The following article, Cartoon of the Day: Debate Fallout, was first published on Conservative Firing Line. Cartoon of the Day: Debate Fallout. A.F. Branco Cartoon – Democrats are in a full-blown panic attack over Biden’s debate performance with Donald Trump. Rumors are swirling around about Michelle Obama jumping in to save them. Trump Campaign Fact-Checks Biden in Real Time — Here are the Details (VIDEO) By Jim Hoft June 27, 2024 In … Continue reading Cartoon of the Day: Debate Fallout ...

Squint hard, Joe. That thought is out there somewhere. Oops, time to change that diaper again. Try mumbling more clearly, old "shit-for-brains". Source: https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1806555571937591578 Watch the full debate, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., here: Original Rumble video: https://rumble.com/v545lnn-the-real-debate.html

It's obvious to most people that being financially unstable or living below the poverty level is a struggle. Figuring out meals that you can afford outside of ramen can be hard, especially if you have to make it last for days. In fact, cheap foods are generally really processed and unhealthy, but when that's all you can afford, you make do with what you have. But one creator on TikTok has made it her mission to provide content that will help people who are struggling to make healthier food on a tight budget. Rebecca Chobat runs the TikTok account Dollar Tree Dinners and creates meals using only the ingredients she can find at Dollar Tree, including meats. She shows recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner with an emphasis on stretching a tight budget."There are plenty of people in the world who don't have access to regular grocery stores or even fresh food. They may only have a Dollar Tree near them," Chobat explains in a video before continuing. "My videos are here to show people that they can make the best use out of ingredients that are available to them."Living in a food desert or having to rely fully on food pantries for your meals is the reality for a lot of Americans. Chobat is hoping her videos help people in these sorts of situations make the best out of what they have access to. While some wouldn't consider her meals the gold standard of healthy, when you look at the alternative, the meals she cooks are a much better option. @dollartreedinners $35 Budget Dollar Tree Grocery Shopping #dollartreedinners #shopwithme #shopwithmeatdollartree #dollartreegroceryhaul #dollartreefood #groceryshopping #grocerybudget #eatingonabudget #savemoney Chobat uses a lot of frozen vegetables in her recipes to not only add color but to add nutritional value. Even while being sure to incorporate vegetables, she's also aware that not everyone has access to a refrigerator, so she makes some meals that don't require frozen or refrigerated foods. @dollartreedinners Making a $5 One Pot Taco Chili #dollartreedinners #5dollardinner #eatingonabudget #feedinglargefamilies #norefrigeration #pantrymeals #easyrecipe #weeknightdinner #cheapmeals #fivedollarmeal #onepotmeals #20minmeals The budget-friendly TikTok user also shows you how to meal prep and make grab-and-go lunches for work as well as no-reheat lunches for kids. Every option is low cost and can help people who may only have $10 to buy enough food to hold them over until their next payday.In one video, she made creamy spinach pasta with meatballs that not only look delicious but makes enough to feed more than one person or to have leftovers for the next day. With the way grocery prices have gone up over the past year, her recipes may help families who are having trouble making ends meet. @dollartreedinners $5 Dinner Idea: Creamy Spinach Pasta with Meatballs #dollartreedinners #dollartree #dollartreefood #5dollardinner #eatingonabudget #howtoeatcheap #foodbudget #dollartreegroceries #makeitcheaper Budget-friendly recipes don't often come with videos that show you how to cook the meals and much of the time the ingredients come from bigger grocery stores. But with Chobat, no matter where you live or how little money you have, there's a recipe on her page for you. She even did a series on how to cook while staying in a hotel.Chobat's TikTok page isn't for everyone and she knows that. In fact, she is very deliberate in her word choice and items purchased because she wants to ensure that the people who need her videos the most don't feel shamed. It may seem like a small thing to some, but what Chobat is doing is likely changing lives. This article originally appeared on 2.28.23

