It's official: Luke Skywalker is gay. At least, he's not not gay — which is really the same thing, if you think about it.Take it from the guy who plays him.'It's whatever you want.'"So if you want him to be gay, he is," said Mark Hamill in a recent phone interview with Polygon. "If you don't want him to be, he's not. It's whatever you want."Fan serviceAccording to the 74-year-old actor, speculating about Skywalker's sexuality is just part of being a fan."When they talk about the movies, they relate it to how they saw it," Hamill said."They personalize it, in a way. And you realize it's wonderful to be part of something that's important to their childhood. Because now they're grown-ups with kids of their own, and it's sort of a generational thing. They pass it on."This is not the first time Hamill has played fast and loose with "Star Wars" canon in the name of fan service.RELATED: 'Sad and pathetic person': Mark Hamill of 'Star Wars' gets humiliated after mocking Trump's ear bandage Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty ImagesA little 'force'd?In 2016 Hamill told the Sun that fans had been writing and asking about the Jedi knight's proclivities.This came as director J.J. Abrams — who took over the franchise for Disney in 2015-2019 iterations — said he welcomed a gay character in the franchise.In response, Hamill also said the role was "meant to be interpreted" by the viewer."If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves."Of course, fans have always judged Skywalker by his character — even looking the other way when he was caught kissing his sister.The real problem with Hamill's "anything goes" theory is that Luke Skywalker married Mara Jade in "Star Wars Legends" continuity.RELATED: William Shatner beams into 'woke' debate by reminding fans Mark Hamill 'ruined' 'Star Wars' with bizarre comment Screen Archives/Getty ImagesGay or nayReimagining older works to be gay has been an incredibly popular method of pushing modern politics on fans of original films. In the last few years, several writers have retroactively changed the interpretation of their movies and claimed they were always representations of gender politics.For example, "X2: X-Men United" co-writer David Hayter happily agreed when the movie was described as "the gayest film he'd ever worked on."This followed the claim by "The Matrix" creators, who said the movie was a "trans metaphor," but only after the brothers both came out as transgender years later.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Last month, the Trump administration announced a brand-new White House app available for iPhone and Android. The move shocked the internet, causing some to warn that installing the app would give the government a window into every phone’s most private data. After reviewing the privacy policy, those early fears were somewhat overblown, though not completely invalid. Here’s everything we found.The new White House app replaced the previous version that was launched by former President Barack Obama in 2010. After 16 years, the app was long overdue for an overhaul. Updated to version 47 as a nod to our 47th president, the app now entails a brand-new design and features optimized for the MAGA age.There are some inherent flaws within its code.A quick tour of the White House (app)The new White House app offers a unique window into the presidency of Donald Trump. It’s comprised of five main sections:Home: The home page displays announcements, goals/mission achievements, and other important messages from the Trump administration. These can include information on the MAHA movement, border security, cost-of-living improvements, and more.News: The news page showcases press releases and major updates directly from the administration as well as trusted media outlets.Live: The live feed displays long-form videos, shorts, and livestreams featuring President Trump and his various on-camera appearances, from diplomatic meetings, to important announcements, and a meme or two for good measure.Social: The social tab provides a live feed of various social media accounts connected to the president, including Rapid Response 47, the White House, and Donald J. Trump. There’s also a tab that lets you write to the White House, text President Trump himself, sign up for the White House newsletter, and you can even submit a tip to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if you suspect illegal immigration is taking place in your neighborhood or workplace.Gallery: The gallery displays photos of various events featuring President Trump and his administration, including important addresses, bill signings, Cabinet meetings, and more. Zach Laidlaw/The White House app on iOSPrivacy concerns?From the moment the new White House app went live, sleuths on social media were quick to warn others not to download it, claiming it to be government spyware that can gather users’ private data.Based on its privacy labels on the App Store and Google Play, the White House app may collect your email address and phone number (both optional) for marketing purposes as well as app usage data for analytics. Notable components missing from the data collection notice include precise location data, microphone access, camera access, photos access, and browsing history.In other words, the White House app doesn’t have permission to listen to your conversations, spy on you through the camera, or see your exact location.RELATED: How the FBI can flout Apple's privacy tools ugurhan/Getty Images Going a step further, we took a look at the White House’s privacy page. Based on this information, the White House website (and by extension, the app) may collect the