Anti-Trump group “The Raging Grannies” sang a protest song for MS NOW reporter Rosa Flores at Saturday’s “No Kings” rally in Austin, TX, as organizers touted the nationwide protest as one of the largest in U.S. history.

“The protesters are still making their way here,” Flores said on Saturday. “But here’s the thing about this particular protest, why you see all these tents. Because the protests and the movement doesn’t start and end today with ‘No Kings.’ This is…according to the organizers, about getting more people involved civically so that they can do more tomorrow, so that they can vote in November.”

Flores interviewed one woman who became emotional when talking about pertinent issues like ICE, the Supreme Court, the war in Iran, and gas prices.

“It’s important that other people know that we’re all together, we’re all human beings,” the woman said. “And oh my gosh, you know, what’s happening in the world is horrible. And it’s all because of one guy who has a stupid ego and thinks he’s above  everyone else. And I don’t think that’s cool.”

“I can feel your emotions,” Flores said. “Tell me about that.”

“I just, you know, I’m sitting at home and I’m going, ‘I gotta do something, I gotta do something,’ you know?” the protester said. “So, you know, I came, I got some friends, they’re gonna be here later, you know…but it just, it hurts your heart, because I love people. And I don’t want to see other people hurt.”

Flores then introduced The Raging Grannies.

“They’re going to be performing for us,” she told host Alex Witt.

The group sang a rousing folk song about being unafraid of tyrants.

“So you can’t scare us, we’re sticking together. We’re sticking together, forever and ever. Oh, you can’t scare us, we’re sticking together from now on!” they sang.

Watch above via MS NOW.

The post Anti-Trump Group ‘Raging Grannies’ Sing For MS NOW Reporter at ‘No Kings’ Protest first appeared on Mediaite.

(AP Photo/John Locher)

Jack Posobiec didn’t find a whole lot of support among conservatives and fellow MAGA supporters for his take that J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books are “pagan.”

Posobiec, a MAGA influencer and senior editor at Human Events, shared his Lord of the Rings take this week, and was ripped apart by a number of conservatives and critics ripping him apart.

“I’ve heard people try to make the argument that Lord of the Rings is overtly Christian and I hate to burst the bubble guys, but you’re just wrong. There’s nothing overtly Christian about Lord of The Rings. Uh, there’s no church in it. There’s no faith in it, There’s no Christ figure, there’s none of these things, and, honestly, Lord of the Rings, if it’s anything, Lord of The Rings is overtly pagan,” Posobiec said in a clip shared by Human Events.

Before people could pile on Posobiec’s take, some simple context was provided to the post,;that context being a direct quote from Tolkien calling the Rings book a “fundamentally religious and Catholic work.”

Tolkien and his Rings books have long been celebrated by Christians and Catholics, something Posobiec was quickly informed of. In the clip, however, even after some pushback from others he stuck to his “overtly pagan” take on the works. He also questioned how the Rings works can carry religious themes if a “lib-tard” like Stephen Colbert was just hired to write a new adaptation.

“You got these lib-tards like Colbert who love it. And if this thing is, like, oh, it’s overtly Christian, I’m like, well then why does a guy like Colbert love it so much?” Posobiec asked.

The Colbert factor wasn’t enough for others to chalk up Tolkien’s work as “pagan,” and many conservatives and Rings fans were quick to either blast Posobiec or try providing him with a little education.

“Are we surprised that the guy pretending to be Catholic – to the point of using an Etsy image to claim he owns a rosary – can’t identify Catholic themes in creative works?” NewsBusters editor Nicholas Fondacaro wrote on X.

Others called the take “deeply embarrassing” and provided Posobiec with Tolkien’s own words that fly in the face of his opinion.

“Only someone who has zero understanding of LOTR, or maybe has only watched the Peter Jackson films, would say this. A deeply embarrassing take,” Federalist senior editor John Daniel Davidson wrote.

It was announced this week that Colbert will be co-writing a new Lord of the Rings movie as his first post-Late Show gig. The film, like other recent adaptations, introduces original elements in Tolkien’s world rather than simply directly adapting the original trilogy. An Andy Serkis-directed spinoff will also release in 2027, and a third season of Rings of Power on Prime is coming soon. Peter Jackson previously directed an adaptation of the original trilogy, as well as a trilogy based on the prequel The Hobbit. He’s producing both the Colbert and Serkis films.

The post ‘Deeply Embarrassing’: Conservatives Pounce on MAGA Star Over Bizarre Lord of the Rings Take first appeared on Mediaite.

