Although chimpanzees and humans share a surprising 98.8 percent of their DNA, our differences are vast – or at least we like to think. Take a look at chimp behavior and you’ll quickly realize that we’re not so different from our primate cousins (for better or for worse).Chimps are warmongersHumans aren’t the only animals to wage war on their own species. Between 1974 and 1978, a brutal war between two factions of chimps was documented in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park by the famous primatologist Jane Goodall. Following the death of the long-term alpha male, Mike, Goodall noticed the community splintering into two factions: the Kasakela and the Kahama. The war was marked by a series of brutal and coordinated attacks by the Kasakela group, resulting in the systematic killing of all male members and some females of the Kahama group. The Kahama were effectively wiped out, allowing the Kasakela to expand into their territory. It came to be known as the Gombe Chimpanzee War – and it left a profound impact on Goodall.“Often when I woke in the night, horrific pictures sprang unbidden to my mind – Satan [one of the apes], cupping his hand below Sniff's chin to drink the blood that welled from a great wound on his face… Jomeo tearing a strip of skin from Dé's thigh; Figan, charging and hitting, again and again, the stricken, quivering body of Goliath, one of his childhood heroes,” she wrote in her memoir.It would be naive to see this as mindless violence. In 2023, scientists documented chimps in Côte d’Ivoire spying on rival gangs, carefully moving to higher ground to get a better view and gather information. This, the researchers claim, is essentially an age-old tactic of human warfare.While some researchers have accused certain primatologists of anthropomorphism, others have suggested that war-like behavior among chimps might provide insights into the evolutionary origins of organized violence in humans.   Chimps love to hunt animals and eat meatChimps typically eat a diet of fruits, roots, nuts, leaves, plants, flowers, and bugs, but meat does make up a small part of their diet in the wild. To get their hands on this protein-rich delicacy, smaller mammals like monkeys are typically targeted.Once again, Goodall was one of the first researchers to scientifically document chimps indulging in carnivorous behavior and it's since become relatively common knowledge. A particularly strange behavior was observed in Gombe National Park where researchers saw chimps hunt down and eat dozens of baby red colobus monkeys. While passing around and sharing the catches, the chimps were seen biting open the monkey skulls and tucking into their brains. On a few occasions, the chimps even used sticks and leaves to mop up the last bits of brain matter.In another instance, researchers even observed chimps using spears to hunt sleeping bush babies in Senegal.Scientists have pondered whether chimp hunting behavior might shed light onto the early evolution of humans', as well as our taste for meat. Chimps are basically little scientistsThe world of chimps isn’t all blood, guts, and violence. A huge body of evidence also shows that chimpanzees are capable of incredible displays of cognitive power and emotional intelligence.For one, chimpanzees are known to actively seek out medicinal plants when they are sick or wounded. A study in 2024 noted how injured and ill chimps in Uganda’s Budongo Central Forest Reserve will eat plants that hold anti-inflammatory properties or naturally contain highly potent inhibitors of pathogens such as E. coli.Likewise, chimps have been seen applying squished bugs onto their wounds. While the medicinal benefits of crushed insects aren’t known, insects have historically been used for therapeutic purposes by humans as far back as 1400 BCE and continue to be used in certain parts of the globe to this day.Who knows, perhaps these chimps are onto something that modern medicine has yet to grasp...

