In Yorkshire, England, an ancient profession turned hobby is helping to keep tree trimmings out of the landfills, among other benefits. The Yorkshire Spoon Club, as the name suggests, will jump at the opportunity to turn an upturned oak or alder tree into a spoon, but this collection of hobbyist and professional woodcarvers churns out […] The post Woodcarving Club Turns City’s Tree Trimmings into Treasured Trinkets appeared first on Good News Network.

The Palestinian Authority in Gaza has paid recently released terrorists the equivalent of millions of dollars as part of a “Pay for Slay” program, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.   The recent ceasefire and hostage deal between Hamas and Israel included the release of “250 Palestinian terrorists” in exchange for the hostages still being held in Gaza. Among the group, 160 terrorists received monthly payments out of the Palestinian Authority’s “Martyrs Fund,” which is estimated to have grown over time to $70 million, according to Palestinian Media Watch.  “The Palestinian Authority (PA) paid these same terrorists, many of them from Hamas, a collective $70 million. This is what is called Pay-for-Slay. This policy must stop, it fuels terror,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on the social media platform X Tuesday.   As part of the ceasefire, Israel released 250 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences.The Palestinian Authority (PA) paid these same terrorists, many of them from Hamas, a collective $70 million.This is what is called Pay-for-Slay. This policy must stop, it fuels… pic.twitter.com/LleCn9wHRF— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 21, 2025 The “pay-for-slay program” or “Martyrs Fund” was established in 2004 to “compensate Palestinians who committed acts of terrorism against the State of Israel, and either died or were imprisoned as a result,” according to American Enterprise Institute distinguished senior fellow Danielle Pletka and Stephen Ailinger, an AEI government-relations associate in foreign and defense policy.  “The payments increase with the extremity of the violence, with terrorists and their families earning thousands of dollars, free health care, and guaranteed government jobs,” Pletka and Ailinger wrote in a piece for RealClearWorld.com in July.   In February, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian Authority was ending the program that provides money to the family members of terrorists who were imprisoned, wounded, or killed while carrying out acts of terrorism against Israel. However, experts cast doubt of whether the program was formally ended.   “In reality, the end of ‘pay-to-slay‘ is largely illusory, a feint by Abbas that would simply transfer payments to another entity, the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment,” Pletka and Ailinger wrote, contending that Abbas only announced an end to the program to appease the Trump administration.   It remains unclear who will rule Gaza following the formal end to the war between Israel and Hamas, but the Palestinian Authority has expressed an eagerness to run a post-Hamas Gaza.   “How a government spends its money is an indication of its priorities,” Daniel Flesch, a Middle East and North Africa senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “And by incentivizing its people to attack and kill Israelis (and Americans, in the case of Army veteran Taylor Force), the [Palestinian Authority] demonstrates its motivation is not to build, but to destroy.”   Force, a former U.S. Army officer, was killed in Israel in 2016 when a Palestinian terrorist stabbed him. The 28-year-old was working toward earning his MBA degree from Vanderbilt and was in Israel with fellow students to study entrepreneurship.   “Instead of spending millions of dollars on infrastructure and improving the lives of its people, the [Palestinian Authority] instead chose to spend that money on killing Jews. This, in part, is why the [Palestinian Authority] is not viewed as a credible stabilizing force in Gaza or for the future of the region,” Flesch said.   The post Freed Terrorists Being Paid Millions as Part of Palestinian Authority’s ‘Pay for Slay’ Program  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Republican senators were relieved when President Donald Trump urged them to remain steadfast in refusing to negotiate with Democrats until they vote to reopen the government, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told The Daily Signal.  “The president encouraged us all to remain steadfast, and we cheered when he said that,” Daines said in a phone interview following Republicans’ Tuesday meeting with Trump. “We just need the Democrats to come to their senses and realize that they’ve got to start paying the troops, the [Federal Aviation Administration] controllers, [Transportation Security Administration] agents and others who depend on the federal government.” When asked if Trump indicated that Republicans would need to cave to Democrats’ demands to pass the continuing resolution, Daines said, “You don’t negotiate when they take the government hostage.”  “There is definitely room to negotiate and to continue to move forward on the appropriation bills,” Daines said, “but it’s not going to happen until after the shutdown is over.” Senators were in the Oval Office with the president for about an hour following a Rose Garden lunch on Tuesday. In addition to talking shop, Trump signed MAGA hats and Bibles, Daines said.  Trump did not discuss the possibility of nuking the filibuster to bypass Senate filibuster rules that require a 60-vote majority to reopen the government, according to Daines. While Republicans also did not discuss the potential need for the House to reconvene to pass a longer CR, as the current one would only fund the government through Nov. 21, Daines said, “it’s generally agreed that the CR is going to have to be extended past Nov. 21.” “That’s not enough time,” he said.  “I think there’s pretty solid agreement that it is going to have to be extended because the Democrats have burned virtually a month now in the shutdown from what originally was going to be a seven-week CR,” Daines continued. “Now we’re just four weeks away from the 21st so we’re going to have to extend it.”  Daines expects five or six “common sense” Democrats “that are tired of this game being played and the harm it’s creating” to eventually vote to reopen the government. But Daines is unsure when that will happen.  “When you think about when the Democrats first shut this down on Oct. 1, there was some talk that it would only last a few days. Well, that was wrong,” he said. “I’m just not seeing a lot of interest in the Democrat in solving this problem at the moment.”  Senate Majority Leader John Thune addressed the press after the Oval Office meeting. “The president is prepared to sit down and have conversations with the Democrats, but he knows that before that can happen, we got to have five Democrats who have a little backbone and a willingness to take on their own leadership,” Thune said. “We’ve offered them a lot of the things they were asking for, a normal appropriations process, an opportunity to get a vote on some of the things that they want to see voted on with respect to the expiring Obamacare enhanced subsidies, but that can’t happen until there’s no shutdown,” Thune said. According to Thune, one thing was repeatedly mentioned in senators’ meeting with Trump. “That is, we want to get this government back open again,” he said. “Thirteen times in a row, we’ve reached a moment like this, and each time we’ve said, let’s keep the government open while we continue to be able to negotiate. Democrats in time stepped in and said, ‘No, we want to shut this down.'” George Caldwell contributed to this report. The post Why Senate Republicans ‘Cheered’ at Trump’s New Shutdown Advice appeared first on The Daily Signal.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Hundreds of small businesses are in peril during the federal government shutdown as they are unable to access their federal government loans, according to President Donald Trump’s Small Business Administration. “Thanks to President Trump’s agenda to reduce taxes, regulation and unfair trade deals, small business optimism is at seven-year highs, resulting in the SBA serving a record 85,000 job creators with $45 billion in federally backed loans—supporting historic hiring, expansion, and confidence on Main Street,” SBA chief Kelly Loeffler said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “Senate Democrats have decided to cut off that momentum and that capital for Main Street, in favor of growing government spending by $1.5 trillion and blocking a clean funding bill to reopen the government,” she continued. The shutdown has frozen SBA’s core 7(a) and 504 small-business lending programs. Those are SBA’s primary business-loan programs for providing financial assistance to small businesses. Each business day the shutdown continues, about 320 small businesses can’t access $170 million in SBA-backed commercial loans. That means $2.5 billion has been blocked from 4,800 small businesses during the shutdown, which is about to enter its fourth week. “With the SBA’s loan programs shuttered, thousands of small businesses are now unable to access the vital funding they need to survive, let alone thrive—and will soon begin cutting hours and benefits, laying off workers, and contemplating closing up shop for good,” Loeffler said. The loan programs are funded by lender fees, enabling them to operate without cost to taxpayers. Every week, $126,885,142 in loans to California small businesses alone can’t be approved. California is the state with largest number of loans not approved per week of the shutdown—212; followed by Texas with 128; Florida with 135; and New York with 106. The post EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Reveals Devastating Impact of Shutdown on Small Businesses appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Some people just can’t help themselves when it comes to comparing Republicans to Nazis. One such person is NBC’s Saturday Night Live Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost, who made the claim while fellow anchor Michael Che continued to do his best to help drag Zohran Mamdani across the finish line in New York City’s mayoral election. Putting up a picture of Argentine President Javier Milei side-by-side a picture of Austin Powers, Colin Jost began, “Argentine President Javier Milei, seen asking if he makes you horny baby, met with President Trump at the White House this week, where Trump announced he's sending $40 billion to Argentina, because if history is any guide, Trump officials will end up fleeing to Argentina.”     After a Jost joke about former Rep. George Santos, who recently had his prison sentence commuted by President Trump, Che recalled, “During the first New York mayoral debate, Andrew Cuomo attacked Zohran Mamdani. Saying that he once gave the finger to the Columbus Day statue, whereas Cuomo snuck up behind the statue and grabbed it by the hips.” While this is the second week in a row Che has used Weekend Update to promote Mamdani, he is hardly alone. A few days later, former Weekend Update co-anchor and current host of Late Night, Seth Meyers did likewise on his Monday show, “During last week’s New York mayoral debate, Democratic [nominee] Zohran Mamdani said that his go-to bodega breakfast order is egg and cheese on a roll with jalapenos. While Andrew Cuomo's is those boner pills by the register. During the same debate, Andrew Cuomo criticized Mamdani and said he has, quote, ‘Literally never had a job.’ And you know Cuomo did because he had to resign from it.” This is where most jokes about Democrats are in 2025: joke about certain Democrats in order to promote those even further to the left. Yes, Andrew Cuomo was a terrible governor with his nursing home and sexual harassment scandals, but Zohran Mamdani had to be shamed into saying a genocidal terrorist group must disarm and supports economically illiterate ideas like rent control. The top two candidates in the New York mayoral race are both worth making fun of, but the late night shows can only bring themselves to make fun of one. Here are transcripts for the October 18 and 20-taped shows: NBC Saturday Night Live 10/19/2025 12:36 AM ET COLIN JOST: Argentine President Javier Milei, seen asking if he makes you horny baby, met with President Trump at the White House this week, where Trump announced he's sending $40 billion to Argentina, because if history is any guide, Trump officials will end up fleeing to Argentina. Hey, one clap. I’m just kidding. That was fine. In the clinching game of the NLCS, Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings, struck out ten batters, then hit three home runs. It is a feat previously only accomplished by George Santos. MICHAEL CHE: During the first New York mayoral debate, Andrew Cuomo attacked Zohran Mamdani. Saying that he once gave the finger to the Columbus Day statue, whereas Cuomo snuck up behind the statue and grabbed it by the hips.  *** NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers 10/21/2025 12:39 AM ET SETH MEYERS: During last week’s New York mayoral debate, Democratic Zohran Mamdani said that his go-to bodega breakfast order is egg and cheese on a roll with jalapenos. While Andrew Cuomo's is those boner pills by the register. During the same debate, Andrew Cuomo criticized Mamdani and said he has, quote, "Literally never had a job." And you know Cuomo did because he had to resign from it. 

A new video shows a female beating up a male Metro bus driver in Madison, Wisconsin, earlier this year before the bus crashed into a restaurant — and somehow the female continued the beatdown after the crash.Prosecutors said 26-year-old Raeven Johnson attacked the bus driver on Feb. 25 after he said her desired destination wasn't part of the bus route, according to Channel3000.com, which recently obtained the video.Opting for a different mode of transportation that night would've been a much better — and much less costly — idea for Johnson.The clip shows Johnson attempting to insert a ticket, and the bus driver attempting to prevent the ticket from going into the slot.With that, Johnson begins hitting the bus driver, who is seated — and the bus begins moving as the driver attempts to defend himself against Johnson's relentless attack.Soon the out-of-control bus veered to the right and smashed into the Asian House restaurant, Channel3000.com reported.While the collision momentarily interrupted her beatdown and threw her to the door of the bus, Johnson — who appeared to lose her wig during the altercation — quickly went right back to attacking the bus driver, as she appeared to pull him backward from his seat.RELATED: 'Drivers are gonna start fighting back ... somebody's gonna get knocked out': Bus drivers' union rep warns violent passengers Two people, including the driver, were injured in the crash, Channel3000.com said, and one of them had to be hospitalized.According to WMTV-TV, the back office of QPS Employment Group was crushed as a result of the crash, and Asian House's kitchen appliances were damaged as well.Opting for a different mode of transportation that night would've been a much better — and much less costly — idea for Johnson.She pleaded guilty in August to second-degree recklessly endangering safety and attempted battery to a public transit officer, WMTV said, adding that a judge earlier this month ordered her to serve three years in prison.Conditions of her sentence include a ban from all Madison Metro property and buses, and she's prohibited from having alcohol, the station said.Her sentence will be followed by three years of extended supervision, WMTV said, adding that online court documents indicate a restitution hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Tensions over the legacy of Charlie Kirk reached a boiling point at the No Kings protests that took place over the weekend, where furious demonstrators hurled slurs at the late conservative leader and cheered his death.“Charlie Kirk is a piece of garbage. Of course, we were mean. I am so tired of people saying, ‘Oh, but you know it’s a terrible thing.’ No. Hitler is dead. I’m glad Hitler’s dead. Evil people have no place in my world. He was a hateful human being. It was disgusting the things that he said and did,” one woman told the Daily Signal at a No Kings protest.“This could be someone’s grandmother. Probably not. Probably not. And this is actually a consequence of the childlessness epidemic that we have in society, that you have all of these just, like, listless people who don’t know where to direct their energy,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says.Stuckey calls it a phenomenon of “misplaced mothering” that’s common among older white women.“And because they are not channeling their God-given mothering instincts into people, into their own children, into the next generation in some way, they are channeling it in directions that are not actually healthy,” she explains.