'Will begin cutting rates'

A night watchman near Santa Cruz‚ California encounters a huge crow-like being while on the job. This occurred outside of Santa Cruz Wilder Ranch State Park.I received this weird account:“I wanted to tell you something that happened in Santa Cruz‚ California where I was born and raised. I'm a kind of a night security person. It's my retirement job and it was two-and-a-half years ago. I was there across the highway right outside of Santa Cruz Wilder Ranch State Park. It's about two miles north of Santa Cruz and the highway goes between two cliffs. It's kind of‚ you know‚ a mountain there and I was on one side peering over.I called my friend John because I said "John‚ that whole night I felt like I was being watched‚ and sure enough over by the Porta Potty which is about 12 feet away there was this black figure in back of it‚ just peering at me" and I said‚ "John‚ I don't think I'm really imagining this‚ it could be a shadow" but it wasn't and the Porta Potty started moving back and forth.Well‚ I just‚ I'm a prayer person‚ so I really started praying and this is about 3:00 in the morning. Everything's pitch black there. The next thing that happened was I looked across the highway and now this is a good‚ you know‚ distance away it's about maybe 150 feet away on the other cliff‚ and staring at me is this huge‚ it looked like a crow‚ very black‚ the wingspan‚ according to the mountain‚ was huge. It could have been altogether a 14 or 15-foot span between the two of them and red eyes‚ no beak.I called John again I said‚ "John‚ I'm really creeped out. This thing is real and if it is real‚ it's going to..." and it started to kind of wobble towards the edge of the cliff and I went‚ "Oh no‚ it's going to fly" and it flew across the highway and I said‚ "Now‚ John‚ if this is real‚ there's going to be a shadow over my car because there were lights on the highway." Sure enough‚ the shadow was by my car and I said‚ "This thing is real!"This is tangible and it lands over by me‚ about 15 feet away in the field‚ turns and pivots‚ and starts walking towards me. Well‚ I'm a kind of weird person. I have a lot of hutzpa and I got angry‚ you know‚ mainly angry that it was‚ you know‚ trying to scare me and creep me out. So I got out of the car and I pointed at it and I said "You have no right to do this to me.' I said the blood of Jesus and I don't know whether it flew fast away but the next thing I knew‚ it wasn't there.” BThe Alien Abduction Files: The Most Startling Cases of Human Alien Contact Ever ReportedThe Untold Story of Champ: A Social History of America's Loch Ness MonsterAngels: Who They Are‚ What They Do‚ and Why It MattersBeasts of BritainThe Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy)Monsters Among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots‚ Wolfmen‚ Portals‚ Phantoms‚ and Odd PhenomenaMonsters of West Virginia: Mysterious Creatures in the Mountain StateA Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts: Encounters with Cryptid CreaturesALIEN DISCLOSURE: EXPERIENCERS EXPOSE REALITY - AudiobookRegister a SNAP EBT CardTHE MEME HUMANOIDS: MODERN MYTHS OR REAL MONSTERS - AudiobookTry Audible PlusPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTFeel Free to Post PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS DIRECT LINKS ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA &; WEBSITE. Thanks For Your Support!Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAccess Phantoms &; Monsters Posts on Twitter 'X'-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----ORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONProject Threshold: Team Riker: Division A-----TODAY'S TOP LINKSBigfoot Filmed on Hillside in Oregon?Mysterious Man Manages to Fly to Los Angeles in Strange Alleged Stowaway CaseCHICAGO/LAKE MICHIGAN MOTHMAN UPDATE W/ TOBIAS WAYLAND - LIVE Chat - JOIN US! 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LonAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs‚CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.The Dark Arts of MISTER SAM SHEARON - Original Prints &; MerchandiseThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2023 Phantoms &; Monsters - All Rights Reserved

Well‚ it’s much easier to pick the Top 10 Led Zeppelin album covers than to pick the Top 10 Led Zeppelin songs or albums. Led Zeppelin only released nine studio albums and one live record before the band broke up after the death of John Bonham. So‚ in essence‚ we are just picking the order of covers according to what we think were the best. We were initially going to include all the greatest hits packages‚ box sets‚ and various live issues released in the past thirty years. Still‚ we decided it would be best to stick to the original The post Our 10 Favorite Led Zeppelin Album Covers appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

California rock legends Red Hot Chili Peppers had a banner year in 2022‚ releasing not one‚ but two full-length albums in Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen. The former hit shelves on April 1‚ 2022‚ delivering the hotly anticipated return of guitarist John Frusciante in a 17-track musical triumph encompassing all the elements that have endeared the foursome to legions of listeners over the decades. But the band was far from finished. Despite having just released a double LP’s worth of brand-new tunes‚ embarking on an extensive press run and subsequent world tour‚ the group revealed that even The post Red Hot Chili Peppers: Return Of The Dream Canteen Album Review appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

A pit bull named Bolo needed just one day with the officers at the Hopkinsville Police Department for them all to fall in love. Now sworn in as the first-ever “Paw-trol Officer” Bolo has found his fur-ever home. Arriving at the station in Hopkinsville Kentucky as part of a publicity program for the nearby Christian […] The post Pit Bull is Sworn in by Police as ‘Paw-trol Officer’ After He Showed Up One Day and Found Fur-ever Home appeared first on Good News Network.

