Trump’s FCC Must Smash Corporate Media’s ‘Censorship Cartel’
FCC chairman nominee Brendan Carr sounds like he means business in his vows to 'reinvigorate' broadcast TV and 'smash the censorship cartel.'FCC chairman nominee Brendan Carr sounds like he means business in his vows to 'reinvigorate' broadcast TV and 'smash the censorship cartel.'Microsoft brags about pushing DEI since the late '80s — including 'gender-affirming benefits'
Microsoft's 2024 diversity and inclusion report highlights race- and sexuality-based programs dating back to the 1980s.
The report begins with the chief diversity officer stating that the company's inclusivity mission aims to empower "every person and every organization on the planet" to achieve more.
These vague platitudes were followed with a list of disturbing initiatives that started as early as 1985.
This included naming a "diversity director," establishing a "minority student day," and even race-based employee groups such as "Blacks at Microsoft," all in the 1980s.
Along with groups for gays, women, and Asians, Microsoft bragged that since 1989, it has been "promoting LGBTQIA+ inclusion."
Between 1996 and 2006, Microsoft infused its progressive beliefs into politics by partnering with organizations like the United Nations and the Human Rights Campaign.
The HRC is an adamant supporter of transgender surgeries for minors. Microsoft boasted that in 2005, it achieved a perfect score on the HRC's Equality Index.
"We donated over $1 million (including company match) to 220 nonprofits supporting LGBTQIA+ communities worldwide, totaling over $16.3 million in all-time donations to these organizations," Microsoft wrote.
During this time period, Microsoft said it also offered "gender-affirming benefits" to U.S. employees.
The report stretched its claims of inclusion by reporting on generic, nonspecific woke viewpoints within the company. For example, Microsoft reported that 83.5% of its employees agreed or strongly agreed that they have seen coworkers "demonstrate allyship in the workplace."
Other statistics showed a 2.3% year-over-year increase in groupthink (78.9% to 81.2%) regarding "diversity" being "critical" to the company's success.
'We believe gaming should be inclusive of all, accessible to all, and safe for all.'
Some of Microsoft's other initiatives are even more troubling, including "hiring inclusively" and "supplier diversity."
Described as partnerships that intend to "increase opportunities for communities," "diversity" in this sense is not really explained.
Glenda Dengah, director of supplier diversity, is quoted as saying the supply program is about "cultivating enduring partnerships" from "the diverse communities we represent."
Microsoft also claimed, using uncited research, that 71% of gamers think it's very important to have diverse characters and content. Again, these terms were not defined.
"We believe gaming should be inclusive of all, accessible to all, and safe for all," the company wrote.
Despite this claim, diversity-driven games have failed to capture audiences, with several big-budget games tanking in 2024 within just days of their release.
While the report was still published, it is important to note that Microsoft quietly laid off a diversity, equity, and inclusion team in July but insisted its commitment to diversity is "unwavering."
Blaze News reached out to a spokesperson representing Microsoft to discuss what "hiring inclusively" means, what "supplier diversity" means, and where its video game-related research came from.
The spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment despite initiating contact and sending the report.
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Microsoft’s billion-dollar plan to reopen Three Mile Island for AI data centers
Constellation Energy has agreed to restart a reactor on Three Mile Island and will supply the vast majority of the power to Microsoft to support its data centers.
Three Mile Island in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is the site of the partial nuclear meltdown that happened in 1979. However, the energy company will reopen the Unit 1 reactor, which did not melt down but rather closed in 2019.
CNBC reported that Constellation will invest $1.6 billion in restarting the plant through 2028, and it is expected to remain open until 2054. The plant will be called the Crane Clean Energy Center after the company's deceased CEO, Chris Crane.
Microsoft will purchase energy from the plant in a 20-year deal in order to power its artificial intelligence and data centers with what is being described as carbon-free power. This will occur despite criticisms from environmental activists who have shunned nuclear energy due to its waste.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates even has a green energy company called Breakthrough Energy; however, green energy would not have the capacity required for Microsoft's data centers.
'The decision here is the most powerful symbol of the rebirth of nuclear power as a clean and reliable energy resource.'
Energy reporter Mark Nelson claimed in a post on X that Microsoft will pay approximately $800 million per year across the 20-year deal, for a total of $16 billion spent on energy.
According to the Tokenist, the agreement also states that Constellation will provide Microsoft with about 835 megawatts of power, the largest purchase Microsoft has ever made for energy. This represents almost all of the Unit 1 reactor's capacity, which Constellation said had a ceiling of 837 megawatts before it was shut down.
