The cracker has finally crumbled for the executive at the forefront of Cracker Barrel's infamous rebranding meltdown.

Just over 11 months ago, Julie Felss Masino was responsible for what could be considered the American story of the year when Cracker Barrel completely swapped out its iconic logo for a mascot-free reimagining.

'I want to thank Julie for her leadership and commitment to Cracker Barrel.'

On Monday, Cracker Barrel announced that Masino would be stepping down after the company conducted a "comprehensive succession planning and search process."

In a press release, the brand said that while Masino would stay on in advisory role until October 9, it would only be to "support a smooth transition" for her replacement, David Deno.

Deno will join the Cracker Barrel board of directors following his role as CEO of Bloomin' Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse. He also spent 15 years in senior-level operations at Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.

Masino has been at the helm of Cracker Barrel since late 2023, but it wasn't until 2025 that the business spiraled out of control.

After ensuring audiences last August that customers would love the new changes, Masino led Cracker Barrel down a winding, woke road that had customers putting the company on blast for all its progressive initiatives.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel CEO praises company's 'Google star rating' while revealing huge financial losses

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Looking down the barrel

Cracker Barrel was knee deep in "culture and inclusion," stating on its website that it wanted to promote "inclusive, ambitious, and diverse" team members.

This included the "Be Bold" program, which had a mission to develop "Black Leaders" through "allyship, mentorship, and education."

The "Hola!" initiative promoted "Hispanic and Latino culture through hiring, developing, and retaining talent" within the company.

Cracker Barrel also had a program about "empowering" women and another regarding "strengthening Cracker Barrel's relationship to the LGBTQ+ community."

As the backlash peaked, Masino told Blaze co-founder Glenn Beck, "I feel like I've been fired by America."

In March 2026, Masino had no choice but to reveal how bad the company had been doing financially. Total revenue decreased by 7.9% compared to the year before. Restaurant revenue dropped by 7.5%, and traffic had declined by more than 10%. At the same time though, Masino praised the restaurant's Google rating as having its "highest quarterly score since Q2 in fiscal year 2020."

A recent notable partnership with NASCAR featured Cracker Barrel hosting a women's podcast and wine sampling on its stage at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in late June.

RELATED: 'I feel like I've been fired by America': Cracker Barrel CEO nearly brought to tears over redesign backlash

Parting remarks

"We are confident David [Deno] is the right leader to continue building on the Cracker Barrel legacy, drive further positive momentum operationally and financially, and create sustainable value for our shareholders," said independent chairman of the Cracker Barrel board Carl Berquist.

"On behalf of the board and the entire company, I want to thank Julie for her leadership and commitment to Cracker Barrel," he added.

Deno described Cracker Barrel as "a truly iconic American brand, defined by its unique combination of warm country hospitality, timeless appeal, and deep connection with guests across generations."

The new CEO said he was honored to lead the team while "unlocking the full potential" of the Cracker Barrel brand by focusing on food and experiences.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wrote in a statement Monday that he is still recovering from a fall in June and released a photo of himself in an apparent attempt to quell suspicion about his absence.

The photo shows a smiling McConnell alongside his wife, Elaine Chao. It was reportedly taken on Sunday from a rehabilitation facility. Unlike the previous photo released, he is not holding a newspaper or any other item that might help verify when it was taken.

'He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.'

McConnell released a statement in the press release lamenting that he would not be able to attend the annual Fancy Farm Picnic, a massive church fundraiser in Kentucky that has been running for more than 140 years.

"I'm still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors' orders," he wrote.

"As always, I appreciate all of your continued well wishes, and I'm looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon," he added.

The Office of the Attending Physician, the specialized unit that provides health care to members of Congress, also released a statement on his condition.

"Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls," the office said.

McConnell's bout with childhood polio continues to affect his health, the office added.

"He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office," it concluded.

Chao reportedly traveled to China days before McConnell's fall, and three days after his hospitalization, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. shared a photo of Chao with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. She has since returned to Kentucky.

RELATED: Kentucky governor makes unusual request as mystery deepens over Mitch McConnell's health

Mitch McConnell press release

McConnell has been heavily criticized by Democrats as well as some in his own party for being far too secretive about his condition.

"Allowing speculation to continue in the media is not fair to the Senator or to Kentuckians," reads a statement from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), "and my hope is that this provides him the opportunity to share the information in a transparent manner, direct from the source."

McConnell previously announced that he was not running for re-election. He is the longest-running senator for Kentucky and has the longest record of leading the U.S. Senate.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

An adherent of the "religion of peace" drove a white van into Germany's largest annual LGBT Pride event on Saturday, killing one and injuring at least 29 individuals before smashing into a tree nearby Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

After plowing through the pro-diversity festivities, homegrown terrorist Abdul Ballout — a 21-year-old German citizen with foreign ties — attacked passersby with a knife, then fled the scene, according to German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt.

'The rainbow has suffered a crack today.'

Yannicka Riebensahm, a Berlin-based performer and activist who performs under the name Nyya, spoke at the vigil held on Saturday evening for victims of the attack and complained about the identity of the suspect, noting that she had hoped it was not a foreigner "but a Christian white person" who had mowed down the non-straight revelers.

Other attendees at the vigil waved LGBT imperial colors, and one held a sign that said, "From grief, to anger, to resistance!"

Some Berlin LGBT organizers have demanded that the Islamic terrorist attack not be "instrumentalized for political ends."

Ballout, who was born in Germany three years after his mother's arrival from Lebanon in 2002, was previously known to police, having committed multiple crimes, including aggravated assault and predatory extortion, and belonging to the "Islamist scene," said Dobrindt.

RELATED: Activists RAGE against Democrat who admits hiding LGBTQ+ support to appease Muslims

The LGBT event before a Muslim terrorist drove into it. RALF HIRSCHBERGER/AFP/Getty Images

Tawfik, the terrorist's father who lives in Lebanon, told Der Spiegel that his son had been "brainwashed."

According to German prosecutors, the suspect traveled to Lebanon last year with the aim of joining ISIS, reported PBS. Ballout successfully met up with what he figured for militants, but before he could wage jihad, he was arrested by Lebanese authorities and sentenced by a military court to three months in prison.

Ballout subsequently returned to Germany and was arrested at the airport, according to PBS. In May, he was convicted both of plotting a serious act of violence threatening national security and of publishing ISIS propaganda.

Dobrindt told reporters, however, that Ballout's original sentence was suspended. Instead of serving one year and 10 months in youth custody, the terrorist was released from detention within days of his conviction pending an appeal of his sentence by prosecutors.

Following the attack, Andre Lehmann, a top official at Germany's largest non-straight NGO, LSVD+, said in a statement, "The rainbow has suffered a crack today. This is a dark day for our community and our country. Our thoughts are with everyone directly affected."

The City of Berlin said that the motto of this year's Christopher Street Day parade was "Taking a stand is hot," and that organizers were urging people "to take a stand for an open society, for democratic values, and for the equal rights of queer people."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated early on Sunday, "This is an attack on our society."

"The act will be investigated and pursued with the utmost severity," added Merz.

On Sunday, German special forces caught up with the suspect in the greater Berlin area. Ballout attacked police, then "suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene."

Following the attack, Alternative for Germany — or AFD, an ascendant rightist party that the German establishment has for years subjected to lawfare for sounding the alarm about the fallout of mass migration — blasted Merz's ruling CDU Party for "once again shirking responsibility."

AFD said that contrary to the suggestion by elements of the CDU, "the problem is not 'hate and incitement on the net,' but rather a far too lax approach to Islamist threats and all those who have been massively endangering the lives and security of citizens in Germany for eleven years now — let into the country by the CDU."

