During his Wednesday address in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV reflected on his recent four-day apostolic visit to France, noting that there is an unmistakable “renewal” underway in the formerly majority-Catholic nation.

While some Catholics are excited over the prospect that the same country that waded into the modern age through the blood of Catholic clerics and lay people might now be returning to the faith, radical leftists and a Muslim activist group are alternatively panicking.

‘The American Catholics will now flood the world with their soft power.’

‘Rebirth’

The Roman pontiff claimed in his address on Wednesday that the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris “can symbolically shed light on this entire Apostolic Journey, offering a perspective that I would summarize in one word: rebirth.”

The cathedral, which was gutted centuries ago by French revolutionaries and again in April 2019 by a devastating fire, “has been rebuilt and is more splendid than ever,” said the pope. “That disaster sparked a positive reaction at every level, some more visible and practical, others more hidden and of a spiritual nature.”

The pope noted that the cathedral is but the “image of the Church made up of living stones, of the holy people of God.”

Having observed the French come out to Mass en masse, the pope proclaimed, “This is the true reconstruction, the restoration of the Church that only God can bring about, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.”

RELATED: Pope tells Europeans to start having more babies, partly faults apostasy for demographic collapse

Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media/Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Over 80,000 young people packed the Stade de France stadium north of Paris for a prayer vigil with the pope on Friday; an estimated 700,000 people joined Pope Leo for Mass on Saturday in the center of Paris where Louis XVI was guillotined; and over 150,000 people joined the pope for Mass in Lourdes on Sunday.

Corentin Dugast, the French author who goes by “Un Homme Catholique” online, told the National Catholic Register that the pope’s visit helped “put a lasting end to the timidity surrounding the faith, particularly among bishops, who sometimes seem afraid of their own shadow and reluctant to proclaim the gospel when it challenges the world.”

While there was clearly widespread enthusiasm over his visit, Pope Leo — who on Monday emphasized that “one cannot speak of Europe without mentioning Christianity” — noted that signs of Catholic renewal in France predated his visit and have been “evident for some years now, namely the remarkable and growing number of young people and adults seeking baptism.”

Whereas 4,278 adults were baptized in 2022, 13,234 adults and 8,152 teenagers were baptized at Easter this year, according to the French Bishops’ Conference.

Opposition

The usual suspects have begun fretting about France’s potential return to its ancient faith.

Someone from Miséricorde pour l’Humanité France, an Islamic propaganda outfit that targets traditional Catholics, for one described feeling “sad,” “helpless,” and apparently resigned that “France will become Catholic again.”

According to an X translation, Miséricorde pour l’Humanité France complained on the first day of the pope’s visit to France, “I feel sad when I see all this fervor surrounding Catholicism; I’ve been predicting this for years, and I feel like a CIA agent helplessly witnessing the return of the Soviet Union. In 45 years, France will become Catholic again, and we’ll be left with nothing but our tears.”

“I’m a good sport, nevertheless the Catholics are much better organized, as well as more determined, than us Muslims and even than the Zionists; you have to know how to recognize the strength of the Catholic international,” the Muslim group member continued. “The American Catholics will now flood the world with their soft power, to the detriment of both Muslim spiritual hegemony in Western Europe and the Zionist lobby.”

Charlie Hebdo, the satirical publication whose Paris office was targeted in a 2015 Muslim terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 17 people, also lamented some of the images out of the pope’s visit.

Deputy editor Jean-Loup Adenor concern-mongered during a recent TV panel discussion about the sight of Catholics engaged in the sacrament of confession on the streets of Paris during the pope’s visit. According to a Google translation of his remarks, Adenor said, “When I see confessors hearing people’s confessions — my reflex is to recoil.”

Adenor — whose publication routinely mocks Christ, Christianity, and the Catholic Church without consequence — noted further that he feels the need to strip away “the mystique” of the pope and “bring him down to earth,” in part because Pope Leo “is someone capable of mobilizing Catholics in a country like France — a country where religious engagement is often a battleground, and where politics and faith intersect.”

