The impulse and ability to create art is one of the highlights of being human. It's a key quality that sets us apart from the animal world, one that makes life more meaningful and enjoyable. While there are artistic skills that make it easier for people to bring their imaginations into the visible, tangible world, art doesn't abide by any hard and fast rules. Especially kids' art. Especially young kids' art.That's why Gemma Leighton, mother of 6-year-old Edie, shared her daughter's painting on Twitter with a request for support. Edie created the painting in an after school art club, and her art teacher told her she did it wrong. "You can't do art wrong!" wrote Leighton. "She was so upset as art is her favourite thing to do." — (@) Now, we don't know exactly what the teacher said to Edie, but if a 6-year-old comes home upset and feeling like there's something wrong with their art, the teacher did something wrong. Full stop. Six-year-olds are just beginning to learn about technique, and encouragement is the most vital thing a teacher can offer a budding artist. The internet rightfully pounced to Edie's defense, and the responses are incredibly heartwarming. Many people shared how hurt they were as children when a teacher told them something was wrong with their art—and that they were wrong. Knowing that grown-ups had experienced the same kinds of unnecessary criticism as kids and realized that it was wrong can help Edie feel confident that her painting is not "wrong." — (@) — (@) Others pointed out the famous artists that her painting reminded them of. Seeing how her own painting reflects some of the style and color choices of professional artists can help Edie see the spark of genius in her own artwork. Songwriter Kimya Dawson, most famous for her songs in the movie Juno, shared that a middle school English teacher had told her to stop writing poems because they were "too juvenile." "I never stopped though and making rhyming poems has been my career for over 20 years!" Dawson wrote. "Your painting is perfect! Keep it up! Don't worry what anyone else thinks." — (@) — (@) Professional artists chimed in with words of encouragement, pointing out that Edie's use of perspective and expressionism were quite impressive for her age. — (@) "The only 'wrong' is not making art that speaks from your heart," wrote an artist who goes by @Artsy on Twitter. "When she expresses her passion, her vision of her world, her personal reactions to what she sees and feels, she'll never be 'wrong.'" — (@) Even KISS guitarist Paul Stanley offered Edie words of encouragement. "Your art is AWESOME!!!" he wrote. "There is no such thing as doing art 'wrong.' There are only teachers who are wrong!!! Your art shows amazing freedom and spirit. How can that be 'wrong'?!?! Keep doing EXACTLY what you are doing. I LOVE it!!!" — (@) Imagine being a heartbroken 6-year-old who has been told by a teacher that her art was wrong, and then seeing a flood of thousands of supportive comments from people who looked at the same piece of art and told you what they loved about it. This is how social media should be used. To lift people up, to encourage and inspire, to share beauty and creativity. Leighton created a new Twitter account called Edie's Art for people to share kids' artwork, and gracious, it's a delight to peruse. There's nothing more pure, more colorful, more full of life than art that came from a child's imagination. They may not have the technical skills to perfectly create what they envision in their minds or what they're looking at for inspiration, but that's part of what makes it so beautiful. They aren't self-conscious enough yet to hold back, and their art comes from a place of confidence and acceptance of their own abilities—that is, until some adult comes along and squashes their artistic spirit.One of my favorite things as a parent has been watching my kids' artistic expressions evolve as they've grown, and I've loved their artwork at every stage. And not just because I'm their mom, but because kid creations are the best reminder of how natural the human impulse to create really is, and how beautiful it is when we share that impulse without fear or doubt. Keep painting, Edie. Don't let one person's opinion—even a teacher's—hold you back. This article originally appeared four years ago.

The Military That Cried 'White Supremacy'

The Worst Journalism of the Year – The TOWNHALL 50 2024, Part 3: The Top (Bottom?) Ten

