'We all know how we got there'

A retired rugby star turned quadriplegic has made an unbelievable recovery from a broken neck to reach the peak of a previously unclimbed mountain in Asia. Ed Jackson became the first person to successfully ascend the unnamed, 15,485-foot-high peak in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan on August 23rd. The former professional rugby player for […] The post Rugby Player Turned Quadriplegic Completes Incredibly Recovery by Summiting Unconquered Asian Mountain appeared first on Good News Network.

Books roleplaying games Four SF Book Series Adapted Into Roleplaying Games From Ringworld to the Laundry Files — what are your favorites? By James Davis Nicoll | Published on August 28, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share I enjoy a wide range of Japanese speculative fiction. Japanese publishers have a penchant for multimedia releases: a popular property might have a light novel series, manga, anime, a film or two, some games (video or otherwise), perhaps an opera by a world-famous all-woman cast. Western publishers don’t seem quite as adept at exploring the full range of tie-in products. However, for historical reasons, there is a tie-in product for Western SFF whose appearance, while not ensured, is not surprising. This would be roleplaying games. This is because a fair number of SFF authors and their fans are roleplayers. Here are four sterling examples. Larry Niven’s Ringworld: Roleplaying Adventure Beneath the Great Arch by John Hewitt & Sherman Kahn (Based on Larry Niven’s Known Space) Chaosium was no stranger to promoting tie-in products, but they pulled out all the stops for the Ringworld RPG. Living as we do in golden age of production values1, it’s hard to convey how much the Ringworld box set stood out in the context of mid-1980s roleplaying games, from the Ralph McQuarrie cover to the Lisa Free interior illustrations. As well, Hewitt and Kahn delivered four phenomenally dense, if slender, rulebooks, managing in two cases to cram in more pages of material than there were pages in the rulebook2. While the intended focus was the Ringworld, there was enough material on Known Space in general that rumour had it that writers for the Man-Kzin Wars series were encouraged to use the Ringworld RPG as a series bible. Therefore, it’s too bad that Chaosium had the rights sold out from under them shortly after publishing the game, driving the Ringworld: Roleplaying Adventure out of print3. Hardwired: The Sourcebook by Walter Jon Williams, Mike Pondsmith, and Pati Nagle (Based on Walter Jon Williams’ Hardwired) Living as we do in a nigh-utopia, it’s hard to convey the economic and political anxieties that inspired authors like Williams, Gibson, Ford, and others to independently arrive at a vision of a world divided between cut-throat oligarchs. No surprise that there were cyberpunk games. Williams was himself a veteran roleplaying game designer4. Also no surprise that Williams adapted his cyberpunk novel Hardwired into a sourcebook for Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk roleplaying game. The sourcebook might not have had the production budget of Ringworld, but it was a solid product, with the advantage that the author of the work being adapted had a direct hand in the design. Furthermore, Hardwired enjoys the considerable advantage over the Ringworld TTRPG that it’s still in print. GURPS Wild Cards by John J. Miller (Based on George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards) GURPS Wild Cards is perhaps the least surprising TTRPG tie-in product on this list. Martin’s Wild Cards shared-world series had its roots in Martin and friends’ Superworld TTRPG campaign. Scurrilous rumour claims that Martin and company invested so much time in their Superworld game that it imperiled their incomes. Thus, monetizing their hobby by turning into an astonishingly durable shared-world project was a logical step, as was a TTRPG tie-in sourcebook. As the title suggests, GURPS Wild Cards appeared as one of Steve Jackson Games’ many, many, so very many GURPS sourcebooks. GURPS game mechanics are an appropriate choice for the comparatively squishy superhumans featured in the Wild Card books. Still, it is a bit surprising that the Wild Cards sourcebook wasn’t a Superworld sourcebook, given the roots of the setting5. The Laundry Roleplaying Game by David F Chapman, Calum Collins, Christopher Colston, Alister Davison, Michael Duxbury, Warren Frey, Gareth Hanrahan, and Elaine Lithgow, et al. (Based on Charles Stross’ Laundry Files) Charles Stross has been involved in roleplaying games for almost as long as they’ve existed6. Therefore, it was almost inevitable that his Laundry Files novels, a Yes Minister-esque take on Cosmic Horror in a British context, would have its own roleplaying game. A game in which players can learn Things Humanity Was Not Meant to Know, and more importantly, how to file the appropriate forms. As Cubicle 7’s upcoming Laundry RPG is upcoming—fourth quarter 2025, if we’re all still here—and as the pre-order PDFs only just landed in my inbox, I have not had a chance to peruse it in detail. Still, it looks intriguing. I’ll write more when the stars are right. Or as the case may be for the player characters, very, very wrong. No doubt there are many examples I’ve overlooked7 and no doubt you will eagerly remind me of them in comments. However, there’s one absence that baffles me: John M. Ford wrote science fiction and fantasy, and he wrote well-regarded RPG products. It seems only logical that someone, somewhere, would have adapted one of Ford’s own works8 into a roleplaying game… but titles do not come to mind. Surely, I am forgetting something obvious?