A photo shared on X allegedly shows a 4chan post from an officer claiming the Secret Service did not let him shoot the man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.  Verdict: False  A Secret Service spokesperson confirmed that the claim is false via email. Fact Check: Before the start of the Trump rally last weekend in which a man attempted to assassinate the former president, Secret Service agents identified the nearby roof the shooter used as...

CLAIM: J.D. Vance backs antisemitic “replacement theory,” votes against Israel, and won’t oppose antisemitism. VERDICT: FALSE. All of these are lies circulated by pro-Israel Democrats losing the battle within their own party. A group calling itself “Democratic Majority for Israel,” which is trying (and failing) to keep the Democratic Party pro-Israel, reacted to the nomination of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as former President Donald Trump’s running mate by casting him as an antisemite who won...

(NewsNation) — Monthly housing costs have skyrocketed in recent years. Now, homebuyers in the states that will decide the upcoming presidential election are paying almost double what they were four years ago, according to new Redfin data. The median monthly housing payment in battleground states has nearly doubled since the 2020 election, increasing 92% to an all-time high of $2,161.

We all want to live in a community where people are kind, friendly, helpful and welcoming. But sadly, many of us don't even know our neighbors at all much less feel that supportive sense of community where we live. Perhaps that's why Kelly McDuff's exchanges with her elderly neighbor in her new neighborhood are giving people hope. McDuff shared a video with the text, "We just moved into a house and my 98-year-old neighbor just dropped off a cake to welcome us to the neighborhood." In the video, McDuff grins and then shows the man crossing the street through her window, adding "He's lived here for 52 years and 'hopes we love it as much as he has.'" The 11-second video has been been viewed over 15 million times on TikTok. But that's not even the whole story. McDuff decided to reciprocate and bake the gentleman a lemon pie, excited to get to know him better. She encouraged everyone who liked the original video and thought it was cool to go and meet their neighbors—"go knock on their door and bake them some cookies, everybody likes cookies." She added that she wasn't sure what prompted her to make lemon pie, but she hoped he liked it. Then she shared how he reacted when she took the pie to his house. See on Instagram "Bless you, sweetheart! I love lemon pie," he said. "You didn't have to do that, but I'm just delighted you did." McDuff wisely brought her neighbor a piece of paper with her family's names and numbers on it—just in case—and so began the building of a community everyone yearns for. As one person in the comments put it, "This is how I thought adulthood would be as a child." The videos prompted other people to share their own celebration of community-building in the comments, and it's a hopeful reminder that sometimes it's as simple as taking the first step to reach out. "We (early 30’s) moved to New Zealand, and quickly learned our 80 year old neighbour had just lost his wife to cancer. We made him banana muffins and dropped them off on his doorstep, which started a beautiful friendship. Countless dinners, laughs, and solving the world’s problems over good cheese, chocolate and wine. He became (and still is) one of our closest friends. We’ve moved back to Canada now, and we still FaceTime with him regularly… apart, but still sharing laughs and solving the world’s problems over good cheese, chocolate, and wine. ❤️" "We had a very similar experience. We moved into our home and our 80+ year old neighbor brought over a homemade apple pie to welcome us to the neighborhood. She said they raised their 2 boys and twin grandsons in their house and were excited to see our 2 mos old son. We’ve been close ever since. It’s been 17 years. ?""A few years ago we lived next to a sweet old guy named Gus. He came over to introduce himself when we moved in and after that would come over to chat once in a while. We discovered in our conversations he was a Saxophonist and had played all the clubs in Vegas, even playing with Sinatra and hanging out with the rat pack for a little while! He said this as calmly as you please. He referred to Sinatra as old Franky and Dean Martin as Deano. You would never know this mild mannered, sweet guy had lived a wild life! He passed away suddenly from pneumonia but I still think about Gus and am thankful for his friendship.""Love this!!! As a kid, my 70+ year old neighbor would sit on her porch with her brother and dog. I would go sit with them sometimes, go to the store for her and just relax. I eventually asked her to be my God mother and she agreed. She died when I was in the 7th grade but the love she poured in me never left my soul. Thanks for everything ❤️Ms. Bea.""So I'm a neighbor wrangler. Every neighborhood I've lived in I've been the person to introduce myself and invite them over for a drink or if we're having an event, invite them too. I love it because neighbors who've never spoken or just did the garbage-day wave, suddenly start helping each other and become a community. Being a good neighbor is so underestimated.""My mom bakes banana bread and has my dad deliver it every time someone new moves to the neighborhood. They’re almost 80. Very sweet. ?""This has inspired me to go knock on my 90 year old neighbors door."Imagine if we all reached out to our neighbors, new or established, young or old, with such warm and thoughtful gestures of goodwill. Bringing someone cake or pie or cookies certainly won't solve all of humanity's problems, but it does start to build bonds and create connected communities where everyone feels welcome and valued.

