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Ever since New Zealand was finally discovered in about 1300 CE – a mere 47,000 years after its larger neighbor Australia – humans have been the ultimate cosmopolitan species. Comfortable, or at least able to survive, in every habitat from the Arctic circle to the Sahara Desert, there’s not a continent on Earth that hasn’t been overrun by our species.Except one.Nobody owns it (but plenty of people claim to)Depending on who you ask, Antarctica is “owned” by anything from an international group of several dozen countries, to nobody at all.If that makes it sound like a lawless free-for-all, it couldn’t be further from the truth. “The [Antarctic] Treaty, which dates from 1959, governs all activities in Antarctica,” said Henry Burgess, then the Deputy Head of the Polar Regions Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in a 2015 interview with the Royal Geographical Society. “It puts in place a unique and globally important system of international governance and establishes the continent as a region exclusively for peace and science,” Burgess continued. “It also prohibits military activity and sets aside all territorial claims.”             That said, there’s quite a few countries who’d like us to think they own it. “Only seven countries have ever formally claimed parts of Antarctica: the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand and Norway,” explained Burgess. “During the 1940s and 1950s the competing claims between the UK, Chile and Argentina in the Antarctic Peninsula caused international tension.”Look at a political map of Antarctica, and you’ll soon see the result of this “tension”: the top-right quadrant in particular is a mess of overlapping borders between the three nations. So, whose claim takes precedence?Well, the other four nations in the Antarctic club tend to favor the UK’s claims – they’re “sort of a club within a club of mutual recognition of territorial claims,” Adrian Howkins, now a Reader in Environmental History at the University of Bristol, told Atlas Obscura.But internationally, the view is somewhat simpler, he added: “I think pretty much every other country in the world doesn’t recognize any of these claims.”It’s the biggest, driest, windiest, and coldest desert in the worldWhen you think of a desert, chances are the first word that comes to mind isn’t “ice”. But the defining characteristic of a desert isn’t sand, or heat – it’s lack of precipitation.“While Antarctica does have a lot of water in the form of ice, its cold temperatures keep the ice from turning into liquid water even in the summer,” explained Christopher S. Baird, author of The Top 50 Science Questions with Surprising Answers and Associate Professor of Physics at West Texas A&M University. “The cold temperatures also freeze the water vapor out of the air. The end result is that Antarctica is not only a desert, it is the driest continent in the world.”“Biggest” and “coldest” kind of speak for themselves – at around 13.7 million square kilometers, or 1.4 USAs, Antarctica is the world’s fifth largest continent on its own, and it can see temperatures as low as -80°C (-112°F). In fact, the lowest temperature ever seen on Earth, a chilly -89.2°C (-128.6°F), was recorded at Vostok station in 1983.But that’s not the only extreme weather the continent sees. “Antarctica’s environment has special conditions that make it the windiest continent on Earth,” explains the Australian Antarctic Program.“Antarctica is usually surrounded by a belt of low pressure which contains multiple low centers. This is called the ‘circumpolar trough’,” it notes. “But the interior of the continent is dominated by high pressure.” Combined, these conditions create what are known as “katabatic winds” – areas of very cold, dense air that form at the top of the Antarctic ice sheet and are pulled downhill by gravity. The air speeds up as it radiates outwards towards the coast, where low-pressure climate systems can increase their strength further. By the end of the process, “resulting wind speeds can exceed 100 km/h [62 mph] for days at a time,” the Program explains. “Wind gusts well over 200 km/h [124 mph] have been measured.”It’s weirdly similar to Mars, and it can make you go insaneFor researchers living in Antarctica, the frozen continent can sometimes feel like a different world.Literally: “I have come to call [Antarctica] ‘White Mars’,” Alexander Kumar, a research MD based at the Concordia research station in the center of Antarctica for the European Space Agency, told the BBC in 2012.“Living here is the closest anyone can come to living on the surface of another planet,” he said.And, as you may have gathered from his job title, that has made the pole very interesting to various space exploration agencies – particularly those hoping to one day send humans to Mars. There’s a couple of reasons for that: firstly, there’s the physical aspects – “the dry valleys of Antarctica are a prime destination,” points out the American Museum of Natural History, “because, with less than an inch of precipitation a year and an average temperature of -20[°F, -29°C], they are the most Mars-like places on Earth” – and secondly, there’s the crushing psychological torture of it all.