Newsom used images from the film 'Twins' to smear Schwarzenegger

'Judicial activism in action'

It was the oldest passenger ship still floating: he turned it into an unforgettable terrestrial hotel experience. Long since declared unseaworthy, the MV Doulos Phos is now the 5-star Doulos Phos Ship Hotel at the Bintan resort reclamation project in Indonesia. But if you’re imagining the ship to be merely a prop, thank again. Her […] The post He Beached an Old Cruise Ship and Turned it into $18 Million Beachfront Hotel with Love appeared first on Good News Network.

News The Sisters Grimm Apple TV+ Reveals The Sisters Grimm Animated Series Cast and October Release Date Giants and princes and piggies, oh my! By Molly Templeton | Published on August 26, 2025 Image: Apple TV+ Comment 0 Share New Share Image: Apple TV+ Once upon a time, two orphaned sisters discovered that they were the descendants of the Brothers Grimm, and that fairy tales were real. No, this isn’t a new Grimm spinoff or reboot (though that might be happening). It’s Michael Buckley’s bestselling Sisters Grimm series—which is coming to Apple TV+ in animated form. The Sisters Grimm, Apple says, “is a journey of adventure and heart about sleuth-solving sisters descended from the Brothers Grimm who, while very different, make a pretty great team.” The synopsis says: Two orphaned sisters navigate a town full of people torn straight from fantasy and fairy tales, confronting heroes and villains alike, while investigating the mystery of their missing parents. The Sisters Grimm blends discovery, fantasy, and adventure to deliver important lessons for all ages. On the one hand, that’s not a lot to go on. On the other, really, what more do you need to know? Retelling Grimm and other fairy tales is a time-honored tradition that arguably peaked in the mid-2000s when Buckley’s series premiered. The Fairy-Tale Detectives, the first Sisters Grimm book, was published in 2005—the same year as Matt Damon and Heath Ledger’s murky film The Brothers Grimm. The comic series Fables had arrived just a few years before; on TV, Once Upon a Time came along six years later, in 2011, the same year as Grimm. And that’s just the big-name versions of Grimm. It would take a small library to feature them all. The Sisters Grimm has Amy Higgins (Star vs. the Forces of Evil) as showrunner; the animation comes from Titmouse (Frog and Toad, Scavengers Reign). The voice cast includes Ariel Winter (Modern Family) as Sabrina, Leah Newman as Daphne, Laraine Newman (Trollhunters) as Relda, Abubakar Salim (House of the Dragon) as Charming, Billy Harris (Ted Lasso) as Puck, and Harry Trevaldwyn (The Acolyte) as Mirror. The six-episode series begins October 3rd on Apple TV+.[end-mark] The post Apple TV+ Reveals <i>The Sisters Grimm</i> Animated Series Cast and October Release Date appeared first on Reactor.

Books Dissecting The Dark Descent Everything Eventually Ends: “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” by Philip K. Dick A slippery story about time loops, endings, and perpetual mourning. By Sam Reader | Published on August 26, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share Welcome back to Dissecting The Dark Descent, where we lovingly delve into the guts of David Hartwell’s seminal 1987 anthology story by story, and in the process, explore the underpinnings of a genre we all love. For an in-depth introduction, here’s the intro post. When this column started two years ago, it was with an article about how things should begin. It’s only fitting that here, at the end of our thousand-page journey through Hartwell’s anthology, we end with a story about how things should end. “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” is all about endings, from its perpetually exhausted time travelers to its gut punch of a final paragraph (that unfortunately we will have to discuss). It’s about a horror familiar to anyone trapped in a situation they can’t leave or mired in the whorls of depression, stuck in their own slough of profound loneliness. “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” brings that question to a head—when given the choice, do you choose between the familiar cycle of pain and trauma, even if it’s damaging, or begin anew, knowing you’ll be facing the strange and unfamiliar? Addison Doug and his fellow tempunauts are dead. They died upon reentry when their time capsule exploded after only traveling a week into a journey that was meant to shoot them a century forward in time. Time travel being notoriously unreliable, they’re also alive; yanked from the timeline and forced to exist in a loop alongside their own deaths until everything catches up with them. Forced through funeral parades where they accompany their own coffins and confusing military meetings where they’re told they might die but no one’s sure when, they try to figure out how to make the best of their situation with the aid of two Russian