As the Biden political crisis grew last week, progressives tuned MSNBC out. MSNBC averaged only 569,000 total day viewers from July 1-7 for its smallest weekly audience of the year. The progressive network also hit a low for the year among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, as MSNBC averaged only 56,000 viewers from […] The post The Progressive’s Network MSNBC Is Hemorrhaging Viewers appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

While Americans lit up their skies on July 4 to celebrate independence from the British Parliament, many UK politicians wept upon realizing their own newfound independence — having lost their seats in the most disastrous election for Conservatives in decades. Rishi Sunak’s famous gamble — calling an early election despite trailing in the polls — did not pay off. Fourteen years of what many regard as Tory failures on key issues could not be solved with a few weeks of campaign propaganda.  Claudia Greco – WPA Pool/Getty Images While inaction on illegal immigration played a central role in garnering frustrations among the base, social conservatives expressed bitter regret about a so-called “Conservative” government which has presided over a “woke” march through the institutions, a cultural war on the meaning of “woman,” a shut down on free speech, and some of the most poisonous, ideological school curriculums we’ve ever seen. With a new rival, Reform, offering a Right-wing alternative on the political stage, the Tories hemorrhaged votes from disappointed conservatives, splitting the Right of the political spectrum and handing victory to the Labour Party. The post-match analysis has been muddled. Some Conservatives have understood the need to roll back on “woke” and return to genuine conservative principles. Many others insist the solution is to become even more liberally milquetoast.  Former Energy Minister Lord Callanan has pushed for “a liberal, mainstream, centre-right Conservative Party that’s socially liberal but economically conservative.”  Former MP Rory Stewart joined the chorus with an urgent party appeal to “move back to the center” and “reject the fantasies of the Faragist Right.” The best way to win back your losses, is of course, to insult and shun them.  The schism of the British Right exposes a more universal friction in conservatism. Those who stand unified on economic approach — a low-tax, limited-interference government — are splintered into “conservative” and “progressive” camps on the social issues that hit society hardest.  For social conservatives, strong family units and community structures enhance human flourishing. Social progressives, on the other hand — forming a new, “Godless” Right — abhor the “outdated” notion of a nuclear family, instead preferring to champion individual freedoms. In the UK, where the progressive side of the Tories has reigned, the government took a hammer to the societal institutions which have historically done the most to serve the vulnerable. The cost hasn’t only been mounting socially but economically too.  Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Church Historically, Christianity was responsible for hospitals, schools, and care for the poor. Even in modern times, where so much of this ground has been ceded to the State, the Church still offers a healing balm to our nation’s pandemic of loneliness. 1 in 3 UK households are now single-occupant. Over half of those over50 experience loneliness most of or all the time. Religious communities have so much to offer an atomized and purposeless generation. Yet the government has undermined Christianity time and again. The Tories dismissed the right to worship during the pandemic by keeping church doors closed for longer than necessary. And they installed a series of public order laws which demonized and criminalized Christian expression — including, famously, praying in the privacy of one’s own mind.  Marriage Take another foundational social institution: marriage. According to the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics, getting married makes people happier with their lives than earning big salaries does, and married people report higher life satisfaction than singles or cohabiting couples. Children who live with married parents report better mental health. Fathers in the home are one of the strongest safeguards against adolescent poverty and crime. Women who are married are significantly less likely to be the victims of violent crime. Men who are married are less likely to perpetrate violent crimes. Yet the past two decades of rule by social progressives has pulled the family structure apart. Nothing has been done to stall or reverse the plummeting marriage rate, with the tax system offering almost no benefit to those who wed. On the contrary, no-fault divorce was introduced under Tory rule.  