNN that “nobody is above the law,” but he likely wasn’t considering that neither is he.

“Don, you should have listened to your own warnings,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.” Lemon was arrested by federal agents over his alleged role in the anti-ICE church protest in Minnesota.

Now, she explains that Don “is playing the victim.”

“It’s all very dramatic,” Gonzales says, reading a statement from Lemon’s lawyer, which claimed, “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”

“A little odd, considering most of his career he sat behind a desk and turned his nose up at everyone. So, I’d say it’s a little different,” Gonzales says.

Don’s lawyer’s statement continues, “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work.”

“There seems to be so many people, including Don’s lawyer, who doesn’t understand what the First Amendment is,” Gonzales comments.

“What do you think you were doing storming a damn church and terrorizing congregants in the church? Like, are they secretly in power? Do they hold any power?” she asks.

“No, of course not,” she answers herself. “They’re just trying to worship at their church. So, thank you for pointing out once again that this is not a case of First Amendment rights. Now, clearly, they’ve both demonstrated — Don and his lawyer — that they have no clue what the First Amendment is.”

Gonzales notes that Lemon appears to believe that “freedom of the press” is the same thing as “freedom of speech.”

“Maybe, Don, go talk to your friends over at the Committee to Protect Journalists, who literally gives legal advice. They give legal advice. Let me give you some of their quick tips and recommendations,” she says.

“When covering demonstrations, protests, and campaign or political events, make sure you know in advance what restrictions are in place regarding the public’s right to access, and whether there are any curfew or other restrictions in place,” reads the first bullet written by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Do not trespass on private property to gather news; do not cross police lines at crime scenes; comply with location restrictions and barriers, absent exigent circumstances,” another bullet reads.

“Maintain neutrality when covering events. For example, do not join crowd chants or wear clothing with slogans related to the events you are covering,” a third point explains.

“You don’t fan the flames or join in on the fun,” Gonzales says. “Does that sound like what Don Lemon did?”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sharing, Free, Video phone, Camera phone, Upload, Video, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Don lemon, Cnn, Church protest minnesota, Ice protests, Trump administration, Don lemon arrest, Free speech, First amendment, First amendment rights 

A South Carolina woman who believed she was meeting someone to buy a puppy walked into a deadly trap, according to authorities. The woman reportedly was lured into an ambush, fatally shot, and set on fire.

The Florence County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that police responded to a call of a “vehicle consumed by fire with a deceased victim inside” in Effingham on Jan. 22.

‘Investigators are exploring the theory that Kinlaw was targeted in retaliation for a separate murder involving a family member in Darlington.’

Around 5:45 p.m., deputies arrived at the scene to find the car still on fire and a body inside the vehicle, WMBF-TV reported.

Florence County Coroner Keith Von Lutcken identified the deceased woman as 40-year-old Dana Marie Kinlaw.

“Investigators allege that Iryanna Jarissa Fleming and Daquinn Taheen Thomas intentionally shot Kinlaw, resulting in her death, and subsequently set her body on fire inside the vehicle,” police stated.

Florence County Sheriff TJ Joye said Fleming lured Kinlaw to a remote area.

“Supposedly they went there together,” Joye said, according to WMBF. “Miss Fleming, she was 19 years of age, a friend of Miss Kinlaw, and they rode there together supposedly to buy a puppy.”

Joye noted that Kinlaw was shot and then set on fire while inside the vehicle.

RELATED: Final words revealed from Marine who survived war — but was gunned down at home in Facebook Marketplace trap

Authorities suspect Kinlaw was murdered as an act of retaliation over a prior homicide in Darlington County.

“Investigators are exploring the theory that Kinlaw was targeted in retaliation for a separate murder involving a family member in Darlington,” Joye said.

“We believe there was a murder committed in Darlington County, which we made the arrest in Lake City that connects them to that arrest with Darlington County officials,” Joye added.

Joye said investigators suspect that Kinlaw’s son was involved in “some way, shape, or form, and we feel this is a retaliation to that murder.”

Police arrested Thomas, 31, and Fleming on Jan. 22. They both were charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Nikko Christopher Carraway, 31, was arrested Jan. 28 in connection with Kinlaw’s killing, according to WPDE-TV.

Carraway was charged with murder, first-degree arson, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

All three suspects are being held without bond at the Florence County Detention Center.

The Florence County Sheriff’s Office stated the investigation is ongoing, and the suspects could face additional charges.

Citing court records, the New York Post reported that Thomas and Carraway have a “laundry list of criminal cases in Florence County dating back as far as 2014.”

Thomas was hit with multiple attempted murder charges and violent armed robbery cases, according to the Post, which noted that Thomas was sentenced to nine months in prison last March for possessing a firearm as a convicted criminal.

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

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​Murder, South carolina, South carolina crime, Dana marie kinlaw, Shooting, Revenge killing, Crime, Set on fire, Arson, Possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime 

The treasurer of a Democrat organization in Arizona has resigned from the post and was fired from his real estate job after he was caught on video shouting obscenities.

The video was captured at a protest at the Zipps Sports Grill in Ahwatu­kee Foot­hills after the chain was targeted by immigration officials. All of the Zipps locations were shut down after search warrants were executed at 14 locations on the same day.

‘I regret the man­ner I expressed myself. … I have form­ally resigned from the board.’

Anti-ICE protesters have since demonstrated at the restaurants to oppose deportations.

The video from Jan. 26 shows an older man chasing a group of younger women while screaming obscenities at them. The RedState reporter who captured the video said the anti-ICE group believed the women were taking selfies in support of ICE operations.

“You little f**king c***s!” the man screams twice at them, according to the video.

“Nasty girls who love ICE and take photos with them!” says a woman on the video.

The older man and others harass and chase after the women to angrily denounce them. Online sleuths identified the man as Mark Holodnak, the treasurer of the 12th Legis­lat­ive Dis­trict Demo­crats organ­iz­a­tion.

He has since resigned from the post and issued an apology to the women.

