Actor from the hit drama series "Yellowstone" Forrie J. Smith claimed that he was kicked off a flight after telling crew members that he didn't want to sit next to a person who was a wearing a mask."You know my social media people tell me that you like me face to face. But you know what‚ I can’t say face to face what I want‚" Smith said on his Instagram page.While Smith admitted that he had been drinking‚ the 65-year-old stated it wasn't the reason he was removed from the flight. Instead‚ Smith claimed that the flight crew took issue with his statement that he wasn't comfortable sitting next to a masked passenger."I just got kicked off the plane in‚ where the hell am I at? Houston‚ Texas‚ because I told them I didn't feel comfortable sitting next to some one with a mask on‚" he continued."Yeah‚ I've been drinking‚ I've been sitting in the airport for three hours‚ I'm drinking‚ I ain't drunk‚" Smith explained. "They throw me off the plane because I'm drunk‚ because you people won't stand up and tell everybody what bulls**t this is.""I just told them I didn't feel comfortable about sitting next to somebody that had to wear a mask‚ and I'm off the plane."Smith's video was cut off mid-sentence and concluded without the actor revealing what airline he was flying on or where he was headed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Forrie J. Smith (@forriejsmithcowboy) The TV star has showcased similar firm beliefs that have caused him to miss events in recent history.In 2022‚ Smith stated that he would miss the Screen Actors Guild Awards because he wasn't able to get on a flight due to being unvaccinated for COVID-19."I want to apologize to y’all for not being at the Screen Actors Guild Awards‚" Smith said in a video that was posted to his Instagram account but later taken down. "I mean no offense to anyone. I’m not vaccinated‚ and it’s a requirement to be vaccinated" to be at the ceremony."You have to be vaccinated with a booster shot and a negative COVID test within 48 hours‚ gotta wear a K-95624350 whatever kind of mask‚ and I'm not vaccinated. I will not get vaccinated. I haven’t been vaccinated since I was a little kid. I don’t vaccinate my dogs‚ I don’t vaccinate my horses. I’ve never had a flu shot. I never will. I believe they compromise your immunities‚" Smith added.The actor apologized for not being able to appear on the red carpet wearing a "big‚ black American hat and Justin Boots and representing my culture and heritage.""I just don’t believe in that stuff. ... Whatever‚" he concluded.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

State Farm announced Wednesday that it plans to drop 72‚000 insurance policies in California‚ citing inflation and several other issues.According to a recent State Farm press release‚ the insurance company will either withdraw or not renew tens of thousands of policies "on a rolling basis over the next year‚ beginning on July 3‚ 2024." The decision will impact homeowners‚ business owners‚ commercial apartments‚ and residential community associations. The insurance company stated that it is "working to ensure its long-term sustainability in California‚" noting that the non-renewals and withdrawals "represent just over 2% of State Farm General's policy count" in the state."This decision was not made lightly and only after careful analysis of State Farm General's financial health‚ which continues to be impacted by inflation‚ catastrophe exposure‚ reinsurance costs‚ and the limitations of working within decades-old insurance regulations‚" State Farm's press release read.The company said‚ "It is necessary to take these actions now."California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara responded Friday to State Farm's recent announcement."This is a real crisis‚" Lara told KABC's Eyewitness News. He stated that he would like to review the company's finances."Insurance companies are not like utility companies‚" he explained. "By law‚ they don't have to be here‚ and when we try to overregulate‚ we'll see what happened after the Northridge earthquake‚ when the legislature came in and tried to overregulate‚ and they no longer write earthquake insurance in California."According to Lara‚ the current model insurance companies use to assess risk is "a black box." "We're going to change that to be much more transparent‚" he declared. "We bring the risk down in these communities‚ we keep insurers writing‚ then you get more insurers writing‚ you bring down the cost."Individuals whose policies are impacted by State Farm's latest announcement are encouraged to notify the California Department of Insurance. "We will make sure we have an insurance expert with you so that we help you transition and connect you with insurance companies who are writing policies in California‚" Lara added.Carmen Balber‚ with Consumer Watchdog‚ told KABC that the insurance provider's decision to cancel tens of thousands of policies demonstrates that Lara's "plan is not working.""We have been urging for years now that California require insurance companies who want to sell home or auto insurance in California‚ sell to everyone who does the right thing and it protects their homes. We urge the insurance commissioner to support that policy change‚ which needs to go through the legislature‚" Balber stated.In 2022‚ Allstate stopped providing home insurance policies to new California customers‚ citing increased wildfire risks and an uptick in construction costs‚ the Associated Press reported."The cost to insure new home customers in California is far higher than the price they would pay for policies due to wildfires‚ higher costs for repairing homes and higher reinsurance premium‚" Allstate stated at the time.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

