Columnist David French knows the Democratic Party has a "man problem" with young males pushing Trump and MAGA over the finish line in the last election. But the party’s $20 million proposal to “study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality” in the growing manosphere is a waste, he says, because the roots of the manosphere are about “deep personal need,” not politics. “You can’t write a history of the manosphere without acknowledging that it was a response...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday for allegedly failing to maintain an accurate voter list. 

The Trump administration accused North Carolina’s election board on Tuesday of violating federal law by failing to ensure voter registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers.

The Trump administration is suing North Carolina and its State Board of Elections for failing to maintain an accurate voter roll.

“Circle back.” “Looping in.” “Deep dive.” If just reading these words gives you a visceral ick, odds are you’ve had at least one corporate job in your lifetime. Even if you haven’t worked a 9-5, there are plenty of television shows—from comedies like The Office to dramas like Severance—that make references to corporate culture, including its bizarre and cringey buzzwords. So it’s definitely in the general zeitgeist for better or for worse. But how exactly did this annoying yet inescapable lingo come to be? To answer that question, we’re gonna need you to “think outside the box” and “touch base” with some forgotten history.In a highly entertaining video shared by Storied as part of its Otherwords series, we learn that much of our well-known office speak can be traced back to the end of WWII, when businesses began prospering again and veterans traded their war uniform for suits and ties at ever expanding corporate conglomerates. Don Draper, from 'Mad Men' media3.giphy.com These former soldiers brought a lot of military jargon with them, which later transformed into office jargon. This is especially apparent in phrases like “boots on the ground” and “all-hands meeting” host Dr. Erica Brozovsky notes. You can even see how the psychology of business was heavily influenced by the military (think “sales tactics” and “rising through the ranks”). But corporations didn’t just borrow from the battlefield. Sports terminology also played a big role in office linguistics. Here, Brozovsky uses the examples of something being in a person’s “wheelhouse,” which originally referred to the zone in which a baseball player could hit a home run, which we all know is another big corporate buzzword. Again, we see how society’s views of business in general shaped the jargon that became popular. As Brozovsky mentions, the use of sports phrases reflects the way that business was heavily seen as a competition.The passing of time and trends would only give us more influences (the glamour of 60’s advertising would give us “run it up the flagpole,” followed by the Wallstreet-centric 80’s era bringing “leverage” and “low-hanging fruit”). Trevor, from the sitcom 'Ghosts' media.giphy.com Interestingly enough, a major trait of modern day corporate jargon is to convolute potential negative messages with softer, more passive words. For example, instead of telling someone they’re fired, a boss might say “there’s been some restructuring.” Although, some companies seem to be on the opposite side of the spectrum with the word "termination," which to me always sounds like they’re going to actually murder you for lackluster KPIs. As for why we can’t seem to refrain from using corporate jargon, even if we do loathe it, Brozovsky explains that it mostly has to do with trying to exude an air of belonging, or to show status. This helps illustrate that folks who are on the lower rung of the corporate ladder might be more likely to use this jargon more often than those who are more seasoned, as a means to “compensate for their lack of experience.” However, being the ultimate pattern disruptors that they are, 60% of Gen Zers plan to “eliminate” corporate buzzwords, according to a 2023 Linkedin survey. Brozovsky theorizes that this may be due to diving into a workplace culture that primarily takes place digitally, and therefore has less inherent pressure to “conform to longstanding norms like corporate jargon.” But for now, we’ll put a pin in that hypothesis and see if it aligns with our values later on down the line. Thankfully, the knowledge packed in this video yielded a fantastic ROI, wouldn’t you agree? As always, our psychology is reflected in our language. Almost nothing is as telling a time-capsule as the words we use to navigate our everyday lives. Even the most seemingly insignificant turn of phrase acts as a mirror to key aspects of our humanity and that's a fascinating thing to think about. Watch the full video below: - YouTube www.youtube.com

Some of us are lucky enough to take our parents for granted. We have a brain full of memories of them, and many decades to form new ones. We learn who they are as people, who they were before we were born, where they came from, what their hopes and dreams were, how they met their partner—our other parent.Some people don't have that luxury. About 5% of kids have lost one parent by the time they turn 18, and the odds get worse from there.A woman named Blakelyn suffered unimaginable tragedy as a child when both of her parents died in separate car accidents within a few years of each other. She grew up hungry for any tangible memories of what they were like.In particular, Blakelyn's mother died when she was just a baby. So, she grew up with no mother, very little understanding of why and what happened, and almost no memories at all of her existence.Worse, her father was too grief-stricken to talk much about Blakelyn's mom—understandably so. That left her very little to go on, and when he sadly passed away too, she lost the only connection she had to her mother.Imagine her shock when, 21 years later, Blakelyn's aunt was sorting through rooms at Blakelyn's grandparents' house when she discovered an old journal belonging to her mom.Blakelyn was desperate to get her hands on it, and captured her reaction to its contents in a powerful post on social media. TikTok · Blakelynnn www.tiktok.com For the first time in her life, Blakelyn got a look inside her mom's heart and mind. And she uncovered some amazing revelations along the way.Among the highlights of the journal are pages and pages of notes Blakelyn's mom made as she was brainstorming names for her baby girl. There are lists of first names, first name middle name pairings, and experiments with different combinations.In the post, Blakelyn expresses awe that her name was almost Baylee Alyssa, and also Bailey Alana. Mom had really honed in on those creative B names!In a calendar portion of the journal, Mom noted key dates like the day she moved in with Blakelyn's dad, and also the day he proposed. Blakelyn had never known that the two were engaged when her mom died.Mom also crossed off dates in succession, counting down the days until her daughter was born. It was all overwhelming in the best way. @blakelynnnnnnn Replying to @iliana i don’t have many but i cherish the ones i do have The TikToker told Newsweek that not having any memories of her mom didn't make the loss any less painful. In a way, it left her searching for this intangible missing piece her entire life. Now, with the journal, she's got that piece back.The post went viral, racking up hundreds of thousands of likes and bringing viewers to tears, as shared in the comments:"She LOVED you. She wanted the most perfect name for you. She LOVED you. SHE LOVED YOU""you were so loved BEFORE you were here. imagine how much more they love you after they are gone … i’m sorry luv. you were seriously her most prized possession!!""She was just a girl, and she loved you and thought of you so much before you were even born""Wait, I love that she used the calendar to write the good things that happened versus using it to plan out future events. How sweet!""This is so sweet. Both of my parents passed away and a few months ago I found their love letters they had written to each other while they were long distance before I was even born. I tell myself all the time they were just teenagers in love."A few commenters even had a great idea. Now that Blakelyn has her own name in her mom's handwriting, she's got all the makings of an epic and emotional tattoo. A way for her to continue carrying a piece of her mom with her everywhere."I definitely will be doing this," she responded.

Better than Leonard Cohen?

"I think they're definitely out there. I think they probably have been here."

Taking rock and roll into pro territory.