Movies & TV house of the dragon Dragonrider Tryouts, Mass Rioting, and a New Romance in House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 6 Turning the spotlight on the smallfolk, as well as dragonseeds, kissing, and an interesting flashback… By Tyler Dean | Published on July 22, 2024 Credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO Welcome back to our ongoing discussion of House of the Dragon, as we set the stage for the remaining two episodes of season two. Last night’s installment was an interesting case where book readers had a very different idea of what the episode would contain going in… It featured dragons, courtly intrigue, and the return of a season 1 MVP—all in a 67-minute runtime making it the second longest episode of the season. Let’s break it all down below, for those of you who don’t mind spoilers.  The Title Episode 6 is called “Smallfolk,” which refers to a number of elements but most obviously to the food riot that breaks out after Rhaenyra sends supplies to the starving smallfolk of King’s Landing. It’s an interesting ploy and one that betrays the fundamental meaninglessness of the smallfolk to the nobles that rule them. I’ve been suspicious of both the Black and Green responses to their subjects ever since episode 9 of season 1, when Rhaenys (Eve Best) killed dozens of innocent people by bursting through the floor of the Dragonpit at Aegon’s coronation. In the latest episode, this new tactic on Rhaenyra’s part seems like a mercy until you remember that Aemond is in fact correct, and it is the Blacks’ blockade that is causing the smallfolk to starve in the first place. Of course, mismanagement of food and the feasting (more on that below) isn’t a good look for the Greens either. All in all, the smallfolk suffer the most during this war and neither side seems particularly interested in seeing them as anything more than pawns. Of course, the show features a number of specific smallfolk who have been woven into the narrative. Sylvi (Michelle Bonnard) seems to have turned on Aemond (to whatever extent she cared about him in the first place, assuming she wasn’t simply doing her job) after he walked out on her when Aegon caught them in flagrante delicto. Or perhaps the show is hinging her renewed faith in Rhaeyra on the Hightowers’ lack of concern for her slow starvation. In either case, I do like that the show has used Sylvi and her brothel to connect most of the smallfolk that the Targaryens ignored: Dyana (Maddie Evans), the former serving girl who Aegon assaulted works there as a barmaid, and the place serves as Ulf’s (Tom Bennet) regular haunt. Now if only they could get Hugh (Kieran Bew) and Kat (Ellora Torchia) over to Sylvi’s, we’d have the complete set of named King’s Landing smallfolk characters collected in one place And there is the further question of who counts as smallfolk in this narrative. Does Mysaria? She was sold into slavery but she has worked her way up to the right hand of the Queen. What about Addam and Alyn of Hull? They have lived their whole lives as smallfolk but are noble bastards who are at least partly acknowledged by their powerful father. Lastly, might we even look at someone like Ser Steffon Darklyn. He is undeniably nobly born, but when Rhaenyra says after his death that it was foolish to believe “a dragon would suffer a Darklyn to ride him,” she betrays a fundamental classist snobbery that the Targaryens are, in fact, more like gods than men—a distinction from what she once believed as a girl and communicated to her father way back in the very first episode. Unraveling the Opening Credits In addition to bringing back the scene of Vhagar and Arrax this week, there is a new panel in the opening credits which depicts the battle of Rook’s Rest. Much like the other panels’ propagandist takes on the events of the show, this one displays the battle as the surviving Greens would tell it—with King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) holding his sword, Blackfyre, aloft triumphantly beside the corpses of Sunfyre and Meleys with Vhagar in the distance. All around him are burned and bloodied corpses. It makes for a nice contrast with Ser Criston’s (Fabien Frankel) horrified description of the battle to Alicent last episode.  We then see a second stain spreading through the tapestry. From Meleys’ embroidered head, black dragon blood now flows freely, mixing with the red. The loss of dragons is now a part of history’s tapestry. The Westerlands and the Golden Tooth The episode opens with Lord Jason Lannister (Tyland’s twin, also played by Jefferson Hall) arriving at the Golden Tooth and treating with Lord Humphrey Lefford (Daniel Fathers). The Golden Tooth is the seat of House Lefford and located in the far Northeast of the Westerlands. It serves as a checkpoint for those interested in entering that craggy region from the East, being built across a mountain pass.  In ASoIaF, House Lefford’s heraldry is a golden triangle (a “pile” in heraldic terminology) with the point facing upwards into a blue field with a golden sunburst. I had always assumed, because of this, that the term “Golden Tooth” referred to a mountain peak near the pass that accounted for the iconography. HotD has reversed the triangle, making it look much more like a serpent’s fang (or, more likely, a lion’s) while retaining the blue field and sunburst.  