Excerpts fantasy Read an Excerpt From Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell When Rory was lonely, his sister made a playmate for him—a girl woven from flowers and words. By Bar Fridman-Tell | Published on March 4, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell, a debut fantasy out from Bloomsbury on March 24th. Once upon a time, on the edge between meadow and forest, there was a lonely child with only his older sister for company. In exchange for being left in peace, his sister made him a playmate—Daye, a girl woven from flowers and words. And for the first time, this boy, Rory, had a friend.Rory couldn’t be happier, until he learns that Daye is a short-lived creature. At the end of each season, she must be woven back together or fall gruesomely apart. And every time Daye falls apart might be her last.As Rory and Daye grow older and the line between friendship and romance begins to blur, Rory becomes desperate to break this cycle of bloom and decay. But the farther Rory pushes his research and experiments to lengthen Daye’s existence, the more Daye begins to wonder just how much control she really has over her own life. Rory couldn’t remember running back to the house, or climbing up the stairs, or banging on Wynne’s door. One moment he was backing away from Daye, a roar of nononononono in his ears, and the next his sister was shaking his shoulders, calling his name. “Rory, take a deep breath. Tell me what’s wrong.” Though Rory could count on one hand the number of times they’d talked that summer, he threw himself into Wynne’s arms and let the hysteria close over his head. “Rory, I need you to tell me—are you hurt? Did something happen?” Rory struggled to draw enough breath to speak. It was useless. Every time he tried, he remembered the cracks in Daye’s skin, her finger lying in the grass, and his stomach roiled and fresh tears flooded his tongue and the words were gone. He tried once, twice, then took hold of Wynne’s hand and dragged her down the stairs, out the front gate, round the meadow. His sister protested all along, but never pulled her arm free. Daye was lying where he had left her, outlined by the purple blaze of the heather. Her left hand was still lying outstretched where he dropped it, though Rory averted his eyes before he could see if any more fingers— Soft brown shapes huddled around her. Bunnies nestled at the curve of her waist, her knee, her shoulder. A red leaf rested on Daye’s collarbone. It looked like a wound. It wasn’t moving. Rory couldn’t tell if she was moving. All the bunnies’ noses were twitching in unison, their sides rising and falling, and Rory couldn’t see Daye’s chest moving at all. “Please.” Rory couldn’t look. Instead, he watched Wynne, the rapid-fire change of expressions on her face: hand-to-mouth horror, sliding down to dismay before falling away altogether, leaving behind only a patronizing sort of pity, a dash of guilt. He might have gotten angry if he wasn’t so busy panicking, and if Wynne wasn’t the only one that could help. “Rory—” “Please please please do something,” he begged. “Oh, Rory.” Wynne seemed torn. “She’s a flower girl. That’s just the way flower girls are.” “What— What?” Rory asked through salt-numb lips. “She’s out of her season. See? She’s made out of summer flowers, but it’s almost October already, and summer flowers can’t survive in autumn.” “Can you fix her?” Wynne pursed her lips like she was no longer certain that making Daye had been such a great idea. “Sure. But, Rory, are you sure you want me to? She’s not a person, she’s a flower girl. That’s what flower girls do. They’re not meant to last.” “She is a person.” Rory’s hands balled into fists. “She’s my friend—my best friend. I don’t care if she’s a flower girl, I just care that she’ll be okay again.” “Rory, maybe this isn’t—” Rory cut her off. “You promised. You promised that if I stopped bothering you, you’d make Daye for me. Are you going to break your triple promise?” Wynne sighed her most resigned sigh. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” “I won’t. Please, please fix her?” “Fine. I’ll get the heather. You go gather as many fallen leaves as you can. And apples. And any autumn flowers you can find.” Rory dashed away, bringing back a shirtful of apples, as many velvet-centered wood anemones as he could carry, and leaves—red and brown and yellow and speckled every shade of green. Handfuls of acorns with their jaunty little caps. Late harebells and clusters of yarrow. He kept bringing his sister more and more things, long after Wynne said it was enough. Buy the Book Honeysuckle Bar Fridman-Tell Buy Book Honeysuckle Bar Fridman-Tell Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget He didn’t want to watch. Didn’t want to see her untangling parts of Daye, replacing them with others. But no matter how much he tried, he kept catching sight of Wynne’s fingers moving inside Daye’s chest, her arms, her face. Each time he screwed his eyes shut and turned away as fast as he could. It was never fast enough. He really did try not to cry—Wynne kept telling him to stop, that there was no need and Daye was going to be okay and “Really, Rory, stop with the crying” and “Don’t be such a baby,” but tears kept falling from his eyes. Finally Wynne called him to her. “Look. She’s fine. Stop crying and look.” She grabbed his hand and pointed. But it wasn’t Daye lying before her. The girl was Daye-shaped and dressed in Daye’s sweater and pants, but she had red hair, like the dogwood leaves littering the grass around them. Her cheeks were apple red and her lips dusty pink like the heather behind them. She was pretty, but she wasn’t Daye. “It’s not her.” Rory’s voice hitched. Wynne heaved a sigh. “Yes, it