Author David Drake passed away December 10‚ 2023. Memories of Drake appeared to be universally positive‚ and he didn’t seem to have had enemies. This is not always the case with speculative fiction authors (an understatement)‚ particularly ones whose careers were as long as Drake’s. Science fiction being the immense field that it is‚ there are readers who have never tried a Drake story‚ whose first knowledge of David Drake was reading his obituary. Some of them may be considering reading Drake’s books. Drake was prolific so where to start? Here are five suggestions‚ drawn from across the genres in which Drake worked.   Military SF: Hammer’s Slammers (1979) Drake was one of a handful of pioneers in what later became known as military science fiction. For many readers‚ the stories collected in this Disco Era collection were their first exposure to Drake in particular and to MilSF in general. Therefore‚ it is only logical to begin with Slammers. Friesland’s Secretary Tromp has a simple dream: use Friesland’s thriving economy to compensate for Friesland’s dismal martial skills. Attract the galaxy’s best mercenaries with offers of Friesland citizenship and residency‚ have the mercs accomplish the military goals Friesland cannot‚ then massacre the mercs once they’ve served their purpose. Friesland will have achieved its goals without having to worry about the destabilizing effect of free companies on the galactic balance of power. The flaw in Tromp’s plan is Alois Hammer‚ the officer charged with recruiting what became known as Hammer’s Slammers. Among Hammer’s virtues: loyalty to the men and women who accepted his offer of employment. Alerted by Tromp himself to the fate being prepared for the Slammers‚ Hammer orders his unit to obliterate the Friesland forces. That accomplished‚ the Slammers then help forge a golden age of mercenary warfare‚ an era that is anything but golden from everyone else’s perspective. Drake being a Vietnam War veteran‚ it’s not surprising to see Vietnam-War-era disaffection spurring a story about civilian disregard for soldiers. There is also a healthy dose of Machiavelli’s reservations about mercenaries. What isn’t there is any glorification of war: combat will transform people but rarely in positive ways.   Horror: Balefires (2007) Before he helped pioneer MilSF‚ Drake was a horror writer. His very first published story was “Denkirch‚” first published in August Derleth’s 1967 horror anthology Travellers by Night. One could very easily imagine a timeline in which Drake is known for his horror works‚ not his science fiction and fantasy. Although long uncollected‚ “Denkirch” may be found along with many other early Drake stories in Balefires.  With a single exception (2004’s The Elf House)‚ the stories included in this collection highlight Drake’s early career‚ when he was a prolific weird-fantasy and horror short story author. While the stories themselves are good enough to warrant reading‚ this collection is of particular note to long-time Drake fans as well as those new to him. The tales are accompanied by abundant commentary‚ written by Drake himself.   Fantasy: The Dragon Lord (1979) Drake also wrote more conventional fantasy stories‚ tales that had he begun being published half a century later might have been deemed “grimdark.” The horror in this collection does not come from the stories’ supernatural elements‚ but rather from the characters themselves. In The Dragon Lord‚ for example‚ Drake imagines a King Arthur whose ambition to unify post-Roman Britain is unbridled by burdensome qualities like mercy or practicality. Saxon refusal to bend the knee to Arthur convinces the warlord that his mistake is insufficient escalation. Surely‚ a dragon will solve Arthur’s problems. While the great Merlin can provide Arthur with his dragon‚ first the mage needs certain components neither Merlin nor Arthur’s companions can supply. However‚ Irish warrior Mael can… provided Arthur seizes the right hostage to motivate Mael sufficiently. Drake was widely read in classic fantasy and science fiction. It may not be entirely coincidental that there are parallels between Mael and his companion Starkad and Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.   