Footage shows male senior swiftly strike ball in attempt to make goal, inadvertently hitting female player directly in mouth. A female high school lacrosse player [more…]
Category: blaze media
Trump is reportedly FURIOUS at Jeanine Pirro — and may fire her
The failure of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to prosecute a former Olympian for allegedly damaging the resurfaced reflection pool at the Lincoln Monument may lead to her termination.
President Donald Trump is furious at Pirro after she dropped the charges against 67-year-old David Hearn on Saturday, according to two sources who spoke to CNN.
‘Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.’
Hearn pleaded not guilty to the felony charge of destruction of property after National Park Service employees allegedly saw him willfully and “violently” damage a section of the lining of the pool.
Trump is reportedly thinking about firing Pirro after she admitted that the damage to the lining was more likely to be the result of flawed installation rather than vandalism.
One of the sources said the president “fumed” over the situation throughout the weekend, and the source concluded that it’s “highly likely she’s removed from her job.”
The other source said Trump was “blindsided” by the decision to drop the charge.
“The president did not know beforehand that she was going to do that,” the source said.
The White House directed CNN to the president’s comments to reporters.
“Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,” the president said on Monday at the Oval Office.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella,” Trump added.
One of the CNN sources said the president and Pirro had a phone conversation on Saturday about the issue and described the interaction as not “pretty.”
The president also blasted Pirro in a post on social media Saturday.
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM,” Trump wrote.
Hearn had been facing 10 years in prison over the charge.
RELATED: Trump greets crew that restored Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in visit to the White House
Pirro blamed the Dept. of the Interior in the filing.
“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” she wrote.
“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” she added.
CNN noted that Hearn has some legal options available to him that would include suing the administration and referring prosecutors to disciplinary action.
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Lincoln monument, President donald trump, Reflecting pool, Us attorney jeanine pirro, Politics
Illegal aliens may need to phone home amid new ICE actions
If you’re an illegal alien, your next U.S. flight could end as a one-way trip home.
ICE is now targeting expired visa holders in its airport detention campaigns, according to the Washington Post. The move goes beyond the Department of Homeland Security’s previous focus on aliens with existing deportation orders, according to the outlet.
‘This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.’
“We’ve been saying for a while: If you don’t have permanent status, you should really consider whether it’s safe to fly,” Amica Center for Immigrant Rights deputy program director Atenas Burrola Estrada told the Washington Post. “I think a lot of people were still flying, and it was safe, and that is clearly not the case anymore.”
Burrola Estrada also claimed that nearly a dozen arrests have occurred at the Reagan National, Washington Dulles International, and Baltimore/Washington International airports.
The Transportation Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment.
The Biden administration previously allowed illegal aliens to fly using their CBP One app in lieu of traditional identification. A 2024 DHS report found significant safety concerns with the app-identification and non-detainment system.
Gilles Clarence/AFP/Getty Images
“DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Blaze News. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
ICE signed a memorandum of agreement with TSA in May 2025, establishing data-sharing and notification systems between the agencies. The document was first obtained by American Oversight, a nonprofit organization founded by former Obama administration officials.
A Colombian woman engaged to an American citizen was detained by ICE while boarding a Southwest Airlines flight on July 17, according to her attorney, Johanna Kelley.
“There were two or three men, without uniform, without ID, in regular clothing,” Kelley told the Washington Post. “Then they said, ‘We are ICE. You need to come with us. You are arrested because you’re an illegal alien.’”
The woman was released from ICE custody on Wednesday after a Virginia judge granted her bond, according to Kelley.
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Cbp one app, Department of homeland security, Illegal alien, Joe biden, Immigration and customs enforcement, Politics
‘That absolute coward’: Aaron Rodgers goes scorched-earth on ‘criminal’ Anthony Fauci as fans go ballistic
Aaron Rodgers minced no words when talking about former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday, repeatedly calling him a “coward” in front of a live audience.
The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was meant to be talking football and his feelings heading into likely his last year in the NFL, but it took less than one minute for the interview to shift from pro ball to politics.
‘Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci? I bet they didn’t.’
Appearing on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” live from Steelers training camp, host Pat McAfee started off by asking Rodgers simple questions about where his head is at before the start of the 2026 campaign.
“Can you tell us about the mindset of coming into your last season?” McAfee asked.
“How do you kind of view this year versus maybe the years of the past?”
“I’m going to plead the Fifth,” Rodgers quickly replied. “Like that absolute coward, Tony Fauci.”
Rodgers was referring to Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times last week during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Rodgers’ comments immediately started to rile the crowd up, escalating into jaunts and jeers as Rodgers increased his rhetoric.
“Are you kidding me? You got a pardon, and you pleaded over 100 times?” Rodgers continued.
“What are you scared of, Tony? I thought you were the science!”
RELATED: Two Americas, under Fauci, with liberty and justice for none
Rodgers mocked the doctor for not answering any questions and then looked straight into the camera and seemingly set his sights on ESPN.
The 42-year-old started listing the critical coverage of his “responses,” his “vaccination status,” and even coverage of the marriage between singer Taylor Swift and NFL tight end Travis Kelce.
“Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci? I bet they didn’t,” Rodgers claimed before McAfee’s panel hilariously urged him to go back to insulting Fauci. Much to their pleasure, the Super Bowl champ obliged as the crowd erupted in “M-V-P!” chants.
Rodgers claimed that Fauci was “spending the entire time writing in his diary about how fun it is to be famous. You got to be kidding me! What are they going to say about me now? … They can’t talk about the COVID stuff because obviously it was made in a lab in China, that’s, like, not even questionable anymore.”
RELATED: ‘He was lying’: RFK Jr. blasts Dana Bash for pushing Fauci’s lies, defending the jab
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images
As McAfee informed Rodgers they had only four minutes to speak — so he’d like to get some football talk in — the former University of California QB took a second to applaud pundit Stephen A. Smith.
Just days earlier, Smith apologized for his 2021 comments when he suggested NBA player Kyrie Irving made himself look “flat-out stupid” for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. In hindsight, Smith said, “It didn’t make him stubborn or selfish; it made him brave.”
In response, Rodgers said to Smith, “You are not a coward. I appreciate you.”
Viewers may be surprised to see that McAfee did not back off from the conversation. In fact, he took significant time to talk about the abuse he took for hosting Rodgers on his platform at the time in 2021.
McAfee said that given his history with the quarterback and all they had discussed years prior, he knew Rodgers would have something to say. This culminated in McAfee leading an applause with the live audience for Rodgers.
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Covid-19, Aaron rodgers, Anthony fauci, Nfl, Sports
Bloody pig masks and live spiders: The disturbing secret war eBay waged on critics
What began as criticism of eBay’s business practices spiraled into one of the most bizarre corporate harassment scandals of our time, which ended in David and Ina Steiner receiving millions from the online marketplace.
And harassment may be putting it lightly — as they were sent live cockroaches, spiders, fly larvae, a bloody pig mask, and a book on dealing with the death of a spouse.
The couple’s online newsletter, EcommerceBytes, reports on eBay as well as other internet marketplaces and angered eBay executives enough for them to begin cyberstalking the pair.
