If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Since the start of 2024, the Metropolitan Police has been quietly transforming London into a testing ground for live facial recognition (LFR). Depending on who you ask, this is either a technological triumph that’s making the capital safer or a mass surveillance experiment that would make any privacy advocate wince. The numbers are eye-watering: in just over 18 months, the Met has scanned the faces of around 2.4 million people. And from that sea of biometric data, they’ve made 1,035 arrests. That’s a hit rate of 0.04%. Or, to put it plainly, more than 99.9% of those scanned had done absolutely nothing wrong. The police, of course, are eager to present this as a success story. Lindsey Chiswick, who oversees the Met’s facial recognition program, calls it a game-changer. “This milestone of 1,000 arrests is a demonstration of how cutting-edge technology can make London safer by removing dangerous offenders from our streets,” she said. Of those arrested, 773 were charged or cautioned. Some were suspects in serious cases, including violent crimes against women and girls. But here’s where things get complicated. To secure those 1,000 arrests, millions of innocent people have had their faces scanned and processed. What’s being billed as precision policing can start to look more like casting an enormous net and hoping you catch something worthwhile. If the figures seem large now, just look at the trend. Back in January 2024, the Met’s cameras scanned 36,000 faces. By November, that number was nearing 190,000 a month. In 2025, they’ve regularly topped 200,000, with February pushing past 300,000 scans. And the Met isn’t alone. The police insist the technology is targeted. The scale of scanning raises uncomfortable questions about where the line is drawn and the implications of the future use of this technology. Supporters argue that LFR saves time, helps track down suspects, and modernizes policing in a way that matches the scale of modern crime. At what point does surveillance stop being smart policing and start becoming a permanent fixture of public life? And once that infrastructure is in place, how easy would it be to dial it back? If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post London is the Testing Lab for Big Brother Mass Facial Scanning Tech appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Afghanistan’s media landscape has come under even tighter control as the Taliban moves to outlaw political debate across all platforms, cementing its campaign to quash free expression. The latest decree compels newspapers, broadcasters, online outlets, and social media channels to gain advance permission from the newly formed Political Program Oversight Committee before disseminating any political material. The sweeping order, issued under the banner Management of Political Programs in Afghanistan, places virtually all political speech under the Taliban’s direct supervision. The committee is tasked with vetting content, preparing legal reviews, monitoring compliance, and handing down penalties to outlets that fail to meet its strict requirements. The rules stipulate that “analysis must be approved by the official oversight committee before airing or publication,” turning any independent scrutiny of politics into a high-risk undertaking. These restrictions dictate that anyone offering commentary on government figures must do so “respectfully, within legal frameworks, and free from defamation or distortion,” while relying solely on evidence from official sources. Analysts are forbidden from contradicting Taliban policy and must carry ID cards issued by the regime’s Directorate of Broadcast Affairs. Even those already cleared to speak must seek fresh approval before appearing on any program. The Taliban has warned that programming must conform to Sharia law, uphold the principles of the Islamic Emirate, and comply with national law. It made its position clear: “No content should be anti-Islamic Emirate.” The threat of revoking media licenses looms over any outlet that dares to defy these new dictates. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Taliban Bans Political Debate, Tightens Grip on Media appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A coalition of independent publishers has filed an antitrust complaint against Google with the European Commission, accusing the tech giant of favoring its AI-generated summaries in search results and harming the visibility of original journalism. The Independent Publishers Alliance submitted the complaint on June 30 and is calling for urgent regulatory action to prevent what it describes as lasting damage to publishers. The group claims that Google’s AI Overviews, which appear at the top of search pages, have significantly reduced web traffic, audience reach, and ad revenue for publishers. By offering instant summaries, the feature discourages users from clicking through to original content and it was the content of publishers that Big Tech companies like Google used to train its AI models on in the first place. The share of news-related searches ending without a single click rose to 69 percent in May 2025, compared with 56 percent a year earlier; according to SimilarWeb. The EU’s Competition and Markets Authority acknowledged receiving the complaint. A spokesperson said that the EU is already working to address Google’s dominance in search and advertising. “Last week, we proposed to designate Google with strategic market status in search and search advertising. If designated, this would allow us to introduce targeted measures to address specific aspects of how Google operates search services in the UK,” the official said to Reuters. Google’s AI Overviews are active in more than 100 countries, and as of May 2025, ads are now included in these summaries. The complaint is supported by the Movement for an Open Web and Foxglove Legal, a UK nonprofit. Google rejected the claims and defended its AI-powered search features. A spokesperson said the new tools help users discover more content. “New AI experiences in Search enable people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered,” the spokesperson said. The company pointed out that it delivers billions of clicks to websites daily and that shifts in traffic can result from factors like user interest, seasonal trends, and changes to search algorithms. The European complaint reflects similar concerns raised in a US lawsuit by an educational technology firm, which alleges that AI Overviews have reduced demand for original content and hurt publishers’ competitiveness. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Google Faces EU Antitrust Complaint Over AI Search Summaries appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Active Shooter Killed Outside McAllen, Texas Border Patrol Annex

On July 5, between 9:00 and 9:15 UTC, something appears to have hit Saturn. If verified, it will be the first ever to be caught on camera.