Parenthood Parenthood has suffered too. While our birth rate plummets — now just 50% of what it was in the 1960s — the progressives have only worsened the decline, with maternity policies limited to pushing women back into the workplace as soon as possible after birth, rather than supporting and honoring mothers’ work in raising their children. Half of women now don’t have children before the age of 30 — some out of choice, yet many because today’s social circumstances simply don’t allow for it. Mental Health As marriage, faith and family crumble in neglect, the results are tragic. We are a nation battling the greatest mental health crisis in recorded history. More than 130,000 British dads have no contact at all with their children, fueling poorer mental health among our next generation, and feeding into a growing gang culture. Our welfare structures groan under the weight of an aging population with no family around them. Last year, 9,000 people were found at least a week after they’d died alone. Where the Church and family support has been destroyed, the state has had to expand. The London School of Economics estimates that our mental health crisis cost the UK economy at least £118 billion a year. 1 in 5 GP appointments are now taken up by people who are lonely, or are seeking life advice. As crime soars due to fatherlessness, state-funded social workers, police officers, prison services and more are in high demand. The list goes on. Attempting to appeal to progressive fads has seen the Tories compromise on basic principles throughout their recent time in power. The social arguments against “woke” have not been enough to persuade them otherwise. But the economic arguments are stark — and so are the latest election results.  Now is the time to get back to basics. A Conservative party which supports faith, family and community has a future. A country which lacks these structures does not. * * * Lois McLatchie Miller (@LoisMcLatch) is a Scottish commentator and Senior Legal Communications Officer for Alliance Defending Freedom UK. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

If you are a parent and your child has gone through preschool or Kindergarten, you have one of these question sheets somewhere in a box. Every year, for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, teachers ask kids questions about their parents. The questions are simple, and the teacher writes in the child’s answer. Most of the time, the results are pretty hilarious. This dad did a fact-check on his kid’s answers. You will laugh. @oohbuddy Good effort, but let’s try to nail it next year. #dadsoftiktok #parentinghumor #fathersday ♬ original sound – OOH Buddy At five, the world looks different than it does for us adults. This dad analyzes his son’s answers to routine questions about him on a Father’s Day questionnaire. The first question was about his dad’s name. He got this correct because his dad has the same name — James. When asked for something his dad always says, young James answered, “He loves me.” Young James added his dad’s superpowers, “He’s super fast and strong.” Dad agreed wholeheartedly with that assessment. Image from TikTok. With the easy questions out of the way, the questionnaire became more intense. Young James may have been confused answering about Dad’s favorite color. He stated blue, but Dad’s fact check on the kid says it is orange. He did offer a half point because orange and blue are the team colors for the Gators. The Fact Check On His Kid’s Answers Went Horribly Off-Kilter When the fact check on his kid reached the last few sections, young James was utterly wrong. Favorite animal? Not a cheetah. Dad’s age? Ten years is too young to have a child in kindergarten, so way off on that fact check, kid. Favorite place is Monster Jam? Wrong again, little James. When young James wasn’t sure of his dad’s favorite things, he plugged in his favorites. Overall, the son did pretty well compared to the question sheets we saw on Mother’s Day. Image from TikTok. My daughter thought I was 100 years old when she was in Kindergarten, so ten seems to be a much less ego-devastating answer. Although the purpose of these questionnaires may seem like a time-filling exercise to most people, they can be a valuable vessel for opening a discussion with your child to talk about yourself. Before school, a child is the center of their universe. Once they go to school, they learn about others and become aware that other people are essential, too. That is also the age when they begin remembering things more clearly. Have fun fact-checking your kids and help them learn about you. Share this if you or your friends are experiencing this time-honored tradition from Kindergarten. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Dad Hilariously “Fact Checks” His 5-Year-Old’s Worksheet About Him appeared first on InspireMore.

