The decades spanning the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s produced some of the most recognizable and beloved cultural artifacts in modern history. From neon-soaked arcades to Saturday morning cartoons, from cassette-tape mixtapes to early wrestling fandom, CONTINUE READING... The post The Digital Afterlife of Retro Pop Culture: Why the 1970s–1990s Still Shape Modern Entertainment appeared first on The Retro Network.

On this episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Victor Davis Hanson and Sami Winc explore the Left’s troubling and growing acceptance of political violence.  Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to VDH’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes.    SAMI WINC: Victor, I just wanted to get your reflections on how we’ve had two assassination attempts on Donald Trump [less than] two years ago. And most recently, in this last year Charlie Kirk, of course, was assassinated. Is this something that is growing and going to be common or is this an aberration and going to die off in our culture? VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Well, the four most noticeable ones, that’s a pretty good pool to make a generalization. There was Tyler Robinson, who did kill Charlie Kirk. There was Luigi Mangione, who killed the United Healthcare executive. There was Ryan Routh, who tried to kill Trump. And there was Thomas Crooks, who hit Trump in the ear and killed another person and wounded two. Is there a pattern? Yes. They’re all four people of the Left. They’re all four, not just people of the Left, but activists incited by particular left-wing dogmas. In the case of Tyler Robinson, he was into the trans movement, this weird, furry movement, and felt that Charlie Kirk was probably an obstacle to that. In the case of Crooks, he had gone from either isolated, crazy, conservative to hard Left, and he had bought into the idea that Donald Trump was an existential threat, and he hated him.   If you look at Luigi Mangione, he was an overeducated nepo baby who believed that the health care [system] and the whole corporate world was unfair to poor people, and they weren’t getting health care. So, who’s going to take out one, the biggest, United Healthcare? So he thought. That’s what he claimed.   If you were Ryan Routh, he said so many crazy things, but he hated Trump because he thought he was going to cut off aid to Ukraine, everything.   So now we have the idea that they are all trying to kill conservatives. By the way, there’s more of them than the opposite. If you count the eight or nine trans cases. Somebody just sent me something that was on the Libs of TikTok—I can’t assess the veracity of it. People who commit shootings of over four people based on their race or sexual orientation? The largest group shooting people were people who identified as trans or were in the trans movement of some way. I don’t know how you adjudicate all of those, whether you count Thomas Crook or you count Tyler Robinson who were somewhere there. Whether pronouns or furry animals or whatever crazy, kooky thing they are. But my point is this: That seems to be more common. And you go back to Stephen Scalise and other stuff.   OK, why are they doing it now? If you were an Old Testament person, you would say that they’re pretty convinced that nobody who shoots anybody goes to the death penalty, and very few get life in prison without parole. And there’s a good chance if you shoot somebody and you’re young enough, you’ll be out. Number one.  Number two, the invective on social media—and that’s where they live, on social media—is all anti-Trump, anti-Trump, anti-corporate. It’s Left. There’s a huge left-wing. And the invective they’re using: Fascist, fascist, fascist, fascist, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Nazi, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler. In that environment, these people who are mentally ill or deranged or into some sex cult or into some left-wing bazaar are idolized. And they think if they shoot a conservative activist like Charlie Kirk or a health care executive, or Donald Trump, they’re going to be canonized, famous. They’re not going to be demonized. And the post-facto results show they’re absolutely correct. They’re making an opera out of Luigi Mangione in the Bay Area. Tyler Robinson, people were already making fun of how Charlie Kirk died. They were reenacting, holding their neck. They had t-shirts with blood on their neck. They were crazy.   As far as Trump, there were people almost immediately who said, “He missed.” They weren’t upset on the Left. So, to review. If the general jurisprudence is weaponized and in general, it’s therapeutic now and that people who shoot and kill … even Decarlos Brown that killed poor Iryna [Zarutska] on the North Carolina subway, I don’t think he’s going to get the death penalty. He’s been out so many times. And the guy who just tried to burn to death the girl on the [Chicago train]. So, the system sends a message to these four. You’re not going to really pay the ultimate price. And then it sends message number two that if you do do this, you’re going to be canonized as a political hero in some quarters. And number three, you’re going to be famous. You add all of that up, and there’s a fourth. It’s going to be lax, the security, because these are not popular people. I don’t mean that conspiracy like some people are saying that Donald Trump was set up. I do believe that [under] the head of the Secret Service—Trump was not president—it was Joe Biden’s Secret Service, and she was fired—there was a general laxity that said, “That’s just Trump. Just go down to Pennsylvania and go through the motions, but don’t scour every building or if somebody comes in and he kind of lets off an alarm …” Yeah, that kind of attitude, which they didn’t have with Obama or Biden. And that was pretty much part of the idea. If you do it, there’s not going to be a lot of consequences, but you could get away with it.   And if you’re at a university, and you’re walking around and Charlie Kirk is speaking and you just walk in broad daylight, you know, kind of limping around with an odd object or whatever you had to have, a gun, and then you go up on a roof, nobody says anything and you’re right. So laxity, laxity, laxity. Yeah, that explains it. Is it going to happen again? Absolutely. WINC: Yeah.  HANSON: Because if somebody gets shot tomorrow, if Donald Trump is assassinated tomorrow, two things will be much harder. He’s got a good Secret Service now, and he’s going to be much better protected. But if somebody gets close enough to try it, will that person to be canonized? Yes. Just look at those attacking the ICE people, trying to shoot ICE. So, we have assassination chic right now. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.  The post Victor Davis Hanson: The Left’s ‘Assassination Chic’ and the Inevitability of Another Attack appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Trump Administration's proposed budget put the project on the chopping block, but ESA has confirmed its commitment to the first international space station to orbit the Moon.

