A Hooters location in Charleston‚ West Virginia‚ saw hundreds gather for a candlelight vigil in honor of the building being demolished to make way for a gas station.Former employees and residents gathered to share hugs and tears while mourning the loss of the building via candlelight. The location had become a local landmark before its closure.A sizeable group of young men also gathered at the building site to hoot‚ holler‚ and even crowd-surf. "Long live Hooters!" the crowd yelled‚ as the youngsters screamed enthusiastically into local news cameras.What reportedly started as a joke between friends gained traction on social media and became something of a meme‚ garnering international attention and coverage from many media outlets. It gained so much traction‚ in fact‚ that Hooters corporate caught wind of the event and had Hooters calendars shipped overnight to be handed out to the mourners.The closing of the building was called the end of an era by local outlet WCHSTV. Even residents from South Carolina reportedly drove through the night to attend the alleged "one-in-a-lifetime event;" a drive that likely took at least four hours.'"For all the naysayers‚ the doubters‚ the down-talkers and whatnot. This building right here was a legitimate iconic figure to the Kanawha Valley‚" co-organizer Leo Browning told attendees. Hundreds gather to remember the Kanawha City Hooters. @DanielBurbankTV has the story: https://t.co/2s6NMAOaRz — (@) A group of former Hooters employees also attended the event and were pictured embracing each other as tears streamed down their faces during a final reunion."I started out coming in to get a job and it became so much more because I met so many lifelong friends and my co-workers‚" former Hooters girl Danielle Hughart said."Yes this is [West Virginia]‚" one attendee wrote on Instagram. "Why wouldn't we have a candle light vigil for our H00ts being demolished??? Hooters give us another one‚" she wrote."It's a lot of memories going down with that building‚" local resident Noah Collins added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lindsey Hawks (@lindshawks) The vigil also doubled as a fundraiser for a child who allegedly has a very rare disease. The organizers made announcements and were hoping to get donations from attendees. "One of our close friend's daughters‚ she was just diagnosed with a very‚ very rare disease‚ and it's very serious. If she don't get help‚ then she's not going to be with us much longer‚" Browning told the crowd.The demolished Hooters building is set to be replaced with a Sheetz gas station. Sheetz Inc. is an American-owned gas station founded in 1952 with over 700 locations.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Americans today feel more divided than ever‚ but according to investigative journalist Peter Schweizer‚ that might not actually be the case. In his book “Blood Money‚” Schweizer exposes how the Chinese Communist Party is using real disinformation and pushing radical movements to divide us. “Take the issue of the trans movement in the United States‚” Schweizer tells Glenn Beck. “This just erupted in the last five years. Well‚ as I point out in the book‚ two of the biggest funders of the trans movement in America are China-based billionaires.” One of those billionaires‚ Roy Singham‚ has put more than $160 million into radical causes in the United States‚ including the transgender movement. Singham is reportedly very close with members of the CCP. Another billionaire‚ Joe Tsai‚ has poured tens of millions of dollars into the trans rights movement. He owns the WNBA team in New York‚ which was the first professional sports team to have a trans athlete play. Schweizer explains that the “very troubling part” of all this is that “these guys do not push for these rights in China; they only push for these rights in the United States.” “This is clearly an effort to destabilize the United States‚” Schweizer says. Even BLM and pro-Hamas demonstrations are funded by organizations that take their marching orders from China. The other part that’s been devastating to the American divide is what the Chinese military is doing online. “The Chinese military has thousands of experts that run individually thousands of social media accounts where they pose as Americans in the United States. Basically half the accounts‚ Glenn‚ say ‘America is a hopelessly racist‚ bigoted society‚' and the other half of the accounts say ‘I only like white people‚’” Schweizer explains. “I think we are actually divided that we believe we are‚ and China is trying to create fissures between us‚” he adds. “I thank you for exposing all of this‚” Glenn says. "You’re usually so far ahead of the curve‚ but I think America senses now something is really wrong.” To hear more‚ watch the clip below. 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.

