Morning Brief 2022-07-20

TOP OF HOUR 2

GUEST: Vivek Ramaswamy
TOPIC: What is behind BlackRock's earnings downturn? Is it the economy or their push for ESG?

BOTTOM OF HOUR 3

GUEST: Eric July
TOPIC: BlazeTV contributor, July, brings in $2.5 million in sales in first week with his launch of 'non-woke' Rippaverse Comics.

CB, RR, JB, SK, BM, KD

Domestic News...

Most say Biden profited off Hunter’s deals — will get away with it
As much as the media and Democratic leaders have tried to hide the issue, not only are most voters paying attention to first son Hunter Biden’s money scandals, but they believe President Joe Biden cashed in and that they won’t face any charges.

Joe Biden and Hunter's Colombia connection
Hunter and his partners began corresponding about the OAS/Colombia business in Feb 2011. They planned to pitch OAS - $20k a month, plus a 5% "success fee" - for Hunter's help in getting the Colombia projects. "If it works, we'll all be rich," one of Hunter's partners emailed him.

Indiana passerby rescues five children from burning home
An Indiana man who was driving by a burning house sprung into action and rescued five people trapped inside before first responders had the chance.

15 seconds: Police correct timeline of armed civilian stopping Indiana mall shooter
The armed bystander credited with ending a shooting at Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana on Sunday killed the suspect in just 15 seconds of the gunman opening fire.

A Young Gun Owner In Indiana Did What Uvalde Police Wouldn’t
Dicken had “no police training and no military background,” according to Police Chief James Ison. "He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun, [and] was very tactically sound, and as he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him.”

Lone Mississippi abortion clinic drops lawsuit against state ban
The clinic, which was at the center of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, was the last operating abortion clinic in Mississippi.

Man found dead in Georgia house used by black nationalist communist group 'Black Hammer'
Police were dispatched to the home after a man called 911 saying he had been kidnapped by a group of people.

New details emerge in California thieves’ $150M ‘Ocean’s 11’-style jewel heist
The apparently highly skilled robbers made off with a massive haul from an armored car that included diamond, sapphire and gold necklaces, as well as a horde of luxury watches.

Politics...

White House pressed on declaring climate and abortion emergencies, claims nothing imminent
Press Secretary was asked if the White House is concerned it will anger female voters if Biden declares a climate emergency before declaring a public health emergency on abortion access.

Biden declaring ‘climate emergency’ will be pure politics at the expense of democracy
If President Joe Biden goes ahead and declares a “climate emergency” Wednesday, it’ll be one more sign he’s putting the extremist demands of his party’s base ahead of democracy, science and common sense.

Biden Has No Right To Declare A ‘National Climate Emergency’
There’s no “It’s Summer” clause in the Constitution, empowering the president to ignore the will of Congress and unilaterally govern when it gets hot.

Place Where Biden Face Planted Off Bike Is Named ‘Brandon Falls’ On Google Maps
At time of writing, ‘Brandon Falls’ is still listed as a ‘historical landmark’

House Republicans Prepare Next Salvo In War On Woke Capital
Members of the Republican Study Committee detailed steps to combat Environmental, Social and Governance investing, which critics refer to as “woke capital,” during a Monday round-table discussion.

AOC talks a big game, but she'd rather fake being handcuffed than do her job
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the former barmaid, and Ilhan Omar, who allegedly married her brother, spent Tuesday cosplaying as revolutionaries.

Dem Congressman Mocked For Wearing Bandana Like ‘The Office’ Character
Andy Levin became the target of a swarm of “The Office” related jokes after he was arrested outside the Supreme Court Tuesday looking like an idiot.

Rashida Tlaib campaign events in 2018 were organized by alleged terror financiers
Two men who held key positions at nonprofit groups that were found liable in a Hamas terror financing scheme helped organize campaign fundraising events for Tlaib in 2018.

DeSantis threatens Trump's hold on Michigan and Florida
DeSantis will likely continue to deny his interest in 2024 during his reelection campaign. For now, time is Trump’s best friend. Should Trump get ahead of DeSantis and announce his candidacy before November, he will be multiple steps ahead of the only man who can defeat him.

