Our Top 10 Songs from the Monkees list looks at one of the most fascinating stories in classic rock history. A group of actors and musicians were brought together to star in a television show about an imaginary band trying to become the Beatles. All set up by TV producers and music industry people. However‚ a funny thing happened along the way: the imaginary Monkees became a real band. But not just a real band; the Monkees became one of the biggest bands ever. Four young men‚ Davy Jones‚ Peter Tork‚ Mickey Dolenz‚ and Michael Nesmith‚ became four of the The post Top 10 Songs From The Monkees appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

When followers of an X (Twitter) account called “Animals Dying” saw a video of a dark shape swimming through muddy water with a deer fawn in its jaws‚ most probably weren’t tuning in for a happy ending. But they were in for a heartwarming surprise‚ because even though at stages the beast in the grainy […] The post Video of a Dog Rescuing Drowning Fawn Goes Viral via Surprising Twitter Account appeared first on Good News Network.

It’s 2532 and it hasn’t stopped raining for five hundred years. In the slowly drowning city of Coconino‚ Arizona‚ Jin and her younger sister Thara are barely able to keep a roof over their heads. Their parents are dead‚ and all that the girls have left is their late father’s inn. If they can’t come up with enough cash soon‚ Jin will be conscripted into the Navy and Thara will end up in an orphanage. When Bhili‚ a corsair with a personality like a hurricane‚ lands on their doorstep‚ everything changes. Jin and Thara‚ along with two newly minted Coast Guards‚ Jin’s ex-boyfriend Taim and his bestie Saanvi‚ set off on a quest to recover the lost gold of a Vegas casino‚ Treasure Island.  Things take a turn for the worse when the wicked pirate Silva takes over their ship and Bhili vanishes. Silva wants that Treasure Island gold as much as Jin does‚ but will do whatever it takes to get it‚ including kill. Jin can resist and die trying to escape or join forces with Silva and maybe make it back to the surface alive. The only things standing in their way are greed‚ ego‚ and deadly sea monsters. In Into the Sunken City‚ debut author Dinesh Thiru turns Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island into something you’ve never seen before. First off‚ this book is a whole lotta fun. Thiru keeps up a breakneck pace all the way through‚ never letting Jin catch her breath. Characters are double‚ triple‚ quadruple-crossed. Characters die painful deaths. Characters make big‚ bad decisions with terrible consequences. It’s everything you love about young adult action/adventure novels. The big traditional publishing houses don’t often give us science fiction or dystopias anymore‚ so it was nice to have both and with a diverse cast to boot.  If you’re a person who likes romance with your adventure‚ this should satisfy. Sparks fly between Jin and her on-again‚ off-again boyfriend Taim. You can’t help but root for those two cute kids. Outside our teenage lovebirds‚ the rest of the cast is equally as entertaining. Thara is wise beyond her years‚ Silva is as manipulative as he is cruel‚ and Bhili is as chaotic as a bag of angry cats. Watching them all collide was a riot. Buy the Book Into the Sunken City Dinesh Thiru Buy Book icon-close Into the Sunken City Dinesh Thiru Buy this book from: Amazon Barnes and Noble iBooks IndieBound Target As well-developed as the world is when zoomed in to just what Jin interacts with‚ the further out you go the weaker the whole thing becomes. By the end of the book‚ I had a million questions about how the world functioned. Now‚ I don’t need to know everything about a fictional world‚ nor do I think authors owe readers answers to all of our questions. But we do need to have enough of an understanding for the story to make sense. All I know about Thiru’s world is that it’s a dystopia wracked by a man-made climate crisis. Clearly‚ things still function‚ but how much and in what ways I have no idea. The whole premise is that Jin needs to earn enough to escape conscription to the Navy‚ which will force her younger sister into an orphanage and then into the Navy herself. We know that the death rate is high in the Navy‚ but what the Navy actually does beyond encountering sea monsters and (poorly) running checkpoints is left largely unexplained.  