is.” “No it isn’t. She doesn’t even look like Daye.” “It’s her. The exact same flower girl, different season.” “But—” “Trust me, Rory, it’s the same Blodeuwedd.” Wynne sounded impatient now. “It’s only the flowers she’s made of that are different. It’s like changing clothes—you can change what you wear and still be the same person, right?” Rory mulled it over for a moment. “But,” he said, voice small, “will she remember me?” “Y-yes. Just, next time, call me before she starts falling apart, will you? It’ll be easier that way. Just come and get me the first week of winter, and I’ll fix her up.” “But why doesn’t she open her eyes?” “Oh, yeah. That.” She looked down at Daye. “Wake up, Blodeuwedd.” And Daye opened her eyes, and smiled. Excerpted from Honeysuckle, copyright © 2026 by Bar Fridman-Tell. The post Read an Excerpt From <i>Honeysuckle</i> by Bar Fridman-Tell appeared first on Reactor.

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters)—Spain has agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid over its stance against the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. “I think they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear. It is my understanding over the past several hours they’ve agreed to cooperate with the US military,” Leavitt told a news briefing. Trump floated imposing a trade embargo on Madrid over its refusal to allow U.S. aircraft to use jointly operated naval and air bases in southern Spain for the offensive against Tehran. Spain has denounced the U.S. and Israeli bombings of Iran as reckless and illegal. Spain “will not be vassals” to another country, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Jesus Montero said on Wednesday. In a televised address earlier, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reiterated Spain’s anti-war stance, warning that the conflict risked triggering a major global disaster. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Humeyra Pamuk;Editing by David Ljunggren) The post White House: Spain Has Agreed to Cooperate With US Military appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz previously said a court required the state to continue paying one of the charities at the center of a massive fraud scandal. But the state court denies making such an order. Asked on Capitol Hill Wednesday who is lying, Walz said, “I can’t tell you.” He blamed it on a misinterpretation by lawyers. Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison testified Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the fraud scandal in the state. The Justice Department, which has indicted almost 100 people for fraud schemes in Minnesota, has estimated the scale of fraud to have potentially exceeded $9 billion since 2018.  About $250 million reportedly went to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, primarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal law enforcement alleges the money did not go to feed hungry children but instead funded lavish lifestyles.  In 2021, the state’s Education Department stopped, then restarted payments to Feeding Our Future.  The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the court found the state’s Education Department “didn’t have the authority to stop payments and ordered the department to resume payments.” Walz later made that claim as well. However, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, noted the state court took the unusual step of issuing a news release to fact-check the governor and the media. In its September 2022 news release, the court had said it never ordered the education department to resume food reimbursement payments to Feeding Our Future, and that the agency “voluntarily resumed payments.” Jordan read from the release, stating, “On September 22, 2022, Governor Tim Walz told the media that the Minnesota Department of Education attempted to end payments to FOF [Feeding Our Future] because of fraud, but that Judge Guthmann ordered payments to continue in April 2021. That is also false.’”  The release was referring to Ramsey County Senior Judge John H. Guthmann. Walz said in response, “The attorneys for the Department of Education interpreted that differently.” Jordan argued there was little ambiguity in the release to misinterpret.  “This is not some anonymous source talking to the New York Times,” Jordan said, adding, “This is the court speaking.” “That’s pretty straightforward,” Jordan said. “So, the court is lying or you’re lying?” “I can’t tell you, congressman,” Walz said. “I just simply know what the attorneys at the department believe, which is that it was a misinterpretation.” Jordan asked, “Could it be you were trying to hide behind the court, governor, and that’s why the court did something they’ve never done before and issued a press statement?”  “You know how courts work congressman,” Walz said. “You can appeal those decisions.” The post Jim Jordan Stumps Tim Walz With a Simple Question: ‘Court Is Lying or You’re Lying?’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday for what felt like preparation for a 2028 presidential bid. Both men denounced what they called “California Derangement Syndrome," and despite Newsom comparing himself to PolitiFact, Kimmel did not fact-check him when he told a pants-on-fire falsehood about California’s taxes. At one point during the three-segment interview, Kimmel wondered, “Sometimes I hear people talking about California, and I wonder, like, where are they getting this? Where are they getting this?” Newsom immediately went on the attack, “Well, Fox derangement. I mean, It’s 24/7, the California Derangement Syndrome. It's through these propaganda networks focusing on what's wrong every single day. And there’s an old adage, ‘You're nothing more than your consistent thoughts.’ Whatever you focus on, you find more of.”   Jimmy Kimmel and California Gavin Newsom come together to denounce "California Derangement Syndrome." Newsom claims people like Fox focus on California because "our success runs completely contrary to their entire worldview." Kimmel claims "It is the best state" as Newsom… pic.twitter.com/nFFPGy3aTS — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 4, 2026   According to Newsom, conservatives focus on California because “our success runs completely contrary to their entire worldview. The fact that California's the fourth-largest economy in the world. Has more scientists, engineers, more Nobel laureates. The finest system of higher education. More venture capital than any other state in America.” While Newsom patted himself on the back for being the governor of a state with a large population, Kimmel added, “It's the best state. It is the best state.” Newsom agreed and also played the race card, “It's also—and, you know, this is part of it. It's also the most diverse state in the United States of America, 27 percent of this state's foreign-born. And that offends these guys.” He then told his tax whopper, “Yes, it has a progressive tax code, but it's very different in the tax systems than places like Texas and Florida that tax their lowest-wage earners more than we tax our highest-wage earners. The question is, who is the high-tax state?” California. California has tremendously high income taxes while Texas and Florida have none. It also has the highest sales tax in the country. Kimmel then sought to dive into California’s problems as if decades of Democratic governance isn’t responsible for those problems, “Now, we do have problems with—there are people living on the streets. And this is something every governor, every mayor comes in and says 'this is what I’m going to work on. This is number one' and it seems like—is this an unsolvable problem?” As Newsom tried to take credit for “real progress” on the issue, he added, “At the same time, and you saw this last year with the numbers nationally, it went up 18.13 nationally. But California, finally on the other side, seeing real progress.”   They then go on to talk about everything wrong with California. Kimmel observes "Now, we do have problems with—there are people living on the streets." As After Newsom touted "real progress" and—despite his earlier weird tax claim— called himself "PolitiFact all the time," Kimmel… pic.twitter.com/3omyPV2frF — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 4, 2026   While Kimmel marveled at the inclusion of the decimals, Newsom bragged, “Well, I mean, it's an exact number, but, I mean, it's, you know, I'm PolitiFact all the time.” Kimmel, who claims to love facts, did not fact-check Newsom’s earlier tax fable, and so far, neither has the actual PolitiFact. As it was, Kimmel did wonder, “Why does it take so long to get things built here? I feel like—is California overregulated?” It would have been nice if Kimmel had also brought up Newsom’s high-speed rail obsession, because without Newsom’s response sounded more reasonable than it should have, “No, I mean, we need a liberalism that builds, and we have to own that. I'm very much part of this, sort of, new nomenclature, we call this abundance agenda. We've got to reconcile that. We’ve got to be more focused on time to delivery… We tried to address land use reforms, what we call CEQA reforms. We were finally able to get it done this year in a meaningful way, but this is a meaningful topic for Democrats to recognize. We have to deliver on big and bold things. Trump breaks things. Democrats need to build things. But we have to actually deliver on that promise and that reform.” Another fact-check: Politico reported on Tuesday that the best-case, but highly unlikely, scenario for Newsom’s high-speed rail line between Bakersfield and Merced will be completed 12 years behind schedule. Here is a transcript for the March 3-taped show: ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! 3/4/2026 12:00 AM ET JIMMY KIMMEL: Sometimes I hear people talking about California, and I wonder, like, where are they getting this? Where are they getting this? GAVIN NEWSOM: Well, Fox derangement. I mean, It’s 24/7, the California Derangement Syndrome. It's through these propaganda networks focusing on what's wrong every single day. And there’s an old adage, "You're nothing more than your consistent thoughts." Whatever you focus on, you find more of. And these networks have really honed in on California for one reason: our success runs completely contrary to their entire worldview. The fact that California's the fourth-largest economy in the world. Has more scientists, engineers, more Nobel laureates. The finest system of higher education. More venture capital than any other state in America. KIMMEL: We’ve got the TMZ tour. NEWSOM: We've got the TMZ tours. KIMMEL: Not that we don't have problems. We do have problems. NEWSOM: We have problems but there's an energy, a daring and an entrepreneurialism— KIMMEL: It's the best state. It is the best state. NEWSOM: Yeah, come on. And you know, it's also—and, you know, this is part of it. It's also the most diverse state in the United States of America, 27 percent of this state's foreign-born. And that offends these guys, and it's interesting, I'll stay with universal health care, it's $25 minimum wage for health care workers, $20 minimum wage for fast food workers. Yes, it has a progressive tax code, but it's very different in the tax systems than places like Texas and Florida that tax their lowest-wage earners more than we tax our highest-wage earners. The question is, who is the high-tax