Column Star Trek Star Trek: Enterprise Rewatch: Fourth Season Overview A look back at the fourth and final season of Star Trek: Enterprise. By Keith R.A. DeCandido | Published on February 5‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed Star Trek: Enterprise Fourth SeasonOriginal air dates: October 2004 – May 2005Executive Producers: Rick Berman‚ Brannon Braga‚ Manny Coto Captain’s log. Having saved Earth and stopped the Sphere-Builders from taking over the galaxy‚ Enterprise is diverted to 1944 Earth to do one last Temporal Cold War favor for Daniels‚ which apparently ends the entire thing‚ to the relief of both the crew and the viewership. The scars of the mission to the Delphic Expanse take a while to heal‚ particularly for Archer and T’Pol‚ with the former reuniting with an old girlfriend (who’s also captain of the NX-02‚ Columbia)‚ the latter by going home to Vulcan‚ where she winds up married to her long-affianced Koss in order to save her mother from political reprisal. Some Augments that were taken out of stasis and raised by Arik Soong attack a Klngon ship‚ and Enterprise gets caught up in their and Soong’s attempts to create an empire for their genetically engineered selves‚ though it all goes to crap pretty quickly. Forrest is killed when the Earth embassy on Vulcan is bombed‚ allegedly by Syrranites—radicals who are Surakian fundamentalists‚ as it were—but truly by a faction within High Command that is secretly in bed with the Romulans. The Syrranites have unearthed Surak’s katra and his writings. The former is put into Archer’s head by Syrran on his deathbed‚ and he’s then able to find the latter‚ causing a revolution on Vulcan and restoring mind-melds in the bargain. After encounters with both the inventor of the transporter and some Organian scientists‚ Enterprise is asked to mediate the long-standing rivalry between Andoria and Tellar Prime—but the Romulans don’t like all this peace crap‚ and try to sabotage the talks with a remote-controlled ship with a holographic skin. This almost works‚ and Archer has to fight Shran to the almost-death in order to help move past it‚ then they work together to contact the Aenar the Romulans are using. Klingons retrieve the Augment wreckage and are able to genetically engineer Klingons who are physically superior‚ but look human—but who also have a nasty disease. Phlox is kidnapped by the Klingons to try to fix it‚ and he does‚ but at the expense of giving millions of Klingons smooth foreheads‚ thus explaining a makeup change from 1979 for whatever reason. Finally‚ Enterprise is caught up in the Terra Prime movement‚ which wants to remove all alien influence from Earth‚ and is doing it at the barrel of a gun. Archer and the gang stop their terrorist attack just in time for a Coalition of Planets to be formed. Highest-rated episode: a tie between “Home” and “Babel One‚” which both received 10s. Lowest-rated episode: the absolute twaddle of “Bound” with a well-earned 0. Image: CBS Most comments (as of this writing): “These are the Voyages…” a finale that still has people talking nineteen years later‚ with 44. Fewest comments (as of this writing): At the moment‚ of the entries that have comments available‚ it’s “Terra Prime‚” with a surprisingly low 11. Favorite Can’t we just reverse the polarity? From “Affliction”: If the flow regulators are locked open‚ the warp core will breach if you drop out of warp‚ but if you go faster‚ the pressure is lessened. This is actually rather a spiffy bit of sabotage‚ akin to that which we saw in the movie Speed… Favorite The gazelle speech: From “Observer Effect”: Archer sacrifices himself to try to save Tucker and Sato. He is also surprisingly unaffected by the corpse of his best friend sitting up and talking to him… Favorite I’ve been trained to tolerate offensive situations: From “The Forge”: T’Pol has to remind Archer at one point that she is part of a species that evolved on Vulcan‚ so she’s way more suited to wander across the Forge than his human ass. One of the things she mentions is the nictitating membrane‚ or “inner eyelid‚” something Spock needed the better part of a day to even remember he had… Favorite Florida Man: From “Demons”: Florida Man Has Miracle Baby With Alien Lover! Favorite Optimism‚ Captain! From “Divergence”: Phlox absolutely owns this episode‚ taking charge of the entire situation once he’s on the road to a cure‚ manipulating K’Vagh and Krell both with verve and aplomb. Image: CBS Favorite Good boy‚ Porthos! From “The Forge”: When Archer expresses disbelief that Vulcan children have sehlats as pets‚ T’Pol reminds Archer about Porthos. Archer’s riposte is that Porthos won’t eat him if he’s late with dinner‚ to which T’Pol replies that Vulcan children are never late with their sehlat’s dinner. (Well‚ at least not twice‚ anyhow…) Favorite Better Get MACO: From “Borderland”: Even though the Xindi crisis is over‚ there are still MACOs assigned to Enterprise. They guard Soong while he’s on the ship and Malik when he boards as well‚ and they