“Our crew has been completely isolated since February. We are more isolated from civilization than the astronauts living onboard the International Space Station.  It is impossible for us to leave the base until mid-November,” Kumar said.“Such isolation is a personal journey and challenge,” he continued. “I liken overwintering to dredging the ocean’s depths of your mind. You never know what you will find.”              Crews in the research station can experience extreme psychological distress, Kumar explained, with his colleagues reporting feeling “dead” and “not real”. They experience physiological changes, with senses becoming “blunted” and reaction and cognition times slowing markedly. They lose their circadian rhythm; they experience memory problems and lose their ability to concentrate. Throughout the entire mission, Kumar said, “we only talk about and look forward to one date – the arrival of the first plane, our first contact with the outside world, expected in November.”“If you let your mind wander during the Antarctic winter to dwell upon […] negativity, I have seen it can be very dangerous and spiral out of your control,” he added.“There is no release – you are in a prison of your own mind here.”It’s insanely difficult to mapSpeaking of Mars: you know, until extremely recently, we literally had better maps of the Red Planet than we did of Antarctica. In fact, look at any map including the southern polar continent from before the mid-eighties – and yes, that’s barely four decades ago; our understanding of Antarctica is technically a Millennial – and you can pretty much guarantee it won’t be accurate.“It wasn’t until 1983 that the first broadly accurate map of Antarctica was produced,” explained Adrian Fox of the British Antarctic Survey’s Mapping and Geographic Information Centre, aka MAGIC. “That was the first time a map brought together enough information for us to be pretty sure that we’d got all the major features in the right places.”You might say that’s not surprising – after all, as Fox pointed out, “the reasons why so much of the highest, driest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth remains so poorly mapped are obvious.” Look at this map from 1957, for example, and you can see the continent outlined in a relatively thin band of yellow – it’s not a decorative choice, but an indication of the only areas “explored or seen by man” by that point.Plus, logistically, mapping Antarctica is kind of a non-starter: the place is huge, almost completely empty, and, thanks to the Antarctic Treaty, basically useless from a colonization or resource extraction perspective. To put it another way: mapping the continent would be a whole lot of work for not much practical gain.“But wait!” we hear you cry. “Isn’t the whole point of science that we do these things anyway? For the pure love of the game?” And the answer is, well, yes – but even then, there’s been one massive reason why we never got around to mapping Antarctica: the ice.Now, admittedly, if you’re setting out to do anything regarding Antarctica, some amount of frozen water is to be expected – but what doesn’t often come across to those of us used to more temperate climes is just how icy the South Pole can get. Consider, for example, the Gamburtsev Mountains, an Antarctic range similar in size to the Alps and completely hidden under two to three kilometers of ice (about 1.5 miles).“Most of the Earth’s land surface has been mapped in great detail and we have an extensive understanding of mountain heights, valley depths and coastlines,” noted Becky Sanderson, a PhD student in the University of Newcastle’s Department of Geography. “Antarctic[a]’s bed topography is a notable exception to this.”It would take the development of satellite imagery, RADAR, and echo sounding before we could get a real idea of what’s going on at the planet’s southerly pole – and even now, it’s uniquely ill-understood among the continents. Still, that’s a big step up from where we used to be – because…It was either discovered a lot more recently than you think… or a lot lessYou might think it makes sense that people tend not to live in Antarctica – after all, we’ve already been pretty clear that it’s not the most livable place on the planet. But to just point out that we didn’t colonize the continent is to do its inhospitableness a disservice, frankly: in fact, it’s so remote and inaccessible that we didn’t even know for sure that it existed until 1820.So, who discovered the massive expanse of ice and land at the bottom of the planet? It depends who you ask: “The first person to actually see the Antarctic mainland has been debated,” notes Royal Museums Greenwich. “In the last week of January [1820], Thaddeus von Bellingshausen reported seeing ‘an ice shore of extreme height’ during a Russian expedition to the Antarctic,” it explains; a mere three days later, “Royal Navy officer Edward Bransfield reported seeing 'high mountains, covered with snow' during a British mapping expedition.”That people hadn’t discovered it before this surprisingly late point – for context, we had already discovered Uranus, radioactive decay, and bicycles by the time we