SQUARE-SHAPED CROP FORMATION Near StonehengeA crop formation found in England sits approximately a half-mile from Stonehenge and is square in shape. It was reportedly discovered on Sunday near an ancient burial site known as Normanton Down Barrows.Crop circle researchers have suggested that the circles are meant to convey the phases of the moon. Another pointed to the two 'layers' that comprise the square and posited that this is a sign of "protection from outside influences."This formation is the second to appear near Stonehenge this year after a weird 'starfish' design was discovered in late June. Read more at Normanton Down Barrows, Nr Stonehenge, Wiltshire. Reported 14th July-----Is Yosemite Lake 'HAUNTED?'Yosemite National Park is known for having some of the most difficult hikes in California, albeit beautiful ones. One challenging hike, in particular, takes hikers to a small alpine lake that highlights the dark side of Yosemite with a tale that has been told for centuries. If the lore is to be believed, visitors may want to make sure not to swim in the lake if they hear crying.There have been stories of spirits that haunt Yosemite since before it was a national park. But that is part of Yosemite's draw. With visitors choosing to make reservations for Yosemite's most haunted hotel during their stay, or even exploring areas that are known to have supernatural activity in the park, there is an interest in things that cannot be explained. This is why so many make the hike to Grouse Lake to see if the lake is as haunted as the stories that surround it make it out to be. Read more at Don't Swim In This Haunted Yosemite Lake If You Hear Crying-----'My Dad is a DUENDE!'A young Bolivian woman claimed that her father was a 'goblin'. According to Valeria, it was a dream where she had this revelation, and since then, she began making crafts of these little beings, with the image of her father.“The little elf reflects the same energy that my father had; he was a calm person (…) I grab him, touch his head, tell him that I miss him and that he should help me with this project,” said Valeria.  The young woman says that it was her father who asked her in a dream to carry out the project; the dolls are created by her, from the body to the clothes, and then she activates them in the forest from pure to pure. Read more at "My dad is a goblin": Young Bolivian woman made strange revelation to international media**********TODAY'S TOP LINKSPOLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!Rare 'daytime fireball' spotted as meteor falls to Earth over New York CityPair of Peculiar Humps Spotted Emerging from Water on Loch Ness WebcamUFO hunters claim to have debris from alien spacecraft that is lighter than a petalScientists found an underground cave on the moon where astronauts could live and think there may be hundreds moreFERAL PEOPLE & WILD MEN - ISOLATED HOMININS | Join Us - LIVE CHAT | Q & A (REAL EYEWITNESS REPORTS!)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonJOIN AMAZON PRIME - Unlimited Movie/TV Streaming& FREE 2-Day ShippingRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTube'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINES----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio member - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

Back in July 2010, Greg Warner updated me on his team's Amazon Expedition 2010: In Search of Yacumama. I received the following correspondence. Was the Yacumama found?"Dear LonIn November last year, we reported on and supplied photographs of, a giant snake event near the jungle city of Iquitos Peru. The photographs we commissioned showed a trail at least 5 meters wide and now we have located video evidence to support our photos and eyewitness accounts.The video is in Spanish but we have had our contact in the Amazon supply a full translation.This is clearly further evidence that the Black Boa, Yacumama, Sachamama, and Minhocao are one and the same animal. All contemporaneous description and photographic evidence points to this conclusion.As your readers will know, we have been in discussions with selected TV Production companies and Broadcasters to support our return to the Amazon this year for a ground expedition in search of conclusive evidence including DNA to prove that this snake is a species previously unknown to science.Although we still remain hopeful we received a setback last week when National Geographic International (who took an interest in our project) became concerned about the risks involved in the return expedition. Please see the correspondence below. We will continue to keep you posted on our progress:======================================Re: Yacumama & the South American Dragon Submission‏From:Mark xxxx (mxxxxx@ngs.org)Sent:30 March 2010 19:12:17To:G Warner (warnergreg@xxxxxxxx.com)Cc:Dear Greg,Sorry for the delay in getting back to you on this but we reviewed the materials from Firecracker Films regarding Yacumama. It is an exciting and intriguing story for sure. While we did like