The cultural stereotype of a Catholic nun is often very uptight – as in unmercifully swatting a child’s knuckles with a ruler – but sometimes it’s more violent. Nuns plot murders. This happened on the CBS crime drama/dramedy Elsbeth on November 20. The main character, Elsbeth Tascione, is a Chicago lawyer sent to New York City to enforce a federal consent decree with the NYPD. But every week, she’s solving murders while she floats around in flamboyant outfits and a collection of large handbags. In this implausible episode, the Archdiocese of New York decided to sell a 200-year-old convent to a scandalous pop star named “Aleia Jade” so she can transform it into a recording studio. At the beginning, the soon-to-be-displaced nuns about are watching one of her music videos, where she writhes and crawls around dressed in slutty-nun garb in a church setting, licking a crucifix and singing “Crucify me/ you can vilify me / I spit your gospel out / And fill you full of doubt.” This might be inspired by the pop star Sabrina Carpenter, who flounced about in a tiny black dress and a cross necklace inside a Catholic church in Brooklyn for her music video “Feather” two years ago. In that case, Carpenter’s lyrics had nothing to do with religion. She was just dropping her love interest like a feather. But in that real-life scenario, it became wildly controversial that the church allowed this filming. That’s what makes this CBS plot so ridiculous. Can anyone really imagine the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, selling a historic convent to a scandalous musician and dumping the nuns out on the street? The New York press would have a series of field days. Convents are typically owned by the religious order that operates them, not by the church itself. But this plot helped explain why the convent’s Mother Superior decided to kill the pop star and save the convent. In a conversation with Aleia, the nun suggested she climb up into their decrepit bell tower and view the sunset for inspiration. Once there, a nun was tricked into ringing the bell early, causing the singer to be knocked out of a very big window by a very big bell. It was so cartoonish you’d expect a splat like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.  Once Elsbeth started circling the bell tower and figuring out how Mother Superior conspired in the dirty deed, the nun entered the confessional and told a priest who aspired to be bishop that she encouraged the pop star’s climb and it could cause “irreparable harm to the church.” The priest banned Elsbeth and the cops from the premises unless they had a search warrant. This makes both priests and nuns look very shady. To throw off the odor of anti-Catholic bias, the rest of the nuns were all presented as wonderful, like they’d marched in from the set of Sister Act. Elsbeth not only solved the murder, but saved the convent by engineering a designation of historic preservation. Couldn’t the church have figured that out before someone was murdered? Elsbeth was created by Robert and Michelle King, best known for the CBS drama The Good Wife. They also made a Catholic-centered drama called Evil about exorcisms for CBS and Paramount Plus.  This episode wasn’t vicious, like the Law & Order: SVU episode in 2016 where the auxiliary bishop of New York was running a large sex trafficking ring with Catholic school girls. But it still exploited sacred spaces of Catholic life for its juicy murder plot….like a slutty pop star.  

