I really don’t know what it’s going to take for professed Christians in this country to figure out what’s going on, but once again, President Donald Trump has shown what he’s all about and the latest is the firing of Christian author and founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown, from the Kennedy Center by …

In the world of AI, it’s pretty scary how realistic things can look online. Of course, it’s becoming a huge issue in terms of what is really real, and believable, and even in country music, there are growing concerns of how the technology will impact the many songwriters who make a living using their talent and creativity. So many are turning to AI to do things like writing, drawing and other creative endeavors instead of real humans producing art, and I’ll be honest, the AI stuff scares me and I really don’t like it at all. But even someone shares something that’s seemingly harmless, like a fake photo of an artist, it’s horrifying to think that not only will people make things like this to deceive others, but so many will fall for it, too. And there’s currently an AI-generated picture of the Willie Nelson circling on social media, along with a “story” of what happened during a recent performance on his Outlaw Music Festival tour at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, Phoenix, Arizona last month. The photo shows him covering his face and crying, bawling his eyes out, actually, after fans gave him a “eight-minute standing ovation.” It’s been shared by multiple music-focused account on Facebook and Instagram now, and even Kacey Musgraves. And while that would be a lovely, beautiful story if it were true, the photo is not real, and the story isn’t true, either. Here’s a post from one I’ve seen shared a few times: “A 92 year old Willie Nelson recently got an eight minute standing ovation and was visibly moved at the crowd’s outpouring of love and appreciation that he cried. Thousands chanted, ‘Forever Willie.’ This happened at the 2025 Outlaw Music Festival in Phoenix, Arizona.” I guess at first glance it could look realistic if you just flip through quickly, but if you look for more than a couple second, it seems really obvious to me that this is a fake photo: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Classic Rock (@classicrocckk) The first post on Facebook I saw of the picture had a top comment from a woman who was at this concert and said it was an “amazing” concert, though the story is untrue, Willie did not cry, and he wasn’t even wearing the headband you see pictured in the above photo. I’ve never see him wear a plain headband like that, actually: “I was there that night. He was amazing! But the story is not true. He didn’t even have the same headband on as in this photo. Sorry. But I did cry at how much traffic there was leaving.” A comment on the Instagram post confirms the photo is not real, but that Willie did received a lengthy standing ovation after playing “Last Leaf,” a song from his 2024 Last Leaf on the Tree album: “The post may be AI generated but based on an actual event. May 14 at Talking Stick resort. I WAS there. The ovation took place after the song ‘Last Leaf’. You can check my IG to see pics I took at this very show and others I recently attended. Every word I posted is a FACT.” Other comments corroborated the claims that Willie was not onstage crying like what you see in the fake photo. If this happened, and the story is exactly as it has been reported, the video would be extremely viral and we’d all have seen it by now. There’s no video to be found of anything like this happening at the show, and if he did receive a moving standing ovation, I wouldn’t be surprised, but it clearly wasn’t as fantastical as what some are reporting. Again, this concert happened on May 13th, almost a month ago, so I promise it would’ve been headline news if a 92-year old Nelson was playing for thousands of people and was so moved he had tears streaming down his cheeks, so much so he had to cover his face. I mean, in that picture, he looks like he is breaking down to the point he wouldn’t even be able to sing… that simply did not happen, but it points to a much larger problem for society as a whole that I can’t even begin to get into here. Some of the accounts I’ve seen this picture and story shared on have thousands, and even hundreds of thousands, of followers, I’ve even seen some other artists posting it online as well. So it’s a great lesson to be so careful when seeing things on the internet and believing everything you read. It seems so obvious, but clearly it’s not, because the picture is starting to pick up steam and go viral and I’ve seen tons of people eating it up and believing it. I am a Willie fan-girl and I hope he’s getting standing ovations at every single concert he’s playing this year, he certainly should, but when have you ever heard of him breaking down and crying in front of thousands of people like that? Just use your best judgment, and think twice before you share anything online if you’re not completely certain of where it came from or if it’s even true. And if you’re wanting to see Willie live in person on the road this year, he has a ton of dates remaining on his 2025 Outlaw Music Festival tour, and you can view them all below… long live the red headed stranger. 2025 OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR DATES & LINEUPS: June 20, 2025 Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Myron Elkins June 21, 2025 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers Myron Elkins June 22, 2025 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Myron Elkins June 25, 2025 FirstBank Amphitheater, Franklin, TN Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Tami Neilson June 27, 2025 Radians Amphitheater, Memphis, TN Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Tami Neilson June 28, 2025 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights, MO Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Tami Neilson June 29, 2025 Thunder Ridge Nature Arena Ridgedale, MO Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Tami Neilson July 5, 2025 Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, TX Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan The Avett Brothers The Mavericks Tami