'Radical anti-American socialists'

'He takes the weakness of the general population and fills it'

'Lost their ability to think critically'

'He is so inauthentic'

What do you think?

Column Babylon 5 Rewatch Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Rumors, Bargains, and Lies” Delenn seeks help to end the civil war that has broken out on Minbar… By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on December 1, 2025 Credit: Warner Bros. Television Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Television “Rumors, Bargains, and Lies”Written by J. Michael StraczynskiDirected by Michael VejarSeason 4, Episode 13Production episode 413Original air date: May 12, 1997 It was the dawn of the third age… Ivanova, Franklin, Cole, and Allan enter the mess hall, where Sheridan is sitting lost in thought and ignoring all their greetings. Allan congratulates Sheridan on getting the Centauri and Narn to let White Stars patrol their borders, though they all muse on the difficulty of convincing the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to agree to it, even with the two larger nations going for it. Sheridan suddenly bursts out laughing and says he has a plan—not to convince them, but to not convince them. He orders Cole to take three White Stars to Sector 87 and await further orders. A very confused Cole goes off to follow that order. In hyperspace aboard a White Star, Lennier informs Delenn that fighting has begun on Minbar. The civil war between the Religious and Warrior Castes has begun in earnest. Delenn feels some measure of responsibility as she is the one who broke the Grey Council without regard for the consequences. Lennier points out that Valen prophesied that she would do that, but (a) that was because Sinclair knew it was going to happen, which is the source of all of Valen’s prophecies, and (b) Valen’s prophecy didn’t account for the aftermath because Sinclair’s not around anymore. They rendezvous with several senior members of the Religious Caste on the Takari, and Delenn has invited Neroon to join them as well. Neroon arrives, with a bunch of the Warrior Caste, and everyone looks at each other with suspicion and dread—except for Delenn and Neroon, who meet in private. Once they’ve gone off, the other Religious Caste folks express annoyance at Delenn showing respect to the Warrior Caste. Both Delenn and Neroon agree that this war is bad for Minbari civilization, though Neroon doesn’t see how they can fix it. Breaking the Grey Council made this inevitable, to his mind, as the Council was all that held the resentments between the two castes in check. Delenn, however, has a plan… Credit: Warner Bros. Television On B5, Mollari is very confused by Sheridan requesting that he not let it be known that the Centauri have allowed the White Stars to patrol their borders. He’s asked the same of G’Kar. When Mollari questions him, he just says, “Trust me.” Then Sheridan encounters the Drazi ambassador, who confronts him about what he’s heard regarding White Stars near Centauri space. Sheridan responds with a very evasive comment that he can neither confirm nor deny. Upon arriving in CnC, Ivanova reports that Cole has arrived. Sheridan orders Cole to destroy three asteroids, then return to base. A very confused Cole signs off. The Drazi ambassador pigeonholes Mollari, trying to get him to admit to allowing White Stars to patrol their borders, but Mollari is even more evasive than Sheridan. When the Drazi ambassador gathers some of the other League representatives in the hallway, Franklin approaches them, asking for more blood supplies from them all—he’ll make a formal request through channels, but he wanted to hit them up in person. When asked what it’s for, Franklin unconvincingly says it’s just a precaution in case something happens. On the Takari, the Religious Caste members are pissed at Delenn meeting in secret with Neroon, and are convinced that she’s capitulating to him. Rather than let this premature surrender stand, they agree to make sure the Takari never reaches Minbar. They are willing to lay down their lives and be martyrs to their cause. They gather a container of toxic gases from the fuel system and hook it up to the environmental controls to gas the ship. They’ll all die and the Takari will drift in hyperspace, lost forever, thus keeping Delenn from betraying them. On B5, Sheridan tells Ivanova to announce on her next Voice of the Resistance broadcast that there is nothing happening in the sector Cole was just in. Ivanova is concerned about lying when the whole point of Voice of the Resistance is to tell the truth. But Sherian points out that she is telling the truth. Nothing is, in fact, happening in that sector. So she does so, and this sends the Drazi, Brakiri, Gaim, and other ambassadors into an absolute tizzy. Now they’re convinced that something’s going on that Sheridan and the Centauri know about and they’re keeping it from the League. Credit: Warner Bros. Television On the Takari, Neroon is attacked by one of his people, also apparently convinced that Neroon betrayed them to Delenn. Meantime, the Religious Caste members have planted their poison bomb, also convinced that Delenn has betrayed them to Neroon. But when Delenn orders Neroon to be cared for and his attacker to be confined with copies of the sacred scrolls, she explains that she and Neroon are trying to find a way to make peace and stop the war together through cooperation. The Religious Caste members are appalled as they realize they have completely misunderstood Delenn. But there’s also no way to stop the poison. Unless, of course, someone in a filtration mask goes in and risks his life to retrieve the canister—which Lennier does. He collapses after handing the canister back to the other caste members. Neroon orders Lennier taken care of by his physicians. He tells Delenn that he is starting to understand why Dukhat took her on as his protégé. Delenn then checks on Lennier, who describes the situation as a malfunction in the fuel system, not mentioning the canister or the poison at all. After she leaves, the Religious Caste members ask why he covered for them. Lennier explains that Delenn sees the world as better than it actually is, and he would rather live in her world than allow her to realize how bad the real one is. He would rather she think the Religious Caste is united and not populated with distrusting morons. The League ambassadors have decided to ask for Sheridan’s help directly—but not because of this invisible new threat, as they don’t want to overplay their hand. So instead they cite the rumored Drakh raids and ask for Sheridan’s protection there. Sheridan objects, but then recalcitrantly, reluctantly agrees to provide that support. