Tech billionaire Elon Musk ripped into a media figure who was trying to characterize him as supporting “far right” political and media figures.

Musk was being challenged by Economist editor in chief Zanny Minton Beddoes when he took over the interview to lob accusations of unfair bias at members of the mainstream media.

‘I would just like to admonish you and the media for the absurd characterization of the far right. It is false and misleading and nonsense!’

“You support not just the populist right but the far right, in fact very fringe parties in some countries,” Beddoes said.

“No, I support the normal people. What you call the far right, falsely,” Musk replied.

“You think is the normal person?” she asked.

“Yes!” he responded.

“Literally you could go back 10 or 15 years, and these policies were completely normal. In fact, one of the tricks I think is quite funny is to take a speech from [former President Barack] Obama and Hillary [Clinton] and then go to someone who’s … on the sort of what I call the lunatic left and say, ‘What do you think of this speech by [President Donald] Trump?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh wow, he’s the worst person ever!'” he opined.

“Actually, that was a speech by Obama, or actually that was a speech by Hillary. Literally!” he added.

Beddoes appeared exasperated with the response.

“No, I agree that the center of gravity in this country has shifted. Certainly the Democratic Party has shifted to the left, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” she said.

“Not fringe right, please. It’s actually just normal people. … And here are the principles, and tell me which of these sound terrible: that we should have secure borders, that we should have safe cities, that we should have sensible spending. Which of those three are far-right fringe?” he responded.

“And I would like to just admonish you and the media for the absurd characterization of the far right. It is false and misleading and nonsense!” Musk added.

“Please keep this part in!” he joked.

“We’ll keep all of this in,” she replied.

“Don’t cut this part!” he laughed.

Video of the exchange was posted to social media by a United Kingdom Parliament member who had been called right-wing by Beddoes.

RELATED: Elon Musk wants ‘historically accurate’ ‘Odyssey’ movie — and may put his money where his mouth is

Elsewhere in the interview, Musk predicted that artificial intelligence may exceed the sum of human intelligence in about five years.

“There really won’t be anything that AI can’t do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps,” he said.

He said the most likely outcome is an age of “amazing abundance” when anyone can have “anything they can think of.”

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​Elon musk, Mainstream media, Artificial intelligence, Media bias, Politics 

Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel said there are a lot of people who are interested in what he and his colleagues have to say.

Kimmel boasted off the back of his best month of ratings ever, directly after his pal Stephen Colbert left the CBS airwaves.

‘It’s silly how people go wild about a podcast that’s No. 5, and the numbers still don’t even compare to a television show.’

Couch surfing

Colbert took over “The Late Show” in 2015 from host David Letterman, eventually nose-diving into a $40 million annual loss for his network before leaving in May.

When asked if Colbert’s viewership had made its way over to his show, Kimmel told Variety, “I’ve always thought of our show as an orphanage.”

It was later in the same interview that Kimmel explained he had a plan to get Colbert back behind the desk on his own network, ABC/Disney, and host for at least some period of time on his show.

For his summer break, which just started, Kimmel revealed he had asked Colbert if he would do him the honor of guest hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

However, Colbert reportedly declined on the grounds that it was too soon.

“Of course, I asked him, and I think it feels premature,” Kimmel told the outlet. “But I told him, ‘Anytime you want to host, it doesn’t matter if it’s the summer, I’ll gladly step aside.'”

RELATED: EMMY-BARRASSMENT: TV king Taylor Sheridan snubbed, while canceled Colbert cleans up

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Host with the most

The allegation that Colbert fans changed the dial over to ABC in June comes after Kimmel averaged 3.15 million viewers, his best monthly audience ever in the show’s 23 years.

Kimmel jabbed at CBS, thanking them “for their wisdom,” while adding, “We were doing pretty well before that, but that really helped.”

The viewership marks a 17% increase from May with a doubling of viewers in the 18-49 market.

The 58-year-old Kimmel took the chance to dump on the podcast market during the recent interview, saying his numbers blow them away.

“It’s silly how people go wild about a podcast that’s No. 5, and the numbers still don’t even compare to a television show,” Kimmel bragged.

