'There was no evidence any crime had been committed'

Fischer v. United States

'their hubris has backed them into an unwinnable corner'

'No real basis for these articles of impeachment'

An amazing survival story comes from the southeast coastal waters of Japan where a Chinese woman survived days adrift at sea clinging to an inflatable intertube. Reported missing last Monday by her friends, the unnamed Chinese national was swimming with friends on a beach in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The coast guard was […] The post Adrift for Days in an Inflatable Tube, Woman Rescued Off Coast of Japan by Passing Sailors appeared first on Good News Network.

News sturgeon awards Congratulations to the 2024 Sturgeon Award Finalists! By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on July 15, 2024 Credit: J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction The J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction has announced the 2024 finalists for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, given to the best short science fiction story from the previous year. Here are the finalists, per Locus magazine: “The Rainbow Ghosts”, Violet Allen (Luminescent Machinations: Queer Tales of Monumental Invention) “Patsy Cline Sings Sweet Dreams to the Universe”, Beston Barnett (Strange Horizons 11/20/23) “The Unpastured Sea”, Gregory Feely (Asimov’s 9-10/23) “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200″, R.S.A. Garcia (Uncanny 7/23) “The State Street Robot Factory”, Claire Humphrey (Apex 3/23) “What It Means to Be a Car”, James Patrick Kelly (Tor.com 7/26/23) “The Year Without Sunshine“, Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny 11-12/23) “Notes From a Pyre”, Amal Singh (The Deadlands 3/23) “An Infestation of Blue”, Wendy N. Wagner (Analog 11-12/23) The third annual Sturgeon Symposium, titled “Stars in Our Pockets: Celebrating Samuel R. Delany,” will be held October 24-25, 2024. Noël Sturgeon will present the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the winner, who also receives a cash prize, will give a reading. Delaney will also be in attendance. Congratulations to all the finalists! [end-mark] The post Congratulations to the 2024 Sturgeon Award Finalists! appeared first on Reactor.