Time Travel: Time Safari (1982) Ever since Wells sent his time traveler into the distant future‚ SF authors have embraced the story potential of time travel. Drake was no exception. Drake wrote enough time travel stories to fill a not-too-short bookshelf‚ at both novel and short lengths. Time Safari collects three of Drake’s Henry Vickers stories. While time travel is too imprecise to facilitate forays into recent history‚ it serves for Vicker’s purposes‚ which are to convey rich idiots into the past‚ where the would-be game hunters can do for the dinosaurs what humans did for the megafauna of the Holocene. Or‚ alternatively‚ die trying. This collection follows in the footsteps of de Camp’s Rivers and Aiyar. However‚ the Vickers’ stories take more cynical view of the gentlemanly sport of drastically curtailing megafaunal biodiversity.   Anthology: The World Turned Upside Down (2005) Like many figures in the speculative fiction world‚ Drake wore hats other than that of author over the course of his career. Indeed‚ Drake‚ along with Karl Edward Wagner and James Groce‚ won a special World Fantasy Award for their joint publishing concern‚ Carcosa House. Drake co-edited a number of anthologies‚ the most memorable of which is The World Turned Upside Down (2005). Co-edited with Jim Baen and Eric Flint‚ this anthology is a seven-hundred-page-plus tribute to the classic stories that got the trio hooked on science fiction. The contents range from the well-known author authors like Heinlein and Leiber to less well-known figures like Guin and Geier. The World Turned Upside Down is both a worthy introduction to classic SF‚ as well as to the three men who edited it. ***   Drake was prolific and had a long career. Therefore‚ five works is a very small sample of a large body of work. Drake fans‚ please feel free to suggest in comments which Drake works readers new to Drake should consider. In the words of fanfiction author Musty181‚ four-time Hugo finalist‚ prolific book reviewer‚ and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll “looks like a default mii with glasses.” His work has appeared in Interzone‚ Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites‚ James Nicoll Reviews (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis) and the 2021‚ 2022‚ and 2023 Aurora Award finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by web person Adrienne L. Travis). His Patreon can be found here.

If you’ve been waking up every day for the past decade just pining for a fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise‚ I’ve got the best news for you! Kung Fu Panda 4 will soon be playing at a theater near you‚ and we’ve got a trailer teasing what’s in store for the Jack Black-voiced Po (a.k.a. the Kung Fu Panda). As the trailer lays out‚ Po—who is the renowned Dragon Warrior famous for felling at least three mega-villains in the first three Kung Fu Panda films—has been tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace instead. Peaceful things like meditation‚ however‚ don’t seem to be Po’s jam‚ and the martial arts expert is soon called upon to face another villain called the Chameleon (voiced by Viola Davis?!)‚ who desperately wants Po’s magical staff. Po‚ with the help of some thieves including a crafty fox voiced by Awkwafina‚ takes on the Chameleon. Epic battles ensue! The sequel comes to us from director Mike Mitchell and co-director Stephanie Ma Stine. In addition to Black‚ Davis‚ and Awkwafina‚ Kung Fu Panda 4 features the voices of Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu master‚ Shifu‚ James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Po’s adoptive father‚ Mr. Ping‚ Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father‚ Li‚ and Ian McShane as Tai Lung‚ Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis. Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) also joins the ensemble as a new character‚ Han‚ the leader of the Den of Thieves. What an A-list voice cast! No news on when specifically Kung Fu Panda 4 will kick its way into theaters‚ but we do know it will be sometime in Spring 2024.