On a recent unseasonably warm day in the Northeast‚ I found myself alone‚ contemplating society’s relationship with technology while observing people on a beach. My heart sank at what I saw. Watching families gathered together‚ more parents and kids than not had their eyes plastered to their phones. Instead of looking out upon the water or spending time playing frisbee or catch with each other‚ I spotted children crouched on the sand with their backs to their parents engaged with their phones while mothers and fathers stood doing the same. Our screens are raising our kids‚ advancing a growing authoritarianism over our kids’ lives by a small number of companies. They defeated the purpose of going to the beach on every possible level. They could have simply stayed home. Our society is losing the fight with screens. Artificial intelligence seems to agree‚ ironically. And since so many put more credence in AI than in their own eyes‚ maybe it will help people truly realize where society appears to be headed. In a recent video‚ AI shows multiple illustrations of what it believes children looked like from 1800 through today and beyond. Watch and be stunned at how accurate it is historically … which doesn’t bode well for kids or humanity’s future. Here's how AI perceives our kids through generations www.youtube.com The Connect Kids report by Childwise supports this view‚ suggesting that today's youth can scarcely imagine a world without the internet. Technology is their way of life‚ but is it a happy and healthy way of life? Can you view the video and say we’re progressing as a society? I can’t. Especially when children are spending half the time outdoors that their parents did. They are more depressed and lonely than the Greatest Generation (ages 72 and over). They are becoming increasingly disconnected from nature. It’s tough to raise kids to be stewards of the environment when they don’t develop a meaningful connection with it in childhood. A recent Cornell University study found that “those individuals who participated in activities such as camping‚ hunting‚ fishing‚ hiking‚ and playing in natural areas before the age of 11 were more likely to demonstrate pro-environment attitudes and behaviors as adults.” The difference between physical outdoor play and virtual interaction is stark. The University of Michigan reports that the average American child spends a mere seven minutes per day in unstructured outdoor play‚ a decline from the two hours daily and an additional nine hours on weekends reported in the 1970s and '80s. I can’t even brush my teeth and comb my hair in seven minutes! Beyond the health and welfare outdoor play provides‚ kids benefit from this type of socialization. It also provides treasured memories a screen can’t give them. To that same end‚ too much screen time has proven to impact children’s creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. It also harms the development of social skills‚ which follows them for a lifetime. The increased anxiety fosters discomfort with inactivity and quiet as well. Our kids simply don’t feel comfortable not doing something all the time. That’s a type of pressure earlier generations never had to cope with. We might have had moments where we wanted something to do to alleviate boredom‚ but we didn’t need something to do. That sounds more like an addiction. You would think that parents could simply turn this nonsense off and tell their kids‚ “That’s enough.” But plenty of parents feel almost powerless to do so given how fundamental screens have become to children’s overall lives operationally‚ including their school lives. Plus‚ many parents use screens to help manage their households and babysit. But at what cost? The question isn’t merely rhetorical. According to MacRumors‚ Apple sold 200‚000 Vision Pro units by January 30‚ 2024‚ since the “augmented reality” device became available for pre-order on January 19‚ 2024. Consider that families are struggling to make ends meet in this economy‚ and yet plenty found the money to purchase an Apple Vision Pro headset at $3‚500 a pop. Make that make sense to me‚ especially given the evidence. “By the time a child reaches seven‚” National Geographic reports‚ “he or she will have spent two and a half times as long sitting alone in front of a screen than engaging in outdoor play.” Sitting alone. No wonder they prefer to create a barrier around themselves and their phones when spending time with their families at the beach. Our screens are raising our kids‚ advancing a growing authoritarianism over our kids’ lives by a small number of companies. And we are allowing this to happen‚ condemning them to live their lives in silos attached to devices that promise them a better life but ultimately fail to deliver. “I just think we are at a fork in the road and we can’t keep going down the road we have been on‚” says the creator of the video embedded above. “Go outside. Put down the devices. This is crazy. We don’t want Skynet to become reality. … This is not normal. This is not what life is supposed to be like. Let’s get out of upside-down land right now.” I agree. Take the devices away and push your kids into the back yard. It made a great babysitter for us‚ and it will serve them well‚ too.

