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Movies & TV Star Trek Some Thoughts About Spock’s Chest Hair Or: We Need to Talk About Vulcan Manscaping on Strange New Worlds By Emmet Asher-Perrin | Published on July 17, 2025 Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+ Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+ We all watch television shows for different things. I have this conversation frequently when Star Trek comes up because some folks love over half a century of continuity and others do not; some folks enjoy allegorical storytelling and others think it’s overplayed; some folks live for the episodes that are downright silly (me, it’s me), and others believe you are destroying the structural integrity of the narrative or simply don’t care for them (and we will never understand each other, and I have to learn to be okay with that). This was a weird way of getting to my point—which is that when Spock appeared shirtless in Strange New World’s third-season episode, “Wedding Bell Blues,” I sat up (more than I already was) and took notice. Not for the reason you’d think, though. No, really. Stop that. Look, Ethan Peck is a beautiful man, but that’s entirely beside my point. Which is that he had chest hair. Spock has chest hair again. Why again, do you ask? Well, he didn’t before. And then he did before before. More explanation is needed. Whether you know it or not, Star Trek has a history with manly chest hair. It started with the Original Series, when William Shatner was required to shave his chest in scenes where Kirk was shirtless because that was considered more attractive for the time period. Behind-the-scenes gossip indicates that Shatner did not enjoy this practice because of all the itching incurred, but it persisted. For the ratings, you see. Yes, sorry, this is the episode where they’re whipped by Space Nazis, but it’s the most illustrative of the point. (Screenshot: Paramount) Spock, on the other hand—not pegged as the romantic lead of the show, despite any audience opinions on that front—didn’t have such an intense regime in the body care department. When we see Leonard Nimoy shirtless, he’s got plenty of chest hair. Ergo, Spock has chest hair. He’s always had chest hair. (And fantastic eye shadow game, which Strange New Worlds has made no effort to introduce, and you bet I’m peeved about it.) So when Strange New Worlds started airing, and the first episode showed Spock having an intimate evening with his fiancée, T’Pring, you can imagine my confusion when the guy stood up smooth-chested and went to answer a call from Captain Pike. And not because he was breaking up a lovely evening with his betrothed—that part was entirely in character. It was just weird to notice the chest hair was missing. Some fans immediately noted that you could spot Ethan Peck’s chest hair over certain costumes in earlier episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, but that didn’t convince me of anything purposeful; it only informed us that the actor in question had chest hair and was required to remove it. And the most common reason to do that these days is the same reason they made Shatner shave in the ’60s—it’s popular. At the moment, it’s largely popular for the purpose of letting male actors show off muscle definition on camera. (Watch Charlie Cox in anything that’s not Daredevil and you’ll see what I mean.) If that was the only reason Ethan Peck was asked to shave or wax, I was annoyed on principle—Spock is canonically hairy! It may have not mattered from a character standpoint, but it absolutely mattered when it came to respecting the actor who originated the role. So I stewed over it a little bit. I may or may not have liked a couple of Tumblr posts complaining about the same thing. A smooth boy. (Screenshot: Paramount+) But now we get to this season, only to find that Spock’s chest hair has miraculously regrown—and I am about to lose my entire mind over it. Why? Not, as you might suspect, because I feel victorious over winning a battle with Paramount that no one ever realized we were having. No, it’s because this oddity has become something that could effect Star Trek canon (and fanon) unto the end of time. Because you can guess what it means, don’t you? You get it? The previously shiny smooth chest—you see what I’m getting at? Okay, I should probably explain that, too. If Spock (still) canonically has chest hair, that means he waxed for T’Pring. :gestures frantically: Do you see?? Look, I can’t wait, I have to keep going because my brain is on fire and it’s important to me that we all recognize what just happened here. Vulcans are a very culturally precise people. They’ve got lots of rules, byzantine and largely unspoken, about how other Vulcans should operate. T’Pring is a stickler for many of these rules, despite her affection for Spock, and that makes the body hair—or any lack thereof—a clue about some of these expectations. Let’s begin with the most obvious: This probably means that Vulcan women have a preference for men with less/no body hair. (Vulcan is technically supposed to be a matriarchy, so that would hold extra weight in courtship situations.) And that Spock—who is extremely self-conscious about how well he fits into Vulcan normative society due to being half-human—was so eager to please that he got rid of said body hair to make his soon-to-be wife happy. Did Spock assume, or did T’Pring ask him to take care of it outright? Either version of events is completely plausible, and both are devastating in terms of character development. Are Vulcans naturally less hairy than your average human? It seems likely, but I’d wager that there are still plenty of Vulcan men (and women!) with a little extra—are they self-conscious about it, too? Is there an entire underground hair depilation community on Vulcan that is simply not spoken about? Is there a different preference among male Vulcans, i.e. fellas, is it gay (in some circles) to have chest hair as a Vulcan because it signals that maybe you’re a man trying to attract other men? Is there a body hair code, like the human hanky code? Properly hairy Spock. (Screenshot: Paramount+) It also makes Spock’s choice to regrow said hair very telling in terms of where he’s at on his developmental journey—and