Suspected provocateur specifically stated, ‘We’re here to storm the capitol. I’m not kidding.’ In a new mini-documentary diving into Jan. 6, investigative journalist Lara Logan [more…]
‘Hugely successful’: Trump triumphs at NATO summit, winning over allies after years of resistance
President Donald Trump’s participation in this week’s NATO summit was well-received and represented a significant victory for him, contrasting with similar meetings during his previous administration.
‘This has been a hugely successful summit for President Trump.’
In 2018, when Trump was pushing NATO allies to meet their then-target of 2% of GDP for defense spending, he got into a spat with German officials after he scolded the country for cutting an oil and gas deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He accused Germany of being “totally controlled by Russia,” calling it a “very bad thing for NATO.”
The following year, several allies — then-Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, and President of France Emmanuel Macron — were caught on camera mocking Trump.
In contrast, this year’s NATO summit in the Netherlands was notably successful for Trump.
RELATED: Trump to take on NATO summit: Will allies step up or stall?
G7 summit on June 9, 2018, in Charlevoix, Canada. Photo by Jesco Denzel /Bundesregierung via Getty Images
Dr. Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom and Bernard and Barbara Lomas fellow, told Blaze News, “This has been a hugely successful summit for President Trump and a demonstration of real U.S. leadership on the world stage — a dramatic difference to the weak-kneed Biden presidency.”
At one point, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte even praised Trump for striking Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.
“I just want to recognize your decisive action in Iran. You are a man of strength, but you are also a man of peace. The fact that you are now also successful in getting this ceasefire done between Israel and Iran, I really want to commend you for it. And I think this is important for the whole world,” Rutte told Trump on Wednesday.
Rutte also credited Trump for securing substantial defense-spending increases to 5% of GDP.
“Without President Trump, this would not have happened,” he remarked.
RELATED: Canada’s solution to reliance on US? Increasing commitments in Europe
U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
During a Wednesday afternoon press conference in the Netherlands, Trump reported that his NATO allies were “so respectful” toward him. He celebrated the increased defense-spending commitments from the ally countries.
“I left here saying that these people really love their countries. It’s not a rip-off, and we’re here to help them protect their countries,” Trump said.
The only conflict Trump expressed was with Spain, the only country that refused to commit to the defense-spending targets. He vowed to negotiate “directly with Spain” on a trade deal, adding that it would have to “pay twice as much” to make up the “unfair” difference in defense spending.
Trump also confirmed that he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who he stated “couldn’t have been nicer” to him.
Trump mentioned that he and Zelenskyy had previously experienced some “rough times,” likely referring to the tense exchange he and Vice President JD Vance had with the Ukrainian president earlier this year at the White House.
Trump remarked that he had a “good meeting with Zelenskyy” at this week’s NATO summit, adding that Zelenskyy and Putin would like to see an end to the ongoing war.
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News, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Nato summit, Nato, Defense, Defense spending, Mark rutte, Volodymyr zelenskyy, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrain russia war, Politics
Former Trump ambassador sets his sights on flipping key Senate seat
Former Republican Senator Scott Brown (Mass.) has now set his sights on a new political endeavor to boost the GOP’s presence on Capitol Hill.
Brown previously represented Massachusetts in the Senate and served as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during President Donald Trump’s first term. Brown announced Wednesday that he intends to continue his political career by taking back a New Hampshire Senate seat and replacing retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
‘Chris Pappas wants a better title. I want a better America.’
RELATED: Republicans presented with Senate pickup opportunity as Democrat announces retirement
Photo by Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Brown is the most high-profile Republican to enter the race after former GOP Gov. Chris Sununu decided not to run for the seat. As things stand now, Brown is likely to face off against Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire.
“Like a lot of you, I’m worried about where this country is headed,” Brown said in his announcement Wednesday. “New Hampshire is an amazing place to live, work, and raise a family. … But in Washington, we haven’t been represented by the right people.
“I’m running for the United States Senate to restore common sense, keep our border secure, and fight for our New Hampshire values,” Brown wrote in a Wednesday post on X. “Chris Pappas wants a better title. I want a better America.”