There's always something very touching about receiving a gift from your child, especially when you know it's something that they really put their heart into creating. A video posted to TikTok by Aaron Gouveia shows that sometimes a child can give a gift that’s so surprising it’s almost too much to handle.Gouveia, 43, is a Massachusetts father of three who posts videos as “Daddy Files” on TikTok about the joys and challenges of family life. On March 26, he posted a video featuring his son Sam, 9, that was so heartwarming it has received over 12.4 million views.According to Today.com, Sam is a neurodivergent fourth-grader who's been teased by classmates for wearing nail polish. His father believes he struggles to get along with kids his age because they "don't understand him or his interests."A year ago, Sam began taking a sewing class at school, and in the video, he showed his dad the blue patterned shirt he made for him. “I got a shirt that I made at sewing class,” Sam said, holding the shirt in his hands. “You made that?” his dad asked, astonished. @daddyfiles Sam made me a shirt! Wow. #sewing #sewingtiktok #samsewgood #boyswhosew #parenting #raisingboys “I did the buttons, and I did the button holes,” Sam continued. “I got some help, but I did most of it by myself.” Gouveia then tried his son's creation on and looked at himself in the mirror. The shirt fit him perfectly. He seemed astonished that his young son was able to make something so well-crafted with so little experience. Gouveia pored over all of the details of the shirt, especially the ‘70s-style lapel. “The collar is so unique,” he noted. He was also impressed by the box pleat on the back of the shirt that Sam admitted was “hard” to stitch together.At the end of the video, Sam said he had his father’s style in mind while designing the shirt. “Why did you choose this pattern?” Gouveia asked. “Why I chose the pattern is, it just looks cool to me. It stands out to me,” Sam replied. “And it goes with jeans like you usually wear.”The proud father then asked if he could wear the shirt out to dinner that night. “Uh yeah,” Sam replied, beaming with pride.In a follow-up video posted on March 27, Sam thanks people for the support he’s received and says that he’s now taking orders for shirts and dresses. The transformation in Sam is delightful because he was a little insecure when he first handed the shirt to his father. But after the overwhelming support he’s gotten in the 92,000 comments the video received on TikTok, he’s excited to share his talents with the world. @daddyfiles Bus stop interview with my celebrity child. ? Good news: Your overwhelming support made him open to doing commissions! ? Thank you for 8.5M views! #sewing #sewingtiktok #samsewgood #sewingforyoupage #parenting #fashion #fashiontiktok “That caught me off guard,” Gouveia told Today.com. “He hasn’t wanted to make things for people. You can even see in my first video, he's nervous. He has a lot of anxiety and doesn’t want to disappoint anyone. But after reading all the positive comments, he was like, ‘Well, I can do it!’”This article originally appeared on 3.29.23

The cost of living in the United States has gone up so much in recent years that living on a cruise ship has become a reasonable idea for some retirees. When Nancy and Robert Houchens of Charlottesville, Virginia, retired, they decided to sell almost everything they had and live out their golden years hopping from cruise ship to cruise ship."We had a 3,000-square-foot home full of furniture...and everything we own now would fit in the back of a pickup truck," Robert told USA Today.“We sold all of our estates except for a little condominium we have in Florida, so when we get too old to cruise, we have somewhere to live,” Nancy added. “And we did keep two vehicles, and what we kept is in half of (Robert's mother's storage unit), which is, I don't know, 10x10 or something. We just walked away from everything.”Life on a cruise ship is stress-free for the couple because their needs are taken care of on the ship. "It's been great. I don't cook. I don't clean," Nancy told the Miami Herald.The couple has found that living on a cruise ship isn’t as expensive as some may assume. Even though inflation has driven up the cost of travel in the U.S., it hasn’t significantly impacted the cruise industry. “It's much cheaper than a nursing home or assisted living. It was just a good fit for us. It's a good fit for a lot of people,” Robert told the Miami Herald.The couple plans their trips differently than someone who is going on vacation. “We look for the best deal, not the destination,” Nancy told Cruise Passenger.The couple initially planned to spend $4,000 a month living on the ships. “Our original budget was $4,000 a month. This included gratuities. Of course, things are more expensive now, so that budget has had to increase a little. Depending on where we go, we may or may not need the internet,” she told Cruise Passenger.“Our phone plan covers most everywhere for 25 cents a minute to call with free internet and texting,” Nancy continued. “We have an annual travel insurance plan, and one of our credit cards also has travel insurance.”For the Houchens, living on board a cruise ship is definitely cheaper than assisted living. According to the 2020 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, the average monthly cost per person to live in assisted living in Virginia is $5,250 a month, which would cost Houchens over $10,000 a month as a couple.Further, the roughly $4,000 the couple spends a month includes food, and they don’t have to bother paying for a car. They also try to book their cruises consecutively so they don’t waste money paying for expensive hotels when transferring between cruise lines.Last July, the Houchens celebrated their 1,000th day sailing with Carnival Cruise Line since the 1980s, and they look forward to countless more days at sea with each other and the new friends they’ve made on their never-ending cruise.“We cruise Carnival because of the people,” Richard told Travel Pulse. “It isn’t the destinations for us anymore, it’s the journey—and the biggest part of the journey is the people.”This article originally appeared on 7.19.23