George Soros donates $1 million to Beto O'Rourke's bid for Texas governor
Nearly half of O’Rourke’s record-breaking $27.6 million fundraising haul came from out-of-state donors, with Soros’s hefty donation helping the Democratic challenger best Abbott in fundraising over the past six months.

House passes bill codifying same-sex marriage with significant GOP support
If enacted, the Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between one man and one woman.

Clinton lawyers deny involvement with dossier source Danchenko ahead of Durham trial
Clinton's lawyers are denying any connection to British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s alleged main source Igor Danchenko following a lawsuit brought by Trump in the lead-up to Danchenko's October trial.

Salena Zito: The upside-down world of the Pennsylvania Senate race
Fetterman leads Oz in the race for the seat by 6 points in a recently published AARP poll. The result shows the race tightening from a USA Today poll earlier that had Fetterman leading by 9 points.

"Women and non-men" invited to conversation with Pennsylvania Democrats
"Join us tomorrow evening for a phone bank where we will be talking to women and non-men about issues affecting our communities that highly impact non-men in PA," PA House Democrats said Tuesday on Twitter.

Former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio drops out of Congressional race due to low polling
"I’ve listened really carefully to people," de Blasio said. "And it’s clear to me that when it comes to this congressional district, people are looking for another option."

Economy...

US housing market could be headed for ‘meltdown,’ economist warns
“Homebuilders have been in denial about the extent of the drop in demand, despite mortgage applications falling by more than a quarter over the first half of the year, with no end in sight to the decline,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Biden Praised GM Over Tesla. Now, GM Is Building Newest EV In Mexico
In response to the news of GM’s expansion in Mexico, Elon Musk commented on social media that “Teslas are the most made-in-USA vehicles.”

WAR News... 

Putin gets Iranian endorsement for war in Ukraine during Middle East trip
"If you had not taken the initiative, the [West] would have caused the war with its own initiative," Iran's supreme leader said.

Russian lawmakers blame losses on experimental Ukrainian super-soldiers
Two Russian lawmakers told reporters this week that the Kremlin is investigating the blood of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and has found “evidence” of experimentation.

John Kirby: 'Climate change is a national security issue'
"The Pentagon has noted not just in this administration, but even the previous one, that climate change is a national security issue."

MONKEYVID-19...

Researchers say students will take 3-plus years to recover academically from pandemic
For some, “full recovery” isn’t attainable before the end of high school.

Secret docs reveal FBI investigated decision to give cash to Wuhan lab linked to COVID-19
NIH emails show the bureau was investigating possible gain-of-function research at the lab and possible failures to comply with reporting rules.

Masks are back: San Diego says kids and staff must comply with school mandate
Mandatory masking will be required through at least the end of summer school due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in the county.

DC has highest number of monkeypox cases nationally per capita
According to the most recent CDC data, DC is only behind New York, California, Florida, Illinois and Florida for total case count, despite its much smaller population.

Commie Update...

China accuses US of being security risk after Taiwan Strait sailing
The US Navy's 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS Benfold conducted a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit through international waters "in accordance with international law."

China threatens ‘strong measures’ if Pelosi visits Taiwan
I know we're supposed to support and defend all Americans when they're threatened by foreign nations... but... come on, this is really pushing it.

China’s homebuyers are running out of patience with the real estate slump
Last week, a spike in reported numbers of homebuyers halting mortgage payments prompted many Chinese banks to announce their low exposure to such loans. But the bank stocks fell.

Bill Gates shoots down rumored Chinese ‘security risk’ link to North Dakota farmland
Gates’ $13.5 million investment in 2,100 sprawling acres of North Dakota land has raised questions — as the purchase coincided with a controversial Chinese company buying 370 acres of farmland just 40 miles away.

Entertainment...

Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘deliberately farted in my face,’ Miriam Margolyes claims
“I was playing Satan’s sister, and he was killing me, so he had me in a position where I couldn’t escape and lying on the floor. And he just farted.”

