As Pride Month nears its end, Allie Beth Stuckey has made an interesting observation. “None of the businesses I frequent have Pride stuff out this year. Most of them did last year. One in particular had a whole rainbow apparel display — this year, nothing. Anyone else see the same thing?” Stuckey wrote in a post on X. Even Target has stopped selling Pride apparel in many of its stores. Stuckey received a photo from one of her followers of patriotic red, white, and, blue merchandise for sale at the retail giant instead of the rainbow-slogan-adorned T-shirts and children's clothes they were pushing last year. “It actually had a sign instead that was a patriotic, red, white, and blue sign that said, you know, ‘Thank you for your service.’ It was a message to veterans, which I think is incredible,” Stuckey explains. “I think that is really interesting,” she adds, noting that it could be a sign of something bigger and better. “Some people are saying, well, it’s an election year, and so they’re trying to not scare people away because it is just so in your face to the point where even centrists are like, ‘Ok, can we not, does everything have to be gay in June, can’t something just, like, be neutral?’” Stuckey says. "And so some people are saying, ‘Oh, you know it’s a conspiracy or it’s an organized effort to try to tone it down this year so people don’t freak out before the election,’” she adds. However, she doesn’t buy it. “That may be true, but I doubt that all of these local businesses and some of the businesses that I’ve been in, that they’re all part of some grand organized effort to tone down Pride in an election year,” she says, noting that she has her own theory as to why companies have toned it down. “I really think it’s because of the push back and the backlash, I really do, and I think that’s a great thing,” she says. Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Industry experts and entrepreneurs alike think that artificial intelligence needs to be harnessed before it's too late.Of course, any push toward widening the use of technology that would benefit a person or particular company's bottom line would likely be welcomed. At the same time, however, there is an overarching narrative that AI is on the brink of becoming incredibly dangerous.The theme has existed for some time, though. It was all the way back in 1991 when "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" taught humanity that entrusting our weapons systems to AI would be a big mistake. Other films like 2008's "Eagle Eye" showed a central AI could track people anywhere they went and ruin their life, controlling systems of society at its whim.Fast forward to the present day, and it has seemed like every person in the know has warned about the dangers that artificial intelligence can bring.Microsoft said in February 2024 that American enemies are preparing for AI-driven cyber attacks. Multiple former Google employees claimed AI at the company had become sentient and learned to feel, comparing it to "creating God."Elon Musk even said AI is a "threat to humanity."What do all of these sources have in common? Each is the owner or developer of his own artificial intelligence platform. Just days after his comments, Musk announced Grok, the AI technology that is integrated into his X platform.Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI, while Google has its aptly named Google AI under its belt. This begs the question as to whether these corporate talking points are simply acts of deceptive marketing and misdirection or if the experts in the field have a true worry about the path unfettered AI can go down.'AI is like water in the sea, you can not like it, but if it goes against you, you will drown.'Blaze News spoke with industry experts and AI entrepreneurs to find out whether or not the general consumer should be concerned with the direction companies are taking with their automated services.Most didn't buy into the idea of an immediate threat stemming from artificial sources, offering stark differences in their answers compared to that of the big players. But what was stressed was the need for Western nations to harness and monetize AI before adversarial economies do it first."There are significant long-term dangers, but the risks of not utilizing AI now potentially exacerbates those long-term risks," said Christopher Fakouri, who represented the Czech Republic on the matter."If we don't utilize and develop now, we will lose out in the long term to other markets and other people ... a lot of countries and jurisdictions across the world are looking for market capture [with AI]; however, I would not underestimate those risks."Whether this proposed arms race was strictly economic or also militaristic was not clear."