Hostage Deal Close -- Or is Israel Freezing the Field?

The Media Research Center (MRC) and members of its influential Free Speech Alliance (FSA) delivered a bold message to Big Tech giants ahead of the 2024 presidential election: We won’t tolerate any election-interfering censorship this time around. This was the tone of a 6-page letter addressed to the chief executive officers of 50 of the largest tech companies in the U.S. Among the recipients were Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Andy Jassy, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, X’s Linda Yaccarino and TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew.  The FSA letter, sent on Friday, calls on these Big Tech executives to affirm their commitment to not censor Americans based on their political views and not to thwart the free exchange of ideas and politicking on their platforms. The Big Tech giants came under fire for their vicious assault against free speech in 2020. “We know that governments across the world are pressuring tech firms to interfere in the 2024 elections just as so many of you did in 2020,” FSA members wrote. “Now is the time for you to affirm that you will not bow to this coercion and to reaffirm your commitment to providing fair and even-handed service to your customers.” The letter was signed by pro-free speech leaders, including MRC Founder and President Brent Bozell, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling, former Gov. Scott Walker, McLaughlin & Associates CEO John McLaughlin, Article III Project President Mike Davis and New York Young Republican Club President Gavin Max. The Free Speech Alliance’s call to action comes as the nation inches closer to the 2024 election, with the Democratic and Republican parties vying for the White House and control of the U.S. House and Senate. The letter also coincides with the release of several MRC Free Speech America studies exposing tech giants Google and X censoring Republican politicians and right-leaning media outlets respectively. Emphasizing the importance of the election, the Free Speech Alliance stated in its letter,  “This year’s election is a critical moment in the history of democracy. As the largest tech firms in America, it is imperative that you stand against the powerful forces of censorship pushing you to pervert our democratic process.” Related: MRC-Led Free Speech Alliance Urges Appropriations Committee to Defund Biden Censorship Scheme  Also:  Mum! Google Fails to Respond to Bozell’s Challenge, Does Not Refute Election Interference   Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Carl, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and author of The Unprotected Class, made clear that the legacy media is a willing partner of groups and governments pushing racially and discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. During an exclusive interview with the MRC Business, Carl blasted what he described as the “regime media” for collaborating with DEI proponents and shutting out any discussion of the discriminatory nature of such initiatives.  Carl made clear that he doesn’t distinguish between the media and their governmental and grant-making allies because the media is “fully part of the regime.” He also emphasized the connection between activist groups and the government: “If they're not directly funded by the government, they're funded by very wealthy beneficiaries of the regime.”  Carl explained that he does not expect the media to listen, but hopes to spread awareness of the reality and significance of anti-white racial discrimination among conservatives. He said that the media and the left will keep pushing DEI until “there's enough of a counter force that hits back at them and it becomes politically painful to–continue to push these types of lies.”  He stated that he wrote The Unprotected Class in hopes that “we could develop that type of a counterforce on the right if we educate our own side, at least about what the stakes are." The book, published earlier this year, explores anti-white racial discrimination across modern society, including law, business, Big Tech, media coverage and education. When asked whether the book led to any interviews or expert appearances on CNN, MSNBC or the Big Three networks, Carl laughed before explaining that the media has no interest in fair coverage.  “This is not really a conversation they want to have. I’ve gotten a few snipes of outrage from the regime media on the left. But for the most part, I think their strategy has been to ignore the book,” he said. The Claremont fellow also responded to the media pushing debunked studies by management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company promoting DEI as good for business. Carl said that the media would not stop pushing DEI “unless their incentives change.” Carl also answered questions about alleged racial discrimination at the Walt Disney Corporation and heinous admissions of racial and political discrimination by the CEO of IBM Arvind Krishna and Matt Hicks, who leads Red Hat, an IBM subsidiary. Krishna confessed to tying compensation to racial discrimination in hiring, while Hicks noted that DEI opponents no longer worked for Red Hat. At Disney, alleged internal documents mandated hiring based on race and gender. Also, a Disney executive would tell an undercover journalist that there was not only racial discrimination at Disney but that this discrimination had impacted his career.  The Unprotected Class author blasted the discrimination Disney is accused of as “facially illegal” and predicted court victories for many victims of DEI discrimination. However, Carl warned that racists might simply discriminate more subtly to avoid legal trouble.  After praising Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) for leading the fight on discrimination by suing IBM, Carl explained that a few legal wins will make DEI a “political football” in the corporate world and provide non-ideological employees reasons and excuses to challenge it.  “And now the people who really don't kind of want to discriminate have an excuse. They can go and–they go to their board, the CEO, and say, ‘Hey, you know, we'd like to do this DEI thing, but my legal team is telling me that we're going to do this and look how Missouri successfully sued so-and-so or–whatever state sued so-and-so or whatever NGOs sued so and so.’”  Carl added,  “I think it will allow people who would like to be good actors here to feel the freedom to be good actors, because now we have pressure coming from our direction, not just the left. So I don't see it as a panacea, but I do see it as something where we can actually move the ball forward.” Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News at 818-460-7477, CBS News at 212-975-3247 and NBC News at 212-664-6192 and demand they cover corporations and activists group pushing racially discriminatory DEI.