where he’s headed. Effectively, growing his chest hair back not only makes it clear that perhaps he’s more interested in humans as romantic prospects (given his absolute mess of a situationship with Christine), but also that he might be dipping his tiniest toe into accepting his humanity more openly. He’s not all the way there yet, as the intervening years will prove, but he’s eyeing the path. While we’re on this subject, did Amanda teach Spock how to wax, or was this something he had to figure out on his own? (You know Sarek was no help and tells everyone he’s naturally hairless when he isn’t.) Did humans get back into chest waxing in this era on account of getting closer with the Vulcans and being influenced by their trends? Are we prepared to consider the anthropological implications of Vulcan male beauty standards? Is this thing on? There is no way of knowing—at the moment, though I supposed someone could always ask production or Ethan Peck himself—if this was always the plan, or if this change occurred to combat fan complaints, but either way, it’s glorious. (The latter would be much funnier.) And it occurred because a fictional playground with sixty years of continuity to back it up can only get richer and weirder the longer you play with it. Sometimes entirely by accident. Which is what I meant when I said that we all watch TV shows for different reasons. Because this is one of the main draws that keeps me sunk at the bottom of that Starfleet well. You can send down the bucket, but I’m not coming up any time soon. And as always, Star Trek finds new and increasingly odd ways to get me to cry over Spock—so I suppose they win again.[end-mark] The post Some Thoughts About Spock’s Chest Hair appeared first on Reactor.

News Tron: Ares Tron: Ares Trailer Is Here to Give Tech Bros Bad Ideas The latest installment in the Tron franchise is going for “timely” By Molly Templeton | Published on July 17, 2025 Screenshot: Disney Comment 0 Share New Share Screenshot: Disney Given that tech bros are already infamous for not understanding science fiction, the premise of the new Tron: Ares trailer seems almost worrying. Will it give them ideas? Ideas they are not currently capable of acting on, but will dream of implementing in the future? I hope not. Tron: Ares is about computer beings invading our world because a tech bro makes AI warriors. At least that is the general gist of the trailer. Evan Peters creates AI Jared Leto, who can’t die, and AI Jared Leto wants to live (about which Jeff Bridges, in a glowing white robe, says, “Interesting”), and AI Jared Leto somehow gets involved with Real Person Greta Lee. Or, as the too-brief synopsis says: Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings. Naming your AI program after the god of war: subtle, no? At least this movie gives us new music from Nine Inch Nails. And it’s always nice to see Gillian Anderson and Jodie Turner-Smith. It is less nice to see Jared Leto, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct by nine women. Tron: Ares is directed by Joachim Rønning, who has a history with movies with colons in the titles (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales). It was written by Jesse Wigutow, based on a story by Wigutow and David DiGilio, based on characters created by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The movie will have its own big Hall H spectacular at San Diego Comic-Con next week, so the timing of this trailer is a little odd. Tron: Ares is in theaters on October 10th.[end-mark] The post <i>Tron: Ares</i> Trailer Is Here to Give Tech Bros Bad Ideas appeared first on Reactor.

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, is often remembered for his larger-than-life persona and significant political achievements. However, beyond his public image lies a treasure trove of lesser-known stories and quirky characteristics that paint a fuller picture of this multifaceted leader. From his early teaching days to his love for amphibious cars, Johnson' Source

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, is often remembered for his larger-than-life personality and significant political achievements. However, beyond the political sphere, there are numerous intriguing aspects of his life that are not as widely known. From his quirky hobbies to his strategic mind in the Senate, LBJ was a figure full of surprises. Join us as we explore the... Source

The Department of Justice on Wednesday fired former FBI Director James Comey‘s daughter, Maurene Comey, from her job in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  The younger Comey was known for participating in the prosecutions of infamous individuals—including rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, now-deceased convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell—as an assistant U.S. attorney. It was not immediately clear why Comey was fired. The SDNY office did not immediately return requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department told The Daily Signal that the department would not comment on personnel. The Epstein case has dogged the Trump administration in recent months over allegations that the federal government has not been forthcoming with all the documents regarding Epstein’s reputed connections to intelligence agencies and influential people.  Then-U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey arrives for the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial at Manhattan Federal Court on May 22 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) The younger Comey was a part of the team that federally prosecuted Epstein prior to his death in prison in August 2019. Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer and ally of President Donald Trump, had previously called for the younger Comey’s firing because of her father, the former FBI chief, being a vocal critic of the president. Loomer celebrated the firing Wednesday evening with a post on the social media platform X.  