“There’s still a lot of people watching late-night television, and I include the other shows in that,” he said. “And there are still a lot of people looking at our shows on YouTube the next day, and there’s a lot of people who are interested in what we have to say. They may … not necessarily be watching it on their TV, but it seems like a little bit of people are coming back to their old friend television.”

RELATED: Tan-splaining Colbert celebrates ‘scandal-free’ Obama at new presidential center opening

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS/Getty Images

Summer slots

Kimmel’s summer break is set to feature a revolving door of some of Hollywood’s most memorable cogs like Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson, and Rosie O’Donnell.

Other hosts include actor Colman Domingo and musician Jelly Roll.

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​Television, Jimmy kimmel, Stephen colbert, Cbs, Abc, Entertainment 

Yes — a meat cleaver.

The tool typically used to chop animal bones and cut through thick pieces of meat was used as a weapon during a road rage attack in northeast Queens early Thursday morning, leaving a 47-year-old man with multiple wounds, the New York Post reported.

No arrests have been made at this time.

The violent confrontation unfolded around 5:35 a.m. near the intersection of 126th Street and 26th Avenue in the waterfront neighborhood of College Point after an apparent vehicle collision and argument.

According to police, the suspect was armed with a meat cleaver and stabbed the victim in the head, chest, and arm before fleeing the scene.

Emergency responders rushed the victim to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

The victim had been driving a white Toyota Sienna minivan at the time of the attack.

Investigators recovered the meat cleaver allegedly used in the assault; it’s seen on the street as police taped off the area in the WABC-TV video below.

RELATED: Thug shoves elderly woman off NYC subway platform, onto tracks in reportedly random attack

The suspect is described as an Asian man wearing a white shirt and jeans. Police have not released any information about the vehicle he was driving.

No arrests have been made as the search for the suspect continues.

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​Assault, Police, Road rage, Meat cleaver, Queens, Suspect at large, Crime 

Democrat Bob Brooks is running for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District as the common man’s champion. The numbers tell a different story.

Since becoming Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association president in a 2021 special election, Brooks’ total compensation increased by roughly 10%, while funding for first responders’ representational activity fell by 18%. Department of Labor filings reveal that general overhead expenses increased by 38% during Brooks’ presidency, funded by a 14% hike in membership dues.

‘Bob Brooks’ entire career has been one big cash-grab.’

Representational activities, including collective bargaining and workplace dispute resolution, are a union’s core functions. General overhead includes salaries and administrative costs.

The PPFFA did not respond to a request for comment.

Brooks was paid $45,199 in the partial fiscal year ending August 2022, according to DOL filings. That climbed to $57,917 in 2023, $61,709 in 2024, and $63,715 by August 2025. Brooks retained his nearly $77,000 salary as a firefighter for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, through early 2025.

Brooks is running against one-term incumbent Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who unseated Democrat Susie Wild to secure his seat.

“Bob fought fires in Bethlehem for 20 years to keep his community safe, and as president of his union, he has delivered higher wages and better health care for his members. His salary was set by his membership, and he had no role in that vote,” a Brooks campaign spokesperson told Blaze News. “His opponent, Ryan Mackenzie, opposes collective bargaining and doesn’t understand the challenges working people face because he’s never worked a job outside of politics in his entire life.”

Most of the increase in Brooks’ total compensation came from allowances and disbursements, not salary increases. The Brooks campaign did not dispute the union’s Department of Labor filings.

RELATED: New Jersey’s noncitizen voter blame game doesn’t add up — literally

Joe Lamberti/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Union members’ monthly dues rose by 14% during that same period. In August 2022, members were expected to pay $14.30 a month. This rose to $14.94 in August 2023, rose again to $15.86 in 2024, and finally hit $16.26 in August 2025.

The PPFFA is a mid-sized statewide union representing over 6,000 members.

The dues weren’t put toward expanded collective bargaining activity or worker representation. Spending on collective bargaining and workplace advocacy under Brooks dropped 18%, from $110,174 in the fiscal year ending in August 2022 to $90,196 in 2025.

General overhead rose 38% over the same period, climbing from $81,722 to $112,397.