Fancy a trip to see the stars? Don’t worry if you haven’t got a rocket – to see the stars we’re talking about, you only need a passport, some flip-flops, and a Japanese phrasebook.Our destination is right down in the south of Japan, on the three islands of Iriomote, Hatoma, and Taketomi. Scoop up some sand on their beaches, take a closer look at it, and you’ll see not only the usual fragments of shell and rock, but tiny cream-colored stars.At a glance, it might look like someone took a stroll on the shore throwing about a bag of pastina, or perhaps a baby sea star convention, but these little stars are in fact the remnants of a species called Baclogypsina sphaerulata.First described in 1860 under a different name, they’re a member of an ancient group of protozoans – widespread, single-celled organisms that nibble on organic matter – called Foraminifera. B. sphaerulata is only one of an estimated 4,000 living forams, although the group is thought to have been around since the early Cambrian period, around 540 million years ago.As organisms in this group drift about in the sea, they collect calcium carbonate and use it to build shells or “tests” with a whole host of different shapes, from the rather more blob-like to intricate spirals and, of course, stars. When forams die, these shells remain and settle on the seafloor, and in the case of B. sphaerulata, eventually wash up on Okinawan beaches.Upon closer inspection, the stars are also covered in dots.Image credit: Alain COUETTE via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)Japanese folklore, however, tells a different story. According to legend, the star-shaped sands are the result of the Southern Cross and the North Star getting jiggy with it and making a bunch of little star babies.Their offspring were said to live in the sea off the coast of the Okinawan islands, but were killed by a giant sea serpent, with only their skeletons remaining. With time, their remains ended up on the beaches.The idea of stomping along a baby star cemetery might take away some of the excitement of finding them in the sand, though perhaps it’ll put people off taking them away from the beach (which is very much not allowed).But if it’s any consolation, these cosmic offspring leave behind a very helpful legacy. Foraminifera can be used by scientists to figure out what the Earth was like millions of years ago, giving clues about the age of rocks and ancient climates.Thanks, little stars.

So, mere hours after announcing that only the emergence of some medical problem would make him drop out of the presidential race, US President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID. But how worried should he and his supporters be? Is this the end of his campaign? Or just a week with the sniffles? The answer depends on a few important factors.Biden is oldThere’s no getting away from it: Joe Biden is old. At 81, he has outlived all but 3.4 percent of the US population; to put it another way, you could pick 300 people at random from across the country and you still wouldn’t have enough folks older than Joe to fill a geriatric football team.Why is that relevant? Well, as anybody who remembers the first waves of COVID-19 no doubt recalls, age is a big factor in how well your body handles the virus. “The early data suggested that if you were over 80 and infected, you had about a 15 percent likelihood of dying from the illness,” noted Hassan Vally, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Deakin University, in an article for The Conversation.“Remember, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ended up in the ICU with his COVID infection in April 2020, despite being 55 at the time. That’s a much younger age than Biden is now,” he explained. “Former US President Donald Trump also had what was understood to be a very severe case of COVID in October 2020. He was 74 at the time.”Even today, with four years’ worth of vaccines, booster shots, and virus mutations behind us, older people have a much higher risk than the young from a COVID infection: according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those over the age of 75 are about 22 times more likely than people aged 18-49 to be hospitalized by a COVID infection, and 200 times more likely to die from it.Such comparisons rarely tell the whole story, however. After all…It’s not 2020 anymoreLet’s dig into those statistics a little further. Having a 200 times increase in the likelihood of death sounds very scary indeed – but in fact, it really only equates to a one in 25,000 chance. That’s much lower than the numbers we were seeing in 2020 – less than 1/40th the number of deaths, in fact – and it’s not the only factor playing in Biden’s favor after four years of the pandemic.“COVID is still a disease that needs to be taken seriously,” Vally said – but “the threat COVID poses to an individual is far less now than it has ever been.”Most of us have some immunity to the virus now, he pointed out, whether from vaccinations or prior infection – and Biden is known to have had both. He’s up to date on his booster shots, per the White House, which is particularly recommended for older groups to negate waning immune abilities.Plus, current strains of COVID may be less dangerous than the OG variants. The two currently making headlines, FLiRT and LB.1, are fairly similar to JN.1 – the strain that was previously dominant in the US. That could be good news for Biden (and anybody else who contracts it) according to Yale Medicine infectious diseases specialist Scott Roberts: “while JN.1 occurred during the winter months, when people gather indoors and the virus is more likely to spread, its symptoms were milder than those caused by variants in the early years of the pandemic,” he pointed out last week.Biden says he feels okayAll these statistics notwithstanding, there’s one piece of information that we can’t overlook: the President, as far as any of us know, is not feeling too bad right now.His symptoms are mild: he “presented […] with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise,” per his doctor. And his general health seems to be stable, too: “His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97 percent,” the statement continues.Biden is also in remarkable shape for a person of his age. According to his most recent public health summary, he is being treated for obstructive sleep apnea, high cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation – but none