following that developers aren't required to disclose directly on the app page:The device’s originating IP addressThe internet domain nameInformation about your computer or mobile setup (e.g., type and version of web browser, operating system, screen resolution, and connection speed)The pages on WhiteHouse.gov that you visitThe internet address, or URL, of the website that connected you to the site if you accessed WhiteHouse.gov via a link on another page (i.e., “referral traffic”)The amount of data transmitted from WhiteHouse.gov to your computerAt first glance, none of these seem out of the ordinary. Practically all websites you visit log this information about your device and usage habits.So the White House app is safe to use, right? Not so fast ...Secrets under the hoodA self-professed web designer and former reverse engineer that goes by “Thereallo” decompiled the Android version of the White House app to see exactly what its code entails. Thereallo makes several censorious claims about the app that earned the White House’s announcement a community note on X. The highlights include: Security risks driven by arbitrary JavaScript injection and an absence of certificate pinning that could leave the app open to hacks in the future.Dubious GPS tracking that logs the device’s location in the foreground (while the app is in use) every 4.5 minutes and in the background (while the app is not being used) every 9.5 minutes.User behavior tracking through various avenues, including cross-device aliases, notification interaction logs, in-app clicks, and more.Note that these points were only confirmed in the Android version of the White House app. Due to the closed nature of Apple’s mobile platforms, decompiling iOS apps are far more complex.So is the White House app really safe to use?While the new White House app looks good on the surface, there are some inherent flaws within its code that could open users up to cyber security threats and data tracking. If you’d like to use the app, consider these options first:Enable a trusted VPN to mask your IP address from the app’s location-monitoring protocols.Revoke any permissions from that app that request location data or access to see nearby devices to ensure it can’t tap into your GPS data or connected Bluetooth devices.Install the app within a secure sandbox, either inside a Private Space on Android or within an iPhone that isn’t attached to your primary Apple account, to ensure any future cyber attacks on the app can’t attempt to access the rest of the data in your device.Don’t download the White House app. Simply visit whitehouse.gov for the latest information from the Trump administration.If you’re still interested in checking out the White House app for yourself, you can download it from the Apple App Store for iPhone and the Google Play Store for Android.

A 42-year-old stepmother is denying allegations that she tortured her 8-year-old stepdaughter after school officials alerted Florida police.The girl was allegedly dropped off on April 9 at Tedder Elementary School in Pompano Beach with black eyes and dried blood in her ears, which immediately alarmed school staff.'I've never read anything like this. ... I've got serious concerns for the safety of the victim.'A school counselor called police, who arrested Melirose Joncky after an investigation.An arrest report said the child was suffering from a large contusion on her forehead and scratches on her arms and neck in addition to the blood and black eyes.The child allegedly told the counselor that her wounds were caused by her stepmother, and she was wearing a cast from previous wounds also caused by Joncky.The victim was transported to Coral Springs Medical Center by Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue.Scans revealed that the child suffered from swelling of the neck, scalp hematomas, and fractures to her arm, foot, and ribs.When questioned by police, the child detailed monstrous alleged physical abuse that involved beatings with a pot and whippings with phone chargers.The arrest report said a member of the Broward County Child Protection Team confirmed that the child's injuries were consistent with the abuse described by the child to police.She also allegedly claimed that her father sexually assaulted her in Indiana.Joncky was arrested when she went to pick up the child from the school, and she admitted that she knew about the girl's injuries. However, she claimed that they were from acne and also from the girl running into a door a week before.The stepmother was charged with aggravated child abuse and child neglect with great bodily harm.RELATED: Former teacher sentenced to 132 years in prison for horrific abuse of her two stepsons Lindsay Chase, the attorney representing Joncky, told the Miami Herald that they would present in court the full context of what happened."My client maintains her innocence and denies these allegations," she said. "The facts are not as they have been portrayed, and there is significant context that has not been presented publicly. We look forward to addressing these issues in court, where the evidence, not speculation, will determine the outcome." Joncky appeared in court on Friday, where a Broward County Circuit Court judge expressed disbelief in the facts of the case."I've never read anything like this. ... I've got serious concerns for the safety of the victim," the judge said.She was denied bond and remains in jail. The child was placed into the custody of the Department of Children and Families.