In addition to this, the western entrance to the castle features two huge stones with veins of gold running through them, set on pedestals. Both stones are unpolished, look natural, and resemble wisdom teeth with their long roots. I think we are meant to infer that these boulders, which likely once sat where the castle now stands, are the “golden teeth” for which the castle is named. It’s another great detail, full of thoughtful reference to Martin’s text, given to a minor castle whose role in the show is relatively unimportant. Compare that to the relatively uninspired (and wildly different from book descriptions) design of Casterly Rock, which we see, briefly, in the later seasons of Game of Thrones and you begin to get a sense of how HotD is putting a ton of their money into thoughtful design that was increasingly missing from GoT’s latter season. It’s not that they were completely careless or that the show looked bad—it’s just that you could really feel Benioff and Weiss’ relative boredom and lack of interest in details as they drew things to a close. Anyway, I love the teeth boulders!  Dragonlore and Dragonseeds  Credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO We haven’t gotten the full “Sowing of the Seeds” as described in Fire & Blood—remember that Vermithor and Silverwing, the dragons Jace mentioned last episode and Rhaenyra mentions to Ser Steffon Darklyn (Anthony Flanagan) still have no riders—but with the attempt and death of Ser Steffon and the ultimate success of Addam Of Hull (Clinton Liberty), we launch into a more complex version of what Martin’s Archmaester Gyldayn tells us of the attempt to find riders with some amount of dragonblood in their lineage to claim these dragons. I spoke, in my episode 3 analysis, about the dragonseeds’ importance to dragonriding and the legend, now stated on the show, that only Valyrian dragonlords have a chance of making the bond. The Targaryens are the only clan of Dragonlords left in the known world, the other families having perished during the Doom. But exactly how much blood is needed (if it’s needed at all) is up for debate. Addam, being Corlys Velaryon’s bastard son, has about as much Targaryen blood as Ser Steffon; Aerion Targaryen, the father of Aegon the Conqueror was married to Valaena Velaryon and, given that the Velaryons (and the Celtigars and Baratheons) can all claim descent from Old Valyria, there is some through line of potential dragonlord blood that precedes the Doom.  But the end effect may be less about magic bloodlines and more about optics. As the “inside the episode” footage confirmed, this process of finding dragonriders is partly a democratizing of dragons across Westeros. Once a Darklyn or a Velaryon bastard or someone even less connected to the Targaryen line claims a dragon, the divine mystique of that Valyrian blood is lost. The Dying of the Dragons is not simply about their literal loss, it’s also about the death of Targaryen exceptionalism—and between this development and the parading of Meleys’ head through the streets last episode, we are seeing the first seeds of this shift. Hightower Family Drama Credit: Ollie Upton/HBO One of the best moments in the whole of the show is a scene in season 1, episode 5 where Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) warns Alicent (Emily Carey) that her children are in danger if Rhaenyra becomes queen. With an uncharacteristically raised voice he seethes that Alicent must either “prepare Aegon to rule or […] cleave to Rhaenyra and pray for her mercy” while she trembles and sobs as if she’s been struck. Having told his daughter that the closest friend she has ever had—a friendship he intentionally destroyed—will murder her children if given the chance, he draws Alicent into a tight embrace and then rides off, abandoning her for the next few years. It’s the perfect encapsulation of the broken childhood that Otto gifted his children. I wrote in my review of the season 1 finale that “at every turn, [Otto’s] loneliness has hardened his ambition and given him license to be quietly cruel.”  In this episode we get another classic, heartbreaking Alicent (Olivia Cooke) scene as she meets with her weary brother on his way out of King’s Landing. They speak about, albeit in an adumbrated fashion, the root of all the Hightower family drama: Alerie Florent. Otto Hightower’s dead wife is unnamed in F&B and Gyldayn doesn’t ever discuss the fact that the Hightower children grew up motherless (though it is also true that Alicent, being eleven years older in the book, did not lose her mother at quite so young an age). But the show, in naming her (back in episode one of this season) and calling more attention to the fact that it was, potentially, grief that made Otto Hightower such a bad parent, is borrowing one of Martin’s better plotlines from the original books. The dynamics are slightly different and much more toxic, but Martin makes it clear that the Lannister children have been deeply affected by the death of Joanna Lannister and that Tywin is a very different man than he was when they were married. This was played out a bit in the original series but this show seems to have heavily borrowed those tropes and made Gwayne (Freddie Fox) and Alicent deeply given over to growing up with a grief that was never allowed to be discussed.  