of those are conditions known to increase the risk from a COVID infection.In fact there’s only really one illness he’s known to have had which may be a problem.This is not Biden’s first infection – and that may be concerningWe know, we know: we already said this was a good thing. Previous infections means natural immunity, right? Well, yes – but it’s not all good news. While repeat infections do seem to lead to milder symptoms – and, in turn, milder symptoms tend to be associated with a lower risk of long COVID – overall, becoming infected multiple times can increase your risk of the disease lingering. One paper looking at data from older male patients – a group that Biden fits into pretty well – found that contracting two or more COVID infections resulted in being three times more likely to develop lung and heart issues, and more than 1.5 times as likely to have a neurological disorder such as brain fog or even strokes.Indeed, the risk of repeat infections is often compared to Russian roulette, with no clear consensus on how dangerous it may or may not be. “Reinfection is very contentious,” Fikadu Tafesse, a virologist at Oregon Health & Science University, told the New York Times last year. “Literally depending on which paper you are reading, there’s contradicting information regarding that. So I don’t know what to believe.”Should that be concerning to the President? Perhaps – though he does have something pretty important going for him that may cancel it out.Biden has access to the best careEven the most ardent supporters of the American healthcare system would admit that – how can we put this – its efficacy scales with net worth. Basically, if you’re rich, you’re much less likely to die.And Biden isn’t just rich – he’s the goddamn President. He has his own doctor on-call, and access to the best medicine we know of to fight his infection.It’s been confirmed already, for example, that he’s taking Paxlovid – an antiviral medicine that has been shown to reduce the likelihood of severe illness or death from COVID by up to 89 percent if taken shortly after symptoms begin. But the list price for a full regimen of the drug was recently increased by Pfizer to almost $1,400 without insurance – and even though there are currently ways around that for most ordinary Americans, it’s clear that being rich as Croesus has its advantages.“If his symptoms were to become more severe or any complications were to develop, you can be assured he would get the best treatment,” Vally pointed out.“So is Biden’s diagnosis news? Well of course, given all the speculation about his health,” he concluded. “But in terms of COVID being a major threat to Biden’s health, there are no indications it should be.” 

It’s a challenging task but we here at NewsBusters are going to try to sift through all the crazy, angry and ridiculous observations made by leftist journalists every night of the Republican National Convention coverage and pick one for Worst of the Night. So without further ado, the Worst Media Outburst for Wednesday night goes to MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace for whining that the because of conservative talk radio the GOP is “totally codependent on disinformation.” This was especially grievous when you consider MSNBC contributors have been spreading debunked conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.     “We kind of started putting the pieces together about how we got here, we talked about talk radio grafting onto the Republican Party, rhetorically. This is a political movement….that’s totally codependent on disinformation. And so, as sort of the right-wing media ecosystem became more — people used to change channels, right? Now they are locked into Fox News. And then, if they flip around, they’ll see how Newsmax is covering the same conspiracy.”— MSNBC’s Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace on night four of MSNBC’s live coverage of the Republican National Convention, July 18.   WEDNESDAY'S WORST OF THE NIGHT     “These two men are both elderly. Donald Trump is an elderly man who, for whatever reason, was given nine seconds to take a photo-op during an active shooter situation….His survival of that and bouncing right back and going right to his convention is being conveyed in the media world as a sign of strength. This current president of the United States is 81 years old and has COVID, should he be fine in a couple of days, doesn’t that convey exactly the same thing? That he’s strong enough — older than Trump —  to have gotten something that used to really be fatal to people his age. So, if he does fine out of it and comes back and is able to do rallies, isn’t that exactly the same?” — MSNBC’s The ReidOut host Joy Reid on night three of MSNBC’s live coverage of the Republican National Convention, July 17.   TUESDAY'S WORST OF THE NIGHT     It’s one thing to present a kinder, gentler version of the Republican Party and they might veer into outright racist or dog-whistling or bull-horning. But you also have to pay attention to who’s sitting in the room, Tucker Carlson, who’s taking the stage and the language that they’re using. Bernie Moreno, who’s running for Senate in Ohio, used the term “illegals” when talking about undocumented migrants coming over the border….This is where we’re going to see whether this unity theme, whether this kinder-gentler version of the Republican Party is going to come through and I have no confidence that they’re going to be able to do that.— PBS contributor/Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart on night two of PBS’s live coverage of the Republican National Convention, July 16.   MONDAY’S WORST OF THE NIGHT     “The greatest purveyor and promoter of political violence really [Donald Trump], you know, since anyone can remember, since George Wallace...and people are concerned...we will allow Donald Trump as he is, you know, bathed in the glory and grandeur of his party, to rewrite himself as both a hero and a victim. That people who are the most vulnerable to not just the things he’s done but the things he’s promising to do, and that that will then happen without a guardian saying, ‘Wait, stop,’ and that the media will acquiesce to this rewrite.”— MSNBC’s The ReidOut host Joy Reid on night one of MSNBC’s live coverage of the Republican National Convention, July 15.     Please return to this space for the rest of the week to find out who had the most obnoxious take of the night. 

