After fourteen years of guiding the Star Wars galaxy through a series of increasingly turbulent hyperspace jumps, Kathleen Kennedy is finally stepping down as president of Lucasfilm. For the critics who have spent a decade watching the most storied franchise in cinematic history trade timeless heroism for the dismal gray hues of modern identity politics, the news is a seismic, if long-overdue, development. Kennedy, whose career began as Steven Spielberg’s secretary before she ascended to produce hits like E.T., was handpicked by George Lucas in 2012. However, under Disney’s $4 billion ownership, her tenure became a Rorschach test for the “woke” transformation of Hollywood. While early efforts like The Force Awakens capitalized on pure nostalgia to rake in billions, the subsequent years were defined by creative chaos and a widening chasm between the studio and its core audience. Under Kennedy’s watch, the franchise famously “put a chick in it” — as South Park brutally parodied — often at the expense of established lore and beloved legacy characters. From the sidelining of Luke Skywalker to the “Mary Sue” critiques of the sequel trilogy, the brand struggled to maintain its gravity. Production was marred by the firing of directors, the rejection of projects from Game of Thrones creators, and the flat-out rejection of shows like The Acolyte by fans weary of diversity pandering. One blogger wrote, “These days, the Star Wars franchise is a mess of live-action con jobs and Mary Sues, and we can all blame Kathleen Kennedy for her significant part in ruining the whole franchise. Kennedy was placed as the head of Lucasfilm by George Lucas to keep Star Wars from going off the rails. However, she wanted the Force to be ‘female’ and after taking control of Lucasfilm, she set about manufacturing the template. … Utterly humiliate the characters people love and replace them with generic, threadbare, overpowered self-inserts that the audience was supposed to love.” Taking the reins is Dave Filoni, the Lucas-mentored creative mind behind the animation boom and The Mandalorian, who will serve as president alongside business lead Lynwen Brennan. This “creative versus suit” split is a classic Disney maneuver, designed to stabilize a ship that has been spinning its wheels in development hell. Kennedy isn’t vanishing into the Outer Rim just yet; she remains a producer on upcoming projects like The Mandalorian and Grogu. Yet, her departure signals the end of an era defined by “The Force is Female” slogans and the beginning of a desperate attempt to recapture “a more civilized age.” Whether Filoni can bridge the gap between niche lore and universal appeal — or if the franchise is too far gone into the “lame and gay” abyss mocked by critics — remains the ultimate cliffhanger for Disney’s bottom line.

The FBI is hunting for an illegal immigrant from Honduras who is accused of ramming his truck into multiple Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles during a traffic stop in Texas last month.  Jerson Lopez-Sanchez, 28, is charged with three counts of assaulting or resisting federal officers, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Lopez-Sanchez is on the run, and the FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction.  The incident unfolded on December 1 after ICE agents conducted a registration check of a Chevrolet Silverado carrying five people driving through Dallas. After determining that Lopez-Sanchez was in the country illegally, agents followed the truck and attempted to initiate a traffic stop in nearby Lewisville, Texas.  The #FBI is offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jerson Lopez-Sanchez, #wanted for allegedly assaulting federal officers in Lewisville, Texas, on December 1, 2025: https://t.co/NpFHK7ZdoP pic.twitter.com/MKsZbB1SSW — FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) January 15, 2026 Three ICE vehicles surrounded the truck and prepared to conduct the stop when Lopez-Sanchez suddenly put his truck, which was loaded with ladders, in reverse and slammed it into a Jeep SUV driven by one of the ICE agents, according to the indictment.  “The ICE agent in that SUV had one leg out of his vehicle and on the ground when the driver rammed the Jeep and jolted him backwards. This agent had to quickly jump back into his vehicle to avoid serious injury,” the indictment said.  That action created enough space for Lopez-Sanchez to drive away, and a car chase began in a heavily populated area, the indictment said. As he drove away, Lopez-Sanchez also allegedly drove into a Chrysler van being driven by an ICE agent, injuring the agent’s knees and neck.  The indictment said he “weaponized his 5,500-plus-pound vehicle and dangerously accelerated into the ICE agents in the Chrysler van, causing significant damage and smoke to rise from the hood, and also causing all front airbags to deploy.” After a ten-minute pursuit, Lopez-Sanchez parked his truck in a median and fled. Three of the occupants were later arrested, but Lopez-Sanchez evaded law enforcement.  The FBI wanted poster for Lopez-Sanchez lists him as being 5 ‘8’’ tall and weighing 165 pounds. His occupation was listed as a roofer.  ICE agents have faced a sharp increase in vehicle attacks, according to the Department of Homeland Security. From January 21, 2025, to January 7, 2026, there have been 66 “vehicular attacks” targeting ICE, according to DHS. That is up from two the previous year during the same time frame.

