Paris’s Shakespeare and Company has hosted some 30,000 “Tumbleweeds” passing through town. Want to be the next one?

The following article, Iran Threatened to Hit US Bases: Diplomat Evacuations Begin, was first published on Conservative Firing Line. As Iran threatened to hit US bases on Wednesday if talks fail, nonessential diplomat evacuations began across the region. President Trump stated that he was “less confident” that a new nuclear agreement could be reached. In spite of all this, US envoy Steve Witkoff is reportedly still scheduled to meet with Iranian diplomats this weekend. … Continue reading Iran Threatened to Hit US Bases: Diplomat Evacuations Begin ...

Wisdom is accrued with years lived. Every generation has advice to pass down, and people in their 40s have a lot of life advice to share with those a decade behind them in age.In an online forum, this question was posed to people in their 40s, asking, "For those in their 40s, what's something people in their 30s don’t realize will impact them as they get older?"People in their 40s generously shared their best life advice and aging tips with those in their 30s. These are 16 of their most impactful pieces of wisdom on getting older. Aging Jamie Lee Curtis GIF Giphy "You wish you’d been more prepared for your family and friends to start dying or getting sick." —@G-base"How well you took care of your teeth." —@aggieraisin"Open a Roth IRA. Start small, but don't stop and don't take anything out. I didn't have a decent paying job until I was 39 years old. It's never to old to start saving. I did it and am now retired comfortably." —@FritzTheCat_1 Gym Stretch GIF by Chance The Rapper Giphy "Stretching." —@SillyDistractions"For those in their 30s, you need to know this. 40 is not old. Neither is 50." —@Mattynice75"Posture." —@Prior-Force1068"Your friendships will shift if you grow and change as a person." —@theprostateprophet Tv Show No GIF by HelloGiggles Giphy "It was around 40 that I started to realize that most people you meet are in your life for only a certain period of time, and even though it sucks, it’s actually normal. When I moved to a new city at 30, I had a pretty nice new group of friends. Now that I’m 40, I rarely talk to any of them. But they were perfect for that particular period in time. I think the same thing will continue to happen in your 40s, 50s, etc. Perhaps some will become lifelong friends, but the majority will just be rentals." —@_Toaster_Baths"Find a life partner. Stop being part of toxic relationships. You are not going to fix anyone. Don't waste time with someone who can't be a good life partner. It's time to grow up and understand that if you are having serious relationship problems, it's because you are with the wrong person and you need to find the right person, not try to fix the relationship." —@RonGoBongo111"Your childhood traumas." —@Skydreamer6 just do it GIF Giphy "There are no grownups, and there is no someday. Do it now, or stop saying you will 'eventually'; and stop waiting for the answers to come. Sometimes you need to gamble." —@Bitter_Pilot5086"When I asked my mom what really changes after forty, she gave it to me straight — no sugarcoating. There’s no magical transformation. Things that used to work quietly start creaking. Fatigue becomes a background noise that doesn’t go away with one good night’s sleep. She said that in your thirties, it feels like you’ve got endless energy, plenty of time, and unshakable health. But then you realize — one bad night’s sleep can ruin your whole day. Your back isn’t 'just sore,' it’s 'this is how it is now.' And everything that once felt automatic — stamina, resilience, even friendship — starts to require intention, care, and effort. The hardest part? You start to feel that 'everything’s ahead' doesn’t quite apply anymore. Some things are already behind you, and you have to learn to let go. Not cling to the past, not drag it with you. Because if you do, you’ll miss how strange and beautiful the now can actually be. And most importantly, she said — stop postponing things. Love, change, taking care of yourself. 'Later' isn’t a guaranteed destination." —@Inevitable-Rice-702"I think this goes well for any age in all honesty; it is never too late! You are never too young, if you love something and have a passion for it do it! If you love someone , love them so hard! Most importantly be you, I know a lot of people my age (46) who also have come out it’s never too late to live and love fully you will never regret following your heart!" —@UnknownUser Inspire Follow Your Dreams GIF by Positive Programming Giphy "Wasting time. On jobs, on money, on looks. Instead of living free, focusing on being present, and spending quality time with their family." —@Shiasugar"Deepen your close friendships now. You’ll see them less as time goes by, but their presence is equally as important." —@Single-Major2055"I'm bit more mature now so i don't judge people on appearances or face value. Trust is a valuable commodity don't give it loosely. Let people earn it." —@saransh000

