Covering science and technology oscillates between polar extremes. On the one hand, you find a press more than happy to parrot any story crafted by savvy PR departments, without follow-up questions. A subset of people seem to view “the science” as a religious dictum, brought down from on high by materialistic priests wearing lab coats. Often the question of whether we can subsumes any queries about whether we should.

The other side pursues a fear-based approach, breathlessly warning about the new and scary technologies that will destroy us. Their Venn diagram overlaps with the neo-Luddite crowd who want to restore an imagined preindustrial utopia, free from capitalism, global warming, pollution, liberalism, etc. A choose-your-own-adventure of societal ills, waiting to be cured by fleeing into the woods and raising chickens. It’s a notion appealing to a wide variety of political stripes, who find themselves reading Wittgenstein or Ted Kaczynski and nodding along.

There has to be a third way forward. Reasonable people can have well-founded fears about how technology is rapidly transforming our society and the ability of totalitarians to harness it for control without reverting to using typewriters. We should be excited about technological breakthroughs and still be able to question the incentives of corporations and scientists.

We are living through incredible technology-driven transformations. Some of these will help society and some will unleash horrors, but that has been true since our ancestors started sharpening stones. We will have to champion the technologies aligning with our values and fight the ones that don’t. I noticed this dichotomy while reading the pearl-clutching around AI and seeing the Webb images NASA has released this year from deep space.

Webb's First Deep Field (NIRCam Image)Image Courtesy of NASA

The Webb telescope is a powerful reminder of what we are capable of as a species, in more ways than one: 1) It's a technical marvel that has opened our eyes to aspects of the universe that were previously hidden, and 2) it has been the subject of an outrageous culture war fight over naming, legacy, and sexual politics.

The telescope is an astounding piece of engineering, using infrared cameras to peer into areas of the universe never seen before. Built with 18 hexagonal mirrors unfurled in space, it has been sending back spectacular images since last July. It took over three decades to build.

We’ve seen images of exoplanets, galaxies reaching back to the formation of the universe, stellar nurseries, and molecular clouds filled with the building blocks of life and the coldest ice in the universe.

So instead of another article filled with doom and gloom, we thought we’d collect the most fantastic images the telescope has captured and revel in their beauty. It represents humanity at its finest, when we strive to slip our mortal coils and venture into the unknown — not for glory or money but simply because it’s there.

If you want to learn more about the science behind the James Webb Space Telescope, check out these great resources.

• Big Think has an excellent visual representation showing how the telescope has performed better than anyone expected.
• The MIT Technology Review has a piece explaining how the JWST is collecting more data than scientists can analyze.
• The Jet Propulsion Laboratory discusses how the telescope will help physicists answer questions about how stars are formed and galaxies interact.

You can find many more Webb telescope images in this online gallery. It's been over a year since the telescope was launched, and already the results are revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. Here's to many more years.

As for the culture war fight, the New York Times actually did a good job covering the smear campaign against the telescope's namesake and his defenders in the astronomy community.

Long live the telescope and the memory of James Webb. Here's to many more breathtaking images and scientific discoveries to come.

Latin actor and rapper Daddy Yankee, 46, is retiring from an illustrious and lucrative career in music. Yankee, whose musical collaboration with pop singer Luis Fonsi, "Despacito," was the first Spanish-language song to crack the Billboard Hot 100 in over 20 years, indicated he will devote the rest of his life to Christ and spreading the gospel.

Yankee, the best-selling Latin artist of the 2000s, revealed his calling to fans during a farewell performance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sunday.

During the show, which capped off his 2022 La Última Vuelta world tour, the musician, whose real name is Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, told the audience in Spanish, "My people, this day for me is the most important day of my life. And I want to share it with you because living a life of success is not the same as living a life with purpose."

Rodríguez indicated neither his fame nor his estimated $40 million fortune could remedy the "emptiness that [he] felt for a long time." Jesus Christ was, however, able to do so.

"What good will it be for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" said Rodríguez, quoting Matthew 16:26. "That is why tonight, I recognize, and I am not ashamed to tell the whole world, that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for him."

The musician indicated he will utilize his resources, platform, and popularity to promote Christianity and implored fans to join him in following Christ, reported USA Today.

"To all the people who followed me, follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life," he said. "Just like Jesus, with his mercy, allowed me to travel the world, in your mercy, Father, I hope you allow me to evangelize the world from Puerto Rico."

Notwithstanding his sunglasses, WNBC-TV indicated it was apparent that the rapper was crying toward the end of his declaration.

See on Instagram

Long before his 2004 international hit single "Gasolina" and the 30 million record sales that ultimately followed, the so-called "reggaetón" artist had aspirations of playing professional baseball.

Rodríguez showed MTV Music where he watched, at age 6, a gunman charge a baseball field and gun down his coach, Juan Cintron, right in front of him. Although traumatized by the incident, the young Puerto Rican nevertheless maintained his aspirations of playing for the big leagues. However, years later a bullet came for him.

Around the age of 16, Rodríguez was reportedly in the process of recording a mix tape when he got struck by a stray bullet fired by an AK-47.

"It was in V.K. [aka Villa Kennedy in Santurce] — the place that I'm from," he recalled. "I was just vibing with the homies. And all of a sudden: Boom, boom! I saw the crossfire and I got caught in an exchange of bullets. I was running, running, running, running — but I got hit. It broke my bone, like, quick. In an instant: Bam! I went under a van when I was stumbling and that was the only reason I survived."

