Happy Monday!

We jump into the week with some stunning news from the weekend. And what does Kamala Harris have to do with the popularity of mac-and-cheese?

Tim Ballard Knocks Out Ethan Hunt: Sound of Freedom Tops the New Mission Impossible

Praise God and pass the popcorn. Sound of Freedom actually beat Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One at the movie box office this weekend. Sure, the true-to-life story of child sex trafficking came in a distant third behind the hyper-hyped Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but it topped Tom Cruise’s latest. Nobody would expect the well-reviewed Mission Impossible to be topped its second week out by Sound of Freedom.

Sound of Freedom banked $20,140,000 million, compared to MI’s $19,500,000.

What’s more, Sound of Freedom had a much higher per screen average. Plus, in a very strong sign the film is gaining strength, it played in 20 more theaters than it did last weekend. And business dropped off only 26.2% from the previous week. The rest of the top 10 dropped between 36% and 71%.

So far, Sound of Freedom has earned almost $125 million … and has opened the eyes of millions.

Box Office Mojo has all the details here.

Meanwhile, check out the DCNF article “Why Media Outlets Want You To Think a Hit Movie About Child Sex Trafficking is Linked to QAnon.”

The good news: The efforts to disparage the film are failing … gloriously.

Why “Christian Thriller”?

Just two days ago, NPR ran a story “Christian thriller Sound of Freedom faces criticism for stoking conspiracy theories.”

Yes, there are faith elements to the film. But is it really a “Christian thriller”? Is the rescuing of children from sex trafficking really supposed to be just a Christian thing? Sure, we’re glad to carry the ball ourselves if nobody else wants to share the burden. But is that the way it is?  Is that the way it should be?

By the way, just for fun I googled “NPR ‘demonic thriller’”: Response? “It looks like there aren’t any great matches for your search.”

Meanwhile, The Stream is very proud to be one of the few American entities that do NOT have a product tie-in with the new Barbie movie. According to Mattel, over 100 brands are participating in Barbie-related marketing bandwagon.

“Basta! Enough!” Italy Won’t Let Biological Males Compete in Miss Italy Pageant

In the wake of the Miss Netherlands crown going to a biological male, the Miss Italy pageant announced that only actual women will be allowed to compete. Official Patron of the pageant Patrizia Mirigliani told an Italian radio station contestants must be “women from birth.” She also said the welcoming of males into the pageants a “bit absurd.”

What? Twitter is No More? Now X?

Twitter, the ever-present social media giant, is undergoing a complete rebranding, including a name change to X. And doing away with the birds.

Elon Musk confirmed the news Saturday.

If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023

And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023

The dramatic, perhaps even perplexing, move to change the name of one of the most iconic brands on the planet, was first spotted by Laura Loomer in court documents pertaining to her lawsuit against Twitter, Facebook and other social media giants. Right there in the documents:

Pursuant to Rule 7.1 (a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the undersigned counsel for Defendant X Corp., as successor in interest to named Defendant Twitter, Inc., hereby states that Twitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists.

BREAKING: According to a recent court filing, Twitter is now “X”.

“Twitter, Inc has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists.” pic.twitter.com/W42VwUEGMB

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) April 11, 2023

Musk had hinted at the move in a cryptic April tweet.

X

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2023

On Sunday, X.com started redirecting to Twitter.com.

Two Quick Stops in Scandalville

FBI Agent Originally Told Twitter Hunter Laptop Legit, Only to Be Hushed

Speaking of Twitter, turns out the FBI originally told Twitter that Hunter’s laptop was real when the NY Post story broke, but immediately reversed course. In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Rep. Jim Jordan said Laura Dehmlow, section chief of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) has now testified:

Somebody from Twitter essentially asked whether the laptop was real. And one of the FBI folks who was on the call did confirm that, ‘yes, it was,’ before another participant jumped in and said, ‘no further comment.’

The FBI then decided to refuse to answer questions about the NY Post story, allowing social media companies to falsely assume this was the misinformation the FBI had been warning about.  

Further, writes Jordan:

Dehmlow revealed that the same FBI personnel who were warning social media companies about a potential Russian ‘hack and leak’ operation in the run-up to the 2020 election knew that the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was not Russian disinformation.

Biden Had Plan to Send Alternate Electors if Trump Won? The Same Thing That Just Got 16 People in Michigan Indicted?!

Last week, 16 Trump Alternate 2020 electors were charged in Michigan with assorted felonies connected to the creation of that alternate slate.

Here’s your “two-tiered justice” angle. Seems Joe Biden was all set to create his own slate of alternate electors if Trump had won. Thank you Mike Benz of Foundation for Freedom Online, for the discovery.

John Podesta, role playing Joe Biden in Transition Integrity Project's summer 2020 simulation to ensure a Biden presidency even if Trump won the election, openly plotted sending a separate elector slate

— the same thing DOJ just indicted Trump electors for considering doing https://t.co/N4wv0eCdeB pic.twitter.com/qKxChnqueG

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) July 19, 2023

Yeah, it was part of John Podesta’s “Transition Integrity Project,” which in the summer of 2020 war gamed assorted scenarios that would ensure Trump’s removal from office.

As we’ve learned, there’s nothing unique or wrong or “fake” about two candidates creating a slate of alternate electors in a disputed election. Happened in 1960 in Hawaii. In fact, when the results in the JFK-Nixon race were overturned, the alternate electors took part in the Electoral College.

No, Kamala, Florida Does Not Want to Teach Kids “Enslaved People Benefited from Slavery.” 

On Saturday, Kamala Harris tried selling the idea that Florida wants to teach middle schoolers that “enslaved people benefited from slavery.” This is nowhere to be found in the Florida Dept. of Education curriculum approved Wednesday.

Of all the references to slavery drawn up by African-American scholars for the curriculum, the closest you get is a single line: “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills that, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

This is historically true. One interesting example is Thomas Jefferson bringing James Hemings to France to train as a master chef. Jefferson loved French cuisine and Paris-trained gourmet chefs weren’t exactly common in the U.S. If Jefferson was away from Monticello, Hemings could hire himself out to other wealthy Virginians. Jefferson himself paid Hemings a monthly wage equal to any of his free staff. Hemings gained his freedom at age 30, and worked as a chef until tragically passing away at the age of 36.  

Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that Hemings was enslaved the first three decades of his life. But if Kamala Harris wants to honorably serve as VP, filling the role once filled by Jefferson, it might be a good idea to stick to the truth rather than slander.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Hemings was Sally Hemings’ older brother. Perhaps even more crucially, according to Monticello, James Hemings helped popularize macaroni and cheese in these United States.

Along The Stream

Dr. Michael Brown answers “What Does It Mean to Take Up Our Cross.”

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.