“They apparently were saying bad things about eBay,” BlazeTV co-host Jeff Fisher explains on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”
“And that pissed eBay off, including the CEO of the company,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says.
They also sent porno magazines and listed the couples’ home on Craigslist as a “nightly destination for singles, couples, and swingers.”
“They sent porn magazines on purpose to their neighbors just to embarrass David,” Gray comments.
“And don’t forget, they put a GPS tracker on their car,” Fisher says.
The couple opened a civil lawsuit against the former eBay executives in 2021, which was finally settled this year on July 27.
The payout was a whopping $55.7 million.
“That’s nice,” Gray says. “OK, that takes a little bit of the edge off all of it.”
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Civil lawsuit, Cyberstalking, Ebay, Jeff fisher, Pat gray, Settlement, Blazetv show
Tennessee Republican begins impeachment process against judge who BLOCKED TPS removals to Somalia
Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has filed articles of impeachment against a federal judge after she ruled to block the president’s rescission of deportation protections for Somalis.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued an administrative stay on Friday to stop the administration from deporting Somalis who had been granted Temporary Protection Status.
‘This judicial activist’s obstruction of the people’s will must be stopped. Judge Burroughs must be impeached.’
Ogles fired back in a statement on Saturday, threatening to impeach Burroughs, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama. On Monday, he filed the articles.
“America is not Africa’s dumping ground. We will end Temporary Protected Status, remove those who have no lawful right to remain, and put the sovereignty of the American people FIRST,” he wrote on social media.
Ogles explained the justification for the impeachment in a statement to Just the News.
“SCOTUS made it very clear that lower courts cannot suspend TPS. Yet, an Obama-appointed judge is defying the court and the Constitution in an attempt to subvert the will of the president,” Ogles said. “This judicial activist’s obstruction of the people’s will must be stopped. Judge Burroughs must be impeached.”
Burroughs issued the stay after African Communities Together and other plaintiffs accused the administration of discrimination on the basis of race as well as national origin. The plaintiffs had changed their lawsuit in order to fit the standards the Supreme Court had placed on federal judges blocking TPS terminations.
The same judge had also issued a previous stay over the TPS program. Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival issued a stern condemnation of Burroughs’ latest decision.
“Judge Allison Burroughs just entered yet another order preventing the termination of Somalia TPS,” Percival posted Friday. “There is no serious debate about what is going on in these cases — defiance, obstruction, and delay.”
RELATED: Spain says 25,000 migrants have been expelled from tiny Ceuta territory — with at least 34 DEATHS
The process to remove a judge is difficult and unlikely. Ogles has begun the process, but a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives will need to approve the motion.
Then, the articles would go to the U.S. Senate for trial, and two-thirds of the senators would need to vote to convict to remove Burroughs from office.
Only eight federal judges have been convicted and removed in U.S. history.
Ogles is facing a fierce and well-funded challenge in the Republican primary, and Democrats are also targeting his seat as a possible pickup for them in the general election.
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Barack obama, Impeachment, Temporary protected status, Andy ogles, Somalia, Politics
Popular OnlyFans model takes major legal step in years-long case alleging she fatally stabbed boyfriend
A popular OnlyFans model accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death inside a Florida luxury condo in 2022 has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, her legal team confirmed to Fox News.
Courtney Clenney, 30, was charged with second-degree murder with a weapon in the death of her 27-year-old boyfriend, Christian “Toby” Obumseli, according to records from the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Center.
A ‘tempestuous and combative relationship.’
Clenney’s attorneys, the Prieto Law Firm and Puglisi-Carames Law, stated that the agreement will not be finalized until the court accepts it and did not reveal specifics.
“We will reserve further comment on the specific terms until they are placed on the record before the court,” Clenney’s attorneys said, according to Fox News.
The attorney for the stabbing victim confirmed that Clenney has reached a plea deal.
“On behalf of the Obumseli family, I am pleased to announce that defendant Courtney Clenney, the state, and the Obumseli family have reached a resolution that would avoid an unnecessary trial,” the attorney said in a statement, according to WFOR-TV.
“Pleading guilty and accepting full responsibility will begin the process of bringing closure to a very tragic, life-changing event for the Obumseli family,” the statement said.
Citing a court docket, People magazine reported that Clenney is scheduled to appear before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson on Aug. 10 for a plea hearing.
WFOR reported that Clenney initially pleaded not guilty of fatally stabbing Obumseli.
Blaze News previously reported that Clenney and Obumseli arrived at their high-rise building in Miami’s upscale Edgewater neighborhood just after 4:30 p.m. on April 3, 2022. Soon the couple reportedly began fighting, according to a wrongful death lawsuit Obumseli’s family filed.
“Building security arrived at the Clenney unit, knocked on the door, heard yelling through the door, stood outside, and did nothing despite knowledge of Ms. Clenney’s history of past disturbances in the unit and common areas, her history of erratic, volatile, and aggressive behavior … and her recently diagnosed mental health disorder,” the complaint stated.
“By the time Ms. Clenney finished committing her crime, at 4:58 p.m., she opened the door to her unit and security saw her and her dogs covered in blood and Mr. Obumseli was already unconscious on the floor,” the lawsuit asserted.
The complaint noted, “Had the building personnel or security performed their duties when they were first notified about the fight, two minutes after it started, Christian Obumseli would still be alive.”
The Miami Herald reported that defense attorneys have argued that Clenney was in a tumultuous, toxic relationship with Obumseli, and that she was a victim of battered women’s syndrome and was “forced to take action in the defense of her life.”
A police report said officers discovered Obumseli with a single stab wound to the torso.
Clenney stated that she hurled a knife at Obumseli from more than 10 feet away after he threw her to the ground. However, prosecutors argued that the autopsy revealed a deep puncture wound indicative of an up-close stabbing.
Clenney’s attorney noted that the OnlyFans model immediately called 911, which the attorney claimed supports his client being charged with manslaughter rather than second-degree murder.
Clenney never denied she was responsible for the victim’s injuries but asserted that she was acting in self-defense, Court TV reported.
Two months before Obumseli died — Feb. 21, 2022 — Clenney was caught on video attacking her boyfriend in the elevator of their Miami apartment building, prosecutors said.
As Blaze News previously reported, Clenney was arrested in August 2022 on the Big Island of Hawaii by Hawaii County police with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the relationship began in November 2020 but eventually spiraled into a “tempestuous and combative relationship,” Fox News reported.
Clenney has nearly two million followers on Instagram under the name “Courtney Tailor.”
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.
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Onlyfans, Courtney clenney, Murder, Stabbing, Florida, Crime
Trans-identifying reality TV star arrested for heinous acts with a child, police say
A transgender-identifying reality television star has been arrested for multiple felonies related to child molestation allegations.
Sidney Favors is known by stage name Sidney Starr and has been cast in numerous shows including “Love & Hip Hop” and “Baddies.”
Favors was booked under charges of sexual battery against a child under 16 years of age.
On Monday, the Hapeville Police Department said the 37-year-old was arrested on Sunday at the Embassy Suites hotel on International Boulevard.