The future star's baseball dreams were over. His recovery took over a year and had him temporarily wheelchair-bound.

Despite the setback, he came to understand the incident as providential.

"I thank God for that bullet," said Rodríguez. "At that time, I didn't understand it. But right now, I give thanks to that bullet. That bullet made me be focused in music."

In his Instagram post concerning his new religious direction, Rodríguez wrote, "Tonight I acknowledge and am not ashamed to tell the whole world that Christ lives in me and that I live for him. This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of a whole new one."

The BBC reported that Rodríguez joins numerous other mega-stars who have left their music careers behind in order to devote themselves to Christ, including:

• Al Green, who still preaches at the Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis to this day;
• Harlem rapper Mason Durell Betha, also known as Ma$e, who indicated he no longer wanted a hand in "leading people, friends, kids and others down a path to hell" and now is a pastor in Atlanta; and
• Korn guitarist Brian Welch, who quit his band, got baptized in the river Jordan, then traveled through impoverished areas in India helping to build orphanages.

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Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah indicated that he will file a measure to defund the United Nations. Some House Republicans will also push legislation to yank funding away from the globalist organization.

"Tomorrow I will file by bill to #DefundTheUN. Please like and repost if you'd like to see that bill become law," Lee tweeted on Wednesday.

"So will I :)" GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas wrote in response to Lee's post.

— (@)

"The UN doesn't deserve a single DIME of American taxpayer money," a tweet from the "Rep. Chip Roy Press Office" X account reads. "That's why Rep. Roy is looking forward to introducing House legislation alongside @RepMikeRogersAL and @SenMikeLee that would DEFUND it."

While the prospect of pulling funding from the U.N. will certainly appeal to conservatives, such legislation will likely be dead on arrival since it will likely not have enough support to move through Congress.

In addition to expressing support for cutting off U.N. funding, Lee has also suggested, "While we're at it, let's expel them too."

— (@)

During remarks last week, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, a climate alarmism proponent, spoke of "the sickness bringing our climate to its knees. A sickness only you, global leaders, can cure." He asserted that "Earth's vital signs are failing."

Some of the nations that are currently members of the U.N.'s Human Rights Council include China and Cuba.

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Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina has announced plans to retire from Congress after finishing his current term. By the time his term ends in early 2025, McHenry will have been serving in the House for two decades.

"I will be retiring from Congress at the end of my current term. This is not a decision I come to lightly, but I believe there is a season for everything and—for me—this season has come to an end," McHenry said in a statement. "I look forward to what the next season brings for my family and me."

The lawmaker expressed optimism about the future of the House of Representatives.

"There has been a great deal of handwringing and ink spilled about the future of this institution because some—like me—have decided to leave. Those concerns are exaggerated," he asserted. "I've seen a lot of change over twenty years. I truly feel this institution is on the verge of the next great turn. Whether it's 1974, 1994, or 2010, we’ve seen the House evolve over time. Evolutions are often lumpy and disjointed, but at each stage, new leaders emerge. There are many smart and capable members who remain, and others are on their way. I'm confident the House is in good hands."

Earlier this year, after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his post as House speaker, McHenry acted as speaker pro tempore. Weeks after the removal of McCarthy, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was selected as the new House speaker.

Former Green Beret Pat Harrigan has announced a bid to fill the congressional seat. "Harrigan brings seven-figure resources and has hired Congressman McHenry's former campaign Manager, Eduardo Andrade, to manage his campaign," a press release notes.

— (@)

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During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Riley Gaines spoke out against allowing biological males to compete in women's sports, concluding her opening statement by calling out Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania. Gaines said that if her testimony makes her "transphobic," then she thinks Lee's opening remarks make her a "misogynist."

Shortly after the next witness began delivering remarks, Lee interrupted, and in what was apparently a reference to Gaines' comments, moved to get "the gentlewoman's words taken down." But shortly thereafter, Lee moved to withdraw the point of order.

Lee had said during her opening statement that she expected to hear "transphobic bigotry" during the hearing.

Gaines said that a school that knowingly permits a male to take a space on a women's team or to play in a women's game is denying an opportunity to a female and running afoul of Title IX. "Inclusion cannot be prioritized over safety and fairness," she said.

Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Hearing www.youtube.com

Gaines is urging women to refuse to compete in events against biological males and offering to financially compensate those who miss out on money for taking such a stand.

"Any woman who doesn't compete and loses out on prize money, I will happily pay the fee out of my own pocket. In any sport. Stop. Playing. Their. Game," she wrote when sharing an OutKick tweet about two transgender cyclists taking the top two finishes in women's races.

— (@)

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Actress Angelina Jolie said that she plans to move away from California because Hollywood was "not a healthy place."

She made the comments in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine published on Tuesday. Jolie explained that her divorce with movie star Brad Pitt prevented her from leaving the state.

“It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely," said Jolie.

"I will move when I can. I grew up in quite a shallow place," she added. "Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she explained that she didn't care much about the celebrity culture in Hollywood because she was raised in it.

“Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never very impressed with it," said Jolie. "I never bought into it as significant or important.”

She said she does not have much of a social life, doesn't date, and says her closest friends are her six children.

“We’re seven very different people, which is our strength," she explained.