Welcome back to Reading the Weird‚ in which we get girl cooties all over weird fiction‚ cosmic horror‚ and Lovecraftiana—from its historical roots through its most recent branches. This week‚ we cover E.F. Benson’s “Between the Lights‚” first published in The Room in the Tower and Other Stories in 1912. Spoilers ahead!   “No‚ I don’t mind that sort of thing‚” he said. “The paraphernalia of ghosts has become somehow rather hackneyed‚ and when I hear of screams and skeletons I feel I am on familiar ground‚ and can at least hide my head under the bed-clothes.” A half-dozen guests have gathered for Christmas at the country residence of Everard and Amy Chandler‚ where our narrator has often spent the holidays. All Christmas Eve day‚ heavy snow falls‚ but indoors everyone enjoys billiards and Badminton and a romping game of hide-and-seek. As dim white fades into twilight dark‚ the party gathers for tea and ghost stories illuminated solely by a blazing fire. The guests regale each other with “blood‚ bones‚ skeletons‚ armour and shrieks‚” while Everard listens in silence‚ still looking worn from his illness of that autumn. Narrator has just settled back‚ certain he’s told the most harrowing tale‚ when Everard speaks up. Ghosts and skeletons don’t bother him. After all‚ there are eight skeletons in the room now‚ disguised beneath skin and flesh. No‚ it’s the vague nightmares of childhood that were truly terrifying‚ the ones in which one didn’t know what one feared. If that atmosphere could be recaptured – Amy rises‚ saying that Everard can’t want to recapture such terror again. Wasn’t once enough? It was‚ Everard agrees. But the guests‚ scenting a true ghost-story‚ beg him to continue. Narrator feels that the “childish gaiety” of the preceding hours has changed to the tension in which “real terrors were going to lurk in dark corners.” The extinction of a log throws Everard’s face into shadow‚ out of which his voice sounds “slow but very distinct.” Last Christmas Eve‚ he reminds the gathering‚ the weather was so warm that they played croquet on the lawn‚ where a single dahlia was still in scarlet flower. He was watching the match when suddenly he shivered. The brick wall surrounding the lawn seemed to heighten and shrink inward until all light vanished save for a glimmer. He fixed on the red dahlia‚ only to see it become a feeble fire by the light of which he found himself in a low-roofed shed as foul-smelling as “a human menagerie… uncleaned and unsweetened by the winds of heaven.” The inhabitants were human-shaped yet somehow bestial and very small. They chattered and pointed at him. One rose‚ clad in a knee-length shirt‚ with bare and hairy arms. Realizing that “nightmare impotence” had paralyzed him‚ Everard tried futilely to scream. Then‚ at once‚ he returned to the croquet lawn‚ trembling and dripping sweat. He must have fallen asleep and dreamed‚ yes‚ yet he’s convinced he did not. Call it hallucination instead. Dream or hallucination‚ the vision haunted him for months‚ as if “something had actually entered into [his] very soul‚ as if some seed of horror had been planted there.” Morning after morning he’d wake to find himself “plunged into an abyss of despair.” His wife and doctor assured him he wasn’t going mad‚ and the doctor recommended a change of scene. They went to London‚ where the memory of his vision “grew every day more vivid‚ and ate… like some corrosive acid into [his] mind.” From there‚ they traveled to a remote and wild part of Scotland. It was close enough to the sea for mists to frequently roll in; the local gillies [guides] warned him to always carry a compass in order to find his way home through the murk. However‚ a series of clear days made him forget the device. One day he and his gillie Sandy followed their quarry to a tableland that on one side sloped sharply to a loch‚ on the other more gently to the river by which his lodge stood. Sandy insisted they climb the more dangerous slope‚ claiming the deer would scent them otherwise. The going was treacherous‚ over boulders and among clumps of heather swarming with adders. At the top they found the deer had caught their scent anyway‚ as anyone should have known from the direction of the wind. Everard wondered what Sandy’s real reason was for avoiding the gentler slope. They were lucky enough by midafternoon to bag a big stag‚ and Everard felt his dogging dread give way to “an extreme sense of peace.” Sandy urged their return—a sea-mist was rising and would make the climb down the craggy slope even more difficult. Everard discovered he’d forgotten his compass‚ more reason to descend by the gentler slope. After much argument‚ Everard won out. Halfway down‚ the mist overtook them‚ but Everard’s respite from fear continued. He lead‚ Sandy following closely as if scared. Evening approached‚ the air grew colder‚ snow began to fall. After confused wandering‚ Everard heard the river‚ their goal. Then‚ as if “in terror of pursuit‚” Sandy yelled and bolted out of sight. Everard’s momentary alarm‚ however‚ gave way almost to gaiety. He spotted a blackness in the white chaos of the storm. It was a wall with a rough door in it. He followed a low passage into a circular enclosure open to the sky. Its walls were only