Dukes reportedly decided to join the child’s church

It is known that Loggins was in hospice care at the time of his passing

'Effort by the Biden Administration to shut down drilling'

A transgender activist group is pressuring corporations to provide insurance coverage for child sex change drugs and genital surgeries. The Humans Rights Campaign (HRC) is an LGBTQ+ activist group that champions pediatric sex change interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex change surgeries. Since 2002, the HRC has issued their Corporate Equality Index […]

Bulgarian archaeologists undertaking routine excavations found something that was anything but routine in an ancient sewer system. A pristine marble statue of the messenger god Hermes, perhaps buried to protect it from overzealous Christianized Romans, was located in the sewers of Heraclea Sintica, a lesser-known ancient site near the border with Greee. The Greco-Bulgarian border […] The post Archaeologists Find Remarkable Marble Statue of Greek God Hermes in Ancient Sewer appeared first on Good News Network.

Navy Joan Roberts has never met her grandfather, President Joe Biden. Navy, the 5-year-old daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, has seen her grandfather, though—on TV. Roberts, author of the forthcoming, “Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden,” recounts Navy seeing President Biden’s image. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lunden Roberts (@lundentownn_) “We were in a nail salon one time, and she’s like, ‘Mom, look, there’s my grandpa.’ And I’m like, ‘First of all, lower your voice. Second off, yes,’” Roberts told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “And so, she sees him as this grandfather that she loves from a distance, but has this relationship where it doesn’t exist. But she knows that that’s her grandfather. She’s aware.” For years, including after a paternity test proved that Hunter Biden was Navy’s father, President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, ignored Navy’s existence. Only last year did the couple acknowledge their granddaughter in a formal statement to People magazine. Roberts has tried to justify the Bidens’ behavior to Navy. “I tell her about the president, how he has all these different tasks, and he’s so important. He’s the leader of the free world. I go into all these details with her, kind of like the books about kings and queens, like, ‘Well, we have a president.’ And she understands to that extent,” Roberts recounts. “She says, ‘Oh, well, that’s why he hasn’t been to see me, because he’s out there helping so many other people. But when he’s done, he’s going to come see me,’” Roberts adds. Currently, after years of no contact, Navy sees her father, Hunter, via Zoom. Roberts says, “I felt like sober Hunter could have been a good father.” But she acknowledges that Hunter, who was using drugs during their romantic relationship, had his demons: “I guess that’s part of falling for somebody. You just toss the red flags to the side.” “He grasped that he was the black sheep of the family,” Roberts also said of her ex. Watch our full interview above, or read a transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, below. Katrina Trinko: Joining me today is Lunden Roberts. She is the author of the new book, which is available for preorder, “Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden.” Lunden Roberts: Thanks for having me. It actually comes out Aug. 20. It’s the week before my daughter’s birthday. What better birthday gift can you give your daughter than your mother’s story, right? Trinko: That’s wonderful. I’m sure she will love going to the bookstore and seeing her mom’s book. Roberts: I hope so. Trinko: So, before we get into your relationship with Hunter Biden, you’re from Arkansas, you came to D.C. You said you love D.C. What brought you to the city? Roberts: I came for a CSI school. And I’ve always been obsessed with crime and who isn’t these days? Everybody loves those crime series and whatnot, and you get infatuated with them. But I actually came on a field trip to D.C. when I was in seventh grade and fell in love with the city then. Our teacher, our science teacher, was Teacher at Sea … and there was a banquet up here. And so, she brought some of her students up. I always knew I wanted to live up here and I love it. I always have. Trinko: Do you have a favorite place in D.C.? Roberts: Anywhere. Well, I love Arlington. Arlington area is my favorite. I used to live close to the cemetery, and I just thought it was beautiful out there. Gorgeous. Trinko: And do you have a favorite true crime show or podcast, now that you’ve confessed to this? Roberts: I like “The Following.” I like the serial killer-type stuff. Ted Bundy was— Trinko: So weird. How did someone so charming … do so much damage? Roberts: Well— Trinko: Right. In not related topics—so, you’ve talked a lot in interviews about some of the, let’s say, less pleasant parts about your relationship with Hunter Biden. You talked about meeting him. I think he was in his boxers maybe doing drugs or getting ready to do drugs. But I assume your relationship is more than that. What were some of the good moments? What were the happy times that made you say, “I’m going to stay in this relationship”? Roberts: Hunter had a way of making me laugh. And we would get under each other’s skin. And wittiness, he was so witty, and we’d go back and forth. And I thought he was so intelligent, and he’s one of them people you come into a room, he’s like a magnet. People want to get to know him. Maybe not— Trinko: I’ve never been in a room with him. Roberts: But he attracts people. He does. He’s very charming. Trinko: And did you know right away that he was Joe Biden’s son, or did you find that out later? Roberts: No, it was a few minutes in. Trinko: A few minutes. Roberts: It took a little bit. Yeah. It was in a conversation. I was sitting in Sen. Barack Obama’s chair. And it had his label on the wooden panel on the side and the years that he served in the Senate. And then the wheels are turning and it’s starting to make sense. Trinko: So, were you at Hunter’s house at this point? Roberts: No, I was at Rosemont Seneca. Trinko: Oh, and they had the chair. Yeah, that would trigger some thinking. Roberts: Yeah. Right? Trinko: So, tell me about the relationship. Did you ever think, “Oh, maybe we’ll get married. Maybe this is my happily ever after”? Or was it meant to be casual? Roberts: Well, the thing is, during that time—and I’ve always kind of been someone, I talk about that throughout the book, someone who’s been kind of detached from feelings. Not someone who’s dedicated to commitment, when it comes to relationships and stuff. I’ve always reacted on impulse and just lived in the moment. And that was the time in my life when I was living in the moment. And Hunter was suffering from an addiction he’s been very candid about. And throughout the darkest times of his addiction was around the time that I knew him. And you know, a quality of addiction is in and out. Sometimes you’re there, sometimes you go missing for a little bit, and then you come back. And that’s kind of what our relationship consisted of. I had been attracted to him. I talk about the first night I meet him and seeing his eyes and these beautiful blue, gray eyes. And they’re the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. And then I talk about how William Shakespeare even said the eyes [are] the windows to the soul. And I knew he was more complex than I knew. And it intrigued me. And I see that he’s suffering from all this in front of me and I can’t help but want to know more because he seemed so brilliant. Trinko: And did you have any experience in your own life or in loved ones with addiction before this? Is there something that made you ready to take it on, I guess? Roberts: Not really. And maybe that also intrigued me because I’d not. That just dawned on me just now. But yeah. No, not really. … Trinko: No, it’s a hard life. Roberts: It is. And it’s different because I can say before you know somebody and loved and cared for somebody that suffers from addiction, you don’t know what it’s like to love and care for somebody who suffers from addiction. Trinko: Right. Roberts: And I think that’s a real thing. Trinko: So, did Hunter ever talk to you before you were pregnant about his kids or how he felt about being a father? Roberts: Yes. Hunter felt, in a lot of ways, that he had let a lot of people down. And he had been through a whole lot in his life and now he’s at one of the darkest times in his life. And I talked throughout the book how Hunter felt like—there were many times he confided in me about how he felt like a disappointment. And maybe he wasn’t the best. But … in his sober years … he had the potential to be the best. Because even with this addiction, I saw this endless potential in him. And I guess that’s part of falling for somebody. You just toss the red flags to the side. Trinko: But I mean, it’s also real, the potential. Roberts: And I think that he was just in a dark place, but I felt like sober Hunter could have been a good father. Trinko: Did he talk at all about being in a political family himself? I mean, my family’s Christmas letter feels like enough pressure sometimes. But [his] father being the vice president and then, obviously, looking to run again. Was there a lot of emphasis about being picture-perfect? I mean, I know his addiction has come out, but did he grow up in an atmosphere of everything has to be just right? Roberts: I would say yes and no, because the conversations that him and I had about it—and I talk about this throughout the book “Out of the Shadows,” I say Hunter, like I said, felt like a disappointment. Because he wasn’t always perfect and he didn’t live up to that. But he claims that his brother did. And there were stories about his childhood I can remember. I can’t remember the exact name, but he had said that his friend’s parents would call Beau chief or sheriff or general, something along those lines. And it was because he was the one that would do everything right. And they knew that if their kid was with Beau, then their kid was probably in good hands and was making the right decisions. And I was like, “They say that about you?” And he’s like, “No.” He knew. He grasped that he was the black sheep of the family. He didn’t do well with it, though. I know he didn’t like being a disappointment. The scandal-plagued son of a political family. You could tell that it pained him. Trinko: So, you tell him you’re pregnant. And I believe you said he didn’t pressure you to make a decision one way or the other. But then he, correct me if I’m wrong, he just disappeared at some point? Roberts: Yes, yes. And like I’ve said, that was in the darkest times of his addiction. And you chalk that up to his addiction, because you see the ins and outs of that throughout the first few chapters in the book. And you start to make excuses and enable, you know, that, “Well, he’s ignoring me. He’s addicted. That’s a quality, it’s a trait of someone who suffers from addiction.” And so, at first when I told him, he was OK with it. And then you become this burden, kind like the addiction. And so, it’s like a deflection, dismissive abandonment. Trinko: So, when you gave birth to your daughter, Navy, were you alone in the room? Was anyone able to be with you? Roberts: My mom was with me. Trinko: Oh, good. Roberts: I actually drove myself. Well, my mom was with me, but I drove after my water broke about 2 o’clock in the morning. I drove the hour, hour and a half to the hospital. Trinko: So, you’re having contractions and driving? Roberts: Yeah. Trinko: Did you speed a little? Because I would’ve. Roberts: Probably, probably. I think. So much trauma, I don’t remember all the details of that because that time specifically, I get into detail throughout the book about how dark of a place that his dark place led me to. And you’re alone, you’re pregnant, the father is suffering from addiction. The father is absent, the future is unknown. This might be the first son. His father might run for presidency. I’m finding out my dad has cancer. I’m becoming a mom. The future is—there’s a lot of stuff. And you go through all of that with me in the book. I know it sounds like a lot, me telling you that. But you go through it step by step with me through the book. And that’s why I talk about so many emotions that are put into here because I become … I become Hunter’s scandal. And I was somebody that he had claimed that he could trust and somebody that he can confide in, or at least that’s what I was told. And now I’ve let him down. So, I spent that entire time in a really dark place. And I go into detail throughout the book describing that to the point where it felt like I was not only a burden to Hunter, I was a burden to my family. I’ve brought this scandal upon them, I’ve brought this scandal upon a daughter who didn’t ask for it. And maybe things would be better if I wasn’t here. And that dark place, mental health is real. And if you let yourself get to that dark place, it can get pretty dark. And you’ll think about things that you would never think of with a healthy mind. Trinko: So, how did you pick the name Navy? Roberts: That’s a good question. So, I was against it at first. I loved it when I first heard it. … So, I was actually on the rooftop of House of Sweden where Rosemont Seneca was located. And me and another one of Hunter’s assistants were moving a couch from the house, having one of his couches moved. And we’re watching these movers and stuff from this rooftop. My sister calls me and she’s like, “If it’s a girl, I have found the most perfect name.” And I was like, “What?” And she’s like, “Navy.” And I was like, “Yeah, I like it.” And I was like, “No, I can’t do that.” And she says, “Why?” I said, “Well, Hunter was discharged from the Navy.” And she’s like, “Oh. Well, nobody will ever know, right?” And I’m like, “Yeah, you’re right. Nobody’s ever going to know about it anyways.” But I love the name. I wanted something short and I wanted something unique. And I’ll say, it had absolutely nothing to do with Hunter’s relation to the Navy. That’s not why I picked that name. It was solely because of that phone call, I’ll say. Trinko: So, how was being a single mom for you, especially in the early days? I’m assuming Navy was a normal baby and cried at night a lot. Did anyone else get up at night with you, help out? Roberts: I talked about the