'You have to see the truth'

'A grid still under stress'

News Buffy the Vampire Slayer Buffy Series Casts Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the New Slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar shared the video call she made to tell Armstrong the news. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 15, 2025 Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm Comment 0 Share New Share Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm The new Buffy series is moving ahead at Hulu, with Ryan Kiera Armstrong (pictured above as Fern in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) joining Sarah Michelle Gellar as the new Slayer who will save the world. Gellar broke the news to Armstrong via Zoom, which she then shared on her Instagram. The video is super sweet, with Armstrong crying with joy at the end (and Gellar tearing up a bit as well). “From the moment I saw Ryan’s audition, I knew there was only one girl that I wanted by my side,” Gellar wrote on Instagram. “To have that kind of emotional intelligence, and talent, at such a young age is truly a gift. The bonus is that her smile lights up even the darkest room. Welcome to #NewSunnydale #btvs.” We don’t have details on the plot exactly yet, other than that the show will focus on a new generation, with Gellar reportedly appearing in a recurring role as Buffy. Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals) will direct and produce, with Poker Face alums Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman serving as showrunners, writers, and executive producers. “We are so overjoyed to have found this generation’s slayer in Ryan Kiera Armstrong, she absolutely blew us away—there is no question in our mind that she is the chosen one,” Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman said in a separate statement. No news yet on when the pilot will film or if the series will be picked up by Hulu for a full-season order.[end-mark] The post <i>Buffy</i> Series Casts <i>Star Wars: Skeleton Crew</i>’s Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the New Slayer appeared first on Reactor.

News The New Boy Cate Blanchett Faces Spiritual Struggles in The New Boy Trailer “It’s up to the human, not the religion.” By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 15, 2025 Courtesy of Vertical Comment 0 Share New Share Courtesy of Vertical Australian writer, director, and cinematographer Warwick Thornton (Sweet Country, Samson & Delilah) has a new movie coming called The New Boy. It stars Cate Blanchett (Tár, Thor: Ragnarok, Borderlands) and newcomer Aswan Reid and, in Thornton’s own words, “is about the extinction of a completely beautiful, sustainable, caring religion by a big bully. A religion that can co-exist with other spiritualities, but Christianity refuses to co-exist with it.” Here’s the official synopsis: The New Boy takes place in 1940s Australia at a remote monastery with a mission for Aboriginal children run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Blanchett). A new charge (Reid) is delivered in the dead of night—a boy who appears to have special powers. However, the boy’s Indigenous spiritual life does not mesh with the mission’s Christianity and his mysterious power becomes a threat. Sister Eileen is faced with a choice between the traditions of her faith and the truth embodied in the boy, in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.“New Boys are all around us. They’re children who recognize safety and can adapt to survive in different situations,” said Thornton. “The New Boy is incredibly innocent, he doesn’t understand this different world but is happy to walk into that world and educate himself in that world, to survive in that world. It’s like any Indigenous person through the last 250 years of colonization. Your lore, your culture and everything has just been completely obliterated to extinction in a strange way. You have to adapt in this new world that is like a plague, like a virus that has completely taken over your life and shut down everything that you’ve believed in. Humans are able to adapt very quickly to survive in any situation, in any environment, in any landscape. In a strange way, that’s what the New Boy is. He’s not judging anybody. He’s just surviving.” The New Boy premieres in select theaters on May 23, 2025 and will be available digitally on demand starting May 30. Check out the trailer below.[end-mark] The post Cate Blanchett Faces Spiritual Struggles in <i>The New Boy</i> Trailer appeared first on Reactor.