Online dislike and distaste for Alicent has been intense and disappointingly—but perhaps unsurprisingly—more than a little sexist this season. I’m really glad the show is addressing (and perhaps dismissing) some of the common refrains about her unworthiness. Her pointed questioning of why Daeron is so much kinder than Aegon or Aemond—is it because he was raised outside of King’s Landing, or because he grew up without her?—feels like a direct rejoinder to the fans who think Alicent is unworthy of our pity because she hasn’t been a completely stellar mother. Martin has always been clear that King’s Landing is a terrible place for nobility to grow up, and this feels like as good a reason as any to acknowledge the possibility that, whether or not Alicent is a good parent, her children’s temperaments were, like so many things in her life, wildly out of her control.  DragonWatch We get a new (if diminutive) dragon in last night’s episode, as well as our best look yet at a classic.  Stormcloud. We get a good look at the dragon of Rhaenyra’s fourth son, Aegon (yes, yet another Aegon–Archmaester Gyldayn refers to him as Aegon the Younger to distinguish between the two). Stormcloud has actually been aged down in the show. Aegon the Younger is supposed to be about ten during the events of the Dance and his dragon is large enough that he can be (badly and awkwardly) ridden. With Aegon being closer to three or four on the show, Stormcloud is also a hatchling and definitely too small to be ridden, even by a child. That is going to be an interesting change down the line, and book readers are probably curious about how it will be handled. Stormcloud’s coloration and physiology is not described in F&B but the show has opted to give him some dark grays trending to steely blues and dark teals that would seem to account for his name. He looks very much like Daenerys’ dragons in the first two seasons of GoT, implying that there is a more common infant form.  Seasmoke. Originally ridden by Laenor Velaryon, Seasmoke is probably on the younger side though we don’t have an exact age. He is somewhere north of 30 by the time of the show and has only ever had a single rider (at least until this episode). He is in a middling position in terms of size, being somewhat smaller than Caraxes and Meleys but still larger than Moondancer. He’s named for his coloration (F&B describes him as pale, silver gray) and that coloration has been retained in the show, alongside pale orange membranes and translucent horns. In many ways, Seasmoke looks the most like the dragons from the original show with a somewhat blunted muzzle, a spikier triple ridge of neck fins, a barrel chest, and a collection of smallish, back-curving horns at the base of the skull. Seasmoke is also more battle-tested than most dragons, having fought in the Stepstones with Laenor.  Disability and ASoIaF Credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) approaches a newly conscious Aegon II to give him a hard lesson in what is in store for him, now that he is maimed. Martin has always had an in-book and in-life fondness for, as he puts it, “cripples, bastards, and broken things.” Martin places a huge number of people with disabilities at the center of his books; Bran, Tyrion, Catelyn, Jaime, Theon, Davos, and Jon Connington are all narrators with disabilities (a full third of the total roster to date) while Hodor, Doran Martell, the Hound, Maester Aemon, Varys, Elia Martell, Penny, Donal Noye, and Shireen Baratheon are all centrally important disabled characters—and even this list leaves out the huge number of tertiary and one-off characters to whom Martin assigns disabilities. It’s centrally important to the books and one of the places where the author’s empathy and understanding, largely free of pity or mockery, is most apparent.  In F&B, both Aegon and Larys are treated with a certain amount of contempt by Archmaester Gyldayn. Obviously, neither is a paragon of virtue that one can get truly get behind, but in spite of their faults, the show is eager to show the humanity underlying both characters. Larys reminds the audience that his clubfooot has always been a metonymy for his unworthiness in the eyes of others. His father always believed Larys was a victim of sorcery, and this carries over into his fellow courtiers’ fear of him, as he lurks around the edges of the Red Keep. It’s also interesting that Larys seemingly sides with Aegon here, given that Aemond is also disabled. That said, Aemond subscribes to the idea that Larys is conniving, going so far as to call Larys a toad immediately before this scene. While we, as an audience, shouldn’t discount Aemond’s disability, the show has used the eyepatch, the scar, and the sapphire in his socket as part of his design alongside his tightly cut tunic and long, flowing hair to make him into less of a figure of disability awareness and more of a cool anime villain. It’ll be worth watching how the show continues to deal with all three of these characters, specifically in terms of what others assume they lack.   Finally, a Bisexual Rhaenyra Credit: Theo Whiteman/HBO I’ve been joking with friends about how crazy it is that Emma D’Arcy is the most flirtatiously seductive person in Hollywood right now, yet they play one of the show’s most dour, serious, and un-flirtatious characters. Milly Alcock played Rhaenyra as occasionally coy, but D’Arcy’s adult version of the character is too stressed to bother. So it’s fantastic that the show finally gives her a moment of pure, unconstrained desire—even better that it makes the subtext of her queerness text. Obviously, I’m always going to ship Alicent and Rhaenyra but that also feels pretty impossible at this point in the war.  