In this fascinating interview with former Wizard Production Manager‚ Darren Sanchez‚ this comics industry veteran reveals how he went from an art student referred by Carmine Infantino to intern at Valiant who graduated to overseeing CONTINUE READING... The post The WIZARDS Files | Ep 42: Darren Sanchez appeared first on The Retro Network.

Are left-leaning parents better at passing on their values to their children&;#63; The results of one recent study seem to indicate that they are‚ especially for their daughters. But there’s a better explanation‚ one articulated millennia ago by God’s Word. According to a 2023 poll by the Survey Center on American Life‚ 62% of U.S. adults raised by Democratic parents were Democrat‚ while 57% of U.S. adults raised by Republican parents were Republican. The overall partisan gap is substantial‚ but not huge; however‚ it grows much larger among women aged 18 to 29. Among the youngest group of U.S. adults‚ 69% of men and 73% of women raised by Democrats are Democrats‚ while 67% of men and only 44% of women raised by Republicans are Republicans. Put another way‚ only 27% of young women raised by Democratic parents are not Democrats‚ while 56% of young women raised by Republican parents are not Republican. “Why are those who vote Democrat seemingly better at passing on their values&;#63;” asked Family Research Council senior fellow Joseph Backholm on “Washington Watch” on Friday. “And why are young women so much more likely to reject the values of their more conservative parents&;#63;” Left-Wing Cultural Dominance One ready explanation is that left-leaning parents “have a lot more help‚” suggested David Closson‚ director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview. “Every single cultural institution in this country is a cheerleader for progressive causes‚” he explained. “If you’re … hearing values that are taught at the home also reinforced online‚ … in the movies that you watch‚ and the music that you listen to—it’s the same values that are taught in the schools that you go to—I’m not at all surprised.” This cultural explanation underscores the fact that the underlying issue is not a person’s political allegiance‚ but her worldview. “From a Christian worldview‚” Backholm stipulated‚ “our goal is not to get somebody to join a political party. But we know that these lines mean something.” Under President Joe Biden and his administration‚ the Democratic Party has hardened its positions in favor of abortion and the LGBTQ agenda‚ positions that contradict the Bible’s teaching about God’s created order. On the other hand‚ because of the cultural dominance of left-wing ideas‚ “those of us who are theologically conservative Christians—the beliefs that we hold are no longer just seen as outdated or a little ‘old school‚’ but increasingly‚ they’re seen as subversive and dangerous‚” noted Closson. Prevailing cultural voices maintain that biblical viewpoints on sexuality‚ marriage‚ and life are “not even polite conversation” and “shouldn’t be in the public square.” The ideological dimension helps explain why young women skew further to the left than young men: The dominant ideology is radical feminism‚ with a side of queer theory. Closson shared three factors that increase a young woman’s leftward tendencies. First is LGBT identification; among Generation Z‚ women are twice as likely as men to identify as LGBT‚ and those who so identify automatically skew to the left. The second issue is abortion. “The pro-abortion lobby‚ regretfully and tragically‚ has been very effective in talking about … women’s rights‚” admitted Closson. Third is a college education: Women raised by Republican parents are only half as likely to identify as Republican if they have a four-year degree. (What do you think colleges are teaching them&;#63;) A fourth factor to explain the man-woman political divide addresses the reason why young men are not more left-leaning. Backholm quoted his 19-year-old daughter’s quick reaction‚ “Well‚ progressives hate men. Why would they want to be one&;#63;” Beware the backlash of angry young men rejecting the oppressive humiliation of feminist ideology. God told the first woman‚ “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband‚ but he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16)‚ and that dynamic has persisted throughout human history. Christian Pedagogy Insufficient Returning to the main point‚ American Christians in 2024 are in a cultural wilderness. We seem like walking fossils or mythical monsters. Our strangeness earns us notoriety and enmity‚ but also a glad reception among the remnant “appointed to eternal life” (Acts 13:48). God’s people have been here before. Before God brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land‚ he warned them not to make a covenant with the pagan idolaters who inhabited the land‚ “lest it become a snare in your midst” (Exodus 34:12). They were not to intermarry or even eat with them‚ lest they fall into idolatry themselves (Exodus 34:15-16). This exact scenario came