four feet high‚ with broken stones suggesting they once supported a floor. Abruptly his long terror returned‚ for he saw that his vision was fulfilled and that a figure three and a half feet high was stealing towards him. He heard it stumble over a stone‚ smelled the overpowering stench of the place‚ but he couldn’t scream or move. As the figure crept closer‚ terror broke his paralysis‚ and he fled the ruin and plummeted down the slope to the river track and his lodge. Next day he started developing the pneumonia that would lay him up for weeks. Well‚ Everard says from his armchair‚ that’s his story. One explanation is that he stumbled into an ancient Picts’ castle where a sheep or goat had taken shelter. But the coincidence between vision and event could give believers in second sight something to mull over. Is that all‚ narrator asks. “Yes‚” Everard answers. “It was nearly too much for me.” Then the dressing-bell rings and breaks up their tale-telling circle. What’s Cyclopean: “A temerarious dahlia” still blooms at Christmastime. Libronomicon: Chandler jokes that telling this story makes him feel like Hamlet directing his play-within-a-play. But who’s the guilty uncle? Madness Takes Its Toll: Chandler wonders about the sanity of that temerarious dahlia. And also of himself. His doctor says he’s fine‚ but has no opinion about the dahlia.   Ruthanna’s Commentary Ah‚ a cozy old-fashioned Christmas. Roasting chestnuts‚ ice skates‚ trees decked with garlands‚ treat-filled stockings… ghost stories? Well‚ yes. How better to pass the time around a crackling fire‚ than to tell chilling tales that make the firelight feel safer‚ the gathered friends more necessary for comfort‚ the spiked punch more appealing? Really‚ this is a tradition worth bringing back: sharper and stronger than the myriad holiday-themed albums from everyone hoping to find a spot in the modern stocking. Translated into prose‚ the teller of Christmas shivers tries to recreate as much of the original cozy context as possible. But Benson’s playing with the form again‚ and in the opposite direction from chilling-to-cozy “How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery.” His warmly hospitable host‚ normally a source of croquet and hide-and-seek and otherwise genial house party fare‚ has a tale he’s reluctant to tell. Apparently‚ his last house party wasn’t so cozy as all that—even if no one else noticed. One of the most comforting things about the traditional ghost story is the promise of resolution. The haunt will be explained‚ or at least captured. Events will flow in somewhat predictable fashion‚ from initial intimation to hair-raising confrontation. True experiences of the uncanny have no such reassurance. It may simply be a moment of inexplicability‚ a single event that defies explanation. It probably lacks a clear story arc. It is certainly unlikely to get tied up by a satisfying resolution. So it sticks with you‚ building chronic disquiet rather than acute adventure. So too with Chandler’s experience. There’s his initial vision of an ancient setting. (A wretched hive of scum and villainy?) There are the scaled-down humanoid creatures‚ definitely not hobbits but not anything else specific. Fair folk? Neanderthals? Ghosts? Gnoles? And then he just… can’t get over the vision for months. He’s healthy‚ but it eats at him. Eventually he goes on holiday to Scotland‚ like you do. There‚ despite the best efforts of his hunting guide‚ he stumbles through the mist and into his vision. And he was having such a nice day‚ too. Whereupon he escapes‚ and never learns anything more about what happened. This despite the fact that gillie Sandy clearly knows something. Maybe Chandler fires the guy for not explaining his anxiety in the first place‚ or for running away. Maybe Sandy continues to resist saying anything useful despite subsequent demands. Maybe when he ran away‚ he tripped and fell into a bog. Never mind‚ leaving it all unresolved makes the whole thing less narratively satisfying‚ but more plausible. Which‚ of course‚ makes it more satisfyingly chill-inducing. Meanwhile in another story‚ the mysterious wee beasties are equally confused about this human dude who keeps stumbling into their house. My favorite part is actually the framing story: the tension between comforting ritual and real fear‚ between silly and serious play. The house party is a liminal space‚ where British nobility can drop their dignified armor and play hide and seek‚ or admit that beneath our outer differences we’re all skeletons—and as we all know‚ once you release the rigid trappings of imperial culture‚ anything might happen. Even the admission that said nobles can truly be frightened‚ and might never understand what they’re frightened of. Final thing that’s eating at me unresolved: what are the “lights” that the story takes place “between”? The best I can come up with is “lights” as a term for eyes: that the events (or simply the fear of them) takes place between Chandler’s eyes‚ i.e.‚ in his brain. Dissatisfied with this answer‚ I tried to figure out if it was a Hamlet reference—no luck‚ Hamlet talks about light but not anything between lights. Maybe the lights are the explicable‚ comfortable life on either side of the weirdness. Maybe it’s Chandler’s own fireplace and the beasties’ low‚ guttering hearth. Or maybe Benson has as much trouble coming up with titles as I do.   