RELATED: The reasons Democrats won’t learn a thing from 2024
Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Although both of New Hampshire’s Senate seats have been held by Democrats for the last few election cycles, this race is not a long shot for Republicans.
New Hampshire has consistently elected Republican governors since 2016, and the GOP has maintained a majority in the state Senate. Democrats have held on and won the state for the past six elections, but by increasingly narrow margins. With a strong GOP presence in the state, it’s very possible that Republicans could take back and flip another key Senate seat.
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Chris sununu, New hampshire, Scott brown, Donald trump, Senate republicans, Senate democrats, Swing state, Swing seat, Jeanne shaheen, Chris pappas, Congress, Politics
Newsom’s ‘spirit of darkness’: How this ministry is showing Los Angeles the light
Two weeks into the pandemic, founder of the Dream Center in Los Angeles Matthew Barnett was driving through the empty streets when California’s lockdown policy was announced.
“They said only essential workers can come and be involved with whatever they need to do, and I thought to myself, and I did the calculation,” Barnett tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.” “We’ve given probably about $1.2 billion of aid to the community over the years, and so I just kind of deemed myself to be an essential worker.”
“So, just kind of blindly and just smiling, I just showed up and said, ‘We’re going to feed people.’ And people started showing up and putting stuff in people’s cars, and everyone’s like, ‘You can’t be doing this. They can’t be doing this,’” he continues.
“It kind of blew up, went viral all across the country, and people started showing up, and even some of the same politicians that told you not to do it, they were like, ‘I think I need to go down and get a photo op,’” he explains.
Through doing this, Barnett noticed that there was a “culture of fear,” and most people were terrified.
And some of them had a right to be afraid, particularly the children in the housing projects whose social workers were no longer allowed to check in on them due to COVID policies.
That’s when the Dream Center took over for them — and what they saw in the name of safety was anything but safe.
“We saw kids joining gangs at a higher rate. We saw kids hungry. We saw a lot of pedophiles in the community that were taking advantage of them being home every single day. We saw food programs that were shut down to help the kids in the school system,” he tells Stuckey.
“So many policies — COVID policies, law enforcement policies, drug policies — are done in the name of compassion. They say that they are the ones that are actually helping the marginalized and the truly vulnerable,” Stuckey comments.
Barnett recalls one of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s comments regarding those “compassionate” drug policies that helped him realize there was no relying on the government to truly help those in need.
“One of the most discouraging statements ever made by our governor is when he said, ‘It’s irresponsible or reckless to think that somebody can truly live sober,’” he tells Stuckey.
“When I heard that comment, I’m like, we’ve given up, we have no belief that people can change, we have no belief that people can escape darkness,” he continues. “It was almost like something that was said that came from the spirit of darkness.”
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New ‘Superman’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ face fearsome foe: Audience fatigue
This July, Earth’s greatest heroes meet their most formidable foe yet … an indifferent audience.
At least, that’s the worry as DC and Marvel go head-to-head for summer blockbuster season’s main event: Disney’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” vs. Warner Bros.’ “Superman.”
To be fair, Garner’s character is canonical — she plays Shalla-Bal, the female successor to OG Silver Surfer Norrin Rad. It still feels like Marvel is up to its old tricks.
Does the fate of the world hang in the balance? No, but the fate of Hollywood might.
After years of alienating moviegoers by prioritizing leftist virtue-signaling over entertainment, the industry hopes to put people back in the seats next month with some good, old-fashioned tentpole crowd-pleasers. And what better to lure them in than two big-budget exemplars of the genre that has dominated the multiplex for the better part of two decades?
Except that audiences have been showing signs of superhero fatigue in the last few years, raising worries that this much-ballyhooed showdown may turn out to be box office Kryptonite.
‘Superman’ (July 11)
When Warner Bros. hired James Gunn as co-head of DC Studios, the announcement was met with mixed feelings.
While many were excited for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” director to dip his toes in the world of DC after the successes of “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker,” some feared his signature humor and style would be a turnoff to mainstream audiences. Emotions on both sides intensified when Gunn announced he would be writing and directing the first movie of the post-Zack Snyder DCEU, “Superman.”
Newcomer David Corenswet takes the reins from Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel, with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, a leading member of the Green Lantern Corps.