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Amazon's Big Spring Sale is in full swing this week. If you take a look at the "Laptops" section of Amazon's Big Spring Sale page, you'll find seemingly endless options available at a discount. That doesn't mean these are all deals worth considering, however. There are a lot of laptops out there, and not all of them going to be right for you (or most people). As such, I've looked at Amazon's wares, and found some deals that really seem worth considering.

A rule of thumb with deals like these: If you've never heard of the company before, be extremely cautious. There are laptop manufacturers that have been in the game for years, and know how to ship a product that works. If you see a huge discount on a laptop from a no-name company, that should be a red flag. That's not to say all start-ups and new companies should be avoided; just do your research before buying a computer.

M4 MacBook Air (15-inch)

$1,149.00 at Amazon

$1,399.00 Save $250.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,149.00 at Amazon

$1,399.00 Save $250.00

Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360

$1,199.99 at Amazon

$1,699.99 Save $500.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,199.99 at Amazon

$1,699.99 Save $500.00

HP EliteBook 6 G1i

$1,899.98 at Amazon

$2,799.00 Save $899.02

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,899.98 at Amazon

$2,799.00 Save $899.02

ASUS TUF F16

$999.99 at Amazon

$1,299.99 Save $300.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$999.99 at Amazon

$1,299.99 Save $300.00

ASUS ROG Strix G18

$1,394.99 at Amazon

$1,699.99 Save $305.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,394.99 at Amazon

$1,699.99 Save $305.00

Lenovo Legion 5i

$1,469.99 at Amazon

$1,669.99 Save $200.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$1,469.99 at Amazon

$1,669.99 Save $200.00

SEE 3 MORE

M4 15-inch MacBook Air

If you're in the market for a large yet portable laptop, the MacBook Air is a great buy. While Apple's newest model has the M5 chip, the M4 version is more than capable to buy instead—especially when you can save some money.

During Amazon's Big Spring Sale, you can pick up the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air for $1,149. That's $150 cheaper than the M5 version. You still get the same 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and a chip that Apple will likely support for years to come. (The company still supports M1, which came out in 2020.) If you're set on the M5 MacBook Air, consider saving a bit by going through Apple's education store.

Samsung 16-inch Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360

If you need a large, thin and light laptop that runs Windows 11, this Copilot+ PC from Samsung might suit you. The 16-inch Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 has an Intel Core 7 Ultra processor with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage—double that of the MacBook Air above. It also has a touchscreen 3K AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The integrated graphics won't get you far for gaming, but if you need a capable machine for school, work, or personal use, this is a great all-around machine.

HP EliteBook 6 G1i

Let's up the ante a bit. This HP EliteBook comes with a whopping 64GB of RAM. That's potentially overkill for most students and workers, but it does mean that this machine is a multitasker's dream. (You'll likely never run out of Chrome tabs.) It comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255U processor with a 1TB PCIe SSD for storage. The 16-inch IPS display is lower-res than the other laptops I've noted so far, as its only a 1200p panel. That's just a bit more pixels than you'd find in a 1080p display: Not bad, but not 3K or 4K. That said, if you can live with the compromises on the screen, this machine will handle most things you throw at it—at 32% off its original list price.

ASUS TUF F16

If you're looking for something to game on that won't break the bank, this ASUS TUF laptop might be a solid choice. This machine comes with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 4.6GHz Intel Core i5 13450HX processor, and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 graphics card. It also comes with a 16-inch LED display with a refresh rate of 165 Hz, so you'll be able to boost the frame rates of your games. This isn't the most powerful gaming laptop out there by any means, but at 23% off ($999.99), it's worth considering.

ASUS ROG Strix G18

If you want to push your games a bit further, take a look at the ASUS ROG Strix G18. This 18-inch laptop has an AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX chip, a dedicated GeForce RTX 5050 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That 18-inch display has a 1080p resolution, and refresh rate of 144Hz—plenty for high refresh rate gaming. This one will cost nearly $400 more than the TUF, but you're getting a bit more for your money—and you're saving 18% off the list price.

Lenovo Legion 5i

Let's take a look at one more gaming laptop—this time, with a more powerful Intel chip. Lenovo's Legion 5i comes with an Intel Core i7 17000HX chip, a dedicated GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It comes with a 1600p 15-inch OLED, which is the sharpest and highest contrast of any of the gaming laptops listed here. That's excellent for both games, as well for watching shows and movies. Like the TUF F16, this has a 165 Hz refresh rate. That's why this machine is typically listed at $1,699.99, but is currently $230 off.