“Bob Brooks’ entire career has been one big cash-grab. While Bob sells himself as a champion for workers, he illegally skipped out on providing workers’ compensation coverage for his own employees and raided the pockets of the union workers he was supposed to represent,” Mackenzie campaign spokesperson Andrew Weller told Blaze News. “Bob’s campaign is just his latest con job — this time targeting the people of the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos.”

Brooks courted controversy in April when he referred to volunteer firefighters as “two hatter s**tbags” and “scabs,” the Washington Free Beacon reported. A two hatter is a unionized firefighter who volunteers in his off-duty time.

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​Department of labor, Ryan mackenzie, Pennsylvania, Politics 

An outrageous sports column in USA Today implies that a white WNBA player has put gay black women at risk of lynching by asking for foul calls when she has been assaulted on the court.

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s plight has become a racial battle in the culture wars, as some have accused her of white privilege for demanding attention when fouled by opponents who are often black.

‘Nancy Armour should be out in a straight jacket and locked up. We can’t have these types of smooth brains roaming freely in society.’

Nancy Armour ratcheted up the tension by typing up a screed linking the basketball fouls to the horrific racist lynching of black 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955.

“It shouldn’t need reminding this country has an awful history of Black people being harmed, even killed, in the name of ‘defending’ white women,” she wrote.

“The irony of the WNBA’s All-Star Game is that it’s happening this weekend in Chicago, the hometown of Emmett Till, who became an icon of the civil rights movement after his tragic murder,” she added.

“While it’s incumbent on the WNBA to do more to protect its players, there also should be an expectation on Clark to recognize the broader implications of her actions,” she continued.

Armour further emphasized the point by noting that “the WNBA is made up predominantly of Black women, many of them queer.” Clark’s heterosexuality has previously been a topic of conversation.

The bizarre opinion piece led to bewilderment and outrage online.

“Congrats to USA Today’s Nancy Armour! She has written the dumbest paragraph not only of my lifetime but in the history of sports,” Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports responded.

“Nancy Armour should be out in a straight jacket and locked up. We can’t have these types of smooth brains roaming freely in society,” he added.

The outrage led to a statement from Armour and a rewrite of the piece. She admitted only to an “inartful” comparison that needed more context.

“However, this point stands: There is a history in this country of perceived threats to white women being weaponized against African-Americans, and the danger that poses to Black players in the league,” she wrote. “Players have been abused online and have reported receiving death threats. That has to be taken more seriously.”

RELATED: USA Today obliterated online over bizarre claim about transgender athletes

Armour also locked up her account on the X platform.

The same writer was mocked and ridiculed in June when she wrote another opinion piece claiming there was no physical advantage of biological males over females in sports. She protected her X account after that public clamor as well.

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​Wnba, Racism, Caitlin clark, Politics 

A New Hampshire teacher who had been named an Amazon “teacher of the year” was charged with raping a child who was 14 years old at the time.

Tymond Tran, 38, of Hudson was arraigned on Wednesday for various charges related to the heinous allegations, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.

The school said he passed all background checks when he was hired for the position.

Tran was an eighth-grade teacher at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn during the 2022-2023 school year when he allegedly raped the student.

He worked there from 2021 until 2024.

The student’s allegations led to Tran being indicted by a grand jury on July 15 on charges that included aggravated rape of a child, posing or exhibiting a child in the nude, and providing obscene matter to a minor.

Tran had been honored by Amazon for promoting “diversity and inclusion” and named a “Future Engineer Teacher of the Year” in 2022. Only 10 teachers were selected for the award related to computer science and robotics.

The school received $25,000 for the award, and Tran received $5,000.

His most recent employment was at Lowell Community Charter Public School, but the school fired him after learning about the charges.

“Mr. Tran’s employment with the school was immediately terminated last month after the DA’s Office informed us of the details of the criminal charges,” a statement from the school reads.

The school said he passed all background checks when he was hired for the position.

RELATED: Finalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year withdraws after perverse photos unearthed

Tran pleaded not guilty and was released to home confinement with a GPS monitor. He’s also restricted from contacting his accuser or having any contact with someone under 18 years old.