"If this woman looked at someone's face for long enough, she would see that face morph into the face of a dragon."

This is the second time the volcano has erupted in less than a month.

Throughout Saturday, CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein couldn’t help but work into her live shots blatant speculation about whether cuts to the National Weather Service by President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) played a role in the deaths of what was then 50 known dead in catastrophic flooding that struck Texas’s Hill Country. Klein’s hijinks started in the 1:00 p.m. Eastern hour with an allusion to President Trump’s desire to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a way to wonder if there would be a “full extent of this federal response” and “if there will be a request for additional aid from Congress.” She upped the ante two hours later, adding for the doom and gloom effect that “the so-called Big Beautiful Bill that the President signed into law just yesterday does make cuts or even closes some weather research laboratories that are vital to forecasting and improving forecasts:     By the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour, she added DOGE to the equation, alluding to the “cuts for hundreds of employees at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, as well as the National Weather Service” while also trying to claim “[i]t’s really too soon to say whether those cuts contributed to any of the lack of alerts here.” For anyone who recognizes the game the liberal media play, merely introducing a possible narrative is as good as gold and more than enough to create doubt and sow division. She doubled down an hour later, cloaking the DOGE mention in merely “people asking questions in the immediate aftermath of how something like this could happen”: By the 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour, Klein had settled on a narrative (click “expand”): KLEIN [at 7:36 p.m. Eastern]: Two other points I want to note. Number one, the President has been deeply critical of FEMA. He says he plans to phase out that agency at the end of this hurricane season. And second, going forward, the President’s budget for fiscal year 2026, which they are already starting to implement, does make cuts and even closes. Some of these weather research labs that are so critical for forecasting. They really give that data that we need for better forecasts. The tools that they use to collect that data are now experiencing cuts. DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency also cut hundreds of employees at NOAA, which is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the National Weather Service. It’s really too soon to know at this stage whether this had any sort of impact on this notification effort. But Secretary Noem was pressed on the alerts from the National Weather Center. Here’s how she defended the administration. NOEM: That is something and one of the reasons that when President Trump took office that he said he wanted to fix and his currently upgrading the technology and the National Weather Service has indicated that with that and NOAA, that we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years. But I do carry your concerns back to the federal government, to President Trump and we will do all we can to fix those kinds of things that that may have felt like a failure to you. KLEIN: Now, the storm that created the conditions for this flash flooding was completely unpredictable, truly unprecedented. (....) KLEIN [at 8:38 p.m. Eastern]: But I want to point out two additional things as we continue to track this federal response. Number one is that the President has been deeply critical of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He says that he plans to phase it out at the conclusion of this year’s hurricane season. Separately, the Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget is which it’s already abiding by, offers massive cuts to some weather research labs that are vital to forecast extreme weather events like this. They collect better data for better forecasts and the tools that they are using here are experiencing cut right now. Now, DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency has also cut staffers at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the National Weather Service. But Secretary Noem was really pressed on the National Weather Service’s alerts leading up to this. Here’s what she said as she defended the administration. NOEM: That is something and one of the reasons that when President Trump took office that he said he wanted to fix and is currently upgrading the technology. And the National Weather Service has indicated that with that and NOAA that we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years. But I do carry your concerns back to the federal government and to President Trump and we will do all we can to fix those kinds of things that may have felt like a failure to you. KLEIN: Of course, this storm was extremely unpredictable. The water rising so quickly, so unprecedented. In her final live shot of the night, she showed her mind wasn’t changing about speculating: Before the first of two taped live shots for the 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern hours, Situation Room co-host Wolf Blitzer gave her a just-asking-questions strategy a boost: Meanwhile, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary is strongly defending the federal government’s response to the disaster in Texas. Secretary Kristi Noem says President Trump is “currently upgrading technology at the National Weather Service.” However, the President’s mega bill, which he just signed into law, makes cuts and even closes some weather research labs that help make forecast improvements. And his DOGE team, as it’s called, fired hundreds of employees at the National Weather Service and at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. To see the relevant CNN transcript from July 5, click here.