state? KIMMEL: Now, we do have problems with—there are people living on the streets. NEWSOM: Yeah. KIMMEL: And this is something every governor, every mayor comes in and says “this is what I’m going to work on. This is number one” and it seems like—is this an unsolvable problem? NEWSOM: No, it's solvable. This year we did something we haven't done in 15 years and that is we saw close to a double-digit decline in unsheltered homeless. That had not happened in the state of California, down 9 percent. That's progress. We're finally seeing real progress. We're finally seeing it. But, Jimmy, this is important to know. As a former mayor, the state of California, when I was mayor, the state was not involved in homeless policies and completely abandoned the cities and counties, we were on our own. That’s radically changed since I’ve gotten there. We've taken responsibility, accountability. We're moving aggressively with the most significant mental health reforms and investments in U.S. history. Same with housing, focusing on encampments, and we're finally, finally, it's a flywheel all these years later, finally seeing real progress. At the same time, and you saw this last year with the numbers nationally, it went up 18.13 nationally. But California, finally on the other side, seeing real progress. KIMMEL: .13, that's really something. You're really getting into the decimals. NEWSOM: Well, I mean, it's an exact number, but, I mean, it's, you know, I'm PolitiFact all the time. KIMMEL: Why does it take so long to get things built here? I feel like—is California overregulated? NEWSOM: Yes. KIMMEL: Because it feels there are a lot of well-meaning laws, rules, et cetera that get in the way of building your house, of opening a restaurant. You know, I've experienced this myself. What do we do about that? NEWSOM: No, I mean, we need a liberalism that builds, and we have to own that. I'm very much part of this, sort of, new nomenclature, we call this abundance agenda. We've got to reconcile that. We’ve got to be more focused on time to delivery. Not just rhetoric. We've got to actually deliver and manifest it. That's why this year we did the most significant housing reforms in our state's history. We did something that hadn't been done in decades. We tried to address land use reforms, what we call CEQA reforms. We were finally able to get it done this year in a meaningful way, but this is a meaningful topic for Democrats to recognize. We have to deliver on big and bold things. Trump breaks things. Democrats need to build things. But we have to actually deliver on that promise and that reform.

Before telling employees they do not get a say in how the government uses OpenAI services, CEO Sam Altman said intelligence agencies are no longer allowed to use OpenAI as they see fit.On Monday, Altman cited the Fourth Amendment as a reason to change OpenAI's contract with the federal government.'The Department also affirmed that our services will not be used by Department of War intelligence agencies.'Altman said the company would amend its deal to include the following text: "Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution ... the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals."The text added, "For the avoidance of doubt, the Department understands this limitation to prohibit deliberate tracking, surveillance, or monitoring of U.S. persons or nationals, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information."Altman expressed a desire for a "democratic process" that could protect the civil liberties of Americans, while adding that the Department of War agreed to the new terms that keep his product out of the hands of the intelligence community."The Department also affirmed that our services will not be used by Department of War intelligence agencies (for example, the NSA). Any services to those agencies would require a follow-on modification to our contract."Unfortunately for Altman, his post was hit with a hard community note that claimed this was "the opposite" of what he told employees the next day.RELATED: Gamers REVOLT over age-verify scheme subjecting users to 'suspicious entity detection' Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images As CNBC reported, Altman told staff at an internal meeting that the company does not get a say in how the government uses OpenAI for operations."So maybe you think the Iran strike was good and the Venezuela invasion was bad," Altman reportedly said on Tuesday. "You don't get to weigh in on that."OpenAI does not "get to make operational decisions" regarding how its AI is used by the Department of War, the CEO added.Altman also reportedly told his team that while the Pentagon respects his company's expertise, the agency made it clear that the final decisions rest solely with Secretary Pete Hegseth.RELATED: Sam Altman slams ICE in message to OpenAI employees: 'What's happening ... is going too far' The about-face seems even more bizarre when considering Altman's follow-up post on X from Monday evening. In it, he described "alignment, democratization, empowerment, and individual agency" as the principles he cares most about.At the same time he explained how AI needs to be "democratized" for the world as an open product, he wondered how he would feel if his product could have prevented an attack on U.S. soil but was not used by the government."I think there are real dangers coming to the world, and maybe pretty soon; I tried to put myself in the mindset of how I'd feel the day after an attack on the US or a new bioweapon we could have helped prevent."This is more in tune with what he told his employees on Tuesday, which also included that he hoped the government would be "willing to work with us, even if our safety stack annoys them."