RELATED: Five standout denunciations and warnings in Pope Leo XIV’s new papal encyclical

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The so-called National Federation of Freethought advanced the suggestions that the pope’s visit was a “violation of international law” and that “only lackeys and compulsive kneelers refuse to see that this is clearly a religious and pastoral visit intended to glorify and exalt the Catholic faith.”

The radical organization also complained about the predominantly Catholic private education system’s receipt of public education funds; the pope’s condemnation of euthanasia; and supposed violations of the codified separation of church and state.

French news outlet Le Monde decided the pope’s visit was an opportune time to frame the Catholic faith’s resurgence in France as a potential problem, primarily because of its rightist support.

After noting that “bishops and priests are now witnessing a distinct resurgence of interest across their dioceses and parishes” and pointing out that “churches in working-class neighborhoods [are] filling up again on Sundays,” Le Monde’s Sarah Belouezzane pushed an anonymous priest’s claim that “a more political form of Catholicism exists today — and is increasingly prevalent, particularly on the right.”

Le Monde warned that while there are progressive forces within the Church, there are also “highly conservative — or even reactionary — forces aligned with the ideas of certain politicians seeking to promote the concept of an ‘eternal France’ (inherently white and Catholic).”

While the Catholic Church appears to be enjoying a comeback in France, it has a long way to go given only 29% of the urban population identifies as Catholic, according to National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies data from 2020.

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​Catholic, Christianity, Faith, France, Leftist, Muslim, Politics, Pope leo xiv, Revival, Secular 

Online scams are getting more sophisticated, with attackers using AI to manipulate their voices on phone calls, change their faces on video chats, and write more convincing messages. To help combat the growing threat, Apple brought a new scam-busting feature to iOS 27 called Impersonation Risk Detection.

Impersonation Risk Detection monitors the actions you take within apps to identify red flags that indicate you are about to become the victim of a scam or online attack.

Social engineering schemes were among the most reported crimes in 2025, with more than $7 billion in total losses.

It specifically targets social engineering threats, or scams where cybercriminals trick users into handing over personal data. These are usually carried out through phishing attempts and baiting via personal interactions, making them impervious to typical security measures, like passkeys or two-factor authentication, since you are divulging your information directly to the hacker.

To make a social engineering attack work, the cybercriminal has to engage with his target — usually through emails, messages, or phone calls — and convince the target to take action that compromises his data or security. It may sound unrealistic, but according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report, social engineering schemes were among the most reported crimes in 2025, with more than $7 billion in total losses.

Scammers may reach out as a bank employee, claiming that your account was hacked and that they need your information to secure it. Or they might pose as a member of the government, claiming you have unpaid parking tickets or owe back taxes to the IRS. In the worst-case scenario, they’ll pretend to be a family member in a dangerous situation and in desperate need of money.

These are the types of engagements that Impersonation Risk Detection is built to detect and thwart.

According to Apple, the company can analyze “interaction patterns, timing, context, and basic sensor data” on your device to determine if and when scams like these are about to take place. Now, Apple doesn’t explain exactly how its threat algorithm works, but it promises that this “information is analyzed on-device, so Apple never receives the data used to generate the risk level.”

Furthermore, Apple claims it won’t snoop on the content in your most personal apps, like Messages, Mail, and Photos. It’s primarily searching for isolated problematic interactions with other users you talk to online, whether that’s a friend or a complete stranger.

RELATED: Social media scams are up 700%. Here’s how to stay safe.

Media Trading Ltd/Getty Images

There are a couple more caveats to consider before you activate Impersonation Risk Detection:

By enabling the feature, you give developers access to your risk threat level, as determined by Apple. Again, Apple claims that threats are measured on-device, and developers never actually see the analyzed data — they only receive the final risk threat level itself. Still, having your interactions scanned and measured may be too intrusive for some.Apps must support Impersonation Risk Detection before they can warn you there’s a problem. That means there will be some apps on your phone that don’t have this feature, at least for several months. That said, as more third-party apps receive their annual iOS compatibility updates, most of your apps should be supported soon.