Neilson July 6, 2025 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Presented By Huntsman, The Woodlands, TX Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan The Avett Brothers The Mavericks Tami Neilson July 25, 2025 Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours Charles Wesley Godwin Willow Avalon July 26, 2025 PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours Charles Wesley Godwin Willow Avalon July 27, 2025 Coastal Credit Union Music Park, Raleigh, NC Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours Charles Wesley Godwin Willow Avalon July 29, 2025 Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours Willow Avalon August 1, 2025 Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Wilco Lucinda Williams Waylon Payne August 2, 2025 Broadview Stage at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Wilco Lucinda Williams Waylon Payne August 3, 2025 BankNH Pavilion, Gilford, NH Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Wilco Lucinda Williams Waylon Payne August 8, 2025 Darien Lake Amphitheater, Buffalo, NY Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours The Red Clay Strays Waylon Payne August 9, 2025 Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours The Red Clay Strays Waylon Payne August 10, 2025 Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Turnpike Troubadours The Red Clay Strays Waylon Payne September 5, 2025 Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Sheryl Crow Waxahatchee Madeline Edwards September 6, 2025 Xfinity Theatre, Hartford, CT Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Sheryl Crow Waxahatchee Madeline Edwards September 7, 2025 Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan TBA Waxahatchee Madeline Edwards September 12, 2025 Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJ Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Sheryl Crow Waxahatchee Madeline Edwards September 13, 2025 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Sheryl Crow Waxahatchee Madeline Edwards September 14, 2025 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Sheryl Crow Madeline Edwards September 19, 2025 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Sheryl Crow Waxahatchee Madeline Edwards Willie recently teamed up with fellow music legend Steve Perry for a reimagined version of Journey’s “Faithfully” as part of Farm Aid fundraiser: The post Willie Nelson Fans Fooled By AI-Generated Photo Of Him Crying After Alleged “8-Minute Standing Ovation” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Violent insurrectionists turned areas of Los Angeles into lawless hellscapes over the weekend, with anarchists setting fire to vehicles, throwing scooters and debris at police, and looting businesses—all while waving foreign flags. Despite the rising chaos, Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose office likened the riots to a Philadelphia Eagles playoff victory celebration, and Mayor Karen Bass, who refuses to support federal law enforcement, haven’t taken sufficient...

I've always really liked cliches, idioms, proverbs, and common phrases we like to use over and over. They can get repetitive at times, but they're crucial tools in communication. They allow us to convey so much meaning in so few words—a commonly understood shorthand that can get complex points across quickly.The only problem is that many of the most popular idioms in common use date back hundreds of years. In that time, they've either become outdated or seen their words adopt new meanings. In some cases the idioms have been shortened or reversed, losing important context. So when someone tells you to "bite the bullet," you may inherently know what they mean—but if you really stop and think about it, you have no idea why it means what it means.If you're a word nerd like me, you'll be absolutely fascinated by the origin and evolution of some of these common idioms, and how they came to mean what they mean today.1. Sick as a dog / Working like a dog Dog hard at work Giphy Ever have a cold and tell someone you're "sicker than a dog?" Kind of rude to dogs, in my opinion, and a little strange. I've had dogs my whole life and can't remember any of them coming down with the flu.Sick as a dog actually originates hundreds of years ago, if not longer. Some explanations say that in the 1700s, stray dogs were responsible for the spread of many diseases, along with rats and other gutter critters. There are also references as far back as the Bible to dogs eating their own vomit—sounds pretty sick to me.What about working like a dog? Dogs are the laziest creatures around! For this one you have to remember that dogs as "pleasure pets" is a relatively recent phenomenon. Before that they had to earn their keep by working tirelessly on the farm to herd and protect the animals.2. Sweating like a pig Close up of pigs.Image via CanvaThis is an extremely common idiom that we all use and accept. There's just one problem with it: Pigs don't sweat!So...what gives? You might be surprised to hear that 'sweating like a pig' actually has nothing to do with farm animals.According to McGill University: "The term is actually derived from the iron smelting process in which hot iron poured on sand cools and solidifies with the pieces resembling a sow and piglets. Hence 'pig iron.' As the iron cools, the surrounding air reaches its dew point, and beads of moisture form on the surface of the 'pigs.' Thus, 'sweating like a pig' indicates that the 'pig' (i.e. iron) has cooled enough to be safely handled. And that's a 'pig' you wouldn't want to eat."3. Bite the bullet A person holds a plate of bullets.Image via Canva Biting the bullet refers to sucking it up and doing something hard, something you don't want to do but is necessary, and accepting the difficult consequences and/or pain that comes with it. But what does that have to do with biting a bullet?There are different theories on this. One common explanation is that in the olden days it was common for soldiers on the battlefield receiving surgery to bite down on a lead bullet. You've probably seen people in movies biting down on a piece of wood or leather strap. Since lead is a softer metal, it would give just a little bit between their teeth and not damage them. So the idiom 'biting the