Though you’re probably still recovering from a tryptophan-induced slumber, it’s officially that time of the year again. Christmas is nearly upon us, which means it’s a great time to start thinking about gift ideas for your loved ones.And why not support proud American businesses while enjoying the Christmas season with your family? Whether you’re looking for handmade jackets and boots or artisan tools and gadgets, we found some of the best American companies and their offerings. Give them a gift that will last a lifetime from companies that embody the American spirit.From heirlooms to stocking stuffers at a variety of price points, here are 12 of our top picks of made-in-the-USA products that will never fail to impress.1. Billykirk BillykirkBased in Jersey City, New Jersey, Billykirk was founded in 1999 by the brothers Chris and Kirk Bray. Self-proclaimed pioneers of the Made in America movement, the Bray brothers have been longtime giants in the revitalization and support of the American leather industry. Focused on producing leather products that blend traditional craftsmanship with modern functionality, Billykirk has always been committed to the intersection of art and utility. The No. 155 Card Case is one of the company's original designs, tracing back to the beginning of the company and showcasing the brothers’ artful expertise for enriching everyday products. MSRP: $95.00Visit Billykirk’s website for more gift ideas.2. Bullhide Belts Bullhide BeltsBullhide Belts, a proud U.S. manufacturer based in Ohio, shows meticulous attention to detail and lives up to its commitment to quality. With a promise of “buckle to tip excellence,” Bullhide Belts’ craftsmen have been at work since 2010, delivering a superior belt with full-grain leather that many people have come to love. The Admiral Belt, available in widths of 1.25” and 1.5” and in black, brown, and medium brown, is a timeless accessory designed to effortlessly transition from the boardroom to weekend casual. The company also crafts a variety of other leather goods, including wallets, cellphone holsters, rifle slings, and much more. MSRP: $69.99Visit Bullhide Belts’ website for more gift ideas.3. Sullivan Glove Company Sullivan Glove CompanySullivan Glove Company is one of only three glove companies left that still makes everything in the USA with American materials. Sullivan prides itself on ensuring that its customers are not supporting the many unsavory practices common in the textile industry. The company sources and handcrafts its leather from American deer, elk, buffalo, and goat, all from its headquarters in Bend, Oregon. Pictured is the golden Elk Roper, which is tough enough for most types of work but also versatile enough for everyday use. MSRP: $95.00Visit Sullivan Glove Company’s website for more gift ideas.4. All American Clothing All American ClothingAll American Clothing’s story speaks volumes in the wide and terrible seas of outsourcing and globalization. The company's founder, Lawson Nickol, initially worked as a sales manager at another denim manufacturing company; however, one day, he found out at a store that his old company was outsourcing labor to Mexico. The discovery filled him with sadness for the American job loss. Acting immediately on principle, he quit his comfortable job and launched All American Clothing. His new company is committed to sourcing and manufacturing its products 100% in the USA. The high-quality All American Dark Stonewash Boot Cut Jean is but one of the fine fruits of Lawson Nickol’s dedication to his dream. MSRP: $79.95Visit All American Clothing’s website for more gift ideas.5. New Balance New BalanceIndependent since 1906, New Balance has always been committed to producing excellent products. New Balance continues to adhere to its mission to stay “fearlessly independent” while delivering the best shoes without compromise. The company's Made in the USA collection boasts the highest-quality shoes it has to offer. This collection is the product of over 75 years of collective expertise and knowledge of the craft. New Balance is also on the cutting edge of cool, as the “dad sneaker” has returned to vogue among hipsters and Zoomers. This collection, dropped in August 2024, explores many subtle color schemes on shoes of the highest-quality material, all — you guessed it — made in the USA. MSRP: $200.00Visit New Balance’s website for more gift ideas.6. Quoddy QuoddyQuoddy gets its name from the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, originally built in 1808, which in turn derives its name from an Indian word for the area. With over 200 years of history behind its name, Quoddy commits itself to providing the highest-quality, built-to-last boat shoes, moccasins, and other footwear without cutting corners. Quoddy's made-to-order footwear is handcrafted in Maine under the shadow of its namesake. The Quoddy Head Boat Shoe is a perfect example of this company’s adherence to the time-tested