AFD reiterated its demand for "the immediate detention of Islamist threats and consistent deportations."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A knife-wielding male entered a Southern California restaurant "frightening customers and staff" earlier this month, according to law enforcement — that is, until a concealed-carrying patron stepped into the fray.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to a report of a person armed with a knife at Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que in the 11300 block of South Street in Cerritos just after 2 p.m. July 19, KABC-TV reported.

'He pointed a gun at him, told him to put the knife down, [but] the guy kept walking toward him like Michael Myers.'

Deputies told the station that a preliminary investigation found that the armed male entered the restaurant and ran through the kitchen/service areas "frightening customers and staff."

However, a customer who was "lawfully armed and possessed a valid concealed carry permit" confronted the male and ordered him to drop the knife, deputies told KABC.

But the male with the knife reportedly charged toward the customer, and the customer shot him, the station said.

In addition, a sheriff's department source told KABC that the knife-wielding male apparently stabbed himself before walking into the restaurant.

A restaurant employee told the station that what went down resembled a horror movie.

"I just saw a guy run in the restaurant with his throat slit, and he had a knife. Once he went to the main dining area with all the guests, I guess there was another guest that was sitting down," the employee recounted to KABC. "He pointed a gun at him, told him to put the knife down, [but] the guy kept walking toward him like Michael Myers. He shot him."

Investigators told the station they believe the incident began prior to the male getting to the restaurant. The sheriff's department source added to KABC that the male with the knife had been driving a stolen truck before abandoning it and stabbing himself at a nearby Starbucks on South Street.

Magaly Zacarias told the station she saw the driver before he ran toward Lucille's: "I noticed a driver driving recklessly into the plaza. He just left the car there, ran off to Lucille's, and it seemed like he had a knife in his hand, and he was also wounded. I got a closer look at the car, and it seems like there was already blood all over the steering wheel and inside of the car."

RELATED: 'Anyone who breaks into someone's home should expect to get shot': Gun-toting Florida homeowner takes care of business

Zacarias works nearby and added to KABC that the deadly incident was a shock to her and others who work in the area: "We were really anxious, especially because this plaza is safe, so it was a little shocking for us to hear what was happening."

Daniela Reyes of Cerritos told the station that she and other frequent shoppers also were shaken.

"It's just crazy to think about, because what if we were, well, knock on wood, but what if we were nearby and something like this happened?" Reyes noted to KABC. "And now it's like, OK, we have to be careful with our surroundings."

Javier Reyes added to the station that he hopes security is increased: "Hopefully there's more security, because this is kind of unacceptable that this happened, and it makes me worried to go out for a nice Sunday dinner."

More from KABC:

Homicide investigators and the sheriff's department deputies had the restaurant blocked off as the investigation continued. Witnesses and employees were being questioned.

Investigators have not released the name of the man who was shot and killed. They also have not released a possible motive for why he hurt himself and then went to the restaurant.

Deputies said the customer who shot the armed man remained at the scene and is fully cooperating with investigators.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A former NFL linebacker has been removed from the United States by immigration enforcement, apparently after years of living in the country illegally.

Daniel Ogama Adongo played professional rugby union in South Africa before being recruited by the NFL in 2013.

'Our communities are SAFER now that this criminal is OUT of our country.'

Adongo, now 37, was in his prime when the Indianapolis Colts brought him aboard, but the Kenyan played in a total of only five games over the course of two seasons, never recording a tackle.

After being waived by the Colts at the end of 2015, Adongo reportedly overstayed his visa in 2016, followed by a series of arrests over the last decade.

Fox News reported that the linebacker was arrested for crimes like criminal mischief with damage, felony intimidation, battery, and disorderly conduct. One of the arrests led to a one-year jail sentence in 2020.

According to the Daily Mail, another arrest stemmed from a 2017 incident when Adongo allegedly threatened his Uber driver with a hatchet.

A Department of Justice immigration judge ordered Adongo's removal in March, according to Fox News, and he was deported on June 20 after being detained in Chicago.

RELATED: Video shows Canadian 'illegal alien' slapping teen; assault suspect 'has no business being in our country': DHS

This CRIMINAL and former NFL linebacker has been DEPORTED after he broke our laws.

Daniel Ogama Adongo, from Kenya, has a criminal record in the U.S. that includes arrests for criminal mischief with damage, felony intimidation, battery and disorderly conduct.

Our communities… https://t.co/NNsS6tVHtd pic.twitter.com/PPdYCBcq1P
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 25, 2026

The Department of Homeland Security responded to a news story about Adongo, saying he was "DEPORTED after he broke our laws."

"Our communities are SAFER now that this criminal is OUT of our country," the department wrote on X.

ICE Chicago told Fox News that Adongo was "clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he's been removed."

The comments came from Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson, who added, "Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes."

RELATED: Video: MLB player ruptures his testicle mid-game — then shocks his manager with what he does next

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Adongo was born in Nairobi in 1989 and was signed by the Colts without any football experience. His two games came in 2013 and 2015, as he bounced between the practice squad and the full-time roster starting in July 2013, until his eventual release in December 2015.

Police had been called to Adongo's home multiple times throughout that season, the Daily Mail stated, but there were no charges filed at the time. He was later suspended by the NFL in 2016 following an investigation. Around 12 months later, he was arrested in Indianapolis for the alleged hatchet incident.

As noted by Pro Football Reference, Adongo had his suspension lifted by the NFL commissioner on October 4, 2016.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

While the passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has sparked an outpouring of tributes from allies, there’s also been a disappointing wave of celebration from the left.

BlazeTV host Ron Simmons is disturbed by what he’s seeing, pointing out that Graham wasn’t even a “far -ight zealot.”

“The left will hate us no matter who is in charge,” he says, before pulling up a post on X from Ana Kasparian, who simply wrote: “Good riddance.”

“In follow-up comments, including on Instagram, she doubled down and said she was elated that he was dead and overjoyed,” Simmons explains.

“And Nick Fuentes ... posted the same thing verbatim. Cenk Uygur, co-creator of 'The Young Turks,' posted, ‘Lindsey Graham has moved on to the next step of his journey, trying to convince Hades to attack Zeus and Poseidon,’” he continues.

“Comedian Elizabeth Booker Houston dropped off a ‘congratudolences’ cake at Graham’s office for his sister to receive. This is the worst one,” he adds.

“I just dropped this cake off at Lindsey Graham’s office. Congratuldolences, Darline! Your brother is burning in hell, and now, you’re working for the devil!” Houston wrote in a post on X.

Hasan Piker also chimed in on Graham’s passing, writing “lmao” in a quote tweet of a post remembering Graham.

“What I want you to understand is that don’t think when Donald Trump is out of office in 2029, he leaves office in early 2029, that ... that’s going to be a big kumbaya moment. It’s not going to be,” Simmons says.

“Do not be fooled by that. We need to stick to our principles, stick to our policies. Do I wish that Trump wouldn’t say some of the things he says? Absolutely. Absolutely. 100% ... but our policies is what we need to be the most concerned about,” he continues.

“We need to stay strong and move on from here,” he adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Call up the old crew because split-screen is back in high definition.

This time, however, it comes transparent, glow-in-the-dark, and wireless.

'A system so awesome it may blow your mind.'

Most news in video games these days is about woke injections, the loss of physical media, or another studio collapsing after telling gamers they should be happy with recycled titles about obese and progressive protagonists.

Eliminate all of that when opening the M64 box, which is likely the most retro-looking packaging you've seen since 1994. Imagine the best experience with a throwback system you could imagine: This is it.

With this ModRetro hardware, every little thing received special attention: the connecting light around the controller ports, the menu screens, even the eject button.

In fact, let's start there.

Eject with power

The M64 is not just inspired by a translucent Nintendo 64 that kids (and adults) have clamored over in nostalgia pages for the last five years; it's a monumental improvement in almost every way.