Favors was booked on charges of sexual battery against a child under 16 years of age, aggravated child molestation, and sodomy, according to records from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
“Because this case involves a juvenile, no additional information will be released from our agency,” said the Hapeville Police.
A TMZ report says Favors allegedly confessed to performing oral sex on the minor in a hotel in Hapeville.
Favors had become famous after claiming to have had a sexual relationship with the rapper Chingy. The artist denied the claims, and Favors later admitted fabricating the entire allegation.
RELATED: Trans-identifying liberal seems to call for DEATH of Elon Musk over comment about Zizian trans cult
Favors’ social media account says he is a cast member of “Baddies ATL,” “Love & Hip Hop: New York,” and “Wild ‘N Out” on MTV.
Fulton County Jail records list the transgender-identifying celebrity as a black male.
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Child molestation, Child sex crimes, Transgender, Crime
‘It is illegal to be white’: Auron MacIntyre calls out white woman’s guilty verdict for using a racial slur
On April 28, 2025, Shiloh Hendrix was at the park with her child when she got into a confrontation with a man after she allegedly called his child a racial slur.
The man began videotaping her, which he later posted to social media where it went viral.
Over a year later, Hendrix has been found guilty of disorderly conduct against the man operating the camera, and BlazeTV host Steve Deace — alongside millions of freedom-loving Americans — isn’t happy with the outcome.
“What does this case tell us about the current state of the culture we’re in?” Deace asks Auron MacIntyre on the “Steve Deace Show.”
“That it is illegal to be white,” he answers, pointing out that the man in the video “was accused of sexual assault against a 16-year-old.”
“So, we have a Somali criminal, sexual assaulter, doing this, creeping on this woman with a child in the park, but she says the same word he does,” he explains. “They both say exactly the same word, but one of them was convicted of a crime for doing that.”
“And the only explanation — there’s literally only one — is that she was convicted for being white. And, of course, we see this conviction alongside Anthony Fauci and his testimony this week. And as nice as it was to see Anthony Fauci embarrassed, we all know that pretty much no penalty is coming for Anthony Fauci,” he says.
“So, we now live in a country where Shiloh Hendrix can be convicted of a crime, but Anthony Fauci can kill millions of people, destroy the economy and the lives of millions of children, and receive no penalty,” he adds.
MacIntyre tells Deace that the justice system is “entirely eroding before our eyes.”
“What she’s being judged for, therefore, is her whiteness, because if two black people were saying this to one another in any context, we wouldn’t be here with any kind of a trial in Minnesota or anywhere else,” Deace comments.
“We would just call it a rap video,” MacIntyre adds. “And that’s obviously the case. This man was harassing a woman with a child in the park. He has a history of [alleged] sexual violence against minors, but she is the violator here.”
“And let’s be clear … she was found innocent of directing the slur at the child. It was only the slur directed at the man who was harassing her, the [alleged] sexual offender … who she was ultimately convicted of harassing,” he continues.
“Again, this is just a hate speech law,” he adds.
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Disorderly conduct, Racial slur, Shiloh hendrix, Steve deace, Anthony fauci, Free speech, Blazetv show, Auron macintyre
Actor Jon Bernthal calls pit bull fear ‘ridiculous’: ‘It’s just dog racism’
Action star Jon Bernthal came out in defense of the most widely criticized breed of dog and said their behavior depends on the owner, not the animal.
Star of “The Punisher” and “The Walking Dead,” Bernthal appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” on Saturday and briefly referenced pit bulls when asked about his own dogs.
‘It’s like being afraid of somebody for their race or their sexual orientation.’
Doggie DEI
Bernthal has advocated for pit bulls on numerous occasions and has three of his own: Lil Bam Bam, Boss, and Venice.
On Saturday, host Howard Stern asked whether Bernthal’s dogs were present when he got into a fight, a story he told earlier in the interview.
“Did they attack?” Stern asked.
“No. … My dogs are the greatest, and they’re unbelievably well-trained,” Bernthal replied, immediately defending the breed against those who see them as aggressive. “People have got to stop that.”
The 49-year-old then chalked up any bias toward the dogs as a form of racism.
“It’s just racism. It’s just dog racism. I think to be afraid of a breed of dog is completely ridiculous. It’s like being afraid of somebody for their race or their sexual orientation; it’s completely ridiculous.”
At that point, Bernthal made his most distinct claim, saying that “if a pit bull bites you, it’s going to suck, but they’re no more likely to bite you than a chihuahua or any other breed of dog.”
–
Killer stats
A study published in the Journal of Surgical Research in May stated that out of 276 patients who sustained dog bite injuries between 2016 and 2024, “pit bulls were implicated in nearly one-third of all injuries and were significantly more likely to require surgical intervention” in comparison to other breeds.
A 2023 study by DogsBite.org stated that “attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges, and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs.”
The study went on to say that between 2011 and 2017, pit bulls “inflicted the highest prevalence of injuries” where the breed of the dog was known. This totaled 245 out of 511 cases, or 47.9%. The breed was known just 36% of the time, or 511 of 1,422.
Data from the same organization claimed that pit bulls were responsible for 71% of fatal dog bites in 2017, 72% in 2018, and 68% in 2019.
RELATED: Rabid defenders of pit bulls are spiritually blind — and ignoring the tragic stats
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Bite ban
The same literature review concluded that “strict regulation of pit bulls may substantially reduce the U.S. mortality rates related to dog bites.”
National legislation surrounding pit bulls exists in countries like the U.K., where they are banned, and New Zealand, where they cannot be imported.
Additionally, animal care retailer Hepper stated in a 2025 article that at least six municipalities in the U.S. restrict pit bull ownership. This includes Council Bluffs, Iowa; Prince George’s County, Maryland; Melvindale, Michigan; Kearny, Missouri; Sparta, Tennessee; and Miami, Florida.
As for Bernthal, he attributed the pit bull rep to “a lot of knuckleheads” who “unfortunately are attracted to that breed of dog.”
“To me, when I see some wannabe gangster getting pulled down Venice Beach by his pit bull, and I’m like, ‘You feed that f**ker, and he’s pulling you?'” Bernthal exclaimed. “To me that’s not manly or strong at all. I think you gotta train your dogs.”
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Dogs, Pit bulls, Jon bernthal, Howard stern, Lifestyle
Cute, useful, or lethal, robot dogs are here to stay
People have been building animal-shaped machines for centuries, winding clockwork birds and gilded lions for the amusement of courts. The robot dog belongs to that genealogy more than its manufacturers tend to acknowledge. The desire to produce an artifact that appears, even in some limited sense, to move of its own will is old.
What has changed is the capacity. Servo-motors, reinforcement learning, whole-body control, lidar, thermal cameras, and four-dimensional sensing have replaced the balance spring and the escapement wheel. The modern robot dog’s gait is careful and deliberate, the way a living dog picks across a tile floor it does not trust. The machine lifts each foot with a kind of exaggerated prudence, sets it down, adjusts, proceeds.
The tension is political as well as commercial.