to pass before Israel even entered the Promised Land (Numbers 25:1-9). Moses further urged against mingling with pagan nations because “they would turn away your sons from following me‚ to serve other gods” (Deuteronomy 7:4). In other words‚ God’s people have been in this situation for a very long time. Like ancient Israel‚ we live surrounded by those who do not know the one true God and instead worship false idols. Like ancient Israel‚ our children are in danger of being enticed by these idolaters. Like ancient Israel‚ we have a divinely devised defense against their seductions. “You shall teach them diligently to your children‚ and shall talk of them when you sit in your house‚ and when you walk by the way‚ and when you lie down‚ and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7)‚ Backholm quoted Moses’s instructions to Israel. “This is Moses’s exhortation to the nation of Israel about how to disciple your children‚” Backholm explained. “Discipleship happens not [only] on Sunday morning and not during bedtime prayer‚ but when you demonstrate that this is an integral part of your life‚ and that meal time‚ and work time‚ and play time‚ and recreation time—all of that—is undergirded by your faith.” According to Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk in “Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation‚” Backholm cited‚ “the most instrumental factor seems to be when parents talk about faith with their children‚ not just when they’re in the car coming and going from Sunday school or when they’re saying bedtime prayers.” That’s simply not enough time. Students will spend 16‚000 hours in classrooms‚ said Closson‚ “one hour on a Sunday morning and a one hour on a Wednesday night youth group can’t possibly counteract” that. “Unless you are intentional about training a different worldview‚ [progressivism is] going to be what [your children] absorb from the world around them‚” Backholm warned. In other words‚ it takes more than cultural Christianity to raise up children in the religion of Jesus Christ‚ just as it takes more than cultural Christianity to follow Christ. Just before commanding parents to instruct their children‚ Moses commanded them‚ “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). And just before that is the greatest commandment‚ which is also the one fallen sinners most fail to keep‚ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Without a regenerate heart that wholly loves the Lord and that meditates on his commands‚ a parent might as well instruct their children to follow God with duct tape over their face. Thus‚ training our children in righteousness begins with our attention to our own personal holiness and our own spiritual disciplines. We should instruct our children‚ “Be imitators of me‚ as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1)—and that instruction should mean something. This should include our faithful participation in a local church. Not only will the weekly rhythm reinforce our words‚ but the local church should also reinforce our authority and teaching as parents. Of course‚ the Christian walk is not a list of do’s and don’ts. It requires the Holy Spirit’s life-transforming work of conversion‚ inspired by the gospel of Jesus Christ. This means we cannot convert our children‚ force or manipulate them into professing Christ‚ or assume that they are saved. Instead‚ we should pray for God to convert them‚ preferably from a young age. We should be faithful to teach them about Jesus‚ and to teach them the Gospel most of all. And we should appeal to their consciences in our instruction‚ not seeking to control their outward behavior‚ but instead to shepherd their heart toward Christ. (Thanks to “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” and other great parenting books for these ideas.) “It is absolutely crucial‚ if you want your children to follow the Lord‚ to make sure that they know‚ without a shadow of a doubt‚ that your commitment to Christ and to his Word and to his church is the driving force in your life‚” said Closson. “If the Christian faith and your Christian identity really is the core of who you are‚ and your children know that it’s the core of who you are‚ and it’s part of your weekly rhythms.” And if it’s also part of your regular catechesis and discipleship‚ your children will know. Originally published at WashingtonStand.com The post Outmatched or Outsourced&;#63; Why Parents’ Values Fail to Transmit to Their Children appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Legislation that could potentially lead to an outright ban on TikTok‚ the popular video-sharing app‚ or compel its sale‚ has been approved by the Senate and has been signed by President Joe Biden. ByteDance‚ TikTok’s parent company located in China‚ has been given a one-year deadline to relinquish control or witness its removal from US app stores. The legislation earned overwhelming support in the Senate‚ with 79 senators endorsing it while 18 voted against it. Furthermore‚ the House rallied behind