N64 games are known for their bulky cartridges that gamers often had to cram into the system and subsequently pry out with a crowbar. Not anymore. The M64 comes with a handy eject button that doesn't just release the game; you can get some serious air with this thing. It's probably the first thing you will show the boys.

RELATED: 'You are killing ownership': PlayStation goes digital-only as disc-loving gamers rage

M64. Andrew Chapados/Blaze Media

The system is illuminated with an LED light in front of the cartridge so you can see what you are playing when in the dark, a recurring theme for this unit. Each controller port (there are four) has a ring light around it when active.

On the back: power source, HDMI port, two USB-C ports, and a microSD slot.

Readers will also notice two buttons on top: the white power button and the red knob. The knob is also a button which brings up the system menu where users tinker with all its many settings.

Days of wireless past

The M64 can be updated through microSD or wirelessly, why? Firmware updates are common with retro consoles for upscaling fixes, bugs, and in this case, menu and calibration data.

The menus are delightfully 8-bit, giving the user options to play in full HD, use scan lines, and more. There are reportedly plans to adapt the M64 to work on CRT TVs in the future as well.

One menu is for connecting controllers; plug in an original N64, an updated remake, or the M64 Pro Controller.

The new piece of hardware came in its own box, with an original game (more on that below), and "a system so awesome it may blow your mind" written on it.

There are many ways to use this controller: the wired option uses a unique USB-C attachment with a traditional N64 cord that plugs in just like an older controller.

Wirelessly, users will need to pair with the console, indicated by a fancy LED ring light circling around the desired port when connecting. This can be done with a traditional battery pack that snaps into the rear of the controller or with a modern, rechargeable battery. All come in the box.

RELATED: Back to the future? Palmer Luckey's Chromatic does nostalgia right

M64 controller. Andrew Chapados/Blaze Media

Physically, it's significantly heavier than an N64 controller. The M64 Pro Controller feels like superior alloys made from a Terminator. It was cool to the touch, which sent an exhilarating jolt up the spine.

The start button lights up, keeping with the theme. It vibrates to let you know rumbling is native. The crisp buttons give the old clicking sound while the Z and shoulder buttons have a nice crease to rest your fingers on.

Everyone had a blister on their thumb at some point in their gaming career with the N64 controller, and everyone had that weird friend who used the palm of their hand too.

A padded, rubberized joystick avoids this with the M64 controller, which also adds grip for those tight, cardinal-direction turns on Super Mario 64.

You play to win the game

The M64's native game is Xibalba 64, which will launch with Turbo Fusion, Xeno Crisis, and Buck Bumble. Think Doom/Duke Nukem/Quake controls and graphics, but it's smoother and creepier.

Each level starts with a disturbing yet cleverly written Mayan poem, before you jump in and fight indigenous South American creatures which eventually morph into robots that look like refrigerators.

The game is more clever than 64-bit first-person shooters of the past because of the modern tech that went into it. The game feels like it could have been released at the time, just better, which is how the system feels overall — luxurious old tech.

M64 with Xibalba 64. Andrew Chapados/Blaze Media

Other games we tested were Killer Instinct Gold, Super Mario 64, Super Smash Bros, Bust-A-Move 2, and Mario Party 2. None of these games caused any issues framerate-wise, nor crashed or underperformed in any way.

Everything scaled fine onto our huge, 60-inch television while a friend maniacally laughed his way to a 6-star, 173-coin victory as Donkey Kong on Mario Party 2.

ModRetro has a game compatibility list that shows just 16 games having issues at the time of this writing. This has been cut down significantly since we last checked, showing that they are actively working on cutting down issues.

Verdict

Having played several different retro remakes before, such as Hyperkin's, it is expected that retro gamers sort of have to get used to crashes and bugs, but not with the M64. There were honestly zero issues during hours and hours of gaming.

It's an impressive machine, more impressive than what the company did with the Chromatic.

This is on top of the fact that it is an awesome excuse to round up the crew to rescue Elvis on Perfect Dark, fall off cliffs on Mario 64, and sweat playing Smash Bros.

One takeaway a fellow gamer had while playing some of the old games was, "Why do games today suck?"

"Why do these games scratch the itch" about as well as their 2026 counterparts, he further bemoaned.

While we may not be able to trust the major developers to bring the past to us in a responsible way, we certainly can for ModRetro.

The entire system gets a 9.4/10 — there were no glaring flaws or issues. The greatest struggle or hiccup during the entire process was connecting the wireless controller. It was plugged in, and in order to connect it wirelessly it seemingly needed to be turned off and then turned back on. That was it.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

One of the White House's most recent social media posts has gained outsized attention — but likely not for the reasons the administration hoped for.

On Sunday night, the White House X account posted a spoof video with major themes of the administration in the style of "Rick and Morty," a popular sci-fi cartoon for adults.

'Your boos mean nothing, I’ve seen what makes you cheer.'

Captioned "Hop in ... best dimension yet," the video covers a broad sweep of increasingly fantastic scenes.

Reminiscent of the far-out opening credits of "Rick and Morty," the White House's version features some hallmark symbols of the MAGA movement, including but not limited to a MAGA hat, a Diet Coke can, and a floating "1+1+1=3 wins," an apparent reference to the past three presidential "wins" of the Trump administration.

The cartoon video shows a number of different scenes, including President Trump and Vice President JD Vance running along the White House colonnade and Trump waving from a balcony of the White House.

Then, the scenes get more bizarre.

RELATED: Trump approval rating SOARS in new poll

The next scene shows an immigration agent with "Homan" on his name tag handcuffing a winged demon.

Before the final scene, there is a cut of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaking at a podium, surrounded by green portals to other dimensions. Schumer then removes his face to reveal that he is a robot underneath a mask.

Trump and Vance can then be seen flying through the air in a spaceship being chased by a large dragon with red, laser eyes. The scene cuts to black with a lightning strike, which then forms the word "MAGA" in red lettering.

The 36-second video, which is approaching nine million views on X but has gained only a little over 40,000 likes, clearly touched a nerve.

While some commenters were pleased with or were pleasantly surprised by the White House leaning into the referential crossovers with popular culture, others were not so impressed.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) drew a sharp contrast between the fantasy of the video and the increasing costs burdening real families across the country: "People can’t afford gas, groceries, rent, and healthcare and this is the weird embarrassing crap the official White House account is putting out."

Others questioned if there is an actual audience for this type of content from official government accounts. Scott Greer, for example, simply asked, "Who is the audience for this?"

Another account pointed out that this type of content could potentially be flooding out valuable content from other accounts online: "Babe wake up the White house is posting coal again."

Despite some of the negative online comments, White House officials have seemingly held their ground. Kaelen Dorr, the head of digital strategy for the White House, referenced a line from "Rick and Morty" as a comeback: "Your boos mean nothing, I’ve seen what makes you cheer."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

AirDrop for iPhone and Quick Share for Android offer fun ways to quickly send photos, videos, and other files to other devices within a 30-foot radius via Bluetooth and WiFi.

Unfortunately, researchers claim that these services are compromised, and hackers can exploit them to make your life miserable.

Whether you use an iPhone or you have an Android phone, the fix is the same.

Not one, not two, but six vulnerabilities have been uncovered in both Apple’s AirDrop and Android’s Quick Share file-sharing systems. This revelation came directly from security researchers at the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security in Germany.

Here's what you're looking at in terms of risks and threats.

The vulnerabilities

Both AirDrop and Quick Share are designed to allow users to send various files wirelessly from one device to another, even if you don’t have the contact information of the other device saved to your phone. Up until recently, AirDrop only worked between devices in Apple’s ecosystem, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Quick Share, on the other hand, primarily worked between Android devices, like the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel. Thanks to some ingenuity from the Android team, now it’s possible for some Android phones to wirelessly send files to iPhones and back, finally bridging the gap between the two file-sharing services.

