The two children killed by a trans-identifying shooter who opened fire at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday were identified by their families as 8-year-old Fletcher Alexander Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Lillian Moyski. The parents of both Merkel and Moyski shared statements on Thursday, addressing the shooting and reflecting on the lives of their children who were mercilessly taken from them, CBS News reported. “Yesterday, a coward decided to take our 8-year-old son, Fletcher, away from us. Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming,” the Merkel family said in a statement. “Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking and any sport that he was allowed to play. While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that in time, our family can find healing. I pray that the other victim’s family can find some semblance of the same.” The statement was read by Merkel’s father, Jesse, at a press conference on Thursday. In a statement on Moyski, her family remembered her “laughter, kindness, and spirit” that they said “touched everyone who knew her.” “We are devastated to share that our beloved daughter, Harper Moyski, was tragically killed in the recent school shooting. Harper was a bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her,” the statement continued. “Our hearts are broken not only as parents, but also for Harper’s sister, who adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss. As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.” Both families asked for privacy as they continue to grieve their tragic losses. The Merkel family added that they hope to set up a scholarship in Fletcher’s name. The parents of the two children killed in the Annunciation Catholic School shooting spoke out on Thursday, with one father urging others to “give your kids an extra hug” as he remembered his son, 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel. https://t.co/DXbYjfmnYk pic.twitter.com/1MBxAnplMc — ABC News (@ABC) August 28, 2025 This is Harper Moyski. Just 10-years-old, she was one of the kids killed at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Her parents: “Harper was a bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her.” @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/F2n1qAQWe8 — Chenue Her (@ChenueHer) August 28, 2025 The gunman, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, wounded 18 other people — including 15 children — when he attacked the Catholic school. Authorities initially said 17 people were injured, but on Thursday, they said that one more child had been taken to the hospital in a private vehicle after the shooting. All of the wounded children are expected to survive, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that politicians and political commentators who have condemned prayer in the wake of a mass shooting in Minnesota should “get new politics.” In an appearance on Fox News, Vance ripped into those who have mocked or dismissed calls for prayer to help deal with tragedy. The vice president said that people who have targeted prayer after a gunman killed two children at Annunciation Catholic School’s church on Wednesday morning have “something very wrong” with their souls. “If you are a politician or you’re a media commentator and two beautiful babies just got murdered while praying, and your politics force you to condemn prayer in response to it, you ought to get new politics because something very wrong has gone on inside your soul,” said Vance, who is a Catholic. .@VP: “If you are a politician or you’re a media commentator and two beautiful babies just got murdered while praying, and your politics force you to condemn prayer in response to it, you ought to get new politics because something very wrong has gone on inside your soul.” pic.twitter.com/ukwAIWdBbs — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 28, 2025 A number of left-wing politicians and commentators have downplayed prayer in the wake of the shooting. Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who served in the Biden administration, said in a post on X: “Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers does (sic) not end school shootings. prayers (sic) do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.” Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday dismissed “thoughts and prayers” during a news conference after the shooting. “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church,” Frey said. “These are kids that should be learning with their friends. They should be playing on the playground. They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence.” California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom echoed Frey’s sentiment in a post on X that targeted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who defended prayer in reaction to Psaki’s comment. “These children were literally praying as they got shot at,” Newsom wrote. Annunciation Catholic Church invited prayer in an open letter to the general public on Wednesday evening, asking for support as the community grapples with the deadly attack. “Please lift up these families and these children in prayer and surround them and each other with your love during this difficult time,” the school’s principal, Matthew DeBoer, and the church’s pastor, Father Dennis Zehren, wrote.

Aria entered the room holding up her new jersey after making her school’s sports team. There was a brief discussion about numbers as she explained that she only had 17 and 21 to choose from. Just as she began to explain that she liked 21, she noticed someone else in the room. The surprise of seeing her new baby brother made her run out screaming, saying she needed to wash her hands. In the comments section, we learn that Aria knew she had a new baby brother, but the surprise was his release from NICU and being at home. Her parents wanted her first time seeing her new brother to be special. All thoughts of sports teams and jersey numbers fled the scene as she raced out to scream quietly and wash her hands. The parents did a brilliant job with this introduction. They did not quell Aria’s excitement over making the team. They allowed her to discuss her jersey number choices and responded to her excitement. When she noticed the baby, it only took her half a second to race out so she could come back in and hold him. After washing up, she came back to hold her baby brother for the first time. After that first meeting, every day after school included cuddle time. Aria has become the best big sister ever. He’s a year old now, but she still goes out of her way to entertain her baby brother with silly antics to make him laugh. They dance together a lot. Aria also engages in activities for herself, including a series of Crumbl cookie reviews. If you want to see more smiles with this little family, please follow Drealaria on YouTube. Please share. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post “Surprised Our Daughter & Didn’t Tell Her That Her Baby Brother Was Here” appeared first on InspireMore.

We're All Going to Miss the CDC's BDSM Scientist Who Just Quit in Disgust

Using data from over 10,000 individuals, the study found that over half the interventions had not been assessed for safety.

