04 Culture
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Radicalization is a complex process, influenced by many variables that interact to varying degrees. AI scientist Mijke van den Hurk investigated whether artificial intelligence could help unravel this intricate interplay. She defended her Ph.D. thesis cum laude on June 29.
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When it comes to making fair calls, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) deploys robots. The nation’s professional league added a fleet of so-called robot umpires to the field during its 2024 season, hoping to even out the playing field. Called the Automatic Ball-Strike system (ABS), it utilizes pitch-tracking sensors and camera arrays to quickly analyze when a pitch crosses the strike zone—not uncanny machines wearing catcher’s gear. The ABS data is then presented to the human home plate umpire, who announces their call based on the additional analysis.
ABS is designed to offer more accurate decisions while reducing overall bias in games, but did it deliver? Two years later, researchers at the University of Michigan (UM) say effects are already clear—although not necessarily what some baseball fans (or players) anticipated.
According to a study published in the journal European Sport Management Quarterly, famous top-ranking hitters performed worse during the 2024 KBO season compared to previous year for statistics involving strike-zone judgment. Meanwhile, the high status players walked less, struck out more, and reached bases less often when ABS entered the equation.
“This suggests that there may have been an existing bias in favor of prominent batters before ABS,” Jimin Song, a UM kinesiologist and study co-author, said in a statement. “Before ABS, when a big-name batter was at bat, umpires may have given more favorable calls on borderline pitches.”
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As a full-time painter and educator, I can say with certainty that technology has completely changed the art world. I am passionate about it and use it every day in my practice. Not only to paint—today, artists like myself also use it to teach students from all over the world and make art more accessible. I welcome tech as a tool for efficiency, connectivity and education. Some artists have even built their entire creative careers using digital tools and platforms. Technology is allowing creativity to be transferred in powerful and exciting ways. But there is a major issue that comes with that: A.I.
Using technology to create and share art is not the same as replacing artistic creation with technological creation; something essential is lost when the creative process itself disappears. But as A.I.-generated content becomes more common online, I believe there will be a moment when we see a shift in the opposite direction: people, tired of being overwhelmed with artificial images, moving back toward authentic handmade creation. Humans connecting with the people and emotions behind the art.
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On July 8, 2026, we published an article explaining that Canada had approximately 17,700 reported euthanasia deaths in 2025 representing a 7.3% increase in killings from 2024 and representing about 5.6% of all deaths.
Our article reported that the British Columbia (BC) Health Authority released its 2025 euthanasia data indicating that there were 3189 reported euthanasia deaths in BC in 2025 which was up by 6.3% from 3000 in 2024.
We also shared similar data, in that article, from Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
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David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, has reportedly been backing a bill for a federal film tax incentive that has bipartisan support.
Multiple sources confirmed to Variety that that Ellison has spent at “least six months in exploratory meetings for the proposed legislation.” Ellison also met with Republican leaders in Washington, D.C., on Monday to discuss the legislation.
A federal film tax incentive would provide significant financial relief to content producers fleeing the U.S. for rebates around the world. A federal program would also sweeten the deal in Hollywood’s home state of California, whose AG Rob Bonta is leading the charge on the searing antitrust lawsuit waged today against Ellison over Warner Bros.
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Good news, adulterers: It turns out that if you get relationship counseling in Britain, you’ll have your identity as a “secret non-monogamist” affirmed!
And apparently, it’s been that way for a while — although it took a therapist named James Esses to point out just how bewilderingly perverse the guidance from the British Association of Psychotherapy and Counseling really is.
Esses is the founder of Just Therapy, an organization that believes “much of the world of psychotherapy and counseling has been taken over by activists and ideologies, which risk harming, rather than supporting, the mental wellbeing of clients.”
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AI is turning scientists into publishing machines—and quietly funneling them into the same crowded corners of research.
That’s the conclusion of an analysis of more than 40 million academic papers, which found that scientists who use AI tools in their research publish more papers, accumulate more citations, and reach leadership roles sooner than peers who don’t.
But there’s a catch. As individual scholars soar through the academic ranks, science as a whole shrinks its curiosity. AI-heavy research covers less topical ground, clusters around the same data-rich problems, and sparks less follow-on engagement between studies.
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Not having Little Italy on a map of ethnic enclaves in New York is like leaving the Golden Gate Bridge off a list of bridges in San Francisco. And yet that is precisely what the Ugandan-born socialist mayor of New York has done.
Zohran Mamdani’s Office of Immigrant Affairs released a map on Wednesday titled “New York City’s Immigrant Enclaves.” It features 30 enclaves spread across the five boroughs, from Little Africa to Little Yemen, even Little Odessa. And, of course—Mamdani being Mamdani—it includes Little Palestine.