[AI] functions on the human layer and helps augment excellence; the earlier we're ready to grasp the tools of augmented reality the earlier we can use these tools to benefit us," said Dr. Adejobi Adeloye from Amba Transfer, a company that uses AI technology to help seniors acquire medication."It is the future of the economy. Right now we are looking towards the era of artificial intelligence, of augmented reality, and virtual reality, and infusing it into education, manufacturing, and mining," the doctor added.Return's Peter Gietl sees AI disrupting the marketplace in the near future but not in a doomsday sense that many are speculating. "This means SEO, paralegal jobs ... but overall I don't see it as overwhelmingly replacing a mass amount of the job market," he said.What is AI currently capable of?Nuclear launches at the hands of AI wouldn't be completely out of the question based on the current rhetoric around the topic. But behind closed doors, the technology may not be nearly as far along as the public thinks.Multiple representatives from IBM revealed that the technology isn't exactly ready for world domination. One spokesperson revealed that the company isn't necessarily interested in selling products that use AI and is currently focused on harnessing the technology for use in sports. IBM has partnered with both Wimbledon and the Masters, sharing its technology to track data to increase the user experience.Fans can have AI detail up-to-date action from the events and even have it read to them as if it were play-by-play announcing."We're not hiding it or trying to make it seem like it's a real person," one representative who wanted to remain anonymous said. "We have voice actors who lend their voices to the technology." The spokesperson added that the most popular voice for golf has been a generic male from the American South.That technology is called IBM watsonx. The scary rhetoric isn't close to where AI technology currently is either, the representative explained. "It's nonsense," the IBM employee said. "An AI model was able to correctly identify four colors recently, and that was considered a huge breakthrough." While it is possible that the information was carefully crafted between the people at IBM with the intention to mislead, the representative could also be simply telling it like it is.Gietl agreed, explaining that AI in its current state is still producing grave errors."There's a term called 'AI Hallucination.' AI will make things up that it thinks the user wants to hear. All of the programs are being trained and taught on human knowledge that exists online, which of course includes a mass amount of non sequiturs and misinformation.""A lot of rhetoric is scare tactic propaganda put out by major companies to scare everyone into thinking AI is much more advanced than it is at the moment, and presents existential danger to the economy and national defense," Gietl continued. "By doing that they can scare people into accepting regulatory capture — these companies want to capture the market and regulate it."'Eventually we will become a society of empowered, independent, AIs.'The other side of the coin is indeed bleak and does include the aforementioned spooky rhetoric. Dr. Adeloye likened those who may be looking at job loss as needing to take note of when "the cheese" has moved."Certain things are inevitable if you're not ready to understand that the cheese has moved, and you need to move and find new cheese. The handwriting is on the wall ... your professional job may be on the line."Rat maze comparisons pale to what Olga Grass explained, a representative from forward-thinking company AISynt.The company, which Grass said was based on the research of a "scientist who formerly worked for the Soviet Union," is working in the direction of developing autonomous AI beings."We don't have the real AI just yet. Real intelligence is not computational, it's not algorithm-based," Grass said. "The real AI is a digital nervous system that learns for itself, and has the ability to build from the environment."The representative went on to liken the company's technology to raising a child or training a dog — learning from its environment. AISynt can certainly be described as ambitious but also frightening.While Grass sold the technology as a personal AI system that "empowers" and protects from other AI systems, the company's website is much more Matrix-esque.The technology promises brain downloads, instant learning, and living/learning beings."Living, digital, evolving forms of any nervous system," Grass said. She then claimed that the technology was already in use with a "neural matrix" in the form of an autonomous drone that thinks and learns for itself.Imminent job lossAI is a field that is on fire, and, as such, the term is being used colloquially as a buzz word to sell almost anything. Blaze News was able to chat with representatives from customer service, job-posting software, social media aggregation, and everywhere else in between. Each genre promised unique and first-to-market opportunities with AI.Companies are using the verbiage to "race for venture capital money and startup funds," Gietl explained. "Even the kooks and crazy people."Oleh Redko, CEO at Business!Go, said governments need to make a strategy sooner rather than later to prevent massive job losses."AI is like water in the sea, you can not like it, but if it goes against you, you will drown. Many people are against AI and some people are for AI, but we need to accept it and manage it and try to make it safe." The entrepreneur stressed that governments don't have the right to come after companies after the fact with taxation and regulation simply because they didn't have the foresight to prepare for the technological advancements. He predicted job market changes are five to 10 years away.On the other hand, AISynt has an outlook that is completely different from all the other representatives in the AI marketplace:"Eventually we will become a society of empowered, independent, AIs."Move over, Bruce Willis.