Unfortunately, while AirDrop and Quick Share are meant to be a helpful — if not a neat — file-sharing feature, they’re both left wide open for hackers to intervene. According to the report, “A proximity attacker needs a laptop with Wi-Fi and a spot within range, often 10 to 30 meters. No pairing, contact exchange, or shared network is required."

RELATED: The latest iPhone security threat has a nasty fix

Moor Studio/Getty Images

On Apple devices set to receive from “Everyone,” the early protocol phases respond before any user prompt appears. Quick Share answers nearby devices by default once it is visible.”

Once a hacker attacks a device, both AirDrop and Quick Share can misbehave but in different ways. The AirDrop vulnerability will result in a system crash that affects AirDrop, AirPlay, Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Continuity Camera. In other words, AirDrop hackers can’t access user data through this exploit, but they can remotely disable the target iPhone, essentially turning it into a brick. Meanwhile, the Quick Share vulnerability allows hackers to bypass security protocols, leaving the system open to intercept or modify the sent file, which can be leveraged for malicious purposes.

How to protect your device from file-sharing hackers

The good news is that whether you use an iPhone or you have an Android phone, the fix is the same. You can protect your device from unwanted file-sharing hackers by restricting your AirDrop or Quick Share access to your contacts only, or disable the feature entirely. The only thing you don’t want to do is make your AirDrop or Quick Share feature available to all nearby phones.

To customize AirDrop on iPhone, open the Settings app. Then tap “General,” followed by “AirDrop.” On the next page, check either “Receiving Off” or “Contacts Only” to protect your phone.

Zach Laidlaw/iPhone 17 Pro Max on iOS 26.5.2

To change the Quick Share settings on Samsung Galaxy, open the Settings app. Tap “Connected devices,” then “Quick Share,” and follow that with “Who can share with you.” From the popup menu, select either “No one,” “Your devices,” or “Contacts.”

Zach Laidlaw/Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 on One UI 8.5

Finally, to tweak your Google Pixel Quick Share capabilities, open the Settings app and hop into the “Connection devices” section, then “Connection preferences.” Tap “Quick Share” at the bottom, followed by “Who can share with you.” From there, either select “Your devices,” “Contacts,” or disable Quick Share entirely by toggling the “Visible to nearby devices” switch off.

Zach Laidlaw/Google Pixel 10 Pro XL on Android 17

Now your devices are protected from hackers who may wish to exploit AirDrop and Quick Share to either disable your device or install malicious code meant to do harm. You can now roam about public spaces without risk of file-sharing attacks.

Three were killed and four were wounded in a shooting at a Seattle food festival Sunday evening that police believe was between two people shooting at each other, police told CBS News.

Seattle Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis said at a late-night press conference that one of the shooting suspects was arrested but the other one was still at large, the news network noted.

'I heard bang, bang, bang, and I heard yelling, straight yelling.'

Davis told CBS News that officers working in the area confronted one shooter, which prevented more people from being shot, and that two guns were recovered.

Of the seven shooting victims, CPR wasn't successful on two of them, and they were pronounced dead at the scene; a third victim, a 56-year-old woman, later died at Harborview Medical Center, the news network said.

A 2-year-old boy, 39-year-old woman, and 23-year-old man also were taken to Harborview and were in stable condition, Davis told CBS News, adding that a 40-year-old woman with minor injuries didn't want to go to the hospital but later went to the University of Washington Medical Center.

CBS News said the shooting took place around 6 p.m. near the Seattle Center, a popular tourist spot that includes the Space Needle and the sports arena that's the home of the Seattle Kraken and Seattle Storm. The news network said the area was filled with attendees of the annual Bite of Seattle food festival.

RELATED: Video: Suspect opens fire on Texas SWAT team serving arrest warrant; but cops shoot back — 1 right through his own windshield

Witnesses told KING-TV they heard sounds resembling firecrackers and people fleeing the area and diving for cover.

"I heard bang, bang, bang, and I heard yelling, straight yelling," a witness noted in the KING interview.

Adya Sengupta told the station she took cover in the Seattle Armory and that Seattle Fudge brought dozens of bystanders into the storefront to shelter in the event center.

"Inside the Seattle Armory was crazy, within seconds maybe 60-plus people had flooded the doors inside, all running toward that back corner with Seattle Fudge," Sengupta added to KING.

CBS News said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives indicated Sunday night that several of its agents were at the scene, and that Seattle police would lead the investigation. The news network added that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) said the state SWAT team also responded at the request of Seattle police.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A hospital group in Chicago has quietly advanced a DEI agenda emphasizing transgenderism despite continuing to receive federal funds.

A new Consumers’ Research campaign has uncovered active DEI policies in the Rush University Medical Center hospital system. Rush CEO Omar Lateef previously said the hospital’s “commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is a critical part of our DNA.”

‘Physical health can also be greatly affected from long-standing internalized stigma.’

Rush University President Robert Higgins, Rush University System for Health Chair Emeritus Susan Crown, and the Rush University Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment.

“Rush is betraying what should be every hospital's core mission by using its time, energy, and taxpayer support to promote radical woke activism,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild said. “Not only does Rush have a history of prioritizing DEI, child sex-change procedures, and climate alarmism, the hospital also has a troubling history of questionable spending on nonmedical initiatives completely unrelated to patient care, like its partnership with the Chicago White Sox.”

The Rush University Children’s Hospital’s pediatrics department currently conducts “department-wide DEI retreats” as part of a broader anti-racism and LGBTQ curriculum, according to the department website.

Retreat topics included “Microaggression Workshops” and sessions on “Achieving Health Equity for LGBTQ People.”

RELATED: Oregon's war on confused children, by the numbers

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Four thousand staff and students completed Rush’s “LGBTQ-affirming care” training in 2025. Affirm: The Rush Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Reproductive Health teaches program participants that “physical health can also be greatly affected from long-standing internalized stigma.”

Rush intends to offer the training to all employees, according to its program recap.

Although Affirm paused hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers to new patients in 2025, the hospital still offers some gender-related "services" to minors.

“Rush continues to provide mental health, behavioral health, and social services to gender care patients, regardless of age,” spokesperson Tobin Klinger told Block Club Chicago. “Rush will work to refer any patients to other programs for services we do not provide.”

Rush also propped up Pride parades in both 2025 and 2026.

“As Pride Month comes to a close, we continue to march forward, leading with love every step of the way. At Rush, we celebrate the vibrant diversity and unwavering resilience of our LGBTQ+ community, not just in June, but all year long,” the medical center wrote in a June 2023 Instagram post.

President Donald Trump’s “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” executive order in January 2025 restricted federal funds for hospitals that offer sex-rejecting interventions to minors.

Rush spent $194 million in federal funds for fiscal year 2025 while continuing its LGBTQ training programs, according to a June report by Save Our States.

The hospital system increased CEO Omar Lateef’s compensation by nearly $800,000 to $3.7 million between 2023 and 2024 while laying off an unknown number of employees due to “financial headwinds.” Rush began sponsoring the Chicago White Sox games in 2022.

Lateef also benefited from a personal housing allowance and subsidized membership dues for elite Chicago social clubs during this period.

Under Lateef’s leadership, Rush committed to using 100% renewable energy by 2030 and held “that climate change is fundamentally a human health issue.” As part of its environmental agenda, Rush participates in the Good Food Partnership Program to prioritize “suppliers who have experienced negative systemic social and/or economic impacts such as ‘people of color, across all supply chains and to the greatest extent possible.”

“This latest campaign by Consumers’ Research demonstrates that we will continue fighting for everyday consumers by holding woke hospitals like Rush accountable,” Hild told Blaze News.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tried repeatedly in recent years to get the Justice Department to nail former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci over apparent false testimony before Congress in 2021.

