Category: The American Spectator
Georgetown prof starts running after realizing he’s talking to James O’Keefe — and his racial ‘slurs’ are on camera
Jonathan Franklin, a former race and identity correspondent for National Public Radio who now apparently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, recently went into panic-mode after realizing he had made a series of damning remarks to investigative journalist James O’Keefe on hidden camera.
In the footage published on Wednesday by the O’Keefe Media Group, Franklin — whose personal website is now password-protected, Instagram profile has been set to private, and page on the Georgetown University was largely scrubbed — appears to call various black conservatives a “coon,” including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Candace Owens, and U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Herschel Walker.
‘Well, the thing is that I actually am James O’Keefe.’
When pressed by O’Keefe on why he hasn’t shared such views publicly, Franklin, who is set to teach a journalism course on sourcing and interviews, appears to say, “I’d have to stop being a journalist for me to say what I really want to say.”
At one point in his conversation with O’Keefe — whom he evidently did not recognize on account of a pair of glasses — Franklin appears to say, “I work with a bunch of stupid white people.”
Franklin declined to comment on the situation involving the video published by O’Keefe, a representative told Blaze News.
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Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Georgetown University did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
After hearing enough racially charged rhetoric, O’Keefe asks Franklin in the video what he thinks about James O’Keefe.
Franklin answers, “I’ve heard from people he’s an a**h**e.”
“Well, he does, like, the undercover stuff and, like, exposes people, you know?” says O’Keefe. “He exposes people, you know, telling people, like, what they really think.”
“There’s a way to do that sort of watchdog, gotcha, ambush journalism but doing in a way that doesn’t disrespect the person that you’re trying to catch or yourself as a reporter,” says Franklin.
O’Keefe then takes off his glasses, points to the hidden camera, and announces to Franklin, “Well, the thing is that I actually am James O’Keefe.”
“No, you’re not,” responds Franklin.
Upon realizing the man he’d been talking to is in fact James O’Keefe, Franklin gets up and begins to run away. Outside the building, Franklin can be seen falling to the ground. After asking whether the adjunct was all right, O’Keefe tries asking him clarifying questions about his apparent “coon” comments, to which Franklin responds, “I will sue.”
O’Keefe and his team subsequently took Franklin to a pharmacy to get him Band-Aids for the cuts he sustained in his tumble. After cooling off, Franklin appeared to confirm to O’Keefe on camera that while he did work for NPR, he had lied during their earlier conversation about working for CBS News.
When later discussing the encounter, O’Keefe questioned whether an individual who allegedly harbors racist views and would share them with a stranger should be teaching journalism classes at an institution like Georgetown University.
“That type of racism is not just his personal opinion,” said O’Keefe. “It is a bias about a group of people that directly affects fairness, credibility and judgment. Why? Because he’s a professor who is using these slurs. He is revealing a framework that shapes how he interprets information.”
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EXCLUSIVE: In Wake of Free Beacon Report, Trump Administration To Investigate Federal Contractors That Say They Won’t Hire US Citizens
Several IT firms that appear to bar U.S. citizens from certain jobs also have contracts with the federal government, suggesting that they are discriminating against Americans even as they receive millions in taxpayer largesse.
The post EXCLUSIVE: In Wake of Free Beacon Report, Trump Administration To Investigate Federal Contractors That Say They Won’t Hire US Citizens appeared first on .
‘A direct path to Citizenship’: Trump announces official launch of Trump Gold Card visa program
The Trump administration has announced a brand-new visa package that is expected to help some of America’s biggest companies keep their foreign talent.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced the launch of the Trump Gold Card, an expedited pathway to U.S. residence and even citizenship for a premium price.
‘This landmark program fulfills President Trump’s promise to attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors to America while guaranteeing they have skin in the game.’
On Truth Social, Trump said, “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT’S TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE TODAY! A direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent.”
The program has multiple tiers. Individuals can pay a fee of $1 million to receive U.S. residency in “record time” as part of the Trump Gold Card.
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
The Trump Corporate Gold Card functions similarly but has a fee of $2 million that the company will pay.
The Trump Platinum Card, which the website says is “coming soon,” costs $5 million and will allow foreigners to live in the United States for 270 days “without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained how companies can use this program: “The company can keep them here, and they have a path to citizenship. Obviously, they have to be perfect people in America. And having passed the vetting, after five years, they’ll be available to become citizens, and then the corporation puts someone else on the card.”
Lutnick added that the proceeds of this expensive program will function as a “gift to the United States.”
All applications also require a $15,000 processing fee as part of the vetting process.
The Trump Gold Card functions as a lottery through EB-1 and EB-2 visas, which filter for extraordinary ability in various fields.