the father/son dynamic, NGCI feels that there is a bit of risk associated with a program of this nature. Also, upon further evaluation of our current and future programming, we don't have a strong need for a one-off of this nature at this time. Our primary need is for series.That being said, we'd be happy to take a look once again when the project is completed.All the best in your journey to find the Yacumama!Best Regards,Mark-----TRANSLATION OF VIDEO COMMENTARYAfter seeing Lucho Llosa's Anaconda movie, panic has - in some way - generalized against this giant snake, and myths grew around this animal, that is why we believe that if the Peruvian movie maker Lucho Llosa had heard the story lived by these persons, he would have to re-write Anaconda and roll a second part.In the human settlement 24 de Mayo, today's dawn, the dwellers got into a panic when they saw that on the enormous swamp located at the posterior part of the settlement, a huge silhouette of dragged grass and mud was drawn; attributing the event to the Sachamama, although others said that it a was gigantic boa that guarded a small pond of the place.Presenter- Before the rain fell, was there this here?Woman- Yes, there was a cocha herePresenter- A cocha… but was it a cocha that size or…Woman- All this is water, don’t you see where you are walking?Presenter- ok, but was there this entire open field?Man with hat- No, no, there was not… there was notWoman in white- The neighbors who live near here inform us that they said that there was not; it was just a swamp, water, and grass; that is why they are surprised to see all this today.Presenter- To get to the sinuous path made by the alleged gigantic boa, we had to walk over the mud, only then we could see what remained from the night before, after heavy rains accompanied by lightning and thunder, according to the version of these persons, they felt small tremor at the time the enormous beast got out of its hiding place, to slide to the nearest river opening a trail of more than 5 meters wide, although it has to be said that nobody, but nobody saw the boa.Man in green- It started to move like this, circulate until it found a way out over there; and you cannot say that there is a channel over there because everything was plain, as you can see it was plain, all this is a trail that it made, look, it looked like it wanted to get out that way but turned over there, it took all this way, (woman: and it made all this, didn’t it?) it took all this; if you keep walking that way you can see, it remained like this. But before it was not like that.Presenter- People, you say that before people used to throw their garbage hereWoman- Everything, here. Look, it is all clean. (Woman in white)Presenter- But you consider that that made the animal furious,Woman in gray- yes because they were throwing broken glass for it to go away…because here there was a cocha, like a lagoon, which never dried out. And where there is a cocha that never dries it is because there is an animal, it has a mother.Presenter- Did you feel the same tremor, or earthquake?Woman in gray- That was at night, we could not see.Presenter- But, have you felt a tremor or something?Woman in white- yes the neighbors sayWoman in gray- there are Aguaje trees over there that were moved like this from one side to the other.Presenter- But you did not get to see the animal, you assume that it was a boa that got out of here?Woman- Yes.Presenter- This family lives in front of this swamp and like their neighbors they found themselves surprised with the event and attest that since before they used to feel small tremors that they supposed it caused by this gigantic boa.Woman in orange- I did not imagine if the animal, the boa was going to get out.Presenter- But you supposed that an animal was living there?Woman in orange- Yes, we supposed there was an animal here because we are living here for 4 years, but every time the animal moved we felt like the earth was moving.Presenter- Ah.. You say then that the earth felt like moving?Woman in orange- Yes, yes, we felt like the earth was moving.Presenter- Rain or no rain?Woman in orange- Yes, rain or no rain. Like an earthquake. Ground moved.Presenter- All these people were witnesses of an event like this without getting to see the animal for which we had a doubt of the possible existence of a boa that reaches up to 5 meters in width, doubt that took us to consult Pedro Perez, a Biologist, a specialist in ophidian and reptiles; and from a professional point of view answered the questions:Pedro Perez- (“Herpetologist”) Firstly, it doesn’t, it doesn’t exist a reptile, and in this case, a boa of such magnitude of such width, there can exist a 7-meter boa but in length not in width. Well, normally these types of stories are related to… to… torrential rains that fall over-determined types of soils, soft soils; where it can generate a… a… sliding of these types of soils. So this makes the idea that an animal of this magnitude has passed by, but in reality, it is more related to… to… strong