Jolie made headlines in November when she posted a message on Instagram criticizing Israel for its lethal military response to the terrorist attack from Hamas militants.

Jon Voight, her father, publicly berated her for the statement.

“I am very disappointed that my daughter, like so many, has no understanding of God's honor, God's truths," Voight said in a video posted to social media. “This is about destroying the history of God's land, the holy land, the land of the Jews. This is justice for God's children of the holy land, Israel."

Here's more about Jolie's interview:

Angelina Jolie Reveals Plans to LEAVE Hollywood After Divorce Battle | E! News www.youtube.com

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Law enforcement officials released video footage that they described as "bone-chilling" from a shooting at a Fort Worth bank on Nov. 27.

Brent Brown, an off-duty deputy with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, was working security at the Fort Worth Community Credit Union when 35-year-old Leland Williams rushed at him, firing his gun.

Fort Worth police chief Neil Noakes said in a media briefing that Williams had tried to open an account under a false name at the bank before returning with a gun and firing at Brown.

Brown was shot twice, but he was able to return to fire at the assailant. Although he fired a dozen times at Williams, the suspect was able to get away without injury.

About 30 minutes after the shooting, police were able to arrest Williams at his relative's home through the assistance of people in the community.

“This is one of those instances where our relationship with the community proved to be beneficial,” Noakes said. “We had members of the community to help direct us to where Mr. Williams had gone.”

Williams was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on a $1 million bond and charged with attempted capital murder of a peace officer.

Brown is recovering from the gunshot injuries and hopes to return to work soon.

Noakes said that they believe Williams was planning to rob the bank before seeing Brown and shooting at him.

"Deputy Brown would make every cop in American proud," said Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn.

“Evil came at him and he went down, but he didn’t stay there," he continued. "He got up and went at evil until the fight was over and he was seriously wounded when he did that. So incredible courage, incredible stuff that makes you get up and go to the fight.”

Here's the alarming footage:

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Texas police said that they are trying to identify a woman who allegedly tossed gasoline on a man at a homeless encampment and lit him on fire.

San Antonio police said they were called to Howard Street at West Maple Street on Tuesday at about 9 a.m. over a report of a man on fire.

Police said the woman had gone to the Quick Trip convenience store and bought gasoline in a cup before returning to pour the gasoline on the man's legs and light him on fire. The man was transported to a hospital for treatment, but his injuries were not life-threatening, and he was in stable condition.

KENS-TV spoke to a man known only as Bobby, who told them that the victim was his friend and he woke up to find that he had been lit on fire. He also described his verbal exchange with the woman.

"That woman's watching me pull him out the fire, telling me, 'Leave him in there, leave him in there!'" he said.

He said that he tried to run after her but that she fled.

Video footage from the scene showed that the fire had spread from the man's tent onto a wooden fence of a local non-profit organization.

The victim was a man in his early 50s.

Police said that they believed the woman and the victim were acquaintances.

Another witness told KENS that he had overheard the two arguing about some incident in their past before the fiery assault.

KENS reported that city crews cleaned the area of the small homeless encampment.

The woman was described only as being in her 50s and wearing a maroon shirt.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky of making an anti-Semitic post after Massie posted a meme suggesting that Congress has been averse to American patriotism while embracing Zionism.

"Rep. Massie, you're a sitting Member of Congress. This is antisemitic, disgusting, dangerous, and exactly the type of thing I was talking about in my Senate address. Take this down," Schumer tweeted in response to Massie's post.

"If only you cared half as much about our border as you do my tweets," Massie replied.

— (@)

"Thomas Massie, a House Republican, is pitting American patriotism against Zionism. Most Americans are both pro-America and pro-Israel and see no contradiction between the two," Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York tweeted.

The House voted 311-14 on Tuesday in favor of a resolution which, in part, declares that the House decries anti-Semitism, supports the Jewish community, and "clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism."

While 13 Democrats voted against the resolution, Massie was the only House GOP lawmaker who voted against it. A whopping 92 Democrats voted present.

In a social media post on Monday, Massie had stated his intention to vote against the resolution, writing, "Anti-Zionism isn't antisemitism."

In that tweet, Massie shared a video clip of Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) saying that it is "either intellectually disingenuous or just factually wrong" to assert that all anti-Zionism represents anti-Semitism.

— (@)

Nadler, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) had noted in a statement that they planned to vote present. They urged their colleagues to do the same.

"Among other problems with this resolution, H. Res. 894 does not account for the complexity of Judaism itself and ignores nuanced examples such as the Satmar sect, a Hasidic Jewish movement, which remains staunchly anti-Zionist and quite obviously is not antisemitic," the Democratic lawmakers said in the statement.

— (@)

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When Glenn Beck and his head researcher landed in Colony Ridge, Texas, the town they were expecting was more like a scene out of Iraq.

“Ultimate squalor” and “almost like Grand Theft Auto” were how Buttrill described his expectations of the massive illegal immigrant settlement outside of Houston.

“I can’t fathom how that’s the story that you get just by showing up, driving around, and saying, ‘Okay this is what’s going on,’ because this story is a lot more complicated than that,” Buttrill explains.

The pair were told that citizens of Colony Ridge were “being sold at usury-style interest rates of 20% and 30% credit card rates” with gangs and cartels heavily involved.

