Authorities believe shooting was an ambush

'No longer support its designation for TPS'

'NWS in Texas had extra staff on duty and did their jobs admirably, as always'

'Keep ourselves from being targeted'

'Unbelievably satisfied'

Books Five Books Five Dangerously Impatient Heirs and Successors Why wait around for the throne or the cash when you could have it all? By James Davis Nicoll | Published on July 7, 2025 Art by Brom Comment 0 Share New Share Art by Brom Imagine for the moment that your hardworking relatives have accrued massive wealth, impressive titles, and vast power. Further imagine that all that will be yours when they die. Would it not be the worst filial impiety to refuse this heritage? Of course it would. Some heirs are so enthusiastic, in fact, that they do their very best to hurry the process along. Why delay gratitude when with a well-timed shove or vial of poison, one can be grateful to a generous benefactor immediately? You might be interested in the following five works about accelerated bequests. Kind Hearts and Coronets, directed by Robert Hamer and written by John Dighton (1949)1 Louis D’Ascoyne Mazzini would like to succeed the current Duke of Chalfont. But there are a few problems. Louis is only the seventh possible inheritor; all six preceding him would have to die for him to inherit. The second problem is that the seventh Duke disowned his daughter (Louis’ mother) for marrying an Italian opera singer. The D’Ascoynes do not consider Louis a kinsman. An excessive number of more senior heirs is a tractable problem. Louis’ rivals die one by one, apparently by misfortune2. Louis would seem to have executed six perfect murders, so why does the film begin with Louis awaiting execution for murder3? Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (1972) Elric VIII, 428th Emperor of Melniboné, possesses a rudimentary but most unfashionable moral sense. He eschews dark sorcery. He rejects voluptuary decadence in favor of a perverse monogamous love for his cousin, Cymoril. As far as Cymoril’s brother Yyrkoon is concerned, Elric is unfit to lead ancient Melniboné. When the opportunity to push Elric overboard to a watery death presents itself, Yyrkoon takes it. Now the throne, the empire, and Cymoril are all Yyrkoon’s! Or they would be, if only Elric had drowned, which he did not, and if only Elric hadn’t called for help from Arioch, Duke of Hell and Lord of Chaos. It is hard to overstate how terrible Elric is at saving people. Or nations. Or worlds. Elric’s good will is basically a death sentence or worse. It is almost as though having Arioch, Duke of Hell and Lord of Chaos as a patron disqualifies one for heroic, constructive efforts. Steel Rain, written/directed by Yang Woo-suk (2017) North Koreans were starved to fund their (unnamed) supreme leader’s nuclear weapons program. Why then has the supreme leader not launched a war of liberation to free South Korea? Chief director Ri Tae-han of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau embarks on a bold plan to remove the primary impediment to the supreme leader’s vision of a united Korea: the supreme leader himself. Recruited by Ri under false pretenses, capable field agent Eom Chul-woo believes he is part of a covert action to protect the supreme leader. Thus, when the supreme leader is badly injured by assassins4, Eom rescues the comatose potentate and whisks him away to the only refuge available: South Korea. Complications ensue. An interesting aspect of this film is that while Ri and his allies behind the coup are definitely antagonists, the movie takes pains to make clear why they feel their actions are reasonable and righteous, while also making