Social media has become a fertile breeding ground for conversations about hygiene. Whether it’s celebrities bragging about how little their family bathes or battles over how often people should wash their sheets or bras.One of the debates that gets the most diverse responses is how often people wash their denim jeans. Denim atelier Benjamin Talley Smith tells Today that jeans should be washed "as little as possible, if at all.” Laundry expert Patric Richardson adds they should be cleaned “after nine or 10 wearings, like to me, that is the ideal." At that point, they probably have stains and are "a little sweaty by that point, so you need to wash 'em," Richardson says.Still, some people wash and dry them after every wear while others will hand wash and never hang dry. With all these significant differences of opinion, there must be a correct answer somewhere, right?The CEO of Levi Strauss, Charles Bergh, has stepped up to set the record straight on when and how to wash your jeans. He caused a stir in 2014 when he said he only washes his jeans once a year, but it was for environmental reasons more than hygiene. Reading: The Dirty Jeans Manifesto https://t.co/nAQbdbdpn2 — Gavin Heaton (@Gavin Heaton) 1405392206 He later clarified his thoughts in a blog post, “The Dirty Jean Manifesto” he posted to LinkedIn.“I made this provocative statement because I believe strongly in what our brands stand for: quality, durability and lasting products made sustainably. I also said it because I believe we don’t need to wash jeans as often as most people think we do,” Bergh wrote."We learned that an average pair of jeans consumes roughly 3,500 liters of water — and that is after only two years of use, washing the jeans once a week," Bergh wrote. "Nearly half of the total water consumption, or 1,600 liters, is the consumer throwing the jeans in the washing machine. That’s equivalent to 6,700 glasses of drinking water!"To add to the problem, denim jeans are often manufactured in places where water is scarce, such as India, Pakistan, Mexico, China and parts of California.Bergh recently spoke with CNBC’s Christine Tan and clarified his thoughts on jean cleanliness.“True denim heads, people that really love their denim, will tell you to never put your denim into a washing machine. So that’s what I do,” Bergh explained. “If I drop some curry on my jeans, I’m gonna clean it. But I’ll spot-clean it. And if they get really gross you know, if I’ve been out sweating or something and they get really gross, I’ll wash them in the shower.”However, when Bergh washes his jeans in the shower, he does it while wearing them and washing them with soap. The image that the scene conjures is of a cowboy bathing in a cartoon, clothes on and all.There are a lot of different opinions on how often one should wash and dry their jeans and many of them boil down to personal preference. But the debate on the topic has brought up one very big point we should all consider: when choosing how often we wash our jeans, a big part of the decision should be considering the amount of water we use. This article originally appeared on 10.12.23

I don't know what it is about impersonations that are so fascinating to people but they're often hilarious, and Jack Black impersonating The Rock does not disappoint. From the 2018 clip you can't tell what prompted the impersonation but "Screen Junkies" interviewer looks to Black and asks him about his workout routine as if he's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The comedian adjusts himself in his seat and doesn't break character the entire time and somehow the interviewer is able to maintain a serious face throughout the process. Kevin Hart and the actual Dwayne Johnson cannot keep it together while Black does his impression of his co-star.Black obviously knows the workout routine of the 6-foot, 5-inch muscular Black Samoan demigod and it starts out with 27,000 rip curls at 5 a.m. At least, that's the "School of Rock" alum's best guesstimate, and judging by Johnson's size, that seems about right.But his ribbing of his co-star didn't stop there. As Johnson and Hart are practically wheezing with laughter, Black continues with his impersonation adding in Johnson's philosophy on life. If you're curious about that, it involves blood, sweat, tears and sucking life deep. Yeah, I don't know what that means either but you should check out the video below because it's pretty impressive and might just brighten your day. This article originally appeared on 10.22.22

