[FoxNews] StopAntisemitism founder warns that algorithms and some politicians are normalizing extremist influencers
A dangerous new subculture is infesting America’s digital landscape. Fueled by algorithm-driven online platforms, it nonetheless has a very real world, negative impact on the national conversation, public policy and politics. With financial incentives that can top thousands of dollars per month, its heroes are "influencers" who glamorize extremist violence, target Jews and become icons for a disaffected audience of young men seeking validation.
This is the rise of the terrorist fanboys.
Hasan Piker, a top-three contender in 2024 for my organization StopAntisemitism’s Antisemite of the Year, losing out only to Candace Owens, has become one of the most influential progressive voices online, with millions of followers.
This is a man who said that "America deserved 9/11, dude. F--- it, I’m saying it." He dismissed the evidence of mass rape and murder by Hamas in the Oct, 7 massacre. Even though the terror group livestreamed their gory pillaging of Israel, Piker-hosted streams where he denied or dismissed Hamas sexual violence, going so far as to say, "It doesn’t matter if f–--ing rapes happened on October 7th." Piker later admitted in the interview that his comments on 9/11 were "inappropriate." But apparently mass rapes are totally appropriate.
Nonetheless, he has been featured at a campaign rally with Democratic members of Congress Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee and with Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has appeared on his Twitch stream, even though Piker explicitly called for the murder of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., — something Piker later walked back after being suspended by Twitch. This is true influence not just online but IRL—in real life.
And the cultural mainstreaming of Piker continues apace, including a collaboration with comedian Trevor Noah and an appearance on the New York Times’ "The Opinion" podcast, further normalizing his revolting anti-Americanism, antisemitism and incitement to violence.
On the other end of the ideological spectrum is Nick Fuentes, who has engaged in Holocaust denial, saying he does not "buy" the existence of gas chambers and calling the Nazi genocide of Jews "exaggerated." He has built a following using unambiguously violent rhetoric.
At one rally, when talking about "the Jews," he raged, "We’re in a holy war and I will tell you this: Because we’re willing to die in the holy war, we will make them die in the holy war. And they will go down. We have God on our side, and they will go down with their Satanic master. They have no future in America."
Popular influencer Sneako, whose real name is Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, appeared on stage to support Fuentes, declaring, "Nicholas J. Fuentes is going to be the future President of the United States of America." The sickest part is that the audience of real, live human beings cheered.
And yet Fuentes has been laundered by mainstream platforms. He appeared on Piers Morgan, who introduced him by saying, "The reason you’re hearing about him is because he’s popular." And he famously sat for a chummy two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson, who later called him "smart" and "hilarious," and asserted, "Fuentes is saying a lot of true things." Carlson also said that "Fuentes on some macro level is troubling because, he, his platform is an expression of something that has kind of taken over all political discourse which is identity politics: tribalism."
Comedians like Theo Von and Dave Smith operate in a similar environment where false, bigoted and violent comments are treated as "edgy" and "controversial" entertainment rather than threats. The lines between satire, irony and endorsement grow increasingly blurry.
What brings the two ends of the political spectrum together into a horseshoe, in addition to antisemitism and incitement to violence, is money and attention. Algorithms reward outrage. Audiences reward transgression. And young, disaffected men reward those who validate their grievances with the most extreme language possible.
The result is a normalization process. Ideas that once would have ended careers now build them.
Some political leaders must stop legitimizing this ecosystem. That means refusing to campaign or appear with them and explicitly condemning influencers who traffic in dehumanizing rhetoric, regardless of their reach.
Cultural institutions must enforce consistent standards, not selectively applied outrage. Platforms must confront the role their algorithms play in amplifying extremism under the guise of engagement.
And audiences must recognize their own culpability. Consumption is endorsement in an attention economy.
The terrorist fanboy phenomenon is not confined to the fringes. It is reshaping discourse and eroding moral boundaries. When violence is glamorized and antisemitism is repackaged as commentary, the consequences extend far beyond any single community.
This is not just a Jewish problem. It is a societal one. Because a culture that learns to admire extremism will not contain it. It will spread it.