bullet' means, "Okay, this is going to suck, just bite down and get through it."4. Healthy as a horse A horse making a funny face. Image via Canva This one has always confused me. As a layman, it seems like horses are prone to injury and have trouble recovering when they hurt themselves. More research shows that horses can not vomit, which means they are highly at risk for deadly colic episodes. Doesn't sound super healthy!The best explanation I can find for healthy as a horse is that, again, in the olden days, horses were symbols of health and strength and vitality. Which checks out—they're really powerful, majestic creatures.5. Slept like a baby A baby with glasses sleeping on a moon pillow.Image via Canva To many parents, this common idiom is rage-inducing. If babies sleep so well, why am I so exhausted all the time?!Yes, babies are notorious for waking up every few hours or at the first sign of hunger or a dirty diaper. It puts their parents through the wringer (another strange idiom!). But to the outside observer, a sleeping baby is pure bliss. They are so innocent and blissfully unaware of anything going on around them—after all, if they're not sitting in a dirty diaper they really don't have too many other things to worry about. Also, despite all their shenanigans, babies do sleep a lot—around 17 hours a day or so. When you put it that way, the idiom starts to make a little sense.6. Happy as a clam Ocean Seafood GIF by Lorraine Nam Giphy Clams are a lot of things. Some people find them delicious, others disgusting. One thing I think we can all agree on is that clams don't seem particularly happy, which makes this idiom a bit of a conundrum.The truth is that this phrase is actually derived from the full version: "Happy as a clam at high water."At low water, or low tide, clams are exposed to predators. At high tide, they're safe in deeper water. That's about as happy as mollusk can get!7. The proof is in the pudding Chocolate pudding.Image via Canva.Hey, we all love pudding. But what the heck does this mean? If you're not familiar, it refers to judging something based on the results it generates—but what that has to do with pudding is a bit of a mystery to most people.This is another example of a shortened idiom that makes more sense when you read the full, original line: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."According to Dictionary.com it "originated as a reference to the fact that it was difficult to judge if the pudding was properly cooked until it was actually being eaten. In other words, the test of whether it’s done is taking a bite."8. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Smiling horse. Giphy I've always been a big fan of this idiom, which basically means that it's rude to over-analyze or criticize something you got for free, especially when it was a nice gesture from a friend or loved one.But here we go with horses again! This phrase likely originated from the fact that you can determine a horse's age and health by looking at its teeth. So if someone were to give you a horse as a gift, it would be rude to immediately try to see how "good" it was by looking in its mouth.9. Clean as a whistle A young boy blows a whistle. Image via Canva Whistles are objectively disgusting. They collect spit and germs every time they're used. I certainly wouldn't hold them up as a beacon of cleanliness.So what gives with this idiom? There are several possible explanations that have been proposed.First, a whistle won't work, or won't work very well, if it has debris blocking up its inside. So you can think of "clean" in this case as being "empty or free of clutter." Another possibility is that, in this idiom, clean refers to sharpness—as in the sharp sound a whistle makes—and that inference has been lost over time.10. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps Two women laugh looking at a laptop screen Image via Canva This phrase is commonly used to describe someone who was "self-made" and built themselves up into a success from nothing. Imagine lying on the floor and hoisting yourself to your feet using only the straps on your boots.The only problem is...that's impossible! And that's exactly the point. This idiom is actually meant to be sarcastic and to imply that "socioeconomic advancement...was an impossible accomplishment," according to Useless Etymology.11. Have your cake and eat it too Slice of cake. Giphy Why bother having a cake if you can't eat it? That's the mystery of this extremely common idiom or proverb (sometimes worded "you can't have your cake and eat it, too")The explanation is actually really simple. "Have" in this case really means "keep" or "hold onto." So, in that case, it makes perfect sense that you can't eat your cake and also still have it. "You can't have it both ways," would be another way of saying it. This saying likely began in a letter from Thomas, Duke of Norfolk to Thomas Cromwell in 1538. Thomas wrote, "A man can not have his cake and eat his cake."The quote appeared again in 1546 in A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue, a book of proverbs by John Heywood: "Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?"12. Head over heels tears for fears 80s GIF Giphy Very rarely do people describe being deeply in love without using this phrase. But it's a confusing one, because isn't your head always over your heels? That doesn't seem to be an extraordinary state of being.The idiom here has actually been flipped over time for unknown reasons. According to Dictionary.com, the saying originally went "heels over head," implying upside down. The saying originated in the 1300s, took its "present form" in the 1700s, and took its present meaning in the 1800s. 13. Pushing the envelope Two women at a gym push an oversized envelope. Images via Canva When I think of radical, risky, or pushing the limits of what's possible, sliding an envelope across a table just somehow doesn't quite capture it for me. But an envelope doesn't have to be just a paper container that you put other paper in. It can actually refer to different parts and practices of an aircraft."Push the envelope comes from aeronautics, where it refers to a set of performance limits that may not be safely exceeded," according to Merriam Webster. Now that's more like it!