Capitol Police chief says ‘Colbert 9’ lied about having credentials before arrest
Biden's Justice Department refused to prosecute and instead dropped all charges.

Netflix loses nearly 1M subscribers, forecasts return to growth
That was better than the 2 million subscriber loss it had predicted.

Media...

AP Spreads Disinformation By Adopting J6 Committee’s Fabricated Timeline
Trump’s supposed three-hour delay in responding to the riot has been repeatedly highlighted by members of the Jan. 6 Committee, is contradicted by detailed timelines from both The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Former Intelligence Officer Blasts Pulitzer Board After Refusing To Take Back Russiagate Prizes
“Pulitzer’s refusal to take back the award given for the inaccurate coverage of the Russiagate Hoax is a big win for Putin”

CIA Discusses Covert Location With NYT In Order To Racially Virtue Signal
CIA director William Burns issued a warning to the agency last week after discovering what is believed, but not confirmed, to be a noose outside a secret facility in Virginia.

Europe...

EU to ask countries to reduce energy usage as Putin tightens grip on gas supplies
European countries will reportedly have to quickly curb their consumption of natural gas as part of a wider plan to deal with reduced supplies from Russia.

UK inflation hits new 40-year high of 9.4% as cost-of-living crisis deepens
The most significant contributors to the rising inflation rate came from motor fuels and food.

Environment...

Professor: ‘Unbearable’ that white people dominate discussions about ‘climate anxiety’
There’s a new concern in the relatively new field of so-called “climate anxiety”: Those interested in it are very white.

LGBTQIA2S+...

Merriam-Webster Changes the Definition of ‘Female’
In order to appease woke activists, the dictionary publisher has added a secondary definition of “female” that defines the term as “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.”

Gender activists push to bar anthropologists from identifying human remains as ‘male’ or ‘female’
Argue scientists cannot know how an ancient individual identified themselves

Lia Thomas is not a woman and should not be honored as one
Since bursting into the public news cycle, Thomas has done nothing but take away opportunities from women. That is his actual legacy.

Left-Wing Activists Urge Big Tech To Censor Anti-Pedophile ‘Smear’
Media Matters is urging Twitter to censor the word “groomer,” which it characterizes as anti-LGBT.

Education...

Republicans have advantage over Democrats regarding confidence in handling education, survey shows
A survey commissioned by one of the nation's largest teachers union found that Republicans have an advantage over Democrats in regard to voters' confidence in handling education.

Technology...

Global chip shortage is not over and the slowdown is ‘going to bite,’ IDC says
Citing supply chain challenges due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Gupta said the two countries capture a large part of the market share, with Russia and Ukraine being the largest exporters of krypton — a gas used in the chip production.

Google will once again test augmented reality glasses in public
Google seems to be attempting to avoid a repeat of the “Glasshole” debacle that plagued the company’s infamous Google Glass headset, which debuted nearly a decade ago.

Science...

On This Day: One giant leap for mankind in 1969 moon landing
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin inside.

Google and Chevron invest in nuclear fusion startup that’s raised $1.2 billion
TAE was founded in 1998 and aims to have a commercial scale fusion reactor delivering energy to the grid in the early 2030s.

Travel...

Six Nations Where U.S. Says Its Citizens Most Likely to Be Wrongfully Held
Here's the top 6 places to buy an all-expenses paid vacation for unwanted in-laws: China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.

Top 10: Worst tourist destinations for pickpockets
Spain and France have some of the world's worst pickpocket hotspots

Sports...

NBA Star Says He ‘Didn’t Like That It ‘Wasn’t My Choice’ To Put Vaccine In ‘My Body’
Andrew Wiggins said Monday that he still wished he hadn’t gotten the COVID vaccine so he could play last year.

Donald Trump tells golfers to ‘take the money’ and join LIV Golf
“All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year,” Trump wrote.