The robot dog is a sophisticated tool. In 2026, the most commercially mature robot dogs are inspection platforms. Boston Dynamics’ Spot walks choreographed routes through factories and substations, reading gauges, capturing thermal data, listening for acoustic anomalies. ANYbotics’ ANYmal does the same on offshore oil platforms in the North Sea, navigating multiple floors and docking itself to recharge when the battery runs low. Unitree’s B2 can carry more than 40 kilograms at a continuous walk and sustain five hours of operation. These machines keep humans out of dangerous spaces and convert the disorder of a physical facility into structured, repeatable, auditable information. The robot dog, at its most mature, is a mobile node in a maintenance stack.
Yet the form will not stay neutral. A wheeled robot carrying the same sensors through the same substation would register as equipment. Put those sensors on four legs, give the machine a head that swivels, let it pick its way over a cable tray the way a terrier negotiates a creek bed, and the machine becomes a presence. People talk to it, name it, and step aside for it in hallways because the shape suggests a creature for whom stepping aside would be courteous. Zoomorphism is an interface strategy, a way of converting surveillance and automation into something socially legible, even likeable.
Whose best friend?
This trick works in both directions. In 1999, Sony released AIBO, a small plastic quadruped sold as entertainment, personality, and a new kind of domestic presence. AIBO could learn, express simulated emotions, and develop what Sony’s marketing called a distinct character through interaction with its owner. Sony revived the line in 2018, still framing its robot dog as something that inspires an urge to pick it up and hold it. The promised effect was a feeling.
Boston Dynamics’ Spot occupies the opposite end of the spectrum with an almost polemical clarity. Its lease terms prohibit unstructured use in the home. It is an industrial product, full stop. Both machines are called robot dogs. One sells synthetic companionship. The other sells synthetic labor. The distance between them is the distance between a stuffed animal and a forklift, except that both have four legs, a head, and the silhouette of something you might once have loved.
The tension is political as well as commercial. When the NYPD deployed its Digidog unit, the public reaction was fast and hostile. The machine was described as creepy. Critics raised the historical associations of police dogs with intimidation. The objection was never really about the technology, but instead what the technology suggested when it walked through certain neighborhoods with a badge on it. Boston Dynamics has since published ethical guidelines, pledging not to weaponize its robots and requiring law enforcement customers to adopt use policies addressing privacy and civil rights.
RELATED: Robot teacher program tied to sex doll company
Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Ghost Robotics, which sells a competing quadruped called Vision 60, makes no such restrictions. Its marketing spans defense, homeland security, law enforcement, and public safety with a modularity that is, by design, indifferent to the distinction between protecting and threatening. The robot dog has become a site of contestation over how much force, sensing, and autonomy the public wants walking through public space.
An uninvited guest
A robot dog is a computer with legs, and computers are vulnerable. A command-injection flaw catalogued in NIST’s National Vulnerability Database affected several Unitree quadrupeds, including models sold to consumers and industry, with the potential for an attacker to execute root commands through Wi-Fi configuration over Bluetooth. When the machine in question can walk, see, and listen, a cybersecurity vulnerability becomes a physical-access problem, a pair of eyes you did not invite into the building.
Robot dogs in 2026 are an argument in the shape of an animal. They argue that legs are better than wheels on rough terrain, that autonomy reduces risk, that data captured continuously is worth more than data captured occasionally, that the familiar silhouette of a dog can make a sensor suite feel like a colleague rather than an intrusion. Some of these arguments are sound. Some are self-serving. All of them depend on the remarkable fact that a machine borrowing the contours of an animal that humans domesticated 15,000 years ago can still make us feel something. The robot dog does not need to achieve consciousness or love you. It only needs to walk into a room with a gait you almost recognize, and you will do the rest.
Robot dogs, Tech
‘He was lying’: RFK Jr. blasts Dana Bash for pushing Fauci’s lies, defending the jab
In her interview on Sunday with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CNN talking head Dana Bash launched a defense of the COVID-19 vaccine and CNN host Jake Tapper’s infamous buddy Anthony Fauci, who is now the subject of an investigation in Florida.
Bash’s efforts to downplay both Fauci’s involvement in ruinous decisions made during the pandemic and her network’s fearmongering did not go over well as Kennedy — neither a stranger to gaslighting from the legacy media nor a shrinking violet — hit back, accusing the CNN host of pushing “nonsense.”
‘The biggest killer of kids in this country today came from these kind of experiments.’
At the outset of the interview, Bash challenged Kennedy’s long-standing criticism of Fauci, downplaying the influence that Fauci had with regard to America’s devastating lockdowns and suggesting that President Donald Trump deserves “some of the blame.”
Kennedy immediately rejected Bash’s defense of Fauci, underscoring that governors had executed lockdowns around the country “because Anthony Fauci was telling them from the top, ‘You need to lock down.'”
Fauci boasted ad nauseam in his diary about his pandemic-era influence, noting in one instance that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) decided to shut down schools, bars, and restaurants on the basis of his fear-peddling.
Unable to mount a successful defense of Fauci and proving unable to elicit a condemnation of the president from Kennedy, Bash rushed to step on another rake.
RELATED: Two Americas, under Fauci, with liberty and justice for none
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images
Citing unnamed scientists, the CNN talking head suggested that radical gain-of-function experimentation — which Fauci helped fund with taxpayer money at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic — is “necessary to prepare for the next pandemic, to get ahead of it, to figure out what these viruses can do,” albeit now with “better guardrails.”
Once again, Kennedy gave Bash a reality check, emphasizing that historic efforts to put guardrails around gain-of-function experimentation haven’t worked.
“And clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic and many other global pandemics that we have, have come from gain-of-function research,” continued Kennedy. “The RSV epidemic that we have that is the biggest killer of kids in this country today came from these kind of experiments. The Lyme disease almost certainly came from this kind of research. So — and the scientists who you say are experts are making the argument that this is necessary for pandemic response cannot point to one instance in history where research that came out of this kind of experimentation has actually provided us something beneficial.”
‘He was lying, and you were punishing people for not trusting the experts.’
Bash, once again finding herself on the back foot, pressed Kennedy on how America might alternatively prepare for the next pandemic.
Casting indirect shade on Fauci, Kennedy suggested that COVID made clear what should be done in the future and what should never be done again.
In addition to listening to doctors on the ground rather than censoring them, Kennedy said it’s essential when faced with another pandemic that the Constitution is strenuously protected.
Not getting the responses she apparently wanted, Bash tried changing the topic — but this time Kennedy hit the brakes, blasting the legacy media for “malpractice” during the pandemic and identifying Bash individually as “part of the problem.”
RELATED: Damning study of over a million kids finds myocarditis only in the vaccinated
“Your job is a fierce skepticism toward authority,” said Kennedy. “And you weren’t doing that. You were beating up on people who were dissenting.”
Bash, feathers clearly ruffled, launched into her latest defense of the experimental COVID-19 jabs that were nowhere close to being as safe or effective as advertised and were responsible for the deaths of numerous children by the Food and Drug Administration’s own admission.