the decision on Saturday with a sweeping result of 360 votes to 58. The vote was included in a broader package supporting foreign aid to Ukraine‚ Israel‚ and Taiwan. President Biden signed the bill this morning. Compelled by the incoming legislation‚ ByteDance will either need to hand over TikTok to an American corporation within a year or witness the app being blacklisted in US app stores. Michael Beckerman‚ TikTok’s overseer for Public Policy in the Americas‚ however‚ has declared a potential legal battle against this legislation. With the evolution of the law‚ the company aims to move its protests to the courtrooms‚ as indicated by a memo penned by Beckerman. The memo asserts the law’s disregard for the First Amendment of the US Constitution‚ advocating freedom of speech. Related: The Dangerous Language and First Amendment Challenges of the Rushed Anti-TikTok Bill This drawn-out battle over the algorithms and data management of the app‚ hugely popular since its 2017 launch‚ has been a political bone of contention. Lawmakers continue to question the potential for ByteDance‚ in its position as the parent company‚ to gain access to sensitive user information and impose censorship aligning with the Chinese government’s ideology‚ an accusation consistently denied by TikTok. The post Biden Clears Path for Potential TikTok Ban appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. One of Europe’s major four football leagues‚ Spain’s LaLiga‚ is trying to go even harder against what is considered to be (content) piracy. It doesn’t help that massive amounts of money are already in the football industry – LaLiga‚ and no doubt others‚ believe they can always squeeze an extra euro. Whichever way. And‚ in trying to do that‚ they are also trying to prove that Big Tech stores (both Western and Eastern) aren’t “doing enough” to comply. Never mind that the original accusations against Newplay‚ an IPTV app at the center of this case submitted by LaLiga to the European Commission in 2022 seemed flimsy at best‚ in technical terms. But even that was enough for Google‚ Apple‚ and Huawei to be forced by a Spanish court to go to what are these days considered normal lengths in making sure an app that gets as much as accused of breaching copyright gets “disappeared” from top online stores. So Newplay got deleted by all three companies. But LaLiga is not satisfied. According to the behemoth football organization‚ these companies are now guilty of not engaging in “remote deletion of apps on users’ phones.” These would be versions of the app that users already had installed before they got removed from the stores. In other words – LaLiga wants an Orwellian “hand” to reach down into people’s devices‚ and delete apps locally‚ without user consent. And for Google‚ Apple‚ and Huawei not (yet) doing that – LaLiga is accusing them of “a crime of serious disobedience‚” TorrentFreak reports. The very definition sounds very Orwellian‚ too. So far‚ so bad. But in case anybody thinks LaLiga is pulling this particular attempt “out of their back four” (and football lovers will understand the pun) there actually is precedent. In 2009‚ Amazon (in)famously not only deleted people’s ebooks from Kindle devices‚ but those books were none other than Orwell’s “1984” and‚ well – “Animal Farm.” Never mind “who watches the watchmen” – the question is‚ who owns a device&;#63; It’s not a new question‚ it was always present with proprietary software and the transition to “cloud storage” and centralized online services – but LaLiga’s folly here brings it up once again. The post LaLiga Seeks Charges Against Google and Apple Execs for Not Remotely Removing Apps From People’s Phones appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Things I Like: The Telegraph

Can States Pay the Salaries of Journalists&;#63;

You Can Protest Republicans‚ But...Protesters Arrested Outside Schumer's Residence

NPR Struggles Despite Its Commitment to the 'North Star' of DEI

The carbonized remains of an ancient papyrus scroll from Herculaneum have yielded long-lost information concerning Plato‚ including his exact burial place as well as details about his demise into slavery. Located near the iconic site of Pompeii‚ Herculaneum was obliterated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE‚ leaving the town – and its large collection of papyri – preserved under ash for thousands of years.Like many other scrolls recovered from the historic site‚ the papyrus in question is in good condition but largely blackened‚ thus rendering it virtually unreadable. It contains a section of the History of the Academy of Philodemus of Gadara‚ which forms part of Philodemus' Review of the Philosophers.Philodemus of Gadara was an Epicurean philosopher who lived from around 110 to 40 BCE and resided for a period in Herculaneum. His History of the Academy includes detailed information about the life of Plato and the Academy that he founded in Athens in the early fourth century BCE.Using an array of techniques including infrared and ultraviolet optical