If you Google "smartest dog breeds," most lists that pop up put Border Collies in the No. 1 spot, followed in some order by Poodles, German Shepherds, and Golden Retrievers. But a 2023 study of canine cognition from the University of Helsinki puts a whole different breed at the top of the ladder—one that most of us have probably seen before but haven't heard the name of—the Belgian Malinois.Best known as a police or security dog, the Belgian Malinois is a shepherd breed that looks very similar to a German Shepherd. Both breeds are of similar height and coloring, but the Malinois is lighter weight and its ears are more triangular-shaped, according to the American Kennel Club. The Belgian Malinois is a shepherd breed often used for police and security work.Tomás de la Maza/Wikimedia Commons So, what is it that makes the Belgian Malinois more intelligent than other dog breeds?The study published in Scientific Reports analyzed 1,002 dogs from 13 different breeds using a battery of smartDOG cognition tests. These tests involve food reward tasks that determine a dog's capacity for memory, problem-solving, impulse control, reading human gestures, copying human behavior, and logical reasoning. Despite a wide field of research on dogs, only a handful of studies have examined cognition of specific breeds instead of breed groups. Additionally, not much empirical research has been done on nonsocial cognitive traits such as memory, inhibitory control, spatial problem-solving, and logical reasoning—all of which were covered in this study. Belgian Malinois scored 35 out of 39 points on three key tasks in the study. D. Williams/Wikimedia Commons The researchers identified a few different tests as signifying high intelligence. For the most significant measure of intelligence—logical reasoning—the study revealed no significant difference between the dog breeds. So, according to The Telegraph, the three tests the authors singled out instead for measuring and comparing intelligence were:- A V-detour test, in which a dog had to detour around a transparent V-shaped fence to get to a food reward, showing some problem-solving ability.- A human gesture reading test, in which a dog's response to five gestures—constant pointing, brief pointing, pointing with the foot, pointing at something while facing another direction, and following a human's gaze—was measured.- An unsolvable task test, in which a dog tries to access food in an unopenable box, measuring independence and how quickly a dog asked a human for help.The Belgian Malinois scored 35 out of a possible 39 points on these three tasks, making it the top scorer for high intelligence overall. Border Collies came in second with 26 points and hovawarts came in third at 25 points. Border collies are often listed as the smartest dogs, but they scored lower than the Belgian Malinois on key tests.Photo credit: CanvaThe study authors point out that there are strengths and weaknesses in most breeds. Some score very high on some tests and very low on others. Some breeds saw middle-of-the-road scores across most tests.According to IFLScience, one weakness the Malinois showed was in the cylinder test, in which a dog is taught to retrieve a piece of food from inside an opaque cylinder. The opaque cylinder then gets replaced with a transparent one to see if the dog will go around to the end of the cylinder to retrieve the treat, as it did with the opaque one, or try to go directly through the side of the cylinder to get to it. This test measures inhibition, and the Malinois scored among the lowest of all breeds on it.Every dog has its bright and dim spots, but it's clear why the Malinois is a dog of choice for security work: high intelligence is necessary, of course, but even being low on inhibition can be seen as a plus for a working dog that needs to be highly responsive and act quickly when needed. Belgian Malinois are highly responsive. Giphy GIF by VTM.be “The Belgian Shepherd Malinois stood out in many of the cognitive tasks, having very good results in a majority of the tests,” study author and owner and CEO of smartDOG Dr. Katriina Tiira told The Telegraph.“Border Collies also performed well in many of the tests," she added. Nice to throw the dethroned Border Collie a bone, there. This article originally appeared two years ago.