On a personal note‚ I wish this book had been written from Thara’s perspective. Take out or reduce the romance and beef up the adventure and you’d have a crackling YA novel that is exactly what younger teens are desperate for. We need way more YA with 14 and 15 year old protagonists‚ and this felt like a missed opportunity. Similarly‚ it was an odd choice to me to frame Thara as the kiddie little sister even though she’s 14‚ i.e. the same age as many YA readers. Thara is treated by Jin as a fairly helpless character who needs her constant protection‚ treatment Thara vehemently disagrees with. However‚ Thiru reduces her to a secondary character who spends most of her time away from the action and being held hostage off screen. Jin‚ meanwhile‚ is out of school‚ running a business‚ and functionally‚ if not developmentally‚ an adult. Many younger teen readers are going to relate more to Thara than Jin‚ so this narrative choice effectively makes them outsiders to their own marketing category.  Dinesh Thiru’s Into the Sunken City is a little too predictable and the worldbuilding is surface-level‚ but at least it’s a wild ride. The original book‚ Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island‚ is a classic piece of children’s literature for a reason. Thiru does a good job reimagining it into something fresh. The 18th century-set story holds up surprisingly well by being ported 800 years into the future with the characters race- and genderbent. I love a good pirate adventure story‚ and if nothing else‚ I enjoyed the heck out of myself. icon-paragraph-end The post A Dystopian Treasure Island: <;i>;Into the Sunken City<;/i>; by Dinesh Thiru appeared first on Reactor.

One of the earliest substories in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is Anaconda Escape‚ a reality show that Ichiban somehow gets dragged into while working on much more important things. In this game‚ you’ll need to answer trivia questions about the Anaconda Shopping Center to win. The problem is‚ the game doesn’t give you much time to explore the Anaconda Shopping Center before shoving you into Anaconda Escape‚ so you might not be familiar with the shops and stores throughout the mall before starting this substory. You don’t need to answer all the questions‚ but they’ll net you a nice bundle of cash to give you a headstart on gear in the early hours of the game. Like a Dragon Anaconda Escape Answers Screenshot: PC Invasion When exploring the mall for Anaconda Escape‚ you can find two laptops with quiz questions about the Anaconda Shopping Center. The first laptop is located right in front of you at the start of the minigame. I...

While playing through Palworld‚ I encountered a problem that prevented all my Pals from working and made them eat vast quantities of food. I tried fast travelling‚ sleeping‚ and many other things. However‚ after some work‚ I figured out how to fix the bug with my Pals being stuck in combat mode and refusing to work assigned tasks in Palworld. Why the bug occurred During a raid on my base‚ I took the coward’s way out and simply quit the game. I think it was late at night‚ or I just couldn’t be bothered with the fight. Either way‚ this resulted in the Palworld combat mode and feeding bug occurring. PC Invasion For some reason‚ quitting the game during a raid can make your Pals become stuck in the raid mode. This results in a number of game-breaking bugs and will have them wandering around your base‚ refusing to work‚ and looking generally quite angry. How to fix the combat mode bug in Palworld To fix the bug‚ you’re going to ha...

Are you like me‚ the absolute worst at not dying in survival games‚ overly reckless‚ and sick of wasting time trying to retrieve everything when you die? Fortunately‚ there’s an incredibly easy way to prevent this — here’s how to stop items from dropping upon death in Palworld. How to turn off items dropping upon death in Palworld Saving yourself all the time of hunting your items down is as easy as adjusting your save settings. Boot up the game and select your save file‚ then navigate down to ‘Change World Settings’. Then under Difficulty‚ click Custom Settings. Related: Best Palworld custom world settings This brings up an entire menu of things you can adjust for your game. But what we’re looking for is ‘Death penalty’‚ right near the end if you scroll down to the bottom. There‚ you’ll see it defaults to ‘Drop all items’. However‚ move it two bars to the right and it’ll inste...

