Loudoun County Public Schools pursued punishment against boys who complained about being filmed by a girl in the boys’ locker room — and not the girl who was filming, who identifies as transgender — even though the girl repeatedly changed her story about purported anti-transgender harassment, a lawsuit filed Wednesday said. The Virginia school district doled out 10-day suspensions to boys who asked each other why a girl was in the boys’ locker room, even though officials’ interviews with a multitude of teachers and students failed to corroborate the girl’s claims that the boys had denigrated, threatened, and ordered her to leave, the suit said. A lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses district officials of deleting at least one other recording the female student made of boys using the bathroom, leaking confidential information to a left-wing PAC that it says defamed the boys, and declining to discipline a Muslim student who was uncomfortable with a girl in the boys’ locker room, only two Christian ones. The incident occurred at the same school, Stone Bridge, where a transgender rapist struck in 2021. Loudoun County Public Schools officials covered up that rape because it would have posed an impediment to passing a transgender policy, Policy 8040, which allowed transgenders to use the opposite sex’s bathrooms and locker rooms. The school district is now using that policy to go after the pair of Christian boys at the center of this case — even after the federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights said last month that the district could lose federal funding unless it cancels the boys’ suspensions and apologizes to them. Lawyers for America First Legal and the Founding Freedoms Law Center, which filed the suit on behalf of two boys, said it’s another example of the school district engaging in misconduct to promote transgender ideology. The girl originally stated that the threat occurred on March 17, but later clarified it was on March 21. Originally, she said a trio of boys “constantly screamed at the [female student] calling him a ‘Boy-girl,’ ‘It,’ and ‘Girl Female,’” and “got in her face,” saying “if you ever come in here again, we’re gonna beat your ass.” But she later said she didn’t know who shouted at her, and that she “barely remembered” the incident. The school interviewed more than a dozen teachers and students, none of whom had heard these comments, and even the girl’s friends stated that she never mentioned it to them when discussing her locker room woes, the suit said. One of the boys told investigators that none of them had ever addressed any comment to the girl or used any disparaging language, but simply asked in a conversation among themselves why there was a girl in the locker room. The girl specifically said that one of the students who made the threat was a Muslim student. The most specific allegations were against that student: she said that during science class last year, he also told her “You guys are a disappointment to humanity,” referring to transgenders, and would “constantly misgender” her. Loudoun County Public Schools’ Title IX investigators determined that the Muslim student did not make the “disappointment to humanity” comment, the suit said. Still, the school system sided with the girl, citing her “credibility.” In disciplinary proceedings against the boys, Loudoun County Public Schools also stated that a video captured one of the students calling her a “girl-boy,” even though documents obtained through the lawsuit show that school investigators specifically said they heard no such thing. A speaker can be heard saying “girl-boy” three times between the start of the video and the 0:05 timestamp. The speaker then yells the same phrase twice at the 0:06 timestamp and the 0:08 timestamp,” the Title IX charges said. In reality, the Title IX investigator said, “I cannot understand any audio that’s on it.” The school system dropped the charges against the Muslim boy while pursuing them against the Christian boys. It sent the Muslim boy a letter stating that the investigation was closed because, even if the allegations were true, they would not constitute prohibited harassment. Then they alleged the same facts to the Christian boys and said they remained under investigation. The charges against all three boys left out the “beat your ass” comment, seeming to acknowledge that there was no evidence for it while avoiding mention of it to inflate the girl’s credibility. Charging documents stated that the boy who asked, “Why is there a girl in here?” also said, “Get out of here,” suggesting that he was ordering the girl to leave. This contradicts the school district’s transcript, which said “get out of here” came from a different speaker. “‘Get out of here’ was clearly said from a distance away from the Female Student…as a colloquial expression of disbelief, similar to saying “You’ve got to be joking,’” the lawsuit said. It said the recordings were made in a noisy, crowded locker room. The school system seized the girl’s phone and “deleted a recording of yet another boy using the bathroom whom the Female Student had recorded, thus denying the Plaintiffs the opportunity to present potentially exonerating evidence,” the lawsuit said. A fourth recording went missing. The school district dropped charges against the Muslim boy after a mosque official reached out to school board member Arben Istrefi, who said he was doing what he could to resolve the situation. On May 20, Newsweek reported that School Board Chair Melinda Mansfield said it was “untrue” that the boys were being subjected to the Title IX disciplinary process, even though it was true, the lawsuit said. Loudoun County Public Schools officials leaked confidential information to a left-wing political action committee, Loudoun for All, that “raises and spends money for attack advertisements against school board candidates and members who disagree with the policies and decisions of LCPS’s Superintendent Aaron Spence and the school board chair, Melinda Mansfield,” the suit said. That PAC put out a press release that represented that “24 staff and student witnesses” corroborated that the boys had been engaged in “relentless harassment over the course of a year” against the female student — a claim that was false, the lawsuit said. Loudoun for All overlaps with a group that, The Daily Wire reported in 2021, rallied to dox, hack, and punish parents who questioned school policies. The school system’s cover-up of the transgender rapist likely would have gone uncovered were it not for the county’s sheriff, a Republican. The sheriff is investigating the girl for recording in a locker room, though it is unclear how Loudoun County Public Schools’ apparent deletion of some of the evidence could affect that.