[end-mark] Unlike early 21st century RPG offerings, layouts aren’t slightly askew, the cover art isn’t by a guy the writer’s cousin knows, bindings generally speaking neither draw blood nor fall apart prior to first reading, and sometimes there’s even an index. ︎And they still had enough material they couldn’t fit in the four core books that a Companion volume showed up in short order. ︎Don’t despair! Used copies of the Ringworld RPG can still be had… as long as you don’t mind spending three or four hundred dollars. ︎Having designed the Privateers and Gentlemen roleplaying game, based on his Privateers & Gentlemen historical novel series. ︎Later on, a different company offered its own Wild Cards TTRPG adaptation (also by Miller). It too wasn’t for Superworld. It was for Green Ronin’s Mutants & Masterminds. ︎Stross’ githzerai and the slaadi appeared on the pages of White Dwarf Magazine, before White Dwarf narrowed focus to Games Workshop products. ︎In fact, I could have chosen four entirely different games for each of the four authors: Privateers and Gentlemen for Williams, Dream Park for Niven, Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire for Martin, and the other, out of print Laundry RPG for Stross. ︎I am not counting Ford’s work-for-hire supplements or I would have mentioned his The Klingons: A Sourcebook and Character Generation Supplement. Or The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues. Or Starquest. Ford wrote lots of fine RPG material, but none of it was based on his fiction. ︎The post Four SF Book Series Adapted Into Roleplaying Games appeared first on Reactor.

Bishop Robert Barron’s evangelical powerhouse combines classic stories with truly unmatched aesthetics. What is a tongue-stone? Well, it’s just that: a triangular stone that looks an awful lot like a tongue, found in the high inland places of Europe since at least the Middle Ages. Their origin was mysterious until the 17th century, when a young scientist by the name of Nicholas Steno made a bold hypothesis. He proposed that tongue-stones bore a strong resemblance to shark teeth. In fact, he believed, they were fossils. This observation, and the principles Steno derived from it, laid the foundation for modern geology. But still, Steno’s greater calling lay ahead of him. This is the tale of “The Riddle of the Tongue-Stones” by Thomas Salerno. The prose is simple and accessible, and the intricate illustrations recall a Renaissance scientist’s notebook. The words of the book tell an impressive story, but so do its details, colors, and textures. This is no surprise coming from Word on Fire, a publishing company founded by noted digital evangelist Bishop Robert Barron. The Catholic company focuses on adults, printing beautiful annotated Bibles, scriptural commentaries, and philosophical texts. But Word on Fire Votive, the company’s children’s imprint, is equally as impressive, making the lives of saints accessible to children young and old. Studying the lives of holy people has been a part of Catholic practice for two millennia, and Word on Fire continues the tradition in fine style. One of Word on Fire’s catchphrases is “lead with beauty.” And boy howdy, did the editorial team get the message. Aesthetically, these books are stunning. The textures and construction of the books themselves have clearly been thought through. Each one is an act of thoughtful preparation. Photo credit Mark Guiney “Princesses of Heaven,” written and illustrated by the talented Fabiola Garza, features the lives of French soldier Joan of Arc, emancipated slave Josephine Bakhita, and more. The design is unapologetically feminine and stunningly done. Photo credit Mark Guiney “Saintly Creatures,” written by Alexei Sargent and illustrated by Anita Barghigiani, tells the story of saints through the animals (wolves, bees, ravens, and others) that befriended them. Photo used with permission Written by Cory Heimann, “The Light of the Saints” is a charming rhyming book elevated by the simple elegance of Tricia Dugat’s illustrations. Each page reveals a secret when a flashlight is shone through it from behind, making it a bedtime favorite. For authors, creatives, and parents, The Votive Podcast, hosted by editor Haley Stewart, provides a deeper dive on the mission of these books. The podcast offers “an exploration of art and literature that sparks the imagination,” featuring Votive authors, illustrators, public intellectuals, and parents. A recent episode features “The Riddle of the Tongue-Stones” author Thomas Salerno, who describes how to cultivate faith in science-minded children. The book is worth a read, and the podcast is worth a listen. This review is part of a series highlighting emerging young adult and children’s literature for conservative families. If you have a work or publisher to recommend, please contact the author at mark.guiney@heritage.org.  Disclaimer: The author served as an editor on the The Light of the Saints prior to its publication with Word on Fire. No compensation has been received for this review. The post Faithful Children’s Books Shine with Word of Fire Votive appeared first on The Daily Signal.