dark place that I was in. And in the book, I talk about coming out of that dark place while being a mother. And once you’re out of that dark place and, I don’t know if you have children, but becoming … a mother, you find this selfless, unconditional love. And you know that you will break down any barrier for your child. And you’ll do whatever it takes for your child to have the best life possible, and for your child to get what they rightfully deserve in any way. And so, yeah, becoming a mother changed everything. Trinko: You had the strength to do it. Roberts: It took a lot. It took a lot of time. That’s why I’m here today and not five years ago, right? Trinko: Not in the middle of the 3 a.m. crying. So, does your daughter ever remind you of Hunter or are there ways in which you’re like, “Oh, she must be getting that from the Biden side. I don’t recognize this”? Roberts: Yes. Initially, when she was first born, I hadn’t seen her. And my mom had seen her first. And I talk about being detached, and I was like, “Who does she look like?” Because mom was like, “She had a head full of black hair.” Well, I was born with a head full of black hair. So I immediately was like, “Does she look like me?” Mom was like, “She looks like someone I’ve never [met] … ” Got to be kidding me. Nine months of this and she looks like him? And she does. She got his beautiful eyes. And there’s a lot of similarities there where even my friend—him and I had a mutual friend from D.C. And when she comes around me and Navy, she laughs. She’s like, “Oh my God, Navy, you were giving me PTSD. Like, this is so bad.” And it’s funny and we can laugh about it now. But I’ve always seen great qualities in Hunter. And people think that I’m just clueless and I’m stupid and oblivious. And it’s a girl in love, despite everything else. And I always saw great qualities in him. And I can remember when I was pregnant, I might’ve been nine months. I was on the line. I mean, I was fixing to have this baby. And I think in my head I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this baby is going to be half of him. What if it looks like him? What if it talks like him? Nature over nurture. What do I do?” And so, I call that mutual friend, and she’s like, “OK.” She said, “Well, think about it this way. What is one good thing that you would want her to get from Hunter?” And I was like, “OK.” I was like, “Well, his heart.” And he had a good heart and he was caring. He went out of his way to try to help people. He did. And I witnessed that several times. And even going to stories throughout the book where that happens. And it seems genuine and sincere. She says, “OK, well, what’s one thing you don’t want her to get from Hunter?” And I was like, “His feet.” Turns out she got both of them and a lot more, so you deal with it. Trinko: Wow, that’s beautiful in a way. The potential you saw in him, you’re seeing in your daughter, all those good things. Roberts: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Trinko: So, was there ever a time where you were thinking, “He’s disappeared. Is she better off with him in her life?” I know you fought very hard legally for that. But was there ever a time where you thought, “Maybe I should just let him go”? Roberts: I wanted him to take accountability for that. And I’d even had friends that he had met with after she was born. And me standing here today able to write this book is embracing my story. And that’s something I want my daughter to be able to do. … Was I supposed to just tell her that her father was some random man or tell her that I didn’t know who her father was? because I did. And I mean, if he was Joe Blow on the street, I was going to tell her who her father was when that day came. And I don’t ever want her to think I didn’t fight for her or at least offer that relationship. And another part was that accountability. When he had met with some of my friends after I’d had Navy and told them, “Well, how do I even know it’s mine?” And they even told him, “You know it’s yours.” He’s like, “I know, I know.” But I knew then in my head. So, throughout the pregnancy and stuff, I talk about how I make excuses for him and I protect him. And I feel like that’s what I’m doing by staying hidden in these shadows. And then coming out of them is not sabotaging him, is not sabotaging anyone other than just telling my story. And that’s something that I want Navy to be able to admire her mother for. Stand 10 toes down and tell your story and have that accountability. And also, it’s also a story of forgiveness and redemption and having grace for people. And those are things that I want to instill in her. So, would it be easier if he weren’t my child’s father? Absolutely. But these are the cards I was dealt. He is her father. I don’t ever want her to be ashamed of where she comes from, or I don’t want her