Anne’s Commentary I wondered why Benson titled this story “Between the Lights” rather than something more obvious like “A Christmas Eve Premonition” or “The Exceedingly Malodorous Pictish Ruin in the Mist.” From the title alone‚ I pictured streetlamps illuminating all-too-short stretches of pavement on a moonless night—between them would be all-too-long stretches of darkness in which anything might be lying in fiendishly grinning ambush. More broadly‚ then‚ what’s between any lights must be the dark‚ as day alternates with night and the sun-dominated seasons alternate with those in which the moon holds fickle sway. Light‚ dark‚ light: That’s the optimistic construction of matters‚ but the pessimistic Dark‚ light‚ dark is just as viable. What was there In The Beginning‚ after all? The frame of Benson’s story takes place between the lights of Christmas Eve and Christmas morn: The “vague white light” of the snowy day has given way to a darkness lit only by the Yule fire‚ for the electric lights have been quenched to provide a suitable atmosphere for ghost stories. Firelight also honors the primordial tradition of people gathering around a blaze and defying the dark by dwelling on its terrors. The creation of light and heat more or less on demand is humanity’s earliest mastery of its environment‚ so why wouldn’t humanity boast about it a little? The Chandlers’ guests boast by switching off the lightbulbs‚ but only until indulging in adrenaline-powered endorphin rushes gets too real; then somebody unceremoniously throws the switches back on. Everard’s too-authentic tale takes place between an unseasonably sunny Christmas Eve and the mist-enhanced fall of an autumn night. He has passed from winter through spring and summer to winter again‚ and not just to any winter’s day but to the one hovering on the Winter Solstice‚ the astronomical event immemorially celebrated as the turn of shortening days into increasing ones. Apart from their Saturnalia shindigs‚ select Romans celebrated my favoritely named ancient holiday‚ Dies Natalis Solis Invicti‚ or the birthday of the invincible sun‚ which harkens back to the pre-Zoroastrian sun god of Iran‚ Mithra. I don’t know about Mithra‚ but wouldn’t we like to think that the sun—the light—is invincible? Isn’t it particularly terrible that Everard’s premonition should have plunged him from the crazy brilliance of croquet on December 24th into a shadow-den of horrors that would haunt him until the vision came true? And what are the horrors but our ancestors‚ or a monstrous offshoot of them that lives in little-mitigated darkness and unrelieved squalor? Remember‚ early-20th-century man‚ that you are an (arguably fortunate) accident of your genes‚ and unto (arguably unfortunate) accidents of your genes you may return. You might also get eaten by any remnants that linger on in the wilds of Scotland‚ because surely they are cannibalistic‚ and hungry. There’s an interesting article on the custom of telling holiday ghost stories on the Carnegie Museum of Natural History website. Andrew Huntley traces it through the millennia humans have been jawing around campfires to the Puritans’ rejection of Christmas as a holiday to the reinvigoration of Christmas traditions that followed Dickens’ publication of A Christmas Carol in 1843. As he notes: “Humans haven’t changed much biologically in several thousand years‚ and a person’s physical reaction to a harmless scare—elevated heart rate‚ endorphin rushes caused by adrenaline—is still essentially the same. The reaction to hearing a ghost story around the burning Yule fire became a tradition; a feeling of warmth and group bonding at what was the coldest and darkest time of year.” Presumably the scare Everard delivers to his guests isn’t entirely harmless‚ but he does turn his tale over for authentication to such dubious experts as “those who believe in second sight.” And luckily his guests are saved by the dressing-bell before they can muse too much about uncanny visions and troglodytes. With enough seasonable victuals and strong potations‚ we can hope they make a complete recovery. With strong potation in hand‚ I wish you all the joys of the season and look forward to more weirdness in the coming year!   We’re off for the remainder of the year! We’ll meet again in 2024 to partake of Max Gladstone’s Last Exit‚ chapters 21-22. Ruthanna Emrys is the author of A Half-Built Garden and the Innsmouth Legacy series‚ including Winter Tide and Deep Roots. You can find some of her fiction‚ weird and otherwise‚ on Tor.com‚ most recently “The Word of Flesh and Soul.” Ruthanna is online on Twitter and Patreon and on Mastodon as r_emrys@wandering.shop‚ and offline in a mysterious manor house with her large‚ chaotic household—mostly mammalian—outside Washington DC. Anne M. Pillsworth’s short story “The Madonna of the Abattoir” appears on Tor.com. Her young adult Mythos novel‚ Summoned‚ is available from Tor Teen along with sequel Fathomless. She lives in Edgewood‚ a Victorian trolley car suburb of Providence‚ Rhode Island‚ uncomfortably near Joseph Curwen’s underground laboratory.