The statute of limitations on charging Fauci over the alleged perjury expired in May, and Fauci also has a "full and unconditional" autopen pardon from President Joe Biden that covers January 2014 until January 2025.

'I am the most famous and talked about person in the country.'

However, Paul has secured for the 85-year-old another opportunity to potentially trip over his words and record, requiring Fauci to testify on Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Days prior to grilling Fauci in person, Paul released a treasure trove of damning documents — including a series of apparent diary entries from Fauci where the immunologist not only comes across as a megalomaniac but undermines the official narrative he publicly championed regarding COVID-19, its origin, and school closures.

The documents released by Paul show that in a diary entry dated May 21, 2020, Fauci apparently noted the number of COVID infections and deaths, both globally and in the United States, then proceeded to spend the remainder of the entry boasting about his newfound fame.

"Big front page article abut [sic] me appeared in the Washington Post," says the entry. "Very flattering. The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable. It is not hyoperbole [sic] to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson [sic] in the world."

The author of the entry bragged that he couldn't keep up with all the things written about him; that President Donald Trump "seems to be enamored of me even though I am taking the spotlight away from him"; and that U.S. Secret Service personnel "let me into the first gate without even checking ID."

Days later, the author excitedly wrote that the press was simultaneously "going wild" with him while "crucifying the POTUS for not listening to me and making crazy statements about 'game-changing' therapies and praising me fot [sic] stivking [sic] to my guns."

RELATED: Days after Biden inauguration, FBI shielded Wuhan lab collaborator from investigation after China trip

HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images

Although he ultimately came around to admitting that there was a "steep cost" associated with school closures during the pandemic, Fauci told ABC News' "This Week" that he "had nothing to do" with closing schools.

The diaries published by Paul suggest otherwise.

An entry dated March 15, 2020, states, "I spoke with Bill de Blasio (Mayor – NYC) and convinced him based on what I was saying publicly and my conversation tonight to close the NYC schools (he had already decided based on what I was saying on TV). I went on to tell him he should close the bars and restaurants in NYC. He said that he would base this on my recommendation."

The same entry notes further that Fauci had a call with the chief of staff of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who informed him that based on his televised commentary, "The Governor has decided to close the schools in California as well as the bars and restaurants."

Sen. Paul also highlighted that in a Jan. 26, 2020, entry, Fauci appeared to admit that he knew COVID-19 did not originate in a Chinese wet market, which was the prevailing theory among some so-called experts.

"It now appears using epi data and genomic data that the first infection was in early December and was not connected to the market," Fauci wrote, according to the documents published by Paul. "The infections spread among people weeks before the Chinese reported that they were dealing with a new infection and that gave the virus time to establish itself in multigenerational (sustained) spread."

"Remember, early on the Chinese were saying that there is no human to human transmission and all the original 27 cases were from the market," continued the Jan. 26 entry. "Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier. Having said that, somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans."

While Fauci seems to have privately admitted that the Huanan wet market was where the pandemic started, he nevertheless publicly promoted the infamous paper published in Nature Medicine on March 17, 2020, "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2," which stated, "As many early cases of COVID-19 were linked to the Huanan market in Wuhan, it is possible that an animal source was present at this location."

Fauci used this paper on multiple occasions to suggest to the American public that COVID-19 was not a lab leak but rather an animal virus that jumped to a human.

Though Fauci apparently understood that the "market was not the source," two studies published in the journal Science in July 2022 — "The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic," and "The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2" — hyped the wet market as the potential epicenter of the pandemic.

Jonathan Pekar of the University of California, San Diego, and several Fauci associates, including evolutionary biologist Kristian Andersen, virologist Edward Holmes, and virologist Robert Garry, were among the authors behind these papers.

Several days after the wet market admission, Fauci appears to acknowledge the suspicion among his in-group that a zoonotic leap was unlikely, the documents released by Paul show.

After dismissing the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 was a product of gain-of-function experimentation that was deliberately or accidentally released, Fauci had a conference call with Andersen and Jeremy Farrar, a biologist "who sounded very concerned," the documents show.

"The people on the phone felt that the mutations around the furine [sic] cleavage site of the spike protein could not have occurred naturally since it would require an evolutionary 'jump that they found nowhere in bat isolates,[']" said the entry. "They bring up the possibility that this could have been deliberately inserted and either accidentally released or deliberately released by a crazy person in the lab, the former being the most likely."

Correspondence obtained in 2022 through a Freedom of Information lawsuit by Guardian reporter Jimmy Tobias shows that on Jan. 31, 2020, Andersen wrote to Fauci, "You have to look very closely at the genome to see features that are potentially engineered. … I should mention that after discussions earlier today, Eddie [Holmes], Bob [Garry], Mike [Farzan], and myself all find the genome to be inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory."

According to an entry dated Feb. 1, 2020, Fauci and then-National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins had a conference call with 10 other scientists, and only two of all of the individuals on the call — not including Fauci — "felt that deliberate insertion was possible and given the fact that Dr. Zheng-Li Shi at the University of Wuhan has been working for years in [gain of function] in coronaviruses to allow adaptation of the spike protein to bind to the human ACE2 receptor, we could not let this go."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

There’s a striking parallel between ESPN’s latest round of layoffs and the dystopian world of the film "The Purge" — and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock knows why.

“In the movie ‘The Purge,’ the ruling class gives you one night a year, 12 hours, where all crime, including murder, is legal. They sell it to you as catharsis, healing, a release valve, so the country stays calm the other 364 days,” Whitlock explains on “Fearless.”

“It’s a lie. The purge was never about healing. It was about money. The elites quietly eliminating the people they decided were too expensive to keep and dressing it up as something noble so nobody asked the real question,” he continues, adding, “This week ESPN began its purge.”

Of those “purged” were Ryan Clark, Cam Newton, and many other veteran anchors.

“The network wants you to believe it’s just business, restructuring, budget cuts. Don’t buy the catharsis story. There’s a body they’re protecting. It’s worth billions,” he says, “It’s called the Super Bowl.”

And while some are blaming “racism” for the firings, Whitlock points out that plenty of white broadcasters have been cut.

“The purge doesn’t kill by color. It kills by cost. It eliminates whoever’s become too expensive, too much liability for the future the elites are building. That’s what you’re watching. Not a racial purge, an economic one,” he says.

“Clark and Newton weren’t cut for their skin, they were cut because they carried the most risk to the thing ESPN is trying to save,” he explains, noting that they were “loud, divisive,” and “expensive in every way that matters when you’re about to host the biggest broadcast in America.”

And the writing was on the wall when ESPN hosted the most recent Super Bowl featuring Bad Bunny as the halftime performer.

“Last year’s Super Bowl leaned into Bad Bunny at halftime. Divisive, political, and a huge slice of the country. The traditional patriotic core of the football audience felt like the game was no longer being made for them,” Whitlock says.

“The NFL’s whole flirtation with the Jay-Z era, the constant catering to an audience that was never the football base. It cost them. The ratings told the story, and everyone inside the building read it,” he continues.

“What do you do? You purge. You clean out everyone who represents the era that started the bleeding. Not for their color, for their cost to the number you have to protect,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The Democratic establishment is replete with leftists who have in recent years supported, among other things, men in women's sports, the genital mutilation of children, unchecked abortion, radical wealth redistribution initiatives, racial reparations, open border policies, DEI, and climate alarmism.

Despite the party's relative extremism, there is an appetite among Democratic voters to drive the party further to the left as evidenced in the recent primary successes enjoyed in Colorado, New York, and Pennsylvania by Zohran Mamdani-styled Democratic Socialists of America candidates.

'STOP pooping in the punch bowl.'

DSA candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, for example, is a Muslim convert who hates cops, Israel, and the border, and co-founded a group that called for the "total eradication of Western civilization."