While this is enough power to feed more than 800,000 homes, Microsoft will essentially have its own nuclear plant to energize its data centers.
"The decision here is the most powerful symbol of the rebirth of nuclear power as a clean and reliable energy resource," said Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez. "In this rebirth, we see the most powerful sign that America will turn to the enduring promise of nuclear energy, an old and loyal ally that is renewed and ready to light the way forward."
CNN reported that the reactor's reopening will create about 3,400 jobs and add another $16 billion to the Pennsylvania economy, which pleased local politicians.
“This will transform the local economy and presents a rare opportunity to power our economy with reliable clean energy that we can count on," said state Rep. Tom Mehaffie (R); the plant is in his district. "This is a rare and valuable opportunity to invest in clean, carbon-free and affordable power — on the heels of the hottest year in Earth’s history."
Constellation's stock jumped about 15% or about $30 per share after the news broke.
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Amazon posts job for nuclear engineer as tech giants turn to nuclear energy to power data centers
Amazon Web Services hopes to find a principal nuclear engineer to help with data center power solutions.
After purchasing a data center campus in Pennsylvania in March, Amazon is looking for an engineer to handle "small modular nuclear power plants" and build "internal and external nuclear product and fuel strategy road maps."
The job listing also mentions working with external partners to influence the design of "efficient and safe" modular power plants and deliver carbon-free power generation solutions. This could mean that Amazon may be looking to develop its own reactors for commercial sale.
As reported by Data Center Dynamics, Amazon spent $650 million to acquire Talen Energy's campus next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
'This is how crazy it's getting.'
AWS will develop 15 data centers at the location as part of a 1,600-acre rezoning projection.
As Amazon looks to prop up its data centers for the ever-growing needs of artificial intelligence operations, it joins other monumental contracts from companies looking to directly source power with nuclear energy. The energy source, which has acted as a bogeyman for green energy activists, has suddenly become fashionable for multinational corporations in 2024.
Major purchases have started a snowball effect for the private sector, which will sadly have no effect on lowering energy costs for the common homeowner if the power plants exist solely for the companies' consumption.
This is the case for Microsoft's latest 20-year, 835-megawatt deal with Constellation Energy, which will reactivate a reactor at the infamous Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
Coming online in 2028, Constellation will spend a reported $1.6 billion to open the figurative doors while hoping to keep the plant running until 2054.
Other deals include internet connectivity and data company Equinix signing a 500-megawatt agreement with Oklo in April.
Oklo also agreed to build a small modular reactor for data company Prometheus Hyperscale in May, providing 100 megawatts.
The nuclear fission startup plans to open microreactors, but the locations are not known yet. It is also working with Diamondback Energy in Texas.
At the same time, Constellation obtained rezoning approval in Illinois in August for 524 acres near the Byron nuclear power plant. The company has since struck a deal to power 54 local business offices.
Lastly, computer technology company Oracle announced in early September that it would be building a 1-gigawatt data center campus powered by three small modular reactors.
"These are the small modular nuclear reactors — to power the data center," founder Larry Ellison said. "This is how crazy it's getting."
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Google confirms Iranian hacking group targeted Trump, Harris presidential campaigns
A recent investigation by Google confirmed that an Iranian hacking group targeted the presidential campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
A Wednesday report from the Google Threat Analysis Group found that the hackers, an Iranian government-backed threat actor known as APT42, attempted to infiltrate roughly a dozen email accounts affiliated with the campaigns.
'Successfully gained access to the personal Gmail account of a high-profile political consultant.'
"Associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), APT42 consistently targets high-profile users in Israel and the U.S., including current and former government officials, political campaigns, diplomats, individuals who work at think tanks, as well as NGOs and academic institutions that contribute to foreign policy conversations," Google reported.
The technology company stated that it blocked "numerous" attempts by APT42 to log into the personal email accounts of those currently and previously affiliated with the campaigns. It noted that it prevented similar attacks from APT42 against Trump's and Biden's presidential campaigns in 2020.
Despite the many thwarted attempts, Google reported that APT42 "successfully gained access to the personal Gmail account of a high-profile political consultant." However, it did not specify whose account was compromised.
Google notified the targeted campaigns and law enforcement.
Over the weekend, the Trump campaign reported that an Iranian group had hacked its internal communications in June. The infiltration resulted in a leaked campaign research paper on Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). The campaign noted that the 271-page report contained only publicly available information on Vance.
Microsoft also released a report confirming that an Iranian group tied to the IRGC sent a phishing email to "a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign." Microsoft, like Google, did not identify the target of the attack.
The FBI has since released a statement announcing it is "investigating this matter."