It was a week of ridiculing Republicans for the men of late night comedy. From Monday to Thursday, the comedians attacked Republicans as racist, cult-like drones and told more jokes about VP-nominee JD Vance in one week than they have about current VP Kamala Harris all year. For the purposes of this study, analysts examined 19 episodes of CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest host Anthony Anderson throughout all four nights of the RNC. Analysts looked at how many jokes were told about Donald Trump, JD Vance, and everything else connected to the convention. What type of jokes were told and who the hosts brought on as guests to help them make sense of the proceedings were also analyzed. Who Was Joked About Throughout the week, there were 67 jokes told about Trump, 28 about Vance, and 162 about everything else related to the RNC, for a total of 257. Stephen Colbert led all hosts with 33 jokes about Trump and 57 about the rest of the convention. The Daily Show led all shows with eight Vance jokes. The 28 jokes about Vance should be judged against the 20 told throughout the whole year about current Vice President Kamala Harris. Additionally, Vance had 12 jokes told about him prior to his selection, while Harris had 19 at the start of the week.  Jokes about Trump were down relative to the rest of the year. However, that can be explained by the hosts having several speakers a night to make fun of and the fact that only two of them (Colbert and The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper) were live on Thursday after Trump’s acceptance speech. What Was Joked About It was not unexpected that during the week of the RNC, comedians would joke about Republicans. However, to identify themes, jokes were divided into ten categories: policy, character, personality, physical appearance, age, names, gaffes and bloopers, nonsensical statements, impressions, and polls. For a detailed definition of each, check the methodology section below.  According to the comedians, physical appearance (62), character (55), and personality (31) were the top three ways they attacked Republicans. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s face gave the hosts plenty of material to work with on their Thursday shows, but the main theme that was consistent throughout the whole week was that Republicans are not good people where top trends included attacking the GOP as racist or disproportionately white or being too servile to Trump. Guests Throughout the week, liberal guests outnumbered conservatives guests four-to-one and no currently elected Republican was welcomed to discuss their own convention. The guests were as follows: COLBERT: Adam Kinzinger, Elizabeth Warren, Charlamagne Tha God, Bernie Sanders DAILY SHOW: Bill O’Reilly Guests were categorized based on the contents of their statements, meaning Kinzinger sounding like a Democrat makes him a Democrat despite his time in Congress as a Republican. Conclusion Throughout the week, the comedians loved to attack Republicans personally while staying away from jokes about age and polling. When the DNC arrives next month, expect the inverse to be true because President Biden's age and bad poll numbers  give the comedians an excuse not to joke about liberalism or any moral failing Democrats may have. *** JOKE METHODOLOGY: Policy: Ideas, stereotypes, or the party platform. Character: Moral failings, real or perceived, including scandals and showing excessive amounts loyalty to the nominee. Personality: Individual quirks, tendencies, hobbies, or other non-political traits. Physical Appearance: Includes things such as clothes, bad hair days, and unflattering photos. Age: How old someone is, including whether they’re too inexperienced. Names: Puns or other creative uses for proper nouns. Gaffes/Bloopers: Any flub, technical difficulty, or physical embarrassment. Nonsensical Statements: A statement that is not a mistake, but nevertheless deemed to be confusing or weird. Impressions: Voice imitations or the mimicking of signature mannerisms Polls: Popularity  

Like its competitors on CBS and NBC, ABC’s Good Morning America took time on Friday to get to former President Trump’s Republican National Convention speech and the hubbub surrounding President Biden’s cognitive and physical impairment thanks to the global Microsoft outage. But when they did, they denounced Trump’s “anti-immigrant”, “dark”, and “divisive” speech while continuing to dig Biden’s political grave. “Former President started with a call for unity and recounting the attempt on his life, but the bulk of his 92-minute speech was a repetition of false claims about the 2020 election and familiar attacks on immigrants and his rivals,” co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos complained in a tease.     