clear that their basic premises are bonkers. Another interesting detail is that the plot turns in part on a coincidence of names that reminded me of the “Martha” revelation in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Wellstone by Wil McCarthy (2003) Under Queen Tamra-Tamatra Lutui and King Bruno de Towaji, the Queendom of Sol has enjoyed twenty-nine decades of peace and prosperity. All this will be Prince Bascal Edward de Towaji Lutui’s when his parents pass away. Therefore, it is a source of considerable irritation for Bascal that, like everyone in the Queendom, his parents are functionally immortal. Bascal is not the only young person in the Queendom of Sol chafing against the fact that the older generations will never vanish, and thus will never hand over authority and wealth. Therefore, when Bascal resolves to take bold action, he has legions of potential allies. Will the prince’s plan succeed? It does at least get his parents’ full and undivided attention. A minor caveat: when I say the Queendom has enjoyed twenty-nine decades of peace and prosperity, I mean “except for all those times that Bruno’s ingenious creations very nearly killed everyone.” Still, one can’t make an omelet without risking collapsing the sun and many planets into black holes. Suddenly, I am thinking of omelets and somewhat peckish. Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart (2021) Ten years ago, Judair Cariot5 overthrew Empress Cordelia Adair. Judair rules the island of Aiyca with an iron hand. Anyone who disappoints or inconveniences Judair is harshly punished. Nobody is immune, not even Judair’s own kin. Just ask Judair’s late daughter, Madisyn. Judair’s ruthlessness creates unlikely allies out of Judair’s remaining daughter Jazmyne and Cordelia Adair’s daughter Iraya. Both agree that Judair has to go. As to who, Jazmyne or Iraya, should rule once Judair is gone? That’s a question for the future. Readers might wonder why Judair backed Jazmyne into a corner, forcing her to realize that offing her mother is the best option. Well, Judair is brutal and decisive, but she is not insightful. In her defense, she’s hardly the only ruler whose draconian rule convinced underlings that rebellion was the only sensible course of action. Of course, enthusiastic heirs impatient for the chance to display intense gratitude towards their late benefactors abound in speculative fiction and adjacent genres. Feel free to mention your favorites in comments below.[end-mark] Modern viewers should be aware of regrettable vocabulary choices in the British version of the film… but at least the film is not relentlessly antisemitic, as the novel on which the film was based certainly is. ︎Louis varies his methods: boat, petrol, poison, an arrow, and a bomb. This should make detection more difficult, save for a minor procedural flaw on Louis’ part. Yes, that adds up to fewer deaths than there are rival heirs. One impediment manages to off himself. Another drops dead of a conveniently timed heart attack. ︎The 2012 radio play sequel, Hearts and Coronets: Like Father, Like Daughter, apparently revealed that Louis’ illegitimate daughter Unity was every bit as homicidal as her father and better at getting away with it. ︎The assassins didn’t go mano a mano, but used missiles. There’s a lot of collateral damage. This seems an appropriate juncture to mention that adorable, naïve teen girls in Korean action films do not have the plot immunity they might possess in North American movies. ︎I cannot believe it took me four years to notice that “Judair Cariot” is oddly similar to Judas Iscariot. ︎The post Five Dangerously Impatient Heirs and Successors appeared first on Reactor.