Tony Trapani and his wife were married for 50 years despite the heartache of being unable to have children. "She wanted children,” Trapani told Fox 17. "She couldn't have any. She tried and tried." Even though they endured the pain of infertility, Tony's love for his wife never wavered and he cherished every moment they spent together.After his wife passed away when Tony was 81 years old, he undertook the heartbreaking task of sorting out all of her belongings. That’s when he stumbled upon a carefully concealed letter in a filing cabinet hidden for over half a century. The letter was addressed to Tony and dated March 1959, but this was the first time he had seen it. His wife must have opened it, read it and hid it from him. The letter came from Shirley Childress, a woman Tony had once been close with before his marriage. She reached out, reminiscing about their past and revealing a secret that would change Tony's world forever."Dear Tony, I bet you are surprised to hear from me after so many years. I was just thinking about you tonight like so many other nights. But I thought I would write you and find out how you are," the letter reads. "Tony, please don't be angry or surprised to hear this. I have a little boy. He is five-years- old now - grey eyes and beautiful black hair. What I am trying to say Tony is he is your son.""Please, Tony if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, please come and see him," Shirley wrote in the letter. "Every day he asks me where is his daddy and believe me Tony I can't even answer him anymore. If would be forever grateful to you if you would just see him. ... I'll close now hoping and praying you will answer. P.S. His name is Samuel Duane."Now, Tony faced the fact that he had a son that would be around 60 years old and he set out to find him. For over a year, Trapani’s sister tried to track down the mysterious Samuel Duane Childress, until she finally contacted his wife, Donna.Tony and Samuel met in January 2015 and he felt like a new dad. After meeting his father, Samuel said his mother told him she sent the letter, but Tony never responded. "Why my wife didn't tell me," said Trapani. "I don't know. She wanted children. She couldn't have any. She tried and tried.""I always asked my mom, I said, 'Well what does he look like?'' Samuel said. "She said, 'Well, go look in the mirror." Tony Trapani, 81, meets his son for the first time after finding a hidden letter from 1959. https://t.co/iNSKVMjnjv — (@) The two met and caught up on a lifetime of memories with the understanding that they could never change the past. "Just to know him now is so important to me. It's going to fill that void," Samuel said. But just to be sure, Tony took a paternity test to ensure they were father and son.The test came back negative, revealing that Tony was not the father. The news upset Tony and Samuel, but they still had a unique bond. They shared a relationship with Samuel’s mother and both have been on an incredibly wild ride after Tony found the mysterious letter.“They're keeping that bond,” Donna said. “That paper doesn't mean anything to him. That bond has been made—and we're going to move on from here.”This article originally appeared on 2.23.24

