California’s Vague ‘Hate Speech’ Bill Would Force Big Tech To Censor Mainstream Conservative Views

SB-771 threatens to turn digital platforms into ideological enforcers, punishing those who hold traditional, faith-based viewpoints.

Here’s How Transhumanism Infected Everything

In 'The Transhumanist Temptation,' Grayson Quay unmasks a pernicious ideology that even those most opposed to it are having trouble resisting.

Wired In

A trained computational biologist—one who discovers biological truths through simulations rather than physical experiments—Arbesman volunteers as our guide. With software now embedded in our daily routines, he rests uneasily knowing that only the technologically savvy wield all creative potential. He envisions a world in which everyone possesses this power. Thanks to recent advances in generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, that vision is more plausible than ever.

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Nearly 25 thugs smash up jewelry store with crowbars, pickaxes, steal $1 million in merch — but tech helps police battle back



Nearly 25 masked, hooded individuals were caught on video descending upon a jewelry store in broad daylight this week in San Ramon, California, and stealing an estimated $1 million in merchandise, KGO-TV reported.

Police said the suspects — armed with crowbars and pickaxes and at least three guns — smashed display cases and grabbed whatever they could get their hands on during Monday afternoon's heist at Heller Jewelers, the station said.

'This is not their first time doing something like this.'

"When they went in, they basically took over the store," Lt. Mike Pistello of the San Ramon Police Department told KGO. "Basically taking whatever jewelry was available."

More from the station:

Cellphone video captured the suspects locked inside the store at one point. Police say at least one suspect fired multiple rounds to break open the glass door and escape. The door was part of a security upgrade installed after a previous robbery in 2023, requiring a security guard to press a button to let people out.

"What ended up happening was, once the suspects went in, the door locked behind them," Pistello noted to KGO.

RELATED: Video: Mob of hammer-wielding, hooded thugs pull off brazen smash-and-grab robbery in broad daylight

The suspects arrived in six vehicles, parking in the valet area just 100 feet from the store entrance, the station said.

A drone funded by a 2023 grant to fight organized retail theft captured video of the suspects fleeing the store and entering their vehicles, KGO noted.

Police told the station that drone video along with video from surveillance cameras and bystanders as well as help from nearby agencies led to the arrest of seven suspects.

More from KGO:

Three adults and one juvenile were taken into custody in Oakland with assistance from Oakland police. Three other adults were arrested at the Dublin BART station by Alameda County sheriff's deputies.

The suspects range in age from 17 to 31 and are all from Oakland. Police believe they are connected to similar crimes across the Bay Area. ...

Two firearms and some jewelry were recovered, including items that may have been dropped or discarded during the escape. Police say several of the vehicles used in the robbery were reported stolen.

"This is not their first time doing something like this," Pistello noted to the station.

KGO said detectives are trying to identify and arrest the remaining suspects. Pistello added to the station that while the investigation could take months, he expressed confidence that the department would ultimately solve multiple cases tied to the group.

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Laser-Focused: What Iron Beam Means for Israel, its Enemies, and the US

Amid the new offensive in Gaza City, repeated Russian encroachments into NATO airspace, and China's relentless drive toward artificial intelligence domination, the American-led order is under intense strain. So Israel's latest technological breakthrough could not have come at a more opportune time for the United States and its allies. On Wednesday, Israel's defense ministry announced its "Iron Beam" laser air defense system has completed testing and will be operational by the end of this year. Israel is on the cusp of solving one of the thorniest dilemmas in modern warfare. It is also showing how rapidly military technology is changing, and why it is vital that the Trump administration's defense reforms succeed. Iron Beam can destroy incoming rockets, mortars, drones, and manned aircraft, and it has already proved its worth in the campaigns against Hezbollah and Iran. Israel plans for it to complement Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow, which use missiles to destroy threats to the Israeli homeland. In 5 to 10 years, Rafael chairman Yuval Steinitz predicts, "nothing hostile will fly in the air—no aircraft, no drones, no cruise missiles, no shells, no bombs—because the laser will completely clear the air of anything detected, anything seen."

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Meta Muzzled Child Safety Findings On Virtual Reality Platforms, Researchers Tell Congress

'I wish I could tell you the number of children in VR experiencing these harms, but Meta would not allow me to conduct this research.'