However, somehow Mamdani has erased the most famous immigrant enclave of all, the capo di capi of New York’s ethnic neighborhoods, the iconic Little Italy.
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Bail of $500,000 was set Wednesday in Henderson, Nevada, for alleged would-be mass shooter Allison Howlett, a male transitioning to female.
KSNV reported that Allison is married to Julie Howlett. Police indicated that both Allison and Julie are “transitioning to female and are taking estrogen and progesterone.”
8NewsNow noted that Allison was arrested on Saturday “after refusing to exit her car while armed with multiple firearms in the Sunset Station garage.”
Julie had told police
Congress Goes On Vacation, Neglecting SAVE Act, PP Defunding– thefederalist.com
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While Congress enjoys an undeserved Fourth of July break, critical election security legislation backed by the vast majority of Americans remains on life support.
Noodle-spined Republicans checked out without moving on the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) America Act and did nothing to stop hundreds of millions of dollars of Medicaid money from flowing back to the nation’s largest peddler of abortions.
A lack of action on those two fronts alone could be enough to depress conservative turnout in November’s elections, and could prove costly to the GOP’s hopes of holding power in Congress.
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I predict that Canada had 17,700 reported euthanasia deaths in 2025 representing about 5.6% of all deaths and a 7.3% increase from 2024.
I am researching the 2025 Canadian euthanasia data since Health Canada is slow to release data and Canadians have the right to know.
Health Canada’s Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying was released on November 28, 2025 (2024 data). The 2024 data indicated that there were 16,499 reported (MAiD) Canadian euthanasia deaths representing 5.1% of all deaths which was up by 6.9% from 15,427 in 2023.
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The Netherlands Times reported on March 26, 2026 that there were 10,341 reported euthanasia deaths in 2025 representing 6% of all deaths, an increase of 3.8% from 9,958 in 2024.
Last week, the Netherlands Minister of Public Health, Sophie Hermans, confirmed that at least one child has now died by euthanasia in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands Times published an article on July 3, 2026 concerning a study that has examined the cultural changes that are feeding the increase in euthanasia deaths. The article states:
Lead researcher and healthcare ethicist Els van Wijngaarden of Radboudumc observes that “the euthanasia law has not changed, but its application has.” Last year, cancer was the reason for euthanasia in only about half of all cases. In the late 1990s, this was still 90 percent. Other reasons, like dementia and mental disorders, increased.
Views on end-of-life suffering have changed significantly, the researchers note. Euthanasia is more frequently a topic of conversation, and religious views play an increasingly smaller role.
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California Democrats are advancing a new bill that would establish two Muslim holy days as state holidays while authorizing the state to develop a new model curriculum for students to “acknowledge and celebrate” these Islamic observances in the classroom.
Funny how the Democrats are militant about separation of church and state but mosque and state? Not so much.
The Islamization of California is happening!
The bill, AB 2017, passed the State Assembly with a 64-1 vote
Democrats need to go in November! https://t.co/paVcp7sN4U
AI ‘actor’ Tilly Norwood to appear in feature film set in the ‘Tillyverse’ – National– globalnews.ca
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The AI “actor” known as Tilly Norwood will be used in a new feature film entitled Misaligned, its first lead role as a digitally generated persona.
Particle6, the AI production studio that built Norwood, is developing and producing the film, the company told Global News in an email statement. The company is led by comedian and writer Eline Van der Velden.
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Even as leftists denounced all of the patriotism in the air over the weekend, millions of Americans nevertheless celebrated the incredible milestone of America’s 250th anniversary.
And one popular way to do that involved heading to the cinema to watch the latest live-action film from Angel Studios.
As Deadline reported, “Young Washington” opened to such a strong reception that the studio is already pursuing a sequel:
MONDAY AM: Angel Studios overshot its cannon Sunday when it came to the opening for Young Washington: The opening wasn’t $20.8M, rather $19.3Mafter a lower-than-expected Sunday of $4.1M (versus $5.6M). That’s still a debut to be proud about for the Jon Erwin-directed indie historical epic, ahead of its $15M industry opening forecast.
The revised figure makes Young Washington the second-best 3-day for Angel Studios after Sound of Freedom‘s $19.6M in 2023 and the third-best opening for the values-based distributor after David ($22M last year) and Sound of Freedom. All eyes will be watching how this Wonder Project and 2521 Entertainment project legs out. Sound of Freedom was a huge surprise at the 2023 summer box office, posting a 9.3x multiple of its Friday-Sunday take.