Comedian and writer Amy Poehler is the gift that keeps on giving. On her popular podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler, she welcomes guests and has brilliantly funny and often insightful conversations. (Don't sleep on the episode when she had her dear friend Paul Rudd on. It's magical.)On a recent show with Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur, there's a clip of her breaking down how each generation relates to money. Straight to the point, she says, "The Boomers are all about money. Gen X is like IS it all about money? Millennials are like where IS the money? And Gen-Z is like what is money?" (She adds, "That's my bad stand-up about it.") This is Impact YouTube page, Amy Poehler www.youtube.com Hacky comedy or not, she's not wrong. Just under this short YouTube clip, there are over 3,000 comments, mostly from people who back up the claim. One notes, "Gen Z is paying more money for a car now than Boomers paid for their home."One commenter jokingly (but also maybe accurately) adds, "Gen Alpha: WHY is money?"On his TikTok page, Freddie Smith (@fmsmith319) references the clip and after acknowledging that Amy "totally nails it," he breaks it down even further in terms of how each generation's economy helped shape them. He states, "This is a true representation about how money has been declining over the past 40 or 50 years. The Boomers had such a big economic boom, so it was easier for them to accumulate money. 80 trillion dollars, the Boomer generation has–so of course, it's all about the money." @fmsmith319 Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z take on money | @Good Hang with Amy Poehler He moves on to the millennials. When you think about them, he says, "Of course, where is the money? It's because we were handed a road map at like 13 years old of exactly the steps we needed to take and someone pointed and said 'see that treasure chest? It's gonna be full of gold! Just follow the plan.' Well we followed the plan and here we are twenty years later. We open up the treasure chest and there's two f-ing coins in it.""And then Gen Z-ers? What is money? They're going to work and they're getting paid direct deposit on Fridays and as soon as that money hits the account, it just goes automatically to their bills. They don't actually 'touch' money." He goes on to explain it would be no different for an employer to just pay in housing and/or food, because they don't actually see the money. "This is such a true representation of what we're all screaming about right now. What is going ON?"(I'd just like to point out, as a Gen X-er, that he totally skipped over us—but we're used to it.) Tom Cruise asks that you show him the money. Giphy Show Me the Money GIF The comments here intensely agree. One notes, ""I mean millennials also lived in the world of UNPAID internships!! Boomers made us work for free… and we paid colleges for this experience."Over on Reddit, many people joined up to discuss this take, with which nearly all agree. Though, again, we get a Gen Alpha joke, much needed in lightening the mood, "Gen Alpha is like 'Rawarr! Me no read! Must smash'." Someone also ingeniously links to an old SNL sketch with, you guessed it, Amy Poehler, alongside Steve Martin and Chris Parnell. The gist of it? DON'T BUY STUFF. Amy Poehler, Steve Martin, Chris Parnell www.youtube.com, NBC Universal A commenter here writes, "I show this in my financial literacy 30 class every semester when I introduce credit. It's such a simple concept, yet so hard for many to grasp. Teach them young and hopefully they'll make great financial choices when credit becomes available to them."Another points out, "It's sad how many people need to hear this."To be fair, it would seem some generations don't even have the option to buy or not to buy because all their money goes to rent.