Establishment Democrats' efforts to downplay the threat of their party's capture by Chevalier and her fellow travelers have not only been frustrated at the polls but on cable news, where DSA national co-chair Megan Romer proudly admitted her group's aims for America.

Speaking to Romer on Sunday, just days ahead of the 2026 Democratic Socialist Summit in Chicago, Fox News' Shannon Bream referenced remarks the radical made at the DSA convention last year.

"Power only cedes itself to a greater degree of power," Romer told her comrades, reported the Daily Economy. "We win by making conditions so intolerable for the ruling class that they would rather give in to our demands than continue to live with the disturbance we cause, until we are able to fully seize power ourselves."

When asked whether these remarks were aimed at the Democratic Party, Romer said, "It's aimed from the working class to the ruling class — so the two-party duopoly, the two corporate parties, it's aimed at both of them."

RELATED: The socialists are coming for the Senate

Romer confirmed that establishment Democrats should be worried because "they have not been delivering, and our candidates are and have been."

While the DSA might pose a problem for the Democratic Party, the DSA's ascendancy could also mean trouble for the republic. After all, Romer confirmed to Bream that the DSA seeks to:

• eliminate the U.S. Senate;
• replace the presidency and the U.S. Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary handpicked and overseen by Congress;
• abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
• abolish U.S. borders and grant amnesty to all illegal aliens presently residing in the country;
• defund the Department of War;
• abolish prisons; and
• seize public control of most large corporations.

Going through this list of some of the DSA's plans for America, Romer emphasized that "the Senate is an anachronistic institution" and complained that it is "part of the system that was made to make sure that the people didn't have too much of a say."

Pressed on whether there would be any immigration enforcement in the absence of ICE, Romer pushed the utopian notion that there would be no need given a recalibration of American foreign policy.

"The open borders is part of a longer-term international plan that involves us stopping destabilizing countries," said Romer. "Most people who are coming to this country are coming as economic refugees, and we destabilized their country. We did that."

"If we can get to the place where the U.S. is not destabilizing countries in order to mine them for resources, there will be significantly less migration," added the socialist.

Finally, when asked what the DSA plans to do with criminals — particularly rapists, murderers, and other dangerous individuals — when America's prisons are abolished, Romer kicked the can down the yellow brick road, stating, "When we get rid of this need for crimes of poverty to exist, when we get rid of that destabilizing force that creates so many people who are living in desperate situations and doing desperate things, that brings those numbers down to very small numbers, and then we can collectively decide what we do with those people."

"I suspect it won't look like the prison system as we know it today," added Romer.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat set for retirement, said of democratic socialists, "I think the tent for the Democratic Party can accommodate diversity."

However, former Obama adviser Van Jones is among the Democrats beginning to freak out over the influx of "extremists" into the Democratic tent.

"I'm tired of being told that, to be a progressive, I now must swear allegiance to crazy ideas," Jones wrote earlier this month.

Jones noted that DSA-types are "trying to sneak backwards proposals into our party, hoping mainstream Democrats are too frustrated with MAGA and the Democratic Party establishment to notice. But we see you. Yes, we want our Democratic Party to be a big tent. But we don’t need 'party poopers.['] So STOP pooping in the punch bowl — and telling us the turds are ice cubes."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A recent national poll from RMS Research has some very good news for supporters of President Donald Trump.

In a poll conducted between July 13 and Tuesday, the president's net approval rating increased to the highest level he's had since spring despite the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and some inflation woes.

That lead might not be enough for Democrats to win control of both houses of Congress given the structural advantage Republicans have.

Trump hit 46% approval with only 52% of respondents saying they disapprove of the president's job, for a net rating of -6.

RMS Research data reveals this rating is the highest for Trump since late April and early May, when his net rating sunk to -17.

The results mirrored those reported by a Morning Consult poll released July 6, which also concluded his net approval rating had climbed to its highest since April. Improvements among Republicans and independents led to the increase.

Republicans in general also "gained trust across the board," Morning Consult said, while Democrats' "issue edge narrowed on everything."

However, despite the increase, Republicans continue to lag behind Democrats on the generic ballot. Democrats have 45% support in the generic ballot while Republicans have only 42%, per Morning Consult.

That lead might not be enough for Democrats to win control of both houses of Congress given the structural advantage Republicans have through redistricting in several states, according to recent analysis from CNN political analyst Harry Enten.

RELATED: Democrats face CRUSHING math problem trying to take over the Senate, CNN's Harry Enten says

Republicans made gains on many issues that the poll asked voters to consider. Democrats stalled, despite having a lead.

The generic ballot is seen as a bellwether for the midterm elections.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The number of lawyers being reprimanded for AI usage has skyrocketed over the past year.

Those getting caught fudging their work aren't from law offices born out of a garage either; they're from some of the biggest legal teams in the country.

'AI can be a useful tool, but it cannot replace the lawyer's duty.'

Blaze News previously reported on a 2025 case from Mississippi where both sides of the aisle were caught using artificial intelligence when they submitted nonexistent citations in support of their case. The judge reprimanded both parties and canceled the trial.

Things have only gotten worse, as the number of cases involving hallucinated citations has since gone from hundreds to thousands. These cases have been tracked by a researcher named Damien Charlotin, who reports around 1,800 cases worldwide have been stymied by AI usage, more than 1,200 of which are in the United States.

Proponents of AI can't blame this on mom and pop legal shops either. A significant number of high profile legal teams have been caught up in the craze, including the Department of Justice.

A DOJ lawyer in Michigan faced a grilling from a judge just last week over citing a nonexistent appeals court case.

"It seems this citation was likely produced by generative artificial intelligence," Chief Judge Hala Y. Jarbou wrote, per Bloomberg.

Months earlier, a former DOJ lawyer in North Carolina submitted false quotes and erroneous citations, with the judge stating that the attorney "cannot avoid the consequences of his failure to account" for the hallucinations.

RELATED: Even if you don't choose to use AI, you're probably interacting with it

David Zorrakino/Europa Press/Getty Images

Sullivan & Cromwell, a nearly 150-year-old Wall Street law firm, apologized to a federal judge in April over hallucinated citations. Shockingly, the legal team admitted to three dozen errors, a number of which were reportedly fake passages from real cases. The firm also claimed some of the errors were clerical, the New York Times reported.

Even the AI creators are not immune to the citations, or rather, double-checking their work.

In May, a lawyer for Anthropic told a judge in a music copyright lawsuit in California that her team had used an incorrect citation that was hallucinated by AI.

The attorney reportedly used Anthropic's own chatbot, Claude, to create a citation from a real academic journal. However, the result was a fake title with fake authors, Reuters reported.

The law firm, Latham & Watkins, described it as an "an embarrassing and unintentional mistake."

RELATED: Livid judge cancels trial and busts lawyers for faking briefs with AI — on both sides

JEFFERSON SIEGEL/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Attorney Crawford Appleby at Wisner Baum told Blaze News in a statement that AI hallucinations are becoming one of the biggest risks facing the modern U.S. legal system.

"AI can be a useful tool, but it cannot replace the lawyer's duty of candor, competence, and independent judgment," Appleby said.

The United States is leading the charge in AI hallucinations, with Australia, Canada, and the U.K. the next biggest offenders, but trailing behind by more than 1,000 cases.

The most common types of hallucinations happen in the form of fabricated case law (~1,500), followed by creating false quotes (~500). Misrepresentations of case law also happen quite often (~750), while sometimes AI can provide outdated advice (30+) or cite laws that have been repealed (15+).

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

I recently came across a short article in which the female half of an early-30s DINK (dual-income, no kids) couple in Charlotte, North Carolina, outlined their finances.