After Bash claimed that “the COVID vaccine prevented deaths” and alluded to data suggesting as much, Kennedy asked the host, “You think the COVID vaccine protected children?”
“Can you show me one study that shows that children were protected by the COVID vaccine?” Kennedy said between interruptions from the defensive host. “That the vaccine did more good than harm to children? Can you show me one study that shows that?”
“I can tell you that when it comes to the vaccine, there have been studies that show that because of vaccine disinformation, there could have been 100,000 to 200,000 lives in the U.S. saved,” said Bash. “But because people didn’t get the vaccine, that’s why.”
“You are saying nonsense,” responded Kennedy.
The secretary wouldn’t let the talking head off the hook, saying, “You say you have seen studies. Cite me the study.”
Bash then tried changing the subject again, this time to talk about measles, but Kennedy claimed that the job of CNN during the pandemic was to scare people — “to put the chyrons up about ‘how many people are dying’ to get people to comply.”
Later in the interview — after Bash attempted to blame Kennedy for the recent measles outbreaks only to unwittingly spotlight another consequence of Fauci’s ruinous pandemic-era recommendations — the HHS secretary accused the host of repeating narratives “like a parrot.”
“All you know how to do is repeat things that people told you and say, ‘Trust the experts,'” said Kennedy.
“That’s what you did during COVID. Now we know that Anthony Fauci, who was the ‘expert,’ was lying about everything — about masks, about the social distancing, about natural immunity, about the transmission from the vaccine, about the source of COVID,” continued Kennedy. “He was lying, and you were punishing people for not trusting the experts. And now you’re rolling out the experts again.”
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Health and human services, Robert f kennedy jr, Dana bash, Cnn, Covid-19, Vaccine, Anthony fauci, Politics
Pressure mounts against WNBA to adopt ‘biological women’-only policy: ‘Women’s sports are for women’
Women seem to have had enough of battling over whether their sports can include athletes who were born male.
Amid the WNBA’s controversy stemming from star player Sophie Cunningham, who simply said girls “shouldn’t have to go against biological men” in sports, there have been growing calls for the league to cement through policy that the WNBA is for women only.
‘The WNBA needs to look in the mirror and do some soul-searching about what it stands for.’
According to the WNBA’s 2026 collective-bargaining agreement with its players’ association, Article XIII, Section 1 declares that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”
While the definition of what a woman is should go without saying — the WNBA does not provide one — several prominent role-players in the league have suggested that biological reality is not the basis for their opinion on this matter.
On Sunday, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a T-shirt that read, “Trans kids belong” and featured a transgender-themed rainbow.
That same night, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakese compared the issue to being “criticized for my height, for my ethnicity.”
She added that sports is about “belonging” and “inclusivity.”
When asked if men should be able to play in the WNBA, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White said last week that she is not “educated enough from a scientific standpoint” to make such a determination.
She added, “I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer.”
These vague sentiments have seemingly pushed prominent women’s activists to a boiling point, with many calling for the WNBA to adopt a policy that specifically states only biological women can play in the league.
“The WNBA needs to look in the mirror and do some soul-searching about what it stands for — fairness in women’s sports or not?” said Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America.
The CEO said in a press release that the WNBA has “poisoned” itself with activism for years and that it’s time for the league to defend young women, not “biological males stealing their opportunities.”
RELATED: WNBA coach counter-protests Sophie Cunningham with ‘trans kids’ shirt — Caitlin Clark responds
David Berding/Getty Images
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) has advocated for prohibiting women’s sports franchises from receiving tax benefits if they do not prohibit biological men from their teams.
Tenney said in June that franchises may claim tax advantages tied to acquisitions, but if she has her way, they would not receive such luxuries if they “undermine” women.
“Taxpayers should not be subsidizing the erosion of women’s sports. … Women’s sports are for women,” Tenney declared.
Jennifer Sey, founder of pro-women apparel company XX-XY, told Blaze News that there is a broader cultural shift currently on display, but there is still “justice” to be served.
Sey pointed to “the growing number of people who will no longer pretend biology is mutable,” while adding that protecting young girls from adults “who treat basic reality as a moral offense” should not be controversial.
RELATED: WNBA star Sophie Cunningham comes out against men in women’s sports: ‘I want to protect young girls’
Amanda Loman/Getty Images
Many women’s sports leagues have already made “female at birth” policies or outright banned men from competing in their events.
The LPGA announced its policy in early December 2024, while British tennis barred men from women’s competitive tournaments just days later.
About a month after that, English women’s field hockey banned trans-identifying males from the sport.
This all came before President Trump’s executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” dropped in February 2025. Almost immediately after the order was issued, the NCAA updated its transgender student-athlete participation policy to keep men out of the women’s category.
The WNBA did not respond to a request from Blaze News regarding the league’s definition of a woman.
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Wnba, Sophie cunningham, Women’s rights, Transgenderism, Sports
Google Earth ‘rolling back’ image generation feature — as users instantly faked global mayhem
Google wants users to manifest a community garden, not a bombed-out hospital in Gaza.
The latter became all too possible as Google Earth’s naive new update was accidentally primed for manipulation.
‘We take misinformation seriously.’
On Thursday, Google announced the ability to “transform any place” on the map using Google Earth and generative AI called Nano Banana 2.
“Have you ever looked at an empty lot in your neighborhood and imagined a community garden, or wondered what your city looked like a century ago?” Google asked in a blog post.
The tech giant revealed that any of the satellite, aerial, or 3D imagery available on Google Earth can now be manipulated with AI to create custom images.
“Type whatever you want to see,” the blog reads.
One researcher, Henk van Ess, decided to take that seriously and see what the app was willing to do.
“Nothing was refused, nothing was softened, and nothing suggested I try a different prompt,” van Ess wrote in an article titled “How to plant a nuclear plant in Iran.”
“Refugees at a border, a nuclear plant in Iran, a fatal crash on an Amsterdam street, a hospital with a bomb crater in Gaza,” nothing was off limits to the user. Van Ess even showed a video of him generating an image where “refugees swarm the streets” in Mexico.
Soon, users had portrayed a plane hitting Freedom Tower, a crater caving in Iceland, and a collapsed Eiffel Tower, among other catastrophes.
RELATED: Don’t be fooled: This Apple privacy feature won’t protect your identity
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images
Google responded to the researcher, saying, “We take misinformation seriously — every image created with Nano Banana in Google Earth includes the SynthID digital watermark, so if someone is unsure about an image, they can ask the Gemini app or use Lens in Search to see if the image was Al-generated.”
Van Ess ran one of the videos he created through Hive, AI detection software not run by Google. It came back with a 1% chance of being an AI-generated video and a 0% chance of being a deepfake.
The writer said this wasn’t necessarily Hive’s fault, given that it was scanning a real video that he had taken, but therein lies the issue with such content. It is very unlikely that an AI-generated video would be scanned right from its source and therefore be easily detectable.
RELATED: Apple and Google told to take down these illegal — and exploitative — apps
Kim White/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Google also provided its AI prohibited-use policy, which lists types of usage that would constitute crimes surrounding explicit content, abuse, or violation of intellectual property rights.