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again. Single dad Patrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution. The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.“I got an email a few days ago from my 9-year-old son's teacher that he had done a ‘prank’ to a fellow classmate and it ended up embarrassing the classmate and hurt his feelings,” the video begins.At this point, Forseth doesn’t split hairs. “I don't care who you are, that's bullying,” he said. “If you do something to somebody that you know has the potential end result of them being embarrassed in front of a class or hurt—you’re bullying.”So, Forseth and Lincoln sat down for a long talk (a talk, not a lecture) about appropriate punishment and how it would have felt to be on the receiving end of such a prank.From there, Forseth told his son that he would decide how to make things right, making it a masterclass in taking true accountability.“I demanded nothing out of him. I demanded no apology, I demanded no apology to the teacher,” he continued, adding, “I told him that we have the opportunity to go back and make things right. We can't take things back, but we can try to correct things and look for forgiveness.” @thehalfdeaddad Replying to @sunshinyday1227 And then it’s my kid ?‍♂️? #endbullyingnow #talktoyourkidsmore #dadlifebestlife #singledadsover40 #teachyourchildren #ReadySetLift ♬ Get You The Moon - Kina So what did Lincoln do? He went back to his school and actually talked to the other boy he pranked. After learning that they shared a love of Pokémon, he then went home to retrieve two of his favorite Pokémon cards as a peace offering, complete with a freshly cleaned case.Lincoln would end up sharing with his dad that the other boy was so moved by the gesture that he would end up hugging him. “I just want to encourage all parents to talk to your kids,” Forseth concluded. “Let's try to avoid just the swat on the butt [and] send them to their room. Doesn't teach them anything.”In Forseth’s opinion, kids get far more insight by figuring out how to resolve a problem themselves. “That's what they're actually going to face in the real world once they move out of our nests.”He certainly has a point. A slap on the wrist followed by being marched down somewhere to say, “I’m sorry,” only further humiliates kids most of the time. With this gentler approach, kids are taught the intrinsic value of making amends after wrongdoing, not to mention the power of their own autonomy. Imagine that—blips in judgment can end up being major character-building moments. Kudos to this dad and his very smart parenting strategy.This article originally appeared on 3.24.23

When it comes to babysitting, you can hit the jackpot with someone who not only enjoys hanging out with your kiddos but also cleans out of boredom. The only babysitter I've had that experience with is my mom, but I do hear they do exist. While walking into a spotless house after a much-needed night out would be amazing, it's not really part of a standard babysitting package.Typically, whoever babysits for you is solely there to focus on the well-being of your children. They feed them snacks, play games with them, and follow their bedtime routine to the letter. Then they hang out on your couch reminding Netflix that they're still watching and wait for you to return. Sure, they clean up dishes from dinner and whatever toys were pulled out during their time with your kids, but they don't typically clean your house.But in a private parenting group I belong to, a long debate was started when a mom asked a group of 260k of her closest friends if it would be appropriate for a parent to ask a babysitter to clean their home.The anonymous mom explained that her college-aged daughter had recently started babysitting for a family, but on the second day, her duties suddenly changed. There was a list of chores waiting for the babysitter that included cleaning the family's dishes and cleaning up messes that were there before the sitter arrived. This revelation set off a firestorm of comments with many agreeing that anything outside of cleaning up after the children while they're in your care is a separate job. But not everyone was on the same page and it was clear that this was a topic that was going to cause some intense debate. Since summer months are here, there's no wonder this topic is coming up and views are split. Scary Mommy recently published an article posing a similar question, only this was coming from a parent who wanted her babysitter to clean while her children slept. Elizabeth Narins explains that she and her husband are stretched thin and have an active toddler she jokingly calls a "toy tornado." "Given the amount of housework that clearly needs to be done, paying someone to sit on our toy-covered couch during naps or after bedtime just seems... inefficient," Narins wrote before posing the question. "Is it completely out of line for me to ask her to declutter when my kids are in bed?"Whether it's the expert interviewed for the Scary Mommy article or the parents in the private group, there does seem to be one common theme among the discourse: Any additional chores should be clarified in the original job description, and if it wasn't, then it should be directly brought up in a conversation with the babysitter. Many parents in the comments believed that a housekeeper should be hired in addition to the babysitter, while others thought the babysitter should be offered more money for the additional work. But there were several people who thought it was just common courtesy for a babysitter to clean the house while the kids were asleep.It may seem that you're paying a babysitter to do nothing while your children sleep, but you're paying them to be there in the event of an emergency. No matter which side of the debate you're on, it seems proper communication about expectations will save everyone a headache in the future. Do you think cleaning should be expected from a babysitter?This article originally appeared on 6.8.23