to ever question that, as she shouldn’t. And so, I think part of me getting him to take that accountability was just owning the truth. I want you to own this. Trinko: So, my understanding is that there was a legal settlement last year that resulted in Navy getting to talk to her father on a regular basis, but also in her getting some of his art for her room if she wanted. Did she pick out a painting of his? What does it look like? Roberts: Yes. And normally I’m there when she’s Zooming him and stuff, but I’m not in the screen, “Hey, how you doing? What’s going on?” We chat, we co-parent through Zoom. And he’s asked her which painting and whatnot, and she’ll pick one. But I haven’t paid attention to those. And I’ll be honest, me and Hunter are still working out a place to put them. Because even though she’s picked them out and stuff, he’s got them wrapped and at an attorney’s office. And they take up a lot of space, and so we’ve talked about even, like, “Do you have enough room for these? Where can these go?” And it’s like, “Ah, I’m going to decorate my house in paintings. Or?” Trinko: Did he even paint when you were together? Roberts: No. Trinko: No. OK. Roberts: No, he didn’t. Trinko: This has been a new interest. OK. Roberts: I think it helped him during his recovery. He’s always been kind of artistic and doodled and stuff, but not to this extreme, that I was aware of. Trinko: So, with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, they have not met Navy yet. Right? Roberts: They have not. Trinko: What would you say to them? If you could get 10, 15 minutes in a room alone with them, what would you want to say? Roberts: They’ve missed out. And I would let them know that. They’ve missed out on some great years and a great child that they probably could have learned a lot from. I know me and my family have learned a lot. And I’d tell them about how she is and what they’ve missed out on, things that they’ve missed out on. And I just want to know why, because that didn’t have to be the case. And if you want to blame me for this toxic litigation that was surrounding her, that was just accountability. That was just me trying to say, “You have a grandchild out there and Hunter has a child. And it’s scientific certainty. It’s proven.” Trinko: And does your daughter, does she ever see President Biden on TV? Does she know who he is? Roberts: I keep the news and stuff off at the house and the media, for obvious reasons. And she does. She’s walked by TV screens. I can’t help what other people have on. But we were in a nail salon one time and she’s like, “Mom, look, there’s my grandpa.” And I’m like, “First of all, lower your voice. Second off, yes.” And so, she sees him as this grandfather that she loves from a distance but has this relationship where it doesn’t exist. But she knows that that’s her grandfather. She’s aware. And throughout this book, I also talk—listen, it’s a wild ride, OK? We go from this relationship to this pregnancy and these dark places and coming out of them, and being a mom, and the legal stuff that takes place. But there’s also, toward the ending, she gets of an age where she wants to know, “Why don’t I have a dad?” And I want her to be resilient, I want her to be strong, I want her to be open-minded. I tell her, I make excuses and tell her—”Well, why haven’t I seen him?” “Well, he lives far away. He’s a busy man. He lives far away.” And I tell her about her grandparents and why everyone’s so busy. And I take her with me my first election, or my first election, her first election since she was born, not mine. Trinko: The 2020 election? Roberts: Yeah. And I let her know who they are and what she comes from. I tell her about the president, how he has all these different tasks and he’s so important. He’s the leader of the free world. I go into all these details with her kind of like the books about kings and queens, like, “Well, we have a president.” And she understands to that extent. And I talk about one of the stories throughout the book is telling her that. And she says, “Oh, well, that’s why he hasn’t been to see me, because he’s out there helping so many other people. But when he’s done, he’s going to come see me.” Trinko: That’s beautiful and heartbreaking. Roberts: I can only hope. Yeah. And I mean, she gives them grace from afar as well. Trinko: Did you tell Hunter you were writing this book? Roberts: I could not. You signed different terms and stuff with publishers. And I wasn’t allowed to speak with people about the book until a certain date. Trinko: And you’ve been a figure who’s been covered by the media for years and yet without you, I think, ever speaking out until this book came out, correct me if I’m wrong. Roberts: I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to. I’m telling you today, people say, “Why now? Oh, it’s because it’s an