rains, types of soft soils, and sliding more than to an animal very wide that… that does not exist in the Amazonia.Presenter- Things seemed to be clear but this dweller (woman) has another testimony.Presenter- So, so, you always thought that there was something here because of a lagoon.Woman in gray- Yes, young man, because over there, a friend, from his very side another black boa came out leaving a trail around 2 ½ 3 meters more or less, the width of that trail over there…,Presenter- On that occasion, did you see the boa?Woman in gray- Yes, it was a black boa. Yes, it was at 4:00PMPresenter- did you see itWoman in gray- breaking his entire sidewalk. Moved everything in his house. Like it was a quake, in his house. But that one went that way by that channel there.Presenter- And the specialist responded:Pedro Perez- Definitely, a big animal needs to eat a lot of food … no? For it to maintain its enormous body, if it is a big animal it needs to eat big animals: (wild pig) Sajino, (another type of wild pig) Huangana, (Capibara) Ronsoco, and I don’t think they are in this place, there are not that kind of animals there. At the most, there are, maybe, little rats, and little frogs, but it is not going to be enough to maintain this, this enormous animal.And, in some cases, it has been observed that big serpents, big boas can eat people but in very extreme cases where there is no food.If, in case, there could be an animal so big of that dimension, then it would have been eating people in that place.Presenter- For the most specialized explanations that exist; beliefs or popular myths, many times, overcome the scientific criteria. Before seeing it many believe that the Sachamama, a Gigantic boa or how you want to call it, keeps more alive than ever in all the lakes of the jungle and the Human Settlements.And you, what do you believe?**********POLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!FERAL PEOPLE & WILD MEN - ISOLATED HOMININS | Join Us - LIVE CHAT | Q & A (REAL EYEWITNESS REPORTS!)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS & MONSTERS REPORTS & CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHAREPHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on SpotifyPHANTOMS & MONSTERS READING LISTCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonJOIN AMAZON PRIME - Unlimited Movie/TV Streaming& FREE 2-Day ShippingRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusBigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTube'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDSCRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINES----------Become a Phantoms & Monsters Radio member - just $2.99 monthly, and receive these perks. Thanks for your support!-Members-only live chats-Exclusive members-only videos-Priority reply to members' commentsHave perks suggestions? LMK-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----CREEPY CAMPING ENCOUNTERS - ABOMINABLE CREATURES | LIVE CHAT | Q & A (REAL EYEWITNESS REPORTS!)I hear and read cryptid encounter reports daily. There are risks and dangers in the wilderness. Most campers, hikers, and hunters research and respect any wildlife or environmental pitfalls before heading to the location.But how can these people protect themselves from a creature they are told doesn't exist? An anomalous being that is so abominable that it's difficult for the human mind to comprehend.I'll examine several reports that I have received over the years so that you can develop your rationale for their existence.-----Project Threshold: Finale-----Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs,CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.This blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2024 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved

Books book review Vajra Chandrasekera’s Rakesfall Will Make Your Breath Catch in Your Throat A review of Vajra Chandrasekera’s new standalone science fiction epic. By Molly Templeton | Published on July 18, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share The other week I wrote a column that was, in large part, about how I could not figure out how to review Vajra Chandrasekera’s second novel, Rakesfall. I thought if I put in the column all the things around the book that I could not stop thinking about—the pressure to be authoritative in one’s critical opinions; the majestic delight of reading such a beautiful book and knowing there’s so much I have yet to uncover about it; the way that insisting that we “understand” the art we experience often cheapens both us and the art—I thought if I cleared my throat of all of that, I might find what I wanted to say. But sometimes there is just too much. Rakesfall is a story about continuity, oppression, freedom, curses, justice, and the longest, deepest view of time. It is about ancestors and kin, lovers and enemies, colonization and the eventual diaspora that will include all of humanity if this planet becomes unlivable. It is about all of these things and more because, as Chandrasekera