If you’re okay with these, proceed to the next step.

To enable Impersonation Risk Detection, simply open the Settings app, scroll down, and select Privacy & Security. Once inside, scroll to the bottom and tap on Impersonation Risk Detection. Switch the toggle to the green active position, and you’re all set.

Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27/Zach Laidlaw

Your phone will now monitor your app activity for potential social engineering threats. Updates will appear in the Recent Activity section beneath the toggle, listed under one of three categories:

Unknown signals that no malicious activity was detected within a recent app interaction.Medium means that some malicious activity was detected. Proceed with caution.High indicates that a significant degree of malicious activity was detected. You should refrain from further interactions.

There’s a clear trade-off to Impersonation Risk Detection. On one hand, it’s a useful tool that can point out potential scams and stop them before they become a problem. On the other hand, you may not trust Apple to monitor your activity and share the results with app developers. Only you can decide if one risk is worth the outcome.

Impersonation Risk Detection is only available on iPhones running iOS 27. To upgrade, find the Software Update section in General within the Settings app and download the latest version. After the update is complete, you’ll get access to other new fresh features, like the new Siri, Safari Notify Me alerts, and more.

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​Apple, Ios, Iphone, Scam, Social engineering, Tech 

Things are not looking great for Vivek Ramaswamy.

Two polls released this week put Democrat Amy Acton ahead in the Ohio governor’s race. Marist has Acton leading 50% to 44% among registered voters, while a Suffolk poll has her ahead 50% to 41% among likely voters. Another survey has Ramaswamy narrowly ahead, so the race is hardly settled. But Ohio, a state Donald Trump carried comfortably in 2024, should not be producing this kind of anxiety for Republicans.

Ramaswamy spent years mastering the language of the populist right. The question is whether enough voters believe the language reflects conviction rather than calculation.

Some of the explanation is national. Midterms punish incumbent parties. Trump’s approval has tanked, the war with Iran is unpopular, fuel prices have surged, and voters remain angry about affordability. Republicans still control Congress, but they have struggled to turn that control into accomplishments voters can see and feel.

Ramaswamy presents an additional problem, one the party created for itself.

The Cincinnati native was born in 1985 to Indian immigrant parents. His father came to the United States on a student visa and later worked for General Electric; his mother obtained a green card and became a physician. Ramaswamy became a citizen at birth under the 14th Amendment. In other words, he was an “anchor baby.” His mother later naturalized. His father did not.

Ramaswamy built his fortune in biotech. His company Roivant created Axovant around intepirdine, an experimental Alzheimer’s drug licensed from GlaxoSmithKline for $5 million up front. Axovant’s 2015 IPO raised $315 million and briefly pushed the company’s valuation near $3 billion. In 2017, the drug failed its Phase 3 trial and Axovant’s stock fell about 70% in a day.

That history has generated plenty of suspicion among Ramaswamy’s critics, especially because Roivant raised $1.1 billion shortly before the trial results. Suspicion is not proof of fraud, of course, but the fact is that Ramaswamy made his name selling investors on a speculative biotech story that ended in spectacular failure.

He then sold voters another story.

Ramaswamy entered the 2024 presidential race as a long shot and positioned himself as Trump’s most loyal rival. He attacked the administrative state, denounced wokeness, and rarely aimed sustained fire at the front-runner. The campaign raised his national profile even though it never seriously threatened Trump.

After the election, Trump tapped Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency.

Then came the Christmas crashout.

During a fight over H-1B visas, Ramaswamy argued that American culture had “venerated mediocrity over excellence” for way too long. He contrasted prom queens with math Olympiad champions, jocks with valedictorians, sleepovers with math tutoring, and popular television characters with nerds.