They make a combined income of about $380,000 per year. They have no debts other than a $450,000 mortgage, which they expect to pay off in the next seven years. They've accumulated $1.1 million in savings, to which they add about $8,000 each month. Other than gym memberships and an occasional dinner out, they rarely splurge.

'People can’t have kids if they can’t afford a house,' they say. Really? Are renters rendered sterile? I was unaware.

Baby bust

"I love our life together," she says. The only thing missing? Children. They definitely want them, but have chosen to wait until they "feel more financially secure."

You read that right. An otherwise financially literate couple thinks $380,000 per year is not enough to have kids.

Prudence is one thing; this is more like paralysis. And it's fairly widespread in 2026, as evidenced by a decline in both birth rates and general happiness.

How did the standards for a good life balloon so far beyond our ancestors’ wildest imaginings? How did people come to believe they cannot start a family without things their grandparents never possessed? And how did this historically anomalous idea come to seem perfectly reasonable?

Feature creep

There is no single explanation, but our inflated expectations seem to track alongside what is sometimes called “feature creep.” This happens when manufacturers continually add conveniences that, in theory, improve a product but eventually raise the baseline — and the price — to a once-unheard-of level.

My sister recently bought a new car. It is amazing. It can do all sorts of things, and despite not being a luxury model, it was quite expensive. She told the salesman, an old-car enthusiast, that she wished she could simply buy a basic car without all the bells and whistles. He agreed.

That is feature creep. The floor has risen so high that heated steering wheels, assisted driving, and iPads embedded in the dashboard are becoming standard equipment. The same thing has happened to houses and apartments, which are now expected to have renovated kitchens, new bathrooms, smart lights, smart thermostats, and every other costly convenience.

Lease on life

As our products have become more elaborate, so have our expectations for what constitutes a good life — and for what having children requires.

People have grown accustomed to so much comfort that they have lost the ability to adapt as their parents and grandparents routinely did in the not-so-distant past.

This is usually the point when someone brings up the housing market.

“People can’t have kids if they can’t afford a house,” they say.

Really? Are renters rendered sterile? I was unaware.

The Root family must have slipped through the cracks, because we have had children while renting and somehow survived. I am obviously sympathetic to the problem of exorbitant housing costs, but I am not going to pretend that home ownership is a prerequisite for having children.

My parents had me while living in an apartment. My father’s parents had their first child in an old Army tent pitched behind the farmhouse where they were staying for the summer. And that is only the 20th century. The farther back you go, the tougher it gets.

RELATED: You will never be 'ready'

Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Doom patrol

The belief that renters cannot even contemplate starting a family is closely related to a couple earning $380,000 a year feeling too financially insecure to have children. Both are also distantly related to the depressive claims of online doom-mongers that life is harder than ever, when it so obviously is not.

No one starves in the United States today. It has been a very long time since that was a normal possibility. We have become so thoroughly removed from true want that we have forgotten what the word means.

After the extraordinary material abundance of the 20th century, it is perhaps unsurprising that millions of people developed unreasonable—and ultimately unsatisfiable—expectations for what they need before they can live well or bring children into the world.

The remarkable thing is that they sincerely believe it. Deep down, they really do feel that what they have is not enough, despite having more than their grandparents could have imagined.

Those DINKs in Charlotte really do believe that an income of $380,000 a year is not enough to start a family.

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”

The Smithsonian Museum is using taxpayer dollars to rewrite history to include race, privilege, and oppression — and Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) is fighting back.

During a series of congressional hearings, Gill handily dismantled their woke version of America with a strategy so simple it’s devastating: asking basic questions.

“Is it important to be polite?” Gill asked the director of the museum, Dr. Anthea Hartig.

“Yes, sir,” she responded.

“It’s also interesting because the same mass action toolkit that your organization has been promoting references politeness as a defining characteristic of white supremacy culture. Ma’am, are you a white supremacist?” Gill asked, to which she replied that she was not.

“Can you help me square why your organization says that being polite is part of being a white supremacist?”

“I’m not exactly familiar,” she replied.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is impressed, telling Gill that his “line of questioning” in these committee hearings has been “incredible.”

And he's asking these questions for good reason, telling Gonzales that the American people’s taxpayer dollars are being “used to undermine our country, undermine our values, and slander the very American people who are paying for all of this nonsense.”

Nonsense that includes depicting Mickey Mouse as "racist" — which Gill also questioned Hartig on.

While Hartig replied that Mickey Mouse is not racist, he had the receipts.

“According to the Smithsonian Institution, one of your exhibits referenced Mickey Mouse as representing quote 'vestiges of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy.’ Would you describe that as racist?” Gill asked.

Hartig responded that Mickey Mouse is not rooted in racism, but rather "minstrelsy."

“I have to ask you, how much personal pleasure do you get out of being able to put these people on the hot seat and make them squirm like that?” Gonzales asks Gill.

“The best part about this,” he responds, “is that so many of these leftists have never had to defend anything that they believe.”

“They have so much institutional power that they can ... sit at the Smithsonian Institution and tell the world that black is white and up is down and nobody calls them on it,” he adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

I live in Loudoun County, Virginia, about a mile from the largest concentration of data centers on earth, which has given the online discourse around them a vaguely odd character.

At worst, they are large concrete squares that are indistinguishable from any other industrial park, except that they produce less noise or pollution. My utility bill is ordinary, if slightly below the national average, and my roads are as nice as any in the country. But to hear online activists talk, my community should be on the verge of running out of water.

We have been taught to be more afraid of the side effects than excited about the potential.

Loudoun County hosts roughly 200 operating data centers; Northern Virginia’s cluster draws some 4,140 megawatts, more than double Beijing’s, the world’s second-largest market.

Since the data centers began being built in the late 1990s, Loudoun County has been able to spend lavishly on infrastructure and public schools, all while cutting its real property tax rate. In fact, the county calculates that every dollar of services it provides the industry returns some $26 in taxes.

When I noticed the glaring difference between this reality and the online discourse, I realized that this is a recurring pattern I have seen my entire life.

When I was growing up in the early 2000s, there was a set of beliefs in American society that were viewed as nonpolitical and weren’t debated by either side. They acted as an ideological background radiation of sorts. I like to call this the “Boomer Truth Regime,” after both the Baby Boomer generation and the boom time after World War II.

You can take the American 20th century as one huge emotional and moral arc. Starting in 1900 and continuing for the next 45 years, our country had its optimism for the future hammered out of it. It was in this era that Jim Crow intensified, the Depression battered the country, and we fought two world wars.

But beginning in the late 1940s, American society, and to a lesser extent the whole world, began a process of upward movement — and as a result acquired a feeling of almost inevitable, rapid, transformative salvation. Start with almost any evil, real or perceived, of that century — sexism, colonialism, segregation — and trace it forward, and you will find a satisfying narrative conclusion by 1999.

RELATED: The question of the AI age: How much humanism is too much?

Moor Studio/Getty Images

In “Zero to One,” Peter Thiel and Blake Masters called the resulting mood “indefinite optimism”: the belief that things simply get better without anyone having to decide how. And so we bundled all the changes of that era together and sanctified the whole package.

For decades, it has been taken for granted that basically all societal and cultural shifts in the second half of the 20th century were good — and that they existed as a single, inseparable package.

Among the sanctified conclusions was not only indefinite optimism for the future but also a deep fear of the dangers of new technology. In short, the Boomer Truth Regime permanently fused the word “machine” with the word “gun,” as they were in the world wars. This was largely a traumatic response to the misuses and abuses of the cornucopia of technology by tyrants during that era.

In the early 20th century, the world had at its fingertips an inventory of wonders such as nitrogen fixation, airplanes, automobiles, submarines, rockets — and every one of them was first used at scale for murder. So when our society looks at a new power, what we see is the face of the murderer.

We see Hiroshima, or the tank, or the B-2 bomber. It is this same reflex that has killed the construction of new nuclear or hydroelectric power, because we have been taught to be more afraid of the side effects than excited about the potential.

