Latest news with #BlueThunder
Miami Herald
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Former Tuba player returns to lead this CIAA Marching Band
Livingstone College alumnus Sir Davis is returning back to his HBCU in Salisbury, NC in a big way. The former Blue Thunder marching band member has been named the Executive Director of Band and Band Operations, bringing with him a renewed vision focused on discipline, innovation, and student success. His path now returns back to the competitive CIAA landscape and the East Coast HBCU Culture. Davis, who graduated from Livingstone in 2011, was once a tuba player in the Blue Thunder. Now, he's stepping into leadership with a clear mission: restore the storm and reestablish the band's reputation for musical excellence. 'When I was a student here, we prided ourselves on excellence. That foundation shaped me. Now it's time to pass it forward and raise the bar,' Davis said. Since earning his degree, Davis has become a respected music educator across the region. Most recently, he served as the band director at Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte. There, he revitalized the school's jazz program and led students to perform at the National Jazz Festival in Philadelphia and New Jersey-a first-time experience for many of them. 'I took a group that didn't think they'd ever get to that level-and they did. That's the kind of transformative experience I want to bring to Livingstone.' Davis joins Livingstone at a key moment. The HBCU band is set to debut brand-new uniforms, funded through generous support from alumni and community donors. With fresh resources and passionate leadership, Davis plans to build a competitive and well-equipped program. He's focused on excellence in every area-from halftime performances to concert ensembles. He also aims to elevate the band's profile by building partnerships with regional high school programs and preparing the Blue Thunder for events like the HBCU Battle of the Bands. 'I want people to say, 'Have you seen Livingstone?' That's the energy we're bringing back.' For Davis, it's about more than just music. 'This program is about relationships, discipline, and high expectations. I want our students to carry themselves with integrity-on and off the field.' Davis's deep ties to Livingstone give him a unique edge. As a student, he was involved in nearly every campus music outlet: jazz band, symphonic band, gospel choir, and local ministry. That experience, he said, makes this role especially meaningful. 'It's full circle. This campus shaped me, and now I get to shape the next generation.' Davis hopes to instill a standard of musical excellence without excuses. 'No matter the resources, you show up, you give your best, and you make no excuses. That's the standard I want Livingstone to represent.' The post Former Tuba player returns to lead this CIAA Marching Band appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
Geek Tyrant
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
VFX Artists React To and Discuss IRON MAN and The Progression of VFX in The Franchise — GeekTyrant
Here's a great new episode of VFX Artists React from Corridor Crew, and one of the main things that it dives into is Marvel's original Iron Man movie and the progression of the suit VFX over the course of the franchise. They also talk about some of the shots from Altered States and Blue Thunder . As someone who enjoys the movie making process, and learning new things about how films are made, I love watching these videos!
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Misinformation rages as protests roil Los Angeles
As the immigration protests unfolded in Los Angeles, a flurry of misinformation hit social media platforms, sparking further confusion and tension in an already chaotic environment. The demonstrations and the conflicting accounts surrounding them highlight the role social media plays in times of crisis. In this case, social media appeared to play an even larger role as a growing number of users turned to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots — often with varying degrees of accuracy — to discern what was real and what was not. 'The past is prequel … everything we're seeing is what we've seen in the past, simply in some cases with new technology applied,' said Darren Linvill, a researcher at Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub. While accurate, real-time updates were published on the protests, so were posts containing fake images, conspiracy theories or misleading information that garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. These posts were shared by various users, from smaller accounts to well-known political figures like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz was among several on the social platform X to repost a video showing multiple police cars damaged or set ablaze. The Texas Republican shared the video to argue the protests in Los Angeles were not as peaceful as some Democrats claimed. It was later revealed the video was not from this week, but from the protests over George Floyd's murder in 2020. A community note was eventually added clarifying it was old footage, prompting Cruz and others to delete the video. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) press office weighed in on the video, writing on X, 'Misinformation like this only adds to the chaos the Trump administration is seeking. Check your sources before sharing info!' 'What we're really seeing is any high risk event, which is time-bound, whether that be a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, has just become such fertile ground for online accounts to take advantage of,' explained Isabelle Frances-Wright, the director of technology and society at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue. Other posts took images from video games or movies like 'Blue Thunder,' which takes place in Los Angeles, to make it seem like there is a significant military presence in the city after President Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to quell the protests over the weekend. 