“I regret the man­ner I expressed myself, and these words do not reflect my val­ues or inten­tions,” Holodnak stated. “I would like to offer a sin­cere apo­logy to the two indi­vidu­als in the video. I do not want my actions to reflect on the good work LD 12 does. So I have form­ally resigned from the board of LD 12 effect­ive imme­di­ately.”

He declined to answer questions about the incident, according to the Arizona Republic.

Online sleuths also began bombarding Holodnak’s employer about the video, and the employer released a statement saying he was fired.

RELATED: Top Oklahoma Dem forced to resign after trying to pay Ethics Commission with forged check

“HomeSmart is aware of an incident in which one of our independent contractor agents acted unacceptably,” the statement said Tuesday. “This is not reflective of HomeSmart’s culture and values. The agent has been terminated and is no longer affiliated with HomeSmart.”

Holodnak’s biography remains on the committee’s website and says he became politically active after 2016. He listed climate change, gun violence, and supporting marginalized communities as his top concerns.

Homeland Security Investigations confirmed the arrest of more than 35 illegal aliens from the operations at the Zipps.

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​Mark holodnok fired, Democrat curses out ice girls, Anti-ice protests, Zipps grill protests, Politics 

Investigative journalist Peter Schweizer did a deep dive into how Islam is being used as a vehicle to change American culture and shift power into the hands of one political party in his new book, “The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon.”

And while it is not just Islam being pushed on Americans, the religion is by far one of the most troubling — and Schweizer has the receipts.

“I’m going to read you two quotes, just because I think it’s better than me just saying it, and it gives an indication of where these activists are coming from,” Schweizer tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”

The first quote Schweizer reads is from the head of Florida’s Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“How do we even justify living here, in the United States? I mean, why are we living here? Have we asked ourselves this question? Why are we living in the United States? The only answer I believe is excusable and justifiable is if we are living here to shift this country’s political direction and spiritual direction together,” he reads.

The second quote comes from a board member of CAIR and reads, “Ultimately, we can never be full citizens of this country because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions of this country. We can be citizens in the sense that we try to influence American policy.”

“So it begins with this very aggressive effort within the Islamic community to say, ‘No, don’t assimilate, and if you do assimilate, we are going to ostracize you. We are going to attack you and criticize you,’ because the point is they do not want people that immigrate here of the Muslim faith to embrace the American dream,” Schweizer tells Stuckey.

“So you have this very organized, highly funded effort by these activists, by these groups, by these imams, to fight against the United States, not embrace it,” he says, pointing out that these activists hope “that American apathy will serve their political agenda.”

Schweizer notes that the recent election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City is an excellent example of this.

“Mamdani’s election in New York was watched very closely in Tehran, and it was also watched very closely by groups like Hezbollah, the terrorist group in Lebanon,” he tells Stuckey, “because they see these victories in the United States as an opportunity to expand their sphere of influence within our own borders.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Florida announced on Friday that all driver’s license tests will be conducted in English. This decision comes after President Trump signed an executive order nearly a year ago declaring English the official language of the United States.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles declared that the state is taking “a leading role in highway safety by requiring all driver license exams be taken in English and without an interpreter.”

‘There is no better way for a state to test for trucker English proficiency than to administer the CDL knowledge and skills tests in, well, English.’

The new policy, which will apply to knowledge and skills exams for all driver’s license classifications, will take effect on February 6.

The FLHSMV explained that the previous policy allowed knowledge exams for most non-commercial driver’s licenses to be offered in multiple languages. Knowledge exams for commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses have been offered in English and Spanish.

“To implement this change, FLHSMV has updated its driver license testing system statewide. Language translation services will no longer be permitted for knowledge or skills examinations, and any printed exams in languages other than English will be removed for use,” the department stated. “FLHSMV remains committed to ensuring safe roadways for all Floridians and visitors by promoting clear communication, understanding of traffic laws, and responsible driving behavior.”

RELATED: Illegal alien trucker accused of causing crash that killed newlyweds

Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called the new policy a “good reform,” noting that drivers “need to be able to read the road signs.”

Eric Daugherty of Florida’s Voice declared the move “a massive win.”

“English. Do it NATIONWIDE!” Daugherty wrote. “Florida does it right.”

RELATED: American trucking at a crossroads: Deadly crash involving illegal alien exposes true cost of Biden’s border invasion

Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The Small Business in Transportation Coalition applauded Florida for implementing the English-only testing policy.

“Like most things in life, we need to start with common sense. There is no better way for a state to test for trucker English proficiency than to administer the CDL knowledge and skills tests in, well, English. In the state of Florida, at least, common sense will now prevail effective February 6th. We hope other states will follow,” SBTC Executive Director James Lamb stated.

This new policy follows an executive order Trump issued last March, declaring English to be the official language of the federal government.

“To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language. Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values and create a more cohesive and efficient society,” the EO said.

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​News, Road safety, Florida, Immigration crisis, Immigration, Commercial driver’s licenses, Cdl, Cdls, Trucking industry, American trucking industry, Politics 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says Democrats are ready to defeat a Republican bill intended to fortify election security against fraudulent voting.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act passed the House of Representatives in July and awaits approval from the Senate before heading to the president’s desk, but Democrats hope to derail its trip.

‘If Democrats choose to filibuster, they can explain to the American people why they believe noncitizens should be allowed to vote. That is a debate we will win every time.’

Schumer compared the SAVE Act to the racist Jim Crow laws against black Americans after the Civil War and warned of a government shutdown.

“I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,” said Schumer in a statement on Monday. “It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to. If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown.”

He went on to argue that the real intention of the legislation was voter suppression.

“The SAVE Act seeks to disenfranchise millions of American citizens, seize control of our elections, and fan the flames of election skepticism and denialism,” he added.

Schumer has previously called the SAVE Act “one of the most despicable acts of legislation” he’s ever seen.

RELATED: Voter ID laws ‘brutally dangerous’ and ‘dehumanizing’ for transgender people, claims NBC

Schumer concluded by saying Democrats would “go all out” to defeat the bill.

