Government economic numbers are the new vaccine efficacy statistics. We’re hearing it all right now. Thanks to Joe Biden‚ the country is enjoying record job creation‚ plummeting inflation‚ and a soaring GDP. Bidenomics has given us an economy even better than the peak booms of the mid-1980s and late 1990s. Your experience may vary‚ of course. Consumers know the economy is terrible‚ but the administration insists that masks work‚ boosters are essential‚ and gross domestic product actually increased 5.2% in the third quarter. That’s a revision up from the 4.9% growth the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced in November. I noted at the time that the entirety of third-quarter growth could be attributed to high inflation‚ forcing companies to stock up on inventories and consumers to go deeper into debt to cover basic expenses. In fact‚ the newly revised numbers show the paradox of “GDP growth” in even starker terms. It turns out that the revision was driven entirely by government spending. Never have we lived through an era when the growth of government was so vividly correlated with pain to the consumer. Government spending accounted for 5.5% of third-quarter GDP growth. Absent that spending‚ the economy actually contracted‚ which is in line with the reality most people face. Government spending has now outpaced consumer spending for five consecutive quarters. But the more the government spends and spurs inflation‚ the more officials can brag about growing the fake economy‚ even as consumer confidence sinks to recessionary levels. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 63.8 in October‚ on par with some of the readings from the 2008 Great Recession. In the real world‚ sales at home improvement retailers Lowes and Home Depot dropped 7.4% and 5%‚ respectively‚ during the third quarter. Even the stock market‚ which has become an artificial reality in recent years‚ has been flat for the bottom 493 companies of the S&;P 500. The top seven grew more than 50%‚ of course‚ because whenever government grows‚ its top cronies grow‚ too. In the real world‚ Joe Biden’s own voters do not believe the hype about economic growth‚ cooling inflation‚ and plummeting prices. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll of Biden voters in six battleground states found 62% of respondents believe the economy is only “fair” or “poor‚” including 65% of women and 70% of those who earn under $50‚000 a year. In the real world‚ no amount of cooked government data can erase the reality of what consumers confront every day. A new analysis from Republican members of the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee found that consumers must spend $11‚434 per year more than they did in January 2021 to maintain the same standard of living. And these aren’t luxury products and services we’re talking about. The basics — food‚ transportation‚ housing‚ and energy — account for almost 80 cents of every $1 of Bidenflation since 2021. Housing is worse than ever. Affordability hit a new record low in September‚ according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve. It now takes 44.7% of pretax median income to afford the average-price home‚ which is well over $400‚000 and much higher in desirable metros. Although it’s true that inflation’s growth rate has slowed‚ prices are still plateauing at record or near-record highs for most items. The only reason inflation is slowing is due to a decrease in demand‚ reflected in the decline in oil prices. Relative to January 2020‚ however‚ electricity is up 25%‚ child care has exploded by 32%‚ used-car prices have soared 35%‚ auto insurance is up 33%‚ and those seeking to escape the housing market by renting are paying roughly 20% more. Food is really where it hits hard‚ especially in a country with enough farmland to feed the world. Groceries are up by 25%‚ with key items like chicken breasts (38%)‚ a pound of ground beef (34.4%)‚ yogurt (41.8%)‚ orange juice (58%)‚ and coffee (48%) surging higher and higher. Thus‚ according to the Census‚ the average weekly food bill for a household of four has climbed 32% since October 2020 — from $238.32 to $315.22. So touting the fact that the rate of further inflation — beyond this new‚ insanely high baseline — has slowed is an insult to America’s intelligence. Pre-COVID pricing is gone forever. Oh‚ and what little income growth you enjoyed is now undercut by the ever-increasing cost of Obamacare‚ which jumped 7% in just one year for employer-sponsored plans‚ which come out of your paycheck.So much of the scarcity and inflation is driven by onerous green fascist regulations‚ but the lion’s