'People believe what they want to believe, and so when they are seeing information that confirms their prior beliefs, they're going to repost it. They're going to believe it … regardless of whether that information is true,' Linvill said. And on TikTok, an AI-generated video was shared Monday showing a National Guard member filming himself while on duty in Los Angeles. The video did not include an 'AI-generated' label often put on TikTok videos, but fact-checkers pointed to various inaccuracies in the video to show it was fake. The video, posted by an account with the handle @maybenotquitereal, had more than 970,000 views as of Tuesday. Experts say the situation underscores the increasing influence social media has in shaping public opinion and the upped risks with AI in the mix. 'That has the potential itself to exacerbate the situation on the ground because people are going to be more passionate about their set of beliefs,' Linvill said. 'Every fake story that comes out, it's titillating, it's interesting, and it spreads the story and makes the whole story bigger of the riots,' Linvill continued. 'And that makes it simply more likely for angry people on both sides to want to go take part, to engage in the real world rather than just the digital world.' As users tried to parse through the minefield of information, some turned to AI chatbots, like X's Grok or OpenAI's ChatGPT, to determine whether the posts were real and accurate. This showcases a new trend of increasing trust in AI, even if it bolsters confusion with potentially inaccurate information, Linvill explained. 'People want to believe AI. People have a tendency to trust technology, especially when the technology is again telling them something they want to believe,' Linvill told The Hill. While many answers from the chatbots accurately pointed out fake or out-of-context shots, some users were left more confused from their response to a photo posted by Newsom on Monday. Amid his battle with Trump over deploying the National Guard, Newsom posted photos of troops deployed in Los Angeles sleeping on the floors 'without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep.' One user said they used ChatGPT's reverse photo search to determine when they were taken. The chatbot mistakenly said they were taken in 2021 during the U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan, sparking a flood of rumors about Newsom's use of the images. According to a screenshot from a BBC News Verify journalist, Grok shared a similar response initially about the photos, but it later said the images were real and from a San Francisco Chronicle report over the weekend. 'Grok is a machine to do what it's coded to do, and sometimes it simply doesn't have the context to answer the question, but it's always going to try to give you an answer, right or wrong,' Linvill said. Frances-Wright, whose research focuses on technology's impact on society and the information ecosystem, further argued the community notes system used to add context to X posts still present a 'consistency' issue where fact checks will be placed on some posts, but not on others that are 'blatantly false.' Amid the confusion came a deluge of conspiracy theories, a common occurrence during times of crisis. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones repeatedly claimed on X and his Infowars show that the protests are being funded by 'deep state' Democrats. Jones has more than 4 million followers, and his posts received hundreds of thousands of views. No evidence has emerged to back Jones's claim. Other posts with images of bricks emerged, with users claiming they were bought by prominent Democrats like George Soros to fund the protests against ICE. 'It's Civil War!!' said one user in a post that had more than 820,000 views. A community note was added clarifying the photo was taken by a Malaysian building supply company and is not connected to the LA protests. Real Raw News, known for publishing misinformation and fabricated stories, shared a post Sunday claiming U.S. Marines arrested California National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Lynn Williams for opposing Trump's orders. The claim was baseless, and even though Real Raw News is widely regarded as a fake news site, several users appeared to believe it. One user commented 'treason,' while another said they shared it to Facebook. As of Monday afternoon, the post had nearly 514,000 views with more than 8,000 reposts. Experts told The Hill posts with this language or conspiracy theories reinforce Trump's stance on immigration and his argument that the violence and chaos of the protests began before he deployed the National Guard and Marines. The posts with misinformation 'are the same kinds of incendiary claims that we see over and over again across the ideological spectrum by a whole host of actors with different motivations,' said Frances-Wright. It comes amid the Trump administration's broader push for mass deportations. Trump and his team blame Democrats for allowing what they say is an 'invasion' of migrants crossing the nation's southern border. 'Actors with specific political agendas [are] trying to use the moment and the confusion of a moment like this to further a political agenda,' added Frances-Wright, whose research focuses on technology's impact on society and the information ecosystem. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Misinformation rages as protests roil Los Angeles
As the immigration protests unfolded in Los Angeles, a flurry of misinformation hit social media platforms, sparking further confusion and tension in an already chaotic environment. The demonstrations and the conflicting accounts surrounding them highlight the role social media plays in times of crisis. In this case, social media appeared to play an even larger role as a growing number of users turned to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots — often with varying degrees of accuracy — to discern what was real and what was not. 'The past is prequel … everything we're seeing is what we've seen in the past, simply in some cases with new technology applied,' said Darren Linvill, a researcher at Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub. While accurate, real-time updates were published on the protests, so were posts containing fake images, conspiracy theories or misleading information that garnered hundreds of thousands of views online. These posts were shared by various users, from smaller accounts to well-known political figures like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz was among several on the social platform X to repost a video showing multiple police cars damaged or set ablaze. The Texas Republican shared the video to argue the protests in Los Angeles were not as peaceful as some Democrats claimed. It was later revealed the video was not from this week, but from the protests over George Floyd's murder in 2020. A community note was eventually added clarifying it was old footage, prompting Cruz and others to delete the video. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) press office weighed in on the video, writing on X, 'Misinformation like this only adds to the chaos the Trump administration is seeking. Check your sources before sharing info!' 'What we're really seeing is any high risk event, which is time-bound, whether that be a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, has just become such fertile ground for online accounts to take advantage of,' explained Isabelle Frances-Wright, the director of technology and society at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue. Other posts took images from video games or movies like 'Blue Thunder,' which takes place in Los Angeles, to make it seem like there is a significant military presence in the city after President Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to quell the protests over the weekend. 'People believe what they want to believe, and so when they are seeing information that confirms their prior beliefs, they're going to repost it. They're going to believe it … regardless of whether that information is true,' Linvill said. And on TikTok, an AI-generated video was shared Monday showing a National Guard member filming himself while on duty in Los Angeles. The video did not include an 'AI-generated' label often put on TikTok videos, but fact-checkers pointed to various inaccuracies in the video to show it was fake. The video, posted by an account with the handle @maybenotquitereal, had more than 970,000 views as of Tuesday. Experts say the situation underscores the increasing influence social media has in shaping public opinion and the upped risks with AI in the mix. 'That has the potential itself to exacerbate the situation on the ground because people are going to be more passionate about their set of beliefs,' Linvill said. 'Every fake story that comes out, it's titillating, it's interesting, and it spreads the story and makes the whole story bigger of the riots,' Linvill continued. 'And that makes it simply more likely for angry people on both sides to want to go take part, to engage in the real world rather than just the digital world.' As users tried to parse through the minefield of information, some turned to AI chatbots, like X's Grok or OpenAI's ChatGPT, to determine whether the posts were real and accurate. This showcases a new trend of increasing trust in AI, even if it bolsters confusion with potentially inaccurate information, Linvill explained. 'People want to believe AI. People have a tendency to trust technology, especially when the technology is again telling them something they want to believe,' Linvill told The Hill. While many answers from the chatbots accurately pointed out fake or out-of-context shots, some users were left more confused from their response to a photo posted by Newsom on Monday. Amid his battle with Trump over deploying the National Guard, Newsom posted photos of troops deployed in Los Angeles sleeping on the floors 'without fuel, food, water or a place to sleep.' One user said they used ChatGPT's reverse photo search to determine when they were taken. The chatbot mistakenly said they were taken in 2021 during the U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan, sparking a flood of rumors about Newsom's use of the images. According to a screenshot from a BBC News Verify journalist, Grok shared a similar response initially about the photos, but it later said the images were real and from a San Francisco Chronicle report over the weekend. 'Grok is a machine to do what it's coded to do, and sometimes it simply doesn't have the context to answer the question, but it's always going to try to give you an answer, right or wrong,' Linvill said. Frances-Wright, whose research focuses on technology's impact on society and the information ecosystem, further argued the community notes system used to add context to X posts still present a 'consistency' issue where fact checks will be placed on some posts, but not on others that are 'blatantly false.' Amid the confusion came a deluge of conspiracy theories, a common occurrence during times of crisis. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones repeatedly claimed on X and his Infowars show that the protests are being funded by 'deep state' Democrats. Jones has more than 4 million followers, and his posts received hundreds of thousands of views. No evidence has emerged to back Jones's claim. Other posts with images of bricks emerged, with users claiming they were bought by prominent Democrats like George Soros to fund the protests against ICE. 'It's Civil War!!' said one user in a post that had more than 820,000 views. A community note was added clarifying the photo was taken by a Malaysian building supply company and is not connected to the LA protests. Real Raw News, known for publishing misinformation and fabricated stories, shared a post Sunday claiming U.S. Marines arrested California National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Lynn Williams for opposing Trump's orders. The claim was baseless, and even though Real Raw News is widely regarded as a fake news site, several users appeared to believe it. One user commented 'treason,' while another said they shared it to Facebook. As of Monday afternoon, the post had nearly 514,000 views with more than 8,000 reposts. Experts told The Hill posts with this language or conspiracy theories reinforce Trump's stance on immigration and his argument that the violence and chaos of the protests began before he deployed the National Guard and Marines. The posts with misinformation 'are the same kinds of incendiary claims that we see over and over again across the ideological spectrum by a whole host of actors with different motivations,' said Frances-Wright. It comes amid the Trump administration's broader push for mass deportations. Trump and his team blame Democrats for allowing what they say is an 'invasion' of migrants crossing the nation's southern border. 'Actors with specific political agendas [are] trying to use the moment and the confusion of a moment like this to further a political agenda,' added Frances-Wright, whose research focuses on technology's impact on society and the information ecosystem.