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has bought into the conspiracy theory that the 1969 moon landing was fake. The 45-year-old mom of four laid out her reasons during the most recent episode of her show, “The Kardashians,” which aired on Thursday. “I’m sending you, so far, a million articles with both Buzz Aldrin and … the other one,” Kardashian told actress Sarah Paulson while on the set of the show “All’s Fair.” “This girl says, ‘What was the scariest moment?’ And [Aldrin] goes, ‘There was no scary moment, cause it didn’t happen. It could’ve been scary, but it wasn’t, cause it didn’t happen.'” Kardashian also shared her theory that Aldrin is accidentally revealing secrets because he’s “gotten old.” “So I think it didn’t happen,” the reality star asserted. Back in her trailer, a producer can be heard asking her more about the conversation, to which Kardashian repeated her previous statements. “I don’t think we did,” she said of the moon landing. “I think it was fake.” “I’ve seen a few videos [of] Buzz Aldrin talking about how it didn’t happen. He says it all the time now, in interviews,” Kardashian continued. Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to DailyWire.com/Subscribe to join now. “Why does Buzz Aldrin say it didn’t happen? There’s no gravity on the moon … why is the flag blowing? The shoes that they have in the museum that they wore on the moon [have] a different [foot]print than the photos. Why are there no stars?” The producer predicts that Kardashian’s audience will call her crazy, to which the star replies, “They’re gonna say I’m crazy no matter what. But like, go to TikTok. See for yourself.” Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two people to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission. Third crew member Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit during the same mission. One of the Aldrin quotes Kardashian was referencing came from out-of-context comments Aldrin made during a 2015 interview with a young child that have been repeatedly used by conspiracy theorists. As for the “scary moment” comment, it came from an event when Aldrin said the scary moment never happened, not the moon landing itself. The 95-year-old astronaut recently celebrated the 56th anniversary of the moon landing with a post on X. “July 20, 1969. ‘Contact light, engine stop.’ The Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touched down at Tranquility Base on the Moon,” he posted in July. “A few hours later, Neil Armstrong and I stepped foot on the Moon, with Michael Collins orbiting close-by.” “An achievement resulting from years of incalculable effort, commitment, and team work,” he went on. “We all did our part to see President Kennedy’s words become reality: ‘We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others too.’” “I couldn’t be prouder to have completed this mission with the hundreds of thousands of people that helped get us to the moon and back home. God bless the USA and all of humankind,” the post concluded.

'Republicans as a group agreed by 69%'

Trump had earlier accused Crockett of being 'a low IQ person'

'In the national interest'

'It’s pretty hard to argue'

News Simultaneous Simultaneous: Shadow and Bone Showrunner Eric Heisserer’s First Novel Picked Up for Adaptation Heisserer will also develop the adaptaion for the studio. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 30, 2025 Eric Heisserer photo credit: Alexis Grant Comment 0 Share New Share Eric Heisserer photo credit: Alexis Grant Eric Heisserer, the showrunner of the television adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone series as well as the writer of Arrival, the film based on a short story by Ted Chiang, has just sold the adaptation rights to his debut novel. Deadline reports that Sony Pictures pre-emptively acquired the rights to Heisserer’s speculative thriller, Simultaneous, which just came out this week. Here’s the blurb for the book, per Goodreads: Federal agent Grant Lukather works for an unknown department of Homeland Security called Predictive Analytics. They look for patterns in tips and chatter to prevent a terrorist event before it happens. One of these calls, about a possible explosion in New Mexico, leads Grant to a case with unimaginable consequences.He meets Sarah Newcomb, a therapist who uses past-life hypnosis in her treatment but has recently stumbled upon a phenomenon that seems to defy logic. Grant follows this thread to another a copycat killer case in Colorado. With the help of one of Sarah’s patients, they embark upon an investigation that spans multiple states, timelines, and consciousnesses. With limited time and only a tenuous grasp of how this phenomenon works, the unlikely trio are in a race for their lives—past, present, and future. Heisserer currently has a first-look deal with Sony, which means he’ll be leading the adaptation of his book. He is also developing an adaptation of Nicholas Binge’s 2025 technothriller, Dissolution, for the studio. Both projects appear in their early days, so no news yet on if/when any adaptation will go into production. [end-mark] The post <i>Simultaneous</i>: <i>Shadow and Bone</i> Showrunner Eric Heisserer’s First Novel Picked Up for Adaptation appeared first on Reactor.

