In 2009 we sat down with Mike Portnoy to discuss Dream Theater's tenth album Black Clouds & Silver Linings, little realising it would be his last with the band for 15 years!

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, the NY congressman who said no Jews were raped on Oct. 7, is lagging 17 points behind Westchester Executive George Latimer. Bowman tried taking back his Oct. 7 comment, but the cat’s out of the proverbial bag – we all know he’s pro-Hamas and spreads their propaganda. Fellow DSA psycho Squad member […] The post Nutter Reps Bowman & AOC Go Bonkers on Stage appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley and Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) on a Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire. The Biden administration’s prosecution of a Texas doctor who blew the whistle on transgender procedures being conducted on children in the state has sparked accusations of political and ideological persecution. We spoke with U.S. congressman from the state of Texas, Republican Dan Crenshaw, about what actions he and his colleagues are taking on the issue of child transgender medical procedures and what they say is the weaponization of the federal government. JOHN: Joining us now is Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas. Congressman, thank you for coming on. Let’s start with the prosecution of Dr. Eithan Haim. He worked at the Texas Children’s Hospital in your district. He’s being prosecuted after blowing the whistle on the hospital because it was continuing to perform transgender procedures on children, even after the Texas AG said that practice is dangerous. You believe this is a political prosecution. Why? DAN: Well, I believe it’s political because it’s unusual for the DOJ and HHS to bring somebody up on criminal charges for HIPAA violations. And if you look at what they’re really charging him with, it’s a stretch to say it’s even a HIPAA violation. So they’re charging him for unlawful access to the database, but of course he has access to that database, to patient data. He did not release any personal information on those patients. He anonymized any data he released. So you have to squint really hard to see this as a HIPAA violation and to justify federal agents arresting him for doing this. This is the kind of thing where you might think Texas Children’s might have a civil case against him for it, and they would go to the courts as such, and there might be a fine involved, right? That’s what you would normally expect from this. But these are criminal charges being brought against him for accessing a database that he has perfectly lawful access to. Of course it’s political because this is such a politicized topic. This is the topic of affirmative transgender care on minors. It’s pretty contentious, I’ve noticed, because I’ve introduced legislation in the Congress and watched even my most moderate, reasonable Democrats throw their hands up like crazy people and argue with me that it should be okay to do a double mastectomy on a 12-year-old girl just because she thinks she’s a boy. So, hyper-politicized. JOHN: We’ve seen the Biden administration prioritize this issue in a way that we’ve never seen another administration do. What do Republicans need to do if they want to counter the Democrat agenda on this? DAN: Conservatives need to fight back against it. Now, in Texas, shortly after this whistleblower blew the whistle on Texas Children’s Hospital, Texas passed SB14, which prohibits this practice entirely. Then, there was no question. After that, I think it can be said that all the hospitals in Texas stopped doing these procedures because it was made in law. Prior to that – and what Dr. Haim was referencing when he blew the whistle – was an opinion from the Attorney General. So the Attorney General issued an opinion, which is a fairly normal thing to do, saying, look, we’ve looked into this, our interpretation of the laws based on child abuse laws says that you cannot do this practice. So, hospitals are taking a risk at that point if they move forward because they could be prosecuted by the Attorney General because he’s made it clear what the interpretation is of that law. And then again, shortly afterwards the law was made extremely clear: You cannot do this in Texas. JOHN: Then we have the Title IX changes, which do directly address gender identity and make this something for all publicly funded educational programs. DAN: Yes, I have a new daughter now, she’s nine-months-old and God help the people who try to put a boy in whatever sport she wants to play. There’s not enough wrath for them. We have to fight this and the public is on our side — the public is on our side on all of these issues. We saw a Washington Post survey some time ago that asked the public, ”Do you support puberty blockers or hormone therapy for minors for a gender transition?” They didn’t even ask about surgeries, by the way – just asked about those two things. 70% said no. This practice of affirmative gender care is being rolled back in Europe. They’re seeing how the data just doesn’t add up. The recent systematic review by Dr. Cass from the U.K. really was the final nail in the coffin on this practice. After reviewing all of the data and all of the studies and all of the methodology behind each study, it showed that this practice just doesn’t come with any benefits, but it does come with enormous risks. And that’s a really big problem. These are huge long-term physiological changes, and if we can’t even point to any benefits from doing them – well, then we’ve got a problem on our hands. LISTEN: Catch the full interview with Congressman Dan Crenshaw on the Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire JOHN: Indeed. I want to talk about some actions you’ve taken related to this. First, you sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra, demanding all documents regarding the prosecution of Haim. In the letter, you say the prosecutor did not even review the evidence before considering him a target. Is that true? DAN: That’s true, as far as we know. That’s from Dr. Haim’s lawyers and I don’t think they would make that claim if they didn’t have some sort of proof. Again, showing how politicized this is. I mean, they see a case like this and they say, “Let’s go, let’s go! Boom, boom, boom.” And they start shooting in the air and hooping and hollering and driving off into the sunset. That’s yet another reason we think this is politicized. This