News Victorian Psycho Maika Monroe Cast as Killer Governess in Victorian Psycho Adaptation Mary Poppins, but make her a psychokiller. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 15, 2025 Credit: NEON Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: NEON Maika Monroe, whose recent credits include starring against Nicolas Cage in Longlegs (pictured above), will play a murderous mistress in Victorian Psycho, an adaptation of Virginia Feito’s 2025 novel of the same name. Feito also wrote the script for the adaptation, for which The Hollywood Reporter gave the following synopsis: Set in 1858, the story centers on a governess named Winifred Notty, hiding her psychopathic tendencies while arriving to work at a remote gothic manor. But as the woman takes care of her charges, staff members begin to inexplicably disappear, and the owners of the estate begin to wonder, too late mind you, if their new governess is serving up a spoonful of sugar with a little arsenic on the side. Monroe has replaced Margaret Qualley (The Substance) in playing Notty, and joins Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho, JoJo Rabbit) on the callsheet. “Maika’s intense screen presence has resonated with me over and over again throughout her history of complex performances,” director Zachary Wigon said in a statement. “I’m absolutely thrilled for her to bring her unique style of psychological portraiture to the fascinatingly bizarre Winifred Notty.” Production is set to start this August. No news yet on when the film will make its way to a theater near you.[end-mark] The post Maika Monroe Cast as Killer Governess in <i>Victorian Psycho</i> Adaptation appeared first on Reactor.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson met with competing groups of Republican lawmakers Thursday morning on issues that could decide whether or not the GOP’s “big, beautiful” budget bill passes the House. Johnson, R-La., is working at a feverish pace to pass a budget reconciliation bill that would fulfill President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, such as extending his first-term 2017 tax cuts and funding border security. But there are two issues in the House that could sink the entire thing.  On one hand, fiscal hawks in the House Freedom Caucus are saying that the proposed reforms to Medicaid—some of which wouldn’t kick in until 2029—are not nearly aggressive enough. On the other hand, a group of four New York Republicans are saying that they need a higher cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, or they won’t back the bill. These four representatives could kill the bill together if they all vote against it, given the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House. Emerging from a meeting with members of both camps, Johnson said they were working on reconciling their differences. “It was a very thoughtful discussion,” the Louisiana lawmaker said. “I think everyone will say it was productive, and that we were moving the ball forward. Everyone has known that the SALT issue is one of the big ones that we have to resolve.” .@SpeakerJohnson gives his update on budget reconciliation after meeting with Freedom Caucus members and SALT advocates.He told me, "Everything is on the table," when I asked if he would pursue more aggressive Medicaid reforms. pic.twitter.com/0cdKrQBeGR— George Caldwell (@GCaldwell_news) May 15, 2025 He added, “Not everybody is going to be delighted with every provision in a bill this large, but everyone can be satisfied. And we’re very, very close to that … . We are still on path to pass this bill next week.”  But the balancing act of appeasing SALT advocates is tricky, as it would likely lower revenues at a moment when fiscal hawks in the Freedom Caucus are already dissatisfied with the bill’s cost savings. “If you do more on SALT, you have to find more on savings,” Johnson acknowledged when pressed on the matter.  “We’re trying to do this in a deficit-neutral way. That was the commitment we made all along … . Find at least $1.5 trillion in savings, and then you can spend, effectively, by extending the tax cuts, $4 trillion.” On his way out, The Daily Signal asked Johnson if he would consider more aggressive Medicaid reforms as a cost-saver.  “Everything’s on the table,” he said, nodding. .@ByronDonalds emerged from a meeting with leadership and gave his thoughts on reconciliation.Donalds is a team player, but he's also a Freedom Caucus member who wants more aggressive Medicaid reforms."It's politics, man," he told me, when I asked why Republicans want delays… pic.twitter.com/2ZqTdo8EEG— George Caldwell (@GCaldwell_news) May 15, 2025 Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., came out of the meeting optimistic about negotiations, but argued that Republicans should pursue more aggressive Medicaid reforms. “One of the adjustments that could occur is putting some states that have not expanded Medicaid on the trajectory to expanding Medicaid. Florida is not expanding Medicaid. As long as I’m governor, that’s not going to happen.” Donalds is running with Trump’s endorsement in the 2026 Florida Republican gubernatorial election. Asked if he’d be in favor of raising the offer of an increased SALT cap above the speaker’s initial $30,000 concession to the New York Republicans, he replied, “I think $30,000 is more than generous.” Asked by the Daily Signal whether Republicans were delaying implementing Medicaid work requirements out of political pressure, he replied sardonically, “It’s politics, man. The currency of the realm is fear.” He added, “I think they [work requirements] should be moved up. That’s my view, I think they should be moved up.” The post Johnson Huddles With Rival GOP Factions on Budget Bill, Seeking to Satisfy Both appeared first on The Daily Signal.