prove as useless as ever in repelling a hostile boarding party‚ as the Augments take them down in seconds flat. Favorite Ambassador Pointy: From “The Forge”: Soval is very obviously humbled by Forrest’s selfless gesture‚ and he rebels against the High Command from the minute they start accusing Andorians and Syrrannites of the bombing. He also admits to being able to do mind-melds. Favorite The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined… From “In a Mirror‚ Darkly‚ Part II”: Like Spock before him and Sarek after him‚ the MU version of Soval has a goatée. Tradition! Favorite Blue meanies: From “Kir’Shara”: At one point‚ Kumari takes a hit intended for Enterprise‚ at which point Shran proclaims to Tucker that now Archer owes him two favors (the first for helping during “Zero Hour”). Image: CBS Favorite Qapla’!: From “The Augments”: We meet two Klingon captains in this episode. One is incredibly gullible‚ the other incredibly incompetent. Not a banner day for the Empire‚ this… Favorite No sex‚ please‚ we’re Starfleet: From “Bound”: I mean‚ where to start? The three Orion women turn all the human men (except for Tucker) into drooling idiots or posturing morons‚ or both. Plus T’Pol and Tucker finally decide to become a real couple after dancing around it for several years‚ and making us endure simply endless “Vulcan neuro-pressure” softcore porn scenes in season three… Favorite More on this later… From “The Augments”: At the end of the episode‚ Soong thinks that he should abandon genetic engineering in favor of cybernetics and artificial intelligence‚ and muses that it may take a few generations to get it right‚ a hilariously clumsy bit of foreshadowing of the work of his descendent Noonien Soong in creating Data‚ Lore‚ and B-4. In addition‚ Soong dismisses the story of Khan and his followers escaping Earth on Botany Bay as a myth‚ but it will be proven correct in the original series’ “Space Seed” (and again‚ after a fashion‚ in Star Trek Into Darkness) when Khan and his gaggle around found by Starfleet. Favorite Welcome aboard: Several past recurring regulars make their obviously last appearances this season: Vaughn Armstrong as Forrest‚ Molly Brink as Talas‚ Jeffrey Combs as Shran‚ Jim Fitzpatrick as Williams‚ Gary Graham as Soval‚ John Fleck as Sillik‚ and Matt Winston as Daniels. This season also gives us a few new recurring regulars for the final go-round: Michael Reilly Burke as Koss‚ Joanna Cassidy as T’Les‚ Derek Magyar as Kelby‚ Ada Maris as Hernandez‚ and Eric Pierpoint as Harris. Image: CBS Some folks who have made regular guest appearances in this era of Trek spinoffs also come back for one last hurrah: Lee Arenberg (“Babel One‚” “United”)‚ Cyia Batten (“Bound”)‚ Kristin Bauer (“Divergence”)‚ J. Paul Boehmer (“Storm Front”)‚ J. Michael Flynn (“Babel One‚” “United‚” “The Aenar”)‚ Robert Foxworth (“The Forge‚” “Awakening‚” “Kir’Shara”)‚ Wayne Grace (“Divergence”)‚ Brad Greenquist (“Affliction”)‚ Harry Groener (“Demons‚” “Terra Prime”)‚ J.G. Hertzler (“Borderland”)‚ Gregory Itzin (“In a Mirror‚ Darkly‚ Part II”)‚ William Lucking (“Bound”)‚ Christopher Neame (the “Storm Front” two-parter)‚ Richard Riehle (“Cold Station 12‚” “The Augments”)‚ Mark Rolston (“The Augments”)‚ John Rubinstein (“Awakening‚” “Kir’Shara”)‚ John Schuck (“Affliction‚” “Divergence”)‚ Joel Swetow (“Terra Prime”)‚ Brian Thompson (“Babel One‚” “United‚” “The Aenar”)‚ Marc Worden (“Affliction”)‚ and Tom Wright (“Storm Front”). Three actors get to play roles established on the original series: Kara Zediker as T’Pau (first seen and played by Celia Lovsky in “Amok Time‚” appearing in “Awakening” and “Kir’Shara”)‚ Bruce Gray as Surak (first seen and played by Barry Atwater in “The Savage Curtain‚” appearing in “Awakening”)‚ and Steve Rankin as Colonel Green (first seen and played by Phillip Pine in “The Savage Curtain‚” appearing in “Demons”). The “Storm Front” two-parter gave us some folks famous from other contemporary shows: Golden Brooks (Girlfriends)‚ Steven R. Schirippa‚ and Joe Maruzzo (both from The Sopranos). Other nifty guest stars include the great James Avery (“Affliction‚” “Divergence”)‚ WWE wrestler Big Show (“Borderland”)‚ Adam Clark (“Demons‚” “Terra Prime”)‚ Bill Cobbs (“Daedalus”)‚ Abby Brammell (“Borderland‚” “Cold Station 12‚” “The Augments”)‚ Peter Mensah (“Demons‚” “Terra Prime”)‚ Michael Nouri (“The Forge”)‚ Leslie Silva (“Daedalus”)‚ and Peter Weller (“Demons‚” “Terra Prime”). Image: CBS And we have some folks better known for their roles on other Trek shows‚ starting with the amusing two-episode appearance of Jakc Donner (Tal from the original series’ “The Enterprise Incident”) as a Vulcan priest in “Home” and “Kir’Shara‚” moving on to Brent Spiner (Data on TNG and Picard) playing his second of four members of the Soong clan‚ Arik‚ in “Borderland‚” “Cold Station 12‚” and “The Augments” (and also doing a vocal cameo as Data in “These are the Voyages…”)‚ and concluding with Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis reprising their roles as Riker and Troi from TNG (and later Picard) in “These are the Voyages…” But the best guest is the very very young Todd Stashwick‚ who will later go on to play Shaw in Picard season three‚ as a Vulcan-who’s-really-a-Romulan in “Kir’Shara.” Favorite I’ve got faith… From “The Forge”: “You keep saying ‘supposedly.’ You don’t believe Surak did the things they said he did?”“He brought logic to Vulcan‚ in an age we call the Time of Awakening. But his writings from that period no longer exist.”“There must be some record of it.”“Over the centuries‚ his followers made copies of his teachings.”“Let me guess—with the originals lost‚ whatever’s left is open to interpretation.”“You find this amusing?”“I find it familiar.”–Archer and T’Pol discussing Surak. Favorite Trivial matter: Probably the one for “Divergence‚” with all its Klingon-y goodness… Image: CBS It’s been a long road… “I’ve been told that people are calling us heroes.” On the one hand‚ this is the show Enterprise really should’ve been all along. After two years of giving us the most lackluster exploration of outer space imaginable and one year of a 9/11-inspired season-long arc that didn’t really work‚ they finally decided to embrace being a prequel and show the roots of what would come later. What was most successful about the season was that they didn’t allow themselves to be constrained by the one-hour format. The season was a delightful mix of single episodes‚ and two- and three-parters‚ giving some stories the space they needed. Unfortunately‚ the execution left a lot to be desired. They all started promising‚ with the Augment three-parter giving us Brent Spiner snark; the Vulcan three-parter giving us the attack on the embassy that killed Forrest‚ a devastating loss; the Andorian three-parter opened with Shran’s ship being destroyed and Archer trying to negotiate a fragile peace‚ ending the first episode with a brilliant cliffhanger; the Terra Prime two-parter‚ the Klingon two-parter‚ and the Mirror Universe two-parter all had excellent first episodes‚ as well. And every single multipart storyline blew the ending. The Augment trilogy turned into nonsense with the Augment kids looking more like they should be arguing over what mousse product to use in their hair than being the vanguard of the next step in human evolution. Both the Vulcan trilogy and the Klingon two-parter expended a great deal of story energy fixing things that weren’t broken‚ giving unnecessary fan service at the expense of an engaging story. The MU diversion was just that‚ a diversion‚ and not as fun a one as it could have been‚ as Trek has dipped into the MU well way too often. And the fascinating political commentary of Terra Prime devolved into an action hour with a big ray gun pointed at Earth. Probably the most successful story was the Andorian one‚ which would’ve made a fantastic two-parter. Alas‚ they tacked a third part on‚ and “The Aenar” adds almost nothing to the story that wasn’t already accomplished by the first two parts. The standalone episodes run the gamut from brilliant (“Home‚” a fantastic coda to the third season’s trauma) to dreadful (“Bound‚” a throwback to the worst excesses of the original series). And the season was bookended by two abject failures. First was pathetically ending the Temporal Cold War with SPACE NAZIS! and then ending the season and the series with a misbegotten disaster of a TNG crossover holodeck episode that fails as an Enterprise finale‚ fails as a parallel storyline to a rather good TNG episode‚ and just generally fails. While the fourth season is better than the previous three‚ it’s too little‚ way too late. By the time the fall of 2004 rolled around‚ Enterprise had hemorrhaged viewers to the point that no matter what they did in season four‚ it wasn’t going to be seen by enough viewers to justify the expense of producing the show. Three years of Mediocre White People Failing Upward had not proven to be a winning story strategy‚ and the final season did little to ameliorate that. Excellent work by various guest stars—the likes of Spiner‚ Gary Graham (whose Soval was at his best this season)‚ Jeffrey Combs‚ John Schuck‚ James Avery‚ Bill Cobbs‚ Harry Groener‚ Peter Weller‚ Joanna Cassidy‚ Michael Nouri‚ and Vaughn Armstrong all served to show up how incredibly lackluster the main cast was. No one more embodied this than Ada Maris‚ whose Captain Hernandez proved in three episodes to be far more charismatic and interesting a shipmaster than Scott Bakula was able to scrape together over four seasons. Warp factor rating for the season: 5 This ends‚ not just the Enterprise Rewatch‚ but all the classic Trek rewatches that I’ve been doing for this site on and off since 2011. Later this month‚ I’m going to do a wrapup of the five rewatches of the original series‚ The Next Generation‚ Deep Space Nine‚ Voyager‚ and Enterprise. And keep an eye on Reactor for news of my next big project… [end-mark] The post <;i>;Star Trek: Enterprise<;/i>; Rewatch: Fourth Season Overview appeared first on Reactor.

