WaPo: Democrats Are the Real ';Tough on Crime'; Party

Taiwan';s TSMC Gets $6.6 Billion for Another Factory in Arizona

Julie Elrods journey with Beanie‚ a blind and deaf senior dog‚ began with a heart full of love and a commitment to care. Adopting Beanie‚ who had been rescued from a dreadful situation at age 11‚ Julie knew she had her work cut out for her. Beanie wasnt accustomed to the warmth and affection of...The post Woman slow dances with deaf and blind senior dog every day so she knows shes loved appeared first on Animal Channel.

The battle between an infamous left-wing Brazilian judge and X owner Elon Musk has taken yet another dark twist that could put Brazil an inch closer to becoming a totalitarian regime‚ critics warn.On Sunday‚ Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes launched a criminal investigation into Musk after the tech mogul dared to defy a contentious court order demanding what has been described as the unwarranted censorship of some X users.Xs Global Government Affairs announced that de Moraes ordered the social media platform to ban certain popular users over so-called disinformation. Tellingly‚ the judge ordered the platform to not disclose the order.In response‚ Musk ordered the platform to unban these accounts‚ arguing that de Moraes has no legal basis for the requested censorship. Such a defiant act seemingly triggered de Moraes to launch a probe into Musk for potential obstruction of justice‚ criminal organization and incitement of crime‚ Forbes reported on Monday.Journalist Michael Shellenberger‚ an individual who often breaks stories out of Brazil‚ tweeted on Monday that the criminal probe into Musk may lead to the closure of Xs operations in the Central American country.I say‚ Tell me‚ Alexandre‚ is the disinformation in the room with us now? https://t.co/yhvOmrysaZ Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8‚ 2024De Moraes has taken Brazil one step closer to being a dictatorship‚ Shellenberger wrote. Whats more‚ the events of the last few weeks make clear that Elon Musk is the only thing standing in the way of global totalitarianism. Without free speech‚ there can be no democracy.Earlier this week‚ Musk accused de Moraes of threatening to arrest Brazil-based X employees and imposing hefty fines. De Moraes imposed a fine of nearly $20‚000 per day for each account not banned‚ according to Forbes.As a result‚ we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit‚ Musk wrote on Saturday.In follow-up posts‚ Musk directly addressed Moraes‚ including calling for a public debate on the orders and suggestingthat the orders may be carried out in a bid to support political affiliation.X supports the people of Brazil‚ without regard to political affiliation. Does Judge@Alexandre? Musk questioned on Monday.De Moraes did not immediately respond to MRC Free Speech Americas request for comment.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 CensorTracks contact form‚ and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

On NBC Newss streaming platform NBC News NOW ahead of Mondays total solar eclipse across large swaths of the U.S.‚ correspondent Maura Barrett had to make the once-in-a-generation event political by invoking climate change alongside Star Trek legend William Shatner.Barrett reported from Bloomington‚ Indiana where Shatner would be narrating the moments leading up to totality and he made a climate connection‚ that I thinks important to point out here with the supposed argument about the solar eclipse drawing attention away from...climate change?!I asked him about people that are concerned‚ you know‚ shouldnt we be focused on tackling climate here on Earth rather than going out and exploring space? And he said‚ you know‚ we can do both‚ she explained.Having set up this false dichotomy so as to invoke a far-left pet cause‚ she then played two soundbites from Shatner wondering whats the point of going into space‚ you cant come back and you are overcome by the fumes