The New York Times devoted nearly 3,000 words Wednesday to a hostile profile of collegiate swimmer-turned-women’s sports activist Riley Gaines, painting her as rude and ruthless in her vengeance tour against transgender males competing in women’s sports. Reporter Ruth Graham declared off the top in her headline and subhead: “Riley Gaines Finished 5th. Now She Believes Victory Is in Her Grasp; The former college swimmer has used her race against Lia Thomas, a trans athlete, to propel her career as an influential, and unsparing, activist.” Graham set the scene of the tension-charged women’s swimming championship meet in 2022, where biological male Thomas and a then-unknown University of Kentucky swimmer named Riley Gaines tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle, though the male swimmer was the one who posed with the fifth place trophy: But as Ms. Thomas has largely dropped from public view in the years since, Ms. Gaines has turned that fateful race into a thriving career as an activist against the participation of transgender women in women’s sports…. Graham admitted Gaines’s views were “taboo in liberal spaces only a few years ago,” but “are increasingly mainstream” and “[i]t is hard to find a politician in either major party to offer a full-throated defense of the idea of transgender women playing women’s sports.” Without emphasis, Graham noted Lia Thomas (“she”) won the 500-yard freestyle championship in the woman’s division. That was after Thomas had been ranked No. 65 when competing against his fellow males. Fascinating. Graham noted Gaines’s concerns about lack of privacy in the locker room and the slight she suffered when Thomas, the male swimmer, had the privilege of holding the fifth-place trophy. Then it got personal against Gaines, with Graham portraying her as aiming to wipe men who claim they are women out of existence. The Times reporter also proved she has a very loose view of “offensiveness”: Ms. Gaines’s approach to activism involves a weaponization of names, pronouns, physical descriptions and other language to undermine the legitimacy of transgender people’s mere existence in the world. In 2022, she used female pronouns for Ms. Thomas and emphasized that she affirmed her gender identity. “I am in full support of her and full support of her transition and her swimming career and everything like that,” she told The Daily Wire days after the race. Now, offensiveness is a part of her brand. When I met Ms. Gaines this spring, she told me a story about an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky who was raised as a girl but was in the process of transitioning during the 2021-22 season. Graham huffily described a disputed confrontation between Gaines and a transgender coach. “I lost it on her,” Ms. Gaines said, using the wrong pronoun for the coach. “I was like, ‘Because, quite frankly, no one cares how you feel.’” (Transgender people and their allies consider it offensive to refer to them by their former name, known as their deadname, without permission.) (....) Ms. Gaines’s version of telling the truth now includes publicly insulting transgender individuals, including teenage athletes whom she calls out by name to her 1.5 million followers on X. After pushing trans-friendly propaganda ("deadname") as normal, Graham pushed more emotional hot buttons to paint Riley’s common-sense stand for women as cruel. Her longer-term goals include the restriction of transgender medical treatments for adolescents, and ultimately the legal and cultural dismantling of the belief that transgender people exist. (“A man believes he is a woman — those people exist,” she said. “But men who are women do not exist.”) Eventually, she might run for office, she said. The Times attached one of its occasional “Reporter commentary” audio clips to the article; at the 3:30 mark Graham lamented how Gaines’ rhetoric had become “more extreme over the years and a lot harsher.” Speaking of “extreme,” Graham has a history of extreme-style labeling of religious movements, finding the 2021 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention filled with “ultraconservatives” and “hard-right” labels. Gaines responded to the hit piece on X: Lots of dishonesty & false depictions in this NYT piece written by @publicroad (as expected) that essentially paints me as Satan himself. But normal, sane people understand men can't be women and vice versa. Keep doubling down, @nytimes, and we'll keep winning.

Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterms. No red wave. Not even close. Since then, special election after special election has gone badly for the GOP. Losses pile up everywhere — like what just happened in deep red Western Iowa. Uh-oh.Donald Trump won Woodbury County in 2024 by a wide margin, 60% to 37%. But in a special election this week, Democrats carried the county by nine points — a swing of more than 30 points in a place where Democrats don’t even control the election machinery.Men, spend at least half the time on self-government that you spend on football this fall. Hold your candidates accountable.That should terrify every Republican. If Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot, or if the candidate isn’t a strong standard-bearer like Ron DeSantis in Florida or Kim Reynolds in Iowa, the GOP struggles to turn out voters. The Republican brand is busted unless tied to someone who transcends it.Rep. Randy Feenstra (R), the congressman from Western Iowa, is the antithesis of a transcendent candidate. He’s nothing in Washington yet somehow thinks he’s suited to be governor. That is exactly the sort of mediocrity voters are rejecting.Enough. We cannot accept Republicans who bide their time, hoping Trump passes from the stage, only to drag us back to the timid talking points of 2005. No more Mitt Romneys. The choice is stark: Either embrace Trump’s America First agenda without apology or get out of the way.The stakes couldn’t be clearerThe Woodbury County loss is a four-alarm fire. If Republicans don’t wake up, Democrats will catch them flat-footed again in the 2026 midterms.Look north. Minnesota is already succumbing to progressive chaos. The state covers for an Islamic takeover of its largest city. Catholic children were just shot at Mass by a trans terrorist. Politicians there proudly defend the worldview that produces bloodshed, blasphemy, and disorder. And still, red states remain complacent — unprepared for the next wave of evil attacks on faith, family, and freedom.RELATED: Democrat's shocking victory in Iowa raises alarm for GOP Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesRepublicans can’t afford that softness any longer. Too many in the GOP act like the proverbial dog returning to its vomit. That weakness must end. Candidates must raise the stakes, not bury them in cowardice and equivocation. They must be warriors ready to defend this country against every enemy, foreign and domestic.A challenge to menSo here’s my challenge: Men, spend at least half the time on self-government that you spend on football this fall. Fortify your homes, your churches, and your communities. Hold your candidates accountable.If you don’t, your sons may not inherit the blessing of football season — or the freedoms you’ve taken for granted.

Crime of the Century was their era-defining third album that catapulted them to global success, along with Crisis? What Crisis? The post Supertramp LPs Get Half-Speed Remasters For 50th Anniversary appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

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