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas previously defended the bill from Democratic criticism in comments to Blaze News.

“This is a commonsense reform with broad public support from Americans who want elections that are free, fair, and secure,” Roy said.

“Now it’s time for the Senate to act. All it takes is 51 Republicans willing to demand a vote,” he added. “And if Democrats choose to filibuster, they can explain to the American people why they believe noncitizens should be allowed to vote. That is a debate we will win every time.”

If passed, the SAVE Act would require “proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office.”

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Two violent repeat offenders — one of whom had been arrested 14 previous times — are accused of attempted murder, sexual abuse, and aggravated battery in separate cases in Chicago.

The first suspect is accused of sexually abusing a woman inside a Chicago Transit Authority elevator at the Jackson Red Line station in the Loop on Tuesday, CWB Chicago reported.

Briana Bush last week also was charged with three counts of aggravated battery in connection with the stabbing of a 24-year-old man, the outlet said.

Kurtis Porter is charged with criminal sexual abuse by force and aggravated battery of a transit passenger, the outlet said.

Porter allegedly followed a 29-year-old woman into the elevator around 5:40 p.m., the outlet said, adding that police said CTA security video shows Porter obstructing the surveillance camera upon entering the elevator.

The victim told police Porter exposed himself, sexually abused her, and grabbed her face during the attack, the outlet said.

Police and CTA distributed an internal bulletin that included images of Porter, the outlet said, adding that a CTA supervisor recognized Porter hours later and notified nearby patrol officers.

Judge Shauna Boliker on Friday ordered Porter detained, the outlet said. Cook County Jail records indicate that Porter — a 30-year-old — is behind bars on no bond.

More from CWB Chicago:

CPD records show Porter has been arrested 14 other times since becoming an adult in 2014, mostly for misdemeanors, but court files show nearly all of those charges were dropped. The only exceptions were a 2019 domestic battery case that ended with court supervision he did not complete satisfactorily and two trespassing charges at the same Old Town building that resulted in a 14-day sentence in November.

RELATED: Repeat offenders charged with murdering elderly woman; one suspect was on bond and skipped court days before fatal shooting

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

The second suspect — a 21-year-old female already on probation in connection with a violent 2024 robbery aboard a CTA train — has been charged with attempted murder, CWB Chicago said in a separate story.

Briana Bush last week also was charged with three counts of aggravated battery in connection with the stabbing of a 24-year-old man, the outlet said.

Officials told the outlet Bush was fighting the man and a 37-year-old woman aboard a Red Line train at 69th Street on Jan. 5 when Bush allegedly stabbed the man and left the scene. The victim was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition, the outlet added.

Judge Luciano Panici Jr. detained Bush at the state’s request, the outlet said.

Bush had been on probation in connection with a group robbery aboard a Red Line train in July 2024, the outlet said, citing court records.

More from CWB Chicago:

In that case, CTA surveillance footage allegedly showed Bush punching a 29-year-old man as he slept on the train near 95th Street and taking his phone. Police arrested Bush shortly after she fled the scene with the victim’s phone in her pocket, authorities said.

Bush was also charged with escaping electronic monitoring while awaiting trial in the robbery case, but prosecutors dropped that matter when she pleaded guilty to the robbery in September. Judge Peggy Chiampas sentenced Bush to two years of probation for the robbery.

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​Aggravated battery, Arrests, Attempted murder, Chicago, Chicago transit authority, Cta, Police, Repeat offenders, Sexual abuse, Stabbing, Crime 

“Yes, Mister Josh, I understand your concern and assure you that I will offer the highest-quality service to resolve your problem.”

At least, I think that’s what “Lakshmi” said in her thick Indian accent. But what does it matter? Every company that hires Bangladeshi call centers to “serve” American customers is really only saying one thing — and it isn’t “thank you, come again.”

I was hearing a young-middle-age American female voice with the pleasant but not obsequious tone I haven’t heard in customer service since 1999.

It’s not Lakshmi’s fault. She’s just doing her job, and she’s just a normal person trying to get paid. But I don’t want to hear her singsong, robotic repetition of an unctuous phone script. I want what I paid for, without excuses and without having to battle an AI phone tree and then strain to understand someone who barely speaks English.

But this article is actually about the blessed, wondrous competence of American workers, so let me put the bitterness away and tell you what happened.

Susan and Jennifer happened. And thank God, because I was at the end of my tether in a freezing-cold house trying to convince someone on the Indian subcontinent that possible propane leaks in a Vermont winter were serious business.

Spoiler: There was no leak, but we’ll get to that.

Mousetrap

Last week I thought there was a dead animal in the house. That smell must have been a mouse corpse that one of the cats snagged but never ate. Surely it was under the bed or under the chest of drawers. That’s where Mina the tabby was racing around at night, yowling, with her claws scrabbling on the wood floors.

She’s an excellent mouser, and it’s a good thing, because country houses have critters. This is the beginning of my third year living on a dirt road in the sticks after a lifetime of city living. Those first few years teach citified boys like me a lot of lessons about what nature and the real world are like outside “comfy” urban areas. You better keep your well pump in good order, or you don’t drink or wash. Better have water backup for when the power goes out.

After hours of pulling out furniture and crawling around with a flashlight, I couldn’t find the dead varmint. But I did find out that the rotten-egg smell was coming from the valve joint in the copper pipe that feeds propane into my cast-iron heat stove.

Propane users, you’re going to laugh, I know. But I assumed quite reasonably that this meant I had a leak. After shutting off the tap on the outdoor tank and closing the valve indoors, I called the nationally known brand-name fuel company that I use.

That’s when Lakshmi “entered the chat.” Imagine my irritated surprise when my call to the American company — it has a transfer station and local drivers right across the river; I can see it from my back yard — got routed to Bangladesh.

Subcontinental shuffle

No, you cannot reach the local people directly. Yes, I have tried. You must call the national number and get transferred to Bangladesh, which then acts as an intermediary. Only the call center can know the local phone number, apparently. If you do find a local number and call it, and it’s after hours or a weekend, you get a robot lady telling you how sorry she is and how you’ll have to call the 800 number. You guessed it: Back to Bangladesh.