“And so they believe that they are mothering the migrant, that they are mothering the criminal, that they are mothering the people who are on the margins of society. And so this makes them feel better, but it’s actually a lazy way to demonstrate that you’re a good person, which means you’re not a good person at all,” she continues.“In the same way that socialism is like outsourcing your compassion to the government, this social justice is outsourcing your virtue to the government,” she adds.In another clip from the protest, Nathan Hughes was conducting man-on-the-street-style interviews with some of the protesters. His interaction with two of the protesters, who were upset that he was wearing a “for Charlie” shirt, has gone viral — and for good reason.“You get triggered because it has ‘Charlie’ on there, right?” Hughes asked the protesters.“Because he was a racist! Because he was a misogynist! And that means that you are, too, because you support him,” she screamed. “Get out!”Another protester chimed in: “He hated anyone that wasn’t white, that wasn’t male, that wasn’t straight.”“Okay, well, as someone who is not male, I can say that Charlie didn’t hate me, didn’t hate his wife, didn’t hate his daughter,” Stuckey comments.“These people in these videos are very, very unwell. That is true,” she continues, noting that she doesn’t believe it’s just a “mental health crisis.”“I actually think that’s just an excuse for evil, because evil really exists, and it’s evil that can make you very stupid. Sin makes you stupid, and iniquity makes you insane. We can use those alliterations,” she says.And Stuckey points out that while the protesters believe they’re protesting tyranny, they’re the ones who have made it clear that they love tyranny the most.“These are the very people who wanted to force kids to wear masks, who wanted you to be fired from your job if you didn’t get an experimental vaccine. These are the very same people that support taking children out of their parents’ homes if their parents don’t affirm the stated gender identity of a person,” she says.“You know which side the Democrats would have been on in 1776,” she adds.Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The House Judiciary Committee officially referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Department of Justice for allegedly lying to Congress about his involvement in the Russia collusion hoax. Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) referred Brennan to the DOJ on Tuesday for allegedly making "false statements" during his transcribed testimony before the Judiciary Committee in 2023. During his testimony, Brennan made "numerous willfully and intentionally false statements," including that the CIA was not "involved at all" with the Steele dossier, according to Jordan. 'It indicates a pattern of Brennan's willingness to lie.'"Congress cannot perform its oversight function if witnesses who appear before its committees do not provide truthful testimony," a letter from Jordan to Attorney General Pam Bondi reads. "Making false statements before Congress is a crime that undermines the integrity of the Committee's constitutional duty to conduct oversight."In the letter, Jordan outlined every falsehood he claims Brennan stated during his 2023 testimony, testimony that Jordan said directly contradicted the Intelligence Community Assessment. RELATED: 'Ultimate hypocrisy': Murkowski, now whining about Comey indictment, sang a different tune when Dems went after Trump Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesIn 2017, several intelligence agencies published a report alleging that Russia had meddled in America's elections to elect President Donald Trump to his first term in 2016. This report, which was later debunked, was based on the Steele dossier, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the law firm Perkins Coie and other opposition research firms like Fusion GPS. After the Trump administration declassified documents showing that the report's claims were apparently fabricated by former President Barack Obama's administration, Brennan's testimony was called into question. Brennan initially claimed in May 2023 that the "CIA was not involved at all with the [Steele] dossier," a statement that contradicted the findings "jointly made by the Directors of CIA and FBI," according to Jordan's letter. Jordan also claimed that Brennan "overruled senior CIA officers" who had objections about including the dossier material in the report."Brennan's assertion that the CIA was not 'involved at all' with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts," the letter reads. "As the newly declassified documents show, a CIA officer drafted the annex containing a summary of the dossier; Brennan made the ultimate decision, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, to include information from the dossier in the ICA." RELATED: Released FBI docs reveal Comey allegedly used media mole to plant info at New York Times for Russian collusion investigation Photo by Alex Wong/Getty ImagesBrennan similarly testified that the CIA "very much opposed" including the Steele dossier in the report, despite declassified documents claiming he "refused to remove it" from the report regardless of its "many flaws." Durin separate testimony in 2017, Brennan said the Steele dossier "was not in any way used as a basis for the Intelligence Community Assessment," despite contrary evidence found after the Trump administration declassified documents. Notably, this testimony was made beyond the five-year statute of limitations, but Jordan said that "it indicates a pattern of Brennan's willingness to lie to Congress about the Steele dossier." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Ron DeSantis Takes a Well-Deserved Victory Lap, Trolling the Left Who Called Him 'Authoritarian'

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