The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it is taking on a case regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the chemical abortion pill mifepristone. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine‚ the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists‚ the American College of Pediatricians‚ and the Christian Medical &; Dental Associations filed a lawsuit against the FDA in November 2022‚ claiming that the FDA had ignored safety protocols to approve the abortion pill mifepristone. The Supreme Court said this week that it would hear the case‚ one of the first major abortion cases taken up by the court since overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022‚ according to an order list. The Supreme Court in April ruled against the plaintiffs in a 7-2 decision‚ with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting‚ regarding a request for a temporary stay of the FDA’s ability to administer the drug. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals‚ however‚ ruled in August that the FDA must reverse changes it made allowing the pill to be mailed online and dispensed by pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription‚ according to Politico. The FDA appealed the decision to the Supreme Court in September‚ according to Axios. The court noted in its decision Wednesday that oral arguments on the case would be limited to one hour. The FDA “does not comment on possible‚ pending or ongoing litigation‚” it told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Supreme Court to Weigh Major Case on Abortion Pill Approval appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Kate Cox asked the Texas Supreme Court to give her permission to abort her unborn baby‚ a baby that has a condition known as trisomy 18. On Monday‚ her lawyers said that she will go to another state to end the baby’s life. That same day‚ the court said Texas law didn’t require her to ask its permission. Trisomy 18 is a condition where a baby has an extra copy of chromosome 18‚ making it highly likely that the baby will die in the womb or shortly after birth—though some babies with trisomy 18 do survive‚ such as former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s daughter. Cox’s lawyers have argued that by not aborting her baby‚ Cox is jeopardizing her health and future fertility. Meet my incompatible w life daughter Bella. Her docs put her on hospice at 10 days old. Other countries have much higher survival rates than US because they treat the baby not the diagnosis. Every kid deserves a shot at life‚ not be brutally dismembered for not being perfect. pic.twitter.com/QKVAREEyVY— Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) December 12‚ 2023 The same day that Cox’s lawyers said she would seek an abortion in another state‚ the Texas Supreme Court said in its opinion that “a pregnant woman does not need a court order to have a lifesaving abortion in Texas.” The court ruling also noted that Cox’s doctor‚ Damla Karsan‚ “asked a [lower] court to pre-authorize the abortion‚ yet she could not‚ or at least did not‚ attest to the court that Ms. Cox’s condition poses the risks the exception requires.”  Further‚ the ruling stated: A woman who meets the medical-necessity exception need not seek a court order to obtain an abortion. Under the law‚ it is a doctor who must decide that a woman is suffering from a life-threatening condition during a pregnancy‚ raising the necessity for an abortion to save her life or to prevent impairment of a major bodily function. The law leaves to physicians—not judges—both the discretion and the responsibility to exercise their reasonable medical judgment‚ given the unique facts and circumstances of each patient. Texas-Supreme-CourtDownload Pro-life experts argued to The Daily Signal that abortion activists and the media are twisting the news to fit their own purposes. “The Center for Reproductive Rights and an abortion-crusading doctor provoked this confrontation‚ apparently for political purposes‚” said Thomas Jipping‚ senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.) “They filed an unnecessary lawsuit and claimed unjustified confusion about what the state law requires in order to create an highly public flashpoint in the conflict over abortion‚” he added. Sarah Parshall Perry‚ also a senior legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center‚ emphasized that in Texas‚ pregnant women do not need a court order to have a lifesaving abortion. “Which begs the question: Why did she and her doctor seek one?” Perry questioned. “Physicians make in-the-moment professional judgments regularly. The difference here is that the doctor claimed ignorance as to what her ‘reasonable medical judgment’ could actually entail. Kate Cox could have stayed right where she was and received the abortion she sought.”   