The company’s phone script claims to take possible leaks seriously. It claims to be “sending an emergency technician right away.” But you can’t really know this. You just have to trust that Rohan or Lakshmi really did call the people who are located 500 yards from your house, that those people know who you are, and that they really will come to your house.

No, you may not have the contact number. No, they will not guarantee you that the driver or tech will call you with an ETA. You just have to “trust” them.

One hour goes by. Two. Three. Four. Five. Every hour, I call the company back and work hard to keep my voice pleasant and groveling enough that they’ll deign to continue speaking to me. Give these people one excuse, and they’ll leave you stranded and freezing. And with every call, I have to repeat the same “verification procedures” of reciting my name, address, billing address, phone number, and last four of my SSN just to get these people to be willing to talk to me.

“We have dispatched someone,” said Lakshmi/Rohan every time I called. They won’t tell me who. They won’t tell me an ETA. They don’t actually care that I’m starting to freeze my backside off.

But Susan cared.

RELATED: Pizza Hut Classic: Retro fun ruined by non-English-speaking staff, indifferent customer service

Photo by Blaze News

Sweet competence

On the fifth call to the national number, I thought I must have been dreaming. “Hi there, thanks for calling Nationally Known Fuel Company. I’m Susan. How can I help you today?”

“Are you really a live person?” I asked. I thought it was a trick. I was hearing a young-middle-age American female voice with the pleasant but not obsequious tone I haven’t heard in customer service since 1999.

“Yes,” Susan laughed.

I thanked her for being human and explained the situation. She was immediately riled.

“Are you serious? It’s been five hours since you first called us?” she asked, sounding genuinely incredulous. “That is not acceptable. It’s winter there, and I’m from Vermont. Hold on. I’m going to call the local dispatch manager personally.”

I almost cried over the competence of it. That interaction used to be common. If you’re 50 or older, this is the customer service you remember for most of your life. But it’s as rare as hen’s teeth today.

Voice of America

True to her word, Susan called the local dispatch manager, Jennifer. In a few minutes, Jennifer was calling me. And then everything got better.

“I am so sorry you’ve been waiting so long,” Jennifer said. I could tell she was my age, and from her particular American accent, she sounded just like the gals I went to high school with. Solid, no-nonsense Gen X.

It turned out that Jennifer had a much worse day than I did. She had been up all night alone in the dispatch office due to short staff. Between getting a snooze on the cot, she was trying to get propane trucks out to freezing customers who ran out. The main local truck broke down, leaving the rookie delivery guy stranded. She couldn’t find the emergency technician.

Jennifer told me all this to explain why everything was FUBAR, but she didn’t tell me in order to excuse the problem. She focused on getting me back up and running, but wanted me to know that if she had her way, none of her customers would have had to go through the hassle.

It gets better. Jennifer explained to me that I almost certainly did not have a propane leak. The odor, she explained, happens because fuel companies add an offensive odorant to the propane as a safety measure and a supply alert. When a propane tank runs low, the odorant that settles to the bottom of the tank vaporizes and becomes very apparent around the appliance. Yeah, technically, that means something is “leaking,” but in such tiny amounts that no one is getting poisoned.

“When you smell that, it almost always means your tank is about to give out. I regularly stop techs from running out to people, because it’s never a leak; it’s a delivery problem.”

Jennifer and I decided I didn’t need a tech (I already knew I was safe, having shut off all valves and airing out the house as precaution), but just a delivery.

“I’m looking at your account, and you’re due for a fill tomorrow. It was so cold in December, you probably went through it faster like everyone else. I’m gonna get Dickie out to you this afternoon.”

Neighborly help

She was right. Dickie got here, and my tank was on fumes. He laughed at me good-naturedly because I thought I had a leak, but I told him this was a first-time city-boy-goes-country lesson for me.

But it gets even better. Paul, another local, called me later to apologize for the delay and frustration. I told Paul that Jennifer had explained what happened and that I felt just as bad for all of them with the troubles they were having.

Paul insisted on giving me a $300 tank of propane for free as an apology. Wow.

Here’s the lesson for American companies. I nearly canceled my contract with this nationally known company. If they want to shunt American customers to a call center drone around the world, then they don’t want my business. There are plenty of other companies I can use.

But I’m sticking with them for now because of Susan, Jennifer, Dickie, and Paul. All of these people are Americans, and they’re local to me. I probably pass them in the grocery store in Montpelier. They know what winters are like, and they treated me as they would want their families treated in a situation like this.

Those four competent, pleasant Americans are the reason I’m going to stay a customer, at least for now. I want them to keep their jobs. My decision to remain a customer is not unconditional. If I have to deal with Lakshmi again in an emergency, I’m done. I can walk into five local, family-owned fuel dealers any day of the week and actually speak to an American who is my neighbor.

“Globalization” is a con job by corporations who see themselves as “global corporate citizens” because it pays them more to treat their customers like trash than it does to provide good service. So far, we American customers haven’t found a way to make the market punish them into better behavior. I wish I knew how we could.

No cheap prices are worth the aggravation of living in this fantasy world where we pretend a Hindi speaker across the globe is just as capable of keeping my Vermont house warm as someone who lives here. God bless those local Americans.

​Customer service, Lifestyle, Rural life, Propane, Winter, Vermont, Call centers, Globalism, Intervention 

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has yet again bucked his party as tensions rise between ICE and Democrat-backed agitators.

Democrats facilitated a partial shutdown late last week after stalling a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, citing their disapproval of law enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Notably, the DHS funding bill would primarily fund FEMA and other emergency services, with the majority of ICE’s funding coming from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last summer.

‘Don’t ever, ever doxx people and target their families.’

Despite this, Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have laid out a list of demands they want to see implemented in the DHS funding bill, including a prohibition of face masks on federal agents.

Fetterman joined Republicans sounding off on the demands, arguing that their face coverings ensure that unhinged activists can’t doxx agents’ private information with the intention of endangering them or their families.

