You can tell this is gonna be a banger

News Wicked Glinda and Elphaba Are Very Close in Latest Wicked Trailer By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on September 5, 2024 Credit: Universal Pictures Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Universal Pictures We have another trailer for the film adaptation of the musical Wicked, and this one centers on the close relationship between Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda. The two, who are widely known as nemeses from the Oz novels (where they go by the monikers of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good), started as dear, dear friends. This trailer, which is initially set up from Glinda’s point of view, shows how the two befriended each other in magic school and held hands a lot. It also boasts a song or two from the musical, and gives us more of the teacher Madame Morrible, played by Michelle Yeoh as well as Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard and Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero. Here’s the synopsis for the film, which is directed by John Chu: The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. Wicked, which is apparently just the first of two planned movies [ed note: not that you’d know that from this trailer?] is set to premiere in theaters on November 22, 2024. Check out the trailer below. [end-mark] The post Glinda and Elphaba Are Very Close in Latest <i>Wicked</i> Trailer appeared first on Reactor.

Excerpts Young Adult Read an Excerpt From Alicia Jasinska’s This Fatal Kiss A whimsical fantasy filled with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance… By Alicia Jasinska | Published on September 5, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from This Fatal Kiss, a young adult romantasy novel by Alicia Jasinska, out from Peachtree Teen on September 24th. Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal… but everyone sees her as a monster.And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He’s determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on—someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past. 1 The Drowned Maiden Gisela “You’re sneaking off rather early today,” Wojciech called out. “It’s not even dusk yet.” Gisela’s steps faltered. A wash of rainbow light poured through the Crystal Palace’s domed ceiling, rippling over the floor to shine a watery spotlight on the elegant figure making his way down a monumental flight of steps toward her. For a brief disorientating second, Gisela thought she might be staring into a mirror. Wojciech’s green-black hair and hooded wine-red eyes could have been a reflection of her own. Only, his skin was darker, a warm clay brown next to her ghostly blue-green complexion. His lips were carmine, where hers were tinged violet. She usually preferred it when the water goblin took human form—his true form was honestly quite terrifying. But this new guise was just creepy. “You’re looking awfully youthful, Grandfather. You’re not feeling self-conscious about your age again, are you? You can be honest with me. You’re only at least a thousand years old.” Wojciech, who currently didn’t appear to be a day over twenty, pinned her with a flat, unimpressed look. A soft chime-like tinkling, the noise a spoon made when it tapped against a teacup, filled the air like a warning. Gisela glanced over her shoulder at the giant pillar in the center of the palace atrium. The glittering monstrosity shot to the ceiling and was so wide around its base that even a half dozen water nymphs couldn’t have touched hands if they’d stretched their arms around it. A honeycomb of shelves cut into its surface, and on those shelves rested thousands and thousands of seemingly innocuous teacups upturned upon their saucers. Buy the Book This Fatal Kiss Alicia Jasinska Buy Book This Fatal Kiss Alicia Jasinska Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget “May I remind you, child,” Wojciech said, his voice low and melodic, “that growing old is an accomplishment. I’ve outlived civilizations, survived more than you could imagine.” The ethereal tinkling increased in volume, the drowned souls he’d trapped inside each teacup pushing against the walls of their tiny porcelain prisons. Only the Sea Tsar himself was said to have a grander collection of human souls. Wojciech reached the ground floor of the atrium. “If you’re going out, take Tamara with you. Don’t make me ask you twice.” “What? Why?” Gisela whined. A second figure appeared at the top of the stairs: a girl with soft chestnut-brown curls and anxious red eyes; her skin had the same ghostly pallor as Gisela’s. The new girl. Gisela’s gaze darted back to Wojciech, her eyebrows pinching together in a silent plea. Wojciech’s smile was sharklike, full of unreasonably sharp