share is from debt-driven government spending‚ which is ironically credited for boosting the meaningless GDP numbers. We’ve incurred another $2.4 trillion in debt since June‚ when Republicans foolishly agreed to give Biden a blank check by suspending the debt ceiling for the remainder of his term. The Treasury is set to borrow a total of $776 billion in the fourth quarter of this year and another $816 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Any discussion of slashing spending in the budget will be met with a chorus of woe and lamentation over painful changes to people’s lives. But somehow‚ the inflation driven by this very spending that is placing our parents’ standard of living out of reach for all but the wealthy never comes up in federal budget debates. Never have we lived through an era when the growth of government was so vividly correlated with pain to the consumer. You gotta love government data. It’s just a shame we can never reap its benefits in the real world.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) promised on Monday to confront her colleague Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) about comments she made regarding Hamas' use of rape in their Oct. 7 attack. On Sunday‚ Jayapal ignited outrage by asserting that criticism of Hamas for using rape as a weapon of war should be "balanced" while at the same time downplaying the significance of what Hamas did by claiming rape just "happens" in wartime. Those comments necessitate a frank conversation‚ Dingell responded. "I'm going to talk to Pramila‚ I have a call in to her‚" the congresswoman said on CNN. "I'm raw on this subject because of the hate that I have had directed at me for speaking the truth. I will speak the truth. And I don’t care who it is. Rape is an act of violence‚ and it becomes too often a tool in any act of war." What exactly happened to Dingell? According to the Michigan Democrat‚ in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' attack‚ she condemned the terrorist group's use of rape‚ which led to public attacks. "Palestinian men went after me‚ called me a liar‚ demanded I retract it. I got doxxed over the subject. I have spent the last seven weeks researching the raping of women that has occurred in the Middle East. It is outrageous. I condemn it‚" she said. Dingell‚ moreover‚ did what the White House refused to do. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked on Monday if the Biden administration believes Jayapal's comments were "appropriate." Jean-Pierre condemned Hamas but outright refused to address the appropriateness of Jayapal's remarks. The documentation of violence that Hamas perpetrated against women is extensive. Yet Palestinian apologists have dodged acknowledging and condemning it outright. It took about two months‚ for example‚ before U.N. Women‚ the United Nations agency tasked with advocating for women and girls‚ condemned Hamas for its attack. In the wake of Jayapal's comments‚ Dingell and Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) plan to introduce a resolution specifically condemning Hamas for perpetrating sexual violence against women. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Once upon a time‚ computers and the internet promised a path to freedom: of speech‚ of commerce‚ to be yourself‚ no matter who you were. We’ve since realized this was all a delusion and that our devices have increasingly become a way to track and control us. Especially the most personal of our devices — the smartphone — which is our constant companion‚ contains our most private thoughts and images‚ and is essentially a networked surveillance device over which we have far less control than we imagine. For those of us who dig technology but are increasingly concerned about a growing global panopticon‚ we face a conundrum: Do we continue to dance with these convenient and powerful devices — that are just as useful to the enemy as they are to us — or do we return to simple cell phones and personal computers? In other words‚ can we wear the One Ring a little‚ or do we have to throw it in the fires of Mordor? Upstart OSOM — founded by former Essential Phone employees — aims to chart a third way through this dilemma with the Solana Saga‚ the world’s first smartphone built around cryptocurrencies. Does the Saga offer a path to sovereignty‚ or is it just another Android phone with a crypto frosting? Device specs: Dimensions: 164 mm x 75.3 mm x 8.4 mm and weighing 247 grams Materials: Stainless steel frame with ceramic back and titanium accents Display: 1080-by-2400 (FHD+) with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display and 120Hz refresh