with the Earth now in a dire situation:Well‚ you can do both. I mean‚ theres a but you have to have a focus on the most important part‚ which is staying alive. I mean‚ whats the point of going into space‚ you cant come back and you are overcome by the fumes. No we are in a dire situation. [SCREEN WIPE] Weve got to do both. Weve got to clean up the environment and our curiosity and our ambition.Back live‚ Barrett was satisfied: So‚ thats just something to think about.Barrett was back almost two hours later on NBC and she made sure to praise his interesting observation that seemed all too convenient.Basically‚ he';s so interested in space exploration...and he said what';s the point to explore space if you can';t come down to a healthy planet. So he talked about the the need to do both and exploring‚ what were looking at around us‚ understanding the universe‚ but also keeping our planet healthy and taking the climate crisis‚ she gushed.Tossing back to NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt‚ she reemphasized how it was such an interesting perspective with from William Shatner.How embarrassing for NBC‚ especially considering the fact that even CNN and the rest of the liberal TV networks (except ABCs The View) were able to keep it together and not go woke.To see the relevant NBC News NOW transcript from April 8‚ click expand.NBC News NOWApril 8‚ 202412:33 p.m. EasternMAURA BARRETT: I actually spoke with William Shatner‚ who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek. Hes going to be narrating the moments leading up to totality. He talked about how magical its going to be to see celestial bodies lineup long each other. But he also made a climate connection‚ that I thinks important to point out here. I asked him about people that are concerned‚ you know‚ shouldnt we be focused on tackling climate here on Earth rather than going out and exploring space? And he said‚ you know‚ we can do both. Here is some of our conversation.WILLIAM SHATNER: Well‚ you can do both. I mean‚ theres a but you have to have a focus on the most important part‚ which is staying alive. I mean‚ whats the point of going into space‚ you cant come back and you are overcome by the fumes. No we are in a dire situation. [SCREEN WIPE] Weve got to do both. Weve got to clean up the environment and our curiosity and our ambition.BARRETT: So‚ thats just something to think about. We also talked about how this is going to be such an emotional‚ unifying experience as thousands of people all look up to the sky at the same time. Again‚ Shatner leading into the total eclipse well be watching from here and then Jan Janelle Monae will be doing a concert to wrap it all up your in Bloomington‚ Vicky.VICKY NGUYEN: Pretty star-studded out there. NBC News correspondent‚ Maura Barrett. Maura‚ thank you.(....)NBCs Total Eclipse 2024April 8‚ 20242:25 p.m. EasternBARRETT: And I actually got the chance to speak with William Shatner just before as hes going to be doing a spoken word performance leading up to totality and he spoke to that‚ that this is an emotional experience‚ it';s huge that we even know why an eclipse happens‚ let alone can experience it all together like this across the continent of North America and he also made an interesting observation that I thinks important to note. Basically‚ he';s so interested in space exploration these were the oldest people to ever go up into space and he said what';s the point to explore space if you can';t come down to a healthy planet. So he talked about the the need to do both and exploring‚ what were looking at around us‚ understanding the universe‚ but also keeping our planet healthy and taking the climate crisis. And so‚ I thought that an interesting perspective with from William Shatner‚ along with an astronomer I spoke with here at Indiana University‚ talking about how this event will connect us to the universe in a way that we have not been able to we cant do frequently and how it gets us even closer to nature.