The suspect is due back in court on Aug. 26.

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​Diversity equity inclusion, Teacher arrested, Child sex crimes, Rape, Politics 

A Muslim Democrat running for Washington’s 9th Congressional District has admitted to obscuring her support for LGBTQ+ to appease her Muslim supporters.

Melissa Chaudhry, 34, is facing the ire of the LGBTQ+ mob over the comments, which she made in an interview with the Stranger.

‘LGBTQ+ rights are not optional. They are foundational to any candidate seeking Democratic support.’

She was asked why LGBTQ+ rights were not mentioned on her campaign website despite her claiming to support the issue.

“Because a lot of Muslims do not feel that way, unfortunately,” she responded.

Among the LGBTQ+ activist groups excoriating Chaudhry was Washington Stonewall Democrats Chair Andrew Ashiofu.

“Our community is not expendable. LGBTQ+ rights are not optional. They are foundational to any candidate seeking Democratic support,” wrote Ashiofu.

His group followed up with its own scathing statement.

“She avoids talking about LGBTQIA+ issues so as not to offend her Muslim supporters,” the group said. “What a privileged statement to make, creating misinformation to cause chaos between two oppressed demographics. One would think she would apologise and move on. Again, thinking rationally is not something all candidates possess, as proven by Melissa.”

Chaudhry responded to Ashiofu in a lengthy statement on social media.

“If you are queer, and you are wondering if you and your rights are safe with me, I assure you from the bottom of my heart, you are, you have always been, and you always will be,” she wrote.

RELATED: LGBTQ groups FURIOUS at CA county ending Pride Month display at library — over a bookmark

“I have supported full equality for LGBTQ+ people my entire life, not since this campaign started, my entire life,” she added.

Her campaign appeared to add LGBTQ+ issues to her website after the outrage ensued.

In a post on YouTube, she accused the Washington Stonewall Democrats of being bigoted against her because she wears the hijab.

Chaudhry also caused consternation among Democrats after indicating that she planned to switch to the Green Party once she got into office.

“I don’t want you to publish this,” she said during the explicitly on-the-record interview with the Stranger.

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​Islam, Washington, Democratic party, Politics, Lgbt 

In 1975, Newsweek — citing the supposed wisdom of scientists — warned of a “cooling world” and alluded to proposed remedies such as intentionally “melting the arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot or diverting arctic rivers.”

This narrative, which was pushed in large part by the media, perished only to be replaced by another: global warming. According to failed presidential candidate Al Gore and others, warmer temps not only meant more T-shirt weather but polar bear drownings, rising sea levels, doom for coral reefs, and the melting of the North Polar ice cap.

‘The scattering has a local cooling effect on the surface below.’

Thankfully, New York City is not under water, polar bears are prospering, coral reefs are more resilient than previously imagined, and the North Pole is doing just fine.

But the expert class whose prophecies appear to fall flat on a perennial basis now have a new worry. They have determined that the heat waves gripping Europe are not the result of a failure to stop emissions but of too much success.

A new study published in the American Geophysical Union’s peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters links the dramatic increase in summer temperatures over Europe, especially in the past decade, to the continent’s successful reduction of air pollution as part of initiatives aimed at tackling acid rain and “global warming.”

After four decades of increases, there was a “strong decrease” of sulfate aerosol emissions over Europe between 1980 and 2000, said the study.

The main human-caused source of sulfate aerosol emissions, which are also known as sulfur dioxide, is the sulfur content of fossil fuels released through combustion.

RELATED: ‘GOOD RIDDANCE’: Trump dunks on climate alarmists over ridiculous doomsday scenario

“The contribution of aerosols has a turning point around 1980, coinciding with a reduction of sulfate aerosol emissions over Europe resulting from the Montreal protocol,” said the new study.

The Montreal Protocol was an international agreement focusing on globally phasing out allegedly ozone-depleting substances, namely those chlorofluorocarbons used in refrigeration, air conditioning, foam blowing, various aerosols, and other applications. The treaty, which is the only universally ratified treaty in the United Nations’ history, went into force on Jan. 1, 1989.

