Taylor Swift is arguably the most popular recording artist in the world at the moment‚ and now she’s being credited with an unexpected industry trend: an uptick in vinyl record sales. While streaming downloads have dominating the industry for years‚ many music fans are returning to this retro format instead. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)‚ revenue from vinyl records grew 1% this year to $632 million and accounted for 72% of physical format revenues.  Those sales figures are even more dramatic across the pond. CNN reported that vinyl sales jumped a whopping 11.7% this year in the U.K.‚ with a total of 5.9 million units sold. This represents a four-fold increase in sales from 2022.  This is the 16th consecutive year that vinyl sales increased. The holiday shopping season helped drive these huge numbers‚ with 250‚000 purchases happening last week alone‚ per the outlet.  Swift’s influence is a driving factor for these numbers as her “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” album sold the most vinyl copies this year. Other musicians who moved a lot of this retro format include The Rolling Stones’ “Hackney Diamonds‚” Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” and another Swift album‚ “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).” CDs and cassette tape sales also increased in recent years. Streaming accounted for 84% of all music sales‚ the outlet noted‚ but physical musical sales this year reached their highest levels since 2013. Subscription services were named as the “strongest driver” of revenue growth‚ per RIAA. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with rising costs associated with streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Earlier this month‚ Spotify announced they would be undergoing their third round of layoffs this year‚ with plans to reduce their workforce by 17%. This news came just days after the company’s chief financial officer announced his resignation. As for Swift‚ it’s been a banner year all around. She was named Time’s Person of the Year following the massive success of her “Eras” worldwide tour‚ which made her a billionaire. The singer has also been making headlines thanks to her blossoming romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