Woke NASCAR to Hit the Streets of Chicago With Downtown Race in 2023
The city’s letter addressing the upcoming NASCAR races in Chicago was sure to note that they’re committed to executing the event “in a safe and secure manner,” so fear not, NASCAR fans.

Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax explored in ‘Untold’ Netflix documentary
"Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist" is set to chronicle the elaborate hoax involving the former Notre Dame star whose terminally ill girlfriend, “Lennay Kekua,” never existed.

Animals...

I slept with my pit bull - until he tried to eat me alive
The dog tore off two-thirds of Tya’s right arm, ate her bicep and sank its teeth into her leg and foot. She was screaming, “Help me, I’m dying” when her daughter, Tana, 20, and her husband, Harley, 21, rushed into the living room.

Bears Eat Star Athlete, Rich Tourist Couple After Helicopter Crash In Russia
What happened after the helicopter crashed is unclear. The victims may have survived the fiery crash, but by the time rescuers arrived, all three bodies had been dragged, mauled, and eaten by wild bears.

July 20, 2004 - Predictions about the future of technology... What will the world look like in 2019? Self driving cars, computers embedded in everything, paper is rarely used, people will be in relationships with AI / bots... Sandy Berger stuffs classified docs in his pants...

July 20, 2009 - Our system has been pushed to a breaking point... There's a shift coming, and it starts with you... What role will you play?... $700 million for horse condoms...

The truth behind ‘defense’: How America was rebranded for war

PAUL J. RICHARDS / Staff | Getty Images

Donald Trump emphasizes peace through strength, reminding the world that the United States is willing to fight to win. That’s beyond ‘defense.’

President Donald Trump made headlines this week by signaling a rebrand of the Defense Department — restoring its original name, the Department of War.

At first, I was skeptical. “Defense” suggests restraint, a principle I consider vital to U.S. foreign policy. “War” suggests aggression. But for the first 158 years of the republic, that was the honest name: the Department of War.

A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

The founders never intended a permanent standing army. When conflict came — the Revolution, the War of 1812, the trenches of France, the beaches of Normandy — the nation called men to arms, fought, and then sent them home. Each campaign was temporary, targeted, and necessary.

From ‘war’ to ‘military-industrial complex’

Everything changed in 1947. President Harry Truman — facing the new reality of nuclear weapons, global tension, and two world wars within 20 years — established a full-time military and rebranded the Department of War as the Department of Defense. Americans resisted; we had never wanted a permanent army. But Truman convinced the country it was necessary.

Was the name change an early form of political correctness? A way to soften America’s image as a global aggressor? Or was it simply practical? Regardless, the move created a permanent, professional military. But it also set the stage for something Truman’s successor, President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, famously warned about: the military-industrial complex.

Ike, the five-star general who commanded Allied forces in World War II and stormed Normandy, delivered a harrowing warning during his farewell address: The military-industrial complex would grow powerful. Left unchecked, it could influence policy and push the nation toward unnecessary wars.

And that’s exactly what happened. The Department of Defense, with its full-time and permanent army, began spending like there was no tomorrow. Weapons were developed, deployed, and sometimes used simply to justify their existence.

Peace through strength

When Donald Trump said this week, “I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense too,” some people freaked out. They called him a warmonger. He isn’t. Trump is channeling a principle older than him: peace through strength. Ronald Reagan preached it; Trump is taking it a step further.

Just this week, Trump also suggested limiting nuclear missiles — hardly the considerations of a warmonger — echoing Reagan, who wanted to remove missiles from silos while keeping them deployable on planes.

The seemingly contradictory move of Trump calling for a Department of War sends a clear message: He wants Americans to recognize that our military exists not just for defense, but to project power when necessary.

Trump has pointed to something critically important: The best way to prevent war is to have a leader who knows exactly who he is and what he will do. Trump signals strength, deterrence, and resolve. You want to negotiate? Great. You don’t? Then we’ll finish the fight decisively.

That’s why the world listens to us. That’s why nations come to the table — not because Trump is reckless, but because he means what he says and says what he means. Peace under weakness invites aggression. Peace under strength commands respect.