In an interview with Deadline published last week‚ Brian Teta [pictured right]‚ the executive producer of ABCs The View‚ admitted that they have stopped asking former President Trump to be on the show‚ and requests would resume on a case-by-case basis depending on who he picked as vice president. On the flipside‚ Teta expected President Biden to make an appearance to get a tongue bath from the co-hosts sometime before the election.Unironically‚ he claimed their main sticking point was disinformation and misinformation making its way onto the show.Deadline broached the subject by way of NBCs snafu with former RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. Would you have on as a guest a [Trump] true believer‚ maybe even McDaniel? Deadline wondered. You know‚ I have to look at it‚ Teta said. But we made the choice not to consider election deniers when we did our co-host search. The disinformation part of it is something to consider always. On whether or not they planned to have Trump on the ABC News program‚ Teta admitted that theyve stopped asking him to come on the show because he keeps declining‚ but also added that his misinformation played a key role in their decision too:DEADLINE: Given that were getting further and further into the election year‚ are you considering having Trump or any of his surrogates on the show?TETA: Again‚ its case by case. Well see who the VP is‚ when theyre announcing. Weve invited Trump to join us at the table for both 2016 and 2020 elections‚ and he declined‚ and at a certain point‚ we stopped asking. So I dont anticipate that changing. I think hes pretty familiar with how the co-hosts feels about him and doesnt see himself coming here.Theres no question we reach an important audience. This season we had Tim Scott on. Weve had prominent Republicans on often and will continue to. We had Ted Cruz on last year. Thats what the show is. Thats the genius of what Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie put together here‚ a show of different perspectives. And I think that its an important thing for us to do that. But at the same time‚ were not going to put people on there to [spread] misinformation.In another part of the interview‚ Teta claimed that The View was still held to ABCs news standards.Even though were an opinion show‚ were governed by news standards‚ so we would call out anything like that in real time [sic]‚ he defended the show.Apparently‚ the spreading of disinformation and misinformation on the show was something reserved for the co-hosts to do.In regards to Mondays solar eclipse and the previous weeks earthquake in New Jersey‚ staunchlyracistandanti-Semiticco-host‚ Sunny Hostin(thedescendant of slave owners)asserted‚ without evidence‚ that both were caused by climate change. She said the same thing about the coming cicada mating season despite them being on a known breeding schedule [video below].The shows other forays into disinformation and misinformation in recent weeks included claiming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was trying to buy the election‚ pushed the bloodbath hoax against Trump‚ claimed migrant women dont get raped in or near the U.S.‚ Hostin claimed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley didnt really miss her deployed husband‚ and Joy Behar claimed NATO was the military alliance that beat Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Just to name a few.Being on top of The Views lies and calling out their hypocrisy like this was important because‚ as the Deadline article noted: The show has been up 3% in total viewers season to date‚ and has continued to top daytime talk shows and news programs in viewership and households.

Joe Biden at his State of the Union address in March boasted his administration has created 15 million new jobs since January 2021. Not exactly. When you delve into the math‚ not only is the number highly misleading‚ but it turns out that new jobs consist largely of part-time employment‚ nebulous self-employment‚ and government workers. And among native-born citizens‚ the job market is in a recession.The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes two jobs reports: the Establishment Survey and the Household Survey. The Establishment Survey samples actual employers and shows the growth in non-farm payroll jobs (as well as a breakdown by specific industry)‚ while the Household Survey samples individual households and measures broad census data‚ such as total number of employment-age population‚ size of the labor force‚ the U3 unemployment rate‚ and total number of employed and unemployed.Bidens talking point about job creation is the ultimate self-indictment.Getting a precise picture of U.S. employment requires conflating data from both surveys. Typically‚ the data complement each other. But in recent years the numbers have diverged. For example‚ the Establishment Survey shows about 3 million additional people employed since January 2021. This may be due in part because the employer-based survey picks up more illegal aliens than the survey of households.The White House obviously prefers to tout the Establishment Surveys figure. In any event‚ the reality is Biden has a much worse record of job creation than Donald Trump. And thats before we delve into the