If you’re like me and you like to 100 percent game‚ then you’ll want to read this guide. There are tons of challenges in Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League‚ most of which you’ll miss out on doing on your first try. However‚ you can replay missions or chapters you’ve unlocked‚ and I’m going to show how to do that in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. In turn‚ those challenges may become easier on your second run. Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League: How to replay chapters When you increase the difficulty‚ that will give you a reason to go back re do certain missions to get more XP. Replaying missions can easily be done in the Squad Menu. On the left bar‚ you can select which chapter you want to play plus whichever mission you want to redo. You can only replay missions you’ve done before.  Screenshot: PC Invasion On top of that‚ the game doesn’t exit once you’re done. Once you beat the mission‚ you’ll continue playing from that point onwar...

Games being in early access nowadays is great because it helps developers iron out problems earlier. On the other hand‚ issues will pop up in the dozens for these games. Palworld is sadly no exception to the rule. Since its launch‚ the game has faced many issues such as the “running an incompatible version” error. Today‚ we’re talking about the Exception Access Violation error in Palworld‚ so follow along to figure out how to fix it.  Palworld: How to fix the Exception Access Violation error As I was logging into Palworld and trying to get into the world‚ I was struck with this error message. From researching the solutions‚ I found a few that were varying in difficulty. However‚ the solution that worked for me was as easy as fixing the connection timed-out error. In some cases‚ you might think that restarting the game works‚ and it may. To make things easier and to not leave the game or create a new world‚ you can change the settings of your world before diving in.  ...

Last week‚ far-left MSNBC host Joy Reid made headlines after getting caught on a hot mic cursing out President Biden for promising to hit back at Iranian proxy forces after three U.S. soldiers were killed. But during an appearance on ABC’s The View on Monday‚ Reid claimed she didn’t curse him out and defended herself by suggesting “I’m a Christian.” She also engaged in revisionist history by lashing out at anyone who said they were better off financially during the Trump years. Despite there being two so-called “conservatives” on the panel that day‚ it was left-of-center host Sara Haines who was the one to press Reid on her vulgar reaction (decrying Biden “starting another fucking war”). Of course‚ she approached it gently with some quips; to which Reid threw up her “Christian” defense: HAINES: Now Joy‚ I want to ask you because as people that wear microphones every day‚ we can relate to this. But last week‚ you had a hot mic moment that got some attention. Let’s just say you used some colorful language. Who doesn't? REID: Not me. I'm a Christian. [Laughter] HAINES: It seems like you are criticizing President Biden for starting another war. I don't think you're alone in concerns of that‚ but is that true? Like‚ what was behind this? “Well‚ I'm going to hit that with a cute ‘no comment‚’” she said.     Reid proceeded to try to deflect away from her comments by suggesting she was “a red-letter” and “study-war-no-more kind of Christian” who was against all wars‚ including the new “civil war” Texas Governor Greg Abbott was “literally trying to start.” “I'm an anti-war person. And so‚ you know‚ I don't want to say that there's any side that is specifically to blame here‚” she proclaimed‚ seemingly alluding to the attacks on U.S. bases and civilian shipping traffic in the Middle East. And despite being a race-baiter herself‚ Reid bloviated about how we should “try to bring this country back from the brink of racial hatred. Let's not do war at all.” Since it was Monday‚ the audience was deprived of a Joy Reid and Joy Behar mash-up. But that didn’t stop stupid statements from being made. Earlier in the interview‚ Reid claimed: “On the facts‚ the economy is far better now than it was under Donald Trump.” She also lashed out at those who dared to say their financial situation was better under Tramp by suggesting what they were saying was simply “not true” and literally “not possible.”   Joy Reid claims "on the facts‚ the economy is far better now than it was under" Trump/"not possible" that people were better off. She suggests the economy shut down during COVID because he "flubbed it so badly" early on. She also asserts "a million people died BECAUSE OF him." pic.twitter.com/MhRujr8mGS — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 5‚ 2024   Reid blamed Trump for the “14 percent unemployment” during the pandemic and insanely suggested that the only reason the economy shut down was because he “flubbed it so thoroughly” early on. “And a million people died. Not even some people. A million people died because of him‚” she proclaimed‚ without evidence. “[Americans] have this mismemory of the Trump era as this great era. It was the opposite‚” she chided. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View February 5‚ 2024 11:38:11 a.m. Eastern (…) JOY REID: Anyone can win if people vote for them. So yes‚ he [President Joe Biden) has absolutely a chance to win‚ and as you said‚ every candidate starts out with a good 45 percent and it's a matter of the rest. The challenge for President Biden is that‚ on the facts‚ the economy is far better now than it was under Donald Trump‚ who failed in his one job: react to a crisis. As president‚ you’re a crisis manager. He was hit with one bad crisis‚ the pandemic‚ and flubbed it so thoroughly we were at 14 percent unemployment. Yet people – SUNNY HOSTIN: People died. REID: And a million people died. Not even some people. A million people died because of him. And yet‚ you have people saying‚ “I had more money. I was rich under Trump.” Not true. Not possible. And the fact that he overcame his own objection to the stimmy‚ signed a bill Democrats passed to give you a stimmy‚ then took credit for the stimmy by put a letter in the thing when you got the stimmy that said‚ “You're welcome‚ Donald Trump‚” even though he was against the stimmy‚ and now you got people in the street saying‚ “Well‚ Trump gave me a stimmy.” No he didn't! Nancy Pelosi gave you a stimmy! You need to thank her! And he's taking credit for things he didn't even do. And “the best economy” – I hear him saying things like – People say things like‚ he did the most for HBCUs. Wrong‚ Obama. “He released the most people from prison.” Wrong‚ Obama. He released the fewest prisoners an any president since literally since Lyndon B. Johnson. HOSTIN: Did he finish the wall? REID: Did not build a wall‚ which is why there's barbed wire at the border because it’s water! You can’t build a wall over water! It's a whole Rio Grande. You can't build a wall over that. So‚ he can’t build a wall. None of it was true. Yet‚ people – they have this mismemory of the Trump era as this great era. It was the opposite. SARA HAINES: Now Joy‚ I want to ask you because as people that wear microphones every day‚ we can relate to this. But last week‚ you had a hot mic moment that got some attention. Let’s just say you used some colorful language. Who doesn't. REID: Not me. I'm a Christian. [Laughter] HAINES: It seems like you are criticizing President Biden for starting another war. I don't think you're alone in concerns of that‚ but is that true? Like‚ what was behind this? REID: [Laughter] Well‚ I'm going to hit that with a cute “no comment.” No‚ but what I'm going to say is‚ I am a person that I'm a study-war-no-more kind of Christian. I'm a red-letter Christian. I don't believe in war whether it is the governor of Texas literally trying to start another civil war over an issue that his party could solve tomorrow. There's literally a bill that they just could pass‚ right? And do the border security issue. Or whether it's in the Middle East. I was deeply against the Iraq. I'm an anti-war person. And so‚ you know‚ I don't want to say that there's any side that is specifically to blame here‚ but I think the idea -- I think for most Americans‚ we're war weary. I think we're all weary of conflict‚ and we would like to see us progress economically‚ socially‚ try to bring this country back from the brink of racial hatred. Let's not do war at all. HOSTIN: Yeah. Let's not kill people. (…)

The New York Times kicked its pro-Bidenomics Pravda into overdrive as the U.S. gears up for a contentious presidential election this year. “The Economy Looks Sunny‚ a Potential Gain for Biden‚” read the latest headline spin from Times economics reporter Jim Tankersley‚ whose record of ridiculous fanboying for President Joe Biden is a feat in and of itself. Tankersley wasted no time in throwing confetti on the Bidenomics trash heap. “A run of strong economic data appears to have finally punctured consumers’ sour mood about the U.S. economy‚ blasting away recession fears and potentially aiding President Biden in his re-election campaign‚” a giddy Tankersley praised. But Tankersley deceptively left out major context that undercut his entire premise. [Emphasis added.] Business leaders like Adrian Day‚ President of Adrian Day Asset Management‚ are sounding alarm bells that a recession is “all but inevitable” at this point. But Tankersley bemoaned how Biden wasn’t getting credit for “the positive signs in the economy under his watch‚ including rapid job gains‚ low unemployment and the fastest rebound in economic growth from the pandemic recession of any wealthy country.” There was so much spin in Tankersley’s so-called “News Analysis” item that it could give readers dizzy spells. Adrian Day tells The David Lin Report that a recession is "all but inevitable" (January 22‚ 2024). As Mises Institute Executive Editor Ryan McMaken cut through the media gaslighting in a Jan. 15 blog: “[T]he job growth we do see in the government sector does not represent the result of private investment‚ saving‚ or demand.” In essence‚ much of the “growth” is not organic. “Rather‚” McMaken continued‚ “these government positions are positions that only exist as the result of wealth transferred from the private sector to the government sector.” McMaken also noted the percentage of government sector jobs to overall monthly payroll growth vacillated anywhere between 21 percent and a whopping 58 percent between July and December 2023. McMaken concluded that this reality was a significant recession signal — you know — the fears of which Tankersley praised as being blasted “away.” In fact‚ said McMaken‚ “[t]he job growth we do see is increasingly being driven by government spending‚ and not by private investment. Even worse‚ the government spending we see is largely deficit spending‚ meaning the economic ‘good news’ is reliant on massive amounts of new government debt.” Go figure. The national debt skyrocketed past $34 trillion for the first time in history last month. Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni‚ repudiating the media embellishment of the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing a 353‚000 job gain‚ confirmed McMaken’s argument in a post on X by concluding that jobs have “overwhelmingly been created in gov't and gov't dominated/funded healthcare sector.” But it gets worse as Antoni continued: “[E]ven after adjusting for seasonal changes which are huge in Jan‚ [the] economy still lost full-time jobs and only gained part-time jobs.”  