confirmed the existence of Antarctica – wasn’t for want of trying. People had long theorized that there must be some huge continent at the bottom of the world; they even made allowances for it on maps, which is why you can sometimes see what clearly looks like an Antarctica on pre-modern maps.1570 map by Abraham Ortelius depicting "Terra Australis Nondum Cognita (The southern land yet not known)" as a large continent on the bottom of the map.Image credit: Abraham Ortelius, public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsBut after centuries of searching for this hidden counterbalance to the North Pole – and yes, that was genuinely the logic people were using; they were correct, but not really correct – people had just about given up by the late 18th century. “I firmly believe that there is a tract of land near the Pole, which is the Source of most of the ice which is spread over this vast Southern Ocean,” wrote Captain James Cook, the explorer most famous for his voyages throughout the South Pacific, after three years’ unsuccessful searching for the proposed landmass. But, he continued, “the risk one runs in exploring a coast in these unknown and Icy Seas, is so very great, that I can be bold to say, that no man will ever venture farther than I have done and that the lands which may lie to the South will never be explored.”Cook was indeed being bold. Not only would he be proven wrong a mere 50 years later – but chances are, Polynesian explorers beat him by more than a millennium.“Polynesian narratives of voyaging between the islands include voyaging into Antarctic waters by Hui Te Rangiora (also known as i Te Rangiora) and his crew on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea, likely in the early seventh century,” notes a 2021 paper from researchers in New Zealand that looked at the oral histories and artwork of Indigenous communities. “In some narratives, Hui Te Rangiora and his crew continued […] a long way south. In so doing, they were likely the first humans to set eyes on Antarctic waters and perhaps the continent.”Which, after all that, might just answer who should own Antarctica. Finders keepers and all that – congratulations, New Zealand: we guess it’s yours.

Looking for your next summer getaway? There are plenty of beach destinations where you can get your fix of sun and the sand between your toes in safety, but if you fancy a walk on the wild side, the world’s most dangerous beach might be the place for you.Danger is a difficult thing to measure, (although try telling that to the person making you fill out a risk assessment for your work trip) and lots of people will evaluate it differently. If you deem it to be a place with some big, scary animals, then some have suggested the title should go to Cape Tribulation in Australia. Let’s get things straight – this place really is amazing. The area marks a crossover point between two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Daintree Rainforest portion of the Wet Tropics of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, and is home to a breadth of unique flora and fauna.But there’s also no denying that “Tribulation” is an appropriate name for the headland if you don’t have your wits about you with its wildlife, a list packed with creatures that many of us would probably love to see, but preferably from a nice, safe, “I have enough time to leg it to my car” distance.Top of that list is the Southern cassowary, often called the world’s most dangerous bird. They might not be able to fly, but these neon-blue-necked aves also come fit with razor-sharp claws that are more than capable of killing a human. Thankfully, meeting your end at the claws of a bird that looks like the colors got mixed up at the emu factory is pretty rare. They’ll usually stay away from you if you stay far enough away from them, which is a good idea anyway considering humans are the main reason why they’re at risk of extinction.Cape Tribulation is also home to crocodiles, with warning signs posted around rivers, popular swimming holes, and on the beach. During the warmer months, the waters also play host to an increased number of stinging jellyfish – box jellyfish and Irukandji can be spotted along the coast here.Not everyone considers animals to be the most dangerous thing about a beach though, particularly if you’re sensible and encounters are rare – plenty are far more wary of the sea.That certainly should be the case at Hanakāpīai Beach in Hawai’i. It might be tempting to take a dip in the clear blue waters, but swimming here is not recommended – there’s even a sign with a tally showing the over 80 deaths that have occurred here due to powerful rip currents.The waters here are more than a bit sketchy.Image credit: A. Emson/Shutterstock.com“The surf and rip currents are variable and often extremely treacherous, but worst in winter when high surf conditions prevail. DROWNINGS OCCUR HERE REGULARLY!” says the Department of Land and Resources of Hawai’i on its website.All of this is not to say you shouldn’t visit these places – you’d be missing out on a lot if you did. Just be sensible and stick to the advice given by local authorities. And maybe don’t try to pat a cassowary.