nature of these new jobs.Not even close to 15 millionWhen COVID-19 shut down the world in March 2020‚ employment cratered. It took well over a year to come back from the lockdowns and merely get back to par with the pre-COVID baseline in February 2020. As such‚ the only fair comparison for Biden to make is to measure the number of employed individuals today compared to February 2020.Viewed that way‚ we dont have 15 million new jobs we have just 5.5 million jobs created between January 2021 and February of this year‚ according to the Establishment Survey‚ and just 2.3 million according to the Household Survey. Lets go with the more impressive 5.5 million figure‚ even though the Philadelphia Federal Reserve believes its overstated.Although 5.5 million still sounds meaningful‚ remember the country is constantly growing. Since February 2020‚ the civilian non-institutional population of working-age residents grew by 8.1 million. So job growth has not kept pace with population growth‚ especially judging from the Household Survey. This is why the civilian labor force participation rate is down from 63.3% ahead of the lockdowns to 62.5% today. When factoring in population growth‚ in fact‚ we find an additional 729‚000 unemployed individuals today.Put another way‚ 611 of every 1‚000 Americans of employment age were working before COVID compared to 601 today. Also‚ an additional 5 million people are no longer in the labor force but of working age‚ which means that for whatever reason they gave up on the job market. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell explains these missing workers are the result of excess retirements.In short‚ we have a much larger population without jobs than before COVID.Part-time and multiple jobsCompared to the same period under Trump‚ the current labor market today is terrible. After 37 months into Trumps tenure‚ the Establishment Survey shows 6.7 million jobs created.But heres the kicker: The population only grew by 5.6 million‚ which means job growth under Trump outpaced population growth by 20%. Under Biden‚ population growth has outpaced job growth by 47% or 252%‚ going by the Household Survey. Hence‚ by virtue of population growth alone‚ we have gone backward in the job market since COVID.It gets worse. As Ive noted before‚ we have been losing full-time jobs. All the net job growth has come from part-time employment. In total‚ 3.4 million part-time jobs have been added since January 2021‚ with 1.7 million just over the past nine months.This isnt a story of a growing economy of go-getters seeking upward mobility. These are people taking second and third jobs just to afford a basic standard of living. In fact‚ the number of those holding multiple jobs has surged by 1.6 million since Biden took office. Thats why the Establishment Survey shows greater job creation: It is double-counting the increasing number of employed people with more than one job.Also‚ many of the new jobs are classified as self-employed. Thanks to tax law changes‚ that now includes a number of Uber or Lyft drivers. Are record numbers of people starting their own businesses? Not really. These are unemployed and underemployed people taking nebulous jobs or struggling workers forced to take a second gig to tread water.Meanwhile‚ thanks to the endless revisions of the employment data‚ full-time jobs are now down 1.8 million since June of last year.In short‚ the top-line job-growth numbers are akin to an increase in a white blood cell count of a sick patient an ominous sign‚ not a sign of good health.Inflation-driven growth A large share of the remaining (lethargic) full-time job creation has been fueled by government itself. Over the past year‚ government employment has doubled the growth rate of private sector work. Government jobs have comprosed between 21% and 58% of all job creation in the past six employment surveys.It takes no skill or ingenuity to print trillions of dollars and create phantom jobs‚ while saddling consumers with the consequences.This is perhaps one reason why all the job creation has been concentrated in just 15% of U.S. counties: All of the job growth over the last year came from just 59 out of 389 metro areas across America...\nSo‚ all the jobs were part-time‚ they all went to foreigners‚ and only in 15% of the country...\nHere are the places: (@) Americans need not apply? Perhaps the most shocking data point that nukes the Biden administrations entire job growth narrative is the drop in Since October 2019‚ native-born U.S. workers have actually lost 1.4 million jobs. So where is the job growth? Over the same period‚ foreign-born workers have gained 3 million jobs.In fact‚ there has not been a month of net job creation for native-born workers since July 2018. This could very well be why there are a few million jobs detected by the Establishment Survey but not the Household Survey. It would also not be surprising if many of these jobs were temporary or part-time. Bidens talking point about job creation is the ultimate self-indictment. Even during an official period of low unemployment‚ we have a permanently weak economy where no real full-time jobs are being created to keep up with the population growth. If this is what a job boom looks like‚ just wait until the official recession hits.