On its face, van Ess’ content did not seem to violate Google’s terms, but the company eventually acquiesced. On Friday, Google updated its blog to say that it was “rolling back” the feature while it works on “implementing stronger guardrails.”
Google directly stated that it saw people sharing screenshots of imagery “that appear to violate our policies,” while assuring readers that generated images didn’t appear in the “main Google Earth experience” and were also watermarked as being AI-generated.
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Artificial intelligence, Google earth, Misinformation, Deepfake
Mamdani rejects voter ID, but his grocery stores may ask shoppers for proof
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his fellow Democratic Socialists of America have long opposed voter ID requirements, but his administration may have a surprise waiting for shoppers at his government-run grocery stores.
During a press conference last week, Mamdani announced that the city’s five government-run grocery stores would offer “a collection of essential staples” at prices “30% cheaper” than typical retail rates.
‘We are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers, whether it be at sort of a library card-esque thing …’
When a reporter pressed Mamdani on how the city would stop opportunists from buying up the taxpayer-subsidized groceries in bulk and flipping them for a profit, a top administration official suggested requiring shoppers to prove they are “everyday New Yorkers.”
“Our RFP makes very clear that this is a program for New Yorkers to be able to put food on the table, not a program for people to be able to make a quick buck through reselling,” Mamdani responded before turning the question over to New York City Economic Development Corporation Interim President and CEO Jeanny Pak.
“We are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers, whether it be at sort of a library card-esque thing, and also we manage who’s buying and that it’s focused on everyday New Yorkers,” Pak said.
“So we are mindful of that, and so we’re going to make sure that we have all the things in place to make — ensure that that does not happen.”
RELATED: Socialist Mamdani says city-run grocery stores will undercut supermarkets by 30%
Pak did not specify how shoppers would verify their eligibility, though her reference to a “library card-esque” system suggested some form of identification or residency verification may be required to access the discounted groceries.
Spencer Pratt, the former candidate for Los Angeles mayor, slammed Mamdani on X over his contradictory positions.
“Racist Commie Mamdani is going to make you show ID in his markets. You want your government-subsidized arugula? Show your papers! Ask for ID to vote? BIGOT!!!” Pratt wrote.
“Are you starting to realize what disingenuous lying buffoons these commies are?”
This is not the first time Mamdani has faced criticism over a perceived double standard on identification requirements.
Earlier this year, New York City’s emergency snow-shoveling program required paid shovelers to provide “two original forms of ID” and a Social Security number to register — a move that drew intense backlash from critics.
“Let’s get this straight: in Zohran Mamdani’s socialist utopia, it takes 2 forms of ID to SHOVEL SNOW, but no ID to vote. Make it make sense,” the House Republicans wrote on X at the time.
The first of five publicly owned grocery stores is anticipated to open in the Bronx by the end of 2027, with the remaining four storefronts slated to be operational by the end of Mamdani’s four-year term, including one in East Harlem.
Construction of the Harlem location alone is expected to carry a $30 million price tag.
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Democratic socialists, Mayor zohran mamdani, New york city, New yorkers, Spencer pratt, Voter id, Politics
Glenn Beck: Trump’s ‘Patriot Passport’ sparks leftist outrage — but they’re missing the point
Leave it to Donald Trump to turn a passport into a national debate.
To commemorate America’s 250th birthday, the Trump administration unveiled a special-edition “Patriot Passport” featuring historical artwork, tributes to the nation’s founding, and a portrait of the president.
While the left has immediately seized on the fact that Trump appears inside the passport, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck doesn’t see it as controversial — and counts himself “fortunate” as he was one of the first to receive the new passport.
“I guess it’s controversial because it’s for the 250th anniversary and it has Donald Trump on the very front, not the front front, but on the first page. And I don’t find that controversial. He’s the president of the United States on the 250th anniversary,” Glenn says.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott tells Glenn that the passports will only be made this year and simply follows a tradition of commemorative passports.
“There was one for the 200th anniversary as well,” he says.
“This initially started as a passport that was only going to be available in person at the Washington, D.C., passport office. But what we saw through phone calls, emails, we had a booth at the state fair for example, with tens of thousands of Americans stopping by,” he explains.
“There was a huge amount of demand of people wanting to get this passport. So that’s why based off the demand that we’ve seen, based off the fact that people were saying, ‘We’ll fly back to Washington, D.C., to get this passport if we can get an appointment,’ we’ve decided to expand this opportunity across the country,” he adds.
Because of this, the Trump administration is reportedly making an additional 250,000 passports.
And despite the critiques, the passport doesn’t just feature Trump’s mug. It also tells stories of American history.
“There are different images on each one of the pages that mark certain events in history. Of course, the founding … our founders signing our founding documents,” Pigott tells Glenn.
“It’s also part of a broader effort here to mark the 250,” he says, explaining that one of the things the State Department is attempting to accomplish is create a “new series” where Americans are taken through “the history of diplomacy.”
“I think one of the untold stories that so many Americans aren’t told is all of the great things that our country has accomplished through diplomacy and other means,” he continues.
“And what we’re doing through this passport, telling the story, but also through other initiatives worldwide actually, is tell the story of American diplomacy in a way that is has not been told,” he adds.
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Donald trump, Glenn beck, State department, Washington dc, Patriot passport, Blazetv show, America 250
Suspect in deadly shooting at Idaho In-N-Out died of self-inflicted gunshot wound; 2 ‘heroic’ bystanders fired at him: Police
The suspect in a deadly shooting at an Idaho In-N-Out Burger over the weekend died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound — and two “heroic” bystanders fired at the suspect and diverted him from the scene, police said, according to the Associated Press.
Investigators said the gunman — identified as 24-year-old Chad Williams — acted alone during Saturday afternoon’s shooting at the Twin Falls fast-food restaurant, Police Chief Matthew Hicks said at a news conference, the AP reported.
‘People were running out crying and screaming. It was very scary.’
Hicks also said an off-duty state trooper and an armed citizen — whose identities weren’t immediately disclosed — both fired back and diverted the gunman from the In-N-Out, the outlet added.
“We believe their actions helped drive the suspect away from the scene, preventing further casualties,” the chief said, according to the AP. “We want to take a moment and commend the actions of the off-duty officer and the citizen, and their heroic action to stop this incident.”
Three victims died and seven others were injured in the shooting, the outlet noted, adding that authorities said Sunday two of the injured were treated at a hospital and released, three were listed as stable, and two were in critical condition.
Hicks said detectives are working to determine Williams’ motives and that the suspect’s family was cooperating fully with law enforcement, the AP reported. Hicks also warned of misinformation spreading online identifying a different male as the shooter, noting that the individual had “no involvement in this incident whatsoever,” the outlet reported.
Police who responded to the shooting found the body of the suspected gunman in an area near the restaurant, Twin Falls spokesperson Josh Palmer said, according to the AP.
Palmer added to the outlet that investigators were interviewing witnesses. The In-N-Out location — which had opened about a week earlier on July 24 as part of the California-based company’s recent expansion to Idaho — is in a busy shopping plaza, and hundreds of people were in the area when the shooting occurred around 2 p.m., the AP said.