“This landmark program fulfills President Trump’s promise to attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors to America while guaranteeing they have skin in the game,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X in light of the announcement.
Trump ordered the creation of the Trump Gold Card program on the same day that he ordered the $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, a popular move that addresses some of the abuses with the H-1B program without canceling it entirely.
The Gold Card office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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Botoxic femininity? ‘Titanic’ star bashes ‘cartoon’-faced plastic surgery addicts
Our looks-obsessed, social-media-fueled culture is out of control — and it is causing more and more women to turn themselves into “cartoons.”
So says Hollywood star Kate Winslet, who unloaded on the subject in a recent interview with the Times.
‘It is f**king chaos out there.’
Carpet-bombed
Winslet, who rocketed to worldwide fame after starring in 1997’s “Titanic,” recalled enduring incessant scrutiny of her weight early in her career — at one point being described as “a little melted and poured into” a dress she wore at an awards show.
Still, the now-50-year-old said she never reacted to these barbs by getting surgery or taking weight-loss drugs, two approaches she feels are so common today that they have warped our idea of beauty.
Winslet added that her first reaction when seeing another woman with Botox or filler in her face is to think “No, not you! Why?”
But, Winslet continued, “No one’s listening because they’ve become obsessed with chasing an idea of perfection to get more likes on Instagram. It upsets me so much.”
Lip service
Nor is Winslet a fan of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.”
“Do they know what they are putting in [their bodies]?” she asked. “The disregard for one’s health is terrifying. It bothers me now more than ever. It is f**king chaos out there.”
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Photo by SC/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Winslet implied that while she gets why the Hollywood crowd is obsessed with appearances, what really bothers her is the thought of everyday people “who save up for Botox or the s**t they put in their lips.”
Character flaw
To illustrate her point, she told the Times about a BBC article she read about a car crash with a young woman.
“She looked like a cartoon,” Winslet scolded. “You do not actually know what that person looks like — from the eyebrows to mouth to lashes to hair, that young woman is scared to be herself. What idea of perfection are people aspiring to? I blame social media and its effect on mental health.”
To that end, she added that it has been “heartbreaking” to see people constantly looking at their phones.
“Nobody’s looking into the f**king world any more.”
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Photo by: Vince Bucci/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
While attempting to show that “life” is in one’s hands, Winslet remarked, “Some of the most beautiful women I know are over 70, and what upsets me is that young women have no concept of what being beautiful actually is.”
The interviewer noted that Winslet went out of her way to prove she “hasn’t got anything” in her face and even squeezed her hands to show creases around her veins.
Australia BANS key social media apps for kids under 16 — and platforms must enforce the rule
Australia will put the onus on social media platforms to limit access to children under 16 years old.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 amended Australia’s reigning online safety measures and gave social media companies time to age‐restrict their platforms and “take reasonable steps to prevent Australian under 16s from having account[s].”
‘No Australian will be compelled to use government identification.’
Officially taking effect on December 10, the ban includes Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, X, and YouTube’s general platform; YouTube Kids and WhatsApp do not meet the criteria for the ban.
Australia introduced its social media minimum-age framework that included a list of criteria that would result in a platform being banned for those under 16. This included if a platform’s sole purpose, or “significant purpose,” is to “enable online social interaction between two or more end‐users.”
Or if the service “allows end‐users to link to, or interact with, some or all of the other end‐users” and “allows end‐users to post material on the service” and “meets such other conditions (if any) as are set out in the legislative rules,” it will not be available for younger Australians.
The legislation can also specify certain platforms, or classes, to not include in the ban.
Social media platforms will be responsible for enforcement, and neither children nor their parents will face punishment should they gain access. Companies face fines of up to $32 million USD or just under $50 million in Australian dollars.
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Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images
The government further defined the requirements placed upon the platforms, adding that they must “take reasonable steps to prevent” those under 16 from having accounts.
The legislation also specified that “no Australian will be compelled to use government identification (including Digital ID) to prove their age online” and that platforms must offer reasonable alternatives to its users.
According to the BBC, other countries are hot on Australia’s tail in terms of implementing their own similar bans. This includes the French government, which has begun a parliamentary inquiry into banning children under 15 years old from social media, while also implementing a “digital curfew” for those between 15 and 18.
The Spanish government has also drafted a law that would require parental consent for children under 16 to access social media.
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Photo by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images
Ruling left-wing Labour Party official Anika Wells, who serves as Australia’s communications minister (and minister of sport), said that the ban is not “perfect” and is going to “look a bit untidy on the way through.”
“Big reforms always do,” she added.
Australians under 16 will still be able to access content that is available on a website without being logged in or being a member, as there is virtually no way to prevent that without restricting access to the internet entirely.
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