wisdom of the craft. Starting from the comfortable and supportive design of the “foot cradle,” Quoddy’s craftsmen then add custom features to make this footwear stylish and durable. MSRP: $249.00.Visit Quoddy’s website for more gift ideas.7. Russell Moccasin Russell MoccasinFounded in 1898, Russell Moccasin Co. has made a name for itself as the quintessential boot for all types of outdoorsmen. Russell has shod trailblazers, hunters, trappers, hikers, and those at the heights of power and influence, including four U.S. presidents. Named after its founder, William Russell, this company has handcrafted its footwear across three centuries, all from Berlin, Wisconsin. The Backcountry, Russell Moccasin’s flagship boot, promises to accompany any traveler from the sea to the mountaintops with its lightweight yet rugged design. Buying a pair of Backcountry boots is like buying a piece of history for yourself. MSRP: $750.00Visit Russell Moccasin Company’s website for more gift ideas.8. Middleton Made Knives Middleton Made KnivesFounded in 2010 by Quintin Middleton, Middleton Made Knives was built "on faith and a dream.” The realization of a childhood passion for bladesmithing, the company crafts custom, high-carbon steel blades in the small town of Saint Stephen, South Carolina. Quintin is known as the South’s premier bladesmith, even making custom blades by hand for some of America’s top chefs. Middleton Made Knives’ Classic and Signature Collections include a wide variety of culinary blades with bright bursts of color, making the company a perfect example of American artisanry. MSRP: $500.00Visit Middleton Made Knives’ website for more gift ideas.9. Silver Stag Silver StagBorn from a garage-based hobby more than 20 years ago, Silver Stag has built a nationally respected brand by taking a “step back in time.” Committed to a hands-on approach whereby all knives are fashioned from the ground up in the company's Blaine, Washington, facility, no two blades will be the same. With handles sourced from North American shed antler and hardwoods and blades from high-quality steels, each blade is specialty-made by the small team of skilled workers at the nine-person company. Offering a wide array of knife styles, Silver Stag will have your back when it comes to addressing all your needs — both in hunting and in the kitchen. MSRP: $170.00Visit Silver Stag’s website for more gift ideas.10. WeatherWool WeatherWoolFamily-owned and operated since 2009, WeatherWool was founded as a passion project to make luxury wool garments entirely in the USA. Tired of being told that this was impossible, Ralph and Debby DiMeo set out to create their own “hardcore luxury” brand. Sixteen years later, WeatherWool has stayed true to its vision without cutting any corners. So sure are they of the quality of their products that you can find blog videos on their website of Ralph himself battle-testing their jackets in extreme weather. The All-Around Jacket, sourced and manufactured “100%” in the USA, is made from “100% WeatherWool Certified Fine Wool,” a material the company said is 100% worth the premium price tag. MSRP: $985.00Visit WeatherWool’s website for more gift ideas.11. Wintergreen Northern Wear Wintergreen Northern WearWintergreen Northern Wear’s story is just about as American as it gets. The company's flagship fleece and shell anoraks are the products of decades of dedication to developing a high-quality winter jacket for extreme conditions. Field-tested at the North Pole and inspired by local clothing from Inuit and Scandinavian cultures, the anorak was worn by many adventurers on unaided expeditions to the North Pole, unsummited peaks, and in many other extreme environments. With an emphasis on breathable, quality materials, Wintergreen Northern Wear manufactures all its adventure products in the small town of Ely, Minnesota, to this day. MSRP: $339.00Visit Wintergreen Northern Wear's website for more gift ideas.12. Red Rooster Camano Coffee Mill & Small Batch Fire Roasted CoffeeThis plastic-free, made-in-America hand grinder features several settings for consistent and plentiful grind options, from super fine Turkish to coarse French press. And it’s handsome enough to admire even when at rest, replete (but not too replete) with timeless old-world charm. MSRP: $225.00 (coffee mill) / $20.00 (small-batch, fire-roasted coffee)Visit Red Rooster’s website for more gift ideas.

Both sides of the political aisle are misleadingly bleak about the state of the American worker.

In Nicholas Buccola’s new book, conservatives’ claim to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is misunderstood.

The era of Housing First will be marked in history as a humanitarian disaster. Trump’s reforms are needed.

This sequel doesn’t improve on what was irredeemable, but at least it’s shorter.

The once-great European powers can’t even dictate the end of a war involving a European country whose fate they deem crucial to their own future.