Lane Koehn, 34, told the outlet he was at a stoplight near the In-N-Out when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru while a man with a pistol started firing at the shooter.
Koehn then saw someone in an In-N-Out uniform drag a person also wearing a uniform — who was bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest — across the parking lot, the AP reported. The employee, Koehn, and the man with the pistol stayed until paramedics arrived for her, the outlet added.
“She was pretty bad off, but I don’t know,” Koehn told the AP. “I hope she made it.”
He said the shooter fired at least three or four rounds, but it was not clear if anyone in particular was targeted, the outlet said.
In-N-Out owner Lynsi Snyder said one of those killed was an employee, the AP reported.
“My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I’ve shed. We lost one of our beautiful associates tonight,” Snyder said in a statement released early Sunday on social media, the outlet added. “In-N-Out will be mourning with the families and praying for them as they tread through a very painful season.”
Snyder did not identify the worker in question, the AP said. Officials were still trying to notify relatives of victims and therefore were not yet releasing the victims’ names, ages or other details about them, Palmer said, according to the outlet.
More from the AP:
Video taken by a driver from across the street captured a shooter, who appeared to be dressed in black, walking up to a white car carrying a long rifle, opening the driver-side door and popping the trunk. The person then walked to the trunk and reached inside. At that point the driver who shot the video left quickly, fearing that the man might be getting more weapons.
Twin Falls resident Haley Dodaro, 43, and her mother went to In-N-Out for lunch Saturday afternoon. While waiting in the drive-thru line, they saw people running across the road and workers bolting out of the restaurant. At first, Dodaro thought there might have been a fire, but then a man directing traffic in a reflective vest said there was a shooter.
“So that’s when we knew there was a shooting. People were running out crying and screaming,” Dodaro said in a text message to the outlet, the AP said. “It was very scary.”
Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was inside waiting for food with her daughters when she heard shots from the kitchen, the outlet noted, adding that an employee said it was a shooting and told people to get down.
Rodriguez told the AP an older man tried to protect her and her daughters, and they were among the last to run outside.
“We were trying to get as far as we could and some angels let us in their car,” Rodriguez added to the outlet, also via text message. “I left my car there in the parking lot.”
Twin Falls is in southern Idaho and about two hours southeast of Boise.
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Idaho, In-n-out burger, Fatal shooting, Bystanders, 2nd amendment, Crime
ASU unveils trendy new major — it’s already attracting major hate
Becoming a social media star may only cost in the neighborhood of $15,000 a year, according to Arizona State University.
With majorities of Gen Z and Gen Alpha hoping to make their way in the world as influencers or content creators, that might sound like a steal.
But the cultural blowback is immediate, with reportage in the Atlantic calling the ubiquitous figures “openly reviled.”
ASU now offers a bachelor of arts in content creation, under its journalism program.
‘It is absolutely incredibly important to learn how to use social media and brand yourself.’
The BA promises to teach students how to become an influencer and mass market themselves, all while earning a degree.
The new program was approved this year and says it will help students develop into “versatile storytellers” who operate “entrepreneurially as influencers as content creators.”
The program seemingly prepares students for a life of freelance work/unemployment with courses like “developing media content,” “information gathering,” and “on-camera presence,” with the promise of garnering a significant online following.
Jessica Pucci, senior associate dean at ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said that any content creator would benefit from the program.
“They will have demonstrable audience growth. They will have a platform of their choice with real content and real followers and a real audience behind them,” Pucci told outlet Arizona’s Family.
Mike Windle/Getty Images
The outlet spoke to other women who praised the program, including ASU student Caroline Rowland, who described the major as an essential part of branding.
“It is absolutely incredibly important to learn how to use social media and brand yourself,” Rowland said.
Anna Elizabeth, who was characterized as an Arizona-based influencer and medical assistant, said the program would certainly have helped her when she started out.
“I feel like if I had that opportunity in this time that I started doing content, I feel like it would have benefited me a whole lot.”
With Elizabeth as an example of a person who isn’t a full-time influencer, ASU listed other possible careers associated with the degree, such as communications specialist, marketing associate, marketing manager, and public relations manager. All of these are typical outcomes of marketing, public relations, and communications degrees.
In its mission statement, Content Creation lists “global perspectives” and “personal branding” as priorities alongside the ability to create content, preparing students for “brand content projects, media internships, and content creation trips abroad.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Courses that focus on content creation skills include topics like “how to become an influencer,” podcasting, and “interpersonal influence.”
According to ASU’s admissions site, the degree can be earned for as little as $14,814 per year, the average tuition rate for in-state residents. For out-of-state students, that cost could rise to approximately $39,000 per year.
Other schools offer similar programs, like Graceland University’s digital content creation major, as reported by the College Fix.
Another example is Grand Canyon University, a private Christian school in Arizona that offers a bachelor’s in social media.
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College, University, Social media, Content creators, Lifestyle
Michigan may help GOP keep control of Senate, no matter who prevails on Democratic side
The presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan is sitting pretty just hours away from the primary.
According to two polls conducted in late July, Republican primary front-runner Mike Rogers has a lead over the two main candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed.
El-Sayed campaigned with US-hating Islamist Hasan Piker, who once said, ‘America deserved 9/11.’
An EPIC-MRA poll conducted July 28 and 29 shows Rogers with a three-point lead over Stevens and in a tie with El-Sayed. A separate EPIC-MRA/MIRS poll from July 24 to 31 shows Rogers with a three-point lead over El-Sayed but two points below Stevens.
The Michigan primary election is Tuesday, and El-Sayed is the current favorite to win the Democratic nomination. The RealClearPolling average shows El-Sayed with a double-digit lead over Stevens, even though Stevens has been endorsed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Once again, that polling average may spell good news for Rogers since El-Sayed’s campaign has been shrouded in controversy ever since he announced his Senate candidacy.
Voters in Michigan, which went for President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024, may not like the fact that El-Sayed:
has been endorsed by far-left radicals like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).campaigned with U.S.-hater Hasan Piker, who once said, “America deserved 9/11, dude. F**k it, I’m sayin’ it.”bills himself as a medical “doctor” even though he reportedly has never treated a patient, isn’t licensed in Michigan, and has never passed any board exams.employed a campaign staffer earlier this year who is currently under federal indictment in connection with anti-Semitic attacks.
“And it’s exactly why I’ll beat whichever of my radical opponents prevails on Tuesday,” Rogers tweeted Sunday.
RELATED: 3 Senate races that could flip the balance of power: ‘This is a wake-up call’
Sarah Rice/Getty Images
In January 2025, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) announced unexpectedly that he would not seek a third term. Should Rogers prevail in the election, Republicans would gain another seat, helping fortify their majority. Democrats already need to flip four seats to regain control.
Still, Rogers should not plan to coast his way into November. Rogers narrowly lost the 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin, and Michigan has not elected a Republican U.S. senator since 1994.