teeth. Even in this handsome human form, he maintained a few monstrous traits. “This is Tamara’s first time celebrating Green Week with us. Show her where the humans leave their offerings. Get to know each other. I think the two of you might have a lot in common.” Gisela doubted it. Saints, she didn’t want to be stuck playing nursemaid for somebody who was new to all this. Perhaps she shouldn’t have joked about Wojciech needing dentures—or maybe this was punishment for accidentally smashing one of his precious teacups and setting a soul free? Or it was another one of his games. You never could tell. Tamara came down the stairs and paused, shifting her weight from foot to foot, twisting her fingers in the ghost-white fabric of her flowy dress. She rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms as though she were anxious or cold. The air was always cooler down here in the depths of the river, in Wojciech’s realm, and strangely wet, as though you were constantly walking through a mist. As a mortal child, Gisela’s favorite bedtime tales had been about the wodniki—the water goblins, the old river gods, the keepers of the drowned—who lived in grand underwater palaces carved from crystal and gold. Not that she’d ever admit as much to Wojciech. You’ll know the water goblin by his dripping clothes, by the sodden squelching of his boots, and by the wet footprints he leaves behind, her Great-Aunt Zela had told her. If you ever visit the old country, darling, when you cross a river, you must carry breadcrumbs in your pocket and say a prayer so as to avoid meeting with him. He can drown you on dry land so long as he has even a spoonful of water. Gisela’s skirt billowed about her knees, free from the bonds of gravity that governed the living world. It hadn’t been so very long ago that she’d been the new girl here, waking in a strange and unfamiliar place, in this palace built upon the riverbed. When Wojciech told her that her mortal life was over, that she’d never turn seventeen nor grow old nor see any of the people she loved ever again, she’d almost despaired. She’d wanted so badly to go home. She still wanted to go home, was determined to, which was why she didn’t have time for this. “Can’t one of the drowners do it?” she asked, already knowing the answer. “Or Yulia. Can’t Yulia show her around? She’s good at that. I’m busy. I have things to do.” She shot Tamara an apologetic glance. “Yulia’s already on the surface,” Wojciech said. “She snuck off earlier, muttering something about honey cake.” Gisela cursed. Every spring during Green Week, the local townsfolk honored the rusałki—water nymphs, like her and Yulia and Tamara. They left shiny baubles and trinkets by the riverbanks, strung gifts from the branches of the trees in the forest: garlands of bright flowers, hair ribbons dyed eye-catching colors, and necklaces of glossy beads. They’d even leave offerings of food: eggs and sweet grain puddings, honey cakes and handfuls of sugary berries. They were bribes, prizes left out to placate hungry ghosts. People hoped that if they appeased the water nymphs, they wouldn’t bewitch and harm their loved ones. Competition for such offerings was fierce. There were only so many treats to go around, and no matter how many years you spent haunting the deep, how accustomed you grew to the water goblin’s feasts of catfish and eel, you never quite forgot the taste of human food, of home. If Yulia ate all the honey cake, Gisela was going to make sure she drowned in the river. Again. “Oh, and Gisela?” Wojciech drew a handkerchief from a pocket of his emerald-green suit and began polishing a teacup he’d selected from one of the pillar’s little nooks. “Make sure you tell Tamara what will happen to her if she strays too far from my river. I want to avoid trouble this week. Keep an eye out for our resident exorcist. He’s been overzealous in his duties lately. So overzealous, I can’t help but wonder if somebody has been provoking him.” “Whoever could that be?” Gisela said, trying for innocence and not quite succeeding. The teacups on the shelves rattled ominously. The sudden sharp glint in Wojciech’s eyes was a reminder of just who she was dealing with. Maybe it was better to go along with what he wanted for now. “Fine, fine. I’ll take her with me. But are you sure you don’t want her to stay behind and help you with the polishing? I mean,should you really be doing all the housework at your age?” Wojciech’s lip twitched. Gisela quickly grabbed Tamara by the wrist. “We’ll see you later, then! Don’t break a hip!” Excerpt from This Fatal Kiss / Text copyright © 2024 by Alicia Jasinska. Reproduced with permission from Peachtree Publishing Company Inc. All rights reserved. The post Read an Excerpt From Alicia Jasinska’s <i>This Fatal Kiss</i> appeared first on Reactor.

