Daily Wire host Michael Knowles blasted the Left on Monday night, arguing that “political violence is a Left-wing phenomenon.” Knowles spoke at the Young America’s Foundation event at Washington and Lee University in Virginia and addressed the violence against conservatives on college campuses and against Republicans in the political arena. “These campus lectures are prime examples of Left-wing political violence. When students invite a conservative public figure to speak on campus, university officials regularly disinvite us citing vague ‘safety concerns,'” Knowles said. “And who is threatening anyone’s safety? It isn’t the conservative speakers. It isn’t the conservative students. It is the leftists.” Knowles acknowledged that the administrators who cite “safety concerns” when they cancel a conservative’s speech have a good argument “because the leftists on campus are frequently violent.” He mentioned recent examples of violence breaking out on campuses when conservatives such as Charles Murray, Riley Gaines, and himself are invited to speak. “Just last year, leftists at the University of Pittsburgh lit a street on fire, burned me in effigy, and threw an explosive at a building as I walked on stage,” Knowles said. “Political violence is a left-wing phenomenon in America. It is encouraged and carried out by leftists, some of whom have been bailed out of jail by Kamala Harris, whose despicable rhetoric continues to justify violence against President Trump and other conservatives.” “Political violence is a left-wing phenomenon… It is encouraged and carried out by leftists, some of whom have been bailed out of jail by Kamala Harris, whose despicable rhetoric continues to justify violence against President Trump and other conservatives.”@michaeljknowles… pic.twitter.com/UyxQmILhxf — Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 16, 2024 The Daily Wire host also discussed the second assassination attempt on Trump after a Democrat donor was arrested for allegedly hiding in wait for Trump with an AK-47-style rifle near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! “We know for a fact that the alleged assassin heard Biden and Harris’ calumnious talking points because he quoted them directly on social media,” Knowles added. “He posted ‘Democracy is on the ballot.’ And if democracy is on the ballot then anything goes.” “Kamala and Biden deserve much of the blame for the attempted assassinations on President Trump,” he continued. “But they don’t deserve all of the blame. Many prominent liberals have encouraged political violence against conservatives for years now.”