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If you're eyeing a new pair of over the ear headphones, you have no shortage of options. But if you're looking for something that fits neatly into the Apple ecosystem without costing the same as a MacBook Neo (looking at you, AirPods Max), your best bet might just be the Beats Studio Pro. Right now, they're up to 35% off for Amazon's Big Spring Sale—so long as you don't mind the color grey.

Beats Studio Pro

$159.99 at Amazon

$246.62 Save $86.63

Get Deal

Get Deal

$159.99 at Amazon

$246.62 Save $86.63

Beats Studio Pro come with features you'd expect from headphones with "Pro" in the name. That includes Active Noise Cancelling, of course, a must for over-the-ear headphones, but also Transparency mode, which pumps in external sounds so you don't need to take off your headphones to hear what people are saying to you. Beats says the Studio Pro have up to 40 hours of battery life, and reduce distortion by up to 80% when compared to Beats Studio. The headphones have a built in DAC, which makes them a great for listening to lossless music when connected via USB-C.

While all Beats are designed to work with both iOS and Android, Apple users will find the experience more ideal. Apple owns Beats, and, as such, integrates the headphones into their ecosystem just as they do with their own AirPods. When you turn on Beats Studio Pro, it will automatically pair with the first Apple device you have open—say, your iPhone. Once paired, it'll be able to automatically connect to any other Apple device you have under that iCloud account. You can switch to your Mac, play something in Apple Music, and hear it in your Beats, without having to manually pair them first. They even work with Find My, so you can locate your Beats with your Apple device if you misplace them.

As of now, the only color that gets Amazon's Big Spring Sale deal is Sand Gray. Amazon has discounts on the other colors as well, but they'll run you $199.95. If you aren't married to a particular color, Sand Gray is the best value as of this writing.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said what remains of Iran’s theocratic regime is scrambling to cut a peace deal with President Donald Trump because the U.S. military has pulverized the country and “crushed” its ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon.

Leavitt made the comment during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

“You’re beginning to see the regime look for an exit ramp,” Leavitt said. “They recognize they are being crushed. Their ability to attack American and allied forces, as well as their ability to defend their own territory, is dwindling literally hour by hour.”

Leavitt said Iran “wanted to talk” about a deal after Trump threatened last weekend to bomb the country’s power plants one-by-one if it did not “FULLY OPEN” the Strait of Hormuz by Monday night.

“President Trump is willing to listen,” she said.

Leavitt continued:

The president’s preference is always peace. There does not need to be any more death and destruction. But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be president trump, will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before. President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell.

Her comments come two days after Trump paused his planned attack on Iran’s power plants because he said there had been “VERY GOOD” talks with the country’s new leaders.

Trump on Tuesday told reporters the “war has been won,” and later that day it was reported Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are leading the administration’s push for a one-month ceasefire that would give both sides an opportunity to hammer out a long-term deal. The ceasefire would include demands from the U.S. that Iran dismantle its existing nuclear facilities, commit to never pursuing a nuke, and hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Leavitt on Wednesday said that if there is any more violence from this point forward, it will be because Iran failed to negotiate.

Watch above via Fox News.

The post Karoline Leavitt Claims Iran Is ‘Looking For An Exit Ramp,’ Says They ‘Wanted to Talk’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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The best sale you’ll find on a Garmin watch during the ongoing Amazon Big Spring Sale is probably this Forerunner 265, which will run you $344.95. It’s an excellent watch—I said as much when I reviewed it. If this watch appeals to you, go ahead and buy it—but there are some caveats you should consider before buying one.

Garmin Forerunner 265 Running Smartwatch

$344.00 at Amazon

$449.99 Save $105.99

Get Deal

Get Deal

$344.00 at Amazon

$449.99 Save $105.99

It's a low price—but only a little cheaper than usual

The first to know is that older-model watches are not always as good a deal as they appear. This watch is $344.95 today, down from an original price of $449.99, and it’s got a “Big Spring Sale” tag; that makes it look like an excellent deal. But the price history tells a different story: Earlier this month, it was going for $349.99 (only $5 more) and the highest price in the last few days was $368.99 ($24 more). Looking over the last year or so of price data, the 265 and 265S have spent a month or more at $349.99 (or lower) on at least two occasions—the first big one when the 570 launched in early summer, and the second for the holiday shopping season.

Older watches reveice fewer updates from Garmin

And since the 265 has been replaced by the 570, I need to talk about what that means for people who buy the 265. The 265 is an older watch, having launched in 2023. Now, that’s not a problem in itself—Garmins tend to age well. Whatever you would have liked about the watch in 2023, it’s got all the same features now. It’s still a good watch. 