writes, “There is a dread scale at which only myth works; only nightmare has the technology.” A dread scale: That is a useful phrase to keep in mind. That scale isn’t quite visible where the book begins, with Annelid and Leveret, two youths who live in a jungle (that is also a former rubber plantation) and are watched by a gaggle of ghost children. The watching children are in turn watched by Annelid and Leveret on the television that constitutes their schooling. This story, like each story that makes up this novel, tells you how to read it: The protagonists, if you consider the ghost children to have that role, don’t exist only at one time. They watch as other children learn their history. Their lives are small and mighty, past and present. Someone is always watching, and someone is always learning.  The ghost children consider themselves the fandom of Annelid and Leveret’s story, which they call the Show, though it is not made like a normal TV show. (“There have never been any cameras, except when we make a box with our fingers like this to frame a scene.”) Annelid and Leveret, in their lives, are “being trained to become audience,” as they watch what the fandom refers to as the Documentary—which is about the fandom.  If you look at this circle, this cycle—the watched, the watchers who are also the watched, the past learning from the future and vice versa—you begin to see the shape of things. And Chandrasekera semi-regularly drops phrases that are as good as directions. “Memory is a kind of possession” is one of them. “We revisit meaning with an ending in hand” is another.  “In every world, I’ll look for the revolution” is a third. One concept you will learn while reading Rakesfall, if you don’t already know it: the akashic record. This impossible thing contains a record of everything that has ever happened or ever will happen. Rakesfall, in a sense, is a scrap of the akashic record. It can’t tell you everything about the characters it follows, but it will tell you a lot. Buy the Book Rakesfall Vajra Chandrasekera Buy Book Rakesfall Vajra Chandrasekera Buy this book from: AmazonBarnes and NobleiBooksIndieBoundTarget Annelid and Leveret are gone (mostly) after the first story, and Chandrasekera is off through time, through the world, and through a series of stories that address—forgive me while I borrow a phrase from his blog—”the connectedness of all struggle against oppression.”  One way to read this book is about a pair (mostly) of reincarnating beings as they tumble through time from sometime in the mid-17th century to a barely imaginable future in which the planet is a dustball caught in a new cycle of regreening and the whims of now-distant humanity as it spreads across the stars. Names recur, and histories loop, and these beings remain connected, fighting for freedom of all kinds, whether from curses or kings. There are sometimes, maybe, more than two beings; I laughed out loud at the description of “a group chat log that takes up more message space than any other human artefact in the history of the planet.” Another way to read the book, I think, is that there are not necessarily two characters, and there are not necessarily any number of reincarnating souls. There are an endless series of characters caught in the red web (which is neither red nor a web), continuing the battles fought or lost by those who went before. “Self is porous,” one character says. The word “kin” comes up more than once. “You can only resolve your own paradoxes and become more of who you are,” says Grandmother Sits, who explains a lot of useful things. Or maybe there is one character, in all their different forms and guises, becoming more of who they are, again and again and again. “Gender is only genre,” Chandrasekera writes at one point. To be honest, at some point I stopped worrying about it. I had been lightly tracking names, curses, characteristics, who is killed and who does the killing, who holds a grudge and who maybe stays dead for a while. And then I let it all go. That keeping-track impulse felt like trying to solve the book like a problem. But the book isn’t a problem, and it doesn’t need solving. It needs you to sink in, and to listen. Part of Rakesfall takes place in Luriat, the city from Chandrasekera’s debut, The Saint of Bright Doors. If you read Bright Doors, you may remember that doors in Luriat are not to be closed. You may find a connection between that and a curse one character bears—a curse they shed between worlds, or lives. Luriat, here, is also the city where the dead don’t leave, but hang around, often unwanted. There is a whole economy involving a substance that makes the smoke that scares the dead away. Rakesfall is, in my limited understanding, a very Sri Lankan book. If you spend five minutes with an encyclopedia entry on Sri Lanka you can put that much together. But making the connection isn’t the same as understanding it. There is myth being retold here, in the story of Rakesfall, an event which is described in bits and bobs. Part of it is a story about grief; part of it involves the invention of marriage; and part of it involves a power called the Yoke, whose people are priests rather than artists.  