RELATED: The American dream now comes with upgrade fees

Blaze Media Illustration

The backlash on the right was immediate — and deserved — because the argument landed as more than a defense of skilled immigration. Ramaswamy appeared to be telling ordinary Americans that foreign workers were outperforming them because immigrant families possessed a better culture.

The post did not single-handedly end his role in the administration, but it certainly didn’t help. Reporting at the time described deeper disagreements with Musk over the DOGE’s mission, plus Ramaswamy’s plans to run for governor. But the H-1B fight clearly worsened tensions and damaged his standing with parts of Trump’s coalition.

Ramaswamy launched his Ohio campaign in 2025 and quickly received Trump’s endorsement and the backing of the state GOP. On paper, the arrangement looked ideal: a famous candidate, a Republican-leaning state, and a president who remained popular with the GOP base.

Then the national environment deteriorated and the candidate’s own liabilities became harder to hide.

One of those liabilities is religion. Ramaswamy has always been cagey with voters on questions of faith. He was careful to talk about a shared belief in God, but he was never specific about which one. He would share pictures of Christian pastors praying over him but would fail to mention that he did not share their faith.

Ramaswamy is a pagan Hindu who believes in a host of foreign deities. While he would praise Christian values as central to America, he doesn’t quite share them. This once again revealed a lack of sincerity that turned off many voters who were already feeling disillusioned with the GOP.

A sharper identity dispute concerns immigration and assimilation.

Ramaswamy became a symbol of the H-1B fight because he defended a visa program heavily used and abused by Indian professionals while criticizing native-born American culture. Immigration skeptics saw the combination as confirmation of their fear that the Republican donor and business class values imported labor more than the people already here.

Fairly or not, Ramaswamy became the avatar for that argument.

That is the Vivek question now confronting the GOP. A party can nominate a candidate who checks every ideological box on paper and still discover that voters do not trust his instincts, his biography, or his cultural loyalties. Party leaders can explain that the alternative would govern farther left. They can point to endorsements, policy positions, and the partisan lean of the state.

RELATED: The GOP still has a loser mentality

Blaze Media Illustration

What they cannot manufacture is enthusiasm.

The newest polling illustrates the cost. Marist finds independents breaking for Acton 57% to 32%. That does not prove one cause, and national conditions may explain much of it. But Republicans should not pretend that candidate selection plays no role simply because acknowledging it would be deeply uncomfortable.

Ramaswamy spent years mastering the language of the populist right. The question is whether enough voters believe the language reflects conviction rather than calculation.

If the answer is no, the problem did not begin with the polls. It began when Republican leaders assumed saying all the right things was the same as being trusted by the people expected to vote.

​Donald trump, H1b visas, Independent voters, Presidential race, Vivek ramaswamy, Religion, Ohio, Governor race, Amy acton, Doge, Elon musk, American culture, Endorsement, Gop, Indians, Opinion & analysis 

A 35-year-old woman was charged with sexually trafficking a missing 16-year-old who had run away from home, according to the Harris County Constable of Precinct 4 in Texas.

Police said they began an investigation into a report of a runaway juvenile when they received information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

‘They begin to trust these traffickers, and once they trust them and they go with them, then they end up getting thrown onto the street or on online ads or even taken.’

The FBI said the juvenile was being trafficked out of a home in north Harris County.

Police obtained a search warrant but were unable to find the juvenile at the home. Instead they found Brandi Lowe.

“From the evidence that we got from the home, we were able to establish that the female that we took into custody was in fact doing a lot of the stuff online, trying to solicit individuals to basically sell her out as a 16-year-old child,” Constable Mark Herman said.

Herman said police were “resilient” in their efforts that night to locate the missing juvenile after Lowe’s arrest.

“We didn’t give up. We ended up getting a location of a possible hotel she was staying at. We went to the hotel, and we found her with a male subject that we felt was a part of this also,” he said.

“And she was rescued, put in a safe place,” Herman added.

Lowe was charged with promotion of prostitution of a person under 18 years old and held on a bond of $20,000.