To date, much ink has been spilled on the threat China poses to the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific. What’s gotten less attention? The fact that the Indo-Pacific is a maritime theater—meaning America’s ability to maintain presence, project power, and respond to crises depends on shipping and shipbuilding capacity. Sadly, the U.S. and its partner India have proven unable to meet their domestic industrial needs. For the U.S., questions loom as to its ability to sustain its navy in a crisis if shipping and ports are not readily available. Solving the problem requires both adding ships and expanding shipyard capacities. China understands this well, and it’s assiduously worked to dominate global maritime industry. Today, it produces more than half of the world’s ship tonnage each year. Chinese shipyards churn out side-by-side warships, commercial vessels, and even paramilitary fleets, extending Beijing’s influence across the seas. At the same time, Chinese state-backed companies, benefiting from easy loans from state banks, have invested in port projects across the globe, gaining footholds in dozens of ports. Now, China’s shipbuilding capacity dwarfs America’s (232 to 1, by one estimate) and China has stakes in over 100 ports worldwide. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has moved to counter this trend by revitalizing American shipbuilding. The Trump administration has called for a larger Navy, new commercial shipbuilding investments, and onshoring of maritime supply chains. “We used to make so many ships… we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact,” Trump told Congress, promising to “resurrect” the American shipbuilding industry and even create a White House shipbuilding office. This signals a return to hard industrial strength as a cornerstone of national security. But constraints remain—the result of decades of inactivity. Today, U.S. shipyards have limited capacity, aging infrastructure, and workforce shortages—all posing obstacles to efforts to scale up quickly. These issues, ranging from antiquated facilities to a lack of skilled tradespeople, have built up over decades, and they can’t be fixed overnight. But India is quietly demonstrating that it could be part of the answer. Recently, Indian shipyards have exported advanced offshore patrol vessels to countries like Mauritius and Seychelles, and India even delivered an indigenously built missile corvette to Vietnam in 2023. These aren’t symbolic gifts; they’re strategic deliveries of capable naval platforms to like-minded partners—partners that also matter to America. India’s Growing Maritime Industry India has quietly built a substantial shipbuilding base via major shipyards—such as Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Cochin Shipyard, and Larsen & Toubro—that have proven capabilities across a range of vessels. Mazagon Dock produces advanced destroyers, stealth frigates, and Scorpene class submarines for the Indian Navy. Cochin Shipyard built India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier and, along with Mazagon Dock, now serves as a leading hub for naval vessel production. These shipyards operate under transparent procurement regimes, serve regional navies, and, increasingly, are looking outward for collaboration. Indian shipbuilders are even expanding abroad, with Mazagon Dock recently acquiring a majority stake in Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard. This momentum is further anchored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Maritime India Vision 2030,” which outlines over 150 initiatives to modernize port and shipping infrastructure, enhance shipbuilding capacity, and strengthen India’s role in global maritime trade. Over the past decade, we’ve seen deepening U.S.-India defense ties in air, land, and space. Shipbuilding is the natural next step. Both nations share an interest in a free and open Indo-Pacific, and both face similar challenges in scaling their naval capacity. They also bring complementary strengths to the table. But any effective shipbuilding collaboration must be structured around existing U.S. legal frameworks, including Title X (which generally requires U.S. Navy vessels to be domestically built) and the Jones Act (which mandates U.S.-built ships for domestic trade). Framework for US-India Shipbuilding Cooperation The goal of U.S.