One case on Glenn’s radar involves two teenage boys who appear to have been shot execution-style and left by some mailboxes in the area. While originally it seemed like a potential cartel crime, now Glenn is hearing it may have been a body dump.

“There is only one truth in the end, but I’m really glad to say this — we are doing everything we can to get to that truth. Not our truth, not the story we think people want to hear but the actual story,” Glenn says.

People need to know the truth, as settlement’s like Colony Ridge may be playing a huge role in whether the border situation will get better or worse.

Glenn has interviews lined up with more members and partners of the settlement, so he’s waiting on more answers.

“At first I was, ‘It’s probably illegal, and it’s absolutely immoral’ — and I still don’t have an answer on either of those two. It might be illegal, it might be immoral, but I had a swing yesterday back and forth to these where I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know,’” Glenn says.

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It's no secret Disney is falling.

The longtime creator of “movie magic” has just marked its first non-pandemic year since 2014 in which it failed to release a billion-dollar movie.

“They used to be the company that would bring joy and magic and now it’s black magic and you know, just some corporate empire that will do anything for a buck,” Glenn says, noting that its latest film, "Wish" completely nosedived.

“It’s a movie that supposedly is to serve as the celebration of the 100th year of ‘Disney Magic.’ It is hacky and uninspiring and really not worth your time,” he adds.

Apparently, some Hollywood workers are on the same page.

One of them is founder and publisher of Film Threat, Chris Gore, who is well aware of Disney’s recent lack of magic.

Gore, who ensured Film Threat itself remained “politically agnostic” throughout a cancel culture-ridden time in the film industry, also gave an objective review of Matt Walsh’s "What is a Woman."

“I think it really has to do with getting away from their core values,” Gore says of Disney, adding, “I’m talking about the values of Walt Disney, Walt Disney, the man.”

“Walt Disney was a proud American who espoused family values through his art. And when you see where the company is now, it’s become very corporate, filled with middle management bloat, micromanaging all of their artists,” Gore continues.

“I think corporate culture kills creativity,” he adds.

Gore believes the “beginning of the rot” was the departure of veteran talent, John Lasseter. “That veteran talent has not been replaced by veteran talent.”

Rather, Gore says, it’s being replaced by activism.

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Police said a woman admitted to strangling one of her children to death and suffocating another child in Pennsylvania.

27-year-old Quanesha Shaquella Monio Lindsey had been previously arrested in Florida for brutally beating her son in 2019 when he was 2 years old.

Sunrise police arrested Lindsey for aggravated child abuse after she slammed the boy into a metal bed post. She had been angry at the boy, who was outside with his sister, for refusing her command to come inside and watch television.

The boy had hit his head on the metal bed post and was crying uncontrollably.

Those charges were dismissed because she was declared incompetent to stand trial.

On Saturday at 8 p.m. the Harmony Township Police Department responded to a call about a 4-month-old baby not breathing at a residence in Ambridge.

When they arrived at the home, they found the uncle of the child trying to perform CPR on the baby, who was in the basement of the house. Police said they took over CPR and sent the uncle upstairs.

The report said the baby was wearing a winter jacket despite the room being extremely warm because of a space heater.

The child was cold to the touch and was pronounced dead soon afterward.

The report said that Lindsey reportedly told police she had put her baby to sleep at 2 a.m. but that he had woken up at 5 a.m. and hadn't moved or made noise since that time.

When she was taken to the police department, Lindsey allegedly admitted to strangling the 4-month-old boy. She also allegedly admitted to suffocating her 2-year-old son six months prior. A criminal complaint said she demonstrated how she strangled her child on an infant-sized mannequin.

Police said a forensic examination of her phone found texts referencing the death of her 2-year-old son in October.

Lindsey was booked into the Beaver County Jail and held without bond. She faces charges that include murder, strangulation, and abuse of a corpse.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Quanesha Lindsey accused of killing two young sons www.youtube.com

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Eight months ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he was investigating Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson for potentially lying to the public concerning the success of their respective COVID-19 vaccines.

Now, he’s filed a lawsuit.

Paxton’s lawsuit alleges that Pfizer violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, claiming that Pfizer “engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims.”

Three weeks after Paxton had initially announced the investigation, he was impeached.

“The first thing I did when I came back was I told my staff, ‘I want to get back on this,’ and we did,” Paxton tells Sara Gonzales.

What Paxton and his staff found was more than enough information to bring Pfizer down.

“Pfizer’s widespread representation that its vaccine possessed 95% efficacy against infection was highly misleading from day one,” the petition created by Paxton and his staff reads.

That 95% number “was only ever legitimate in a solitary, highly technical, and artificial way. It represented a calculation of the so-called relative risk reduction for vaccinated individuals in their clinical trial.”

Sara Gonzales is impressed.

“What you do here is that you’re using ... the FDA’s own publications against them by saying, ‘Actually, the FDA is the one who says that all of these relative risk reductions are a bunch of baloney,’” Gonzales says.

“It’s the truth,” Paxton says, continuing, “and the reality is, Pfizer didn’t even follow what they said, and it’s not even close to 95%.”

“If they used the numbers that the FDA said they should use, it was more like the vaccine was effective 1% or less of the time. That’s not an effective vaccine,” he adds.

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Mark Levin has a new name for the mainstream media.

He calls it “the pro-Hamas/Nazi American media,” and it’s not without good reason.