Excerpts Young Adult Read an Excerpt From Adrienne Tooley’s The Second Son An epic clash of deities explores the two facets of pain: rage versus sadness. By Adrienne Tooley | Published on July 15, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from The Second Son by Adrienne Tooley, the second book in her young adult fantasy duology The Betrayal Prophecies—publishing with Christy Ottaviano Books on July 16th. The centuries-old prophecy has been fulfilled at last: the New Maiden has returned to Velle. Unfortunately, so has a malicious demi-god, whose elusive prophet is intent on converting the New Maiden’s followers. The Second Son is a vengeful, angry deity, whose psalm resonates with the disenfranchised.With Elodie on the throne and Sabine in her own unique position of power, it should be easy enough to track down the culprit. Yet even as they’re falling in love, both girls are keeping dangerous secrets from each other. While the cult of the Second Son threatens to overthrow not only the Church of the New Maiden but also Velle’s monarchy, Elodie and Sabine must navigate impossible odds to dismantle the root of his power, all while their lives hang in the balance.  Delegate dinners at Castle Warnou were notoriously ostentatious events. This evening, the linens were the cobalt blue of the Kirrish coat of arms and the silverware had been swapped out with cutlery that shined gold. Tables were arranged in the center of the ballroom’s polished floor in a U-shape, the better to see, the worse to hear. Many an accidental enemy had been created this way, most notably the delegate from Upper Tyne who thought that the delegate from Lower Tyne had inquired: “May I lie with your wife?” instead of “May I borrow your knife?” A different table arrangement might have prevented such misunderstandings, but subterfuge was an essential part of courtly politicking. The Kirrish delegation were only nominally important, children to placate with shiny objects. Elodie’s true audience tonight was Velle’s nobility. Before the country learned of Edgar’s threats and the tarnished harvest, Elodie needed to ensure that public opinion was firmly on her side. Tera Warnou had taught her daughter that if she wanted to shape the narrative, she needed to start with those who held the most influence in her court. To prime her guests for gossip, Elodie had arranged for servants to hover in the doorways, holding trays of bubbly nut wine. Glasses were pressed into the hands of the delegates and nobility as they entered. Peich-nat went down far too easily. In a matter of seconds, Elodie’s own glass was nearly empty. She’d intended to take a single sip to calm her nerves but had absentmindedly continued to drink and was now inauspiciously lightheaded as she greeted the guest of honor. Buy the Book The Second Son Adrienne Tooley Buy Book The Second Son Adrienne Tooley Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget “Chancellor Wilden.” Elodie’s skirt swished softly against the polished floor as she offered the man a half-curtsey. She still wasn’t used to the extra weight of the crown on her head. “It is a pleasure to enjoy your company tonight.” The chancellor, a portly man close to her father’s age, inclined his head politely. “The pleasure is all ours, Majesty.” He clinked his glass with hers, then took a sip of the bubbling liquid. He grimaced. “Not my taste,” he grumbled. “Don’t suppose you have any plum brandy?” Elodie fought the urge to roll her eyes. Not five minutes into the proceedings and the man was already insulting her. “Alas,” she said, smiling so wide it hurt, “I don’t suppose we do. Unless your delegation brought us a bottle as an offering?” Of course, she knew they had not. The chancellor wandered away with a mumbled excuse, discarding his glass on an empty tray. Elodie shook her head, hoping the bubbles in her brain might settle. Tonight, she desperately needed to keep her combative instincts at bay. The Kirrish huddled in the far corner, no doubt gossiping about her aperitif. The more permanent fixtures in Velle’s court were chatting amongst themselves, fawning over the Duchess of the Upper Banks, who was dressed in a shimmering silk set that made her look like a spider’s web. Near the door stood Cleo, resplendent in a yellow gown, her dark hair pinned in an elegant bouffant. On her arm, inexplicably, was Artur Anders, looking uncomfortable in a cravat. It was the first time Elodie had seen Sabine’s brother in trousers that actually fit. The queen glided toward them. “Artur,” she said, not bothering to hide her surprise. His name had not been included on the seating chart. “How unexpected.” Artur turned to Cleo, looking panicked. “I thought you said—” “It’s fine,” she interrupted, putting a hand on his arm placatingly. “Brianne told me Sabine had a difficult day,” Cleo told Elodie, as though this was a natural thing for her to know. “I thought a familiar face might help make this whole thing easier for her. Court dinners are not for the weakhearted.” “She has work to do tonight,” Elodie said sharply, trying not to let on exactly how stressed she felt. “If the New Maiden dazzles the court, she may begin to command favor beyond Velle’s borders. I would not parade Sabine around without purpose.” Cleo looked wounded. “I was only trying to help.” Elodie sighed, very nearly running a hand through her hair, which would have disturbed the constellation of pins Marguerite had meticulously assembled. “I know, Cleo. I’m sorry, just… no more surprises tonight, all right?” Cleo cleared her throat pointedly, eyes fixed on the door behind Elodie. “In that case, I’d advise not to look behind you.” Elodie turned to watch Sabine enter the ballroom, a vision in white. The bodice of her gown was fitted closely to her form, and Elodie’s eyes followed every one of the New Maiden’s gentle curves. She clutched her wine glass with both hands. There was little left for her to imagine. The skirts fanned out, layers of tulle spilling from the soft swoop of Sabine’s waist. When she moved, it appeared the girl was walking on a cloud. But the true surprise came when Elodie tore her eyes away from Sabine to take in the person beside her. Tal was outfitted in black, fingers decorated with silver rings, a gold chain glinting around his neck. There was a softness in his eyes that Elodie had not seen since they were children, a gentleness in his step. Sabine did not shy away from him. In fact, if Elodie had not known better, Tal and Sabine might have appeared a couple. Half a step behind the pair was Rob, donning a purple doublet and looking cross. Elodie’s mood matched her brother’s. Tal and Sabine’s closeness discomfited her. Tal’s allegiance to the Second Son was in direct opposition to Sabine’s role as the New Maiden. Yet because Elodie had not warned Sabine of Tal’s rebel alliance, he had managed to infiltrate the New Maiden’s trust more easily than Elodie could have ever imagined. Pressing her empty glass into Cleo’s hands, Elodie hurried to intercept the group near the doorway. She plucked another flute of peich-nat from an errant tray, and wondered at the pair of them, at Sabine’s ethereal beauty and Tal’s carefully indifferent expression. She wondered what they talked about. Excerpted from The Second Son, copyright © 2024 by Adrienne Tooley. The post Read an Excerpt From Adrienne Tooley’s <i>The Second Son</i> appeared first on Reactor.