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Ivanova’s next Voice of the Resistance report includes the announcement of a mutual defense treaty between B5 and the League, and also addresses rumors of war and strife on Minbar, and asks if anyone has any mor information to provide it. Neroon sneaks off the Takari and contacts the head of the Warrior Caste, Shakiri, saying that he knows the Religious Caste’s plans now, and they will be easily defeated. Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan knows he’ll never convince the League to let him use the White Stars to patrol, but he can manipulate events so that they’ll ask him. Ivanova is God. At one point, Ivanova checks Sheridan’s coffee to make sure there isn’t anything untoward in it that is causing his weird-ass behavior. If you value your lives, be somewhere else. The tensions between the Warrior and Religious Castes have boiled over into civil war, and we see how virulent that hatred is in the acts of those supporting Delenn and Neroon, which are singularly un-supportive… In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Mollari doesn’t allow his confusion regarding Sheridan’s motives stop him from throwing himself into the role of denier to the Drazi ambassador with both feet. Mollari also mentions aspect of humanity he doesn’t understand including the Winchester Mystery House, country music, and the comedy team of Rebo and Zooty. Credit: Warner Bros. Television Welcome aboard. We’ve got two recurring characters back in John Vickery, back from “Grey 17 is Missing” as Neroon, and Ron Campbell, back from “The Long Night” as the Drazi ambassador. Campbell will be back in “Meditations on the Abyss,” while Vickery will return next time in “Moments of Transition.” In addition, the two religious caste members—who are inexplicably never named—are played by Chard Haywood and the great Guy Siner (who is probably best known for playing Lieutenant Gruber in ’Allo ’Allo). Trivial matters. Delenn previously saw Lennier close to death in “Convictions.” Neroon tried to wrest leadership of the Rangers from Delenn in “Grey 17 is Missing.” Sheridan asked the Centauri and Narn to allow White Star ships to patrol their space in “Conflicts of Interest,” though that they accepted isn’t established until the top of this episode. This episode has the first reference to the comedy duo of Rebo and Zooty, who will be mentioned several more times before finally appearing in the fifth season’s “Day of the Dead,” played by Penn & Teller. The echoes of all of our conversations. “I’ve questioned your judgment, your wisdom, your temperament—but never your loyalty.” “Was that a compliment?” “After a fashion.” “Then you trust me?” “After a fashion.” —Delenn and Neroon bantering. Credit: Warner Bros. Television The name of the place is Babylon 5. “I did it for her, I did not do it for you.” My biggest problem with the B5 portion of this week’s episode is best summarized by my wife’s reaction when watching it: “Is Sheridan possessed by an alien entity or something in this episode?” The basic idea of Sheridan manipulating the League into asking for the help that Sheridan wants to give them is a good one. But the execution is problematic only insofar as this cackling manipulator who speaks in riddles and obfuscation bears absolutely no resemblance to the John Sheridan we’ve been watching for two-and-a-half seasons now. There’s been nothing prior to this to suggest this level of keeping things close to the vest, and nothing after this to suggest that it’s a change in his personality. Indeed, this is nothing like the shift in Sheridan’s personality that we’ve been seeing all season since his return from Z’ha’dum. If I didn’t know better, I might think that there was a new writer who didn’t quite get the character writing him this time around. But I do know better, as we’re right in the midst of J. Michael Straczynski’s insane marathon of writing every single damn episode, which makes the choice even more bizarre. It also continues the rather tiresome infantilization of the Drazi and other League species—or, if you prefer, the paternalistic portrayal of humans toward the Drazi. It left a bad taste in my mouth in “The Geometry of Shadows,” and we do it again here, as the Drazi ambassador is played like a two-dollar banjo. It’s played for laughs, but I can’t bring myself to be amused by it. The League ambassadors just come across as idiots here, and manipulating idiots just make our nominal heroes seem unnecessarily cruel. Though I will credit that the worst outcome for Sheridan’s plan would be that the League ambassadors didn’t react at all, in which case Sheridan has wasted everyone’s time, but there would be no (direct) bad consequences. The Minbari civil war is much more interesting. It’s always a joy to see John Vickery’s Neroon, and the scenes between him and Mira Furlan’s Delenn just sparkle. Guy Siner and Chard Haywood are equally fine as the Religious Caste jackasses, and Bill Mumy absolutely steals the show as a Lennier whom you underestimate at your peril. It’s also only the first half of the plot, to be finished next time, and I’ll have a lot more to say about this particular storyline in a week’s time. Next week: “Moments of Transition”[end-mark] The post <i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “Rumors, Bargains, and Lies” appeared first on Reactor.