On Friday, ABC, CBS, and NBC engaged in some farcical gaslighting during their Friday morning news shows by implying it’s been former President Donald Trump — instead of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has completely avoided questions (until a brief softball session Thursday) and zero interviews — that’s been guilty of ducking reporters and, when he has, peddled “false and misleading statements” plus “dire warnings” about the world. They also went full-court press on Trump for agreeing to allow the Democrats to switch out President Biden for Harris on the September 10 ABC debate. On Friday and in the days prior, they insisted it’s Trump who’s the scaredy cat and excused Harris from having to accept Trump’s calls for two more. ABC’s Good Morning America was, as usual, the worst. Senior White House correspondent Selina Wang gushed that “Trump [made] that announcement from his Mar-a-Lago home while Harris and her new running mate have been blitzing through battleground states.”   ABC's Selina Wang argues that it's Trump who's been "waffling on his commitment" to debates, excused Kamala Harris only wanting to do one debate, and merely passing along the fact that Harris has ignored reporters. State-run TV. pic.twitter.com/Mbb9WxnaCx — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 9, 2024   “The debate, one Trump agreed to when President Biden was still in the race, despite waffling on his commitment the last few weeks when Harris ascended to the top of the ticket,” she then added, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t originally agreed to debate Harris under ABC’s auspices. Wang further groveled: “During a more than one-hour-long press conference, Trump repeating false and misleading statements, include the Vice President’s intelligence, criticizing her press availability.” When it came to Trump daring Harris to two other debates, Wang defended Harris with her excuse that she “remains focused on the ABC News debate” She hit a sugar high towards the end with a boast that “[t]he Harris campaign still riding high on the jolt of enthusiasm”. Showing how much of a partisan she was, Wang refused to use the necessary bandwidth to point out Trump will head to Montana not because of it being a tight race at the top of the ticket, but to support Eric Sheehy in a competitive Senate race: “And Trump finally today getting back on the campaign trail, holding a rally tonight in Montana, which is a reliably red state.” NBC threw anti-Trump correspondent Garrett Haake out on Today, which kicked off with a both sides-ism on who’s been avoiding reporters: These two campaigns who have agreed on almost nothing have agreed to at least that one debate next month in New York City. That was one key development to come out of a lengthy Donald Trump press conference yesterday, in which he called out Kamala Harris for avoiding reporter questions while making plenty of news on how he answered and avoided the questions that he faced.  Oh, so we’re supposed to make a bigger deal out of how the candidate who talks to the media speaks to them versus the one who’s been in a campaign version of witness protection?   NBC's Garrett Haake went on 'Today' and put greater emphasis on Trump "making plenty of news on how he answered and avoid the questions" and "back[ing] off of online threats" to not debate Harris instead of how *SHE* completely avoided questions until yesterday and hasn't done a… pic.twitter.com/cwaRizTm8U — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 9, 2024   Haake continued to spin his wheels (click “expand”): HAAKE: This morning, after weeks of uncertainty, the stage is now set for a presidential debate showdown between Vice President Harris and former President Trump next month. The former President Trump announcing at a news conference he’s agreed to a debate against Harris in September 10, backing off online threats not to show and saying he’s also up for two additional showdowns. TRUMP: We’d like to do three debates. HAAKE: Harris noncommittal on additional debates. HARRIS: Well, I’m glad he’s finally agreed to a debate on September 10. I’m looking forward to it and hope he shows up. HAAKE: Mr. Trump’s own news conference packed with personal attacks and falsehoods[.] (....) HAAKE: This as polls show the race tightening nationwide. [TO TRUMP] To what do you attribute her rise in the polls? TRUMP: She’s a woman. She represents certain groups of people. But I will say this, when people find out about her I think she will be much less. HAAKE: Harris shrugging off Trump’s criticisms. HARRIS: I was too busy talking to voters. I didn’t hear ‘em. Haake made sure to defend Harris’s running mate, Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), for lying about his military service, saying she “did stop to” talk to reporters” so she could “defend” Walz as “[t]he Trump campaign has seized on past comments”. Haake closed with what his handlers at the Harris campaign want him to focus on: abortion. CBS Mornings co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King