If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. On July 1, 2025, the European Union’s Code of Conduct on Disinformation became something else entirely. What was once pitched as a voluntary effort by tech companies to clean up their platforms is now an official requirement under the EU censorship law, the Digital Services Act (DSA). The biggest online platforms and search engines will need to meet strict transparency standards, undergo audits, and show that they can keep what Brussels calls “disinformation” in check. The message is clear enough: fall short during an audit, and expect to hear from the regulators. Brussels couldn’t have picked a more delicate moment for this move. Trade negotiations with the United States are on a tight deadline, and the mood between the two is already tense. This type of regulatory hardball has not gone unnoticed in Washington. American officials remember what happened when Canada tried something similar with its digital services tax. President Donald Trump labeled the move as “obviously copying the European Union.” Meta’s Joel Kaplan took to his podium to thank Trump for “standing up for American tech companies in the face of unprecedented attacks from other governments.” The result was that trade talks between the US and Canada hit a wall until Ottawa quietly shelved its tax plans. Now the EU seems determined to test how far it can push its digital agenda without suffering the same fate. US politicians, mostly Republicans, have wasted no time calling out censorship disguised as risk management. European officials are doing their best to dodge the charge. The EU’s line is that the rules target systemic risks in algorithms and advertising rather than individual content. Under the new system, platforms labeled as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) will face yearly audits. These audits are supposed to assess how well companies manage the risks linked to disinformation. The Commission made sure to clarify that while signing the Code is technically voluntary, meeting the Code’s standards is expected. A spokesperson explained, “Compliance with the Code is voluntary. Compliance with the DSA is not.” The EU now faces the task of trying to sell its censorship system. With trade talks at risk and growing skepticism from the other side of the Atlantic, it remains to be seen whether Brussels can apply its censorship demands without swift backlash. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post EU Turns Voluntary “Disinformation” Code Into Mandatory Rule Under New Censorship Law, Risking US Trade Tensions appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Columbia University Gets More Bad News

It will not always be like this; our planet’s orbit is becoming more circular.

On Sol 215, Perseverance's microphones were open as it entered the eye of a dust devil, finding a "very sharp and intense" signal.

It appears to have been a feature of the school curriculum in the ancient city, but we’ve only just found it.

On Wednesday's Morning Joe, they fretted over President Trump's stop in Florida to see the new "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center for illegal aliens. NBC homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley said this "was a joke" in Trump's first term, but now it could cause "injuries" to escapees. "It's clearly intentionally being put there really as a symbolic form of deterrence," she said, "but possibly a real one too, if there were really injuries to people." Pro Tip for detainees not wanting to become lunch for a hungry alligator or python: don't add to your crimes by attempting to escape. Ainsley began by citing as her source for the "joke" comment a 2019 book by two New York Times reporters titled Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration. The publisher describes it this way [emphasis added]: "This administration’s more brazen assaults on immigration. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear have covered the Trump administration from its earliest days. In Border Wars, they take us inside the White House to document how Stephen Miller and other anti-immigration officials blocked asylum-seekers and refugees, separated families, threatened deportation, and sought to erode the longstanding bipartisan consensus that immigration and immigrants make positive contributions to America." Guess who isn't part of that "bipartisan consensus?" The tens of millions of Americans who voted for Trump in large part because of his pledge to curtail illegal immigration.     Ainsley also claimed that with Alligator Alcatraz, the Trump administration is "deviating" from the notion that ICE detention is not meant to be punitive.  Katty Kay lamented: "We're in a world where what's supposed to be was kind of jettisoned." Katty, take solace in Kamala's deep thought: "What Can Be, Unburdened By What Has Been."   Ainsley didn't indicate just how she would like illegal immigrants to be housed. Judging by her surroundings during her appearance, Julia has a lovely home. Perhaps she and other concerned citizens would accept a stipend to house and feed detainees. Ainsley also dismissed Trump's visit to Alligator Alcatraz as "just a publicity moment." To his credit, Willie Geist corrected her, saying: "Right now there are 500 beds at so-called Alligator Alcatraz. They plan to expand it to 3,000. So this wasn't just a photo op."  