RELATED: The fast track to collapse: How AI and wokeness are speeding up Hollywood’s downfall
David McNew/Getty Images
Multiple trailers have led to plenty of speculation — and with it, sparring. Detractors cite poorly received test screenings, as well as unconfirmed rumors that the plot revolves around Lex Luthor using social media to garner hate for Superman with the hashtag “#Supers**t.”
One thing seems certain: Whatever some fans find to criticize about the new “Superman,” it won’t be political pandering. Having himself felt the wrath of cancel culture, Gunn seems dead set on appealing to as wide an audience as possible.
Commenting on the film’s first teaser trailer, which features shots of a bruised and battle-weary hero, Gunn said,
We do have a battered Superman in the beginning. That is our country. … I believe in the goodness of human beings, and I believe that most people in this country, despite their ideological beliefs, their politics, are doing their best to get by and be good people — despite what it may seem like to the other side, no matter what that other side might be.
This movie is about that. It’s about the basic kindness of human beings and that it can be seen as uncool and under siege [by] some of the darker voices [and] some of the louder voices.”
Considering how vocal Gunn has been about his disdain for Donald Trump in the past, it’s refreshing to see the director offer signs that his movie will let viewers leave their differences at the door.
Fans of this new take have praised the performances, bright color palette, and a tone that feels more in line with the iconic 1978 Christopher Reeve-led “Superman.” Will “Superman” save the industry? Strong pre-ticket sales suggest it has enough wind under its cape to soar well above Hollywood’s expectations.
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ (July 25)
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” looks to continue the goodwill earned by this spring’s “Thunderbolts*,” which opened to high praise from audiences and critics alike despite disappointing box office.
After underwhelming iterations of Marvel’s first family in 2005 and 2015 (the less said about the unreleased 1994 version, the better), the studio is hoping the third time’s the charm.
Starring Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman/Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch/Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing/Ben Grimm, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” features the team going up against one of Marvel’s most feared villains: Galactus, the devourer of worlds.
If that will appease traditionalists, the gender-swapping of beloved Marvel mainstay the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) is bound to raise eyebrows — and attract more sniping at the “M-SHE-U.”
To be fair, Garner’s character is canonical — she plays Shalla-Bal, the female successor to OG Silver Surfer Norrin Rad. Point taken, but it still feels like Marvel is up to its old tricks.
Comments by producer Grant Curtis earlier this month certainly don’t help matters.
“If you do go back through the comics,” said Curtis, “you realize that Sue Storm is arguably the leader of the Fantastic Four, because without Sue Storm, everything falls apart.”
Many fans will be quick to point out the obvious: Mr. Fantastic has always been portrayed as the leader, with Invisible Woman taking on a more motherly role. For his part, however, Pedro Pascal doesn’t seem to mind being sidelined. In fact, he seems to welcome it.
I love being led in a way. What you may identify as generosity for me, it just isn’t. I’m only inspired by … I guess just powerful women have been the thing that has gotten me through being alive. So to have the opportunity to stand by one, to learn from one — just a partner, it’s partnership; it’s male and female, but it’s also just a kind of transcendent sort of partnership in the work and in the characters. And so I don’t really know what the f**k I’m gonna do without you [Vanessa] honestly,”.
In addition to flaunting his “male feminist” bona fides (and giving fans the “ick” with his awkward shows of affection toward Kirby), Pascal has also drawn negative attention with his outspokenness on immigration policy. None of this has won over those for whom Pascal is simply and profoundly miscast as Reed Richards.
Worse, rumors that stars including Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christopher Abbott, and Jamie Dornan passed on the role before it went to Pascal suggest that it’s the script’s revisionist portrayal of Mr. Fantastic that is the problem — despite director Matt Shakman’s insistence that he has looked to the original comics for inspiration.
That inspiration is certainly evident in the film’s setting, a futuristic 1960s alternate reality that nicely pays homage to the original vision of “Fantastic Four” creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Pascal aside, the casting of “Fantastic Four” promises a satisfying adaptation, as does the comic-book-accurate appearance of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) — a far cry from the cloud-like space cluster depicted in 2007 sequel “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
While “First Steps’” pre-sales trail behind those of “Superman,” they’re impressive enough for Marvel to be optimistic.