Finding good, reliable dog sitting is difficult under normal circumstances. Who can you really trust to take care of your dog? Will they be safe? Will they be scared while you're gone? When you're a soldier in the US military deployed for months at a time, dog-care can turn into an actual nightmare very quickly.No one knows this better than Paulo Silva, a US Navy soldier who was recently deployed on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East for eight months. While he was away, Silva trusted a relative to watch his five-year-old Golden Retriever and certified bestie, Archie.When Silva returned home, excited to reunite with his best friend, he was shocked to find the dog gone. Archie, a 5-year-old golden retriever, became the unwitting subject of a social media custody battle. Photo by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash “A family member that was well-trusted felt they had no choice but to give away my dog,” Silva told the Asbury Park Press. “At no point was I told about it (before returning home) and I had asked time and time again about him." The relative told Silva that Archie was having trouble settling in, but the decision still came as a massive shock. Worse, Silva's relative couldn't or wouldn't provide him the contact information of the family he'd given Archie to. In interviews, Silva hasn't said much about the reasoning behind these cruel decisions. All he knew was he was scared and left scrambling.Silva posted a desperate plea to Facebook for anyone with information to contact him. Then social media did what it always seems to do in stories like this one: it delivered.The post went mega-viral, being shared all across different social and professional networks in the area, and before too long, Silva received tips about where he could find his dog. Not too long after that, Silva and Archie were joyously reunited.What a perfect happy ending for this feel-good social media story, right? Well, not quite.It's easy to root for the storybook ending, but there's another family at the other end of the story. For them, it's anything but a fairy tale.When the tipster first reached out to Silva with Archie's whereabouts, there was one problem: the people who had taken Archie in didn't want to give him up and wouldn't respond to messages.He had been adopted, apparently freely, by a young woman and her boyfriend when Silva's relative decided to find Archie a new home. In their minds, Archie belonged to them, fair and square, and after months of love and snuggles and care, they had bonded deeply with him. They were sorry for the situation Silva found himself in, but they weren't going to simply "roll over."Silva then wrote an open letter to Archie's new family, pleading his case."This dog isn’t just a pet to me. He is my heart, my companion, and a piece of my soul that helped carry me through some of the hardest times in my life. We’ve been through everything together—before my deployment, during training, and through the toughest emotional battles. That kind of bond is irreplaceable," he wrote. "I love this dog more than words can express—more than life itself. First, I want to say that I appreciate that you’ve cared for my dog. I have no doubt that you’re good people and that you’ve offered a safe and loving home. But I need you to know that this wasn’t supposed to happen. I was never asked, never informed, and never had the chance to speak up or say goodbye. I left for duty trusting that my dog would be waiting for me when I came home. I’m reaching out publicly not out of anger, but out of heartbreak. I am respectfully asking you to please consider returning my dog to me. I know this isn’t an easy request, and I understand that emotions may be involved on both sides—but I am pleading with you, not just as a veteran, but as someone who lost something deeply precious to them without any choice or voice in the matter."According to the Asbury Press, Silva was considering legal action if the couple didn't return Archie.Eventually, the woman and her boyfriend who had adopted Archie decided to return him to Silva. They were heartbroken about the decision.Even worse, beyond just losing the dog they loved, Jamie Goldstein and her boyfriend were cast as villains in the now-viral story. They began receiving hate messages and public pressure to turn over the dog. While some people threw their support behind the couple's right to keep Archie, many more sent nasty messages and threats.After they decided to send Archie back to his original home, Goldstein shared an emotional letter of her own on social media."He is the sweetest boy and everyone who has met him can attest to it. I love this dog with all my heart," she wrote. "Archie was never stolen, he was given to my boyfriend, we just loved him as our own. ... I can only imagine how Paulo felt when he came back from serving our country & didnt know where sweet Archie was. This feels like a mourning. I miss you so much already, I hope you are safe & getting all the love you deserve, baby Archie. We miss you so much."Although the couple ultimately did the right thing, it's hard not to feel deeply for them and their loss. Their quick love for Archie was so apparent, and it's unfair that things unfolded the way they did.As for Silva, he's incredibly grateful for the family that took Archie in and loved him for those many months."I do not see them as villains and you shouldn’t either," he wrote in another post. "I know their hearts were in the right place. Thank you both for loving Archie as your own. I will always be grateful for that. I will never stop showing you guys my love and support."He even offered to arrange an "open door policy" so the couple could visit Archie any time they wanted.While the story is full of debate and heartbreak, there is one clear winner: Archie. What a lucky pup to be so loved by two different families. If anything, the story speaks volumes about how quickly and powerfully pets can find a place in our hearts. It also ends with mutual kindness, both in the couple returning Archie and Silva handling the conflict with grace. It may not be your typical feel-good social media reunion, but it's got plenty of silver lining.