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Michigan, Us senate, Mike rogers, Republican party, Politics
Warning: This college course may be bad for your brain
Every August, families spend tens of thousands of dollars on college tuition, housing, meal plans, and textbooks. They compare degree requirements, graduation rates, and campus amenities. Yet many never ask the most basic consumer question: What is actually inside the classes they are buying?
Colleges already label the price. It’s time to label the product.
Americans would not buy food without reading the ingredients or take medicine without knowing something about the possible side effects. College courses, however, are often sold by title and catalog description alone. Students register for “Introduction to History,” “Ethics,” or even a science requirement with little idea of the intellectual assumptions the professor will bring into the lecture hall.
That information can be consequential. A course may pursue knowledge through evidence and argument. It may also subordinate the subject to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, critical theory, gender ideology, Marxist assumptions, or some other political project.
Ideological activism is not confined to philosophy, literature, or religious studies. It increasingly appears across the curriculum, including in professional programs and “hard” scientific fields.
Parents and students have every right to know whether a professor intends to teach the advertised subject, examine competing arguments, and permit disagreement — or use the classroom to promote a political worldview.
The concern is especially urgent at public universities. Faculty members at state institutions are government employees paid by taxpayers. In Arizona, for example, they undertake obligations to uphold the United States and state constitutions. Taxpayers are therefore entitled to ask whether professors are educating students for citizenship in a constitutional republic or teaching theories fundamentally hostile to it.
That’s why I developed what I call the “Intellectual Nutrition Label.”
The idea is simple. A nutrition label does not order shoppers to buy or reject a product. It tells them what the product contains so they can decide for themselves. The Intellectual Nutrition Label would do the same for college professors and courses.
Using public information — university biographies, curricula vitae, books, articles, interviews, lectures, and course materials — each label would summarize the intellectual content students are likely to encounter. Families should not need graduate training or weeks of research to understand what a professor openly teaches.
RELATED: Trump’s Justice Department is shining a light on woke universities — finally
Angela Lewis/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A useful label might ask:
Does the professor encourage the pursuit of knowledge or deny that objective truth exists?Does the course cultivate virtue and self-command or treat desire as its own justification?Does it direct students toward goodness, beauty, and wisdom or toward resentment, envy, and contempt?Does the professor teach students how to examine arguments or tell them which political conclusions a decent person must reach?
A label could also rate qualities such as intellectual honesty, knowledge, virtue, beauty, meaningfulness, and piety. A professor might rank highly for candor and scholarship while receiving a low rating for piety because he publicly rejects belief in God. The point would not be to uncover private opinions or publish anonymous accusations. The ratings would summarize what professors already say about themselves and their work.
Owen Anderson
That distinction is essential. An Intellectual Nutrition Label should not become a blacklist, an invitation to harassment, or a substitute for reading a professor’s work. It must rely on verifiable public evidence, represent a professor’s position fairly, and provide enough sourcing for readers to check the judgment for themselves.
The concept has predecessors. David Horowitz’s 2006 book, “The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America,” documented ideological activism in higher education. The David Horowitz Freedom Center continues to track left-wing activists and organizations. Turning Point USA’s Professor Watchlist sought to alert students to professors who brought political activism into the classroom and briefly maintained a list of recommended faculty.
The Intellectual Nutrition Label would have a narrower purpose: consumer disclosure. It would tell students and parents what intellectual ingredients a professor publicly advertises, in a format ordinary people can understand before registration day.
If a professor teaches that the United States is inherently oppressive, advocates Marxist critical theory, rejects biological sex as fixed, or treats Christianity principally as an instrument of domination, those positions should be documented in the professor’s own publications, biography, lectures, or course materials. An accurate summary of publicly stated beliefs is not censorship.
RELATED: Universities won’t give back the land — but they will bury history
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
The more serious objection may be that parents and taxpayers were never expected to notice. Academic language often conceals radical assumptions behind specialized vocabulary. Professors can signal their commitments to colleagues while students discover the course’s real content only after enrollment.
That arrangement is losing its protection. Parents increasingly ask what their children are learning. Taxpayers increasingly ask whether public universities are educating students or recruiting them into political movements. Those are legitimate questions, especially when a single semester can cost more than many families earn in months.
Throughout the coming semester, I will publish Intellectual Nutrition Labels evaluating professors from publicly available evidence. The labels will not decide which courses students may take. They will help families make that decision with their eyes open.
Readers can follow the project on my Substack and at intellectualnutritionlabel.com (coming soon).
When families spend tens of thousands of dollars on a college education, they deserve to know who is teaching, what that professor believes, and which intellectual ingredients will be placed before their children. Colleges already label the price. It’s time to label the product.
American universities, Christianity, College classes, Higher education, Political activism, Professors, Public universities, Tuition, Woke, Opinion & analysis, Intellectual nutrition label, Diversity equity inclusion, Activism
WNBA coach counter-protests Sophie Cunningham with ‘trans kids’ shirt — Caitlin Clark responds
WNBA coach Cheryl Reeve has made her opinion on men participating in women’s sports fairly obvious, but it’s a fringe one.
In response to Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham stating girls should not have to compete with or share the same locker room as boys, the Minnesota Lynx head coach performed a silent protest that will likely have parents scratching their heads.
‘I think both of us understand that we have platforms.’
During the Fever vs. Lynx game on Sunday, Reeve sported a T-shirt that read “Trans kids belong” and featured a transgender-themed rainbow. While the meaning behind the shirt can be inferred, fans wondered what Reeve and Cunningham were talking about when they were spotted having a conversation before the game.
At the postgame press conference, Reeve was asked by a reporter if she were willing to reveal what was said. After initially saying “absolutely not” to the idea, Reeve went on to say that both parties were focused on educating.
“I think both of us understand that we have platforms, and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate,” the coach explained.
Reeve added, “There are some things that we have in common and maybe some things you differ on just like any issues, and I think it’s how you handle things, and it was nice to be in person [to have the conversation] for sure.”
RELATED: The WNBA’s message to young girls: Stay quiet on trans athletes
Cunningham did not show up for the Fever’s postgame press conference, but star Caitlin Clark was present for a reporter’s question about navigating protests that focused on “trans rights.”
“It’s not really a discussion we really have in our locker room,” Clark claimed, before parrying the core of the question.
“I think it’s for leagues and the governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions, but our focus is on basketball, and that’s what we talk about and how we can get wins.”
Clark’s fairly canned response comes after Fever Coach Stephanie White made remarks on Friday about the WNBA being an “inclusive league” that “welcomes everyone.”
“We’re a league that promotes diversity. We promote inclusion, and we’re a league that has always been on the forefront of social change,” the coach affirmed.
RELATED: How the WNBA’s hottest star became the left’s newest headache
David Berding/Getty Images
When asked for her stance on “men or athletes who tested biological male” participating in women’s sports, White stated that she is not “educated enough from a scientific standpoint” to make such a determination.
However, she did say, “I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer.”
Cunningham did not make any public comments about the ordeal over the weekend. However, she did take a photo with female athletics activist Riley Gaines, who wore an XX-XY athletics T-shirt from an organization that believes men should not be in women’s sports.
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Wnba, Sophie cunningham, Transgenderism, Caitlin clark, Sports
