Actor William Shatner said that he simply could not understand why Americans didn't elect Vice President Kamala Harris even though she checked off the right demographic boxes. Shatner made the comments while speaking with Bill Maher on an episode of Maher's "Club Random Podcast," which was published Sunday. 'That’s not a candidate. ... That’s identity politics. That’s one of the Democrats’ problems.'“I don’t know why the Democrats lost. I don’t understand why the Democrats lost!" a befuddled Shatner said. Maher tried to explain that there were many reasons for the election results but focused on President Joe Biden's insistence on staying as the candidate until it was too late. "That I understand," said Shatner. "But inflation? Prices have come down; the economy is good. I don’t know why they voted against her, against the party.”“Basically," Maher responded, "She was not a great candidate, let’s be honest." “Why isn’t she a great candidate?” Shatner interrupted. “She combined several trends of thought here: black, woman.”"That’s not — that’s not a candidate," Maher replied. "That’s identity politics. That’s one of the Democrats’ problems."Video of the exchange was posted to social media where it garnered millions of views. Maher went on to opine that Democrats could have won the election if they had changed their strategy. "The Democrats could have won this election in a walk, I think," he said. "Not a walk, but I think they could have won it — if Biden got out earlier, [if] they had a true primary season to find the best candidate, not just one whose turn was it — who, by the way, before they anointed her, nobody was sort of on the page that she was very good at being a candidate." Shatner is a Canadian citizen and thereby could not vote in the U.S. election. The podcast in full can be viewed on YouTube. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The 745-mile underwater internet cable linking NATO allies Finland and Germany was apparently severed in the Baltic Sea Monday morning, sparking concerns about possible sabotage. The cybersecurity and telecoms network company Cinia said in a statement that a "fault" was initially detected in its C-Lion1 submarine cable — the only undersea cable connecting Finland to Central Europe — just after 4 a.m. on Monday, killing the services provided over the line. According to Cinia, it could take anywhere from five to 15 days for cable repairs and to get a clearer sense of what precisely is responsible. Telia Lietuva AB, one of the Baltic states' biggest telecommunication companies, told Bloomberg that the incident took place just hours after an undersea cable linking Lithuania to Sweden's Gotland island, nearly 33 feet away from the Finnish line, was cut. Their allusion to Russian aggression prompted some to speculate that Moscow may have severed the line — possibly in a similar manner to how senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen allegedly sapped the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in September 2022. Elina Valtonen, the Finnish minister of foreign affairs, and her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, said in a joint statement, "We are deeply concerned about the severed undersea cable connecting Finland and Germany in the Baltic Sea. The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times." After noting that an investigation into the incident is underway, the duo stressed that "European security is not only under threat from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors. Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies." Their allusion to Russian aggression prompted some to speculate that Moscow may have severed the line — possibly in a similar manner to how senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen allegedly sapped the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in September 2022. A line-cutting in the area would have been risky business for the Russians given that just days before the malfunction, NATO allies took part in an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Baltic Sea and likely had some assets in the area. "The Baltic Sea is a challenging operational environment. The local expertise of our regional Allies facilitates success here and rehearsing command and control ensures the effective use of assets," Royal Danish Navy Commodore Thomas Stig Rasmussen said of the maritime exercises that ran from Nov. 11-14. "Training together in Swedish waters offers Allies an important opportunity to enhance interoperability, which is the key to success in real life operations. Our new Allies in Sweden and Finland have redefined how NATO approaches maritime security in the region." When pressed on whether the Finnish cable showed signs of sabotage, Cinia CEO Ari-Jussi Knaapila indicated there was "no way to assess the reason right now." "We can say that such damage doesn't happen without some kind of external impact," Knaapila told Bloomberg, citing ship anchors and bottom trawling as possible causes. Knaapila ruled out seismic activity and suggested sabotage has not been eliminated as a possibility. Ship anchors have done serious damage to undersea cables in recent years. On Oct. 8, 2023, two telecom cables and a rupture to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline were caused by the Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel Newnew Polar Bear. After months of investigation and finger-pointing, Beijing finally admitted the error in August. Samuli Bergström, communications chief of the Finnish transport and communications agency, told Deutsche Welle, "The reasons are under investigation. Disturbances occur from time to time and there can be various reasons. For example, they are susceptible to weather and damage caused by shipping. The essential thing is that the problems are identified and corrective measures are taken." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Spirit Airlines, the budget airline beleaguered by gunfire in Haiti and incidents of violence involving passengers and staff alike, has now filed for bankruptcy.In a letter issued Monday and addressed to "All Spirit Guests," Spirit admitted that it had filed for Chapter 11 in hopes of restructuring its debts. The letter called the move "a proactive step ... to position the company for success" and claimed it should be completed sometime in the first quarter of 2025.The letter also indicated that the Chapter 11 filing had been "prearranged."Spirit's standing as a publicly traded company is likely to change. Spirit told the Business Journals that it expects to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange sometime soon.According to the New York Post, the financial situation at the airline is quite dire. Spirit has already lost $2.5 billion in the last four years and within the next year will have to make debt payments totaling more than $1 billion.In 2022, Spirit tried to merge with another airline. Frontier first attempted a merger but was soon afterward outbid by JetBlue.The merger with JetBlue never took place either after the Biden-Harris Department of Justice intervened in March, claiming it would cause ticket prices to skyrocket. A federal judge later sided with the DOJ, and the two companies dropped the merger two months later, the Post reported.In an effort to restructure its finances, Spirit bondholders have now offered $350 million in equity investments that will allow the company to "complete a deleveraging transaction to equitize $795 million of funded debt," the Jacksonville Business Journal reported.Bondholders have likewise offered an additional $300 million in debtor-in-possession financing, the outlet added.Spirit did not go into such details in the letter. Instead, it promised that its agreement with bondholders will "reduce [the company's] total debt, provide increased financial flexibility, position Spirit for long-term success and accelerate investments providing Guests with enhanced travel experiences and greater value."The letter did indicate that the customer experience likely won't change much despite the major financial shifts behind the scenes. Customers may still purchase tickets and use credit or loyalty points as normal. Its rewards program and credit-card terms likewise remain in place.Employee wages and benefits will also be unaffected by the Chapter 11 process, according to a website with further information about the case.However, Spirit's corporate standing is likely to change. Spirit told the Jacksonville Business Journal that it expects to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange sometime soon. Once that happens, its stock shares will "have no value as part of Spirit's restructuring," the outlet reported.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The medical examiner of Manhattan testified last week she was certain Daniel Penny was the sole cause of Jordan Neely's death after watching video of the incident, even though Neely had drugs in his system.Dr. Cynthia Harris, who performed his autopsy, told jurors she did not wait for the toxicology report to declare his cause and manner of death being asphyxiation, not cardiac arrest, the New York Post reported. Harris said she would stand by that ruling even if Neely had enough drugs in his system "to put down an elephant."'I wasn’t trying to kill the guy. I was just trying to de-escalate the situation.'Harris had originally listed Neely's cause of death as being "inconclusive." She said she changed the cause after watching the video, deciding Neely’s death was caused by “asphyxia” since the video showed Neely being choked and “dying” while Penny’s arm was wrapped around his neck.“After watching it, I had no further questions about how he was dead,” Harris testified, because "there are no alternative reasonable explanations."The toxicology report confirmed Neely had used the synthetic marijuana drug K2 prior to making threats on a NYC subway car in May 2023. Prosecutors have told the jury that while it was understandable for Penny to restrain Neely at first, he went too far by not letting him go after passengers left the car.“I wasn’t trying to kill the guy. I was just trying to de-escalate the situation,” Penny said in a videotaped interrogation that was shown to jurors.The controversy around the incident and Alvin Bragg's office deciding to pursue charges resulted in Eric Gonzalez, who helped Penny restrain Neely, testifying that he lied when he was initially interviewed by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as a suspect in Neely's death. Gonzalez said he lied out of fear of being "pinned for" Neely's death, telling the DA's office he arrived on the scene earlier than he actually did and claiming that Neely had hit him. Neely was not accused of making physical contact with anyone prior to Penny restraining him.Penny's defense is expected to call its own witnesses this week with the prosecution wrapping up a long list of witnesses.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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The liquid hydrogen-powered GR Corolla H2 Concept. | Image: Toyota Toyota is pushing hydrogen-powered vehicle technology forward with a liquid hydrogen system design that includes a self-pressurizer to save escaping gas and reuse it as fuel to increase engine efficiency. Toyota introduced a liquid system in the GR Corolla H2 Concept in 2023, which keeps hydrogen at -253 degrees Celsius during filling and storing in the tank. Hydrogen exists as a gas at room temperature, so the pumps have to operate cold to prevent the liquid from boiling. Inherently, the system still has boil-off gas that gets wasted. Image: Toyota Boil-off gas chart for the system. So what’s the solution? Toyota exhibited a “self-pressurizer” at the Super Taikyu Series 2024 race this past weekend that “uses the... Continue reading…