Even by his standards, CBS’s Stephen Colbert displayed a shocking display of hypocrisy during his Thursday monologue on The Late Show as he gushed over President Joe Biden’s Oval Office address and hailed Biden’s “humility and self-sacrifice” in order to save democracy. Yet, later, he urged his viewers to spread fake news on the internet about GOP VP candidate JD Vance having sex with a couch because he found the debunked story funny. Colbert led off the show by teeing up a clip of Biden’s address, “It's been four days since Joe Biden's historic announcement that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, and last night, in what was to me a very moving Oval Office address, Biden explained his choice to the American people.”     The clip showed Biden declaring that “I revere this office, but I love my country more. It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it's more important than any title.” Colbert replied by oozing, “That humility and self-sacrifice is so beautiful and truly patriotic. And a refreshing change from the last guy.” Later in his monologue, Colbert approached the issue of the AP fact-checking the internet rumor that Vance admitted in his book to having sex with a couch and the AP pulling the article. Citing a Mediaite article, Colbert acknowledged the story is bunk, “Reportedly, a PDF search of Vance's book yielded ten references to ‘couch’ or ‘couches,’ but ‘at no time is the furniture engaged in coitus.’” However, Colbert’s desire for truth in politics only goes one way. If the truth gets in the way of a good troll, the truth should take a back seat: Of course not! Of course not! JD Vance is a very religious conservative. He knows it's Adam and Eve, not Raymour and Flannigan. This just shows how big a problem misinformation can be. Even a well-meaning fact check can wind up amplifying a false story. So, all of us, all of us, please, have a responsibility to stop the spread of vicious rumors like JD Vance had sex with a couch. Because it's simply not true. Which is why we have to refuse to use the hashtag #CushionPushinJDVance. And that's why I certainly won't ever perform the juvenile chant, 'JD Vance is sittin' on a couch. His pee-pee hit the zipper and ouch!'  Colbert concluded, “This is—here's the thing. There is one troubling twist to this story, because as of this morning, the AP had removed their fact check, which can only mean one of two things. Either the original story does not meet the AP’s rigorous standards or JD Vance had sex with a couch.” A similar fact-check from Snopes remains up. Here is a transcript for the July 25 show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 7/25/2024 11:37 PM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: It's been four days since Joe Biden's historic announcement that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, and last night, in what was to me a very moving Oval Office address, Biden explained his choice to the American people. JOE BIDEN: I revere this office, but I love my country more. It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it's more important than any title. COLBERT: That humility and self-sacrifice is so beautiful and truly patriotic. And a refreshing change from the last guy. .. COLBERT The sofa-schtupping allegations get disturbingly specific. See, according to one tweet, in his book, JD Vance described having sex with a rubber glove secured between cushions on his couch. Where does someone even get an idea like that? I blame those filthy IKEA instructions. Flurgleboerg. Flurgleboerg.  Reportedly, a PDF search of Vance's book yielded ten references to "couch" or "couches," but "at no time is the furniture engaged in coitus."  Of course not! Of course not! JD Vance is a very religious conservative. He knows it's Adam and Eve, not Raymour and Flannigan. This just shows how big a problem misinformation can be. Even a well-meaning fact check can wind up amplifying a false story. So, all of us, all of us, please, have a responsibility to stop the spread of vicious rumors like JD Vance had sex with a couch. Because it's simply not true. Which is why we have to refuse to use the hashtag #CushionPushinJDVance. And that's why I certainly won't ever perform the juvenile chant, "JD Vance is sittin' on a couch. His pee-pee hit the zipper and ouch!"  This is—here's the thing. There is one troubling twist to this story, because as of this morning, the AP had removed their fact check, which can only mean one of two things. Either the original story does not meet the AP’s rigorous standards or JD Vance had sex with a couch.