From Silicon Valley to Moscow, a supply chain of death



As Ukrainian cities suffer under the escalating Russian missile and drone attacks, an unsettling truth has emerged: The weapons killing innocent Ukrainians are powered by components sold by European and even U.S. companies. Confirmed across multiple investigations, these Western-made electronics are frequently found in wreckage from Russian attacks.

The Ukrainian National Police document war crimes, and in the wreckage of Russian jets and drones, they’re finding Western-made sensors, microchips, and navigation systems.

Companies whose products powered Russian weapons may find that in the court of global opinion, they’re the next Switzerland.

This is a modern echo of an old disgrace: Switzerland’s wartime profiteering during World War II. While claiming neutrality, Switzerland sold munitions to Nazi Germany. Today, many Western firms appear similar on paper — even as their products power violence in practice.

Ukrainians pay the price

The consequences, then and now, are devastating. Ukrainians bury their loved ones while billions of dollars move through “innocent” supply chains — supply chains that ultimately help lead to the very funerals and heartbreak we see today.

A 2023 study by a Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty investigative unit found more than 2,000 different electronic components — many made by U.S., Japanese, and Taiwanese firms — inside five types of Russian Sukhoi warplanes.

Friends of mine in the Ukrainian National Police confirmed that Western-made parts routinely show up in missiles and surveillance gear recovered after attacks. These items often pass through intermediary nations, such as China, Turkey, and even some EU member states, shielding the original suppliers.

‘Out of our hands’

How do the companies respond when questioned? Most point to legal compliance, third-party distributors, and plausible deniability. “We didn’t know,” they say. “It’s out of our hands.”

But when a buyer in a Russia-aligned country suddenly orders 2,000 units of a component normally purchased in batches of 100, it shouldn’t just raise a red flag — it should sound a blaring siren, a warning no one can miss.

Imagine you’re the CEO of an imaginary company, East Elbonian MicroSystems, a U.S.-based manufacturer of high-frequency guidance chips used in both civilian drones and industrial automation. For five years, you’ve sold 100 units annually to a Turkish buyer.

Suddenly, your Turkish buyer places an order for 2,000 chips. The order comes with an up-front payment and a request for expedited delivery. You have recently read reports that chips identical to yours have been recovered from the wreckage of Russian missiles that struck Ukrainian hospitals and apartment buildings.

You don’t wait. You send a senior compliance officer to Istanbul, unannounced. “We need to see where these chips are going,” the officer says upon arrival at your Turkish buyer’s office. “We’ll need full documentation within 24 hours — sales logs, shipping manifests, end-user agreements.”

If your Turkish buyer can’t provide a legitimate explanation for the spike in orders, you terminate the relationship immediately. No more shipments. No more plausible deniability.

Legacies of shame

This is not radical. It’s standard practice in sectors like pharmaceuticals and banking. Robust end-use documentation, site visits, and statistical audits are basic components of ethical commerce. So why not in defense-adjacent tech?

The answer is as old as Switzerland’s wartime banks: profit. Tragically, the cost of not taking action is measured in shattered lives. It means more orphans growing up without parents, more widows mourning at fresh graves, more families torn apart by midnight missile strikes.

It means children losing limbs to drone shrapnel, hospitals overwhelmed with burn victims, and schools reduced to rubble. Each shipment of unchecked components contributes to a growing ledger of human suffering — paid for in blood, grief, and futures stolen before they begin.

RELATED: Survival over pride: The true test for Ukraine and Russia

Photo by Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

In the U.S., politicians from both sides of the aisle ideally would write laws mandating that all firms producing dual-use components publish regular audits and require reporting on statistically unusual purchases.

Companies would have incentives to comply. History offers a powerful cautionary tale. After World War II, Switzerland faced global outrage for war profiteering. In 1998, the complicit banks agreed to a $1.25 billion settlement. The reputational damage led to public boycotts and a tainted legacy that persists to this day.

Come clean now, or face justice

Legal consequences loom for any U.S. company complicit in war profiteering. Ukrainian investigators, particularly in the National Police, are meticulously cataloging dual-use components from other countries.

When the war ends, expect publicity and accountability to follow. Companies whose products powered Russian weapons may find that in the court of global opinion, they’re the next Switzerland.

Companies that pretend not to know where their components end up still have time to redeem themselves. But that time is running out. Remember — journalists like me may be eager to tell the world exactly what you knew and when you knew it.

Our Suffering Should Lead Us To Christ, Not AI

Only One can enable us to get up and walk into true healing.