News Poker Face The Cast for Poker Face Season 2 Is Ridiculously Impressive By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on September 5, 2024 Credit: Phillip Caruso/Peacock Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Phillip Caruso/Peacock Rian Johnson is known for populating his projects with A-list ensemble casts, and the second season of Peacock’s Poker Face is no exception. Deadline recently broke the news that Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Margo Martindale (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Americans, Cocaine Bear), and BJ Novak (The Office) will all appear in the upcoming episodes with series star Natasha Lyonne. They join other big names, including Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian, Breaking Bad), Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek), Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent, Field of Dreams), Kumail Nanjiani (The Eternals), Sherry Cola (Joy Ride, Good Trouble), Kevin Corrigan (The Mentalist, The Departed, Pineapple Express), Ben Marshall (Please Don’t Destroy), and Katherine Narducci (Euphoria) on the call sheet. For those of you who missed the first season, Poker Face is a murder mystery series where Lyonne’s Charlie Cale has an uncanny ability to know when someone is lying. Season One saw her on the run and solving murders along the way, with an equally great ensemble cast appearing in each episode as potential murderers or victims for the crime in question. The setup is Columbo style, with the audience knowing who committed the crime from the beginning and Lyonne working to uncover the why and how as the episode progresses. Johnson created the series and directed episodes, and Season Two is showrun by Tony Tost. No news yet on when Season Two will be available on Peacock. In the meantime, you can (re)watch the first season on the streaming platform. [end-mark] The post The Cast for <i>Poker Face</i> Season 2 Is Ridiculously Impressive appeared first on Reactor.

Instead of using fossil fuels, we’re told to use “clean” energy: wind, solar, or hydropower. Hydro is the most reliable. Unlike wind and sunlight, it flows steadily. But now, environmental groups want to destroy dams that create hydropower. “Breach those dams,” an activist shouts in my new video. “Now is the time, our fish are on the line!” The activists have targeted four dams on the Snake River in Washington state. They claim the dams are driving salmon to extinction. It’s true that dams once killed lots of salmon. Pregnant fish need to swim upriver to have babies, and their babies swim downriver to the ocean. Suddenly, dams were in the way. Salmon population dropped sharply. But that was in the 1970s. Today, most salmon make it past the dam without trouble. How? Fish-protecting innovations like fish ladders and spillways guide most of the salmon away from the turbines that generate electricity. “Between 96% and 98% of the salmon successfully pass each dam,” says Todd Myers, environmental director at the Washington Policy Center. Even federal scientific agencies now say we can leave dams alone and fish will be fine. But environmental groups don’t raise money by acknowledging good news. “Snake River Salmon Are in Crisis,” reads a headline from Earthjustice. Gullible media fall for it. The Snake River is the “most endangered in the country!” claimed the evening news anchor. “That’s simply not true,” Myers explains. “All you have to do is look at the actual population numbers to know that that’s absurd.” Utterly absurd. In recent years, salmon populations are higher than they were in the 1980s and ’90s. “They make these claims,” Myers says, “because they know people will believe them … they don’t want to believe that their favorite environmental group is dishonest.” But many are. In 1999, environmental groups bought an ad in The New York Times saying “salmon … will be extinct by 2017.” “Did the environmentalists apologize?” I ask Meyers. “No,” he says. “They repeat almost the exact same arguments today, they just changed the dates. I invited 10 activist groups that want to destroy dams to come to my studio and defend their claims about salmon extinction. Not one agreed. I understand why. They’ve already convinced the public and gullible politicians. Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson says, “There is no viable path that can allow us to keep the dams in place.” “We keep doing dumb things,” says Myers. “We put money into places where it doesn’t have an environmental impact, and then we wonder 10, 20, 30 years [later] why we haven’t made any environmental progress.” Politicians and activists want to tear down Snake River dams even though they generate tons of electricity. “Almost the same amount as all of the wind and solar turbines in Washington state,” says Myers. “Imagine if I told the environmental community we need to tear down every wind turbine and every solar panel. They would lose their minds. But that’s essentially what they’re advocating by tearing down Snake River dams.” I push back: “They say, ‘Just build more wind turbines.'” “The problem is, several times a year, there’s no wind,” he replies. “You could build 10 times as many wind turbines, but if there’s no wind, there’s no electricity.” Hydro, on the other hand, “can turn on and off whenever it’s needed. Destroying hydro and replacing it with wind makes absolutely no sense. It will do serious damage to our electrical grid.” “It’s not their money,” I point out. “Exactly,” he says. “If you want to spend $35 billion on salmon, there’s lots of things we can do that would have a real impact.” Like what? “[Reduce the population of] seals and sea lions,” he