My fellow Americans, you, and the generational permutations that will follow you, are America’s intended future.Your generation is much like the launch of the iPhone, which was a big deal. The freshly graduated class of 2024 marks the dawn of a new era in human development and communication.No one likes to be corrected or morally sanctioned. Your parents don’t like it. Your friends don’t like it. It isn’t a good recipe for human happiness and advancement.Of course, upgrades and even better code will follow. But it doesn’t matter what we call the next generational expression after you. They will be derivative of you and your story arc. The iPhone is pretty much the same. Bill Ayers and Michel Foucault are to you what Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are to the iPhone.Your architects and your teachers just adore you. Why wouldn’t they? You think and act as instructed. Your pedagogical parents succeeded where prior revolutions in education and society failed. Since Plato’s “Republic,” men have sought to create a better world through a directed, early, head-start education of the young. Whereas the Jesuits and Soviets failed, the American left has succeeded with you.Class of 2024, you are America’s new Adam and Eve, whose generation will foster a better, more progressive expression of the new American Experiment: an America that delivers on the promise of diversity, equity, and inclusion to all marginalized people. Unfortunately, society does not seem to like you as much as your teachers. And while you might think it is us, no ... it’s you. It really is you.You were drawn to be unbearable, even to yourselves. Your generation is more difficult to satisfy civically than Michelle Obama — and purposely so. At the dinner table, late night at the bar, in the sack, comedy club, and on social media, you are more than a little unbearable. You were educated and engineered to be moral scolds and police the mores and ideas of society.News flash: No one likes to be corrected or morally sanctioned. Your parents don’t like it. Your friends don’t like it. Your future coworkers won’t like it and will distrust you. And your bosses are going to keep you at arm’s length out of a basic instinct to survive. It isn’t a good recipe for human happiness and advancement.But too many of your generation like this recipe of social strife and control. When your generation’s social influencers do as trained and judge past and present behavior by the gospel of newspeak — which can only be found wanting — they get to exercise coercive power over others. It’s an addictive high. You get to elevate yourself and put down others, all while seeing yourself as moral when you are little more than a moralistic thug. History is littered with the bloody consequences of this high. This is what gives history its regressive, tale-told-by-an-idiot arc. When such a cohort is digitally armed and networked, we are in deep trouble socially. I hope right now you are saying, “This is not me.”I am here to give you a choice — a red-pill opportunity — to escape the mental grip of the matrix that has nursed your mind since kindergarten. The blue-pilled adjacent life will work for some but not for all. Most likely, if you are hearing this, it will not work for you.If you are fortunate to be on the list of the marginalized and aggrieved — and in whose name the revolution is made — it makes tactical sense to play the adjacent card. Still, expect the revolution to serve you poorly. But you can rest assured at night that it is not coming for you, unless you speak against it. Then all bets are off.If you are not on the aggrieved totem, the adjacency lane does not offer the protection that you might think. If you are white, Asian, or Jewish, male or female, you should be concerned and prepare yourself to live a red-pilled life on the down low.The revolution will not eat you last as you hope. In fact, it’s going to eat you first. The deplorable economy and worker are not under unbearable control, but you will be. The crown jewels of America’s commanding heights — entertainment, education, media, Big Tech, philanthropy, Wall Street — where you believe you are headed are not staffed with deplorables but with folks just like you.Don’t reward unbearable identity politics with your votes and adjacent likes. Quietly quit the party and program that is serving you up as a sacrifice. No one needs to know.Men of the graduating class of 2024 — particularly white men — know what the slow progressive boil is like and its impact on their pursuit of happiness. In contrast, women in general and white women in particular have done well. Until now. That is about to change for equity’s sake. Feminism is no longer colorblind and meritocratic when it comes to its own. We are learning that being a white woman has its own toxic tendencies and sins against humanity’s downtrodden.Newly graduated Asians and Jews, your people’s outlier success in light of past discrimination is becoming a disqualification. Merit is out. Identity and the victim are the ascendant measure of all things.What is a 2024 graduate in the crosshairs of identity to do? There are a couple of easy things you can do that can make a difference immediately.First, and foremost: Don’t reward unbearable identity politics with your votes and adjacent likes. Quietly quit the party and program that is serving you up as a sacrifice. No one needs to know.At work and with your friends and family, don’t live down to your intended, cultural scold role. Doing so will be recognized and rewarded. The revolution wants you to want to punish your own. To turn daughter against mother. Son against father. It’s best when it’s done by one’s own gender and tribe.Don’t do it. Instead, talk to your parents and make common cause. You will be stronger together.Most importantly, learn the language of equality properly understood and constitutionally pursued. In short, what your teachers call “equality” and its offshoots of diversity, equity, and inclusion — the source of power they hold over you — does not mean what they say it means. It does not require present discrimination to address past discrimination. All you need is a simple tweak in your understanding of what equality means and requires, and you can be free of your woke mental matrix.Just like that, you can be free. And so can the rest of us.

