Why the end of obnoxious influencer culture
may finally have arrived
Posted By: Mercedes44, 4/13/2025 4:36:12 PM
Influencers — those obnoxious (and increasingly) political hype beasts who’ve defined much of internet life in the last decade — may finally be going the way of the Apple Watch: once a flashy trendsetter, now a garish relic. When a jacked-up fitness bro went viral in late March for a video flaunting his daily six-hour morning saga of 4 a.m. pushups, mineral water ice plunges, and banana peel facials, it was mocked into oblivion. Hipsters posted their own derisive morning routines, huffing on flavored vapes and chugging Red Bull; grannies filmed themselves putting in their dentures before settling in on the john. One man from India did his take:
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President Trump issued a stark warning to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, saying Kyiv’s leader was in a “dire” situation and “can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.”
Trump, 78, was responding to Zelensky telling reporters Tuesday that “Ukraine will not legally recognize the [Russian] occupation of Crimea” — a key part of a US-proposed peace plan under discussion in London Wednesday.
Conservative Christians have flooded social media with support for Cardinal Robert Sarah to succeed the late Pope Francis because of his strong traditionalist stands on sexuality and church doctrine as well as his opposition to mass immigration and Islamism.
Why It Matters
The rising profile of the African cardinal, 79, comes at a time of ideological division within Catholicism, as the Church grapples with questions of modernity, sexual identity, and religious pluralism, and also as more right wing political movements in Europe and elsewhere have challenged what they see as the orthodoxy of a liberal global elite.
Unlike Pope Francis—who often leaned into progressive stances on social justice and inclusion—
In the West Bank and Jerusalem, most Palestinians have ignored Hamas's repeated calls for violence against Israel.
"As the dimensions of these unimaginable sadistic horrors are uncovered, I ask you to believe me when I say that I want it to be clear to you, and the whole world, that we stand as your brothers, as human beings, and as citizens of the country, by your side. It is our simple and required moral and human duty to express abhorrence, to cry out loudly against unimaginable crimes. Our voice with be sharp and clear, unapologetic, unhesitant, unfaltering, without proportionality, with no ifs, ands, or buts.
The appointment, however, of several officials to key national security positions in the Trump administration, who vehemently oppose direct military action against Iran, has raised concerns that the White House might be backing away from its commitment to eliminate the threat Iran poses to global security.
In particular, these concerns relate to the recent appointments to the Pentagon of influential figures such as John Byers for Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (South and South-East Asia), and Michael DiMino, a former career CIA military analyst and counterterrorism official, for Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Middle East).
When he’s not busy ending wars, deporting illegal aliens, overhauling the federal bureaucracy and drastically reordering world trade, the president has big plans for matters closer to home.
Donald Trump, the property developer, is busting out of the political straitjacket to bling the Oval Office and reimagine the White House.
From planning a “beautiful, magnificent” new ballroom to paving over the Rose Garden to create a convivial Mar-a-Lago- style terrace, the 45th-turned-47th president is determined to make his mark on the White House this time.
“It keeps my real estate juices flowing,” he told a reporter recently.
Last week, after announcing a pause on reciprocal tariffs,
Influencers — those obnoxious (and increasingly) political hype beasts who’ve defined much of internet life in the last decade — may finally be going the way of the Apple Watch: once a flashy trendsetter, now a garish relic.
When a jacked-up fitness bro went viral in late March for a video flaunting his daily six-hour morning saga of 4 a.m. pushups, mineral water ice plunges, and banana peel facials, it was mocked into oblivion.
Hipsters posted their own derisive morning routines, huffing on flavored vapes and chugging Red Bull; grannies filmed themselves putting in their dentures before settling in on the john. One man from India did his take:
In a nearly unprecedented move, the Trump administration met directly with Iran on Saturday to hold denuclearization talks. Currently, Iran is amassing enough enriched uranium to make one nuclear weapon a month.
Previous administrations would have never dreamed of direct talks with a pariah state like Iran so early in a new administration. They would have favored a slower technocratic process of preliminary proposals, proffers, and, above all else, insulating the principals from any blame in the event the talks failed.