A newly leaked White House memo from April 2024 reveals that former President Joe Biden’s advisers urged him to debate now-President Donald Trump early in the election cycle to “reach the widest audience possible.”  The disastrous June 27 debate, in which Biden was often incoherent, was the death knell of his campaign. Under pressure from Democratic Party leaders, he dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee. “By holding the first debate in the spring, YOU will be able to reach the widest audience possible before we are deep in the summer months with the conventions, Olympics, and family vacations taking precedence,” reads the memo from Biden’s “Senior Advisors” which was published by Politico. “The earlier YOU are able to debate the better, so that the American people can see you standing next to Trump and showing the strength of YOUR leadership, compared to Trump’s weakness and chaos.” In fact, Biden’s advisers recommended either June 26 or June 27 for Biden’s first debate, a time frame which was granted to them. This timing was meant to coincide with the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs v Jackson Supreme Court ruling which overturned Roe v Wade, and to avoid conflicting with Biden’s travel schedule.  This June date was the earliest first debate ever held by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonpartisan organization which coordinates with campaigns to set conditions for the presidential showdowns. In 2020, the first debate was on Sept. 29; in 2016, it was on Sept. 26; and in 2012, on October 3. The advisers appear to have had strong opinions on the conditions of the debate, writing, “Anita is leading communication and recommendations on networks and moderators for consideration.” This is likely a reference to Anita Dunn, a Biden senior adviser. Presciently, the memo also recommends “the option to reevaluate after the first debate” the timing for a second one. Harris ultimately debated Trump on Sep. 10 in Philadelphia. The post Biden White House Leak Reveals Advisors Urged Early Debate appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Focus on the Family recently surveyed?more than 3,800 Americans on how faith impacts personal decisions about marriage and recorded married respondents’ self-assessments of their unions.  The good news is that 74% of all married couples described their marriages as “healthy.” But even more encouraging is that convictional Christians—those who actively live out and practice their faith—scored higher on all 32 aspects of marriage that speak to matrimonial health—whether it be taking responsibility for mistakes, having compassion toward each other, trust, or financial management.  The difference between convictional Christian marriages and non-Christian marriages comes into focus, so to speak, when one digs deeper into the research findings. The study found that 25% of non-Christians surveyed said their marriages were in crisis, while only 13% of convictional Christians said so. And among those who profess faith, but not as strongly as convictional Christians, 22% of nominal Christians and 17% of born-again Christians said their marriages were in crisis.  Thus, when it comes to marriage, faith really does matter.  But just don’t take Focus on the Family’s word on it. Other researchers have found the same thing. A Harvard School of Public Health study found couples who regularly attend church services are about 30-50% less likely to divorce.  This statistic also holds true across racial groups. Research done by Kenneth Pargament and Annette Mahoney of Bowling Green University’s Spirituality and Psychology Research Team found that marriages are stronger and happier when husbands and wives understand there is a deeper spiritual significance to marriage beyond feelings or economic security.  Unfortunately, over the past several decades, the understanding of marriage as a sacred bond between a man and a woman has been lost as faith has diminished and our society becomes more about personal happiness and “self-fulfillment.” It is any wonder why divorce has become so prevalent in our culture, as faith—the glue that keeps couples together—loses influence in our society?  Or as the late esteemed social scientist James Q. Wilson put it, “Marriage was once a sacrament, then it became a contract, and now it is an arrangement. Once religion provided the sacrament, then the law enforced the contract, and now personal preferences define the arrangement.” And, sadly, because of these factors, many young people, as the Focus on the Family study finds, are less interested in getting married, with only 56% of single, non-married respondents saying they want to be married someday.  Thus, the renewal of faith in our culture is essential to solving the breakdown of marriage and the family—the two bedrock institutions that affect both present and future generations either positively or negatively. It is this same renewal of faith that will make marriage an institution to be desired, rather than one that has come with the negative emotional baggage of separation and divorce for so many young people.  And those of us in healthy marriages need to come alongside those who are struggling to offer support and encouragement. We also need to model what a biblical marriage looks like, through our words and actions, so people will be drawn to what we have, rather than be repelled by what they see when marriages take a wrong turn and head down the wrong road to dissolution.  Wilson wrote: “The right and best way for a culture to restore itself is for it to be rebuilt, not from the top down by government policies, but from the bottom up by personal decisions. On the side of that effort, we can find churches—or at least many of them—and the common experience of adults that the essence of marriage is not sex, or money, or even children: it is a commitment.”  To restore the commitment of marriage and the family and begin to reverse the tragic trends of the past 60-plus years, our efforts must start with the renewal of faith and the restoration of the family. By doing so, we will reap benefits beyond just stable families. We will be able to successfully address so many other issues—unwed pregnancy, drug addiction, income inequality, and government dependence—that plague our society. That’s a win for everyone—married and single—and the recipe for a healthy, flourishing society.  ?We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.  The post When It Comes to Marriage, Faith Matters appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Apparently, Germany Is Facing a Plague of Teutonic Butt Grabbers

Long before European colonizers sighted the continent, legendary explorer Hui Te Rangiora may have seen Antarctica.