The speculation was fast and furious when AT&;T’s cellular network went down recently. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) indicated that it could be an EMP. Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) hinted at a Chinese cyber attack. Others insisted it was due to a solar flare. AT&;T’s official explanation was a software update gone wrong.How can you distinguish between an EMP‚ a solar storm‚ a cyber attack‚ or human error? I’ve been investigating these topics for the past few years‚ most recently in my Substack‚ Unprepared. I am also a General-class ham radio operator‚ requiring knowledge of radio waves and solar activity. Let’s explore each of these scenarios in real life at a level that makes sense‚ no matter your technical level.In short:If one service or a handful of related services go down‚ it’s probably due to human activity: error or a cyber attack.If you see a massive disruption of electrical services‚ it’s likely an EMP or a solar event.What are the signs of an EMP?EMP is short for electromagnetic pulse. Technically speaking‚ small EMPs happen every day‚ causing minor annoyances like radio signal interference or even electrical problems in cars. For clarity‚ we will focus on the big EMPs you see in apocalyptic fiction like William R. Forstchen’s "One Second After."Massive EMPs are one of the most overhyped prepper scenarios. I say that for two reasons:They are incredibly rare events.They are practically impossible to prepare for.In the simplest possible terms‚ in an EMP‚ hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity are sent through the air like radio waves. Like radio waves‚ the EMP will be attracted to anything acting as an antenna. Think of long wires‚ like power lines. That surge of electricity would then flow down the power lines‚ wreaking havoc on whatever it passes through — wires‚ transformers‚ or your home’s electrical system. Contrary to popular belief‚ small electronics not connected to an outlet are unlikely to be affected.There’s lots of talk about EMP weapons both in the news and in fiction. For example‚ China supposedly has first-strike EMP capabilities. But in reality‚ only two types of events are known to cause the sort of EMP people fear:An intense solar storm. The most famous example is the 1859 Carrington Event‚ which fried telegraph systems and even shocked some operators. Interestingly‚ many telegraph operators communicated using only the storm’s electrical current as power.An extremely powerful nuclear weapon. Starfish Prime‚ a U.S. high-altitude atomic detonation test‚ caused the most notable man-made EMP. A 1.4-megaton W49 thermonuclear warhead was detonated 900 miles from Hawaii at about 250 miles in the air. The resulting EMP blew up about 300 street lights in Hawaii‚ set off burglar alarms‚ and damaged a telephone company microwave link that shut down telephone calls between Hawaiian islands.EMPs are poorly understood because there’s just no way to test the effects of one on a mass scale responsibly. And those effects would be about as unpredictable as a tornado or any other force of nature.But know this much: An EMP would be very messy. It wouldn’t just be a service or two down; it would mean massive blackouts‚ electrical failures‚ and other oddities. Your car and other small electronics would most likely be fine‚ as most of the power would flow into radio towers and power lines — anything that acts like a giant antenna.Realistically‚ another Carrington Event will happen sooner or later‚ and it would cause tremendous damage — in the billions or trillions of dollars‚ according to insurer Lloyd’s of London. And we‚ as a society‚ are not well prepared for it.What are the signs of milder solar storms?The Carrington Event was particularly notable‚ but what about other solar events?Solar activity has a huge effect on radio communications. The sun goes through 11-year cycles‚ shifting between a solar minimum and a solar maximum‚ changing how the Earth’s ionosphere propagates radio waves. Generally‚ radio waves propagate better during solar maximums like the one we’re shifting into now‚ but that also increases disruptive events like sunspots and solar flares.A solar flare is essentially the sun farting‚ and it sends a great deal of energy to Earth‚ which can disrupt communication systems like satellites. We’ve had several of these lately‚ but they’re probably not responsible for the AT&;T outage. Solar flares are smaller and faster than a coronal mass ejection‚ like the Carrington Event mentioned above.Here’s the thing about solar flares and other solar weather: They happen constantly‚ and you’re blissfully unaware of it. You can sign up for the federal government’s Space Weather Prediction emails and be notified of every little solar storm. There are a lot of them‚ and after a few weeks of receiving these emails‚ you realize that even “major” storms aren’t that big a deal for most people. In 2023‚ we experienced one of our strongest solar storms in the past decade‚ and you probably didn’t notice.The most noteworthy space weather incident in recent memory is when SpaceX lost 40 satellites while unwittingly launching them into a solar storm. Solar storms can also affect things on earth: In 1989 a storm caused a blackout in Québec.The system most sensitive to solar weather is GPS‚ since the satellites are in space and the signal to Earth is somewhat weak anyway. Even mild solar events can disrupt GPS.In short:Solar storms happen all the time and you usually don’t notice them.They can disrupt a variety of electronic systems‚ sometimes in subtle ways.Like EMPs‚ their effects are largely unpredictable (and really‚ they’re just small EMPs).What are the signs of a cyber attack (or human error)?I group cyber attack and human error together because there