rate Battery capacity: 4110 mAh with Qi-compatible wireless charging Processor: Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 Storage: 512 GB UFS + microSD up to 512 GB and 12 GB LPDDR5 of RAM with a dual nanoSIM Wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax + 2x2 MIMO WiFi and EMVCo Certified NFC along with ultrawideband Channels 5 &; 9 Cameras: Rear cameras with OIS 50MP f/1.8 Wide + 12MP f/2.2 Ultrawide and a 16MP f/2.4 Wide front camera Subscribe now Context: I’m a casual web3 user I’m no stranger to web3‚ but I wouldn’t call myself an expert. I hold Bitcoin‚ Ethereum‚ and Chainlink. I’ve dropped an embarrassing amount of money on ENS domains and collected a few NFTs‚ but while I love the idea of an encrypted‚ decentralized internet‚ I haven’t really found that web3 has delivered on more than a tiny fraction of its promises thus far. My experience with web3 has largely revolved around NFTs – even my ENS domain is another NFT. So I see many potential uses for NFTs‚ especially in the areas of digital IDs and certifications‚ but the reality in 2023 is that they’re still more about collectibles than they are about identity and access control for apps I can use to get real work done. Outside of NFTs‚ I have yet to find a “killer app” that necessitates pumping coins (and gas fees) into my interactions. I’m aware of a few web3 messaging apps‚ but I haven’t found a reason to leave Signal‚ primarily since most of my social circle uses it. It was with this background that I approached the Solana Saga – would the device’s explicit web3 focus help it all make sense? Will picking up the Saga give me that “Aha!” moment that makes web3 click? Let’s look at the features that make the Saga a “web3” phone. The Saga secret sauce: The Seed Vault The Solana Saga is intended to be used as a Solana hardware wallet. You may ask‚ why not just use the phone you already have and install any of the many mobile wallets on the market‚ such as Exodus Wallet? The difference‚ as maker OSOM explains‚ is the Saga’s patented Seed Vault‚ which stores your seed in hardware in such a way that it cannot be accessed directly by Android: Our patented Seed Vault stores your wallet details safely and separately from the Android system. It’s like a cold wallet but built right into your phone with one-tap integration for transactions‚ protecting you more than a mere app can. Steven Laver‚ Solana’s mobile engineering lead‚ explained that the Seed Vault takes advantage of Qualcomm’s Secure Execution Environment‚ paired with the Secure Processing Unit‚ “which is a dedicated hardware component that provides a super-secure place for encryption and data processing.” Those two hardware components are paired with something called Trusted UI‚ which temporarily takes control of the display and touch input from Android. As a result‚ Android should never be able to actually see any of your Seed Vault’s seeds‚ keys‚ or passwords. It’s very similar to Apple’s Secure Enclave technology‚ which safeguards your biometric data in a special chip on the device. The practical upside of the Seed Vault is that you can quickly authorize Solana transactions with your fingerprint‚ a feature that in theory makes it much easier to use web3 apps. The other cool thing is that since your key is stored in hardware on the device‚ you can use any Seed Vault-compatible wallet app interchangeably with it‚ since the app effectively just acts as a front end to the hardware. The Seed Vault is impressive technology‚ but there are some practical security concerns it can’t address. Since the Saga is a phone and therefore a device you’re always going to have with you‚ it’s effectively a hot wallet that’s easy to misplace‚ break‚ or have stolen. Realistically‚ you’re not going to want to store that much crypto on a phone‚ regardless of how secure the underlying tech is. And the presence of the Seed Vault might present confusion to casual Saga owners‚ if such people exist. Before completing the setup‚ you are presented with a 24-word seed phrase that you are expected to write down on the included card‚ and yes‚ there is a test. Before you can use the phone‚ you must write out the entire seed phrase to prove that you have written it down. For dedicated crypto people‚ this familiar ritual is just a standard step in setting up a wallet. For normies‚ it might be a baffling hurdle. But again‚ I'm not sure many normies will accidentally buy a $1‚000 phone … unless the long-prophesied hyperinflation happens and $1K USD is not very much in SOL or whatever coin we all end up using in the cyberpunk dystopia. While the Seed Vault is a cool idea‚ it only works