A Department of Veterans Affairs facility in Seattle requested more than $600‚000 in fiscal year 2023 to build and staff a surgical facility for performing gender-transition surgeries‚ although the VA has yet to approve such procedures‚ documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show. The facility has offered hormone therapy‚ minor surgeries‚ hair removal‚ and other treatments for decades as part of an effort to expand procedures geared toward an estimated 12‚500 nationwide veterans who have been diagnosed as gender dysphoric‚ according to the documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation via public records requests. But the documents and emails show that the VA medical center at Puget Sound also estimated to incur expenses of $642‚562 in 2023 and more than $1.5 million by 2027 in an initial proposal to the VA’s health care system for funding to establish a genital surgery center. Veterans Affairs Puget Sound applied to the Veterans Health Administration National Surgery Office for funding to contract with surgeons‚ purchase equipment‚ and hire nurses and staff for a so-called Comprehensive Gender Affirming Surgical Center‚ the documents show. It wasn’t clear from the documents whether the VA approved Puget Sound’s application‚ and a spokesperson for the VA said no facilities had built out gender-affirming surgical centers. “No VA facilities—including VA Puget Sound—have or are developing comprehensive gender-affirming care surgery centers‚” VA spokesperson Terrence Hayes told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “While the rulemaking process on gender-affirming surgery at VA is still under way‚ VA continues to provide all other types of gender-affirming care to veterans.” The VA has not yet implemented a proposal announced in 2021 to expand VA coverage of transgender procedures‚ including major surgeries. An advocacy group sued the VA on Thursday over the delay in implementing the rule‚ arguing that the holdup of “lifesaving” services for an estimated 4‚000 nationwide veterans interested in major sex-change procedures will compound their anxiety‚ Military Times reported. But the Veterans Health Administration told VA Puget Sound that funding to specifically support existing transgender treatment programs was available in fiscal year 2023‚ which ended Sept. 30‚ the documents show. “Seattle is a sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ refugees from across the United States‚” the proposal read‚ referring to a 2022 study that found Washington state housed the fourth-highest population of veterans diagnosed with gender dysphoria. “Our facility is committed to continuing and expanding these medically necessary‚ lifesaving services‚” the proposal stated. The two proposals viewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation‚ one of which appears to be a revision of the other‚ are undated‚ but emails from April 2023 show hospital and VA staff hammering out an updated proposal following the initial response from the National Surgery Office. The VA’s medical plan already covers a variety of transgender treatments‚ including gender-transition hormones and prosthetics‚ such as chest binders‚ and will provide letters of support to surgeons and private insurance providers for sex-change surgeries‚ a fact sheet shows. It can also perform surgeries to address complications arising from major sex-change operations. Under VA Secretary Denis McDonough‚ the VA has come out strongly in favor of implementing major sex-change surgeries‚ according to the website. Such surgeries include vaginoplasty‚ which is the construction of a false vagina on males‚ and phalloplasty or metoidioplasty‚ two different procedures that involve surgically constructing a false penis on females. In the first year‚ Puget Sound planned to hire two plastic surgeons‚ a urologist‚ nurses‚ social workers‚ psychiatrists and psychologists‚ a pelvic physical therapist‚ and other staff to build out the gender-affirming surgical center‚ the proposal shows. The facility also requested $30‚000 for hospital equipment specific to conducting gender-transition surgeries in the first year. In 2024‚ the facility planned to pay $102‚000 for a laser hair-removal machine. Immediate and future equipment budget requests totaled $159‚000. A separate proposal among the documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation requests $149‚000 in equipment. Neither proposal was specifically dated‚ but the latter appeared to come later‚ noting that “given the anticipated scope of the gender-affirming surgery program‚ we have decided to move up the hiring of a surgery [nurse practitioner/physician assistant] and wound care [nurse] to [fiscal year 2024]‚ which is a change from our initial proposal.” Another budget item carved out $500 yearly for a “veteran stipend to participate in monthly feedback meetings‚” according to the proposal. The primary challenge in setting up a gender surgery clinic appeared to be making hair-removal services available given an expected increase in demand. Emails