I know this is not about my history, my part of the world, and yet it’s hard not to see parallels with the dominating, colonizing north versus the many countries it has stormed into—places that don’t see the world the same way. Places who don’t make art the same way, also. However you read this book, the stories within it are rich, moving, powerful, and sometimes—this is worth mentioning again—very funny, and often funny in the language of a person of a certain age who has spent time on earlier incarnations of the internet. (When Chandrasekera gets tart and internetty—such as in the story involving one Beloved Bro—it reminds me, very wonderfully, of Catherynne Valente at her most tart and internetty.)  In one of the book’s sections, a story is told about a greedy son who wishes to steal his father’s kingdom but finds his plot undone by the tiniest of creatures. You might expect it to be a story about the downfall of kings, and sure, most kings in this book do or will fall, somewhere off the page and in the distance. But more immediately, it’s a story about power, and how something so small and fragile might be the point upon which a world turns—even if that world is just one life. (“Wasps are free of thrones and symbolism alike,” says grandmotherboard earth, who tells this story far in the future. I love grandmotherboard earth.) In another story, a being explains the rules of a game, only to have their power—the power of knowing the rules—taken from them by a bunch of clever children who understand something very important, even at the end of the world: “Punish the guilty, and eat the rich.” There’s a phrase Chandrasekera uses near the end of Rakesfall that made my breath catch in my throat. Describing a whole host of people and characters, a “long line of grandmothers” mingling with “grandfathers and grandothers,” he calls them all, “kin by intention and commitment to the art, not blood or soul or lineage.” There’s a refusal inherent in this beautiful summary: It’s not souls or families or anything traditional or happenstance that connects all the stories that flow through this book. It’s “intentions and commitment.” These are the people the stories here are about: people who have chosen to live a certain way, to always seek the revolution. They fail a lot. But they are seeking. And if you go seeking in these pages, there’s so much to find. [end-mark] Rakesfall is published by Tordotcom Publishing. The post Vajra Chandrasekera’s <i>Rakesfall</i> Will Make Your Breath Catch in Your Throat appeared first on Reactor.

THE CENTER SQUARE — After the failed assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, support has poured in from now former Democrats and former Democratic donors and celebrities. Black television personality Amber Rose, who used to think Trump was a racist, endorsed him at the Republican National Convention. When explaining her change of heart, she said, “The media has lied to us about Donald Trump. I know this because I used to believe those lies, so I’m here to set the record straight.” She said she did her own research and met Trump supporters, saying, “this is when it hit me. This is where I belong.” She continued: “The left told me to hate Trump, and even worse, to hate the other side and the people who support him. When you cut through the lies, you realize the truth. American families were better when Donald Trump was president. We were safer, wealthier and stronger. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote to put money back in our pockets and good food on our kids’ plates.” In response, CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings said, “This is how you change the composition of the electorate.” Another CNN commentator, Van Jones, said Rose’s speech was “probably the most dangerous speech for the Democratic coalition. That is a young woman of color. She is describing the experience a lot of people have, feeling that maybe for around 20 liberals you might get criticized too much, you might not be able to speak your mind. She spoke to it really well and she’s way more famous than any of us up here. To the extent that these guys are trying to bust up our coalition, that was a bunker buster right there.” Blacks have traditionally supported Democrats by a significant margin. In 2020, Biden received 87% of the Black vote to just 12% for Trump. In this month’s The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted after Biden’s poor performance in June’s debate and before the assassination attempt on Trump, 72% of Black voters said they supported Biden to 18% support for Trump, a considerable swing. Several Black athletes and celebrities have also endorsed Trump, according to Newsweek, including boxing promoter Don King, former NFL star Antonio Brown, rappers Kodak Black, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Sexxy Red, Azealia Banks, YG, and hip hop star, Waka Flocka Flame. Others who’ve supported him in the past include boxer Mike Tyson and rapper Kanye West. Essence lists another 17 Black celebrities and influencers who “still support” Trump. Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White, who is scheduled to introduce Trump at the convention Thursday night, shared his thoughts on Instagram after he learned that Trump survived and raised his arm victoriously. He said, “This image perfectly reflects EXACTLY the man I know Donald Trump to be. He is the toughest, most resilient, AMERICAN BAD A– on this planet. … I can’t WAIT to stand up on stage with him on Thursday and introduce him at the Republican National Convention and tell the WORLD exactly the character of the friend and man I KNOW!!” Dana White and the UFC each donated $50,000 to a Trump-backed GoFundMe account for the families of those harmed at the Saturday Trump rally in Pennsylvania. So far, more than $5.2 million has been raised with more than 65,600 donations as of Wednesday. Frank Stallone, the brother of actor Sylvester Stallone, initially thanked God “for protecting our only savior for our country, all the hatred coming from the left propels this kind of behavior.” He also posted a video on Instagram, saying, “we almost lost hopefully the future president of the United States and the former president United States. This hate speech coming from the left, [former House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi, [U.S. Reps.] AOC, Ilhan Omar, [U.S. Sen.] Chuck Schumer, it has to stop has to stop.” Republicans, including Trump’s VP pick, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, have pointed to years of comments made by Democrats and the media, including multiple outlets comparing Trump to Hitler, for contributing to the assassination attempt, The Center Square reported. “I lived through the 1963 Kennedy assassination,” Stallone said. “It’s a demoralizing, horrible time. No one deserves this.” He said he wasn’t afraid to express his support for Trump, saying, “What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’re going to cancel me? You’re going to take my voice away? You’re going to take my guitar playing away? You’re going to take my humor away? You aren’t canceling anything.” Billionaire Elon Musk, who voted for Biden in 2020, endorsed Trump soon after the shooting, saying, “Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.” On Tuesday, Musk pledged to donate roughly $45 million every month to a new pro-Trump super political action committee, The Wall Street Journal reported. Billionaire hedge fund manager and former Obama and Biden supporter, Bill Ackman, also endorsed Trump on X, Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter. After the shooting, he said, “Biden is getting weaker and Trump is getting stronger. The election will likely be a Trump landslide and that’s a good thing. With a substantial majority behind him, Trump will be able to recruit best in class talent for his administration and he will be more effective in office without the distractions of a close election. “With a less divided country, he will be able to execute more effectively. A divided America is a weak America. Let’s help Trump succeed and bring the country together. Imagine how much more we can achieve if we work together.” Originally published by The Center Square. The post More Black Celebrities, Former Democrats Express Support for Trump appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Once magnets for opportunity and growth, cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are now experiencing a significant population exodus. The latest census data reveals that some of the United States’ most prominent cities are losing residents by the thousands, while less known cities such as Port St. Lucie, Fla., and Lewisville, Texas, are gaining. This trend has not always been the case. America’s flagship cities generally provide abundant job opportunities, a wide array of events and entertainment, superior dining options, and better schools and universities. But despite these appealing qualities, certain factors are driving the current demographic shift away from these cities. What are the primary reasons behind this trend? The data shows it is closely tied to state and local government policies, which have worsened the nation’s most notable cities’ crime rates, cost of living, and tax burdens. As a result, Americans are relocating to safer and more affordable places. These tables highlight the top 10 cities with the greatest population decline or growth since 2020. A broader trend emerges of cities in Texas and Florida gaining residents, while cities in California and other large metropolitan areas are losing population. Three primary factors explain this demographic shift. Crime Rising crime rates, especially in cities with policies that embolden criminals, are pushing residents away. The Heritage Foundation’s report, “The Blue City Murder Problem,” highlights the role of lax prosecutors