The following is a transcript excerpt from Dr. Jordan Peterson’s Vision &; Destiny series on DailyWire+. In this segment from episode 5‚ he speaks on making your life better‚ knowing your intrinsic worth‚ being a force for good in the world‚ living in truth‚ and moving forward. Start time: [3:47] There is a responsible adventure to your life. You are not all you could be‚ and there is pain in that. A certain amount of judgment is necessary — and even a certain amount of exclusion — because what is insufficient about you‚ in some sense‚ should not be allowed to propagate further. But if it is conjoined with encouragement‚ you can be in a rough situation yet still discover some things about yourself that are virtuous and good — and actually pretty powerful. If you made those more manifest‚ you could dispense with a lot of immaturity and misery‚ and you could expand yourself out into life physically and psychologically. As soon as you start walking the pathway that makes things better‚ then things immediately become better because your whole orientation changes. If you are in a bad place but you are escaping‚ that is pretty positive — even if it is a bad place. You might think it is still bad‚ but it is better. That is a lot better than being in a bad place that is getting worse. That is for sure. Because that is hell; hell is a bad place that is getting worse. So if you take the bad place and it is getting better‚ it is already not hell. We have confused the notion of [self] love with the maternal instinct for an infant. Because‚ of course‚ your attitude toward an infant under six months is‚ “You are exactly ok the way you are.” There is nothing to do with an infant under six months‚ in the most fundamental sense‚ except to provide them with total care. But that is not what you do to any child that is older than six months. You start laying down some criteria for becoming‚ for improvement. We could define that criteria. Take‚ for example‚ the saying‚ “There is nothing more perfect than a baby.” That is not true if the baby is 14-years-old. It is true if the baby is six-months-old and actually a baby‚ but by nine months‚ the child is going to start to interact socially. There are some principles that the child has to learn to abide by so that social interaction is optimized. You want to replace the infant with the toddler who has a certain domain of autonomy and responsibility and a certain capacity for social interaction. Then you want to replace the toddler with the young child‚ with the preschooler‚ who now can negotiate a shared social space‚ and you want to replace the preschooler with the older child who is now capable of taking on as much domestic responsibility as is appropriate for that age. You want to take the infant who is entirely dependent and turn them into someone who is autonomous‚ then socially integrated‚ and then socially integrated in a manner that is moving them towards individual responsibility. The love is not only love that is devoted to who they are at any point‚ which is that encompassing maternal love‚ but also the love that says‚ “Kid‚ we are pretty happy you are around‚ but the new you is going to be even better.” That is encouragement‚ and that is part of love. It is half of love — that is for sure. You want to direct that to yourself as well. You do not want to judge who you are so harshly that you just destroy yourself and everything is cast into the pit. You want to take a look at yourself and say‚ “Look‚ you are a person among persons‚ and you have intrinsic worth. You have your flaws‚ your sins‚ and your domain of ignorance and inadequacy‚ but that does not mean you are entirely worthless.” You have a base-level value that is intrinsic worth reflective of the fact you are made in the divine image‚ in the most fundamental sense. You have intrinsic worth‚ and that is due a certain degree of baseline love — but there is the becoming problem‚ especially when you are young because most of you is still in the becoming phase. So why wouldn’t encouragement be the hallmark of love? It’s like‚ “Get the hell up. Get your act together. Adopt some responsibility. Put your life together. Develop a vision. Expand yourself beyond the narrow confines that are causing your misery‚ and we think you can do it.” You could do it; you should do it. The world would be better off if you did it. You would be doing better if you did it. Everything would work out better. Why would we not work to make everything work out better? You are the person who could do it. You tell young people that and they think‚ no one ever told me that before in that way‚ and maybe I should get my act together. Then they go out and try to get their act together in some micro ways‚ and they think‚ it turned out that worked and I am less miserable. I could try doing it on a broader scale. So they try that and think people seem a lot happier with them. They have more friends‚ they are more popular‚ they stand up a little bit straighter‚ and then away they go. If you do not believe that the human being is corrupt and pathological in its essence — which many people now seem to believe‚ or at least some dread spirit seems to insist and people agree with it — then you could unfold all those manifold possibilities that lurk within and be a force for good in the world and that will be the adventure of your life. A bit of a disposition on truth can be added to that as well. You should be oriented by love‚ the desire to care for being and becoming‚ however it is manifest‚ to want that to turn out in the best possible manner. That could be your goal: to want things to turn out in the best possible manner. You have to decide if that is true because people are tempted to create little hells around them all the time. Don’t think that you necessarily want that because it is not that easy to orient yourself to that because you are bitter and resentful and angry. That is going to interfere with that vision of love. You might decide‚ now that you have that vision‚ what you have as weapons to clear your path or to set things in order as you move forward. One of the answers is‚ we have truth. Why? Because you want to contend with the world the way it is‚ obviously. Truth is useful in that endeavor. You might ask why you should not lie if you could get away with not telling the truth. Why shouldn’t you just lie if you could get what you wanted and if you could avoid responsibility? Why not lie? The first response to this is: What makes you so sure you want to avoid responsibility except narrowly in this moment? It is not a good medium- to long-term strategy‚ and everyone knows it. What makes you think manipulating people in the short-term so you can gratify a whim is going to be a useful iterative strategy? It is not. So you can dispense with that. What do you do when you tell the truth instead? You predicate your actions on an axiom of faith‚ which is that nothing better can happen than that which happens if you live in truth. That is a statement of deep religious faith because the evidence for that can only be gathered as a consequence of manifesting the actions that are predicated upon that axiom of faith. You do not know until you lay it out‚ but you can say‚ “I believe that the truth will set me free.” With regard to identity‚ ask: Who is “me”? If you are lying‚ it is not you‚ by definition‚ because if you are lying‚ you are attempting to implement a falsehood; you are attempting to falsify the world and yourself. That is what a lie is. So if something happens that is good because you lied‚ it is not happening to you — it is a reward for the spirit of deceit that you allowed to inhabit you. If you reward the spirit of deceit that you allowed to inhabit you‚ it will grow‚ and I would not recommend that. That is a very bad idea. In the contrary situation‚ you live and speak in truth‚ and then things happen. They are happening to you. That is your life; that is your adventure. One of the things that is very interesting about the truth in that regard is that it provides a certain optimal unpredictability. If you are talking to someone‚ being interviewed‚ or having a discussion with someone‚ you might want to impress that person. You have a little vision of what the instrumental outcome of the conversation could be so that it reflects positively on some narrow conception of a desired future state. If you only say what they want to hear and what sounds impressive‚ you may get the result but it will not be what you want — because it is predicated on a falsehood. Instead‚ you could just have a conversation with the person‚ a real conversation: What do you think? Here is what I think. Do you like it or not? I don’t know if you like it or not. We can talk about that and talk about why. But it is still what I think and that does not mean it is right‚ but it is what I think. Then you lay that out and what happens to you is what happens to you‚ and then it is unpredictable. Imagine you are speaking deceitfully and instrumentally. You want something from someone. Ok‚ well then you are lying‚ so the you that receives is not you; it is the spirit of deceit. You are instrumental because you think that narrow vision is optimal‚ even though it requires deceit. You can just throw that away and say what you think — carefully and judiciously‚ feeling out the words. Then‚ accept whatever happens‚ no matter how unpredictable. What you will find is that is where you have adventure. Because you might ask what you have to offset against the catastrophe of life. Responsibility‚ friendship‚ place‚ job‚ career‚ education‚ all of that. Adventure. Is the adventure worth it? If you tell the truth‚ you will have the adventure of your life. That is what will happen. If you do not‚ you will have the adventure of the spirit of deceit. Those are your options. It is a wild ride to partake in the manifestation of the reality that you can have at your fingertips. That is a wild ride. And it might be a ride so wild that you think‚ my God‚ that was something — but it was definitely worth it. To continue‚ listen or watch more content with Dr. Jordan Peterson on DailyWire+. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1998 he served as assistant and then associate professor of psychology at Harvard. He is the international bestselling author of Maps Of Meaning‚ 12 Rules For Life‚ and Beyond Order. You can now listen to or watch his popular lectures on DailyWire+.

Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) vetoed legislation Friday that would have banned gender procedures for minors and prevented boys who identify as girls from competing in girls’ sports.  Ohio House Bill 68‚ which was passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly‚ was made up of two acts: the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” and the “Save Women’s Sports Act.” The bill would ban transgender procedures on minors‚ such as double mastectomies on girls who identify as boys‚ and other genital procedures for children with gender dysphoria. It would also also prohibit biological boys from competing in girls’ sports across the state.  HB 68 passed mostly along party lines on December 13‚ with the Ohio House voting 62-27 and the Ohio Senate voting 24-8 to approve the legislation‚ but after issuing his veto on Friday‚ DeWine said he was concerned about the legal implications of signing HB 68 into law.  “I truly believe that we can address a number of goals in House Bill 68 by administrative rules that will have likely a better chance of surviving judicial review and being adopted‚” DeWine said at a press conference‚ ABC News reported. Senate President Matt Huffman said earlier this month that the legislation was necessary to protect children from harmful treatments. “Certainly the parents are the most important decision-maker in a child’s life. But there are things where it’s important for the state to step in and protect the child‚” Huffman said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP The bill would also create protections for parents who do not want their child to undergo a so-called “transition” or allow them to undergo transgender procedures. The measure was primarily sponsored by Republican Rep. Gary Click. DeWine became just the second Republican governor to veto bans on transgender procedures for minors after former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed a similar ban in 2021‚ according to NBC News. Two other GOP governors — Spencer Cox of Utah and Eric Holcomb of Indiana — vetoed bans on boys competing in girls’ sports last year.  Hutchinson’s‚ Cox’s‚ and Holcomb’s vetoes were all overridden by Republican supermajorities‚ and DeWine’s veto now faces the same fate against the Republican supermajority hold on the Ohio legislature‚ where lawmakers will have to come up with a three-fifths majority to override the governor’s veto.  Twenty-two states have either restricted or banned transgender procedures on minors over the past three years as more studies come out showing the negative health implications of gender “treatments” and more detransitioners tell their stories of regret.  The Associated Press reported last week that DeWine had visited hospitals and talked with families who had been “helped and harmed” by transgender procedures.  “We’re dealing with children who are going through a challenging time‚ families that are going through a challenging time‚” he said. “I want‚ the best I can‚ to get it right.” Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report. 

In a bold move to defend the democratic process and the rights of candidates to run for office‚ Colorado Republicans have taken a stand against what they perceive as an overreach of constitutional interpretation. The state’s GOP has filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court‚ seeking to overturn a decision that would disqualify former President Donald Trump from appearing on Colorado’s presidential ballot. The crux of the controversy lies in the application of the 14th Amendment’s third clause‚ which bars individuals from holding office if they have engaged in insurrection. The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to invoke this clause against Trump has sparked a heated debate over its meaning and relevance‚ particularly given that Trump has never been formally charged with insurrection. Trump calling them out! pic.twitter.com/KF6fdbe6PN — Sadie (@Sadie_NC) December 28‚ 2023 This unprecedented legal challenge has not only implications for Colorado but could also set a significant precedent nationwide. With the potential to influence other states’ decisions regarding candidate eligibility‚ the outcome of this appeal is being closely watched by political observers and legal experts alike. Despite the partisan appointments of the Colorado high court justices‚ the decision to disqualify Trump did not fall strictly along party lines‚ with three Democrat-appointed justices dissenting. This underscores the complexity and nuance of the constitutional questions at hand‚ which transcend simple political allegiances. Trump is the fighter that America needs right now. MAGA pic.twitter.com/tUqDBnAwHS — Freedom (@PU28453638) December 28‚ 2023 The plaintiffs in the Colorado case‚ comprising both Republican and unaffiliated voters‚ have voiced their concerns about the interpretation of the insurrection clause. They argue that the clause was never intended to be used as a political tool to bar candidates from elections without due process and a formal charge. The Michigan Supreme Court’s recent ruling‚ which allowed Trump to remain on the ballot‚ contrasts sharply with Colorado’s stance and highlights the lack of consensus on the issue. As a swing state‚ Michigan’s decision carries considerable weight and may influence the Supreme Court’s approach to the Colorado appeal. Louisiana’s entry into the fray with a similar lawsuit adds another layer to the unfolding legal drama. The question of whether Trump’s actions on January 6‚ 2021‚ constitute insurrection according to the 14th Amendment is now at the forefront of a national conversation about the limits of political accountability and the sanctity of electoral integrity. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear the Colorado GOP’s appeal‚ the nation awaits a ruling that will not only affect the 2024 presidential race but also potentially reshape the understanding of the Constitution’s provisions regarding qualifications for public office. The outcome of this case could very well redefine the boundaries of political candidacy in America for generations to come. The post Colorado GOP Champions Trump’s Ballot Rights‚ Challenges Insurrection Clause Interpretation appeared first on The Conservative Brief.