As far as where the jobs are‚ they have overwhelmingly been created in gov't and gov't dominated/funded healthcare sector - take away both direct and indirect gov't expenditures funded by debt and Y/Y job growth turns negative‚ pointing to unsustainability... pic.twitter.com/i7sVaoYyIk — E.J. Antoni‚ Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) February 2‚ 2024 Tankersley also misled readers by sensationalizing how “[a]fter lagging price growth early in Mr. Biden’s term‚ wages are now rising faster than inflation.” But this is just the short-term data outlook that is devoid of the long-term impact‚ as Winston Group President and congressional Republican adviser David Winston argued in a Jan. 31 Roll Call op-ed. “Overall‚ since Biden’s inaugural‚ hourly wages have cumulatively increased 14.5 percent‚ while inflation has gone up 17.3 percent‚” Winston wrote. “This means inflation has outpaced hourly wages by 2.8 percent so far in Biden’s term.” But that didn’t stop Tankersley from mindlessly regurgitating a blatant falsehood from White House Council of Economic Advisers chairman Jared Bernstein‚ who erroneously claimed that “‘with easing inflation‚ we’ve got wages handily beating prices‚ meaning more buying power.’” In fact‚ the only criticism Tankersley included of the pro-Bidenomics narrative was buried in the 13th paragraph and was premised with an editorialized smear to make it seem like Biden’s critics were just being petty: The narrative shift is also evident in the way Mr. Biden’s critics talk about the economy. Some have resorted to scouring recent data for any sign of weakness. However‚ Tankersley then undercut his own argument when conceding in the 19th paragraph that the “hangover” from high inflation was contributing to American voters’ souring on Bidenomics‚ but he still tried to sugarcoat the data anyway. “Gasoline prices have fallen‚ for example. But grocery prices remain elevated after a huge leap in 2022 and 2023‚ though their rate of increase has drastically slowed‚” Tankersley downplayed. But here are the raw facts that Tankersley glossed over‚ as Winston analyzed: Gas prices are “35.1 percent higher” than they were since Biden took office; groceries are “20.1 percent” higher and electricity prices are “25.1 percent” higher. Tankersley’s depiction of a “sunny” day in Biden-land is actually nothing more than a cloudy‚ stormy mess. Conservatives are under attack. Contact The New York Times and demand it stop behaving like the Biden campaign’s PR arm on the economy.  

A coalition of activists and former government officials called on Congress to permanently defund a United Nations agency over reports that some of its workers participated in the recent terror attack on Israel‚ according to a Monday letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.The recent letter‚ sent by conservative policy nonprofit Advancing American Freedom‚ was addressed to Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (La.)‚ Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.)‚ Democratic Majority Leader Senator Charles Schumer (N.Y.)‚ and Republican Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (Ky.)."It is a moral imperative that the United States Congress affirmatively defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) and prohibit the Biden Administration from directly or indirectly providing any taxpayer funding or support to the openly antisemitic and now apparently terrorist organization‚" the letter stated.It noted that the U.S. could not continue to fund the agency "with a clean conscience‚" adding that financing the UNRWA would be crossing a "red line." "For years‚ the American people were told a litany of lies aimed at creating a false understanding of UNRWA as simply a humanitarian organization that needed the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people to provide services for millions of Palestinians misleadingly characterized as 'refugees‚'" it continued.The nonprofit's letter to Congress was signed by more than 70 activists and former government officials‚ including former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman‚ former deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Bonnie Glick‚ CEO of Concerned Women for America Penny Nance‚ Honorary Chairman of Tea Party Patriot Action Jenny Beth Martin‚ and CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition Matt Brooks.Last month‚ the U.S. temporarily pulled funding from the UNRWA after reports surfaced that at least a dozen of its employees were allegedly directly involved in the October 7 terror attack on Israel‚ Blaze News previously reported.According to a leaked dossier from Israeli intelligence officials‚ nearly 1‚200 UNRWA workers allegedly have ties to Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. As a result of the findings‚ nine employees were terminated.UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini stated‚ "The Israeli Authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October.""To protect the Agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance‚ I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay. Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable‚ including through criminal prosecution‚" Lazzarini added.The U.S. Department of State responded to the reports by halting "additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them‚" according to a January press release."The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel‚" the State Department said. It claimed the U.N. agency "plays a critical role in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