Progressives gonna be big mad...

'he's sold us out. It's time to replace him'

'Do not accept or normalize predatory tech company practices'

'think the world is still determining what that order is going to be'

'I think that’s fair'

'Serious strategic mistake'

A Texas small business owner donated a new car to a group of Buddhist monks crossing America on foot after their previous vehicle was destroyed in a collision. In October, almost 20 Buddhist monks set out from Fort Worth on a 2,300-mile walk toward Washington, DC with a goal of promoting unity and compassion. They […] The post Buddhist Monks on Peace Walk Receive New Escort Vehicle Following Near Fatal Crash appeared first on Good News Network.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In Florida, Senator Alexis Calatayud has introduced a proposal that could quietly reshape how millions of Americans experience the digital world. The App Store Accountability Act (SB 1722), presented as a safeguard for children, would require every app marketplace to identify users by age category, verify that data through “commercially available methods,” and secure recurring parental consent whenever an app’s policies change. The legislation is ambitious. If enacted, it would take effect in July 2027, with enforcement beginning the following year. Each violation could carry penalties of up to $7,500, along with injunctions and attorney fees. On its surface, this is a regulatory measure aimed at strengthening parental oversight and protecting minors from online harms. Yet it hits up against a larger philosophical and rights struggle. For much of modern political thought, the relationship between authority and liberty has revolved around who decides what constitutes protection. Florida’s proposal situates that question in the hands of private corporations. The bill effectively deputizes Big Tech app store operators, such as Apple and Google, as arbiters of digital identity, compelling them to verify user ages and manage parental permissions across every platform. Millions of Floridians could be required to submit identifying details or official documents simply to access or update apps. This process, while justified as a measure of security, reintroduces the age-old tension between the protective role of the state and the autonomy of the citizen. By making identity verification the gateway to digital access, the law risks creating an infrastructure in which surveillance becomes a condition of participation. It is a move from voluntary oversight to systemic authentication, merging the roles of government and corporation in a single mechanism of control. The proposal may collide with long-established constitutional principles. One of the objections lies in the concept of prior restraint. By conditioning minors’ ability to download or continue using apps on verified Big Tech platforms, the bill requires permission before access, effectively placing all expressive content behind a regulatory gate. Apps today are not mere entertainment; they are conduits of news, art, religion, and political discourse. Restricting that access risks transforming a parental safeguard into a systemic filter for speech. The burden falls most heavily on minors, whose First Amendment protections are often ignored in public debate. Even developers face new forms of coercion. They must label their content, supply age ratings, and maintain disclosure protocols. These requirements constitute a form of compelled expression, obliging creators to describe their own work within state-defined categories. The risk is a chilling effect, as smaller or independent developers avoid sensitive topics to evade potential penalties. The broader concern lies in the erosion of anonymity. The obligation for app stores to collect age verification data introduces a structural obstacle to private or pseudonymous participation online, especially in areas concerning health or political dissent. The loss of anonymity, long regarded as a cornerstone of free expression, narrows the space in which individuals can think and speak without fear of reprisal. The bill’s structure reflects a growing trend in American governance: delegating the enforcement of public norms to private intermediaries. Under SB 1722, app stores become both enforcers and adjudicators, responsible for restricting access, revoking permissions, and coordinating compliance among developers. Such delegation muddies the waters between market participation and state authority. It places speech regulation in the hands of commercial entities without traditional checks or transparency requirements. This could mean that access to lawful content might depend on the opaque policies of private corporations acting under the shadow of state mandate. Beyond questions of speech, SB 1722 reflects a deeper issue about data power. As governments increasingly enlist private firms to enforce public policy, citizens find themselves surrendering personal information not to the state directly, but to corporations operating under legal obligation. This dynamic is not unique to Florida. Across the United States and Europe, digital identity verification is emerging as the preferred tool for reconciling safety with access. Yet the accumulation of sensitive data by large platforms magnifies existing concerns about surveillance and misuse. In the name of protecting minors, the law could inadvertently expand the very data-collection practices it seeks to regulate. The state seeks to guide, parents to safeguard, and corporations to comply. But as the mechanisms of verification multiply, so too do the constraints on individual autonomy. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Florida’s “App Store Accountability Act” Would Deputize Big Tech to Verify User IDs for App Access appeared first on Reclaim The Net.