The USS Hornet may be a decommissioned aircraft carrier‚ yet it has nevertheless become the launch-site for a controversial new war in the skies.The Marine Cloud Brightening Program';s Coastal Atmospheric Aerosol Research and Engagement project‚ led by researchers from the University of Washington‚ took to the deck of the Hornet Tuesday to launch streams of particles into the sky above the San Francisco Bay. Their ultimate objective is apparently to block and reflect sunlight in hopes of limiting ";global warming.";CAARE researchers behind the geoengineering scheme opted not to announce their experiment‚ reportedly citing concerns that there might be significant backlash.After all‚ the American public or at the very least‚ the residents of Alameda might first want to hear from the hundreds of scientists who have called for a non-use agreement for solar radiation management and stated in an open letter that the ";risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known. Impacts will vary across regions‚ and there are uncertainties about the effects on weather patterns‚ agriculture‚ and the provision of basic needs of food and water.";The experimentClouds bounce some of the sun';s rays back into space. This supposedly helps cool temperatures locally.The University of Washington';s Department of Atmospheric Sciences conceded that fossil fuel emissions and other human activities have long generated aerosols in the atmosphere that mix in with low-altitude clouds‚ causing them to brighten and reflect more sunlight‚ having a cooling effect on the earth';s climate.";I think most people are aware that there';s a greenhouse gas effect that warms climate‚"; UW MCB program director Sarah Doherty told the Weather Channel. ";But what most people aren';t aware of is that the particles that we';ve also been producing and adding to the atmosphere offset some of that climate warming. So‚ the overall effect is one of climate warming‚ but it would be a lot more without that particulate pollution.";With climate alarmists concerned over supposed global temperature increases and the corresponding war on fossil fuels sure to rob the clouds of a contributing brightener‚ some scientists are keen to pump out aerosols of their own.Robert Wood‚ the lead UW scientist running the cloud project‚ noted on his university blog that the team at the CAARE facility developed a ";Cloud-Aerosol Research Instrument (CARI)."; This device‚ which has multiple nozzles and resembles a snow maker‚ can apparently fire trillions of salt particles into the air.The UW indicated that once emitted‚ such particles would only remain airborne in the atmosphere for a few days.Wood told the San Francisco Chronicle simulations project that if 15% of Earth';s marine clouds were artificially brightened‚ the globe might cool by approximately one degree.According to the New York Times‚ CAARE researchers used their CARI device last week aboard the USS Hornet‚ firing particles and testing to make sure their cloud-brightening machine would function as desired outside a lab.The Chronicle indicated that the next step of research will entail actually attempting to meddle with the clouds off the coast of California.The concerns";Every year that we have new records of climate change‚ and record temperatures‚ heat waves‚ it';s driving the field to look at more alternatives‚"; Wood told the Times. ";Even ones that may have once been relatively extreme.";Contrary to Woods'; intimation‚ many still regard marine cloud brightening to be an extreme and potentially fruitless initiative.In addition to noting that MCB and other forms of solar radiation modification may ultimately accomplish little in the way of lowering global temperatures‚ the Congressional Research Service noted in a May 2023 report that some ";modeling studies of [marine cloud brightening] have suggested it could alter precipitation patterns at global and regional levels.";A 2017 study published in Nature Communications indicated that aerosols released just in the northern hemisphere could possibly even lead to an increase in droughts‚ hurricanes‚ and storms elsewhere.Late last month‚ a group of 31 top atmospheric scientists noted in a paper published in Science Advances that there is presently a ";lack of a clear understanding of the relationship between aerosol and meteorological conditions and liquid water and cloud fraction adjustments and their timescales.";";Regional changes in temperature and rainfall could influence heat stress‚ water availability‚ crop productivity and the ability of communities to thrive‚"; added the scientists who emphasized the need to evaluate the viability and risks of MCB.The widespread concerns over the feasibility and fallout of such experiments has prompted the Biden administration to distance itself from the CAARE experiment‚ even though President Joe Biden signed Congress'; Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022‚ providing funding for a ";scientific assessment of solar and other rapid climate interventions in the context of near-term climate risks and hazards‚"; including aerosol injection.The White House told the Times in a statement‚ ";The U.S. government is not involved in the Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) experiment taking place in Alameda‚ CA‚ or anywhere else.";Like Blaze News? 