News The Witcher HowThe Witcher Season 4’s First Episode Tries to Explain Henry Cavill’s Replacement Geralt is in the eye of the beholder. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on October 30, 2025 Credit: Susie Allnut/Netflix Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Susie Allnut/Netflix The fourth season of The Witcher just dropped on Netflix, and viewers are seeing how the Geralt handoff from Henry Cavill to Liam Hemsworth turns out. Before we get into it, a heads up: This post gets into extremely mild spoilers for the first episode. Good? Good. In the season’s first episode, we see a young girl tell an older man that he’s not been accurately explaining Geralt’s story. The girl says the “true” story comes from one of Jaskier’s books, which she has in her possession. This quasi-meta nod to the casting change was thought through in the writers’ room. “We wanted to play with the idea, which is a huge theme in The Witcher, of how stories change depending on who is telling them,” showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich told TVLine. “So obviously that opening sequence is played and there’s a device, and you sense that, oh, maybe everything that we’ve seen over the last three seasons has been through someone’s POV. Maybe that’s not actually how it happened. We constantly love to be playing with the idea of narrative with our audience.” To make this point super-duper clear to viewers, the episode then flashes back to pivotal moments from the first three seasons, but with Hemsworth as Geralt rather than Cavill. Our perspective, the show is telling us, can change! “We wanted to not dance around the fact that this is a new human being,” Hissrich added. “Yes, there’s still the yellow eyes and the silver wig, but at the same time, it’s played by Liam now. For us, it was about revisiting these really important moments in Geralt’s life, now seeing them embraced by a new human. Moving on, it’s our hope that what you really start to see in episode one is Geralt, not the actor that plays Geralt. That was Liam’s commitment to the role, and it worked out beautifully. He really sunk into the character, so then we didn’t feel the need to continue to address it.” Your mileage may vary on how the transition plays out: Judge for yourself by watching the fourth season, which is now streaming on Netflix. [end-mark] The post How<i>The Witcher</i> Season 4’s First Episode Tries to Explain Henry Cavill’s Replacement appeared first on Reactor.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, his administration has taken a number of decisive actions to reduce the flow of illicit fentanyl into America and eliminate the devastation it wreaks on communities and families. First came orders to end “open border” policies, soon followed by a 20% tariff on China—the primary provider of illicit precursor chemicals—and the designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Each of these moves represents a fundamental change from Biden-era policies—and though originally met with a mixture of doubt or criticism, they’ve been implemented over the course of this year, in some cases with dramatic results. Thanks to Trump ending open borders, Illegal crossings at the southwest border have decreased from a flood to a trickle. Meanwhile, the 20% tariff on China remained in place for eight months, likely playing a role in Chairman Xi Jinping’s pledge to take much more aggressive domestic enforcement action. Trump responded by cutting the tariff in half, presumably to snap back if Xi fails to deliver. Perhaps the most controversial of Trump’s actions is his use of military force at sea to destroy vessels identified as transporting fentanyl or other narcotics. In just the last two months, at least 13 strikes have targeted 15 vessels, resulting in 61 confirmed deaths, two captured and repatriated survivors, and one missing person. Given that the cartels are now designated foreign terrorist organizations, it would seem to follow that extreme measures would be justified to guard against their smuggling lethal chemicals into the United States—chemicals whose fatality statistics are comparable to war casualties. However, not all senators agree. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., described recent actions as “extrajudicial killings” without evidence and akin to authoritarian regimes. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., called the strikes “sanctioned murder” without proper process. While traveling in Asia with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, The Daily Signal asked the secretary to share his rationale and address these provocative criticisms. Hegseth opened by describing recent military actions as “rooted in the fact that President Trump has a heart for all those families and all those Americans who’ve been affected by the drug trade. He really does. When you hear him, it’s personal for him. He’s met the families. He’s seen the communities.” “Whether it’s flooding across the border or coming on the maritime route he asks, why are we accepting this status quo? Why are we allowing foreign countries to smuggle precursors? Why are we allowing transnational cartels, narco-terrorists, to trade across our border? Why would we allow these same narco-terrorists access to sea lanes to deliver those drugs to the American people?” “The rationale is pretty bright and simple. It’s