with three wallets: Phantom‚ Solflare‚ and Ultimate. Solflare only works with Solana. Phantom was previously Solana-only but just recently added support for Polygon and the second-most popular cryptocurrency: Ethereum. Ultimate supports a variety of currencies and is very web3-focused‚ as you might expect. Unfortunately‚ the Seed Vault doesn’t work with any wallet that supports the most popular cryptocurrency‚ Bitcoin. That makes some sense in a web3 phone‚ since Bitcoin isn’t “smart” like Ethereum and Solana are (at least‚ not without the Stacks layer)‚ but makes the Saga much less appealing to an enormous chunk of the crypto market. The Solana Mobile team tells us that there is support for other wallets on the way. The Solana Mobile Stack is open source‚ so there’s nothing stopping any wallet developer from adding Seed Vault support. Unfortunately‚ the Seed Vault is buggy. Sometimes I would scan my finger to authorize a Solana app and I’d be left with an "apply signature" prompt with no other instructions. I would tap "use password‚" only to return to the fingerprint scanning prompt and thus an endless loop. Also‚ while Phantom now works with Ethereum‚ that doesn’t mean every Ethereum app works with the Saga. I tried to connect to the Ethereum Name Service on the Saga‚ but the only wallet options were Coinbase‚ MetaMask‚ Rainbow‚ and WalletConnect. In theory‚ WalletConnect would let you connect Phantom to ENS. However‚ tapping that option on the Saga opens the included Ledger Live app‚ which requires a Ledger hardware wallet to add even more confusion. On the upside‚ if you do have a Ledger wallet‚ you can connect it directly to the Saga via USB-C or Bluetooth. A Solana phone? Really? Given that this is a collaboration between Solana Labs and OSOM‚ it makes a certain amount of sense that the phone centers around the Solana cryptocurrency. But to even the average web3-pilled end user‚ it’s not clear that tying the phone this closely to Solana was the win OSOM was hoping for. The chief advantage of the Solana blockchain is that unlike Bitcoin‚ it supports smart contracts‚ which enable things like web3 apps. And unlike Ethereum‚ which can have insanely high “gas” fees‚ Solana’s fees are tiny‚ which makes tossing around real money on experimental apps much more palatable. That makes the Solana blockchain a great playground for web3. However‚ it increasingly feels like web3 is a forgotten technology of 2022‚ with the world readily moving on to AI and — thanks to Apple’s Vision Pro — mixed reality. Not helping things is the SEC’s lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase‚ which threatens the entire crypto market‚ especially centralized coins like Solana. The Saga web3 experience Besides the Seed Vault‚ the other half of the Saga’s Solana angle is the built-in dApp Store‚ which is Solana’s app store dedicated to web3 apps. As of May 31‚ 2023‚ I count 29 apps in the dApp Store‚ most of which are financial apps or NFT apps. This is the phone to have if you really love NFTs. As for the rest‚ I haven’t found much that’s useful or even all that interesting. The first app I tried was a messaging app called Dialect‚ which is a web3 messaging app with built-in NFTs. Unfortunately‚ Dialect is in early access‚ so I not only know no one else who uses Dialect‚ I can’t even invite my friends to try it. Most of the activity there seems to consist of public chats where users show off their NFTs. I downloaded a game‚ Alpha League Racing‚ only to find that it’s apparently not open for business. The game told me the first season is over‚ with no option to play. Another game I tried is a MOBA called Tearing Spaces‚ which seems more like a demo than a complete game. There’s no menu; it immediately launches you into one single‚ short level with a persistent onscreen message that says‚ “The quality of the beta game-play does not represent the final version.” Then you shoot the boss until you’re presented with a restart button. I tried an app called Rosen Bridge‚ which declares itself “the first super app on Solana.” I don’t know what that means. I open the app and I’m prompted to “Be a Blazer.” Again‚ I don’t know what that means. From what I can tell‚ it’s some sort of metaverse real estate app where you can pay real money to occupy fake versions of real places. I have no idea why I should care about that. Maybe I’m just old. What’s interesting about Rosen Bridge is I had to create a login. Isn’t part of the point of web3 to use your wallet as your credentials? Then I tapped a button to apply for a free plot — whatever that means — and I was prompted to log into my Google account. Why does a