election year and she wants fame.” Well, people don’t see the anxiety that I have behind the scenes. And coming on and being able to talk to you and stuff, I wouldn’t have been able to do that years ago. I wouldn’t have been able to do that this time last year. This has been a healing journey. And I think that this story, this book is something that could impact a lot of people’s lives who need that sort of healing in their life. Trinko: So, what do you want Americans to know about you? Who’s the real Lunden Roberts, not the one that’s been in all these articles all these years, with all these rumors spreading around? Who do you see yourself as? Roberts: I talk throughout the book about identifying—I detached from who I am and these feelings. But one thing I’ve always put on, the only label I’ve ever wore is mother. And that’s something I wear proudly. I’m a proud mom and I love my child to the end of the world. But I talk about all those things throughout the book. And this is “Out of the Shadows,” it’s part of it. Coming out, embracing this, embracing who I am, and embracing my daughter and where she comes from and standing on that. That’s something that I would hope that she could only admire me for at one point, when she’s old enough to. Right now, I’m just mom. Trinko: It’s a good place to be. Roberts: Yeah. Trinko: Well, thank you so much for joining us. Roberts: Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. The post ‘He’s Going to Come See Me’: Biden Granddaughter’s Mom Talks About Her Daughter’s Hope to Meet Her Grandpa appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Parts of the US are preparing for dust storms this week as a large mass of dry, dusty air is set to make landfall after traveling across the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert – but how is it able to make this over 8,000-kilometer (5,000-mile) journey?It’s all down to seasonal changes in the wind, which is why the arrival of long-distance dust in the US isn’t actually an unusual event – Saharan dust makes this voyage every summer.An uptick in winds in the Sahara, peaking in late June to mid-August, picks up dust and injects it into the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. There, it forms into the Saharan Air Layer, a 3 to 4-kilometer (2 to 2.5-mile) thick plume of extremely dry and dusty air, starting around 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) above the surface.And when we say dry, we mean dry – the Saharan Air Layer has around 50 percent less moisture than you’d usually expect in the atmosphere over tropical regions.Then, every three to five days at its peak, the trade winds – the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds over the equator – blow the layer across the Atlantic Ocean towards the US, where it can have all kinds of impacts.One of the main ways the Saharan Air Layer can make its mark is in the weather. “The dry air can really suppress afternoon clouds and help cool things down,” Jason Dunion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Hurricane Program Field Director and a meteorologist, told Space.com. It can also help to weaken tropical storms by promoting downdrafts, “but you can still get storms popping in the late afternoon," Dunion added.The downside of storm suppression, the meteorologist explains, is that it can also “make for some of your hottest days when these dust outbreaks come overhead in places like Texas and Alabama." Then there’s the potential health effects; at a low enough altitude, the presence of dust drops the air quality and can make conditions involving the lungs, like asthma, worse than usual.The issue is that, while dust storms have a role to play in Earth’s biogeochemical cycles, their frequency is also on the up, which is of concern to officials because of the effects they can have on people’s health, economies and infrastructure, and the environment.According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), around 2 billion tons of sand and dust end up in the atmosphere each year – the same weight as 350 Great Pyramids of Giza. Around 25 percent of that matter is thought to stem from human activity, which the UN is hoping to target by dedicating the next decade to combating sand and dust storms, with an annual awareness day each July 12. This year’s awareness day, the first ever, marks the launch of a policy guide that aims to help governments adapt to the problems of sand and dust storms.“The Policy Guideline will support countries to develop and implement sand and dust storms-related initiatives, improve land use and management, enhance food security, and build resilience to climate change,” said Lifeng Li, Director of the Land and Water Division at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, in a statement.All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.