Nothing can ever fully prepare you for being an adult. Once you leave childhood behind, the responsibilities, let-downs and setbacks come at you fast. It’s tiring and expensive, and there's no easy-to-follow roadmap for happiness and success.A Reddit user named u/Frequent-Pilot5243 asked the online forum, “What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?” and there were a lot of profound answers that get to the heart of the disappointing side of being an adult.One theme that ran through many responses is the feeling of being set adrift. When you’re a kid, the world is laid out as a series of accomplishments. You learn to walk, you figure out how to use the bathroom, you start school, you finish school, maybe you go to college, and so on.However, once we’re out of the school system and out from under our parents’ roofs, there is a vast, complicated world out there and it takes a long time to learn how it works. The tough thing is that if you don’t get a good head start, you can spend the rest of your life playing catch-up.Then, you hit middle age and realize that life is short and time is only moving faster.Adulthood also blindsides a lot of people because we realize that many adults are simply children who grew older. The adult world is a lot more like high school than a teenager could ever imagine.The Reddit thread may seem a bit depressing at first, but there are a lot of great lessons that younger people can take to heart. The posts will also make older people feel a lot better because they can totally relate.Being an adult is hard, exhausting and expensive. But we’re all in this together and by sharing the lessons we’ve learned we can help lighten each other's load just a bit.Here are 21 of the most powerful responses to the question: “What is an adult problem nobody prepared you for?”1. Lack of purpose"Lack of purpose. All your young life you are given purpose of passing exams and learning, then all of a sudden you are thrown into the world and told to find your own meaning," — Captain_Snow.2. No bed time"You can stay up as late as you want. But you shouldn't," — geek-fit3. Friendships"Where did all my friends go?" — I_Love_Small_Breasts Most of them are at the same place as you are ... Probably wondering the same thing," — Blackdraon0034. Bodily changes"I'm closer to fifty than forty, would have been nice to be better prepared for some of the ways your body starts to change at this point that don't normally get talked about. For instance your teeth will start to shift from general aging of your gums," — dayburner.5. People don't change"Didnt know that other adults have the emotional intelligence of teenagers and its almost impossible to deal with logically," — Super-Progress-63866. Money"$5K is a lot to owe, but not a lot to have," — Upper-Job51307. Our parents age, too"Handling the decline and death of your parents," - Agave6668. Free time"Not having a lot of free-time or time by myself," — detective_kiara9. No goals"Not having a pre-defined goal once I was out of college. Growing up my goals were set for me: get through elementary school! then middle school! Then high school, and get into college and get a degree, then get a job, and then...? Vague "advance in your career, buy a house, find a spouse, have a kid or multiple, then retire." At 22 I had no idea how to break that down more granularly," — FreehandBirdlime10. Constant upkeep"Life is all about maintenance. Your body, your house, your relationships, everything requires constant never ending maintenance," — IHateEditedBGMusic11. Exhaustion"Being able to do so many things because I'm an adult but too tired to do any of them," — London8212. Loneliness"Being an adult feels extremely lonely," — Bluebloop013. Dinner"Having to make dinner every. Fucking. Day," — EndlesslyUnfinished14. Time changes"The more life you’ve lived, the faster time seems to go," — FadedQuill15. You're responsibile, even if you didn't mean it"You are held to account for bad behaviour for which you are negligent even if you had no intention to cause harm. As a lawyer, I see this all the time. People don't think they're responsible for mistakes. You are," — grishamlaw16. Work is like high school"The intricacies of workplace politics," — Steve_Lobsen writes. ""When you're in school, you think that you won't have to deal with gossiping and bullying once you leave school. Unfortunately, that is not true," — lady_laughs_too_much17. Nowhere to turn"How easy it is to feel stuck in a bad situation (job, relationship, etc) just because the cost and effort of getting out can seem daunting. And sometimes you just have to accept a figurative bowl full of shit because you can't afford to blow up your life," — movieguy9545318. The happiness question"Figuring out what makes you happy. Everyone keeps trying to get you to do things you're good at, or that makes you money, but never to pursue what you enjoy," — eternalwanderer519. Constant cleaning"The kitchen is always dirty. You’ll clean it at least three times every day," — cewnc20. Life costs money"One adult problem nobody prepared me for is how expensive everything is. I always thought that as an adult I would be able to afford the things I wanted, but it turns out that's not always the case! I've had to learn how to budget and save up for the things I want, and it's been a difficult process," — Dull_Dog_812621. Keeping above water"All of it together. I was relatively warned about how high rent is, car bills and repairs, how buying healthy food is expensive as hell but important for your health, how to exercise and save what you can, my parents did their best to fill in my knowledge about taxes and healthcare and insurance that my schooling missed, about driving and cleaning a household, about setting boundaries at work but working hard and getting ahead if you can, about charity and what it means to take care of a pet and others, about being a good partner if you were lucky enough to have one, about how dark and messed up the world is when you just read the news and what all that means to me and my community… I was reasonably warned about all of it."No one could have ever prepared me for how hard doing all of it at the same time and keeping your head above that water would actually be," — ThatNoNameWriterThis article originally appeared on 01.28.22