Trump is the most anti-war president we’ve had since Jimmy Carter. But unlike Carter, Trump isn’t weak. Carter’s indecision emboldened enemies and made the world less safe. Trump’s strength makes the country stronger. He believes in peace as much as any president. But he knows peace requires readiness for war.

Names matter

When we think of “defense,” we imagine cybersecurity, spy programs, and missile shields. But when we think of “war,” we recall its harsh reality: death, destruction, and national survival. Trump is reminding us what the Department of Defense is really for: war. Not nation-building, not diplomacy disguised as military action, not endless training missions. War — full stop.

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

Names matter. Words matter. They shape identity and character. A Department of Defense implies passivity, a posture of reaction. A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

So yes, I’ve changed my mind. I’m for the rebranding to the Department of War. It shows strength to the world. It reminds Americans, internally and externally, of the reality we face. The Department of Defense can no longer be a euphemism. Our military exists for war — not without deterrence, but not without strength either. And we need to stop deluding ourselves.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Unveiling the Deep State: From surveillance to censorship

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

From surveillance abuse to censorship, the deep state used state power and private institutions to suppress dissent and influence two US elections.

The term “deep state” has long been dismissed as the province of cranks and conspiracists. But the recent declassification of two critical documents — the Durham annex, released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and a report publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — has rendered further denial untenable.

These documents lay bare the structure and function of a bureaucratic, semi-autonomous network of agencies, contractors, nonprofits, and media entities that together constitute a parallel government operating alongside — and at times in opposition to — the duly elected one.

The ‘deep state’ is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment.

The disclosures do not merely recount past abuses; they offer a schematic of how modern influence operations are conceived, coordinated, and deployed across domestic and international domains.

What they reveal is not a rogue element operating in secret, but a systematized apparatus capable of shaping elections, suppressing dissent, and laundering narratives through a transnational network of intelligence, academia, media, and philanthropic institutions.

Narrative engineering from the top

According to Gabbard’s report, a pivotal moment occurred on December 9, 2016, when the Obama White House convened its national security leadership in the Situation Room. Attendees included CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry, and others.

During this meeting, the consensus view up to that point — that Russia had not manipulated the election outcome — was subordinated to new instructions.

The record states plainly: The intelligence community was directed to prepare an assessment “per the President’s request” that would frame Russia as the aggressor and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as its preferred candidate. Notably absent was any claim that new intelligence had emerged. The motivation was political, not evidentiary.

This maneuver became the foundation for the now-discredited 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference. From that point on, U.S. intelligence agencies became not neutral evaluators of fact but active participants in constructing a public narrative designed to delegitimize the incoming administration.

Institutional and media coordination

The ODNI report and the Durham annex jointly describe a feedback loop in which intelligence is laundered through think tanks and nongovernmental organizations, then cited by media outlets as “independent verification.” At the center of this loop are agencies like the CIA, FBI, and ODNI; law firms such as Perkins Coie; and NGOs such as the Open Society Foundations.

According to the Durham annex, think tanks including the Atlantic Council, the Carnegie Endowment, and the Center for a New American Security were allegedly informed of Clinton’s 2016 plan to link Trump to Russia. These institutions, operating under the veneer of academic independence, helped diffuse the narrative into public discourse.

Media coordination was not incidental. On the very day of the aforementioned White House meeting, the Washington Post published a front-page article headlined “Obama Orders Review of Russian Hacking During Presidential Campaign” — a story that mirrored the internal shift in official narrative. The article marked the beginning of a coordinated media campaign that would amplify the Trump-Russia collusion narrative throughout the transition period.

Surveillance and suppression

Surveillance, once limited to foreign intelligence operations, was turned inward through the abuse of FISA warrants. The Steele dossier — funded by the Clinton campaign via Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS — served as the basis for wiretaps on Trump affiliates, despite being unverified and partially discredited. The FBI even altered emails to facilitate the warrants.