chrononauts and Doug’s girlfriend Merry Lou. As they struggle with their new reality, an unnerving sense of déjà vu arises, and with it some disturbing questions: Have they all done this before? And if so, how will it all end? Things have to end eventually. “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” knows this. It’s not sad about this fact. In fact, the story finds its own moments of deadpan humor, like arguments over whether or not the tempunauts should be allowed to smile and wave at the public during their own funeral procession, or the weirdly informal conversations the three time travelers have with their superiors and minders. It’s wistful about things finally coming to a close for the three men, but Doug and his fellow tempunauts Benz and Crayne are mostly just tired, trying to play out the time they have left and not be consumed by dread. There’s a mystery to solve, but as Crayne says, “It’s not what you have to live for, it’s that you want to live to see it, to be there—that’s what’s so damn sad.” It’s sad because that ending will close a door, because it will change things forever and you’ll have to say goodbye to the old for good. Of the three of them, Addison Doug is the most clearly suffering, mentally and emotionally, from the effects of their situation. In contrast to more overwrought or dramatic depictions of mental illness, Doug is subdued. He’s described as looking like “God’s kneeling on his neck,” a perpetually tired man who simply wants to die. As it becomes clearer that he’s stuck in a time loop, that weariness only grows while those around him try to solve the mystery and come up with a solution. He very clearly wants it all to stop, but he also knows if it does, then he will have absolutely no way to deal with it. Doug is one of the most down-to-earth depictions of someone with chronic depression out there—presented bluntly, the grim resolution to keep going through the misery one knows while at the same time wanting “it all” to just stop is spot-on. Depression isn’t always sadness. Very often, it’s weariness, the feeling of being worn down and yet wanting to burrow deeper into that all-encompassing misery, even choosing it over the possibility of momentary joy or a more uncertain future. The more Doug learns about his situation, the more he meets it with indifference—not just because he’s lived through this multiple times before and can’t see any point to continuing, but because he’s so habituated to his perpetual tiredness that it feels inseparable from his sense of self. Which is exactly why he does what he does. In an effort to trigger the capsule’s explosion upon reentry and (supposedly) break the time loop keeping everyone in a weird pocket timeline of attending their own funerals and receiving perpetual, confused examinations, he lugs fifty pounds of Volkswagen parts into the capsule, blowing them up upon reentry. His hope is that the timeline will restart with them dead, and things will progress as normal. Doug convinces the much more emotionally stable Benz and Crayne that they can all leave the loop that way, and they drive off to the blast site to initiate the procedure… only for Doug to get a call from one of the eggheads explaining that a successful reentry will break the loop and restart the timeline. The added bonus, of course, being that none of the tempunauts will explode and die. Doug’s given an out, a way not to be perpetually exhausted. Finally, an escape! All he has to do is accept some kind of ending. And he doesn’t. He lies to Benz and Crayne so they’ll all blow up the capsule and restart the loop, and heads off for another week of perpetual mourning, grief, and exhaustion rather than exiting the timeline. The story closes on the image of Doug with his eyes closed, knowing that he’s chosen a perpetual hell over a possible escape, choosing the misery he knows rather than a chance of happiness. He feels comfort at reliving the one moment he was most content, watching his own body in a flag-draped coffin, telling himself that he’s given the world “the dreadful and weary miracle of eternal life.” The story’s single moment of pure horror after its earlier scenes of pathos and deadpan humor centers on one depressed man deciding he’d rather condemn the people he knows to hell rather than escaping and moving on into an uncertain future. By offering someone that power to progress and move on, then showing them choosing not to use it, Dick’s depiction of depression strikes me as one of the most horrifying and authentic I’ve ever read. It’s also to the point—the definitive ending is better than the awful living death of perpetual weariness. Which is where we part ways. The book was always going to close on Dissecting The Dark Descent (pun very much intended). After all, The Dark Descent is long, but it’s not infinite. It’s only fitting that the last column, this last missive from this unusual two-year close-reading spree, ends