Of course, no amount of hype, armchair producing, or post-credits “Avengers: Doomsday” teases can turn either of these movies into a hit. That power remains squarely with us: the audience.
In that spirit, which of these two movies are you looking forward to seeing? Or will you be forgoing superheroics altogether in favor of the seventh “Jurassic Park” movie? Let us know in the comments below.
Summer movie season, Blockbuster, Film business, Showbiz, Culture, Pedro pascal, Marvel, Disney, Dc, Comic books, Fantastic four: first steps, Superman, James gunn, Entertainment
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All-female college that allows males, illegal immigrants gets hit with Title IX complaint
A Title IX complaint was submitted against Smith College, an all-girls school in Northampton, Massachusetts, that openly allows biological males to enroll in its programs.
Activist group Defending Education filed the complaint over alleged discrimination by the school on the basis of sex in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
The group made the allegations on behalf of “parents and students throughout the country” and pointed to specific policies from Smith College that state males can apply to the school so long as they identify as women.
‘Smith has relegated women to second class citizens.’
According to Defending Education, Smith College has admitted males since 2015 and maintains “all gender” bathrooms and locker rooms.
In its formal complaint, DE alleges Smith College’s policy on “Gender Identity and Expression” indicates that “every single occupancy restroom on campus is designated all-gender.”
The college also allegedly advertises its Health & Wellness Center as providing “trans-affirming primary care, including hormone therapy.”
On the school’s admissions page, the Frequently Asked Questions portion explains that the women’s college “considers for admission any applicants who self-identify as women; cis, trans, and nonbinary women are eligible to apply to Smith.”
RELATED: Simone Biles signals defeat in feud with Riley Gaines on trans athletes
Smith College made headlines in May when it invited Admiral Rachel Levine to speak at commencement and awarded him an honorary degree.
Levine is a man who believes he is a woman and was the assistant secretary for health under President Joe Biden between 2021 and 2025. The admiral appeared in the school’s promo video for the 2025 commencement, where he is heard saying that he was “excited to watch” the students “make history.”
Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president of Defending Education, told Blaze News that by treating sex and gender identity the same, “Smith has relegated women to second-class citizens.”
Perry also pointed to alleged “bias” teams at Smith, which she said are “incredibly effective in getting students to self-censor” about the issue.
RELATED: Meet the ‘queer’ radicals who secretly send kids sex-change kits
Smith also openly advocates for “undocumented” students at the school and says “SAT or ACT scores are optional” for applicants.
Illegal immigrant students are allowed to apply under any admission plan at Smith, and the school is even willing to foot the bill.
“Smith meets 100% of the demonstrated need of all admitted students who apply for financial aid by the published deadlines,” the school writes. Therefore, by the school’s own words, it provides funding to illegal alien students using a form of “need-based financial aid,” as opposed to a traditional student loan process.
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News, Women’s only, Smith college, Transgenderism, Women’s rights, Woke, Politics
FBI launches criminal probes into 3 children’s hospitals over child sex changes: Report
The medical advocacy group Do No Harm has in recent years worked with health care professionals, hospital administrators, patients, and policymakers to combat DEI-branded racism and gender ideology in the field of medicine.
In order to better tackle the second of these two scourges, the organization launched the Stop the Harm Database in October, identifying hospitals and medical facilities around the country that were subjecting vulnerable children to sex-change mutilations and sterilizing chemical treatments.
The FBI has launched criminal probes into three of the apparent worst offenders in the database — Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles — a source familiar with the investigations told Fox News Digital this week.
FBI Director Kash Patel appeared to signal that the anonymous source’s claim was legitimate by retweeting a post on X regarding the investigations.
The Stop the Harm Database indicated that Boston Children’s Hospital has offered sex-change treatments to patients ages 3 to 25 through its Gender Multispeciality Service; performed 204 sex-change surgeries between 2017 and 2020; offered vaginoplasty surgeries to 17-year-old patients without parental consent; and dished out sterilizing hormone and puberty blocker drugs to hundreds of patients.
Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora has long offered puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors. The hospital also allegedly billed for sex-change surgeries in previous years but announced in 2023 that its practice of genital mutilation was coming to an end. However, the hospital’s practice of dishing out sterilizing chemicals continued.
RELATED: Sacrificing body parts and informed consent to the sex-change regime
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel. Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
The Colorado hospital temporarily paused its nonsurgical child-related “gender-affirming medical treatments” earlier this year in the wake of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 28 executive order directing all federal agencies to ensure that medical institutions receiving federal funding “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” However, it subsequently resumed the practice after the president’s order was challenged in court.
The Colorado hospital’s TRUE Center for Gender Diversity does not identify a minimum age for sex-change treatments on its website, instead claiming that “gender-affirming care does not look the same for everyone.”
‘Each of them is listed on our Dirty Dozen list of worst-offending children’s hospitals promoting sex-change treatments for minors.’
According to the Stop the Harm Database, the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles boasted patients as old as 25 and as young as 3 and billed millions of dollars for hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sex-change mutilations for minors.
The Los Angeles Times recently indicated that the center currently has over 3,000 patients.
The L.A. center’s medical director, Johanna Olson-Kennedy, is a gender ideologue who publicly argued against the need for psychological assessments for sex-change mutilations; allegedly provided sex-change hormones to kids as young as 12 and referred little girls as young as 13 for double mastectomies; and covered up the results of a years-long study concerning the efficacy of puberty blockers, which revealed kids’ depression symptoms and emotional health “did not change significantly over 24 months” of being on puberty blockers.
Thanks in large part to Trump’s executive order, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is shuttering its sex-change center, effective July 22.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The FBI is looking at the hospitals for possible violations of 18 U.S.C. § 116, which prohibits female genital mutilation on minors.
Attorney General Pam Bondi noted in an April 22 memo that pursuant to Trump’s executive order “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” she was directing all Department of Justice employees “to enforce rigorous protections and hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable children and their parents.”
“I am putting medical practitioners, hospitals, and clinics on notice: In the United States, it is a felony to perform, attempt to perform, or conspire to perform female genital mutilation on any person under the age of 18. That crime carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years per count,” wrote Bondi. “I am directing all U.S. Attorneys to investigate all suspected cases of FGM — under the banner of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ or otherwise — and to prosecute all FGM offenses to the fullest extent possible.”
It’s abundantly clear from the documents leaked last year from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the landmark Cass Review in the United Kingdom, and other penetrating studies that so-called gender-affirming care is a ruinous practice based on bogus claims that does not help but rather harms vulnerable patients.
Hospitals still suggesting otherwise could also find themselves in trouble. After all, Bondi indicated in her memo that the DOJ would investigate medical providers that “mislead the public about the long-term side effects of chemical and surgical mutilations.”
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman at Do No Harm, told Blaze News in a statement, “We applaud Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI for launching criminal investigations into these hospitals. Children’s hospitals should be places where sick children can receive high-quality and evidence-based care, not laboratories where activist doctors experiment on kids. Sadly, this is what we have seen at many medical centers around the country.”
“Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles are ripe targets for investigation, which is why each of them is listed on our Dirty Dozen list of worst-offending children’s hospitals promoting sex-change treatments for minors,” continued Goldfarb. “We look forward to working with the Justice Department and its new Coalition Against Child Mutilation to identify and hold accountable other children’s hospitals that are inflicting irreversible harm on minors.”
Fox News Digital indicated that Children’s Hospital Los Angeles did not respond to its requests for comment; that Boston Children’s said it has yet to receive notice from the FBI concerning alleged criminal violations; that Children’s Hospital Colorado claimed it “never” provided sex-change surgeries to patients under 18; and that the FBI noted that as a matter of policy, it “declines to confirm or comment on investigations.”
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Fbi, Bureau, Sex change, Child sex change, Transition, Transgender, Transvestite, Gender ideology, Mutilation, Patel, Boston children’s hospital, Children’s hospital colorado, Children’s hospital los angeles, Politics
Steve Deace vs. Big Tech censorship — the battle everyone should be following
One of the keys to success in digital content creation is mastering search engine optimization — a powerful strategy that boosts a creator’s visibility. SEO involves using targeted keywords in video titles, descriptions, and tags, along with engaging thumbnails and captions, to help search engines like Google and YouTube rank content higher in search results, driving more viewers to discover it.