About That Super Secret German Government Intelligence Report Documenting AfD Extremism

On Thursday's edition of CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish interviewed Marc Morial, head of the National Urban League, regarding its publication of a report on the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd. Morial claimed that "the loud voices that you hear in opposition [to DEI] are not representative of the majority of the American people." In response, Cornish sympathetically observed: "But they are in control right now in a lot of ways." That teed up Morial to say, "They are in control, and that's why we've got to activate those of us who believe that equal opportunity is the American value we've got to fight for."   Cornish began the segment by saying the death of Floyd "ignited a firestorm." But the only footage she ran was of protesters merely yelling at Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for his refusal to defund the police -- although he did call for a "full structural revamp." Cornish failed to display the literal firestorm that rioters unleashed in Minneapolis, as here and here. She also lamented with Morial that corporations were also ditching DEI: CORNISH: You also called 2024 the year of reversal of corporate commitments.  MORIAL: Yes! CORNISH: And you said that it's "opening the floodgates for racist rhetoric to go mainstream, that it's become commonplace for pundits to crudely refer to the acronym of diversity, equity, and inclusion, saying people didn't earn it." How big a deal is that kind of corporate cultural rollback as it relates to these communities?  MORIAL So, Audie, the corporate cultural rollback is troubling.     Morial misled about the meaning of DEI and of public support for it.  He twice described DEI as standing for "equal opportunity." The reality was precisely the opposite. The 'E' in DEI stands for "equity." Not equality of opportunity but equality of outcome. That's why DEI advocates were outraged by the Trump administration's move to ban "disparate impact liability" -- the theory that any rule that results in different outcomes for a racial or gender group was proof in itself of discrimination.  Morial also claimed that polls show majority public support for DEI. But as this article reveals, such polls deceptively describe the nature of DEI. When Americans are asked "if they would like their company to hire and promote individuals based on race, gender or sexually based categories, 66% of all Americans said no, including 54% of Democrats, 71% of Independents and 76% of Republicans." Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read: CNN This Morning 5/15/25 6:22 am EDT AUDIE CORNISH: You know, it's hard to believe, but it's been nearly five years since George Floyd was murdered by then Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin.  Floyd's final moments captured on cell phones, seen around the world, ignited a firestorm.  CLIP OF PROTESTERS YELLING AT MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR JACOB FREY: Go home, Jacob! Go home! Go home, Jacob! Go home!  CORNISH: It also forced a conversation over race, policing, and justice into the national spotlight. Now, the pushback to those changes from those times, it's been swift and furious. There's been deep cuts to diversity programs and some corporate diversity offices are closing altogether.  Many are asking whether those calls for change were a moment or basically a lasting movement. That question is the focus of a new report from the National Urban League. It's called "George Floyd Five Years Later." And joining me now is Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League.  . . .  You also called 2024 the year of reversal of corporate commitments.  MARC MORIAL: Yes! CORNISH: And you said that it's "opening the floodgates for racist rhetoric to go mainstream, that it's become commonplace for pundits to crudely refer to the acronym of diversity, equity, and inclusion, saying people didn't earn it." How big a deal is that kind of corporate cultural rollback as it relates to these communities?  MORIAL So, Audie, the corporate cultural rollback is troubling. It's in some ways almost insulting. But I also want to lift up some, a Jamie Dimon, a Roger Goodell, a number of corporate leaders, and there are other companies like Apple and others who've stood up to this attempted assault, like Costco, who stood up to this attempted assault.  So what I find in corporate America is that the retrenchments are troubling because there should be none.  But I also want to highlight those that have said, look, diversity, equity, and inclusion, really equal opportunity, is important for my company, it's important for my customers, and it's important for the nation.  So we can't let the headline be the only story in this moment. This conversation's gonna continue. But the report is designed to say, look, in 2020, we thought that it was a very significant step when people confronted many of these long-term challenges. Now we see retrenchment. Any retrenchment is not good for the long-term health and vitality of this nation.  Let me just say this. 60 to 70% of Americans support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Poll after poll after poll. The loud voices that you hear in opposition are not representative of the majority of the American people. We've got to keep that in mind.  CORNISH: But they are in control right now in a lot of ways, so -- MORIAL They are in control, and that's why we've got to activate those, those of us who believe that equal opportunity is the American value we've got to fight for.  CORNISH: All right. Marc Morial, thank you so much for coming in. Appreciate your time. 