BREAKING NEWS:Today, the DOJ FIRED Maurene Comey from the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. She is the daughter of former disgraced FBI Director James @Comey. This comes 2 months after my pressure campaign on Pam Blondi to fire Comey’s… https://t.co/0wVP4eYNFh pic.twitter.com/SOyrvHaZqb— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) July 16, 2025 The elder Comey—who served as FBI director during the Obama administration and for more than three months into the first Trump administration—was fired from that position by Trump on May 9, 2017. Comey subsequently admitted to facilitating the leak of a memo he had written that alleged Trump had asked him to end the FBI investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The White House disputed Comey’s leak stating, “While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” adding, “The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.” The Justice Department’s inspector general subsequently found that Comey had “set a dangerous example for FBI employees” through “not safeguarding sensitive information obtained during the course of his FBI employment, and by using it to create public pressure for official action.” The elder Comey subsequently emerged as a vocal critic of Trump. Comey denounced his former boss in an op-ed column in The New York Times in 2019. Prior to that, in testimony before Congress in 2018, the former FBI director said that the president was undermining trust in the FBI and DOJ. “Millions of people believe what the president says. Today, there are millions of Americans walking around thinking that the FBI is corrupt and out to get the president of the United States, that the Justice Department is corrupt and out to get the president of the United States,” Comey said in response to a question from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. Maurene Comey’s husband, Lucas Issacharoff, is also reportedly employed in the SDNY office. Loomer has also called for Issacharoff to be fired as well. Editor’s note: This article has been updated since publication. The post Justice Department Fires Daughter of Ex-FBI Chief Comey appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A widely read Catholic blog has vanished from the internet, stirring concern over the growing influence of Silicon Valley gatekeepers on discourse. On the morning of July 12, those attempting to access messainlatino.it were greeted not with commentary or liturgical analysis, but with a terse notice: “Blog has been removed.” The site, often abbreviated as MiL, had been hosted on Google’s Blogger platform since 2007. In that time, it amassed a substantial archive, over 22,000 posts, focused on pre-Vatican II liturgy and conservative Catholic theology. All of it is now inaccessible. Google has offered no specific explanation beyond invoking its general guidelines regarding hate speech. The takedown has landed like a thunderclap among traditionalist Catholics who viewed Messainlatino not as a niche outlet, but as an essential forum for preserving a threatened expression of faith. Its traffic numbers highlighted its significance: in June 2025 alone, the blog logged more than one million visits, a surge driven by growing attention to potential liturgical reforms under Pope Leo XIV. Now, the blog’s removal is being read by many reacting to the news on X not as the enforcement of clear rules, but as ideological filtration dressed up as content moderation. Luigi Casalini, the journalist and editor behind the site, issued a statement on X describing the event as a “grave violation” of freedom of expression. He announced that legal proceedings are underway, pointing to Article 21 of the Italian Constitution, which guarantees the right to express opinions freely and prohibits censorship. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Catholic Blog Removed by Google Causes Censorship Uproar appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Tensions over how climate change is discussed, and who gets to control that conversation, are escalating across Europe. At the European Parliament’s environment committee this week, the European Commission defended its campaign against “climate disinformation,” facing down strong opposition from lawmakers who fear the erosion of free expression. Meanwhile, in the UK, Labour donor and green energy tycoon Dale Vince added fuel to the fire by publicly calling for criminal penalties against climate skeptics. Opening the committee session in Brussels, Commission official Emil Andersen attempted to draw a line between belief and verifiable fact: “As citizens of a free society, we are each entitled to our own opinions but not entitled to our own facts.” That assertion quickly ran into fierce resistance, with several parliamentarians warning of state overreach cloaked in scientific authority. Anja Arndt of Germany’s AfD challenged the prevailing climate consensus and accused the EU of weaponizing disinformation policy. “A front-on attack on freedom of expression, freedom of science, and the truth,” she declared. Her colleague Marc Jongen warned that if the European Commission took it upon itself to decide what constitutes truth, then “we’re on the road to a totalitarian system.” Those concerns found parallels in the UK. Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity and a major Labour Party financier, stated that climate skepticism should not only be rebutted but also punished. Writing on X, he said, “I’d make climate denial a criminal offence myself – given the incredible harm that it will cause, even by slowing down progress to net zero.” Rather than promoting dialogue or transparency, Vince called for punitive action against dissenting opinions. His comments came shortly after Energy Secretary Ed Miliband lashed out at both the Conservatives and Reform UK for resisting rapid decarbonization. “Future generations” would hold them accountable, he said in an interview with The Times. While many agree on aspects of environmental responsibility, calls to outlaw disagreement threaten to undermine core democratic values. Branding opposing views as dangerous, rather than countering them with argument and evidence, risks transforming public discourse into a one-sided echo chamber. Inside the European Parliament, skepticism about the Commission’s disinformation push was not confined to the political fringes. Sander Smit of the centre-right European People’s Party expressed concern that Commission-backed “fact-checking” could suppress debate, especially during elections. He argued that this approach might render “a certain type of discussion” impossible. Others in the chamber took the opposite view. Members of liberal and social democratic groups insisted that denying climate science was not an acceptable position in democratic debate. Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy of the Renew group maintained that accepting climate science was based on evidence, while rejecting it was “precisely” ideological. He urged lawmakers to maintain integrity in public discourse and to form a coalition against climate denial. He also asked the Commission to formally refute what he described as the AfD’s “nonsense,” though no assurance was given. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Europe Faces Backlash Over Climate Speech Crackdown Suggestions appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. It was only a matter of time before the war over digital sovereignty shifted from boardrooms in Silicon Valley to federal courtrooms across the United States. That moment has now arrived. At stake is a question with enormous implications: Can writing code be a crime? Become a Member and Keep Reading… Reclaim your digital freedom. Get the latest on censorship, cancel culture, and surveillance, and learn how to fight back. Email Subscribe Already a supporter? Sign In. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post The Case That Could Silence the Open Internet appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney doesn’t appear to be taking President Donald Trump’s latest threat of an across-the-board 35% tariff on all Canadian goods very seriously. He was on vacation when Trump issued the declaration last week and has remained on vacation ever since. Canada’s ethics commissioner revealed Friday that Carney has control or interest in hundreds of Canadian and American companies.The PM did announce an “emergency” meeting with his cabinet and all Canadian premiers for July 22 in Ontario’s cottage country. But that’s not until next week. And an emergency response usually entails dealing with issues right now, today, immediately.So why is Carney so blasé about a tariff that could be catastrophic for the Canadian economy?Fentanyl flowUnlike Trump's regular "51st state" jabs, this is not idle trolling. The president has indicated that any counter-tariffs will result in an increase in the U.S. tariff. He's also restated his disappointment in Canada’s lack of resolve to address the flow of fentanyl across the Canadian border.Whatever happened to that "fentanyl czar" that former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed, anyway? Kevin Brosseau has literally not made the news since the announcement of his appointment in February. Since then, there have been increasing revelations of fentanyl precursors arriving at the port of Vancouver, where they are shipped to drug factories deep within the interior of British Columbia. FBI Director Kash Patel has called out this Canadian connection, yet we have heard nothing from Brosseau.“If Canada works with me to stop the flow of fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” Trump wrote in his letter to Carney.Out of officeCarney blandly responded to Trump on Thursday, saying in a post on X that the Liberal government had “steadfastly defended our workers and businesses” and “will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”“Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America,” he claimed, without indicating just what kind of progress had been made.Is Carney relying on his apparent friendship with Trump and the goodwill of the president who endorsed Carney during Canada’s recent federal election campaign?Or is Carney deliberately brewing a crisis in order to further his control of the Canadian Parliament and distract attention from the real elephant in the room: Carney’s massive conflict of interest problems?RELATED: Fentanyl from Canada is killing Americans — but Trudeau cares more about prosecuting the Freedom Convoy Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesBlind trustWhen Carney first won the leadership of the Liberal Party, he was quick to remind everyone that he was not legally obliged to reveal his corporate involvement and stock investments for months. He feigned outrage whenever he was asked about potential conflict of interests as a result of the financial matrix that has generated his personal wealth. Well, the truth about Carney’s massive financial interests finally emerged last week. His response? There's no problem because all of it is in a “blind trust.”Canada’s ethics commissioner revealed Friday that Carney has control or interest in hundreds of Canadian and American companies.Carney's much-publicized sting as Brookfield Asset Management chairman of the board was only the beginning. It turns out his financial interests embrace a huge swath of green energy corporations and companies like Stripe Inc.Free reignBut the ethics commissioner has essentially allowed Carney to self-regulate and to participate in broad matters relating to his companies “unless those interests are disproportionate to the other members of the class.” That means Carney will essentially be trusted to govern himself. That is a recipe for disaster when it comes to a well-connected operator who is already aggrandizing power within the prime minister’s office.To recap: The most conflicted prime minister in the history of Canada will be given the benefit of the doubt to maintain a financial empire without much oversight while being responsible for generating huge infrastructure projects under legislation that his government just passed.Just say 'Trump'Sounds like an ideal time for Carney to demonize Trump and the United States again. Otherwise, Canada’s lapdog media might dwell too much on what Carney stands to gain from his green, China-friendly policies.It's also in keeping with the Liberals' long tradition of never wasting a crisis. Trudeau was fairly efficient at finding opportunities to advance his party's authoritarian agenda; recall his invocation of the Emergency Act to crush the Freedom Convoy protest.But Carney — enmeshed in a tangled web of business interests and significantly more ambitious than his feckless predecessor — promises to go even further.