-India shipbuilding cooperation isn’t to outsource American shipbuilding—it’s to expand the total allied shipbuilding capacity available to the U.S. and its friends. Done right, partnering with India can increase throughput, ease bottlenecks, and boost allied readiness in the Indo-Pacific. This isn’t a zero-sum proposal. Growing both nations’ maritime industries would prove a net good for both democracies. Practically, this cooperation should take six forms: Indian Shipbuilding for Allies and Commercial Needs:  Indian shipyards can contribute to international commercial shipbuilding and to foreign military sales programs for U.S. partners. India could build patrol vessels or support ships for allied navies and coast guards. This would bolster maritime security among friendly nations without infringing on U.S. domestic capacity. Modular Co-Production of Ship Components: The U.S. and India can pursue a “build together” model for non-sensitive ship components. Indian yards could fabricate hull sections, modular blocks, or other ship sub-assemblies, which would then be shipped to the U.S. for final integration into American-built vessels. This mirrors some transatlantic defense-industrial arrangements and would relieve pressure on overstretched U.S. yards—all while keeping final assembly and sensitive high-tech systems on U.S. soil. Joint Research and Prototyping: The two countries should co-develop new naval technologies like unmanned surface vessels, digital shipyard management tools, or AI-based and digital ship systems. They can jointly prototype and test these technologies, sharing expertise and costs. Production can still be localized in the United States (or to other trusted partners) for any actual warship integration, thus complying with sourcing laws. This kind of collaboration can spur innovation in both countries’ maritime industries. Allied Fleet Maintenance: India can serve as a regional hub for maintenance, repair, and overhaul of vessels that the U.S. has exported or transferred to allies in the Indo-Pacific. Indian shipyards have large dry docks and skilled engineers capable of servicing warships. By handling routine overhauls for, say, a Southeast Asian navy’s patrol craft, Indian yards would support allied readiness while freeing up capacity at U.S. shipyards for higher-priority domestic programs. Commercial Shipbuilding Corridor: The U.S. can collaborate on dual-use vessels and help India elevate its commercial shipbuilding standards. This might involve assisting Indian yards in obtaining internationally recognized classifications and co-developing commercial ship designs. The result would be more diverse and resilient supply chains and an alternative for friendly nations that today rely on Chinese financing and shipyards for their maritime needs. Encourage Indian Investment in U.S. Shipyards: The U.S. should welcome Indian companies to invest in American shipyards in regions like the Gulf Coast or Great Lakes, where additional capital could expand capacity. Any such investments would, of course, be structured to comply with U.S. laws. With the right federal and state incentives, Indian industrial conglomerates could partner in reviving U.S. shipyards, creating American jobs, and building more ships in the United States. Since Indian shipyards are looking for opportunities to invest abroad, this would both make sense and serve as a novel form of strategic onshoring between trusted friends. Strengthening Ship Repair Collaboration Beyond building new ships, there’s another way to expand shipbuilding capacity: via ship repair. Here, U.S.-India cooperation is already yielding results—and there’s room for growth: Mid-Voyage Repair Partnerships: The U.S. Navy has already begun using Indian shipyards for voyage repairs of its ships during deployments. In August 2022, the USNS Charles Drew underwent repairs at an L&T shipyard in Chennai. This was the first ever U.S. Navy vessel serviced in India. In 2023, it was followed by both the USNS Matthew Perry and the USNS Salvor. These successful repair jobs show India capable and trustworthy of handling sensitive U.S. military vessels. Going forward, the U.S. and India can scale up this model, making mid-voyage repairs in India a routine option to keep American ships ready and reduce transit backlogs at home ports. Faster Turnaround with Original Equipment Manufacturer Partnerships: To improve repair turnaround times, Indian shipyards can co-locate spare parts inventories and even satellite facilities of major equipment manufacturing partnerships on-site. U.S. companies can play a role here by helping standardize procedures. Introducing best practices in logistics and inventory management would make Indian operations more efficient, benefiting both navies. Joint Workforce Development: The U.S. and India should make it easier for skilled maritime workers to move between the two countries. Both can send personnel to top shipbuilding training hubs in South Korea and Japan, then bring those skills back into their own shipyards. Simple, reciprocal labor agreements with trusted partners can help fill skills gaps, speed up technology adoption, and keep a steady pipeline of qualified workers for shipbuilding and repair. Maritime Group of likeminded partners. An informal group of like-minded maritime partner nations can address common interests regarding freedom of navigation, multinational shipping regulations, shared maritime threats. This new group would be a formidable block, creating the conditions for maritime industrial growth. U.S.