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In the wake of celebrating our nation’s founding, it is harder to imagine a better time to reflect on the life of one preeminent Founding Father. Angel Studio’s Young Washington walks audiences through the lesser-known period of George Washington’s life, focusing on his pre-Revolutionary War experiences.
The movie’s message about the value of strength and endurance has clearly resonated with Americans. Young Washington opened domestically to an exceptional $20.8 million, blowing past its $15 million projections, and grossing more than $7.6 million on July 4 alone. The film was produced for just $20 million, meaning it’s on track to be a hit.
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Progressive California education activists are urging the state to recognize “black English” in preschool classrooms, claiming the approach would strengthen literacy development and affirm the language spoken by many black children.
Black Californians United for Early Care & Education (BlackECE), a nonprofit advocacy organization, is promoting what it describes as an effort to challenge “harmful language hierarchies and affirm black English as a legitimate, rule-governed language rooted in black history, culture, and community.”
The group also seeks to “address how language bias shows up in early learning spaces–and how it can be dismantled.”
Ashley Williams, a co-founder of BlackECE, said the initiative is intended to ensure children feel their voices are respected regardless of how they speak.
“I don’t want my son to walk into any room and feel like his voice is not valued or his perspective can’t be heard because he’s not saying it one way or the other,” Williams told PBS.
After Springer National chose to utilize the once-iconic Scientific American magazine as a progressive agit prop organ, the publication immediately began losing subscribers. Now, Springer National has sold the publication just as the staff had overwhelmingly voted to form a union.
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Americans are spending significantly less time socializing face-to-face than they were 20 years ago, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey.
Axios reports that the average time Americans spend socializing per day has dropped from 45 minutes to 35 minutes over the last 20 years, a trend that cuts across every generation, ethnicity, and income level.
The drop-off has sparked concern among sociologists and public health officials, who warn of a growing epidemic of loneliness and social isolation
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Academics in ivory towers have risen magnificently to the challenge of scrapping every visible vestige of DEI while mastering the art of rebranding. Better yet, in a heartwarming tribute to thrift (miracles do happen), they’ve even embraced recycling: Many of the programs remain in the same buildings, the same suite of offices, and often with the very same flag-waving, preference-based personnel. It’s just camouflaged under a shinier label.
One professor, who requested anonymity for fear of professional repercussions, summed up the makeover perfectly: “The campus eliminated DEI the same way my teenager cleans his room: Everything got shoved into a different closet.”
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The year before the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons, U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss, who was intimately involved in the founding of the United Nations and served as a top advisor to Truman’s Secretary of State Dean Acheson, was accused of being a Soviet agent by former communist Whittaker Chambers, among others. The statute of limitations for bringing espionage charges against Hiss had already expired, but the spy was convicted of perjury relating to his espionage work. Shockingly, Hiss was defended by a number of high-profile government officials, including future Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson and former Democratic presidential candidate John W. Davis, in addition to Truman and Acheson. Following the Hiss conviction, Acheson is reported to have stated, “I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss.” McCarthy delivered his speech two weeks later.
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Three graduate students sat around a table with the great historian Forrest McDonald. In the twilight of his career, he no longer taught anyone that he didn’t himself choose. That mostly meant only a handful of master’s and doctoral level students. I was fortunate to be one of them. In a 2016 obituary, the New York Times called him the “historian who punctured liberal notions,” and no notion, liberal or otherwise, did he take more glee in puncturing than poor scholarship. On this occasion, McDonald, who wasn’t particularly religious, began our discussion by holding up a copy of Barbara Tuchman’s bestseller A Distant Mirror, a history of the fourteenth century, and read aloud this passage from her forward:
“While I recognize [Christianity’s] presence [in the Middle Ages], it requires a more religious bent than mine to identify with it.”
McDonald closed the book demonstratively and tossed it on the table.
“And with that,” he declared, “read no further and throw it in the trash. Tuchman casually informs the reader in the opening pages that she hasn’t bothered to understand the mindset of the period about which she has presumed to write a history. Since the Christian faith is unimportant to her, she dismisses it as unimportant to her subject. What insight can she possibly offer about the motivations of the people of that time? Tuchman is admitting that she has no authority to write such a book.”1
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The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to protect women’s and girls’ sports is making waves across the pond, too. Author J.K. Rowling, a staunch defender of women’s rights in the face of radical trans activism, even took the BBC to task for its shameful coverage of the ruling.
Here’s what the BBC said.
US Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender women in female school and college sports https://t.co/ERpBInv3WC
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 30, 2026
And here’s some of what they wrote:
The US Supreme Court has ruled that states can ban transgender women from competing in female school and college sports.
The court considered cases from students in two different states who had challenged bans on participation. The two states, Idaho and West Virginia, enacted laws that required public school and college sports teams to compete in accordance with their sex recorded at birth.