Boomer grandparents have recently come under fire by their Millennial children for how they grandparent. Many Millennials have opened up online about their parents' less-than-stellar help with grandkids and their overall absence. In a Reddit forum discussing the differences between generations, user @No_Language_423 posed the question: "Why are so many Boomer grandparents hands-off?" They went on to add, "Genuinely curious about this. Why is it that so many Boomer grandparents seem completely uninterested in being involved or helping out with their grandkids in a real, consistent way?"In a further explanation, they added, "From what I’ve seen and heard, a lot of Boomers actually did have active, supportive parents when they were raising their own kids. Their moms would babysit, cook, or even move nearby to help out. But now, when Millennials become parents and hope for that same kind of support, it’s like even asking is seen as too much. Some even act insulted by the idea." up s GIF Giphy However, they also noted this description of Boomer grandparents can't be generalized. They added, "Of course, there are outliers. I’m not talking about the people who comment, 'Well I help my kids all the time.' That’s great, but I’m noticing a pattern, not isolated cases. There seems to be a broader generational vibe around this. It doesn’t feel like a case-by-case thing, it feels like a shift in attitude."They ended their post with more pondering thoughts. "At the same time, I hear a lot of Millennial parents saying they already plan to be very involved grandparents someday. So what changed? Is it a cultural shift? A difference in how retirement is viewed? Or maybe Boomers didn’t get as much help as we assume? Curious to hear what others think, especially from people who’ve experienced this dynamic firsthand."Many people chimed in with their thoughts and firsthand experience as to why Boomer grandparents seem to be hands-off. These are 15 of the most compelling responses. Old Lady Reaction GIF Giphy "The parents of boomers didn’t call their kids boomers; they called them the ME generation. Because it was all about them. They’re the ME generation." —@BEniceBAGECKA"They were also pretty hands off as parents, too."—@ azulsonador0309"Their moms were 23 when they had kids. Their kids were 23 when they had kids. Grandma was 46. Today’s grandmas are in their sixties. They have a hard time getting through the day without their own naps." —@Ok_Membership7264"My theory is that it's related to people having kids later in life. The grandparents are older on average." —@nineoctopii Season 7 Showtime GIF by Dexter Giphy "It's because they had children because 'that's what's done,' not because they actually wanted them. Now that they're 'free,' they aren't going to give that up for anything. Notice how they are also distant with their own kids. It's not like they're interested in their kids, but not the grandkids. They want nothing to do with any of it." —@ExcellentCold7354"I'm 56. Most 56 year olds these days still have full time jobs and other responsibilities to where babysitting and moving are not viable options." —@shammy_dammy"Have you met Gen X? They were feral kids for a reason. The boomers could barely be bothered to raise their own children. They certainly aren't going to be stepping up for the grandkids." —@gwenkane404 My Baby No GIF by CBeebies HQ Giphy "Millennials have also changed. Every time I offer to help, I get a scroll of instructions, gluten-free snacks, feelings charts, and nap negotiations that last longer than peace talks. Any small deviation is treated like trauma. It’s exhausting." —@Revolutionary-Buy655"I'm a millennial with Boomer parents. My parents were pretty hands off when I was a child, so it's not surprising they were hands-off with their grandchildren. My parents dropped me off with my grandparents for weekends so frequently that I had my own bedroom there. I plan to be an involved grandparent because I value the relationship I had with my own grandparents so much. I feel sorry for the Boomers. They don't realize how much they are missing out on by focusing on themselves." —@CandidateNo2731"They were sold the idea of retirement their entire lives. And now they feel entitled to that instead of adjusting with the times. They’re loss, historically." —@rollbackprices season 7 kids GIF Giphy "I think part of the answer is because a lot of them didn’t really want to have kids in the first place. But back then it’s just what you did. You got married at 20 and started popping out babies shortly after. If you didn’t, you were an abomination to the family." —@Screamcheese99"We are older than the previous generation's grandparents. Believe it. Being 60+ and trying to care for toddlers is hard! Also, despite our experience and knowledge, we are often given ridiculous instructions and rules to follow by our own children, along with lists of likes/dislikes to adhere to. They expect entertainment in ways we are just not able to provide. Personal example from my attempt at babysitting my grandchild: I literally have not moved the car seat, that she installed, even an inch, but my DIL huffs, sighs, makes comments when getting her out of it. I am nice enough to drive her to her job to shorten their commute home, but I even do that wrong. So, forget it. I tried." —@TXteachr2018"I think its because we live so far away from each other." —@Apprehensive_Pie_105 could not be more different long distance GIF by Jay Sprogell Giphy "Hmm. I feel like the sense of community is gone. Starting with the Boomers in my family they emigrated to the US and scattered away from each other. States away from each other they had no support system and worked themselves ragged. There wasn’t really a village to help raise a child. Now that they are retired it’s like having a second chance at life and they don’t want to spend it watching kids. They want to pursue their hobbies and relax which I honestly don’t blame them." —@KorraNHaru"Many Boomers (not all! so don't come for me lol) have deep, untreated trauma and mental health issues. Many are even very detached from their own existences at this point. Narcissistic traits are common among them, which is based in deep self-loathing. I think deep down a lot of them feel ashamed of how they raised their kids and don't want to mess up their grandkids as well." —@Arysta