Many of us just celebrated Independence Day, that most American of holidays, with fireworks, parades, picnics, and backyard cookouts.Although patriotism is apparently declining in the U.S., even the haters likely enjoyed their hot dogs and day off from work. (See this thoughtful piece about why there’s still much to celebrate despite the downturn in patriotism.)There's also the limited-edition "President Donald J. Trump Signature Edition" Bible, which will run you a cool $1,000.As we take down our stars-and-stripes decor, it seems a good time to review how patriotism and Christianity should not be conflated — and how when that happens, it harms the cause of Christ.Here are a few examples of that confusion.Recasting worship service as 'Freedom Sunday'In my general neck of the woods, we have a big church that goes all out for July Fourth, so much that celebrating America takes over the entire worship service the week before.Dr. Robert Jeffress and First Baptist Dallas are no doubt very patriotic, and "Freedom Sunday" looks like a heck of a show, but this isn't what church is about.I believe this church — and others that do a “Freedom Sunday” — usually preach Christ, but why take the focus off Him for even one Sunday? It’s glorifying America; is it glorifying God?Let’s say I’m visiting Canada and I’ve found what I believe to be a solid church that I can attend while visiting. But the Sunday I’m there is right before Canada Day, and instead of worship focused on God, Canadian Mounties ride their horses through the building as the choir sings “O Canada” and sprays everyone with red and white paper maple leaves. It’s glorifying Canada; is it glorifying God?(Hint: The answer is no, both times.)Promoting 'Christian nationalism'Since every secular media outlet now labels all Christians in America Christian nationalists, we need to understand what real Christian nationalists are after.Misunderstanding the Great Commission, they seek to impose a Christian government, from the top down — in effect “Christianizing” America. Here’s a brief clip from Christian nationalist Joel Webbon's podcast, in which he and his co-hosts discuss how great it would be for the government to forcibly redistribute property from bad churches to “good” churches.Note their glee at the thought of Big Brother sending soldiers into the street to raid churches.And lest you be tempted to think any part of that is a good idea, consider that a proudly self-identifying Christian nationalist recently told me I’m going straight to hell because I appreciate John MacArthur’s teaching. So apparently his church would also be forcibly raided, along with most others, since (thankfully) there are not a lot of churches on board with this nonsense.RELATED: 9 reasons we (still) love America — and you should too GraphicaArtis/Getty ImagesCritiquing the whole movement is beyond our scope today; it’s enough for now to point out the obvious upside-down thinking that leads these men to think Christianity in any way benefits from forcing it on a population. This is the opposite of how we are to approach our neighbors, and this wrongheaded movement is now actively driving people away from Christianity. It’s utterly antithetical to the faith.Say it with me, louder for the ones in back: This is not what followers of Jesus are here to do.Wrapping the Bible in Stars and StripesOther bad ideas are less Stalin-esque but equally damaging to the faith, and here’s an especially egregious example. Meet the "God Bless the USA Bible."For just $99.99, you can have your very own "Patriot Edition" of the King James Version Bible, its cover "custom embossed" with the statement: "We are one people united by a common destiny and a shared purpose to love one another and the United States of America," followed by "God Bless the USA" and an image of a billowing American flag.This is a Bible, but it’s not for everyone, is it? It’s for Americans who love the U.S.Hey, I’m an American who loves the U.S., but this Bible is a bad idea. Why would we ever tamper with the word of God this way?And speaking of tampering, according to the product description, this Bible also includes:a handwritten chorus to “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood;the U.S. Constitution;the Bill of Rights;the Declaration of Independence; andthe Pledge of Allegiance.With the exception of Greenwood’s contribution, these are all important, worthy documents.But they don’t belong in the Bible. Putting them there implies that they are somehow equivalent with the word of God. That’s not just wrong; it’s heretical.But wait — there's more!Other editions on offer include the "Presidential Edition," the "First Lady Edition," and the "Vice Presidential Edition," each embossed with the respective office's seal.I think these folks are a great improvement over the last administration, but are any of them actually Bible-believing Christians? What are they doing on the cover of a Bible?There's also the limited edition "President Donald J. Trump Signature Edition," which will run you a cool $1,000.Someone is making bank.Did it just get a little “den of thieves-ish” in here? Might be time for some table-flippin’ again.Interpreting scripture as being about AmericaI’ve no intention of buying one of those Bibles to find out, but I suspect they might feature the kind of biblical-patriotic imagery that litters our social media feeds in the days leading up to July 4.For example, a picture of an American flag overlaid with the passage from 2 Chronicles 7:14: "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."The Christian nationalist guys like this verse, I’m sure, but "my people" here refers to Israel. This is not a promise for America or any other nation.So it is with another popular meme, which puts Psalm 33:12 over Old