on the note it began—where “The Mist” was an ending Hartwell inexplicably used as a beginning, “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” is a plea for a definitive ending, telling us that we must bring things to a close so that everyone can move on, rather than lingering on in an endless twilight. As hard as this is to type, it’s time to say goodbye. With that in mind, I’d like to thank you all for taking this trip with me. I’d especially like to thank all the authors and critics who supported this project even at its strangest and most nascent form, Bridget and Sabine, my intrepid (and long-suffering) editors, everyone who commented or read or shared this weird expedition through a definitive work of horror fiction, and of course the late, lamented David G. Hartwell for crafting and curating what was for a time the definitive collection of horror stories. Unlike Addison Doug, I know all things must come to an end—the door has to close, the lights have to go out, and the book’s got to go back on the shelf. I’ll see you in the next one, hopefully. And now to turn it over to you. What are your thoughts on “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts”? And since this is our final column, please feel free to share your favorite articles, and stories from The Dark Descent—this comments section is your space.[end-mark] The post Everything Eventually Ends: “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts” by Philip K. Dick appeared first on Reactor.

Let the blame game begin. It’s clear that Jeffrey Sharp, the general manager of Pensacola’s Saenger Theatre, placed the city in a no-win situation. How? With his handling of the fiasco surrounding the city-owned and subsidized theater’s decision to host the blasphemous “A Drag Queen Christmas” show two days before Christmas—in the middle of the city’s family-focused Winterfest celebration. Mayor Acknowledges Show Is Inappropriate—But It Remains on the Schedule On July 24th, two days after my previous article about this problematic event, Sharp told Michael Kenny, the regional vice president for ASM Global, which manages the Saenger Theatre, about a meeting he had the previous day with Pensacola’s deputy city administrator Amy Miller “in her office at City Hall.”   At that meeting, Miller informed Sharp “that the Mayor [D.C. Reeves] has concerns about this event taking place during the City’s annual Winterfest celebration.” Specifically, Miller told Sharp that the “mayor believes that this show is not a suitable fit for the family-friendly environment that the City is promoting in the downtown area during the holiday.” That’s exactly right. And yet, the show goes on. It’s likely not a coincidence that Miller, who still has preferred pronouns in her email signature block, relayed that message only two days after receiving bad press about the show. She had known about the show well in advance, having received an email from Sharp with the celebratory subject line, “Drag Queen Christmas Dec 23 is confirmed,” over two months earlier—meaning she could have objected well prior. City of Pensacola Has Final Say Over Content at the Saenger Theatre Sharp informed Kenny that the “Mayor stated that the City is not involved in booking the venue,” and that ASM has “full responsibility for booking content.” According to Sharp, the mayor said that at the time of contract renewal, the city might add language giving it “some say in the content that is booked at the venue.” But whoever told the mayor that the city has no say over what content is booked at the Saenger Theatre gave him bad advice. The city’s current agreement with ASM Global clearly gives the city the authority to step in and veto what plays at this premiere city-owned venue. Paragraph 2.6(a) of the management agreement between the city and ASM Global does not appear to have been amended since the city signed the original agreement. It provides: The City hereby reserves, along with all other rights enumerated in this Agreement, the right of approval of the following matters: . . . To review and approve the kind and quality of events, . . . and all other products or services provided and items to be sold or provided by [ASM Global], or any subcontractors, or users of the [Saenger Theatre]. In other words, this boring legalese means the city has the final say. That raises a new question: Did Miller’s and other city officials’ acquiescence in the event, after being notified about it, amount to tacit review and approval of it? The city ought to answer that question. Saenger Initially Sought To Cancel Show After Public Blowback What’s clear, though, is that immediately after the publication of my original article, Jeffrey Sharp sought to cancel the event.  