One of the two challenges said the ban violates equal rights protections in the US Constitution. The other said it contradicts civil rights laws.
More than two dozen states have enacted bans since Idaho did so in 2020. President Donald Trump celebrated the decision in a social media post as a “BIG WIN”.
Under those state bans, a transgender woman – a biological male who identifies as a woman – is not permitted to compete in female sports at schools and colleges.
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Attorneys for the Little Sisters of the Poor will appear before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit tomorrow to ask the court to block a nationwide ruling that rejected the Catholic nuns’ protection from the federal government’s abortion mandate.
The Little Sisters have spent more than a decade defeating government efforts to force them to provide abortifacient contraceptives in their healthcare plan or face tens of millions of dollars in fines.
That winning streak features three Supreme Court victories, including a 2020 ruling in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania upholding the federal conscience rule that protects the Sisters from the mandate.
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For all its B-movie trappings, Citizen Vigilante is the first of its kind: a film that sees the migrant crisis in Europe as a crisis for Europeans.
It is politically incorrect in the most provocative sense and, as such, was probably destined to be made by two people (director Uwe Boll and actor Armie Hammer) who have been routinely dragged through the mud and probably feel like they have nothing left to lose.
If the oft-ridiculed Boll and the scandal-plagued Hammer are both at a point where they have stopped caring what people think of them, then the strident tone of Citizen Vigilante reflects a growing outrage many people are feeling with regard to the migrant situation in Europe. The film is unambiguous in the way it opens with the superimposed location title “EUROPE” and closes with the stark dedication: “To the thousands of rape and murder victims in Europe who were betrayed by our legal system.”
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It is an unchallengeable dogma of our post-9/11 civic faith that every Muslim in the United States, from the leaders of national Muslim organizations to the rank-and-file believers in the serried ranks of worshipers at mosques around the country, is a “moderate.” Everyone assumes that Muslims in the U.S. all reject terrorism and violence as a twisting and hijacking of their peaceful faith, and that only racist, bigoted “Islamophobes” would dare suggest that the gentle soul in the next cubicle at work or who runs the store down the street could possibly harbor anything but love for his non-Muslim neighbors.
France National Assembly Passes Bill to Legalize Euthanasia– www.lifenews.com
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Sebastien Ostertag reported from France that the French National Assembly voted to support the euthanasia bill by a vote of 295 to 232 against.
The bill will go back to France’s Senate but even if France’s Senate defeats the euthanasia bill again, the National Assembly can over-ride the Senate if they vote to legalize on July 15, 2026.
On May 27, 2025, the French National Assembly passed the euthanasia bill by a vote of 305 to 199. On January 21, 2026, France’s Senate defeated the bill by 181 to 122.
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On February 25, 2026, the French National Assembly passed the euthanasia bill again. France’s Senate once again defeated the bill on Monday May 11, 2026 by a vote of 151 to 118. The Senate then passed, by a vote of 325 to 18, the part of the law that improves access to palliative care.
Ostertag reported that the opposition has two weeks to change 32 votes before the final vote on July 15. Ostertag explains:
- If the bill passes: Catholic and otherwise Christian retirement homes and medical institutions will likely shut down since there is no conscience clause for religious institutions.
- Nurses and pharmacists can be forced to participate in euthanasia, since there is no conscience clause for them.
- Those who are poor and suffering may be pressured into death since access to palliative care isn’t universal.
- The waiting/reflection period before death is only 48 hours.
- Estimates from France suggest that, based on France’s population, 50,000 people could die every year from euthanasia.
- The family won’t be able to ask the court to stop the decision to die.
- Proponents of the bill will likely push for further expansions, as in other jurisdictions, to allow children to be euthanized, people with mental illness and criminalizing those who try to dissuade someone from being killed.
Unfortunately, the effort to put the question of euthanasia on the ballot through a parliamentary and constitutional procedure was struck down by the Conseil Constitutionnel, (French Supreme Court) which means that the July 15th vote is the last say, at least until after the next presidential election.
France’s government strongly supports the euthanasia bill and has pressured members of the National Assembly to support it. President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet both support legalizing euthanasia.
France needs to examine the experience with euthanasia in Québec and completely reject the bill. Québec legalized euthanasia based on “exceptional circumstances” in 2015. The French Canadian province now has the highest euthanasia rate in the world.
LifeNews.com Note: Alex Schadenberg is the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and you can read his blog here.
Laws preventing biological males presenting as females from playing in female sports are constitutional, rules SCOTUS by a 6-3 majority. This means 3 justices thought it was “unconstitutional” to prevent males from playing sports with females if they present as “woman.”