Glory: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage."Nope, Israel again. The psalmist was talking about Israel.The Christian nationalists think they can create a theocracy where this would apply, but they can’t because that is not what God has ordained for us. We can only win people to Jesus, loving them one at a time.Then there's the image of a stern bald eagle (posing in front of the Stars and Stripes) glowering at us to do our duty as citizens and ponder the accompanying verse from Galatians 5:1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."Do not submit to sin. The slavery referred to here is to sin. Hardly the message the eagle with an attitude is giving off, though. And our freedom in Christ has literally nothing to do with our freedom as American citizens.Ditto for another meme that splashes Galatians 5:13-14 across an American flag: "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"Ditto. You were called to be free — from sin. See above. I love this particular passage so much, and I hate to see it “USA-ized.”Almost 10 years ago, writer Michelle Lesley wrote about this conflation of American imagery with Bible verses, and I can’t sum it up any better:It is good to thank God for the blessing of liberty. It is right to be patriotic and celebrate our nation’s founding. It is evangelistic to use Independence Day as a springboard for explaining to people how they can find real freedom in Christ. And with that freedom — our freedom in Christ and our freedom as American citizens — comes great responsibility. Namely, the responsibility not to throw all of those things into the Cuisinart at once and turn them into an Americhristian smoothie with red, white, and blue sprinkles.Yes, let’s skip that smoothie. While we should be thankful for our blessings as American citizens — which, let's face it, are always under threat — we should be even more thankful for true freedom, which is forever and found only in Christ.And let’s not diminish Him or His word by conflating the two.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) joined "The Glenn Beck Program" on Monday morning to provide an update on the devastating flash flood that killed at least 82 people, including 28 children, in Kerr County.Roy highlighted the community's heroism and torched the legacy media for sharing baseless falsehoods about the government's response in the wake of the natural disaster.'This is just the kind of hateful rhetoric that comes out of people that want to politicize everything, demean everything.'The congressman noted that he typically spends each Fourth of July with his family in Kerrville to attend a concert, but he spent it in Washington, D.C., this year after President Donald Trump's team requested he stay for the signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act."I've spent most of the last three days [in Kerrville]," Roy told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. "There's long waiting lines for people to volunteer."He called the community's support "a great testimony to the strength, resolve, [and] compassion of not just people at Kerrville but across Texas and the whole country."RELATED: Horror and heroism in Texas as search for flood survivors continues Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesRoy blasted legacy media for "politicizing" the tragedy and spreading false information to criticize the Trump administration."The finger-pointing, generally, is just offensive," he told Beck. "We're down on the ground with first responders, trying to find people, and we're trying to clean up debris, and we're trying to help a community heal."He shared stories of "tremendous acts of heroism," including Jane Ragsdale, a longtime camp director, and Dick Eastland, a Christian summer camp owner, who both died while trying to save children from the flash flood. "You got a camp director, who died trying to save little girls, and I'm there with his daughter, who is now there with the families of the people who lost their little girls at this camp, and she was there because she loves them. Do you know how hard that was?" Roy stated. "And then you got these people like [CNN's] Dana [Bash], who were out there making this conjecture about budget cuts or the Trump administration didn't have people there, which, first of all, is false. It's just not true.""My observation of all this is, the president, the federal government was doing what they normally do and more," he said.Roy further slammed the media for "tracking down the family members" and publishing photographs of the children from families' social media posts.RELATED: 'Incomprehensible tragedy': Dozens dead, 27 girls from Christian camp missing amid deadly Texas floods (UPDATE) Photo by Eric Vryn/Getty ImagesHe also addressed comments from Sade Perkins, a former member of the Houston Food Insecurity Board, who claimed that Camp Mystic was a "white-only, conservative [and] Christian" program.Roy called Perkins' claims "totally false" and "absolutely ridiculous," adding that the camp "welcomes anybody and everybody."He told Beck, "This is just the kind of hateful rhetoric that comes out of people that want to politicize everything, demean everything. Everything has to be woke, everything has to be this [diversity, equity, and inclusion] ideology that's destroying our country.""The fact is, these are really, really good people who are dedicated to the mission of advancing the Kingdom of Christ and doing so with these historic camps that have been multigenerational along a great and beautiful part of the rivers in Texas," Roy added.Roy emphasized his commitment to working with local, state, and federal officials to prevent future "extraordinary" tragedies, stressing that installing warning sirens may be an urgent first step.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!