While coinciding with the Montreal Protocol’s ratification, sulfate aerosol emissions were chiefly driven down in Europe — by an estimated 80% over the past three decades — as the result of other international protocols adopted across the continent, setting the stage for caps on industrial sulfur dioxide emissions, low-sulfur oil standards, new vehicle regulations, and the development of numerous desulfurization plants.

The study noted that “these changes have a direct impact on temperatures” — with temperatures negatively associated with aerosol levels.

Pedro Roldan-Gomez, an author of the paper who works as an earth sciences researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, told the Telegraph, “Now that the sulphates are disappearing over Europe we can see the full impact of the carbon dioxide emissions.”

“From 1980, Europe warmed around 1C more than the average of extratropical areas of the Northern Hemisphere, and around 1.5C more than the global average,” said Roldan-Gomez. “Most of this excess warming over Europe can be linked to the reduction of particle emissions.”

A separate study published last year in the journal NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science similarly found that anthropogenic aerosol emission decline was “the dominant contribution to the excess warming in summer.”

According to a 2016 study in Nature Geoscience, these air pollution reductions in Europe have amplified arctic warming in the fall and winter.

NASA’s Goddard Earth Sciences Division Projects notes that “aerosols scatter (reflect) a portion of the Sun’s incoming light, and, dependent on type, may also absorb some. These are known as ‘direct radiative effects’ of aerosols. The scattering has a local cooling effect on the surface below, while absorption has a local warming effect on the atmosphere where the aerosols are located.”

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​Global warming, Europe, Temperature, Combustion, Climate change, Politics 

While the meteoric rise of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has conservatives around the country concerned, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck sees a light at the end of the tunnel — as what’s happening now is a repetition of what has happened in the past.

And as Mamdani gets more radical, the end of the road for his movement gets closer.

Mamdani demonstrated this recently when, in direct defiance of the federal government, he called on the Trump administration to rejoin the International Criminal Court to enforce a warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting New York City in the coming months.

“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” Mamdani said. “The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant. And I want to be equally clear. Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large.”

“While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon. And we can examine every tool we have to defend the humanity and dignity of all people,” he added.

“The federal government just this week came out and said, ‘We’re out of the ICC. It is nothing but a sham of a court, and we’re not going to play this game anymore,’” Glenn comments.

“So, he is setting up, see, the big bad bogeyman, orange man bad, is letting this criminal, this war criminal, just walk the streets of New York,” he continues.

“He’s pouring gasoline all over the streets of New York, and he’s flicking matches, and it will catch fire in September. And it will be his fault,” Glenn adds.

Glenn predicts that those who supported Mamdani and helped him get into office “already have had plans to have uprisings in the streets this fall when Benjamin Netanyahu gets there.”

While Glenn is disturbed by Mamdani’s incendiary comments, he does note that this is simply history repeating itself.

“Now, we’ve never seen all of these things at the same time, but it rhymes so closely. We’ve been here before. Let me give you this example. It’s June 1969. It’s the largest radical student organization in American history. It’s about the same size as the DSA is now, and they had their national convention in the Chicago Coliseum. Students for a democratic society had somewhere near 100,000 members and chapters on hundreds of campuses exactly like the DSA,” he explains.

“They had a manifesto. … It was a document that opened not with rage but with unease. Students raised in modest comfort looking at the world their parents built and finding it hollow. That is exactly the same pattern,” he says.

Like the DSA of today, these students were chanting the names of foreign dictators.

“Within a year, the largest student movement in American history essentially no longer existed. That faction that walked out called themselves the Weathermen, and they announced that they would bring the war home,” he says. “Does that sound familiar?”

“Bring the intifada here,” Glenn mimics. “Same thing.”

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​Benjamin netanyahu, Glenn beck, Intifada, New york city, Zohran mamdani, International criminal court, Donald trump, The glenn beck program 

Illegal alien activist groups have been protesting against a familiar banking company that had been providing lending services to companies running federal detention centers — and the pressure appears to have worked.

De-ICE Citizens Bank, a left-wing organization dedicated to protesting against Citizens Bank, took credit for the decision.