He sent an email early on Friday, July 24th saying, “We will be cancelling ‘A Drag Queen Christmas’ at the Saenger.” However, he sought “an alternative venue in Pensacola for this show”—a venue he later revealed to be the Escambia County-owned and ASM Global-operated Pensacola Bay Center. Sharp said he wanted “to explore as many avenues as possible to prevent this show from going away.” Over the weekend, negotiations took place, and it looked like an agreement had been reached to cancel the show—though it would cost $50,000 to do away with this debacle. When Sharp tried to provide alternative dates and arrangements, Steve Levine, an agent with Creative Artists Agency, told Sharp that he “thought we had an agreement already…I’m a little confused.” Even Mayor Reeves seemed to think the show was going to be cancelled. When a constituent complained to him over the weekend about the show, he responded on Sunday, July 27th asking whether she had “checked the current schedule or just relied on the internet for [her] information?” But on Monday, July 28th, Sharp notified Miller about the $50,000 buyout, and ASM Global Regional Vice President, Michael Kenny confirmed with Sharp that “we are NOT executing, correct?” Instead, Kenny reached out to Stacey Escudero, an outside PR expert, because, in his words, “ . . . got something bubbling up in Pensacola.” Eventually, two other outside PR professionals, Sydney Wade and Meredith DeSanti, as well as ASM Global’s regional vice president of marketing, Kate Girottie, were all brought in to brainstorm a response. Escudero eventually sent over proposed talking points for employees, urging them to cast those who objected to this blasphemous content as “a small group of community members”—though they’re not. And she urged employees to emphasize that ticket sales for the show were strong—though she admitted she didn’t know if this was true. Unsurprisingly, she urged employees to emphasize that since the Saenger Theatre “has been part of the Pensacola community for 100 years, we value community feedback and appreciate you reaching out to share your thoughts.” Saenger Manager Initially Mocked Those Who Expressed Concern About the Inappropriate Show What’s particularly galling about this pablum is that one month earlier, Jeffrey Sharp had actually mocked community members who reached out to raise concerns about this program. In fact, when a colleague forwarded him one complaint, Sharp replied, “I saw it, and a few more. Cracks me up!”  Is that valuing community feedback? Doesn’t seem like it. Questions City Should Answer Going Forward Going forward, the city of Pensacola needs to answer at least five questions: Who from the city has the authority to review and approve shows at the Saenger Theatre pursuant to Paragraph 2.6(a) of the Management Agreement? Why did the city back away from its initial decision to cancel the show?  Who made that decision to move forward with the show? Is it appropriate for the manager of the Saenger to belittle those who raised concerns? If not, what remedial actions has the city taken? Sharp worried that Reeves had “implied that whatever decision is made regarding this event may play a factor in renewing ASM’s contract to manage the facility.” And it should! As one constituent reminded the mayor, “I can assure you that myself and many others take notice and remember [events] such as this when it is time to vote.” Pensacolians are watching—and waiting—to see what happens. The post The Show Goes On: Pensacola Theater Continues with Plan To Host Christmas Drag Show appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Gavin Newsom has memes and dunks, but does he have anything else? The California governor has received a lot of attention lately for adopting a new persona as the most prominent troll of President Donald Trump and Republicans. Some news outlets have called this his “dark woke” pivot, noting that he’s using Trump’s tactics against him. This is certainly boosting the profile of a man who very obviously wants nothing more than to be the Democrat 2028 presidential frontrunner. But is it working? My colleague, Tony Kinnett, noted on our daily podcast “Top News in 10,” that Newsom has certainly attracted a lot of attention lately with his aggressive social media strategy. Kinnett said that on X Newsom is “up 450% in terms of the number of followers since mid-June” and that since June 1 his Google searches have gone up “1300% compared to August 1st.” That’s impressive growth, largely produced by the alignment between his style and the demands of the Democrat base, which wants confrontation and blood, not abundance and triangulation. But I also agree with Kinnett that this stratagem is unlikely to work nationally, that it’s a “paper tiger” because Newsom’s policies are unpopular around the country. He has to carve out a narrower path relying on antipathy to the president, but not much else. Unlike Trump, whose social media putdowns seem natural and in character, Newsom’s sudden left-wing edgelord character seemed entirely and hastily manufactured. Why was Newsom playing nice with the Right just a few months ago