isn’t much difference for the end user. Either way‚ a service fails to operate due to man's folly. An EMP would be a big‚ messy event. Cyber attacks tend to be more targeted.Once upon a time‚ cyber attacks were perpetrated by lone hackers who were just playing around. An infamous example is the 1988 Morris Worm‚ which took down much of the nascent internet. Nowadays‚ the stakes are much higher: Computer security is much more sophisticated‚ there are major consequences for being caught‚ and big money is at stake. As such‚ most cyber attacks are perpetrated by criminal networks or‚ less frequently‚ nation-states. Both are pretty common.The most popular form of cyber attack these days is what’s known as ransomware. Usually‚ some poor sap clicks a phishing link and gets malware installed on his computer‚ which then starts encrypting his data. The user is then told that if he pays a ransom in cryptocurrency‚ he’ll be given the key to decrypt his files. These are elaborate operations‚ and there is big money in the ransomware business‚ with typical ransoms being more than $200‚00 and many in the millions.Unfortunately‚ these ransomware attacks have become a daily occurrence. At the end of 2023‚ Ardent Health Services was hit by an attack that disrupted 30 hospitals across six states. To make matters worse‚ hostile nation-states like China‚ Iran‚ North Korea‚ and Russia often work with criminal networks to perpetuate cyber attacks. An example of a nation-state cyber attack is the recent infiltration of UnitedHealth Group‚ which shut down pharmacies nationwide‚ though we haven’t been told which nation is suspected of the attack. The 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach is thought to have been perpetrated by China.In any case‚ a cyber attack is highly targeted in most cases. One service may go down‚ but the lights stay on and planes don’t start falling out of the sky. However‚ what can confuse things is that other services are often strained when one goes down. For example‚ when AT&;T was shut down due to the 2020 Christmas bombing in Nashville‚ the Verizon network was also disrupted here in middle Tennessee because it was picking up much of the slack.One last note: Be cautious with data from Downdetector‚ a site that tracks online service outages. It’s a useful tool‚ but it often makes things look far worse than they actually are.

A Democratic judge ruled Wednesday that former President Donald Trump cannot appear on primary ballots in Illinois and that any votes cast for him will "be suppressed‚" citing his supposed violation of the 14th Amendment's "insurrection clause." Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter's decision was heavily influenced by arguments made in December by the Democratic-appointed justices on Colorado's Supreme Court who ultimately prevented voters in the state from casting votes for President Joe Biden's top rival. While the Illinois Appellate Court or Illinois Supreme Court might take up the case‚ the U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling in Trump v. Anderson could very well sink this and all such disqualification efforts across the country. Background Trump filed nomination papers and a statement of candidacy to appear on the ballot for the March 19‚ 2024‚ Republican primary in Illinois on Jan. 4. The same day‚ five men represented by the leftist advocacy group Free Speech for People filed a petition to have the Republican removed‚ claiming he "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" in relation to the Jan. 6‚ 2021‚ protests. The bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections took up the petition last month and appointed a hearing officer to mull it over. The hearing officer‚ Judge Clark Erickson‚ concluded that Trump engaged in insurrection and was‚ as a result‚ disqualified under Section 3. However‚ Erickson conceded that state election code did not empower the Electoral Board to rule on the merits of the challenge‚ noting that such a decision ought to be left up to a court. The board declined Erickson's recommendation as well as the suggestions Trump engaged in insurrection and that Section 3 applied to the president. The board ultimately decided on Jan. 30 to dismiss the challenge and to permit Trump to appear on the ballot. Dissatisfied with the outcome‚ the five men ostensibly seeking to disenfranchise their fellow voters filed a petition for judicial review before the Cook County Circuit Court. Ruling The Democratic judge acknowledged in her Wednesday ruling that the question of whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies to the president "is subject to contradictory and controversial interpretation" and that only the Colorado Supreme Court has so far applied it to the chief executive. While the "Colorado Supreme Court's ruling in Anderson v. Griswold‚ decided on Dec. 23‚ 2024‚ [sic] is not binding precedent‚ [it is] rather persuasive law‚" wrote Porter. So persuaded‚ Porter embraced the Colorado Supreme Court's hotly debated interpretation of Section 3. Satisfied with the petitioners' evidence allegedly implicating Trump in insurrection and having retroactively applied Section 3 to the Republican president‚ Porter determined that the petitioners' request should have been granted "as they have met their burden by preponderance of the evidence that [Trump's] name should be removed from the ballot." The Democratic judge then reversed the State Board of Elections' decision‚ claiming it was "clearly erroneous." Porter did‚ however‚ note that her ruling will likely not be the final say on the matter. Response Ron Fein‚ legal director of the leftist group that represented the petitioners‚ characterized Porter's decision as a "historic victory." "Every court or official that has addressed the merits of