Harris' campaign stated, "Our campaign vigilantly monitors and protects against cyber threats, and we are not aware of any security breaches of our systems."
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico, "These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process."
"The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House," Cheung added. "Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America's enemies and doing exactly what they want."
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Trump campaign says Iranian group hacked internal communications
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign confirmed Saturday that an Iranian group hacked its internal communications in June, Politico reported.
Politico and the Washington Post stated that they received emails in July from an anonymous account that shared a campaign research paper on Trump’s running mate, vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). The 271-page document listed publicly available information about Vance, including his previous criticisms of Trump, which it labeled as “potential vulnerabilities.” Additionally, the sender provided the news outlets with part of a research document on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R), who was one of Trump’s top contenders for running mate.
'Intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos.'
The hack coincides with a Microsoft report released Friday that claimed an “Iranian group, this one connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign.”
Microsoft did not identify the presidential campaign targeted in the attack.
Politico asked the anonymous sender how it obtained the documents, to which the individual responded, “I suggest you don’t be curious about where I got them from. Any answer to this question, will compromise me and also legally restricts you from publishing them.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico, “These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process.”
“The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House,” Cheung added. “Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America’s enemies and doing exactly what they want.”
Trump wrote on social media in response to the attack, “We were just informed by Microsoft Corporation that one of our many websites was hacked by the Iranian Government - Never a nice thing to do! They were only able to get publicly available information but, nevertheless, they shouldn’t be doing anything of this nature. Iran and others will stop at nothing, because our Government is Weak and Ineffective, but it won’t be for long. What Iran doesn’t realize is that I will make the World a better and safer place, and that’s good for them, also!”
The FBI told NBC News that it is “aware of the media reporting” but declined to provide further comments about the matter. Microsoft also declined to provide additional details about its report.
A spokesperson for the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations told the news outlet, “We do not accord any credence to such reports. The Iranian Government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election.”
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Facebook admits it incorrectly 'fact-checked' iconic Trump photo taken moments after assassination attempt: 'This was an error'
Big Tech is coming under fire for allegedly attempting to interfere with the upcoming presidential election in November.
On Monday, a screenshot was circulated on social media that showed a "fact-check" label over the iconic photograph of former President Donald Trump with his fist in the air moments after getting shot in the recent assassination attempt in Bulter, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The screenshot, taken on Meta's Facebook and Instagram, claimed that the picture of Trump was "altered."
'This has been fixed and we apologize for the mistake.'
"Independent fact-checkers reviewed a similar photo and said it was altered in a way that could mislead people," the disclaimer read. "Facebook determined your post has the same altered photo and added a notice to the post."
"People who repeatedly share false information might have their posts moved lower in News Feed so other people are less likely to see them," Facebook added.
The disclaimer cited a "fact-check" article by USA Today on July 15 that showed a similar photograph of Trump; however, in that picture, the Secret Service agents around the former president appeared to be smiling. The news outlet determined that the agents' faces were altered in that photograph, which was circulated on social media, with some users claiming the smiles indicated it was a staged photo op.
"The image was doctored to change the facial expressions of the agents. They are not smiling in the original photo," USA Today determined.
The post on Facebook and Instagram that was slapped with a fact-check disclaimer featured the original, unaltered photograph of Trump and the Secret Service agents.
The incorrect label sparked backlash that Big Tech companies are attempting to suppress the assassination attempt from online archives ahead of the upcoming election.
Meta spokesperson Dani Lever responded to the concern on X, writing, "Yes, this was an error. This fact check was initially applied to a doctored photo showing the secret service agents smiling, and in some cases our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo. This has been fixed and we apologize for the mistake."
Just last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the photograph "bada**," Blaze News previously reported.
"I mean, on a personal note ... seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag [in the background] is one of the most bada** things I've ever seen in my life," he said during a recent Bloomberg interview. "On some level, as an American, it's ... hard to not get kind of emotional about that spirit and that fight, and I think that that's why a lot of people like the guy."
Anything else?
Social media users torched Google over the weekend after some discovered that its search's "Autocomplete" feature was not populating results related to the recent shooting on July 13, Blaze News reported.
Google stated, "There was no manual action taken. Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event."
"We're working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date. Of course, Autocomplete is just a tool to help people save time, and they can still search for anything they want to. Following this terrible act, people turned to Google to find high-quality information – we connected them with helpful results, and will continue to do so," it added.
Bing's autofill feature prompted a comparable result. Microsoft did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.
Meta's AI chat was similarly accused of trying to block information related to the shooting after it failed to provide any details about the incident when prompted over the weekend. Meta has since apparently attempted to "fix" the issue.