The very fact that the show is giving Rhaenyra a queer love story is pretty great. Martin was pretty progressive in his representations of queer characters when the first four books were released in the late ’90s and early 2000s. While he has always been clear on the existence and humanity of his queer characters, he has never made them the central focus of his stories and their sexuality has often been relegated to the realm of rumor or experimentation. Both Cersei and Daenerys have sexual experiences with women, which are described in the books but somewhat undercut by being characterized as exceptions to their general proclivities. There are no characters who strongly prefer lovers of the same sex and are either narrators or particularly forthcoming secondary characters. So it’s refreshing to see an ASoIaF show that makes its protagonist explicitly queer, and the tension and promise in the full thirty seconds of embrace that preceded the moment before she moves in to kiss Mysaria probably had the majority of the audience desperately anticipating whether or not it would actually happen.  I’m a little more uneasy about placing that moment directly after Mysaria reveals that her scar is the result of a violent abortion and attempted murder by her father. Obviously, the scene plays out that way in an attempt to show that Rhaenyra and Mysaria are both women who have been completely let down by men who should have cared for them. Rhaenyra, obviously, has only had one male lover that wasn’t a complete letdown as a person (and he was burned to death by his brother); I’m all for her expressing her sexuality more fully, partly as a result of realizing how little she has been supported by men. But, given Game of Thrones’ at best sketchy, at worst horrifying treatment of sexual assault as a plotline, I’m pretty leery of it being used here as a prelude to Mysaria expressing her interest in women. Obviously, HotD has been leagues better about its treatment of women than GoT, but there are always going to be a few twinges of worry when the show reminds us that Martin’s world is capable of stunning cruelty towards women. This episode’s writing is credited to Eileen Shim, Ti Mikkel gets the story credit, and about half of the writers’ room are women, so I trust that there are some tempering, thoughtful voices working hard to not repeat the mistakes of the earlier series. That said, we will have to see where the show takes their relationship and how it chooses to deal with Mysaria’s history of abuse. Odds & Ends Credit: Ollie Upton/HBO I love Jason Lannister bringing caged lions with him into battle: some real Games Workshop regimental mascot vibes. Ironrod Wylde (Paul Kennedy) makes mention of Lord Dalton Greyjoy for the second time this season and uses his sobriquet, the Red Kraken. It is unclear if, like Daeron, this is setting him up to be part of the next season or if they will veer away from him as a player in the Dance, but he’s worth mentioning here. In F&B, Dalton Greyjoy is sixteen by the time of Viserys’ death and already an experienced reaver, sailor, and soldier. He wields the Valyrian steel longsword Nightfall, looted from a fallen foe during his years sailing as a mercenary in the Stepstones. He earned his nickname by emerging from a duel, fought to avenge his slain uncle, soaked in blood. He’s a dangerous ally who—like most of the Iron Islanders—is only barely loyal to the Seven Kingdoms and their monarchs.  The Triarchy also gets a mention in this episode. I suspect that we will see more of them in future episodes but, as a quick refresher, they are an alliance of three of the Free Cities (Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh) who served as the enemy of the Seven Kingdoms during the war in the Stepstones at the beginning of last season when their war effort was led by Prince Craghas Drahar, the Crabfeeder (Daniel Scott-Smith). In the “This Season On…” trailer that played after the season 2 premiere, there were a couple of shots of Tyland Lannister that lead me to believe that a plot point of his, taken from much later in F&B, will be moved to the Stepstones and involve the Triarchy. For non-book readers, I’ll just leave it at that.  I scoured the internet and the books but I can find no mention of Aeriana Darklyn née Targaryen. Rhaenyra states that she was Steffon Darklyn’s grandmother’s grandmother which (if we assume a generation to be twenty years or so, and that Ser Steffon is the same age as the actor that plays him) would roughly place Aeriana as being a princess just before Aegon’s conquest. There are a few unaccounted-for siblings from that time period who might have produced this Aeriana. Incidentally, while there are no Targaryens named Aeriana, it is clearly a distaff version of the popular Targaryen name Aerion—mentioned above as the father of Aegon the Conqueror and, later, Aerion “Brightflame,” who will appear on the currently filming spin-off series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (played by True Detective: Night Country’s Finn Bennet).  I’m pretty sure that Gormon Massey (James Dreyfus) is constantly a little bit drunk at Rhaenyra’s small council meetings. While Alfred Broome rages and Bartimos Celtigar quietly patronizes, it’s really entertaining to see one small council member constantly attempting to just get through these meetings by passing as awake and alert enough to not draw attention.  