imaging‚ molecular and elemental imaging‚ thermal imaging‚ and digital microscopy‚ researchers were able to make out over 1‚000 words from the burnt parchment‚ equalling around 30 percent of the complete text. Commenting on this achievement in a statement‚ project coordinator Graziano Ranocchia explained that the newly-deciphered contents reveal “a number of new and concrete facts about various academic philosophers.”The fragments have been examined in detail using a range of techniques.Image credit: D.P. Pavone (CNR-Institute of Culturale Heritage/Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli)“The new readings often draw on new and concrete facts about Plato's Academy‚ Hellenistic literature‚ Philodemus of Gadara and ancient history in general‚” adds Kilian Fleischer‚ who is in charge of editing the papyrus.Previously‚ it was well known that Plato was buried within the grounds of the Academy‚ which was destroyed by the Roman dictator Sulla in 86 BCE. However‚ after analyzing the ancient scroll‚ researchers have now pinpointed the famous philosopher’s final resting place to a private garden near to a shrine dedicated to the Muses‚ known as the Museion.Other details reported in the charred document indicate that Plato was sold into slavery on the island of Aegina‚ possibly following the Spartan invasion of 404 BCE or in the aftermath of the death of Socrates in 399 BCE. These accounts challenge the prevailing understanding that Plato’s servitude had begun in 387 BCE on the island of Sicily.In another passage‚ Plato is quoted expressing his disdain for the musical abilities of a Barbarian performer from Thrace.Known for his famous Theory of Forms - which states that the physical world we experience is but a shadow of the true reality - Plato died in Athens in 348 BCE.

Aussie scientists have uncovered three new species of giant extinct kangaroo that once skipped around the outback of Australia as well as the forested mountains of Tasmania and New Guinea. The three new species are members of the extinct genus Protemnodon‚ which lived from around 5 million to 40‚000 years ago.The biggest of the bunch – Protemnodon viator — weighed up to 170 kilograms (374 pounds)‚ twice as much as the largest male red kangaroos of today. The prehistoric giant also lived in similar habitats to the modern species. Its species name “viator” is Latin for “traveler‚” owing to the species' long limbs that allowed it to hop efficiently across vast distances. The researchers also described Protemnodon mamkurra‚ a thick-boned kangaroo that was so hefty it was bound to four legs most of the time and only briefly hopped like a quokka.“A large but thick-boned and robust kangaroo‚ it was probably fairly slow-moving and inefficient. It may have hopped only rarely‚ perhaps just when startled‚&;quot; Dr Isaac Kerr‚ study author and kangaroo palaeontologist at Flinders University‚ said in a statement. A near-complete fossil skeleton of the extinct giant kangaroo Protemnodon viator from Lake Callabonna‚ missing just a few bones from the hand‚ foot‚ and tail.Image credit: Flinders UniversityLast but not least‚ there was Protemnodon dawsonae‚ another species that the researchers imagine to be a medium-paced dweller of eastern Australia’s forests and woodlands. They might look like upright deer or overgrown rodents‚ but kangaroos are part of a separate branch of pouch-bearing mammals known as marsupials‚ meaning they are more closely related to koalas‚ opossums‚ Tasmanian devils‚ and wombats. More specifically‚ kangaroos are part of a family of marsupials called Macropodidae‚ which includes the extinct branch Protemnodon.An artist’s impression of the newly described fossil species Protemnodon viator and its relative Protemnodon anak‚ compared at scale to the living red kangaroo and eastern gray kangaroo.Image credit: Flinders UniversityProtemnodon was described in 1874 by Sir Richard Owen‚ a British palaeontologist who’s most famous for coining the word “dinosaur”. Basing his conclusions on fossilized teeth‚ Owen split the genus down into six species. Over the past 150 years‚ his work has been reworked and built upon. For instance‚ it’s become evident that some of the animals he thought were distinct were actually the same species. Likewise‚ there were a handful of species that he failed to recognize. The latest research reviewed the whole Protemnodon genus using extensive fossil evidence and concluded there are seven known species‚ each of which was adapted to live in differing environments of prehistoric Australia and New Guinea. “It’s great to have some clarity on the identities of the species of Protemnodon‚” explained Professor Gavin Prideaux‚ a co-author of the study and professor at Flinders University.“The fossils of this genus are widespread and they’re found regularly‚ but more often than not you have no way of being certain which species you’re looking at. This study may help researchers feel more confident when working with Protemnodon.”The new study is published in the journal Megataxa.