President Joe Biden’s “unity” rhetoric after the attempted assassination Saturday of former President Donald Trump is “manipulation,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Monday.  Biden had a “missed opportunity” Sunday night to truly unite the country, Lee said during a panel discussion at The Heritage Foundation’s Policy Fest at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Lee’s accusation came two days after the shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A shooter with a rifle on a nearby roof wounded Trump in the right ear, critically wounded two rallygoers, and fatally shot a third before Secret Service agents shot and killed the gunman.  “My general rule of thumb is that when someone is speaking from a position of immense power, as [Biden] certainly is, a call for unity, unless it’s accompanied by a description, an explanation, a formula, a prescription for how you get to unity, something that actually can and does tend to unify people—if you don’t have that, then it’s manipulation,” Lee told Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief of The Federalist, in an onstage interview.  “It’s a passive-aggressive, backdoor way of saying, ‘Everyone unite behind me,’” Lee added.  The Utah Republican called Biden’s tactic “one of my pet peeves in politics.” Lee also told Hemingway: “I think he had a real missed opportunity because … this is the kind of moment where a president of the United States can and should say, ‘Hey, let’s all get united at least around a couple of things, and here’s what those things are, and here’s what I’m going to do for my part in order to do that.’ I think that could have helped.”  One way Biden could “bring down the temperature,” Lee argued, would be to end his administration’s two criminal prosecutions of Trump, widely seen as political, and ask state-level prosecutors drop charges against the former president.  A Florida court partially granted Lee’s wish earlier Monday, dismissing the Justice Department’s classified documents case against Trump. Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment to prosecute the case was unconstitutional.  “It’s with good reason that the Constitution limits who can do what in the executive branch,” Lee, a lawyer who  specializes in the Constitution, told Hemingway while discussing the ruling in Trump’s favor in Florida.  Lee said the Biden administration’s efforts to imprison Republicans’ chosen presidential candidate “is not the sort of thing we expect from the United States.” In a Sunday night address to the nation on the attempt to kill Trump, Biden said “there is no place in America for this kind of violence,” adding that “unity is the most elusive goal right now.”  The post ‘MANIPULATION’: Sen. Mike Lee Dismisses Biden’s Calls for Unity After Trump Shot  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In recent years, it has become clear that advertisers have a lot of control over online speech. Advertising boycotts and demonetization efforts by advertisers have emerged as potent tools to influence the content hosted by platforms. When advertisers withdraw from platforms, citing content disagreements, it effectively limits what can be said or shown, as creators and platforms alike rely heavily on advertising revenue. The situation creates a precarious environment where the threat of losing financial support can compel platforms and creators to self-censor, often sidestepping topics that might be deemed controversial by some advertisers. This financial vulnerability opens up a broader debate about the sustainability of relying solely on traditional advertising models, which can be whimsical and politically or culturally biased. To combat this, Rumble, a video-sharing and cloud services platform, has introduced an intriguing model. By forming strategic partnerships with brands that align with its mission and values, Rumble is exploring new monetization pathways that do not solely depend on mainstream advertising networks. This approach was vividly illustrated in a recent announcement where Rumble revealed collaborations with three unique brands: Pawsitive, Be Naked, and 5G Free. Each brand offers products that cater to specific lifestyles and concerns—pet health, male wellness, and EMF protection, respectively. By integrating these brands into its platform, Rumble not only diversifies its revenue streams but also enhances its value proposition to both creators and viewers. Creators get new ways to monetize their content without altering their message to suit the fickle preferences of traditional advertisers. Similarly, viewers gain access to specialized products that resonate with their interests, which can enhance their engagement with the platform. Rumble’s approach could potentially set a new standard in the digital economy, demonstrating that platforms can thrive without compromising on the diversity of voices they host. This model supports a more stable revenue base and reduces the platform’s vulnerability to external pressures from advertisers who may disagree with the content. Moreover, it gives brands that may not have the scale to engage with larger advertising networks a chance to reach targeted audiences, fostering a more inclusive market ecosystem. Commenting on the initiative, Rumble’s Chairman and CEO, Chris Pavlovski said, “Brand advertisers have previously boycotted companies that foster diverse user opinions. If certain factions of corporate America refuse to engage with sizable market segments, Rumble will bridge the gap. By partnering with these brands, we not only elevate our revenue but further our pursuit of a free and open internet ecosystem. We aim to provide brand partnerships that aid creators monetization on our platform.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Rumble’s Bold New Path: Independent Products to Bypass Demonetization Fears appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

NYT: It's Only a 'Narrative' That Trump is Being Persecuted