It’s been nearly three months since Brandon Blackstock lost his battle with melanoma. Following his death, many of Brandon’s family and friends paid tribute to the late talent manager. Reba McEntire married Brandon Blackstock’s father, Narvel Blackstock, in 1989. The two share a son, Shelby Blackstock, and Reba loved her role as Brandon’s stepmother. Even though she and Narvel divorced in 2015, the family remained close. “My relationship with my stepson, Brandon Blackstock, was precious,” Reba told People. “I absolutely loved that child. He came into my life, I guess he was 4 years old. Then when Narvel and I got married, he was 13, 14.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reba McEntire (@reba) Reba McEntire Had A Special Relationship With Brandon Blackstock Reba McEntire recalled Brandon Blackstock’s love of joking around and playing pranks. “He loved to scare people,” Reba said. “We’d be at the office there at Starstruck [which was owned by Narvel] in Nashville, and I’d be sitting at my desk, and I’d see Penny Chubb [a Starstruck Entertainment employee] walk by going to the ladies’ room, and then here comes Brandon. He’d hide behind the pillar.” Reba McEntire added that she helped raise Brandon Blackstock, along with his siblings, Shawna and Chassidy. Because of that, he will always have a special place in her heart. “Brandon is sorely missed, truly missed with his mischievousness and his love of life. He brought joy to everybody that met him, and we’ll never forget him,” Reba told People. Following his death, the Happy’s Place star shared a sweet tribute on Instagram. “Last week, my stepson/oldest son, Brandon Blackstock, went home to be with God. His struggle is over, and he is in eternal peace in God’s presence. There is no one else like him, and I’m thankful for the time we had together. His legacy and laughter will be carried on through his family. Rest in peace, cowboy. Happy trails to you ’til we meet again,” Reba wrote. This story’s featured image is by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night. The post Reba McEntire Warmly Remembers Late Stepson Brandon Blackstock appeared first on InspireMore.

I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy seeing artists from different sides of the musical spectrum getting together on stage and performing. It’s seems like it’s something that we actually need more today in many ways. The spirit of the 60s was all about harmony, and, of course, there was the other side, all about protests, anti-protests, and war. It was just a mess. But in 1969, a year when I was watching Lost in Space on TV as a young kid, there was some pretty spectacular music happening on television, and at times some very creative and The post When Worlds Collided: Tom Jones and CSNY’s Unforgettable 1969 Performance appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Democrats haven’t had a real primary since 2008, and I’m not bullish on the chances for a real contest in 2028, either. By contrast, Donald Trump took the Republican Party by storm in 2016 and 2024, and he has reinvigorated the party and reshaped American politics, becoming the most influential political figure since … the last guy to win a contested primary—Barack Obama. Having a truly competitive primary can do wonders for a political party. Obama Obama surprised Democrats in 2008, especially since so many of them thought it was Hillary Clinton’s turn to run for the White House. It may be hard for us to remember now, but Obama was the upstart with the funny name, challenging the Chappaqua heir apparent. His movement felt fresh and new. He won over the party, and Clinton stepped aside—with the clear expectation that she would be next in line. He drove that party off a cliff with Obamacare, pushed the noxious narrative that police are systemically racist against black people, and moved full-steam ahead from “I support traditional marriage” to “marriage equality” to rewriting the Civil Rights Act to let boys into girls’ bathrooms. Obama had a real knack for saying something insane in the most compelling way possible. He wrapped himself in the flag while laying the groundwork for demonizing our country and its history. He spoke about the better angels of our republic while unleashing the demons of Antifa. The Great Awokening may have reached its fever pitch after the death of George Floyd during the Trump years, but Obama planted the seeds for it—and Trump got elected to pull out the weeds by their roots. Not Feeling the Bern? In 2016, the American people were sick of Obama. He had promised a new era of hope and racial reconciliation—but America got more division, Black Lives Matter protests escalated into riots, and a host of scandals erupted, from the IRS targeting conservatives to long lines for care at Veterans Affairs hospitals to the gunrunning scandal at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Many Democrats were angry, too, and a self-declared socialist who hadn’t even formally joined the party started taking off in the Democratic presidential primary. Hillary Clinton wasn’t happy at having her turn passed over once again, and the Democratic Party elites gave her many advantages over the socialist upstart, Bernie Sanders. From financial arrangements to internal messaging to the support of “superdelegates,” the party rallied around Clinton in a way that felt “rigged” to Sanders’ supporters. Democrats also effectively prevented other candidates from entering the race, making Sanders the only real competitor. The Democrats pulled the strings for Clinton, and it backfired on them, as Americans voted for change that Trump had promised instead. Bidenmentum? Bernie Sanders won the first three Democrat presidential primaries in 2020 as well, after each of the other candidates failed to take off. Only when Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden did Obama’s former running mate pick up steam. One after another, candidates dropped out and endorsed Biden in a process that felt more orchestrated than organic. Had more candidates remained in the race, Sanders or perhaps Pete Buttigieg, the upstart mayor of South Bend, Indiana, might have prevailed. Instead, it seems the Democrats pulled the strings yet again, and they fell in lockstep behind Sleepy Joe—the guy even Kamala Harris viewed as easy pickings at the beginning of the primaries. Biden only barely defeated Trump, after Big Tech buried the Hunter Biden laptop story and after local election officials weakened voting safeguards in the name of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Another Aborted Primary Biden said he would be a caretaker president, but then he decided to run for a second term. While many of us expressed concerns about his health long before his disastrous June 2024 debate against Trump, even the left-leaning media decided they couldn’t hide his infirmity any longer. Rather than host a quick primary, Biden—and, ostensibly, Democrat leaders working with him—coronated Vice President Kamala Harris, who has recently made hay about the fact she only had 107 days to campaign for the presidency. Democrats could have held a rapid-fire primary, as happens in special elections, but they chose Harris instead. Let’s just say the “vibes” election her supporters envisioned never actually materialized. What About 2028? After 2024, the Democratic Party has come to represent the old Silicon Valley woke elite consensus that Americans had firmly rejected coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sure, some “Karens” are still biking with masks on during the summer and the Left’s dark money network is bankrolling ironic “No Kings” protests, but the wind of the woke movement has petered out. Some Democrats know their party needs to tack to the center and return to reality, but the nonprofit activist apparatus that called the shots in the Biden administration is putting off its come-to-Jesus moment, likely perpetually. While truly competitive primaries can be messy—Trump proved a wrecking ball to the old Republican establishment—they often breathe new energy into a party, energy the tired old Democrats sorely need. Unfortunately, that energy seems most likely to come from outright socialists like Zohran Mamdani, who will only champion more of the destructive policies Obama pioneered. The entrenched elites in the Democratic Party may not look the same as they did in 2016, but I suspect the 2028 Democrat presidential nomination will look more like a coronation than a truly democratic contest. The post Will the Democrats Finally Have a Primary in 2028? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Sunday Smiles