says. “The Washington Academy of Sciences says that unless we reduce the populations, we will not recover salmon.” “People used to hunt sea lions,” I note. “Yeah, that’s why the populations are higher today.” But environmentalists don’t want people to hunt sea lions or seals. Instead, they push for destruction of dams. “Because it’s sexy and dramatic, it sells,” says Myers. “It’s more about feeling good than environmental results.” COPYRIGHT 2024 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post A Dam Good Argument appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Facebook is once again at the center of a censorship storm after being accused of blocking the circulation of a video exposing harsh criticisms by a official regarding the prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The video, also published on Rumble features undercover footage showing Nicholas Biase, the chief spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which brought cases against President Trump, slamming Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Trump case as a “perversion of justice.” “Honestly, I think the case is nonsense,” Biase says in the video. Users who went to share the video on Facebook were hit with the following message: “We can’t review this website because the content doesn’t meet our Community Standards. If you think this is a mistake, please let us know.” Other users got the message: “We removed your content…It looks like you tried to gather sensitive information from others…This goes against our Community Standards on cybersecurity.” Gerald Morgan, CEO of Louder with Crowder, addressed the censorship directly, stating, “We broke a massive story today on the Department of Justice… and a lot of you haven’t [seen it],” Morgan stated. Morgan continued, “Facebook is back in the business of making sure you do not see information that pertains to the election and Donald Trump and this administration.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/crowder-ceo-video.mp4 According to Morgan, Facebook’s actions mirror its role in censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story, suggesting a pattern of withholding crucial information. He criticized the platform for once again “keeping the truth” from reaching the public, despite recent apologies from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over past censorship practices. “They are keeping you from understanding the truth about this election and the stakes and the impact that this is going to have on our country. They’re doing it again just days… after we had Mark Zuckerberg come out and say that he regretted doing those things, and yet he’s back up to his old tricks again,” Morgan stated.” In the video, Biase was caught on hidden camera describing Bragg’s case against Trump as politically motivated. Recorded by an undercover operative, Biase claimed that Bragg brought the case to advance his own career, stating, “Before he decided to prosecute Trump, did you know who he was? You do now,” Biase suggested the charges were inflated and manipulated to make them fit the legal narrative. Trump, who faces 34 felony charges related to hush-money payments, is set to be sentenced on September 18. Crowder’s team claims that Facebook’s blocking of the video is an attempt to control the narrative around Trump’s legal troubles and the upcoming election. Of Facebook: “You don’t want people to see that Donald Trump is being targeted and that he is not a felon and that nobody would have brought these charges at the federal level because they passed on it.” Morgan said, referencing the DOJ’s earlier decision not to pursue the case that Bragg took on. “Thank God I can get you to see it on Rumble,” Morgan said, praising platform owners like Elon Musk and Chris Pavlovski for allowing free speech and the free flow of information. “If it came down to the Mark Zuckerbergs and Metas of the world, you’d never see it.” Biase, who apologized for the remarks to the New York Post, said they were made in a private setting and not reflective of his true views, claiming he was trying to “impress” someone he had just met. However, his statements, combined with Facebook’s attempt to stifle the video, have fueled further accusations of political bias and censorship at a time when open access to information is crucial. In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, Facebook faced widespread criticism for suppressing the circulation of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which was initially reported by the New York Post. The story contained explosive allegations about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and suggested potential corruption involving his father, Joe Biden, who was running for president at the time. Citing concerns over “misinformation,” Facebook reduced the article’s visibility and limited its reach on the platform, prompting outrage from those who saw it as a clear instance of election interference. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, later admitted that the platform’s decision to censor the story was a mistake. In a 2022 interview with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook had acted after receiving a vague warning from the FBI about potential foreign interference. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Weaponization, Mark Zuckerberg recently expressed regret over Meta’s decision to cave to pressure from the Biden administration to censor content, calling the interference “wrong” in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. The Meta CEO said he plans to resist such influence more aggressively in the future. “It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,” he wrote. “So much for Zuckerberg apologizing,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski stated. “Facebook is now blocking @scrowder’s Rumble show which contains important breaking news — citing community standards.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Facebook Blocks Secret Recording of DOJ Official Saying Trump Case is “Nonsense” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