“MSNBC is the worst, they’re all horrific, but it’s the worst. It has Hamas/Nazi supporting hosts. It has racist, bigot, anti-Semites like Joy Reid. It has fundamentally stupid people like the Scarboroughs who promote the propaganda,” Levin explains.

In a segment on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell spoke to Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesperson.

“First of all, we welcome the very solid support that we’ve received from President Biden,” Levy told Mitchell, adding that Biden has offered “moral clarity” and “material support.”

“They have to say this, or they won’t get the arms,” Levin notes.

Levy went on to praise Biden for admitting that Israel “is dealing with a terror organization that is worse than ISIS” and that the “U.S. will make sure Israel has everything it needs to win this war.”

He then mentioned that the Israeli government is very concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip.

“All of a sudden, we’re concerned about humanitarian aid,” Levin mocks. “When Biden allowed $70 billion to flow into the Islamo-Nazi regime in Tehran, was he concerned about humanitarian aid? Was he concerned where that money went?”

As Levy continued, he began justifying why humanitarian aid is required.

“They are in the middle of a war for their survival, and they have to explain to Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC the provision of ‘humanitarian aid,’” Levin says.

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Ten years ago, Edward Snowden changed American history, but he changed the future too. We're living in it. One week before he lifted just a corner of the rug carpeting over our new regime — the one that now has all but replaced the country we knew — Americans tuning in to "Real Time with Bill Maher" heard a puzzling message from the world to come. Sitting between Obamacare architect Neera Tanden and some third person I no longer remember sat one James Poulos.

Bill had steered the conversation toward the possibility of government overreach, and I cautioned the panel that just because the Bush administration had ostensibly shuttered its Total Information Awareness project didn't mean the military-industrial complex, the intelligence community, or the administrative state weren't still pursuing exactly that. Not for the first time on that panel, I drew some funny faces — and not the haha kind, either — but yesterday's riddle is today no laughing matter.

In the wake of Snowden's disclosures and others to follow, some of the most vociferous criticism of our government crossing the Deep State Rubicon came not from the right, but the left. In the long, often sad 2010s, if you wanted to hear from people mad about malevolent government, angry about corporate corruption, wary of the globalization agenda, and fired up about protecting the little guy, chances were you had to look to the so-called dissident left. I should know.

After the financial crisis blew out my hopes of landing a tenure-track job in academic political theory (I'll wait for you to finish laughing), I left the Beltway swamp for the relatively noble and upright world of Hollywood, where as a disaffected conservative fronting an indie rock band, I was the perfect token right-winger for high-profile new media brands like Vice, the Huffington Post, and the Young Turks.

I worked with them all and, yes, made lots of trendy friends. We were cresting a wave, riding the dragon, speaking our minds. We were the thorn in the side of the increasingly smug and aloof Obama administration — the one that began America's proud tradition of painting rainbow colors on killer robots tasked to take out those unfortunate souls listed on its so-called disposition matrix. One name that didn't appear on any lists, at least none leaked or otherwise made public, belonged to one of the rising stars in my circle of hot media friends.

City of spooks

His name was Michael Hastings. Michael skyrocketed to fame as a real-deal conflict journalist — the kind that made Vice's potentate Shane Smith a very wealthy man. Michael had both the access and the balls to take down Obama's top dog in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, with a single kill shot of his own — one scorching story in Rolling Stone magazine.

I wasn't a part of Michael's inner circle, but I was close enough to see firsthand what he had helped achieve: a creative, confident nerve center of anti-establishment politics in the heart of Los Angeles, centered around Oliver Stone and expanding across time zones to include the likes of Glenn Greenwald, who had recommended me as an in-studio guest to the Young Turks before he became an enemy of the state. But Glenn, as you probably know, is still with us — alive and well — and the same, alas, cannot be said of Michael.

A scant 12 days after Glenn first published Snowden's bombshells, Michael's Mercedes, with Michael behind the wheel, veered abruptly off the pavement, traveling south on Highland Avenue just past Melrose, across from Matzah Pizzeria, and impacted one of the tall, glamorous palm trees lining the median. The vehicle instantly burst into flames and charred the victim "beyond recognition." This event took place shortly before 4:30 in the morning that dark Tuesday.

BuzzFeed chief Ben Smith, who had Michael on payroll, told the press he was shocked and devastated. But words like that couldn't capture the body blow that had caved in the hearts of Michael's friends and loved ones and swiftly shattered the dissident media scene that he had proven to be the heart of. So began what became the systematic roll-up of the dissident left, eventually sidelining even Bernie Sanders and transforming the Democrats from a party with a partisan base mobilized against corruption, globalization, and militarization into one where both the elites and the foot soldiers were slavishly devoted to all those once so terrible things.

I don't know exactly what happened to Michael that terrible night, but I didn't tell the press when they came calling that I knew where Michael had been before he climbed into his car — agitated but very unsuicidal — and began what he had intended to be a quick trip out of town. I knew the last two people he had spoken to before he died, and I knew what he had said to them. I knew something was very wrong, and I knew nobody was ever going to find out what it was. No investigation into Michael's death was forthcoming; his coroner's report was unceremoniously sealed. He had disappeared into a hole as dark and obliviating as any of his country's secret and illegal black sites. And so, in a sense, his country had done the same.