made the contrast her friends probably wanted her to: Trump talked about [the September 10 debate] during a very lengthy news conference yesterday. It was filled with attacks against the Democrats, while Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, courted union members in the battleground state of Michigan. Campaign and White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe put Harris and Trump going before reporters on an equal plane:   On 'CBS Mornings', Ed O'Keefe puts Kamala Harris and Donald Trump taking questions from reporters on an equal plane, arguing in Trump's case it had been "the first time in months". In Trump's case, O'Keefe said he "personally attack[ed]" Harris and leaned into "dire warnings" pic.twitter.com/9eySweGZ2c — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 9, 2024   O’Keefe then pivoted to public relations for Democrats (click “expand”): O’KEEFE: Harris and running mate Tim Walz campaigned Thursday in Michigan alongside members of the United Autoworkers. HARRIS: The true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down. It's based on who you lift up. O’KEEFE: The UAW president, Shawn Fain, had signaled Sunday he preferred Harris pick a union-friendly running mate like Walz.  SHAWN FAIN [on CBS’s Face the Nation, 08/04/24]: He’s an awesome guy for labor. O’KEEFE: Thursday, the Minnesota governor warned union households about supporting Trump. GOVERNOR TIM WALZ (D-MN): If Trump returns, he's going to learn something, he didn't get the job done. This time, it will be far, far worse, and he will get the job done and make sure that we can't organize collectively to improve our lives. O’KEEFE: Now, Harris and Walz are waking up this morning in Arizona where they will rally with supporters tonight in the Phoenix area before heading to Las Vegas tomorrow. Former President Trump is headed to Bozeman, Montana, for a fundraiser and campaign rally in a reliably red state where Republicans hope to flip a Senate seat. To see the relevant transcripts from August 9, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).

It’s been one year since wildfires ravaged the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, killing 102 people and displacing thousands. You likely haven’t heard much about the state of Lahaina and its remaining residents in the mainstream media because the Biden administration has moved on from the tragedy. Of course it’s still funding illegal aliens using American taxpayer dollars, but it’s abandoned the U.S. citizens of Hawaii who are still homeless a year after fires claimed their homes, jobs, and loved ones. Mercury One Inc., a nonprofit organization providing humanitarian aid, education, and disaster relief founded by Blaze Media’s Glenn Beck, has not forgotten. Mercury One is still on the ground in Lahaina providing hope and resources to citizens who remain in the throes of homelessness, poverty, and grief. Mercury One executive director J.P. Decker joins Glenn on the show to give an update about the state of Lahaina and its people. - YouTube www.youtube.com For starters, Mercury One has “been providing mental health [support] because there's been a mental health crisis of multiple suicides,” says J.P., adding that “most people still feel uncertain,” especially when it comes to housing and jobs. “About 72% of all people in Maui were affected by these fires; 59% said they have moved over three times [since the disaster],” he tells Glenn. In addition to mental health support, Mercury One has also funded another nonprofit that provides “sports for kids” when the organization ran out of funds. “A lot of the kids can't even come into Lahaina without crying and screaming because of what they saw that day one year ago,” says J.P. “We have also worked with a nonprofit who has built a whole community for the survivors,” he reports. However, the facilities, despite being ready to use, are currently going to waste because “the governor and the mayor continue to fight with each other on who's going to get the credit … so they're not allowing these people to move to this nonprofit [community].” “So many of these people feel left by our government. They feel left alone. They feel as if no one is talking about them any more,” says J.P., adding that it’s clear that “our government has forgotten about them.” To make matters worse, yesterday the governor chose to bring up climate change. “The governor even said yesterday, ‘Well, I know that you like Front Street … but you have to remember that climate change is taking Front Street away,”’ J.P. recounts. “How do you say that on the one-year anniversary? What kind of a leader are you?” he asks, disgusted. “These people are trying to find hope. Out of the 11,000 that lived there and were displaced, there's only about 3,000 left because they've had to move to find jobs.” To hear more about the state of Lahaina and what Mercury One is doing to continue meeting the needs of the residents, watch the clip above and visit https://MercuryOne.org. 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.