self-defense… defense of the American people. We have been poisoned, our kids have been poisoned, our communities have been poisoned, and we’ve allowed it to happen, because for some reason, we were not willing to look holistically or seriously at the problem.” “There’s been plenty of administrations that have interdicted vessels at sea, boarded them, grabbed the drugs, played the game, played it for years, played it for decades, but nothing really changes… and we all go along pretending like we’re addressing the problem. President Trump has said, on my watch, we will not allow these narco-terrorists to operate with impunity in our hemisphere.” “We know, on behalf of the self-defense of the American people, we have the authorities to strike these narco-terrorists in international waters… It’s not something we’ve done flippantly. It’s not extra judicial. We’ve got a lot of lawyers and a lot of process that’s looking at the who and the why, and we’re working with Congress to make sure they have that information.” “If you see how and why we gather the information about who we target, it’s very deliberate. We know exactly who these guys are. I’m very proud of the strikes that we are taking. We hope it changes the dynamic in the hemisphere and that it saves lives. That’s the point. Saving American lives. That’s the point the President always talks about. This is about America and America First.” Hegseth then drew a comparison between the previous generation’s “war on terror” and the narco-terrorists of today. “These cartels, they terrorize, they extort, they rape, thy kill. They are terrorists. So you designate them, which we have done, as foreign terrorist organizations. That puts them in the category of Al Qaida or ISIS. Do we negotiate with Al Qaida or ISIS? Do we treat them like civilians when they are delivering precursors of death? No, we don’t. So we give them an option to get out of this business because America’s serious about it.” “As I’ve said before, nobody tracks, hunts, finds networks of international terrorists better than the United States of America. And so, to these narco-terrorists, if they think we’re not looking or we don’t know, we’ve just gotten started. Wait until we truly map every aspect of your web.” When asked whether illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals should be considered weapons of mass destruction—a designation that would extend the terrorist analogy further—Hegseth responded, “It’s a good idea. We haven’t done that yet, but it’s worth a look.” Indeed. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost and millions of others adversely affected by the scourge of illicit fentanyl. The network conveying this angel of death is terrorizing American families and communities, and the poison these terrorists carry has the effect of a mass casualty chemical weapon. At least, that’s the opinion of this author—a father who lost his beloved daughter to fentanyl poisoning on this date in 2023. On behalf of the countless others on this journey of grief and recovery, I say thank you to President Trump and Secretary Hegseth for taking necessary actions to save others from the same fate. The post Hegseth on Fentanyl, Narco-Terrorists, and America’s Response: ‘It’s Self-Defense.’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

17th-century Iceland was a remote place, a land of epic volcanic landscapes, thermal hot pools, and of complete winter darkness. Yet, its isolation did not spare it from the most horrifying craze of the age: the witch hunts. But in this land of fire and ice, something was drastically different: 93% of those condemned and executed for sorcery were men. In a new documentary, Witchmen: Witch Trials in the Land of Fire & Ice, historian Dr Kate Lister is on a mission to find out why. Her investigation takes her across the breathtaking landscape of the Westfjords in northwest Iceland, through dramatic jagged coastlines, high mountains, and roaring waterfalls, delving into a culture where a belief in magic still prevails today. Kate uncovers the truth around some of the most unique and remote witch trials of the 17th century, revealing a story that is less about magic and more about human nature, conspiracy, and local power games. Sign up to watch Iceland’s male witches The gender of those persecuted for witchcraft varied across Europe: while women were the typical targets in Mediterranean and Germanic countries, based on the ancient idea that women possessed innate magical abilities, the role of the witch or magician was stereotypically male in several northern and eastern regions, including Iceland, Normandy, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Austrian countries, and Russia. As Kate explores, the supernatural has been part of Icelandic culture ever since the first Viking settlers arrived in the late 9th century. They brought with them the old Norse gods and folklore – Loki, Odin, and Thor – and a strong tradition of Rune and Stave magic. This ancient heritage was closely linked to men. Because Icelanders believed that men were much more capable of magic than women, the focus of the witch hunts shifted almost entirely to them. For centuries, magic was an important everyday tool used to feel they had some control over a hostile landscape; many people would cast runes, spells and good luck charms. These ancient beliefs were practiced widely on the island for centuries alongside Christianity and never seemed to cause a problem. But when the witch craze spread from Europe, these ancient magical traditions suddenly looked like sorcery.  