kind of thing should not be done lightly. JOHN: Do you expect AG Garland to actually cooperate? He’s been pretty uncooperative so far with Congress. Do you feel like he’s going to stonewall again? DAN: Absolutely. I don’t expect real answers to this. They’re going to come back and claim — if they even bother to respond— that it’s an active investigation and that they can’t possibly share records or any information about it. I have another piece of legislation, which I think would be quite helpful in this. I’ve been urging the Speaker to take it up because it’s already passed out of our committee on energy, and my legislation would actually prohibit funding the children’s hospitals around the nation, specifically for Graduate Medical Education (GME), which basically funds their residencies. It’s a federal program that helps fund residencies and hospitals. A good program we all like, but I don’t think you should have access to that kind of federal money if you are engaging in child abuse and bullying parents into “transitioning” their kids. So, again, the public is well behind us on this. I want to have that debate on the floor and get that moving. JOHN: And that would block funds from going to that program if you did that, if you promoted transgender treatments and procedures for children. DAN: Right. Your access to that federal money would be contingent on whether or not you perform those kinds of procedures. JOHN: Final question: We’ve seen quite a few seemingly political prosecutions by government agencies, against Donald Trump and many of his attorneys — John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani — and even peaceful pro-life objectors. What do you make of what Jim Jordan calls a “weaponized” government? DAN: Well, look we even created a subcommittee on Jordan’s Judiciary Committee to deal with this called the Weaponization of Government Select Committee. Obviously it’s something we take seriously as Republicans, and we’re not crazy. I’m the first to call out my own side when people are overreacting or going down some rabbit holes they shouldn’t go down. But this isn’t really one of them. There is a list of these prosecutions and they are out of the ordinary. We obviously just talked about this one, which is just simply out of the ordinary. Anything wildly out of the ordinary in the court of law should be looked at with some skepticism and you should note that there might be political bias there. The charges against Trump – I still haven’t heard one real good lawyer actually come out and say, “No, these are actually real charges, somebody else might get charged with this kind of thing.” Nobody has said that. Everybody knows they’re bogus. And the list goes on and on, and it’s ironic because the Democrats are constantly wringing their hands and clutching their pearls — that were probably donated to them by rich people in Hollywood. And they’re constantly wringing their hands about the “threats to democracy.” Well, one of the greatest threats to democracy is the upending of the sanctity of our judicial system. And if you don’t believe you can get a fair shot in a court of law, you do start to lose your democracy. That’s a huge part of our social contract, of our nation’s fabric that holds us together. This idea that there’s due process, that if you make the right arguments and you show the right evidence that you can prevail. If that turns out not to be the case, you’ve got a very, very serious problem on your hands, just from a basic civics perspective. JOHN: A very troubling prospect, no doubt. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.  DAN: Thanks for having me. * * * Catch the full interview between John Bickley and Dan Crenshaw on Morning Wire.

In a brilliant parody video, the staff at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary shows their baby screech owl, Juno, things he’s never seen before. While the tiny owl’s reactions aren’t as animated as those of the child in the original viral video, they are still hilarious. The viral video was a mom showing her infant mundane things around the house. The sanctuary staff matched that, although their mundane things slightly differ from what we have in a typical home. @buschwildlifesanctuary Juno said #fyp #foryoupage #nature #wildlife #wildlifeconservation #nonprofit #wildanimals #naturelove #palmbeach #jupiter #animals #bird #birdsoftiktok #owlsoftiktok #owls #screechowl #florida #floridalife #naturetiktok #wildlifelover #wildlifesanctuary ♬ original sound – una laguna Juno seemed almost impressed with the freezer. The little owl took time to examine the contents of the door and what was hiding in the main compartment. It’s difficult to read the emotions of the little guy, but he might be hungry. Image from TikTok. Resting on the handler’s index finger, the tiny, football-sized owl is curious. He shows more interest in the camera operator than in the items he sees for the first time. He has no concept of money, as he barely glances at the open cash register drawer. The poor baby watches the water fountain longingly. We aren’t sure what horror stories the little guy has heard about the men’s bathroom. He almost gives himself whiplash, spinning his head around to avoid looking! Image from TikTok. The last item on the viewing agenda was the recycling bin. This did not impress the little owl. If you watched the original viral video, the baby was much more expressive than the tiny screech owl. The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary is home to various indigenous Florida wildlife. The Jupiter, Florida, nonprofit provides care and rehabilitation for injured and sick animals. The group works to return animals to their natural habitat. It also provides educational programs for small or large groups. @buschwildlifesanctuary Come see all of Florida’s amazing native wildlife at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary! #wildlife #nature #wildlifeconservation #nonprofit #florida #wildliferescue #viralvideos #wildanimals #naturelove #jupiter #palmbeach #animals #conservation #alligator #panthers #bears #birds #cats #bobcats #squirrel #hawk #deer #raccoon #duck #taylorswift #floridalife #floridacheck ♬ Florida!!! – Taylor Swift If you enjoyed this owl’s little adventure seeing things it hasn’t seen before, please share. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Sanctuary Shows Adorably Tiny Owl A Series Of Things He’s Never Seen Before appeared first on InspireMore.