Trump's constitutional eligibility has found that he engaged in insurrection after taking the oath of office and is therefore disqualified from the presidency‚" added Fein in a joint statement. "Judge Porter's reasoned decision contributes to the growing consensus of courts recognizing and condemning Trump's decisive role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol‚" said Caryn Lederer‚ the DEI champion serving as attorney for the petitioners. "The decision recognizes the importance of rule of law and upholding the mandate of the U.S. Constitution." A spokesman for Trump indicated that the Republican front-runner will appeal Porter's ruling. "The Soros-funded Democrat front-groups continue to attempt to interfere in the election and deny President Trump his rightful place on the ballot‚" Steven Cheung‚ a spokesman for Trump‚ said in a statement. "Today‚ an activist Democrat judge in Illinois summarily overruled the state's board of elections and contradicted earlier decisions from dozens of other state and federal jurisdictions. This is an unconstitutional ruling that we will quickly appeal." Trump's legal team has until Friday to appeal the decision‚ just as it has already appealed his disqualification in Maine and Colorado — two states holding primaries Tuesday where the Republican's name is all but ensured to appear on the ballots. Trump's appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court's decision has already made it to the Supreme Court‚ which heard oral arguments on Feb. 8. Based on the bipartisan skepticism over the Democratic-appointed court's ruling‚ there's a good chance that the removal will amount to a short-lived exercise in partisan symbolism. Left-leaning Justice Elena Kagan posed the question earlier this month‚ "Why should a single state have the ability to make this determination‚ not only for their own citizens‚ but for the rest of the nation?" "It'll come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election‚" said Justice John Roberts. "That's a pretty daunting consequence." Justice Brett Kavanaugh stressed that such disqualifications have "the effect of disenfranchising voters to a significant degree." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

MicroSD cards are about to get a whole lot faster‚ as Samsung has just announced that it has a tiny slice of storage in the works that’s significantly quicker than a SATA SSD. But hold on before you make plans to slot one into your Steam Deck‚ or any current handheld gaming device for that matter‚ as there’s a big catch. Continue reading Samsung’s new microSD card is faster than a SATA SSD MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB review‚ Best SSD for gaming‚ Best gaming monitor

Despite issues with burst damage‚ the dual support item meta‚ and some absolutely busted builds‚ Riot is happy with how League of Legends season 14 is playing out‚ with its February 29 dev blog exploring how the team is combatting issues in ranked‚ as well as toning down those one-shots. Continue reading Riot is “happy” with the current state of League of Legends MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained‚ League of Legends patch 14.2‚ League of Legends tier list

As Automaton armies and Terminid throngs continue their wicked war against the forces of Super Earth‚ the use of Helldivers 2 stratagems to protect our way of life is an absolute must. This can prove more difficult on Steam Deck than other platforms due to spotty performance hampering smooth inputs‚ but one citizen has devised a clever trick using trackpads to make the process smoother. Continue reading Make Helldivers 2 stratagems quick and easy with this Steam Deck trick MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card‚ Best gaming PC‚ Best SSD for gaming

While the number of current generation graphics cards continues to grow‚ with the most recent addition being the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and Nvidia RTX 40 Super series‚ attention is slowly but surely being drawn to future architectures. As a case in point‚ potential performance estimates for AMD RDNA 4 GPUs have emerged‚ but they are sadly more middling than magnificent. Continue reading AMD’s next-gen GPUs may only be “25%” faster at ray tracing MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Ryzen 7 7800X3D review‚ Best gaming CPU‚ Radeon RX 7800 XT review

The best racing sim cockpits elevate games in a way not dissimilar to VR headsets. They accurately reproduce the driving positions and the placement of instruments you would be manipulating in a real car‚ making your game feel much more tactile and immersive. When shopping for a racing sim cockpit‚ you’re going to come across the same names quite frequently. The biggest players in the game are Next Level Racing and Playseat who comprise the majority of our picks. This is for good reason as this is what most people are buying owing to their build quality‚ customizability‚ and features which is what we’ll be looking at to determine our choices. We will also factor in the value on offer‚ and how well-suited they are to different racing games such as GT‚ track‚ rally‚ and Formula One. The Next Level Racing GT Track Cockpit which we believe to be the best pick overall‚ as you won’t be wanting for much else any time soon and leaves the door open for their Motion Platform if you really want to take racing sims and run with them. Some options even negate the need for the best PC speakers thanks to built-in sound systems which further drive home the immersion. We've handpicked the best sim racing cockpits for every price point‚ so read on to discover which is right for you. Continue reading Best racing sim cockpits in 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card‚ Best gaming PC‚ Best SSD for gaming