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The conflict in Iran has put a spotlight on the vulnerabilities of fossil fuels. Over the last few weeks, we’ve watched the Strait of Hormuz close, cutting off 20% of the world’s oil supply and resulting in a 55% jump in oil prices. Every industry is feeling the impact of this. But no sector is more exposed than defense.The U.S. military is the largest single institutional consumer of oil on the planet, and right now, that's a strategic problem.Modern warfare is increasingly fought by small, agile teams using robotics and autonomous systems on discrete, short-duration missions.Estimates report that the United States armed forces consume approximately 4.6 billion gallons of fuel per year. If the Pentagon were a country, it would rank among the top 60 oil-consuming nations on earth. That demand doesn't pause during a geopolitical crisis.What the Hormuz disruption exposed is a fundamental issue: The machines that project force are the same machines most vulnerable to fuel supply disruption.The true cost of a gallonThe cost of military fuel is much deeper than a dollar amount. Defense logistics professionals use a metric called the fully burdened cost of fuel, which accounts for procuring, transporting, and protecting a gallon of petroleum from the point of purchase to the point of use. In some cases, the cost has been reported as high as $1,000 per gallon when shipping to the theater of war in the Middle East. In future major contested conflicts (particularly in the Pacific), fuel logistics could be pushed to the breaking point, with the challenges far greater than those faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.We aren’t just paying for fuel in dollars. Fuel convoys cost lives. According to an Army Environmental Policy Institute study, U.S. forces sustained one casualty for every 24 fuel and water resupply convoys in Afghanistan. Between 2003 and 2007, an estimated 3,000 American soldiers and contractors were killed or wounded in attacks on fuel and water convoys.The reason those convoys were so frequent comes down to raw consumption. A large Army division may use up to 6,000 gallons of fuel per day. The M1 Abrams tank gets less than 0.6 miles per gallon. The Army's generator fleet, which powers lighting, communications, and base operations at forward locations, consumed approximately 357 million gallons per year during peak wartime operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.Rethinking energy at the edgeAddressing this challenge requires rethinking not just how energy is sourced, but how much of it we need in the first place, where it's going, and what we’re using.The U.S. military spent an estimated $20.2 billion annually on air conditioning structures in Iraq and Afghanistan, making heating and cooling one of the largest energy expenses on a forward operating base. Simple interventions like spray foam insulation can cut climate-control costs by 50%, according to Army research at the National Training Center. Less demand means fewer convoys, fewer casualties, and greater operational freedom.Modern warfare is increasingly fought by small, agile teams using robotics and autonomous systems on discrete, short-duration missions. Military logistics are evolving to match, minimizing the need to resupply fuel to smaller, distributed bases.On the supply side, the answer isn't a single alternative fuel. It's an all-inclusive energy strategy: small-scale nuclear, solar paired with battery storage, hydrogen, wind, and hybridized fossil fuel generators working in concert.Some real-life examples of this strategy include:Nuclear microreactors as part of the Pentagon's Project Pele have demonstrated that a reactor powerful enough to run a forward operating base can be packaged into standard shipping containers and airlifted by a C-17.Solar power and hydrogen allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to run 24/7 perimeter security and surveillance at the White Sands Missile Range, completely unmanned, with zero power outages for 13 months.The Air Force has certified biofuel blends across its fleet. And companies like AirCo are using captured CO2 and hydrogen to create synthetic fuels, earning them a $65 million contract with the Department of War.RELATED: Why the US should stake a claim to Antarctica Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu/Getty ImagesFrom logistics to resilienceReducing fuel dependence improves force protection by minimizing resupply missions. It increases operational flexibility by allowing units to operate independently of fixed supply lines.A 2023 U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings article warned that in a future Pacific conflict, the entire fuel logistics chain would be exposed to attack at every point, making energy resilience a priority the military cannot afford to delay.Energy resilience also supports the realities of modern warfare. Future conflicts will be increasingly unmanned and robotic. Autonomous systems, persistent surveillance, and distributed command-and-control networks all require reliable, long-duration power.Modern conflicts are more distributed, which means supply chains are more contested. The solution is not to find a single replacement fuel, but to build an energy strategy that is diverse by design while simultaneously reducing energy demand through better insulation, smarter base design, and leaner logistics.The goal is an energy posture resilient enough that no single choke point — not the Strait of Hormuz, not a convoy ambush, not a supply line disruption — can degrade our ability to operate.The question is no longer whether alternatives exist. It is whether we have the strategic will to build the energy architecture modern warfare demands.This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.