I've never spoken publicly about any of these details until now. Ten years of silence can do that to you. The list of people present at the creation of the first political media scene in the age of social media was short in 2013, and the list of those still kicking today is shorter still. There's never been a proper retrospective of just what happened to our government, our media, and our political institutions since Michael Hastings was so quickly removed from the national equation. Even though, with the benefit of hindsight, the strange concurrence of the death of New Media and the death of the dissident left goes beyond the realm of the uncanny and into the realm of the suspect. It stinks. Not just with the stench of death, but of murder most foul.

You can subscribe to James Poulos’s new podcast, "Zero Hour," on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Or better yet head over to BlazeTV and subscribe to access the latest episodes.

A suspect with a lengthy criminal history allegedly stabbed to death a Philadelphia Macy's security guard on Monday — just minutes after the guard caught him trying to steal hats and let him go.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What are the details?

Police sources told WPVI-TV store security stopped 30-year-old Tyrone Tunnell from trying to steal several hats.

The security guard who stopped Tunnell — 27-year-old Eric Harrison, according to family members — retrieved the hats and sent Tunnell on his way, the station said.

But WPVI said Tunnell came back about 15 minutes later and fatally stabbed Harrison.

Eric HarrisonImage source: YouTube screenshot

Another guard whom police identified as a 23-year-old man intervened and suffered wounds to his face and arm, the station said.

Tunnell soon was arrested at the Somerset train station in the Kensington section of the city, WPVI said, adding that police said witnesses positively identified him.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office on Tuesday approved a murder charge against the suspect, along with other charges, the station said.

WPVI said authorities haven't officially named the charged individual.

Court documents indicate Tunnell has been arrested more than a dozen times for retail theft, robbery, and drug offenses across the region, including in Philadelphia as well as suburban Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, the station said.

Victim's mother speaks out

Harrison's mother, Dawn Fobbs, told WPVI in a separate story that her son was her best friend.

"Just why? Why my baby?" Fobbs wondered in an interview with the station.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"It couldn't happen to a more innocent soul," she added to WPVI. "Just at work doing your job, you know, his second job at that."

The station said Harrison first worked overnight at the post office then went to Macy's where he'd worked as a security guard for two years.

Harrison's mother also works retail as a store manager, WPVI said, adding that she understands certain risks are involved — but that this crime was senseless.

"Over some merchandise, you came in and took my baby's life," Fobbs told the station. "He will never have children, he will never get married. All because of some hats."

WPVI added that she described her son as a Frankford High School graduate and a Philly kid through and through who leaves behind three younger sisters.

"Just pray for strength for my family because that's what we need," Fobbs noted the station, adding that she appreciates her son's fellow security guard who stepped in and tried to help him.

Security guard killed at Philadelphia Macy’s was an ‘innocent soul,’ mother says youtu.be

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Speaker Mike Johnson (R) is drawing a line in the sand on Ukraine military assistance.

On Monday, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told Johnson that American aid to Ukraine will dry up by the end of the year without further congressional action.

"We are out of money — and nearly out of time," Young warned.

In late October, Biden asked Congress to pass a $106 billion funding bill that gives more than $61 billion to Ukraine. That would be on top of the $111 billion the U.S. has already sent Ukraine. But Johnson says not so fast.

The speaker sent Young a letter on Tuesday explaining that "supplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws."

— (@)

And not only does the border crisis require more attention, but Johnson said Biden must give the American people answers about their strategy for helping Ukraine.

"The American people must be provided with answers to our repeated questions concerning: the Administration’s strategy to prevail in Ukraine; clearly defined and obtainable objectives; transparency and accountability for U.S. taxpayer dollars invested there; and what specific resources are required to achieve victory and a sustainable peace," Johnson explained.

He added:

President Biden must satisfy Congressional oversight inquiries about the Administration’s failure thus far to present clearly defined objectives, and its failure to provide essential weapons on a timely basis. American taxpayers deserve a full accounting of how prior U.S. military and humanitarian aid has been spent, and an explanation of the president’s strategy to ensure an accelerated path to victory. In light of the current state of the U.S. economy and the massive amount of our national debt, it is our duty in Congress to demand answers to these reasonable questions, and we still await the answers.

Johnson is right.

American support for Ukraine is waning, and the Biden administration has not sold the American people on why their tax dollars should help fight a war that is largely inconsequential for them, especially when economic concerns plague the average American.

Still, Johnson is not per se opposed to helping Ukraine; he simply wants accountability for the American people and for the White House to prioritize domestic concerns, like the border crisis. A solution, then, will likely require both sides to compromise.

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Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has teased plans to do more than criticize the leftist elements weakening and endangering the Emerald Isle. McGregor indicated he might be willing to step into the ring should the Irish desire a fighter for president.

South African billionaire Elon Musk is among those ostensibly keen on McGregor taking a shot at the title, telling the 35-year-old Irishman on X, "I think you could take them all single-handed. Not even fair."

McGregor, who recently became the subject of a hate speech investigation by Irish police after he condemned the stabbing of school children, detailed the Irish political field Monday as he sees it along with the gerontocrats populating it and his route to power.

The established opposition

"Potential competition if I run. Gerry, 78. Bertie. 75. Enda, 74. Each with unbreakable ties to their individual parties politics. Regardless of what the public outside of their parties feel," McGregor wrote on X. "These parties govern themselves vs govern the people."