But ever since the launch of the 570 and 970, Garmin’s regular updates have been bringing new features to the ’70 series, but not the ’65. (Similarly, the Fenix 8 has been getting upgrades that the Fenix 7 does not.) In the past, Garmin hasn’t walked away from older models this quickly, but it seems like the new models are different enough from their predecessors that most new features only make sense to roll out on the newer hardware. 

The 265 is still getting updates for stability and bug fixes (here’s the latest, from just two months ago) so it’s still supported, it’s just not getting the best new features. For example, the new glances for battery health, sports scores, and lifestyle logging are only for the newer watches. 

The Garmin Forerunner 265 is still a strong buy

With all that in mind, is the 265 still a good watch? Honestly, yes, but it no longer occupies a “sweet spot” at the center of features and value. In 2026, if you want a watch with all the best Garmin features, it’s better to upgrade to the Forerunner 570 or 970, or for more of a lifestyle watch, the Venu 4. On the budget side, the Vivoactive 6 is a good pick from the newer generation. But none of those are currently seeing significant discounts, so if price is a major factor in your buying decision, I’d consider looking at Coros or Suunto too. 

Adam Gray/AP photo

The state of Minnesota sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over access to evidence in the shootings of several Minneapolis residents by federal agents.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and named as defendants the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Earlier this month, Noem announced she was stepping down from her position and President Donald Trump nominated then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to take her place. Mullin’s nomination was confirmed by the Senate this week; the complaint will presumably be amended soon to switch out Noem’s name for his.

Trump’s immigration crackdown has sparked backlash across the country, sparking nationwide protests and multiple court challenges. Minneapolis has been at the epicenter of the controversy, specifically regarding two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis: Renee Good on Jan. 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

In the immediate aftermath of Good’s shooting, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) accused the FBI of blocking its access to evidence, and it had “reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation” as a result.

In the 43-page complaint, Minnesota argues that federal authorities have continued to deny it access to evidence in both the Good and Pretti shootings, as well the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant who was shot in the leg by an ICE agent and survived.

In all three shootings, the narratives initially presented by the federal government were called into question by eyewitnesses, video and photos from the scenes, and other evidence. Two ICE agents have been suspended for their roles in shooting Sosa-Celis and a criminal probe has been opened into whether they lied to a jury.

The complaint describes how Minnesota’s state investigators “expected federal cooperation, consistent with longstanding historical practices” as they “responded to the scene of each shooting to investigate,” but instead the federal authorities thwarted their efforts:

At the scene of the first two incidents — the killing of Renee Good and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis — federal agents initially indicated that they would work with Minnesota authorities and share relevant information. State investigators thus began their work in reliance on that understanding.

But in both cases, federal agents quickly reneged on their pledges to cooperate. Instead of sharing information, federal authorities took exclusive possession of evidence that had been collected, and they denied Minnesota investigators access to key information.

At the scene of the third shooting — the killing of Alex Pretti —federal immigration officers physically blocked investigators of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (“BCA”) from accessing the scene. That physical obstruction persisted even after state officials obtained a judicial warrant authorizing access to the scene. As with the previous two shootings, federal authorities took exclusive control of evidence and refused state and local authorities access to even the most basic information related to the incident – such as the identities of the involved officers.

This was an “unprecedented noncooperation,” the complaint argued, further exacerbated when the requests that Minnesota authorities sent to DOJ and DHS were largely ignored or denied, establishing a federal policy that “has deprived state investigators of timely access to evidence in federal custody that is directly relevant to their investigations of potential violations of Minnesota criminal law.”

The complaint seeks “to secure access to the evidence necessary to investigate these shooting incidents and to ensure that the State of Minnesota can fulfill its sovereign duty to determine whether federal officers committed crimes within its borders,” and asks the court to grant “declaratory and injunctive relief to set aside Defendants’ unlawful policy of noncooperation and their resulting refusal to comply with the investigative demands of Minnesota authorities,” including specifically declaring that the actions by DOJ and DHS violated the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, declare that the denials of Minnesota’s requests were unlawful and compel the federal government to comply and “provide Plaintiffs access to evidence and investigative materials in the Good, Pretti, and Sosa-Celis shootings,” plus an award of costs and attorneys’ fees.

“At stake is not only Plaintiffs’ access to evidence central to these shootings but also a fundamental principle of our constitutional system: that the States retain the sovereign authority — and responsibility — to investigate crimes committed within their borders,” the complaint argued.

Read the complaint here.

The post JUST IN: Trump Administration Sued By Minnesota — Accused of Blocking Evidence in ICE Shootings first appeared on Mediaite.