Since Hamas’ brutal invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, pro-Palestine protests have erupted across the Western world. Two years in, these riotous events calling for the death of America and Israel, the fall of the West, and jihadi violence continue to rage.But Mark Levin can’t figure something out: If these protesters are so concerned about the Palestinian people, why aren’t they upset about Hamas' recent brutality against Palestinians?Protesters are in the streets screaming about Israel starving Gazans — “a lie,” Levin says — but they don’t bat an eye when Hamas, just hours after releasing hostages as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and peace deal, orchestrates mass public executions of Palestinians. Graphic videos and eyewitness accounts show masked Hamas gunmen dragging blindfolded and bound Palestinian men, whom Hamas deemed dissenters, into public squares in Gaza City and executing them at close range with high-powered rifles. Since the ceasefire began on October 10, numerous Palestinians have been killed in similar executions, including beatings, hangings in streets, and purges of suspected spies or anti-Hamas militias.Further, the Doghmush clan, one of Gaza’s largest and most powerful Palestinian families and a longstanding enemy of Hamas, was targeted. A gang of Hamas military men infiltrated the family’s estate disguised as medical staff and proceeded to slaughter numerous clan members.“Very few people are saying anything about this. I mean, this is coming out of reports out of the Middle East. It’s coming out of reports out of Gaza,” Levin says.He wonders: Where’s the outrage from the same protesters who flooded campuses over false claims of Israeli genocide — while Hamas now unleashes a documented “reign of terror” on its own people in the territory Israel just surrendered?Now Netanyahu’s threat to continue military operations against Hamas makes sense. The recent executions and Hamas’ refusal to return deceased hostages points to what Levin has been saying about the terrorist regime from the get-go: You can’t negotiate with them.He laments the partial Israel Defense Forces withdrawal to enable the hostage release, as that’s what allowed Hamas to regroup and terrorize Gaza with public executions.Levin warns that Israel will now insist on permanent security zones: “They’re going to have a defense security area — whether the Arab countries and Muslim countries like it or not, whether we like it or not — to protect their country. And they’re going to insist on it. This is what Netanyahu has said. This is what they’re going to do.”Want more from Mark Levin?To enjoy more of "the Great One" — Mark Levin as you've never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

iOS 26 users who have been struggling to type ever since upgraded to the new software: you're not alone, and complaints continue to roll in.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, considered a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic Party presidential nomination, raved about New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's attempt to "bring people together."

New York Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said on Newsmax Sunday that new polling shows he has a stronger chance of defeating Democrat nominee Zohran Mamdani in a one-on-one matchup than does former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the independent in the race.

On Thursday, a major smuggling bust occurred at the United States' southern border, near Laredo, Texas. The haul was guns; a lot of guns, being smuggled in a modified trailer by a father-and-son duo.…