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An employee of a Chipotle restaurant in Michigan is recovering from a gunshot wound he sustained after a disgruntled customer shot him‚ apparently over an issue with guacamole.Around 7 p.m. on Friday‚ a violent scuffle erupted inside a busy Chipotle restaurant located in Southfield‚ Michigan‚ a city just outside Detroit. According to witnesses‚ a customer became so enraged about something that when the employee assisting him went into the back area of the restaurant for a moment‚ the customer walked behind the counter and began placing his food items into a bag.The 21-year-old employee soon afterward returned to his station‚ and the two men apparently began fighting. The New York Post reported that the customer ";flashed"; a firearm as the employee grabbed his shirt. Moments later‚ a shot rang out.Grainy‚ unsteady cellphone video‚ likely filmed by another patron‚ captured some of the altercation as well as the sound of the gunshot: (@) The victim was taken to the hospital for a non-life-threatening wound to the leg. He is expected to recover‚ though whether he remains in the hospital is unclear.Meanwhile‚ the suspect‚ identified only as a 32-year-old Detroit man‚ apparently had no sense of urgency about the incident. One witness even claimed the man lingered inside the restaurant for at least 30 seconds after the shot was fired. ";I was in my car‚ and I saw him just walk out to his car‚ close the door‚ and just drive off he didnt speed off or anything‚"; the witness said.The suspect was later located in a nearby parking lot and arrested. He remains in custody. A woman accompanied the suspect to the restaurant‚ but she is not currently facing any charges. Police also recovered the weapon used in the shooting.Laurie Schalow‚ chief corporate affairs officer for Chipotle‚ issued a statement:Our thoughts and prayers go out to our team member who was injured by the senseless act of violence that occurred inside our Evergreen Road restaurant in Southfield‚ MI.We are working cooperatively with the authorities handling this investigation and hope justice will be served for the individual responsible for this crime.When asked about a possible motive for the shooting‚ police indicated that the men were arguing over guacamole.Such a seemingly insignificant issue leading to such a violent outburst that endangered many lives left even seasoned reporters stunned. ";You know‚ we';ve been covering the news for a long time‚"; stated Camille Amiri of Fox 2 Detroit‚ ";but this is a first: a shooting over a guacamole.";One day after the shooting‚ a prospective customer drove to the Chipotle location‚ only to find it still closed. ";Its guacamole‚"; she later told WXYZ. ";I love guacamole personally‚ but I would never shoot someone over it. I dont know why someone would do that.";Whether the restaurant has yet reopened is unclear. A call made to the location late Monday afternoon resulted in an automated response claiming that the location was not currently accepting online or phone orders.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Something goes very wrong in the seventh and eighth episodes of ";Masters of the Air‚"; Apple TV+';s otherwise excellent new series about the Eighth Air Force';s legendary 100th Bomb Group. While the show does return to form for episode nine';s series finale‚ by then it has taken on too much damage to complete its mission successfully. ";The Bloody Hundredth"; so-called because of the heavy losses it sustained from 1942 to 1945 while flying B-17s out of an English airbase at Thorpe Abbotts seemed to attract an unusually colorful and close-knit array of personalities. ";Masters of the Air"; assembles a fine cast more than up to the task of portraying them‚ putting a human face on the Allies'; crucial strategic bombing campaign over Europe.";Masters of the Air"; is the final act in a long mass-cultural farewell to the generation of Americans who fought the Second World War. Until those penultimate two episodes‚ which largely abandon this central story for a disjoined admixture of prison drama‚ spy thriller‚ and man-against-himself narratives which will conclude (we presume) only because the war does.Why‚ for example‚ does ";Masters of the Air"; suddenly turn our attention to navigator and our narrator Harry Crosby';s affair with dull British secret agent Sandra? Yes‚ such narrative meandering arguably serves to humanize our protagonists‚ making their heroic deeds all the more impressive. The problem is that the series devotes so much time to these subplots that it often neglects to depict main action at all. Instead of showing us the devastating missions that