NBC News Senior White House Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez kicked off the coverage with reporting that considerably more balanced than Ainsley's. Notably, he said: "President Trump was elected pledging to deport the record number of migrants who crossed into the U.S. under President Biden." Gutierrez also reported that the facility was built in an [astounding] eight days. It's fair to assume that had she been elected, Kamala Harris wouldn't have attempted anything similar, but if she had, it would have been bogged down for years in environmental reviews and other delaying tactics. On the other hand, Gutierrez claimed that "almost half of those currently in ICE custody have neither been convicted of nor charged with a crime." Note that he might have framed it: "More than half" have been convicted or charged with a crime. And in any case, back in March, our Brad Wilmouth caught Ainsley admitting: "The overwhelming majority of immigrants arrested by ICE since Trump took office have either been convicted of a crime or have pending charges, which contrasts with the liberal media narrative that half are not criminals." Here's the transcript. MSNBC Morning Joe 7/2/25 6:35 am EDT WILLIE GEIST: President Trump toured Florida's new migrant detention center yesterday, calling it part of a blueprint to speed up the mass deportation efforts of his administration. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez has more.  GABE GUTIERREZ: Deep in the Florida Everglades, President Trump says this massive migrant detention camp, built in just eight days, has an unusual deterrent to prevent any escapes.  PRESIDENT TRUMP: Don't run in a straight line. Run like this [waves hand back and forth.]  GUTIERREZ: He calls it Alligator Alcatraz.  TRUMP: It's meant more is a joke, but the more I thought of it, the more I liked it.  GUTIERREZ: With gators clearly visible outside, NBC News getting a first look inside.  TODD LYONS: The partnership with the state has been great.  GUTIERREZ: Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, telling us the goal is to keep detainees here no longer than two weeks, where they can appear before a judge and be deported from the camp's existing runway.  How would you respond to critics who think that this is not where immigrants should be housed?  LYONS: Well, what I would say is that, obviously, individuals that want to come here to enjoy the American dream should think about returning on their own so they're not in a detained setting, right?  GUTIERREZ: President Trump was elected pledging to deport the record number of migrants who crossed into the U.S. under President Biden.  TRUMP: I ran on the issue of illegals, and we have to get them out.  GUTIERREZ: According to data reviewed by NBC News, almost half of those currently in ICE custody have neither been convicted of nor charged with a crime.  [To Lyons] Is the administration still going after the worst of the worst?  LYONS: We are.  GUTIERREZ: The administration stresses the priority is violent criminals, but anyone who is here illegally is breaking the law.  . . .  JULIA AINSLEY: Well, in the first Trump administration, Willie, this was a joke. In fact, in the book Border Wars by Michael Shear, they write about how Trump wanted a moat around a detention center and he wanted to use the Rio Grande and he wanted alligators to be able to keep people from crossing into Texas.  In this case it's actually a reality. And so it's right, it almost started as a joke, but now it's this deterrent, and it's really a place where these people could be.  And when Gabe walked through there, that was soft-sided facilities. So not brick and mortar buildings. It's clearly intentionally being put there really as a symbolic form of deterrence, but possibly a real one too, if there were really injuries to people.  The other thing I would say about this, Willie, is that ICE is not supposed to be punitive. Immigration detention, is not supposed to be punitive. That is still on their website. That is mandated through court orders. ICE detention is for the purpose of detaining immigrants before they are deported or while their immigration proceedings are still going on. And that is up to the discretion of ICE whether they should detain everyone during that process.  But it is not supposed to be like you were sentenced to time in jail, like what you would have done if you had committed a crime and been sent to a Bureau of Prisons facility. And so they're now deviating from that.  KATTY KAY: Julia, I think we're in a world where what's supposed to be was kind of jettisoned, you know, quite a long time ago on various fronts.  We've seen Kristi Noem in situations like this before, of course, when she went down to El Salvador and had that photo opportunity and that video was made of her down there. What do you make of President Trump touring this facility? What's the message he's trying to get out by being there with her? It seems almost like, you know, she'd had that opportunity. Now he wanted to get in on that opportunity as well.  AINSLEY: That's true. I mean, when Kristi Noem went to El Salvador, it was seen as a way of her trying to show to Trump how tough she was on immigration. That would have been an opportunity that Tom Homan or many others would have liked to have in El Salvador.  And now not only does Kristi Noem not get the spotlight to herself at Alligator Alcatraz, she's sharing it with the president. This is something that I think it was just a publicity moment that would have been hard for the president to pass up. And he wants to go down there and show his willingness to go this far when it comes to this key platform issue for him.  GEIST: And the acting director of ICE, who we saw in Gabe's piece there, has said right now there are 500 beds at so-called Alligator Alcatraz. They plan to expand it to 3,000. So this wasn't just a photo op. This is going to become a place where they rely on to bring people who have come to the country illegally.  

Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta’s Substack podcast motto is “Don't give into the lies. Don't give into fear. Hold on to the truth. And hope.” During a Tuesday interview with former Clinton strategist James Carville, Acosta was neither truthful nor hopeful, but he was very much afraid as he declared, “This is scary shit,” as he suggested President Trump may tamper with the 2026 midterm results, and Carville suggested he might cancel the midterms altogether. Acosta began his conspiracy theorizing by declaring: One other thing, there was a question we just popped up from one of our viewers, and they want to know: do you worry about vote tampering in the midterms? Do you worry about Donald Trump and Stephen Miller and some of these types monkeying around with the midterms and the way we do elections in this country? I mean, with what they're trying to pull these days, they don't want accountability. They don't want Democrats getting the gavels in the House and the Senate, be able to hold hearings, and start impeachment proceedings, and so on. I mean, you worry about that, James? We never had to worry about that?     Carville one-upped Acosta by suggesting there might not even be midterms next year, “In a short word: yes. In the longer words, very. Okay. And I think what may happen, he's going to see the writing on the wall in Virginia. This is what I think is going to happen, and New Jersey also. And he's going to see retirements, and people are going to start coming in and saying, ‘Since, you know, we're getting ready to lose, I got to change and I got to get some distance,’ and he's going to see all that coming, and I don't put anything past him. Nothing. To try to call the election off. To do anything you can—I—and he can think of things like that that, you know, we can't because we're not accustomed to thinking like that.”  He added, “We always assume there's going to be an election… This is a whole new thing, but the person that wrote in on this is—you know people come to me all the time and say, ‘James, I'm really scared.’ I say, ‘You should. You have every reason to be scared.’ Don't kid yourself.” Acosta agreed, “This is scary shit,” to which Carville reiterated, “Yeah, right, it’s scary. Yeah, really scary.” If there is one thing Jim Acosta’s podcast has proved, it is that his disgust at election-related conspiracy theories only goes one way. Here is a transcript for the July 1 show: The Jim Acosta Show 7/1/2025 23 Minutes, 19 Seconds JIM ACOSTA: One other thing, there was a question we just popped up from one of our viewers, and they want to know: do you worry about vote tampering in the midterms? Do you worry about Donald Trump and Stephen Miller and some of these types monkeying around with the midterms and the way we do elections in this country? I mean, with what they're trying to pull these days, they don't want accountability. They don't want Democrats getting the gavels in the House and the Senate, be able to hold hearings, and start impeachment proceedings, and so on. I mean, you worry about that, James? We never had to worry about that? JAMES CARVILLE: In a short word: yes. In the longer words, very. Okay. And I think what may happen, he's going to see the writing on the wall in Virginia. This is what I think is going to happen, and New Jersey also. And he's going to see retirements, and people are going to start coming in and saying, “Since, you know, we're getting ready to lose, I got to change and I got to get some distance,” and he's going to see all that coming, and I don't put anything past him. Nothing. To try to call the election off. To do anything you can— I—and he can think of things like that that, you know, we can't because we're not accustomed to thinking like that. We always assume there's going to be an election. In your case “How do I cover the election.” My case “How do I affect the election” and we don't think about it. This is a whole new thing, but the person that wrote in on this is—you know people come to me all the time and say, “James, I'm really scared.” I say, “You should. You have every reason to be scared.” Don't kid yourself. ACOSTA: This is scary shit. CARVILLE: Yeah, right, it’s scary. Yeah, really scary.