‘None of these virtues seem to matter to the activist groups, as they have tried to define us through a narrow lens inconsistent with who we are.’

“Citizens Bank has announced it will exit its lending agreements with CoreCivic and GEO Group. This is an incredible win for everyone who refused to let a major bank finance the human suffering caused by ICE detention! Community resistance matters,” the group said Friday on social media.

However, in an exhaustive statement dated Friday, Citizens Financial Group denied that the decision had anything to do with politics.

“Citizens has been disappointed that the activists have dragged it into what is largely a political matter,” the bank said.

“Public characterizations of Citizens by activist groups, including as it relates to our commitment to immigrants and to communities, do not reflect who we are or the record we have built,” it added. “Citizens is deeply committed to serving our customers, colleagues, and communities.”

Citizens Bank claimed that the two companies’ “capital needs and financing structures” changed after making deals with the federal government. “This is a business decision based on changed commercial circumstances and does not reflect any change in our view regarding these companies’ business models or operations,” it said.

The bank also touted its work with nonprofits serving immigrant communities and accused the activists of misrepresenting the character of the institution.

“None of these virtues seem to matter to the activist groups, as they have tried to define us through a narrow lens inconsistent with who we are,” Citizens said.

RELATED: ICE traffic stops will continue after lethal shootings — but only under certain conditions

De-ICE Citizens Bank activists said they would continue to seek concessions from the bank.

“This is a huge victory, but the fight isn’t over,” the group said. “We’re calling on Citizens to publicly commit in the next 10 days to ending any and all current and future banking relationships with CoreCivic, GEO Group, and every other private prison company. This is the standard their peer banks have already met.”

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​Immigration and customs enforcement, Debanking, Politics 

Mimes, at their best, are the most honest way of representing the absurdity of man — saying everything without a word, exaggerating every gesture until the absurdity can’t be missed.

A Massachusetts mime just stripped that idea bare, literally.

One woman alone reported more than 50 encounters that escalated over roughly two months.

Known around Boston’s suburbs for roaming public spaces in a black-and-white mime costume, Hernan Villagran Lux, 29, of Framingham, was arrested Sunday evening by Massachusetts State Police troopers who recognized him near the Cochituate Rail Trail — a popular site for boating, hiking, fishing, and swimming — and found he had an active warrant, according to a State Police spokesperson.

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office says Lux is facing criminal harassment charges after three female state park employees said he terrorized them for months.

Lux frequently posts videos of himself in the full getup on his Facebook and Instagram pages — suit, top hat, cane, face powdered a stark white. Other posts show him wearing only underwear in outdoor settings; his captions are in Spanish.

The attorney’s office says the three women, all employees of the Department of Conservation and Preservation, knew Lux by name and appearance, and one woman alone reported more than 50 encounters that escalated over roughly two months.

RELATED: ‘Little f**king c***s!’ Democrat treasurer fired after video shows him spewing obscenities at women at anti-ICE protest

According to Boston 25 News, Framingham District Court Supervisor Andrew Mange said the women described an “extensive number of contacts” involving him staring at them and smiling in a way they found “really unnerving and frankly terrifying.”

Mange also told the court that the women said the encounters had grown increasingly brazen — including one instance in which Lux allegedly “stripped down to his underwear, slathered cooking oil all over his body, and began working out right by their staff area.”

As bizarre as the case may sound, the arraignment hearing took yet another unusual turn. As the allegations were read aloud by Mange, Lux fainted on the stand and had to be treated in court.

He pleaded not guilty, and the judge ordered a mental health evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital. Lux is due back in court on August 6.

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​Arrested, Brazen, Massachusetts, Mental health, Crime 

After being laid off by ESPN, Cam Newton insists he never saw the exit coming. But BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock isn’t buying it — especially considering longtime nemesis of Whitlock, Stephen A. Smith, was involved.

“A few weeks ago, Cam Newton was one of Stephen A.’s brothers and … then Cam Newton made the mistake of interviewing me, and everybody seems to be blaming me for Cam Newton losing his position at ‘First Take,’” Whitlock says before playing a clip of Newton from his own podcast.