Always great to have Paddy Considine back as Viserys. It’s interesting that the show chooses to replay a conversation from season 1, episode 1—with Viserys only using the same lines from that conversation. But it’s absolutely different footage with a different line delivery. This has the effect of giving the scene a dream-like quality, a corrupted memory that’s not quite what we know to have actually occurred.  Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell) comes across the burnt remains of a number of sheep in the Vale. This feels like a soft confirmation that they have given her a plotline that previously belonged to a character they have probably cut (more on that in the following weeks as we see how it plays out). I’m all for giving Rhaena more to do on the show (she’s important during the Dance, but far less so in the books than in the show) but there are some really great plot points with the potentially cut character that cannot be replicated with her. I hope that they find a way to split up that plot so that we don’t lose out on one of Martin’s more interesting denouements from the Dance. Lady Jeyne Arryn (Amanda Collin) mentions that a merchant cog, the Gay Abandon, is ready to take Baela, Aegon the Younger, and Viserys (the Younger) to Pentos. In F&B, it is only the younger children who are first in the Vale and then bound for the Free Cities on that self-same boat, so having Rhaenyra’s son Joffrey and Rhaena there is a change that feels like it’s going to have much larger repercussions than it may seem right now.  It’s a nice little reveal that Alyn (Abubakar Salim) has been shaving his head in order to keep that Valyrian silver hair from showing. The Alyn of F&B is proud of his Velaryon status, so this is a new characterization for the show but it is drawn from a few instances across the ASoIaF books and related projects where a Targaryen shaves their head to hide that telltale coloration. As a side note, Salim is currently appearing on the current arc of Critical Role and he’s an absolute delight. Always nice to have the stars of nerdy fantasy shows be nerds themselves in their downtime! Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan) tells Alicent that House Beesbury has rebelled against their liege lords, the Tyrells, in recompense for the murder of Lord Lymund Beesbury by Ser Criston last season—he’s the one who has his head bashed in by the stone ball that signals attendance at small council meetings in episode 9. It’s a little bit unclear how much the show will focus on the civil war in the Reach. It feels unlikely since there are precious few central characters involved in that particular conflict, but I would have said the same thing about the Blackwood/Bracken conflict before this season.  I was deeply worried for Helaena during the food riot. The show has chosen to make her much more important and interesting than she was in F&B, which means that they really can do anything with her from here on out. I never trust this show to keep a minor character that they’ve made suddenly important safe for very long… The member of the Strong household that was accused of sorcery might have been Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin). While she is usually considered to be Lyonel Strong’s (Gavin Spokes) bastard daughter, Gyldayn mentions that Mushroom believed that she was much older and served as a wetnurse to Larys and Harwin, possibly even to Lyonel himself. Either way, Larys’ cageyness about the “member of the household” and the vagueness about whether or not Alys is his half-sister or something else all points back at her general witchiness and potential immortality. We also get the great Sîan Brooke back this episode to play Aemma Arryn (albeit with no lines and potentially composited from archival footage). Still, it’s nice to have a sense of continuity and history by having dead characters be referenced and played by their original actors when appropriate.  Mysaria, in being unable to have children, joins her fellow Free Cities-born Master of Whisperers, Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) as a character whose loyalty to the good of the realm cannot be poisoned by personal stakes within it. A strong legacy, through children, is the end goal of most Westerosi nobility and people excluded from that are, often, in Martin’s narrative, represented as selfless and dedicated to something grander than their stake in the game of thrones. Also, the reveal of her infertility and its cause makes Daemon’s joke, last season, that she was pregnant with his child, even more hideous.  In Conclusion In many ways, the show is slowing down the pace of the book—to the point where I am actually less sure of where this season will end, now. I had a definite hunch about the season two finale that now seems like it’s not going to come to pass, given that we only have two episodes left. Either way, I’m excited for more Sowing of the Seeds and the eventual appearance of Vermithor and Silverwing. But what did you think of this latest installment? Is the pace of this season too slow for you? Are you enjoying the focus on character motivations this episode? Are you as excited for #Rhaesaria as you should be? Let me know below![end-mark] The post Dragonrider Tryouts, Mass Rioting, and a New Romance in <i>House of the Dragon</i> Season 2, Episode 6 appeared first on Reactor.