Stock photos of any job are usually delightful cringey. Sure, sometimes they sort of get the essence of a job, but a lot of the time the interpretation is downright cartoonish. One glance and it becomes abundantly clear that for some careers, we have no freakin’ clue what it is that people do. Dr. Kit Chapman, an award-winning science journalist and academic at Falmouth University in the U.K., recently held an impromptu contest on Twitter where viewers could vote on which photos were the best of the worst when it came to jobs in scientific fields. According to Chapman’s entries, a day in the life of a scientist includes poking syringes into chickens, wearing a lab coat (unless you’re a “sexy” scientist, then you wear lingerie) and holding vials of colored liquid. Lots and lots of vials. Of course, where each image is 100% inaccurate, they are 100% giggle inducing. Take a look below at some of the contenders. Chapman’s unofficial photo competition received nearly 500,000 votes cast throughout four rounds. The grand prize winner was a photo of a female scientist holding a soldering iron (very much not in the right way) as she is “working” on some kind of electrical board. It’s titled, “Hold My Soldering Iron.”Time to vote for the worst science stock photos ever! 1. Hold My Soldering Iron. pic.twitter.com/fc76jz8Bs4— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022 “I mean there’s the obvious thing that she'll burn her hand, but nobody ever talks about how she's ‘soldering’ the wrong side of the board," one person quipped. Of course, “Talk to Us, Dr. Chicken” was also popular.2. Talk To Us, Dr Chicken. pic.twitter.com/IMh0LsmGcg— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022 Clearly using the scientific method to figure out why exactly Dr. Chicken crossed the road. But not as popular as “Syringe Chicken,” where, for some reason, a scientist covered in a mask and safety goggles inspects a raw, syringe-filled chicken with his teeny tiny magnifying glass. For science! 2. I, too, store half-used syringes inside an uncooked chicken. pic.twitter.com/noEBQKqbO3— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022 This one was the winner of the second-to-last batch. Ever wonder where space is? Don’t worry, leave it to the professionals to point the way.3. TO SPACE!!!! pic.twitter.com/ae1XzzQSKE— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022 “To space!” Chapman captioned. Speaking of professionals, everyone dresses for research this way, right? 3. Science: It’s a Girl Thing. pic.twitter.com/ogIOrKHWe1— Dr Kit Chapman (@ChemistryKit) October 12, 2022 Chapman titled this “Science: It's a Girl Thing."People were quick to chime in with their own contributions, including: “Woman Brain Surgeon”My personal favorite https://t.co/MPbQCO5qSF— MAJ Moe MD ? (@donaldmoe) October 13, 2022 Otherwise known as a jello mechanic. And some kind of … corn scientist? From the future?I think you're missing the best of them all pic.twitter.com/MBgEO4fByk— autoproclamada generala da URSAL (@generaladaursal) October 12, 2022 Why does this seem like it belongs in an Annie Lennox music video? As well as a group of scientists that belong in a Marvel movie for their ability to manipulate atoms. Do not forget manipulating atoms by handhttps://t.co/FTRzyUJp7m— Katie ?Boo?-mah (@nuclearkatie) October 12, 2022 While these are certainly not an accurate depiction of the vast and wondrous world of scientific research, it did cause many a scientist to share a giggle. So no harm, no foul. Not even to chickens. This article originally appeared on 10.27.22