I am one of countless women who are fighting a battle that was never meant to be ours alone. My journey began at the tender age of 17 when I brought my first child into this world without the safety net of family support. Today, I am the mother of three beautiful children, who are my heart and soul. I worked tirelessly in my twenties, juggling three jobs while attending night school to earn a bachelor’s degree. This pursuit for a better life left me with $60,000 in student debt — a shadow that looms large over my future. Today, I gross $6,000 a month, working 15-20 hours of overtime each week. It’s an income I once idolized and aspired to during my studies, believing it was the key to making a name for myself. Yet, the harsh reality is that after taxes, $2,400 in rent, $800 in health insurance, $700 in childcare for my toddler, $400 in utilities, $250 in car insurance, and another $400 in legal fees each month — stemming from a bitter custody battle with my ex-husband — I find myself $1,900 in the red every month. I receive $400 in child support, but it barely scratches the surface of what’s needed. I share these detailed financial numbers to underscore the stark reality that we are all confronting in this country. This isn’t just my struggle — it’s the shared plight of countless Americans burdened by an unforgiving economic system. My car payment is an additional burden, an expensive necessity because financing a vehicle was cheaper than paying any amount in full for something I would own. I am using old food stamp money I had saved up for food when I lost my job last year, but that is dwindling and will run out in a month or so. Soon, I will have no money for food. In the midst of these struggles, I watch in despair as politicians spend more time in political arenas fighting amongst themselves, rather than putting the needs of Americans like me at the forefront. I feel forgotten, as if my reality is not important to those who profit from the political use of the hurt that people like me endure. I find myself ensnared in a relentless cycle, each day feeling like I am shackled in a form of modern-day slavery — laboring endlessly, knowing deep down that no matter how fiercely I fight, breaking free seems impossible. It’s as if my very essence is owned, my labor dictated, my freedom stolen by an unyielding system. This economy, this broken system, holds me captive, squeezing every ounce of strength from my soul as I desperately struggle to break free from the chains of my invisible master. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! I write this not only as a call for change, but out of personal desperation. I hope that by voicing my struggles, I can somehow make sense of the daily battles I face, and in doing so, find a way to make them more bearable. Each word is a plea, a testament to the resilience I must muster every day, yearning for a glimmer of hope amidst the overwhelming darkness. I am exhausted — mentally, physically, and emotionally. It feels as though all my energy is spent on mere survival and my relationship with my children suffers because of it. My health is deteriorating, and I can’t afford the copay to seek help. I make too much to qualify for state assistance, but not enough to survive. In desperation, I’ve resorted to taking out small credit cards with excruciating interest rates, just to afford basic necessities. Yet, even these lifelines slip from my grasp as I let payments lapse, unable to keep up with the relentless financial demands. Each month, I sink deeper into a quicksand of debt, watching helplessly as it pulls me further under. Every day, I send out numerous job applications, hoping to break through the algorithmic barriers that online hiring processes have erected. In a desperate bid to gain an edge, I pay for subscriptions to job board websites, yet the opportunities seem scarce in a sea where everyone is striving for the same lifeline. It’s a bitter pill to swallow knowing my teenage son has more in his savings than I do, and I wrestle with the urge to borrow from him just to afford basic necessities like laundry detergent. I see women my age turning to platforms like OnlyFans, tempted by the possibility of financial relief. I hold onto my faith, my dignity, and my love for my children as a shield against that reality. Yet, the temptation lurks as bills pile up and my credit score plummets. Emails from creditors with “Payment Declined” messages haunt my inbox. My bank account teeters at $3, and payday is a mere cycle of temporary relief before the next wave of bills crashes in. Each month, I face the agonizing decision of which bills to pay and which to defer, forced to prioritize their importance to my family’s immediate well-being. This constant juggling act leaves me perpetually behind, always scrambling to catch up, yet never quite able to break free. It’s a relentless cycle that chips away at my resolve, leaving me feeling defeated and powerless. I ask you: How can it be that earning $60,000 to $70,000 a year leaves me scrapping for survival? Why are hardworking people like me stuck in a system that seems to reward the few at the expense of the many? Each day, the dream of owning my own home slips further away. With every missed payment, my credit score plummets, and any chance of building savings evaporates. The soaring prices of homes stretch far beyond my reach, transforming the American Dream into a distant mirage that taunts me from the horizon. My heart aches as I watch illegal immigrants walk into this country and receive more support than I do. I cry in solitude, locked in my bathroom, journaling and praying for change. This is not just my story, but the story of many women in America who are slowly being crushed under the weight of an unyielding system. I am choosing to vote for Donald Trump because I yearn for a life where my hard work truly counts, where I can live on my own terms without depending on government handouts just to survive in a system that those in power have broken. I implore those who share my struggles to make the same choice, recognizing that more government band-aids will only lead to restricted freedoms and make it increasingly difficult to get ahead. We need to reclaim our autonomy and ensure our labor reaps the rewards it deserves. I’m not seeking handouts or “free government money” — I’m demanding real, substantial change. I vote conservative because I believe in a future where dedication and determination pave the way to personal success and dignity. We need policies that uplift working mothers, honor our contributions, and empower us to provide for our children without sacrificing our health and well-being. This is a plea for action, for reform, and for a future where we are not punished for striving for better. America, the land of opportunity, must become a reality, not just a dream. Change is not a luxury; it is a necessity for mothers, for families, and for Americans like me. * * * Kirsten White is a hardworking mother of three who lives in Idaho. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

'Massive shell game'

'We expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets'

'I want to move on'

'We cannot have failures'

'We are shocked and deeply saddened'

A viral image shared on X claims President Joe Biden purportedly endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. IT’S OFFICIAL! BIDEN ENDORSES TRUMP! After wearing a MAGA hat today, the old man posed with kids in Pennsylvania sporting TRUMP SHIRTS! pic.twitter.com/oiIAeeMqsH — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 12, 2024 Verdict: False Biden did not endorse […]

The Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans has recently witnessed an incredible eco-renaissance following decades of damage and neglect. Led by a local community development group, a 40-acre wetlands park has been restored to glories past with hundreds of local trees that attract over a hundred species of birds, plus joggers, picnickers, and nature lovers […] The post Birds Sing Anew from Within 40-Acre Wetland Restored by Residents of N. Orleans’ Historic Lower Ninth appeared first on Good News Network.