About a week ago‚ AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift swept the internet at an alarming rate. The fake pictures went so viral that one image was “seen 47 million times on X before it was removed” after only being up for “about 17 hours‚” Hilary Kennedy tells Pat Gray. After the images were finally discovered‚ X blocked any searches related to Taylor Swift for a temporary period of time in an effort to prevent the explicit content from circulating even more. The website responsible for publishing the images “has done this with lots of celebrities before‚” says Hilary. Because these deepfakes are so “incredibly convincing‚ people in Washington are finally trying to do something about [it]” via a policy called the Defiance Act‚ which was “introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin‚ Lindsey Graham‚ Senator Josh Hawley‚ and Senator Amy Klobuchar.” Senator Durbin stated that “sexually-explicit deepfake content is often used to exploit and harass women—particularly public figures‚ politicians‚ and celebrities...Although the imagery may be fake‚ the harm to the victims from the distribution of sexually explicit deepfakes is very real. Victims have lost their jobs‚ and they may suffer ongoing depression or anxiety. By introducing this legislation‚ we’re giving power back to the victims‚ cracking down on the distribution of deepfake images‚ and holding those responsible for the images accountable.” The Defiance Act “would enable people who are victims of this to be able to take civil action against anybody that produces it [or] possesses it with the intent to distribute it‚” says Hilary. Further‚ people who are in possession of deepfake images “knowing the victim did not consent” can also “be held liable.” But Pat sees some holes in this new Defiance Act. “For instance‚ if you got Taylor Swift deepfakes‚ you don't know for sure whether she said it's okay or not‚” he says. To hear more of the conversation‚ watch the clip below. Want more from Pat Gray?To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world‚ subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.

The owner of a brothel that utilizes artificial intelligence claims that sex is moving in the direction of virtual reality and the "digital world." The business‚ which also incorporates sex dolls‚ also shrugged off criticism that its dolls depict stereotypes of women by attributing their creation to "white men."Cybrothel‚ operating out of Berlin‚ Germany‚ combines the use of AI and virtual reality to connect its clients with its neo-prostitutes. This means that the brothel does not have traditional‚ human sex workers‚ but rather a series of sex dolls that are supplemented with virtual reality pornography featuring those very same dolls.Bimbo‚ Kokeshi‚ and Ms. Schmidt are some of the dolls' names‚ the New York Post reported‚ with users also having the option to engage in AI-generated conversations with the dolls' personas."If you are here‚ the only person who can judge you is yourself‚" co-owner Matthias Smetana said. "We have a lot of people who have never been in touch with sex work‚ who are really down to try it but are looking for a safe space. If you face performance anxiety‚ this doesn’t go in Cybrothel as you are dealing with sex toys‚ not humans.""[Traditional] clients will be gone in the next 10 to 15 years‚" he continued. "So I think right now the sex industry will move on more in the VR direction. Having sex in the digital world and the physical world at the same time."The unique brothel seems to have pivoted in its use of technology since a November 2023 interview with RBB 24.At that time‚ the establishment seemed to be using a combination of sex dolls coupled with human women providing voices for the dolls in real time.The women were described as speakers who were watching through a camera during the act and also provided live reactions.The "Voice Queens‚" as they were dubbed‚ also reportedly educated clients by teaching etiquette. "If now‚ for example‚ someone just sits over the doll without saying a word and starts kneading the breasts‚ then I'll say something like 'Excuse me!? Please ask first‚'" one of the voice actors said.The outlet noted that the design of the sex dolls could be criticized for conveying a male and stereotypical view of women and sexuality."So women of course don't look like these dolls that hang here‚" said another owner‚ Philipp Fussenegger. "This was made by white men‚" he rationalized.Fussenegger‚ who was dressed as a woman as he hosed down the sex equipment‚ informed the outlet that the dolls were intended to portray a fantasy."We're trying to go in the direction of fantasy ... so mermaids‚ aliens‚ tentacles‚" he explained.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A 20-year-old male attempted a carjacking in the Philadelphia area late last week and wound up shot amid an exchange of gunfire‚ police said.What are the details?Upper Darby police told WPVI-TV a white Kia sideswiped another car in the 300 block of Richfield Road around 12:30 a.m.