Here’s how it works: A YouTuber films a cooking video demonstrating a pasta recipe. To reach a wider audience, she applies SEO by crafting a keyword-rich title and description with phrases like “easy dinner ideas” and “quick pasta dish” and adding relevant tags to her video. If she does this well, she increases her video’s chances of ranking higher in YouTube search results, attracting more viewers in a competitive digital landscape.
But what happens when Big Tech shadow cabals in collaboration with federal entities decide to erect virtual barriers that prevent certain topics from appearing on search result pages — regardless of how adeptly the creator used SEO and other content-optimizing digital tools?
BlazeTV host Steve Deace has been living out the reality of that question for years.
Topics — especially “controversial” ones — YouTube, Apple iTunes, and Google have deemed problematic are quietly buried under an avalanche of other content. This censorship has been happening for years, so conservative content creators got smarter and found loopholes around the algorithms by avoiding key words and phrases they knew would be flagged and squashed.
However, Big Tech companies are now “transcribing everything that’s said on podcasts,” meaning creators cannot avoid the consequences of discussing forbidden topics.
“So let’s pretend we spend an entire entire show just debunking the demonic ideology of transgenderism, but we market it in a way that it says nothing about trans in order to try to get around the algorithm. Well, now that they’re transcribing that for us, we can’t get around that,” says producer Aaron McIntire.
Creators can appeal YouTube’s decision to demonetize their show, but success is rare. “There’s basically no recourse whatsoever,” says Aaron.
“I would venture a guess we are the largest show in America with by far the most anemic YouTube traffic,” says Steve. “They’re making it so we can’t connect with our audiences, and if we can’t connect with you, we can’t hit the numbers we want to get the monetization we need to keep even doing this at all.”
Steve has been battling Big Tech censorship behind the scenes for years now. Recently, however, his fight experienced a new development when he contacted First Liberty — “the leading constitutional conservative political advocacy organization in the country” — which determined that Steve, indeed, had grounds to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
To hear where Steve is at in the process of fighting Big Tech censorship, watch the episode above.
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Steve deace show, Steve deace, Big tech, Big tech censorship, Meta, Google, Facebook, Youtube, Youtube censorship, Google censorship, Blazetv, Blaze media, First liberty
Whoopi’s warped I-rant leaves ‘The View’ co-hosts speechless
“The View” co-hosts Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin now know how the rest of us feel.
Audiences have endured an endless string of fake news stories, crazed conspiracies, and more from the toxic ABC News product.
The scariest part for tomorrow’s filmmakers? ‘A Better Tomorrow’ required just 30 people to complete.
We roll our eyes, laugh, and stare agape, wondering why the top brass isn’t ashamed to put the network’s name on the product.
Haines and Griffin must be numb to it all, enduring it five days a week while the paychecks keep clearing. Last week, however, Whoopi Goldberg’s commentary proved too much for even them.
The trouble began with the panel debating the latest Israeli attacks on Iran and the prospect of the U.S. entering the fray. That led to this bewildering exchange between Goldberg and Griffin.
Griffin began by explaining how the human rights abuses in Iran are far worse than what citizens face in the U.S. It’s a “the sky is blue” comment, except uber-patriot Goldberg disagreed.
GOLDBERG: We’ve been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car!
FARAH GRIFFIN: I’m sorry, but where the Iranian regime is today is nothing compared to the United States!
GOLDBERG: Listen, I’m sorry! They used to just keep hanging black people!
FARAH GRIFFIN: It’s not even the same! I couldn’t step foot wearing this outfit in Iran right now … I think it’s very different to live in the United States in 2025 than it is in Iran.
GOLDBERG: Not if you’re black!
HOSTIN: Not for everybody!
GOLDBERG: Not if you’re black!
Haines jumped in, trying to bring sanity to the discussion, but Goldberg wouldn’t budge.
This really happened on a major television network, not a YouTube channel with 25 indifferent subscribers …
RELATED: The best destinations for celebrities fleeing the Donald Trump regime
Anadolu/Kevin Mazur/Getty Imagesed
China’s ‘Better’ AI bet
U.S.-based film studios are treading carefully vis-à-vis AI. Very carefully.