Correspondent Rachel Scott bemoaned from the convention in Milwaukee that “Trump said he wanted this speech to focus on unity, to turn the page from the divisive rhetoric after the attempted assassination on his life” but “[t]hat message of unity did not last long” as he went “off script, launching into partisan attacks and making false claims.” Scott only briefly focused on Trump’s rapturous recounting of Saturday’s assassination attempt on his life before pivoting to “dark rhetoric to paint the U.S. as a nation in decline, and attacking his opponents” and ad-libbing on everything “from inflation to ISIS, trans athletes, to not taxing tips”. Her most seething comments came in bashing Trump for engaging in “anti-immigrant rhetoric, falsely claiming there’s a surge in violent crime by undocumented immigrants when crime rates have declined in the last two years and promising to create a massive militarized force to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.” Amazing. The liberal media want to downplay and thus poo-poo the families of those who lost loved ones to incidents caused by illegal aliens. Later, Stephanopoulos huffed that, “in the end, Donald Trump gave the speech he wanted to give last night” with Scott replying Thursday “was typical Donald Trump” and “just couldn’t help himself” but launch into “false claims and also partisan attacks.” Pivoting to Biden, even chief White House correspondent and lead Biden apple polisher Mary Bruce has shown signs she’s moving on.  In her report from Reboboth Beach, Delware, Bruce said “the future of his candidacy is hanging in the balance” and “in crisis” with “party leaders up[ping] the pressure on him to exit the race.” While admitting “senior White House officials insist he remains as committed as ever” with “Biden...preparing to hit the trail again next week”, Bruce later said in a second Biden segment that “this is a very difficult time inside of this White House, inside of this campaign.” Bruce then added: [P]hysically, the President is wiped out from the Covid diagnosis, but he is also taking in all of these concerns, as we know...[I]t is hard to see how he can sustain this. It’s really near impossible to run a successful campaign when you don’t have your party united behind you. If you’re losing perhaps your most obsequious network correspondent, it might be game over.     Stephanopoulos and political director Rick Klein had some hard truths on polling and the Electoral College (click “expand”): KLEIN: [T]he portrait in the battleground states is significantly more grim for — for Joe Biden. Right now, in the 538 polling averages, he is trailing in all of the major battlegrounds. He won six of seven of those battlegrounds four years ago. Those battlegrounds include the upper Midwest, including where this convention just wrapped up here in Wisconsin. Trump ahead even here. STEPHANOPOULOS: And that gets to a broader and persistent point, Rick. I mean, I remember the Biden people have often talked about this being a close national race. I don’t want to say quite this stark, but, in some ways, that doesn’t matter. This is an electoral college vote. And, right now, in the electoral college, it’s not close. KLEIN: That’s exactly right. And the possibility of a wipeout that takes you out of the game is what has Democrats concerned right now. They understand they might be able to make up a gap but if it’s not close in the battleground states. That is not a good portrait. And we’re still a couple weeks ahead of the convention. As you know, George, no one has actually been selected as the nominee. That won’t happen until a month from tomorrow. Speaking to Karl and Bruce, Stephanopoulous admitted “Democrats seem to be coalescing around the idea that he has to step aside” while, “inside the Biden camp, they seem to be dealing with the stages of grief somewhere between bargaining and acceptance.” Karl painted a grim picture (click “expand”): You have virtually the entire elected leadership of the Democratic Party directly making the case in private to Joe Biden that if he stays in, he is likely to lose and he is likely to hurt Democrats up and down the ballot. They are making the case to him to drop out of the race. And, as you heard Mary report, he is receptive to listening to these ideas, but, George, so far no indication that he is ready to change his mind and drop out. In fact, I spoke to two members of his real inner circle who said that, as of now, he is all in. He plans to be back at the White House and on the campaign trail next week as soon as he recovers from Covid. But, George, he is listening to this and it seems to most Democrats it is absolutely untenable to stay in a race when your party leadership doesn’t think you should be there and when, by the way, the money has dried up. To see the relevant transcripts from July 19, click here (for Trump coverage) and here (for Biden coverage).