On June 29, a 20-year-old man named Wess Roley allegedly set a brush fire on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with the suspected intention of luring in firefighters to ambush them. He killed two firemen and injured one other. Roley, who reportedly wanted to be a firefighter, was found dead at the scene, likely from a self-inflicted gunshot.Investigations are reportedly ongoing, but Liz Wheeler, BlazeTV host of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” fears that law enforcement’s probing will be insufficient. “What law enforcement and politicians alike are not interested in investigating is why these mass shootings happen in our country,” she says.In a prior episode, Liz listed the factors that are nearly always present in the backgrounds of individuals who seek to commit mass atrocities but are often ignored by investigators. Those factors, she said, are: They come from “a broken family,” are “victims of abuse,” and subscribe to “revolutionary ideologies” like “trans ideology, critical race theory, communism, socialism, [and/or] Marxism.” They also usually have a history of “marijuana use,” “mental health [issues] and treatment by the modern medical model,” and “violent video game playing.” Lastly, their lives and beliefs are nearly always marked by “godlessness.”In her most recent episode, Liz conducted her own “dynamic investigation” into Roley’s past. What she found was deeply disturbing and proof that her list is merited. Broken family, victim of abuse“[Roley] came from a broken family. His parents were divorced, and they divorced during his formative years when Wess was ten years old,” says Liz, adding that the split was “particularly contentious.”“His father, in fact, threatened to commit a very similar crime to the crime that Wess committed” when “during the divorce proceedings … his father threatened to burn down [their] home and shoot the family with a sniper rifle,” according to Wess’ mother’s testimony, Liz notes. A “protection order” was enacted, and his mother was given temporary custody of Wess. The violence he witnessed by his father, which also included “[punching] holes in the wall,” made young Wess a “victim of abuse.”Prior 'run-ins' with law enforcementWhile numerous reports have indicated that Roley “had no criminal history,” law enforcement in Kootenai County, Idaho, reported they had minor interactions with him on five different occasions.“Now, I actually don't believe in categorizing run-ins with police as minor,” says Liz. “These quote-unquote minor run-ins with law enforcement often precede a major run-in with law enforcement, so when you let a young person who is committing a so-called minor act off the hook for that minor act, well, it just allows them or enables them to commit a major act.”Mental health issuesCurrently, no reports indicate that Roley was being treated for psychiatric disorders or had been formally evaluated for his mental health; however, “anecdotally, people around Wess Roley reported indicators of mental health disturbance,” says Liz.“His grandfather, a man named Dale Roley, described Wess as quote-unquote ‘nervous and high-strung,’” and as a “'kind of a loner,'" although “he dismissed these as quote ‘normal issues for kids these days,'” she says.“I agree that they are common issues for kids these days, but they're not normal,” Liz counters. “A 20-year-old young man should not be nervous and high-strung and kind of a loner. That is a result of our unhealthy culture.”Further, Roley’s former roommate, T.J. Franks Jr., reported that Roley made what Franks described as "gang signs" at an interior security camera in their shared apartment in Sandpoint, Idaho, prompting him to call the police. Roley moved out after the incident with no further issues.“Two former classmates at a school [Roley] attended in Phoenix, Arizona … said that he occasionally lashed out in anger and did isolate himself,” says Liz. “One of his classmates described a journal that Wess Roley kept that contained what he called ‘concerning images of weapons and hate symbols.”’Social media historyThis is the “really damning part about Wess Roley’s background,” says Liz. “His social media history reveals disturbing radical ideology that he was taking part in that clearly impacted the formation of his mind and the perception of humanity.”While Roley’s social media accounts, particularly his Instagram, have been disabled or wiped by unknown entities, enough content surfaced prior to the scrubbing to paint a dark picture of his strange proclivities.