Boeing astronauts are still stranded at the International Space Station, and the timeline for their return is becoming more unclear as time passes. Blaze News previously reported on aerospace and defense corporation Boeing and its launch of the Starliner spacecraft in early June 2024. A mission to the ISS by crew members Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams was initially slated to return to Earth in as few as eight days after launch. The mission failed even within a generous grace period, and it has been over eight weeks since the vessel was launched into space. With a return date up in the air, speculation had begun about how the astronauts would return home after it was revealed that helium leaks and thruster failures were hindering the Starliner and preventing its re-entry. As TMZ reported, NASA says the astronauts may need to make their return on the Dragon Crew-9 mission operated by rival company SpaceX, headed by Elon Musk. Crew-9 was initially meant to launch for the ISS on August 18, 2024, but has since been pushed back to no earlier than September 24, 2024, per Spaceflight Now. With that in mind, most reports suggest SpaceX's six-month mission will not return until at least February 2025, but given the delayed start time, it could also be March 2025. This would potentially extend Boeing's mission from approximately two weeks to about nine or ten months. Despite previous uncertainty as to whether or not Starliner would be relying on SpaceX for a return mission, NASA has clarified that the SpaceX launch delay is directly related to the Boeing mission. "This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory," NASA stated. However, Boeing's most recent mission update stated that the company's "confidence remains high" that the Starliner will make its return trip on its own. "We remain confident in Starliner and its ability to safely return to Earth with crew based on an abundance of testing conducted by our teams and NASA in space and on the ground," Boeing wrote on X. — (@) SpaceX has reportedly been testing scenarios in which it would accommodate two extra crew members on the return to Earth on Dragon Crew-9 and has already identified flight suits that would fit the two Boeing astronauts. The original Crew-9 mission was to launch with four astronauts from Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts identified for the mission are Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, Stephanie Wilson, and Russian cosmonaut Alexsandr Gorbunov. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Disney's streaming platforms have finally posted a net profit after a long-term struggle saw the company lose billions.In a Q3 earnings call, the company announced profits from streaming a full quarter ahead of expectations. The third quarter direct-to-consumer income totaled $47 million, according to Disney, which is quite the turnaround from a $512 million loss in the previous year.The profit appeared to come solely off the back of ESPN+ after Disney+ and Hulu were packaged with the sports network.Disney+ and Hulu reportedly incurred a combined loss of $19 million, according to Bounding into Comics, meaning if the profit margin came from ESPN+ alone that would mean the sports network brought in $66 million. However, the breakdown of the figures is unclear at the time of this publication.'We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets.'As Blaze News reported in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously blamed the streaming services for a $4 billion loss:"As we got into the streaming business in a very, very aggressive way, we tried to tell too many stories. Basically we invested too much, way ahead of possible returns. It's what led to streaming ending up as a $4 billion loss," Iger said in a webcasted conference.The company did have the stated goal however of bundling Hulu and ESPN+ with Disney+ to increase overall engagement, and that calculated gamble appears to have worked out.At the same time, the Walt Disney company announced in a press release that prices for its streaming packages, both ad-free and ad-supported, will increase by $1 to $2 per month.Disney+ basic and premium plans will go from $7.99 and $13.99 per month, respectively, to $9.99 and $15.99The ad-free and ad-included Hulu plans will go up to $18.99 and $9.99 per month, while ESPN+ goes up to $11.99 per month with ads.Some bundle plans, such as the Duo Basic plan, are also set to increase prices.Subscribers who pay more are set to receive "ABC News Live" and a "preschool content" playlist, with the promise of four additional curated playlists in fall 2024, according to the Dallas Express.Iger has promised viewers that the Disney creative departments were going to "reconnect" to the monetization side of the company to ensure "quality is not lost," but price increases likely aren't what fans were hoping for out of that promise."This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our entertainment segment, both at the box office and [direct-to-consumer], as we achieved profitability across our combined streaming for the first time, and ahead of our previous guidance," Iger said. "We are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A reporter spoke with black and Hispanic voters in the Bronx this week and learned that Vice President Kamala Harris is not going to earn their vote simply because of her gender and skin color. Reporter Cara Castronuova traveled to the northernmost New York City borough with one question in mind: Are black and Hispanic voters persuaded by identity politics or by policies? 