A broadcaster accused golf legend Tiger Woods of being on "a lot" of painkillers at a recent tournament, sparking controversy and backlash from fans.It was the first round of the Open Championship in Scotland at the Royal Troon Golf Club when a Sky Sports broadcaster made some accusatory comments about the golfer.During the broadcast, Mark Roe said that something looked off about Woods, a three-time tournament champion:"You look at the eyes ... you gotta think there's a lot of painkillers being taken to cope with the pain, you know?" Roe asked.'There are just things that need not be said.'As Men's Journal reported, Woods indeed has a history with painkillers since undergoing multiple back and knee surgeries. The outlet noted Woods' 2017 arrest for a DUI, during which he was found to have painkillers hydrocodone and hydromorphone in his system. He later went to rehab for addiction to prescription painkillers.After the insensitive commentary by the U.K. announcer, fans quickly posted video from the broadcast calling the remarks unnecessary."A little bit odd for Mark Roe to just come out and say that. Not all the silences have to be filled," said one golf account who posted the footage."An absolute crazy thing to say on air," another page, focusing on golf stats, said.An absolute crazy thing to say on air.— NUCLR GOLF STATS (@NUCLRGOLFSTATS) July 18, 2024 "I'm not a big fan of Tiger, but even if it's true, there are just things that need not be said," another fan chimed in.Roe is a former professional golfer, now broadcaster for Sky Sports. He appeared in the very same tournament 12 times beginning in the 1980s, according to Sporting News. He is most known for a scorecard issue at the Open Championship in 2003 when he and his playing partner forgot to exchange scorecards and therefore both signed the wrong card.The pair were disqualified from the tournament for their error despite Roe being just two strokes behind the leader.As for Woods, his previous arrest stemmed from what was called an "unexpected reaction" to prescription medications, and he admitted that he should have consulted with his medical team before taking them.His DUI charge was later dropped, and Woods pleaded guilty to a reckless driving charge from the same incident.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Remember when Dr. Fauci joined forces with TikTok influencers to push the COVID-19 vaccine and combat “vaccine misinformation” after closing schools and churches for months while lying about gain-of-function research during the pandemic? The North American Treaty Organization is trying the same thing on foreign policy. As the latest PR stunt, NATO enlisted 16 content creators and paid for all transportation, meals, and accommodation for its annual summit to help improve the organization’s reputation and inform the youth about the importance of the alliance amid the endless Russia-Ukraine war. The U.S. State and Defense Departments also invited an additional ten influencers. Posting little 30-second propaganda videos on TikTok probably isn’t going to restore Americans’ trust in the West’s foreign policy establishment. America’s conservative grassroots is fed up with globalist organizations like NATO and the World Trade Organization taking advantage of America’s military and industrial base. TikTok influencers met with some of the world’s most powerful people and parroted NATO talking points to their online audiences. General Philippe Lavigne, NATO supreme Allied commander transformation, posted a selfie with the influencers on X and wrote: “Great discussions with content creators at the #NATO Youth & Academia evening reception! Together, we're fighting disinformation & fostering critical thinking. Their fresh perspectives & innovative storytelling, their commitment to promoting reliable info empowers young people to make informed decisions about their future security. #ProtectTheFuture.” After listening to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speak on climate change, TikTok influencer Amanda Round said, “I believe that [NATO is] a necessary organization, obviously in our political climate right now in terms of defense, but also in terms of other looming threats such as climate change,” she said in an interview. “I would encourage young people to become more engaged with it.” Similarly, local DC. influencer Anthony Polcari, also known as “Tony P,” agreed to attend the summit since he believes in NATO’s mission, claiming, “We need organizations like NATO not only to protect nations from war but to prevent war.” A propaganda campaign Believing NATO prevents war is a bit of a stretch in 2024. NATO, which once was a primarily defensive alliance, is now largely ideological, propagandizing