These days‚ the web is a painful place. Click on any random link‚ and chances are you’ll be taken to a bloated page full of pop-ups‚ prompts‚ disclaimers‚ and intrusive ads. If the page has any useful content at all‚ you’ll likely have to wade through a swamp of annoyances to extract it. But even more likely‚ the random web page you’ve clicked will be full of thin‚ useless content. Or even worse‚ the text was written by ChatGPT and not even skimmed by a human before publication.Things didn’t used to be this way. Back in the halcyon days of the 1990s and early 2000s‚ the web was a weird and wonderful place. Web pages were created by hobbyists who wanted to share their interests with the world. They didn’t care about search engine optimization or marketing funnels. You honestly had to surf the web to find what was out there.Long before Google hit the scene and conquered the open web‚ almost everything on the internet was word of mouth. Search engines existed‚ but they were essentially useless. Instead‚ you had to dig through a web directory to find a site you liked and then visit the sites they linked to. It was almost 100% human-curated‚ even before someone had thought of that term. A single page might cover a multitude of topics‚ and they were littered with all sorts of low-resolution buttons for various causes.Back then‚ the web was weird‚ wild‚ often bewildering‚ and very much human. Then along came Google and Web 2.0‚ and slowly‚ over time‚ websites became clean‚ minimalist‚ topically focused‚ and sterile. What had been a wild frontier morphed into a suburban shopping mall‚ and now it feels like a rundown shopping mall in the bad part of town.Unfortunately‚ that weird and wild frontier web is long gone. Or is it?Search the old web with WibyIf you want a little taste of that old-time internet‚ head over to wiby.me. Wiby is a search engine dedicated to preserving and resurfacing the original web. As Wiby’s creators explain:In the early days of the web‚ pages were made primarily by hobbyists‚ academics‚ and computer savvy people about subjects they were personally interested in. Later on‚ the web became saturated with commercial pages that overcrowded everything else. All the personalized websites are hidden among a pile of commercial pages. Google isn't great at finding them‚ its focus is on finding answers to technical questions‚ and it works well; but finding things you didn't know you wanted to know‚ which was the real joy of web surfing‚ no longer happens. In addition‚ many pages today are created using bloated scripts that add slick cosmetic features in order to mask the lack of content available on them. Those pages contribute to the blandness of today's web.The Wiby search engine is building a web of pages as it was in the earlier days of the internet. In addition‚ Wiby helps vintage computers to continue browsing the web‚ as pages indexed are more suitable for their performance.Wiby is a search engine‚ but it won’t replace Google for your everyday searches. It indexes only a very small number of classic websites‚ and the results may not be what you expect. But that’s not really what Wiby is for.Don’t know what to search for on Wiby? Click “surprise me ...” and you’ll be taken to another weird and wonderful destination‚ like:The Prehistoric Alignment of World Wonders. Did you know that “Easter Island‚ Nazca‚ Ollantaytambo‚ Paratoari‚ Tassili n'Ajjer and Giza are all aligned on a single great circle”? Now you do.Bjarne Stroustrup's homepage. Bjarne created the C++ programming language‚ and his old-fashioned page is full of useful resources.Maybe you’ll get froobed?Have U.S. presidents been cloned? The Indian in the Machine is on it!Awii’s website in cyberspace. Enter if you dare.Lawrence Goetz’s homepage for all the hottest Windows 95 tips. You can even leave Lawrence a voicemail. Best viewed with Netscape Navigator.The Sasquatch Genome Project‚ which is conducting some promising research.With Wiby‚ you feel as though you’re truly surfing the web again‚ and you can easily kill an afternoon clicking through random sites. It’s a reminder that the internet doesn’t have to be a bland‚ sterile place chock full of bloated pop-ups and marketing copy. There is still very much a human internet out there. You just have to escape the safe confines of Google to see it.If you enjoy what Wiby is doing to preserve the classic web‚ consider giving them a donation to help cover their costs.

A New York high school volleyball coach accused of raping a 15-year-old girl committed suicide by train hours after making his first appearance in court for the alleged child sex crimes‚ according to police. Jason Maser‚ 22‚ had been a volleyball coach at Sacred Heart Academy — an all-girls Catholic school in Hempstead‚ New York. Maser was also a coach at B&;B Volleyball — a club team based in Long Island.Maser's alleged victim played on both teams. Maser was fired from Sacred Heart Academy and B&;B Volleyball after the rape allegations.According to the New York Daily News‚ B&;B Volleyball informed parents it had learned of an "inappropriate sexual relationship between an adult who coached for B&;B Volleyball and one of our players."Sacred Heart officials said they contacted authorities “immediately” after finding out about the accusations. Special Victims Squad officers arrested Maser at his home in Syosset on Thursday. He was charged with two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of criminal sex act in addition to endangering the welfare of a child‚ according to the criminal complaint.Police accused Maser of raping a 15-year-old girl at least twice inside his Jeep in Albertson on Feb. 7 and March 7‚ according to the complaint. The former part-time coach at Sacred Heart Academy made his first court appearance regarding the allegations on Friday afternoon in Hempstead. Maser pleaded not guilty to the charges. He posted $75‚000 bail and was released. Judge Marie F. McCormack ordered Maser to stay away from the alleged victim.Maser reportedly killed himself hours after appearing in court.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority told 1010 WINS that Maser "intentionally" stepped in front of Long Island Rail Road train #1573 at the Woodbury Road crossing in Syosset around 10:35 p.m. on Friday. MTA police said Maser was pronounced dead at the scene. The Nassau County Police Department identified the body as Maser. MTA Police Department spokesperson Michael Cortez said Maser left a suicide note before allegedly committing suicide by train. Maser’s lawyer‚ John Carman‚ said Maser's family is devastated by the sudden death. Carman told Newsday over the weekend‚ "While they process what has occurred‚ they are concerned for the young woman involved."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The comments come after Chuck Todd attacked network executives on Sunday over McDaniel’s hiring.

The former president is squeezed for cash and time as he struggles to defeat the Democrats’ lawfare campaign against him.

Trump pled not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.

The fewer flags we fly other than the Stars and Stripes‚ the better.

SHOCKER! Calif. Minimum Wage Already Having the 'Entirely Predictable Outcome'

Elon Musk Pushes for Red Wave 'or America Is Toast' and Lefty Mouth-Breathers Lose Their FREAKIN' Minds