As the U.S. ramps into an all-too-familiar presidential election cycle where the only viable candidates left on the ballot are men, the UN announces a study that may—at least partially—explain why.The Gender Social Norms Index released yesterday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers a look at gender equality as measured by people's personal gender bias. The data, which was collected from 75 countries covering 81% of the world's population, found that 91% of men and 86% of women show at least one clear bias against women in the areas of politics, economics, education, and physical integrity. In other words, 9 out of 10 people worldwide—both men and women—are biased against women in vital areas that impact the world in major ways. Splendid.It would be easy to assume that these numbers are skewed by countries where women are blatantly oppressed, and that is somewhat true. However, a majority was found to hold no gender biases in just six of the 75 countries studied—and no, the U.S. was not among them. Nope, not Canada either.Andorra, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden were the only countries where a majority of people showed no clear gender bias. (Andorra came out on way on top, with 73% of its population showing no bias—the only country to top 70%. Go Andorra.)Where did the U.S. and Canada stand? According to the study, 43% of Americans hold no gender bias while Canada clocks in at 48%. Basically, if you're sitting in a stadium full of people as a woman in North America, half of the people you're looking at likely harbor some kind of clear bias against you. Same goes if you're a woman competing in a sport, giving a talk at a conference, or—ahem—running for public office.Perhaps the most unnerving stats from the report are these:- About 50% people—both men and women—think men make better political leaders than women- About 40% of people think men make better business leaders than women- Close to 50% of men believe that men have more right to a job than women- About 30% believe that it's justifiable for a man to beat his intimate partnerUmmm, that last one? Holy moly.What's just as concerning is that despite decades of progress on women's rights, bias against women is increasing in some countries among both men and women. And this is the case even among some countries that scored well on the index—bias in top-six Sweden, for example, actually increased over the nine years the study covered."The share of both women and men worldwide with moderate to intense gender biases grew from 57 percent to 60 percent for women and from 70 percent to 71 percent for men," the report states, adding: "Surveys have shown that younger men may be even less committed to equality than their elders."That last part is worth repeating. Evidence points to young men being less committed to gender equality than older generations. That is not good news for the future, folks.Of course, we have made big strides across the globe in terms of increasing access to education, improving healthcare for women, and other areas. But women still don't have a place at most of the decision-making tables, and we obviously still have social norm hurdles to overcome to achieve true gender equality."We have come a long way in recent decades to ensure that women have the same access to life's basic needs as men," said Pedro Conceição, head of UNDP's Human Development Report Office. "We have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent since the year 1990. But gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality. Today. the fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices."Results of the study indicate a backlash to the push for gender equality, the report states. Indeed, change is uncomfortable for many people and progress is often a two steps forward, one step back process. For sure, social norms are more complex and challenging to change than laws."Policymakers often focus on the tangible—on laws, policies, spending commitments, public statements and so on," the report states. "This is driven partly by the desire to measure impact and by sheer impatience with the slow pace of change. Yet neglecting the invisible power of norms would miss a deeper understanding of social change."Social norms also directly impact progress made in all areas. Currently, no country in the world is on track to meet the gender equality goals by Sustainable Development Goal target of 2030. With stats like these, that's not shocking.Clearly, something to keep in mind as we advocate for gender equality is how to effectively address people's core beliefs about women and equality in general. Legal progress without social progress is shaky at best, and true gender equality won't become reality unless people believe that it should.It appears we have some serious work ahead of us on that front.This article originally appeared on 03.06.20

Michelle Elman, a body positivity coach, helps people who are struggling to find confidence in their own skin.After persevering through numerous medical conditions and surgeries in her own life, Elman realized a few years ago that body positivity wasn't just about size or weight. Things like scars, birthmarks, and anything else that makes us feel different of self-conscious have to be a part of the conversation, and she tries to make the movement accessible to everyone.Sharing her own journey has been one of her most effective teaching tools.In May, she shared a post on Instagram of herself trying on a dress she bought five years ago in order to prove a powerful point.In the first photo, from 2012 — when she was a size 12, she says — she's wearing a size 14 dress. In the new photo, she's wearing the same dress, though she says she normally wears a size 20.The dress still fit. See on Instagram "NUMBERS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING," she wrote in the post. "So are you really going to let a change [in] dress size dictate your day? Are you really going to let an increase in a number affect your mood?""A higher dress size doesn't mean: — you are less beautiful — you are less worthy — you are less lovable — you are a worse human — you are a bad person — you are a different person AND it doesn't even mean you have a bigger body."The viral photo inspired thousands of people. While a huge majority of the comments were positive, there was still something bugging Elman about the response.Not everyone was getting the right message."Since the creation of this account, I have always been told I'm beautiful 'for my size' and I never wanted to talk about it because I thought I was being pedantic but eventually decided to speak my mind about it," she says in an email.She decided to create a follow-up post to set a few things straight about what body positivity really means.In the second post, she took a different approach to the "before and after" shots we see so often on Instagram. People loved it. See on Instagram In the caption, Elman addresses a couple of things well-meaning people got wrong about the message she was trying to spread. Some commenters said she looked "skinnier" in the 2017 photo which, though meant as a compliment, just reinforces that being skinny is somehow better.Others said she wasn't fat enough, to which Elman could only scoff."If people tell you they are a certain size, believe them," she wrote."People think that body positivity is about trying to convince people that bigger bodies are attractive, either physically or sexually," she says.But that's totally missing the point of what her work is all about."If you are still relating your love for your body to society's perception of beauty," she says, "then you are still reliant on someone else's opinion. Body positivity is about saying that you are more than a body and your self-worth is not reliant on your beauty."Her second post is currently sitting at over 26,500 likes on Instagram — a clear sign that this is a message many of us desperately needed to hear.This article originally appeared on 06.08.17