“Did you see it coming?” Newton was asked on “4th&1.”

“I didn’t, but that’s not the topic that I want to kind of belabor on. Only thing I can look at now, I will not be going back to ‘First Take,’” he answered.

“He’s totally surprised by this? I find that a tiny bit naive, and it was kind of what I was trying to communicate to Cam. You know, I think he thought that by letting Stephen A. come on Cam’s show and make a fool with Cam that he had paid a pittance that was going to protect him,” Whitlock says.

“But, you know, Stephen A. is so funny, so inauthentic that I’m shocked that Cam fell for it and didn’t see it coming. It’s a level of naivety that, maybe it shouldn’t shock me, but it does,” he adds.

However, Dre Baldwin isn’t surprised.

“This is corporate. ESPN’s corporate. And in corporate America, when you get the pink slip, it’s not like they tell you two weeks before. They tell you the day of. They don’t have to give you a reason, and that’s that. So, I actually can understand Cam having not seen it coming,” he explains.

“When they fire you, they fire you. I mean, did they tell you ahead of time they were going to fire you?” he asks Whitlock.

“No, but I could see it,” Whitlock says.

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​Cam newton, Espn, Jason whitlock, Stephen a smith, First take, Fearless with jason whitlock 

Earlier this month, wildfires raged across Canada, especially in Ontario and British Columbia. The resulting smoke plumes drifted south into the U.S., causing hazardous air quality conditions across the Midwest and Northeast. At its peak, more than 100 million Americans were under air quality alerts, with cities like Detroit and Minneapolis recording some of the worst air pollution in the world.

On July 17, President Trump posted the following response on Truth Social:

Naturally, many were upset with President Trump for threatening to bill Canada for its wildfire smoke, but they’re missing the genius of what he’s really doing, says Glenn Beck.

On July 1, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) reached its six-year review point. The United States announced it would not renew the deal in its current form, triggering a formal review and renegotiation process between the three countries.

“On the Canadian side of the table, the asks are already on the record. Ottawa wants relief on sectoral tariffs covering steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber,” says Glenn.

But Trump, of course, has his own list of demands — and his billing Canada for its smoke threat? It’s “just that” — “smoke,” says Glenn.

“It’s part of the negotiation. The smoke is the opening position — an unanswerable grievance dropped on the table two weeks before we get serious at the negotiating table,” he explains.

Trump is doing what any good negotiator does at the beginning of talks: He leads with an outrageous ask so that his opponent is more likely to concede to the rest of his demands.

Ben Franklin did this during Revolutionary War negotiations, Glenn recounts.

“Franklin asked for Canada. Franklin got everything except Canada. That’s not a coincidence. That’s called a technique in negotiation,” he explains.

Trump, he reiterates, “is not putting a tariff on the smoke. He’s two weeks away from sitting down negotiating with Canada. He wants a great deal with Canada.”

In other words, he’s intentionally throwing out something outrageous — much like a real estate agent making a laughably low first offer — so that by the end of negotiations, the “crazy” demands have been negotiated away, leaving the real objectives largely fulfilled.

“For 40 years, American trade agreements were negotiated by people who opened at ‘reasonable’ because they wanted the applause to come from the other side of the table,” says Glenn.

But Trump isn’t after empty applause; he’s after American interests.

“We have lost our furniture plants and our steel towns and the tool and die shops. We were told that’s the price of being a grown-up nation. No, we finally have a president who opens up where Ben Franklin opened up: loud, maximum, occasionally absolutely ridiculous, but deliberate,” says Glenn.

“And how many Americans are now saying, ‘I’m embarrassed by that’? Embarrassed by whom exactly? By the only man in generations who has walked into a room and asked for too much on your behalf?” he continues.

When negotiations are finally over, Glenn hopes these naysayers will see all the good that came from Trump’s little bargaining tactic.

“When the paper is finally signed, check the fisheries, check the steel, check the lumber, check the dairy. Ask the dairy workers, ‘Did we get a good deal?’ Ask the American worker who kept losing his job elsewhere if now things are changing here and getting better for them,” he says.

“That’s the only column that ever matters — you.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

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