web3 app need so many logins? The single most interesting app I found in the dApp Store is Audius Music‚ a social music app where fledgling artists share their music so you can stream it and then tip them in the $MUSIC cryptocurrency. It’s a neat idea‚ but I’m willing to bet that most users will skip it‚ fire up Google Play (which is thankfully preinstalled)‚ and open either Apple Music or Spotify. There is one app in the dApp Store I recognized: the Brave browser. I was curious whether the Brave Wallet integrated with the Seed Vault‚ but no dice. It’s the exact same app as the one you would download from the Play Store. To Solana’s credit‚ they give you a couple of NFTs and $20 in USD Coin to get started. However‚ I never felt a compelling reason to trade any of that USDC for Solana. The apps themselves weren’t that interesting‚ and outside financial apps‚ I didn’t see much Solana integration. Crypto aside‚ how is it as a smartphone? The Solana Saga arrives in minimalistic packaging‚ similar to newer iPhones. Open the svelte box and … there’s a phone. Lift up the tray that holds the phone and you’ll find a SIM tray tool‚ a seed phrase recovery sheet‚ and a USB-C cable. Again‚ like recent iPhones‚ no power adapter is included. My first thought on picking up and turning on the Saga is‚ “This is a really nice phone.” The Saga’s materials — ceramic‚ stainless steel‚ and titanium — make it feel like a $1‚000 phone should. The fact that the Saga is so nice shouldn’t come as a surprise. Designer OSOM was founded by employees of Essential Phone‚ which was also a lovely phone but doomed to commercial failure. It’s as nice as or nicer than any iPhone Pro — except without an annoying notch or a “Dynamic Island.” Instead‚ it has merely a small pinhole for the front-facing camera. However‚ the tradeoff is that the Saga doesn’t have face recognition. Instead‚ it features a fingerprint scanner on the back — pretty standard in Android phones. Frankly‚ other than a couple of times when my hands were otherwise occupied‚ I didn’t miss FaceID‚ which is often finicky. And having the fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone is much more ergonomic than an obtrusive Home button at the bottom of the device. My only quibble with the design is the opening for the front speaker‚ which is a small gap between the screen and body. At first‚ I mistook it for a design defect‚ and I worry that over time dust and debris could accumulate there. The 6.67-inch AMOLED screen is bright with equally bright colors and deep blacks. The 120Hz refresh rate makes it feel positively snappy compared to iPhones. However‚ the colors on the AMOLED screen look “funky” compared to LED screens. There can often be a purple hue‚ and colors often look overly garish. However‚ unless you’re a professional colorist this is merely a matter of opinion‚ and the screen is still lovely to look at. The Saga ships with stock Android 13 with no other additions other than some Saga-specific apps and settings. There’s no bloatware to be found here. Android 13 is every bit as polished as iOS 16‚ if not more so‚ because Google has spent years polishing Android while iOS has grown sloppier as Apple tacks on more features. Overall‚ the Solana Saga feels terrific. The premium materials feel good in your hand‚ the screen is bright and responsive‚ and it’s just a whole lot of fun. For the first time in years‚ I want to pick up a phone and play with it just because. I made the mistake of letting my 9-year-old son try out the phone‚ and it quickly became an obsession‚ like Gollum with the One Ring. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing‚ but it definitely speaks to the phone’s sheer desirability. Calling and texting So many smartphone reviews skip an essential but unsexy aspect: At heart‚ they are still phones‚ and that functionality is important. Our Saga review unit did not include a SIM card‚ so I popped in my AT&;T network SIM card and gave it a whirl. I’ve heard untold horror stories about switching away from iOS only for iMessage to keep eating incoming text messages. One of Android’s setup screens even mentioned this. But surprisingly‚ I didn’t have this problem. I texted my iPhone-using wife and received one back‚ albeit with a bit of delay at first while the back-end plumbing adapted. I also tried a test call to my wife‚ and it worked fine. The ear speaker is crisp and loud‚ she could hear me just fine‚ and she detected no difference in audio quality after I switched to speakerphone. The Saga supports 5G‚ but I could only pick up LTE service in my small town. I ran Speedtest to get a whopping 2.69 Mbps download speed and 