— (@)

Gerry Adams previously served as president of the radical socialist political party Sinn Féin from 1983 until 2018. He also served as a Teachta Dála — member of the lower house of Irish parliament. He stood down from his post representing Louth in the last election.

A spokesman for Adams recently indicated he is not seeking a return to frontline politics, reported Exra.ie.

Bertie Ahern served both as Irish prime minister, also known as taoiseach, from 1997 to 2008, as well as a member of the lower parliament from 1977 to 2011. He led the Fianna Fáil through three coalition governments, but resigned in 2012 amidst an ethics scandal. However, in February, roughly five years after indicating he had presidential ambitions, he rejoined the party.

The Irish Times indicated that Ahern's return to the Fianna Fáil has fueled speculation about a 2025 presidential run.

Enda Kenny, another former taoiseach and multi-decade parliamentarian, served as the head of the Fine Gael, a progressive liberal party greatly supportive of the European Union whose censorious leader, Leo Varadkar, is the incumbent taoiseach.

The Irish Independent suggested last month there is speculation the Fine Gael might advance Kenny as their presidential candidate.

The path to victory

Days after welcoming his fourth child into the world, McGregor told Elon Musk he fancies his chances of winning but would "need to be nominated either by: at least 20 members of the Oireachtas; or at least four local authorities (AKA county councils) to run."

The Oireachtas is Ireland's bicameral parliament.

"Most (26) local authorities are county councils. There are also 3 city councils (Dublin, Galway, and Cork) and 2 councils that oversee a city and a county (Limerick and Waterford)," continued McGregor. "A process. Either way, I'd just be happy with absolute transparency and consultation to the public. Currently there is none. Not an iota."

McGregor condemned the practice of politicians making promises at election time then turning their backs on the populace as soon as the votes are counted.

"It's disgusting. Even opposition politics seems to me more about the attempt of gaining power vs seeking their change," wrote the fighter. "If those currently in power agreed to usher in all opposition stance on change it wouldn't be enough. It's power/greed, the aim."

According to McGregor, yet another "power swap," whereby ruling and opposition parties trade places, would amount to little improvement as it would simply mean only a different stripe of establishmentarians running the nation contrary to the wishes and good of the electorate.

"This is why I'd run, if I was to. To be a voice of the people that deserve to be heard. President of Ireland is a unique position to other countries but it would demand response to questioning," added McGregor.

Musk responded, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Well, I hope you are at least nominated. That would shake things up!"

— (@)

Populist concerns

The populist fighter's political engagement online appears to have increased significantly in recent weeks, in part due to the perception of detached leaders and grievous crimes committed by migrants.

For instance, following the Nov. 23 stabbing of three young children and their caregiver outside a primary school in Dublin by a man initially ordered deported, Mcgregor wrote, "Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today."

"There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact," continued McGregor. "Make change or make way. Ireland for the victory. God bless those attacked today, we pray."

The Irish Times has already begun likening McGregor to former President Donald Trump.

Times columnist Fintan O'Toole suggested McGregor's brand fuses religious piety "with gangsta hedonism, macho-strut with family values, the old god of Irish-Catholicism with a gold-plated Mammon, bullying aggression with the promise of protection, chauvinistic nationalism with global celebrity, fame with notoriety."

"It's a very American blend – and a potentially heady cocktail in an Ireland with a disenfranchised Catholic right and a social infrastructure lagging far behind its population growth," added O'Toole.

McGregor posted an image of himself on Dec. 3, captioned, "Ireland, your President."

— (@)

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I had the honor on Friday to bear witness to the testimonies of family members of hostages who remain in the clutches of Hamas in Gaza. The Los Angeles event took place a few weeks after the screening of “Bearing Witness,” the 43 minutes of footage filmed mostly by those same barbarians that depict their evil in sickening detail. Maybe you read about it.

Make no mistake: What civilized people would call “unspeakable” atrocities must be spoken about and publicized far and wide. Hamas continues to hold at least 130 hostages, including eight Americans. Hamas terrorists took old women. They took babies. A State Department spokesman on Monday said Hamas refuses to release 17 women because “they don’t want those women to talk about what happened to them” during their captivity.

Since October 7, I have not stopped watching and reading the news from Israel. My emotions have whipsawed from rage and sadness to grief and fear and, finally, isolation, malaise, numbness. As I’ve internalized the pain and suffering of the victims and their families, I realized what I and many other Jews have been feeling since that horrific day.

We all feel like hostages.

I am an American Jew. I am a Zionist Jew. And, no, I will not qualify my political beliefs. This is not about right, left, or center — or it shouldn’t be. It certainly isn’t right now in Israel, where the people are unified in ways I never dreamed possible.

And yet, as a Jew living in America, a country I love with all my heart, I have never felt so unsafe or so fearful. I’m not fearful for myself so much as I’m fearful for my friends and family who once again are “moving targets, with stars on their sleeves.”

The loneliness and isolation many American Jews are experiencing right now is heartrending. We see the videos of Jewish students and teachers and shopkeepers left to fend for themselves against howling anti-Semitic mobs. Then we see the pathetic response and the lip service from politicians and we think: Never again? It’s already happening.

Yes, I’m keenly aware that American Jews often vote against their own self-interest. Who cares? When did it become acceptable to “victim-shame” again? Liberals and leftists who rushed to support Black Lives Matter during the 2020 “summer of love” and who proudly embraced the #MeToo hashtag and insisted we must “believe all women” suddenly have nothing to say about the rape and murder of hundreds of women and children.