They don’t want to be seen as pushing digital creativity over human inspiration, and the recent industry strikes offered limited protections for cast and crew against the AI revolution.
China has no such compunctions.
In fact, the China Film Foundation recently announced two new AI-driven projects: the restoration of 100 martial arts films and the first completely AI-produced animated film: “A Better Tomorrow: Cyber Border.”
The scariest part for tomorrow’s filmmakers? “A Better Tomorrow” required just 30 people to complete. Now, recall watching any MCU film and seeing the waves of names floating by during the end credits.
It’s no wonder Hollywood is very, very nervous …
‘Mega’ millions
Find a spouse who will love you as much as Francis Ford Coppola loves “Megalopolis.” The auteur’s 2024 film earned rough reviews and an even worse commercial drubbing. It’s still Coppola’s baby, despite it costing him tens of millions.
Literally.
With a box office tally of only $14 million, the Mega-flop didn’t come close to making back its estimated $120 million budget — most of which came from the “Apocalypse Now” director’s own pockets. That’s commitment, and his relationship with the film is far from over.
Coppola has yanked “Megalopolis” from its brief VOD platform run and refuses to let the movie be shown on streaming platforms or Blu-ray. Instead, he’s about to start a limited U.S. tour where he’ll screen the film and provide post-movie commentary.
We’ll know it’s true love if he announces a sequel during the tour …
Lane’s gay panic
Thoughts and prayers go out to Nathan Lane. He just caught a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome.
The TV/film/Broadway actor is currently appearing in “Mid-Century Modern,” Hulu’s new gay sitcom. Lane is proud of the show but fears it could come to a crashing halt at any point. Is he worried about low ratings or disinterested Hulu executives? Perhaps the show’s budget is too expensive for the streamer?
No. He thinks Orange Man Bad might make it disappear.
“Is it going to change any minds? I don’t know about that. Trump, if he knew we were on the air, would probably try to shut it down, come after Hulu. But I think it’s a great thing to have right now, in the midst of books being banned and, ‘Don’t say this and don’t say gay and don’t do that.’ I think it’s a perfect time for a show like this.”
Maybe Lane should press Scott Bessent about his fears. Bessent is Trump’s treasury secretary, an openly gay man. He seems quite happy to be where is he today. Can Lane say the same?
Whoopi goldberg, The view, Entertainment, Culture, Donald trump, Trump derangement syndrome, Nathan lane, Scott bessent, Hollywood, Ai, China, Toto recall
Can artificial intelligence help us want better, not just more?
The notification chimes. Another algorithmically selected product appears in your feed, something you never knew you wanted until this moment. You pause, finger hovering over the “buy now” button. Is this truly what you desire or just what the algorithm has decided you should want?
We’re standing at a fascinating turning point in human history. Our most advanced technologies — often criticized for trapping us in cycles of shallow wants and helpless determinism — could offer us unprecedented freedom to rediscover what we truly desire. “Agentic AI” — those systems that can perceive, decide, and act on their own toward goals — isn’t just another tech advancement. It might actually liberate our attention and intention.
Rather than passively accepting AI’s influence, we can actively shape AI systems to reflect and enhance our deeply held values.
So what exactly is agentic AI? Think of it not just as a fancy calculator or clever chatbot, but as a digital entity with real independence.
These systems perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions with significant autonomy. They learn from experiences, adapt to new information on the fly, and pursue complex goals without our constant direction. Self-driving cars navigate busy streets, trading algorithms make split-second financial decisions, and research systems discover scientific principles on their own.
These aren’t just tools any more. They’re becoming independent actors in our world.
To understand this shift, I want to introduce you to two key thinkers: Marshall McLuhan, who famously said “the medium is the message,” and René Girard, who revealed how we tend to want what others want — a phenomenon he called “mimetic desire.” Through their insights, we can see how agentic AI works as both a medium and a mediator, reshaping our reality while influencing what we desire. If we understand how agentic AI will continue to shape our world, we can maintain our agency in a world increasingly shaped by technological advances.