‚ after which the victim followed the Kia in an attempt to speak to its driver.When both vehicles were stopped at a light at the intersection of Marshall and Hampton Roads‚ Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt told WPVI a rear passenger exited the Kia and "tried to carjack" the driver who was allegedly sideswiped.Bernhardt added to the station that "there was an exchange of gunfire‚" one of the shots hit the alleged carjacker in the back‚ and the wounded male jumped back into the Kia‚ which sped off. WPVI said an Upper Darby officer heard the gunfire and called for backup."They did try to stop the car‚ and the car wouldn't stop‚ so they were pursuing the car to try to stop the vehicle‚" Bernhardt noted to the station.Soon‚ the driver of the Kia lost control and crashed‚ WPVI said.That ain't the half of itPolice told the station three individuals were inside the Kia. One was the shot carjacking suspect — a 20-year-old male from Colwyn who was taken to a hospital and was listed in stable condition‚ WPVI said. The second individual was the driver — who is all of 15 years old and from Darby Borough‚ the station said‚ adding that the cops caught him. The third person in the Kia got away‚ WPVI said.What's more‚ the station said the crashed Kia had been reported stolen. Blaze News has reported on the rash of Kia and Hyundai thefts of late."The Kias and Hyundais are stolen all day‚ every day‚" Bernhardt noted to WPVI.The station said the victim who was allegedly sideswiped is a 38-year-old Upper Darby man‚ and police said while they don't yet know if he fired the shot that hit the would-be carjacker‚ they say he's licensed to carry.WPVI said Upper Darby police are working with the District Attorney's office to determine charges in the case.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Anti-white activist Ibram Kendi arrived late to a recent debate regarding the quantification of racism — but just in time to embarrass himself. The set-up A political science professor at Kentucky State University suggested in the pages of the National Review last week that intersectionality "is just a badly done 'woke' version of regression analysis." Dr. Wilfred Reilly wrote that "racism or sexism can only be said to exist where we find that pretty much identical people‚ who differ only in terms of the characteristic of race or sex‚ are still being treated differently — after all of the other factors which might explain performance differences between them have been accounted for." "This sort of real bigotry is‚ today‚ fairly rare‚" said Reilly. "Many 'intersectional' studies that purport to find giant residual effects of race or sex on some specific thing — individuals' chances of going to prison‚ let's say — literally just consist of unadjusted comparisons between citizens in two or more different groups‚" continued Reilly. "This‚ however‚ is not how serious people conduct this sort of analysis." Reilly's assertion prickled one Harvard Ph.D. student who apparently found himself in the unserious camp. Kareem Carr‚ a self-described statistician‚ claimed on X that the argument that racism and sexism "are essentially non-existent because their effects on stuff like income disappear if you control for all relevant variables like education‚ work history and so on" is wrong. Having indicated he could explain why Reilly and others were wrong‚ Carr suggested that "[s]ocial forces like sexism and racism aren't magical. They act through specific mechanisms in the physical world." After granting sexism and racism special powers‚ Carr then had his followers imagine that the impact of the "racism" could be tracked and measured. — (@) Carr later admitted that it is "hard to frame this issue objectively." The Kendi scale Christopher Rufo‚ a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute‚ responded to Carr's post‚ asking‚ "What is the scientific definition of 'racism' here? How do you measure it quantitatively? How do you determine the causal influence from racism to intermediary institutions to individual income?" "With what controls?" added Rufo. "And what is the current quantity of racism in the United States?" Colin Wright‚ the evolutionary biologist behind "Reality's Last Stand‚" had an answer ready for Rufo: "Depends on what units you use. But assuming you're using the Kendi scale‚ as is standard in the US‚ then approximately 1‚619 Kendis." Wright clarified‚ "For those not familiar with the Kendi scale‚ 1 Kendi refers to the quantity of racism‚ measured in Kendis‚ in order to reach 1 Kendi." Ibram Kendi‚ originally Ibram Henry Rogers‚ is the identitarian academic who runs the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University — the race-obsessed center that recently fired half its staff and is facing an inquiry over allegations of employee exploitation‚ poor pay‚ failing to provide any halfway decent research‚ and a mismanagement of $43 million in donations‚ according to the Washington Post. As the inquiry may soon confirm‚ Kendi's expertise is not managing think tanks but rather in accusing multitudes of Americans of racism. His antidote is‚ evidently‚ more racism. "The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination‚" Kendi wrote in 2019. "The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination." The figure Wright used in his joke appears to have been aimed at "The 1619 Project‚" Nikole Hannah-Jones' fact-averse revisionist history‚ which spun out a derivative containing direct contributions from Kendi. Rufo pressed the joke further‚ writing‚ "Can't believe we're approaching 1‚619 ku of racism in America‚ in 2024. We need the Department of Antiracism to shut it down—15 days to slow the spread." On Sunday‚ Kendi seized upon Wright's days-old joke‚ writing‚ "In your imaginary‚ racism does not exist but the 'Kendi scale' does exist? I am not familiar with the 'Kendi scale' but I am familiar with racism." "I suspect this is one reason why people like this become propagandists. It is easy to deny reality and make things up‚" added Kendi. — (@) Colin Wright responded to Kendi‚ "It's just a joke dude." Wright later noted with apparent glee‚ "Kendi thought my post about measuring racism in America using the 'Kendi scale‚' which I said came out to '1619 Kendis‚' was serious. I even defined the units of the Kendi scale with Kendi-esque circularity." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!