Robby Starbuck is a filmmaker who has exposed multiple companies for their woke initiatives. Now, he’s exposing Harley-Davidson — and it’s not looking good for the all-American motorcycle company. “What he found is a complete sellout,” Glenn Beck explains, noting that prior to Starbuck’s exposé, Beck thought of Harley-Davidson as a “true American brand.” “I kind of had a hard time believing it,” Starbuck tells Beck, “because the Harley brand is like this macho brand, and everybody knows somebody who's got a Harley, and it’s so diametrically opposed to who they are.” As Starbuck looked into the brand, he found that the sustainability reports revealed a lot about the company that its red-blooded American patrons would probably like to know. “We found that they had put 1,800 employees through these woke trainings, including one group of employees, specifically white males, they sent to a white male only diversity training,” Starbuck reveals. But that’s not all. “When you go farther down the line, then they’ve got a plan to what they call ‘diversify their supply chain,’ which is really just corporate speak for ‘we want less white people,’” Starbucks continues. “The idea is just so far and away from what the American dream is.” Harley-Davison also funded a Pride event that was considered “all-ages.” According to Starbuck, at this Pride event there was a “rage room,” which was “right across from the area where drag queens interact with kids for the story time” and a “play catch with dad area for anybody who had daddy issues.” “I’m not joking,” Starbuck says, adding, “It is so diametrically opposed to the values of Harley riders.” The company is reportedly also a founding member of the Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce. “They also made February and March months of inclusion, because we need three months, not just Pride Month,” Glenn comments. “The money they have donated now to the United Way, promoting 'Antiracist Baby' — you know, the Ibram Kendi thing — they have a Pride ride.” “It goes on and on,” he adds, shocked. Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Less than two weeks after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, calls to lower the political temperature were vociferously tossed aside Wednesday evening when Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office.Biden — whose shocking decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential campaign and throw his support behind Kamala Harris has stunned the nation and world — offered virtually no explanation for his change of heart, leaving more questions than answers.It’s time for sanity, the taming of the tongue, and smarter politics.But beyond that, Biden also did something else — a deeply troubling move in the wake of a violent and turbulent election cycle: He again framed the 2024 campaign as an existential battle for America’s survival.“It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president,” he said. “But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title.”At a time when the political temperatures are scorching, Biden told the nation that the “defense of democracy” is essential, because, from his vantage point, it is “at stake.”Again — just days after gun violence rocked the 2024 campaign and claimed the life of Corey Comperatore, a man attending Donald Trump’s rally — Biden chose to use terror and fear to score political points while elevating himself and his party to hero status. This “defense of democracy” language suggests that Trump, if he wins in November, will somehow destroy America and its structural underpinnings. Far from a mere mention uttered in passing, Biden went on to express the same idea in different forms throughout the speech.“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” Biden continued. “But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.”Once more, the “saving our democracy” language emerged, sending an unsubtle message to an already fearful and inflation-riddled electorate that our nation could somehow be lost if the Democratic Party doesn’t hold onto power.At the end of the speech, the president concluded by hammering home the same narrative, urging the nation to “preserve our democracy” by listening to him and voting for Kamala Harris.Such proclamations might seem benign, but they are anything but. At a time when citizens are ginned up into an almost incessant panic, the claim that the 2024 election is a choice between demolishing democracy and choosing someone who will defend it is, at best, unhelpful — and, at worst, dangerous.After the attempted assassination of Trump, Biden himself stressed the need to “lower the temperature in our politics,” but his “defend democracy” language does anything but temper those storms. Instead, it pours gasoline on the already raging fires of consternation in this nation.Some, like Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), recently encouraged people on both sides of the political divide to stop using these sinister tactics.