The juvenile was reunited with her family, and police indicated that some more people may be arrested in the case as the investigation continues.

RELATED: White woman accusing ‘brown’ man of sex trafficking his daughter gets hate crime charge

Private investigator Betty Simons told KHOU-TV that these kinds of cases typically begin through online interactions.

“A big thing that we see is that they’re groomed online, whether that’s through Xbox, PlayStations, social medias, you know, so they’re groomed online or even in the schools,” Simons said. “They begin to trust these traffickers, and once they trust them and they go with them, then they end up getting thrown onto the street or on online ads or even taken.”

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​Texas, Sex trafficking, Child trafficking, Prostitution, Crime 

Until recently, everything I knew about Friedrich Nietzsche came from two movies.

“The Abyss” opens with his warning that when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes back. My other exposure came from “Blazing Saddles.” During a chaotic town meeting, Howard Johnson tries to elevate the proceedings.

A compelling why does not make the why righteous. Conviction supplies endurance. It does not supply morality.

“You know, Nietzsche says, ‘Out of chaos comes order.’”

Olson Johnson replies, “Oh, blow it out your ass, Howard.”

Mel Brooks provided the more memorable lesson.

So when California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) quoted Nietzsche while discussing a possible presidential run, I thought of Olson Johnson immediately.

In a PBS “NewsHour” interview, Newsom was asked what might keep him from running in 2028. He answered that he would need a “big enough why” to endure almost any “how,” invoking Nietzsche, and said he would have to look voters in the eye with a compelling vision.

When a governor reaching for the White House quotes Nietzsche on endurance, he is not confessing limits. He is announcing appetite.

I am not a Nietzsche scholar. I am a caregiver. I have spent 40 years straining against the limits of my own power, and I have learned how easily “responsibility” becomes a contest of wills. I have wanted the last word at home and called it love. Fatigue cooled that appetite more than virtue ever did.

I have enough trouble governing myself. Men eager to govern everybody else no longer impress me. They weary me.

Newsom has been busy making the rounds. He went fly-fishing in Montana with Jake Tapper and talked about 2028. He spoke at the United Nations. He met with fire survivors in Altadena.

None of that is scandalous. Ambitious governors do ambitious-governor things. But California has already handed Newsom a why.

Only 19% of California households could afford the state’s median-priced existing single-family home in the second quarter of 2026. The median price was $916,750, and a household needed an annual income of $228,400 to qualify for the typical payment.

People still sleep outside. Fire survivors are still rebuilding. And U-Haul ranked California last among the states for net one-way customer growth in 2025 — the sixth straight year it finished at the bottom.

When U-Haul starts sending thank-you notes to the governor, he ought to ask why.

RELATED: The audience you may need someday

Olivia Wong/Getty Images

We call it public service. How often is it public power wearing better clothes? A compelling why does not make the why righteous. Conviction supplies endurance. It does not supply morality.

To be fair to Newsom, the aphorism is genuinely Nietzsche’s. It appears in “Twilight of the Idols.” Quoting it does not make Newsom a disciple of Nietzsche any more than quoting G.K. Chesterton makes me … well, Chesterton.

But the actual Nietzsche was less greeting-card. In “The Antichrist,” he asks, “What is good?” and answers: “Whatever augments the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself, in man.” At least he labeled the package.

The desire for a bigger seat is neither new nor rare. Jesus had just told His disciples that He would be condemned, flogged, and killed when James and John asked for the seats at His right and left.

“You do not know what you are asking,” He told them. The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over others, but “it shall not be so among you.” Whoever would be great must become a servant. Then He spoke of giving His own life as a ransom.

James and John wanted the best seats in the kingdom. At Calvary, the places on His right and left went to two criminals. That was not the seating chart they had in mind.

In the middle of the night, when someone is hurting and a dressing needs changing, nobody cares how important I think I am. No podium waits. No national why arrives. There is only the next necessary thing: wash the wound, change the dressing, dry the tears, do the laundry, get out the mop.