Wilsonian liberal internationalism while promoting mass migration, “hate speech” restrictions, and socially liberal causes like transgenderism. At the height of the war in Ukraine, when Ukraine was performing better than expected, NATO killed a peace and neutrality agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which the Russian delegation wanted, according to a top Zelenskyy official. “Boris Johnson came to Kiev and said, ‘We will not sign anything with them and let’s just make war!’” the official added. Furthermore, this propaganda campaign aims to win back the American public, which has lost trust in the alliance and its missions. The U.S. has a ballooning national debt and crumbling infrastructure. Since its involvement with NATO, the U.S. has been exceedingly generous to NATO, while other countries were reluctant to spend, enabling and indirectly funding Europe’s lavish welfare states. President Trump, with many Americans, shares the sentiment that globalist organizations like NATO have taken advantage of U.S. generosity. “I didn’t know what the hell NATO was too much before,” Trump said during his Florida campaign rally. “But it didn’t take me long to figure it out, like about two minutes. And the first thing I figured out was they were not paying. We were paying, we were paying almost fully for NATO. And I said that’s unfair.” Despite NATO nations committing to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense, only recently, when Europe came face to face with Putin’s antics, did the majority of NATO countries contribute the agreed minimum. According to a Cato Institute policy analysis, “the United States has averaged about 36 percent of allied GDP but more than 61 percent of allied defense spending” since roughly 1960. And even as the West faces threats from China, the U.S. and NATO weapons stockpiles remain “dangerously low” after arming Ukrainians. Posting little 30-second propaganda videos on TikTok probably isn’t going to restore Americans’ trust in the West’s foreign policy establishment. America’s conservative grassroots is fed up with globalist organizations like NATO and the World Trade Organization taking advantage of America’s military and industrial base, and the left is furious at Western leaders for aiding and abetting a “genocide” in Gaza. Whether you like it or not, the liberal international order is approaching its final days, and 20-something TikTokers won’t save it.

When Harrison Tinsley first became a father, he had no idea he was about to be embroiled in a four-and-a-half-year legal battle with the child’s “genderless” mother — who was attempting to raise his son “nonbinary.” Tinsley was forced to watch from afar as his ex-girlfriend used they/them pronouns for their son, Sawyer, and put him in dresses and makeup. “Spending so much time and money in court isn’t fun, but he’s worth it,” Tinsley told Allie Beth Stuckey in an interview last year on “Relatable.” “I’m never going to give up, I’m going to fight for him until my last breath, forever. As hard as I can. It’s my duty as a dad.” Now, he’s talking to Stuckey again, only this time — he’s much happier. “The latest news is incredible. I finally have won full custody of Sawyer,” Tinsley says, smiling. “I’m just so thankful, it’s like an absolute miracle, a dream come true.” “It’s been like four-and-a-half years now of me fighting for him,” Tinsley says. “There was essentially another incident with my son’s mom, and she was arrested again. And there was CPS involvement.” That incident involved his ex-girlfriend getting into a physical altercation with her father, which Sawyer bore witness to. “They were fighting, it was a very serious fight, like with blood, very serious stuff, very scary for a four-year-old to see,” Tinsley explains, adding that Sawyer claims that his mother instructed him to start hitting his grandfather in the face with a plastic bat. “The mother claims that he did it just in her honor without her saying anything, I tend to believe Sawyer,” Tinsley says. “I’ve seen the photos of the bloody kids' baseball bat or whatever it was, so it does seem that that happened and that there was a very serious altercation.” As a mother herself, Stuckey is not only horrified by Sawyer’s mother’s actions — but thoroughly impressed with how hard Tinsley fought back. “I’m just so thankful that you fought for him so relentlessly for so long,” Stuckey says. “It’s a big sacrifice. It took you a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of financial resources, and you did it because your son is worth it to you." Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Damn RIGHT! Van Jones' Comment on CNN About Trump's RNC Should Scare the Hell Out of Democrats (Watch)