What do they suppose “happened” to those 17 women hostages — all between the ages of 19 and 30, by the way — whom Hamas refuses to set free?

They’ve gone from “believe all women” to essentially blaming the women for wearing too short a skirt in the blink of an eye. Except the “skirt” is the mere fact that they were Jews in Israel. Or worse, they’ve remained silent. Whatever happened to “silence is violence”? Silence is also complicity. Silence is collaboration.

I live in the shadow of Hollywood. I know many conservatives despise Hollywood and the entertainment industry with good reason. They’ve helped poison the culture and helped indoctrinate a generation of latter-day Hitler Youth into not just hating America but also hating Jews and Christians, too.

But I’ve seen firsthand a small but significant shift in Hollywood. Several outspokenly liberal Jews, including Bill Maher, Debra Messing, and Michael Rapaport, have denounced Hamas’ atrocities and called out the hypocrisy and the silence of their comrades on the left.

Maybe more important is the shift under way behind the scenes, which I’ve also witnessed up close. Hundreds of powerful people are risking their social and financial status not only to help the cause but also to change the narrative.

Under the circumstances, I don’t care what gets these folks to the party or how late they arrive, just as long as they show up. That’s really all that matters.

October 7 was an epoch-making event. And in the weeks since, we’ve learned who our friends are and who our enemies are. We discovered friends we never knew we had — and enemies we thought were our friends.

And as I listened to the testimonies of mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles who are living through the horror of not knowing the fates of their loved ones, I thought: Enough. No one in America should ever feel like a hostage or feel like they're living in 1930s Germany. I’m done feeling like a hostage in my own country.

We’ve seen the face of evil, and we’ve seen many of our countrymen remain silent in the face of it. But there is a great silent majority of Americans who reject the evil of Hamas and Jew-hatred. The silent majority is not just left, right, or center. It is the majority. So let’s stop being silent.

A YouTuber will serve time in federal prison after he intentionally crashed an airplane, cleaned up the wreckage, and then lied about it to investigators.

On Monday, United States District Judge John F. Walter sentenced Trevor Jacob, 30, to six months in prison after Jacob pled guilty last June to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation, said a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California.

Jacob, a YouTube pilot and former Olympic snowboarder, began a YouTube channel 15 years ago and has since amassed more than 140,000 subscribers. His channel also attracted sponsors, including a company that sells various products such as wallets.

According to federal prosecutors, Jacob agreed to promote a wallet from this company in a video for his channel. But the video he made was not about wallets at all.

Instead, Jacob took off from Lompoc City Airport on November 24, 2021, on a solo flight with the expressed destination of Mammoth Lakes. Several cameras had been affixed to the plane, and Jacob had a video camera and a selfie stick as well.

Approximately 35 minutes after takeoff, Jacob, an experienced skydiver who was already wearing a parachute, indicated that he had "an engine out." He began swearing profusely and opened the plane door, looking nervously at the ground below. Within moments, he evacuated the plane, leaving it to crash in a remote part of Los Padres National Forest.

After landing in a dry brush of poisonous oak, Jacob wandered about for hours, first to locate the plane, then in a desperate search for water and safety. After sunset, he eventually found some ranchers who rescued him.

Jacob documented his journey throughout that harrowing episode. The video of it, entitled "I Crashed My Airplane," is still posted to the TrevorJacob YouTube channel and can be seen below:

Jacob also reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board two days after it happened. At that time, he agreed to provide the NTSB with "the coordinates of the downed plane and videos of the crash" and to preserve the wreckage so that the NTSB could examine it, the press release said. The FAA soon began an investigation as well.

Despite the promise not to meddle with the wreckage, a few weeks after the crash, Jacob and a friend located the crashed plane by helicopter. They then used straps to secure the plane to the helicopter and eventually transported it to Jacob's hangar at Lompoc City Airport. There, Jacob systematically dismembered the wreckage and deposited it, pieces at a time, in various garbage receptacles at the airport and elsewhere "with the intent to obstruct federal authorities from investigating the November 24 plane crash," the press release claimed.

Jacob then lied, saying that he did not know the location of the crash site. He also made a false report about the accident and misled investigators when he told them that he had to parachute from the plane because he could not find a safe place to land it.

In other words, Jacob got himself into a mess of his own making and then lied to cover it up. He even admitted as much in a video entitled "I Got My Pilots License Back! But Going to Prison...," posted to his YouTube channel on Monday. In that video, Jacob said that at one point, he was facing five felony charges that each carried a 20-year sentence.

He also called himself "an idiot" for pulling the stunt and said he felt "horrible" about it almost as soon as he hit the ground. "I screwed up," he said. He then added that he has paid dearly for his mistake. But he also indicated that he was motivated to fake the plane crash to fulfill a "bucket list" dream, not "to make money" or "gain online views," as alleged in the press release.

Whatever his reasons, Jacob will serve six months in the interest of justice and to deter other would-be daredevil YouTubers from trying something similar. "It appears that [Jacob] exercised exceptionally poor judgment in committing this offense," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "[Jacob] most likely committed this offense to generate social media and news coverage for himself and to obtain financial gain. Nevertheless, this type of ‘daredevil’ conduct cannot be tolerated."

Jacob's attorney did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

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