WSJ: Dem Cover-Up of Biden Senility Began in October 2021

On Sunday, after President Biden announced he would not run for re-election, political reporter Domenico Montanaro of National Public Radio turned up on PBS News Weekend and sounded exceedingly optimistic about the prospects of the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Montanaro engaged in pro-Democrat happy talk and managed to have it both ways, claiming that whether Harris had a primary challenger for the nomination or not, each outcome would be ideal for her and the Democratic Party. After Montanaro admitted that as a Democratic presidential candidate Harris “struggled somewhat” in 2019 -- she pulled out before the first primary -- PBS anchor John Yang asked: “This party, the Democratic Party, has been split in the last couple of years between moderates and sort of more liberals. Is the party going to fall in behind Harris or is she likely to get a challenge?” Montanaro spun both potential paths as wins for the Democrats. Domenico Montanaro: ….If she does get a serious challenge, it might actually be a good thing for her because she’s likely to still win the nomination and it would show she has some insider political skills that would certainly help her on her way. Of course, if she doesn’t get a serious challenge, then it shows Democratic Party unity already, so we’ll see what winds up happening. There are certainly a lot of people with their eyes set on 2028. There is a potential opportunity here for Democrats to be able to potentially gain a geographic advantage, because when you think about the people who might be a potential Harris VP, there are some swing-state candidates or swing-state governors who might be a possibility, or senator, think about somebody like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, somebody like Mark Kelly, the senator of Arizona…” Montanaro appeared twice on the News Hour in August 2023, lamenting the racism of Republican base voters, and also fretting that Trump’s base is eager “to really lap up everything he's had to say” on climate change, where “the science is settled.” This happy talk about Kamala Harris’s chances was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular, and taxpayers like you.

Women's basketball superstar Caitlin Clark said that she was a big NASCAR fan as a child ahead of appearing on the hood of a race car for the Brickyard 400.Clark was featured on Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, driven by Josh Berry. The hood showed Clark in her college jersey from Iowa, along with the Donruss trading cards logo and the text "Raining 3s." The car was sponsored by Panini Trading Cards."I was like, 'Oh my gosh! Is this real?!'" Clark said, according to WNDY. "I want to drive the car. So sometime maybe I have to take a spin, but it's super cool. … Hopefully it brings good vibes and we get the W."'The amount of reach and popularity she's gained over the last couple years has been really amazing to watch.'The WNBA player then said she was a fan of the sport growing up, indicating that her mother was involved in the racing league in some way."Honestly, I grew up watching NASCAR. My mom was kind of involved in it. So I was a really big fan growing up. It's super cool."It is unclear how Clark's mother was involved with NASCAR, if it all; however, Sporting News reported that she was the vice president of product marketing at American Enterprise Group Inc.Stewart-Haas driver Berry called it a "great opportunity" to have Clark's image on the hood of the car. "The amount of reach and popularity she's gained over the last couple years has been really amazing to watch and just how it's kind of transcended women's basketball. Obviously, being a girl dad, you don’t necessarily put the two together right now, but as she grows older I'm sure it will be a pretty cool thing to look back on as she continues her career." he added.Unfortunately, Berry's No. 4 car finished 35th, completing just 63 laps before getting into a crash that sent him to the infield medical center. He was reportedly evaluated and released. — (@) Clark and and the racing team will partner again in August 2024 when the hood will be donated to an auction to raise money for the Matt Alexander Memorial Baseball Scholarship Fund. The fund honors a baseball player who was shot during a mass shooting in 2021 at a FedEx facility.The fund annually awards a high school senior baseball player $1,600 to further his education.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Anyone else remember playing "I Spy" on family road trips?If you do, you were probably raised in the pre-digital era. No phones or tablets meant your best entertainment option was looking out the window. Now, motorists are part of a new game of "I Spy" — whether they like it or not. Thanks to new AI-enabled cameras, police can now tell if you're speeding — while also peering inside your car for evidence of other infractions, such as using a mobile phone (or simply having one on your lap) or not wearing your seatbelt. Welcome to the robo-nanny highway. The cameras, developed by Austrailian company Acusensis, are already in use in a few cities in Great Britain and are set to be rolled out nationwide, despite objections from privacy advocate Big Brother Watch, which calls the cameras "intrusive and creepy.Not to worry, say proponents of the cameras. Actual, human police will only have access to anonymized images. It's only once they decide to prosecute that those images will be connected to vehicle registrations. In other words, if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from our faceless AI overlords.Other companies are scrambling to compete for surveillance state paydays. German company Jenoptik's Vector-SR cameras use radar to track two-lane traffic in both directions; since the cameras don't flash, drivers often have no idea they've been caught speeding. After a trial in Manchester, Jenoptik's cameras are expected to be implemented across the U.K. Redspeed International's Sentio cameras employ 4D radar technology, which can also check records to verify if a vehicle has proper registration and insurance. They operate at some 1,000 sites in Great Britain.As for the U.S., nine states — Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin — have banned speed cameras altogether. Some states that have allowed them are having second thoughts. RedSpeed cameras have been used to enforce school zone speed limits throughout Georgia since 2018. But critics say the cameras are prone to glitches and incentivize the private companies who operate them to issue as many citations as possible. States now have access to billions in funding for speed cameras under Biden’s infrastructure law — the same law that has brought us the kill switches I've covered earlier. The U.S. Department of Transportation thinks Americans should be grateful for all of the extra "attention" while driving. Accroding to its National Roadway Safety Strategy:Speeding increases both the frequency and severity of crashes, yet it is both persistent and largely accepted as the norm amongst the traveling public ... Automated speed enforcement, if deployed equitably and applied appropriately to roads with the greatest risk of harm due to speeding, can provide significant safety benefits and save lives.Your mileage, as they say, may vary. If you do have a problem with being spied on, now's the time to let your state, county, city, and town elected officials know.