RELATED: Trump offers hilarious rebuttal to Tim Walz’s absurd Civil War analogy

Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

“The agents wearing masks, I think, primarily that’s driven by people who are going to doxx those people,” Fetterman said. “That’s a serious concern, too, absolutely. They could target their families, and they are organizing these people to get their names out there.”

“Don’t ever, ever doxx people and target their families,” Fetterman added.

Although Democrats have shown they are willing to shut down the government, the Trump administration and his political allies on Capitol Hill have indicated that they aren’t going to budge, especially on facial masks and carrying personal identification.

RELATED: ‘Justice is coming’: Border czar Tom Homan vows to stay in Minneapolis ‘until the problem is gone’

Tom Brenner for the Washington Post via Getty Images

“Those two things are conditions that would create further danger,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. “I mean, Tom Homan told Leader Schumer himself … that ‘that’s one of the demands I’m not going to implement. I have to protect my officers.’ And when you have people doxxing them and targeting them, of course we don’t want their personal identification out there on the street.”

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The Los Angeles Police Department says it will not enforce a new California law that restricts federal immigration agents from wearing face coverings, pushing back against a measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and aimed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the department will not stop or cite federal agents for violating the state’s mask ban, citing safety concerns and the risk of escalating confrontations between law enforcement agencies.

‘It’s not a safe way to do business.’

“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction — it doesn’t make any sense.”

RELATED: Anti-ICE rioter’s deadly mistake: Woman allegedly tried to run over federal agents before she was fatally shot

Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The No Secret Police Act, signed by Newsom in September, prohibits most law enforcement officers, including federal agents, from wearing masks or facial coverings while carrying out official duties, with limited exceptions for undercover work or protective equipment. Supporters say the measure increases transparency and prevents the use of “secret police” tactics during immigration operations.

Federal officials and Republican leaders have sharply criticized the law, arguing it endangers agents by exposing their identities and unlawfully interferes with federal authority. The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged the law in court, saying it violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

RELATED: ‘You should f**king kill yourself’: DHS releases terrifying audio of anti-ICE agitator threatening Minnesota agent

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

McDonnell said the LAPD’s role is to maintain public safety, not to police federal officers engaged in immigration enforcement.

“You have the ICE agents who are doing their job. And for us to come in then and try and create an enforcement action for wearing a mask, it’s not a safe way to do business,” McDonnell said.

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​Politics, Gavin newsom, California, Ice, Ice agents, Los angeles, La police, Police, Police department, Federal, Federal ban 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) signed an “ICE on Notice” executive order on Saturday, threatening to prosecute Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for potential misconduct.

Johnson’s executive action directed the Chicago Police Department to “investigate and document alleged illegal activity by federal immigration agents and refer evidence of felony violations to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for prosecution.”

‘Instead of working with us, Illinois sanctuary politicians RELEASE violent criminals from their jails directly back into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims.’

CPD officers are directed to document federal enforcement activities, including by recording body-camera footage and verifying names and badge numbers of federal supervisory officers on the scene. Police are required to submit a complete report detailing any alleged violations.

Any documented illegal activities will be shared with the public, according to the city.

The mayor claimed that the order created “a framework for public accountability in the event federal agents violate local or state law while operating in Chicago.”

Johnson further alleged that the Trump administration’s federal immigration operations have “violated constitutionally protected rights.” He also claimed that ICE activities have “destabilized communities” and “provoked life-threatening confrontations.”

RELATED: Seattle’s sanctuary mayor orders local police to investigate ICE activities

Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images

“Nobody is above the law. There is no such thing as ‘absolute immunity’ in America,” Johnson stated. “The lawlessness of Trump’s militarized immigration agents puts the lives and well-being of every Chicagoan in immediate danger. With today’s order, we are putting ICE on notice in our city. Chicago will not sit idly by while Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents.”

In a statement to the Center Square, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara Jr. called Johnson’s executive order political bluster.

“The only good thing in that piece of toilet paper is ‘no CPD member will be required to arrest any federal agents,'” Catanzara said.

Catanzara raised concerns that the order requires police to document any allegations of misconduct against a federal agent.

“That needs to be a two-way street, and I will advise our members of such. Citizens can also be named offenders,” he said.

“These claims of criminal misconduct by ICE law enforcement are FALSE,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement shared with WLS-TV.

McLaughlin stated that under President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, “ICE is held to the highest professional standard, and officers regularly receive ongoing training.”

“As our brave law enforcement arrests and removes dangerous criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, and gang members from our communities, America can be proud of the professionalism our officers bring [to] the job, day in and day out,” the statement continued. “Instead of working with us, Illinois sanctuary politicians RELEASE violent criminals from their jails directly back into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims.”

McLaughlin contended that the state’s sanctuary policies had led to the release of 1,768 criminal illegal aliens since January 20. She noted that there are over 4,000 immigrants with active detainers currently incarcerated in Illinois jails.

RELATED: Illinois governor signs law to counter Trump administration’s ‘depravity’ — DHS fires back immediately

Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson (D) took similar action against federal immigration agents last week, requiring the Seattle Police Department to investigate, verify, and document immigration enforcement activity.

The Seattle Police Officers Guild called the mayor’s action “toothless virtue-signaling rhetoric,” declaring that the “concept of pitting two armed law enforcement agencies against each other is ludicrous and will not happen.”

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​Chicago, News, Illinois, Brandon johnson, Immigration crisis, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Politics 

Every year, at the coldest time of the year, our furnace goes out. I’ve written about it before, I’m writing about it now, and I’m sure I’ll write about it again. Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” I say, “In this world, nothing is certain except winter — and our furnace breaking.”

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about modernity: not just as an era, but as a way of life, and as a particular relationship we have with technology and the natural world. Winter has a way of provoking those thoughts. It’s unforgiving outside and warm inside, and that contrast shapes not only our environment but our state of mind. Winter invites introspection whether we ask for it or not.