Example of a runeImage Credit: History Hit The conspiracy and the confessions In 17th century Iceland, a witch came to be defined as ‘somebody who used supernatural powers to cause others harm’. The trials began in earnest with the burning of the first alleged witch in 1625, accused of summoning a zombie to attack his neighbour’s horse. But it was the arrival of European zeal that truly amplified the terror. Kate speaks with world-renowned witch expert Professor Ronald Hutton, who explains that the witch craze escalated across Europe during the turbulent years of the Reformation (1560–1640), becoming “the ultimate conspiracy theory.” In Iceland, this fervour was imported directly by local sheriffs and well-educated priests who had studied the witch hunts in countries like Denmark and Germany. The local geography played a role: the most severe cases occurred in the remote Westfjords, where a few powerful, educated individuals had the influence to press accusations. Kate details the story of an early major case where a strange sickness affecting two young women was attributed to three men thought to be witches. Despite the likely cause being simple illness (or even bad corn), the three men were burned alive in 1654. The documentary provides a fascinating look into the sources of this unique form of magic. Kate visits the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík, where she speaks to curator, Anna Pórarinsdóttir and is shown a replica of the infamous ‘necropants’ – trousers made from human skin and used in a grotesque ritual to magically acquire money. She also sees examples of Staves, ritual symbols often used in conjunction with Runes – the magical writing that was considered essential to kickstart any spell. Kate Lister filming at the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík, where she speaks to curator, Anna Pórarinsdóttir and is shown a replica of the infamous ‘necropants’.Image Credit: History Hit Anna also shows Kate a replica of a 17th century turf house in the remote area of Klúka – an area famed for its mountain ranges, beautiful hiking trails and epic waterfalls. Such houses would have been adorned with Staves even for simple tasks, such as to help keep knives sharp while cutting grass, highlighting the commonality of such symbols in Icelandic history.  Iceland is often seen as a magical place even today due to its association with the aurora borealis – the northern lights. The northern lights appear throughout Icelandic folklore and were often mythologised, as souls, waiting to pass to the other side, or even hidden people like the elves. In Norse mythology, the lights were a bridge that took fallen warriors to the world of the gods. Replica of a 17th century Icelandic turf houseImage Credit: History Hit The witch-hunter’s agenda The rise of the witch hunts in Iceland was often driven by religious zealots with a clear agenda. Kate examines the story of Paul Biörnson, a wealthy, well-connected priest in the village of Selárdalur. When his wife, Helga, fell ill, Biörnson embarked on a quest to “expel the devil” from the area, recognising that a reputation as a witch hunter would certainly grow his loyal congregation. Helga’s repeated accusations led to the death of seven people – one-third of all confirmed burnings in Iceland. Crucially, Kate and curator Anna Pórarinsdóttir explore the one fact that protected Icelandic women: they could not own property or land. As Anna suggests, because the motive for many accusations across Europe was to seize the possessions of the accused, the women’s subordinate financial status ironically shielded them from prosecution. The consequences for those accused were horrific. Alleged Icelandic witches were burned to death – a rare punishment in Europe, where the condemned were usually strangled or beheaded first. Professor Hutton explains that burning was reserved for those deemed “utterly evil,” as it was believed to remove the body, which was “impregnated with bad magic,” preventing the evil from poisoning the soil. Dr Kate Lister at the Burning Ravine, Þingvellir National Park, IcelandImage Credit: History Hit The legacy of magic Kate travels to Þingvellir National Park, the site of Iceland’s first parliament and a location where several accused witches were burned in the “Burning Ravine.” She explores the process of prosecution and even writes down a defensive Stave, demonstrating how these beliefs persist today. The programme reveals one of the worst curses imaginable: the Fart Rune, a magical affliction with symptoms similar to dysentery, a real killer in the 17th century. The fact that people confessed to using this – even knowing they faced death by fire – underscores how real magic was to them. Kate’s investigation suggests the witch trials were less about the supernatural and more about human nature and the terrifying ease with which hate and suspicion allowed neighbour to turn on neighbour. In a world still consumed by conspiracy theories and mass condemnation, how far have we truly progressed from the anxieties of the 17th century? Join Dr Kate Lister as she uncovers the ultimate true crime conspiracy in Witchmen: Witch Trials in the Land of Fire & Ice. Sign up to watch