[Bee] U.S. — With The Late Show scheduled to end its 33-year run on Thursday night, the nation was looking forward to not watching Stephen Colbert one last time.
For an entire generation that grew up with The Late Show, the closing episode represents one final chance to do something more useful with their evening.
"It's exciting, not watching Colbert for the last time," said local woman Julie Laubacher. "We'll play a round of Apples to Apples Jr. with the kids after dinner, then I'll probably catch up on some laundry and go to bed early. I'm really looking forward to it."
America has enjoyed not watching Colbert since he took over for David Letterman as host of The Late Show back in 2015. "Not gathering around the television to watch Colbert has become a sort of national pastime over the last decade," said sociologist Dr. Brett Palacio. "It was one of the few things that drew us together as a country. Every weeknight, you knew that every household was doing literally anything else but watching Colbert. It's bittersweet that this season is finally coming to an end. It's the end of an era."
At publishing time, the nation excitedly planned to carry on the tradition by not watching Jimmy Kimmel.
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Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin presents two videos from rutube.ru about the Wagner Group in Africa, alas all in Russian.
He does helpfully provide the video text summary:
[ColonelCassad] Abstract:
This episode tells the story of a soldier who signed a contract with the "musicians" and went to a distant location—Mali.
Almost a year (11 months) of service in a combat zone: missions, intense days, constant risk, and life "on the ground," without the finer words. The hero of the episode is very modest. He answers any questions simply: "I was peeling potatoes there."
But the further the conversation goes, the clearer it becomes: behind this simplicity lies experience that not everyone gets, and situations that change a person forever.
We talked about what service away from home is like:
- everyday life and routine;
- missions and tasks;
- what is really important in war;
- why modesty sometimes speaks louder than any grandiose statements.
The video is documentary/introductory in nature and reflects the hero's personal experience.
00:00 The Beginning of the Journey
A conversation about the fear of death, war without romance, and people for whom it is a way of life.
01:08 Childhood and Service
Siberia, the army, special forces, trying to find myself in civilian life.
02:38 Money and Choice
Loans, responsibility and the decision to sign a contract.
03:29 The Path to the "Musicians"
Connections, documents, waiting and a long-distance assignment.
04:27 Who and Why Goes to War
An honest conversation about the motivation of volunteers.
05:21 Molkino
Checks, everyday life, first impressions.
09:17 Illnesses and Conditions
The harsh reality before deployment.
10:36 Vaccinations and Flight
Preparing for Africa through pain and fever.
11:35 Waiting and Uncertainty
Rotations, the front and different directions.
15:27 Africa. First Base
Climate, a night in a tent and adaptation.
17:01 Teamwork and Training
Experienced commanders and the first lessons.
21:24 Loss of a Commander
The first serious loss and the breakdown of illusions.
27:03 Transition to the rear
A new role and responsibility for supplies.
30:22 Africa without embellishment
Everyday life, cities, night and danger.
33:56 Mistake on the route
How one little thing can cost a life.
36:39 Preparing for an attack
Anticipating a strike and reinforcing the base.
37:52 Battle
Explosion, attack, the work of all units.
42:29 Results of the battle
Coherence, prisoners and the price of a minute.
47:04 Strengthening the defense
Posts, captured weapons, anticipation of a new strike.
49:43 Local tribes
Allies, traditions and another war.
52:30 Ambushes
Night operations and close contact.
54:36 Why Russia is in Mali
Politics, security and interests.
57:05 How Mali Came to War
Libya, Syria, Islamists and chaos.
59:38 Guerrilla warfare
Mines, raids, no borders.
01:04:30 Hospitals and everyday life
Medicine, generators and the reality of the third world.
01:07:19 Road of death
Mines, explosions and the enemy's ingenuity.
01:16:51 Capture of the base
One of the key episodes of the campaign.
01:17:50 Kidal
A historical moment and a flag over the city.
01:22:54 Contracts and resources
How this war is organized from the inside.
01:32:25 Commanders
The people who hold the system together.
01:38:59 Training fighters
Instructors and survival school.
01:45:35 Thoughts of home
When war ceases to be a choice.