in imposing policies that have led to rampant crime. For instance, San Francisco reported a staggering 3,384 thefts from vehicles (larceny) in September 2022 alone. Other cities, such as Baltimore and New Orleans, have homicide rates of 51.1 and 40.6 per 100,000 residents, respectively, making them the second- and third-deadliest cities in the U.S. Consequently, residents of these cities have fled to safer areas where the rule of law is upheld. The “defund the police” movement has also contributed to crime spikes. That policy is wildly unpopular with the American public: A Pew Research poll indicates that only 15% of adults want police spending to decrease, while 47% want it to increase. Despite such polls, research by the Judiciary Committee shows that cities such as Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco cut a total of $1.35 billion in police spending following the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. The consequences have been severe. Major felony offenses in New York City increased from about 95,000 in 2019 to 102,000 in 2021 and hit a citywide record of 126,700 in 2023. Philadelphia, another city that decreased its police spending, saw homicides spike from 353 in 2019 to 499 in 2020, reaching a record high of 562 in 2021. Instead of making their communities safer, local politicians have created environments where criminals face little risk of prosecution. Cost of living Crime isn’t the only culprit. The rising cost of living is also pushing residents out. For instance, the median home price in Los Angeles in April was $1.2 million, compared to Fort Worth, Texas, where the median home price is a much more manageable $355,000. The average median home-price listing in the top 10 shrinking-population cities was $716,070, compared with $445,900 for the top 10 fastest-growing cities. High home prices make it hard for people to buy a home, so they settle down in cities where homeownership can become a reality. The overall cost of living should also factor in grocery, transportation, and utility costs. Data from the Council for Community and Economic Research allows for “apples-to-apples” comparisons between cities, using an index where the U.S. average affordability has a value of 100. The data shows a clear pattern: Cities losing population are unaffordable, while affordable cities such as Jacksonville, Fla., and San Antonio, Texas, are gaining new residents. With the cost of living increasing nationwide, Americans are not looking to exacerbate this burden by moving to expensive cities. Taxes Taxes also play a crucial role in these migrations. Nine U.S. states, including Texas, Florida, and Nevada, do not have a state income tax. Notably, eight of the 10 fastest-growing cities are in those states. In contrast, none of the top 10 cities with the greatest population decline are in states without an income tax. A measure known as the “State-Local Effective Tax Rate” provides a clear comparison of state-specific tax burdens. New York ranks highest with an effective tax rate of 15.9%, while California ranks fifth at 13.5%. Conversely, Texas and Florida have much lower rates at 8.6% and 9.1%, respectively. This data indicates that Americans are favoring cities in states with more tax-friendly policies. Conclusion When local politicians focus on making their communities safe and affordable while keeping taxes low, residents respond by moving in. On the other hand, cities that fail to address high crime rates, rising living costs, and heavy tax burdens are witnessing significant population declines. This exodus not only diminishes the tax base, but also discourages new businesses and investments, perpetuating a cycle of economic challenges. Unless these cities recognize the urgency of these issues and implement effective policies to reverse these trends, they will continue to lose residents to more favorable environments. The demographic shifts we are witnessing today highlight the critical need for effective governance that prioritizes safety, affordability, and fiscal responsibility. The post 3 Reasons Why Americans Are Voting With Their Feet appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In Cyprus, a proposal to criminalize the dissemination of “misinformation” and “offensive” comments, with penalties reaching up to five years in prison, has stirred considerable controversy. This proposed amendment to the criminal code, debated earlier this month by the Cypriot Parliamentary Committee of Legal Affairs, aims to elevate certain offenses from civil to criminal status. Deputy Attorney General Savvas Angelides, and Committee Chair Nicos Tornaritis expressed that this amendment is only a “first step” in combating the spread of harmful “misinformation.” Angelides cleared recently of corruption allegations, emphasized the need to balance freedom of speech with the curtailment of reckless misinformation, stating, “There are defenses when there is good faith.” He assured that the amendment would not restrict professional journalists from