“We can start by dropping hyperbolic threats about the stakes of this election,” he said in a July 14 post on X (formerly Twitter). “It should not be misleadingly portrayed as a struggle between democracy or authoritarianism, or a battle against fascists or socialists bent on destroying America. These are dangerous lies.”And yet those “dangerous lies” were once again on display Wednesday night. Golden is right to call us to stop going to the lowest common denominator to try to win elections.Trump, too, is back to name-calling, lashing out at “Crooked Joe Biden and Lyin’ Kamala Harris,” calling them a “great embarrassment to America” and proclaiming “there has never been a time like this.”But the truth is, the 2024 race is a battle over ideology and the future. Like all elections, it’s a debate over which party has a better vision for moving the nation forward, protecting the borders, providing economic opportunity, and offering possibilities to live out the American dream.Democracy isn’t on the chopping block, and it’s unfortunate Biden and others continue to use such divisive and dangerous language — especially at a time when the nation is still trying to find its footing following the attempted assassination.Golden also spoke of how efforts for “short-term political gain” lead to exaggerations of differences and make political opponents appear as “diabolical caricatures bent on destroying the country.”Not only does this force us to see ideological opponents as enemies, but Golden said it can lead us to experience violence and instability.“The result is an overwhelming sense of fear [and] anxiety about the future of our country, where the normal and tested tools of democracy no longer seem adequate to protect the common good,” he continued. “In this light, a rise of politically motivated violence in America is sadly unsurprising.”It’s time for sanity, the taming of the tongue, and smarter politics. We must call on all candidates to step up to the plate, stop leeching off Americans’ emotions, and win elections on the merits of their own ideas and policies — not on trumped-up fear and consternation.

NFL legend Tom Brady had a very not-safe-for-work reaction when asked to sign the jersey of fellow NFL great Eli Manning.Brady is widely considered to be the best NFL player of all time, pulling in a whopping seven Super Bowl victories. Playing in 10 Super Bowls in total, Brady had a record of 7-3. Two of those losses were to Manning, who played for the New York Giants: Super Bowl XLII in 2008 and Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.The first loss even ruined the New England Patriots' perfect season, giving Brady plenty of reason for a sour taste in his mouth.Recently, the NFL revealed footage of Brady sitting at a table signing a number of his jerseys from his time playing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.As Brady is signing away on the pile of No. 12 jerseys, a jersey is pulled away to reveal a No. 10 Manning jersey from the Giants. After giving a blank stare at the merchandise handler, Brady decided to sign it anyway."Tom Brady was asked to sign an Eli Manning jersey," the onscreen caption read.The camera pans and then zooms in on the back of the jersey, where Brady appeared to sign "F*** off" right on the numbers.Then, Manning was shown the jersey as he got ready to sign it himself. "Beautiful," he said as he laughed uncomfortably, reading the message."I don't know what...I'll sign here. What do I say to this?" he murmured."I'll say 'good game,'" he added, giving an awkward look to the camera. @nfl at least he signed it ? (via @Fanatics) #elimanning #tombrady #nfl ♬ original sound - NFL "At least he signed it," the NFL wrote on its TikTok page.Despite being out of the NFL for nearly two years, Brady has consistently faced questions surrounding a possible return. He has stated himself that he isn't opposed to a comeback should the right team come knocking.Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams recently said that he still believes Brady would be an effective quarterback in the league."He's getting older, but I mean he's still got to be able to throw it better than half these dudes in the league."As for Manning, he is long retired since playing just four games in 2019. He routinely hosts the "Manningcast" with his brother Petyon on ESPN, where they watch and comment on NFL games on Monday nights.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!