Books book culture Eighteen Authors, Two Big Questions: What Is the Best Thing Happening in SFF Right Now, and What Do We Need More Of? What do some of the biggest names in SFF have to say about current bookish trends, or what the future might hold? By Christina Orlando | Published on September 17, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Recently, I had the honor of attending WorldCon in Glasgow, a weekend-long sci-fi/fantasy celebration that is equally, if I’m honest, delightful and exhausting—because there are so many things to be part of! From panels to the Hugo Award ceremony, WorldCon is a whirlwind of SFF fans and writers, all gathered to geek out on the things we love about speculative fiction. One of the best parts is getting to meet authors of books I’ve loved and chat to them about the work we all do. And what I wanted to know most was how they viewed the changes and trends that are happening within SFF right now, and where they hope to see things go. Here is how they responded. What is your favorite trend or theme in speculative fiction from the past 10 years? Amal El-Mohtar: Favorite is hard because, the one that is top of mind is the one that is most recent and current for me. What I’m enjoying is what I’m calling, like, in Spotify day list language: queer millennial multi-versal crisis. I am just really enjoying it. It’s basically anything that involves looking at one’s life in terms of, like, missed connections, sliding doors, a sort of, like, who could I have been if? Why am I who I am? Those kinds of things are really, really animating me right now. And I see it in Aimee Pokwatka’s Self-Portrait With Nothing, which I adored, I see it in Emmett North’s In Universes, in Jo Harkin’s Tell Me An Ending —oh, there was another one—oh of course! Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds. Many things that involves that sort of like, ruminating on why are things the way they are and what could they be if. It’s a very Hadestown thing of, like, the way the world could be, the way that it is. I love seeing those things together. That is the most recent thing. Other than that, like, my broad answer is lesbians. When I think back 15 years, I remember very specifically being like, I just feel a dearth of books where women talk to each other, and where specifically friendships between women are really important and stuff. And now I feel like there is this beautiful, thriving circuit of that, and I’m dwelling in it. I am thriving, I’m living in it. It’s like, you know, clearing my skin, watering my crops, I love it. And the other I wanna be very clear about this: part of what’s exciting to me about it is dirtbag lesbians. Like, I wanna see lesbians being bad. I’m also enjoying a lot more horniness, I guess! I’m here for it. It makes me very happy. So, yeah, I guess that’s where I’m at. You know? It’s like queer, multi-versal, midlife crises, and lesbians. Arkady Martine: In a weird way, queer norm worlds because I’m just bored of having to deal otherwise, and I’m way more interested in just…people are people.  Catriona Ward: What I really love is the the explosion of new voices and diversity because, particularly in horror, there was a conception that there’s just one kind of thing that people are afraid of, and now because you understand that there are so many different kinds of people who put so many different challenges with people and different kinds of circumstances in life. There are so many fears. I mean, Get Out is the ultimate like, ur-text for this. But what we’re living in is this almost deconstructed type of fear, where you realize that fear is more universal and also more particular than you it’s ever been, I love that. Constance Fay: I like the growing accessibility of sci-fi for women. Not that it wasn’t before, but there’s just so much more now that it’s opening up for everyone. It’s not just like an old white man’s genre now. Em X. Liu: Can I go broad and say more lesbians? I feel like there’s been more, you know, a little niche that’s been carved out that’s, you know, specifically speculative fiction featuring both heavy plot and also fun. Like, not necessarily romance, but just like, you know, very very interesting, complicated, messy, ruthless female protagonist. A lot of those are, you know, sapphic or queer. Mhmm. And I think that’s really great because you don’t really see that little niche anywhere else. Holly Black: I think that the best thing in that, you know, last 10 years is the expansion of science fiction and fantasy to encompass more ethnicities, more diversity across every different platform. You know? Like, it’s just the thing that has changed for the better and is so wonderful. K. M. Szpara: I’m trying to get fucking weird, and I love that people are getting weird. Kathleen Jennings: Haunted highways, haunted highways. Kerstin Hall: Female presenting characters who are not necessarily trying or motivated by wanting to rescue people or do the right thing. Actually – and I think, like, gestalts, like