before making an abrupt heel turn? Is there a real Gavin Newsom? Does that person exist? In addition, it must be said that Trump didn’t just make his way back to the White House based on his social media posts. He did it by aggressively promoting popular signature issues like building the border wall, no tax on tips, and opposing wokeness. This helped him not only secure his base of voters but grow it. We did get a brief glimpse of Newsom attempting to reach out to non-leftwing voters and talk policy. Right after Trump was elected Newsom went on a short-lived media tour to engage with conservatives. In an interview with conservative radio host Charlie Kirk, Newsom said that it was “deeply unfair” for men identifying as women to play in women’s sports. He said of underage transgender hormone treatments on another podcast, “Yeah, I mean look, now that I have a nine-year-old, just became nine, come on, man.” This was all talk. After taking some flak from the Left, Newsom very soon stopped going on conservative shows. And while he apparently thinks it’s wrong for men to play in women’s sports, he’s apparently fine with letting it happen. Not only has Newsom done nothing to change the laws in California, he has lashed out against the Trump administration for trying to end the unfair practice of men playing in women’s sports in California. He said of the Department of Education’s lawsuit against men playing in women’s sports in California on Title IX grounds, “dramatic, fake, and completely divorced from reality. This won’t stick.” Come on, man. Sports will be unfair whether you like it or not, I guess. Newsom is simply an empty, moving object with no core and no substance to speak of. Yes, California has been a big, rich state for a long time. Newsom likes to remind everyone of that fact. But is that due to the governor and the policies of his fellow Democrats who now run a one-party state? In truth, California is currently just treading water. California is rightly seen nationally as a poorly governed Garden of Eden, a state that’s coasting on its perfect location, incredible natural endowments, and the success of previous generations. It’s a sanctuary state for illegal aliens, a fading dream for departing native Californians. Even Hollywood is in decline. You can bet that a large percentage of the enormous number of former Californians living in Texas, Idaho, and elsewhere, look at California as an example of what not to do. Recently, Bed Bath & Beyond Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis put out a statement explaining that he would not be opening stores in the Golden State because of its tax and regulatory environment that “makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.” It was a damning statement echoed by many other businesses that have struggled to operate in California. Newsom responded by totally OWNING Bed, Bath & Beyond. After their bankruptcy and closure of every store, like most Americans, we thought Bed, Bath & Beyond no longer existed. We wish them well in their efforts to become relevant again as they try to open a 2nd store. https://t.co/jJt6i5icEx— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 20, 2025 Maybe that was the right political tactic. After all, what else could Newsom say? He could go back to his old “California is not a high-tax state” canard, but nobody’s buying it. The problem for Newsom is that California doesn’t get much for its high tax status. California’s roads and infrastructure are crumbling or are simply not being built. It’s massively expensive and unrealistic “alternative” energy and transportation projects, like the bullet train to nowhere, are going nowhere fast. The result is that Californians pay some of the highest energy prices in the nation. And the state spends absurd amounts of (at one point entirely untracked) money on homelessness that only seems to increase the amount of homelessness. So, in one sense Newsom is making the right call in becoming the meme governor. He has little to run on in California that isn’t outright embarrassing or completely out of step with most of the country. What does Newsom have besides a record of intensifying partisanship and the same old unpopular policies Democrats have been peddling the last decade? What’s his signature issue, making an already partisan but nominally “independent” redistricting process more rigged than it already was? So it is with Newsom. Under his slick marketing to left-wing Boomers and Zoomers, just like what was once said of my hometown of Oakland, there is no there there. The post Gavin Newsom Has Memes, But There is No There, There appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Karma Is a Stitch: Dems Still Paying for Kamala's Failed Campaign ... Literally

There's hidden power in all that seawater.

A new project has looked at unpublished data from the most intriguing signal in SETI history and found a few intriguing surprises.