You don’t actually want to go back to 1198 or 1598. At most, you want to go back to 1998 — before things took such a strange turn.

It also reminds us of something more basic: Winter wants to kill us.

Cold truth

Without insulated homes, reliable transportation, and warm clothing, many of us simply wouldn’t make it. Maybe that isn’t true everywhere. It’s not true in places with mild winters. But it is true here, where the temperature tonight is expected to dip to ten below zero. In places like this, modernity doesn’t just make life comfortable — it makes it possible.

That’s easy to forget. I turn the thermostat up and the furnace obeys. I want it to be 67 degrees, and it becomes 67 degrees. No delay, no doubt. I can count on warmth in the same way I count on the sun rising tomorrow — until I can’t. Then the house turns cold, the basement office becomes unusable, space heaters migrate upstairs, and our seemingly invincible HVAC world collapses all at once. Annoyance quickly turns into perspective.

The furnace, of course, is only one small example. This isn’t really about heating systems or cold weather; it’s about how easily we take the blessings of the modern world for granted.

RELATED: Why does our furnace go out every winter? (and other burning questions)

Heritage Images/Getty Images

No thanks

We all do it. Whatever we have now quickly becomes the baseline. We stop remembering what life was like without it. You see this with people who move to America from poorer parts of the world. After a decade, they are often just as accustomed to convenience as those born into it. You might expect memories of hardship to linger, but they rarely do. Perhaps death once sat closer to daily life, even in developed societies, and kept gratitude sharper. Perhaps something else has changed. Either way, ingratitude seems to come naturally to us now.

Medicine is a clear example. How many of us would be dead without modern medical care? Many. Imagine surgery without anesthesia. Imagine life without optometry or dentistry. It’s not a romantic picture.

The same goes for something as mundane as mail. People love to complain about the USPS, but in much of the world, a functioning postal system barely exists. I know someone who lived in Africa building embassies for the U.S. government, and he told me that local mail simply wasn’t usable. Here we send letters, order books, ship packages, and trust that they will arrive — and that if they don’t, someone will make it right. That trust is a modern miracle we barely notice.

Horse power

Or consider transportation. We can wax poetic about the romance of horse-drawn travel, but the truth is, we would hate it. It might charm us for a day or two, but before long, we’d be desperate to return to cars, trains, ferries, and planes. Modern speed isn’t just convenient — it reshapes what a human life can contain.

Lately I see a lot of anger directed at modernity itself. Some of it is understandable. There are technological and medical “advances” that drift away from the good and toward the destructive. That frustration is real, and I feel it too. But rejecting the modern world wholesale is neither wise nor serious. You don’t actually want to go back to 1198 or 1598. At most, you want to go back to 1998 — before things took such a strange turn.

Our task, then, isn’t to flee modernity, but to refine it. We cannot escape it — and we shouldn’t want to. The better path is gratitude without naivety: thankful for the blessings, alert to the dangers, and willing to curb excess without denying reality. If we do that, we may yet manage to build not just a modern world, but a good one.

​Men’s style, Furnace, Lifestyle, Winter, Gratitude, The root of the matter 

President Donald Trump made a not-so-veiled threat to sue Hollywood leftist Trevor Noah, who made a snide remark associating Trump and Epstein’s island while hosting the 2026 Grammys.

Though he did not attend, Trump appeared to be the main focus of the music award show on CBS Sunday night. Bad Bunny, slated to perform at the Super Bowl next Sunday, sneered, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out.”

‘Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast.’

Billie Eilish, who won the Song of the Year award for “Wildflower,” also repeated tired lines about immigration, including that “no one is illegal on stolen land.” She then punctuated her anti-American diatribe with a “f**k ICE” jab.

After Eilish’s acceptance speech, host Trevor Noah piled on, making what appeared to be a joke tying together Trump, Greenland, and even Epstein’s notorious island.

“Song of the Year! Congratulations, Billie Eilish! Wow! That is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland,” Noah said.

“Which makes sense,” he continued. “I mean, because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

Perhaps sensing that he had crossed a line — and perhaps recalling that the Grammys were airing on a network that recently agreed to shell out millions to settle a lawsuit with Trump — Noah, who is not expected to host the Grammys again after six tries, added: “I told you it’s my last year. What are you going to do about it?”

It seems Trump may have taken that statement as a dare.

RELATED: ‘$15 Billion’: Trump sues another major news corporation for defamation and libel

Early Monday morning, Trump ripped into Noah for making a “false and defamatory statement” about Trump and Clinton paling around on Epstein’s island.

“WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media,” Trump railed on Truth Social.

Trump then indicated he may file a lawsuit if Noah does not retract.

“Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast. It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$,” the president added.

Trump also referenced his previous successful lawsuits against ABC and host George Stephanopoulos.

“Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you!” the president warned.

CBS and Noah’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​Trevor noah, Donald trump, Billie eilish, Grammys, Ice, Epstein, Politics 

When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) survived what appeared to be a sort of acid attack, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck’s first thought was, “In her country, in some Muslim countries, in some Muslim communities, that happens to women and they spray battery acid on their face.”

He thought she should be deservedly freaked out.

“I thought, ‘Wow … she must be concerned, because she knows in Muslim communities, some people do that,’” Glenn says. “But that’s not what this was.”

“This was some guy who looked like Fred Flintstone that took a syringe and filled it with, are you ready? This is horrible. Filled it with apple cider vinegar. Now I’m not sure if you’re aware of this … I believe that can stain a nice sweater like that. It can leave a mark,” Glenn jokes.

“We should be clear,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in, “we do not have any evidence of this particular apple cider vinegar attack staining that sweatshirt or discoloring the stripes, but that is a possibility.”

“Now I agree, Glenn, like legitimately when I first saw that, we didn’t know what this liquid was. It could have been really dangerous. I’m not minimizing, like, that could have been scary for her. She is a divisive figure. It could have been something terrible,” he continues.

“And the person who did it looks completely insane and on something to me in the video. Like just looks completely crazy. A crazy person charges you, gets close to you, gets close to any public figure, there is the possibility that it turns into something really, really bad,” he adds.