people sharing one body. And not just because I wrote it myself, it’s in Gideon the Ninth. Definitely that. That’s coming up my mind. People doing shared body stuff, that’s very cool. Joe Abercrombie: Oh, my days. That’s a different difficult one, there are so many. I mean, I like werewolves, to be honest. The most recent book I’ve written is heavy on the werewolves. I mean, I, myself, have never done werewolves before, so I was excited to be able to indulge my wildest werewolf fantasies. That’s what I’ve done mostly. Scandinavian werewolves, specifically, Viking werewolves. I’m not into the rubbishy German ones. You know? Proper blood and lightning, Norse werewolves. John Scalzi: Let’s see. Actually, romantasy has been really fun. Because it’s just cracked the whole thing open and people are like, you can do this in science fiction and fantasy? Cool. So I think that, just the fact that it is now realigning what people think fantasy and science fiction is is exactly what we should be doing. Naomi Kritzer: Okay. That’s a hard question. Let me think about it. I really love the way, today’s fiction is reexamining and reinterpreting some of the tropes and ideas from, like, the previous generation of fiction. So, for example, Emily Tesh’s novel [Some Desperate Glory], and it’s reexamination of Ender’s Game. I think this is a particularly clear example of that, but I do think it’s part of a larger trend where people look at books, classics, or tropes and ask new questions about them. Neon Yang: I love that there’s lots and lots of queer fiction. Yeah. Like, more queer fiction is great! Nghi Vo: A real appreciation of enemies to lovers and seeing a lot more queer people become enemies to lovers. Samantha Shannon: I’ve got to admit, as someone who is a big fan of them, I love that dragons are so in fashion at the moment. I mean, I think they’re very timeless, so I think they’ll always be around in some capacity. But I love that there’s such a huge hunger for dragons at the moment. Because to me, I think they represent they represent fantasy in a way. It’s like the the desire for magic, the desire for wonder, but it can also represent evil and a source of great dread. I just love that they’re back at the moment. Sarah Beth Durst: Cozy fantasy! Sung-Il Kim: Oh, I’m not sure if I can recognize anything. But what I really like is, for the past 10 years, a lot of cultural diversity. That is probably my favorite thing. Even the, you know, non-BIPOC writers, they are trying to dig into previously obscure myths or invent new. Because it’s different from the 80’s and 90’s. So that’s probably my favorite thing. T.L. Huchu: I’m gonna say African SFF and Afro SFF, but closely followed by cozy sci-fi. Like, you give me that TJ Klune or Travis Baldree, Legends and Lattes, that stuff. It just tugs at the heartstrings. What would you like to see more of in the next 10 years? Amal El-Mohtar: That’s such a good question, the next 10 years. You know, I’m aware that when I find myself wanting to answer this, I don’t want it to come from a place of nostalgia. And I’m aware of the fact that I’m at an age where some of the things that are delighting me, the most are things that revisit stuff from my childhood in, like, weird, interesting new ways. And I know that I’m at the age where I’m being marketed to by that specifically. So seeing Interview With the Vampire delights me. Seeing X-Men ’97 delights me. But I don’t want to be pandered to in that specific way in the next 10 years. I don’t know if this is too froofy an answer but I really want to be dazzled and surprised, you know? To me, wanting to see more queerness means not just box ticking categories of, like, how many chocolate box kinds of queer can we see in a book representation-wise. I’m really interested to see books that queer shit, like queer as a verb. Maybe that’s what I’d say, I want to see queer as a verb more in books. I wanna see genre boundaries blurred at the same time that I wanna see really unapologetic deep dives into genre furniture to be like, give me the most melodramatic shit. Give me, like, the most maximalist iteration of the genre that you want and stuff. I think I just wanna see a lot more unabashed… something that is activating and lovely. It also feels very selfish and inchoate to say I just wanna be dazzled. I wanna be charmed. I think she also wanna see just, like, more I would love to see more SF digestion of other modes of writing. How can I put this? I just I wish I want people to read outside of genre so that they can bring into genre things that are exciting in other places. I wanna see cross-pollination. I just wanna see people being dazzled and excited by other stuff and then, like, bringing it in and exchanging. That’s where I thrive, I find. That’s why people get mad at my column a lot because it’s like, ‘where’s the science fiction and where is the fantasy?’ And I’m like, it’s here, it just looks different. It just looks different than what you have read. Arkady Martine: Complicated explorations of sociological theory. Catriona Ward: I’d like to see less of women falling down in [horror] movies when they run away. Like, every time. They never do it to a man. They always fucking fall down. I just think it’s just incredible how that’s the one trope that remains. Like, you know, Tom Cruise is, like, pounding away like a 1000 miles an hour. And then someone equally fit and wonderful just for some reason…maybe it’s their boobs are too heavy. Who do you know? Of course. Their boobs are too heavy, their hair is too high. I would like to see less of women falling down.  Constance Fay: I would say fun. There’ve been a lot of focus on gritty and dark things, and so I’d really like there to be a lot more effervescence. Em X. Liu: Yeah. I think more different speculative futures. I feel like we get stuck in that dystopian route. There’s been some interesting things with, like, more solarpunk, hopepunk type worldbuilding. But more different ways of imagining the potential futures. And also, I think more, like, modernity and magic mixed in. Because everyone’s raving about The Saint of Bright Doors this year, which I think is genius because it so effortlessly mixes together the modern sort of apparatus that we’re used to. But also, it’s, like, deeply, deeply, deeply speculative, so more of that. Holly Black: I mean, more of the same. You know, we’ve come up we’ve come some way, right? A significant way, but, obviously, we’re not at parity. We’re not there yet. K.M. Szpara: Weirder, gayer shit. I feel like we’ve been doing so much making up for lost time, and now I’m like, can we let’s get beyond that and go 5 levels in advance. Kathleen Jennings: Oh, I can’t say haunted highways, I assume. I have a specific request — I want all of the alternate history people to do is to explore what a world would look like if corporations hadn’t developed the way they have. A world without corporations. I really want to read it, no one’s written it yet. Kerstin Hall: Weirdness. Definitely more weirdness. Joe Abercrombie: Werewolves. And I suppose just more Joe Abercrombie books, generally. I’m a big fan, you know, I really like those. They’re exactly the kind of thing I like so, the more of those I can see out there in the marketplace, the happier I’ll be for sure. John Scalzi: One of the great things in the last 15 years, there’s been so many more diverse authors and I want more of that. Naomi Kritzer: It’s a hard one. What do I want to see more? The obvious answer is, like, more good books. Right? Like, it’s just not a good, that’s not a useful way to describe it. I actually sometimes struggle to even tell people what I’m looking for in books, but my my favorite books in the last couple of years have been, like, had really had really immersive worldbuilding, like, Fonda Lee’s Jade series. I loved how incredibly real that world felt. And, Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy is an also another one where it just has a really immersive, detailed world. I also really love Ursula Vernon’s work, both as Ursula and as T. Kingfisher. And, like, I love Ursula’s cranky old ladies. I really love her cranky old ladies. I love her, I love the World of White Rat. I love the the I love the idea behind the the the Church of the White Rat providing, like, divinely called warriors to defend the indigent and all that. I don’t even really know how to sum up what it is I love, more cranky old ladies. I love more cranky old ladies in my fiction. Neon Yang: More queer fiction. Nghi Vo: I’d love to see more stuff coming out of Southeast Asia. I’d love to see some more Eastern European spec fic. And I’d love to see some more slipstream stuff. I’d love to see some more nonlinear, non-sequential features. Samantha Shannon: Oh, gosh. This I think the great thing about spec fic is that it’s only limited by the author’s imagination. So there’s so many places it could go just based on each individual person’s imagination being so rich and broad. I think I would love to see the genre continue to diversify. I would love to see, just mostly the way that it’s trending right now continue. There’s so many more women in fantasy, there’s so many more people of color, there’s so many more mythologies from across the world being brought in to it, so I’ve just really like to see that continue. Sarah Beth Durst: Cozy fantasy. Sung-Il Kim: Next 10 years. I want the breaking down and rebuilding all of the tropes. One of my pet peeves is that I really don’t like the chosen ones. We can be done with that. We’ve done it. They come up a lot, but I think this time people put a different spin on it. T.L. Hutchu: I suppose if we go back to some, like, action adventure-y type stuff, I would love to see that. Something that will kickstart my nostalgia. I’m an 80s kid. So anyone who can do that will will get me. [end-mark] The post Eighteen Authors, Two Big Questions: What Is the Best Thing Happening in SFF Right Now, and What Do We Need More Of? appeared first on Reactor.