September 11, 2001, was a tragic day for all Americans — and thousands lost their lives. However, that doesn’t mean the official story can’t be questioned. And in honor of the victims, it should be scrutinized heavily. “We live in a fake matrix of lies, and one of those lies is that 19 hijackers were able to defeat the strongest military force in the entire world and bring down three buildings with two airplanes. The story doesn’t make sense,” Alex Stein says, before listening to Matt Campbell’s story. Campbell, whose brother tragically died in the attack on the Twin Towers, tells Stein that he also believes we haven’t been told the truth about what happened. “My brother was 31, he worked for Reuters,” Campbell tells Stein, noting that his brother was attending a conference and wasn’t usually in the building. “It’s just one of those things, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Campbell started questioning what happened as soon as the war in Afghanistan began — and especially when he learned that 15 of the 19 alleged hijackers were Saudi, mainly trained in the United States. “It was a slow process, but I mean, initially, you know, for me, it was looking at intelligence failures and just the backstory to all the hijackers,” he says. Now, Campbell is attempting to take the government to court. “Almost all attempts at litigation around the subject of 9/11 have either failed or they’ve been settled because someone pleaded guilty,” Campbell explains. “For me in terms of waking people up or trying to get the truth out there, for me, it’s always been to try and go down this legal route,” he tells Stein, though admits it hasn’t been easy. “It’s not easy to be constantly thinking and talking about someone’s death and their murder, and you know, in this case, the cover up.” Campbell is also attempting to get his brother’s inquest reopened. The inquest is held in a coroner’s court where they’re supposed to do a thorough investigation of the cause of death. “They did absolutely no investigation, no inquiry into how my brother died, which they have to by law,” Campbell explains. “They didn’t have any evidence of the use of explosives.” “It wasn’t placed in front of the coroner,” he adds, noting that while they’ve petitioned the attorney general twice — they’ve been denied. “We actually threatened litigation with them last year, and their case was so weak, they capitulated, withdrew that first denial.” “It makes you sort of wonder, what are they scared of,” he adds. “You know what they’re hiding. They don’t want to touch 9/11 because they know it is an international event and it's just going to cause more problems exposing the truth, and that’s why I appreciate you continuing to fight,” Stein says. Want more from Alex Stein?To enjoy more of Alex's culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

With President Joe Biden stepping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, rumors are swirling about Harris' potential pick for running mate, should she secure the nomination.Since the Sunday announcement from the Biden administration, Harris has raised roughly $50 million in donations, according to Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, The Hill reported.Harris responded to Biden's support in a recent statement, noting, "I am honored to have the President's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.""I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda," she continued. "We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win."Democrats have already started naming their preferred vice presidential picks for a Harris ticket. Those being considered so far appear to include Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and United States Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. All of the floated potential candidates are Democratic politicians from red or purple swing states.Pennsylvania Gov. Josh ShapiroShapiro, viewed as a likely pick for running mate, was among several Democrats to endorse Harris in the upcoming presidential election in the wake of Biden's announcement that he was stepping out of the race. In a Sunday statement, Shapiro wrote, "I've known Kamala Harris for nearly two decades — we've both been prosecutors, we've both stood up for the rule of law, we've both fought for the people and delivered results. Kamala Harris is a patriot worthy of our support and she will continue the work of generations of Americans who came before us to perfect our union, protect our democracy, and advance real freedom. She has served the country honorably as Vice President and she is ready to be President."Shapiro claimed that the "best path forward for the Democratic Party is to quickly unite behind Vice President Harris and refocus on winning the presidency.""I will do everything I can to help elect Kamala Harris as the 47th President of the United States," he declared. — (@) North Carolina Gov. Roy CooperCooper also threw his support behind Harris' campaign. He won his gubernatorial elections in 2016 and 2020 — the same years that former President Donald Trump secured wins in North Carolina. Cooper will have reached his term limit as governor after this year. Cooper wrote on X Sunday afternoon, "President Biden has cemented his place among our nation's finest Presidents. When our democracy