Pro-life activists expressed strong sympathies for the mother but stressed the importance of valuing the innate dignity of every life. Katie Daniel‚ state policy director at SBA Pro-Life America‚ emphasized to The Daily Signal that “it’s always a heartbreaking situation to be told your child may not have long to live.” “Compassion and care should have been given to both Kate Cox and her baby‚ and sadly‚ that did not happen‚” she said. “There are two patients involved‚ and targeting one of them for brutal abortion will never be the compassionate answer.” Regarding Kate Cox's case in Texas: Nothing could be more heartbreaking than to be told your child may not have long to live. In such moments‚ both patients‚ mother and child deserve compassion and care and dignity. However‚ Texas law is clear: doctors‚ not judges‚ decide…— MarjorieDannenfelser (@marjoriesba) December 12‚ 2023 “It’s shocking that a judge would create her own judicial bypass around the state’s law to allow for an abortion‚” Daniel added. “Texas law protects mothers who need lifesaving care in a medical emergency‚ which a doctor can provide without deliberately taking a patient’s life and without involving the court.” The American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists also expressed deep sorrow for the Cox family and the “tragic diagnoses and health challenges” that they have faced. “Though we cannot speak to the specifics of her case without her medical records‚ we do know that life-affirming medicine does allow women to obtain treatment for pregnancy complications‚ as does the Texas law‚” AAPLOG said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “However‚ a fetal diagnosis of trisomy 18‚ in and of itself‚ is not a threat to the mother’s life. With properly informed consent and a health care team that’s committed to honoring the dignity and value of both mom and baby‚ mothers can receive quality care in Texas‚ and their babies can be given a chance at life.” The organization noted that laws protecting the preborn exist “in part to affirm the dignity of fetal human beings with life-limiting conditions rather than ending a preborn child’s life prematurely simply because it is predicted to be shorter than most people’s.” “A more life-affirming option is perinatal palliative care‚ in which parents can be supported by medical staff and grief counselors as they care for their child‚ regardless of the length of his or her life‚” AAPLOG’s statement said. “Perinatal palliative care has been shown to yield better mental health outcomes for grieving parents and respects the value of both mom and baby‚ unlike induced abortion. That’s the kind of dignified care that our patients deserve.” “Relatable” podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey argued on X‚ formerly known as Twitter‚ that “a fatal diagnosis of an unborn child is not a justification for killing them.” “When the choice is between dismemberment and delivery‚ you deliver‚” she stressed. “You show them love and dignity. You give them a funeral. You don’t discard them like medical waste. Either way‚ the baby has to come out. The choice is between allowing the baby to come out whole or in pieces.” A fatal diagnosis of an unborn child is not a justification for killing them. When the choice is between dismemberment and delivery‚ you deliver. You show them love and dignity. You give them a funeral. You don’t discard them like medical waste. Either way‚ the baby has to come…— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) December 12‚ 2023 “While we can have compassion for the tragedy of receiving such a devastating diagnosis‚ we should never use a diagnosis to justify murdering an innocent baby‚” she told The Daily Signal on Tuesday afternoon. And Lila Rose‚ president of the pro-life organization Live Action‚ defended the unborn baby’s life on X as well. “A baby with Trisomy 18 has the same dignity and worth as you or me‚” Rose said. “They deserve love and care for however many moments‚ days or years they have on earth—not the extreme torture of dismemberment by an abortionist.” A baby with Trisomy 18 has the same dignity and worth as you or me. They deserve love and care for however many moments‚ days or years they have on earth — not the extreme torture of dismemberment by an abortionist.— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) December 12‚ 2023 Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post Pro-Life Experts Warn Leftists Are Using Texas Woman’s Abortion Battle as ‘Highly Public Flashpoint’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.