-India shipbuilding collaboration isn’t about outsourcing American security—it’s about rapidly fixing a shared weakness. This is an endeavor best executed together by building a deeper alliance rooted in shared capacity, trust, and complementary strengths. In an era when maritime dominance is determined by industrial throughput and the ability to build and sustain fleets, no nation can afford to go it alone. The U.S. needs partners that not only share its values but have the industrial muscle to help meet common challenges. India is one of those rare partners. As the U.S. retools its own shipbuilding base, it should also help build a coalition of capacity. With growing shipyards, investment capital, and commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, India is perfectly primed to be a pillar of that coalition. If the two engage in structured cooperation, respecting American laws while opening new industrial pathways, both will be able to sail farther and faster together. The post Better Together: Reviving US and Indian Maritime Industries appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The first responsibility of any government is to keep its people safe. Yet in too many American cities that promise is going unfulfilled. Chicago sees dozens of shootings every weekend. New York struggles with organized retail theft and rising violent crime. Los Angeles continues to battle gangs that recruit faster than police can arrest. Washington, D.C., itself has seen homicides spike to levels not witnessed in decades.  These are not isolated problems. They are symptoms of a larger crisis. When crime outpaces local capacity, when violence becomes routine, and when citizens begin to lose faith in their leaders’ ability to provide safety, the federal government must step in.  This is no reflection on the dedication or professionalism of local law enforcement. Officers are doing their best under extraordinary strain. Most major city police departments are woefully understaffed. The deeper problem lies with policies and agendas imposed by local, state, and county officials—policies that tie the hands of those sworn to protect the public and embolden criminals to act without fear of consequences.  Federal intervention has worked before. In the 1960s and ’70s, when organized crime dominated industries, the FBI and federal prosecutors dismantled the Mafia’s grip. After 9/11, federal task forces surged into cities across the country, preventing further terrorist attacks. More recently, multiagency operations have taken down gangs and trafficking networks that no single police department could confront alone.  And there is strong evidence showing that the Federal crackdown on crime in our nation’s capital is working. D.C., which has one of the highest murder rates among major cities, has now gone 13 straight days without a homicide. The last recorded murder occurred on Aug. 13. As of Tuesday, 630 people have been arrested and 86 illegal guns have been confiscated since President Donald Trump federalized the District of Columbia police on Aug. 11. And the D.C. Police Union, an avid supporter of the surge in additional crime-fighting assets, reported earlier this week that overall violent crime in the city is down 25%, with carjackings down 83%, robberies down 46% and assaults with a deadly weapon down 13%.  Our nation’s recent crime wave also exposes another hard truth: Many offenses are committed by juveniles—children not yet old enough to drive but old enough to carry a gun, rob a store, or assault a stranger. That should trouble us all. Real solutions require asking hard questions, not just about the problem, but about how to solve it. Just recently, Gloucester Township, New Jersey, passed the Minors and Parents Responsibility Law, which holds parents accountable for their children’s unlawful actions. Some may find this controversial, but it underscores a basic point: Parents must actively shape their children’s choices.  Meanwhile, some political leaders are pursuing the opposite approach. In New York City, the leading mayoral candidate has built his campaign around defunding the police and removing law enforcement altogether. If that agenda succeeds, the federal government will have no choice but to step in and take over basic policing. When local officials abdicate their duty, the feds must fill the void.  The void is already evident. In Chicago, entire neighborhoods live under the expectation that every weekend brings gunfire, injury and death. Police often know the street corners, the blocks, the times of day, and even potential suspects. Yet week after week, the cycle repeats. In my view, this is one of the biggest civil rights violations in our country’s history—millions living with predictable, preventable violence because leaders refuse to act.  Critics call federal involvement “heavy-handed.” But what is truly heavy-handed is letting children grow up in neighborhoods where murder is routine, letting shop owners lose everything to theft and violence, and allowing government to shirk its most basic duty: protecting its citizens.  