01:52:37 The road back
Planes, transit and return.
02:01:28 Home
Family as a point of no return.
02:03:15 The Main Thing
Why He Won't Come Back.
02:07:39 What War Changes:
Values, People, and Time.
02:20:32 Family
: What Makes Life Worth Living.
An analog hosted by vk.com (Russian Facebook): Not translatable to English but it does have subtitles in Russian, which is more than rutube.ru
Unable to find an youtube.com analogue I stumbled up these two videos, which have a provide a pro_Russian/anti French slant on Wagner Group's mission in Africa, mainly in Mali.
[FoxNews] Pentagon could use blockchain for classified communications, supply chains and personnel records.
Of all the policy changes introduced by the Trump administration over the last year, few have been more disruptive and auspicious than the president’s embrace of cryptocurrency. The country has seen a complete reversal from the Biden era, when a heavy-handed regulatory approach toward the industry reigned.
America is now leading the world in this innovative technology, backed by bipartisan legislation like the GENIUS Act on payment stablecoins. Congress should finish the job by passing the CLARITY Act to establish market structure rules for digital assets, giving industry the regulatory certainty to build at scale here rather than offshore.
Together, these frameworks will ensure U.S. preeminence in global capital markets and open the door wider for progress in the national security space, since U.S. blockchain leadership in the commercial space creates the talent, infrastructure and standards the Pentagon can leverage.
As more than 55 million Americans who currently own "crypto" already know, this digital currency enables a secure, easy, reliable way to move money globally. It also empowers individuals, making the financial system more accessible by reducing the role of intermediaries who limit participation, add fees and extend the time it takes to conduct transactions. Who hasn’t waited a day or so for a wire transfer to occur, only to be charged a ridiculously high fee to do so?
Less known is the incredible engineering that makes cryptocurrency real: blockchain – a technology that provides a transparent ledger for something of value beyond just currency, such as a copyright, a professional license or a sensitive email. This tech also allows people to share such things privately with confidence, ease and accountability.
While cryptocurrency uses blockchain to enable secure financial transactions and move things of value between people, it can also be employed to advance U.S. national security. Despite piloting blockchain before with mixed results, the maturation of zero-knowledge proofs and better key management are two reasons for the military to pick up the ball again when it comes to the defense space.
The Pentagon should pursue a layered strategy: permissioned systems for classified and sensitive data, and public blockchains for applications where external verifiability and interoperability are the whole point. On the permissioned side, tamper-evident command-and-control logs, classified communications and secure conveyance of crisis information (e.g., battle plans, unit readiness reports, bomb damage assessments) belong on infrastructure DOD controls end-to-end.
But public blockchains have a distinct role to play: anchoring document hashes for tamper-evident integrity, content authentication and counter-deepfake provenance for official communications and imagery, coalition interoperability with allies on shared neutral infrastructure, for example. Zero-knowledge proofs will increasingly let DOD bridge the two — proving facts about sensitive data without exposing the data itself.
On the business side, the Pentagon could use blockchain’s secure ledger technology to ensure the safeguarding and reliability of everything from equipment, weapons and munitions stocks to financial data, maintenance logs and contracts. This would also allow the transfer of this information to the right recipient, regardless of the information technology infrastructure they are using, allowing the department to begin breaking free of many of the IT restrictions under which they currently operate.
Further, blockchain can also be leveraged to enhance supply chain monitoring, beginning with the origin of items and continuing through their deployment, and with the overall bill of materials associated with these items. For their part, the military’s vendors should also use blockchain. An August 2020 report by PWC said that manufacturers "can use blockchain to improve the way they track parts, inform the analytics that anticipate when repairs will be needed and make maintenance processes far more efficient."
Walmart, for example, has utilized blockchain for years in supply chain management. More recently, JP Morgan employs a "bank-led blockchain platform" called Kinexys "for programmable payments, asset tokenization and near-real-time settlement across global markets."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Bee] U.S. — With The Late Show scheduled to end its 33-year run on Thursday night, the nation was looking forward to not watching Stephen Colbert one last time.