0.34 Mbps upload speed‚ but it’s hard to say if that was more attributable to my network or location. However‚ I did find a deal killer for many of us: The Solana does not support Wi-Fi calling. Or‚ at least‚ it doesn’t support Wi-Fi calling with my carrier even though its Wi-Fi calling works with my iPhone. Other Saga users have experienced this as well. Solana Mobile tells me that Wi-Fi calling works with T-Mobile. Sadly‚ it’s small but important details like this that keep me on iOS. Every iPhone supports Wi-Fi calling‚ but with Android phones‚ it’s a crapshoot. I do not have cellular service at my rural home and depend on Wi-Fi calling‚ as do many other rural dwellers and urban folks who live in apartment buildings. Given that carriers stopped selling femtocells years ago‚ many of us rely on Wi-Fi calling for situations like these‚ so it’s baffling that support is so sketchy. Pictures and video The camera may be just as important in modern smartphones as the phone part. The rear of the phone has two camera sensors: A 50-megapixel wide-angle lens with a 1.8 f-stop capturing 4K video at up to 60 fps. A 12-megapixel ultrawide lens with a 2.2 f-stop that can capture 4K video at up to 60 fps. The front-facing selfie camera is a 16-megapixel lens with a 2.4 f-stop that can capture video at up to 2K resolution at 60 fps. There are a couple of notable disappointments at this price point: the lack of a third rear sensor for telephoto shots and no 4K selfies. The included camera app is OSOM’s in-house camera app‚ essentially a clone of Apple’s camera app‚ so iPhone switchers will feel very much at home. It includes the following modes: Portrait Photo Video Night There don’t appear to be slo-mo or time-lapse modes. Reviewing smartphone cameras is increasingly difficult because they’re all so darn good now‚ and the results are mainly subjective. I compared the Solana Saga against my iPhone 11 Pro in a variety of conditions and found them roughly equivalent. In some shots‚ one produced brighter images than the other‚ but you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference unless you looked at photos side by side. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. On the one hand‚ the iPhone 11 Pro has an excellent camera. On the other hand‚ it’s nearly four years older than the Solana Saga‚ so you’d expect the Saga’s camera to be noticeably better. Other technical details The Solana Saga includes a generous 512 MB of internal storage. Pop out the SIM tray with the included tool‚ and it also features a spot for a microSD card for additional storage. This feature is increasingly rare in even Android phones and is greatly appreciated. The Saga features IP68 dust and water resistance‚ which is the same as the iPhone 14 Pro and means that it can safely survive being dunked in water. Qi wireless charging is built in. However‚ I had trouble getting it to work consistently. I’m not sure if this is on the part of the phone or my wireless charging accessories‚ which tend to be tailored for an iPhone. It includes a 4110 mAh internal battery. Like cameras‚ battery life is subjective and degrades over time‚ but I was pleased with the battery life. I suspect you could go a day and a half without charging‚ assuming you’re not playing graphically intensive games. Will the Solana Saga make you more sovereign? Let’s compare the Saga against our own tenets of digital sovereignty: Own your data‚ money‚ and online identities. The Solana Saga is deeply tied into Google services: the Play Store‚ Chrome‚ Gmail‚ and all the rest are built in. This means you have all the same privacy concerns as any other Google device. To truly be a sovereign phone‚ it would need to ship with an open-source Android ROM like LineageOS or GrapheneOS. Unfortunately‚ it’s uncertain if the Saga is even rootable‚ and in any case‚ no third-party ROMs are available yet‚ though the company has hinted at it. The phone does give you extra control over your money and identity — in the form of Solana-based DeFi and NFTs. However‚ the main cryptocurrency of choice for digital sovereignists is Bitcoin‚ and because the Seed Vault doesn’t support any Bitcoin wallets‚ the Solana Saga is fundamentally no better a Bitcoin wallet than literally any other phone. The same goes for ENS domains‚ which have become a de facto form of decentralized identity. Since ENS is based on Ethereum‚ again‚ the Saga is no different from any other phone there. Communicate privately‚ securely‚ and‚ if desired‚ pseudonymously. As we mentioned‚ the semi-exclusive Dialect app isn't very useful yet. And you also have the privacy concerns that come with a Google