discussing the proposal show VA and Seattle Children’s Hospital staff and practitioners discussing ways to handle expected complications that arise from major sex-change operations‚ which can occur in up to 50% of phalloplasty cases and less in other genital surgeries. “Sounds like this is an opportunity for us to ask for additional resources (beyond those in the initial proposal) to strengthen our proposed program‚” Alexander Skokan‚ a trauma and reconstructive urologist and assistant professor of urology at the University of Washington‚ wrote in an April 9 email after describing the complications. “They’re probably unsure if our proposal is strong enough out [of] the gates‚ and thus this is probably a critical piece to shore up our application‚” he added‚ referring to the National Surgery Office. At the time‚ veterans with complications were likely getting community care referrals from the VA to University of Washington Medicine for care‚ according to Skokan. While the facility was prepared to manage minor complications and some chronic issues such as post-vaginoplasty urethral stricture‚ the center lacked doctors with the right expertise to deal with more complex issues. Puget Sound is “collaborating closely” with surgeons at University of Washington Medical. The doctors are “actively seeking expansion of these surgeries to the VA Puget Sound [Health Care System]‚” the proposal stated. The proposals include estimated annual salaries between $330‚000 and $371‚000 for the practitioners to perform the major cosmetic procedures. McDonough‚ the VA secretary‚ said in June that the federal regulation to approve major sex-change surgeries throughout the VA was sitting on his desk‚ but he had not yet decided to authorize it‚ Military.com reported. At the time‚ he did not explain why other than that he wanted time to study the policy. “As the person who called for this and as the person who will be defending the policy when we do it‚ when I’m ready to move ahead‚ I’ll do it‚” he told Military Times in November. Still‚ VA health centers‚ including the one at Puget Sound‚ have doubled down on catering to transgender veterans. Under a 2018 directive‚ last updated in June‚ the VA has been “injecting concepts of gender ideology” into “clinical work‚” three VA professionals wrote in a Jan. 2 opinion article published in The Hill. Transgender accommodations “effectively [extinguish] the entire class of women‚ undermining many physical and legal protections for female veterans‚” they wrote. Puget Sound launched a so-called Gender Diversity Clinic tailored toward accommodating “gender diverse” veterans and training future transgender medical providers‚ which would be done through Puget Sound’s partnership with the University of Washington‚ according to the proposal. “A veteran’s primary medical and mental health providers as well as the gender-affirming surgical team will play a role in addressing any medical‚ mental‚ spiritual‚ or social barriers preventing veterans from accessing gender-affirming surgery‚” the proposal states. VA Puget Sound was hosting two LGBTQ+ support groups and an outreach coordinator to “promote self-healing and care” on a veteran’s path to recovery‚ as the proposal writers stated. They also pledged to work alongside the facility’s “diversity‚ equity and inclusion” committee to improve alleged disparities in the experiences of “gender-diverse” veterans. To support its application‚ Puget Sound outlined plans to expand “LGBTQ+ education‚” the application stated‚ with the goals of “ending invisibility‚” improving “affirming communication‚” and creating a “more affirming environment in our facilities.” Also as part of the program‚ the Puget Sound center’s LGBTQ+ veteran care coordinator had already begun offering trainings to all staff—including those outside the proposed surgery center—to avoid “deadnaming”—using a transgender person’s given name—and “misgendering” veterans. Staff had received 38 trainings on LGBTQ+ inclusion from the veteran care coordinator already‚ according to the proposal. Additional efforts included changing the name of the women’s clinic to include other self-described gender identities and making places such as restrooms and lactation pods more friendly to people who choose to live as the opposite sex. The proposal writers said the VA medical center at Puget Sound is creating fields in its electronic records for both sex and gender identity‚ and planned to introduce media featuring transgender veterans—such as signs and posters—throughout the entire medical facility. The center also hoped to recruit “gender-diverse staff‚” while making a cursory nod to nondiscrimination policies. “Specifically for strategic hires in our gender-diverse surgery program‚ where we would intentionally recruit/hire staff who have lived experience/understanding of gender diversity‚” the proposal stated. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post VA Hospital Plans to Ramp Up Sex-Change Surgeries‚ Double Down on Gender Ideology‚ Documents Show appeared first on The Daily Signal.