performing their duties, as it explicitly excludes opinion and criticism. However, this stance is met with skepticism and alarm from various press freedom groups. Eleni Mavrou, representing the Association of Newspapers and Periodicals Publishers, described the amendment as a “blow to democracy,” arguing it would lead to self-censorship among journalists wary of criminal repercussions. Similarly, George Frangos, President of the Cyprus Union of Journalists, highlighted the subjective nature of terms like “fake news,” which could be exploited to suppress dissent. Critics also draw parallels with similar legislative trends in neighboring regions, such as the northern part of Cyprus and other EU member states, where comparable laws have been criticized for potentially stifling free speech. The Cyprus Mail voiced concerns about the ambiguity in defining what constitutes an “offensive” comment and how such a law could lead to arbitrary legal challenges against journalists. This legislative move aligns uncomfortably with broader European trends where “disinformation” is often not considered illegal per se but is increasingly criminalized, raising fears about the infringement of free expression rights enshrined in international and EU laws. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Journalists Fear Self-Censorship as Cyprus Debates “Misinformation” Penalties appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Emerson: Trump Runs the Table in Battleground States -- Including VA

About Last Night and a Take on Two Conventions

A strip of scarlet-red cloth that was discovered in Israel’s Cave of Skulls has been dated to over 3,800 years old, marking the earliest archaeological evidence of a dyed textile using crushed bugs. Despite being crafted in the Bronze Age, the color of the extremely rare pigment is still full of life – and mystery.The tiny scrap of material is smaller than a postage stamp. Despite its slight size, the relic caught the eyes of archeologists because of its vibrant red color.Alongside purple and royal blue, red is considered one of the ancient world’s most precious and expensive dyes, strictly reserved for religious elites and extra-fancy cultic contexts. The crimson pigment is coveted because it's obtained through a painstaking process involving Kermes, an insect that the Bible refers to as the "scarlet worm.”"In ancient times, the dye was produced from the female scale insect, which lives on the kermes oak tree (Quercus coccifera)," Dr Naama Sukenik, Curator of the Organic Material Collection at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement sent to IFLScience.“Collecting these kermes was done in a very short window of time – one month out of the year, in the summer, after the female laid her eggs but before they hatched— when the amount of dye was greatest. The short period in which the kermes could be collected, the difficulty in finding them due to their small size (between 3–8 mm [0.1 to 0.3 inches]), and their camouflage colors, that make it difficult to locate them, as well as the small amount of dye that can be produced from them — and on the other hand, the beautiful red hue (scarlet) that can be produced from them for dyeing textiles, made their use highly prestigious," said Dr Sukenik.Excavation in the Cave of Skulls, where the piece of fabric was discovered.Image credit: Yuli Schwartz / Israel Antiquities AuthorityFirst discovered in 2016, the piece of textile has recently been reanalyzed using carbon-14 analysis by researchers at the Israel Antiquities Authority, concluding it was made in the Middle Bronze Age (1767-1954 BCE).Chemical analysis also affirmed the pigment was derived from the acid of the so-called scarlet worm. Most remarkably, the researchers were even able to determine it came from a specific species (Kermes vermilio) that lives on a tree that is not native to the area. "Although it was discovered that Israel has a native species of scale insect living on Palestinian oak (Quercus calliprinos), capable of producing a red-orange color, the analytical results indicate that in the case at hand, the species of scale insects is Kermes vermilio which lives on the kermes oak tree (Quercus coccifera). This tree species is common in the central and eastern Mediterranean region, including Spain, France, and other areas, but is not found in the Land of Israel,” said Professor David Iluz from Bar-Ilan University, who also heads the Environmental Sciences and Agriculture Department at Beit Berl College.It’s unclear how the pigment ended up in the Cave of Skulls in the Judean Desert, far away from where the Kermes vermilio lives. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that its distant provenience made the textile all the more valuable for the lucky souls who possessed it. “The rare textile is a testament to broad international commercial networks functioning already at this time and indicates the presence of an elite society," added Dr Sukenik.The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.