device. So you’re left with apps like Signal for private communications‚ which isn’t any better than any other Android phone or iPhone. Choose who gets to know what about you and your activities — and on what terms. Again‚ it’s a Google phone‚ so throw this out the window. You file the last three tenets from our article’s list under that umbrella: Break the one-way mirror and watch web2 as it watches you. Know your enemies — who’s trying to track you and to what end. Prefer decentralization over centralization. If you’re currently using an iPhone‚ yes‚ the Solana Saga will make you more sovereign simply because of the more open nature of Android. You can sideload apps not approved by Google’s Play Store overlords and even sideload entire app stores‚ like the open-source F-Droid‚ but it won’t make you any more sovereign than any other Android phone. Also‚ ideally‚ a sovereign device should be user-repairable. OSOM has mentioned selling spare parts through its online store‚ but nothing has been released yet. The beginning of a Saga? The Solana Saga achieves what it set out to do: It’s a phone that integrates a Solana hardware wallet and presents the best web3 has to offer. The problem is that what web3 has to offer still isn’t much beyond NFTs and trading. With the current state of web3 and all the question marks I have around Solana‚ I would have a hard time recommending it over the Google Pixel‚ which is less expensive and has much more aftermarket support‚ including a plethora of custom ROMs for a truly sovereign experience. That said‚ the hardware and design are great. And as someone who’s been firmly in iPhone-land for over a decade‚ I’m impressed with how far Android has come. It used to be that Android was the Linux to iOS’ macOS: a much more free experience‚ but with edges rough enough to rip your shirt with. Now it’s every bit as nice as iOS‚ except less constrained and cumbersome. I may have to take a serious look at an Android device. But until the Solana-based side of web3 steps up in a big way with something more than digital collectibles‚ buggy games‚ and NFT trading‚ I don’t think it’ll be a Solana Saga. What’s worse is that I don’t think there’s much the Saga’s makers can do in the near term to really sell me on the device — the shortcomings here are mostly on the Solana side of the “Solana Saga” equation‚ which puts them out of OSOM’s control. Web3 and Solana just yet don’t offer enough for me as a casual crypto user to make either of those technologies the center of my smartphone experience. This is a shame‚ because with the way things are going‚ we need web3 to be in better shape than it is. One more thing: Helium mobile A few weeks after we received the Solana Saga‚ we received an email telling us that we would receive a SIM card with a 30-day free trial of Helium Mobile‚ which is a new mobile carrier currently in beta. There’s currently very little public information about the network‚ but presumably‚ it integrates with the crypto-based Helium network‚ which is a distributed wireless network. You “mine” Helium by providing a wireless hotspot‚ which encourages the growth of the network. Helium recently switched to the Solana blockchain‚ so a partnership with Solana makes sense. Pairing the Saga with a crypto-based wireless network is potentially game-changing‚ and we’re eager to test it out. To find out more about this phone‚ head over to Solana’s website.

The parents of an 11-year-old Colorado girl have solicited the help of Alliance Defending Freedom‚ an organization dedicated to protecting religious and free speech rights‚ after their daughter was placed in the same room as a boy on an overnight school trip and nearly forced to share a bed with him.Last June‚ the 11-year-old daughter of Joe and Serena Wailes was one of many students who participated in a trip to Philadelphia and Washington‚ D.C.‚ sponsored by Jefferson County Public Schools‚ a district located just west of Denver. The Waileses were under the impression that during the overnight portions of the trip‚ students would be segregated by sex and would even be prohibited from visiting the rooms of members of the opposite sex without permission."Girls on one floor‚ boys on another‚ they’re not going to be in each other’s rooms unless it is pre-approved‚" Serena Wailes recalled district representatives repeatedly saying‚ according to the Daily Signal.During the trip‚ the Waileses' daughter‚ identified only as D.W.