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Fake images, conspiracy theories swirl around LA protests
There were numerous scenes of protesters throwing rocks or other objects at law enforcement officers and setting cars ablaze, including a number of self-driving Waymo taxis. At the same time, false images spread to revive old conspiracies that the protests were a planned provocation, not a spontaneous response to the immigration raids. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The confrontation escalated Monday as new protests occurred and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced — on social platform X — that he was mobilizing 700 Marines from a base near Los Angeles to guard federal buildings. They are expected to join 2,000 members of the California National Guard whom Trump ordered deployed without the authorization of the state's governor, Gavin Newsom, who normally has command of the troops. Advertisement The latest deployments prompted a new wave of misleading images to spread — some purporting to show Marines and the military service's weapons in action. One was a still from 'Blue Thunder,' a 1983 action-thriller about a conspiracy to deprive residents of Los Angeles of their civil rights. It features a climactic dogfight over the city's downtown. Advertisement Darren L. Linvill, a researcher at Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub, said conservatives online were 'building up the riots in a performative way' to help bolster Trump's claims that Los Angeles had been taken over by 'violent, insurrectionist mobs.' Linvill said the posts were also 'a bit self-fulfilling.' 'As they direct attention to it,' he said, 'more protesters will show up.' James Woods, an actor who has become known for spreading conspiracy theories, used his account on X to rail against the state's elected officials, especially Newsom, a Democrat. He also reposted a fabricated quote, attributed to former president Barack Obama, discussing a secret plot to impose socialism on the country, as well as a video of burning police cars that was from 2020. An innocuous photograph of a pallet of bricks, actually posted on the website of a building materials wholesaler in Malaysia, was cited as proof that the protests were organized by nonprofit organizations supported by George Soros, the financier who, to the feverishly conspiratorial right, has become a mastermind of global disorder. 'It's Civil War!!' an account on X wrote Saturday, claiming that the bricks had been placed near the offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for 'Democrat militants.' X posted a Community Note pointing out that the photograph had nothing to do with the protests, but it still was seen more than 800,000 times. It was also widely reposted, including by several seemingly inauthentic accounts in Chinese. The online trope dates at least to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. It reappeared in 2022 after a conspiratorial post by Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, who suggested that bricks for a paving project near Capitol Hill were intended for violent protests after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Advertisement 'These days, it feels like every time there's a protest, the old clickbaity 'pallets of bricks' hoax shows up right on cue,' the Social Media Lab, a research center at the Toronto Metropolitan University, wrote on Bluesky. 'You know the one, photos or videos of bricks supposedly left out to encourage rioting. It's catnip for right-wing agitators and grifters.' It also fits into the narrative that protests against government policies are somehow inauthentic. On his own platform, Truth Social, Trump also suggested that the protesters were 'Paid Insurrectionists!' Numerous posts echoed unsubstantiated claims that the protests were the work of Soros as well as local nongovernment organizations or Democratic elected officials, including the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass. Some posts disparaging the protests were shared by accounts with deceptive handles that closely resembled those of official government sources or news organizations. Mike Benz, a conspiracy-minded influencer on X who last year claimed that the Pentagon used pop star Taylor Swift as part of a psychological operation to undercut Trump, advanced an outlandish theory that the mayor had links to the CIA and had helped start riots in the city where she lives. He based that simply on Bass's role as a board member for the National Endowment for Democracy, the congressionally mandated organization formed during the Reagan administration to promote democratic governance around the world. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the theme was echoed by accounts across social media linked to Russia, which often amplifies content that discredits the United States. The Kremlin and its supporters have long accused Soros or the United States government of covertly sponsoring 'color revolutions' to overthrow governments -- from the Arab Spring countries swept up by mass street protests in 2011 to Ukraine. Advertisement 'It is nationwide conspiracy of liberals against not only Trump but against American people in general,' Alexander Dugin, a prominent nationalist in Russia, wrote on X on Sunday. Disinformation in situations like these spreads so quickly and widely that efforts to verify facts cannot keep up, said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at Free Press, an advocacy organization that studies the intersection of media, technology and the law. She described it as part of 'a much longer effort to delegitimize peaceful resistance movements.' 'Information warfare is always a symptom of conflict, stoked often by those in power to fuel their own illiberal goals,' she said. 'It confuses audiences, scares people who might otherwise have empathy for the cause and divides us when we need solidarity most.' This article originally appeared in