Not Trump. He has never been much for bureaucratic foreplay. He’s bored by conventions and processes.
Owner of NJ sushi joint convicted of spying
for China and let back on the street nabbed
by ICE 5 replies
for China and let back on the street nabbed
by ICE 5 replies
An alleged sushi-slinging spy is in ICE custody.
Ming Xi Zhang, known as “Sushi John,” the 61-year-old owner of Ya Ya Noodles in Montgomery Township, NJ, was arrested March 24 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Newark.
Zhang was convicted in April 2024 of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and sentenced to three years’ probation. In May 2021, he pleaded guilty to having served as an agent of China in 2016 without notifying the U.S. Attorney General.
ICE says he legally entered the U.S. in 2000 but later “violated the terms of his lawful admission.”
In a nearly unprecedented move, the Trump administration met directly with Iran on Saturday to hold denuclearization talks. Currently, Iran is amassing enough enriched uranium to make one nuclear weapon a month.
Previous administrations would have never dreamed of direct talks with a pariah state like Iran so early in a new administration. They would have favored a slower technocratic process of preliminary proposals, proffers, and, above all else, insulating the principals from any blame in the event the talks failed.
Not Trump. He has never been much for bureaucratic foreplay. He’s bored by conventions and processes.
Back on March 1, President Trump fired a double-barrel shotgun at the long-held preservationist U.S. mantra that for nearly a century has dealt heavy blows to American forests, forest animals, and the humans The first addressed what the White House calls “the threat to national security from imports of timber and lumber.” Even though the U.S. has ample timber resources, the nation has been a net importer of lumber since 2016. Wood products, said the President, play “a vital role in key downstream civilian industries, including construction.” whose homes abut government forest lands.
Tehran has played this game before: Agree to talks. Make vague promises. Extract sanctions relief. Then quietly continue nuclear development under the radar. This formula has worked for more than two decades. Right now, the only reason Iran is talking is to stall, to promise just enough to prevent America from striking it -- "We are almost there!" -- to keep its regime and avoid seeing its uranium centrifuges and enrichment sites blasted to rubble. The regime does not want war -- but it also cannot accept total nuclear disarmament.
The political media landscape here in the United States has been undergoing a great change for several years. For those of us in conservative digital/new media, the pace of the change seemed almost glacial until last year. Things started to pick up in late 2022 when the sale of Twitter to Elon Musk was finalized, then really blew up during last year's presidential election.While the Democrats' go-to media sources for prevarication dissemination have been weakened, they still have a lot of fight left in them. This battle is far from being over.
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The O’Keefe Media Group on Wednesday released undercover video of a Defense Department Branch Chief attacking President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Nicolas Turza, a Department of Defense Branch Chief, called President Trump “illegitimate” and vowed to “resist him, everything he does.”
Turza also attacked Hegseth and said the 44-year-old is “insanely young” and unfit to lead.
“The same guy who tried to overthrow an election is just, like, truly setting us down a path of dictatorship.
Michelle Obama finally reveals why she
made ‘hard’ choice to skip President
Trump’s inauguration 24 replies
made ‘hard’ choice to skip President
Trump’s inauguration 24 replies
Michelle Obama is finally revealing why she missed President Trump’s inauguration in January.
The former first lady broke down the “hard” decision on the latest episode of her and brother Craig Robinson’s “IMO” podcast.
She called her headline-making choice the “right” one despite public “ridicule” while chatting with Taraji P. Henson.
The 61-year-old explained that she “basically tricked” herself into not attending the ceremony by making sure she did not “have anything to wear.” Obama recalled, “I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing, I’ve got to tell my team. I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right?”
Joy Behar said she fears that Pope Francis will be replaced by “some conservative guy” on Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s The View, during which the show’s co-hosts used the pope’s death as an opportunity to complain about U.S. politics.
After The View co-host Sunny Hostin said she hopes the late pope will be replaced by someone similar to him, Joy Behar replied, “I wonder, though, because there might be a backlash against how good he was, and how much humility he had compared to some of the leaders in this world right now.”