McLuhan: AI as medium
McLuhan showed us that technology’s structure, scale, and speed shape our consciousness more profoundly than whatever content it carries. The railway didn’t just introduce transportation; it created entirely new kinds of cities and work.
Similarly, agentic AI isn’t just another tool. It’s becoming an evolving environment whose very existence transforms us.
McLuhan offers the example of electric light. It had no “content” in the conventional sense, yet it utterly reshaped human existence by eliminating darkness. Agentic AI similarly restructures our world through its core qualities: autonomy, adaptability, and goal-directedness. We aren’t just using agentic AI; we’re increasingly living inside its operational logic, an environment where non-human intelligence shapes our decisions, actions, and realities.
Neil Postman, who built on McLuhan’s work, reminds us that while media environments powerfully shape us, we aren’t just passive recipients: “Media ecology looks into how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value.” By understanding these effects, we can maintain our agency within them. We can be active readers of the message rather than just being written by it.
One big impact is on how we make sense of the world. As agentic AI increasingly filters, interprets, and generates information, it becomes a powerful participant in constructing our reality. The challenge is maintaining shared reality while technology increasingly forges siloed, personalized worlds. While previous technological advances contributed to this siloing, AI offers the possibility of connectivity. Walter Ong’s concept of “secondary orality” suggests AI might help create new forms of connection that overcome the isolating aspects of earlier digital technologies.
Girard: AI as mediator of desire
While McLuhan helps us understand how agentic AI reshapes our perception, René Girard offers a framework for understanding how it reshapes what we want.
Girard’s theory of mimetic desire suggests that human desire is rarely spontaneous. Instead, we learn what to want by imitating others — our “models.” This creates a triangle: us, the model we imitate, and the object of desire.
Now, imagine agentic AI entering this dynamic. If human history has been a story of desire mediated by parents, peers, and advertisements, agentic AI is becoming a significant new mediator in our digital landscape. Its ability to learn our preferences, predict our behavior, and present curated choices makes it an influential model, continuously shaping our aspirations.
RELATED: If AI isn’t built for freedom, it will be programmed for control
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Peter Thiel, who studied under Girard at Stanford, suggests awareness of these dynamics can lead to more authentic choices. “The most successful businesses come from unique, non-mimetic insights,” Thiel observes. By recognizing how AI systems influence our desires, we can more consciously choose which influences to embrace and which to question, moving toward greater authenticity.
Look at recommendation engines, the precursors to full-blown agentic AI. They already operate on Girardian principles by showing us what others have bought or liked, making those items more desirable to us. Agentic AI takes this farther. Through its autonomous actions and pursuit of goals, it can demonstrate desirability.
The key question becomes: Is your interest in a hobby, conviction about an issue, or lifestyle aspiration truly your own? And more importantly, can you tell the difference, and does it matter if it brings you genuine fulfillment?
A collaborative future
The convergence of AI as both medium and mediator creates unprecedented possibilities for human-AI partnership.
Andrew Feenberg’s critical theory of technology offers a constructive path forward. He argues that technologies aren’t neutral tools but are laden with values. However, he rejects technological determinism, emphasizing that these values can be redesigned through what he calls “democratic rationalization,” the process by which users reshape technologies to better reflect their values.
“Technology is not destiny but a scene of struggle,” Feenberg writes. “It is a social battlefield on which civilizational alternatives are debated and decided.” Rather than passively accepting AI’s influence, we can actively shape AI systems to reflect and enhance our deeply held values.
This vision requires thoughtful design guided by human wisdom. The same capabilities that could liberate us could create more sophisticated traps. The difference lies not in the technology itself but in the values and intentions that shape its development. By drawing on insights from McLuhan, Girard, Postman, Ong, Thiel, Feenberg, and others, we can approach this evolving medium not with fear or passive acceptance, but with creative engagement.
The future of agentic AI isn’t predetermined. It’s ours to shape as a technology that enhances rather than diminishes our humanity, that serves as a partner rather than a master in our ongoing quest for meaning, connection, and flourishing.
Opinion & analysis, Artificial intelligence, Marshall mcluhan, Agentic ai, Mimetic desire, René girard, Medium is the message, Peter thiel, Silicon valley, China, Freedom, Control
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