RELATED: The myth of the ‘good person’

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Politicians who cannot stand work at that scale keep looking for a bigger room so that the work can stay abstract. Nietzsche offers me nothing in those hours. Christ offers everything.

Chesterton wrote that original sin is “the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.” I do not need Washington to test the claim. I provide evidence myself. So do men who cannot sit still in the office they already hold.

If Newsom wants to look voters in the eye, he already has people in front of him. Californians gave him a job, a mighty how, and enough need to exhaust any honest servant.

If he still needs a bigger why, that tells me something about which hunger is doing the asking.

Olson Johnson had the right response the first time.

​California governor, Gavin newsom, Politicians, Criminals, Nietzsche, Blazing saddles, Christ, Olson johnson, 2028 election, White house, Jake tapper, United nations, Opinion & analysis 

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent speech demonizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement not only infuriates the “Pat Gray Unleashed” panel, it makes them think the democratic socialist is gearing up for a presidential run.

On September 27 during More Perfect University’s “Students vs. Billionaires” series, AOC compared ICE to a black-box surveillance stack.

“ICE is an agency that has not even existed for as long as many of us have even been alive. They are a new agency created in the surveillance state establishment after 9/11,” she said. “ICE is Palantir; ICE is AI; ICE is facial recognition; ICE is surveillance — and ICE is coming after you regardless of your status.”

Pat is incensed at her calling ICE a new agency.

“They’re 25 years old — 25!” he exclaims. “That’s a new agency? … Compared to what? The fall of Rome?”

“She’s also trying to pin this on Trump for starting ICE. That’s what they desperately want to do,” he adds.

But it’s the progressive’s comparison of ICE to Palantir, AI, facial recognition, and surveillance that really ticks him off.

“Wow, is that irresponsible,” he sighs. “It’s just a flat-out communist lie. … This is what gets people killed.”

“How she’s saying it just made me think she’s running for higher [office],” adds co-host Jeffy. “She’s not screeching about it.”

Pat agrees, mocking, “This darn Donald Trump and his new agencies.”

To hear more of the panel’s commentary and see the clip of AOC’s speech, watch the video above.

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To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Alexandria ocasio-cortez, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement, Palantir, Pat gray, Surveillance state, Blazetv show 

California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is getting mocked by a U.S. attorney after he signed new orders intended to restrict federal immigration operations in his state.

Newsom has tried to position himself as the foremost opponent to the Trump administration in an attempt to bolster his image ahead of a possible presidential run in 2028.

‘Governor, we’ve been through this already. If you want to regulate federal agents, you have to win a federal election.’

Newsom’s press office said Tuesday that he issued new restrictions on “flash-bang grenades and explosive breaching charges” that included their use in immigration enforcement.

First Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli responded with ridicule.

“Or what? You’re going to write us a ticket,” he replied on social media.

The governor also touted 21 bills he signed to “protect Californians from Trump’s Orwellian immigration tactics.”

Essayli responded again with mockery.

“Governor, we’ve been through this already. If you want to regulate federal agents, you have to win a federal election,” he wrote.

“Until then, you have no jurisdiction,” Essayli added. “Accordingly, I have advised DHS to disregard your bill attempting to ban safe and effective less-lethal tools that agents need to escalate dangerous situations.”

Among the steps Newsom took was a restriction on shock gloves approved for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and also a 25% tax on private detention centers he claimed was the first of its kind in the nation.

RELATED: DHS has a fiery message for Newsom after he bans masks for ICE: ‘We will NOT comply!’

The governor has also expanded public access to detention centers in an attempt to increase transparency and increase “health, safety, and oversight requirements” for civil detention facilities.

The governor has admitted that he’s considering running for president but said he would bow out if Kamala Harris ran again.

“Why would I? I wouldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t do that to you; I wouldn’t waste everyone’s time,” said Newsom to Jake Tapper. “Who needs that?”

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​Bill essayli, Gavin newsom, Immigration and customs enforcement, Immigration, Politics