World Dart Federation Mandates Women to Play Against Trans Players

WSJ: Corporate America Begins to Bail on HRC 'Diversity' Index

Fox Business host Charles Payne lauded Molson Coors for abandoning its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that were so radically at odds with the company’s customers and roots.  During the Sept. 4 installment of Fox News’s America’s Newsroom, Payne stated that “shareholders are probably ecstatic about” the growing lists of companies renouncing discriminatory leftist ideology. These companies include Molson Coors, Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson. Payne criticized Coors, saying it had lost touch with its customers by outsourcing decision-making to “Ivy League” school consultants. “That was your first mistake. They don't know your customer. They don't know who the core customer is. And why did you hire someone who doesn't even understand your business and then start to make these sort of decisions?” Payne said, referring to leftist consultants peddling DEI at these companies, which he said were “born in the heartland” of America. The Fox Business host went on to attack the Chamber of Commerce for caving to DEI advocates and adopting their language by removing a commitment to “shareholders” in favor of a commitment to “stakeholders.” The latter has turned into a euphemism for turning corporate priorities away from making a profit and towards achieving woke environmental, social and governance goals.  Payne rejected the “stakeholder” label, saying, “It's not people who have skin in the game, and it invites everyone to have an opinion and everyone to push the company around, and no company can operate like that when you have all of these potential bosses or folks you have to appease.”  Payne’s comments followed podcast host Robby Starbuck’s Sept. 3 announcement that Molson Coors ended participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system.”  According to Starbuck, Coors also removed DEI from employee training and ceased dividing employees by race or sexual orientation. The company also pledged to abandon “supplier diversity goals” and no longer pressure employees by tying their compensation to discriminatory hiring practices.  Coors is not alone. Since June 27, Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Furman, Lowe’s and Ford have also decided not to appease stakeholders, abandoning their DEI initiatives. Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477, CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report on the dangers of leftist DEI ideology infecting corporate America.

In 2020, PolitiFact gave Georgia Sen. David Perdue a “pants on fire” rating for claiming that rival Jon Ossoff was a socialist. Now, PolitiFact is at it again, giving Donald Trump a similar “pants on fire” on Wednesday for rating for labeling Kamala Harris a communist. In the “if your time is short,” section, Amy Sherman summarizes, “Marxism refers to the school of thought inspired by Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism. Communism is a political system of government or a party that abolishes private property.” Additionally, she notes Harris’s “campaign pledge to pass a federal ban on price gouging on food drew criticism, but experts said it does not amount to communism.” In the main article, Sherman warns, “These attacks echo those of 1950s McCarthyism, when Sen. Joe McCarthy, R-Wis., led hearings on what he alleged was communist infiltration in high levels of the federal government.” If you go on PolitiFact looking for the pants on fire ratings of the left calling Trump, or any Republican, a fascist, you won’t find it. What you will find is a “half true” rating on Madeline Albright comparing Trump’s “drain the swamp” rhetoric to Benito Mussolini. When President Joe Biden compared GOP voting laws to Jim Crow, PolitiFact claimed the subject was too complicated to give him a rating despite admitting the laws were nothing like Jim Crow. Hypocrisy aside, Sherman hypes, “We have rated similar attacks against congressional Democrats, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, as False or Pants on Fire.” Sherman also notes, “The Trump campaign pointed to a column written by Washington Post opinion writer Catherine Rampell, headlined: "When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?" (Rampell has also criticized Trump’s economic ideas.)” The parenthetical, of course, has nothing to do with the fact-check, but Sherman ultimately allows Team Harris to describe itself, “Harris’ campaign describes Harris’ stance as capitalist, not Marxist, and experts say her policies are based on the assumption of a market-driven economy. Her issue portfolio consists of mainstream left-of-center views, and would be uncontroversial even among right-of-center parties in Europe.” She concludes, “When Trump calls Harris a communist, it evokes fear in Americans who fled authoritarian communist regimes. Neither her past nor current positions reveal Harris, the U.S. vice president for the last four years, to be communist. We rate this statement Pants on Fire!” If political insults that aren’t 100 percent literal are going to be given “pants on fire” ratings, then PolitiFact should start applying that standard equally.