“The TikTok that we believe belonged to Wess Roley showed a disturbing footprint of the types of things Wess Roley was interested in,” says Liz.One of those things was “anime,” which “is rife with woke themes” like “gender fluidity [and] gender ideology” and employs a lot of “pornified imagery,” she says.Another interest of his was “the ‘Brony’ movement,” which translates to “bros [men] who are interested in My Little Ponies” — the media franchise for young girls centered around colorful, magical ponies in the imaginary land of Equestria. “By all indications from his social media, [Roley] was deep into the Brony movement,” says Liz, noting that “bronies are known to pretend to be the horses themselves, not just play with these toys.”“You wonder, is this disordered? Is this perverted? Is there a sexual element to this? And the answer to that is, in the case of Wess Roley, yes,” she says, playing a TikTok video of Roley, who is wearing makeup or using a filter that digitally applies makeup, sharing a snapshot of a My Little Pony character with the caption “my life revolves around her.” One of the hashtags on the video reads “#furry,” likely referring to the “furry movement” where adults “dress up in animal costumes as a sexual fetish.”Other hashtags on the video include “#isellorgans” and “isellorgansontheblackmarket.”“Whether it's the pornified images in anime, whether it's bronies and their cosplaying as the ponies themselves as they play with little girls' toys, whether it's furries … there's no sidestepping the fact that that is a disordered sexual fetish. This is all part of the transgressive gender ideology,” says Liz.Liz suspects that “as more information about him comes out … we'll find even more information to substantiate the fact that these factors played into his motivation to commit the hideous murders in Idaho.”To hear more of Liz’s analysis and more details from her personal investigation, watch the episode above.Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) is putting the city of Key West on notice after commissioners recently voted to end their partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through the 287(g) program, despite legal requirements in place under state law.In a letter sent to Key West Commissioners on Wednesday, Uthmeier reminded the leaders it is against the law for any level of government to provide sanctuary to illegal aliens and that by "declaring the [police] Department's existing 287(g) agreement void, Key West made itself a sanctuary city."'Failure to take corrective action will result in enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office.'The 287(g) program allows state and local police departments and sheriff offices to carry out certain federal immigration duties. Florida law requires cities to do proactive work to aid the federal government in enforcing immigration law."In this instance, however, it's worse," Uthmeier continued. "The Commission didn't merely prevent the Police Department from entering a 287(g) agreement; it affirmatively voided an existing 287(g) agreement under which the Police Department was actively operating. Bad policy and illegal."RELATED: Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images Uthmeier pointed to the illegal alien arrests in the Florida Keys during March where all 10 arrestees were convicted sex offenders. A month later, Border Patrol arrested two illegal aliens, one of whom had a history of violent crime and the other of whom had a history of animal abuse."Florida law unequivocally forbids sanctuary policies. And it requires local governments to use 'best efforts' to assist with federal immigration law. Your recent action violated both laws. ... Failure to take corrective action will result in enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office," Uthmeier warned.RELATED: Alligator Alcatraz is a warning to illegal immigrants in the US: Leave now or end up here — (@) In March, the Fort Myers City Council did not initially vote to approve having its police department participate in the 287(g) program. While they had support from some of their constituents, the city council members later approved the agreement after similar warnings from Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Uthmeier.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The maestro capped off 2024's 31-date North American run of Jeff Lynne's ELO with a spectacular, hit-driven show. The post Lights Out! Jeff Lynne Closes Final US Tour With a Magical Set: Concert Review appeared first on Best Classic Bands.