Federal law enforcement does not replace its local policing colleagues, it strengthens them. It brings additional intelligence, manpower, and expertise. Whether it is the FBI tracking fugitives, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives targeting gun traffickers, or the Department of Homeland Security dismantling cartel networks, federal support makes communities safer.  When local officials fail, citizens will eventually demand federal help. If the feds can demonstrate results in the nation’s capital, communities across America—tired of broken promises and endless violence—will soon be vying for the same support.  This is not about politics. It is about safety. Until every American can walk their streets without fear, there is no higher calling for federal law enforcement than to march in and stand alongside their local counterparts.  Because a nation that cannot keep its people safe is a nation at risk—not just from foreign enemies, but from neglect at home.  We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post When the Feds Should Go Marching In appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Have Drones Already Become Obsolete In Warfare?

“Psychotherapy is not only mental, but also affects our brain, and it does so very strongly.”

On Thursday, August 21, at 4:30 p.m., my wife, my youngest daughter, and I stood in the soft light of an overcast day at Villanova University’s welcome Mass. She had earned the right to call herself a freshman. The class of 2029 also carries a distinction: the first freshman class to attend the alma mater of a pope.Pride did not fully prepare us for what came next.Everything is an education. Courage, the first of the virtues, does not mean reckless bravado. I learned something about it.At 4:34 p.m., phones around us buzzed with a NOVA Alert:ACTIVE SHOOTER Incident WarningACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location.Lock/Barricade doors. More info to follow.My daughter showed my wife the text. As they puzzled over it, the crowd shifted. Chairs toppled with a sound like rain. I briefly imagined a cloudburst pushing people indoors.The murmur swelled into a surge. People dove to the ground. I had not yet seen the alert. Gunfire? I heard none. A vehicle attack? Lightning? A tornado? A wild animal?Ancient Greeks saw their gods and the gods of their enemies amid the terror of battlefields. In that instant, the mind supplied its own agents of terror in the convulsing crowd at Villanova.“Dad, run!” my daughter shouted. She and my wife had already bolted. I jogged after them, but the walkways churned like rapids and they disappeared in the current. I moved into the open at Connelly Plaza to search. Moments later, my daughter called from inside the Connelly Center, urging me to stop standing outside and get to cover. I geolocated my wife’s phone; it registered inside Dougherty Hall.A heavily armed officer and several others strode past, asking for the library. I pointed as best I could. Someone inside Dougherty waved me in with insistence.Inside, I found my wife’s purse and phone. Some thoughtful person had picked it up and brought it in. She soon called from a stranger’s phone to say she had reached the Ithan parking garage a little further off. I took up a post with four or five other dads at the glass entrance to Dougherty and waited for the all-clear. It came an hour and a half later.Everything is an education. Courage, the first of the virtues, does not mean reckless bravado. I learned something about it that afternoon.Panic spreads faster than any bullet. Faces around me looked as if they had witnessed a threat firsthand. The truth is that most had only read the alert and then seen fear and panic in other people’s faces. That fear became the source of multiplying bad information.RELATED: America can’t survive on lies and make-believe morality invincible_bulldog via iStock/Getty Images“Tune our hearts to brave music,” St. Augustine prayed. Villanova’s staff did exactly that. They acted with calm and helped people reach safety. Even so, the hoaxer exposed vulnerabilities. If you have not witnessed immediate danger, move safely and deliberately to a secure place. Don’t fuel the stampede.Augustine may have also said, “Hope has two beautiful daughters: anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” The hoaxing continued that weekend — one call to the University of South Carolina, another to Villanova. The intent is obvious: inflict physical and psychological harm by weaponizing the consensus response — run and shelter in place.The threat, paradoxically, comes from hijacking the security system by crying wolf. The remedy must make that hijacking harder, verify and communicate information faster, and reduce harm when the system gets abused. That requires careful thinking about methods and messages — and about courage.Courage steadies the hands that send the alerts, guides parents and students to act with discipline, and keeps us from trampling one another in a fog of rumor. I watched it in real time from Dougherty Hall. It will be needed again.