A Meta spokesperson told Blaze News, "We know people have been seeing incomplete, inconsistent, or out of date information on this topic. We're implementing a fix to provide more up-to-date responses for inquiries, and it is possible people may continue to see inaccurate responses in the meantime."
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Big Tech appears to censor Trump assassination attempt: ‘Election interference?’
Big Tech search engines appear to be censoring the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to reports from multiple users.
The New York Post reported Sunday that Google’s “Autocomplete” feature failed to populate results for the deadly July 13 attack. When typing “the assassination attempt of” into the search bar, the autofill did not show results related to Trump, the news outlet stated. Additionally, the Post found that Google did not generate an autogenerated suggestion when typing in “Trump assassination attempt.”
Google’s search results still feature articles regarding the shooting.
The company stated, “There was no manual action taken. Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event.”
“We’re working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date. Of course, Autocomplete is just a tool to help people save time, and they can still search for anything they want to. Following this terrible act, people turned to Google to find high-quality information – we connected them with helpful results, and will continue to do so,” Google added.
Other Big Tech companies also seemed to be censoring the recent assassination attempt on Trump. Similar to Google, Bing’s search engine did not autofill “Trump” when typing in “assassination attempt on.” Instead, it generated results including “president,” “fdr 1933,” “Reagan,” “Ronald Reagan,” and “George Wallace.”
Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News by the time of publication.
Several posts from X users revealed that Meta AI may also be blocking information about the recent attack.
Libs of TikTok wrote on Sunday afternoon, “Meta AI won’t give any details on the attempted ass*ss*nation. We’re witnessing the suppression and coverup of one of the biggest most consequential stories in real time. Simply unreal.”
— (@)
By Monday morning, it appeared that Meta AI had corrected the issue, Blaze News confirmed. When asked, “Can you give me details on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump?” the platform populated a paragraph detailing the events of the rally on July 13, which resulted in Trump being shot in the ear and the murder of one attendee.
Meta did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News by the time of publication.
Anything else?
Donald Trump Jr. took to X to blast Google for apparently hiding the attack from its Autocomplete feature.
“Big Tech is trying to interfere in the election AGAIN to help Kamala Harris. We all know this is intentional election interference from Google. Truly despicable,” Trump Jr. wrote.
— (@)
Elon Musk, who recently endorsed Trump for president, also commented on the situation.
“Wow, Google has a search ban on President Donald Trump! Election interference?” Musk wrote.
“They’re getting themselves into a lot of trouble if they interfere with the election,” he wrote in a separate post.
Musk also shared a social media post questioning Google’s claim that it suppresses “predictions associated with political violence.” The post showed many autofill results referring to the assassination attempt on former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Andrew Johnson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
— (@)
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CrowdStrike CEO apologizes for faulty software update that apparently caused global economic mayhem
The leader of one of the largest cybersecurity enterprises in the world has apologized after a faulty software update apparently brought global airline industries and many online transactions to a grinding halt.
Before 6 a.m. on Friday, George Kurtz — CEO of Texas-based cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike — took to social media to acknowledge that "a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts" had led to a major breakdown in Microsoft operations.
As a result, more than 18,000 flights from around the world were grounded, 1,200 in the U.S. alone, according to joint reporting from The Hill and the AP. Banks and 911 dispatch stations were also thrown offline. Even the Sphere in Las Vegas was affected, projecting the dreaded "blue screen of death" into the night sky.
While CrowdStrike's update issue may have inconvenienced millions of people worldwide, it is apparently not the work of malicious actors, at least according to Kurtz. "This is not a security incident or cyberattack," he insisted.
Neither Mac nor Linux systems was affected by the issue, Kurtz noted.
In follow-up statements to the media, Kurtz became emotional as he apologized for causing everyone so much trouble. "We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this," he told NBC's "Today."
According to Kurtz, the initial problem has been fixed. However, the reverberating effects of the issue are much more complex and therefore much more difficult to address, he said.
"Sometimes, some systems won’t automatically recover," he said.
"We’re not going to relent until we get every customer back to where they were."
As of mid-morning on Friday, several major U.S. airports — including Logan Airport in Boston, LaGuardia in New York City, and the Las Vegas airport formally known as McCarran — reported significant closures. Flights at other airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta were delayed by as much as six hours.
The FAA professes to be "closely monitoring" the situation.
"The FAA is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines," the aviation agency tweeted at 5:50 a.m. on Friday. "Several airlines have requested FAA assistance with ground stops until the issue is resolved. Monitor http://fly.faa.gov for updates."
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