'It's not about race. It's about what they provide for the society. It's what they could do for the community.' The voters she spoke with left no misconceptions. "She's using her color. I thought that Martin Luther King said the color wasn't the issue. I thought it was the content of our character that we were supposed to be recognized for," said one voter, a black woman with a thick New York accent. "But if she's going to keep running on that color, she going to have a misconception about how black people really roll." Another voter said, "If you bring somebody into office that looks like you, but then continues to [be a] detriment your community, what was that for? But if you choose somebody who can raise your community, then you chose the right one. ... I choose Trump." Here is what other voters told Castronuova: "I'm looking for who I think is more qualified to run the country. That's all I'm looking at." "Black Latinos are starting to be a little bit more critical. They're fed up of their hard earned money going to illegal, undocumented people." "Kamala Harris did not do a good job on the border because from what I know, a lot of people were coming from the other side and doing a lot of bad things to what we call home." "I think she's not a good candidate for president because she's with Joe Biden for the past two years. A wreck up in New York." "It's not about race. It's about what they provide for the society. It's what they could do for the community." "With her putting a lot of black Americans in jail for the marijuana, they're not really going for her." Another voter who spoke with Castronuova described identity politics and the tendency to emphasize a candidate's race as "weird s**t." A prevailing political theory argues the Democratic Party has assumed for decades that black and Hispanic voters will always support it. And historically speaking, it is true that black and Hispanic voters have overwhelmingly voted for Democrats. But somewhere along the way, voters in those minority communities began to realize the Democratic Party's history of empty promises and outreach that happen only at election time. What has resulted is an ongoing shift in voter preferences, according to the Financial Times, and an America "where people vote more based on their beliefs than their identity," explained John Burn-Murdoch, chief data reporter at FT. "This is bad news for Democrats," he said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Police in the United Kingdom said they arrested a 55-year-old woman this week in connection with an "inaccurate social media post."Cheshire police officers made the arrest Thursday over a post "containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders," the Cheshire Constabulary said.'It’s a stark reminder of the dangers of posting information on social media platforms without checking the accuracy,' Chief Superintendent Alison Ross said. 'It also acts as a warning that we are all accountable for our actions, whether that be online or in person.'Officials said the woman, who lives near Chester, was arrested "on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred (S19 of the Public Order Act 1986) and false communications (S179 Online Safety Act 2023)." Chester is about a mile east of England's border with Wales and about 40 minutes south of Liverpool.Authorities said she was being held in police custody "where she is assisting officers with their enquiries."A 17-year-old male was accused of killing three and injuring numerous other victims in a July 29 mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed children's dance class in Southport.Officials initially said there was no evidence that terrorism was a motive in the Southport knife attack, which angered many who accused the government of covering up evidence. Police identified suspect Axel Rudakubana and charged him with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. Officials identified him as being from Cardiff but also noted that his parents are Rwandan.Unrest and violence erupted the day after the stabbings and have spread across the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the violence and blamed "far-right thuggery." However, now-suspended U.K. Labour Party Councillor Ricky Jones reportedly was arrested this week on suspicion of encouraging murder of anti-immigration protesters after an outdoor speech in London in front of a rabid, far-left crowd during which he hollered, "They are disgusting, nasty fascists, and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all!" A video of the speech shows him sliding his finger across his neck as he spoke; he then led a “free, free Palestine!" chant.Radio host Glenn Beck, co-founder of Blaze Media, earlier this week opined that "two-tier justice" — in which police more or less ignore Muslim immigrant crime but come down hard on non-Muslims — has been laid bare in the U.K. in the wake of the deadly knife attack.Regardless, a Cheshire police official issued a stark warning in reference to the 55-year-old woman arrested over the "inaccurate social media post.""It’s a stark reminder of the dangers of posting information on social media platforms without checking the accuracy," Chief Superintendent Alison Ross said. "It also acts as a warning that we are all accountable for our actions, whether that be online or in person.”Ross added that "we have all seen the violent disorder that has taken place across the U.K. over the past week, much of which has been fueled by malicious and inaccurate communications online."What's more, Fox News noted that Stephen Parkinson — director of public prosecutions of England and Wales — warned against "publishing or distributing material which is insulting or abusive which is intended to or likely to start racial hatred. So, if you retweet that, then you’re republishing that, and then potentially you're committing [incitement to racial hatred]."He added, "We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media. Their job is to look for this material, and then follow up with identification, arrests, and so forth," the cable news network said.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

WATCH: Special Counsel Says Hunter Biden Took Foreign Money to INFLUENCE US POLICY When Dad Was VP