‚ was arranged to share a hotel room with two female students from her school and a student from another school‚ identified as K.E.M. As each hotel room had two beds and four students‚ students had to share bed with a fellow student‚ and D.W. was assigned to share a bed with K.E.M.To make K.E.M. feel more at ease in a room with strangers‚ D.W. struck up a conversation. At that point‚ K.E.M. voluntarily revealed to D.W. that he is a biological boy who identifies as transgender. D.W. became uncomfortable with the prospect of sharing a bed with a boy. She immediately went to the hotel room bathroom‚ which reportedly did not lock‚ and called her mother‚ who had accompanied the students on the trip but was not an official chaperone.According to a letter that ADF sent to JCPS Superintendent Tracy Dorland on Monday on behalf of the Waileses‚ what happened next was a series of lies and obfuscations that attempted to protect "K.E.M.’s privacy and feelings" at the expense of the privacy and feelings of other students and parents. Serena Wailes‚ D.W.‚ a teacher‚ and Principal Ryan Lucas met in the lobby of the hotel. Lucas then spoke with K.E.M.'s parents‚ who confirmed that K.E.M. is a boy but insisted that he was supposed to be in "stealth mode‚" "meaning students on the trip would not know about their child’s transgender status."While Serena Wailes requested that D.W. be assigned to a different room‚ the chaperones asked D.W. whether she would consider remaining in the same room but sleeping in a different bed. As she was exhausted from the long trip‚ D.W. reluctantly agreed to those arrangements for one night. D.W. was also instructed to lie to her roommates and indicate she had to change beds to be closer to the air conditioner‚ the ADF letter claimed‚ which led to an unforeseen new problem: one of the roommates suggested that the pairs swap beds so that D.W. and K.E.M. could share the bed next to the air conditioner.Once again feeling uncomfortable‚ D.W. met with her mother in the hallway. At that point‚ Serena adamantly insisted that D.W. be given a different room. "This time‚ the chaperones agreed to move K.E.M. and one other girl to a different room but again lied about why‚ saying D.W.’s sick roommate needed more space‚" the ADF letter said.According to the letter‚ D.W. and the other two girls originally scheduled to share a room with K.E.M. were ordered by a JCPS teacher to keep K.E.M.'s transgender identity a secret. Except for the Waileses‚ the girls' parents‚ including the parents of the girl who moved rooms with K.E.M.‚ "were intentionally kept in the dark" about it as well‚ the letter claimed.JCPS policy‚ referred to as JB-R‚ states that in "most cases‚" students on overnight trips will be placed in rooms that accord with their so-called gender identity‚ not their sex. The policy further states that the "needs of students who are transgender shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the goals of maximizing the student’s social integration‚ providing equal opportunity to participate in overnight activity and athletic trips‚ ensuring the student’s safety and comfort‚ and minimizing stigmatization of the student."However‚ ADF argued‚ this policy puts the "safety and comfort" of trans-identifying students ahead of the "safety and comfort" of everyone else‚ including young girls like D.W.:Because of JCPS’s policy‚ eleven-year-old D.W. was placed in a position where her privacy and comfort were not respected or even considered. Her privacy was violated. And then‚ to try to protect her privacy‚ D.W. had to risk social ostracization because school officials required her to raise her privacy concerns during the trip and in front of other students and teachers‚ including the transgender student. Because JCPS’s policy prioritizes the “safety and comfort” of only transgender students to the exclusion of all other students‚ there was no way for D.W.’s parents to request an accommodation prior to the trip so they could protect D.W.’s privacy and “minimiz[e] stigmatization” of D.W. Therefore‚ an eleven-year-old child was placed in a position where she feared social backlash if she requested a different room in front of other students.ADF requested that the superintendent clarify whether‚ going forward‚ parents will be informed about JB-R and about "the sex of their children’s roommates on school-sponsored trips before the trip" and whether the school offers other options for parents who object to opposite-sex roommates for their children. ADF also requested all district documentation on JB-R‚ including training materials and emails.Superintendent Dorland has not yet responded to the letter publicly. She also did not immediately respond to Blaze News' request for comment.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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