In his May 13 speech at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, President Donald Trump lauded the Middle East’s transformation. He credited regional leaders and the people for their sovereign development of cities like Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. It was these local efforts that made the difference, he said, not Western interventionists, whom he criticized for failed nation-building efforts in places like Kabul and Baghdad. He then condemned Western lectures on governance, arguing that the region’s positive transformation was due to embracing local heritage and traditions, not external imposition. “Peace, prosperity, and progress ultimately came not from a radical rejection of your heritage, but rather from embracing your national traditions and embracing that same heritage that you love so dearly,” he said to a cheering crowd. Glenn Beck says, “That part of that speech was as significant as the ‘Gorbachev, tear down this wall’ speech.” Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who joined Glenn on a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” agreed: “It’s incredibly significant to say we've developed these relationships not by bossing around the world, not by intervening, but by basically trading.” However, he wasn’t as enthusiastic about Trump’s decision to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar as a temporary Air Force One. “The Constitution says you can't take emoluments or gifts unless they're approved by Congress,” Paul told Glenn. Accepting the jet could still “set up the appearance of impropriety,” even with congressional approval, due to Qatar’s arms deals with the U.S. “There's a potential that the administration's objectiveness will be clouded by a $400 million plane,” he explained. Instead, he suggested Qatar sell the plane directly to the U.S. government for a negotiated price or return the jet to Boeing, who could then sell it to the U.S. government. Both of these are solutions that reduce scrutiny over Trump’s ties to Qatar. However, even purchasing the plane poses ‘practical concerns,’ said Paul. For example, if the Boeing-contracted planes ordered in 2018 to replace the dated Air Force One jets were “within six months of being completed,” it might be faster to wait for them than to outfit the Qatari plane, which would need to be “stripped down on the inside [and] completely reconfigured,” potentially taking longer, Paul explained. “We began our participation in and ended World War II in a quicker time than we have ordered that plane in 2018 to today, so I mean, what is Boeing doing?” asked Glenn. To hear Paul’s answer, plus why he can’t support Congress’ current version of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” and what might be in store for Dr. Fauci regarding COVID investigations, watch the clip above. Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Vice President JD Vance said that the U.S. is ahead of the Chinese in developing artificial intelligence but that the race to maintain American dominance is going to be critical in the coming years. Vance made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on his radio show Thursday. Beck asked Vance whether the U.S. was ahead of China in the AI race, and the vice president explained how the administration is working to keep America on top. 'We don't want to meet on the battlefield of the future, and we have the muskets, and the Chinese have the M-16s. I think AI is a critical part of staying ahead of the Chinese.' "I think that we're ahead, Glenn, but no one who says we're way ahead should be believed," said Vance. "In artificial intelligence, six months is a lifetime, 12 months is a generation," he added. "We're probably 12 months, maybe two years ahead of where the Chinese are when it comes to critical hardware, when it comes to necessary infrastructure, when it comes to the engineering talent. But that is not very far ahead at all." The vice president said the Trump administration is focused on policies that will develop the next generation of scientists in the field, as well as end over-regulation on energy infrastructure. "If we allow the Chinese to catch up, we may never, ever have an edge on China in this space again," Vance continued."I think a lot of people [believe] artificial intelligence is a chatbot. It's something that maybe helps the college student write a paper. No, no, no. The artificial intelligence that I am worried about, Glenn, is the kind of intelligence that helps them develop next-generation weapons, that helps their rockets and missiles hit their targets 99% more accurate than the weapons that aren't using artificial intelligence," he explained. "There are just massive defense technology implications of this," he added.RELATED: Trump’s AI vision: End Biden’s tyranny, restore fairness in tech Photo by DAN KITWOODNICHOLAS KAMM/POOL/AFP/AFP via Getty Images Vance then made an analogy to the Revolutionary War, suggesting that the outcome likely would have changed if the British army had modern weapons and the colonists fought with muskets. "We don't want to meet on the battlefield of the future, and we have the muskets, and the Chinese have the M-16s. I think AI is a critical part of staying ahead of the Chinese," Vance said. "It's full pedal to the metal, Glenn. We have to constantly be innovating and stay ahead of the game," he concluded. "We can't follow the European lead of regulating. We want America to innovate, and that's what we're doing." Here's the video of the conversation:.@VP JD Vance says staying ahead of China on AI is LIFE OR DEATH: “The AI that I’m worried about is the kind of intelligence that helps [China] develop next-generation weapons.We’re really going to have to invest a lot in developing America’s next generation of scientists [and]… pic.twitter.com/JH8KhFVpCf— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) May 15, 2025 Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!