ROBYN BECK / Contributor | Getty Images

This capacity for internal subversion reappeared in 2020, when 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter labeling the Hunter Biden laptop story as “Russian disinformation.” According to polling, 79% of Americans believed truthful coverage of the laptop could have altered the election. The suppression of that story — now confirmed as authentic — was election interference, pure and simple.

A machine, not a ‘conspiracy theory’

The deep state is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment and strategic goals.

Each node — law firms, think tanks, newsrooms, federal agencies — operates with plausible deniability. But taken together, they form a matrix of influence capable of undermining electoral legitimacy and redirecting national policy without democratic input.

The ODNI report and the Durham annex mark the first crack in the firewall shielding this machine. They expose more than a political scandal buried in the past. They lay bare a living system of elite coordination — one that demands exposure, confrontation, and ultimately dismantling.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Trump's proposal explained: Ukraine's path to peace without NATO expansion

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

Strategic compromise, not absolute victory, often ensures lasting stability.

When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The loneliness epidemic: Are machines replacing human connection?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Seniors, children, and the isolated increasingly rely on machines for conversation, risking real relationships and the emotional depth that only humans provide.

Jill Smola is 75 years old. She’s a retiree from Orlando, Florida, and she spent her life caring for the elderly. She played games, assembled puzzles, and offered company to those who otherwise would have sat alone.

Now, she sits alone herself. Her husband has died. She has a lung condition. She can’t drive. She can’t leave her home. Weeks can pass without human interaction.

Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

But CBS News reports that she has a new companion. And she likes this companion more than her own daughter.

The companion? Artificial intelligence.

She spends five hours a day talking to her AI friend. They play games, do trivia, and just talk. She says she even prefers it to real people.

My first thought was simple: Stop this. We are losing our humanity.

But as I sat with the story, I realized something uncomfortable. Maybe we’ve already lost some of our humanity — not to AI, but to ourselves.

Outsourcing presence

How often do we know the right thing to do yet fail to act? We know we should visit the lonely. We know we should sit with someone in pain. We know what Jesus would do: Notice the forgotten, touch the untouchable, offer time and attention without outsourcing compassion.

Yet how often do we just … talk about it? On the radio, online, in lectures, in posts. We pontificate, and then we retreat.

I asked myself: What am I actually doing to close the distance between knowing and doing?

Human connection is messy. It’s inconvenient. It takes patience, humility, and endurance. AI doesn’t challenge you. It doesn’t interrupt your day. It doesn’t ask anything of you. Real people do. Real people make us confront our pride, our discomfort, our loneliness.

We’ve built an economy of convenience. We can have groceries delivered, movies streamed, answers instantly. But friendships — real relationships — are slow, inefficient, unpredictable. They happen in the blank spaces of life that we’ve been trained to ignore.

And now we’re replacing that inefficiency with machines.

AI provides comfort without challenge. It eliminates the risk of real intimacy. It’s an elegant coping mechanism for loneliness, but a poor substitute for life. If we’re not careful, the lonely won’t just be alone — they’ll be alone with an anesthetic, a shadow that never asks for anything, never interrupts, never makes them grow.

Reclaiming our humanity

We need to reclaim our humanity. Presence matters. Not theory. Not outrage. Action.

It starts small. Pull up a chair for someone who eats alone. Call a neighbor you haven’t spoken to in months. Visit a nursing home once a month — then once a week. Ask their names, hear their stories. Teach your children how to be present, to sit with someone in grief, without rushing to fix it.

Turn phones off at dinner. Make Sunday afternoons human time. Listen. Ask questions. Don’t post about it afterward. Make the act itself sacred.

Humility is central. We prefer machines because we can control them. Real people are inconvenient. They interrupt our narratives. They demand patience, forgiveness, and endurance. They make us confront ourselves.

A friend will challenge your self-image. A chatbot won’t.

Our homes are quieter. Our streets are emptier. Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

Before we worry about how AI will reshape humanity, we must first practice humanity. It can start with 15 minutes a day of undivided attention, presence, and listening.

Change usually comes when pain finally wins. Let’s not wait for that. Let’s start now. Because real connection restores faster than any machine ever will.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.