faced danger, President Biden stood strong as the rarest type of leader who could help us forge ahead with a vision to repair our country's soul."In a separate post, Cooper declared that Harris "should be the next President," noting that he has known her since they both served as attorneys general."She has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket," Cooper said. — (@) Kentucky Gov. Andy BeshearBeshear stated that Biden's decision to suspend his presidential campaign "could not have been easy" but was "in the best interest of our country, and our party."The governor appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday to announce his "full support" for Harris' presidential campaign."She's incredibly tough & smart, w/ the compassion and empathy to be a phenomenal president. She'll bring our country together and move us past the anger politics we've seen in recent years," Beshear wrote on X. In 2020, Beshear secured his second term as governor, defeating a Trump-backed Republican opponent. — (@) U.S. Sen. Mark KellyRumors are circulating that Kelly is also among those being considered as Harris' running mate. On Sunday, Kelly stated that he "couldn't be more confident" that Harris "is the right person to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country into the future.""She has my support for the nomination, and Gabby and I will do everything we can to elect her President of the United States," Kelly added, referring to his wife, Gabrielle Giffords (D), a former U.S. Representative from Arizona. Kelly praised Biden for being "one of the most consequential presidents in history," crediting the president for his response to COVID and "bring[ing] back microchip and clean energy manufacturing.""He has strengthened our alliances and made our country safer," he claimed. — (@) Anything else?While it remains to be seen whom Harris might select as her vice president, the Wall Street Journal reported that she spoke with Shapiro, Cooper, and Beshear on Sunday afternoon.Additional potential running mates who may be up for Harris' consideration include Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Attorney John Morgan, a major Biden donor, issued the Democratic Party a warning on Sunday after the party began coalescing around Vice President Kamala Harris as the favorite for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.After President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is not going to seek re-election, Morgan told ABC News that he will stop fundraising for Democrats if Harris is their presidential nominee.'She f***** over Joe Biden, and that's why I'm never going to be for her.'His reason is simple: Morgan believes running Harris is a fool's errand because she is too far-left to win a general election."If Trump World could pick anybody to run against, I think they pick her," he told ABC News. "If she's a nominee, Mar-a-Lago has a real big party that night."In fact, Morgan believes that Biden's endorsement of Harris is a subtle message to his own party, whose brokers essentially bullied him into stepping aside as Donald Trump became the clear favorite to win the election."Joe Biden's endorsement of Kamala is his f*** you to all who pushed him out," Morgan said. "Be careful what you wish for."Morgan donated $1 million to the Biden re-election effort.Instead of the vice president, Morgan said the Democratic Party should choose to run Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as its nominee. Even former first lady Michelle Obama, he predicted, would win in a "landslide." Obama, however, has repeatedly maintained that she has no interest in running for president.Morgan's suggestion that Biden endorsed Harris to sink his own party is perhaps not far from the truth.Axios reported on Monday, citing sources close to the president, that Biden delayed his decision to withdraw from the race partially because he worried that Harris cannot defeat Trump on Election Day.Indeed, to say that Harris' record as vice president has fallen short of expectations is an understatement.Not only has Harris' office seen incredible staff turnover — because, according to Axios, of how Harris "treats her staff" — Harris is deeply unpopular and her top blemish is connected to the border crisis. Moreover, Harris' lone presidential campaign in the 2020 Democratic primary was a spectacular failure and she never seriously competed for the nomination.Morgan described Harris' 2020 campaign as "not only ... not good, it was horrible." And in his view, she's the worst type of politician."I don't think she's authentic," he told ABC News. "All politicians are phony. Let's start with that. But some seem really sincere, and some seem like what I call fake phony, and fake phony is the worst phony."And she f***** over Joe Biden, and that's why I'm never going to be for her," he added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Roman circus found at the remains of Iruña-Veleia in northern Spain would have once seated nearly 5,000 spectators along its 920-foot track for chariot racing. The post Researchers Uncover An Ancient Roman Circus Used For Chariot Racing In Northern Spain appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Let Us All Be UNBURDENED As We Experience the Passage of Time With Hilarious Kamala Harris Meme Thread