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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Actor and martial artist Taylor Wily died on June 20 at the age of 56. No official cause of death has been confirmed by time of writing. In addition to his mixed martial arts background, Wily was known as an actor who won over audiences in ‘Hawaii Five-0’ and ‘Magnum P.I.’   On June 20, Taylor Wily died suddenly at the age of 56. News of his passing was confirmed by a press release from Hawaii Five-0” executive producer Peter M. Lenkov, as well as the local Hawaiian news station KITV. As an actor, Taylor a modest yet solid resume, with perhaps his most celebrated jobs including the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, as well as a recurring role on Magnum P.I. That same character who features in the former two also appears in MacGyver. Wily also sported an impressive and diverse mixed martial arts career. Taylor Wily made an impression in the world of sports and television alike   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Peter M. Lenkov (@plenkov) Wily made a name for himself as an athlete and an actor, endearing himself to audiences around the world with his charming charisma. His contributions to both sports and entertainment have made him a cherished figure in Hawaiian culture. All those who worked with him remember a spirited, positive force of nature. Indeed, executive producer Lenkov admitted to unspeakable grief upon learning of his death. “I am devastated. Heartbroken,” he posted on social media earlier today. “I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now.” Strong foundations   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Peter M. Lenkov (@plenkov) Lenkov made good on his vow to further celebrate Wily’s memory in a follow-up post. “T, as I told you many times, I fell in love with you at the first audition,” he penned next. “You came in with a towel on your head mopping up sweat, and I was smitten. You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life. You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother.” He added, “PS: when we spoke last week, we laughed at how right you were from Day 1. Five-0 was our dream job. And I was so lucky we got to share that magic together.” Those who knew Taylor Wily remember and mourn a charming presence and radiant warmth / YouTube screenshot Click for next Article The post ‘Hawaii Five-0’ And ‘Magnum, P.I.’ Star Taylor Wily Dies At 56 appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Dana Daly

Hair metal, a subgenre of heavy metal, is renowned for its flamboyant fashion, catchy hooks, and high-energy performances. The genre emerged in the late ’70s and early ’80s with bands like Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, and Def Leppard being pioneers, setting the stage for its explosive popularity. In the mid-’80s, it achieved massive commercial success, leading to rock groups like Bon Jovi, Poison, and Ratt enjoying multi-platinum albums and sold-out arena tours. However, despite its decline, hair metal left a lasting impact on rock music and pop culture. A new documentary focusing on the emergence, success, and decline of hair metal is set to hit the screen later this year. New documentary gives details about ’80s hair metal era and its key players   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Hair Metal (@hair_metal) The three-part series Nothin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of ‘80s Hair Metal is an adaptation of the book titled Nothin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the ‘80s Hard Rock Explosion by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock. RELATED: Ozzy Osbourne Wins Grammys For Best Rock Album And Metal Performance Directed by Jeff Tremaine, the series explores the often controversial world of ‘80s hair metal, highlighting the music, the personalities, and the cultural impact of the genre. This will be performed through candid interviews with some of the era’s key figures and fans, including Poison frontman Bret Michaels, Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy, Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, Skid Row guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo, TV and radio personality Riki Rachtman, Slipknot lead vocalist Corey Taylor, and Jackass star Steve-O. Instagram In a recent press release introducing his latest documentary project, Tremaine revealed it as a sophisticated tribute and a “celebration of the most outrageous decade in rock ‘n’ roll.” He emphasized that the series aims to capture the essence and spirit of this wild and transformative era in music history, highlighting its cultural impact and the unforgettable moments that defined it. Instagram The docuseries will also include some rare footage, giving viewers an inside look at the rise of iconic bands, the wild lifestyle of rock stars, and the inspiration behind the musical phenomenon. Click for next Article The post Upcoming Docuseries Set To Explore The ‘Uncensored’ World Of ’80s Hair Metal appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Peace A