There are a lot of difficult circumstances around the world right now. From war to sickness‚ people all over the world are in need of a miracle. When Imagine Dragons traveled to Ukraine to shoot their music video for “Crushed‚” they found a kid with a story whose life was about to be totally changed. Imagine Dragons is best known for their songs “Believer‚” “Radioactive‚” and “Demons‚” though their albums have all been powerful top-sellers. Now‚ they’re producing music with a mission of changing lives. This image is from Instagram. Imagine Dragons headed to Ukraine‚ and the director of the music video shoot stumbled upon Sashko. Sashko was 14 years old at the time‚ walking the streets of Novohryhorivka with a broken spirit. His home was completely destroyed. Now with a powerful story behind them‚ Imagine Dragons created their “Crushed” music video centering around Sashko. But they wanted to do more than raise awareness — they wanted to help Sashko and his family‚ too. Imagine Dragons teamed up with UNITED24 and their donor Avrora Multimarket to make a massive impact on Sashko’s life. Together‚ the organizations rebuilt the home of Sashko and his family. Journalist Felicity Spector commented on the powerful story‚ writing‚ “A story of hope for the new year – I hope that thousands of Ukrainians will be able to return to their rebuilt homes too – thank you so much for all your amazing work.” Fans of Imagine Dragons took to the comments to share their gratitude for the band’s generosity. “Every time I think I couldn’t be more proud to be your fan‚ you guys prove me wrong.” For a reminder of the power of giving‚ check out the clip of this powerful story from UNITED24 below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UNITED24 (@u24.gov.ua) The featured image for this post is from Instagram. The post Band Extends Incredible Gesture For Boy Featured In Their Music Video Who Lost His Home. appeared first on InspireMore.

If you’re looking for a quick dose of hilarity‚ you need to check out this mom prank. These twin moms dressed up in the same clothes to test their toddlers’ recognition! If we’ve learned anything from pop culture‚ it’s that twins love to pull pranks. And rightfully so! These mom twins weren’t going to hold back their pranks for their toddlers. This image is from YouTube. They dressed up in green sweatsuits and sat in the same position with arms open wide for their kiddos. These toddlers were clearly a bit taken aback‚ with both kids waiting a bit before selecting who to hug. They looked back and forth between their options‚ before racing to one of the mommies! They didn’t always pick the right answer (though to be fair‚ I’m sure they love their aunties‚ too!). How hilarious is this! Almost 100 million people have watched this clip‚ though there’s a conspiracy theory that the little boy knew who he was picking! “The baby knew‚ he looked right at his mom while hugging his aunt‚” commented one suspecting viewer. Regardless‚ this twin mom prank on these precious toddlers was seriously fun. Check out the full experiment below! The featured image for this post is from YouTube. The post Twin Moms Trick Their Toddlers By Dressing Alike In Silly Test. appeared first on InspireMore.

For a job title that seems self-explanatory‚ firefighters sure do a lot of things other than take down flames! While iconically‚ firefighters save kittens from trees‚ these firefighters had a different mission — to rescue a deer from a seriously sticky situation. This endearing‚ but mischievous‚ deer had gotten themselves stuck between two fences. With a wooden fence on one side and a wired fence on the other‚ it wasn’t going to be easy to rescue this deer. But the Official Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department got to work! This image is from Facebook. The fire department posted on their Facebook page‚ describing the incident and the tools necessary to rescue the deer. They took advantage of hand tools (and‚ as the post described‚ good ‘ole fashioned ingenuity) to free the deer from their self-induced trap. They also contacted a local wildlife agency to make sure the animal didn’t need additional care. After the all-clear from the wildlife agency‚ they let the deer loose to run free. Thank goodness for firefighters! One viewer of the post noticed the coincidental time that the deer got stuck‚ posting “I’m glad Santa’s reindeer will recover in time for Christmas.” So true! Check out the post below to learn more about this deer rescue. The featured image for this post is from Facebook. The post Caught Between A Fence And A Hard Place — Firefighters Rescue Impossibly Trapped Deer. appeared first on InspireMore.

Only six underground tunnel passages have been discovered so far

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