The Boomer Truth Regime decided that anything capable of doing huge things is, on its face, terrifying and must be vigorously opposed.

You can see the degree to which this belief is highly influential in America and other Western countries in the polling data around AI.

In Ipsos’ 2026 global survey, 83% of Chinese respondents and 79% of Indian respondents say AI products make them excited; in the United States, the figure is only 33%, compared with 29% in Britain. Or take, for example, that when asked whether AI’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks, 85% of Chinese respondents and 80% of Indians say yes, compared to only 38% of Americans.

RELATED: The terrifying scale of the data center land-grab

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Pew Research Center also finds that about half of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI, and only one in 10 is the reverse.

It is possible that the data centers in Loudoun County will begin to drive up costs. Virginia’s own legislative auditors project that data-center growth could add $14 to $37 a month to a typical residential bill by 2040 — but the size of the effect is nowhere near the emotional reaction you see in American society right now.

The same report found that data centers currently pay their full cost of service and have no history of cost-shifting to households.

For decades, doubting any piece of the Boomer Truth Regime package was the equivalent of a kid complaining about his bedtime. Dissidents could say whatever they wanted, in whatever register they wanted, precisely because there was no chance the thing they were calling for would ever be implemented.

Every critique of the Boomer Truth Regime was essentially powerless. But that era will soon end, as the generation raised in the 21st century inevitably takes over. It isn’t that younger generations stopped believing in pieces of the package, but that the idea of viewing it as a sanctified whole is dissolving.

And when the sanctity eventually falls away, everything will be re-examined at once — not just the parts you dislike. The whole package, from nuclear power to civil rights law, will be on the table in our lifetime. It is up to us to defend the parts we value and reject the parts we don’t.

One part I reject is the idea that we can no longer, and should no longer, do incredible things. AI is one such thing. It of course has dangers, but it also has almost incalculable potential — and I know which side I’m betting on.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at the American Mind.

Hollywood can erase Achilles, redefine manhood, and make the hero apologize. It still cannot escape Homer’s warning: Civilization dies when men reject sacred duties. Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” opened to more than $120 million at the domestic box office. Millions will see it, and for many, Nolan’s version will become the only “Odyssey” they know. The fight over this film is therefore a fight over who gets to explain Western civilization to the next generation.

Christopher Nolan may change Homer’s story, but he cannot change the truth beneath it. Hollywood can rewrite the hero. It cannot rewrite the law above him.

Hollywood wants Homer’s name. It wants his monsters, battles, kings, ships, blood, and glory. It simply does not want Homer’s moral world.

The clearest example comes in the land of the dead. In Homer’s telling, Odysseus meets Achilles, the greatest champion of the Greeks. Nolan removes Achilles and substitutes Sinon, a figure absent from Homer’s poem and known chiefly from Virgil’s later “Aeneid.” The film recasts Sinon as an innocent sacrifice and moral conscience, and Odysseus calls him the greatest soldier he ever knew.

“Elliot” Page plays Sinon. This is not an argument about Page’s dignity or talent. Every person bears the image of God. It is an argument about symbolism. Movies communicate through casting as surely as through dialogue. One of Western civilization’s defining male warriors disappears. A newly elevated character replaces him, becomes the moral center, and receives the story’s highest praise for soldierly greatness.

Whatever Nolan intended, the cultural message is hard to miss: The old hero must be displaced, the old understanding of manhood rewritten, and the victorious Western warrior made to apologize for winning.

Homer never presents Odysseus as flawless. He is proud, deceptive, and reckless. His cunning saves lives; his arrogance costs them. Those flaws do not erase his heroism. They make him human. The Western tradition has always understood that a great man can also be a gravely flawed man. The Old Testament’s King David proves the point.

Modern culture increasingly treats male imperfection as proof that male greatness itself is suspect. Nolan therefore turns Odysseus into another Robert Oppenheimer: a brilliant man psychologically crushed by what his brilliance accomplished. The Trojan horse becomes less a triumph of courage and cunning than an original sin haunting its inventor. Victory becomes guilt. Authority becomes a burden. Odysseus returns home only to surrender the throne to Telemachus and leave Ithaca with Penelope. A king becomes an exile.

That is a moral inversion of Homer.

RELATED: Odysseus sails west with nowhere left to go

Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Homer did not need to weaken men to honor women. Penelope is already one of the strongest women in Western literature. For 20 years, she protects her household, preserves her son’s inheritance, resists the suitors, and outwits the men trying to seize her husband’s kingdom.

When Odysseus returns, Penelope tests him by ordering their marriage bed moved. He knows it cannot be moved because he built it around the living trunk of an olive tree. Homer gives us a courageous husband and an intelligent wife. Their strengths differ, but their dignity does not.

Modern ideology often imagines equality only as interchangeability, as though men and women must become the same or one must dominate the other. Homer offers something richer. Masculine courage does not diminish women. Feminine fidelity does not diminish men. Odysseus and Penelope are great together because their distinct strengths serve the same home.

Why, then, do the secular elite keep returning to the Western classics only to dismantle them?

Because the classics teach that we are not self-created. We inherit a family, a history, a nation, a body, and obligations that precede our desires. That lesson is intolerable to an ideology built on radical autonomy.

A young man who admires Odysseus may conclude that courage, loyalty, fatherhood, and duty are good. A young woman who admires Penelope may discover that faithfulness, wisdom, and defending a household are forms of strength. A child who learns that even kings answer to the divine may ask whether presidents, professors, and politicians answer to an authority above themselves.

That is why the hero must apologize, the father must abdicate, the home must become a prison, and the divine must become a psychological projection. The secular elite do not merely dislike Western civilization. They need Westerners to lose confidence in it.

Yet Nolan’s film accidentally preserves one of Homer’s central truths. Characters repeatedly invoke “Zeus’ law,” which Nolan presents as a version of the Golden Rule. The Greeks called it xenia: the sacred duties binding host and guest. Hospitality demanded generosity from the host and restraint from the guest.

Penelope’s suitors are therefore more than rude houseguests. They are enemies of civilization. They occupy Odysseus’ home, consume his wealth, pursue his wife, and plot to murder his son. They exploit an inheritance they did not build while rejecting every duty that inheritance imposes.

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

Print Collector/Getty Images

Our universities, museums, entertainment companies, foundations, and public institutions were built through generations of sacrifice, learning, faith, and trust. Today’s cultural elite inherited them and now use them to teach that Western civilization is uniquely wicked, Christianity oppressive, fathers tyrants, heroes frauds, and the family an instrument of domination. They are Homer’s suitors with graduate degrees. They feast inside the house while condemning the people who built it.

What Nolan calls Zeus’ law points toward a higher law. Christians do not worship Zeus. Homer’s gods are false and morally compromised. Yet even the Greeks understood a truth our enlightened age often forgets: Civilization depends on a moral law higher than human appetite.

Christ reveals that law perfectly: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” Paul goes farther: “In humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Christianity gives sacred obligation its true foundation. We honor the stranger because he bears God’s image. We honor marriage, family, country, and neighbor because every human relationship answers ultimately to God.

Without God, the Golden Rule becomes a fragile suggestion. Why should the powerful restrain themselves? Why sacrifice for future generations? Why preserve an inheritance instead of consuming it? A civilization cannot live forever on moral habits inherited from a religion it has abandoned.

America needs families who read the Bible, schools that teach the classics without apologizing for them, and churches that form courageous Christians rather than timid spectators.

Christopher Nolan may change Homer’s story, but he cannot change the truth beneath it. A man still needs a home worth returning to. A family still needs protection. A civilization still needs heroes. A nation still needs a God above itself.

Hollywood can rewrite the hero. It cannot rewrite the law above him.