hollow out the 100th‚ ";Masters of the Air"; tells us about it via expository dialogue and even worse expository voiceover. Unforgivably‚ even D-Day gets short shrift. Our characters face a nightmarish pace of two hundred air missions over the first three days of the invasion; cut to one character telling another about it in a 60-second exchange back at the base. It is impossible to discern whether this was a choice dictated by writers or a choice dictated by an exhausted effects budget. If the latter‚ one wonders at the planning that left the production unable to show the central moment of the war in the West.This is all the more frustrating given the scrupulous accuracy with which ";Masters the Air"; portrays what it does choose to include. Those who know their history will note the early episodes'; portrayal of friction between RAF and USAAF personnel with interest. This viewer expected that the opening episodes portrayal of friction between RAF and USAAF personnel was to set up a storyline about the RAF';s real-life refusal to provide Spitfires as long-range escorts for the ravaged B-17 fleet. Certainly a rich conflict to explore‚ as it prompted General Ira Eakers failed experiment with the YB-40 gunship‚ which in turn led to the American drop-tank development that transformed the bombing effort into something other than an extended bid at airman suicide.But no: late in the series‚ the P-51s simply appear‚ and we dont quite know them as anything other than a deus ex machina. (We do‚ however‚ get the most-improbable P-51 bailout of all time here‚ testament to an exhausted effects budget: viewers will know it at once.)Even when they do stay focused on the air war‚ these two episodes attempt to cram in too much with the abrupt insertion of a Tuskegee-airman subplot. This shoehorning of aerial fighters into a story about bombers could have been done in an interesting fashion; for example‚ as a way of illuminating the aforementioned fighter-escort drama.Instead‚ it just comes across as a standard Hollywood diversity nod‚ tossing us characters who we dont really know and therefore dont sufficiently care about. The presence of Tuskegee airmen at the German prison camp Stalag Luft III‚ where much of the series culminates‚ is historically accurate‚ and it could';ve been used in a dramatically compelling way again‚ see the discarded fighter-escort drama. Why the series chooses to include them as an afterthought is a mystery. These airmen deserve either their own show or a substantial role in this one‚ and they get neither.Astonishingly‚ the Tuskegee subplot is then leveraged into a questionable set piece in which a Nazi interrogator is used to deliver the left-liberal antiracist critique of America‚ which then prompts the captured American sitting before him to deliver a stirring Double-V campaign speech. In actual fact‚ the Tuskegee airmen at Stalag Luft III were all integrated into the camps general population. An organic arrival shorn of the narrative throat-clearing would have worked better as storytelling and history alike. It';s hardly unprecedented for a television or movie adaptation of a historical narrative to leave parts out. So‚ why complain about two subpar episodes out of nine? To answer‚ we must understand ";Masters of the Air"; in its proper context: as the final act in a long mass-cultural farewell to the generation of Americans who fought the Second World War. This farewell spans four decades‚ from 1998';s ";Saving Private Ryan"; (when that generation was in its sixties and seventies) through 2001';s ";Band of Brothers"; and 2010';s ";The Pacific"; to its conclusion in 2024‚ when those few veterans who remain are in their nineties or beyond. These works are valedictories. Their purpose is not to tell a story wherever it may go‚ but to inspire humility and awe in the generations who live in comfort because of their forbears'; suffering‚ sacrifice‚ and courage. This is what it was like. This is how they took Brecourt Manor. This is how they crossed the airfield at Peleliu. This is how they flew from England to Regensburg to Africa and fought all the way. Your grandfathers were giants. Deserve them.Popular history is as much instruction for tomorrow as it is remembrance of yesterday. ";Masters of the Air"; returns to itself in its final episode‚ but it is too little‚ too late. Stories like that of the Bloody 100th are part of America';s fading civic liturgy‚ and we would be wise to treat them with the reverence they deserve. Otherwise‚ they';ll simply disappear into the mass of ";content"; serving only to pacify and distract our increasingly atomized citizenry. Joshua S. Trevio is the Chief of Intelligence and Research and the director for Texas Identity at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. His other experience includes a consultancy at Booz Allen Hamilton‚ positions as both a speechwriter and an international-health professional in the George W. Bush administration‚ and service as a United States Army officer.