However while what happened could have been much worse, Stu points out that because it isn’t, the story would usually disappear.

“When typically, we find out it wasn’t something bad, the story pretty much goes away. I could give you dozens of examples of conservatives … getting hit in the face with a pie. A conservative being glitter-bombed, right?” he explains. “These things happen all the time. And when they are happening, there is real risk to that person.”

“When you have a person who hates you that much, to run up to you, and be that close to you, it could have gone in a very ugly direction. When we find out that it didn’t, it is a quick incident that goes away almost immediately with no additional coverage,” he continues.

“Not the case with Ilhan Omar. Ilhan Omar, the next day after this incident, was the top story at the New York Times all day long. All day,” he adds, pointing out that in one of the top New York Times articles on the event, they framed it as Trump’s fault for being “xenophobic” and “racist” toward Omar.

“I can’t take it. Because all I can think of is what they’re doing … to every single member of ICE right now. I can’t. I can’t. My head will explode,” Glenn comments.

“100%. They are demonizing these people. They’re calling them Nazis every single day on television,” Stu adds.

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​Video, Free, Upload, Sharing, Camera phone, Video phone, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Ilhan omar, Apple cider vinegar attack, Ilhan omar attacked, Muslim, Islam, Acid attacks, Stu burguiere 

A female employee at a disabled adult care facility in Florida was arrested last week after she allegedly twerked in the faces of patients in the Panama City facility, WMBB-TV reported.

Panama City Police got a tip on Jan. 15 about possible abuse and exploitation of disabled adults, the station said, citing court documents.

Authorities told the station that the patients in the video appear to be nonverbal, infirm, and incapable of providing consent.

Authorities said a video they received showed four women dancing in a sexually explicit manner known as twerking in front of disabled patients, WMBB reported.

One female in the video was seen making physical contact with a patient by “placing her breasts in the face and also one leg on the patient” while twerking, the station said, citing court documents.

Josalynn Janeice Hart, 29 — a facility employee at the time of the incident — can be seen in the video dancing on a sink and twerking on a table where at least two disabled patients were sitting, WMBB said, citing authorities.

RELATED: Females twerking atop police car caught in the act with cruiser’s dashcam. Now all 3 are ID’d — with a little help from AI.

The station said Hart was not seen in the video making direct physical contact with any of the patients, but she’s allegedly seen witnessing the other females continuously making physical contact with a patient while Hart danced and twerked near the faces of two disabled patients.

WMBB said it was alleged that Hart failed to report the physical contact with a patient.

Authorities told the station that the patients in the video appear to be nonverbal, infirm, and incapable of providing consent.

Hart was charged with lewd and lascivious exhibition of an elderly or disabled person, failure to report abuse, and neglect of a vulnerable adult, WMBB reported.

The station said it’s unknown if Hart still is employed at the facility or if the other females seen in the video are facing charges; the name of the facility wasn’t reported.

WMBB said Hart was arrested Tuesday and released Wednesday from Bay County Jail on her own recognizance.

Some commenters on the station’s Facebook post about the incident wondered why the other females in the video aren’t also in trouble:

“If you arrest one, why not all?” one commenter asked.”Why is she the only one being prosecuted?!” another user inquired.

One commenter simply wondered, “What happened to professionalism?”

A year ago, a Georgia health care worker was accused of twerking on the head of a disabled patient and then posting video of the act on TikTok for social media likes. The arrested female smirked for her mugshot.

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​Florida, Panama city, Twerking, Arrest, Released on recognizance, Disabled adult care facility, Ewd and lascivious exhibition of an elderly or disabled person, Failure to report abuse, Neglect of a vulnerable adult, Crime 

Yes, a company called Fanvue has taken a step into the cyborg dystopian future with its introduction of an AI-based version of OnlyFans. New tech has made it possible and, for the moment, profitable to spin up non-human avatars — complete with voices, “personalities,” and, of course, finely tailored physical forms — to pull in the expanding audience of lonely and socially awkward or just tired, and mostly male, denizens of the fast-deteriorating cyber realm.

Fanvue, as with the bevy of similar startups hitting the internet, is essentially OnlyFans, but the twist is that the “creators” have open access to AI. Artificial voices, personages, events, acts, and so forth are all on offer in the new digital landscape. The voice, the hair, the body — none of it is real at all. Add a $100 million market capitalization, and you might see where this is going.

Maybe sites such as Fanvue force most women back into the real world, where they need to interact with other real humans.

With both Only Fans and its AI mimickers like Fanvue, creators upload content, followers subscribe, and whatever happens behind the paywall stays behind the paywall. (Just don’t violate the generous but firm guidelines in the Terms of Service.)

In the scramble to replace humanity online, Fanvue is, if not leading the pack, making bold strides into designing how that erasure goes down. The company boasts 200,000 “creators” on the platform, to whom it has paid out more than $500 million. Similar companies jockeying for position will likely fight over brand-name recognition and then be absorbed under some yet-to-be-determined single umbrella. Maybe it’s Fanvue. Or will OnlyFans simply buy them all?

OnlyFans creators do have at least some cachet with their existing followers. And until the next crop of perhaps less human-oriented followers steps up with debit cards in hand, the small contingent of OnlyFans creators who make a living (very attractive women) will probably continue to do well.

RELATED: The crazy reason Matthew McConaughey just trademarked himself

Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Maybe you have seen the clips of decidedly non-European men positioned in front of a camera, pantomiming, smiling, pretending. On the split screen, we can see how the Kling (or similar) motion control software instantly transmogrifies the middle-age Indian man (from the cases we’ve seen) into a rather convincing young, highly attractive, English-speaking female (to take just one of many iterations). She’s ready to talk to you! The opportunities for delusion, fraud, and manipulation by way of the human proclivity toward self-deceit just got multiplied a thousandfold. Customer service runarounds just got 10 times more convoluted.