When now-Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stated in her confirmation hearing that she couldn't define what a "woman" is, that probably should have been treated as a bit of a red flag. That would have required the Senate to have any sense of shame, though, and we all know that's long been in short supply. Since joining the Supreme Court, Jackson has become perhaps the most reliable left-wing vote on the court. There is no level of partisanship she won't stoop to in order to defend a Democrat viewpoint, and that was on display again in recent oral arguments surrounding parental rights.
Texas Democrat Representative Jasmine Crockett stated during an interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that she would “absolutely” take on a head-to-head IQ test against President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Crockett (D-Texas) told Kimmel in an airing of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that she would go toe-to-toe with the 47th president in order to prove that she has a high IQ.
“He also called you low IQ, I’m sure you’re aware of that. Would you be willing to take an IQ test publicly head-to-head against the President of the United States?” Kimmel asked Crockett.
“Absolutely!” Crockett responded.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026, saying he would “pass the torch” to up-and-coming leaders in his party.
The no. 2 Democrat in the Senate posted a video message on X explaining his decision to step down after having served five terms — “longer than anyone elected to the Senate” in Illinois’ history.
“The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States senator,” Durbin said. “But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch.”
A former senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who lost his job last week amid an investigation into press leaks from the Pentagon — pointed the finger in a different direction during an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Dan Caldwell, who has been placed on “administrative leave,” told Carlson in the interview released Monday that the Pentagon is rife with opponents of President Donald Trump and his administration’s goals. Those are where the leaks are coming from, he said.
But there’s a “less obvious place” that’s a possibility, he suggested. And he named one name that shocked viewers
Conservative Christians have flooded social media with support for Cardinal Robert Sarah to succeed the late Pope Francis because of his strong traditionalist stands on sexuality and church doctrine as well as his opposition to mass immigration and Islamism.
Why It Matters
The rising profile of the African cardinal, 79, comes at a time of ideological division within Catholicism, as the Church grapples with questions of modernity, sexual identity, and religious pluralism, and also as more right wing political movements in Europe and elsewhere have challenged what they see as the orthodoxy of a liberal global elite.
Unlike Pope Francis—who often leaned into progressive stances on social justice and inclusion—
Jack Schlossberg—grandson of former President John F. Kennedy—lashed out on social media Monday morning, accusing Vice President J.D. Vance of “killing the pope” just hours after the Vatican announced the death of Pope Francis.
The accusation comes after Pope Francis’s passing, ending his 12-year tenure as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Vance, a Catholic convert since 2019, had a brief private meeting with the pontiff at Casa Santa Marta on Easter Sunday.
The meeting lasted about 15–17 minutes, during which they exchanged Easter greetings.
A group of Democratic congressional reps traveled to Louisiana to visit Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk in a pair of federal detention centers on Tuesday as both face potential removal from the United States.
Five lawmakers — including Rep. Troy Carter, of Louisiana; Rep. Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi; and Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Jim McGovern and Sen. Ed Markey, all of Massachusetts — stopped by a federal Immigration of Customs Enforcement facility in Jena to see Khalil and then traveled to Basile, where Öztürk is detained, CNN reported.
A Democrat in the House of Representatives' progressive "Squad" is arguing that the Trump administration could soon jail people in the U.S. for a variety of non-criminal reasons, seemingly regardless of their legal status.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., made the comments after visiting college students Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil. Both are being held at an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility after being accused of espousing pro-Hamas beliefs. Neither are U.S. citizens, though both are in the country legally; Khalil is a legal permanent resident, and Ozturk is on a student visa.
David Hogg, the name synonymous with gun control theatrics, now holds a position of power as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). But does he have any idea what he's doing? His latest move suggests that the answer is a resounding "no." Instead of building the party, Hogg decided to launch a $20 million campaign to primary sitting Democrats in blue districts. You read that right. This dumb kid got himself elected as vice chair and now wants to spend millions to start a civil war within his own party.“We don't want to pick unnecessary fights, but we're willing to do that if our approval rating continues