John Bolton, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, is reportedly under investigation for allegedly mishandling classified information. If held to his own standard, then his days as a free man might be numbered.Nearly a year after the FBI's 2022 raid of Trump's Palm Beach residence, Jack Smith — the special counsel illegally appointed by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland — charged Trump with supposedly mishandling classified information.'Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreements.'Bolton was among those who rushed to attack the president, happily touring liberal newsrooms with smears and speculation. He told Biden press secretary turned MSNBC talking head Jen Psaki, for instance, that he was "pretty confident" the allegations in the Trump indictment were true.While admittedly oblivious to the contents of the documents that Trump supposedly retained, Bolton told CNN, "They did go to absolute, the most important secrets that the United States has, directly affecting national security, directly affecting the lives and safety of our service members and our civilian population. If he has anything like what … the indictment alleges, and of course the government will have to prove it, then he has committed very serious crimes.""This really is a rifle shot," Bolton said in reference to the indictment, "and I think it should be the end of Donald Trump’s political career."While Trump's case was ultimately dismissed, Bolton's troubles with the law are apparently beginning to snowball.RELATED: Jack Smith tried to take Trump off the board. Now he's set for a reckoning. FBI conducts authorized search of Bolton's house on Aug. 22. Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty ImagesThe FBI raided Bolton's home in Bethesda, Maryland, on the morning of Aug. 22 on FBI Director Kash Patel's orders. Later in the day, federal agents searched Bolton's Washington, D.C., office.A top U.S. official told the New York Post that the raid was in connection with a resurrected probe involving Bolton's alleged use of a private email server to send classified national security documents to family members from his work desk prior to his September 2019 dismissal by Trump.The official told the Post, "While Bolton was a national security adviser, he was literally stealing classified information, utilizing his family as a cutout."'Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail.'In Trump's first term, the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton disclosed classified information in his book, "The Room Where It Happened," after first proving unable to stop the publication of the book with a lawsuit.The Trump administration failed to secure an injunction because Bolton's book had already made its way into the hands of booksellers."Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreements," wrote U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. "The government sufficiently alleges that Bolton disclosed information without confirming that the information was unclassified."Lamberth noted further that while "Bolton may indeed have caused the country irreparable harm," "with hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe — many in newsrooms — the damage is done."RELATED: Gabbard CLEANS HOUSE after warning Brennan, Clapper 'have a lot of their own people' squirreled away Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesTrump noted in June 2020, "Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information."The case was referred to the DOJ by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, but the resulting investigation was torpedoed by President Joe Biden's administration for "political reasons," according a top U.S. official.The probe has been reopened — and it appears that the stakes are higher than previously acknowledged, as Bolton's alleged carelessness was exploited by a foreign regime.Individuals said to be familiar with the investigation but speaking on the condition of anonymity recently told the New York Times that the U.S. gathered data from an adversarial country's spy service and found emails containing sensitive information that Bolton allegedly sent to individuals "close to him" on an unclassified system while still working for the Trump administration.It is presently unclear which adversarial nation obtained the emails.The individuals familiar with the probe indicated that the emails contained information apparently taken from classified documents Bolton had seen while serving as Trump's national security adviser.Bolton is evidently taking the investigation seriously, having reportedly had discussions with Abbe Lowell, the high-profile criminal defense attorney who has represented pardoned felon Hunter Biden, New York state Attorney General Letitia James, and ex-Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook.The White House referred Blaze News to the DOJ for comment, which declined to comment when pressed by the Times. Bolton also reportedly declined to comment.On his first day back in office, Trump revoked any security clearances Bolton might have held.Trump noted that the publication of Bolton's memoir "created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed" and "undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!