The assumption is that, for millions if not billions of customers, video-to-video and image-to-video technology like Kling, which allows users to transfer specific motions, facial expressions, and gestures in live time from a reference video is more than enough to satisfy consumers as well as producers. Everybody wins!

Or not? Digital puppeteering can’t help but subvert the quality and value of human-to-human interaction — you know, that thing that started and perpetuates all of our experience on earth. Yet so dilapidated are our circumstances that it’s actually very hard to say whether or not this is an improvement in moral terms. You see, on the one hand, maybe sites such as Fanvue force most women back into the real world, where they need to interact with other real humans. On the other, maybe the price for artificial intimate interaction with digital entities stabilizes and even more young, shiftless, and financially abused men have nowhere else to turn but to simulated companions.

Justine Moore, a partner at A16z, gets credit for putting the puzzle together in a semi-viral X thread last week: “I predicted this in ’23 when I saw a few creators start using AI to sell voice clips and extra images. But now the future is here — anyone can be a hot girl online. It’s all thanks to NB Pro [and] Kling Motion Control.”

Consider that with these minor steps forward into really convincing motion transfer and voice technologies, the level of human discernment required to combat fraud, at every level, just shot through the roof. You get a FaceTime or X call from someone. Is it really that person? We are presented with an audio-visual clip of some sort, it’s labeled “BREAKING.” Maybe it looks important, or maybe the context really has immediate impact, but we won’t be entirely sure if it’s real.

Fanvue’s big step into a very particular timeline nightmare shouldn’t have been inevitable, yet it also seems foretold. It surely spells deep trouble — and signifies a turning point where we must make an active, daily choice to be, and not just seem to be, human.

​Tech 

The Department of Justice scored a Democrat fraud hat trick in Georgia: A third politician has been charged with fraudulently obtaining unemployment funds from the government.

Georgia state Rep. Dexter Sharper, a Democrat, was charged Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice with “making false statements to fraudulently obtain thousands” in COVID-related funds after he allegedly claimed unemployment benefits while he kept working.

‘The alleged activities describe a disgusting abuse by an elected official who appeared to trade his integrity for money destined for those in need.’

Sharper applied for the benefits in 2020 that were available as a result of the pandemic, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg.

He allegedly claimed that he was unemployed and obtained about $13,825 in unemployment while he was actually making up to $2,231 of income per week at one job and up to an additional $275 weekly as a musician. He applied for the benefits and then made fraudulent weekly statements that he wasn’t working in order to receive unemployment payments, prosecutors said.

“While many of his constituents and fellow citizens were losing jobs and desperately needed unemployment assistance during the pandemic, Representative Sharper allegedly pretended to be out of work to collect a share of unemployment benefits for himself,” said Hertzberg. “When government officials lie to take money, and do it while holding an elected office, it violates the trust of citizens and weakens faith in our elected government.”

The first Georgia Democrat nailed for stealing fraudulent unemployment benefits was Karen Bennett, who resigned before pleading guilty on Jan. 21 to federal charges of making fraudulent statements. Prosecutors said she stole $13,940.

A second Democrat, state Rep. Sharon Henderson, was indicted on Dec. 2 for similar accusations related to the alleged theft of $17,811 in pandemic unemployment funds.

RELATED: Dr. Oz exposes alleged fraud in L.A. — so Newsom calls for probe into ‘racially charged’ claims

Sharper declined a request for comment from the Georgia Recorder on the advice of counsel, and a spokesperson for the Georgia House Democratic Caucus also declined to comment.

“These charges point to some disgraceful conduct at the highest level, which should shock and repulse every citizen,” said Georgia Inspector General Nigel Lange. “The alleged activities describe a disgusting abuse by an elected official who appeared to trade his integrity for money destined for those in need.”

Sharper’s biography appears to have been scrubbed from the Georgia House of Representatives website, but a version of the page archived at the Wayback Machine said he founded “Sharper Bounce Houses & More” as well as the “Dexter Sharper Fresheners” business. He has four children with his wife, Chequella Shipman Sharper.

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​Rep dexter sharper, Georgia state rep fraud, Doj charges dem fraud, Pandemic unemployment fraud, Politics 

According to the young Bryce Crawford, God transformed his life and gave him the boldness to share Jesus with people most Christians avoid.

“The head of the KKK, furries, politicians, homeless people. What do all of these groups have in common? They need Jesus. They need to hear the gospel,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says on “Relatable.”

“Bryce Crawford knows that. That’s why he goes to everyone, everywhere, and preaches the good news of Jesus Christ,” she says.

And in a recent conversation with Crawford at AmFest, he explained just how he reaches those who seem to want to be reached the least.

“How do you explain the gospel to someone who has no Christian contact? They don’t know anything about what you’re talking about,” she asked Crawford.

“I kind of explain it like a murderer, like a criminal. You know, a murderer commits a crime, and if the police officer arrested them and then took them to doughnuts and coffee, you’d be like, ‘That’s a little weird. No, the murderer deserves jail!’” Crawford explained.

“And in the same way a murderer deserves jail and deserves to be punished is the same way you and I deserve to be punished, because you don’t have to teach a 4-year-old to be selfish and not share and pitch fits and hit the mom or hit the dad when they’re upset,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter how good of a parent you are. It’s in their nature. But it’s a gift from God that God substitutes his wrath on us with his grace. And I think the ultimate thing for me is explaining forgiveness. You know, forgiveness is canceling the debt someone owes you. And God has canceled the debt that we owe Him with His life,” he added.

While Crawford has had a lot of great conversations with those whom he disagrees with, he has had a few that have momentarily stumped him.

“I talked to the Hebrew Israelites a lot,” he told Stuckey, explaining that this specific group believes that “if you’re not black, you’re going to hell, basically.”

“It’s hard to talk with people that are prideful and that take Scripture out of context. You know what I mean? And so, I just say, ‘Okay, thank you,’ or, ‘Oh, I don’t know, but this is what I do know,’” he explained.

“The Holy Spirit can take over and give you words, but we can’t let false doctrine sway us aside. Those guys can be a little iffy,” he added.

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