Why do so many people insist on living in the state of California?  Today, it has the highest population of any U.S. state by a very wide margin.  Approximately 39 million people live in California, and Texas is number two on the list with a population of about 30 million.  I just don’t get it.  Those that live in California have to deal with relentless crime, the worst traffic in the western world, a historic homelessness epidemic, hordes of drug addicts, endless earthquakes, giant landslides, and insane politicians that do some of the stupidest things imaginable.  On top of everything else, wildfires have been ripping across the state with alarming frequency, and now we are witnessing a “hurricane of fire” that is unlike anything we have seen before.  According to the latest update from Yahoo News, the Palisades Fire is now more than 15,000 acres in size… According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, there are four wildfires currently scorching Los Angeles County: the Palisades Fire, at more than 15,800 acres; the Eaton Fire, at 10,600 acres; the Hurst Fire, about 500 acres; and the Woodley Fire, at 30 acres. Officials said the Olivas Fire was burning in Ventura County. All of the fires were 0% contained. The Palisades Fire is already being called “the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history”.  At this point, Accuweather is projecting that the total damage from this cluster of wildfires will exceed 50 billion dollars… A preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from the cluster of wildfires ravaging Southern California, according to one report, has been put at $52 to $57 billion. The report was released by AccuWeather on Wednesday, Jan. 8, as the Eaton Fire, Palisades Fire and Woodley Fire continued to burn parts of Los Angeles County, spurring the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and resulting in the deaths of two civilians. In 2025, our first “billion dollar disaster” has come very early. Of course we averaged a “billion dollar disaster” about once every two weeks in 2024, and so many of us have become numb to the apocalyptic events that have been hitting our nation so frequently. Perhaps the damage from the current wildfires wouldn’t have been so bad if Los Angeles County had not decided to send so much of their firefighting equipment to Ukraine… Hundreds of thousands of residential and commercial locations have been left without power in the LA area as the natural disaster has become so large in proportion that it has captured the nation’s attention. Many have been naturally focused on ‘thoughts and prayers’ for heroic LA and California firefighters, and their hoped-for ability to push back the raging inferno. But several local headlines from prior years make clear that area firefighters could have had more resources to draw from, if significant emergency response supplies and items weren’t sent to Zelensky… “Los Angeles County fire crews are sending some of their extra equipment to firefighters in Ukraine,” a local March 2022 story reads. “The plane carrying that much-needed surplus equipment, such as hoses, nozzles, turnouts, helmets, body armor and other personal protective gear, is expected to take off Friday.” This began in the opening months of the Russian invasion, and appears to have continued at various times over the last couple years, with large expensive items like firetrucks having been shipped oversees as well. Just about everything that California politicians decide to do turns out badly. Why is that? Could it be possible that the state is cursed? Over the years, I have literally written dozens of articles about the state of California. I have warned people to move out of the state over and over again, and others have issued similar warnings. The good news is that a lot of people have left California in recent years.  In chapter 19 of my book entitled “Chaos”, I commented on this mass exodus… Between April 2020 and July 2022, over half a million people left the state of California alone. Many of those ex-Californians have been relocating to Texas. In fact, approximately 300 Californians moved to the state of Texas on a daily basis in 2021. California should theoretically be one of the best places to live on the entire planet. But just like so many other blue states, it has been transformed into a cesspool of crime, drugs, homelessness and violence. The population of the state has fallen a bit, but about 39 million people still live there. In chapter 20 of “Chaos”, I explained why I ranked California 50th for survivability out of all 50 states… Unless you feel directly called by God to go there, it is probably not a good idea to move to California.  If I had to choose anywhere in the state, it would probably be the far northern portion away from the coast.  But the truth is that even areas of the state that are relatively isolated are still within easy driving distance of areas of the state that do have a high population density. In addition, the coastal areas are likely to get hit extremely hard by major natural disasters in the years ahead. Over the past 12 months, the coastal areas of California have been relentlessly hammered by devastating storms, enormous landslides and extremely destructive wildfires. But eventually something far worse is coming. In chapter 6 of my book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, I talked about the colossal earthquake which will permanently alter the geography of the California coastline… Of course I am not the only one that has been issuing ominous warnings.  Seismologists have repeatedly told us that the San Andreas fault appears to be “locked and loaded” and that it could potentially “unzip all at once”. If that were to happen, seismologists tell us that the the ground level west of the San Andreas fault could suddenly drop by up to 3 feet, and that could potentially result in large portions of southern California suddenly being way below sea level. In other words, there wouldn’t be anything to keep the Pacific Ocean from suddenly rushing in and claiming vast areas along the southern California coastline. As you read this, you may be thinking that such a thing could never possibly happen, but in recent years scientists have come to the conclusion that such a scenario is actually quite realistic. When this disaster finally strikes the state of California, you will not want to be there. So if you live in the state, I would encourage you to get out while you still can. Of course many of those that have lost homes to these new wildfires wish that they had already left. We are less than 10 days into 2025, and so many crazy things have already happened. Sadly, I am entirely convinced that a lot more death and destruction is ahead during the next 12 months. Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com. About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today. Get prepared for what is ahead by visiting some of our sponsors… The Jase Case is more than an emergency medication supply. The right meds the moment you need them: https://shorturl.at/gMpOj Protect your home and vehicle with EMP Shield: https://shorturl.at/Hh2oz Ready Hour Emergency Food: https://shorturl.at/RB6ul My Patriot Supply: https://shorturl.at/GhppY InstaFire: https://shorturl.at/brRN1 AlexaPure: https://shorturl.at/CH23z Operation Blackout: https://eflow.americablackout.com/2964TZB/7XDN2/ Final Famine: https://trk.finaleagainstfamine.com/2964TZB/BP658/ Genesis Code: https://trk.discovergenesiscode.com/2964TZB/M2GJW/ Final Blackout: https://trk.borderdatareport.com/2964TZB/2N721M/ Last Blackout: https://trk.last-blackout.com/2964TZB/2J2CRS/ The post How Many Times Have People Been Warned To Leave The State Of California? appeared first on End Of The American Dream.

by Willow Tohl, Discern Report: A U.S. Senate Budget Committee investigation uncovered extensive evidence of Credit Suisse’s historical ties to Nazi Germany, revealing the bank deliberately withheld critical information from prior inquiries, including accounts linked to the SS and Nazi intermediaries involved in atrocities and economic exploitation. Credit Suisse obstructed internal and external investigations, including […]

from OPERATION FREEDOM: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Frank Bergman, Slay News: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is reportedly working with the United Nations (UN) to launch a “new global pandemic.” Gates and the UN have been quietly planning to usher in “Operation Catastrophic Contagion,” according to a new report from Infowars founder Alex Jones. Jones warns that the plan involves unleashing the […]