'I'll stay as long as you want'

Barring any last minute surprises, CNN on Thursday will host Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump in their first debate of the 2024 general election. Four years ago, when the same candidates met in the kickoff debate of the 2020 cycle, the liberal broadcast and cable networks crudely blasted Trump’s performance and crowned Biden the “winner” of “the worst debate in modern history.” In fact, this year’s debate moderators, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, were among the most strident voices castigating Trump for his aggressive posture in that September 29, 2020 debate. “That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck,” Tapper seethed. “That was the worst debate I have ever seen. In fact, it wasn’t even a debate. It was a disgrace. And it’s primarily because of President Trump,” he fumed. “I’m just going to say it like it is: That was a shitshow!” Bash exclaimed, quickly adding: “Apologies for being maybe a little bit crude.” While they bashed Trump, the talking heads praised Democratic nominee Joe Biden. “I actually think there was a winner tonight, and that winner was Joe Biden,” ABC’s Matthew Dowd announced during his network’s post-debate coverage. “I thought when he [Biden] talked into the camera, he was very effective. He did try to keep things on track. He did try to say exactly what he wanted to say, and I thought he made a connection with the American people,” Gayle King agreed during CBS’s live coverage. ABC’s Mary Bruce concurred: “Biden’s campaign is feeling very good right now,” she relayed. “Over and over again, he simply refused to give credence to the President’s attacks.” “Joe Biden clearly showed up today,” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer exulted. “He went head-to-head with the President of the United States, who was often put on the defensive, interrupting the Vice President repeatedly....The former Vice President, clearly, showed up.” But journalists saved their hottest takes for President Trump. Anchoring NBC’s live coverage after the debate, NBC’s Lester Holt declared the event “could have been a low point in American discourse.” Colleague Savannah Guthrie called it “undignified” and “cringeworthy,” while Andrea Mitchell blasted it as a “disgrace.” “It was a train wreck, but it was a train wreck of — the making of one person,” Chuck Todd railed. “We know who did it. President Trump did this....It was a pure train wreck.” “Trump came across like a bully. There was an avalanche of untruth statements that came out,” scolded ABC’s Jon Karl. “That was the worst presidential debate I have ever seen in my life,” anchor George Stephanopoulos complained. “What a dark event we have just witnessed,” fretted MSNBC’s Brian Williams. His co-anchor Rachel Maddow blasted Trump for what she labeled his “monstrous, just cavalcade of increasingly wild and obscene lies.” MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace fumed that by interrupting Biden so often, Trump was guilty of urinating on democracy. “Joe Biden has to go [to the next debate],” Wallace fulminated, “because you don’t stand up to a bully who is trying to do whatever he’s doing, lift his leg and pee on our democracy, by not showing up and standing up to the bully.” On CNN, co-anchor Anderson Cooper was nasty: “I don’t think we’ve ever have seen a President of the United States completely lacking in shame. I mean, just shameless and obesely immoral. I mean, there’s not a moral fiber in this man….You cannot have watched that debate, I would think, and be proud of our President.” After former GOP Senator Rick Santorum explained out that Trump “feels like he has been mistreated and by the prior administration – ” Cooper snarked: “Yeah, all the narcissists and all psychopaths feel that but it does not make it true.” The media rampage continued the next morning. The Today show’s headline screamed: “Amazing Disgrace.” “This really was a debacle,” NBC’s Peter Alexander editorialized in what was supposed to be a straight news report on the September 30 program. On Good Morning America, co-host Stephanopoulos supplied his personal views: “It was an absolute disgrace. It was a mockery of a presidential debate, an insult to our democracy.” Correspondent Mary Bruce readily agreed: “This was a disaster. It is already being called the worst debate in modern history. Any substance was completely overshadowed by the President’s interrupting and the constant squabbling.” On Morning Joe, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski made sure to prop up the Democratic nominee: “Joe Biden’s getting great reviews. He did a great job last night. He handled it really well,” she gushed, before unloading on Trump: “It was a firebombing of our democracy. Bob Woodward said the President is assassinating the presidency. Well, the President firebombed the debate process....It was 90 minutes of, quite frankly, a disgrace for our country.” “Donald Trump set himself on fire in front of 100 million people last night during that debate,” her co-host Joe Scarborough hyperbolically proclaimed. CNN New Day anchor John Berman took the foul commentary to a new low: “One person drove this event into the gutter, and that was the President. If it was a train wreck, it was the President who crashed the train. If it was an S-show — as our friend Dana Bash said — it was the President who took the dump.” Earlier on the same show, former Clinton strategist Paul Begala observed: “It was the loudest, rudest, worst television I’ve ever seen, and I hosted Crossfire for three years....It’s just the most appalling thing I’ve ever seen.” It’s now four years later and CNN is running the presidential debate. Maybe it will be a high-minded discussion that will enlighten and uplift the country. If not, you can bet journalists will be quick to blame Donald Trump, not Joe Biden. Or themselves. You can read more examples from our flashback series, the NewsBusters Time Machine, here.