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Three females were caught on video going on a rampage at the drive-thru window of New Jersey Wendy's fast-food restaurant recently — and now they're facing criminal charges.Police in Ewing Township said the incident occurred just before 3 a.m. Feb. 21 at the restaurant in the 1700 block of Olden Avenue. It is open 24 hours a day.'Insane.'Police said they received a report about disorderly customers who broke a drive-thru window.An investigation revealed that three females damaged property, attempted to assault employees with items, and fled the scene before officers arrived.However, police said employees recorded video of the incident, and as a result, police were able to identify the suspects: 18-year-old Saniyah Brittingham, 19-year-old Leah Williford Stevens, and 23-year-old Honesty Harrison, all of whom hail from neighboring Trenton.Police said Brittingham and Williford Stevens are facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief, and unlawful possession of a weapon, while Harrison is facing charges of criminal mischief and burglary.Brittingham and Harrison turned themselves in Friday, but Williford Stevens was still at large, according to WPVI-TV.In the station's video report below, the females are seen chucking drinks and other items at employees as apparent food is splattered around the drive-thru window — as well on the suspects. It appears toward the end of one clip that the trio get a taste of their own medicine as a huge batch of liquid flies in their direction as they take off running.RELATED: Wendy's worker punches drive-thru customer through car window — then steals car, hits victim with car, bites 2 cops: Police WPVI said police didn't indicate what may have sparked the incident, and a handful of people the station interviewed seemed deflated by the whole thing."I kinda get depressed about seeing young people just do that," Rupert Johnson of neighboring Lawrence, N.J., told WPVI."This is not something that should be happening," Dawn Hemsey of Ewing Township told the station, adding that the actions caught on video are "insane."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

NBA legend Charles Barkley says "stupid" people "need something to trigger them."The Hall of Fame player was referring to the Team USA men's Olympic hockey team visiting President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address and the White House last month. The event sparked controversy because of the way Trump delivered the invite.'I'm not a Trump guy. I want to make that clear.'The president called the men's locker room after the team defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal game on February 22, but his invite to the White House included a joke about the women's gold medal team."We're going to have to bring the women's team," the president told the team as they laughed. He added that he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't.While the call resulted in apologies, condemnations, and struggle sessions with the media, Barkley defended the team's choice to visit the capital."Guys who didn't want to go shouldn't have to explain why they didn't go. I've said this before. I'm not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go," Barkley told co-host Ernie Johnson on "The Steam Room.""I'm not a Trump guy. I want to make that clear," Barkley reiterated. "But I respect the office. He's the president of the United States. But if guys don't want to go, I understand that too. It doesn't have to be a talking point. It doesn't have to be ... 'un-American.'"Earlier in the discussion, the 63-year-old made a point of saying that while he did not agree with everything the government does, he understands that the general public can't stop themselves from being triggered.RELATED: Boston Bruins players cave over Trump phone call: 'Certainly sorry' — 'we should have reacted differently' "Yo, man, why do y'all have to mess up everything?" Barkley said about Trump's phone call. He then told his fellow Americans to stop "falling for stupidity" like that, while also placing blame on the government for purposely saying things that trigger people."I know y'all say stuff to trigger them. Y'all say stuff, and y'all know they going to be fools," Barkley told the administration.When co-host Johnson tried to redirect Barkley's blame to Trump's call to the hockey team, the former athlete said that people should control themselves and not react to everything, but also that they often react anyway because they are "stupid.""We don't have to fall for stupidity, Ernie," Barkley argued. "But we do, [and] that's my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them."RELATED: Team USA players interrogated by woke Canadian media over Trump call — 'Why would you laugh?' Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Barkley went on to say he did not like how divisive the phone call had become, and that such division has "screwed up" the United States."Everything is not Democrat, Republican, conservative, or liberal," he argued. "That's why we got this divided, screwed-up country.""Stop it, man," Barkley soon pleaded, looking directly into the camera. The Alabaman then reinforced his reasoning one more time."The public — they're idiots. They're fools. They can't think for themselves."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Watching Tim Walz Squirm Under Brandon Gill’s Cross-Examination Is the Closest Thing We’ve Had to Justice

Karoline Leavitt Absolutely Destroys Kaitlan Collins in Epic WH Takedown – CNN's Smear Game Exposed

Hitting Narco-Terrorists Where It Hurts: US, Ecuador Conduct Joint Military Operations in South America