E. Jean Carroll‚ who just won $83.3 million in damages in her defamation trial against former President Donald Trump‚ allegedly said that she supported Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh out of a desire to protect Roe v. Wade. Tara Reade‚ the woman who accused President Joe Biden of sexual assault during the #MeToo movement‚ posted screenshots of her alleged September 2021 direct messages with Carroll‚ in which Carroll allegedly said: “Tara‚ I tweeted about Dr. Ford because of Brett Kavanaugh’s blowtorching of Roe v. Wade. Some day you and I must have tea together!” That message came in response to Reade’s plea for support from her fellow #MeToo accuser‚ according to more screenshots reviewed by The Daily Signal. “Tara! Tara! You are a strong‚ valiant‚ and feisty woman‚” Carroll had allegedly messaged Reade. “The Haters are swarming us all today. I am just staying off of Twitter and ignoring it!” “You tweeted your support for Dr. Ford‚” Reade responded. “That is why I asked. It is hard and I do not always feel strong but rather isolated. Thank you and have a good night.” Remember me @ejeancarroll ? I was bullied and harassed and chased to another country by Biden’s machine . All because I was to testify before Congress against him. I now have political asylum in Russia. He raped me. When I was his staffer at work in 1993 and there has never been… pic.twitter.com/VuEyrg1N5u— Tara Reade ? (@ReadeAlexandra) January 29‚ 2024 “The statement speaks for itself‚” Reade told The Daily Signal in a Twitter direct message Monday. “It sounds like she was supporting the political cause not the alleged victim.” Reade accused Biden of kissing her‚ touching her‚ and penetrating her with his fingers without her consent when she worked for him in 1993. Biden has denied these allegations‚ and after severe media scrutiny‚ Reade ultimately fled to Russia‚ saying she feared for her safety. Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1995 or 1996. Trump denied her allegations but a jury found him liable of sexual battery last May‚ and on Friday‚ another jury awarded Carroll $83 million in a defamation case against Trump. He has sworn to appeal the verdict against him. “Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts‚ and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party‚” Trump said on Truth Social following the Friday verdict. “Our Legal System is out of control‚ and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.” Carroll‚ who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal‚ also said in a CBS interview on Monday that she will do “anything she can” to assist Biden in winning the 2024 election. Her apparent message to Reade resembles remarks made by Ford’s own lawyer‚ Debra Katz. In April 2019‚ Katz said that putting “an asterisk next to” Kavanaugh’s name before “he takes a scalpel” to Roe v. Wade was “part of what motivated” Ford to speak out. “In the aftermath of these hearings‚ I believe that Christine’s testimony brought about more good than the harm misogynist Republicans caused by allowing Kavanaugh on the court‚” Katz says in the video‚ first reported by The Daily Caller News Foundation. “He will always have an asterisk next to his name‚” Katz continues. “When he takes a scalpel to Roe v. Wade‚ we will know who he is‚ we know his character‚ and we know what motivates him‚ and that is important; it is important that we know‚ and that is part of what motivated Christine.” Christine Ford's lawyer Debra Katz says putting "an asterisk" next to Kavanaugh's name in case Kavanaugh attacked Roe v. Wade "is part of what motivated Christine." pic.twitter.com/zoFr2T8Aec— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) September 4‚ 2019 Ford had accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the early 1980s during a high school party in Montgomery County. Her allegations‚ which Kavanaugh denied‚ came during his nomination process to the United States Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee announced in November 2018 that its final report on the investigations into Kavanaugh’s alleged misconduct found “no evidence” to corroborate the claims against him.  