Artist Haley Morris-Cafiero describes herself on her website as "part performer, part artist, part provocateur, part spectator." Her recent project, titled "Wait Watchers" has elements of all her self-descriptors.In an email to us, Morris-Cafiero explained that she set up a camera in the street and stood in front of it, doing mundane activities like looking at a map or eating gelato. While she's standing there she sets off her camera, taking hundreds of photos.Later, she looks through them and sees what is happening around her. Morris-Cafiero finds that people are often looking at her body, or commenting on it with their gaze or body language, at times even appearing to mock her."I then examine the images to see if any of the passersby had a critical or questioning element in their face or body language.""I consider my photographs a social experiment and I reverse the gaze back on to the stranger and place the viewer in the position of being a witness to a moment in time. The project is a performative form of street photography," she writes.Her work has been exhibited across the U.S. and abroad.She also published her book, The Watchers, which shows her photo collection and includes comments made to her about her body from passerby.You can see that even people in positions of authority, like this police officer, feel comfortable mocking her just for being out in public.Though she's not looking at the people around her, Morris-Cafiero's photographs capture a split second in time that really crystalizes how people relate to one another on the street and the judgment she receives from strangers.In galleries, with the words beside them, the photos are even more pointed. She also includes the positive words she receives from people who have experienced discrimination for their size or any other aspect to their body that is consistently bothered by the dominant culture.Though we all theoretically know that people, women in particular, are discriminated against for their size, seeing it captured in photographs is gut-wrenching:The project has gone viral as people identify with Morris-Cafiero's experience, which means a lot of people relate to being stared at and commented on by folks who should mind their own business. Does that include you? You can check out more of her incredible work here.This article originally appeared on 11.28.22

"Just because you didn't do marriage well doesn't mean you can't do divorce fabulously." That's something my mother-in-law said to me when her son and I were ending our young, impetuous, and ultimately-not-right-for-us marriage. It stuck with me through the years. These sweet images from Brittany Peck's wedding have struck a chord with families across the Internet, and they seem to be getting that very same lesson about "doing divorce well" through to millions.The photographer got a clue something unusual was about to happen.Delia Blackburn, an Ohio photographer, was snapping pictures at the nuptials, as you do. She described to WKYC3 what happened when the father of the bride, Todd Bachman, approached her."He said, 'I'm going to do something special, just be ready.'"Before Bachman finished walking his daughter down the aisle, he turned around in the direction of his daughter's stepdad, who was also in attendance.Then Brittany's stepdad details what happened next.“And he came up to me and reached out and grabbed my hand and he said, 'Hey, you've worked for this as hard as I have.' He said, 'You deserve this as much as I do. You're gonna help us walk OUR daughter down the aisle.' At that point, I had no clue what was going on."— Todd Cendrosky, stepfather of Brittany PeckTodd B. looks like a dad on a mission — to be the coolest guy ever.“I got weak in the knees and everything — I couldn't have had anything better in my life. That was THE most important thing in my life."— Brittany's stepdadTodd C. is like, "What is even happening right now?"Todd Bachmann explains his last-minute decision like this:“It hasn't always been peaches and cream, by any stretch of the imagination. ... There's no better way to thank somebody than to assist me walking my — walking OUR daughter — down the aisle."​And that's how you do it, folks. And Brittany herself was pleased with the outcome.The bride sent a video message from her honeymoon to WKYC, saying, "We've seen it all, been through it all, but at the end of the day we're all happy."Divided families know that love isn't a finite thing — there's enough to go around.This article originally appeared on 9.29.15