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—“Iryna’s Law” took effect in North Carolina on Monday after lawmakers passed the tough-on-crime legislation in response to a Ukrainian refugee’s highly publicized murder on a Charlotte train. The wide-ranging law broadly discourages pretrial release for defendants with prior criminal histories, requires mental health examinations in some serious cases and increases punishment for crimes committed on public transportation systems — provisions that relate to the August murder of Iryna Zarutska, the law’s namesake. It also adds ten assistant prosecutors to Mecklenburg County, gives the state’s chief justice authority to suspend magistrate judges, expands methods for executions and allows courts to extend probation sentences for juveniles they deem to be dangerous. Zarutska was fatally stabbed on a light rail train by a man whom authorities identified as Decarlos Brown Jr., a mentally ill homeless resident with more than a dozen prior arrests. ?? US Attorney of the Western District of North Carolina said that Iryna Zarutska's family told the Ukrainian Embassy they would bury her here because "she loved America." @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/lNoboqSLhT— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) September 9, 2025 The law requires jail or house arrest for anyone convicted of three Class 1 misdemeanors or higher offenses in the past 10 years. It also directs judges to order mental health evaluations for defendants who were involuntarily committed in the past three years or are a danger to the community in order to determine whether to institutionalize them again. Additionally, it bans judges from releasing defendants on a “written promise to appear”—the same declaration Brown made in January before police say he murdered Zarutska in Charlotte. The law mandates that police inform judges about any arrestee behavior that shows they are dangerous to the community before detainment decisions are made. Judges must also order officials to provide a “criminal history report” on all defendants before deciding conditions of pretrial release, the text says. Judges who grant pretrial release to criminals convicted of Class 1 misdemeanor or higher offenses three times, or those facing violent charges, must provide “written findings of fact” explaining the decision, the law says. Democrat North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein signed Iryna’s Law in October. Stein praised the requirements for judges to weigh defendants’ criminal records in pretrial release rulings. He went on to call the death penalty provisions “barbaric” and complained about the bill’s emphasis on cash bail, NC Newsroom reported. The legislation states that lethal injection is North Carolina’s preferred execution method, but that if it is unavailable, others may be used. The Trump administration criticized liberal cities’ criminal justice policies after Zarutka’s murder and charged Brown in September with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. The Department of Justice is pursuing the death penalty for Brown, and he also faces state-level murder charges over Zarutska’s death. Originally published by Daily Caller News Foundation. The post North Carolina ‘Iryna’s Law’ Takes Effect, Cracking Down on Repeat Offenders appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A new desktop suite from the Collabora Productivity aims to bring the familiarity of its cloud-based tools to users who prefer to work offline. The company, best known for developing Collabora Online (COOL), a web-based open source alternative to Google Docs and Microsoft 365, has released Collabora Office, a version that runs directly on a user’s device without any need for internet access. With this release, Collabora wants to deliver the same clear, tabbed layout of its online platform in a self-contained desktop application. The suite allows users to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings entirely offline, yet keeps full compatibility with Microsoft Office and Open Document formats. Collabora Office mirrors the clean look of the online edition but processes everything locally. Users can edit a report remotely and later reconnect with shared projects when they’re back online, with no extra software or conversions required. Unlike some long-standing office suites, this one avoids overcomplicated menus and extensive configuration layers. Collabora says its goal is to keep the interface focused on the most common user actions. The package is open source, handles all data locally by default, and skips Java components to reduce system requirements and installation size. Built upon the LibreOffice core, which Collabora contributes to, the new software integrates the company’s browser-style interface to maintain consistency across platforms. “We’re excited to bring a first release of Collabora Office to the desktop, letting desktop users work both on-line and off-line in comfort. We look forward to working with and gaining valuable feedback from our partners, customers, users and community,” said Michael Meeks, CEO of Collabora Productivity. “This release provides an opportunity to see the direction of Collabora Productivity’s products, and as an open source company, we love to work with others to shape and collaborate on new features,” he added. Alongside this version, Collabora is keeping Collabora Office Classic, a long-term supported edition designed for users who prefer the traditional LibreOffice-style layout, broader configuration controls, and advanced macro and database tools. Both will continue to be updated in parallel to suit different workflows. Collabora Office is already available for download on Windows 11, macOS 15 Sequoia and later, and Linux x86_64 through Flatpak. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Collabora Launches Offline Office Suite for Windows, Mac, Linux appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has warned that WhatsApp may be taken offline across the country if it continues to reject compliance with national data laws. The dispute follows a round of restrictions in August that limited some WhatsApp and Telegram calls. Officials said that foreign-owned services, including Meta’s subsidiaries, had refused to provide user data to investigators in cases tied to fraud and terrorism. On Friday, Roskomnadzor restated its position that WhatsApp had not followed the country’s legal requirements intended to “prevent and combat crime.” WhatsApp has accused Moscow of trying to cut off millions of users from secure private communication. For many Russians, this confrontation could determine whether encrypted conversations remain accessible at all. At the same time, the government is promoting MAX, a state-backed messaging app presented as a “safer” national alternative. A close look at the app reveals that it could allow officials to track users more closely, while state media has denied any such possibility. The crackdown on communication platforms coincides with widespread internet disruptions. Over the past several months, mobile data shutdowns have affected dozens of regions, with authorities saying the outages are meant to counter Ukrainian drone attacks. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Russia Threatens to Block WhatsApp as Government Promotes State-Run MAX App appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The European Union has a habit of turning its worst temporary ideas into permanent fixtures. This time it is “Chat Control 1.0,” the 2021 law that lets tech companies scan everyone’s private messages in the name of child protection. It was supposed to be a stopgap measure, a temporary derogation of privacy rights until proper evidence came in. Now, if you’ve been following our previous reporting, you’ll know the Council wants to make it permanent, even though the Commission’s own 2025 evaluation report admits it has no evidence the thing actually works. We obtained a copy of the report for you here. The report doesn’t even hide the chaos. It confesses to missing data, unproven results, and error rates that would embarrass a basic software experiment. Yet its conclusion jumps from “available data are insufficient” to “there are no indications that the derogation is not proportionate.” That is bureaucratic logic at its blandest. The Commission’s Section 3 conclusion includes the sentence “the available data are insufficient to provide a definitive answer” on proportionality, followed immediately by “there are no indications that the derogation is not proportionate.” In plain language, they can’t prove the policy isn’t violating rights, but since they can’t prove that it is, they will treat it as acceptable. The same report admits it can’t even connect the dots between all that scanning and any convictions. Section 2.2.3 states: “It is not currently possible…to establish a clear link between these convictions and the reports submitted by providers.” Germany and Spain didn’t provide usable figures. If hundreds of thousands of reports are generated, 708,894 in 2024, and the Commission still cannot point to outcomes, the structure functions more as noise than support for police work. Officers face huge piles of irrelevant material while real cases remain unresolved. The technology is just as unstable as the policy. Yubo reported error rates of 20 percent in 2023 and 13 percent in 2024, and those figures exclude human review. Former Commissioner Johansson and the German Police have said the true rate is far higher. The Commission also admits that providers “did not use the standard form for reporting” and that Member States sent in “fragmented and incomplete” data. France received roughly 150,000 reports from NCMEC, yet it can’t say clearly what happened to most of them. The EU built a continent-wide surveillance scheme, but can’t get the participants to follow basic reporting rules. In practice, the structure leaves US platforms acting as informal police while the EU attempts to assemble a puzzle with missing pieces. Turning this temporary measure into a permanent rule would be negligent. The system has high error rates, no proven results, and oversight that barely functions. The Regulation fails the basic legal tests it was supposed to meet. The Council’s plan exposes what Chat Control has become, a symbolic gesture that lets policymakers claim progress while the machinery underneath produces confusion, false positives, and unanswered questions. The only thing the EU has measured with certainty is the distance between its stated goals and the system it built. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post EU Push to Make Message Scanning Permanent Despite Evidence of Failure and Privacy Risks appeared first on Reclaim The Net.