The United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24‚ 2022. Reade told The Daily Signal that she never comments on whether she believes other women’s allegations. But she pointed out that Carroll’s “legal fees were funded by a top Democrat donor Reid Hoffman.” “No top donor of either party ever helped me one iota to access justice‚” Reade said. “Times Up turned out to be a catch and kill for Democrat elites. E Jean Carroll is part of the establishment and was treated like a queen in the media with Vogue covers and mainstream media. The two-tired justice system has never been more apparent then now.” Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post Leaked Messages Reveal E. Jean Carroll Allegedly Supported Christine Ford to Protect Roe v. Wade appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. An urgent appeal has been relayed to ministers across the European Union by a consortium of tech companies‚ exacting a grave warning against backing a proposed regulation focusing on child sexual abuse as a pretense to jeopardize the security integrity of internet services relying on end-to-end encryption and end privacy for all citizens. A total of 18 organizations – predominantly comprising providers of encrypted email and messaging services – have voiced concerns about the potential experimental regulation by the European Commission (EC)‚ singling out the “detrimental” effects on children’s privacy and security and the possible dire repercussions for cyber security. Made public on January 22‚ 2024‚ this shared open letter argues that the EC’s draft provision known as “Chat Control‚” mandating the comprehensive scanning of encrypted communications‚ may create cyber vulnerabilities that expose citizens and businesses to increased risk. Further inflating the issue‚ the letter also addresses a stalemate amongst member states‚ the EC‚ and the European Parliament‚ who haven’t yet reconciled differing views on the proportionality and feasibility of the EC’s mass-scanning strategy in addressing child safety concerns. Among the signatories are Proton‚ an encrypted email service from Switzerland; Tuta Mail and NextCloud‚ specializing in email and cloud storage respectively; as well as Element‚ a provider of encrypted communications and collaboration services. Together‚ they implore EU leaders to consider a more balanced version of the mandate‚ as suggested by the European Parliament‚ which experts argue to be more potent and efficient than mass scanning of encrypted services. The proposed version of the regulation by the EC pushes tech companies to inject “backdoors” or leverage “client-side scanning”‚ to scrutinize the content of all encrypted communications for evidence of child sexual abuse. However‚ these companies are forceful in their conviction that despite its purpose to combat cybercrime‚ the mechanism could be swiftly utilized by offenders‚ “compromising security for everyone.” The application of client-side scanning – juxtaposing “hash values” of encrypted messages with a “hash value” database of unlawful content residing on personal devices – has met stiff critique from the security community. In defiance of the EU’s strong standpoint towards data protection‚ which paved the way for ethical‚ privacy-centric tech companies to flourish in the European market‚ these tech firms believe the EC’s proposal could contradict other EU regulations like the Cyber Resilience Act (CSA) and the Cybersecurity Act‚ which encourage the application of end-to-end encryption to counter cyber risks. The tech firms propose alternatives to mandatory scanning they believe are more effective and prioritize data protection and security. They argue an approach aligned with the European Parliament’s proposals provides a robust framework for child protection. Moreover‚ they discuss the danger of such scanning technology being potentially misused by oppressive regimes to squash political dissidents. They conclude that while they are not solely resistant to solutions‚ they stress the importance of devising strategies closely aligned to the European Parliament’s proposals. In a statment to Reclaim The Net Matthias Pfau‚ founder of Tuta‚ adds that such legislation “to scan every chat message and every email would create a backdoor – one that could and will be abused by criminals.” The post Privacy Companies Push Back Against EU Plot To End Online Privacy appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Things I Like: Mike Duncan's Podcasts